Mark Foley

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, let me associate myself with the remarks of the gentleman from Missouri and also to salute all of the people that work in this fine building. We have been under a unique amount of pressure in recent days, but I have to salute the entirety of this Capitol, the police, the rank and file workers, the members who work for the Clerk's office, the pages, everyone else who has participated in keeping an orderly transition for our government. Mr. bin Laden, your 15 minutes of fame are about over. The United States is united together in an attempt to rid the world of people like you who have threatened civilization, harmed our citizens, and now are infecting our territories with a bacteria. You will not win. You will not win this battle, because the United States stands for freedom, and that freedom shall prevail. We thank you all, our citizens, who have rallied behind the flag and our President, we thank you for entrusting us, not only with your votes, but your opportunity to lead this country. And as Members of Congress, we remain united behind our President to rid the world of terror, to rid the world of hatred, and to make certain that your days are numbered.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Madam Speaker, I offer a resolution (H. Res. 257) and I ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I know how proud the people of Jacksonville are to see you in the Chair today, and I am delighted to address the Congress and particularly to the people in my district, the 16th Congressional District of Florida. Once again, our county, Palm Beach County, is in the news; and the news is not good. It is relative to a scare that is occurring in my community relative to anthrax. What I do want to express to my constituents and to this community is the professionalism with which this issue is being dealt with on the ground. We have a phenomenal Public Health Unit, led by Dr. Jean Malecki, who is the head of the Palm Beach County Health Department. I want to give you a little story, if I can, because obviously this has caught a lot of people off guard and has caused a degree of panic in our community. Dr. Larry Bush at JFK Medical Center in Atlanta was the first to treat the patient who presented himself, Mr. Robert Stevens, from Lantana. He noticed in examining the spinal fluids of Mr. Stevens that there was a very, very odd behavior to the spinal fluid, and what he was detecting was of quite serious concern. He sent the material to the lab for further investigation because it was unlike anything he had seen in recent time, and immediately called Dr. Malecki at the Palm Beach County Health Unit. This is where the professional response team came in and played a pivotal and important role in determining the disease that he was suffering from, the bacteria that had infected him. Then, of course, Dr. Malecki immediately alerted CDC and the FBI. They moved expeditiously to our community and secured the premises, looked back at where Mr. Stevens had been the last several weeks, investigated thoroughly all the various ways he may have been contaminated, tested all of the individuals working at the company, American Media, and did so in a relatively short period of time. Let me underscore the reason why I want to speak today and it is to applaud not only the Palm Beach County Health Unit, applaud Dr. Larry Bush for immediately investigating the pathogen that he discovered and alerting the authorities rather than maybe choosing otherwise and not to bring this to a heightened sense of awareness, and for John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital that has been in existence since 1960, ably represented by Mr. Phil Robinson who is the administrator for immediately doing the right thing, and that is public disclosure, that is notifying authorities, that is bringing in experts, that is conducting a total surveillance of a situation. Let me read to you from the Palm Beach Post, our local newspaper. The editorial today is ``Keep Confidence High During Anthrax Hunt.'' ``To reassure the public as the anthrax investigation continues in Palm Beach County, the public health system must be at its best. Since last week, the community has seen the benefit of that system's strengths and the need for officials to face questions, not avoid them.'' It goes on to say, Dr. Malecki, a specialist in epidemiology, the branch of medicine that investigates the causes and control of disease, began investigating Wednesday. A day later, CDC tests confirmed anthrax bacteria, and CDC officials immediately dispatched a team to our community as well as the FBI. Since the anthrax strain was not naturally occurring, goes the report, it is reasonable to conclude that someone introduced it to into the American Media building. Thus, the system will be tested further as the questioning increases. Conflicting messages and attempts to limit what information public receives will cause public anxiety. That is where I want to stop and urge all people involved with this, and I have no reason to doubt that they are forthcoming. But we need to reassure the public every step of this investigation what we are learning. Every likely contaminant that he may have come in contact with to bring into perspective what may be at stake here. Yes, this is a scary time for many; but it is no reason for panic because the professionals, the health teams, the FBI and others are down on the ground working. What I would like to finish with in conclusion is the last paragraph. In fact, the system is working with a proper combination of urgency and responsibility. Some of the best medical minds at all levels of government are working around the clock to find out what happened and who did it. Let me repeat, some of the best medical minds at all levels of government are working around the clock to find out what happened and who did it. Given the stakes and the jittery public mood, this is the public health system the public should see. I salute Dr. Malecki. I salute the team of professionals who are on the ground. I thank Secretary Thompson and his agencies at HHS for keeping me briefed on this urgent matter. I thank the FBI and others for their detailed and thorough investigation of this scene to reassure our community that we are on top of this situation and we will determine who caused this and when and how it was delivered. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues as well for their support during the past several weeks for all of the victims of terror, for their support of the President and particularly his recent directive urging a little bit of secrecy, if you will, in the plans as he is outlining them so we do not have a rush to judgment nor a release of information that could harm some of our personnel as they enter into engagement in these battles.