Jim Gibbons

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, just some basic facts. Each and every year every American uses 47,000 pounds of mined materials. Of that, 7,600 pounds are coal; and coal generates more than half of our domestic electricity, providing millions of Americans with energy that they need. Mr. Speaker, it is the miner who we should thank for providing us with the quality of life that we enjoy, and we should remember that their work often comes at great personal risk. In fact, on July 27, nine coal miners were trapped 240 feet below the Earth's surface for 77 hours in absolute darkness and chest deep in 55- degree water. This event revealed what is great about America, because hundreds of individuals courageously worked to rescue these nine men and return them safely to their families. Thankfully, we all witnessed a miracle as each miner was brought to the surface healthy and safe. To express our sincere gratitude to these nine miners and their rescue crews, I am entering a concurrent resolution honoring these individuals. Mr. Speaker, I ask that all of my colleagues join me in supporting this resolution which celebrates heroism and bravery.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for yielding me this time, and I do support this amendment. Mr. Chairman, over the last several years, many of our government organizations, both State and Federal, have handled information-sharing and analysis in vastly different ways, much like various people would do in trying to put a puzzle together. For many of these organizations, when they get information, it is like reaching into a bag or box full of mixed-up puzzle parts, grabbing a handful of it, and running into their office to try to put the puzzle together without ever sharing the information about what they have with anyone else in another room. Just trying to put it all together all alone. And this has led to information gaps and analytical failures. The so-called Phoenix memo is a perfect example of this type of information hoarding. I am pleased to support this bipartisan legislation which I believe helps our government organizations connect the dots much more effectively than it had before September 11. Over the past 10 months, it has become frighteningly clear that the terrorists targeting our Nation are far more advanced than previously thought. The new Department of Homeland Security must have complete and unobstructed access to every piece of information, whether Federal or State, and this information regarding cyberterrorism, weapons proliferation, terrorist financial activities and narcotics trafficking, to name a few, are critical for every organization to have at hand. H.R. 5005 establishes a key counterintelligence division within the Department of Homeland Security that will keep vital information out of the hands of our enemy, tighten the noose around the neck of terrorist organizations, such as al Qaeda, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and others, while being able to share that information with our first responders down at the local level. The Information Analysis Center is another integral part of this overall legislation, and this Center will have several key missions, including correlating and evaluating information and intelligence; producing all-source collaborative intelligence analysis, warnings, and assessments of the terrorist threat and disseminating these assessments. Improving the lines of communication between the States and the Federal Government, local public safety agencies, and the private sector through the timely dissemination of information pertaining to threats of terrorism is critical and a key part of this amendment. Coordinating elements of the intelligence community with Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies is also a critical part of this. If the new Department is to make credible threat warnings, it must be able to obtain and analyze information from all possible sources. It is not enough to rely on whatever the CIA and FBI themselves choose to tell them. To put it simply, Mr. Chairman, knowledge is good, all-source analysis is even better, an all-source, collaborative analytical center within the Department that shares information is best. This legislation gives the Department of Homeland Security the information and resources necessary to make its own conclusions. Mr. Chairman, I have had the privilege to work closely with both my colleagues, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman) on this legislation, and they are great leaders. I applaud their work, and this is a strongly supported amendment to this overall legislation. It is important for our country today, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on it.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the Waxman amendment. Mr. Chairman, I have been privileged to work closely with the White House, the House Select Committee on Homeland Security and several of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on this legislation. This amendment gives the head of the Office of Homeland Security too much power. It creates the possibility of a turf war between the Director of the Office of Homeland Security and the new Secretary of Homeland Security. I believe it is more appropriate at this time to create in statue the Homeland Security Council that is in the legislation that the Select Committee on Homeland Security reported out. This council will coordinate with the over 80 government agencies that play a role in Homeland Security that will not be part of the new Department. The council enables key organizations outside the new Department to meet and talk about Homeland Security with the President. At the center of this council is an advisor, whose role will be similar to that of National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. The advisor will coordinate homeland security efforts among federal departments and agencies, update national strategy, and be available to advise and perform other duties that the President may direct. The establishment of this council is vital to ensure all information is shared with all agencies and not just kept within the new Department. While not a Senate confirmable position, it establishes the position that Governor Ridge currently holds in statue. Mr. Chairman, as you know, the White House is against this amendment, the House Select Committee on Homeland Security is against this amendment, even the gentleman's own party leadership