Thelma Drake

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. And for their willingness to share that that quote was wrong and to share the real quote, something that personal.

Mrs. DRAKE. As the gentlewoman was speaking, I thought I need to make sure that you know that just a few weeks ago in Washington, the Speaker of the Iraq National Assembly came and spoke to people who were able to attend that meeting, and it was exactly like the gentlewoman said. He kept saying to us, there is no other option. And that is exactly what you have said to us and you have said this is where we are; this is what we have done. We may go back a step, but we go forward two or three more. We honor those who have served and died, thereby remembering that there is no other option. We can only move forward. You also said very clearly who would have ever thought there would be a Constitution in Iraq; who would have ever thought there would be a National Assembly in Iraq. It is a huge success story. I think it is a miracle. I thank the gentlewoman for being here and sharing this with us. Next, I would like to call on our friend, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Carter).

Mrs. DRAKE. Congressman, thank you for that. That was very moving to hear about your district and their commitment to our great Nation. I would like to explain this map to you, though. Because if you will look in the center of the map where it is green, including the Horn of Africa and up through the Middle East, that is the short-term goal of the terrorists. This is from their Web site. Is it not an amazing world we live in that terrorists have Web sites? That is their goal, that everything colored in in green be controlled by them short term. If you will look in the far corner over there, that is their 100-year goal. If you will notice, everything colored in in green is our entire world. I think it is important for the public to know this is not Thelma Drake saying this. This is from their Web site and their goal, and this tells you what those very brave men and women that you have just spoke so eloquently about, they know this and they know the threat to our Nation. I also wanted to share with you a quote from a letter that I brought with me tonight to talk about dated October 11, 2005, from al-Zawahiri to al-Zarqawi. The quote is, because you mentioned Vietnam and I think this is important for us to remember: Things may develop faster than we imagine. The aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam and how they ran and left their agents is noteworthy. So do not think they do not know and they are not watching. Next, I would like to recognize Congressman Geoff Davis from Kentucky. I thank him for being here.

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, next, I would like to recognize the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. Mr. Chairman, thank you for being here and listening to the true passion from our Members as they talk about true American heroes.

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, I truly believe that history will name this generation. And until they do, I have decided I am going to call them the Freedom Believers, because I think there is no greater gift that we give to our children and to our grandchildren than freedom. And so I thank them, and I thank the speaker for the opportunity to be here tonight.

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the chairman for organizing this tonight, and I would also like to thank the gentleman for giving me the privilege of leading a Committee on Armed Services trip to Iraq at the very end of September-early October. It was my very first trip. We flew into Kuwait City and landed there on the airstrip to take a C-130 into Baghdad. There on that airstrip, I had my very first conversation with one of our soldiers. As I spoke with him, he looked at me and he said, Ma'am, I know what I am doing, I know why I am doing it, and if I have anything to do with it, there will never be another attack on our Nation. He said, So don't worry about me, just pray for me. And he picked up his gear and he walked away. As we got on that plane, I had another conversation with one of our military members who was assigned to that C-130. He told me his enlistment was almost up, but when he got home he was going to join the Reserve unit in his home area. And he said to me, You know, I won't be coming back here anytime soon, because in that Reserve unit, everyone volunteers to come to Iraq, and I won't have a turn to come back for some time. It hit me right there before we ever left Kuwait City that, first of all, these are volunteers who voluntarily join our military, and many of them volunteer to go to Iraq or to return to Iraq. That evening, we had dinner with our troops in Baghdad. A young woman from Virginia looked me right in the eye, and the first thing she said was, Why aren't our elected leaders telling America what we are doing? I told her that I already had determined that, that we had done a very poor job of telling the American people what they are doing over there, why they are doing it, the threat to America if they do not succeed, and the great success stories that they are having there. And I promised her that we would tell their story here in America. These people know why they are there. They know what they are doing. But their question, these American heroes who are serving for us, their question is, what are the American people thinking and what are they saying? That gave me the opportunity to tell them the stories from back home. To tell them about a cab driver in Phoenix, Arizona, that I met this summer who told me he is from Iraq, he has been here 16 years, he has family there, and he goes back on contract to help train the Iraqi troops. When he realized I was a Member of Congress, he stopped the cab, turned around and said, Will you please thank the American people for me for what you have done for Iraq? He said, You people work harder than anyone I have ever seen. He said, I don't think you even sleep, and you are doing it all for us. I told them about a presentation at Sea World this summer before Shamu came on that was the commercial from the Super Bowl, where our troops walk into an airport in their camouflage and everyone stood and clapped. And I told them how the audience when that presentation was done, they were standing, they were clapping, they were cheering and they were crying. Of course, I said to my daughter, And you thought you were in the minority. What I will tell them next time is what happened in Shannon, Ireland, on our way back, and a group of Marines walked through the airport in their camouflage and everyone stood and everyone clapped for those Marines in Ireland. But I also told them that I believe that their generation will also be named. We have talked a lot tonight about World War II, and they are being named the Greatest Generation. I truly believe history will name them; and I have decided until history does, that I am going to call them the Freedom Believers. We saw the success of what they are doing there. We met with units that work with IEDs and the EOD unit, that they are able to find and disarm and blow up a lot of these bombs. We met with the 42nd MP Brigade. We toured that base in Baghdad, and then we flew to Balad Air Base. In that 60-mile trip, flying very fast and very low in an Army helicopter, what we saw were green agricultural fields. And those fields, the people that were working them were waving at us in the helicopter. When I commented on that when I reached Balad to General Frank Gorenc, he told me that happens all the time. We toured the hospital there, and we saw that we not only treat Iraqi civilians who have been injured; we treat the insurgents or the terrorists themselves that are doing this damage there. These young men and women and those commanders know the success that is taking place in Iraq. They know that Saddam Hussein did not maintain their infrastructure there, that there was much deferred maintenance, that there was also deliberate destruction that was caused by sabotage and looters. But USAID is hard at work in Iraq. They have a publication that they have done which talks about the improvements they are making to the infrastructure, the 2,500 schools countrywide that have been rehabbed, over 32,000 teachers and administrators that have been taught, $20.7 million in grants to create partnerships between U.S. and Iraqi universities, 200 USAID missionary personnel there at work, and over 80,000 Iraqis at work in sectors throughout the country. These young men and women also understand the threat to the Nation. This shows our having dinner in Baghdad. This is in Qatar as we were leaving with the military men and women we met there. But these young men and women and the commanders understand the threat to the world. We all know that Osama bin Laden made an edict in 1998, and he said, ``Anyone who believes in Allah is to find Americans and to kill them.'' What this map shows in green is their immediate goal. We have all heard and read Osama bin Laden's words and their mission to take over the entire world. None of us can believe that. This is their current goal. In the very bottom corner is their goal in 100 years, and when you see that in color and you see that their entire goal is not a little country in the Middle East, their goal is the entire world, it makes you understand that they are at war with civilization. We as Americans, some of us think that Iraq is a local conflict. Iraq is the centerpiece of that puzzle, of that very much bigger plan of the people who would go after you and I if they had the opportunity. It is difficult for us as Americans to understand that and to understand the threat. They have no tanks and they have no planes. They use our things. They use our planes. They use our subways. Their target is not the military; their target is us. It is only the military right now in Iraq. Our military men and women know that there is no option but to fight this war and to win, not only for Iraq, but for us as well. And they know about the spread of freedom. They are the Freedom Believers. They know the spread of democracy in the Middle East makes this a safer world for all of us. What they want is for the American people to understand that, and I thank them for their service. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for arranging this tonight.

