Jimmy Duncan

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, many years ago, I voted for the first gulf war after attending classified briefings about the great threats we faced from Saddam Hussein's elite troops; then I watched them surrender to CNN camera crews and empty tanks. I realized then that the threat had been greatly exaggerated. A few years later, we rushed to war in Iraq against weapons of mass destruction that were not there. The threat at the time of the second gulf war was greatly exaggerated, and I am glad that I voted against going to war that time. After the horrible beheadings of two American citizens, I felt we should respond, and I have publicly supported limited air strikes. I hope we can at some point, if we are not doing so already, send in a special operations team, or teams, to get those who have committed these beheadings just as we got Osama bin Laden; however, I do not support sending thousands of young Americans as combat troops on the ground into Middle Eastern civil and religious wars. The primary responsibility for fighting over there should be up to the countries in that region, and I do not believe we should have some fake coalition where most of the fighting and most of the funding comes from the U.S. military as in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. While ISIS--or ISIL, as it has also been referred to--is a threat, we have faced far greater threats at other times in our history. Some of our leaders clamor for war to prove how tough they are. Some want to be little Churchills. Many may believe, if they don't support the strongest possible action, they are afraid they will be blamed if something bad happens; however, both our President and the Secretary of Homeland Security have said our intelligence and military officials have no evidence of any credible threat against the U.S. at this point. In addition, we have spent $716 billion on homeland security since 9/ 11, just at the Federal level, not counting the billions spent by State and local governments and private companies. Just one company, FedEx, told me a couple of years after 9/11 that they had spent $200 million on security that they would not have spent had 9/11 not happened. On top of that, we spend much more on defense than the next top 10 nations combined and almost more than all nations combined since the poor nations spend very little on defense. If we devoted our entire Federal budget to the Middle East, we could not stop all the fighting or solve all the problems of that region. If we spent our entire Federal budget on homeland security, we could not make our country 100 percent perfectly safe. Some radical Islamic fanatic may do something bad in the U.S. but we are already spending all we can and doing all we can if we are going to meet the needs of our own people. The first obligation of the U.S. Congress should be to the American people, and the people of the Middle East are going to have to solve most of their own problems on their own. We do not have the money or the authority to try to run the whole world, and we certainly shouldn't panic or overreact to this threat from ISIS. Just a few weeks ago, their numbers were supposedly between 5,000 and 10,000. Now, we suddenly have them up to 20,000 to 31,000, but we have over 1 million in our military, and, supposedly, other nations are going to help against ISIS. The leaders of ISIS have proven themselves to be cowards by beheading unarmed, defenseless men in front of cameras in undisclosed locations. We fought against al Qaeda in Iraq and Afghanistan and then with al Qaeda in Libya. A year ago, our hawks wanted to take out Assad in Syria. Now, we want to have him with us against ISIS. I agree with what Judge Andrew Napolitano wrote a few days ago: What should Congress do? It should declare once and for all that we will stay out of this ancient Muslim civil war of Shia versus Sunni. We have been on both sides of it. Each side is barbarous. In the 1980s, we helped the Sunnis. Now, we are helping the Shias. Last year, Mr. Obama offered to help the Islamic state by degrading its adversaries; now, he wants to degrade the Islamic state. We have slaughtered innocents and squandered fortunes in an effort to achieve temporary military victories that neither enhance our freedom nor fortify our safety. We will only have peace when we come home, when we cease military intervention in an area of the world not suited for democracy and in which we are essentially despised. I agree with Judge Napolitano. Finally, Madam Speaker, I say again that we cannot take care of our own people and our country if we are permanently at war in the Middle East.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, Loudon County Commissioner Roy H. Bledsoe is a long-time friend of my family, and one of the most honorable men I have ever known. He recently retired from 55 years of public service to Tennessee. During that time, he impacted the lives of thousands of people in many positive ways. Our Nation would be a much better place if there were more people like Roy Bledsoe. Roy's public service began in 1959 as a member of the Soil Conservation District in Sweetwater Creek. He then went on to be elected to the Loudon County Commission in 1966 and become the first mayor of the county in 1968. His remarkable 48 years of service on the Loudon County Commission is unmatched. Recently, the state of Tennessee honored Roy's service with a Joint House Resolution, which stated that he ``distinguished himself as a public-spirited citizen of the highest order and as an exceptional asset to his community,'' and that his ``remarkable success as a public servant and civic leader is directly attributable to his reliance on the time-honored values of hard work and common sense and his uncommon ability to work well with people from all walks of life.'' Roy was a friend and supporter of my father, and I have been blessed to have his friendship and support over the years as well. I know even in retirement he will continue to impact the lives of many. Mr. Speaker, Commissioner Roy H. Bledsoe is a patriotic and great American known for his work ethic and generosity. I bring his service to the attention of my Colleagues and other readers of the Record and wish my friend well on the occasion of his well-earned retirement.