Gil Gutknecht

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) for yielding and for raising this issue. We have talked to the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Goodlatte), and it is our understanding and intent that nothing in this language would preclude any veterinarian, no matter when they graduated from vet school, from applying or to participate so long as they have eligible student loan debt and meet other criteria for participation as described in the legislation.

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

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3217) to provide for the conveyance of several small parcels of National Forest System land in the Apalachicola National Forest, Florida, to resolve boundary discrepancies involving the Mt. Trial Primitive Baptist Church of Wakulla County, Florida, and for other purposes.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3217 allows the Forest Service to convey without consideration 10.2 acres of the Apalachicola National Forest to the Mt. Trial Primitive Baptist Church of Wakulla County, Florida. This parcel of land was purchased by the Mt. Trial church in the 1930s; but for a variety of reasons, the deed was never recorded. Unfortunately, the original landowner subsequently resold the land to the National Forest Service in the 1950s. While the Forest Service now technically owns the land, it is more than happy to return this cemetery to the church. This is a fair and equitable resolution to this unfortunate situation. H.R. 3217 was marked up by the Committee on Agriculture on October 29, 2003. It was approved by the committee on a voice vote without amendment. The bill enjoys the support of the local community and the administration. I urge all Members to support this legislation and return this property to its rightful owner.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3157, a bill to designate and deploy U.S. Department of Agriculture liaison teams to areas of the country declared disaster areas, was approved by the Committee on Agriculture on October 29 of this year. The bill seeks to ensure prompt Federal assistance to agricultural producers in rural areas affected by natural disasters that have been declared by the President or the Secretary of Agriculture. The teams will coordinate the activities of USDA employees assisting agricultural producers within the disaster area. The teams will facilitate the making of claims and applications for economic assistance of affected producers and others as they deal with the agencies designated under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. During the business meeting to consider H.R. 3157, the committee considered and adopted as a substitute amendment four changes to the legislation as originally introduced by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Blunt). These changes include directing the Secretary of Agriculture to use USDA Food and Agriculture Council as a point of contact for the liaison team, requiring the Secretary to make the deployment only when FEMA has been sent to the disaster area, providing that the team will conduct and conclude its business within 30 days of the deployment, and, finally, adding wildfire as a specific disaster under a secretarial disaster declaration. The bill before the House this afternoon makes a minor amendment to the committee-reported bill by returning to the Secretary of Agriculture the full discretion to assign USDA employees to the liaison positions, instead of acting through the Department's Food and Agriculture Council. As I am certain my colleagues can understand, natural disasters over large geographical areas often are followed by chaotic circumstances on the ground. Traditionally, USDA has had a significant role along with FEMA in assisting farmers, ranchers, and other rural residents; and this bill attempts to make those circumstances more orderly and more predictable for our rural constituents during a time when those residents and the communities in which they live need Federal help. I hope the House will join with me in supporting this bill that seeks to improve Federal disaster assistance on our farms and in rural communities. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 3217, the bill just passed.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this bill provides a mechanism for the Forest Service and the Army Corps of Engineers to resolve boundary conflicts between the Mark Twain National Forest and adjacent private landowners. The dispute over boundaries stems from recent surveys conducted by contractors to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which have subsequently been found severely flawed by the State Surveyor for Missouri. The measure sets a process for dealing with disputed boundaries. The landowner would notify the Secretary of Agriculture of a disputed boundary, prompting a new land survey. If the Secretary determines that the boundary conflict is the result of a reliance on a previous land survey, the land in dispute can be returned to the property owner. It is important to note that the bill does not require the conveyance of any particular lands. Where a new survey shows that the lands in question were surveyed improperly, the Forest Service can either execute a quit claim deed, assert Federal ownership if the Federal Government has improved the land, or compensate the landowner