Jimmy Duncan

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, after 50 years as a mobile, tactical radar unit, the 119th Air Control Squadron, commanded by Lt. Col. John F. White at McGhee Tyson Air Base in the Second District of Tennessee, is observing its half-century of service this month. This is also a unique and interesting time for the squadron, as it will be the oldest Air National Guard unit in East Tennessee to move to the United States Space Command. The Space Command was looking for a unit that had a depth of experience in command and control, running an operations center for a general office, controlling forces, movement of forces, the operations of forces, and responding to other tasks. The 119th Air Control Squadron matched these qualifications and demands perfectly. The unit was federally recognized 50 years ago on October 6, 1950, while located on Sutherland Avenue at the former site of McGhee Tyson Airport in west Knoxville. It was called to active duty in 1952 to Otis Air Force Base in Massachusetts. It has been at its present location at McGhee Tyson Air Base since 1956. Over the past decade, the unit has completed seven major Air Force command inspections. The last one was in 1996 at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico when the unit received the highest rating ever given an air squadron during an Operational Readiness Inspection. The 119th Squadron has been awarded six Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards, two Joint Meritorious Service Awards, two National Guard Meritorious Service Awards, and two Air Guard Outstanding Mission Support Squadron Awards. Mr. Speaker, I know that I join with the citizens of the 2nd District in congratulating Lt. Col. John F. White and the 119th Squadron for their service and devotion to the people of East Tennessee and the world. I want to wish them all the luck in the future on their new missions and endeavors. I ask my fellow colleagues and other readers of the Record to join me in thanking the 119th Squadron for their many years of service and contributions to East Tennessee and the United States. Our Nation is certainly a better place because of people like those who serve in the beloved 119th Air Control Squadron.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, today I want to recognize Mr. Bo Shafer, who recently became the International President of the Kiwanis Club. He is one of the finest men I know. All who know Bo Shafer agree that he is a compassionate leader who serves our Country well. His dedication and commitment to community service and involvement are an example to everyone. He has served for 33 years on the Salvation Army Board, raised millions of dollars for the Center of Hope and other organizations, and served as an elder and Sunday school teacher at the Second Presbyterian Church, just to name a few. In 1995 he was named Community Leader of the Year by the Religious Heritage of America. Bo Shafer also served as United Way chairman in 1983 and co-chairman with his wife, Mary, in 1994. Bo's devotion to community service can only be outdone by his commitment to family. Bo and Mary have been married for 33 years. They have a beautiful family, including the recent addition of their first grandchild, Christopher. This Country would be a better place if we had more men like Bo Shafer. I want to say thank you to a great Tennessean, a great American, my friend, Bo Shafer. I have included a copy of an article written in Kiwanis Magazine honoring Bo Shafer that I would like to call to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record. [From Kiwanis Magazine, Oct. 2000] At the Heart of Bo Shafer (By Chuck Jonak) At Cain Seed Hollow, Bo and Mary Shafer's family finds a Tennessean slice of paradise. Norris Lake laps lightly at its banks some 100 feet below the cottage's second-story deck. Leaves rustle, Hummingbirds flit about in zigzag flight. Vixen lazes away her dog's life, napping between the two rocking chairs where Bo and Mary watch the sun set over the river lake's distant horizon. The quite's so loud, you can hear yourself think. Soaking up the serenity, Bo reflects on the countless good times centered on this rustic retreat he carved into a plot of sloping woods: a fireplace crackling on a winter's night with his beloved wife snuggling close; churning up homemade ice cream while his young daughter, Heidi, stands wide-eyed by his side; the scent of the forest as he cuts fallen trees with his teenage son, Andy; the inner-tube train filled with his kids' friends bouncing and laughing behind a slow-moving speedboat's wake. Soon, a grandchild (or two or three) will create new memories, gleefully playing below on his kids' swings--now still. Bo counts his blessings. A life rich with love and joy, he's always strived to share it with as many people as possible, and he will be afforded a global opportunity to expand upon a lifelong devotion to community service as Kiwanis' 2000-01 International President--while spreading his homespun ``Boverbs'': ``Joy comes from giving; pleasure comes from taking'' ``I don't think people are born with a servant heart; I think we're born selfish,'' Bo theorizes. ``And if you don't have spiritual help, you really don't have the right heart to do things for other people and expect nothing in return. When I ask people why they help others, the answer I usually get is that it makes them feel good. That's fine, but if you do it for that reason, that's not altruistic service.'' Bo knows. His civic involvement, particularly in the fund- raising arena, in which he's raised millions of dollars, is as deep as his roots to his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. He always has devoted about 50 percent of his waking hours to community service of some form. Consider a sampling: 33 years on the Salvation Army Board, including $5 million raised for the Center of Hope as campaign co-chairman (with good friend and Knoxville Rotarian Dale Keasling); United Way chairman in 1983 and co-chairman (with Mary) in 1994, including $1.6 million raised for McNabb Children and Youth Center as campaign co-chairman (again with Keasling); Second Presbyterian Church elder and Sunday school teacher for 31 years; and 1995 Community Leader of the Year by the Religious Heritage of America. ``We are blessed to be a blessing to others'' ``With United Way, I'd visit agencies and learn more and more about how many people need help,'' President Bo says, ``I really learned Bo's servant heart was nurtured by his parents. His mother, Evelyn, age 93, with whom he lunches nearly every Wednesday, has a master's degree in child development. She taught school for a while but then stayed home to raise Bo, his twin sister, and his brother and other sister. His father, Alex, who died in 1967, was the son of a West Virginia railroad machinist, an insurance agent, and a Knoxville Kiwanian. In 1965 alone, he was the Kentucky- Tennessee Kiwanis District governor, the Knoxville Elk Club exalted leader, and a local school board member. Still, Bo's dad--and his mother--always were involved in their children's activities. ``Don't worry that your children aren't listening to you; worry that they're watching you'' ``I had a very supportive family. My parents were the biggest influence on me by far, and my daddy influenced me most on community service,'' Bo recalls. ``He had a good heart; he always was helping people.'' Born February 1, 1937, Bo had an active childhood, especially in sports. He was on the high school basketball and track teams, and he excelled at football, earning all- state honors and a scholarship to the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville. Notably, he was a charter member of the West High School Key Club, and then he became a charter member of the UT Circle K club. Years later when Bo was the Circle K club's Kiwanis sponsor, he helped it form a Big Brothers chapter. In college, football--which is taken very seriously at UT-- occupied much of his time. A six-foot-two-inch, 220-pound ``average'' tackle who played iron-man football (offense and defense) for the Volunteers, he saw a lot of action as a junior and was a first-stringer his senior year. (The Vols went to the 1956 Sugar Bowl with tailback Johnny Majors and to the 1957 Gator Bowl.) Bo was more than just a jock, though: His senior year, he was elected student government president. He graduated in 1959 with a bachelor's degree in business. Then it was off to the United States Army for 18 months with his Reserve Officers' Training Corps commission. He was a first lieutenant in the military police with a logistical command unit stationed in Metz, France, for more than a year. He credits that experience (as well as seven years in the US Army Reserve) for enhancing his leadership skills. Returning home, Bo began the pursuit of his career aspirations and soon opened the Shafer Insurance Agency with his father in 1963. (Today, the agency has 17 employees, including his son, who also is a UT business grad.) ``Nothing worthwhile is easy'' ``I wrote a paper in the ninth grade about being an insurance agent; that's what I wanted to be,'' Bo says. ``My daddy never came home and complained about the business; he just talked about it positively. I never had another thing that I ever wanted to do except to follow in his footsteps.'' Well, almost nothing. By 1966, Bo was active in the Kiwanis Club of Knoxville (having joined in 1962 with his father's gentle persuasion) as the club's sponsor for the UT Circle K'ers, and, in Mary's words, was ``the most eligible bachelor in town.'' Now, it seems that Mary, who was a UT education major, a former Miss ``The reason guys don't ask out girls is because we're huge chickens'' In September 1966, Mary was helping to organize a benefit fashion show. Knowing that Bo was in the military, she phoned him to ask if he would model in his uniform. He declined but said, ``You sure sound pretty; I'm going to come downtown and see you,'' which he did. (What a line!) Though Mary had a boyfriend at the time, Bo was persistent, and they eventually began dating. She recalls that on their first date, they went to his office, and some little boys stopped by with their report cards. He had a practice of rewarding these disadvantaged kids with a dollar for good grades, which he did, and then he sent the boys on their way, reminding them to brush their teeth. ``I just thought he was the nicest, most others-centered person I had ever met,'' Mary recalls. ``He has a real heart for other people. He never gets mad. He doesn't talk about others. He doesn't get upset with people, always giving them the benefit of the doubt. I mean, He's just a good person.'' Bo had an equally positive impression of Mary: ``I had dated lots of girls, but I never had the inclination to ask one of them to marry me,'' he says. ``I knew within three weeks that Mary was the one. She is such a good-hearted person. I was ready to marry her right away.'' They waited until the following September. ``We've had as near a perfect marriage as possible; never had an argument in 33 years,'' Bo says. ``I'm a lucky man.'' So are their daughter and son. Mary worked as a substitute teacher briefly, but then she stayed home, because she and Bo believe children need a devoted mother's care and comfort. ``Mothers are the most important people in the world, aren't they? You ever see an athlete say `Hi, Daddy,' on television?'' ``When you think about it, mothers are critical to society, because they're raising the next generation,'' Mary says. ``We put our futures in mothers' hands.'' Responsible fatherhood counts a lot too, of course, and Bo always stressed the importance of good character and trust. ``It takes 20 years to build a reputation, but it only takes one minute to ruin it,'' he says. ``I told my kids there's a difference between reputation and character: Reputation is what people think about you, and character is what you really are. Your character is determined by what you do when nobody's looking.'' Mary and Bo clearly succeeded at parenting. Heidi, 29, taught third grade before giving birth to Christopher this past March and deciding to stay home with her newborn. ``You hear