Jeff Flake

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the efforts of two Arizona families, the Porter family and the Rogers family. Following the September 11 attacks, Steve and Liz Porter and Todd and Mikki Rogers wanted to help those affected by the tragedies. Together, these two families created a project called Comfort the Kids. Their goal was lofty, to create 10,000 small red, white and blue quilts for the children who have suffered family losses by the end of the year. They were not alone in their efforts. Their Web site, www.ComforTheKids.org, is currently receiving an average of one hit per minute. School districts, Boy Scouts and countless other families and individuals are joining them in their efforts. These quilts will not only comfort the recipient, but will serve as a hand-made symbol of compassion. I thank the Porter family and the Rogers family for their diligence and hard work, and commend them for their efforts. They represent the best of America.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I was not present for the vote on rollcall vote No. 482. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, Yasar Arafat says that he cannot control the terrorists. It seems that we have a relatively easy decision to make. Why do we not take him at his word? If he cannot control the terrorists, then he should not pretend that he can bring peace, and we ought to stop negotiating with him. We need to look elsewhere among the Palestinians for negotiating partners. If Yasar Arafat is responsible, then terrorists under his control over the weekend killed 26 Israelis. If he is responsible, he needs to be held accountable for his actions. We need to remember that Arafat has never outlawed Hammas, he has never confiscated its weapons, he has never shut down its training camps, and he has never even publicly condemned it by name. In 1997, then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that Arafat had a revolving door justice system when it came to handling terrorists. Things have not changed. Again, the U.S. simply needs to determine, is Arafat in control, or is he not? I would suggest that, in either case, we ought to stop negotiating with him. Further, there are better uses for taxpayer dollars than to prop up terrorists and their regimes. If we find that he is not in control, stop negotiating with him. If he is in control, hold him accountable. We ought to begin the post-Arafat era.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. I want to thank the Committee on International Relations, and particularly the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), for bringing this issue to the fore, Mr. Speaker, and for fighting for its adoption. I want to applaud the committee for improving the document as it went forward into a bill that we can all support. Mr. Speaker, I had the great privilege in the early 1980s of spending time in Zimbabwe just soon after the transition to independence. There was great hope at that point. The people had hoped that the rule of law and democracy would flourish and take hold. Twenty years later, that has not been the case. We have a brutal dictator there who simply does not want to give up power. He does not want to assent to the rule and to the will of the people. That is unfortunate. With this legislation we hope, and the purpose of it is, to help those forces in Zimbabwe who want to bring back democracy and the rule of law. Mr. Speaker, I want to caution my colleagues, all of us, to avoid the kind of drive-by diplomacy that often characterizes our action in Africa and other third world countries, when we will pay attention when the issue is hot; and then after a successor regime comes in, we forget about the country and move on, sometimes leaving sanctions in place or other items that the successor regime has to work out of. I hope we do not do that. I am pleased that this bill is not a sanction bill; that it seeks to target individuals, rather than target trade in general. Mr. Speaker, I look forward one day soon to saying to the people of Zimbabwe, coda ko tu, which means in Shona, congratulations; congratulations on a return to free and fair elections and on their return to the rule of law.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I just want to echo some of the comments that have been made. My colleague from Arizona pointed out that the most important thing about a stimulus package is that it provide some stimulus. I am reminded of my growing-up years. I grew up on a ranch in Arizona; we often used when we had particularly ornery critters if we could not get them through the chute, we would use a cattle prod. It worked quite well, it stimulated them quite nicely and they ran up ahead. Sometimes by the end of the day the batteries would wear a little thin and we would be left with an instrument that did not do much. It might scare them the first time, but once you laid it on them, they would not move. It is much like the stimulus package. Once the batteries are gone, once that charge is out, once the incentive to invest, these items are out, you might as well go back to a 2 by 4 because the stimulus is not there. You can call it what you want. As my colleague from Michigan says, you might want to provide these other things, but do not call it a stimulus package. Do not assume that it is going to rev up the economy because it is not, because the items simply are not there to do it.

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, there are a few comments I would like to make. When I talk to my constituents in Arizona, they are not clamoring for a few more months of unemployment or health care, they are clamoring to get their jobs back. The best way to do that is to recognize that we do not have such a problem with spending, as my colleague from Wisconsin pointed out very effectively. If the problem was spending, we would not have a problem. Government has grown over the past 6 or 7 years at the rate of, I think, an average of 6 percent a year. When we increase the baseline every year, that amounts to a whopping amount of spending. That is not the problem. The problem is investment for the most part. We penalize investment, and we should not do so. What we need to do is lower the tax burden. The President has said a number of times, and the administration has indicated through a number of people, that the best thing to do is to cut marginal rates. In the President's tax package, we did that. We cut the marginal rate. The problem is that a lot of those cuts do not take effect for a number of years, particularly the rate cuts at the top end. As our distinguished colleague Senator Gramm on the other side of the Capitol likes to say, I never got a job from a poor man. We have to recognize that class envy simply does not cut it. We have to recognize that we cannot begrudge those who are making more than we are. We ought to encourage them to make more and invest more. We can do that by cutting the marginal rate at all levels; the top one at 39.6, accelerate that cut, and cut the lower rates as well. That is the first order. The second thing has also been mentioned, cut capital gains. It has been noted earlier, that is one of the quickest ways to spur stock market, spur increased investment.