is against this amendment. I urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, our Nation needs a comprehensive energy policy, and this Chamber passed H.R. 4, Securing America's Future Energy Act, nearly one year ago. Among its many sensible and necessary energy policy provisions, this bill included incentives for the production of geothermal energy. Nevada is literally the heart, the center, of the geothermal energy in the western part of our Nation. Unfortunately most of these valuable resources are located far underneath public land, and with over 87 percent of Nevada's land managed by the Federal Government, Nevada's potential to provide clean energy to the West is severely inhibited. It is time that we unlock these resources and encourage the production of clean and renewable alternative energies. I urge the Conference Committee to report a comprehensive energy bill that meets our Nation's 21st century needs by actively encouraging the production of geothermal and other alternative energies.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize and commend the bravery of a young, 10-year-old girl from Elko, Nevada. Teresa Jacobo's quick thinking and courage saved her family possibly from death or injury from a House fire last week. Last Wednesday morning, young Teresa immediately called the fire department and 911 when she heard the smoke detector go off and woke her up in her room. She then woke up her family to alert them to danger. Elko Fire Marshal Dave Greenan said Teresa's ``actions prevented what could have been a true disaster.'' The young girl has been recognized by the Elko Fire Department for her actions, and I too would like to echo their sentiment. It is my hope that all children would react so bravely to such a situation. Like the firefighters that responded to her call, Teresa represents the best of the American spirit, and she probably never even thought twice about doing what she did. Thank you, Teresa. You not only saved your family, but you made Nevada proud.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the intelligence authorization bill and I thank my friend and colleague from Florida for yielding me this time. This is a good bill, Mr. Chairman. It addresses intelligence needs that were identified in past years by the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, but only now, after the deaths of many innocent Americans, are these needs getting the broad attention they deserve? Throughout much of the 1990s, after the end of the Cold War, there was a debate about whether America really needed to spend so much on defense. As for intelligence, some people even said there was no longer any need for the CIA. I believe, and indeed I believe America believes, that this debate is now over. As we know now, prior to September 11, we simply did not have enough intelligence on the plans and intentions of foreign terrorist groups. We paid a high price for that lack of intelligence. The bill before you today will help the intelligence agencies build up their capabilities. If you want to know the plans and the intentions of terrorist groups, you have to have HUMINT, human intelligence. This is the information you get from human sources, known as ``assets'' or ``agents'' or just plain ``spies.'' I want to emphasize that this year's intelligence authorization bill does a great deal to strengthen our HUMINT capability. For one thing, there is money to hire more CIA operations officers. Last fall after the September attacks, our committee freed CIA's operations officers from the Deutch guidelines, implemented by former CIA Director John Deutch, which literally tied the hands of our CIA intelligence operatives working against so-called ``unsavory characters,'' such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers. Since last fall, America's intelligence operatives have been doing a great job, but they are now few and far between. We need more and this bill will help ensure that there will be more. This bill also provides money to hire more intelligence analysts and language specialists. Likewise, there is more funding for foreign language training. It is not hard to understand that if your operations officers and analysts have not learned the language of your enemy, you will not succeed in learning his plans and intentions. In addition, to help strengthen our linguistic expertise nationwide, my Intelligence Committee colleague the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Roemer) has offered an amendment to establish a nationwide linguistic reserve corps. I am happy to cosponsor his amendment. These HUMINT and foreign language-related items are just some of the good provisions in this intelligence authorization bill. They are long overdue. In sum, we have a good bill that provides the proper resources to the intelligence community for this year. The clock is ticking and America's enemies continue with their planning. I urge your support for our intelligence professionals, and I urge your support for this bill.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Chairman, I also rise in strong support of this amendment. I want to congratulate my colleague and friend from Indiana (Mr. Roemer) for his leadership on this issue, as well as my other colleagues who are in co-sponsor of this and who have worked hard to provide a rather remarkable amendment that I think is going to do great work to improve the bill and to improve our linguistic skills. I also want to thank the chairman of the committee, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) and the ranking member, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) for their work and their help on getting this amendment through. I also want to thank one of the staff members who is not here this evening who has not been mentioned, Mr. Brant Bassett, a staff director for HUMINT committee, whose work and insight into this amendment has been very helpful. Mr. Chairman, I have served for 6 years on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and throughout that time I have heard a constant theme, that we lack linguistic skills across the board in terms of needed languages that are going to help us identify areas that we can gather intelligence from. And as a result, this amendment is going to allow us to expand our horizons with the ability to pull together a cadre of skilled people with languages skills that we need. Terrorists today are speaking all kinds of languages, many of which we do not have adequate levels of trained individuals in. Languages like Pashtu, Urdu, Arabic. These language skills are available out there if we pull these people together and train them in a cadre of reserve organization that allow them in a time of crisis to be drawn together, to be utilized to help this Nation do better with its intelligence needs and language skills. With that, Mr. Chairman, I would like to conclude my remarks once again by thanking the gentleman for his leadership on this issue.