Eliot Engel

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, a centerpiece of any community can usually be found in a neighborhood religious institution. In Riverdale one such institution is the Riverdale Temple which is celebrating its 65th year as a liberal Jewish congregation. In February 1947 a small group met in the Riverdale Neighborhood House to discuss the establishment of a new temple. By September, the charter establishing it was signed and 67 families founded the Riverdale Temple, the first Jewish congregation in Riverdale. The Honorable Francis J. Bloustein was named first president and a dynamic rabbi infused with enthusiasm for the new project, Charles E. Shulman, was recruited from Chicago to become the first rabbi of the ``liberal congregation.'' The new Riverdale Temple initially met at the Arrowhead Inn and a Religious School, Sisterhood, and Youth Group were formed. In 1952, the building was demolished and the Riverdale Temple was homeless. These difficult times drew the congregants closer and services were conducted first at Christ Church, then at Riverdale Presbyterian Church, and Religious School classes moved from the Riverdale Country School to the Fieldston School. Yom Kippur services were held in Horace Mann School. In June 1953, the cornerstone for the new Riverdale Temple was laid, in March 1954, the new building was opened and, in September 1954, the building was formally dedicated. All are welcome at the Riverdale Temple no matter what their approach to Judaism or degree of Jewish literacy. The temple is founded on the principals of faith, mitzvot and tikkun olam and offers communal support. It has a beautiful sanctuary with a rich and evolving musical tradition. I congratulate the Riverdale Temple on 65 years of giving unstintingly to the community and in its tradition of welcoming everyone. I have visited the Temple many times and have felt its inspiration and its warmth. It has truly brought the Riverdale and surrounding communities closer together.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, Eric Mesch has been involved in adult Jewish education programming at Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale where he teaches on topics of interest, and for several years, organized the all-night learning program on Shavuot. Last year, Eric organized an event in memory of Matt Fenster z''1, in which members of many different Jewish communities came together to mark the completion of the study of the Mishnah. Eric is also a member of the Board of Directors of Mechon Hadar. For as long as he can remember, Eric's connection to Jewish study has been intense, complex and defining. He grew up on Staten Island in a Conservative Jewish home and synagogue, but attended the Orthodox Yeshivah of Flatbush in Brooklyn from third grade through high school. Later, as an undergraduate at Yale College, Eric majored in religious studies and also spent a semester at Yeshivat Hamivtar in Israel. After college, Eric attended Columbia Law School, graduating with his J.D. in 1995. Eric met his wife Rachel while they were undergraduates at Yale but they didn't start dating until his senior and her junior year. Their relationship blossomed over good coffee, something that is still important to them. They married in 1995 and in their first year of married life they lived in Jerusalem where Eric was a law clerk to the Supreme Court of Israel and Rachel continued her graduate work at Hebrew University. They have three children, Abby, Eliza and Sam. Eric is a partner with the law firm of Dickstein Shapiro LLP, focusing on bankruptcy-related and other complex commercial litigation while Rachel is a professor of French literature and chair of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Yeshiva University. I congratulate Eric for all the good work he is doing at the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale. He had made CSAIR and the Riverdale community a better place.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support for the Iranian Baha'i community, Iran's largest minority religion, and in commemoration of the five year anniversary of the unlawful imprisonment of its leadership, known as the Yaran-i-Iran, or ``friends of Iran.'' In 2008 the Iranian regime arrested seven members of the Yaran-i-Iran on several trumped up charges including espionage, propaganda activities against the Islamic order, the establishment of an illegal administration, cooperating with Israel, sending secret documents outside the country, acting against the security of the country, and ``corruption on earth.'' Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm were ``tried'' in a series of closed-door sessions from January to August 2010, during which they were denied meaningful access to their lawyers. Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and a member of the group's legal team, has said that there is no evidence against them to sustain the charges. Nonetheless, all seven were sentenced to 20 years in prison--the longest of all prisoners of conscience in Iran. The conditions within the prison where they are being held are appalling. Their unfortunate circumstance reminds us of the intolerant character and brutality of the current Iranian regime, not only towards the Baha'i, but also the Iranian population as a whole. In conclusion, I want to reiterate my support for the Baha'i community in calling for the immediate release of the Yaran-i-Iran members, as well as the release of all Iranian prisoners of conscience. I will continue to monitor this situation and hold Iran accountable for its abuse of its citizens.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, here we are again voting for the 37th time to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a law the Supreme Court has deemed constitutional. This is nothing more than a feel-good moment for new Members of the GOP who didn't get to vote on repeal in the last Congress. If the new standard for scheduling votes is to provide wish fulfillment for Members of Congress, then I have a few requests: If we are going to vote almost 40 times to repeal health care coverage for millions of Americans, I would like to have the chance to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act 40 more times. I had the pleasure to vote against it in 1996. I am sure there is a new generation of Members who would like to vote against it, and I would like to do it again. Furthermore, I regret being a teenager when the Civil Rights Act was voted on. I would like a chance to lend my support to that landmark law. To be able to cast a vote to go to war against Nazi Germany would be very satisfying to me. I have contributed to Social Security my whole life; and since my father was not a Member of Congress in 1932, I would like to vote on his behalf to support the creation of Social Security. I was a student of history in my youth, and I feel very strongly that the Compromise of 1850 was the point of no return leading to the Civil War. I would like a chance to vote against it. I ask that the Republican leadership add all of these to the agenda in the weeks to come.