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, I came today to talk about the great privilege I had just 2 weeks ago to lead a congressional delegation to Iraq. It was my very first trip. I did not know what to expect. But as we approached the airport and you could look down, all you saw was very brown, very barren, very flat land. I realized as we were coming into Kuwait City that we had done a very, very poor job as elected leaders to tell the American people what our military men and women are doing in Iraq, why they are doing it, the incredible progress that they are making and the consequences not only to Iraq and to the Middle East, to the U.S. but to the entire world if they were to fail. Since this was an armed services trip, our mission was to meet with the troops, to meet with their commanders, to learn more about their mission, to see some of the technology that they are able to use to help them, to hear of their successes and to hear of the problems or things that we as Members of Congress could help them with. The very first person that I met was a young man on that airstrip in Kuwait City as we were waiting to board a C-130. As I was talking to him, he looked up to me and he said, ``Ma'am, don't worry about me. I know what I'm doing and I know why I'm doing it, and I can tell you that there will never be another attack on our nation if I have anything to do with it. So don't worry. Just pray for me.'' And he walked away. What an overwhelming feeling that that was from somebody probably in their very, very early twenties. That same evening as we had dinner with troops from Virginia, and I would like to take a moment and thank the Peterson Foundation and AT&T who provided us with telephone cards to give to our very brave men and women so that they could call home, but there was a young woman from Virginia who looked me straight in the eye and I already knew this, I had already sensed it and felt it, but she looked at me and said, ``Why aren't our elected leaders telling America what we're doing?'' I had no answer for her, except to make the commitment to her that we would do that. Please understand that there are very huge successes that have been made in Iraq. We hear the stories, and any story is one too many, about our men and women who are injured or killed by the IEDs. The stories that we do not hear are about how successful our military men and women have been at finding these devices, at exploding them or disarming them before someone is hurt. We watched the Predator land on film as it has been patrolling around Iraq and certainly been a great asset to the military. We talked about civil things, such as the need for electricity, the talk about blackouts, and what we learned is that, yes, there are blackouts in Iraq but the biggest reason is because of increased demand for electricity. I did not know that Iraqis were out buying TV sets and refrigerators and other appliances and have greatly increased it. I was not aware of the condition that Saddam Hussein put his own country in and that for 6 years prior to this conflict that he was allowing raw sewage from Baghdad to flow into the Tigris River. During Saddam Hussein's reign, there were no independent TV stations. Today, there are 44. No independent commercial radio stations. Today, there are 72. No independent newspapers and magazines. Today, there are 100. We also do not talk about the huge successes of the Iraqi security force and the fact that we as Americans have turned over 24 fully operational bases to the Iraqi government. We flew from Baghdad to Balad air base by helicopter. We flew very low and very fast. I was surprised, first of all, to see how green the nation was in that area, and more surprised to see the people who were working those agricultural fields who waved to that helicopter as it went by. When we landed in Balad, I talked to General Frank Gorenc, who used to be the commander at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and whom I know, and I said, ``Frank, they're waving at us.'' They laughed and they said, ``Thelma, they always wave at us. They're very glad that we're here.'' I believe that these young men and women who are serving in Iraq are true American heroes. I believe that history will give them a name, just as they named my father's generation during World War II. I do not know what that name will be, but I can assure you that these young men and women understand the threat to our world but they need to know that America supports them and that America understands their mission. I told them stories from back home about a presentation at Sea World, about what a great job they were doing and about how Americans stood and clapped. And how in Ireland on our way back Marines entered that airport and they stood and clapped.

