Virginia Foxx

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize a wonderful family-owned business headquartered in the heart of North Carolina's Fifth Congressional District. Magnet America based in King, North Carolina is the original creator of the yellow Support Our Troops ribbon car magnets. All of their products are made in the U.S.A., and all of their employees are true American patriots. This company is exceptional because it serves as a fund-raising tool to help the families of our troops and to send care packages to those serving overseas. The company has had an amazing success story. Dwain Guillion first made the ribbon magnets to sell at his family's Christian bookstore. The idea took off when he sent a box of 50 magnets to a national convention of Vietnam veterans. Within weeks, he was getting orders from all over the country. By 2004, his company had 150 employees and was shipping more than 100,000 magnets per week. It is unfortunate that Chinese knockoffs of their designs are having a negative impact on Magnet America's business. It is my hope that people will visit www.magnetamerica.com and support this great American company.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 335) to reauthorize the Congressional Award Act.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Today, the House considers S. 335, a bill which would reauthorize the Congressional Award Act. The Congressional Award program was established by PL 96-114 in 1979 to promote initiative, achievement, and excellence among youths aged 14 to 23. Award recipients complete a self-designed program of challenging, but achievable, goals in four program areas: voluntary service, personal development, physical fitness, and expedition/exploration. Program participants can work toward a Congressional Award certificate or medal. In either category, there are three achievement levels: gold, silver, and bronze. Minimum requirements must be met regarding the number of hours devoted to each of the four program areas, total hours worked toward the award, and the duration of the participant's efforts. Senators and Representatives present the awards at local, city, or State ceremonies. It was my great pleasure to make a presentation of the silver award recently in my district to Cameron Harris. Cameron exemplifies all the positive aspects of the Congressional Award. Making that presentation was one of the highlights of my first year in Congress. Gold medal recipients are recognized each year at the Congressional Award Gold Ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, and I look forward to making a presentation in the near future to Cameron. In 2000, the Congressional Award Act was amended by PL 106-533 to establish a congressional recognition for excellence in arts education. This act established a nine-member congressional board to recognize schools that promote excellence in arts education. The Congressional Award program is administered by the Congressional Award Board, which is a nonprofit 503(c)(3) private-public partnership that is statutorily prohibited from receiving Federal funds. In lieu of Federal funding, the board is supported by charitable contributions and is authorized to receive in-kind services from the Federal Government, including free office space and an annual audit by the General Accountability Office, GAO. S. 335 maintains current law by continuing the prohibition on Federal funding and provides a straight reauthorization that extends current law in-kind services for another 5 years. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 335.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. James Holmes, Jr., for being named America's Second Harvest Food Bank 2005 Volunteer of the Year. Mr. Holmes is the founder of the community garden at the Children's Home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. For the past 7 years, he used land at the Children's Home to grow 70,000 pounds of fresh produce to feed the hungry. When Mr. Holmes started this project at age 76, he had never planted a seed in his life. Nevertheless, he pursued this project with a passion. As a former board member at the Children's Home, he convinced them to donate 3 acres for the garden and to allow staff to assist with the farm equipment. Mr. Holmes is to be commended for his tremendous efforts. He raised the start-up funding to purchase supplies, recruited and trained hundreds of volunteers, and invested thousands of dollars of his own money to buy a tractor and build a storage building and irrigation system. Each year, he organizes the planting of the garden, schedules people to volunteer twice a week and joins the crews that work through the hot summer months and into the fall harvest. It is an honor to have compassionate, caring, and hardworking people like James Holmes, Jr., in the Fifth District.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate the Appalachian State University football team for advancing to the NCAA Division I-AA national championship game this Friday night in Chattanooga, Tennessee. While this is the 13th time the ASU Mountaineers have made it to the I-AA playoffs, it marks the very first time in history that the team has advanced to the national championship game. It has been a fantastic year for football at Appalachian. The Mountaineers finished the season 8-3 before winning their three playoff games. In addition, the team has won 18 home games in a row at Kidd Brewer Stadium, in Boone, North Carolina. This impressive record helped them go on to win the Southern Conference championship. The Mountaineers have excelled under the leadership of Coach Jerry Moore, who has been at Appalachian for 17 seasons. Coach Moore is a real asset to the university. He is the winningest coach not only in Appalachian State University history but in the history of the Southern Conference. Mr. Speaker, I am proud of this football team and their coach, not only for their athletic team but for their teamwork, work ethic, goals, and perseverance. There are two young men on the team who deserve a special recognition. Brian Stokes and Wayne Norman both served their country as marines in Iraq before returning to school. These bright young men bring tremendous leadership and maturity to the football team and serve as positive role models for their peers. Mr. Speaker, please join me in congratulating the Appalachian State University football team. I wish them the best of luck this Friday. Go Mountaineers.