Jimmy Duncan

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Chairman, I understand the gentleman is going to withdraw his amendment, so just let me very briefly and quickly say that many groups and Members started out far apart on different issues involved in this legislation, but we came together in the spirit of bipartisanship and arrived at a bill that all the members of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure supported, that the leadership on both sides support. We had groups like the Chamber of Commerce, the Farm Bureau, all the environmental groups. And the environmental groups and the business groups came together to endorse this bill. It is almost unprecedented. So we came up with the most environmentally friendly bill that has ever been produced, I think, in a Water Resources Development Act. So I think it is a bill that can be supported proudly by Members on all sides.

Mr. DUNCAN. I will gladly yield to the gentleman from Minnesota, the ranking member of the committee.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill, H.R. 2557.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to pay special tribute to Mr. Kenneth E. Russell, a member of my constituency and a true American hero. Ken Russell is the last surviving member of a group of 17 paratroopers who, in the early hours of D-Day in 1944, parachuted into the town of Ste. Mere Eglise, France. Ken's heroism and bravery are to be commended. His actions during the D-Day operation have been included in many histories of the liberation of France, including D-Day and the Citizen Soldiers by Dr. Stephen Ambrose, among others. As he made his way to the ground from his C-47 troop transport, Ken witnessed unthinkable violence. Many of his colleagues did not make it to the ground before being shot by German gunfire. Both Ken and his friend, John Steel, landed atop a church in Ste. Mere Eglise. Ken landed especially hard, causing damage to his spine which limits his activities to this day. Both paratroopers were helpless as their parachutes were tangled in the church rooftop. As he dangled helplessly above the ground, Ken was hit in the light hand by German gunfire from the ground below. While still suspended in their chutes, both Ken and John were spotted by a German soldier. Before the German could shoot at Ken and John, he was shot by another American, Sgt. John Ray. After freeing himself from the church rooftop, Ken Russell blended into the landscape and later met up with paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne. Soon after, the troops set up a defensive position on a road leading to Ste. Mere Eglise and came under attack several times. Each time they were successful in defending their position. For the wounds he sustained on the church rooftop, Ken Russell was awarded two Purple Hearts. For his determination and bravery, he was awarded the Silver Star. Mr. Speaker, Ken Russell is a true American hero. His selfless actions during the D-Day operation saved lives and contributed to our great victory in World War II. I can say without hesitation that our country would be a much better place today if there were more people here like Ken Russell. As we approach the 60th anniversary of D-Day, I hope all Americans will remember the sacrifices made by so many soldiers like Ken and will take time to thank them for their service.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, one of my leading constituents, former Blount County Executive Bob Davis, recently sent me an editorial from the Daily Times of Blount County, Tennessee. This editorial concerns the medical treatment given to our Nation's veterans who are not high profile celebrities. This editorial expresses my views 100 percent. Another Daily Times editorial concerning Free Trade and Fair Trade also expresses my views. I am sick and tired of seeing so many American jobs go to other countries. We need to start putting our own citizens first once again or we are going to have some real problems in this Nation. I want to commend the outstanding Editor of the Daily Times, Dean Stone, for these patriotic, common-sense, well-written editorials and would like to call them to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record. Time for Congress To Care for Veterans or Take Their Place! If our nation expects its healthy citizens in military service to serve and fight on the missions on which they are sent around the world, it is high time we decide to support these veterans who serve. There may be some question about providing health care for health problems that are not service related but the least we can do is provide prompt and adequate care for wounds and injuries received on active duty. And this should not be reserved for military personnel such as former prisoner of war Pfc. Jessica Lynch who because of her high-profile situation was given all the medical care anyone could use. And we don't need a double standard for enlisted personnel or officers either. All who serve are human beings, individuals created equal in God's sight and deserving the same medical care for their wounds or injuries. Army Sgt. Vannessa Tuner, a six-year Army veteran who survived a still-unknown illness doctors feared would kill her, is finding it even tougher after a military flight brought her to her mother's home in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood last month. She had experienced hospital stays in Germany and Washington, D.C. Despite severe nerve damage in her right leg, she was told it would be mid-October before a doctor at the local Veterans Affairs hospital could see her. She sought help from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and eventually got an appointment scheduled this week but the experience has been frustrating. Veterans advocates said Turner's frustration is not unusual. More than 100,000 veterans are waiting six months or more for their initial visit with a VA doctor or to see a specialist, the Veterans' Administration acknowledges. Our nation ignored the complaints of health damage from Agent Orange in the Vietnam War for a couple of decades and we waited almost a decade after Gulf War I to acknowledge there might be something to the many health complaints resulting from that war. There might be some excuse for those delays of what seemed to be unusual illnesses. However, the majority of individuals who have served in the armed forces are not deadbeats looking for a handout in the form of health care. They have illnesses. They have wounds. Many have delayed their civilian careers in order to serve our nation. They have postponed their education and preparing for their profession because they felt obligated to defend our nation and the freedoms that all of us treasure. If you have not put your life on the line in behalf of your country, it is difficult to fully appreciate the awesome responsibility that it is for both you as an individual and your family members. American lives are not trash to be thrown away and should not be considered as such. Some of our members of Congress, such as Rep. John J. ``Jimmy'' Duncan, have worked to help veterans and succeeded in getting a new hospital to be built in this area. However, many of these veterans could be treated by doctors as outpatients while living at home if there were an adequate number of doctors. It is time members of both the House and Senate decide to provide reasonable medical care for members of the armed forces injured or wounded while on duty or let all of our people in service return to civilian life. But don't count on getting enough volunteers to replace even a company of them from the House or Senate. Too many of these folks are to busy running for the next higher office, better paying job or feathering their nest to see that veterans receive adequate health care.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I assume that not a large number of people read the articles we place in the Record, but I am sure that at least a few across the country do. I wish everyone, especially young men, would read the column Richard Cohen wrote about his father in today's Washington Post. Many years ago, I got a degree in journalism and worked briefly both as a newspaper reporter in Knoxville and as a teacher at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria. I would guess that Richard Cohen and I are about as different in backgrounds and beliefs as any two men could be, but I greatly admire his writing. I read almost all his columns, but I believe this column about his father is possibly his best ever. Perhaps this touched me because I was very close to my own father. But, I am going to send this column to my two sons, ages 17 and 23, with a note from me. I will tell them that I believe they have the intelligence and skills and personalities to do great things with their lives, but as Richard Cohen has written, you do not have to be rich or famous or ``important'' to lead a good life, and that it is far more important to be good than it is to be great. I would like to call this column to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record. [From the Washington Post, Sept. 9, 2003.] (By Richard Cohen) He Did Not Set Standards, He Lived Them Newton, Mass.--Harry L. Cohen died early Sunday morning here after a long illness. