Keith Ellison

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate my constituent, Bishop Keith Jenkins, on his recent ascent to the episcopacy of the Open Door Evangelistic World Ministries in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Proclamation From the International Fellowship of Reformed Episcopal Churches Grace and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, Hallelujah! It is with great felicity that we proclaim the imminent consecration of the very Reverend Keith Jenkins to the episcopacy in the church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, on the twenty first day of October, Anno Domini, two thousand and six, at The Elim International Fellowship, The Protestant Cathedral in Brooklyn, New York. The aforementioned consecration will commence at ten o'clock forenoon, at 20 Madison Street, Brooklyn, NY 11238. May the blessings of the strength of Israel be upon you, our good brother Keith; and the love of the resurrected one sustain and preserve you. May your steps be guided by the everlasting spirit and your speech be seasoned with salt that you may know how to give an answer to every man concerning the hope that lieth within you. Signed, His Eminence The Most Reverend Wilbert Sterling McKinley, Archbishop Primate His Eminence, The Most Reverend Trevor Dominic Bentley, Archbishop Exarch.

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, this month marks a special opportunity to pay tribute to the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans. In our community, we have a great opportunity to recognize this dynamic force of creativity in our Nation, and I welcome the opportunity to do so and I thank my colleague Mike Honda for hosting this special order tonight. An estimated 180,000 Asian Pacific Islanders representing a diverse community of backgrounds and cultures and experiences make their homes in Minnesota, with an estimated 32,000 in the Fifth Congressional District alone. Minnesota serves as home to one of the Nation's largest Hmong population, estimated at nearly 80,000. In Minnesota, we boast 2 members of our State legislators who have Hmong American heritage, Senator Mee Moua and Representative Cy Thao. The Hmong American story in Minnesota is quintessentially Minnesotan and we are proud of our Hmong community. The Hmong story is quintessentially an immigrant story as well, a story coming from their land to a new one to make success here in America, overcoming the many difficulties, struggling, persevering, while retaining love for their land of origin, finding tremendous love and loyalty in their new home as well. The Asian American and Pacific Islanders make a valuable contribution to every aspect of American life and Minnesota life, from business, education, to arts to military. We will always remember Qixing Lee, a young man who graduated from North High School of Hmong American heritage who lost his life in this conflict in Iraq. Their contributions and unique additions to our life have enhanced the moral fabric and character of our State and our great country. As we celebrate the many contributions of the Asian American-Pacific Islander community, let us not lose sight of the cornerstone of their contributions and to the very foundation of this country, immigration. Immigration has played a vital role in the entire making of America, whether the immigrants are from Europe, Africa, whether they are from Asia, or Latin and Central America. But immigration no doubt has played a vital role in the creation and success of our country, and must be looked at as a vital American strength as we look forward in this 110th Congress. As the Democratic-led House leads the way on immigration reform, I believe that we must look at comprehensive reform, not shock radio sound bites. Reform that fully recognizes the contribution of immigrants have made and continue to make to our Nation is as equally important as security on the border. Fair comprehensive immigration policy must work to protect and unite families. Right now, an estimated 1.5 million Asian and Pacific Islanders face an immigration backlog that has forced many families to live separated from their loved one for years. This is a shame and must end. As we celebrate the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to our Nation, let us use this occasion to take our great country in a new direction and to higher heights, and to meet the challenges facing all Americans, including Asian American and Pacific Islanders. As we have in the first 100 days, let us take further steps to change the way we do business in Washington and defend our country, grow our economy, care for all children and families, protect our planet, and restore accountability. Together, we can make the American dream a reality for all Americans.