about families whose parents never spent any time with them and never told them they love them, and that's just the opposite of ours,'' says Heidi, who fondly remembers her weekly before-school breakfasts with her dad. ``You never doubted that they were there for you, and that they loved you.'' `` `I love you' is the hardest thing in the world to get out. How dumb is that?'' Andy, 27, continues in his father's footsteps in Kiwanis and other civic groups. ``We always have been a family of example,'' he notes. ``Heidi and I both saw how much our parents helped other people, so it was natural for me to become a Kiwanian.'' Though it's not a ``Boverb,'' it is true that into every life some rain must fall. The past year has rained two traumatic events on the Shafer family: Mary's recurrence of cancer (which now is in remission) and an automobile accident that killed Bo's 28-year-old nephew. Still, they keep a positive attitude. ``Problems can make you better or bitter'' ``You realize how important it is to do what you need to do now, instead of waiting to get to it later, because later may not be here,'' Bo says ``(The cancer) really has made us a better couple, love each other better, and love life more. It can make you a better person.'' Mary echoes his sentiments: ``When you are threatened with a terminal illness, it makes you realize how precious life is. You look at leaves and see that they're absolutely gorgeous. And it helps you realize what's really important.'' ``Quit complaining, and start appreciating life'' Bo claims he altered his perspective on life and quit complaining in 1983 when he was the United Way chairman: ``I held a crack baby in my arms, and I looked at this little girl and said, `What did she do to deserve this?' The answer was `nothing.' And I asked, `What did I do to deserve not to be there?' And the answer was `nothing.' ``We're blessed beyond most of the world's wildest dreams. We don't even know what a problem is; we have to make them up. The problems we complain about, most people would love to have: `The transmission is out in my third car. My steak wasn't tender enough. The ride's too long in the airplane.' I tell them to look out the window and think about crossing the ocean on the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria and shut your mouth!'' he concludes with a laugh. Bo is well aware of the real problems in the world. He recounts an experience in the Philippines where he saw 4,000 families squashed together in houses the size of a car--with no water, no sewers, no electricity, ``When I was leaving,'' he notes, ``I noticed five little girls practicing Kiwanis' second Object (the Golden Rule)--picking lice out of each other's hair.'' Not surprisingly, Bo has a theory about humankind's woes. He calls it ``10-80-10'': 10 percent of people do something about problems; 80 percent of people don't notice problems; and 10 percent of people cause problems. ``Have you got `a round tuit' '' Bo recalls another apropos anecdote: ``I went to a funeral years ago, and I asked a guy who was a friend of the guy who died, `Who's going to take his place?' He looked down at the ground, kicked a rock, and said, `He didn't leave a vacancy.' And that's what happens when somebody doesn't do anything for anybody but themselves. If you don't love other people, who's going to miss you? Most people don't ever get around to helping others. You need something that helps you get around to it, and Kiwanis is a catalyst.'' It certainly has been for Bo. He is the epitome of an active Kiwanian: 38 years in the Knoxville club with 32 years of perfect attendance; 1975-76 club president; chairman of numerous club committees; 10 years as Key Club sponsor, and another five as Circle K sponsor; 1982-83 lieutenant governor; chairman of numerous district committees; 1988-89 Kentucky-Tennessee District governor (distinguished); a member of the International Board since 1994; and so on and so on. ``A fish gets caught because it doesn't keep its mouth shut'' By his own admission, though, Bo never had a driving ambition to reach district and International leadership positions. He had to be talked into running for district governor and International Trustee. Lexington, Kentucky, Kiwanian John Gorrell, the district's 1989-90 governor, was one of the individuals encouraging Bo, and Past International President Aubrey Irby was another. ``I was a lieutenant governor when Aubrey made his official visit to our district,'' Bo explains, ``and he told me: `Bo, you ought to go further, but don't run for any job. If the door opens, just go through it. If that one doesn't open, another one will.' Well, the doors opened, I went through them, and here I am. ``Now, it's an unbelievable honor and privilege to be President--to be able to say I represent Kiwanians. I'm always amazed when I visit Kiwanians at the dedication they have. There are so many people who are really dedicated Kiwanians.'' Count President Bo among them, and watch for him to be a true motivator, building enthusiasm wherever he goes. And foremost among his goals is growth--but as a way to a means. ``Growth isn't my real goal; helping more people is,'' he clarifies. When it comes to enthusiasm about Kiwanis and the need for more service through growth--stand back and listen to Bo go: ``People aren't joining Kiwanis because we're not asking. We've talked ourselves into thinking that nobody wants to join Kiwanis, and that is not right. Surveys show that young adults want to do more (service work), but no one asks them. That's exactly what we need to start doing. As soon as we start asking, our organization is going to grow.'' ``Ideas are easy: execution is what's hard'' ``What you have to do is when you're around someone, you should be a Kiwanian and start talking about Kiwanis. And you don't say, `Do you want to join the Kiwanis club?' What I always say is how lucky we are to be able to help other people and talk about a Kiwanis project. Tell people what Kiwanis does, and ask, `Would you be interested in helping us help other people, especially children?' ``I talk about what a privilege it is to be able to help others. It's not a duty; it's a privilege. I think in everybody's heart they want to help people, and we need to appeal to that side of it. Hardly anybody can say no when you talk in that context. And the people who say no, well, we don't want them in Kiwanis anyway. ``We need to show people what it's like to be a good Kiwanian. If we show them--be happy, have the right attitude, have a smile on your face--they'll be more inclined to join. It's important to be positive, not negative. People just have to look at the pluses instead of the minuses. ``In my opinion, if a club is not willing to grow, we need to form another one in the same town with young people. I was up at the lake a few years ago, and I saw this great big, strong-looking oak tree. I looked at it and said, `Man, that thing's been there a long time.' I came back the next week, and that oak tree was down. But I looked around and noticed all these little oak saplings growing around it. And I said, `The woods are OK,' and then I thought of Kiwanis.'' ``Nothing good happens unless you make it happen'' ``All we need to do is get a passion to grow. There is about one Kiwanian per 20,000 people in the world, and about 50 percent of the world needs help. We have so much to do, and that's why we need to grow. Getting other people to help us help others is an easy project, if we make that a passion. ``If we can get the leadership--starting from the very top--to start talking positively about how lucky we are and change that attitude, shoot, we can grow like gangbusters. If we talk about Kiwanis in a positive manner, then people will want to join.'' ``The more people we ask, the more new members we'll have and more people will stay who are going to be the right kind of members--active members.'' Get the message? You will. President Bo plans on making it crystal-clear during his time in Kiwanis' highest office. And while he's at it, he'll be stressing a few other points as well. Among them will be Kiwanis' sponsored programs--from K-Kids to Circle K. He believes Kiwanians need to pay more attention to these young volunteers. ``Our biggest problem is Kiwanians not going to their meetings and not being personally involved,'' Bo says. ``We need to teach youngster about giving. Teaching them that is one of the most important things we can do, because they're in their formative years, and if they learn to help others, well, that changes the world.'' Which leads to another focal point for Bo: the Worldwide Service Project and its successful completion. ``I used to say, `We can't change the world, but each one of us can change a life,' '' he says. ``But now I realize we literally are changing the world by virtually eliminating IDD (iodine deficiency disorders).'' You also can expect Bo to dig into his pockets and pass out an endless supply of his trademark Super Bubble gum. (For the record, he buys about 20,000 pieces annually from Hackney Cash and Carry on Dale Avenue in Knoxville.) He began the tradition with a United Way fund-raising campaign slogan in 1982: ``Don't gum up the works by not doing your part.'' When he's completed his year as Kiwanis' impassioned ambassador, Bo will return to his hometown and his home club with more stories and more sayings. If you go looking for him, though, you might need to drive over to Cain Seed Hollow, because that's where he and Mary love to be. You'll probably find him cutting wood, building, and adding touches to the 28-foot by 70-foot ``cabin'' he's constructed over the past 25 years with its rough-cut-oak exterior and wall-to-wall wooden interior. (``I didn't plan for it to be this big when I first had it in mind,'' Bo says. ``I just love to build.'') You might arrive as he's sawing two-by-fours for another new deck while listening to a UT football game on the radio (``I guarantee I won't be sitting around watching television,'' he says), whistling away, happy as can be. Or maybe you'll catch Mary and Bo on those rocking chairs, waiting for another gorgeous sunset, quietly thanking God for another beautiful day.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, we seem to have an end-of-the-year spending orgy going on in Congress right now. David Broder mentions in his column in The Washington Post today that spending for fiscal year 2001 will be $100 billion more than allowed under the last major budget deal, according to the ``Congressional Quarterly.'' Apparently most of the congressional leadership feels that we have to give into the excessive spending demanded by the President, because the alternative is to shut down the government. Unfortunately, there simply are not enough fiscal conservatives to override presidential vetoes. However, we are spending away a surplus that we do not yet have. We are jeopardizing the economy and our children's future in the process. We now have a foreign trade deficit of almost a billion dollars a day. This means we are buying roughly $350 billion a year from other countries more than we are selling to them. This is primarily because we have entered into bad trade deals, deals good for some big multinational companies, but very bad for small American businesses and American workers. Most economists agree that we lose roughly 20,000 jobs per billion, and no country can sustain a $350 billion-a-year trade deficit for very long. Do we ever wonder why so many young people are working as waiters or waitresses or why so many young people are going to graduate school because the good jobs are not there for even college graduates like they used to be? Along with this foreign trade deficit is all the spending our government does in and for other countries. The liberals found out many years ago that foreign aid was very unpopular, so they just started spending foreign aid money through numerous other foreign programs. They will very misleadingly say that our foreign aid money is less than 1 percent of our Federal budget. What they do not say is that we spend in addition to regular foreign aid, many billions more through the military, the Agriculture and Commerce Departments, the