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, this weekend I had the privilege to lead an armed services congressional delegation to Iraq. We had the great opportunity to visit with our brave fighting men and women, attend briefings by their commanders, and see firsthand the progress that is being made. We visited Camp Victory, Baghdad, Ballad, and Qatar. Our brave men and women are working very hard, they are making incredible progress, they are proud of what they are doing, they are determined to prevent another attack on our Nation, and they know a free and democratic Iraq means the spread of freedom throughout the Middle East and a safer world for all of us. As these courageous American heroes stand side by side with our allies and with Iraqi soldiers, they want to be assured that the American people support them, that the American people understand the mission, and that the American people understand the threat to the entire world. Today New Yorkers are on alert because of their efforts. What happens in Iraq matters to Americans. I thank them for their service.

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Madam Speaker, it is with great pride that I congratulate Norfolk public schools for winning the Broad Prize for Urban Education. Eighty-two school districts participated. Five finalists were selected. Yesterday the winner was announced: Norfolk public schools. The criterion for this award is significantly improving student achievement and reducing the performance gap. Congratulations to Norfolk, Virginia, for their hard work, their dedication and their creativity, and a heartfelt thanks to the Broad Foundation for their vision and their commitment to America's children. These models and programs will be used across America to improve the quality of education for all children.

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to point out that last week, before we left here, we did a very important thing on Thursday night, and that is that we reauthorized the PATRIOT Act. I think it is important to remember that in 2001, when this act was first put into place, that there were no ``no'' votes. But now, 4 years later, Mr. Speaker, there is a great deal of concern among the American people that our freedoms be protected, and we often hear the expression that if we give up a little bit of freedom for a little bit of security, that we would have neither. As Americans, we value our freedoms. We value the freedom of speech, we value our freedom of privacy, we value the protections that we have against unnecessary search and seizure. But as Americans we also know that things have changed. I do not think there is a parent or grandparent in America today that would tell you that their lives today are what they were when they were children. I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, when I have my grandchildren with me, they have very little freedom, and that I never take my eye off of them because we do live in a different day and a different time, and the securities that we felt as children just do not exist today. As I drove home last week and I was stuck in traffic, which we all know is certainly a reoccurring thing in our society, but I was listening to a radio program about the PATRIOT Act. What really concerned me about what Americans are being told is that Americans are being told that somehow this is onerous, that we have done the PATRIOT Act, and that our freedoms are being impacted in this act. What Americans are not being told is that the same provisions that exist in this act have been in place for many years in regards to criminal cases, in regards to child pornography, in regards to drug offenses, in regards to mob bosses. What the PATRIOT Act did is added foreign terrorism into the same types of provisions that already exist. The PATRIOT Act also broke down walls to allow law enforcement officials to interact together and to make sure that information is being shared and that we as Americans are as safe as we can possibly be. I think that is an important element of the PATRIOT Act, is that it is not new. It is existing law enforcement that has been extended over. But, Mr. Speaker, it is only fair to remind people that there are additional requirements that are placed in the PATRIOT Act on the provision of foreign terrorism. What some of those provisions are is that under the criminal code, law enforcement gets grand jury permission in order to do what they are doing. Under the PATRIOT Act, that required the permission of a Federal judge. With the amendments that we did Thursday night in regards to the one the American people talked about the most called the ``library provision,'' or what we referred to as section 215, which would allow them to check books and records, now it will require that the Director of the FBI make that request to a Federal judge. So to imply to the American people that someone is checking what books we check out is just unfair, and it is unfair to all of us who do expect to put some safety and some security back into our lives and to the lives of our children. Mr. Speaker, there is nothing else we can do except to really explain what is the PATRIOT Act, how does it keep us safer and how does it interact with our other criminal codes. I would like to also point out that the ``library act,'' as it is called, has been used many times in regards to the criminal code, but it has not once been used in regards to foreign terrorism. Is it something we should take away? No, absolutely not, because why should we tie the hands of our law enforcement professionals on one area that is so critical to us when this exists in other provisions of the law? Mr. Speaker, I applaud the House of Representatives for reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act. I was a little distressed that we put additional requirements in place, but if that is what it takes for people to feel safe and secure, all right. But the most important thing is I think the public should know the truth. They should know how the PATRIOT Act is protecting them and defending them and not impacting their freedoms.

