Eni Faleomavaega

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this proposed legislation. The Inter-American Foundation is an important agency of the United States Government that strengthens relations between the United States and Latin America and makes significant contributions to economic development and civil society throughout the region. The foundation, which also receives contributions from the Inter-American Development Bank, primarily funds partnerships among grass-roots and nonprofit organizations and businesses and local governments. These partnerships are directed at improving the quality of life of poor people and strengthening civic participation, accountability, and democratic practices. The foundation is therefore a vital agency that bolsters Latin America and ought to have the full support of relevant agencies and bodies, especially the Inter-American Development Bank. The bill before the House today comes to us from the Senate. It simply makes explicit that the executive director of the Inter-American Development Bank should be eligible for appointment to the board of the Inter-American Foundation. While it was previously assumed that the head of the bank could be appointed to the foundation board, such eligibility was never codified in the law. This bill is a technical fix that our good friends, the distinguished chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Biden; and the senior ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Lugar, believe that this law should be installed. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, the gentleman from Colorado, for his most eloquent statement. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 676) to provide that the Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank or the Alternate Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank may serve on the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. 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. FALEOMAVAEGA

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 295) recognizing the strong alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States and expressing appreciation to the Republic of Korea for its efforts in the global war against terrorism, as amended.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, again I want to commend and thank my good friend for his eloquent statement and add that this is not a partisan piece of legislation. It is fully bipartisan. I certainly commend not only our distinguished chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Lantos, but also our senior ranking member, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, for their support of this proposed legislation. It is ironic that we are dealing with several pieces of legislation, earlier on being the Olympics, and now we are dealing with South Korea. I remember years ago when I attended the Olympics in 1988 in Korea, I ran into a gentleman who is a Korean American by the name of Dr. Sammy Lee. I asked him why this Samoan American was so good in the art of diving, perhaps one of the greatest Olympic divers ever in the history of the Olympics, whose name is none other than Greg Louganis. I asked Dr. Sammy Lee, why is it that Greg Louganis was such a great Olympic diver? He said, Eni, look at his legs. They are Samoan legs, and the reason for this is that it gives him the ability to jump higher than any of his Olympic competitors. And because he can jump higher than anybody, that is what gives him the opportunity to accomplish more difficult flips than any of the other divers. By the way, Dr. Sammy Lee was also the trainer for Greg Louganis in the Olympics in 1988. Another note of interest is that when I talked to Dr. Sammy Lee when he was training for the Olympics, he could not even train together with his fellow white Americans while he was training for the Olympics. Can you believe that? So he had to invent what high diving boards were supposed to look like, whether it be going on cliffs or other high platforms to allow him to practice his diving ability. And guess what? He got the gold medal for the United States for the Olympics, a Korean American, Dr. Sammy Lee. I just wanted to make that as a note of interest for my colleagues and also in view of the fact that we have talked about the Olympics and we have talked about South Korea. Again, Mr. Speaker, this resolution is very important to show our sense of appreciation, especially to the good leaders and the people of South Korea, how much we care about them, how important they are, how important they are to our strategic and our economic interests in that important region of the world.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. 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. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 418) recognizing and welcoming the delegation of Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Foreign Ministers from the Caribbean to Washington, DC, and commending the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for holding the Conference on the Caribbean.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 395) supporting the ideals and values of the Olympic movement.