State Department, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and on and on and on. This administration has deployed our troops around the world more times than the six previous administrations put together, mostly just turning our military in international social workers. Billions and billions and billions in Haiti, Rwanda, Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo. Right now we are spending $2 billion a year on what the Associated Press has described as a forgotten war against Iraq. Most of our people do not even realize we are still bombing there against a nation now so weak that it is absolutely no threat to us at all unless our continued bombing forces them into some type of desperate terrorist actions. Many large companies benefit greatly from these trade deals and from our sending billions to other countries in military or non-military missions. They and their allies in the national media and elsewhere have made it politically incorrect to oppose these trade deals or oppose sending mega billions overseas. Those who do oppose all this foreign spending or these trade deals that benefit big international corporations are very falsely accused of being isolationists. However, if Members hear anyone make this charge, they should realize immediately that this name-calling simply means that the person calling someone an isolationist is trying to avoid an argument on the merits. This Nation should be friends with every nation. We should have all sorts of foreign exchange programs and diplomatic relations, and send our experts in every field when requested, and lead international fundraising in times of human catastrophe. But this does not mean that we should keep sending billions and billions overseas, or continually bombing people who have not threatened us, or be the world's policeman through our military. President Kennedy said in 1961 that with just 6 percent of the world's population, we must realize that we are neither omnipotent nor omniscient, and that there is not an American solution to every world problem. Now we are less than 4 percent of the world's population. George Washington warned against entangling alliances with foreign countries, and Dwight Eisenhower warned against a military-industrial complex that would commit us all over the world simply so that it and its companies could get more money. Professor John Moser, writing in the Autumn 1999 issue of Ohio History, noted that Senator Robert Taft was often falsely called an isolationist when he was really a conservative nationalist. Moser writes of Taft: ``. . .he was remarkably prescient on many of the problems inherent in a highly interventionist foreign policy: unprecedented accumulation of power in the hands of the executive branch of the government, curtailment of civil liberties at home, the charge of `imperialism' arising from American influence abroad, and most importantly, the danger of what Paul Kennedy referred to as `imperial overreach,' the extension of overseas commitments beyond the ability of a nation to meet them.'' Senator Taft once said, ``Nothing can destroy this country except the overextension of our resources.'' We should heed these words today.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to first of all thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Ose) for yielding me this time and for his support of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, which I think can fairly be described as noncontroversial, commonsense legislation. S. 1707 is a bill that was introduced by my colleague from Tennessee, Senator Fred Thompson, and I want to salute him for his work on this legislation. This bill, S. 1707, is the companion to a bill that I originally introduced in the House, H.R. 2013. Simply put, S. 1707 will require that the Inspector General for the Tennessee Valley Authority be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Currently, the Inspector General for the TVA is appointed by the TVA board, the very board which it is expected to oversee. This legislation will guarantee that this Inspector General is guaranteed independence, so that any waste, fraud, and abuse can be fully and adequately and properly investigated. Almost everyone agrees that Inspectors General can do much better jobs if they are not controlled by the agency or department which they are expected to oversee. The bill which was originally introduced would apply to all 33 Federal agencies where the Inspectors General are not truly independent and are presently appointed by the department or agency which they are expected to investigate and oversee. While S. 1707 applies only to TVA, I certainly think it is a step in the right direction, and it is a very significant first step toward my goal of making all 33 of these agency Inspectors General truly independent. I am also pleased that this bill has provisions that the gentleman from California (Mr. Ose) just mentioned to establish an academy for Inspectors General that all Inspectors General can attend, so that this bill will start a process that will have ramifications far beyond TVA. This proposal has bipartisan support, and it has been endorsed by the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors. It has already passed the other body by unanimous consent. In addition, the Knoxville News Sentinel, which is published in the city where TVA's headquarters are located, has recommended passage of this legislation. Finally, I would like to thank the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) and his staff for their hard work on this bill, and for helping me bring this bill to the floor today. Mr. Speaker, I will say that this is a modest proposal which will certainly help improve the oversight of the Tennessee Valley Authority. I urge passage of S. 1707.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania, our very distinguished chairman, for yielding me this time. First of all, I want to start out by saying that being allowed to be chairman of the House Subcommittee on Aviation has really been the highlight of my congressional career; and that would not have been possible without the support of the chairman, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster). I am very proud to have served with a man of his character. He has served with great honor and distinction in this House, and I appreciate very much his support for me in this position. Madam Speaker, this bill is very similar to a bill, H.R. 2910, that passed the House by a vote of 420 to 4 on September 30 of last year. This bill reauthorizes the National Transportation Safety Board for 3 years and provides funding of $57 million, $65 million, and $72 million over those 3 years. The safety board is the agency responsible for investigating transportation accidents and promoting transportation safety. The board investigates accidents, conducts safety studies, and coordinates all Federal assistance for families of victims of catastrophic transportation accidents. It also reviews appeals of certificate and civil penalty actions against airmen and certificate actions against seamen. Most importantly, the NTSB makes safety recommendations. Based on its investigations, Federal, State, and local government agencies and the transportation industry take actions that will prevent similar accidents in the future. The aviation safety record is remarkably good, and the safety board deserves a lot of the credit for that. Nonaviation people are amazed when I speak to them and tell them that, unfortunately, we have more people killed in 4\1/2\ months on the Nation's highways than have been killed in all U.S. aviation accidents combined since the Wright Brothers' flight in 1903. Much of that great aviation safety record has been aided by the work of the NTSB. This legislation makes some changes to the agency's governing statute that should help make the board even more effective. I will list those changes in the statement that I will provide for the Record. The bill also includes several technical changes that were not in either the House or Senate bills. These changes would ensure that the FAA can assess penalties against unruly passengers or passengers who tamper with laboratory smoke detectors. It would ensure that the FAA can issue its overflight fee rule as an interim final rule, and ensures that the FAA can keep the money it makes from the sale of aeronautical charts. I would also like to make special mention of the provision in the bill on law enforcement flight time. Currently, pilots who fly for police or for sheriff departments cannot count their flight time toward the requirements of a civil air license. This bill would change that. It would direct the FAA to count the time a pilot flies a law enforcement aircraft. This is similar to consideration given to military pilots. I know it will be very helpful to the sheriff departments in Tennessee, but it will also benefit our hardworking law enforcement pilots all over the country. Madam Speaker, the NTSB has conducted a lengthy and thorough investigation of the TWA 800 crash. I personally do not believe that Chairman Hall, or any of the many good people at the NTSB, would be a party to any type of cover-up about this or any other crash, but I have a few comments that I would like to make about that. I also recognize that there are many good, sincere, honest, intelligent people across this country who do not agree with or believe the NTSB conclusions about the TWA 800 crash. I want to assure everyone that neither I nor any member of our subcommittee or staff would ever have participated in or aided in any knowing way in any type of cover- up. In addition to our public hearings, I personally went to New York with staff to view that wreckage. We had private briefings by the FBI and others. I met with some of the eyewitnesses and people investigating this wreck. I met with Commander Donaldson after one of our hearings. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant) called one day and asked if he could conduct his own personal investigation. I gave him my approval for that. I asked one of my constituents, Mike Coffield, the Continental Airlines pilot, to investigate this crash. We heard from family members of victims of this terrible tragedy. Reed Irvine, a man for whom I have very great respect, recently came to my office at my request so that we could discuss this further because of ads and other activities by him and his group. I doubt that we will ever be able to answer all the questions surrounding this crash to everyone's satisfaction. I personally find it almost impossible to believe that a U.S. Navy ship shot a missile that hit this plane either accidentally or intentionally. I know very little about ships and missiles, but I do not believe that just one person could shoot off one without someone knowing about it. If several people were involved, someone would have talked to his wife or somebody, in my opinion. I told Mr. Irvine this, if some terrorist group shot this plane down, they probably would have claimed credit. Yet I am still willing to read any report or listen to anyone about this. Our government should not have stopped (Mr. Sanders) or anyone else from investigating this crash. If anyone can come up with the final, definite, conclusive answer on this, more power to them. I am most concerned, however, about the family members of the victims of this crash. I believe closure is an overused, misused word because I do not believe a family member ever gets closure on something like this, particularly if they lost a child. But I certainly do not want to do anything to prolong the agony of any TWA 800 family member. They have suffered too much already. I will say that, if any family member of victims of this crash wants me to look into this further, I certainly will do so. Absent that type of request, I will simply commend all those at the NTSB and all those private citizens, Mr. Irvine, Commander Donaldson, the many eyewitnesses and many, many others who have tried so hard to seek the causes of and/or solve the puzzle or answer the questions raised by the crash of TWA 800. I also would like to commend Mr. Jim Hall, who I think has done an outstanding job as chairman of the NTSB during his tenure on that board. Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to say that I am completing 6 years as chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation. I have already thanked the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Chairman Shuster), who is the man mainly responsible for my having been allowed to be chairman. But I would also like to say that it has been a great honor and privilege to work with the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), who preceded me as chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation. I do not believe a person could have had a better ranking member than the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski). Our working relationship has been 100 percent friendly and cordial. I am proud that the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is considered to be probably the most bipartisan committee or nonpartisan committee in this entire Congress. I want, finally, to say a personal thank you to a wonderful staff: David Schaffer of the Republican staff, who has been head of that staff for so many years and is such a professional person and on whom I have relied so much, Adam Tsao, Jim Coon, Donna McLean, Ron Chamberlin, David Balloff, John Glaser, Felicia Goss, Diane Rogers, and Amanda Wind on our staff; and on the Democratic staff: Stacie Soumbeniotis, Tricia Loveland, Amy Denicore, Paul Feldman, David Traynham, Mary Walsh, Colleen Corr, Rachel Carr, and Michelle Mihin. All of them have been so helpful and I am very, very grateful to them. I apologize for taking so much time. I urge passage of this bill. The bill reauthorizes the agency for 3 years and provides modest increases in its authorized funding levels; It makes clear that the NTSB has priority over other agencies in the investigation of transportation accidents; However, the legislation does provide a procedure whereby the Safety Board would turn an investigation over to the FBI when a criminal act may be involved; The bill allows the Safety Board to enter into agreements with foreign governments, after consultation with the Department of State; The bill also provides overtime pay to NTSB investigators who have to work at the scene of an accident during nights and weekends. However, this overtime is capped at one and a half percent of the agency's appropriation to ensure that overtime is not abused. Also, the bill ensures that information on surface vehicle recorders and cockpit video recorders will not be disclosed. This is the same protection now provided for cockpit voice recordings. At our Subcommittee hearing last April, airline pilots expressed concern about the public release of cockpit video recordings for purely sensationalistic purposes. This bill protects them from that. Another important provision in this bill is the section that provides authority to the Department of Transportation's Inspector General to oversee the business and financial management of the Board. Indeed, there are several provisions in this bill that ensure continued sound financial management at the Safety Board. These include restrictions on non-emergency travel and the implementation of internal audit controls.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, the Christian Science Monitor reported a few days ago that Tennesseans had given more charitable contributions on average than citizens from any other State. This report was based on a generosity index published by the Urban Institute in Washington and came from charitable deductions listed on 1998 tax returns. Tennesseans gave an average of $4,572. Mississippi gave the most in proportion to income with an average of $4,070. The top five most generous States, according to the Urban Institute, were Mississippi, Arkansas, South Dakota, Louisiana, and Tennessee. Tennessee gave the most per person at over $4,500 each. Rhode Island gave the least per person at $2,059. The least generous States, according to the Urban Institute, in proportion to income given to charity were Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Rhode Island. It seems that the highest taxed, most politically liberal States were the least generous in giving to charitable causes, according to this report from the Urban Institute. I want to commend my fellow Tennesseans for their generosity in giving to charitable organizations.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this conference report and the rule that brings this bill to the floor. I want to thank my good friend the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick) for yielding me the time. There are many important functions of our Federal Government, Mr. Speaker, but probably no more important or more legitimate function than providing for our national defense. And I think it is very, very appropriate that this very strong pro-defense bill is named after our good friend, the gentleman from South Carolina (Chairman Floyd Spence) who has been such a leader in this area for so many years. But I particularly want to thank the conferees and everyone who has worked so hard on the provisions for the sick nuclear workers that the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Graham) just detailed. While Oak Ridge is in the district of my friend, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp), about half the people who work there live in my district. Over the years, several Oak Ridge nuclear workers suffering from beryllium disease and other health problems related to their work with radioactive material have come to me for assistance, and we have always tried to get them the help we could. But more needed to be done. I especially want to congratulate my constituent Ann Orick who really led the fight to call attention to the plight and the problems of these sick workers. And I want to commend the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp) and Senator Thompson who really led the battle in this Congress to see that appropriate action was taken. I was pleased to assist them in their heroic efforts. Now, hopefully, these workers will receive compensation and, much more importantly, medical treatment for their illnesses. They served our country well and they deserve no less. I want to urge adoption of this rule and adoption of this conference report.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, September 25, 2000, marked International Ataxia Awareness Day. Ataxia disorders comprise a family of progressive, degenerative, neurological illnesses which affect more than 100,000 American families, including many in my District. Ataxia usually initially affects coordination, speech, and balance, but various forms often progress to impact the heart, sight, and hearing. Unfortunately, there are no effective treatments for this often fatal disease. Worse, our very limited understanding of most forms of the disorder has not even produced any effective treatments. Hopefully we can increase awareness of this serious public health threat and spur the type of progress which will bring hope to the thousands of American families dealing with Ataxia. The biomedical revolution which has taken root over the last couple of decades offers great promise. That is why I have been a proud supporter of the research efforts at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the component of NIH charged with the study of Ataxia. For example, NINDS-supported research has recently generated considerable new insights into more than 100 related gene defects which cause nervous system disorders. This work is particularly important to those suffering from the many forms of Ataxia which still cannot be specifically diagnosed. As we identify the genes responsible we can more quickly identify specific forms, and perhaps more importantly, begin developing treatment models. Additionally, we need to continue to create incentives for additional private research aimed at the so-called orphan diseases. These relatively rare conditions do not receive the resources and attention that are often associated with more common public health problems like cancer and heart disease. I believe these special incentives for those developing orphan drugs have proven to be an unqualified success resulting in more new research on Ataxia, multiple sclerosis, ALS and other neurological disorders. Even with all these efforts under way, it will still take time to even fully understand the questions we need to be asking about Ataxia. That is why it is so important to inform the public about this work and encourage the medical and emotional support those affected need. International Ataxia Awareness Day should be a substantial step in this direction, and I anticipate it will be an annual event. At the same time, we can hope that current research foreshadows a day when it will no longer be necessary to raise awareness of Ataxia.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, several years ago, William Raspberry, the great columnist for the Washington Post, asked in a column these words. He said, ``Is it not just possible that anti-religious bias masquerading as religious neutrality has cost this country far more than it has been willing to acknowledge?'' I think that is a very good question. In light of that, I would like to read a statement that Roane County, Tennessee, high school principal Jody McLoud read over the public address system before his school's first football game on September 1, following the Supreme Court decision outlawing or banning prayer at high school football games across the Nation. Mr. McLoud said this: It has always been the custom at Roane County High School football games to say a prayer and play the National anthem to honor God and country. Due to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, I am told that saying a prayer is a violation of Federal case law. As I understand the law at this time, I can use this public facility to approve of sexual perversion and call it an alternative lifestyle and if someone is offended, that's okay. I can use it to condone sexual promiscuity by dispensing condoms and calling it safe sex. If someone is offended, that's okay. I can even use this public facility to present the merits of killing an unborn baby as a viable means of birth control. If someone is offended, no problem. I can designate a school day as Earth Day and involve students in activities to religiously worship and praise the Goddess Mother Earth and call it ecology. I can use literature, videos and presentations in the classroom that depict people with strong traditional Christian convictions as simple minded and ignorant and call it enlightenment. However, if anyone uses this facility to honor God and ask Him to bless this event with safety and good sportsmanship, Federal case law is violated. This appears to be, at best, inconsistent, and, at worst, diabolical. Mr. McLoud continued. Apparently we are to be tolerant of everything and everyone except God and His commandments. Nevertheless, as a school principal, I frequently ask staff and students to abide by rules with which they do not necessarily agree. For me to do otherwise would be at best inconsistent and at worst hypocritical. I suffer from that affliction enough unintentionally. I certainly do not need to add an intentional transgression. For this reason, I shall ``render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's'' and refrain praying at this time. However, if you feel inspired to honor, praise and thank God and to ask Him in the name of Jesus to bless this event, please feel free to do so. As far as I know, that is not against the law yet. That is the statement by Roane County, Tennessee, High School Principal Jody McLoud. I can tell you that we open up every session of the House and Senate with prayer, but it is unfortunate, the recent Supreme Court decision. I commend Roane County, Tennessee, High School Principal Jody McLoud for this very fine statement, and I close by asking the question that William Raspberry asked a few years ago in his column, is it not just possible that anti-religious bias, masquerading as religious neutrality, has cost this Nation far more than it has been willing to acknowledge?