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, the latest economic numbers show that the Republicans' pro-growth economic policies are working. In November, the U.S. Consumer Confidence Index rose almost 15 points from the previous month, which bodes well as we enter the holiday shopping season. The White House has projected that the economy would record a growth rate of 3.5 percent for 2005. In addition, the number of Americans filing first-time job claims fell to a new 7-month low, and the unemployment rate is holding steady at 5 percent. Finally, nearly 4.5 million jobs have been added in the last 2\1/2\ years. This encouraging economic news demonstrates that the Republican plan of low taxes and restrained Federal spending is a winning combination. Last month, we passed the Deficit Reduction Act, which is a plan to help reform government and yield savings for American taxpayers. Democrats, on the other hand, continue to push their tax-and-spend policies, a plan which is neither good for the family checkbook nor the American economy. Republicans will continue to push for pro-growth policies to ensure that all Americans can realize the American Dream.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, President Bush gave an important speech last week in which he clearly outlined a plan for victory in Iraq, organized around three tracks: Political: isolate the terrorists, engage those outside the process and build stable, pluralistic national institutions that can represent all Iraqis. Security: clear areas of enemy control, hold those areas with Iraqi forces, and build capacity of local institutions to deliver services and advance the rule of law. Economic: restore neglected infrastructure, reform stifling Saddam- era regulations, and build government capacity and human capital to reach full economic potential. Already we have seen progress in each of those areas, yet Democrats continue to argue that President Bush still has not laid out a plan. It is as if they cannot see the forest for the trees. They are so intent on not seeing a plan that when one is placed in front of them, they simply will not acknowledge it. Mr. Speaker, Democrats need to realize that disagreeing with the plan does not mean there is not one.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) for yielding. I want to reiterate what our colleague from Georgia has said. We are grateful to you for the leadership you have provided in these Special Orders in trying to get the truth out about the issues. Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem to think that by saying things that are not true, they can make them true. I am glad that we have an opportunity to correct the record. Mr. Speaker, this past Monday, I had the great honor and privilege to host President George W. Bush in North Carolina's 5th Congressional District. The President came to discuss our country's impressive economic growth at the John Deere-Hitachi manufacturing plant in Kernersville. It is an honor to have many flourishing companies like Deere-Hitachi in the 5th District. I am proud of this facility for being a model of how U.S. manufacturing companies can compete successfully in the global economy. Employment at Deere-Hitachi recently doubled in size to over 750 direct employees. These are all good, high-skilled, well-paid jobs. A portion of Deere-Hitachi's growth has been fueled by the localization of models that were formerly produced in Asia to Kernersville, North Carolina. This has had a tremendously positive impact on our local economy. Thus, I am sure you can imagine how disturbed I was to hear that the political hacks over at the Democratic National Committee tried to twist the President's visit to this highly successful plant into something negative. The DNC chairman even had the audacity to ask, ``Where are North Carolina's manufacturing jobs?'' Shame on the Democratic National Committee for insulting North Carolina's thousands of highly skilled manufacturing workers who are driving our national economy. The DNC's remarks were a slap in the face to many hardworking men and women who work for successful North Carolina manufacturing companies, manufacturers like Dell, Sara Lee, American Emergency Vehicles, Vaughn- Bassett Furniture, Reynolds American, Weyerhauser, and so many more that I cannot begin to name them all. We are making great strides and putting people to work, and all the Democrats want to do is attack us. American workers are the best in the world. If we give our workers a level playing field and get the Federal Government off their back by cutting taxes and regulations, then the American worker can compete with and outperform anyone anywhere. As you know, our country has had to endure some trying times during the past 5 years, many of which were beyond our control. We have gone through a recession that began in the previous administration, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many terrible natural disasters and more. However, we have persevered and we are prospering. You