Trent Franks

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, this afternoon I introduced a resolution calling for the United States to address the ongoing problem of untouchability in India. Last December Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recognized the similarities between untouchability in his country and Apartheid in South Africa. It is now time for this Congress, Mr. Speaker, to speak out about this ancient and particularly abhorrent form of persecution and segregation, even if it is occurring in a country many consider to be one of America's closest allies. This Congress must urge an end to the social discrimination and injustice faced by the nearly 250 million people known as Dalits and Tribals in India. Although the Indian constitution guarantees fundamental rights and freedoms for all Indians, the untouchables continue to face widespread social and caste injustices. Article 17 of the Constitution outlaws untouchability. However, despite numerous laws enacted for the protection and betterment of the Dalits and Tribals, they are still considered outcasts in Indian society and are treated as such. At best, untouchability involves social segregation, including separate educational facilities and drinking water and restaurants. This is a sad and familiar tune to many of us familiar with the history of our own country. At worst, untouchability entails widespread violence against untouchable women, especially in the form of rape with impunity, being targeted for abortions, and comprises the majority of temple prostitute and women trafficked from India. The untouchables are poor, Mr. Speaker. Their most basic needs are not fulfilled, and they face great difficulties in accessing employment, education, food, and health care. Most are among the poorest people on the face of the Earth, living on less than $1 per day. Moreover, Dalit women are often sold into bondage, prostitution, and there is an increasing religious persecution against the Dalits and untouchables who change their faith. In 2005, USAID stopped funding an organization after it was revealed that they were preventing many of these women from leaving prostitution. In a recent instance, a whole Dalit village was forced to leave their tribal land because they had converted to Christianity in a state that had laws against conversion. Mr. Speaker, this resolution is a direct statement by the United States Congress that untouchability is an unacceptable practice on the part of America's largest trading partner and close ally. We appreciate that Prime Minister Singh and many others have recognized that this is a serious social problem that needs to be confronted, and we urge the rest of Indian society and American diplomats, aid workers, and businesses working in India to do the same and to work toward the eradication of casted discrimination in India. This resolution encourages our government to work with India to find new approaches to an age-old problem. Moreover, Mr. Speaker, this resolution will ensure that we as a government and we as an American people in no way encourage or enforce caste discrimination and untouchability through our policies with India or through foreign aid or direct aid in any way. And I urge my colleagues to join me in calling on the Indian government and the world community to look with compassion upon India's untouchables and reach out to one of the poorest and most oppressed peoples on the face of the Earth.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, today was a very important day. Today, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision upholding the Federal law protecting unborn children from partial-birth abortion. Mr. Speaker, perhaps it is important for those of us in this Chamber to first remind ourselves again of why we were really all put here. Thomas Jefferson said, ``The care of human life and its happiness and not its destruction is the chief and only object of good government.'' Mr. Speaker, protecting the lives of our innocent citizens and their constitutional rights is indeed why we are all here. The phrase in the 14th amendment capsulizes our entire Constitution. It says, ``No State shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law.'' The bedrock foundation of this Republic is the belief that all human beings are created equal and endowed by their Creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Every conflict and battle our Nation has ever faced can be traced to this core foundational belief on our part that every life, from the smallest child to the elderly widow, from the strongest and bravest soldiers on our front lines, to the weakest and most frail in our society, every human soul is of infinite worth and entitled by God to pursue liberty, prosperity and happiness. But, Mr. Speaker, for 34 years, Roe v. Wade has been a desecration of that bedrock foundation upon which America stands, and Roe v. Wade sets itself apart from all of the other egregious decisions made by our courts in that its result is 45 million dead American children. Mr. Speaker, that is 15,000 times the number of lives that were lost to terrorism on September 11; and the land of the free and the home of the brave now stands awash in the blood of 45 million of its own children. And it will never cease to totally astound me how we, as Americans, fail to grasp the enormous and terrifying threat to our Nation's survival economically, militarily, morally and spiritually that this tragedy represents. We have made it illegal to throw away polystyrene diapers, while it remains for the last 34 years legal to throw away babies. How can we be so blind to such a cataclysmic, soul-crushing tragedy? G.K. Chesterton said once that ``Men can always be blind to a thing as long as it is big enough.'' And, Mr. Speaker, at this very moment, this cataclysmic heartbreak continues. Arthur Cohen, who is perhaps the world's leading scholar on the European Holocaust, used a Latin term to describe abortion in America. He called it ``mysterium tremendum,'' which means an utter mystery to the rational human mind, a mystery that carries with it not only the aspect of vastness, but the resonance of complete terror, something so unutterably diabolical as to be literally unknowable to us. Mr. Speaker, following the invasion of Germany into Poland in 1939, a Jewish man named Yitzhak Katzenelson was trapped by the Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto. He was later transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he and his son were brutally murdered. Before his death, he buried under a tree a song that encapsulated the entire Nazi regime in one verse. He stated that, ``The first to perish were the children. From these a new dawn might have arisen.'' What a profound lesson for the rest of the world to hearken unto. A new dawn might have arisen from those children that perished in the Holocaust. No matter the rhetoric, Mr. Speaker, we must not ever be so blind to the fact that each time an abortion takes place, a nameless little baby dies a lonely death; a mother is never quite the same, whether she realizes it or not; and all of the gifts that that child might have brought to humanity are lost forever. It is often said, Mr. Speaker, that a society is measured by how it treats those in the dawn of life, those in the shadows of life, and those in the twilight of life. Because unborn children are hidden both in the dawn and in the shadows