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to take a moment to talk about a very important issue for American seniors and that is a Medicare Drug Discount Security Act that myself and Senator Chuck Hagel introduced some time ago. The President of the United States recently announced his own plan that mirrored many of the things we tried to accomplish. We are very proud of our approach to providing seniors with discounts on prescription drugs. The President announced it in a ceremony at the Rose Garden and we were quite pleased that he had taken the direction by Executive Order. As many of my colleagues know, there was a lawsuit filed by the chain discount drugstores opposing the measure, and it resides now in Federal court. One of the interesting mythical dynamics that followed the President's announcement was groups saying that it was nothing more than window dressing. It was smoke screen. It was political posturing. It would not amount to much. It is insignificant. It is immaterial. It is not necessary, nor is it helpful. We heard that from a number of groups and a number of citizen and senior advocates. We were quite shocked because we thought, in a free society, a free market economy, when you are able to leverage the number of people participating, thereby getting them a discount on the prices they pay, that is a pretty simple and superb way in which to get seniors discounts now. Others have objected to the plan saying it was not a good scheme. I questioned at the time if it is such a bad scheme, why do millions of Americans sign up to be AARP members? Usually it is because they get a discount on motel rates and other things. It was interesting, in the Washington Post of Tuesday, September 25, there was a headline, a new Kennedy campaign on drug cause, former House Member Joseph Kennedy, a Member of this body now in Boston, Massachusetts, has been using now and creating a drug delivery system under his Citizens Energy Corporation. This allows people to join together as members of that group in order to get a discount on prescriptions. It is interesting, when a Democrat, Mr. Kennedy, announces the plan, AARP says, it certainly is needed, says John Rother, policy director at AARP, a senior citizens advocate group advocating a prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients. It goes on to talk about the discounts people will be able to receive. It goes on to suggest in this plan that although Citizen Help hopes to target the needy, Kennedy says the group does not have an elaborate screening process. He assumes well-to-do people will opt to stick with private insurance plans which charge on average 5 to 25 copayment for the prescription. That therein lies the political conundrum. When we announce it as Republicans, Senator Hagel and myself, and the President enunciates it from the White House, it is met with skepticism, scorn, and outright laughter. When a Democrat announces the plan, it becomes the focal point of how to save seniors money. Last year during the campaign season I remember Democrats taking a bus and taking seniors up to Canada because they could buy prescription drugs cheaper. Yes, I applaud that. I think it is great when you find a discount, even if you have to cross the border, but they used that as a political campaign and tool in which to defeat senators, by saying our seniors have to go to Canada to get a discount. Our plan, on the other hand, now mirrored by former Member Kennedy allows people to get discounts here in their own country. They do not have to get on a bus, they do not have to travel to Canada, and they can go to their local pharmacies. They can go to their local plans and get these kinds of discounts. So I would hope in the spirit of this wonderful new bipartisanship that has emanated out of this Chamber, since September 11 we get down to the business of helping seniors, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, get prescription drug coverage and get it more affordable, without creating a government scheme that will oftentimes be more complicated and more difficult for average seniors to access. I salute former Member Kennedy. I salute AARP for making the positive comments about our plan. I thank him for introducing it in the community where I was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and I just hope other Democrats now listening to this and reading the newspapers will finally suggest that President Bush was right in announcing from the Oval Office, or at least from the Rose Garden, that he intended to help seniors today, not next year after debate, not the following year after debate, not 5 years from now when the political process winds itself up into a lather trying to provide it, but instead, doing it through the free enterprise system which Mr. Kennedy has done here in this plan. I urge my colleagues to look at our bill, Senator Hagel's in the Senate and mine in the House. It is called the Medicare RX Drug Discount and Security Act. It is worthy of your attention. It will provide discounts up to 30 to 40 percent. It is easy. It is much like Price Club and Costco that so many Members probably use here today because they can buy in volume and buy at discounts. It is why people pay a card fee, $25 a year, to belong to that club. It lets them shop, buy by volume, by discount, and that is what we are trying to achieve here today. It works in real life. AARP has millions of members, using discount as an enticement. It has worked in the real world. It can work in the political world if the sides will not engage in negative attacks, but rather constructive dialogue in order to see this come to a fruition.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Madam Speaker, I want to applaud my colleagues as co- chairman of the Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus for their outstanding work on getting America flying again, traveling again, and looking at some of the implications of September 11. One disturbing note: I have heard many school districts around the Nation are talking about canceling the all-important safety patrol trips to our Nation's Capitol. I urge them to reconsider those decisions. One of the great times for us in Congress is a chance to meet with our young constituents when they come to Washington, D.C., their eyes big as saucers, looking at the wonderful majesticness of this building, our national monuments, and the history invoked in this room. This is a singularly important trip for these young people and should not be put aside based on fear or irrational concerns over safety. We want the children to be treated safely. We want them, yet, to have a great historical time in our Nation's Capitol. I urge those school boards to reconsider their decision and allow their kids to travel to our Nation's Capitol. They will be safe, and more important, they will gain an insight into the workings of the Federal Government, which is important for themselves and their future.