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, this week legislation creating the new Homeland Security Department will come before this Chamber for consideration. It will mark perhaps the most historic congressional debate in decades. The last time Congress considered such a considerable reorganization of the Federal Government was back in 1947 under the Truman administration. Now we must once again reorganize the Federal Government to better meet the new challenges that our country faces. Mr. Speaker, I have been quite impressed with the commitment of both this House and of the administration to move forward expeditiously with a plan to create an efficient and effective Department of Homeland Security. I have been greatly concerned over turf wars between agencies and among our congressional committees, yet our committees have worked together in a true bipartisan fashion for the people of America. I look forward to our debate on the Homeland Security Department, and am confident that our work will enable our Nation to be better prepared for the new challenges it faces in the 21st century.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to celebrate American Cancer Society's Celebration on the Hill Bus, which will be in Reno, Nevada. Celebration on the Hill is a grassroots event celebrating cancer survivorship. Mr. Speaker, our Nation's cancer statistics are startling. Over 1 million American people get cancer each year. Approximately one out of two American men and one out of every three American women will have some type of cancer at some point during their lifetime; yet, luckily, more and more people are surviving cancer every day, thanks to medical breakthroughs and lifesaving drugs and procedures. Today, I rise to congratulate the cancer survivors in my State of Nevada and across the entire country. It is my hope that we will continue our commitment in Congress to finding a cure by supporting the NIH and CDC in their research efforts against this deadly disease. Our commitment could lead to finding a cure sooner rather than later.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 299, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, it is summertime, and out West it is the height of the fire season. Every day we ask our brave fire fighters to risk their lives to put out these dangerous blazes. Unfortunately, their job is made more difficult primarily due to extreme environmental groups. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that nearly half of the 2002 projects to reduce wildfires and wildfire risks have been blocked by lawsuits brought by these same extreme environmental groups. These delays have significantly slowed efforts to remove the tinder-dry overgrowth out of our Federal forests and contributed greatly to the West's worst fire year on record. With half of the fire season left, more than 3 million acres have been lost to forest fires and wildfires, lost for all Americans to enjoy, lost for 100 years to come. Today, the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health of the Committee on Resources will hold a hearing to address this issue. We need to find a way to end the misguided crusade against responsible forest management. Only then will we be able to prevent destructive wildfires that decimate our national forests.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, those of us in the West are in desperate need of some real reform to the Endangered Species Act. If we fail to implement commonsense changes to the Endangered Species Act, the act itself will be in danger. Too often ranchers, farmers and local governments are finding themselves and their scientific data overruled by emotion, the emotion of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, an agency often guided in their decision-making by well-funded, emotionally driven environmental groups. I have seen firsthand the misuse of the ESA. In Nevada, the State Department of Wildlife had decades of biological scientific data recommending that the bulltrout in Elko's Arbidge River not be listed as an endangered species. Yet the State's scientific data was thrown out the window by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, not because of competing Federal science but because of a petition drive by a special interest group instead of sound science. We all want to protect endangered species. However, we should do so in a fair manner based on scientific evidence and not personal emotion. Passing ESA reforms will restore integrity to the law, ensuring that both environment and the interests of our communities are protected.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, since the Gulf War, our pilots have been patrolling the skies over Iraq, trying to keep Saddam Hussein contained and in check. On June 26 of this year, Iraqi forces fired an antiaircraft missile at our aircraft. We responded, of course, by shooting back and defending ourselves against this aggression. Yet Saddam Hussein is much more than an enemy that regularly tries to kill or capture American pilots. The country Iraq is currently a significant part of the American economy by providing us with oil. In the first quarter of this year, we bought $1.2 billion of Iraqi oil, according to the Energy Information Administration. Where do my colleagues think this money goes? Mr. Speaker, it goes straight to Saddam Hussein's government, straight to the $25,000 reward checks he gives to families of each Palestinian suicide bomber. We import nearly a million barrels a day from this madman. More than 10 percent of our oil imports come from Iraq, and yet Saddam Hussein still would like nothing more than a downed American pilot to show the world. It is time our energy policy got in line with our foreign policy. It is time to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. Mr. Speaker, if it is worth fighting for over there, it is worth exploring for here at home.