Eliot Engel

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 236) recognizing the close relationship between the United States and the Republic of San Marino, as amended.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution and yield myself as much time as I may consume. I would like to thank my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier), for introducing this resolution that recognizes a small but important friend of the United States. It is often said, Mr. Speaker, that good things come in small packages, and in the case of San Marino, this is certainly true. San Marino is the third smallest country in Europe, only Vatican City and Monaco being smaller. San Marino, which is home to 29,000 inhabitants in a territory one- third the size of the District of Columbia, attracts several million visitors a year. The tourist industry makes up over 50 percent of the country's GDP. San Marino is said to be the oldest republic in the world. It was founded in 301 A.D. by Marinus of Rab, a Christian fleeing from religious persecution by the Roman Emperor. Its constitution, which dates back to 1600, is the world's oldest written constitution, and remains in effect to this day. San Marino has been an active player at the international level, including the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, and Council of Europe. Through these bodies, San Marino has sought to promote interreligious and intercultural dialogue, as well as the protection of intellectual property. San Marino has also cultivated a close friendship with the United States based on our shared values and interests. This relationship was first expressed when President Abraham Lincoln exchanged letters with the Captains Regent of San Marino. Nearly 150 years after these letters were sent, the United States and San Marino upgraded their bilateral relations to include the first ever exchange of ambassadors. President Bush welcomed San Marino's new Ambassador, Paulo Rondelli, during a White House ceremony on July 25. U.S. Ambassador Ronald Spogli presented his credentials to the Captains Regent in San Marino's Palazzo Publico on March 8. I welcome this development in our bilateral relations, and look forward to ever closer cooperation with our European ally. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution which recognizes the close relationship between our two countries, expresses gratitude to San Marino for its friendship and support, and commemorates the first ever exchange of ambassadors. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I reserve my time.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1567) to amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide increased assistance for the prevention, treatment, and control of tuberculosis, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2949) to authorize grants to the Eurasia Foundation, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 550) congratulating the people of Ethiopia on the second millennium of Ethiopia, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. I thank my friend from Nebraska, and I too want to rise to pay tribute to my classmate in 1988, Peter Hoagland. Peter and I were best friends, socialized with our wives and our kids many, many times. He was truly a gentleman. Both our colleagues from North Dakota and from Nebraska really epitomized what Peter meant to all of us. His wife, Barbara, and the five children, a wonderful family. And let me just say that Peter was in public life for all the right reasons. He cared so much about this country. He cared so much about public policy. He cared so much about people. In all the time I was with Peter, I was with him a lot, I never once heard him utter a negative word about anybody. He really truly respected this institution. He loved our country, and he respected each and every Member in this House, on both sides of the aisle. It came as quite a shock to me when I found out about his passing, although I had known that he had been ill for a while. Sixty-six is awfully young, too young, when you have such a good person with such a great, keen intellect and a wonderful person. So I just want to say on behalf of myself, my wife Pat, my family, and our class of 1988, we were 18 Democrats and 15 Republicans that year, we're all going to miss Peter very, very much, and may he rest in peace.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. I thank my friend from Missouri, and I rise in strong support of H. Res. 759, which recognizes the 40th Anniversary of the Mass Movement for Soviet Jewish Freedom and the 20th Anniversary of the Freedom Sunday Rally for Soviet Jewry on the Mall in Washington, D.C. The gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley) is so right when she says that these rallies inspired the cause of human rights all over the world. And as we fight for human rights all over the world, we must continue to fight for human rights wherever bad things raise their ugly heads. For decades, Jews in the Soviet Union faced serious restrictions on their right to practice their faith. In response, a campaign developed in the United States and around the world to pressure the Soviets to end the abuses and permit their Jewish population to emigrate. In 1964, the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry was founded to spearhead a national campaign on behalf of Soviet Jewry. Israel's victory in the 1967 6-Day War inspired Soviet Jews to intensify their efforts to win the right to emigrate to Israel and other places, but the Soviets followed with an anti-Zionist propaganda campaign in the state- controlled mass media and a crackdown on Jewish autonomy. A