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I voted for the supplemental appropriations bill to provide additional funding for the Iron Dome for Israel. Hamas should not have been shooting rockets into Israel, and Israel certainly has a right to defend itself. However, it is heartbreaking to me to read and hear about all the little children in Gaza who have been killed or injured. And it is very sad to see pictures and news reports of frightened little children laying in the hospital with serious injuries. As I did on the floor a few days ago, I once again plead with officials in Israel, Gaza, the U.N. and the U.S. to work together to get small children away from the bombs and out of harm's way. Even if the fighting for some unfortunate reason has to continue, I hope we can at least save some of the little children.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, one of my constituents, Lee R. Johnson, a man for whom I have great, great respect, is very concerned about the type of education young people are receiving today. Mr. Johnson spent a long and distinguished career in the U.S. Army. Since leaving the U.S. Military, he has become a leader in East Tennessee. I bring to the attention of my Colleagues and other readers of the Record the wise words of Mr. Johnson. My Life From Zero to 101 (By Lee R. Johnson)

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, President Obama told the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board in 2008, under his environmental policies ``electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.'' To be even more specific, he said: If somebody wants to build a coal-fired power plant, they can. It is just that it will bankrupt them. Under my plan, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Now listen to this story from The Washington Post just last week: Pueblo, Colorado. Sharon Garcia is stumbling around her dining room in the dark, trying to find Post-it notes. As she has for years, Garcia wants to affix the notes, marked with dollar signs, to light switches all around her house. The message to her five kids: light is expensive. ``Why do you need to turn the lights off?'' she asks her son, Mariano. ``Because otherwise there's no money,'' he answers, dutifully. ``And when there's no money?'' ``You can't feed us or take us anywhere.'' Bingo, again. I am still quoting from the Post story: It's not just the light switches, though. Ever since her power was shut off in 2010, Garcia has adopted a Depression- era obsessiveness: she doesn't use the oven in the summer, because it heats up the house, and uses only one small air- conditioner. Even the aquarium goes dark when someone's not in the room. And yet, no matter how much she rations and cuts, Garcia cannot keep ahead of the fast rise in rates. In Pueblo, the residential rate per kilowatt hour has risen 26 percent since 2010, and on a per-household basis, is now among the highest in the State. But in Pueblo, it happened in a way that has left poor consumers gasping for relief. To a wealthy community, skyrocketing electricity rates might not have much of an impact. When you have a decent- paying job, what's a few more dollars a month on your utility bill? Pueblo is not that kind of place. With a poverty rate of 18.1 percent, incomes far below the State average, and a third of the population on some sort of public assistance, those few dollars can make a big difference here. Now, I realize that almost all environmental radicals come from wealthy or upper-income families. Perhaps they just do not realize how harmful all these environmental rules and regulations and red tape are to poor and lower income people. As Charles Lane, The Washington Post columnist, said, climate change is ``a rich man's issue.'' Perhaps it doesn't matter to wealthy environmentalists that all this environmental overkill has sent millions of good jobs to other countries over the last 40 or 50 years. Now we have ended up with the best-educated waiters and waitresses in the world as millions of college graduates or very intelligent non- college graduates are having to work at jobs far below the levels of their education or below the level of their skills, talents, and abilities. Perhaps it doesn't matter to rich or upper-income environmentalists if utility bills or prices for everything go way up, but it sure does matter to millions of people like Sharon Garcia. Perhaps it doesn't matter to wealthy environmentalists that their policies over the years have driven very small- and medium-sized companies out of business. Perhaps they are pleased that their policies have helped give job security to bureaucrats and have helped extremely big businesses and foreign energy producers. This administration even had a Secretary of Energy until a few months ago who said we need to be paying the same price for gas as they do in Europe--$8 or $9 a gallon. Then, of course, all the wealthy environmentalists would have to fight a whole lot less traffic because they would be about the only ones who could afford to drive. We have made tremendous progress over the past many