Mr. ENGEL. Clearly, we have plenty of time available for wish fulfillment, rather than substantive measures such as the economy, immigration reform, and putting people back to work. So I would like an opportunity to vote again on many different things as well.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I have just come back from a bipartisan trip to Israel where we met with top officials and really celebrated the alliance between the U.S. and Israel. Israel obviously is in a very dangerous neighborhood, and they were absolutely justified to carry out the bombing strikes in Syria where Hezbollah terrorists were attempting to get arms from Iran. What happens is Iran sends the weapons, the missiles through Syria into Lebanon to arm the Hezbollah terrorists. No nation would put up with having terrorists prepared to attack them without striking back. So I think it is very, very important that we support Israel in its quest to rid itself of the scourge of terrorism. Peace in the Middle East will come about when both sides recognize the other's right to exist. The problem has been that many of the Arab nations do not recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish State, and I think that really needs to change. I am glad President Obama said that he supports Israel in doing whatever it needs to do for its own self-defense, and I'm pleased that talks are being started with the help of Secretary Kerry to try to get peace talks online again. But again, in my estimation, peace will only happen when the Arab nations recognize the Jewish State of Israel.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, yesterday marked the ninety-eighth anniversary of the onset of the Armenian Genocide, one of the ugliest chapters in the bloodiest century in recorded human history. Over the course of the Genocide, 1.5 million innocent Armenians were slaughtered; those Ottoman Armenians that survived were the tiny and miraculous remnant of a forced march conducted by the Ottomans under the most savage of conditions. Those murders were not only a tragedy for the Armenian people, who bear its scars to this day. The barbarity inflicted on the Armenians also opened the floodgates on a century of genocide and ethnic- cleansing. We've all seen Hitler's sneering statement ``Who after all speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?'' That statement makes clear the link between indifference to the Armenians and the murder of six million Jews. And it expresses the mindset of so many thuggish leaders after Hitler, leaders convinced that their nationalist aims could easily be achieved through a policy of murder that carried no punishment. The victims of this mindset have spanned the globe, as we know too well. ``Who after all speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?'' Mr. Speaker, I want to affirm today that we do remember, and we remember with reverence. We recall with sorrow the massive loss of life as the result of a deliberate policy of murder. We also know that we owe it to humanity and history to remember, if only to help erect a deterrent against future such tragedies. And let me add that Turkey owes it to the Armenians to acknowledge and come to terms with what its forbears perpetrated--and, at a minimum, to apologize. Turkey also owes that to itself, too, for Turkish society will be stronger for having ended the charade of denying what the whole world knows to be true. Mr. Speaker, to the Armenian people, including the very few remaining survivors, I want to express my great sorrow and deepest condolences. And I say to them, as we say regarding the Holocaust, ``Never again.''