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of the greatest committee chairmen we have seen during the past few years in the House. He has served in the House of Representatives for 28 years, 6 of those as Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the largest and most productive committee in the Congress. Following the committee's final full committee meeting Wednesday of this week, my colleagues and I surprised Chairman Shuster with the presentation of a plaque to him commemorating his achievements as Chairman. During that presentation and speaking on behalf of Committee Democrats, Ranking Member Jim Oberstar (D-MN) said: Mr. Chairman, a few short moments ago we passed a bill designating a courthouse for President Theodore Roosevelt. I quote Roosevelt's ``The Man in the Arena'' speech: ``It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how other strong men stumbled or how the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again, and again, because there is no effort without some error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who, spends himself for a worthy cause; who at best, knows in the end the triumph of the high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.'' Mr. Chairman, you are a man in the arena--and your achievements as Chairman speak for themselves. Everyone in this room knows the enormous accomplishments of TEA 21, AIR 21, and trust fund firewalls. Some may not know the ``smaller'' accomplishments that do not get the headlines-- such as reauthorization of the Economic Development Administration and the Appalachian Regional Commission-- ``little'' programs that make a real difference in the lives of our people. We all serve on this Committee because we believe that its transportation, infrastructure, and environmental programs make a real difference in our constituents', and all American's lives. Mr. Chairman, part of the joy of serving on this Committee is the way in which we work together to develop bipartisan bills. In this Congress, the Committee has: Held 114 hearings; reported 98 bills, 30 percent of bills reported by all Committees in the House (325); passed 92 bills, 22 percent of all bills passed by the House (427); and 30 Transportation Committee bills have become law, 11 percent of all public laws enacted in the 106th Congress (269). And that is the record only so far--I can say with confidence that many more Transportation Committee bills will become law before the 106th Congress adjourns. Mr. Chairman, we, as a Committee, have worked extraordinarily well over the last 6 years under your leadership. We do not know what the elections hold this November and I am not here to predict. However, under current House Rules, you will be unable to chair the Committee in the 107th Congress. I did not want this opportunity to pass without recognizing your effective bipartisan leadership of this Committee. On behalf of our Committee's Democrats and particularly myself, I present you with a plaque to commemorate your chairmanship. For the 104th and 105th Congresses, it lists the number of hearings held, Committee bills passed by the House of Representatives, and bills that have become law. It has a spot for the 106th Congress; we will fill that in when we have completed our work. It also has a gavel--a gavel that you have wielded so well for these 6 years. Congratulations, Mr. Chairman. In addition to Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Thomas Petri (R-WI), Chairman of the Ground Transportation Subcommittee, said, ``Chairman Shuster's historic leadership deservedly has been recognized by the prestigious Congressional Quarterly which named him one of the five top `Legislative Drivers' in the Congress, (the other four being U.S. Senators), and the National Journal recently reported that `Shuster has chalked up a remarkable record. Not surprisingly, his colleagues regard him as one of the last great chairmen on Capitol Hill.' We all salute Chairman Shuster for his extraordinary accomplishments. This has been the 6 most productive years in the Committee's history.'' I have said many times that if a young Member of Congress wanted to see how to get things accomplished in the Congress, he should follow Chairman Bud Shuster for awhile. Chairman Shuster is respected by everyone, on both sides of the aisle, and staff as well as Members. Chairman Shuster has spent his career building America. The fruits of his work can be seen all over this Nation, and improvements that he started will be going on for many years. Our economy is much stronger, and, more importantly, lives are being saved because of projects which owe their genesis in major part to Bud Shuster. I personally appreciate the kindness shown to me by Chairman Shuster. I could not have been the Chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee, the highlight of my service in the Congress, if it had not been for Bud Shuster. I owe him a great personal debt, but I believe our country does as well. I believe that this Nation is a much better place today because of Chairman Bud Shuster, and I am very proud to call him my friend and my leader.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, September 29, 2000, a remarkable chapter in the history of East Tennessee will come to an end. At the close of this week, Citadel Communications Group will officially take over Dick Broadcasting Company, located in Knoxville. Nearly 50 years ago, in December 1952, the FCC granted Mr. James A. Dick a license to build a 1,000-watt, daytime only, AM radio station, and Dick Broadcasting was born. On March 20, 1953, WIVK AM-860 signed on the air. From it's first studios on North Gay Street, WIVK's early days were filled with programs such as ``The Big Jim and Little Alf Show,'' ``Mull's Singing Congregation,'' ``The Gospel Train,'' ``Archie Campbell's Hillbilly Show,'' and the legendary ``Cas Walker Live Country Music Show.'' Such future stars as the Everly Brothers and Dolly Parton found a home performing on WIVK's airwaves. Later in the history of this radio station, we saw the beginning of the ``Great Day Show'' with Claude ``The Cat'' Tomlinson, Lester Longmire, and ``Old Man Schultz.'' This show would go on to dominate local ratings and remain virtually unchanged until Claude's retirement in 1992. The Dick Broadcasting Family has grown from a 1,000 watt AM station to 14 FM and AM stations operating in three states. Now a FM station, WIVK's unique mix of country music, community involvement, personality, and of course, University of Tennessee sports, has made it one of the most-listened to radio stations in America from the late 70's to present day. For over 45 years now, Dick Broadcasting has sought to provide East Tennessee with the best in music and entertainment, and the most up-to- date news and information. When a severe blizzard hit East Tennessee in 1993, WIVK was the only radio station left on the air. In 1988, Dick Broadcasting purchased WNOX-AM 990, and donated the old WIVK-AM 860 to the University of Tennessee. The new 990 frequency had the advantage of being a 24-hour. channel. WIVK-AM 990 soon started adding its own programming, and by 1992 had become its own entity as ``NewsTalk 990.'' Mr. Speaker, I know that I join with the citizens of the City of Knoxville in congratulating Jim Dick for his service and devotion to the people of East Tennessee. I am proud to call him a friend, and I wish him well in the years to come. I ask my fellow colleagues and other readers of the Record to join me in thanking Jim Dick and Dick Broadcasting Company for their many years of service and contributions to East Tennessee. Our Nation is certainly a better place because of people like Jim Dick and his family.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, the Christian Science Monitor newspaper had a lengthy article yesterday about Iraq and the fact that we are still regularly bombing there. The Monitor reported: ``The air mission has been expensive. It costs about $2 billion a year and occupies about 20,000 soldiers, 200 aircraft, and 25 ships.'' The Monitor also said the U.S. air war ``has not loosened Saddam's grip on power and is being questioned by U.S. lawmakers.'' About 1 year ago, the Associated Press ran a lengthy story describing our continued bombing of Iraq as a ``forgotten war'' because most Americans did not even realize we are still bombing. They still do not. Here we are spending an average of almost $6 million a day regularly bombing Iraq, and most Americans do not even realize this one-sided ``war'' is even still going on. What a waste. What are we accomplishing? Probably just the opposite from what we should be trying to do. Probably the only thing our bombing has accomplished is to keep Saddam Hussein in power by making the U.S. so unpopular in Iraq. These people were our allies in the 1980s. They could be our friends once again if we would stop bombing them. Iraq is no threat whatsoever to the U.S. unless we continue to bomb them for so long and so much that they are forced to send terrorists in here in acts of desperation. The Monitor article yesterday also said this: ``But beyond Britain, Washington lacks enthusiastic international support in its crusade against the Iraqi leader. Baghdad claims that the U.S.-led sanctions are leading to mass malnutrition and unusually high rates of infant mortality.'' Several reports have said that our sanctions over the last 10 years have caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children. How would we feel about a country that was doing this to us? The top of the front page of the Washington Post a couple of months ago had a headline which said: ``Under Iraqi Skies, a Canvas of Death.'' The subhead said: ``Town of Villages Reveals Human Cost of U.S.-led Sorties in ``No-Fly'' Zones.'' The story, a very long one, told of several children who were named in the story who were killed in different U.S. bombing raids. The lead paragraphs told this story: ``Suddenly out of the clear blue sky, the forgotten war being waged by the United States and Britain over Iraq visited its lethal routine on the shepherds and farmers of Toq al-Ghazalat about 10:30 a.m. on May 17. ``Omran Harbi Jawair, 13, was squatting on his haunches at the time, watching the family sheep as they nosed the hard, flat ground in search of grass. He wore a white robe but was bareheaded in spite of an unforgiving sun. Omran, who liked to kick a soccer ball around this dusty village, had just finished fifth grade at the little school a 15- minutes walk from his mud-brick home. A shepherd boy's summer vacation lay ahead. ``That is when the missile landed. ``Without warning, according to several youths standing nearby, the device came crashing down in an open field 200 yards from the dozen houses of Toq al-Ghazalat. A deafening explosion cracked across the silent land. Schrapnel flew in every direction. Four shepherds were wounded. And Omran, the others recalled, lay dead in the dirt, most of his head torn off, the white of his robe stained red. `` `He was only 13 years old, but he was a good boy,' sobbed Omran's father, Harbi Jawair, 61.'' I repeat, what would we think about a country that was doing this to our children. The Post story said that ``a week of conversations with wounded Iraqis and the families of those killed . . . showed that civilian deaths and injuries are a regular part'' of this air war. The Monitor story quoted one man as saying ``Iraq does not even have the means to pose a threat to its neighbors,'' and it is certainly not a threat to us. Saddam Hussein forced us to take action in 1991 because he had moved into Kuwait and was threatening Saudi Arabia and the entire Middle East. But we now know that much of what he was doing was saber rattling. His military strength was greatly exaggerated as we found when many of his best soldiers began surrendering to anyone they could, even CNN television news. Saddam is a very bad man who has been responsible for horrible things happening to his people. I am convinced that the only thing keeping him in power and keeping his people from revolting and throwing him out has been our continued bombing. We should never send our troops to foreign battlefields and especially start bombing people unless there is a real and legitimate threat to our national security or a very vital U.S. interest at stake. This administration, Mr. Speaker, has deployed troops to other countries more than the six previous administrations put together. This administration bombed a medicine factory in Sudan and bombed Afghanistan and Kosovo and Iraq. The timing of the start of these bombings was usually at a time when the President was having serious personal problems or, in Iraq's case, the eve of his impeachment. They say that those who hate war the most are those who have actually been in one, fighting on the front lines in a shooting war who have seen the horror of it and thus want to do everything possible to avoid it. Perhaps it is because almost no one in this administration has actually fought on the front lines of a shooting war that they have been so cavalier about or so quick to bomb people. Whatever the reason, the situation is not the same as it was in 1991. We need to stop this $2 billion air war now.