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Pearl ``Pat'' Rosenberg Cohen, two children, two grandchildren and the sweet memories of anyone who knew him. He was 94 years old and my father. Newspaper obituaries are generally reserved for the notable, the exceptional--people of some achievement or notoriety. My father does not fill that bill. He was a mere high school graduate who worked almost all of his life for one firm. He invented nothing, discovered nothing, wrote nothing and was elected to no office, high or otherwise. He was the most ordinary of men--but, God, I have known few like him and neither have you. Over the years I have written several columns about my parents. I did that by way of sending them a gift and also because they were great material. My mother, 91, was born in Poland just before World War I. She came to this country as a child and she was--always in Poland and for a time in America--desperately poor. If there is a single person who embodies the glory and the promise of this country, it is my mother. It is that simple. My father, too, has a story. His starts in some Ken Burns documentary, black-and- white photo of the Lower East Side of New York, where he was born in a tenement. It was in a tenement, too, where his mother died when he was still a child. My grandfather, poor and unskilled, put my father and my uncle in an orphanage, where--with some Dickensian spells with foster families--he was raised. He was a Depression kid, my father. In some ways, though, the worst of times were the best of times for him. He had a job. He had a car. Soon, he had a wife and she, of course, worked, too. The two of them virtually never stopped working. Even in retirement, my father took jobs. He went door to door for a polling firm. He parked cars in West Palm Beach, where he had ``retired'' with my mother. He worked as a doorman in a fancy Palm Beach high-rise. In some sense, he did this because the Depression was, for him, always lurking nearby, but also because he found dignity in work. Some of this is colorful, I know, but it is not why my father was exceptional. It's because he was a good man. Not once--not ever--did I know him to cheat: not in business, not on his wife, not on his friends and never on his children. I know of no one he hurt, no one he slighted, no one he abandoned. The great men I have spent a lifetime around--the politicians, the statesmen, the rich, the powerful, the creative--can make no such claim. They always say they had to break some eggs to make their omelet. My father made no omelet. But he broke no eggs, either. I have written this before, but it is worth saying again: My father's sort of goodness is rare. As he lay dying, as we talked about his life, he expressed no regrets. Not from him came reservations about how he neglected his children in favor of work, how he spent too much money, how he cared too much about the appearance of things and little about their substance. He did not understand men who were not charitable, who exchanged wives as they do cars, who would slight a child to score another business deal. He had his dreams, but the overriding one was to lead an honorable life. To be perfectly truthful, we did not always agree--not on certain issues (Israel, for instance) and not on how one should live one's life. I could not--I have not--been him. He did not set standards, he lived them--and deep into my career I kept thinking that some of the things I wrote and some of the things I did were like a bad report card I was bringing home from school. His disapproval, sometimes not even stated, was concussive. I reeled. He died in his sleep. He died at home, still tended by my mother and my sister, Judith, and the remarkable women whose chosen work it is to care for the dying. He was never in pain and he was alert almost to the end, still getting the joke, still not wanting to go. He was, I tell you, the most extraordinary of ordinary men, what in Yiddish is called a mensch--not a great man but, much rarer still a good one. There is nothing greater.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the student athletes of three Knox County high schools for their recent accomplishments during State Championships. The Farragut Admirals captured the State Title in Class AAA Baseball and Class AAA Boys Soccer while the Christian Academy of Knoxville Warriors won the Boys TSAA Class A-AA Soccer Title and the Webb School of Knoxville Girls Tennis Team took the State Title in Division II Singles and Double categories. I congratulate all the athletes who never gave up and worked tirelessly for these titles. I also congratulate the coaches and parents whose encouragement and instruction made their success possible. Although no championship season can be easily summarized, I believe these impressive teams have earned specific mention here on the Floor of the House of Representatives. For the previous three years, the Farragut High School Baseball team had ended their season as the State runners-up, but the 2003 season ended with more than just a well-deserved State AAA Championship. They also set a remarkable new State record with an unprecedented 48-1 season leaving them ranked 4th in the entire Nation. This is truly a remarkable program and I look forward to hearing of many future victories. The Tennessee AAA Boys High School Soccer Championship game pitted two outstanding Knox County schools against each other when the Farragut Admirals faced off against the Bearden Bulldogs. The skill, intensity and determination of both teams were clearly evident throughout the game. It was Farragut, however, that in double overtime took the championship with a 3-1 victory. Both schools set a new standard for AAA Soccer in Knox County and I commend each of these fine athletes. For the Christian Academy of Knoxville Boys Soccer team, earning the Tennessee Secondary School Association's (TSAA) State Championship title was a milestone in the school's athletic program and a testimony to each player's commitment to excellence. Their 1-0 victory over Chattanooga Christian School was the culmination of a hard fought season where the Warriors finished 17-2-3. This may have been the school's first State championship in soccer, but I am confident it will not be their last. I also want to congratulate Webb School of Knoxville's State Division II tennis champions Whitney Chappell, Elizabeth Googe and Berkeley Brock for their victories. Whitney's Singles Championship match took over three hours and was a remarkable demonstration of both skill and stamina. Elizabeth and Berkeley defeated a doubles team from St. Mary's in just two sets, and showed the same level of excellence and determination as their Single's teammate Whitney. Each of these young ladies has raised an already high standard of excellence in athletics at Webb School. Regardless of the sport, high school athletics provide a tremendous opportunity for our young people to learn and enhance their leadership abilities while also learning the value of teamwork. These young people, along with their peer athletes from other schools, will gain far more than trophies for their efforts. Their dedication to excellence will prepare them for every challenge they will face in the future and their commitment to both physical and mental excellence will serve them well their entire lives. With or without championship victories, we congratulate every student athlete for their efforts to improve themselves. Every parent, teacher and coach is proud of these young people's hard work and commitment. Finally, I also want to congratulate those students who commit themselves to excellence in areas off the athletic field. Regardless of the student's interest or skill, if he or she strives to reach beyond what is required, I am sure every Member of this body joins me in saying that we are proud of them and we wish them the absolute best in all they set out to achieve.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I am very proud that Home and Garden Television (HGTV), one of the Nation's fastest growing networks, is headquartered in my hometown, Knoxville, Tennessee. HGTV is a really outstanding cable channel with a wide variety of programs. Unlike some of the trash that is shown on other networks, the programs on HGTV are positive and helpful and encourage people to improve their lives and their communities. Joshua Green, Editor of the Washington Monthly, has written a humorous but very complimentary article about HGTV in the July/August issue of his magazine. I would like to call this article to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record. [From the Washington Monthly] Home Sick; The Addictive Allure of Home and Garden Television (By Joshua Green) Over the past two years, as the rest of the economy has gradually tanked, one sector has stubbornly resisted: the housing market. Despite layoffs, the weak dollar, the moribund stock market, and all other manner of economic calamity, house prices are climbing faster than George W. Bush's negative rating in Iraq. In fact, economists credit the housing market's continuing strength with keeping the country out of recession. Much like the ``wealth effect'' created by the late '90s stock boom, rising real-estate prices have made Americans feel rich enough to keep on spending amply, regardless of the overall economic climate. So the booming housing market is surely welcome news to most Americans--except those, like me, who would like to actually buy a house and are extraordinarily piqued about this. If there were a Murphy's Law of Economic Collapse, it would hold that as jobs disappear and wages plummet, the price of your dream house will skyrocket. Most economists attribute this phenomenon to historically low interest rates, which translate into extremely affordable mortgages. I have a different theory. I blame HGTV--the Home and Garden Television channel--one of the fastest-growing stations on cable and a certifiable cult phenomenon among many of my peers. For the uninitiated, HGTV is one of those niche cable stations we all heard so much about back in the early '90s that sounded preposterous at the time--who'd watch round-the- clock gardening, remodeling, and house-hunting tips?--but seems perfectly reasonable today alongside the dozens of specialty channels devoted to cooking, pets, sci-fi, soaps, books, and--on my cable system--one click below the NASA channel, which on weekends broadcasts continuous footage of the earth rotating. (Really.) Since its 1994 launch, HGTV has grown from a tiny startup to a cable colossus that reaches nearly 80 million households in the United States alone, broadcasts its programs to viewers as far away as Latvia and Brunei, and is even available to U.S. service personnel in 175 countries and on board Navy ships. The idea of rugged naval aviators, fresh from sorties over Iraq or Afghanistan, choosing to unwind before Home and Garden Television's design and decorating tips is testament to the strange power this channel holds over its viewers. the home-shopping network At first blush, HGTV is a benign--even an edifying--form of entertainment that's centered on a can-do ethos for the current or expectant homeowner. Instead of patrician decorating tips, HGTV shows like ``Weekend Warriors'' champion a Calvinist work ethic in which determined homeowners charge headlong into demanding-but-reasonably- priced projects that typically leave them spent, but never broke, and with a spectacular new veranda or stunning hardwood floors to show for their efforts. There are shows about improving your home's appearance (``Curb Appeal''), tending to your home's yard (``Landscapers' Challenge''), decorating your home cheaply (``Design on a Dime'') or even more cheaply (``Designing Cents''), home-centric extreme- sports knockoffs (``Winter Gardener,'' ``Extreme Homes'') and others, like ``Help Around the House,'' that extol the life- enhancing practicalities of previously mundane tasks like caulking or grout work. Many HGTV shows feature a subtle, battle-of-the-sexes leitmotif that adds to the intrigue, while reinforcing and pandering to its audience's prejudices in a way that surely boosts viewership. On the popular ``Designing for the Sexes,'' most men are of the