key event in the campaign to free the Soviet Jews occurred in 1982 when President Reagan enacted Public Law 97-157, expressing the sense of the Congress that the Soviet Union should cease its repressive actions against those individuals who seek the freedom to emigrate or to practice their religious or cultural traditions. This law drew special attention to the hardships and discrimination imposed upon the Jewish community in the Soviet Union. After so many years of captivity, the Supreme Soviet passed a law in 1991 that codified the right of every Soviet citizen to emigrate, precipitating massive emigration by Jews from the Soviet Union, primarily to Israel and the United States. The hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the Soviet Union and former Soviet republics have greatly enriched their new-found homes in areas as diverse as business, science, the arts, politics, and philanthropy. As Ms. Berkley mentioned, I was proud to be part of the effort to liberate the Jews of the Soviet Union and remember the historic Freedom Sunday Rally for Soviet Jews in Washington, DC 20 years ago before I was a Member of Congress. I remember meeting Natan, then Anatoly Sharansky, at the gathering of approximately 250,000 people prior to the start of the Reagan-Gorbachev summit. This event helped increase the awareness of the plight of Soviet Jews throughout the world. Earlier, I demonstrated in front of the Soviet mission to the U.N. in New York in an effort to demonstrate how deeply I felt about religious freedom and the right of the Jews of the Soviet Union to emigrate. In conclusion, I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 759 and remember the campaign to liberate the Jews of the former Soviet Union. And, again, may we have many, many more resolutions like this to help all oppressed people all over the world.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, Visitation School has been a presence in the Kingsbridge community since its inception in 1932, and was approved by the Archdiocese of New York in 1928, under the direction of the first pastor, Monsignor Stafford. Visitation School was initially staffed by the Sisters of Charity; their motherhouse was and remains today on the grounds of the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York. The first Principal of Visitation was Sister Mary Angelita Meiswinkle of the Sisters of Charity, who was principal from 1932 to 1949. She set the firm foundation for this Roman Catholic elementary school that continues to flourish as we celebrate its seventy-fifth anniversary. In 1980 the current principal, Sr. Rosemarie Connell, was appointed. She oversaw a time of sweeping change, with an emphasis on strong religious principles, discipline, and a commitment to academic excellence. In her long tenure, she has created and maintained a dedicated and experienced teaching staff made up of Catholic laypersons and religious sisters representing several communities, including the Sisters of Charity, Sparkill Dominican Sisters, and School Sisters of Notre Dame. She established a full-time kindergarten; weekly computer classes for kindergarten through grade eight; high school advanced-placement programs for math and Spanish; science lab; a state-of-the-art computer lab; and the institution of an after school program. In 1995, the New York City Council recognized her for her ``continuing dedication and service to the education and improvement of the lives of Bronx children and their families.'' In the year 2000, she received the Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Compassionate Educator Award for her years of service to children in the Archdiocese of New York. For 75 years, the Kingsbridge community has benefited from the presence of Visitation School as it continues its great legacy of faith and determination to deliver a quality Catholic education to children in the community. Visitation School remains a rare place where mind, heart, and spirit grow in grace and strive for excellence.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, a community is an aggregate of its residents, but its quality of life is determined by the dedication of those who devote themselves to the welfare of their community. Mary McLoughlin is such a person, and her dedication is the occasion for special recognition by the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center at a dinner honoring her tonight. She is a co-founder of that organization and is almost single- handedly responsible for acquiring a community center. In 1972 she heard that the police precinct was leaving its building and she began a campaign to get the building for use by the community. Almost three years later, KHCC acquired the building and she, with Patricia Burns and Janet Athanasidy, cleaned the floors; and took out the debris as part of the extensive renovation needed. She envisioned a Center modeled after the great early New York settlement houses, providing educational, recreational and cultural activities for all community residents. In 1975 the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center opened its doors with a Teen Program as well as a Head Start Program. Mary McLoughlin's continuing dedication is evident as today the center provides a multitude of programs to individuals of all ages including: early childhood educational, health and nutrition services, after school recreation and literacy, College Prep and financial aid, services to individuals with developmental disabilities, and civics classes, child sexual abuse treatment and prevention, parent and child advocacy, and case management services to prevent foster care placement, to cite a few. She is a mother of eight, but has spread her caring over the community, improving the lives of thousands. The KHCC as the largest employer in the community continues to address the needs of the changing community. She has been, and remains, a God-send to the Kingsbridge community. I sincerely thank her for all that she has done and continues to do for the people of this community. She is an inspiration to all.