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 12:30 p.m. on Monday next for morning hour debates.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, the top headline in the Washington Post late last week said: ``Oil Prices Hit Ten Year High.'' Yet, as I drove into work this morning, the CBS Radio National News reported that oil prices had gone up another 90 cents a barrel. In last Friday's Washington Times, a column in the editorial commentary pages carried the headline, ``Gassed and Going Up.'' This column, written by two economists, said taxes take 43 cents of every gallon and that Federal regulations add great additional costs and have prevented any new refinery from being built for 25 years. They wrote, quote, ``The economy will suffer if the price of oil remains high. Our analysis shows that high oil prices will cost the average family of four more than $1,300; decrease consumer spending by nearly $80 billion and cost almost 500,000 jobs,'' unquote. Last Friday night on the CNN Moneyline program, one leading stock analyst said higher oil prices are leading us into a recession and much lower stock prices. The stock market fell 278 points Friday and Monday, mainly due to fears about higher oil prices. One of the things I do in the House is chair the Subcommittee on Aviation. A few months ago, the Air Transport Association told me that each one penny increase in jet fuel costs the airlines $200 million. Last week, the Christian Science Monitor newspaper had a front page story about protests and some near riots in Britain and throughout Europe over high gas prices. Sometimes we are told that we are lucky because we are paying much less for gas than the Europeans. Well, the reason is that our socialism is not as far along as theirs is. In Europe, taxes make up as much as 80 percent of the cost of gas. They pay the same world oil price as we do. They simply have more big government than we do, and we have too much. Other segments of our economy will be hurt badly besides aviation if these oil prices go up even more, as is being predicted. Truckers are already feeling the pinch and are leading the protests in Europe. Agriculture and tourism and those who heat their homes with home heating oil will be greatly affected. Who do we have to thank for this situation? Well, in this country those who like higher gas prices should write the White House and thank the President. The President vetoed legislation in 1995 which would have allowed production of oil in one tiny 2,000 to 3,000-acre part of the coastal plain of Alaska. The U.S. Geologic Survey has said there is approximately 16 to 19 billion barrels of oil there, equal to 30 years of Saudi oil. The President also signed an executive order placing 80 percent of the U.S. outercontinental shelf off-limits for oil production, and this is billions more barrels. I heard on the radio last week that oil is the most plentiful liquid in the world after saltwater. Even with increased usage, we have hundreds of years worth of oil available. Yet because this administration is controlled by wealthy environmental extremists, we cannot produce more oil in this country. The environmentalists even want gas to go much higher so everyone but them will have to drive less. They do not seem to care that the people they hurt the most are lower-income and working families. Most environmental extremists seem to come from wealthy families who are not hurt when prices go up and jobs are destroyed. Then, too, some of these environmental groups probably receive big contributions from the oil companies, the shipping companies, the OPEC countries and others who get rich if we do not produce more U.S. oil. Due to EPA and other Federal regulations, I am told that 36 U.S. oil refineries have closed just since 1980. Because this administration is held captive by environmental extremists, our present oil policy consists of nothing more than to beg the OPEC countries. Well, we need to do more than beg. We endanger not only our own economy but also our national security by being too dependent on foreign oil. The price of oil could be reduced dramatically if the President would tell OPEC that we are going to produce more oil domestically and really mean it. He needs also to tell the OPEC countries that their foreign aid will be ended if they continue to gouge us on oil prices. I have co-sponsored the bill of the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Saxton) to cut off IMF loans to OPEC countries which raise their oil prices, but the liberals in Congress will probably not let us pass this bill. Begging OPEC will get us nowhere. We need strong leadership, Madam Speaker, from the White House; but we will not get it. We also need to wake up and realize that the Sierra Club and some of these other environmental groups have now gone so far to the left that they make even socialists look conservative.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, Joe C. Fowler has just retired after more than 50 years of service to this Nation in law enforcement. He served as a Patrolman, Detective, and Chief of the Knoxville Police Department, Sheriff of Knox County, and for the past six years as United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Marshal Fowler has served in each of these positions with great honor and distinction. More importantly, he has never lost his humility and has always supported and remembered the importance of the officer on the beat. As high as Marshal Fowler rose, he never became too big to help serve pancakes at the annual fund raising breakfast for the Northside Kiwanis Club. He is a dedicated family man, having been married to his wife Sue for 44 years, and they have two sons and four grandchildren. This County would be a much better place if we had more men life Joe Fowler. I submit for the Record an article about Marshal Fowler's career from the September 18th issue of the Knoxville News-Sentinel and call it to the attention of my Colleagues and other readers of the Record. [From the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Sept. 18, 2000] Fowler Retires After 50 years in Law Enforcement (By Laura Ayo) It was a Sunday morning in August 1974 when one of Chief Joe C. Fowler's Knoxville Police Department officers was shot in the chest while struggling with a burglary suspect. ``By the time they got me to the hospital, he was already there,'' the officer, John Guider, recalled about the man who went on to head two more law enforcement agencies in Knoxville. Guider, now senior deputy U.S. Marshal in the Knoxville district office, described the incident as his fondest memory of Fowler. ``No one could have asked for anything better than the way he treated my family,'' Guider said. ``He really took care of my mother and (ex) wife, more than you'd expect somebody would.'' On Aug. 31, Fowler retired as U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Tennessee, ending a unique, 50-year career in law enforcement that saw him hold the titles of police chief, sheriff, state warden and federal marshal--the only man to do so, according to colleagues. Fresh out of the military and not finding what he wanted in college, Fowler found his calling with a badge and uniform. ``It's been a very interesting career,'' the 73-year-old Knoxville native said. ``I wouldn't trade it for anything.'' In 1970, the year he became chief of the KPD, Fowler hired 21-year-old Phil Keith as a rookie officer. ``I grew up in this police department,'' said Keith, who is now police chief, ``Next to my dad, Joe Fowler was right up there at the top.'' At an Aug. 28 retirement party Keith presented Fowler a citation of merit for distinguished service in law enforcement and one of the department's millennium badges with the word ``chief'' on it. Mayor Victor Ashe proclaimed Aug. 28, 2000, Joe Fowler Day in Knoxville. ``He told me one time the most important goal you can have in life as a police officer is to make a difference, not just with citizens, but also with police officers,'' Keith recalled. Keith credited Fowler with giving him the opportunities, skills and friendship that enabled him to work his way through the ranks to chief. ``He always told me to be responsible to the citizens and try to better the profession,'' Keith said. ``He's one of these fellows who didn't have to speak the loudest in the room. I learned from that. He taught me a lot of tolerance and being compassionate.'' Much of what Fowler set in motion as chief through resource building, planning and setting standards has made the police department what it is today, Keith added. ``He was not afraid to go against the grain if it was the right thing to do,'' he said. Deputy U.S. Marshal Chuck Pittman worked as a sheriff's deputy for four years while Fowler served as sheriff in the 1980s. ``First of all, the thing he brought to the sheriff's department was a sense of integrity,'' Pittman said. ``He's always been an honorable, honorable man.'' After being defeated by Tim Hutchison in 1990 for a third term as sheriff, Fowler served as warden of a state-operated work-release facility in Knoxville. Pittman and Guider were pleased when they heard their former boss would again be their boss in the Marshals Service. President Bill Clinton appointed Fowler in 1994 to his last post, where he oversaw the protection of the federal courts, judges and witnesses, and the custody of federal prisoners. ``He's the first good marshal I've worked for, and he's my third presidential appointee,'' Guider said. ``He has good investigative experience. But what I liked about him best was he was new to the Marshals Service and if he didn't know something, he would ask somebody instead of making snap judgments and I like that.'' Guider said Fowler knew how to show he cared about his employee's personal lives without interfering. He drank coffee with his staff each morning and loved to discuss the University of Tennessee football team. ``The whole office is going to miss him,'' Pittman said. Looking back on his career, Fowler said his most rewarding times were when he worked with juveniles or got to hand over a large forfeiture check to a small, poorly funded sheriff's department involved in an arrest. ``It gives your heart a good feeling when you can be there and help,'' he said. At one time, college panty raids were the most frustrating thing an officer had to endure. Now, Fowler said officers have to worry about making split-second decisions they'll likely have to defend in a courtroom later. ``When I came in on the police department, the general public and even criminals respected you for what you were,'' the white-haired, gentle-voiced Fowler recalled. ``We didn't have the problems we have today.'' Fowler said he'll miss the deputies, judges, court staff and people in the various agencies the Marshals Service works with daily. ``These are just great people,'' he said. ``They're dedicated; they love their job.'' Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Don Benson will serve as interim U.S. Marshal until a new appointment is made, Fowler said. It's not known how long it will be until a new marshal is appointed, but he said probably nothing will happen until a new president is elected. Although Fowler described his years as a motorcycle officer as the most fun he had in law enforcement, he won't be jumping on a bike and hitting the open road any time soon. Other than getting to odd jobs around the house and spending time with Sue, his wife of 44 years, two sons and four grandchildren, Fowler has no specific plans for how he'll spend his retirement. ``I've got things to do,'' he said. ``I'm looking forward to relaxing.''