have heard many facts already presented by my colleague from Georgia, and you will hear many more, but the fact that we made it through these crises and have a booming economy is a real testament to the strength and diversity of the U.S. economy. And it is a testament to the hard work and ingenuity of the American worker. We all have a lot to be grateful to our President for. Under his watch, our economy is flourishing and getting stronger by the day. In a report issued last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, our economy created 215,000 new jobs during the month of November. Over 4.4 million jobs have been created since May 2003, as has already been stated. This latest jobs report is yet another indicator that our economy is thriving. More Americans are working than ever before in the Nation's history. Unemployment is down to 5 percent, which is lower than the average of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. This is due to the hard work of the American people and sound Republican policies such as lower taxes, legal reform and less government influence in the lives of our Nation's entrepreneurs and small business owners. These Republican policies are working. We are cutting taxes and letting people keep their hard-earned money, which they can invest back into our economy if they choose. Individual families know best how to spend their hard-earned money, not the Federal Government. In addition to our Nation's job growth, our U.S. economy is showing other signs of expansion. The U.S. gross domestic product growth of 4.3 percent is at its fastest pace since 2004. The GDP growth in the third quarter is one full point above the 3.3 percent rate. Further, our country is at the lowest rate of core inflation in more than 2 years. The increase in the rate of inflation was lower than initial expectations with the price index of consumer spending rising 4.2 percent, compared with initial estimates of 3.7 percent. In addition, the sales of new single family homes should be the largest 1 month gain in 12 years. Sales of new single family homes increased by 13 percent in October and pushed sales to an all-time high of 1.2 million units. Again, I am proud of President Bush's leadership and agenda for a strong economy. My colleagues and I have a duty to keep this economic momentum going by making tax relief permanent and working against the Democratic leadership's efforts to raise taxes. Look for the Democrats to continue their tired political attacks on the Republicans' effective economic policies, but do not hold your breath for them to come up with good ideas. Their only alternative is to tax, tax, and tax some more. As we work to pass the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005, I hope our Democratic colleagues will join us in supporting this common-sense bill. The future of America's economic prosperity is at stake. I look forward to working with President Bush and the rest of my colleagues in Congress to make tax relief permanent, exercise spending restraint and cut the Federal deficit in half by 2009. Again, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) for her leadership in letting us present the facts to the American people, not the stories that are being told by our Democratic colleagues.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 273) recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I urge all members to support the adoption of H. Con. Res. 273. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers at the moment and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 273, introduced by the distinguished gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Rogers). This bill would recognize the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott. On December 1, 1955, a young woman named Rosa Parks took a small act of defiance and sparked a massive response that changed our society forever. The history bears retelling: Montgomery, Alabama enforced a policy of racial segregation on its public transit system, black passengers in the back, whites in the front. When the front of the bus reached full capacity, the driver could instruct African American passengers to yield their seats to white riders. On that fateful day, Rosa Parks refused to yield. She was physically and emotionally drained of the decades of intimidation, harassment, and discrimination of Alabama's African American population. From that moment on, encouraged by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., a city-wide boycott of the public transit system erupted. The boycott was extremely effective, drastically reducing ridership on the transit system. Instead of riding buses, boycotters walked, rode bicycles, or joined car pools to get to work and to other destinations. Across the Nation, African American churches raised money to buy new shoes to replace the tattered footwear of boycotters helping to fuel the fight against Jim Crow laws. Finally, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Alabama's racial segregation laws for public transit were unconstitutional, a clear victory for the boycotters. This led to a new city ordinance that allowed African American bus passengers to sit anywhere they pleased on any bus in the city. Rev. Martin Luther King capped off the news with a speech to encourage acceptance of the decision. The boycott resulted in the U.S. civil rights movement receiving one of its first accomplishments and gave Martin Luther King the national attention that would make him one of the prime civil rights leaders in our history. I urge all Members to come together and recognize this momentous event in our Nation's history by adopting H. Con. Res. 273. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Rogers).