of life, we kill thousands of them every day in America, using sometimes methods like partial-birth abortion that cause so much agonizing pain that the child that is being killed, if they were an animal, it would be illegal under Federal law to do it the way we do it. If we, as a human family in America, cannot find enough humanity within ourselves to change that, if this human rights atrocity of dismembering our own children alive is truly who we are, then the ``invincible ignorance'' Henry Hyde spoke of in this Chamber so long ago will indeed finally prevail, the patriots' dream will be lost, and those lying out in Arlington National Cemetery will have died in vain and twilight will have fallen upon us all. Mr. Speaker, that day may come in America indeed. But, sir, that day has not come yet. It is not this day, because today, Mr. Speaker, the world changed. Today the United States Supreme Court upheld a law protecting unborn children from the barbaric, nightmarish procedure of partial-birth abortion. And with this ruling comes a brilliant, piercing ray of hope, because even though this ruling only upholds a law that protects a small number of late-term babies from this horrifying procedure called partial-birth abortion, it represents the day that America changed direction and turned her heart toward home. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that this decision is part of a growing awareness on the part of all Americans of the simple truth that abortion takes the life of a child, and the United States of America is bigger than abortion on demand. We are beginning to look within ourselves and we are beginning to understand that the foundation of this Nation is within our own hearts. Our Nation is beginning to understand that whether it is flying airplanes into buildings or blowing up buildings in Oklahoma City, or whether it is raping and pillaging in Bosnia, or whether it is violence in our streets or kidnapping little girls in broad daylight or murdering innocent unborn children, all of these have one inescapable common denominator, and that is the lack of respect for innocent human life. Americans are beginning to understand and realize that the reason crime is so rampant in this country is because we have taught our young people that it is all right to kill helpless unborn children. Should we then wonder why they kill each other on the school playground? Americans are beginning to understand that the same mentality that allows a father to forsake his unborn child to an abortionist also allows him to forsake his born children to the welfare state. Americans are beginning to understand that the abortion mentality is destroying families all over this country, and that if this epidemic of family disintegration continues, that we in this family will bankrupt this Nation in trying to deal with the results. Americans are also trying to understand that there are better ways to help young mothers than killing their children for them. And Americans are beginning to understand that if we, as a society, do not find or possess the courage and the will to protect innocent unborn children, that, in the final analysis, we may never find the will or the courage or the commitment to protect any kind of liberty for anyone of any kind. Mr. Speaker, the pro-life movement often compares the Roe v. Wade decision with the Dred Scott decision that upheld slavery in this Nation. I would remind each one of us that enslaving fellow human beings was once a practice that was perpetuated throughout the world for thousands of years. But when slavery came to America it finally stopped. We had a conscience on that day that changed the world. Mr. Speaker, that part of our history should give us great hope, because even though we face challenges today, when we look back on how America has somehow come through each one of them, I believe that by the grace of God, America will one day lead all nations to restore protection to unborn children throughout the world. Hope is a powerful thing, Mr. Speaker. One of the most powerful messages of hope I ever saw in my life was captured in a picture I saw a few years ago, and I cite the commentary that accompanied it. It should be the picture of the year, or perhaps the picture of the decade. But it won't be because unless you obtained a copy through the Internet or the paper it was published in, you probably never saw it. Somehow the media missed it. The picture is that of a 21-week unborn child by the name of Samuel Alexander Armas who is being operated on by a surgeon by the name of Dr. Joseph Bruner. The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not have survived if removed from his mother's womb. But little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta. She knew of Dr. Bruner's remarkable surgical skills. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb. During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and he makes a small incision to operate on the child. As Dr. Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel Armas, this amazing little baby reached out with his tiny but fully developed hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr. Bruner was reported as saying that when this little baby grasped his finger, that it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure, he was completely frozen, totally immobile. The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The editors titled the picture ``Hand of Hope.'' They said this tiny little hand seemed to emerge to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if thanking him for the gift of life that he was receiving. Little Samuel's mother said they wept for days when they saw the picture. She said, ``The photo reminds us that pregnancy isn't about a disability or an illness; it's about a little person.'' The operation was 100 percent successful and Samuel was born in perfect health. Mr. Speaker, Winston Churchill said once that Americans always do the right thing after they have exhausted every other possibility. And today, for the first time since the evil disgrace of Roe v. Wade, we have restored the legal protection of a very small number of those little children who are already partially born and only moments away from taking their first breath. It beggars human imagination that such basic compassion and humanity was ever debatable in the first place. But now, today, the tiny hand of hope reaches out a little closer to us than it ever has in the past and only asks for mercy, and I hope and pray that all of us will hear that little voice in our own hearts. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling).