for the land. We made one minor change to the bill which requires that any liability for environmental hazards on the property, if any, be settled through an agreement between the landowner and the Federal Government. This change was requested by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. This is a case where the Federal Government has not exercised adequate due diligence in maintaining their land surveys to the detriment of their neighbors. Rather than redrawing map boundaries from Washington, we are creating a process where these folks can address their claims closer to home. The Committee on Agriculture regards this as an equitable solution to a local problem created by the Federal Government. I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. This is a commonsense solution at the local level to problems that the Federal Government has created. The Committee on Agriculture strongly supports this bill, and I hope that Members will join us in supporting this bill. Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge support for the speedy resolution of a boundary dispute affecting private property owners in my Congressional District. Apparently, there are some local issues that apparently only an act of Congress can solve. This issue surfaced when private property owners' historic boundary lines neighboring the Mark Twain National Forest and Table Rock Lake in Missouri's Barry and Stone Counties were blurred when the U.S. Forest Service restored the mid-1800s Corners program. Over the years, the Forest Service has been effectively shaving off substantial sections of private property that adjoins federal lands. Recent land surveys have found major differences in surveys conducted by the Forest Service and the Army Corps of Engineers. My legislation would resolve these discrepancies, so private property owners don't lose property adjoining Federal lands. A fight with the Federal Government over a boundary line can be an uphill battle. This bill will maintain the original property lines and hand the title of the disputed land to the private landowner. The Federal Government already owns a third of the nation's land, and inaccuracies in federally conducted surveys should never force landowners to forfeit their property. Mr. Speaker, I urge the House's approval of this common-sense bill.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the bill, H.R. 3157, as amended.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 2304, the bill just considered.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I will not take the whole 5 minutes. I have been listening to the discussions about Medicare reforms, and I must tell my colleagues that some of the arguments they are making on the other side, I agree with. Some of them, I do not agree with. I do want to let Members know that in first hour there will be a special order, and I invite Members from the Republican and Democrat and Independent parties to join us tonight and talk about the issue of market access because I think that is one thing that most Members here in the House agree on, and that is, that Americans deserve to have world class prices for world class drugs. As the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross) was just saying, in the studies that he has done, in the studies that I have done, the studies that other Americans have done, that have been done by the press and other groups, they all come to the same conclusion; and that is that Americans pay by far and away the world's highest prices, even though we are the world's best customers. Later on tonight, we will be talking about that issue and whether or not there is a way that we, here in the House, can exercise the will of the people and get something done on that issue before we go home for the break.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Madam Speaker, outside the House Chamber, in fact it is the only statue in Statuary Hall which faces the House Chamber, there is a statue of Will Rogers. Will Rogers was an amazing person. One of my favorite quotes from Will Rogers was: All I know is what I read in the newspapers. Sometimes I feel like Will Rogers because all I know is what I read in the newspapers. Let me read some things that were in a recent column in the Congressional Quarterly, the November 1 www.cq.com edition, talking about the prescription drug bill and what may happen to Medicare. ``Some observers speculate that Medicare conferees will include language in their final report that will express support for importation, but will also make certain it never happens.'' Here is a quote from one of the lobbyists, ``You can tell them, the lawmakers, that this will only kick in after FDA has appropriated $100 million for border safety or FDA has to have counterfeit, tamperproof packaging devices in place,'' said one health care lobbyist who asked not to be named, ``Whatever that trigger is, just say it will never be met.'' In other words, pretend like we are going to do something and make sure it never happens. Talking about other things we read in the newspapers, here is a quote from Mark McClellan, the head of FDA, who says, ``These Members are out of touch with the realities of keeping our drug supply safe, and the clear and present dangers to America's supply of drugs that their bill would create.'' Madam Speaker, let me ask Mr. McClellan a rhetorical question: How many Canadians are dying, how