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the National Day of Silence and introduced a National Day of Silence resolution earlier today. This is the day in which students from around the country rise to show their solidarity with gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual students who suffer abuse and harassment and are bullied solely because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. I will use this 1-minute speech to observe a moment of silence to let all of those children know that I stand with them, that they are not alone, and that it gets better.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, last night I received a phone call from our former colleague and my good friend, Jean Schmidt of Ohio. As you know, Jean is an avid runner, and she has participated in many, many marathons. She was at the Boston Marathon yesterday; and 13 minutes after she crossed the finish line, she heard the bombs go off and saw debris and people running and things were falling all over the place, and called me to tell me that she was okay. She was waiting for her sister to finish when this happened. You know, when tragedy like this happens, you think, there, but for the grace of God, go I; and that was clearly the case with Jean and so many others. I just wanted to take this opportunity to pause for a moment and reflect on what happened in Boston yesterday, and pour my heart out to the injured and to those that were killed and their families, including an 8-year-old boy we heard about today. Whoever would do such a horrible thing to take innocent lives and cause terror amongst the population has to just be horrible people and people who care nothing about their fellow human beings. I want to take this opportunity to let the people who are injured and families of those who are injured and the families of those who perished know that we, in the Congress, are thinking about them, that we care about them, that we will reflect on what they went through. And we won't stop until those who committed the crimes will be brought to justice.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. I thank the gentlewoman from Florida. Let me say, as the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I really want everyone to know what a valued member of our committee the gentlewoman from Florida is. She is a new Member of Congress, but we value her opinions and thoughts and hard work on our committee. I know she has got a very bright future on our committee and in Congress, and I thank her for inviting me to participate in this very important Special Order. As we've heard, Mr. Speaker, from so many of our colleagues who have spoken, the United States and Israel have much in common. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. The United States, of course, is the oldest democracy in the world. We have similar values. The standard of living of citizens in both our countries is higher than in most of the world, and Israel and the United States share common concerns. Israel is celebrating its 65th birthday, a celebration of the holiday of Yom Ha'Atzmaut, and I think all Americans want to congratulate the people of Israel for persevering in a very, very dangerous neighborhood and in a very, very dangerous environment. Earlier today, we had a terrible tragedy in the United States, in Boston, in which lives were lost, in what seems to be a bombing, or a potential terrorist attack. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but that's the way it appears. As a New Yorker who lived through September 11, 2001, terrorism is something that, whenever it raises, or rears, its ugly head, all people of goodwill must condemn it. The people of Israel have lived through that--have lived through bombings of busses and bombings of pizza shops and bombings of weddings and just random bombings of people who care not about life but who care about death. So we pause, of course, for the loss of life in Boston today, and we understand that, when Israel has gone through terrorist attacks, there has been a similar crying out of wanton acts of terror. I just came back a few weeks ago from Israel. I had the honor of traveling there with President Obama, and the President, of course, is working feverishly to try to move towards a two-state solution, which all of us believe is the best thing that could happen--a Palestinian state and an Israel Jewish state. Certainly, the United States will always stand by its ally Israel. I'll be going back to the region in a couple of weeks, visiting Israel again with senior members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and of the other relevant committees because we realize how important it is to continue to keep the relationship between the U.S. and Israel. It has been a very strong partnership, and it has been a good partnership. Israel is one of the greatest supporters of the United States in the United Nations and elsewhere, and of course the United States is one of the greatest supporters of Israel. Iron Dome, which is saving countless Israeli civilian lives, has been funded for and provided for by the United States, and the United States has stood by the people of Israel in its constant fight against terrorism. I am just so happy that we are celebrating Israel's 65th birthday. I guess that makes Israel a senior citizen these days. Israel is obviously a very new country but of people in a very, very old land. Israel is the ancient Jewish homeland, and the rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948 is a miracle for all to behold. So I am very, very proud of the relationship that we in the United States have with the State of Israel and the people of Israel. I am very proud that we have strong supporters of Israel on both sides of the aisle. Israel, as Ms. Schakowsky said before, is a bipartisan or a nonpartisan issue in that people, Democrats and Republicans, understand that Israel's fight for democracy, against terrorism and for its people is really the same fight that we have here in the United States. Again, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Florida for including me in this, and I look forward to continuing to work with her on the Foreign Affairs Committee and in Congress on this issue and on so many other issues of importance to the people of the United States.