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I would say, a penny for your thoughts. It seems like this program, this one commodity is always singled out on this House floor as some egregious program. Now, if we tied the Miller-Miller amendment to the price of candy and forced them to reduce their prices for every penny we reduce the sugar product, then maybe I would understand there is a rationale behind this argument. Now, I associate myself with the words of the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), my good friend, who talks about families in his district. Now, some use this program and attack certain families that may be successful and they hold them up as examples of corporate waste. Well, folks, we can use that in almost anything we do on this House floor: single out one individual and say that is the bad actor or the bad apple. We ignore the fact that there are thousands of people in my district. Now, I know when you hear Mark Foley's name, you think of Palm Beach and Worth Avenue. But let me take you to Belle Glade, Clewiston, Pahokee, Canal Point, where people get up every morning and go to the farms and work hard 5, 6 in the morning to harvest a crop that is difficult and is burdensome, but they bring it to market. Then all of a sudden they turn on their TV set to the government that they pay taxes for and to and hear people demeaning their way of life, their product that they produce, and act like somehow, we have some communistic cartel operating under the auspices of the Federal Government. Now, I take exception. I invite you to come to my communities; and I invite you to meet the farmers, those individual farmers who farm 100 acres, 50 acres, 20 acres, to try to make a living for themselves and their families. Please defeat this amendment and let us get this over with. We have done this for 7 years, and 7 years we have beaten them back. Help us do it again.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment to salute several organizations in my community, one particularly, the South Florida Blood Bank, and the local chapters of the American Red Cross and United Way of Palm Beach County for their outstanding contributions during these difficult past 3 weeks. Our communities came together to fight an evil, and we have won. In the case of the blood bank, a typical week yields about 500 pints. In the first week after the event, we were blessed with over 7,600 pints of life. United Way and Red Cross had record contributions to assist in the effort in Washington and New York. I applaud them. I thank them. Their generosity speaks volumes about the great patriots who live in our country, particularly those I am proud to call constituents in my communities. But I also ask my communities to now rally around those same local charities as they endeavor to continue their efforts for local communities. We have been generous to New York and Washington. We cannot forget those struggling at home, those that need our help. These charities need to go forward, now more than ever, to assist our localities. I thank them more than ever; I appreciate that they are there for us in the time of need. I salute them.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, as American Polish clubs across the state prepare to celebrate the Pulaski Day Celebration, I would like to recognize General Casimir Pulaski and all Polish Americans. General Pulaski came to America in 1777 to aid our fledgling Nation during the Revolutionary War. As a cavalry general, he earned the title ``Father of the American Cavalry'' leading many successful campaigns and directly contributing to our overall victory. Pulaski understood that America would become a beacon of freedom. In the wake of recent events, and as we assemble an international coalition, it is my sincere hope we can find individuals that have the same dedication and courage as Casimir Pulaski to assist us in seeking justice. The United States is a country with many Polish Americans that live their lives in the tradition of Casimir Pulaski. It is this tradition that makes our country great and will assure our victory once again. Mr. Speaker, again, I pay tribute to all Americans of Polish ancestry as we celebrate Pulaski Day.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, today I rise with a great deal of pride to salute the communities I represent, Palm Beach County, Martin, St. Lucie, Okeechobee, Glades, Hendry, and Highlands, the 16th Congressional District in Florida. I am so proud because every citizen of our community rallied together for this Nation, supporting those who are in need, helping raise funds, donating blood, doing whatever little bit they could to make not only those in New York and Washington feel better, but unite as a Nation against evil. I am proud because our community at times during the last election was disparaged for not getting their votes right. Today we prove not only did we send the right person to Washington to lead this Nation, but we are also committed to making certain this terror never rains on America again. The firefighters, the paramedics, the police, the National Guard, everybody virtually joined hands together to work together to make this Nation stronger. We may have had a difficult day September 11, but out of the ashes comes a greater resolve to make America a more perfect union, under God, protecting liberties, defining the future, and making certain we support our commander-in-chief, the President of the United States, George Bush, who I am proud to call a friend, and particularly proud to call a great leader today in times of adversity. I salute him, I thank him, and God bless his family as we endeavor to protect our country.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a man who has served his country bravely and who also serves as a role model in his community. I speak of Al Ross, one of my constituents and the youngest surviving veteran of the First World War. Al, the son of Russian immigrants, enlisted in the United States Navy in 1917, when he was only 16 years old. He served as a Seaman First Class aboard the U.S.S. Richmond. In fact, Al is the last surviving member of Barracks 507, a West Palm Beach World War One veterans group. On October 11, 2001, my friend Al Ross turns 100 years old. He is a frequent speaker at veterans', civic, and school events and is best known for his talks about ``Why We Pledge the Flag.'' Mr. Ross gives these talks in his original U.S. Navy uniform, which still fits him perfectly. Al Ross has been a teacher and organizer for the National Amputee Foundation. He has worked for the Palm Beach Daily News and the Selective Service System. Most recently, Mr. Ross has been an advocate for the voting rights of U.S. military personnel serving overseas. He is also an avid golfer. Mr. Speaker, please let the Record reflect this Congress' appreciation for his efforts.