many Europeans are dying, and then tell me who is out of touch. The problem is that if we do not put some real teeth into whatever we do, the drug companies will figure out how to get around it. They say later in the article that even if lawmakers turn to Canada to soothe concerns about safety, the drugs Americans want to buy may not be available. Several drug companies, and they include Eli Lily and Co. and Wyeth, have decided to curtail sales to Canada anticipating that Congress could enact importation legislation. Madam Speaker, that is called antitrust and that is why 22 Members of this House sent a letter last week to Attorney General Ashcroft, and I would like to read the letter. It says, ``Six major pharmaceutical manufacturers have moved to restrict supply of prescription drugs to Canadian pharmacies and wholesalers. It is obvious that these actions are an attempt to prevent American consumers from accessing affordable prescription drugs. This action is putting lives at risk in the United States and Canada. ``Americans should not have to wait for States' attorneys general to enforce antitrust laws. Therefore, we request a thorough investigation by your office. If any pharmaceutical companies are found in violation of antitrust laws, the Department of Justice must take all available steps to correct this injustice. ``We must not allow pharmaceutical companies to abuse American consumers, and place lives at risk, by illegally manipulating supply.'' Madam Speaker, this was signed by 22 mostly senior Members, including some of the highest ranking members of the Committee on the Judiciary. The American public now knows the dirty little secret, and that is American consumers pay the world's highest prices even though they are world's best customers for prescription drugs. If this Congress produces a bill that is filled with obfuscation, manipulation and pretending that we deal with the issue of affordability, well, as we say out in rural America, that dog will not hunt.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time of the gentleman from Florida.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, this afternoon and earlier in the Special Orders, our colleague, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), talked about a meeting that we had, a forum that we conducted today in Boston, Massachusetts. We had about seven or eight Members of the House, and we had a forum talking about the issue of prescription drugs and how much Americans pay for prescription drugs relative to what industrialized countries around the world pay for those same drugs. It was sort of appropriate that we had this forum in Boston; and I observed at the beginning of the meeting that a little over 200 years ago there were patriots who began to throw tea in Boston Harbor because a king in England had imposed a half-penny tax on tea, and they were mad as hell and they were not going to take it anymore. That same spirit of that Boston Tea Party was alive today and that spirit is growing. At that forum we had Governor Pawlenty of the State of Minnesota. I have to tell my colleagues I was so proud of him because he outlined the plan that he has for Minnesotans to allow them to have access to world-class drugs at world market prices. Now, he did not put a number on it, but my estimate is that Minnesotans will save at least $50 million by simply opening up markets as we do with virtually every other product. He also said in his remarks that the States are the laboratories of democracy and that it is time for the States to take the leadership and demonstrate what can be done in terms of opening up markets and saving consumers billions. We also had the Attorney General from the State of Massachusetts. He made a very good point, that as these big pharmaceutical companies now are reaching out and saying we are not going to ship as many drugs to Canada, he reminded us and them that there are antitrust laws on the books and if the Federal Government will not enforce them, then the States will. We also had representatives from Governor Blagojevich from the State of Illinois who talked about their plan and his plan and how he believes that they can save the State of Illinois $91 million. That is $91 million that can be spent on children. That is $91 million that can be spent on firefighters and police officers to keep the State safer. We also had Dr. Steve Schondelmeir, who is a pharmacist himself, teaches pharmacology at the University of Minnesota. He estimated that Americans next year will spend at least $220 billion on prescription drugs. He went on to say that he believed that if you simply opened up markets, that markets would begin to level. He agrees with me or I agree with him that the goal is not for Americans to go to other countries to buy prescription drugs; the goal is to open up markets, and markets level. Prices here in the United States would come down at least 30 percent. Now, I am not good in mathematics, but 30 percent of $220 billion is over $60 billion a year. That would be the largest tax cut we could ever give the American people. If the goal of the tax cut is to allow Americans to keep and spend more of their own money, then market access certainly should be part of that equation. We also had Dr. Elizabeth Wenner, who has her own program going in the State of Vermont to encourage the patients there in her clinics to buy their drugs and make it easier for them to legally and safely buy those drugs from pharmacists across the border in Canada. She has numbers to demonstrate how much their patients have saved; and the average, believe it or not, is over 60 percent. Then we had Mayor Albano, the mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts. He began his voluntary plan for city employees there and he has only been operating for a few months, and his estimates are that they have saved $600,000. We are talking about real money, I say to my colleagues. It is not just about seniors; it is about everybody. Victor Hugo said, more powerful than an invading army is an idea whose time has come. I do not know what is going to happen in the conference committee, but I know this: you cannot hold back an idea whose time has come.