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. The sequester looms. Programs are going to be cut, and people are going to suffer--and what has this House done today under the Republican leadership? We've passed three bills. We've brought up three bills, one of which is a motion to adjourn, and the other one is a vote on the Journal. What a shame and what a disgrace. I didn't vote for the sequester law. I thought it was not a good idea--but we have it. The only way we're going to get away from it is if we have a combination of cutting spending and raising revenues. The President has been fair. He wants to sit down with Republicans and have a balanced bill and close the tax loopholes for Big Oil and other people who have these loopholes but who don't need them. Let the people who can afford to pay more pay a little more. It has got to be a combination. The American people want us to reach out and meet in the middle. Unfortunately, the Republicans have refused to budge. This is not good for the American people. This is not something that we should be doing. Close the tax loopholes on Big Oil. The American people want to see a compromise. I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 699, a balanced bill to replace the sequester with spending cuts and revenues.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of H. Res. 65, as amended. I would like to thank our chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Royce, for his leadership in addressing the threat posed by North Korea. I'm proud to be the lead Democratic cosponsor of this resolution. I believe it's very important for the House to speak with a strong bipartisan voice in condemning North Korea's recent nuclear test. This test was an unnecessary provocation that raises tensions in northeast Asia and poses a threat to the national security of the United States and our allies in the region. The test also violates numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions, and I urge the Security Council to promptly pass a new resolution with additional sanctions to punish the North Korean regime. In particular, I call on China and Russia to work constructively with other members of the Security Council to show the world that the world is united in opposing North Korea's unacceptable behavior. I recently traveled to Asia with Chairman Royce, and this is one of the key issues we discussed with senior Chinese leaders. China must do more. They're the ones that can rein in North Korea. They must do so, and they must do so immediately. The North Korean regime must understand that the development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons will never make it a strong and prosperous nation. Instead of wasting millions of dollars on these weapons of mass destruction, it should focus on feeding its own impoverished people. I have visited North Korea, the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang, on two occasions, and I can tell you that the North Korean regime would do better to help its own people, give them the things that they deserve, rather than spend its time and money on exploding nuclear devices in violation of what the international community believes. The new young dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, must understand that the United States and our allies will not stand idly by and allow them to continuously violate what the international community thinks is acceptable. I agree with Chairman Royce that for too long they have played this game. They have talked and talked and gone on and gone on and nothing has really been done, and they continue to violate international law. Unfortunately, Iran is playing the same game, and we cannot allow that to happen either--Iran getting a nuclear weapon. So given the threat posed by North Korea, the United States must remain vigilant and further strengthen cooperation with our allies of South Korea and Japan. As the chairman said, we were in South Korea just a few days ago and we saw the evidence of provocation, of North Korea torpedoing a ship from South Korea, killing 50-some-odd members of the military of South Korea in an unprovoked attack. This is an outlaw regime, and it really must be handled properly. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I just want to say that we can hear that Members on both sides of the aisle are speaking with one voice in unison, and I urge, again, the Congress to speak on a bipartisan basis to say that this is not acceptable and that we condemn in the strongest possible terms what North Korea has done. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. This morning, I attended the funeral of former Congressman and former mayor Ed Koch in New York City. Ed was larger than life. He was a great mayor of the city of New York, a fantastic Congressman before that, and a personal friend of mine and so many others. It's generally thought that Ed was the one who brought New York City back from the bad days--starting the good days. He was the quintessential mayor of New York, walking up and down the streets when he was mayor, asking people, ``How am I doing?'' I just want to say this body had the good fortune to have had Ed Koch as one of its Members, and New York City had the good fortune to have him as mayor for three terms, and I had the good fortune to have him as my friend. In later years, he and I would meet periodically and go out for lunch at one of the restaurants downtown in mid-Manhattan. Ed would always pick the restaurant and be as feisty as ever. He was a very proud, proud New Yorker, and we are very proud of Congressman and Mayor Ed Koch. I will miss him dearly, as will all of New York and America. May he rest in peace.