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

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and yield myself such time as I may consume. I would first like to commend our distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn), for introducing this important resolution. The Olympics are, first and foremost, about sports, athletes from around the world uniting in their love of their games and their commitment to free and fair competition. But the Olympics are also an important global forum where athletes, trainers and leaders and spectators from around the world come together to participate in and observe the greatest competition on Earth. The games epitomize the spirit of global harmony and cooperation among nations. For over 100 years, the modern Olympics movement, in sponsoring the games, has built understanding by bringing athletes together around the world in open competition and by forging new bonds of friendship, solidarity and sportsmanship. Given the current state of global affairs, we all have learned a lot from the Olympic participants and from the symbolism of the peaceful assemblage of people from all different walks of life. It is with this harmonious sentiment that Mr. Lamborn's resolution recognizes the significance of the Olympic movement in global understanding. This resolution is particularly timely as we approach the 2008 games in Beijing, China, and encourages China to act responsibly in accordance with the spirit of this Olympics. This bill also recognizes the proud history of our own U.S. Olympic Committee, which has coordinated the development of young athletes in the United States and sent so many of them to represent our country with amazing poise. I'm delighted that the House will today take this opportunity to recognize the anniversary of the founding of the modern Olympic movement on June 23. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I wish to commend the gentleman for his statement, and to honor the spirit of the Olympic movement, and especially that the great State of Colorado hosts the resources and the facilities that allow our athletes from all over the country to come and to train and to prepare adequately for this important global event. And I cannot help but to reflect on some of the history and how important are some of the events that were classical as far as the Olympics were concerned. And I want to share with my colleagues one of the great personalities that have come out of this, a gentleman by the name of Jim Thorpe, who was a descendent, who was a Sauk and Fox Indian, American Indian, a descendant of a great warrior chief and athlete himself, Black Hawk, Jim Thorpe. It is very interesting in the annals of the Olympic games. In 1912, when he won the Olympics, several gold medals in the Olympics there, and he was approached by the King Gustav of Belgium, and he said, Sir, this is what the king said to Mr. Thorpe. Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world. And Thorpe, never a man to stand on ceremony, answered and simply said, Thanks, King. Jim Thorpe was one of the greatest athletes in the world. He played baseball, he played football, in fact, in 1950 he was named the greatest American football player. And then another accolade that was given to this great athlete, Olympic athlete, the greatest overall male, at least by the Associated Press in 1950. Jim Thorpe, unfortunately, was suspended in terms of the medals that he won during the Olympics supposedly because he had played professional baseball. Supposedly, this is what he was accused of. Well, later on his medals were restored. But given the fact that this is one of the great personalities that have evolved from the spirit of the Olympic movement, another gentleman that I want to share with my colleagues historically was a gentleman by the name of Jesse Owens, a son of Alabama, but raised in the State of Ohio, in Cleveland, Ohio, specifically. It was in the 1936 Olympics, 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, and there was this problem that some of our friends from Germany, particularly Adolph Hitler, had this very interesting concept about the supremacy of the white Aryan race. And this African American athlete went there and won four gold medals, to the extent that it was very ironic. Here, Jesse Owens could not even train together with his white counterparts, the members of the Olympic Committee, representing the United States of America. And yet, when he got to Germany, in the midst of 110,000 spectators in that stadium there in Berlin, ironically Owens was allowed to travel and stay in the same hotels as whites in Germany, and yet was denied the same privilege here in our own country. The fact is even noted that after a New York ticker tape parade that was given in his honor in New York City, that Owens had to ride the freight elevator to attend a reception for him at the Waldorf Astoria. I think it's worth noting that this gentleman, humble as he was, one of the greatest athletes, one of the greatest athletes coming from our country, again the spirit of the Olympics, where race, color, creed or religion should have no barrier, and yet this great American set a tremendous example of what he did in 1936. Unfortunately, as well, in 1968, at the height of the civil rights movement, the Olympics that took place in Mexico, where gentlemen by the name of Tommy Smith and John Carlos demonstrated in their own way, of course they were highly ridiculed by the media; and it was their way of showing that something was wrong here in America. African Americans were not given the same civil rights and liberties as all other Federal Americans, as is guaranteed supposedly by the U.S. Constitution. They made a display of their concern that in America, that something was wrong in our country. And