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my disappointment and outrage at President Bush's veto of the Iraq War supplemental bill. By vetoing this bill, the President has vetoed the will of the American people, and it is the President who is denying funding for our troops. The President has vetoed a responsible funding bill for the troops that would have provided more funding for our troops and military readiness than the President requested. The President rejected a bill that reflects the will of the American people to wind down this war. The American people sent this message very strongly last November. By vetoing this bill, Mr. Speaker, President Bush vetoed: One, fully funding our troops, and providing $4 billion more than the President requested; honoring our veterans by providing $1.8 billion more for veterans health care. Is $900 million for treating traumatic brain injury pork? Is $20 million to repair facilities at Walter Reed pork? By vetoing this bill, the President has vetoed accountability for the Iraqi Government, and he has vetoed his own benchmarks that he laid out January 10 in his speech to the Nation. Let me quote from that speech. ``A successful strategy for Iraq goes beyond military operations. Ordinary Iraqi citizens must see that military operations are accompanied by visible improvements in their neighborhoods and communities. So America will hold the Iraqi Government to the benchmarks it has announced. ``To establish its authority, the Iraqi Government plans to take responsibility for security over Iraq's provinces by November. To give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues. ``To empower local leaders, Iraqis plan to hold provincial elections next year and allow more Iraqis to re-enter their nation's political light, the government will reform de-Baathification laws and establish a fair process for considering amendments to Iraq's Constitution. America will change our approach to help the Iraqi government as it works to meet these benchmarks.'' Mr. Speaker, the supplemental contained these benchmarks directly quoted from the President's speech. So was the President's call for benchmarks a sincere request or what? Providing the President with a clean supplemental bill simply provides him a blank check for the same failed policies in Iraq he has rejected and vetoed, his own benchmarks, as I simply quoted his speech. New evidence keeps emerging that clearly points to a new direction in Iraq. Despite the President's constant claims of ``progress,'' the facts are otherwise. The U.S. death toll in Iraq reached 104 in April, making it the deadliest month of the year and one of the deadliest of the entire war. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel recently returned from Iraq and paints a bleak picture. ``This is coming undone quickly, and Prime Minister Maliki's government is weaker by the day. The police are corrupt, top to bottom. The oil problem is a huge problem. They still can't get anything through parliament.'' That is a quote from someone who just went there, Senator Chuck Hagel. Over the weekend, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction released his quarterly report and paints a dispiriting picture of our $20 billion rebuilding efforts. For example, an audit of the facilities in Iraq discovered serious maintenance and operational problems, with seven out of eight facilities audited. The report concludes that ``The U.S. project to rebuild Iraq remains far short of its targets, leaving the country plagued by power outages, inadequate oil production, and shortages of clean water and health care.'' Mr. Speaker, it is time to hold the Iraqi Government accountable. This bill's timetable and benchmarks finally hold the Iraqis and the President accountable. As Major General Paul Eaton stated, ``This bill gives General Petraeus leverage for moving the Iraqi Government down a more disciplined path laid out by the Iraq Study Group. The real audience for the time-line language is Prime Minister al-Maliki.'' Even Defense Secretary Robert Gates has noted that the timetable is helpful and sends a message that ``The clock is ticking.'' Gates said, ``The strong feelings expressed by Congress about a timetable probably have had a positive impact in terms of communicating to the Iraqis that this is not an open-ended commitment.'' That is Secretary Gates. This bill represents the views of the American people. The latest CBS News/New York Times poll from April 26: 64 percent of Americans favor a timetable that provides a withdrawal of the U.S. troops from Iraqi in 2008. Mr. Speaker, it is time for accountability. The veto was wrong, and we must stand firm.

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, it is horribly sad that anyone would want to vocalize hateful ideas, but it is not illegal. What Don Imus said about African American women was legal though deplorable. But violence is not. Violence is different. Violence is acts, if motivated by hateful thoughts, that make an impact on the community that is much more harmful than to the individual. It expands to an entire community and injects an immobilizing, terrorizing fear into that community which makes it even more wrong than an act against an individual. When Eric Richey drove his Mustang into the largest mosque in Ohio on September 16, 2001, he didn't just destroy a building, he injected fear into an entire community. My question is this: Why do you want to protect thugs and hatemongers? Why don't you want to stand with the civilized community and say, hate is wrong and we must stop it now?

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, it is an honor for me to speak in support of the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007. I want to thank both Congressman Kennedy and Congressman Ramstad for their dedication to ending insurance discrimination and ensuring all Americans have access to mental health and addiction services. I also want to thank Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, and Majority Whip Clyburn for their leadership in championing this bill and mental health access issues. As a Minnesotan, I'm struck by the emotion of this day because the late Senator Wellstone's tireless efforts to ensure mental health parity might finally be realized. Paul Wellstone knew it was wrong for health insurers to place discriminatory restrictions on treatments and I'm honored to be a part of this effort to finally guarantee that the millions of Americans who need mental health and addiction services can obtain the treatment they deserve. The urgent need for the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007 is surely best expressed by those who have seen a loved one in need denied coverage. I think immediately of Kitty Westin, whose daughter Anna suffered from anorexia, a deadly disease that affects approximately 8 million Americans and ultimately claimed Anna's life. During her daughter's battle with anorexia, Kitty took Anna to the hospital. Anna was refused care by their insurance company because it did not consider access to mental health treatment important enough to cover. Kitty knows this is completely unacceptable and has been fighting selflessly to make sure no other family experiences the same frustration and pain. I commend her for carrying on Anna's legacy so impressively through her advocacy efforts and community work. For Kitty and all of the others who have encountered insurance discrimination, I carry Paul Wellstone's message that mental health care is an imperative part of all heath care. My hope is that this bill in his name will finally pass, guaranteeing that all Americans have access to mental health and addiction services.