years in cleaning our air and water. I have voted for many of these laws and voted many years ago for the toughest clean air law in the world. But as Charles Krauthammer said: If we shut our whole country down, it would make almost no difference on carbon emissions because China and India together are opening coal-fired plants at rate of almost one per week, and Indonesia is the third-largest emitter. Some environmental groups hate to admit how much progress we have made--how much cleaner our air and water are--because it would reduce their contributions. They have to keep telling people how bad everything is so their contributors will keep sending them money, especially money and contributions from foreign energy producers. But we need to make people realize that only a prosperous country that allows free enterprise can generate the excess funds to do good things for the environment that everybody wants done. Communist and socialist countries have been some of the biggest polluters in the world because their economies have been barely able to feed, clothe, and house their people. And certainly they have been unable to spend the kinds of money that it costs to help the environment. We must not allow big government environmental regulators at both the Federal and State levels to cause our country to move so far to the left that it destroys our economy.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, last night, on the national news I saw the terrible agony and tears of a man whose children had been, according to the report, blown to pieces when a school was hit in Gaza. Hamas started this war. Israel certainly has a right to defend its people. In today's Washington Post, Michael Oren, the former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., said it is ``indeed agonizing'' to watch the images of the dead and wounded and, I might add, especially the children. Israel agreed to an Egyptian-sponsored cease-fire. Hamas did not. I rise today to plead for both sides in this war to at least let the little children get out of the war zone. The United Nations has never been very effective, but it should at least attempt to lead in an effort to get children out of harm's way. If this fighting, unfortunately, has to continue, our President and State Department should at least do everything possible to get little children out of Gaza and to some safe place away from the bombs and the rockets.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, Tom Brokaw said the targeting of 298 conservative groups by the IRS was ``outrageous'' and called for a ``complete investigation and thorough housecleaning.'' He said: This is not a conservative or liberal issue. It really is about trusting your government. Chris Matthews said there was obvious ``profiling'' of conservative groups, and said about Lois Lerner pleading the Fifth: Why, if you have nothing to hide, why doesn't she sit in that witness stand and answer truthfully? Tom Brokaw and Chris Matthews are certainly not political conservatives. One of the leading Capitol Hill newspapers today asks, ``What about the hard drive?'' and says the IRS in Federal court this past Friday said Lois Lerner's hard drive was wiped clean by the IRS and sent to an outside disposal company to be shredded. There are thousands of missing emails which just happen to include those going from the IRS to the White House. All over this Nation, people have seen that there is one standard for ordinary citizens and another for employees of the Internal Revenue Service and friends of those in the White House. We need a much simpler, fairer tax law, Madam Speaker, that would allow us to do away with the politicized IRS altogether.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, Marvin Hammond, a friend of mine for more than 50 years, passed away this past Saturday in Knoxville, Tennessee. Marvin was one of the finest men I have ever known. Marvin was 71 and had a long and successful career as an executive for the Knoxville Utilities Board and as the top official of the Hallsdale-Powell Utility District. I first got to know Marvin when he was the manager of Holston High School athletic teams. I played a lot of sports and sold programs, popcorn, and soft drinks at many games for the University of Tennessee and Knoxville professional teams. Marvin was at many of these games. When I was 15, I got my first hourly-pay job working as a groundskeeper at the Holston-Chilhowee ball park. Marvin was 19 and was my first boss. I made $1.00 an hour, and he always joked that I was overpaid. After high school he became a trainer in the Cincinnati Reds minor league system. I was batboy for the Knoxville Smokies and would see him when his team would come to town. He was always proud of his association with several players who later made it to the big leagues. He especially treasured his longtime friendship with manager Dave Bristol. The Knoxville News-Sentinel relates a story about how Marvin helped a Cub Scout troop that I led. He spent a full day and went to great lengths to help me and the Cub Scouts, none of which he knew other than my son, John. He campaigned for me in my first race for Congress. I will never forget a campaign trip one Saturday to Polk County, Tennessee. Lance Cavett was with us and he kept fussing at Marvin about his ridiculously high KUB bill and how he just couldn't believe it. Marvin became very concerned and then asked Lance how high this terrible utility bill was. When Lance replied that it was $36, Marvin, who was driving, nearly ran off the road. I was pleased that on the Monday before he died, I had about a 30- minute visit with Marvin at his Hospice room. He held my hand for almost the entire visit. He seemed so