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman very much. You know, Mr. Speaker, sometimes the reason that we elect to the chairmanship of the RSC someone like Jeb Hensarling is because we can easily see from the inside and out what people in America can see on the outside, that Jeb Hensarling is a man of great humility, with great competence and just a quiet sincerity that gives us all tremendous confidence in him. With that, I would like to yield to Congressman Sali, one of our freshman Members and a great statesman.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I certainly thank the gentleman. Sometimes, Mr. Speaker, a person doesn't know whether it wouldn't be better just to all go home at this point, because this man has certainly touched my heart. And he reminds us all that every little baby comes with a message that God has not yet despaired of mankind. And I thank the gentleman with all my heart. Mr. Speaker, I yield to Congressman Todd Akin for such time as he may consume.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman from Ohio. And I hope the gentleman stays in public life and leadership for as long as he can stand up. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) for such time as he may consume.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Akin has been committed for his entire life to these kinds of causes, which brought him to this place. And so many of us are thankful for his example for the way he has mentored so many of us in this place. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan) for such time as he may consume.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman very much. And now I am very pleased to be able to recognize the gentleman, Gresham Barrett from South Carolina.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I thank my precious friend Phil Gingrey from Georgia. It is a wonderful thing to have a man here that has the expertise of a doctor and an obstetrician, to be able to speak to an issue like this, and yet one who has maintained his commitment always to being a help to someone, that would always protect human life rather than to ever try to take it from someone. I just think he is a credit to his profession and certainly a credit to this body. Mr. Speaker, I suppose that tonight I would just kind of recap here for a moment. A lot of people have mentioned their family members, and I certainly love every one of mine, but I will bring to mind and to voice one special little boy by the name of Landon Trent Franks. Now, the fact that his name is the same as mine is strictly a coincidence, but I am thankful that his daddy and his mother loved him enough to give him a chance at life, and I think at some point, probably the time he is 21, he will be President of the United States which is a great encouragement to me as well. I understand that we are all proud of our families, but whether a child reaches the great heights in this life or whether they just have a chance to breathe in the breath of freedom and to be able to walk on the free soil of the United States of America or just to have a chance to pursue this thing called happiness in life, it is incumbent upon all of us to recognize that we are all mortal and that this gift of life is the profoundest kind of miracle and that America itself was founded on the basic premise that every life was important, that it was a gift of God, and that each one of us should work to try to protect life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all of our fellow human beings. The tragedy of Roe v. Wade when it came along, it just kind of took us all by surprise, because you see, this was not something that the country voted on. This was not something that the United States people as a whole decided to bring about themselves. This was something that erudite, and might I say, Mr. Speaker, very arrogant and unjust members of the United States Supreme Court took upon themselves to arrogate this thing, to take away the constitutional rights of the unborn child. It is the not the first time that things like that have happened. Back in 1857, in the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court said that the black man was not a person under the Constitution, and it took a civil war to reverse that tragedy. Today, we all look back on that and we say how could they have ever done that, and yet we have killed 50 million of our own children. In the rise of the Nazi Holocaust, we saw the German high tribunal say that the Jews were subhuman and not persons under the German Constitution, and it precipitated a great tragedy. Then in 1973 we saw the Supreme Court take away the right to live of the unborn child. In all three cases, Mr. Speaker, not only was there a great human tragedy that followed, but there was a greater one that followed as a result. The civil war took more lives than any war in our history. The world war that changed the Nazi Holocaust took 50 million lives worldwide and it saw atomic bombs fall on cities across the world. I have to say to you that I do not know where America will finally end up here. I do not know what the future holds, but I am so encouraged today that we have made a turn and that we have come to ourselves to some degree and said, you know, there is a time when we can protect these little babies in the womb, and I think if we come to that conclusion, that something even greater will happen. We will begin to understand that these little miracles of life in the womb are the beginning of us all and that there is a way that America can come up with a better solution than abortion on demand, that we are bigger than that as a people. I am convinced that the day will come some day, Mr. Speaker, when the warm sunlight of life will break through the clouds and once again shine on the face of unborn children in America. When that day comes it will be people like Phil Gingrey, it will be people like Chris Smith, it will be people like Bill Sali, it will be people like Gresham Barrett, it will be people like Jim Jordan, people like Todd Akin, people like Jeb Hensarling, people like Steve Chabot, people like George W. Bush the history will be most aware of. They will remember that these were individuals that, through all the storm, held tightly to the hand of a little baby until the storm was gone. Mr. Speaker, if I am wrong about that, if somehow America never finds its way back home on this issue, I am still convinced of one thing more than any other, and that is, that the Lord of the universe hears the cries of absolutely every one of his children, no matter who or where they are. And if time turns every star in heaven to ashes, I know in my soul that eternal moment of His deliverance will come to each of them. And I hope that we do the part He has given us to that end.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, on March 21, 2007, I was unavoidably detained during a vote on H.R. 327, the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, before we vote on this bill, we need to remind ourselves one more time, the jihadist terrorism is what this debate is all about. Brink Lindsey put it in such succinct terms when he said, ``Here is the grim truth: We are only one act of madness away from a social cataclysm unlike anything our country has ever known. After a handful of such acts, who knows what kind of civilization breakdown might be in store?'' Mr. Speaker, as we anticipate future actions of jihadists and our place in Iraq, we would do well to consider their words very carefully. Al Qaeda's al-Zawahiri said this: ``The jihad movement is growing and rising. It reached its peak with the two blessed raids on New York and Washington. And now it is waging a great heroic battle in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and even within the crusaders' own homes.'' Osama bin Laden himself said: ``The most important and serious issue today for the whole world is this third world war. It is raging in the land of the two rivers,'' Iraq. ``The world's millstone and pillar is in Baghdad, the capital of the caliphate.'' Mr. Speaker, if Democrats are correct that the struggle in Iraq is not crucial to winning the war against jihadism, then for God's sake, I wish they would explain that to the