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, we have to look at history. It has been cut before, and the result has been an increase in asset values and more investment. People are not going to take that out and stick it under a mattress. They are going to invest again. There is a compounding effect, and it is beneficial for the entire economy. That is extremely important. Congress needs to recognize that we have to stop the class warfare. We have to stop saying let us get on this populist theme of spend more, and get money in people's pockets. Let us make sure that Americans can invest. That is where we need help.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained from voting on rollcall votes numbered 446, 447 and 448. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote number 446, ``nay'' on rollcall vote number 447 and ``nay'' on rollcall vote number 448.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the world champion Arizona Diamondbacks. On Sunday night, the Arizona Diamondbacks engaged New York in what will truly go down as one of history's greatest baseball games ever. The game capped one of the most exciting and thrilling World Series that baseball has ever seen. In the end, the world champion Arizona Diamondbacks emerged victorious, and in doing so, they became the first sports franchise in Arizona's long history to earn the right to call themselves the best in the world. They also became the fastest baseball franchise to win a World Series, doing so in just their fourth year of existence. The Arizona Diamondbacks take a lot of criticism sometimes for relying heavily on their aces, Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson, but this victory shows that they are truly a complete team from top to bottom. This is not to mention their rookie manager, Bob Brenly, who did a fantastic job, and the fantastic front office, led by Jerry Colangelo. Mr. Speaker, I want to express my pleasure not only for what the Arizona Diamondbacks did, but the manner in which they did it. They did it with a great deal of class, integrity, and respect, which is a real reflection on the great State of Arizona. On behalf of all Arizonans and Americans, I want to thank the world champion Arizona Diamondbacks for providing the country and the world with an exhilarating World Series, which reminds us why baseball is America's favorite pastime.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, especially to someone who rises in opposition to the conference report. Mr. Speaker, in July by a vote of 240 to 186, the House approved the Flake amendment to lift the travel ban on Americans traveling to Cuba. This marked the second consecutive year this travel ban was lifted by the House. Regardless of that fact, it is the second consecutive year that it has been stripped from the bill. It is time that we change our approach. Mr. Speaker, the travel restrictions to Cuba have outlived their usefulness. For 40 years we have tried to isolate Cuba and to change that Communist country by not allowing Americans to travel there. It has not worked. Fidel Castro is still entrenched in power. I was able to travel to Cuba just a month or so ago and was able to see firsthand the mess that Fidel Castro has made of that country. Why we would deny Americans who cannot get a travel waiver to go there, why we should deny them the ability to go and see for themselves is beyond me. We want to change China. We want to change North Korea. But in doing so, we do not deny Americans the ability to travel there. That is simply un-American. I hope that we will move beyond this policy. We have better things to do with our time and our money and our resources at the Department of Treasury than to deny the travel ability or to enforce restrictions and impose fines on school teachers, for example, who want to take a trip to Cuba and do a bike tour there with their Canadian friends. We should not be doing this any more. We had a chance in this bill to lift that restriction, and we failed to do so.

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments. We will be back next year, and I believe we will have the same margin, or even greater margins next year. There are other reasons to oppose the bill as well. The bill is $1.129 billion over last year. That is a 7.1 percent increase. It is $388 million above the President's request. It is $48 million above the House passed bill. I think that we need to spend our time and resources differently. For that reason, I oppose the bill.