I think they were later honored by the San Jose State University for the fact that they stood up for principle, not because they hated the Olympics or being athletes, but because of that. Then the Olympics of 1980, we had a very serious problem when the Soviet Union attacked Afghanistan. And President Carter then issued a very interesting statement. You pull out of Afghanistan or we're going to boycott the Olympics. That's exactly what happened in 1980. And unfortunately, all our athletes who trained so hard for that 4-year period just wasted that whole energy and time unfortunately. But because of political reasons. And here's one of the ironies, Mr. Speaker, that the United States was joined in this boycott with Japan, West Germany, China and Canada. And guess who didn't join us? Great Britain, France, Greece. Very, very interesting host of supposedly our allies and friends as a matter of principle in terms of what the Soviet Union did in 1979. And then what happened in 1984? The Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact members turned around and boycotted the Olympics in Los Angeles. In the 1988 Olympics in Korea, Mr. Speaker, it was my privilege to lead the first delegation of my territory, as members of the Olympic Committee, believe it or not, in the Olympic organization, in Seoul, Korea. And what an awesome and powerful force it was to show the world community in terms of showing these athletes who prepare for so long and so hard that they could share not only their talent but, more than that, their fellowship with each other. Now, in the advent of what is happening seriously in terms of what we are trying to do in Darfur, the moment now among some of the leaders and others in the world is to boycott the Olympics in China because some feel that China is not doing enough to put pressure on the Sudanese Government to stop the genocide, to stop the genocide in Darfur, where over 400,000 lives have already been lost because of that terrible crisis of genocide, and over 2 million refugees have already been sighted because of this terrible incident's happening, and the fact that China receives 70 percent of its oil supply from Sudan and the fact that China also supplies arms to the Sudanese Government. It is a very serious issue. And, unfortunately, like I said, I wish we lived in a perfect world where we can separate the politics from athletics, but this is not the reality that we are faced with. And I am also making an urgent plea to our good friends from China, the leaders of China, to put pressure on the Sudanese Government, put pressure on the Sudanese Government to stop the genocide in Darfur. Again, I want to commend my colleague and good friend for his support and for the sponsorship of this important legislation. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) not only as chief sponsor of this proposed legislation, but also for her leadership and her compassion and commitment in the field of human rights for fellow human beings all over the world. I cannot help but stand here on the floor and share with my colleagues some of the thoughts that came to my mind when my colleague from California was explaining about the provisions of this important legislation. Usually I am not a person who gets emotional watching movies, but recently I watched the movie ``Freedom Riders.'' I cannot help but recall the experience that these teenagers in Long Beach went through, and how creative this teacher was in trying to get kids who were from basically low-income areas and who had no idea or concept what it means to read. Somehow the teacher was able to get these high school students to read ``The Diary of Anne Frank.'' It got to the point where the students became so interested in what happened when they read this book, ``The Diary of Anne Frank,'' that they invited a Holocaust survivor to speak to them in Los Angeles. She testified personally what it meant to be not only a prisoner but I would say a slave during the Nazi period and the terrible time that the Jewish people went through during that period of their history. I thank Chairman Lantos not only for his leadership, but as a Holocaust survivor himself, I cannot think of a better person who can share with our colleagues what it means to be part of that period and the pain and suffering 6 million Jews went through during that process. I recall a statement made by one of the great poet philosophers, Santayana, who said: ``Those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'' Some say why should we worry, this happened in the past. Why worry about it. I think we have to remember so these things never happen again. Yes, I visit the Holocaust Museum and what do I say: Never again. Never again. That racism and bigotry and hatred should never be a part of the legacy of our great Nation. I commend my friend from California for bringing this resolution before the Members for their consideration, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Absolutely, I yield.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I thank the gentleman.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to do a dialogue here. I'm quite sure that our good friend, the senior ranking member from Alaska, as well as our chairman, previously, this House has passed recognition of the Lumbee people, the Indians, I think twice already in the time when even former Congressman Charlie Rose was a Member of this great institution. And if I recall, I would like to ask the gentleman, it did pass the House of Representatives. But what happened afterwards? Twice. And then it was referred to the Senate. Maybe my colleagues, our colleagues need to know, to find out what happened when it went to the Senate. Twice we've passed this legislation and when it was referred to the Senate, what happened?