alert and pleasant that I left thinking and hoping that he would recover. Unfortunately, that was not to be. That day, we talked over old stories and old friends. He assured me that he was not in any pain and that God had greatly blessed him in many ways. He told me of what he considered to be a miracle during his final illness. He said he had become addicted to pain pills and told his doctor he wanted to stop taking them. He said his doctor told him that would not be possible--that no one could stand the pain he would experience. Marvin insisted, saying he was turning it over to the Lord. He said from that moment, he became miraculously pain-free. Marvin had accepted that his death was near and told me he was thankful that he had been given time to say good-bye to his family and friends. He faced his death in a courageous, loving way, showing great Christian faith, and setting a wonderful example for everyone. Marvin Hammond was a good and kind man. I was told that over 300 friends visited him in his last days and hundreds more attended his receiving of friends and funeral. This Nation would be a better place if we had more men like Marvin Hammond. To me, he was a great man. I commend to my colleagues and other readers of the Record the stories about Marvin Hammond that ran in the Knoxville News-Sentinel on July 14, 2014, and the Shopper News on July 16, 2014. [From knoxnews.com, July 14, 2014.] Former Hallsdale Powell CEO Marvin Hammond dies at 71 (By Josh Flory) A prominent former leader of a North Knox County utility district died on Saturday. Marvin Hammond, 71, was the former president and CEO of the Hallsdale Powell Utility District, and previously a longtime executive with the Knoxville Utilities Board. Darren Cardwell, Hammond's son-in-law and the current general manager of HPUD, said Monday that Hammond had been in worsening health for several months, and had been receiving hospice care. Cardwell described Hammond as a mentor, coach and boss, saying that even when they disagreed, they could still ``have a family life, too, and not carry the two together.'' ``That taught me a lot over the years in how to grow and be more of not only a husband and father but how to be a leader in the business,'' Cardwell said. Knoxville attorney John Valliant said that in the last days of his life, many people would ask Hammond how they could help, and he would respond by telling them about other people with needs. ``He was giving people instructions as to how he wanted them to help other people, and he was dying,'' Valliant said. Hammond's leadership at Hallsdale Powell wasn't without controversy. His tenure coincided with a significant growth phase for the utility, which also drew sharp criticism from some customers over rising utility rates. In 2012, Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett criticized a $125- an-hour consulting contract approved for Hammond after he stepped down from the HPUD post. That contract was later terminated. Valliant said Hammond was a selfless person. ``You know people gave him a lot of grief over the rate increases at Hallsdale Powell, but they didn't realize that the EPA was breathing down his throat,'' he said. Hammond was well-connected in local political circles, and counted U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan, Jr. among his friends. In a written tribute in 2008, Duncan recalled his first hourly-pay job as a 15-year-old groundskeeper at Holston-Chilhowee Ball Park, saying that Hammond was his 19-year-old boss. ``I remember another time when I was a judge, Marvin found that I was Cubmaster of a Cub Scout troop,'' Duncan wrote. ``He told me he could get several canoes from another church and he knew some people who owned a dairy farm 45 miles away with a big lake on it. He spent his whole day getting the canoes, helping the boys tour the farm, do the canoe rides, cook out, and then load everything back up for the return.'' Receiving of friends will take place on Tuesday, July 15, from 4:30 to 8 p.m., at Salem Baptist Church, with funeral services to follow.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, we have a very sad human tragedy going on at our border, with many thousands of children coming to the U.S. from Central America. Americans are the most generous, compassionate people in the world, but if we don't secure our borders, we will destroy America as we have known it. There are probably several hundred million people who would come here in a short time, if we simply opened our borders. We must have a legal, orderly system of immigration, and it must be enforced. Our entire infrastructure--our schools, our hospitals, our jails, our sewers, and so forth--just cannot take in hundreds of millions more people in a short time. We need to immediately deploy our National Guard to secure our border, and we need to immediately change the laws, so that every unaccompanied child does not require a court hearing. This is an emergency situation, Mr. Speaker. It does not require more money. It requires immediate action with funds that are already available.