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the SCHIP program. The bottom line, my friends, is do we want to fund children's health care for poor children in this country or do we not? The arguments against it from fiscal conservatives, and I always have to question that a bit because our Republican friends have driven up the deficit to the greatest in American history, and now they want to tell us this program is too expensive. One of the reasons the American people are so disenchanted with Congress is because the Republicans are blocking a bill that is very, very supportive of what American people want. We see here that 72 percent of the American public, two-thirds of the Senate, the majority of the House, 43 State Governors and more than 300 organizations support this legislation; and our friends on the other side of the aisle are blocking the will of the American people. Let's fund this bill. Let's help poor children. Stop with the nonsense, stop with the nonsense about New York. We try to help as much as we can. Congress ought to help our poor kids. That's the question. Do you want to help poor kids, or don't you?

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, a very disturbing report has come out that Iraq has agreed to award $1.1 billion in contracts to Iranian and Chinese companies to build a pair of enormous power plants. That is what the Iraqi Minister of Electricity said on Tuesday. Word of the project prompted serious concerns among American military officials who fear that Iranian commercial investments can mask military activities at a time of our heightened tension with Iran. Mr. Speaker, at a time when young Americans are dying in Iraq and when the U.S. is spending billions of dollars in Iraq, this makes absolutely no sense at all. The Iraqi Electricity Minister said that the Iranian project would be built in Sadr City, a Shiite enclave in Baghdad that is controlled by followers of the anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. He added that Iran had also agreed to provide cheap electricity from its own grid to southern Iraq and to build a large power plant, essentially free of charge, in an area between two Shiite holy cities. The expansion of ties between Iraq and Iran comes as the U.S. and Iran clash on nuclear issues and about what American officials had repeatedly said was Iranian support for armed groups. This is an outrage and should not stand.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, among the many of our men and women who serve in Iraq are the Nurse Corps Officers who treat the ill and the wounded, giving sustenance while saving lives. Lt. Col. Pedro Altiery is one such member of that Corps whose exceptionally meritorious service earned him the Bronze Star for his service during Operation Iraqi Freedom from March, 2005 to May, 2006. He was described as one of the best Nurse Corps Officers who ensured the highest standards were kept in operating rooms and in providing quality care to the detainee population. He developed a highly organized, professional and clinically excellent team which could be called on in a moment's notice to be fully operational. He set the tone for his team with his enthusiastic leadership. He wrote detailed Standards of Operating Procedure that are still used today and will be for the duration of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I salute the great work done by Lt. Col. Altiery under exhausting conditions while maintaining his extraordinary technical skill and expertise. As well as thank him for his meritorious service to our country.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, Rosamond Beatrice October is 100 years old and the United States was fortunate to woo her from her native Guyana. She was born there on November 6, 1907 and has lived through perhaps the most remarkable age in the world's history. In 1928 she and William October were married and had two children before they adopted several more. She was a successful caterer in Guyana and in 1973, at an age when most people have retired; she came to America and continued her successful catering operations. She is a grandmother of 12 and great grandmother of 14, and aunt of several nieces and nephews. She lives with her daughter, Claudette Cox, in the Bronx and is the oldest member of the Eastchester Presbyterian Church. She attributes her long life to her faith and trust in God. And we thank God for allowing Mrs. October to remain with us and share her gifts of love and experience with us all. I offer her my sincere wishes for the happiest of birthdays and congratulate her for a long and successful life.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, Captain Joan R. Davis was awarded the Army Commendation Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, and the Army Achievement Medal, among other awards, for her accomplishments as Head Nurse in Camp Bucca, Iraq. There she was responsible for the comprehensive health care needs and provision of health care to more than 8,600 detainees. To accomplish this she was responsible for the oversight of 10 officers and 75 enlisted personnel. Among her many duties was the assessment, planning, and implementation and evaluation of detainees at the facility. She provided consultations with other members of the allied health care team on the highly complex comprehensive nursing care of the diabetic population. She also served as liaison with forward Operating Base and Theater Internment Facilities. We are fortunate to have such an individual with us here in the Bronx, as a Registered Nurse at Montefiore Medical Center. I congratulate her for her dedicated service to our country and for her equally dedicated service at MMC.