terrorists. Instead, we hear the most senior Democrat in this House quoted as saying, ``I don't take sides for or against Hezbollah, or for or against Israel.'' Mr. Speaker, a blind relativism that deliberatively ignores all truth and equates merciless terrorism with free nations defending themselves and their innocent citizens is more dangerous to humanity than terrorism itself, and it is proof that liberals completely misunderstand the enemy that we face. Because of this kind of relativist neutrality, jihadists now believe they have a crucial advantage over the free world and its people. They believe their will is far stronger than ours, and that they need only to persevere to prevail. Mr. Speaker, the passage of this bill will only encourage them in that belief. And if liberals in this body are willing to see freedom defeated in Iraq, they must also be willing to take responsibility for almost certainly what will follow. Mr. Speaker, finally, we can have peace with jihadists tomorrow if we are willing to surrender today. And that kind of surrender will be on their terms, and it will ultimately bring a nuclear jihad to our children. Future American generations will despise this one. Mr. Speaker, there is still time to defeat this bill. Let us not take this ominous step in this direction.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, today, as we embrace the grave responsibility of debating an issue that will have profound impact on future American generations, it seems very appropriate to remind ourselves of the ideal that gave birth to this Nation in the first place. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Whether we realize it or not, most of the important discussions in this Chamber, including the one in this moment, center around whether we still believe those words. In these hours, America finds herself at war with an expressively dangerous ideology that is the antithesis of those words and everything that is the American ideal. What concerns me most is that this war between an ideology committed to the absolute death to destroy freedom and subjugate the entire world, and the world's free people who still remain primarily asleep. Mr. Speaker, this ideological war did not begin on 9/11. It began many years ago when certain Muslim extremists embraced a divergent Islamist dogma that dictates that all infidels must die. It was called then as it should be called now, jihad. Thomas Jefferson was the first American President to send U.S. military force to war against Islamist jihad. The Marine hymn begins, ``From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli,'' the latter being a reference to Jefferson's war against the Islamist Barbary pirates based in Tripoli, in present day Libya. This is the same jihadist ideology that murdered Israeli athletes in 1972, that took American hostages in Iran, that murdered Marines in their barracks in 1983, that bombed the World Trade Center in 1993, Riyadh in 1995, the Khobar Towers in 1996, the embassy in 1998, the USS Cole in 2000, and that brutally murdered scores of little schoolchildren on opening day in Beslan, Russia. And then, Mr. Speaker, this same dark ideology massacred nearly 3,000 Americans on September 11. The ideology and practice of Islamist jihad is decapitating humanitarians with hacksaws on television while the victims scream for mercy, cowardly hiding behind women and children while launching rockets deliberately targeting innocent civilians, continually breaking treaties of peace, and forcing children to blow themselves to pieces to affect the murder of other innocents, and this, as their own mothers leap for joy as they do. As we anticipate future actions of jihadists, we should all consider very carefully. Al Qaeda's al-Zawahiri said: ``The jihad movement is growing and rising. It reached its peak with the two blessed raids on New York and Washington. And now it is waging a great heroic battle in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and even the crusaders' own homes.'' Al-Manar said on BBC: ``Let the entire world hear me. Our hostility to the Great Satan, America, is absolute. Regardless of how the world has changed after September 11, death to America will remain our reverberating and powerful slogan: Death to America.'' Al-Zarqawi said of America's leaders: ``They are aware that if the Islamic giant wakes up, it will not be satisfied with less than the gates of Rome, Washington, Paris, and London.'' Al-Muhajir, Osama bin Laden's latest lieutenant in Iraq, said: ``The fire has not and will not be put out and our swords, which have been colored with your blood, are thirsty for more of your rotting heads.'' Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, said, ``We have discovered how to hit the Jews where they are most vulnerable. The Jews love life; so that is what we shall take away from them. We are going to win because they love life and we love death.'' And then, Mr. Speaker, we hear a Democrat Member of this body say, ``The savagery of terrorists is not relevant.'' Even the most senior Democrat in this House is quoted as saying ``I don't take sides for or against Hezbollah or for or against Israel.'' Mr. Speaker, a blind relativism that deliberately ignores all truth and equates merciless terrorism with free nations defending themselves and their innocent citizens is more dangerous to humanity than terrorism itself, and it is proof that liberals completely misunderstand the enemy that we face. Osama bin Laden's deputy, al-Zawahiri, made clear shortly after 9/11 in his book ``Knights Under the Prophet's Banner,'' al Qaeda's most important short-term strategic goal is to seize control of a state, or part of a state, somewhere in the Muslim world. He wrote, quote, ``Confronting the enemies of Islam and launching jihad against them require a Muslim authority established on Muslim land. Without achieving this, our actions will mean nothing.'' Mr. Speaker, such a jihadist state would be the ideal launching pad for future attacks on the West. Bin Laden himself once again has stated: ``The whole world is watching this war and the two adversaries. It is either victory and glory or misery and humiliation.'' Mr. Speaker, the terrorists regard Iraq as the central front in their war against humanity. And if we are to understand our enemy and this war, we must understand that Iraq is the central front in our war against jihad. Our courageous and noble soldiers understand that very well and our enemy definitely understands that. Osama bin Laden himself has said, ``The most important and serious issue today for the world is this Third World War . . . It is raging in the land of the two rivers, Iraq. The world's millstone and pillar is in Baghdad, the capital of the caliphate.'' Mr. Speaker, if Democrats are correct that the struggle in Iraq is not crucial to the winning of the war against Islamist jihad, then for God's sake I wish they would explain that to the terrorists. Brink Lindsey has put it all so succinctly. He said, ``Here is the grim truth: We are only one act of madness away from a social cataclysm unlike anything our country has ever known. After a handful of such acts, who knows what kind of civilization breakdown might be in store?'' Mr. Speaker, we simply can no longer deny that we are fighting a war against an insidiously dangerous and evil ideology that is bent on the destruction of the Western world, and they would like nothing better than to decapitate this country by detonating a nuclear blast 100 yards from here. And to allow jihadists to declare victory in Iraq will only serve to hasten such a day. Mr. Speaker, the free nations of the world once had opportunity to address the insidious rise of the Nazi ideology in its formative years when it could have been dispatched without great cost. But they delayed, and the result was atomic bombs falling on cities, 50 million people dead worldwide, and the swastika's shadow nearly plunging this planet into Cimmerian night. Winston Churchill's words of warning far preceded such tragic events. He said, ``If you will not fight when you can easily win without bloodshed, if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may be a worse moment. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory because it is still better to perish than to live as slaves.'' If so-called enlightened Germans fell prey to the Nazi ideology, why do we not believe Third World Muslims can also fall prey in large numbers to this jihadist ideology? History does indeed repeat itself, Mr. Speaker, and each time the price goes up. Jihadists believe they have a critical advantage over free people in the world. They believe their will is far stronger than ours and that they need only to persevere to break our resolve. Mr. Speaker, the message of this resolution has only encouraged them in that belief. So today in this Chamber, we each have some grave questions to ask ourselves, and the answers will profoundly affect future American generations. We need to ask ourselves first, not whether the Nation should have gone to war but whether the Nation should lose this war. Will jihadists break the will of the world's free people or not? Will they be able to hide long enough to gain access to nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction? If we do allow nations like Iran to gain nuclear weapons, what will we tell our children when they face nuclear jihad, perhaps even in this generation? If liberals in this body are willing to see freedom defeated in Iraq, are they willing to take responsibility for what will almost certainly follow? If this entire Nation was riveted and heartbroken when two airplanes hit two buildings in New York, how will we feel when an entire American city is in nuclear flames? If Speaker Pelosi and other Democrats are willing to vote against monitoring terrorist conversations on the telephone, or tracking their financial transactions, or protecting our border from terrorist insurgency, or effectively interrogating terrorists in custody, or sending reinforcements to our troops on the battlefield, then the question that cries for an answer is what are they willing to do to defeat Islamic terrorism? What is their plan? Mr. Speaker, there is no substitute for victory. If we surrender Iraq to Islamist jihadists, we will supercharge their recruitment efforts in the Middle East and all over the planet, and our children will pay an unspeakable price, and history will condemn this generation for unspeakable irresponsibility in the face of such an obvious threat to human peace. So, Mr. Speaker, before we vote on this resolution, may we consider carefully the words of Abraham Lincoln as he sought to steel the resolve of Americans in another great and historic struggle. He said, ``Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the last generation.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Thank you, Mr. Hunter. I certainly add my own feelings toward the words that you just spoke on behalf of Charlie Norwood. None of us know when we have to step from this floor for the last time. This man, while he was here, maintained a sense of honor. He was always committed to doing those things that would bring better hope to future generations. He was honorable among us, and we can certainly salute that kind of brotherhood that he represented to all of us. I certainly pass along my own condolences and also congratulations to his family, because in a sense Charlie Norwood's dreams were fulfilled in that he dreamed to be a statesman, and he certainly rose to that occasion in every way. I suppose it is in a sense a little bit of a statement to all of us that the brief moments that we have here should be spent debating those things that would truly make a difference, not only for this generation, but for whatever generations remain to America. Madam Speaker, tonight I think that is what I would like to talk about. There is an old Indian Iroquois quote that says that the secret to the universe is in the true naming of things, and as we debate tonight, it is easy for us to see each other as the opposition or as the enemy. I think tonight, if all else should fail us, we must consider who the real enemy here is. This one is a little different than those that we faced in the past, because even though there are parallels, this is an ideology. This is not just a group of people that we face in Islamic jihadism. It is an ideology that I believe has the seeds of danger in it for the entire human family. I think it becomes very, very important for us all to understand that one thing, because in a sense right now the battle that goes on across the world related to terrorism is a battle between those who are deeply committed with their lives to the destruction of the Western World on one side of the equation, and on the other side of the equation the opposition is largely asleep, and I think that nothing represents a greater danger to us than not only knowing what we face, but being completely oblivious to its potential. I believe that the ideology of jihad has the ability and even the propensity to germinate and one day threaten the entire human family. And even though America is engaged in some type of fight against terrorism and jihadism in nearly 70 countries across the world, whether we realize it or not, in the eyes of the leaders of jihad, Iraq is the frontline of that conflict, and it becomes profoundly important that we recognize it from their perspective, because in any ideology, one must understand that to grow, it must somehow take root and resonate in the hearts of the potential recruits. One of the things that causes this ideology to grow is a sense of victory on the battlefield, and leader after leader in the jihadist movement have said that Iraq is critical to the survival of their ultimate goal. I know that we have faced dangerous ideologies before. There are a lot of people who have parents and family members that faced the Nazis down in World War II, and yet just a cursory glance at history helps us understand that the parallel here is real. There was a time when the Nazis were just a bunch of lunatics riding bicycles across France, and nobody paid much attention to them. They spewed a hate and a sense of superiority over their fellow human beings and even a sense of being willing to subordinate the innocent life of others for their own ideology. We did not pay much attention to them until it began to grow and the fires of this ideology began to spread across Europe. In the final analysis, the Western world and people of freedom did not wake up until this thing had become a monster, and when we finally did engage it, the ensuing war was so difficult and so horrible that at the end of the day, 50 million people had died. I will just say this, Madam Speaker, Winston Churchill warned us in a way that I think is pretty profound. He said, If you will not fight, then you can easily win without bloodshed. If you will not fight, then your victory will be sure and not too costly. You may come to the moment when you will have to fight and all the odds against you with only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse moment. You may have to fight when there is no hope for victory because it is still better to perish than to live as slaves. I submit in the ideology that we face tonight that is the equation that is before us.