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to express my astonishment and outrage at the ruling of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which declared the Pledge of Allegiance to be unconstitutional. Mr. Speaker, what could this court be thinking? Under their reasoning, our money would be unconstitutional, the Presidential oath would be unconstitutional, and yes, this very Chamber, the House of Representatives, would be unconstitutional. To call the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional is the highest embarrassment for our judicial system, and this ruling undermines everything our Nation stands for, principles set back in 1776, as well as the Declaration of Independence, which by the way includes the word God as well. Mr. Speaker, is the very document that announced our Nation's independence also unconstitutional? Next week we will be celebrating our Nation's independence, and I hope every American will remember and celebrate our Nation's traditions, including expressing our unity as one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, and may God bless America.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, June 29, this Saturday, will be Cost of Government Day. What does that mean? It is the date on which the average American worker has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of tax and regulatory burdens imposed by all levels of government, either Federal, State or local. Currently Nevadans must work on average 179 days just to meet all the costs imposed by government. There is some good news, however. Cost of Government Day falls 2 days earlier this year than last. In fact, this year it is earlier than it has been in 5 years, thanks to the tax relief we have just passed. Yet the cost of government is still substantially higher than it was during the 1980s when President Reagan led the Nation in bringing it down to a date in mid-June. Lowering the cost of government means more money in the hands of families, investors and entrepreneurs to reinvest in our economy. Mr. Speaker, as we continue with the appropriations process, I call upon my colleagues to remain committed to reducing the cost of government to encourage economic growth and prosperity both at home and nationwide.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Chairman, I rise not only as a cosponsor of this bill and also supporter of the bill but also to urge my colleagues to support this vital legislation as we vote on it today in this body. There has been a growing theme, Mr. Chairman, that Congress must take this opportunity to address the lack of information sharing among some of our Federal agencies. As a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I have heard testimony about how some of these agencies do not share information in a way that best protects our homeland. To put it another way, not all of the dots are being connected. Internally, some agencies, like the FBI, may connect some of the dots, the CIA may connect some of the dots, and the Border Patrol and Customs may connect some of the dots. But if all of our efforts fail to present a complete picture, we are likely to face a tragedy perhaps worse than those we faced on September 11. The current stovepipe barriers that prevent timely information sharing must stop. Never before in our Nation's history has communication sharing among our national security agencies been as imperative nor as important as it is today. While information sharing horizontally must improve, our local law enforcement and first responders demand that we achieve vertical integration in information sharing as well. As we have all heard from our constituents back home, the first responders are the people who play key rolls in protecting the communities in which they serve. Our police, firefighters, medical personnel must be informed of the threats that exist within their communities so they are able to prepare and protect those in their communities. H.R. 4598 ensures that information sharing, both horizontally and vertically, exists by directing the President to develop procedures by which Federal agencies will share security information with State and local personnel. Further, it ensures that information-sharing systems have the capability to transmit classified and unclassified information. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman) for their hard work on this legislation.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to support H.R. 4858, the Improving Access to Physicians in Medically Underserved Areas Act introduced by my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran). As the representative of the Second District of Nevada, I represent an area of over 100,000 square miles, including every rural community in the State, and I know all too well how difficult it is to recruit doctors and nurses to these areas. One program which has assisted our State in recruiting doctors to Nevada is the J-1 visa program. H.R. 4858 reauthorizes the J-1 visa program and increases the number of visa waivers for international medical graduates that a State may request from 20 to 30. Rural Americans deserve access to quality health care, and the J-1 visa program helps to achieve this goal. In fact, thanks to the J-1 visa program, over 60 doctors have come to Nevada over the past few years to practice medicine in underserved areas. I encourage all of my colleagues to support the successful program and vote for H.R. 4858.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support for legislation to expand the silver market, which is being introduced by my good friends, the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson) and the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Otter). I am a proud cosponsor of this bill, which calls for the extending of production of the popular American eagle silver bullion coins. These coins were first minted in 1986 from a stockpile of silver held over since the Second World War. They became an instantly popular coin, and now the stockpile has almost run out. This bill will allow the U.S. Mint to buy silver on the open market, to continue the production of these patriotic coins. It also encourages the purchase of domestically mined silver, providing a great new market for silver mines, especially those in Nevada, the Silver State. I thank my colleagues, the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Otter) and the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson), for their leadership on this bill, and encourage all of my colleagues to support this patriotic coin program.