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Madam Speaker, I have come to the well of this House many times in the evening and in the day to talk about the high cost of prescription drugs and how much Americans pay for drugs relative to the rest of the industrialized world. I believe it is a crime, and I believe it is shame on us. I always say it is not shame on the pharmaceutical companies, it is shame on us, because the FDA and the Justice Department work for us. I have been regularly vocal and very critical of our FDA and what they have done in terms of, quote, protecting the public health. I have repeatedly said that a drug you cannot afford is neither safe nor effective. Tonight, Madam Speaker, I come to the floor of the House to offer some congratulations, because if you are going to hand out the thorns, I think once in a while you have to hand out the roses. First, I would like to congratulate the people at the FDA because today there was a conference held in Bethesda, and they were participants in that conference. What they talked about was new technologies to make our drug supply safer, so that whether you buy your drugs from Manhattan or Munich, you will be able to get safe drugs. I want to talk about a couple of those technologies and the FDA was there to talk about it. One of them is this tamperproof, counterfeit-proof technology. This packaging is made by a little company out in California called Flex Products. They also make the dye that goes on our $20 bills that make it almost impossible, although they and I think the Federal Treasury says that this is impossible to counterfeit, the same technology is now available for pharmaceutical companies. And I am told that seven of the largest pharmaceutical companies are already employing this technology. Let me also talk about another technology. This is the first time I have ever talked about it here on the floor of the House. This is made by a family-owned feed and seed company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a little company called Cargill. These are microscopic markers. They are edible and they are so small that you cannot even see one. But we now have the ability to apply this to every drug. In fact, we can even apply this to the products that go into the drugs, so that we can know that that drug is in fact what is said that it is very simply. That was also on display today at that conference. But, Madam Speaker, what I really want to do is say a special thank you to some of the senior groups that have stepped up. I want to single out one in particular, the TREA Senior Citizens League, who is made up of just some of the most wonderful people, and their board is here tonight. I want to show an ad that they ran earlier this year. They were one of the few senior citizens groups that used real money, contributed by their seniors, and they ran this half-page ad encouraging Congress, and I want to make sure that we can put at least the text of this into the Congressional Record. I want to thank them, and I want to thank George Smith, their chairman, who serves on their board. What a wonderful board it is. These are people who volunteer. They do not get paid large retainers. All that they do is work on behalf of their members and on behalf of seniors everywhere. When they saw what was happening to the cost of prescription drugs, they stepped up, and they made a difference. I want to thank them. And I want to thank our former colleague Dave Funderburk. Congressman and Dr. Funderburk was a valuable Member of the Congress. He and his wife Betty have just been super people. They help steer the Senior Citizens League through some of the choppy waters and explain how things happen. It is groups like that that are making a difference. They are stepping up and saying there is something wrong, we need to do something about it. We need to fix it. They have run ads. They have informed their members. They represent 1.2 million members around the country. They are the second largest senior citizens group in the country. I have to take my hat off to them because, as I say, they stepped up, they helped run ads, they used real money, they did not take it from some other special interest group and they are making a difference. We are going to have to vote here in the next couple of weeks perhaps on a prescription drug bill. We are going to have to ask ourselves some simple questions. One of those questions is why is it that Americans pay so much more than consumers around the rest of the industrialized world? The second question is, what are we going to do about it? I hope you will be able to give us good