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to share the following article written by a constituent, Rabbi Israel Zoberman. The rally at the Yorktown Battlefield in Virginia, on June 25, 2005 sponsored by the Nationalist Socialist Movement (The American Nazi Party) is an opportune occasion for somber reflection and sincere soul-searching. Let us be clear: Nazi paraphernalia is bound to be an abhorrent sight anywhere, so much more so on a site resonating with sacred historical memories. A noxious display of terror-filled symbols protected paradoxically by our great democracy's freedoms which the Nazis seek to remove; freedoms and concomitant responsibilities won not without heroic struggle to overthrow tyranny and to be reaffirmed only a few days later at the July 4th celebration. Surely the rally's chosen venue and the close proximity of the two above dates is no coincidence, since the American Nazis unabashedly pretend to cloak themselves in the mantle of ``the true American patriots.'' How ironical as well to acknowledge that we are currently observing the 60th anniversary of the defeat of the very same forces that the American neo-Nazis and their European counterparts shamefully continue to uphold as the desired ideal for humanity. How is it that following the enormous sacrifices to uproot Nazi Germany with the critical participation of the United States, there are those growing up in our midst of enviable diversity and by-and-large, mutual respect and civility, who yet harbor the seeds of consuming diabolical hatred for all that we hold dear? The often repeat call for constant vigilance is not a trite one. History has taught us that democratic societies are not impregnable from those who labor to destroy them from within. Unleashed poison of bigotry and prejudice when unchecked can find its way into the mainstream when deteriorating political and economic conditions are ripe for scapegoating any vulnerable minority. Once the unfathomable Holocaust occurred, is it any wonder that we have witnessed genocides and ethnic cleansing in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Iraq and now in the Sudan's Darfur region. The strikes of September 11, 2001 were also nourished by a similar spirit of disregarding the Other. Does it not behoove our societal institutions of home, school and religion to double our efforts in reaching the young's minds to appreciate what is at stake, promoting pluralism's open-mindedness and excising extremism's venom? Hitler and his murderous cohorts, masters of deception that they were, taught us nonetheless to seriously take ominous language and behavior. Wider Holocaust and World War II education is a beneficial tool, along with the laudable contribution of the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C., the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond, and similar ones elsewhere; particularly as time elapses from the actual tragic events with eye- witnesses dying while we confront revisionist history of Holocaust denial. We ought be immensely proud of the noble work, an exemplary model indeed, of our own Holocaust Commission of the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. As the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations (OSI) still pursues tenaciously and admirably Nazis with blood on their hands who entered America or wish to do so, the American Jewish Committee reports that no more than 44 percent of Americans know about Auschwitz and only 30 percent are aware of what the ``6 million'' represents. Shockingly as well, even in Germany half of the under twenty-four year old population is ignorant of the Holocaust according to a recent poll. Thus the regrettable exposure of Nazi activity in deed and creed with today's internet utilization is also an opportunity to become cognizant of this corrosive phenomenon that we dare dismiss only at grave future risk. With the alarming rise worldwide of anti-Semitic incidents, and related anti-Israel bashing, the recently enacted German law to restrict neo-Nazi demonstrations next to sensitive historical sites is a good idea for us too. The issue confronting us as Americans crosses boundaries of group, background, faith, gender and race. It ought to unite us anew as one yet diverse American nation in pursuit of our binding democratic agenda whose noble fulfillment is the ultimate response to those threatening it. The counter peace rally sponsored by The National Conference for Community and Justice which took place on June 21 at Virginia Wesleyan College was reassuring in the broad coalition it represented of concerned and involved citizens. The concluding moving dedication of the Peace Garden in memory of Dr. Catharine Cookson, founding director of Virginia Wesleyan's Center for the Study of Religious Freedom, was an apt act reflecting the great American ideal of bridge- building and mutual embrace. During this trying time of a global war against radical Islamic terror with the old Nazi specter refusing to totally go away despite our victory, we are reminded of the worst in human nature but also the best in us. Rabbi Israel Zoberman is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Chaverim in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Born in Kazakhstan in 1945 to Polish Holocaust survivors, he is past President of the Hampton Roads Board of Rabbis and Cantors.

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for her leadership tonight and for allowing us to participate here with her in this hour. We have heard from the gentleman from Texas and the gentlewoman from Tennessee that we are right at our halfway point for the very first year of the 109th Congress. I think that the gentlewoman from North Carolina would agree with me that it is a very exciting time to serve in Congress. There are very many major issues that face our Nation, and the exciting thing is that this Congress is committed to dealing with those issues. We have begun the debate on Social Security. We will begin the debate on Medicaid reform with the commission that is being formed, a bipartisan commission. We will work on the total issue of health care, Medicare reform, illegal immigration. There are just many issues that this Congress must deal with and is committed to dealing with. We have heard tonight about some of the major pieces of legislation that have already been passed by both bodies and enacted into law, from bankruptcy reform to class action lawsuit reform to the READ ID Act and the Continuity of Government Act. We have also heard about pieces of legislation that were in the works for a very long time and have now passed over to the Senate and we are awaiting their action. On a national energy plan, our country knows today how critical it is that we have a national energy plan. We can no longer be reliant on foreign oil, which today is 62 percent of the energy of the oil that is used in this country. Other key things that this Congress has sent to the Senate is the Child Interstate Abortion Act, a critical piece of legislation for our parents and our families; Gang Violence Deterrence and Protection Act, critical for our safety in our communities; the flag protection amendment; U.N. reform; and the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act. Also, both Houses have acted on our highway bill, and that bill is currently in conference and there will be a compromise at approximately somewhere around $284 billion for highways, transit, and road safety through 2009, creating countless new jobs and addressing many transportation needs. The American people need to know that Congress is hard at work and dealing with problems that have not yet been addressed. Bankruptcy reform and class action lawsuit alone were at least 6 years before those bills were passed. Last year Congress did not pass a highway bill; and this year, as we have heard, we are very close to finalizing that. The people of this Nation have expressed that Congress needed to demand and require commonsense reform in regards to our participation and financial support of the U.N. I commend the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde) and the House Committee on International Relations for their hard work. Now the U.S. can require accountability and tie payments to it. And we now have figures to show how well the Bush tax cuts are working. Current numbers reflect an additional $100 billion in revenue. It shows that that economic model of allowing people to keep more of their hard-earned money means that they will creates new jobs, they will invest it, and they will grow tax dollars for us. But to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx), who has organized this, Mr. Speaker, as pleased as I am with the progress and accomplishments of this Congress, I stand here today with a very heavy heart and am very distressed beyond belief by the action and decision of the Supreme Court today in regards to private property rights. The constitutional right of the government to eminent domain to purchase private property for public use is a sensitive, difficult issue even when roads, schools, and other public facilities are the reason for the rare and cautious use of this power. But to force an unwilling private party to sell his property for the ultimate use by another private party, even if the property's intended use is a more productive one, is just plain wrong. The exact words of the dissenting opinion are: ``Under the banner of economic development, all private property is now vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner so long as it might be upgraded, i.e., given to an owner, who will use it in a way that the legislature deems more beneficial to the public in the process.'' Mr. Speaker, this decision today effectively removes the requirement of public use from the takings clause of the fifth amendment. With this decision all property owners are at risk. My office is currently exploring what legislative remedies are available to ensure that Americans do truly own their property. I would like to thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me. I look forward to continuing to work with her and adding this additional item to our plate to make sure that the people of our country express the right that our forefathers came here for, to own private property.