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, today we insist, we ask, the President to fund the troops by not vetoing this bill. We ask the President to sign the bill. What has been described as pork is not pork. What it is, is money for traumatic brain injury. What it is, is money for veterans who are suffering, who have serious problems and serious needs for funding. The President has received more money than he even asked for for these troops, and we insist and ask him to sign the bill so that the troops can get the money that they need. It is going to be on his desk. The funds that the President needs will be on his desk. And if the President vetoes the bill, it will be the President who denies the troops the funds that they need. The President must accept responsibility for denying the troops the help that they need, veterans the help that they need. Madam Speaker, we urge the community to understand the truth about the situation, which is that a veto is undermining the troops.

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, Indian Americans have contributed greatly to the vibrancy, creative thought, and diversity of our Nation. The large and growing population of Indian Americans in Minnesota has enriched our neighborhoods and communities and continues to play an important role in improving the lives of all Americans. It is with these advances in mind that we celebrate the growth of relations between the United States and India and look forward to promoting a closer friendship amongst our two countries. I'm proud to join the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Affairs and look forward to working with my fellow Members of Congress through the promotion of our shared values and concerns. I stand with India and Indian Americans in promoting peace, prosperity, and happiness for all the world's people.

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, I am so honored to see all of our colleagues rise and extol all of the great virtues of Juanita Millender-McDonald, talking about her historic firsts, her role as mayor, city councilperson, the first African-American woman to chair a committee in the House, and all of the great things that she did, things that commanded the attention of the whole world. But I just want to say, as a member of the freshman class, that coming to Congress, trying to figure out what is going on around here, things going by so quickly, Juanita Millender-McDonald had time for people in our situation, just trying to figure out what was happening. She had a moment to say, How is it going? Did you know where this was or where that was, and what can I do to help you? So in life, Madam Speaker, people will often remember the great things that we did that command headlines and find things that we do that command public attention. But greatness is measured by the small things in life, and in those small things she was great also.

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. Well, thank you, Congressman Hodes, from the great State of New Hampshire. Why don't we kick it down south to Florida to Congressman Ron Klein, who has been distinguished in this Congress for his leadership.

Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, we are going to wrap it up right now. I want you to know that this class of 2006, this 110th Congress, is pointing the way forward for a better America today, tomorrow and in the future. Thank you all very much.

Mr. ELLISON. Congressman Kagen.

Mr. ELLISON. I go to Congressman Klein for a few final words.

Mr. ELLISON. That is right. Let me say these last remaining moments, just go around quickly, say good night to the folks, and those deficits, we are going to be filling quite quickly. I just want to throw it to Congressman Hodes as we begin to wrap up tonight.

Mr. ELLISON. I thank the Congressman. Now in the last five minutes of our evening tonight, I want to just throw it over to Congressman Kagen again who really is very versatile, can speak on any issue, but I want to ask you if you would to simply comment on care for our children and our families. We have seen over these last several years children and families really face some difficult times. We need to project a greater vision for our children and families. Can you speak to what the people can expect in this Congress for our children and our families.

Mr. ELLISON. I thank Congressman Hodes. Let me now just ask Congressman Klein, what about our energy future? What are we going to do into the next decade? We have seen all kinds of challenges with global climate change. We do not want to be depending upon unstable regimes around the world. How can Americans trust that this 110th Congress, this Democratic-led Congress, actually makes sure that we ensure our energy future.

Mr. ELLISON. Thank you, Dr. Kagen, our fellow Congressman who we are so proud of. And I think it is now a good time, my colleagues, we have gone over what we have done. There is much, much more. We can't go over everything because we have just been that busy. But it is time to talk about a direction. We have got to write the vision and then pursue it. And I want to ask you, Congressman Hodes from the great State of New Hampshire, to talk about where we are going. We can't just rest on our laurels, though we have done pretty good so far. We need to talk about where we are heading.