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I had the honor and privilege to host President George W. Bush in North Carolina's Fifth Congressional District. The President spoke about our country's impressive economic growth at the John Deere-Hitachi manufacturing plant in Kernersville. We all have a lot to be grateful to our President for. Under his leadership, our economy is flourishing and getting stronger. In a report issued last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, our economy created 250,000 new jobs during the month of November. Over 4.4 million jobs have been created since May 2003. Unemployment is down to 5 percent, which is lower than the average of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. This is due to the hard work of the American people, lower taxes, legal reform, and less government interference into the lives of entrepreneurs and small business owners. I am proud of President Bush's leadership and agenda for a strong economy. I will continue to work with him and the rest of my colleagues in the Congress to make tax relief permanent and exercise spending restraint.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about something that Democrats lately seem incapable of speaking about, and that is the progress that is being made in Iraq. As of late last month, 210,400 Iraqi security forces have been trained and equipped. Thirty-six Army battalions and three combat support battalions are leading the fight in their areas, a 71 percent increase since March. More than 50,800 Iraqi police have completed the basic training course. And, adding to that, the progress of the Iraqi people towards democracy has been tremendous. They are now holding free elections instead of the fake ones that Saddam Hussein forced on them for many years. Yet, I do not hear many Democrats speak of this progress. All they talk about is how we are in a ``quagmire'' and that the war has been a ``grotesque mistake.'' Our men and women are not only fighting terrorists over in Iraq, but they are also setting up roads and schools. But Democrats would rather have us cut and run and, in the process, undo all the good work that has been done.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, someone on the other side has said we have hit a new low tonight. I certainly agree with that. I have never heard so much hypocrisy and hyperbole, and I doubt that the American public has either. I rise, Mr. Speaker, with my colleagues today because Federal spending has been out of control. Just because former Congresses and Presidents have foolishly increased spending does not mean we must continue along this destructive path in the future. This Congress must become a better steward of taxpayers' dollars, and we must do it now. Contrary to what our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are saying, we are not finding these savings on the backs of college students. These reforms will actually strengthen student aid programs and expand student benefits. Republicans are proposing rational solutions that will increase student benefits and expand college access without expanding the deficit. The Deficit Reduction Act provides key benefits to students including lower loan fees, higher loan limits for borrowers, low market-based interest rates, new loan flexibility, and a simplified financial aid process. Our constituents deserve to send less of their hard-earned dollars to Washington and spend more on their families, businesses, and dreams. It is the taxpayers' money we spend and we must be accountable, meticulous, frugal, and effective in the ways the Federal Government spends money. This budget reconciliation bill does just that. And on behalf of all of my hard-working constituents, I hope that all of my colleagues join me in supporting this great bill.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, as a lawmaker, we constantly must make important decisions while various forces pressure us one way or the other. Frequently ``doing the right thing'' is not the most popular choice. Often, ``doing the right thing'' for the majority of Americans could negatively impact small factions in the process. Rarely is ``doing the right thing'' an easy thing to do. But ``doing the right thing'' is what my constituents elected me to do. ``Doing the right thing'' is why I first sought public office, and why I will continue to do so as long as my body allows. ``Doing the right thing'' is why I have consistently called for budget reconciliation and restrained spending. My constituents work hard for their money, and that money is not meant for the federal government to take and waste. I cast a difficult vote against the massive Hurricane spending bill because it was the right thing to do. It was not easy and it was not initially popular, but it was the right thing to do. Unfortunately I lost that vote, and as a result our government slipped even deeper into a budget deficit. Just as my constituents spend less on other things when they encounter emergency costs, the federal government must do the same. Although it wasn't the easy thing to do, we are now doing the right thing by slowing the growth of government spending to accommodate for the hurricane funding. Our Committee chairmen have been meticulous in cutting wasteful and duplicative spending so that the slowed growth that federal programs face will be minor. I am proud to have played a role in that process in the Education and Workforce and Agriculture Committees. Over the past few weeks I have met with community pharmacists from North Carolina and my staff has spoken with dozens on the phone. The pharmacists believe that slowing the growth of the Medicaid bureaucracy will negatively impact them to the point that their pharmacies