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite) and thank her for her leadership in the House of Representatives and especially on the issue of Social Security. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on an issue that affects millions of women in America. As a woman, a former business owner, now a near senior and soon-to-be beneficiary of the Social Security program, it is important to me that we have this discussion and that we take the steps necessary to protect women who are penalized under a system meant to protect them. I know all too well the harsh realities of the current Social Security system. This is not to disparage the concept of Social Security or to minimize its importance to millions of Americans. To the contrary, it is because Social Security is such an important program to so many that we need to have this debate. Some claim we seek to dismantle the program entirely when, in fact, the reverse is true. We seek to strengthen it for future generations. We seek to increase its promise of retirement security. Social Security is not an entitlement or welfare benefit that people receive for free, or worse, on the backs of other hard-working taxpayers. It is a retirement insurance that people pay into for their own future security. And as with every other type of insurance, people expect coverage when the time comes. They expect that when the going gets rough and the day arrives to call on the insurance for help, that help will come. Theoretically, Social Security should pay for itself, but currently it does not and costs are skyrocketing. Furthermore, I have a hard time even calling Social Security ``insurance'' because whether or not it is there for you and your loved ones seems so arbitrary today. There are so many contingencies and what-ifs. For example, here is a what-if, and it is all too real for too many women and it represents a flaw in the Social Security system: If a spouse dies, the children are grown and the surviving spouse has not reached retirement age, Social Security is not available until she is old enough to retire. It is even worse if she has never been gainfully employed, she has no income and finds herself searching for employment. If she is employed, yes, she has a paycheck, but faces a huge reduction in income and the reality that at retirement either her Social Security payments go away or his do, all those payments into the system gone. This is unacceptable. We need to do something about this now. First, we must enhance and strengthen Social Security by allowing people the opportunity to turn a small portion of their Social Security into a personal nest egg, one that they can leave to their family upon their death when their needs are the greatest. Second, we must ensure that positive, concrete changes are enacted to fix Social Security permanently and make it a solvent program. As more and more women own small businesses, they are more heavily impacted by high Social Security taxes. Women own 9.1 million businesses in this country, employ 27 million people, and have a $3.6 trillion impact on our economy. But Social Security is a matching system which means that each of the millions of employers in this Nation pays into your Social Security what you pay into it. You pay 6.2 percent of your paycheck into the program, and your employer matches that 6.2 percent with money from his or her own pocket. So who matches the employer's 6.2 percent? Your employer does. So the owners of small businesses are not only paying their full 12.4 percent, but the 6.2 percent of each of their employees as well. The first thing I was told as a new Realtor over 20 years ago was that Social Security would not fund my retirement. Today, that would mean the 12.4 percent into Social Security for myself, 6.2 percent for my assistant, plus the other retirement investments necessary to secure my golden years. These 9.1 million female business owners are strong, independent women. I was so proud to be among them for 20-plus years before coming to Congress. But having been there, I know the struggle of paying higher and higher Social Security taxes each year. That is why we cannot allow the current Social Security system to stifle their entrepreneurship. We must act now to protect the tax hikes or benefit cuts that will be inevitable if we do not. Mr. Speaker, I support preserving Social Security today, and I am pleased that my colleagues have outlined a solid plan that we can begin debating openly before the American people. I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite) for this opportunity to address the people and thank her for her service to our country.

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1490) to amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the National Defense University to award the degree of Master of Science in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mrs. DRAKE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 1490, the bill under consideration.