hapless variety, puzzled as to why their wife is upset over the moose head they'd like to mount over the dining room table; most women display an alarming fondness for pink chenilles or French country style of doilies. Viewers therefore identify quickly, privately relieved to discover that their own situation isn't nearly as outlandish as they'd first imagined. They receive further encouragement from the show's denouement, which invariably features a designer or decorator of Christ-like patience who steps in to mollify the warring factions by curbing even the tackiest excesses and delivering a touch of class and taste that both can live with. This men-are-from-Mars-women-are-from-Venus format presents itself merely as decorating help. But the effect upon the addled participants--and viewers, too--is not unlike that of a good marriage counselor, convincing couples that any problem can be overcome, I believe it is no coincidence that HGTV is the one channel my fiancee and I can agree on. It accomplishes a feat previously thought to be impossible, bridging the chasm between ``Oprah'' and ``SportsCenter.'' Like any 24-hour-a-day cable station, not all of HGTV's programming is what one would consider to be of Emmy Award- winning caliber. I could do without a show called ``Simply Quilts.'' Certain others likewise seem best suited to the wee hours of the morning, such as ``Flea Market Finds with the Kovels'' (which could have been titled ``Shopping for Junk with Old People'') and ``Subterraneans,'' a recent promo for which encouraged viewers to tune in and ``meet unique people who make their home below the earth.'' But one show--the station's flagship--renders these others mere trivialities. ``House Hunters'' is the source of my own HGTV addiction and, the latest Nielsen ratings suggest, many others' as well. It is HGTV's highest-rated show--and, I'm convinced, the clue to the network's appeal. The show's premise is a simple one. In each episode, a friendly realtor helpfully accompanies a pair of prospective homebuyers as they shop for a house or condominium. Cameras follow them from room to room, allowing the viewer to examine the various properties in what amounts to a vicarious trial run for the potential homebuyer. The first time I tuned in, a young newlywed couple wanted to move out of their cramped apartment and buy their first home but clearly had no idea what they were doing. These circumstances were reassuringly similar to my own. I watched with growing appreciation as the realtor listened patiently to their needs and then drove them to one beautiful house after another. If a house was too small, the realtor would smile and show them a larger one. If a house lacked a pool, the realtor would find them one that also had a jacuzzi. If a house was on a noisy street, the realtor would show them one in an area so remote it probably had not yet been mapped. And every visit was a leisurely, pressure-free stroll that seemed not only easy, but fun. The young couple soon found a perfect home, conferred briefly with the realtor, and decided to place a bid on it. ``House Hunters'' cut to commercial. Despite having known them for just 22 minutes or so, I was transfixed, and found myself rooting vigorously for their bid to be accepted. When the show returned, our prayers--theirs and mine--were answered. As the couple sat emotionlessly in their worn rental, the phone rang. It was their realtor, with good news! I was privately impressed that HGTV had a camera crew on hand to document this happy occasion. The show ended by flashing forward several months to show the couple in joyously possession of their new home. I stole a glance at my fiancee--who looked exactly as she had at the end of Titanic--and immediately began looking forward to my own home-buying experience. No Chase Like Home It did not dawn on me until after I'd embarked on my own search for a house how wildly fictional this portrayal had been. But I quickly discovered that it was fundamentally dishonest on several levels and bore no resemblance at all to my own night-marish experience. To begin with, ``House Hunters'' promotes the fantasy that charming, spacious, reasonably priced homes are plentiful and always available in even the most desirable neighborhoods. Perhaps this is true in some distant corner of North Dakota where sprawl and gentrification have not yet driven up prices. but it is most certainly not the case in Washington, D.C., where I live, or in any surrounding suburb that I've been able to locate. This shortage gives rise to another phenomenon that ``House Hunters'' does not acknowledge--the ``open house.'' These are the overly brief weekend showings in which sellers open their homes to potential buyers--but which in today's hot real estate market quickly come to resemble cattle calls of anxious couples who strenuously avoid making eye contact with you as they rush around sizing up the house and potential competitors for it. Nor does ``House Hunters'' accurately depict the mood and temperament of these people, who tend to look wild-eyed and tormented and would probably arouse concern among security personnel if transported to any other setting. In the open houses I've experienced, the naifs who appear on ``House Hunters'' would be tramped and devoured like the herd weaklings in a pack of wildebeest on the Discovery Channel. After awhile, once we had acclimated to these laws of the jungle, my fiancee and I found a cozy brick rowhouse that seemed perfect. As we elbowed past the other prospective buyers and walked from room to room, I felt that small shiver of excitement I had seemed to detect when couples on ``House Hunters'' had finally come upon the home they would buy. That evening we filled out a mountain of paper-work at our realtor's and submitted our bid. The next day I blew off work and sat expectantly by the phone about to be educated in yet another way in which ``House Hunters'' differs from reality. By this point I had become an avid fan of the show, but it had still never occurred to me that each episode's happy ending might not mirror reality. When my phone rang, I leapt for it. It was my realtor, who informed me that we had not gotten the house--that in fact 22 others had bid on it and driven the sale price more than $100,000 above what originally had been asked. Soon after, I became well acquainted with the concept of the escalation clause, the inspections waiver, the failed bid, and generally competing like gladiators for any property deemed livable and available. I also realized that ``House Hunters'' is totally staged--the couple always gets the house they want, and the show's producers are probably wise to steer clear of markets like Washington, D.C., which would terrify viewers anyway and kill their ratings. I angrily swore off HGTV and the cheap fantasy it peddled, and sheepishly sought out my copy of Home Buying for Dummies. Rooting for the Home-buying team Yet, strangely, life without HGTV did not improve--at least not for the six days that I held out against watching it. Houses remained overpriced, realtors unscrupulous, buyers frenzied, and I was no closer to escaping my one-bedroom. I found myself longing for familiar comforts. In the end, the siren call of reasonably priced homes and pressure-free bidding that always has a fairy-tale ending proved too powerful to resist. I cracked a beer and submitted to the evening's ``House Hunters.'' Only then did I truly understand the lure of HGTV--of what it is that grips me, and my addict-friends, and all those naval aviators overseas who are stressing about the availability of three-bedroom colonials in neighborhoods with decent schools. It's not the reality television that HGTV pretends to be, but an escape from our own real-estate reality into a soothing world where things are different and better; a place to retreat to after those greedy sellers pass on your bid, where one will always find sustenance and encouragement; it's what excites people to keep marching out and buying new homes. My story has a happy ending, though not the type you're likely to see on HGTV. Several weeks after our initial bid fell through (it seemed like years) our excellent realtor Vince--who, incidentally, could eat the realtors on ``House Hunters'' for breakfast--found us the perfect home and shrewdly snuck us in before the open house, preempting a bidding war by submitting a take-it-or-leave-it offer that cut out the competition. (I expect Vince will be surprised to learn he's been nominated for a Congressional Medal of Honor.) Impending homeownership has brought with it complicated new challenges, so I've turned to my wellspring of wisdom for guidance. I now possess a master gardener's understanding of landscaping, and I'm confident that I can parry most of the feminine-looking accoutrements with which my fiancee seems intent upon decorating our new home. In fact, there's only one area where I've come up empty. I've searched in vain for a show called ``Mortgage Hunters,'' but none seems to exist-- perhaps there are aspects of home buying that even HGTV can't spin into fantasy.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today after reading the eloquent and thoughtful remarks offered this morning to the House Resources Committee by Gerald Zackios, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. I commend Chairman Richard Pombo and Ranking Nick Rahall for their leadership in holding this hearing. I would like to comment for the record on the importance of renewing the Compact of Free Association with the Marshall Islands as soon as possible. The Marshallese have long been a strong ally to the United States and our bilateral relationship must continue on its historically solid path. While the amended document negotiated in good faith by the Marshallese and the Departments of State and Interior is outstanding, I believe it still needs to be thoroughly reviewed and enhanced by Congress. As Congress examines the negotiated agreement, it is imperative that serious consideration is given to the additional provisions that could enhance U.S. assistance to the Marshall Islands in the following areas: infrastructure development that will strengthen their economy, federal education programs--which the Marshallese rely on to better prepare their children for the future, disaster relief, adjusting our grant assistance for inflation and finally, providing for the future needs of the landowners of the Kwajalein Atoll, home of a key U.S. Army missile testing facility. Mr. Speaker, I also hope at some appropriate point during the 108th Congress that we will give a full and proper hearing to the outstanding nuclear claims issues for which the Marshallese have petitioned the U.S. government. In closing, the U.S. could not ask for a better partnership than that which we share with the Marshellese. Our careful, collective attention to the Compact and to the wishes of the Marshallese will pay dividends to both countries for decades to come.