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Wisconsin for yielding to me. Madam Speaker, I wish to thank you for bringing up the ALS Registry Act of 2007 for a vote, H.R. 2295. This is truly a bipartisan measure, as well it should be. I introduced this bill with my colleague, Lee Terry of Nebraska, and we are proud to have the support of over 275 bipartisan members of Congress. I know that the gentlewoman from Wisconsin who sat next to me on the committee was very concerned about this bill. I am glad that the gentleman from New York (Mr. Fossella) is here, as well, because I have a picture here of Lou Gehrig who, of course, puts a face on this disease. ALS is very often known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and we all remember the Yankee Clipper, Lou Gehrig. Mr. Fossella and I, both coming from New York, we know Lou Gehrig and his tradition very, very well. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is a fatal, progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects motor nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. It is very similar to multiple sclerosis. While the great baseball player, Lou Gehrig, put a national face on ALS over 65 years ago, my own family was devastated by the death of my grandmother, Dora Engel, my father's mother, who is believed to have passed away as a result of ALS when she was about 58 years old. Unfortunately, families across the Nation face challenges and experience the suffering associated with ALS every single day. As was mentioned before, 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year. It is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time. The average life expectancy for a person who is diagnosed with ALS is only 2 to 5 years from the time of diagnosis. As was mentioned, the causes of ALS are not well understood and there is no known cure. We need to provide hope to change this tragedy today. Surprisingly, a single national patient registry which collects and stores information on the prevalence and incidence of ALS does not currently exist in the United States today. The legislation I introduced with my colleague (Mr. Terry) would create an ALS registry at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and aid in the search for a cure from this devastating disease. The registry would collect key data, and information is determined by a newly created Federal Advisory Committee on the National ALS Registry. The ALS Registry Act will also build upon a fiscal year 2006 and fiscal year 2007 congressional appropriation which directed the CDC to evaluate the science to guide the creation of a National ALS Registry. I wish to express my gratitude to the staff of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in particular to the ALS Association, who worked for months with me and my staff to improve the bill that we had introduced in the previous 109th Congress. I also want to thank Chairman Dingell, Ranking Member Barton, House Subcommittee Chairman Pallone and Ranking Member Deal for their support of the ALS Registry Act. Finally, I especially want to thank John Ford and William Garner of Chairman Dingell's staff and Katherine Martin of Ranking Member Barton's staff for shepherding this bill through the Energy and Commerce Committee. I want to thank Emily Gibbons of my own staff, my legislative director, who was also my health expert and really did more for this than anybody else I know. The establishment of a registry will bring new hope to thousands of patients and their families that ALS will no longer be a death sentence. I thank my colleagues, and Madam Speaker, I urge the swift passage of the ALS Registry Act, H.R. 2295, today.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today strong support of my resolution--H. Res. 651--which recognizes the expanding strategic relationship between the United States and Brazil. This resolution also commends Brazil on successfully reducing its dependence on oil by finding alternative ways to satisfy its energy needs and recognizes the importance of the March 9, 2007 United States--Brazil Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on biofuels cooperation. For years, Brazil has flown below the radar in the United States. We never paid much attention to what was happening in the largest country in South America. But I believe that we are reaching the end of this period of ignorance and neglect and that we, in America, are finally waking up not only to Brazil's importance, but also to how natural this relationship should be. Brazil occupies almost half of the continent of South America and is the fifth most populous country in the world. Its economy is the eleventh largest in the world, the largest in Latin America, and one of the largest in the developing world. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called Brazil ``the regional leader and our global partner.'' These are words we reserve for only a few countries--those where partnership is truly advantageous for both of us. Brazil is also the right country with which to cooperate on alternative energy sources. Brazil and the United States are by far the world's largest ethanol producers. In 2006, the two countries together produced 69 percent of ethanol in the world. And Brazil has become a global leader on alternative energy. By the end of 2006, 80 percent of new car sales in Brazil were flex-fuel, meaning they can run on a mixture of ethanol and gasoline. On March 9th, the U.S. and Brazil signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote greater cooperation on ethanol and biofuels in the Western Hemisphere. Our bilateral partnership is establishing both countries as leaders in the energy field in the hemisphere. I am particularly pleased by joint U.S.-Brazilian efforts to provide technical assistance to build biofuels industries in third countries, including the Dominican Republic, Haiti, El Salvador and St. Kitts and Nevis. This resolution commends these efforts and also encourages U.S. and Brazilian officials to quickly move to a second wave of countries to receive similar technical assistance. Many argue that for too long, the U.S. has focused its agenda in the hemisphere on ``trade and drugs'' at the exclusion of other elements. The deepening of our energy cooperation with our friends in the hemisphere--particularly Brazil--is helping us to develop a positive agenda that I hope will continue to grow in the coming years. I am also pleased to announce today that I will be leading a bipartisan congressional delegation to Brazil on November 25th and I encourage my colleagues to join me on this trip. I want to close by noting that there is a cynical, old adage about Brazil that says, ``Brazil is the land of the future, and always will be.'' Brazil's leadership at home, in the Americas and throughout the world is proving this statement to be false. I truly believe that Brazil's time has come. As Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairman, I look forward to continuing to focus intensively on Brazil--a vital partner and friend. I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 651.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. I thank my friend from California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my House Resolution 564, which brings attention to the serious and growing problem of violence in Central America. I first want to thank my colleague and the ranking member on the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, Dan Burton, for introducing this resolution with me. I also want to thank Chairman Lantos and Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen for their support of this bill. The February murder of three Salvadoran legislators in the Central American Parliament and the subsequent shocking murder in prison of the Guatemalan policeman linked to the crime illustrate the very real daily threat posed by violence in Central America. While this high-profile incident brought violence in Central America to a spotlight, it is, unfortunately, nothing new. Homicide rates in El Salvador and Guatemala are higher today than they were in those countries' civil wars. According to government statistics, Guatemala's murder rate has doubled since 1999. As chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I focus intently on violence in Central America and the roots of this violence. At a recent hearing that I chaired on this topic, I was taken aback by the major role that drug trafficking plays in encouraging violence in the sub-region. Ninety percent of the cocaine shipped from the Andean region to the United States flows through Central America. The sub-region's location between the highest drug-consuming and the highest drug-producing regions of the world make it particularly vulnerable. Unfortunately, we are the highest drug-consuming portion of that equation. If drugs are the primary factor in this scourge of violence, youth gangs are a close second. The U.S. Southern Command has estimated that there are 70,000 gang members in Central America alone. Fortunately, we are beginning to address this crisis. The United States and Central American officials have started to work together to combat violence in Central America; but, obviously, much more needs to be done. This resolution recognizes the recent progress that has been made in enhancing U.S.-Central American cooperation and combating violence in Central America. The seven countries of Central America, the Dominican Republic and the United States held its first-ever dialogue on democratic security in Guatemala City this July. That meeting was the first time in almost a quarter century that high-level officials from the United States and all of these countries met formally to discuss security issues. At this meeting, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Tom Shannon, announced that the U.S. strategy to combat criminal gangs from Central America and Mexico was beginning. The United States also pledged $4 million in assistance to help Central Americans begin to address this issue. This resolution commends U.S. and Central American officials for their joint efforts to combat violence and encourages greater cooperation in the future. In the coming days, the Bush administration will present Congress with a plan to assist Mexico and Central America in dealing with issues of crime and violence, particularly as they relate to counternarcotics. I look forward to working with my colleagues from the State Department and Central America as we begin to shape a future assistance package that will address violence in Central America. Finally, I want to point to one area of progress that we have seen since this resolution was first introduced in July. On August 1, Guatemala's legislature approved the international commission against impunity. This is a groundbreaking agreement between the Guatemalan Government and the United Nations to combat impunity in Guatemala. It is a major step for all of us who care so deeply about curbing violence in Central America, and I want to congratulate my colleagues in the Guatemalan Congress and the executive branch on this major accomplishment. Let me say in closing that one of the things I have noticed as chairman is the feeling of neglect in the hemisphere that the other nations feel that the United States is not concentrating on this region, that we are looking elsewhere in the world. I think that this resolution and what we are doing goes a long way in combating that feeling. I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 564.