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Madam Speaker, it is such a privilege for me to stand in this Chamber to honor and speak words of tribute to a beloved lady, born Mae Cardella Fox on a cold December day in 1913. Mae was the essential coal miner's daughter and grew up in a small miner's camp close to Habersham, Tennessee. When she was only 11 years old, her mother died of pneumonia. Being the oldest daughter at home, she bravely embraced the crushing challenge at her age of maintaining a household and cooking for her siblings and her father. When she was 16 years old, just as the Great Depression was falling upon America, she married another coal miner by the name of Earl Carr. The two of them were deeply committed to each other, and by themselves alone, using only hand tools, they built their first home, a log cabin on Pine Mountain above Morley, Tennessee. When Mae was still in her twenties, her husband Earl was in a terrible accident when a coal mine caved in, killing many of his friends and breaking his own back and disabling him for life. When rescue workers reached him, he had already begun to dig himself out. To take care of her severely injured husband and family, Mae began to take in laundry and clean houses, and she said she canned every kind of berries that grew in the Smoky Mountains. The older children gathered and sold holly at Christmas time, and the entire family gathered coal that fell from the tipple where the train cars were loaded. They said sometimes the workers would deliberately throw out coal for the families. As the children grew in number and in stature, the family would travel to Florida in citrus season to pick oranges. It was there that my first memories of Mae and Earl Carr were born. I can remember at 4 years old waking up before daylight and climbing into a tarpaulin- covered truck, called a doghouse, and going to the orange groves to help pick oranges with Mae and the rest of her family. To find better work, the family moved to Colorado, close to Juanita Franks, one of Mae and Earl's married daughters. While they were there, a grandson with a missing palate and a cleft lip was born to Juanita. Mae lovingly helped feed this little baby with a pill cup and an eyedropper until surgery could be performed. Madam Speaker, this is only one small instance of all of the acts of love and devotion this precious woman bestowed on every member of her family. Mae Carr loved Jesus and her family more than anything else in life, and in all of the joys and struggles of their lives and 64 years of marriage, Earl and Mae Carr became the patriarch and matriarch of a family that would number 11 children, 47 grandchildren, 76 great- grandchildren, 22 great-great-grandchildren, and two more on the way. A few days ago, in her 94th year of life, I was called to the bedside of Mae Carr, who as it happens, Madam Speaker, is my precious grandmother, and who was called home to meet her Savior on February 7, 2007. Among her last words to me were those contained in a phrase I had heard her say many times before, and expanded just this once. She said, ``Trent, the truth will stand when the world is on fire; and the truth will still be here when the world is gone.'' Madam Speaker, if all of us in this institution and this world could learn the reverence for truth and the love for humanity personified in this four-foot-eleven coal miner's daughter, the entire human family would be nobly transformed. I will cherish those final moments with her for the rest of my life, because her mind at the time was still keen and perfectly lucid, and I was able to tell her not just how much I loved her, she already knew that, but I was able to tell her how much we were grateful for her 94 years of loving all of those about her, for loving life, and for making this world a better place to live. And, most importantly, Madam Speaker, I was able to remind her that indeed her life was a profound victory and that all of her dreams had come true. Because you see, Madam Speaker, Mae Carr's dreams, though profound beyond words, were simple dreams: a family to love and nurture and support, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even great- great-grandchildren who would learn her heartfelt love for God and her fellow human beings. Her family now stands as a living testament to her life and her noble dreams fulfilled. And her greatest dream, Madam Speaker, is also now fulfilled as she stands in the presence of her Savior and has heard His eternal words of victory, ``Well done, my good and faithful servant.'' The truth will stand when the world is on fire, and the truth will still be here when the world is gone. Mae Cardella Carr.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Madam Speaker, on December 8, 2006, the House considered H.R. 6406, which, among other things, authorized the permanent extension of nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations) to the products of Vietnam. While I am a strong proponent of free trade and I am committed to helping broaden the United States' relationship with Vietnam, I could not, in good conscience, vote for this legislation. I continue to hold serious concerns about Vietnam's human rights record, as well as their handling of cases regarding U.S. Armed Forces personnel missing and killed in action during the Vietnam War. Madam Speaker, I truly believe that the overall benefits of free trade are numerous for our country and that of our trading partners. These positive aspects include a higher economic standard of living, a wider range of higher quality products at lower costs, and a migration of workers from less competitive markets to more competitive and productive markets. As a former small business owner, I am and will remain a strong advocate for free trade. However I also believe that religious liberty and respect for human rights should be requirements for achieving the broadest possible economic success.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, a great man once said that a society is measured by how it treats those in the dawn of life, those in the shadows of life, and those in the twilight of life. Because they are hidden, both in the dawn and in the shadows of life, we kill 400 late-term unborn children every day in America using methods that cause such agonizing pain to the child that it would be illegal under Federal law if it was done to an animal. This bill would call upon abortionists to offer an anesthetic to assuage this agony to these children. Mr. Speaker, if we, as a human family in America, cannot find that much humanity within ourselves, if this human rights atrocity of dismembering our own children alive is truly who we are, then the patriot's dream is lost, Mr. Speaker. Those lying out in Arlington National Cemetery have died in vain, and twilight has fallen upon all of us. I urge my colleagues to pass this legislation.