Mrs. DRAKE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1490, offered today by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Armed Services and a long-time advocate of the necessity for joint professional military education for Armed Forces personnel. Today, America's Armed Forces successfully operate together, and with allies, across the globe in incredibly complex wartime undertakings that would not have been possible if it were not for an underlying system to educate military officers and other national security leaders in joint, multinational and interagency operational-level planning and warfighting. For nearly 60 years, the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, which I proudly represent, has been a critically important part of that joint professional military educational system. This week, the Joint Forces Staff College achieves another educational milestone with the graduation of the first class to complete the requirements for the Master of Science Degree in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy. These graduates of the Joint Advanced Warfighting School will be assigned to critical roles on the Joint Staff and in the joint warfighting commands. These graduates will bring with them a high degree of skill in joint planning, as well as capability for critical analysis that will allow them to be effective, creative, conceptual and innovative planners and commanders. This bill, H.R. 1490, provides the statutory authorization to the Department of Defense to award these and future graduates of the Joint Advanced Warfighting School their masters-level degrees. It is a milestone not only for these first graduates but also for the Nation. These officers and those who follow are certain to be our future senior military leaders. Their success will be America's success. I thank the Member from Missouri for his enduring commitment to the education of America's military leaders and urge all my colleagues to vote yes on H.R. 1490. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. DRAKE. Madam Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Chairman, first let me thank the gentleman from California for his leadership and hard work on this issue and for drafting an amendment that confirms Congress' constitutional duty to oversee the military. Any decision to allow women to serve in direct ground combat is a decision that must be made by Congress. Our men and women in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and around the world are serving our Nation with distinction and honor. In the Global War on Terror, there are no designated front lines and at any moment even a mess hall can become a combat zone. The jobs that place our military members in direct ground combat are currently closed to women. The amendment before us today will allow congressional oversight in any decision to open direct ground combat specialties to women by requiring notification by the Defense Secretary and Congress. It also requires a report from the Secretary in March of 2006 which will allow Congress to further explore this issue. Let me be clear, this amendment does not impact any specialties currently open to women. All women will continue serving in their current roles. Any change in current roles would be completely unacceptable. I urge my colleagues to support this measure.

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Chairman, I certainly would like to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) for their leadership on this amendment. I think the important issue before us today is that if women were to serve in direct ground combat positions, if that be the decision of the Congress, then I think the amendment before us today does that. The important thing to remember is that this amendment, as was just explained, will provide a 60-day notice, time so Congress can act as necessary. It also provides for a report to Congress by the end of March of 2006. No women will lose their positions, nor would that be acceptable.

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to share the following article written by a constituent, Rabbi Israel Zoberman. I vividly recall my pride back in 1980 at the Rockefeller Chapel of the University of Chicago as I received the first doctoral degree awarded to a Rabbi by McCormick Theological Seminary which is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, USA. The dean whispered in my ear, ``You are the first,'' without public fanfare. A disconcerting reminder of that ambiguous attitude is the recent controversial vote by the 216th General Assembly of the PC (USA) meeting in Richmond, Virginia for studying ``selective divestment'' from companies doing business in Israel with at least one million dollars in revenue, and deemed to hurt the Palestinians. It is quite astonishing that there was a rather limited sense of the adverse impact of the anti-Israel move on the American Jewish community. Did not the Presbyterian leadership know that the best way to unite the Jews is to challenge the Jewish state in a serious way? Organized American Jewry is surely committed to safeguarding Israel's well-being at the critical front here at home. For a mainline Protestant denomination, though with dwindling members but with yet considerable influence, to go beyond past critical resolutions and risk alienating its Jewish partners in common quests of interfaith dialogue for a better America and humanity, is a cause for an evaluative pause. What has gone so wrong? How can we set the record straight and rejoin in essential and increased cooperation, establishing better lines of communication? In a climate of rising world anti-Semitism, won't divestment worsen matters, threatening to place Israel in the pariah state category as was the case with South Africa which the Presbyterians rightly pursued? Would other religious bodies and secular institutions be tempted to follow suit? Wouldn't added economic pressure and isolation damage Israel's ongoing courageous peace work, hurting a close ally of the U.S.? To attack Israel following four bloody years of unremitting and victimizing terrorist suicide bombings that no other nation would have tolerated without a major response that surely Israel could deliver, is a sad commentary on the exhibited callousness of mostly friends tuning out a certain reality. A reality including the plight of the Christian minority in the Arab Muslim world in general and particularly now among the Palestinians where ironically the Presbyterians have long roots of involvement, it, obviously affecting their stance on Middle East issues. It is also the outcome of too many Presbyterians lacking pertinent information. The cited Israeli security barrier as problematic ignores the dramatic reduction in terrorist infiltrations as well as Israel's Supreme Court intervention in correcting the barrier's path to alleviate hardships, with its final destiny dependent upon future developments. It was after all the late Chairman Arafat who responded in 2000 at Camp David to the offered vision of peace with improved upon past violence, reverting to his old terrorist persona with which he chose to die. It is Prime Minister Sharon who succeeded in radically transforming himself to the point of supporting a Palestinian state, presently risking his life with his disengagement plan from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. How can an enduring and inspiring Israel, a beleaguered outpost of Western values, be compared to a corrupt and terrorism-friendly Palestinian Authority yet to prove with its newly elected president Mahamud Abbas, through Israeli cooperation, that our trust in its democratic and peaceful potential is not dangerously misplaced? How tragic indeed that Palestinian suffering is largely due to its leaders' ineptitude and the duplicity of the Arab nations through the years, abusing their brethren's plight for their own regressive agenda, while refusing to grant them their own state prior to 1967 when Israel was saddled with the territories following an attack on Jewish sovereignty. Lastly but not least, the continued Presbyterian misguided goal to missionize among Jews remains a blight on a denomination that deserves better. Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Holocaust's death camps with a first, special session of the United Nations General Assembly on January 24th, 2005, we recall that modern Israel arose from the martyrs' ashes. History has taught us that when we deny a people's spiritual authenticity we ultimately invite its physical annihilation.