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill and the rule that brings it to the floor today. I especially support the provisions allowing the use of funds for alternative routes to state certification or traditional preparation for teachers. We need to give, Mr. Speaker, local school boards more freedom and flexibility in this area. This would help solve what we sometimes hear as the ``teacher shortage'' in this country, but that is a government-created teacher shortage by every respect of the word. Right now, if a person with great education and experience in a field wanted to teach, he or she could not do so without a degree in education, except under very limited circumstances. For example, a person with a Ph.D. in chemistry and 25 years of experience as a chemist could not teach high school chemistry in most public schools. The local school board would have to hire a young person with no experience and many fewer chemistry courses instead of the much-better-educated person who wanted to teach as a career change or to perform some community service. Some small private colleges have had financial problems in recent years, but professors with long experience have not been able to move to the public schools. A person who taught English for 30 years in a small college and then decided he wanted to teach in a public school, even though he had long experience teaching, would not be able to move because he perhaps had a Ph.D. in English or some other field instead of a degree in education. We should allow local school boards and school systems to consider an education degree as a plus when other factors are fairly equal. But school boards should also be allowed to hire people with advanced degrees and long experience and/or great success in a field as teachers at full pay, perhaps for some brief probationary period. One respected member of the judiciary told me a couple of years ago he would like to retire early and teach school, but he would have to go through a year-long unpaid internship, which, with his age, education and experience, he simply did not need to do. I remember reading in The Washington Post a year or two ago that one of the real experts in this field, Frederick W. Hess, a University of Virginia professor, called for a radical overhaul of teacher certification. He said if a person has a degree or degrees, can pass a difficult test in the subject and has no criminal records, local school principals are intelligent enough to hire good teachers. Very highly qualified applicants, Mr. Speaker, should not be rejected just because they never took an education course. Our local principals and our local school boards have enough intelligence and sense to hire good teachers, and we should not put restrictions or hindrances in their way. We need to get the best-qualified people we possibly can teaching the children of this Nation, and the best way we can do that is to give these local principals and local school boards more freedom and flexibility in who they are able to hire. Mr. Speaker, I commend all of the people involved with this legislation and especially for putting in the part that allows these funds to be used for alternative routes to certification for traditional routes of preparation for teachers.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, it seems that every day we read about a young American soldier being killed in Iraq. Three were killed in a 24- hour period from Sunday to Monday. In its November 25 issue, ``Fortune'' magazine, long before the war started, said an American occupation would be ``prolonged and expensive'' and that it ``could turn U.S. troops into sitting ducks for Islamic terrorists.'' Unfortunately, this prediction has turned out to be deadly accurate. This past Saturday, the top of the front page of The Washington Post had a headline reading ``Attacks By Iraqi's Growing Bolder.'' The next day a young American soldier was shot in the head at point blank range as he stood in line to buy a soft drink. A few days ago, the leading Shiite cleric, the most respected figure of the largest population group in Iraq, demanded that the U.S. get out and leave Iraq to the Iraqis. It is so politically correct today and sounds so fashionable and intellectual to say that the U.S. will have to be in Iraq for several years and that it will not be easy and that we must be prepared for the sacrifice and the difficulties ahead. Well, someone should ask why. Saddam Hussein was a very evil man, a tyrant, a dictator; but his total military budget was only about two- tenths of 1 percent of ours. He was no threat to us, as this 3-week battle, with almost no resistance, proved. Our military did a great job, as we all knew they would. Now we should bring them home. President Eisenhower, as everyone knows, was a retired Army general, a graduate of West Point. He loved the military. Yet he warned us as strongly as he possibly could against what he call the military industrial complex. Pressured by this complex, we have now spent over $100 billion on the operation in Iraq. The Congressional Budget Office originally estimated that a 3-month war followed by a 5-year occupation would cost us at least $272 billion. Most estimate that we will stay in Iraq for 5 to 10 years, at a cost of 200 to $300 billion, or more. And because we already face a $400 billion deficit for this year, and hundreds of billions more in the years ahead, we will have to borrow the money to do all this. Once again, we should ask: Why? Already we have had demonstrations by Iraqi soldiers demanding back pay, and similar demands from Iraqi retirees. Why should Americans taxpayers borrow hundreds of billions to pay the Iraqi military or Iraqi retirees to rebuild Iraq? We are jeopardizing the futures of our children and grandchildren. I believe our Founding Fathers would be shocked if they knew what we were doing today. I remember reading a few years ago in The Washington Post that we had our troops in Haiti picking up garbage and settling domestic disputes. Later I read that we had our troops in Bosnia building latrines and giving rabies shots to Bosnian dogs. I have nothing against the people in either Haiti or Bosnia, but they should pick up their own garbage and build their own toilets. Now we are told that the military will build or rebuild 6,000 schools in Iraq and give free basic health care to any Iraqis who need it. We will stay in Iraq for many years, at great expense to U.S. citizens, because several large multinational companies will benefit from large contracts there. We will stay there because all the pressures and money and power and glory within the Department of Defense, the State Department, the National Security Council, and our intelligence agencies are to continue to do more and more in other countries. These people are not seen as world statesmen and men and women of action unless we get involved in every dispute around the world. They never debate or discuss the merits of all this; they just label all opponents of an interventionist foreign policy as isolationist. However, whenever anyone uses this term, they are simply resorting to mindless name-calling. Now I suppose we are going into the chaos in Liberia, as we have Haiti, Rwanda, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Lord knows where next. What we really need are more Calvin Coolidges, more people in government who believe in a humble foreign policy. None of these countries were any threat to us. Should we now change the name of the Defense Department to the Department of Foreign Aid or the Department of International Social Work? I believe in and have always supported a strong national defense, but I do not believe in massive foreign aid. Most of our foreign adventures are creating great resentment toward the U.S. around the world. The Iraqi people may have hated Saddam Hussein, but they do not want Americans or our puppets running their country either. They have humongous oil wealth. Let them rebuild their own country. The only Iraqis who want us to stay there are the ones we are paying or who believe they can get money from us in the future. Our first obligation should be to America citizens, and the lives of American soldiers should be precious to us. Let us bring our troops home before more and more of them are murdered. We can be friends with the Iraqi people without making our soldiers sitting ducks for Islamic terrorists. Mr. Speaker, let us leave Iraq to the Iraqis.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor one of the true heroes of Tennessee's Second Congressional District. For forty years Mrs. Jane Lakin has changed the lives of thousands in the Knoxville community through her dedicated service as an elementary school teacher at both the Alice Bell and Spring Hill schools. Having seriously considered a career in teaching myself and having taught briefly at T.C. Williams School in Northern Virginia, I can say without hesitation that this career is one of the most challenging and rewarding any person can undertake. Each Member of this body understands the vital role teachers play in shaping the lives of our youth and I believe every teacher is to be commended. However, to dedicate forty years of one's life to improving and enhancing the education of children is truly exceptional. During Mrs. Lakin's career America has experienced tremendous change. While the Nation grieved the tragedy of President Kennedy's assassination and witnessed the triumphant raising of our Flag on the Moon, Mrs. Lakin walked each morning into a classroom and changed a student's life. As America grew through the turmoil of Viet Nam and later hailed our victory of the Cold War, Mrs. Lakin taught our children, one class at a time, the value and joy of learning. The world has changed and our Country has grown during the past 40 years, but Mrs. Lakin's love of educating the young men and women of Knoxville has never wavered. On behalf of the entire Second Congressional District, I want to thank Mrs. Lakin for her tireless work and her consistent encouragement of her students. Whether or not these students ever have the opportunity to tell her, she has changed their lives for the better and we are all in her debt. The Knoxville News Sentinel recently published an article on Mrs. Lakin and her retirement. I would like to include this article in its entirety in the Congressional Record. I hope that women and men teaching today will look to Mrs. Lakin's example as an inspiration and a confirmation of the tremendous value they bring to our Country. [From the Knoxville