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Madam Chairman, let me thank the chairman and obviously the Congress for looking very critically at this amendment. This is very, very important. I never served in the military. My father did. But one thing I know for certain, the responsibility of the Federal Government is to provide for national security and domestic tranquility. These two points of view that are shared in this bill are essential to that operation. I appreciate the work of the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) and certainly of the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Stump) and all the Members who have been active in military preparedness for this Nation. Yes, September 11 was a horrifying day. It woke this Member up to the fact that we are ill prepared to meet the challenge and this is vitally important. People have scoffed at missile defense, they have said it is not necessary, and they make the representation that the attack was by knives. I agree. There were issues in that attack that knives were used. But if we allow our safeguard to diminish, if we do not properly apply technology and we do not thoroughly fund this program, we will rue the day we were ill prepared to defend American soil. I applaud the manager's amendment, and I support the underlying legislation.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Speaker's recognition. Certainly the people of Indiana are proud to see him in the chair, and we are delighted to be reconvening this Monday morning. Let me just thank, as chairman of the Travel and Tourism Caucus, my colleagues for working quickly on Friday to bring about some financial stability to the airline industry. And of course today, as I speak, the market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up some 350 points, and so we hope we have turned the corner on pessimism; and I know there is still opportunity to review and reflect on what the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) just spoke of. We can certainly be Monday-morning quarterbacks and look back and see what we could have done differently. I hope prospectively we now start reviewing all the safety measures affecting our traveling public. We have to ensure stability in the marketplace. We have to make certain that airlines, of course, work on safety precautions, but the Government has to be a partner. On Friday, some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle objected to any bailout, suggesting somehow that that was unfair to the industry. I can assure you today we would be seeing a lot more massive economic downturn and a lot more jobs lost had we not acted. Today, I wanted to spend a moment on two things: one, a constituent of mine, Dino Laudati, wrote this the morning of the tragedy, and he calls it ``Eternal Flame of America.'' ``As I watched in horror and grief as the towers of the World Trade Center burned, I cried in pain and disbelief. As I wiped the tears from my eyes and removed my hands from my face, I had a vision. ``In front of me the burning towers turned into burning torches, torches of hope, torches of courage and strength, torches of unity and love, torches that will guide us into the darkness to seek and defeat our enemy. The same enemy that ignited that fire, believing he could bring us to our knees. ``Torches that will engulf our hearts with love and tenacity, torches that will always burn, for the freedom that America stands for and that every American will fight for and would rather die than succumb to defeat or submission. ``Torches that will always remind us that we are all equal no matter what religion, race or background and we stand together in peace, brotherhood and love. We believe that God is the only one who is above us. He enables us to carry within us the fire of the burning towers as torches of eternal light. ``To remind us that America is freedom and freedom is America. Our forefathers established it, our fathers believed in it, we will fight for it and our children will keep it forever. ``Dino Laudati, September 11, 2001.'' Dianne Robbins from my district office sent this along. Her daughter sent it to her, Beth Horner. ``On Monday we e-mailed jokes. On Tuesday we did not. On Monday we thought that we were secure. On Tuesday we learned better. On Monday we were talking about heroes as being athletes. On Tuesday we relearned who our heroes are. On Monday we were irritated that our rebate checks had not arrived. On Tuesday we gave money away to people we had never met. On Monday there were people fighting against praying in schools. On Tuesday you would have been hard pressed to find a school where someone was not praying. On Monday people argued with their kids about picking up their room. On Tuesday the same people could not get home fast enough to hug their kids. On Monday people were upset that they had to wait 6 minutes in a fast food drive-through line. On Tuesday people didn't care about waiting up to 6 hours to give blood for the dying. On Monday we waved our flags signifying our cultural diversity. On Tuesday we waved only the American flag. On Monday there were people trying to separate each other by race, sex, color and creed. On Tuesday they were all holding hands. On Monday we were men or women, black or white, old or young, rich or poor, gay or straight, Christian or non-Christian. On Tuesday we were all Americans. On Monday politicians argued about budget surpluses. On Tuesday, grief stricken, they sang `God Bless America.' On Monday the President was going to Florida to read to children. On Tuesday he returned to Washington to protect our children. On Monday we had families. On Tuesday we had orphans. On Monday people went to work as usual. On Tuesday they died. On Monday people were fighting the 10 Commandments on government property. On Tuesday the same people all said `God help us all' while thinking `Thou shall not kill.' '' It is sadly ironic how it takes horrific events to place things into perspective, but it has. The lessons learned this week, the things we have taken for granted, the things that have been forgotten or overlooked, hopefully will never be forgotten again. These are messages from our community and our constituents. I am certain every Member in Congress probably has similar that they have received. The outpouring of support for our Commander in Chief, the President of the United States, has been wonderful. In Palm Beach County, a county I come from, a typical blood bank volume is 500 pints a week. Last week when I visited Palm Beach County that same blood bank, and I will use the phrase used then by George Bush, the President, the President's father, a thousand points of light. Well, last week in Palm Beach County there were 7,000 pints of life supporting New York and Washington. I commend my community. I commend this Congress. I am proud to be an American. I thank all who have witnessed and watched us work together on behalf of the American people.