answers because I think we are going to get a chance to vote on that. The House has done the right thing. We are waiting on the other body. We hope that we will have a conference committee. People like the TREA Senior Citizens League are watching. They are paying attention. Their members are watching. They are paying attention. They are making a difference. They are counting on us to do the same. TREA Senior Citizens League Ad Congress: Senior citizens need you to vote ``Aye'' on H.R. 2427, prescription drug importation legislation. This week, Congress will have the opportunity to help seniors by voting ``aye'' on H.R. 2447, legislation to allow America's seniors ``market'' access to lower priced medicines. The bill would mean seniors would pay a more reasonable price for their prescriptions, and would mean that many seniors wouldn't have to choose between their medications, and rent and food. The pharmaceutical industry, however, doesn't want this critical legislation to pass. Some are more concerned about making the best possible profit, rather than making a profit while still allowing seniors to have access to safe, affordable medicines. This is wrong. Vote for our seniors--not for special interests.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I rise again to speak tonight on the issue of prescription drugs and what Americans pay relative to the rest of the industrialized world. I want to call all Members' attention, if you have not seen this yet, get a copy of today's USA Today and read the lead story. And if you missed it today we are going to try and put this on our Web site, so Members may go to my Web site at Gil.house.gov; and we will have this on by sometime tomorrow afternoon. And we will have the charts, because this is the most compelling article, I think, that I have read so far because it tells the story, it tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in terms of what Americans pay and the sad and pathetic excuse by the FDA about how unsafe this is. It is just outrageous. It is the Food and Drug Administration. This estimate is 1 million. We have had estimates that as many as 10 million Americans next year will buy their drugs from another country. Now, what my vision is is not that people will buy their drugs from other countries, but once you open up markets and you begin to use tamper-proof, counterfeit-proof packaging, you will be able to buy those drugs from your local pharmacy and take advantage of market forces to bring the drug prices down. As my colleague from Indiana pointed out earlier, the chart on the front talks about how much more Americans pay than the consumers in other countries. I have often said I am willing to subsidize the people in sub-Saharan Africa, I do not think we ought to have to subsidize the starving Swiss. It is time for them to pay their fair share for the cost of prescription drugs. The surest way to do that is to open up markets so you will see prices level around the world. And Americans will pay a lot less. How much less? Well, the Swiss pay 58 percent less than American consumers. In Great Britain they pay 60 percent less. In Canada they pay 67 percent less than American consumers. In France they pay 102 percent less than American consumers. And in Italy, 112 percent. Now these are not backwater countries, ladies and gentlemen. These are industrialized countries that have regimens similar to ours. If you go to the inside of USA Today it even gets better because they list some of the prices. I have shown my charts and I have had people say, Oh, well, that is from some goofy group, or, You cannot accept that. Well, these are not my charts anymore. These are charts that were done with research by USA Today. When you look at the price differentials, it is exactly what my charts have shown. And that is, for example, on the drug Coumadin, which my 87-year-old father takes, it is a blood thinner, I have a package right here that we bought in Munich, Germany. It is Coumadin, it was developed at the University of Wisconsin Agricultural Schools as a rat poison, but Coumandin can be bought in Canada, 10 milligrams, 100 tablets, for $43.58. That same package in the United States sells for $99.99. Tamoxifen, we have talked about that before here on the House floor. In the United States this particular package that they bought was $61.99. The same package of the drug in Canada sells for $9.04. That is more than six times as much. Members, the time has come for us to take real action. I want to congratulate others in the House who helped lead the fight so that at least the House now has gone on record that this is unacceptable. More importantly, we have sent a message not only to the pharmaceutical industry but to our own FDA. The FDA does not work for them; they work for us. It is time for the Senate, the Members in the other body to do the same thing, to send the message that the status quo is not acceptable. Americans are voting with their feet. They are voting with their feet to buy prescription drugs. But remember, Members, next November they are going to vote for us or our opponents based on how we voted on issues like whether or not we will have affordable drugs here in the United States of America.