News Sentinel, June 9, 2003] Spring Hill Teacher Retires After 40 Years (By Ed Marcum) There's an odd thing about working with your former fourth- grade teacher, said Jackie Pena, who teaches kindergartners at Spring Hill Elementary School. Even after you have grown up, it's hard to forget that you once sat at a little desk in her classroom. Pena said that's why it was hard for her to think of Jane Lakin as just another one of the teachers at Spring Hill. ``The hardest thing was to get used to not calling her Mrs. Lakin,'' Pena said. Lee Ann Parker, who was a classmate of Pena's in the fourth grade, agreed. Parker, the music teacher at Spring Hill, said it felt funny to call Lakin by her first name. ``You just don't say that to your teacher,'' she said. Lakin has retired after 40 years' teaching in the Alice Bell/Spring Hill community. ``Forty years and six months,'' Lakin said to be precise. Irene Patterson, guidance counselor at Spring Hill, got to work closely with Lakin over the years. ``A lot of seasoned teachers get set in their ways, but she was always willing to try something new,'' Patterson said. ``And she did a lot of things for children that no one knew about.'' ``She would come into my office and say, `Irene, I noticed that such-and-such student is wearing her big sister's worn- out shoes, so I've bought her a pair.' '' The student would get a new pair of shoes anonymously. Patterson said Lakin brought in such gifts a number of times. Pena remembers that Lakin was always eager to help new teachers. ``She has always made people feel welcome and has been a mentor to new teachers,'' Pena said. Lakin, who lives in Ritta, moved to Knoxville in 1962 from Chattanooga, where she had taught for a year. She found a position at Alice Bell Elementary and taught there until 1991, when that school was consolidated into Spring Hill Elementary. Lakin said when you spend your whole career teaching in the same general neighborhood, you end up teaching the children of the children you have taught, and you run into former students most every time you go to the grocery store. ``I never really meant to stay here 40 years, but it just worked out that way,'' she said. Teaching has changed since 1962, Lakin said. Teachers had more flexibility then. ``In those days, the things you taught were mostly by your own design. Now someone tells you what to teach,'' she said. Lakin said she and other teachers stayed on the lookout for ideas to try out in the classroom. She said she became a ``pack rat,'' always scrounging thrift stores or yard sales for craft items, plastic boxes or any materials that might come in handy in class. She said plastic boxes are essential for storing supplies. ``Teachers ought to buy stock in plastic boxes,'' Lakin said. There are so many classroom requirements now that a teacher's time in the classroom is much more regimented, Lakin said. ``You just feel like you can't do something unless it will be on a test. There's no time for fun things,'' she said. Pena and Parker said some of their fondest memories were of Lakin bringing in books and reading them to the class. She is a good dramatic reader, they said. Lakin and her husband, Nelson Lakin, own a farm in Ritta, and Patterson said she will always remember the roses that Lakin grew there and brought to the school office. Lakin said some of her favorite memories are of the years her students made trees for the Fantasy of Trees holiday celebration. ``Of course, they hated to give up the tree, once we finished,'' Lakin said. ``We would usually have to make two of everything so the students would have ornaments to take home with them.'' Then there were the occasional bizarre moments, like the time a boy brought a skunk to school for show-and-tell. ``It got loose and ran all over the school,'' she said. ``Luckily, its scent gland had been removed.'' Eventually the skunk was apprehended. Lakin remembers when Pena and Parker were in her class. They were both good students, Lakin said, although Pena sometimes talked when she wasn't supposed to. Lakin said that on at least one occasion she had to have a word with Parker. ``I think Lee Ann was the more mischievous,'' Lakin said. ``She had a club, and she was charging everyone on the playground to belong to it.'' Both women chuckled, and Parker rolled her eyes. ``It only cost a nickel,'' she said. ``It had to be disbanded,'' Lakin said. Lakin said she will miss the classroom, but she looks forward to having more time for gardening and maybe doing a little traveling. ``I might do some volunteer work, too,'' she said.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, it seems that the Federal Government is so big and bureaucratic that it cannot do anything in an economical or efficient way. In fact, we read and hear about so many examples of waste of Federal money that we too often take it for granted or shrug our shoulders about it. The San Francisco Chronicle reported recently that the Defense Department ``couldn't account for more than a trillion dollars in financial transactions, not to mention dozens of tanks, missiles and planes.'' Listen to what this story said: ``Though defense has long been notorious for waste, recent government reports suggest the Pentagon's money management woes have reached astronomical proportions. A study by the Defense Department's Inspector General found that the Pentagon couldn't properly account for more than a trillion dollars in monies spent. A GAO report found defense inventory systems so lax that the U.S. Army lost track of 56 airplanes, 32 tanks and 36 Javelin missile command launch units.'' This story, Mr. Speaker, was not based on reports from some antidefense group. It came from studies done by the Defense Department's own Inspector General and the General Accounting Office of the Congress. This comes on the heels of the Congress overwhelmingly voting for the biggest increase in defense spending ever. And now the Defense Department wants another mega-billion increase and a mega- billion supplemental appropriation, all taking place after we downsized the military by about 1 million troops and closed several bases. All of us want to support the military, but surely we cannot just sit around and allow such horrendous waste to continue. Then there is the case, Mr. Speaker, of Eric Rudolph. The FBI spent untold millions and had hundreds of agents involved over several years in this manhunt. The FBI should be embarrassed that Rudolph was finally found by a rookie local small-town police officer who had only been on the force for about 9 months. And he found him in Rudolph's home area. We give far too much of our law enforcement dollar to Federal agencies which make only a very tiny fraction of the arrests, probably less than 1 percent. What we need to do is give far more of our law enforcement money to local police and sheriff's departments. They are the officers who are fighting the real crime, the street crime that people want fought. Finally, Mr. Speaker, talk about waste, we have spent hundreds of billions, with a B, on our intelligence agencies over the last 10 or 15 years. We spend more on intelligence than all the rest of the world combined. We will vote to authorize even more spending on intelligence tomorrow. Yet during this time our intelligence agencies missed the coming down of the Berlin Wall; they missed, failed to predict, the breakup of the Soviet Union; they missed on 9/11. Worst of all, they missed or exaggerated on Iraq. Even the Weekly Standard, probably the most pro-war publication in America today said, ``The failure to discover stocks of WMD material in post-Saddam Iraq raises legitimate questions about the quality of U.S. and allied intelligence.'' Columnist Josh Marshall, writing in The Hill newspaper asked: ``Did we have bad intelligence? Did political appointees dismiss good, but less threatening intelligence? Or was damning intelligence actually cooked up for political purposes? Those are all legitimate questions. But when Congress starts trying to get at the answers, we should be open to the more complex but in its own way no less disturbing possibility that at least some of the main proponents of this war were so consumed by their goal to crush Saddam and so driven by ideology that they fooled themselves as much as anyone else.'' These are good, legitimate and very important questions. Another good question: Why did the National Security Agency find out ``about the attacks of 9/11 by watching CNN,'' as reported by intelligence expert and author James Bamford? This is an agency that we built a plush supertechnical $320 million building for a few years ago at a cost of $320 a square foot. Probably the most important question of all, why are we getting so little and so much of that for all these hundreds of billions of taxpayer money? The standard response of all Federal departments and agencies when they are criticized is that they were underfunded. If they had just been given more money, this or that problem would not have occurred. These agencies, if anything, are overfunded, far more money than any company in the private sector. Our intelligence committees are filled with good people; but no one seeks to serve, much less is appointed, to the intelligence committees unless they are strong supporters of the intelligence community. Once they are on the committee, they are heavily courted by the intelligence agencies. So it will be very difficult for a member of these committees in either body to ask the really tough questions that need to be asked. But, Mr. Speaker, I hope for the sake of our own taxpayers and for the future of national security of this Nation that someone on one of the intelligence committees will start asking the hard questions and demanding the truthful answers that our citizens deserve.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, one of my constituents has written a poem that showcases our Nation's flag in a glorifying manner. Mr. Victor Miller of Madisonville, Tennessee is the author of a poem titled ``Soliloquy.'' Mr. Miller is the son of Jeanette Miller, who passed this poem along to me. Our Country's morale and heritage is strong today because of patriots like Victor Miller. I would like to call ``Soliloquy'' to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record. Soliloquy Imagine as a flag on all folks passing by with edifying waves influencing their lives. Esteemed a lofty reign & honored to belong all would offer tribute in oaths, salute or songs! Recognition could abound for victories secured defending liberties despite many injured. A patriotic stance of opportunities advocating, freedoms by land, the air & sea! In each of fifty stars & else where when observed the glory of your stripes would valiantly be served! Halleluah!!!!