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reynolds) for bringing this matter to consideration on the floor. I am chairman of the Travel and Tourism Caucus, and I can underscore the concern in this building today is to get the economy moving. Now, I respect the concerns of the other Members of this body who are worried about employees and safeguards for employees. I struggle with those issues, too; but if we do not deal with this issue rather quickly, there will not be employees at all, regardless of the efforts of those to protect them in this bill. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 1,200 points this week. I left my home a moment ago to watch the news out of BWI airport talking about massive layoffs. Wall Street is looking and the major banks around the globe are watching what we do tonight to decide whether any credit will be available for airlines. So we have a real choice here today. We have a choice of helping immediately, move some economic stimulus, loan guarantees to the airline industry or we can sit here and twiddle our thumbs and assume that this will fix itself. Wall Street is saying it will not. I can assure you, based on the economic model that I am seeing in Florida, Hawaii, California, New York, Texas, Arkansas, I do not have time to go over 50 States, but stick around because the economic pain is real, not imagined. One of the prior speakers said somehow that we rushed out of this building last week and we are trying to rush out of the building this week. I take great exception to that because many of us have worked and labored and toiled to try and find some opportunity to provide comfort for those in New York, those at the Pentagon; and we have focused our efforts on both relief and remedy for those. And we have also given the President of the United States the unified support of the Congress and the people of this country to endeavor to try and rid the world of terrorism. I would love to obviously have a lot of time to debate some of these issues. God knows we would love to sit around and hammer things out, knock the table, and protect everyone in the room. I mean this in all sincerity, that we need to put this underlying legislation on the floor now today and move expeditiously so that on Monday next when the markets open there is a safety net under the structure of the airline industry. Believe me, I complained to many of these same operators yesterday that were in my office that own the major carriers, and I was worried about baggage carriers and line workers and fuelers and mechanics and flight attendants and captains and co-captains. I worry about the treatment of individuals. I worry about the treatment received by individual Americans as they traversed this country just but a few weeks ago and complained about how they were treated and talked about airline passenger rules or bill of rights. And, sure, I would like to sweep up some of these things and spend hours and days and weeks on finding a perfect solution here, because I know with both sides working, we can. But, regrettably, based on this economic crisis we face, we either provide the guarantee, as we did in the Chrysler Corporation bailout years ago that many objected to vehemently, that Members from Detroit insisted we needed; and, thank God, the Congress responded, because, God knows, Chrysler not only succeeded, but survived and excelled and hired millions of American workers to be on their assembly line. So the choice is clear today: move consideration or find huge massive layoffs. So the employees you think you are protecting under the debate today will be those that are, in fact, given pink slips on Monday, because credit will be shut off, airline employees will be going home, no one will be flying, and the economy of the United States of America will grind to an absolute halt.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of order, and take my Special Order at this point.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, it has been a very painful week for all Americans. Turning on the TV set, opening the newspaper renews the pain in our hearts and our hearts ache for those who have suffered and are still suffering. I want to associate my comments today with that of the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, because I have heard over the last 24 hours concerns from Members that they are not being briefed enough and they are not being told enough and they are not being in the loop enough; and obviously we all need answers and we have to pursue answers. But it seems to me right now those very trained individuals need to be looking at who caused this and how we find our way out of this, rather than second guessing. We have heard complaints about the eloquence of our President and his stature and whether they were imagining the need to move safely to places around this country, and those commentaries may at some time be warranted, but not now. Our Nation needs to remain solidly together to fight evil forces. Watching the ceremony at the National Cathedral with Presidents past and present in attendance brought us to a point where we recognize that collectively we have such great promise. If we divide ourselves and characterize our leaders with less than flattering remarks, we give credence to those who seek to undermine our credibility in our Nation's strength. The world is watching us and obviously not just on the floor, but what they see on the TV broadcasts. Any indication of weakness gives them some strength. When I watch the heroics of men and women in uniform, I watch the heroics of firefighters and paramedics, I watch average citizens step out of their common everyday life to extend their unbounded energy to the pursuit of rescuing victims, my heart and my soul soar like an eagle, knowing that this country's promise is yet ahead; and yet the dark days are still engulfing our memories. The President did a phenomenal job today in the National Cathedral, calling