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. John C. Wagner of Knoxville, TN, who this week received special recognition from the Department of Energy for exceptional research in nuclear energy. The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award has recognized esteemed scientists for the past fifty-four years, celebrating notable achievements and discoveries within the scientific community. Administered by the Department of Energy, the Lawrence Award is given to mid-career scientists and engineers for their exceptional contributions in research and development supporting the DOE and its mission to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States. The 2014 winner of the E.O. Lawrence Award in Computer, Information, and Knowledge Sciences is Oak Ridge National Laboratory's John C. Wagner. Dr. Wagner is the Manager for Used Fuel Systems at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and serves as National Technical Director for the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy's Nuclear Fuels Storage and Transportation Planning project. He joined Oak Ridge in 1999 as an R&D Staff Member to pursue his research in the area of hybrid radiation transport methods. His research interests include a wide range of issues associated with spent nuclear fuel storage, transportation, and disposal. Wagner was the original developer of computer codes that led to advanced hybrid transport methods. In 2012, he was elected a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society. Dr. Wagner is being honored with this prestigious award for his contributions to computationally-based studies of radiation transport in real-world complex systems, including safety, radiation shielding, and nuclear reactor analysis. Wagner's research significantly advances the methodology used to obtain accurate predictive solutions to challenging problems ranging from civilian nuclear energy to the Nation's nuclear security. Mr. Wagner is a great asset to the scientific community and to the nation. I want to thank Mr. Wagner for his years of dedicated service and his contributions to the safe and efficient use of nuclear energy and I wish him many more years of success.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, we take in approximately $39 billion a year for the highway trust fund to take care of transportation needs all over this country. We have spent $103 billion over the last several years rebuilding Afghanistan. Now they tell us projects all over this country will have to stop because of a $15 billion shortfall in our highway trust fund. Today and tomorrow we will have before us a Defense bill that has a $79 billion placeholder for overseas contingency operations over and above the regular Defense budget. It has been this amount or much more over the last several years. This OCO account is primarily for Iraq and Afghanistan, where we are still spending megabillions. We should take at least some of this money to cover the shortfall in the highway trust fund to keep these projects and jobs going all over the U.S. We have spent far too much blood and treasure in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last few years, and that needs to stop. Mr. Speaker, we need to stop spending all of these billions in Iraq and Afghanistan and start taking better care of our own people and our own country.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, President Kennedy said in a famous speech at the University of Washington in 1961: With only 6 percent of the world's population, we cannot correct every adversity or right every wrong and that, therefore, there cannot be an American solution for every problem. Today, we are less than 4 percent of the world's population, and we have a national debt of a mind-boggling $17.6 trillion. We simply cannot keep sending megabillions to corrupt governments all over the world. We should have trade and tourism with other countries, cultural and educational exchanges, and, of course, diplomatic relations; but the people in Iraq and Afghanistan are going to have to solve most of their problems themselves. We cannot do everything for them and still do what we should do for our own country and own people. Let me repeat those words of President Kennedy: There cannot be an American solution for every world problem. This is not isolationism, Mr. Speaker. It is common sense.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

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

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, my amendment deals with the same part of the bill as Mr. Broun's, and it is very similar. My amendment would save $10 million by reducing the increase in this program, the Watershed Rehabilitation Program. Let me repeat that, Mr. Chairman. My amendment simply reduces the increase. It is not a cut. In fact, this program would still be getting a 25 percent increase in discretionary funds even if my amendment were approved. In addition, this program has had a restriction on mandatory spending since 2002. Under this bill, this restriction is being removed. This means that, without my amendment, spending on this program, which was $12 million this year and $13.6 million last year, will go to $117 million this next fiscal year. No other department or agency in the Federal Government is receiving this type of increase--almost 10 times what is being spent on this program during this fiscal year. This is a program for which the President requested no funding, as Mr. Broun mentioned, and for which the Senate Appropriations Committee provides no funding, which he also mentioned. Surely, Republicans in the House are not going to allow the President or the Senate to act in a more fiscally conservative manner than we here in the House. Most State and local governments are in much better fiscal shape than the Federal Government is with our $17.6 trillion national debt. They can carry out this program, where necessary, or farmers themselves can do some improvement. The National Taxpayers Union supports this amendment and has announced that they will be including my amendment in their ratings of congressional votes. Mr. Chairman, this is a very modest attempt to do at least a little something about our horrendous debt. Admiral Mike Mullen, a very respected man who was Chairman of our Joint Chiefs of Staff a couple of years ago gave several speeches and testified before several committees of the House and Senate; and he said over and over again that our national debt is the greatest threat to our national security. This amendment is a small step, but an important step toward doing something about that. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, I will simply repeat that my amendment does not go as far as Mr. Broun's. It would save $10 million, if adopted. This program, if my amendment is not adopted, will receive an increase almost 10 times the amount that is being spent on this program in this fiscal year. It would seem to me that most people in this country would feel it is ridiculous to give any program a tenfold increase. I know the Congress is very generous in spending other people's money, but they are going too far on this. I urge my colleagues to support my very minimal, modest amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, you can never satisfy the government's appetite for money or land. They always want more. But this Nation's national debt has now reached an astounding $17.6 trillion. The only reason more people are not upset about that figure is that nobody can humanly comprehend a figure like $17.6 trillion. Basically, what it means is that this Nation is in the shape of Detroit. The only difference is Detroit can't print money. This Nation keeps printing more money, more money, and more money. That is going to speed up in the years ahead if we don't get much more fiscal conservatism at the Federal level. Anyone who wants to draw Social Security, our Federal pension, or our military pension that will buy very much in future years should demand much more fiscal responsibility from our Federal Government. What we mainly need to do, Mr. Speaker, we need to stop trying to take care of the whole world and start taking care of our own country and putting the American people first once again.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I wish today to pay tribute to a longtime friend and one of the finest men I have ever known. Felix Gaiter recently passed away at the age of 91. He was a well- known businessman in my District and owner of the Gaiter Construction Company, which was the largest African American-owned construction company in East Tennessee. I had the privilege to be the lawyer for the Gaiter Construction Company for just about the entire time I practiced law. Mr. Gaiter was one of the kindest, hardest working, and most honest people with whom I have ever dealt. Mr. Gaiter was also a veteran of World War II, and he easily earned his place among the ``Greatest Generation'' with his service and honorable life. A member of Rogers Memorial Baptist Church in Knoxville, he always lived his life by the Golden Rule. Mr. Gaiter is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 66 years, Mrs. Margaret Gaiter, who has always been very kind to me. Mrs. Gaiter treats everyone with love and respect. She is a very bright fixture in the Knoxville community and active in countless organizations. My wife, Lynn, and I send our condolences to Mrs. Gaiter, her three children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mr. Speaker, Felix Gaiter was a wonderful husband, father, and citizen. I call his life and accomplishments to the attention of my Colleagues and other readers of the Record. This Nation would be a much better place if we had more people like him.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding. I can't cover all of the issues that are being raised here today, but I do want to say this: I spent 7\1/2\ years as a criminal court judge in Tennessee before coming to Congress trying felony criminal cases, and so I have interest in this question about the waiving of Fifth Amendment rights. Let me just mention what some others have said about this. Alan Dershowitz of Harvard said Lois Lerner's statement of innocence opened a ``legal Pandora's box. You can't simply make statements about a subject and then plead the Fifth. Once you open the door to an area of inquiry, you have waived your Fifth Amendment right; you've waived your self-incrimination right on that subject matter.'' Paul Rothstein, a well-respected law professor at Georgetown University--and both of these gentlemen are very, very liberal politically. Professor Rothstein said of Lois Lerner, that she ``has run a very grave risk of having waived her right to refuse to testify on the details of things she has already generally talked about. She voluntarily talked about a lot of the same things that lawmakers wanted to ask her about in her opening statement. In that situation, when you voluntarily open up the subject they want to inquire into and it is all in the same proceeding, that would be a waiver.'' Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who specializes in ethics laws stated, ``Lois Lerner came before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. She gave an opening statement in which she said, `I'm not guilty, I haven't done anything wrong.' The second way in which she waived her Fifth Amendment privilege was when she voluntarily, willingly, agreed to meet with the Department of Justice lawyers. To me, this is a pretty clear case of how she has waived her Fifth Amendment rights not to testify and not to answer questions. She just is being selective, and the one place she will not answer questions is with anyone that she thinks might ask her hard questions.'' Hans von Spakovsky of The Heritage Foundation, another legal expert, said, ``Under the applicable rules of the Federal courts in the District of Columbia, the interview she gave to prosecutors meant that she waived her right to assert the Fifth Amendment.''