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman. Mr. Speaker, in the very simplest of terms, the strategic goal of terrorists in this war is to be able to hide from justice long enough to be able to gain access to weapons of mass destruction with which they can radically alter the future of American freedom for generations to come. The strategic challenge that we face is in finding and defeating terrorists before they gain access to such weapons and proceed to achieve their horrifying goal. It is obvious that the critical factor in all of this effort is intelligence, for if we knew where every terrorist in the world was at this moment, we could destroy nearly all of them in less than 60 days. But, Mr. Speaker, we have been held back by liberals in this country. Every effort the President has made to gain such intelligence has been resisted. We should consider the terrorists' own words if we doubt their commitment to strike this country in the most horrendous way possible. Osama bin Laden said many years ago, ``It is our religious duty to gain nuclear weapons.'' Hezbollah's Nasrallah said of America, ``Let the entire world hear me. Our hostility to the Great Satan is absolute. Regardless of how the world has changed after September 11, death to America will remain our reverberating and powerful slogan. Death to America.'' Terrorists, Mr. Speaker, believe that they have a critical advantage over the free people of the world. They believe their will is far stronger than ours and that they need only to persevere to break our resolve. Mr. Speaker, the message of liberals in this country has only encouraged terrorists in that belief. If we fail to use our best and critical intelligence mechanisms to fight and defeat terrorists in these critical days, our children and grandchildren will pay an unspeakable price, and history will condemn this generation for such profound irresponsibility in the face of such an obvious threat to human peace. We need to pass this bill, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to address the House out of order.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, a tyrannical government cares not about the fate of an individual citizen. But in a free country to murder a single innocent citizen is to provoke a fight with the entire nation. This is one of the great differentiations between Hezbollah and Israel. While desperately trying to retrieve two of her soldiers who were abducted by Hezbollah terrorists, Israel takes great lengths to minimize civilian casualties. Conversely, Hezbollah takes great lengths to maximize civilian casualties in Israel while making breathing barricades out of the innocent men, women, and children in Lebanon. Time and again Israel has made efforts for peace. Israel fully withdrew from Lebanon. Then she uprooted from Gaza. She was thanked with rockets, mayhem, and bloodbath. The recent kidnapping and murder of Israeli citizens and soldiers were definitive acts of war. Hezbollah terrorists, along with the nations of Syria and Iran, who support them, are the aggressors, Mr. Speaker. And now as Israel has risen up to defend herself, along with each of the individual citizens whom she loves, we hear cries from the U.N. and other quarters for Israel to restrain herself. What if, on 9/11, Mr. Speaker, the outcry was for the United States to restrain ourselves? Or what if Israel had listened to such calls for restraint 15 years ago when she learned that Saddam Hussein was building a nuclear reactor? The United States and our coalition forces would have faced terrorists with nuclear weapons when we lifted the iron hand of Saddam Hussein in 2003. You see, Mr. Speaker, Israel understands that the entire world faces an evil, poisonous ideology that causes mothers to leap for joy when their children blow themselves to pieces in order to kill other innocent human beings. Israel understands that a dark ideology like that must never be allowed to gain nuclear weapons. And why does the rest of the world not seem to understand that? This is the same ideology that murdered Olympic athletes in 1972, that took American hostages in Iran, that murdered Marines in their barracks in 1993, that bombed the World Trade Center in 1993, Riyadh in 1995, the Khobar Towers in 1996, the embassy in 1998, and the USS Cole in 2000. And then, Mr. Speaker, this murderess ideology massacred nearly 3,000 Americans on September 11. And today this is the same ideology that is launching rockets into Israel to kill innocent civilians. And, Mr. Speaker, lest we forget, it is the same ideology that is working feverishly to gain nuclear weapons, to terrorize the Western world in ways that we cannot yet imagine. Seven decades ago, Mr. Speaker, another murderess ideology arose in the world. The dark shadow of the swastika fell first upon the Jewish people of Germany. And because the world did not respond to such an evil, it began to spread across Europe until it lit the fires of World War II's hell on Earth, which saw atomic bombs fall on cities and over 50 million people dead worldwide. All because, Mr. Speaker, the world's free people did not respond in time. History has taught us that evil ideologies must ultimately be defeated in the minds of human beings. But in the meantime, in the meantime, Mr. Speaker, they must often be defeated upon the battlefield. The battle Israel fights in these days is a battle to protect all of humanity from an evil ideology that has no respect for innocent human life anywhere on the Earth. That is why, Mr. Speaker, Israel's war is our war, and if there is hope for peace and freedom in this world, free peoples across this world just unite to defeat this hellish ideology of terrorism. This time, Mr. Speaker, we must not wait too long. So may the people of Israel take comfort in these days, knowing that America stands with you. May you find victory, and may the light of God's peace shine down upon the streets of Jerusalem, forever.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, may I first remind all of us of words we each spoke not so long ago. ``I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God.'' Mr. Chairman, when we swore this oath, we did not say that we would protect the Constitution from everyone except rogue judges. The issue that brings us to the floor this day is an act on the part of the Ninth Circuit that ruled that the words ``under God'' in a voluntary Pledge of Allegiance by our school children is unconstitutional. It astonishes me, Mr. Chairman, that we even have to address such an insane conclusion. I truly believe that if we had lived in the days of the Founding Fathers and accused them of intending to outlaw school children from saying the words ``under God'' in their voluntary Pledge of Allegiance, they would have challenged us to a duel for impugning their honor in such an egregious and outrageous fashion. Mr. Chairman, when judicial supremacists on the bench desecrate the very Constitution that they are given charge, the sacred charge to defend, those of us in this Congress who have also made an oath to defend the Constitution must respond accordingly. The Constitution of the United States, Mr. Chairman, does not prohibit school children from saying the words ``under God'' in a voluntary Pledge of Allegiance. It is that fundamentally simple. Indeed, the Constitution does say that the Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Mr. Chairman, when the Ninth Circuit decision said school children cannot voluntarily say the words ``under God'' in their Pledge of Allegiance, these judges, sir, were prohibiting the free exercise thereof. This legislation would take such a decision away from such rogue judges. Mr. Chairman, if Congress forsakes their oath and their duty to defend the Constitution and allows this magnificent document to fall prey to activist judges, we relegate this Republic to an arrogant judicial oligarchy. It is an abrogation of our oath of office and it tramples on the blood of our Founding Fathers and the soldiers who died to give us America and her rule of law. There would be nothing left to us at that point but to board up the windows in this building and go home and quit pretending to be defenders of the United States Constitution or representatives of the greatest Republic in the history of humanity. Mr. Chairman, it is not too late. I urge this amendment be rejected, and the bill be passed as written.