Mr. FLAKE. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, several weeks ago we passed the airline bailout bill. I voted against that bill for several reasons, one of which is right now an airline stabilization board is deciding which airlines win and which lose. That is not a good position for the Federal Government to be in. The Federal Government as a regulator of the airlines should not be in a position to pick winners and losers in the economy. What complicates this issue is that the legislation authorized this board to take a financial stake in those airlines through warrants, stock options, or other equity instruments. That is a bad idea, and I would encourage that board not to do so. By taking a financial position in those airlines, that board will then have an interest in making sure that those airlines that they choose to win will succeed, and that those airlines they choose not to fund and give loan guarantees to to fail. Mr. Speaker, as a regulator, the Federal Government should not be in that position. I would encourage that board not to take a financial position in airlines.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank the Committee on Ways and Means for putting together a great package, a stimulus package, H.R. 3090. The best thing about this package is it does provide some stimulus. That is what we need to remember. We ought to stop the class warfare that generally typifies our discussions here and for this day focus on what is going to provide some stimulus. This speeds the rate reduction for those in the 28 percent tax bracket. We ought to speed it up for everyone, including those in the higher brackets. It increases capital gains tax deductions. It also allows some capital gains reduction for those holding these capital gains for longer. I urge the House to hold firm on this package in its negotiations later and to resist the class warfare and resist the redistribution that we are want to do in this House and to provide something that provides long-term stimulus to the economy.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule. Although I would have preferred an open rule, I think that there is one glaring hole in this legislation. It is an antiterrorism piece, but we are not dealing with the greatest source of right now. We are not dealing with immigration in any meaningful sense. We ought to be strengthening the process that we have to issue visas. We have introduced legislation. We had an amendment to go on this bill, the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle) and myself, which would have tightened that process. It would have also tightened the process by which we screen people currently in the country. We found out yesterday that of the 19 terrorists who were here in the country, 10 of them were here legally. Three of them had overstayed their visas, and 6 of them we had no clue where they came from or how they got here. That is unacceptable, and it would have been good to deal with as part of this bill. If we cannot, and the rule is closed so we will not, we need to deal with that separately.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Miller- Miller amendment. I must say that I oppose this entire bill. I think it is subsidy run amuck. I did not come here to Congress to reward this industry or another or pit one industry against another, and I think that that is what we are doing in this farm bill. It is a chicken-in- every-pot syndrome. We criticize every other country in the world for doing this and then we embrace it ourselves. This is one element of sanity in a very bad bill. I would encourage my colleagues to support it.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I have one piece of concern about the legislation that I wanted to air here. The bailout, or the $5 billion portion, is given on the basis of formula, which is fine, as it should be. However, the next portion, the loan guarantees, will be distributed based not on a formula, but where a governmental entity or a group of individuals will simply pick winners and losers: you have more cash flow than the other guy. You have a bigger asset base than the other guy. You win; you lose. I hope that as this goes forward, if this legislation passes, that we are vigilant here in ensuring that those who dole out that money do so in an equitable basis and do not try to pick winners and losers in the economy.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. I yield to the gentleman from California.

Mr. FLAKE. Madam Chairman, I wanted to briefly speak about an amendment that I had planned to offer. My amendment would have removed language added by the Committee on Armed Services regarding the B-1 bomber fleet. It is my understanding that an agreement has been worked out with the administration and the Committee on Armed Services that had raised concerns over reducing and consolidating the B-1 fleet. I understand that this is going to be worked out in conference. It is my concern that we fight today's wars, not yesterday's wars. I believe that this agreement is going to be satisfactory. I just want to state for the record that modernizing the B-1 fleet is very important. I would strongly encourage the two parties to revisit the issue in conference.

Mr. FLAKE. I thank the gentleman. Yes, I want a discussion in conference and want to make sure that we do not foreclose on any option by the administration.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I stand today in strong support of the resolution. I just returned a couple of hours ago from a tour of the Pentagon. Two things struck me. First, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the response teams there who have risked their lives to save the lives of others. Second, I would suggest that anyone who has a hard time with the President's phrase that this is an act of war ought to visit that site. It is impossible to do so without coming away struggling for even stronger words to describe that act and that tragedy. This was an act of war, and we need to respond accordingly. Mr. Speaker, we live in a free society; and because we do, there are some things that we will never do, some risk that we are always willing to accept in order to live in a free society. But at the same time there are things that we need to do. The first thing we need to do is to respond to this act of terror. I was heartened by the President's statement last night that he draws no distinction between those who committed these acts and those who harbor terrorism, those who assist terrorism. We should draw no distinction either, and I would urge this Congress to stand behind the President in this regard. Seeing Americans all over the country pick themselves up and stand up and move ahead on this day makes me proud once again to be an American.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in reluctant opposition to the rule. I have not been here long, but this will be the first rule that I have opposed. I am not insensitive to disasters like the one we had in Texas, but I just feel that it would be disaster to ignore the spirit of our own rules and go right back to emergency spending. We are perilously close to dipping into the Social Security and Medicare surpluses. We promised our citizens that we would not do that. We are close to it. We need not do it. The problem is not the tax cut, the problem is spending. We have had an average of 6 percent a year growth in spending over the past 3 years. That is the problem. We cannot simply cannot maintain that. I urge a vote against the rule.

Mr. FLAKE

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt).

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I seek the time in opposition.

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment as a substitute for the amendment.