Porter Goss

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Charlotte, North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick), the hub of most good flights going to Florida these days, and a member who does great work on our Committee on Rules.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle), chairman of the Committee on the Budget, for the purpose of a colloquy with a colleague.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kirk), a member of the Committee on the Budget.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings). (Mr. HASTINGS of Washington asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield again such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle), chairman of the Committee on the Budget, for a colloquy.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I again yield to the distinguished gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle), the chairman of the Committee on the Budget, for purposes of a colloquy.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of our time to the distinguished gentleman from greater San Dimas, California (Mr. Dreier), chairman of the Committee on Rules. (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I move to lay the motion to reconsider on the table.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 372 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Education and the Workforce have until midnight on Thursday, April 4, to file a report to accompany H.R. 3762.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I offer a privileged concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 360) providing for an adjournment or recess of the two Houses, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding any adjournment of the House until Tuesday, April 9, 2002, the Speaker, majority leader, and minority leader be authorized to accept resignations and to make appointments authorized by law or by the House.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I offer a resolution (H. Res. 375) and I ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the business in order under the Calendar Wednesday rule be dispensed with on Wednesday, April 10, 2002.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute an individual from my district who never gave up. Brian Shimer, of Naples, Florida, came from behind on February 23rd and won a Bronze Medal in the 4-man bobsled competition. Now Naples, Florida, is not known for its snowfall, but it is known for commitment to community and dedication to principles. It is an amazing feat that Brian Shimer managed to pursue his bobsledding passion for the past 16 years--never giving up and making sure America did not abandon its pursuit of the sport. Five times Brian competed in the Olympic Games, each time, seeking to turn all his years of training and desire into an Olympic medal. He endured injuries, setbacks, and hundredths-of-a-second heartbreaks. Still, Brian kept trying. His teammates changed, the bobsled designs changed and the biological clock ticked toward the ripe old age of 40, but Brian continued toward his dream. This time in Salt Lake City, Brian Shimer won one of the two Olympic medals awarded to the United States in bobsledding--the first since 1956. In doing so he brought an incredible gift back to the sport he loves, and to his family, friends and all who supported his unquenchable passion. He also made a statement about Americans--that dedication and perseverance to a cause is what makes us strong and our country great. Brian was the one who carried the American flag for the American team during the closing ceremonies for the Olympic Games--a testimony to the respect he has earned among his fellow athletes. It makes us all proud that Florida Congressional District 14 is the home of an individual who truly emulates the Olympic and American spirit--Congratulations to Olympic Bronze Medal winner, Brian Shimer.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express some very serious concerns about events that happened yesterday not in Afghanistan, where we are fixated by the CNN optic of what is going on there in Tora Bora and elsewhere, but about events in a friendly neighboring nearby country, democratic country, Haiti. News reports indicate that a group of individuals attacked the Haitian National Police in the early morning hours. The government of Haiti official report claims that this was some type of attempted coup against President Aristide. There is no particular evidence to support this claim, however. We are certain of some of the aftermath by some of the initial reports we are receiving from the area. President Aristide has unleashed mobs of his political cronies against U.S. and French official installations and against the homes and offices of numerous political opposition leaders. In fact, those homes and offices were, in several instances, burned to the ground. Also, the mobs were directed against various independent radio stations, which were forcibly shut down. And there were apparently orchestrated riots staged in cities and towns all across Haiti. Most tragically, these mobs burned to death, in a very brutal way, a number of innocent people. Given President Aristide's lack of commitment to democratic norms we have been watching through the years, I believe he owes the international community today, and now a detailed explanation of exactly what did happen yesterday in Haiti. I call on the United States Government, the friends of Haiti, and the Organization of the American States to seek thorough, complete and verifiable information on the following issues, at a minimum: First, whether yesterday's attack on the national palace was deliberately staged by the Aristide government, as many think; secondly, that given the officially sanctioned attacks on the U.S. Consulate, these are our people, our property in Haiti, and the French embassy's Cultural Institute, whether Haiti intends to abide by its prior commitments to protect diplomatic personnel and facilities. This is at a minimum. And, third, given Haiti's legal agreement to various U.N. and OAS human rights treaties, whether the Aristide government will cease its attack on Haiti's independent media and democratic political parties and their leaders. Unfortunately, we have been asking for this for a number of years now and we have not been seeing much cooperation from the Aristide government. In fact, I think most observers would fairly say there has been a very noticeable and significant retreat from democracy in that country, tragically. One of the immediate consequences for my State of Florida and for the United States is a problem we have been talking about with regard to immigration troubles and terrorism, and that is our porous borders. We are now confronted with people fleeing Haiti, as has been their want in the past, refugees exposing themselves to the treachery of the Florida straits at this time of year, coming over in unsafe boating conditions, and trying to reach the safety of the shores of the United States of America. It is a tough proposition for us on how to treat these people humanely and not encourage more people from coming. I think most Members will recall we have had floods of people in the past, so many that we have had to create camps in Guantanamo before, and I am afraid we are on the verge of another immigrant problem of that magnitude. I think that it is very important that we look at Haiti very directly as part of a failed legacy of the Clinton foreign policy program. I am sorry to say that. There are many of us at the time that said that the policy was misguided; that it would not work; that the kinds of sanctions the Clinton administration put against Haiti would backfire, and, indeed, they did. Haiti has not had much leadership, and what it has had seems to have been away from democracy. I think it is a spectacular failure of foreign policy. I think that the misery level in Haiti is spectacular also, regrettably. And I think that the brutality we saw yesterday, again in the mob violence, was brutality that is spectacular and inhuman and very, very regrettable. I think we have a spectacle on our hands that needs to be explained in what did happen yesterday, and in the events surrounding the further repression of democracy and the apparent actions that the Aristide Government is claiming that it now must take from yesterday's events in order to stamp out the last few remnants of decency and democracy and civilization of that wonderful country. It is time for accountability, and I think the world needs to know that.