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Chairman, I rise in very strong support of this legislation, which has been entitled Flight 100. It is a very important bill for our entire Nation. It is important even for those who never fly because a strong aviation system is so vital to our entire economy. I want to commend the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica) and the ranking member, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), and the ranking member of the full committee, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), whose knowledge of the aviation system we all admire so much, and our great chairman, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), for this bill. As the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica) mentioned, I had the privilege of chairing the Subcommittee on Aviation for 6 years; but I cannot tell you how much I admire and respect the work that the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica) has done. No one could have done a better job as chairman of that subcommittee. And I certainly appreciate all the work he has done because that subcommittee has to deal with some very difficult and contentious issues at times, and that has been particularly so over the last couple of years. This bill continues what I think was very good work that we did in the AIR 21 legislation that I had the privilege to work on while I was chairman of the subcommittee. I especially want to mention, as the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) did, the environmental streamlining provisions, because we have had so many hearings that said projects were costing three times as much as they should and taking an average of 10 years to complete because of convoluted and confusing environmental rules. I know the main runway at the Atlanta airport took 14 years from conception to completion, but only 99 days of actual construction. I appreciate the provisions in regard to general aviation which is so important to this Nation's economy, and small and medium-sized airports, because that is vital to areas like mine. I want to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica) for the provisions concerning Midway Island and making that eligible for AIP funding because that is something that means so much to so many veterans. Finally, to the National Safe Skies Alliance, which has done so much work on aviation safety and security. I urge support for this bill.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, a front-page story today in the Washington Post says, ``Iraqi political leaders lashed out today at a plan by the top U.S. civilian administrator here to appoint an interim advisory council.'' The headline says, ``Iraqis Assail U.S. Plans.'' The front page of the Washington Times has a story today saying, ``Unemployed Iraqi soldiers swarmed U.S. occupation headquarters yesterday demanding back pay and emergency payments of $50 each and avowing vengeance if they didn't get their way.'' We are in a real mess in Iraq. Since when did it become the obligation of U.S. taxpayers to pay the salaries of the Iraqi military? When in history has a victorious army had to start paying the salaries of the defeated army? We have already given the retired people on pensions in Iraq emergency payments, handing out two crisp $20 bills to each, and probably more by now. Since when did it become the obligation of U.S. taxpayers to pay the pensions of Iraqi retirees? Those who support foreign aid found out many years ago that it was very unpopular so they just started putting our foreign aid and overseas spending into every Federal department and agency. The supporters of foreign aid very misleadingly say foreign aid is only about 1 percent of the Federal budget. What they do not say is that we are spending several hundreds of billions of dollars through every Federal department and agency. I am very pro-military and pro-national defense. However, in many ways today we are turning the Defense Department into the biggest foreign aid agency there is. We were told a few weeks ago that the military is going to build or rebuild 6,000 schools in Iraq and set up a free basic health care plan for all Iraqi citizens. I heard one Member jokingly say that he was going to suggest changing the name of a small town in Wisconsin to the name Iraq so that town could qualify for the huge money that is about to be spent. We are told that the U.S. will spend $200 to $300 billion rebuilding Iraq over the next 10 years. This means $20 to $30 billion each year in a country where the gross domestic product last year was less than $60 billion. Our military did a great job in Iraq, as we all knew they would. But we spent over $100 billion to defeat a country whose total military budget was only $1.4 billion, about two-tenths of 1 percent of ours. Saddam Hussein was a very evil man, but Iraq was never any real threat to us, as this 3-week war proved. Now we are in a real mess. Fortune Magazine, in its November 25 issue a few months before the war started, had an article entitled ``Iraq, We Win, What Then?'' That article said, ``A military victory could turn into a strategic defeat. A prolonged, expensive American-led occupation could turn U.S. troops into sitting ducks for Islamic terrorists. All of that could have immediate and negative consequences for the global economy.'' That is exactly what is happening today. I heard one American general say on the news recently that the American military was not designed to be a police force. Yet that is exactly what we are doing in Iraq today. James Webb, a hero in Vietnam and President Reagan's Secretary of the Navy, wrote before the war: ``The issue before us is not whether the U.S. should end the regime of Saddam Hussein but whether we as a Nation are prepared to occupy a territory in the Middle East for the next 30 to 50 years.'' He was one of many, many conservatives against this war. Charley Reese, the very popular conservative columnist, wrote a column March 24 entitled ``Congratulations'' for becoming ``the proud mamas and papas of 22 million Iraqis'' since we will be providing them with so much. He then wrote: ``I have long been against taxing Americans to solve problems in foreign countries. It seems to me to be a simple proposition. Until an American politician can honestly say that all Americans are healthy and prosperous, that all children attend a clean, well-equipped school, that our entire infrastructure is up to speed, that all of our public health and environmental problems have been solved, then American tax dollars ought to be spent in the United States. I've read the Constitution I don't know how many times, but I never found anywhere in it that Congress can tax Americans and give the money to foreigners, but Congress does it, anyway.'' Are true conservatives now for massive foreign aid? I do not think so. Are true conservatives for huge deficit spending? I do not think so. Are true conservatives for world government and the U.S. becoming the world's policeman? I do not think so. Yet we will spend all these many billions in Iraq because a few big multinational companies will make sure we do and because some government officials feel more important if they are placed in charge of other countries. Charley Reese also wrote in that same column: ``We, of course, will get stuck with the bill and it will cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Some of the politicians' corporate cronies are already being promised lucrative contracts. There's always a profit to be made from war. You and I won't make it; the soldiers, sailors and airmen won't make it. No, as consumers we pay the price in treasure and blood and grief; the big corporations reap the profit.'' In yesterday's Washington Post, a story said that some of the same Iraqis who are smiling at U.S. soldiers are harshly criticizing U.S. rule when the soldiers are not around. The Iraqi people hated Hussein, but the only ones who want us around are the ones we are paying. We should get out of Iraq, Mr. Speaker, the sooner the better and not put more American lives at risk. We should let Iraqis use their humongous oil wealth to rebuild their own country.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, it is really very simple: there is waste in the private sector, just like there is waste in the public sector; but the waste in the business world pales in comparison to the waste in government. Thus, every dollar we can keep in the private sector creates more jobs and lowers more prices. We get more bang for the buck, so to speak, from every dollar kept in private hands. Who benefits the most from having more jobs and lower prices? The poor and lower-income and working people of this country. This has been proven time and again all over the world. Small government means a good economy. Too much government means a starvation economy where the middle class gets wiped out. Mr. Speaker, that is what this tax cut is all about. If people really want to help the lower-income and working people of this country, they will support the President's tax cut initiative.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Evelyn Billingsley was the head custodian at Blue Grass Elementary School in Knoxville, Tennessee. On May 19, 2003, she arrived at her final day of work in a white, stretch limousine. A red carpet led the way into the halls of the school Mrs. Billingsley had swept, mopped and waxed for more than two decades. A crowd of adoring fans lined the carpet and sang, ``When you leave, we'll be so blue. Miss Evelyn, we love you.'' After 23 years of service, Mrs. Billingsley has retired. Affectionately called Miss Evelyn by her Blue Grass Elementary family, this hardworking lady is described by students and teachers alike as the glue that held the school together. I am told it was rare not to find Miss Evelyn in the school, even on weekends or snowdays. Evelyn Billingsley never became rich or famous from the work she did, but she has touched the lives of countless people, and she will not only be remembered fondly at Blue Grass Elementary School, but she will be deeply missed. I have no doubt she has offered the children there lessons in life and love as she roamed the halls and cleaned the classrooms. Knoxville, Tennessee, is a better place because of her, and I believe this Nation is, as well. I would like to call to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record the article which ran on May 20, 2003, in the Knoxville News-Sentinel concerning this outstanding American.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take the Special Order time of the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs. Musgrave).