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 472 I inadvertently pressed the ``nay'' button. I meant to vote ``aye.'' Announcement by the Chairman

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak briefly on two or three important topics or issues in education. First, we have done a more than adequate job in bringing down class sizes in most places around the country. What we really need to work on now is bringing down the size of schools. At very large schools, some young people feel like they are little more than numbers. Most kids can handle this all right, but some feel that they have to resort to extreme, kooky, weird or, unfortunately at times, even dangerous behavior to get noticed. At small schools, young people have a better chance to make a sports team or serve on the student council or become a cheerleader or stand out in some way. Young people today would be better off going to a school in an older building, but in a school where they did not feel so anonymous. I read a couple of years ago that the largest high school in New York City had 3,500 students; and then they made the wise decision to break it up into five separate schools and their drug and discipline problems went way down. The gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hill) and I, on a bipartisan basis, introduced a bill to set up a special program within the Department of Education to give incentive grants to school systems that would establish programs to decrease the number of students at any one school. We got $45 million for this in the last omnibus appropriations bill, but we need to pursue this much more aggressively. Small schools mean individual attention and individual opportunities. Gigantic schools, unfortunately, centralized schools unfortunately, breed weird behavior and even help lead to Columbine-type situations. Secondly, Mr. Speaker, this so-called teacher shortage is one of the most artificial, contrived, and easily solvable problems that we have in the country today. There would be no teacher shortage if we removed the straightjacket of education courses and let school boards use intelligence and common sense to hire teachers. A school board should be allowed to consider an education degree as a real plus but not be restricted or harmed or hindered by it. Right now, in most places, if a person with a Ph.D. in chemistry and 30 years' experience in the field wanted to teach, he could not do so because he had not taken a few education courses. This is ridiculous. Right now, a person with a master's degree in English and who had been a successful writer, say, for a magazine or for newspapers for years could not be an English teacher in a public school because of not taking a few education courses. This is crazy. Someone who had been a political science professor at a small college for several years and then had several years' experience on Capitol Hill, for example, could not teach American government in a public high school without a required education course. This is stupid and it is why we have this artificial government-induced teacher shortage that we are seeing this publicity about. We could wipe out this teacher shortage overnight if we would allow school systems to hire well-qualified people even if they had not taken any education courses. I repeat, an education degree should be considered a plus. It should be considered a good thing when considering someone for a teaching job. School superintendents and principals have enough common sense intelligence and experience to hire some well-qualified person to teach who has degrees and experience but simply lacks an education course or two. Thirdly, Mr. Speaker, David Gelernter, a professor of computer science at Yale, said we are headed for an educational catastrophe or education disaster, he used both terms, by placing computers in classrooms for small or very young children. He said some seemed to believe if we give children what he described as a glitzy toy with bigger and bigger databases, we have done all we need in regard to education. He said we need to get back to the basics, especially in elementary and middle school. He said we still need to teach reading and writing and arithmetic and history and science, and we need to teach these things before we give kids computers and then wonder why they cannot add or subtract or write a grammatically correct sentence or know even basic history about their own country. This was said by a man who is a professor of computer science. Computers are not the end all of education. We need to get back to the basics before we end up in the educational catastrophe or disaster that Professor Gelernter predicted.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill and to voice the strongest possible support for the Boy Scouts of America. The Boy Scouts have always emphasized God and Family and Country. We need more organizations like the Boy Scouts, and we should be doing everything we can to support and encourage them. I was a Criminal Court Judge for 7\1/2\ years before coming to Congress. I was told on my first day as a Judge that 98 percent of the defendants in felony cases came from broken homes. I read thousands of reports going into the backgrounds of the people before me. I read over and over things like: ``Defendant's father left home when Defendant was two and never returned.'' ``Defendant's father left home to get pack of cigarettes and never came back.'' Several years later I read in the Washington paper that two leading criminologists had studied 11,000 felony cases from around the country. They said the biggest single factor in serious felony crimes was father absent households. Everything else, like drugs and alcohol, was secondary to the absent father problem. So many young boys are growing up today without good male role models. We need the Boy Scouts today more than ever before. This is a time when we should be doing more for the Boy Scouts, not trying to harass and intimidate them. We definitely should not be taking the intolerant, bigoted, ``politically-correct'' position of this legislation. If this is still a free country, then the Boy Scouts should be free to operate as it has without being discriminated against as this legislation would do. I urge all my colleagues to oppose this bill and support the Boy Scouts.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on a couple of unrelated topics of national concern, related in some ways, unrelated in others, but nonetheless very, very important topics. The first of these pertains to the millions of acres of which have burned and are burning at the present time in our western States. This is something that the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health of the Committee on Resources, which is one of the subcommittees on which I serve, heard about in one of the first hearings held in this Congress early in 1999, early last year. The hearing that we held was based on a 1998 GAO report that I do understand and have read that we were having warnings as early as 1993 about the potential effects of this problem. But in this hearing in 1999, we were told that there were some 40 million acres in our western States that were in immediate danger of catastrophic forest fire. We now have estimates, based on these latest fires, that over $10 billion worth of economic damage has been done thus far and that the costs to the Federal Government are going to exceed at least $1 billion and that if these fires keep burning and expanding, the costs may become even greater. The sad thing is that this is a problem that we not only knew about but that we could have easily done something about. In the mid-1980s, I am told that the Congress passed what was then held as a great environmental law that we would not cut more than 80 percent of the new growth in our national forests; and that was praised as a great environmental law at that time. And yet, today we are cutting less than one-seventh of the new growth in our national forests. The Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health staff has told me that we have over 23 billion board feet of new growth in our national forests each and every year, yet we are cutting less than 3 billion board feet. Less than one-seventh of the new growth in our national forests is what we are cutting today. And they tell me that there is over twice that amount, or some 6 billion board feet, of dead and dying timber each year. And yet environmental extremists will not let us go in and remove even the dead and dying trees, and that this causes fuel buildup on the floor of these forests, which has been the main cause of all of these catastrophic forest fires. Yet, if I went to any school in Knoxville, Tennessee, or in my district and told the school children in that district that I was opposed to cutting any tree in the national forests, they would probably cheer because there has been such a brainwashing effort about things of this nature in schools in this country for the last several years. Forest experts tell us repeatedly that we have to cut some trees to have healthy forests. Yet there are some people that do not want us to cut a single tree in our national forests. But people who do support that or do not want any logging done whatsoever should stop and think of all the products that are made with wood. Everything from books to newspapers, furniture, houses, toilet paper, all kinds of things, everything that we use in our daily lives or many, many things go back to wood and wood products. And yet there are some of these wealthy extremists who, for some reason, do not want us to cut even a single tree. Yet, this is a very shortsighted and very harmful position to take. And it is especially harmful to the poor and the working people in the middle-income field because it destroys jobs and drives up prices for everything. So that is a problem that we really need to do something about. The second thing I want to mention is something that I mentioned in the 1-minutes this morning, but I would like to expand on just a little bit. The top headline in the Washington Post says today that oil prices have hit a 10-year high. This is something else that we could easily do something about, and yet we have these environmental extremists who not only do they not want us to cut any trees, they do not want us to drill for any oil. The U.S. Geologic Survey tells us that in one tiny part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is 19.8 million acres, 19.8 million acres, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is that big, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which is the most heavily visited national park, a large portion of which is in my district, is less than 600,000 acres, so we are talking about an area 33 times the size of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in only two or 3,000 acres on the coastal plain of Alaska, the U.S. Geologic Survey tells us there is some 16 billion barrels of oil. This is equivalent to 30 years of Saudi oil. There are billions more barrels offshore from this country. Yet the administration, the President signed an executive order putting 80 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf off-limits for oil production. He also vetoed legislation which would have allowed us to produce this oil in Alaska. So if people like high gas prices, they should write the White House and these environmental groups and tell them thank you for the high gas prices that we have in this country today.