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 157, I regret that I was unable to return quickly enough for this vote. I was at the Pentagon for an awards presentation for an environmental award presented to a Command at Naval Base Norfolk. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to be here this evening and to speak to Americans about such an important issue as Social Security. Mr. Speaker, protecting Social Security for future generations is an investment today's generation can no longer wait to make. My colleagues who I have joined here tonight to speak with on this important issue have very effectively made the case for protecting Social Security. Rather than to repeat their arguments in favor of reform, I would like to address a common argument against what we propose. One argument about taking on the huge task of saving the Social Security system is what opponents to reform call the ``transition cost'' associated with the undertaking. They say our program will not make Social Security more solvent. They say it will cost more to reform Social Security than to just leave it alone. Opponents of reform are right to be concerned about the cost of action. As stewards of the tax dollar, Congress must be fiscally responsible and spend wisely on programs that work. But that is exactly why we need to act now, because the cost of inaction is even greater. Think about it this way: more Americans own their homes today than ever before in our history. We have all heard this a number of times, and many economists like to use homeownership as a gauge of our society's well-being. But why? Why is homeownership such a badge of honor? What does it symbolize? Why is such a huge investment and financial liability as a mortgage considered a hallmark of success in this Nation? It is because ownership brings a sense of fulfillment, a sense of identity and accomplishment. Providing for and protecting your family under a roof you call your own is part of the American Dream because family is at the very heart of our culture. But buying a home requires an initial, even painful, investment, down payments, closing costs, loans, research, contracts signed, contracts lost, and even more. It requires sacrifice to buy a home. But it is universally recognized as a wise, sound decision to make because of what it yields over time. As a former Realtor, I know firsthand the benefits and joy of homeownership. And I know what it takes to achieve it, because I have helped thousands of people to do it. I am aware of the cost of buying a home, but the long-run advantages of paying such a high price at the beginning far outweigh the disadvantages. And, Mr. Speaker, not once in my entire real estate career, which spanned 2 decades, did I ever hear it advised that the transition costs of homeownership outweigh the benefits of buying. And that is how we should think of the transition costs of protecting Social Security, just as we do the down payment on a new home. While the down payment may be high and more expensive than continuing to rent an apartment, the long-term pay-off of owning your own home is monumental. Mr. Speaker, we can no longer afford to rent the Social Security program from future generations of workers who will either lose massively in benefit cuts or pay dearly through tax hikes if we do nothing. We must make the down payment now or face the consequences of our inaction. The Social Security trustees, as the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Conaway) has pointed out, estimated each year that we do nothing we add $600 billion to the cost of reform, reform that everyone agrees is inevitable. Call it what you want. Call it a crisis, a problem, an issue, a concern. Whatever language you use to describe the Social Security situation that America faces, we cannot afford in this time of war and budgetary constraint to add $600 billion each year. Something must be done, and it must be done today. But if we do not act, the current Social Security payroll tax of 12.4 percent will have to skyrocket to 18 percent in order to meet the needs of the baby boomer retirees. As a former small business owner, I can tell you, based on my experience, and at times it was tough, that paying 12.4 percent into a system that will return me 1.6 percent on the dollar was very, very difficult. I cannot imagine trying to own a small business in the future and having to pay an even higher payroll tax. Yet this is what will happen if we do nothing. If we leave the system alone, small businesses, the Nation's number one job creator, will pay the price. If we do not act, today's average 30-year-old will see a 27 percent decrease in Social Security benefits by the time that she retires. Can your children get by on almost a third less of what retirees are receiving today? Do they think it is fair to them to fund the retirement of today's retirees through their payroll taxes, only to be left high and dry when their golden years approach because their leaders did not act? Would they not prefer to build their own nest egg and pay into a system that gives them real returns on the money for which they work so hard? And finally, for the very first time, there will be such a thing as a Social Security trust fund. As of now, it does not exist. It never did. Every cent that is paid into Social Security goes straight to Washington, and what is not paid to the current retirees gets spent by Washington. That is the end of the story. Make no mistake. Today there is no such thing as a Social Security trust fund. But now, for the first time ever, this Republican Congress wants to create one. We seek to implement a savings program that finally ties the taxes paid by an individual to that individual's future benefits. For the first time, money that you pay into Social Security will belong to you and not to the politicians and bureaucrats in Washington. This is truly an American program. It promises real returns on the money hard-working Americans pay into the system; and it says, the money you have paid is yours to keep and yours to spend on your family. For the first time, Americans will have some control over their own Social Security. And if today's workers who choose to sign up for personal accounts die prematurely, the money they divert into their personal accounts does not go away like it does today. It will remain with their family. It will be a true nest egg, an asset that is owned by that worker. We must add to the retirement security of future generations by allowing them control over their own investment. By permitting people to voluntarily establish personal accounts, we strengthen the control they have over their own financial future. By reforming Social Security now, we stop the $600 billion yearly cost of inaction and allow current workers to own their own nest egg. Mr. Speaker, it is time to act. It is time to put aside partisanship. It is time to work together to solve the problem that Social Security soon will be if we do not act. Let us put aside our differences and vote on a plan that will save Social Security for future generations. Mr. Speaker and my colleague from Georgia (Mr. Price), I think it is very exciting for Americans to have a choice to have an option to have a voluntary personal account, and I am only sorry that I do not personally qualify for that.