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to briefly mention two very unrelated topics, but two things very important to the national scene. The front page of The Washington Post a few days ago had this headline: ``Nonprofit Sells Scenic Acreage to Allies at a Loss. Buyers Gain Tax Breaks with Few Curbs on Land Use.'' And I would like for the Members to listen to the first few paragraphs of this story from the front page of The Washington Post. It says: ``On New York's Shelter Island, the Nature Conservancy 3 years ago bought an undeveloped, 10-acre tract overlooking the Mashomack Preserve, an oasis of hardwoods and tidal pools located just a stone's skip from the exclusive Hamptons. Cost to the charity: $2.1 million.'' That is what the Nature Conservancy purchased this land for. ``Seven weeks later it resold the land, with some development restrictions, to James Dougherty, former chairman of the charity's regional chapter, and his wife, Nancy, a trustee of the conservancy's preserve. Cost to the Doughertys: $500,000. ``The transaction follows a pattern seen in conservancy land deals across the Nation. Time and again the nonprofit has bought raw land and resold it at a loss to a trustee or supporter.'' And what this article tells about, it tells about similar deals in Massachusetts, Kentucky, and other places across the country where the Nature Conservancy has bought land at a huge cost, $2.1 million in this case, and resold it to a member of their board or a strong supporter at a great loss, $500,000, for instance, in this $2.1 million deal, some of the most beautiful land in this Nation. People across this country need to know that the Nature Conservancy is doing these types of sweetheart deals for its board members and other favored people around the country. The other unrelated topic, Madam Speaker, another very important concern of mine is the fact that we keep on sending so many jobs to other countries. Just before the break, I spoke about another story from The Washington Post which told that one of the biggest exports we have in this country now is with the white collar or technical-type jobs, and it told that over the next decade we are going to lose at least 3 million or more white collar or technical jobs to places like India, China, and other countries. The gurus or the supporters of high tech told us for years that we did not need to worry about losing the factory jobs and the lower-wage jobs to other countries, that we would be a service economy or that we would have the more educated type of jobs. Now we are losing those at a very alarming pace. And when I graduated from college, people could get good jobs with bachelor's degrees. Now young people are being forced to go to graduate school and sometimes are not even finding jobs when they have master's degrees or Ph.D. degrees, and that is why we find so many people in graduate school or even with graduate degrees working as waiters and waitresses around the country. And if we do not stop this, we are going to have a real problem in this country. And Paul Craig Roberts, who is a nationally syndicated columnist, one of our most respected columnists and was a former assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President Reagan, a very conservative Republican, he wrote a few days ago, he said in the last 27 months: ``The U.S. economy has lost 2.6 million private sector jobs. Much of this loss is from the fall in profits and subsequent downsizing after the high-tech bust. Some lost jobs, however, are from a new development: America's export of high-wage jobs to low-wage countries. ``The collapse of the Soviet Union, China's `capitalist road,' and privatizations in formerly socialist economies made it reasonably safe for U.S. firms to locate capital and technology abroad to employ foreign labor to produce for the U.S. market. The main incentive to take production offshore is the availability of labor at wages far below the U.S. rate. ``Foreign labor can be hired at a fraction of U.S. cost, because the standard of living is much lower in China, India, and other Asian countries. These countries have a labor supply that is large relative to demand, making it possible to employ people at wages considerably less than the value of their contribution to output.'' And it goes on in this column, Madam Speaker, and says: ``Thus the very process that helps U.S. firms become more profitable and price competitive worsens the U.S. trade deficit, lowers U.S. employment and GDP growth and puts pressure on the value of the dollar. ``The growing ability of U.S. employers to substitute cheaper foreign labor for U.S. labor is putting pressure on U.S. wages and salaries. On April 26 The New York Times reported that real earnings of those in the top 10 percent fell 1.4 percent over the last year. The real weekly pay for the median worker fell 1.5 percent. ``Another indication of the pressure on U.S. employment is the growing number of discouraged job seekers who have dropped out of the labor force. The 6 percent unemployment rate does not include those too discouraged to seek jobs.'' If we do not start putting American workers first once again, Madam Speaker, we are going to have a real problem in this country.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate one of East Tennessee's finest citizens on his recent retirement as Assistant Adjutant General for the Tennessee Air National Guard. Major General Fred Forster has served his community, State and Nation in a manner that can only be described as remarkable. I know each Member of this Body joins me today in thanking him for a job well done and wishing him the absolute best in all his future endeavors. I have said many times that the men and women who wear the uniform of this great Country's military are following one of America's highest callings. Each person who serves this Nation is to be commended and thanked. There are those however who stand out even amongst this crowded field of heroes. General Fred Forster is such a man. He has himself described a leader as someone willing to act and act consistently. I have had the privilege of knowing Fred Forster for many years and can say that he is such a man. His ability to lead large numbers of military personnel is matched only by his genuine concern for the individual. General Forster offers those around him a unique glimpse into what it truly means to be a leader of men. General Forster has been awarded numerous medals and decorations for his military service including the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal to name only three. I do not believe, however, that if he were here with us today he would say these are the best measures of his service. I believe that General Forster would say that his career should be measured by the simple fact that he gave his very best to his Country and to those under his command. Fred Forster joined the United States Air Force in 1968 after graduating from the University of the South at Sewanee with a degree in English. He began his military career during one of our Nation's most turbulent military conflicts. Following completion of his own pilot training, Fred served as an instructor pilot. He later served as an Air Operations Plans Officer in Thailand. In each responsibility he was given he quickly proved his leadership abilities and profound dedication to our Country's military men and women. Following the Vietnam War and completion of his Masters degree General Forster joined the Tennessee Air National Guard in 1976. He again demonstrated natural leadership and commitment to those under his command. In 1987 he was assigned command of the 134th Air Refueling Group at the McGhee-Tyson Airbase in Blount County, Tennessee. For the next ten years, then-Colonel Forster led the 134th as it grew to its current designation as an Air Refueling Wing. The men and women of the 134th were called to active duty during the Persian Gulf War and flew under Colonel Forster's command as part of the 1713th Air Refueling Wing. During the conflict the 1713th played a critical role in supporting the countless combat missions that led to the liberation of Kuwait. On July 15, 2002, Forster was promoted to Assistant Adjutant General for the Tennessee Air National Guard and in this capacity served as the second highest ranking officer in the State's Air Guard. In addition to his recent work with the Tennessee Air National Guard, General Forster continues to serve as the President and CEO of the Blount County Chamber of Commerce where he has offered his service and leadership to the betterment of the community around him. Although he has now retired as Assistant Adjutant General, I am confident he will continue to offer himself to the service of Blount County and the State of Tennessee. Through both his professional and personal example, General Forster has set a standard of excellence few will fully reach but each of us would be better for trying. I want to personally thank General Forster for his service and congratulate him on his recent retirement. I also want to thank him for his friendship.