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Madam Speaker, I just want to say to my good friend that I did submit proposed legislation to rectify the process that has failed. But, unfortunately, we have still not taken up the legislation, so I want to try it again.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I will submit to my good friend, Madam Speaker, the situation that, dealing with the Lumbee Indians, the Congress did formally recognize them in 1956 and there was no process in place.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I want to thank the distinguished chairman of our committee and also the distinguished senior member, senior ranking member of our committee, the gentleman from Alaska, for their bipartisan support of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 65, the proposed legislation to federally recognize the Lumbee Indian tribe of North Carolina. I commend my good friends and colleagues from North Carolina, especially my good friend, Mr. McIntyre, for his perseverance, his leadership and his determination to provide this long-overdue Federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe. This is a bipartisanship bill. This is not a Republican or a Democratic bill. Specifically, H.R. 65 extends Federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe and specifies that tribal members will be eligible for Federal benefits. The bill expressly prohibits the Lumbee Tribe from conducting gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act or any Federal law. The bill also provides the State of North Carolina with jurisdiction over all civil and criminal matters on land owned by or held in trust for the Lumbee Tribe. Mr. Speaker, this legislation is long overdue. The existence of the Lumbee Tribe as a distinct Indian community is beyond question. They are descended from the Cheraw and related tribes in North Carolina, and they have lived along the Lumber River since the first white settlers lived in the area. Even today, the tribal members live in a tightly knit community, mostly in Robeson County, North Carolina. Lumbees have been recognized by the State of North Carolina since 1885, and the tribe has been seeking Federal recognition for nearly 120 years. This legislation is necessary to remedy the inequity created by this very institution. The Congress of the United States of America passed a law in 1956 which federally recognized the Lumbee Tribe but at the same time prohibited the application of Federal programs available like it has done for other American Indian tribes. This act has been interpreted in the courts as conveying Federal recognition and termination of the tribe at the same time but has prevented the Department of Interior from providing Federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe through the administrative process. As a result, the only recourse available for this tribe is to seek relief from the Congress. Mr. Speaker, I need not remind my colleagues that the authority to deal with all matters affecting the welfare and needs of the first Americans or American Indians is expressly stated under provisions of clause 3, section 8, article 1 of the Constitution of the United States. I want to share with my colleagues some questions, perhaps, that may have been raised concerning the proposed legislation. ``Question: Is this the first time the Lumbee Tribe has sought Federal recognition? ``Answer: No. This tribe first sought Federal recognition through a petition submitted to Congress in 1899 and in 1956. Congress formally recognized the Lumbee Tribe. However, it effectively terminated its relationship with the tribe at the same time by denying them access to the benefits and privileges that accompany Federal recognition. Since that time, the tribe has had substantial interaction with the Congress. The tribe has also petitioned the Bureau of Indian Affairs for recognition through its administrative process. The Bureau denied this petition, indicating that the tribe is not eligible for the process because of Congress' prior action. ``Question: Why is the tribe not going through the administrative process,'' as it was argued earlier by some of our colleagues? ``Answer: The administrative process is for those groups where it needs to be determined whether or not the group is an Indian tribe.'' I submit to my colleagues, we have not done a very good job in dealing with the first Americans, and I sincerely hope that this proposed legislation will rectify the situation that this tribe has been seeking for over 100 years. I want to share this proposed bill, which will provide us with an opportunity to address this long-standing injustice that has been done to the Lumbee Indians. I support the Lumbee recognition bill because I believe it is consistent with our responsibility as Members of this great institution to give the members of the Lumbee Tribe their right to be recognized as truly an American Indian tribe. Let's correct this inequity that has existed now for over 100 years and as a tribute to the six Lumbee Indian soldiers who died recently in the war in Iraq, for which they made the ultimate sacrifice and have given their lives in defense of our Nation. After 100 years, these people have been tortured enough. I am reminded of the words echoed by a retired Marine general and former colleague from this body, the former gentleman from Guam, Congressman Ben Blaz, a good Republican and a very dear friend of mine. He said, also, this is a statement this gentleman made, his observation also of the unfair treatment of his people in some past history, and this is about sending all the tribes that we have here in America and I know are great warriors, because that's the inherent character of the first Americans. They are warriors. This is what Congressman Ben Blaz says. ``We are equal in war, but not in peace.'' Give the Lumbee Indians what they deserve, recognition as they should get from this great institution.