Mr. ELLISON. Thank you, Congressman Yarmuth. I want to keep the theme of national security going for a moment, because the health of our people is also a national security issue. And, again, as we talked about in the very beginning and when we were introducing our freshmen who are here tonight, Congressman Kagen did speak eloquently about the importance of making sure that our seniors have safe and affordable medications. Congressman Kagen, can you give us a word about the importance of keeping the health and welfare of our people strong?

Mr. ELLISON. Congressman Klein, I want to thank you for those excellent observations. The American people need to know that this 110th Congress takes their security and their safety very seriously. We are not going to mess around. We believe that the people have a right to be safe. In fact, one of the first obligations of government is to make the people safe and secure in their homes. So you already correctly, Congressman Klein, talked about our veterans, and I think it is probably a good idea to talk about what we are doing for our veterans. It is one thing to say, support the troops; but we have got to talk about really supporting the troops. Congressman Yarmuth, can you give us a word on that?

Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, we are not allowed to clap during these things, but I wish we were, because that was amazing, and I really thank you for that. At this time, I do want to ask Mr. Klein to sort of pick up a little bit where Congressman Murphy left off. What did this Congress do to make America safer? Could you share that with us?

Mr. ELLISON. Thank you, Congresswoman. Now we are really honored to have one of our great leaders in our class, Mr. Patrick Murphy, who is a distinguished veteran of our Armed Forces, who I believe is the only combat veteran of the Iraq conflict, to tell some very, very heart-rending and very clear stories, which are true, about the meaning of our Nation's effort for a just, safe, but orderly withdrawal from this conflict. I would like to switch it over to Congressman Murphy for a moment from the great state of Pennsylvania.

Mr. ELLISON. Well, thank you, Congressman. One of the things that we are trying to do in this Congress and we are going to do and we are on the track to do is to make middle-class people have a real opportunity for a real future for their children, for their parents, for everyone. There is no doubting that doing things to strengthen the American worker is part of that. One of the things we did was we passed the Employee Free Choice Act, and we have made some firm strides on issues of trade to make sure that we don't export jobs. I am wondering, Congresswoman Sutton, if you wouldn't give the American people a word about these important issues.

Mr. ELLISON. Thank you, Congressman Yarmuth. It is time to get specific, my friends. Let me just say specifically that in the first 100 hours alone, we made our very first vote the implementation of the independent bipartisan 9/11 Commission's national security recommendations. Second, we voted to increase the minimum wage for the first time in 10 years to give American workers an overdue pay raise. Third, we voted to cut student loan interest rates in half. Fourth, we voted to roll back multibillion dollar taxpayer subsidies for big oil and big coal companies, and we put that money toward renewable energy. Next, we expanded research and help for stem cell research. And then we voted to require Medicare to leverage its substantial bargaining power to buy prescription drugs and pass the savings on to people. And then we put the interests of all Americans ahead of the special interests by passing a tough congressional ethics reform, restoring the pay-as-you-go budgeting and restricting spending on earmarks. Those are the specifics. Now we are going to elaborate. Congressman Hodes, I would just like to ask you a question: What did this Congress do to help students and to stand up for the right to an affordable education so that every American can reach their highest potential?

Mr. ELLISON. Well, Dr. Kagen, our colleague, it is an honor to have you here. We are going to go from the great State of Wisconsin down south to Kentucky. Congressman Yarmuth has been here; he has been offering tremendous leadership. He looks ready with a graphic there, but of course he may touch upon many issues tonight, all focusing on the fact that this 110th Congress has been a great start for the American people, and we want the American people to know what they got for their vote. Congressman Yarmuth.

Mr. ELLISON. Thank you, Congresswoman. Tonight, we are very lucky and fortunate to have somebody who can offer a diagnosis and then give a prescription, somebody who can look at our great Nation and say, what does this great Nation need to be healthier, to be stronger, to grow better and in a new direction, and what is the prescription. What is the advice that the good doctor would give to make America reach its highest potential to become a more perfect union? And to do that, I can't think of anybody better qualified than our colleague, Congressman Steve Kagen, who comes to us as a physician and a doctor of medicine, but now he is sort of a doctor of politics and more or less a doctor of making America a prosperous and strong country. Doctor, what do you have for us tonight?

Mr. ELLISON. Thank you, Congressman. Mr. Speaker, we are also distinguished by having a leader in our Congress who comes to us as a labor lawyer, as a community leader, and has brought her very considerable talents to this Congress. She has led this Congress in many ways, including on the issues of trade and economic justice. Of course she is not limited to that, she knows a lot of stuff, but she has distinguished herself in that way, and so I just want to recognize at this time Congresswoman Betty Sutton from Ohio.