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. If we allow somebody to come in and say they are not guilty--repeatedly say they haven't done anything wrong, if we allow people to say that and do that in these types of proceedings and then plead the Fifth, we are making a mockery of the justice system and making a mockery of the Fifth Amendment privilege in this country. Last, I would just say this: there has been some mention about some liberal groups being targeted. There were over 200 conservative groups audited and targeted and investigated in this investigation. I think there were three that might have been classified as liberal. It was so obvious what was intended by the IRS activities in this situation, and so I support this rule and support the underlying resolution.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, the Taiwan Relations Act, signed into law 35 years ago on April 10, 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, officially recognizes the unique relationship between Taiwan and the United States. Taiwan is one of our closest allies and best friends in the world. The University of Tennessee started having a large number of students coming from Taiwan in the early 1960s because a man from that nation, Nelson Nee, was head of the U.T. International Students Program. Many of these students became, and many still are, leaders in the Republic of China. I had the privilege of spending a week in Taiwan along with Congressman Pete Sessions and former Congressman Sonny Callahan around 10 years ago. The Taiwanese people could not have been kinder or more impressive to us than during that visit. I am thankful for the friendship of the people from Taiwan and honored to mark the 35th Anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, today a memorial service is being held for William Dean McKamey at the United States Naval Academy. Will was a young man for whom I had the privilege of nominating to the Naval Academy. A former Mr. Football winner from Grace Christian Academy, Will unfortunately passed away on March 25 after having collapsed during football practice the previous Saturday. Will was one of the most outstanding men I have had the privilege of meeting. From all of the things I have read and heard, this young man had an incredibly bright future. He was outstanding in every way. Will was only 19 years-old when he died, but, in his short life, he touched many lives personally and has inspired thousands of lives in my home state of Tennessee and around the Country as people learn about him. Will was a committed Christian, and his mother Kara has noted that ``Will was able to change the spirit of a community, a school and a Navy football team . . . without really saying a word.'' I had the honor to attend Will's funeral service, and I saw firsthand the impact Will has had on his community. Tennessee and the Navy football family mourn the loss of such a great young man: a son, a friend, a teammate, and a Christian.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, President Kennedy, in a 1961 speech at the University of Washington, said: . . . We must face the fact that the United States is neither omnipotent or omniscient--that we are only six percent of the world's population--that we cannot impose our own will upon the other 94 percent of mankind--that we cannot right every wrong or reverse each adversity--and that therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem. Today we are less than four percent of the world's population and we are over 17.5 trillion dollars in debt. Many people are trying to prove that they are great world statesmen and are supporting policies that will commit us to spend billions we do not have on Ukraine. I wish everyone would read a recent book called Ike's Bluff by Evan Thomas. This book is about the foreign policy of President Eisenhower and explains that he stayed out of many situations that were worse than what is going on in Ukraine, because he did not have to prove that he was a great military leader or world statesman. We should have trade and tourism, and cultural and educational exchanges with other countries, and help to a limited extent during humanitarian crisis. But we cannot be the policemen of the world. The Ukrainians are going to have to solve their own problems, and we need to start taking better care of our own Country and our own people.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, President Kennedy, in a 1961 speech at the University of Washington, said: We must face the fact that the United States is neither omnipotent or omniscient--that we are only 6 percent of the world's population--that we cannot impose our will upon the other 94 percent of mankind--that we cannot right every wrong or reverse each adversity--and that therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem. The major difference now than when he spoke in 1961 is that we are only 4 percent of the world's population, and we are over $17 trillion in debt. President Kennedy was right then, and we should carefully listen to his words today. Many people are trying to prove that they are great world statesmen and are supporting policies that will commit us to spend billions we do not have on Ukraine. We don't need to be sending billions to Ukraine, and we especially should not escalate this situation into some type of military confrontation. We should have trade and tourism and cultural and educational exchanges with other countries and help, to a limited extent, during humanitarian crisis; but we cannot be the policemen of the world. The Ukrainians are going to have to solve most of their problems on their own, and we need to start taking better care of our own country and our own people. In fact, Mr. Speaker, we are long past the time when we need to start putting our own people first and stop trying to run the whole world, creating a lot of resentment toward the U.S. in the process.