can no longer operate. As their Representative and as a customer of community pharmacies, those concerns are extremely important to me. I approached Chairman Barton and his staff on the issue, and if the changes made in this bill indeed adversely affect community pharmacists in the long term to the point that they can no longer operate, we must promptly revisit the topic with stand alone legislation or some other technical fix. However, I can not in good conscience vote against a bill so important to our nation's prosperity because of its effect on one important interest. That is not to say that their concerns did not weigh heavily on my mind; the good simply could not be thrown away for the perfect. Voting for this bill is the right thing to do, and I hope we will continue to slow the growth of our federal government. My constituents know how best to spend their money--not politicians.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I am concerned about some Democrats here in Washington. It seems that when it comes to the vote on the Iraq war, they have developed a serious case of amnesia. That is why I am going to give them a little reminder of what they said 3 years ago as they cast the votes they seem to have forgotten. A leading liberal Senator from New York argued that ``If left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capability to wage biological and chemical warfare and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons.'' The Minority Leader in this House emphatically stated, ``Saddam Hussein certainly has chemical and biological weapons. There is no question about that.'' The Minority Leader in the Senate warned that, ``Saddam Hussein's near success with developing a nuclear weapon should be an eye-opener for us all.'' Now, some Democrats want to act as if these statements of support for the war never happened. We all remember the line, ``I voted for the war before I voted against it.'' It seems like many more Democrats are jumping on that bandwagon.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take my Special Order at this time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise with a very heavy heart today to express the condolences of a grateful Nation and to honor the life of Lance Corporal Daniel Freeman Swaim, who passed away on November 10, 2005, while serving in Iraq. A native of Yadkinville, North Carolina, Lance Corporal Swaim spent his childhood dreaming about becoming a Marine. In fact, his one unfaltering goal in life was to serve his country. Lance Corporal Swaim achieved his dream when he joined the U.S. Marine Corps last summer after graduating with high honors from Forbush High School. Lance Corporal Swaim was a loving and caring son. He leaves behind his parents, Michael and Rebecca Swaim, and many friends throughout the community. May God bless them and comfort them during this very difficult time. We owe this brave soldier and his family a tremendous debt of gratitude for his selfless service and sacrifice. Our Nation could not maintain its freedom and security without heroes like Lance Corporal Swaim who make the ultimate sacrifice. Americans, as well as Iraqis, owe their liberty to Mr. Swaim and his comrades who came before him. Mr. Speaker, please join me in honoring Lance Corporal Daniel Swaim. May God bless him.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Saint Leo the Great Catholic School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for being named a No Child Left Behind nationally recognized Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. The Blue Ribbon Schools program honors K-12 schools that are academically superior in their State or demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement. Saint Leo the Great is one of just 10 North Carolina schools to receive this prestigious award. In fact, it is the only private school in the entire State to achieve this recognition. Not only am I proud of the students and faculty at Saint Leo for their academics, I am also proud of them for their compassion. Following Hurricane Katrina, the students at Saint Leo reached out to their peers at Saint Clement of Rome, a fellow nationally recognized Blue Ribbon School in Louisiana. The students at Saint Leo made congratulatory cards and sent individual blue ribbons to the students and teachers at Saint Clement. They also raised money to pay travel expense for the principal of Saint Clement to receive the Blue Ribbon Award in Washington, DC. Mr. Speaker, please join me in congratulating the students, faculty and staff at Saint Leo the Great Catholic School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to set the record straight on some of the false accusations in the debate over the majority's plan to help reform government and yield savings for American taxpayers. Unfortunately, some Members on the other side of the aisle have decided to attack Republicans with false statements which may sound true, but which actually ring false in their reality. In fact, the Republican plan will help save and strengthen Medicaid by reducing waste, fraud and abuse, strengthen and simplify the student loan process, reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil, restrict illegal immigrant access to food stamps and Medicaid, and reduce the deficit by $50 billion. The Democrats remind me of the sirens in Greek mythology. Sirens would sing beautiful songs to sailors who were unable to resist the beautiful music and would try to swim or steer their boats to the music. The problem, Mr. Speaker, is that the sirens actually lived on islands of sharp rocks that sank the sailors' boats or stranded the sailors for eternity. The Democrats, like sirens, are trying to strand the American public on an island of myth.