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Madam Speaker, I rise to support the proposed rule to bring this bill, H.R. 65, for consideration. And I certainly would like to commend my good friend, the gentleman from New York, who's managing this legislation, and my good friend from Florida, the opposition, for their being here and to deliberate on the importance of this bill. Madam Speaker, this is not a Republican or a Democratic piece of legislation. I say this because this bill has the absolute support of the chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources, Mr. Rahall, and also the senior ranking member, the distinguished gentleman from Alaska, Mr. Don Young. So we have bipartisan support to this proposed bill. In fact, over 215 Members have already sponsored this proposed legislation. And I would be remiss if I did not give special commendation for the outstanding job that the gentleman from North Carolina has put in trying to bring this legislation for the last 6 years I believe, the gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. McIntyre. And I do commend him very much for his leadership and for his sensitivity in bringing this legislation out to the floor. Madam Speaker, H.R. 65 would extend Federal recognition status to the Lumbee tribe of North Carolina. Several studies undertaken by the Department of the Interior have consistently concluded that the Lumbees are a distinct self-governing Indian community historically located on the Lumbee River in North Carolina. This legislation is long overdue. Indeed, Congress passed the Lumbee Act of 1956. On its surface, one would deduce that this law was to provide Federal recognition to the Lumbee people. Instead, Congress perversely added a provision making the Lumbee Indian people ineligible for the services provided by the United States to other federally recognized tribes. Today, we are simply here to rectify this injustice. This bill was reported by the Natural Resources Committee by a vote of 24-7. The tribe agreed to the provision that no gaming operation is ever to be part of their operations if they are ever to be recognized. Madam Speaker, finally, I would note that the tribe has sought recognition through the current administrative procedure which was developed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which, by the way, was done through Federal regulation. It was not done by statutory mandate by the Congress. But this is not an option for them. In 1989, the Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs at the Department of Interior made the determination that the Lumbee Indian people are not eligible for the current process, and the fact that we have to go back to the provisions of the Lumbee Act of 1956. So there is no other option to obtain justice for these people, Madam Speaker. And let me note that Congress is empowered to recognize Indian tribes, just as we have recently done for the Virginia Indian tribes. There are some 560 federally recognized Indian tribes in our country, and of those, Congress recognized 530 of them. Madam Speaker, the times that I've met with the many members of this distinguished tribe, they noted to me, they say that many of them have fought, members of that tribe have fought in the defense of our Nation. And for a population of 53,000, and I believe six members of this tribe have already died from this terrible conflict that we're faced with now in Iraq. And to me, that is a way to show the patriotism, and we owe the people this recognition, I submit, Madam Speaker. I urge my colleagues to support the proposed rule and pass this proposed bill, H.R. 65.

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Madam Speaker, I do want to say I do have the highest respect for my good friend and colleague who has just taken the floor. In fact, I do want to commend him as a former Peace Corps volunteer for the islands of Fiji. And, as I said, I don't question some of the dialogue or the conversations or part of the Congressional Record that was taken from previous Congresses and other Members of Congress in the previous years in dealing with the issue. But let me share with my colleagues the situation of how we have dealt with the American Indians. Madam Speaker, I submit our first policy, our first national policy, was to kill the Indians. Get rid of them. Following that, our next policy was let's assimilate the Indians, make them all part of America. And then, guess what? The next policy was to terminate the Indians. Don't give them any sense of recognition as a people. These are our national policies in eras and periods of how we have dealt with Native Americans. So now the fourth policy that we now enunciated is let's find a system or procedure of how we can recognize them as Indian tribes. Let me share with my colleagues what happened on that specific day when we held a hearing on the Lumbee Indians. This was years ago. One of the tribal chiefs of the Lumbee Indians testified before our committee and said they had to examine their teeth, their teeth, to see if they looked like Indians and having a certain structure of their facial features to make them look like Indians. I must submit, Madam Speaker, the process that my good friend talks about was not developed until 1975 and thereafter. And the very person who wrote the regulation where these Indian tribes had to meet seven criteria in order for this Indian process to be completed and they would say now you are federally recognized, well, the person who wrote that regulation made a submission before our committee and said, even I would not have been able to submit an application if this is what we have to go through as the process. It is the most expensive process that we have had to burden Indian tribes to come up with. And I must say, Madam Speaker, with all due respect to my good friend from Connecticut, I don't doubt his sincerity in terms of what he said. The process has failed. There is no question. But we have just recognized four or five Indian tribes from the State of Virginia. So how does that make it different in the State of North Carolina for this tribe, the Lumbee Indians? Over 100 years these people have been fighting for recognition, and they deserve that recognition, Madam Speaker. Let me give a bit of history to my colleagues. We held 389 treaties with the American Indians, and guess what? We broke every one of them. That is the kind of history that we have had in dealing with Native Americans. They deserve better, Madam Speaker. Again, I urge my colleagues to support this rule. Support this legislation.