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. I thank my dear friend, Congresswoman Lowey, for yielding to me. I urge all of our colleagues to support the aid for the Hurricane Sandy victims. You know, we have a lot of disagreements in this Congress. We talk about issues, about spending, about taxing offsets and whatever, but those are issues. Those fights on those issues should be left for another day. It shouldn't be intermixed with the fight to get aid to the Superstorm Sandy victims. They should not be innocent pawns in this fight that we have in Congress. I've been in this Congress for a while now, and I have voted for aid for all regions of our country, be it Katrina, be it floods and tornados. We didn't even think twice because that is what Americans do. We help our communities, help other Americans when there are natural disasters. New York is a donor State. We actually send more money to the Federal Government than we get back, and we do it because it's the thing that we have to do. But now it's our turn. Now we need help, and so now we say to the rest of America, please help us the way we helped you in your hour of need. The constituents in my district, in West Chester and the Bronx, and my former district in Rockland County are hurting very, very much. These are real people with real lives and real difficulties. So I beg my colleagues, please, don't vote for any poison pills that will kill this legislation. One of the things that's really irksome is when some of my colleagues who stood up and when they had natural disasters in their district begged us for help and we gave it to them now are voting against giving help to the people of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. It's just not right. We can argue what role the Federal Government should play, whether it's too big or too small or whatever, but no one should argue against the fact that, when Americans are in need, the Federal Government has a role in stepping in and helping them and providing for their needs. That's all we're asking for today. I urge my colleagues to support all the aid for Hurricane Sandy and to reject any of the amendments that would take it away.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. I thank my friend from New York, and I rise in strong support of this legislation. I must say Tuesday night when I found out that we were not taking this legislation up in the previous Congress, it was the angriest I've been since I've been a Member of Congress. In the last 20 years, this is the longest that people affected by natural disasters have waited for Congress to provide them the needed relief. It's really not acceptable. I have voted for aid for all areas of the country, wherever there has been a natural disaster. The Northeast now deserves the same. I would remind my colleagues that New York has been a donor State. We give more to the Federal Government than we take back. Now we need help. Politics should not be played with the help that we need. We should be supporting the entire package. I'm sorry we are not voting for the entire package today. As was mentioned before, we now have to wait for the Senate to pass whatever we pass. This could have been done and gone on Tuesday night, and the aid would have been speeding to the people. This simply is not acceptable, and I hope there's no further delay. My constituents are suffering. The people of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are suffering. Congress needs to get out of the way now and send not only this $9.7 billion in flood insurance, but the entire package.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I have been a Member of this body for 24 years, and I don't think I've ever been as angry as I am tonight. This is unconscionable. In the last debate, I got up, and I said that when President Truman campaigned, he campaigned against the 80th ``do nothing'' Congress, and that ``do nothing'' Congress passed three times as many bills as this current ``do nothing Congress.'' And isn't this a fitting way for this ``do nothing'' Congress to end, by doing nothing to help the plight of millions of people who are suffering in all of our districts? This is an absolute disgrace, and the Speaker should hang his head in shame for not allowing this to come up. This is, again, not a Republican or a Democratic issue. It's an American issue. I have voted for aid for Katrina, for all places all over the country. And for us in the Northeast to be treated this way is absolutely unconscionable. I would ask the Speaker to reconsider, and I would tell you that I have never been angrier than I am right now. I'm usually proud of this House. Tonight, I am ashamed. Shame on you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support this bill because essentially we have two choices here: We either vote for this bill and we prevent us from going over the cliff, or we go over the cliff. That would certainly wreak havoc with the market and with everything else. But it never should have come to this. We should have been negotiating and passing a balanced bill. The American people are really fed up with what they see in the dysfunctional Congress. Harry Truman back in 1948 when he was running for President campaigned against the 80th, and he called it the ``do nothing'' 80th Congress. That ``do nothing'' Congress passed three times as many bills as the 112th Congress did. And so here we are at the last minute, and we are rushing to pass this bill. It never should have happened this way. I commend President Obama and Vice President Biden for protecting the middle class with this and for doing the best that they can; but, my friends and my colleagues, we are going to have to work to meet in a sensible center. We are going to have to not play these brinksmanship games. The American people don't want it. President Obama won reelection campaigning for the middle class. This keeps those priorities, and we ought to support it.