for calm, deliberation and pursuing those who played a role in this activity. Jumping to conclusions by politicians based on a whim or a notion or an individual moment of frustration is not in the character of this deliberative body. I wanted to be in Congress since the age of five. I met a man, Paul Rogers, who represented Palm Beach County and thought what a wonderful man he was, and how skillfully and capably he represented our District; and some people may have thought what a foolish notion for a 5-year-old to want to serve in Congress, but I grew up knowing the promise of our Nation was a gift I would hopefully inherit as a chance to serve and represent my community, much like Paul Rogers served us well. So I pray with the Nation today; and I ask my colleagues to take a moment, a deep breath, and suggest we are safe here in our Nation's Capital. We are alive and we are breathing. Every moment you speak ill of anyone else or anyone's actions or motives, take a minute to reflect on those wounded and those dead under the rubble of the World Trade towers. Think of what their lives are like and what their families are enduring. They cannot find their loved ones, and we are demanding more briefings. They cannot find their cherished possessions, and we are interested in more acrimony. America rises to the challenge, and God bless us as we do. We have heard about indiscriminate actions of people going after and pursuing Muslims and those of faith who are here in our Nation and who have a right to be here and who are law-abiding citizens, but because of their ethnicity or religious origins, they are being held accountable for crimes that they had nothing to do with it; and we should ask God to bless us that we do not allow ourselves to succumb to the same kind of mean-spiritedness that brought us to the point on Tuesday at 8:50-something in the morning where evil acts perpetrated disastrous deeds against our population. I know God will bless us abundantly, not only because we prayed in church today, but because our Nation revolves around collective goodwill and spirit. I pray today as we move forward that we think clearly and mindfully about how we rectify this egregious behavior of others without injuring innocent people in our quest for justice. I pray we come to the conclusions, today or tomorrow, that we are a Nation of free men and we recognize the deed ahead of us is, in fact, great and it is complicated. I thank my colleagues for loving our country as much as we all do.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I am sad it took Tuesday's events to bring out the patriotism in our country and the need for military security. My father's generation, who served in World War II, has long expressed to us the need to be ever vigilant, to protect our society from the evils of tyranny. We learned all too well on Tuesday that that is indeed our mission here in this Congress, and we execute today with great deliberation. I was proud of my President and our President, George Bush, today in New York; I was proud of him in the National Cathedral; and I am proud of our country. The terrorists may have taken a bite out of the Big Apple on Tuesday, but they are the ones that are rotten to the core. While we seek not retribution, we seek justice, and I ask my colleagues once again, the third time today, to urge our communities not to take retribution on those who may be of similar faith and similar nationalities. Let us reserve our vengeance for those who caused the crime, and not by guilt by association. I love this country. I am proud of our Congress, and I am proud of our President.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, it is a new day and a new dawn in America, and how lucky I am to be an American citizen. Watching the TV in the morning is very, very difficult because we see families looking for loved ones and we see people searching for answers and clues to this devastating tragedy. Whoever did this may have taken a bite out of the big apple, but they are rotten to the core for inflicting the damage on innocent people. We will see the opening, hopefully soon, of the financial markets, and we pray people are not only sensible but reasonable and understand that there should be no egregious trading on the backs of this disaster. When the airlines open today, we ask for calm and reasonableness as people approach those who work in our airports. We also ask each and every citizen living in communities throughout this country to take a moment to salute the police officers, the firefighters, the military personnel who don the uniforms of service to this country, to this Nation, and to our communities to protect and provide for us. Oftentimes we are not thankful enough for those who risk their lives because we are simply usually inconvenienced at the red or blue lights we see in our rear-view mirrors. We do not thank them enough until we need them, until we call 911, and then we desperately ask for their help. Society requires us to be bigger and better than that. I hear some of our Members complaining about not being briefed enough, not being informed enough about what has happened. I do not want a briefing, I say to my colleagues. I want those people who need to pursue this tragedy with vigor to not interrupt their investigation to brief us now. We have a chance to be Monday morning quarterbacks, we have a chance to review what has happened, but the most important thing now is answers for families and answers to who created this problem and staying resolved as a Nation that we are bigger and better than they are. Let us not target citizens needlessly who may be related by ethnicity or religion. Let us focus on those perpetrators who inflicted this damage and this devastation to our country. We are a bigger and better place than anywhere else in the world. And in these critical hours, it is more important than ever to prove it, to show the world who we are as people, and to make certain while we talk about acts of war and treason and treachery that we focus our full, complete attention on those who inflicted this pain and damage. We are a proud Nation and we are great Americans, and in this hour of need let us rise above the din of acrimony and pray to the Lord for strength and make certain that in this hour we help our fellow man more than ever before.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 333 and 334, I was inadvertently detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on both measures.