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for allowing me the time to speak on behalf of this resolution, and I will be very brief. Madam Speaker, whether we understand it or not, tonight the world faces an evil, poisonous ideology that threatens the peace and freedom of humankind. This ideology is not new, Madam Speaker. It is the same one that murdered Israeli athletes in 1972, that took American hostages in Iran, that murdered marines in their barracks in 1983, that bombed the World Trade Center in 1993, Riyadh in 1995, the Khobar Towers in 1996, the embassies in 1998, the U.S.S. Cole in 2000, and then, Madam Speaker, that same ideology massacred nearly 3,000 Americans on September 11. And tonight, Madam Speaker, that same dark, insidious ideology is launching rockets into Israel to slaughter innocent, freedom-loving civilians. This is why Israel's war is our war. If there is hope for peace and freedom in this world, free peoples across this planet must unite with Israel to defeat this hellish ideology. The battle Israel fights tonight is a battle to protect all of humanity. May the people of Israel take comfort knowing that America stands with you in these difficult days. May you come to victory, and may the light of God's peace shine down on the streets of Jerusalem forever.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, America is first and foremost an ideal. It is an ideal that holds that all of us are created equal, endowed by that Creator with unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Truly, that is what our troops fight for in Iraq. For their efforts, we now see a country that, although it has been in bondage since it was called Babylon, has a freestanding constitution and hope for freedom. And there is hope that freedom may take root in the Middle East and turn the whole of humanity in a better direction. But, Mr. Speaker, I would suggest to you that there are other ideals in the world besides America's noble ones, and they have great consequences. I am concerned that this Nation does not understand that we are now at war with an evil ideology. It is an ideology that has the most profound human implications and consequences. On September 11, terrorists murdered on our own soil 3,000 American citizens. But this ideological war did not begin on 9/11. It began many years ago when certain Muslim extremists embraced a divergent Islamist dogma that dictates that all infidels must die. Not so long ago, al Zarqawi himself said of America's leaders: ``They are aware that if the Islamic giant wakes up, it will not be satisfied with less than the gates of Rome, Washington, Paris and London.'' Mr. Speaker, we cannot deny that we are fighting a war against an ideology that is bent on the destruction of the Western world. They are committed to killing us and would like nothing better than to decapitate this country by detonating a nuclear yield weapon 100 yards from here. To allow Islamist extremists to declare victory in Iraq will only hasten such a day. These are moments when we must hear the voice of history and remember the words of Winston Churchill when he said in part: ``If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, there may come a moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse moment. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory because it is still better to perish than to live as slaves.'' Mr. Speaker, if freedom is to survive, to allow Islamist terrorists to declare victory in Iraq is not an option. We must win. The world has changed since Mr. Churchill warned us all. We are 60 years now into a nuclear age. We must not let terrorists have even the slightest hope of victory ever.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I regret that I was unable to be present for rollcall votes No. 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, which occurred on May 18, 2006. I was unable to cast votes on these important matters because I was traveling on official business in Arizona.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I have a modification to my amendment at the desk, and I ask unanimous consent that my amendment be considered in accordance with this modification.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment that will provide funds for a critical component in our Nation's effort to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis and others in the global fight for freedom and democracy. For 25 years, groups like Operation Smile have sent teams of volunteer surgeons and medical personnel throughout the world to provide medical treatment and surgery to children suffering from facial injuries, cleft palates and other facial deformities. Last year, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Jordan to take part in the first mission of the Iraq Initiative of Operation Smile. I was able to observe the indescribable joy of families as the lives of over 50 Iraqi children were transformed. Mr. Chairman, it is difficult to describe how moving such an experience really is. It made clear absolutely to me the vital role these efforts play in our Nation's diplomatic efforts. Recently, the Secretary of Defense exercised his discretionary authority to permit space available travel on military aircraft in order to safely return 110 Iraqi children to Baghdad from Amman where they had undergone urgently needed oral and facial surgeries. This intervention was deemed necessary and appropriate because armed insurgents had stopped and boarded the children's buses when they were traveling to Amman, raising serious questions about the safety of undertaking the return trip by ground. Mr. Chairman, such activities are vital to our efforts in Iraq. Not only are many young children receiving critical, life-changing reconstructive surgeries, Iraqi physicians are also being trained so that even more children can be helped. This helps the Iraqi people understand that our war is with the terrorists and not with the Iraqi people. Mr. Chairman, Americans have a genuine and abiding compassion for their fellow human beings, and if our diplomatic efforts and our military efforts in other Nations are to truly succeed, compassion must always be a centerpiece of those efforts. Groups such as Operation Smile provide a clear, tangible demonstration of such compassion. They put a smile on the face of freedom and our Nation's commitment to liberty in Iraq and the world over. I truly believe these efforts save American lives by helping to win the peace, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.