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Well, if the gentleman would yield, I think President Reagan had it best, quoting John Adams, when he said, ``Facts are stubborn things.'' I want to congratulate the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel), the gentlewoman from (Mrs. Emerson) and so many other people in the House. This is not a single-person issue. We have been involved in this for many years. The gentleman from Indiana (Chairman Burton) has been among the only chairmen here in this Congress who have been willing to have real hearings and bring in both sides and let both sides present their case and let the facts come out.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Once again, the facts do not support that. We know, for example, how many people have died from taking legal FDA approved drugs from other countries. It is a nice, round number, easy to remember: It is zero. We know that more people become ill and die from eating foods, fruits and vegetables, which the FDA is also responsible for, than they ever will with the drugs we are talking about. More importantly, this is happening now. Americans are doing this right now, many of them knowing that, technically, the FDA says this is illegal. I do not necessarily agree that this is illegal. Congressional intent is very clear: We intend to make this legal, and we intend to make it safer, using tamper-proof, counterfeit-proof packaging, which is not required today, actually making this business even safer.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. The gentleman is absolutely right. The drug Lipitor, for example, every single tablet is imported into the United States, because it is only made in Ireland in an FDA-approved facility. When they ship into the United States, they do not bring it in in armored cars, they bring it in in big bulk containers that sit on a loading dock in New Jersey for a week or so. If there is any chance to get in there and tamper with those drugs, there is a much better chance at that time than in an individual package. So, ultimately the safety argument, and I think most Members and Americans, voting with their feet, have come to the same conclusion, the safety argument is just pure bogus.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take the time of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess).

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I will try to handle two tributes this evening. The first is to our baseball team from Minnesota, the Rochester A's. This summer coaches Keith Kangas and Tony Beck brought together kids from Minnesota to reach a pinnacle in baseball. Tonight I rise in recognition of the Rochester A's who won the American Legion World Series Championship in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, just a few weeks ago. Utilizing imagination, skill, and a whole lot of moxie, these kids made an improbable journey, becoming only the fourth team from Minnesota in the series' 77-year history to win this prestigious championship. The A's made the most of their God-given skills to beat long odds and finished an astonishing 52 and 5. Perhaps the most difficult of the 52 victories in route to the ALWS was a rain delayed victory over a tough New Ulm team who was also from southern Minnesota. During an overnight rain delay pitcher Mike Badger and shortstop Danny Lyons devised a scheme in their hotel room. With a score of 6 to 4, a runner on second with the tying run at the plate with a 3 and 1 count, Badger would pick off the runner without ever throwing a pitch. With a trademark bit of tweaking, Coach Kangas suggested that Badger should throw a strike first making the count full, encouraging the runner to lean just a little heavier toward third base. Badger obliged, and then picked off the runner, sending the A's to the World Series. Every game had a story of its own. I congratulate coaches Keith Kangas and Tony Beck, and all of the players and the team manager for their national championship season. For all of us who have ever tossed a ball around the backyard or taken a position on a baseball diamond, the A's are an inspiration, and I say congratulations. Legion ball is a slice of Americana. There are no million dollar contracts. They play for the love of the game. In the play ``Damn Yankees!'' one of the immortal songs is ``You gotta have heart.'' Well, this was a team with heart. These truly were the boys of summer. Mr. Speaker, secondly, I would like to pay a tribute to those on September 11. Freedom loving Americans will gather across our great land to remember the heroes lost on September 11, 2001. Nothing we can say will adequately lighten the burden borne by so many. The best we can say is we will never forget. Wrapping ourselves in the cloak of freedom, we can become comfortable and complacent, but our greater purpose is to share it with the world. President Reagan said it is up to us to work together for progress and humanity so that our grandchildren when they look back at us can truly say we not only preserved the flame of freedom, but cast its warmth and light further than those who came before us. Out of the ashes of hatred, Americans held up the lamp of liberty, casting its light throughout the world. Each generation has its own charge. Ours is to bring freedom to those who have never known it. Ours is to bring hope and opportunity where none exists. Ours is to share our goodness so others can be great. May God comfort those who hearts still ache. May he continue to bless America and all who defend her.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.