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, later this month, the U.S. will welcome President Note of the Marshall Islands as he visits our country. His visit here will coincide with the Bush Administration's transmittal to Congress of the document that governs the bilateral relationship enjoyed by our nations. This little known treaty embodies the best of U.S. diplomacy and strategic policy in recent decades. Ronald Reagan was President and the Democrats controlled both House of Congress when a bipartisan majority of both Houses approved the Compact of Free Association between the U.S. and two Pacific island micro-states. The treaty of free association between the United States, Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia ended more than four decades of United Nations trust territory status for the islands, and these new nations, under new flags, themselves then became members of the United Nations. Not only was this a good model for decolonization of dependent territories, but the compact also preserved U.S. strategic interests in the islands. Under the treaty, an area of ocean as large as the continental United States, with strategically located islands stretching from the mid-Pacific to the Asian rim, remains foreclosed in perpetuity to the military forces of any nation other than the United States. U.S. strategic interest in the Marshall Islands began in 1946 when the U.S. conducted its first atmospheric nuclear weapons test at Bikini. During the next decade over 67 tests were conducted, leaving a legacy of injuries to people and contamination of homelands that is still being resolved through claims settlement proceedings authorized by Congress under the compact. Amazingly, the islanders suffered greatly but consider themselves survivors rather than just victims, U.S. allies rather than just a subjugated people. In addition nuclear test sites in the islands, Kwajalein Missile Range in the Marshall Islands was perhaps the most vital facility in the U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile development program, a centerpiece of U.S. nuclear deterrence that prevented the Cold War from turning into nuclear winter. Renamed the U.S. Army Ronald Reagan Missile Test Range, Kwajalein played an indispensable role in the Strategic Defense Initiative that helped bring about disarmament and end the Soviet empire. To preserve the compact's success and the underlying strategic interests, Congress has to renew the economic assistance provisions of the compact that expires this year. The Bush Administration has consulted with Congress about renewal terms in a bipartisan spirit, and has addressed concerns raised by GAO about fiscal accountability for the island governments, as well tightening up controls on migration between the islands and the mainland. Free association is based on separate sovereignty, nationality and citizenship, and is free because any party to the compact can terminate it in favor of full independence at any time. Thus, it is not some screwy scheme of co-mingled nationality or neo-colonial entanglement. Indeed, the whole point of free association is that it continues as long as it serves the mutual interest of the parties. Clearly, from a strategic point of view alone, U.S. interests preclude letting the compact lapse. Moreover, the islands have been good allies, reliably voting with the U.S. in the U.N. on important issues. Under the compact, islanders are eligible for service in the U.S. military, and both Marshall Islanders and Micronesians have fought with the 3d Infantry in the streets of Baghdad as comrades in arms with American soldiers. This is an alliance that represents the best of American diplomacy, and the compact also demonstrates that America deals honorably with small nations that share our values. Obviously, there are other priorities, but the Administration should send the treaty renewal agreements to Congress without further delay, and Congress should renew the Compact of Free Association before it expires, thereby sustaining a bipartisan foreign policy and national security success story.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Costello) for his work on this legislation. The ranking member, as he said, is a very good friend of mine and he is a pleasure to work with on this subcommittee. This bill, as I mentioned in my first statement, is strongly supported by wastewater utility systems all over the entire Nation. This Nation has 16,000 wastewater utility systems. These grants would probably be most applicable to the 2,000 larger utilities. There is a $150,000 cap per grant in this legislation and that is so a small handful of cities cannot gobble up all of this money and so it will be spread very effectively throughout the Nation to do this very important security work. This bill provides for 75 percent Federal share of this money and then, of course, there would be a local participation for the remainder of the amount, and the total authorization of the bill, as both I and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Costello) have noted, is $220 million, $15 million of which would go for technical assistance to the smaller utilities. We have written this legislation so that there is no Davis-Bacon issue or any other controversial issue, and I think this legislation has strong and broad bipartisan support, strong support from both sides of the aisle. It is cosponsored both by the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) and the ranking member, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) and myself and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Costello). I think it is a measure that deserves and can justify and merit the support of all Members of this body.

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 866, The Wastewater Treatment Works Security Act of 2003. The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, made the identification and protection of critical infrastructure a national priority and taught our Nation to take a broader look at our vulnerabilities. A good deal of planning and protection of our Nation's critical infrastructure is now under way as a result of these tragic events. But only limited attention has been given to security issues associated with our Nation's wastewater treatment plants. Sewer pipes form a vast underground network that could provide a terrorist with access to many public buildings, urban centers, private businesses, residential neighborhoods, military installations, and transportation systems. A wastewater treatment system itself could also be a target of an attack with significant public health and environmental impacts. H.R. 866 will help communities across the country address these security concerns by authorizing, first, $200 million for grants to wastewater utilities to conduct vulnerability assessments and implement security enhancements at their facilities; secondly, $15 million for technical assistance to small wastewater facilities on security measures; and, thirdly, $5 million for the further development and refinement of vulnerability self-assessment methodologies and tools for use by wastewater facilities. These authorizations are designed to help wastewater treatment utilities take immediate and very necessary steps to improve security at their facilities and to fill a remaining major security gap within our Nation's critical infrastructure. These authorizations do not create a new, ongoing infrastructure assistance program or create any new Federal mandates. The Association of Metropolitan sewerage agencies and the National Rural Water Association strongly support this legislation, as do utilities from cities throughout the Nation. This is the same bill the House passed by voice vote in the last Congress. Unfortunately, the Senate failed to act on it. I urge all Members to support this very important and very bipartisan bill to improve our Nation's security. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Jerry ``Ace'' Miller, the long-time supervisor of boxing for the City of Knoxville, Tennessee, in my District. Ace Miller is one of the most respected people in East Tennessee. He is part of a very influential group in our area called the ``Burlington Boys,'' and we share many mutual friends. Ace Miller has devoted his life to underprivileged young people by inspiring them to be the best that they can be no matter what they have to overcome in life. He has made a difference in the lives of many young men around the region. Ace is widely regarded as a boxing expert all over the country and has made many friends around the Nation. He has long been associated with the Golden Gloves Charities and will continue to be the general manager of this great organization after his retirement. Mr. Speaker, Jerry ``Ace'' Miller is a fine American who has touched the lives of countless young people. His dedication to the sport of boxing serves as an example for people all over our country. This Nation would be a much better place if there were more people here like Ace Miller. I would like to congratulate Ace Miller on a tremendous career, and I urge all of my colleagues and other readers of the Record to read the fine article about him that was published in the Knoxville News- Sentinel. [From the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Mar. 20, 2003] Ace Miller Retires as Knoxville's Supervisor of Boxing (By Chuck Cavalaris) Ace Miller wanted to try and keep news of his retirement quiet. You might as well ask someone to bang a drum softly--for 33 years. It just isn't going to happen. Miller retired as the City of Knoxville's supervisor of boxing, effective Feb. 27. He survived everything from three heart attacks in a matter of hours in April 1999 to floods and personal threat at the gym. Miller was hired in 1970 by former mayor Kyle Testerman and will continue to be the general manager of Golden Gloves Charities. ``This is just a particular time in my life when I am not so sure what the future holds,'' said Miller, who is known as ``The Colonel'' and will be 64 on March 31. ``We've had disasters galore, but the greatest tragedy is losing some of the great volunteers who have been a part of this program.'' It was a huge loss when his sister-in-law, Shirley Eckard, lost a battle with cancer in the 1980s. Bobby Mills died several years earlier. Cotton Jackson will never be replaced. Nor will Skinny Miller, Don Marshall or former State Rep. Ted Ray Miller, who was Ace's big brother. Others come to mind, such as Jim Brown, Norman Anderson and Raleigh Johnson. On the other hand, someone like Stan Hamilton remains a vital part of a model program. He just happens to be one of the most-respected boxing referees in the world. Dr. Robert Whittle has been a Hall of Fame volunteer, working alongside Con Hunley, Gene Limbaugh, Glenn Allen, Max Witt and Joyce Spraker. Longtime City Council members Jack Sharpe and Larry Cox have provided advice, along with friendship. ``No one person could possibly accomplish what we have accomplished,'' said Miller, whose group raises almost $100,000 a year. ``It takes a team effort and I am fortunate to have a family who has been a big part of my passion for doing this.'' The team he was referring to includes assistant coach Steve Whitt, Regina Sams Odom, Tracy Miller Davis, Dusty Miller Graves, Jerry Miller, Ellen Luttrell and, of course, his wife Lady Di, or Dianna the Great. ``My time with the city has ended,'' Miller said, ``but my time in the gym is not over. The floor needs to be mopped. Then somebody has to sweep it.''