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. I thank the gentleman for yielding to me, and I rise in strong support of this resolution. Yesterday, I was in front of the United Nations in demonstration of protesting Iranian President Ahmadinejad's speaking to the United Nations. I have always been a strong believer in the United Nations because I think that it is a good hope for world peace; but, frankly, I must say, the U.N. discredits itself, and it discredits itself once again by having this so-called Human Rights Council and the way it operates. And the U.N. really discredits itself by focusing so much hatred on one tiny little country, Israel. Whether it's in the General Assembly or the Security Council or the so-called Human Rights Council, Israel has become about 40 percent of the resolutions in the United Nations totally. It's absolutely outrageous that you have countries like Algeria, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, China, even Egypt and Russia participating when Israel has such a better record of human rights than any of these countries. The problem inherent with the United Nations, unfortunately, is you have dictatorships basically running the show. And we try to have a democratic institution, but it's inherently not, because it's dictatorships that are now a majority there. It is outrageous, the Israel-bashing that goes on at the United Nations, and I am proud of this Congress for standing up and saying that enough is enough. People are dying in Darfur. We don't hear the Human Rights Council be so concerned about that as they are about bashing Israel. So I strongly support this resolution. I think that the Congress does itself proud by bringing truth to the American people and to the world. And the Human Rights Council is no better than the organization that preceded it. We need to change it, otherwise the U.N. will continue to be discredited.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank our distinguished chairman for yielding to me. I rise in strong support of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I was in New York City, my hometown, where I spoke at a demonstration in front of the United Nations protesting Ahmadinejad's speaking at that world body. I also then went to Columbia University where I also participated in a protest outside of Columbia University. Mr. Speaker, I want to be able to tell my children and my grandchildren that I did something when evil raised its ugly head. Perhaps if there had been more of this in the 1930s, Adolph Hitler might not have come to power. He said what he was going to do, as the gentleman from Illinois just said, and he carried it out. When Mr. Ahmadinejad says he wants to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth and do all kinds of other countless, horrific things, he means it. This bill squeezes the Iranian regime where it counts the most, in the pockets, economically. No one could have foreseen that the Soviet Union could have rotted from within. But the Iranian regime is rotting from within. They are now importing oil. There's an energy crunch in Iran. This is the way to topple that regime. I think that they are the biggest threat right now to the world. The United Nations discredits itself. We will soon have a resolution condemning their so-called Human Rights Commission, which does nothing but attack Israel. We need to stand up and say that we were able to act when it counted. This is one of the most important things that the Congress can do by slapping sanctions on Iran. We have the Syria Accountability Act which I introduced with the distinguished ranking member. We are going to have another bill. Syria and Iran, who represent threats to the region, need to be hit in the pocketbook, economically, in order for their regimes to collapse or for them to change their behavior. Mr. Speaker, this bill does that. That is why everyone should support it today.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Chairman, I stand today in strong support of this amendment. This has been the worst year on record for air traffic delays. The New York area, which I represent, has three major airports with some of the worst delays in the Nation. Obviously, this situation must change. This amendment would commission a study to determine how best to fix these delays. The FAA had a chance to commission such a study, but instead they decided to take a unilateral, misguided approach to redesign the airspace over thousands of residents in my Congressional District. The FAA did this without consulting the very people whose lives would be most affected. A study should have been conducted years ago. I support reducing delays, but we should first know if the FAA's actions will improve air travel. It would be a mistake for the FAA to continue on this course without knowing whether the airspace redesign would even reduce delays. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment because today we are affected, tomorrow you could be.