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, Robert Booker is a former Tennessee State Legislator and longtime columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel. He is a man for whom I have very great respect. His weekly column is usually devoted to the history of the African- American community in and around my hometown of Knoxville. Because I love history, and especially that about East Tennessee, I almost always enjoy his columns. They are interesting, informative and well-written and thoroughly researched. His column of February 4th was one I particularly enjoyed. He wrote about three activist ministers in Knoxville, all of whom I have known and respected: Rev. Harold Middlebrook, Rev. William T. Crutcher, and Rev. Frank Gordon. I was very proud of my late father for many reasons, but near the top to me was his leadership while Mayor of Knoxville to help peacefully integrate our City. He was good friends and worked closely with Rev. Crutcher and Rev. Gordon and in later years with Rev. Middlebrook. When I practiced law in Knoxville, I represented Rev. Crutcher's church, Mount Olive Baptist. He was a great man, and his widow is still a wonderful, sweet woman. Rev. Middlebrook stayed in our family home in Alexandria, Virginia, when he came to be my guest at the joint session of Congress honoring Nelson Mandela. I am thankful that Knoxville has a man like Robert Booker who does so much to honor forgotten leaders from our past. I would like to call to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record Mr. Booker's recent column about activist preachers. [From the Knoxville News Sentinel, Feb. 4, 2014] Middlebrook in Line of Activist Preachers (By Robert Booker) When my friend the Rev. Harold Middlebrook retired as senior pastor of Canaan Baptist Church of Christ, I reflected on his civic activities and compared them to those of other pastors who made a difference during the past 149 years. He has shouted for justice in a sea of silence. He has stood for equality while others just sat by. He has preached against street violence as others gave lip service. He has led the battle many times to help save Knoxville College as others failed to rally their troops. Indeed, Middlebrook is a rare breed who talks the talk, walks the walk and gets things done. He knows how to put on a good show, but it is not just an act. He can preach up a storm, but the fallout is to irrigate, fertilize and cultivate minds and hearts to bring about man's humanity to man. We have a number of excellent preachers today who can stir up their congregations with great messages. Some of them successfully push pet projects, but it has not been easy for them to capture a mass following across the city as has Middlebrook. Perhaps the first one to have that kind of influence and reverence was the Rev. George Washington LeVere, who came here as pastor of Shiloh Presbyterian Church on Feb. 9, 1866. He had been a chaplain in the 29th Regiment of the United States Colored Infantry. Having been born and educated in Brooklyn, N.Y., he came here ready to practice what he would preach. In 1869 he organized the Shieldstown (LeVere) School on Linden Avenue, which provided the initial education for William H. Franklin, the first black graduate of Maryville College in 1880. LeVere was a charter member of the Meridian Lodge No. 4 of the Free and Accepted Masons. He served as their Grand Master. He helped organize the Colored Mechanics Association in 1871. He was pastor of Shiloh for 22 years. Another giant in the fight for human dignity was the Rev. William T. Crutcher, who served as pastor of Mount Olive Baptist Church for 54 years. He arrived there in 1935 and served until his death in 1989. He attended the Baptist World Alliance in London, England, in 1955 and went on a month-long preaching mission to Africa in 1973. He was a true fighter for justice here in Knoxville. In 1948 he took the lead in getting the city of Knoxville to make Chilhowee Park available to blacks one day a week instead of one day a year. He also led the effort to allow blacks to play gold at the city-owned Whittle Springs Golf Course. In the early 1960s Crutcher was a co-chair of the Associated Council for Full Citizenship, which led to the desegregation of lunch counters and movie theaters. Numerous threats were made on his life. The Rev. Frank Gordon became pastor of Shiloh Presbyterian Church in 1952 and he, too, was a trailblazer in many activities outside his church. He taughtBible and religious history at Knoxville College from 1953 to 1956 and was a candidate for the Knoxville Board of Education on two occasions. He was a member of the Mayor's Commission on Race Relations and a member of Gov. Frank Clement's State Commission on Race. Gordon was president of the Knoxville branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the state president of that organization, which helped integrate the school systems of all 95 Tennessee counties. Middlebrook was not the first activist preacher in this city, but he has been one of the most successful ones in his undertakings. He has left a real legacy for those who choose to follow his lead.