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 834 and yield myself as much time as I may consume. This important resolution urges the nations of Europe and the European Union to designate Hezbollah has a terrorist organization and to impose sanctions on it. We know from our experience with Iran that sanctions and, in fact, all diplomacy are most effective when they are multilateral--the more multilateral, the better. We are particularly strong in such matters when we and our friends and allies in the European Union stand shoulder to shoulder. That's why Europe's seemingly inexplicable refusal to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist group has been so disappointing over the years. Hezbollah is a charter member of the Foreign Terrorist Organizations list in the United States. It's crimes are legion, spread over many continents, and far too numerous to list here. They begin in the early 1980s with deadly bombings of the U.S. Embassy and the U.S. Marine and French Army barracks in Beirut, and they have continued up to the present day. I still remember Ronald Reagan, President Reagan talking about it after so many of our marines were murdered in Lebanon. Let me mention just a few of the other lowlights: countless kidnappings of Americans and Europeans in the 1980s and 1990s; the Khobar Towers attack that killed 19 Americans in 1996; the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy and the 1994 bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, again, with multiple killings; the murders of Americans in Iraq and the training of other Iraqi militants; and countless assassinations in Lebanon, including, most likely, that of former prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. In 2006, Hezbollah's unprovoked murder of three Israeli soldiers caused a war, during which Hezbollah rocketed civilian targets in Lebanon and used Lebanese civilian as human shields. Over the past 2 years, it has staged attacks from Turkey to Thailand. Today, it has forces in Syria fighting on behalf of Assad and the murderous Assad regime and helping to train Assad's thugs. In addition, this year Hezbollah twice has been directly implicated in terrorism on European Union territory--in Bulgaria, where a suicide bomber killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian, and in Cyprus, where an apparent Hezbollah terrorist attack was thwarted. The failure of most European nations to designate Hezbollah has been based on the flimsiest of reasons; namely, that Hezbollah provides social services to the Shiite community and participates in electoral politics in Lebanon. In fact, Hezbollah takes a very novel approach to electoral politics--using a militia to intimidate voters into voting for them. By the way, it's a lesson that Hamas has learned very, very well. But Europe's failure to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist group is not merely a problem because it accords legitimacy to a terrorist organization. Rather, it has important operational consequences as well. The failure to designate makes it more difficult to prosecute cases against Hezbollah crimes committed in Europe. It allows Hezbollah to use EU territories to fund-raise, recruit new members, propagandize, and train. And thus, the freedom Hezbollah enjoys in Europe ultimately affects non-Europeans as well. The European Union obviously will make its own decisions on this matter, but it's hard to escape the conclusion that the EU's failure to designate Hezbollah undermines both Europe's security and ours as well. The State Department's top counterterrorism official recently said that he's ``cautiously optimistic--at last--about the prospects for an EU designation of the group.'' I hope his optimism is justified. Until it is borne out with an actual terrorist designation, however, it is important that we join the Senate in going on record as urging the European Union to make that designation, which would be so beneficial to the fight against terrorism worldwide and to our own national security. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, so I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 193 and yield myself as much time as I may consume. This resolution calls on the new Government of Egypt to immediately return two kidnapped American children to their father in the United States. In August of 2009, Colin Bower of Wellesley, Massachusetts, received a terrifying phone call that his two children--Noor and Ramsay, ages 9 and 7 at the time--had been abducted to Egypt by his ex-wife, Mirvat el Nady. Mr. Bower was granted sole legal custody of the children after his divorce. El Nady lost custody over the children because the Massachusetts courts found her to have a drug addiction which put the safety of the boys at risk. She utilized falsified Egyptian passports to smuggle the children out of the country on an Egypt Air flight and is now wanted by Federal and local officials on charges of kidnapping. The facts of this case are heartbreaking, and I want to thank my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), for working so hard on this resolution and trying to reunite Mr. Bower with his children. The resolution before us asks for three simple things: first, that Egypt bring about the safe return of Noor and Ramsay Bower to their father, Colin Bower, in the United States; secondly, that Egypt immediately stop using its own security forces to aid and abet the continued unlawful retention of these two United States citizens; and, thirdly and finally, it urges Egypt and all other nations to join and fully participate in The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and to establish procedures to promptly and equitably address the tragedy of child abductions. During this holiday season, we are reminded that children are our most important and cherished resource, and it is a tragedy for everyone involved when they are taken away and denied access to one of their parents. Egypt's Government must do better. What the Mubarak and now Morsi governments have done is actively work to make sure Mr. Bower is not part of his children's lives. This is unjust, illegal, tragic, and unacceptable; and sadly, Mr. Speaker, this is but one of 31 separate cases involving American children wrongfully removed from the United States to Egypt. Mr. Speaker, I ask that all my colleagues join me in supporting this important resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank).

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute to again reiterate the fact that I support this bill very strongly and also, since Mr. Frank spoke before me, I want to, as I mentioned before with some of the other people, tell him how much I appreciate being his colleague through the years and how much not only I will miss him and the Congress will miss him but that the country will miss him. It's been wonderful to call him a colleague, even better for me to call him a friend, and I wish him the best in all future endeavors. Thank you very much, Barney. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.