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, if we listen to the other side of the aisle, we get a clear theme coming out this morning. If it is not our way, send it down the highway. They say bipartisanship, but all they do is deride the things we have worked so hard for. I have worked with the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood) since 1995 on a Patients' Bill of Rights and that man's heart is with patients. Their hearts are with trial lawyers. If we want to see how quick it is to file an action in court to get health care relief, our constituents will be waiting 5 years for a court to render a verdict. Under the Norwood bill and the President's proposal they will get health care now, not 5 years from now. To malign this bill and say it was done in the dead of night does a disservice to every Member who has fought for good patient protection. Now they are abandoning the very architect of that plan in the name of politics. They want to win the next election, but they will do it on the back of sick people. I believe people need help today; and if we pass the bill, they will get it today, not 5 years from now when a court may or may not rule in their favor.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Florida yielding me this time. Listening to the debate this morning is causing me some concern because I have heard phrases like ``we are rushing this legislation to the floor.'' Yet it seemed to me weeks ago the other side of the aisle demanded action on this bill before the summer recess. Let me just give you some quotes from National Journal's Congress Daily today that appeared in print. The senior Senator from Massachusetts says about the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood): ``He has our complete confidence and he's demonstrated time in and time out his commitment to patients in our country.'' The gentleman from Arkansas who just spoke a moment ago: ``I don't think anyone at any time has ever questioned Charlie Norwood's sincerity or dedication to this mission. So the fact that he's out there working doesn't give me any heartburn at all.'' That was yesterday, the wonderful gentleman from Georgia, and today they will have you think he has become Dr. Kevorkian. The gentleman from Georgia and I have worked on this bill since 1995. There is one person in this Capitol more concerned with patients than any of us here and that is the honorable gentleman from Georgia. But he recognizes one very important and cogent point of this debate, that if somebody is sick and somebody is ailing and somebody is hurt, they do not need to wait in queue for 5 years to get a court of law to render a verdict on their case, because regrettably if we wait for the court of law, likely the patient will have died. A good friend of mine, a trial lawyer who is a personal friend and a supporter, called me yesterday. ``Please support the Dingell bill. Support the right for patients to sue their HMOs.'' So I posed the question: ``You're a partner in a law firm. If you provide health insurance, do you feel you should be sued for the negligence of the managed care?'' He paused and said, ``Well, no, we merely provide the health care policy.'' And I said, ``But you may in fact be drawn into liability because you didn't give them an option of several policies, you gave them the firm's policy. And should the firm be engaged in litigation with their provider.'' Mr. Speaker, we can rant and rave about bipartisanship and I have tried on several issues with the other side of the aisle, on several key issues that my leadership gets madder at me by the day, whether it is campaign finance reform or legislation that I think is important for Florida and I get taken to the woodshed for being too bipartisan. But on that side of the aisle, bipartisanship really truly means to me, ``It is our way or the highway. And God forbid you interfere with our campaign plans for 2002 so we can deride the Republicans as a do- nothing Congress.'' If we look in our hearts and search for the right answer and not try and pillorize anybody who has been participating since 1995, we have several good doctors working on this issue and I think they care desperately about patients. And if we rise from the din of this kind of conversation about simply the right to sue, which is really a nice club over the heads of the insurers and I agree with most of that; but we also recognize, too, that if anybody is being sincere, try filing an action and see how long before your case is heard in court. Try going down to a State or a local courthouse and find out not only what the fees are involved but how soon they may get to your case. And ask the person with breast cancer or lupus or some other disease that is struggling trying to get recovery and coverage whether the wait was worth it, whether hanging out at a courthouse with a bunch of lawyers waiting 3 years for somebody to maybe render an opinion is better than what is in the Norwood bill which is an expedited appeals process that gets you into the facility that you most need to be in which is a hospital rather than a jury box.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Chairman, as my colleagues know, the veterans benefits claim process in this country is a disaster. This disaster is not the fault of the dedicated employees of the VA or Mr. Anthony Principi, the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs, but rather the bulk of the blame lies with the years of neglect and lack of planning AND foresight. When a typical veteran in my State has to wait an average of 171 days to get a response to a claim, no one can doubt that we have a serious problem. Would any of us expect to wait 171 days after filing a medical claim with our insurer before actually getting the check in the mail? No one would. No American would wait. Yet this is exactly what our national veterans have to face every time they file a benefit claim with the Veterans Administration. What is worse is that, according to the administration's own budget, that 170-day wait may well exceed 270 days this year. That 100-day increase in the claims turnaround time is estimated by the administration even after the good chairman, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh), has increased by a $128 million earmark in this bill to alleviate that problem. In fact, recently, in our supplemental bill, and I commend the gentleman from New York for aggressively pursuing this problem, he provided another $19 million. So we are making progress. But let no one be mistaken, this is a crisis. Veterans in my State and across the country sometimes die before their health or other benefit claims can be processed. These claims stem from veterans who feel they have been unjustly denied the benefits they are entitled to and deserve. For example, my State of Florida has only one processing facility currently operating with a 24,000 case backlog. The second largest State in the Union with