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Chairman, the policies Congress has implemented over the last four years have provided a solid foundation for American workers and businesses to build a strong economy. With steady job growth over the last 20 months putting over 2.7 million Americans back to work, it is clear that Congress has the right priorities: Working Americans and their families. American workers need access to job-training in order that they may obtain the skills to perform the jobs of the 21st century. Americans want more than a job--they want jobs with higher pay and that provide them with meaning and personal satisfaction. They also want a career, a future, and financial independence in retirement. As our economy shifts from production to service related jobs, and from low-tech to high-tech occupations, Americans need access to education and job training that provides them with the skills they need to perform. Mr. Chairman, when enacted, this plan will pair workers with the employers who need the skills they offer, and vice versa. In a dynamic and changing world economy, many Americans are faced with the reality that they might have to change careers multiple times. This plan will strengthen the ties between job training programs, adult education and vocational rehabilitation programs and the people they serve so they can continue to grow in their careers. Of particular importance to me and my colleagues who support this plan is provision I proposed that is reflected in the bill we're voting on today. The provision paves the way for added support for disabled veterans who need help finding meaningful work as they transition to the civilian sector after their dedicated service to our nation. The men and women of our Armed Forces who have given of themselves should not only be honored, but aided as much as possible in starting life again upon their return. The Job Training Improvement Act is a crucial step in taking the American workforce into the 21st Century, and I encourage my colleagues to support its passage.

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call your attention to the following article written by my constituent, Rabbi Israel Zoberman. Rabbi Zoberman is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Chaverim in Virginia Beach. A son of Polish Holocaust survivors, he grew up in Haifa, Israel. He is past President of the Hampton Roads Board of Rabbis and Cantors. The final departure of Chairman Yasser Arafat is of one who eluded death many a time. During Israel's 1982 incursion into Lebanon to remove the menacing PLO mini-state within a state it was, ironically, Ariel Sharon, then Defense Minister, who ordered a sniper who ``had'' Arafat not to kill him. This is an opportunity to reflect on a man who could have made a critical difference and yet was not able to seize a unique offer granted him for radical self-transformation as well as a collective transition for his long-enduring people. How redemptive it would have been to break the deadly cycle of Palestinian missed opportunities! In a fateful moment of truth in 2000 Arafat rebuffed former Prime Minister Barak's most forthcoming offer that would by now have guaranteed statehood in a favorable context to his frustrated people. It also would have prevented the flow of calculated bloodshed which the stubborn refusal and far- reaching blunder in judgment brought about. For the past four years Arafat unleashed with a nod of approval an unparalleled torrent of terrorist suicide bombings against Israel's civilian population that no nation would have tolerated for that long, and then many even decried the erection of a defensive barrier. Arafat, the father of contemporary terrorism, was already uninhibited early on in his choice of terror as a means to accomplish political goals. For example, he was behind the 1974 school children massacre in Israel's northern town of Ma'alot. Ultimately he was unwilling or incapable to lay to rest the Palestinian case and cause, assuming the normalcy of civil life that his own people might be rehabilitated and build the political, economic and social infrastructure necessary for the emergence of their democratic society and a viable state that would not threaten Israel nor Jordan from which his troublesome cohorts were evicted by the late King Hussein in ``Black September'' of 1970. Unlike the likes of South African Nelson Mandela who knew how to leave and live with a painful past, charting a new course for the sake of his people, Arafat would not shed his ubiquitous military uniform and the old persona of violent defiance. He thus allowed the terrorist within him to win over the peacemaker he triumphantly became for a brief time following his ``resurrection'' by Israel from obscure exile in Tunisia. How sad that the honor of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize could not keep him in check. Admittedly, I was among those who applauded Arafat when he and his peace partner, Yitzchak Rabin of blessed memory, shook hands in the South Lawn of the White House on that bright day of promise in September 1993. I wanted to believe that Arafat, whose hands were stained with the blood of so many of my brethren, could rise to the precious opportunity to redeem himself and restore dignity to his people while bringing peace to a beleaguered Israel. At this new crossroads of the post-Arafat era, will the Palestinian Authority wisely reach out to refashion itself sans the oppressive, conflict-ridden and corrupt style of its deceased leader, allowing its permanent neighbor Israel to be a blessing to her?

Mrs. DRAKE

Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the Iraqi people for their bravery, their courage, and their sacrifice along the road to self-determination and sovereignty. As I contemplate the recent progress in Iraq, I am reminded of the fact that it was 13 years from the time we declared our independence until we elected our first president. In Iraq, it has been a mere 13 months since Saddam's capture. In America, it took 132 years for women to have the right to vote, but in Iraq women voted in their very first democratic election. This election is only the beginning of democracy in Iraq. As their newly elected leaders draft a constitution this year, America's commitment to Iraq's security is critical. We must ensure that democracy and freedom take root and begin to thrive in the hearts and the lives of the Iraqi people. I also believe as more nations in the Middle East move towards freedom and democracy, it will provide for a more secure and peaceful world.