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, the top headline in this morning's Washington Post says, ``Oil Prices Hit a 10-Year High.'' One main reason the prices are this high and probably going higher is that the OPEC countries know that the environmental extremists in this country will not allow more domestic oil production. The U.S. Geologic Survey says we have billions of barrels of oil, equal to 3 years' worth of Saudi oil, in one tiny 2,000- to 3,000-acre part of the coastal plain of Alaska. We have billions more barrels off the U.S. outer-continental shelf. Yet this administration has vetoed legislation and has issued an executive order to prevent production of this oil. I wonder if some of these environmental groups are funded by companies that make more money when we buy foreign oil. To be so dependent on foreign oil hurts both our economy and our national security and risks more oil spills at sea. Those who like higher gas prices, Mr. Speaker, should write the White House and wealthy environmentalists and say thank you.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I am rising today to honor five of my constituents who have been named to the Honor Roll of Volunteers by the Appalachian Trail Conference [ATC]. Phyllis Henry, Jim Botts, Lionel Edney, Bill Kerr, and Dick Ketelle are among the 75 people who received this award because of their hard work which symbolizes the efforts and dedication of thousands of volunteers who help manage and protect the Appalachian Trail. The Volunteer Honor Roll was established to celebrate ATC's 75th anniversary this year. Founded in 1925 to promote, build, and protect the Appalachian Trail, ATC is one of the most successful volunteer- based conservation and outdoor recreation organizations in the United States. As you know, the Appalachian Trail is one of America's premier hiking trails and the world's longest footpath. Located within a day's drive of two-thirds of the U.S. population, it is used each year by up to four million individuals from around the world. It is only through the great work and leadership of individuals like these five people and organizations like the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club, to which they all belong, that we are able to protect and maintain this great national treasure. Each of these individuals has dedicated thousands of hours over the years so that we could enjoy the Appalachian Trail. I would like to take the time to personally thank them for all of their work and to honor their great volunteer spirit for which Tennessee has been recognized for hundreds of years.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, a great Knoxville institution is closing, and it is a real loss to our area and to this Nation. Ruby's Coffee Shop in Burlington, in East Knoxville, will close this Saturday after 37 years in business. This fine restaurant, where I have eaten many, many times, has been a friendly gathering place where friendships have been made and strengthened and problems have been solved. Almost everyone felt better and happier, physically and mentally, after a meal at Ruby's. Owner Ruby Witt, her daughter, Mary Jo Netherton, her sister, Ann Henderlight, and the entire staff are wonderful, kind, big-hearted people. They have given great service and sympathetic ears to many thousands. Their food was always outstanding and reasonably priced. At Ruby's, no matter who you were or how much money you had, you got good food and good treatment. As long as I live, I will never forget Roy Berrier, one of the barbers at Barnes Barber Shop next door, coming in and breaking into a rendition of the song ``Pine Trees'' (his own song) in front of a full house at Ruby's This Nation is a better place today because of places like Ruby's and the people who worked there. I am sorry to see this fine restaurant close, but I wish the very best to Ruby, her family, and staff. I would like to call to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record the following article which was published in the Knoxville News-Sentinel. [From the Knoxville News-Sentinel, July 26, 2000] Ruby's To Close After 37 Years (By Don Jacobs) No matter how savory the food at Ruby's Coffee Shop, it'll never match the warmth and friendliness exuded by the 37- year-old business' employees. But that slice of Southern hospitality is about to be cut from the East Knoxville landscape with the closing Saturday of a business that has seated governors, senators, sports legends and even a vice president. The small, family-operated business where customers are greeted by first name, are allowed to walk behind the counter to pour coffee and are invited to use the shop's phone, is closing its doors. The daughters of the owner are just plumb tired. ``It's sad but happy,'' said Mary Jo Netherton, the 64- year-old daughter of the owner. ``I'm just tired. I was telling somebody the other day that they let people out of the penitentiary for murder sooner than I'll be getting out of this place.'' Netherton's 62-year-old sister, Barbara Williams, echoed the feeling that 10- to 12-hour work days that begin at 5 a.m. won't be terribly missed. ``You know, when you get in your 60s, you don't need to be doing waitress work,'' Williams said. Owner Ruby Witt hasn't been active at the business at 3920 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue since she suffered a minor stoke six years ago. But each day the 84-year-old Witt gets an earful of current events about the lives of her customers from her daughters. ``She's interested in the people,'' Netherton said. Witt's popularity among residents, public officials, police officers and the University of Tennessee sports department earned her an unofficial moniker as the mayor of Burlington. Police officers said whatever Ruby wanted, Ruby got from the city. Emphasizing that point, a customer noted there are no parking meters outside. Netherton has been gingerly lifting fried eggs from the grill for 37 years at the business while Williams has been a fixture for 23 years. While neither of the women will miss the work, they will never fill the chasm of daily chatter with customers. ``I'm going to miss it,'' Williams said. ``We've enjoyed the people. They've been like family to us.'' Customers feel the same way. ``We're spoiled,'' said Jimmie Bounds. ``We'll never get that kind of service. When we walk in the door, they yell to put a pan of biscuits on.'' Bounds and her husband, Dean Bounds, regularly trek from their Holston Hills residence with their home-grown tomatoes. They slice their tomatoes and pour their own molasses on what they claim are the best biscuits around. Biscuits and cornbread are the domain of Ann Henderlight, Witt's younger sister, who for 37 years has been using the same metal evaporated milk can to cut her dough. ``I don't measure anything,'' Henderlight said. ``I just put in a little of this and a little of that. I just do it like my mother did.'' Lettie Glass of Lilac Avenue has been munching those biscuits for 15 years. ``Honey, they're just so fluffy they melt in your mouth. They really can cook,'' she said. For Glass, the food is just part of the attraction. ``They treat people like people,'' Glass said. Former Gov. Ray Blanton, U.S. Congressional members Bill Frist and John J. Duncan Jr., former UT football coach Johnny Majors, country music icon Archie Campbell and vice President Al Gore have taken a seat at one of the dozen booths or seven counter stools, Netherton said. Netherton recalls mixing six raw eggs in a glass of orange juice and cooking 25 strips of bacon for former heavyweight boxing champion John Tate while he was in training. But nowadays, Williams said, the business isn't as profitable as it used to be. The sisters just couldn't bring themselves to raise their prices as food costs climbed. The menu demands a total of $3.50 for two eggs, three bacon strips, a biscuit and coffee. ``We didn't think the everyday people coming in here could afford it if we raised the prices,'' Williams said. Several customers noted the sisters often fed the penniless. ``If somebody came in here hungry, they got fed,'' Williams said.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, first, I spent 7\1/2\ years before coming to Congress as a criminal court judge, trying felony criminal cases. I tried several death penalty cases, and I think I am the only Member of this Congress who has sentenced anyone to the electric chair. It is almost impossible, Mr. Speaker, to get a jury to return a death sentence today. Despite polls showing very high support for capital punishment, it is one thing to favor the death penalty, but a much more difficult thing to actually impose it. It is so difficult, in fact, that most prosecutors will not even ask for a death sentence except in the most gruesome, horrible cases; and that is the main point I wish to make today, that juries return death sentences only in extremely brutal, terrible crimes. In fact, it has been the law in this country for many years that an ordinary, simple murder, if there is such a thing, with nothing more, is not a capital case. To have a case justifying the death penalty, there must be aggravating circumstances that outweigh any mitigating factors, anything sympathetic in favor of the defendant. There have to be multiple crimes or killings, circumstances that make the case especially heinous. I do not think a death sentence is appropriate except in 1 in 1 million very rare, very unusual kinds of cases. But I do believe that there are cases which are so gruesome, so horrendous that a death sentence is the only appropriate punishment. Those who oppose the death penalty should ask themselves, would they oppose it if their daughter or wife or sister was brutally raped as her three small children watched and then all were strangled to death, an actual case. The media does a great job gaining sympathy for those who are about to be put to death. I wish they would do just as good a job describing the sickening details of the murders that have been committed, even if almost shockingly, a prosecutor can get a rare, unusual jury to return a death sentence, the trial judge sits as the 13th juror and must later approve the verdict or grant a new trial or sometimes a lesser sentence. Following the trial judge, both State and Federal appellate courts review the case. Usually at least 30 or 40 judges review a death sentence before it is carried out, and many of these judges are philosophically opposed to the death penalty. There seems to be a real drum beat in the media to do away with capital punishment. I urge my colleagues and others to look very closely at this before they jump on this particular band wagon. Shortage of Teachers in America

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to speak on two unrelated, but very important topics of national interest. Capital Punishment

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, yesterday's lead front page story in the Christian Science Monitor newspaper was headlined, ``Late, Costly Milestone for Space Base.'' It was about the Space Station and U.S. costs now approaching $100 billion. When this project was first started in 1984, cost projections were only 6 to $8 billion. This is the old Washington con game: Drastically low ball the cost estimates at the beginning, then spread the project around to as many congressional districts as possible and it will never end. As the well-respected Monitor pointed out yesterday, ``The $96 billion station is 2\1/2\ years behind schedule and costs are burgeoning,'' meaning still going up. U.S. taxpayers have even had to pay out an extra 3 to $5 billion to help the Russians participate. This Space Station will go down in history as the biggest boondoggle this Nation has ever produced. Mr. Speaker, it just goes to show once again that the Federal Government cannot do anything in an economical, cost-effective manner.