veterans residing in the State and only one processing facility. My amendment will add $25 million to the VA general operating expense account for the express purpose of hiring and training additional claims processors. The increase would be offset by a similar amount from the National Science Foundation's $3.6 billion research account which the VA-HUD appropriations bill, and I will add, has generously increased over last year's level by $292 million. The amendment is not aimed at lessening the good that the National Science Foundation does. But our rules require offsets, and this becomes a matter of priorities. The Foley amendment uses the NSF's polar and antarctic research accounts as an offset. The base bill recommends $3.6 billion for National Science Foundation research next year, an increase of over $300 million. Taking $25 million from the NSF's already increased account is far less significant than the additional claims processors that the VA could hire with this additional funding. This is a meaningful amendment which will make a significant dent in the turnaround time for claims processing. This is a nationwide problem, one that Secretary Principi and I have talked about. He has personally stated this is his primary goal of fixing as new head of the VA. Let us give him the funding he needs. The amendment is about priorities. One of the highest priorities should be taking care of those who fought the wars for us. Yes, these are interesting times, and these are aggressive bills which I believe seek to solve a lot of our country's problems. But at a time when our Vietnam vets and Korean vets and World War II vets and Desert Storm vets are being told to wait, we are increasing by $300 million monies in accounts that probably could take a little bit of a reduction in order to satisfy and help those who have sacrificed. Again, focus on where the amount of money comes from, the NSF's polar and antarctic research accounts as offsets. I again thank the chairman and I do want to underscore the fact that his committee and his chairmanship has brought a lot of great benefits to veterans. I know help is on the way in a number of these other areas, but I would urge Congress to accept my amendment.

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for all of his hard work on this bill. I want to underscore to those listening that this is a $4 billion increase in spending in VA-HUD. Having listened to the arguments advanced by the other side of the aisle, it now becomes clear why Vice President Gore lost Arkansas and lost Tennessee, because he decided rather than advancing the ideas that can bring us together, they decide to fight the typical class warfare argument. Tax cuts for the rich has been repeated time and time again on this floor. They keep saying that 1 percent of the wealthiest Americans are getting the biggest advantage under the tax cut. But you will notice none of those on the other side of the aisle will tell you that a person, say, earning $300,000 a year pays about $120,000 in taxes. They do not tell you the burden that that person carries to fulfill the bills we are passing on the floor today. I think the gentleman from New York (Chairman Walsh) has done a phenomenal job in trying to meet the priority needs of this Nation. If you look throughout the bill you will see increasing in funding for AIDS programs, homeless programs, military and other vital missions of this country. Now, if the other side of the aisle believes that this tax cut is such a bad idea, I urge them to rally their supporters together and get their supporters to remit their checks, their Treasury checks, back to the Treasury and allow them to spend it as they will. I doubt that one person will step forward and sign the back of their Treasury check, whether they make $100,000, $50,000 or $20,000, so it can be spent in reckless abandon on this House floor. I know this is going to be a fight about priorities, and I know this is going to be a fight about George Bush's tax cut, but, in my heart, I believe we can do both. I believe that a family trying to fit braces on their children's teeth needs a refund. I believe that people advancing an opportunity to maybe finally take a vacation need a refund. I believe people preparing to buy a washer-dryer could use a refund. The other side wants to refund money to people who never paid the taxes because of the Earned Income Tax Credit. I would suggest to Members, pay attention to this bill. Focus on the good things that it does. Recognize that there is $4 billion of increased spending on priorities, and avoid the shrill rhetoric of the other side when they call this tax cut for the rich a reckless scheme. We are balancing the budget. We are preserving Social Security. We are finally increasing, if you will, the contributions to that account to make it solvent. We are working on prescription drug coverage for the seniors. We are working on a number of issues that will make this country stronger. But we will never be strong as a Nation if we continue to try to beat each other up over silly sound bites designed for the next election, rather than the business on the floor.

Mr. FOLEY

Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, in the next couple of weeks, Americans will be receiving a tax refund of moneys paid to the Federal Government. The other side of the aisle claimed America could not afford it, we should not do it, it is not right. Ladies and gentlemen, when that check arrives in the mail of those millions of Americans, I think they will thank the House of Representatives for their efforts in restoring faith in government. We are returning surplus to them and making certain our economy can be reinvigorated by that $55 billion of revenue we are sending home to them. Not our money, not our money here in Washington, but the money of the hardworking taxpayer. The minority leader recently said if he had a chance to do it again, he would raise your taxes. Ladies and gentlemen, that is the difference of the political parties in power. Republicans would like to give you your money back. Others on the other side would like to take more and waste more of your hard-earned cash. The economy is struggling. Unemployment, layoffs are occurring throughout America. Let us signal to our constituents whose side we are on. Ladies and gentlemen, we are on your side, hardworking Americans, giving you faith in government, restoring freedom, and making certain your hard-earned dollars are not wasted in the Capitol. If we keep it here, you can be assured it will be wasted. If we send it home, you will buy clothes for your kids, take your summer vacation, put your money in your savings account, but, after all, God bless you, it is your money.