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 312 is a standard rule that allows the House to consider the conference report to accompany H.R. 2883, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002. The rule waives all points of order against the consideration of the conference report. The rule is the normal rule we have for conference reports. The intelligence authorization bill is a critical piece of legislation in any average year, but this year, given the recent September 11 tragedies and the war we are waging against terrorism as we speak, it is absolutely essential that we get this bill to the President's desk without any further delay. As Members are aware, the National Security Act requires that Congress authorize each dollar the U.S. spends on intelligence and intelligence-related activities. We are unique in that respect. The war on terrorism means that there has been a fundamental shift in intelligence and defense priorities, as the President has stated, and these authorities must be reflected in law. While we will discuss the conference report in greater detail during the general debate, I would like to highlight a few of the ways that the legislation will tackle both critical counterterrorism challenges as well as the long-term problems facing America's intelligence community. The conference report increases funding for foreign language capability. Obviously this is a critical requirement in the fight against terrorism because it is all over the world and we need the language capability. It certainly is also a basic, core competency for our intelligence community. The Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has pushed this issue for several years and we are going to continue to push it in the future until we get better results. Another core intelligence capability this conference report bolsters is human intelligence. In addition to providing the necessary resources for this, the conference report includes a version of the House language directing the Director of Central Intelligence to repeal the so-called Deutch 1995 guidelines on the recruitment of human sources. These guidelines may have been issued with the best of intentions, and no doubt were, but in practice, they have had a chilling effect on our ability to gain vital intelligence from sources with access to unsavory characters, particularly such as terrorists. Finally, this conference report includes a House provision requiring an accounting from the Director of Central Intelligence concerning whether and to what extent the intelligence community has implemented the recommendations of the Bremer, the Hart-Rudman and the Gilmore commissions. All of those were reports on terrorism and the vulnerabilities and threats to our security and the security of Americans at home and abroad. As Members are aware, these independent commissions examined the United States' measures for prevention of and preparedness for terrorist attacks. All of the provisions are essentially components to the health of the intelligence community and our country. I urge the House to adopt the rule and embrace the conference report. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons), the chairman of our Subcommittee on Human Intelligence, Analysis, and Counterintelligence, our subcommittee on hacking. I will let him explain what that stands for.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss), who is the chairman of our effort on counter terrorist efforts.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers and I just wanted to finish this with some thoughts about how grateful I am and how privileged I am, indeed honored, to serve with such wonderful members. That is a select committee. And I mean it. We have heard today from the chairman and the ranking members of the four subcommittee we now have because we have so much business on the committee. But the others who did not speak, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Boehlert), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood), the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra), the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Peterson), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes), the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Boswell), the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), have all contributed mightily to this. It is obviously a wonderful select committee to have and be able to work with and we are backed up with the kind of staff that we have as the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) has said, with Mike Sheehy and Tim Sample and Chris Barton, our top staff keeping us on the track. I think we are able to do our job well. And, of course, a big part of that is the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), who has been outstanding with her time, her energy, her attention and her leadership when she has one or two other things to do, I understand, in her portfolio of responsibilities as well. It is a very good situation for us. I think the people of the United States of America sometimes wonder what the job of Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is and need to be reassured that today we are talking about advocacy for sure. That is part of our job. We need to make sure that our folks out there have the tools they need to do the job, to do national security. But the other side of our job is oversight. We do it very diligently and dutifully. And that is to make sure that all of these awesome capabilities are used in a way that is entirely lawful and within keeping of character of the goals and wishes and the standards of the people of the United States of America. We do not have a 1-800 number to flash across the bottom of the screen to say if you have a problem. But we are there as your oversight committee, and if there are problems, we are responsible for dealing with them. And I think we take that seriously, very seriously indeed. Having said all of that, I think that we have with all of this wonderful good will, and responding to the tasks before us, come up with a good piece of legislation which is urgently needed. I see my friend, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks), sitting over there. A lot of us have taken credit and heaped praise back and forth on the work that has been done. A lot of the success we are enjoying today that you are seeing on CNN is coming from the hard work of the people who went before us on the oversight committees. And I take my hat off to those people because they too understood the need. I am very sorry this year my friend Julian Dixon is not with us to be able to see some of the results of some of his hard work, and I know I am joined on that from my colleagues on the other side. Fortunately, there are always people to come along to fill shoes, and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) has done that so well. Having said that, I urge adoption of this particular conference report.

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

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 6 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter), the vice chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Intelligence Policy and National Security. (Mr. BEREUTER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 312 and ask for its immediate consideration.