Darlene Hooley

Ms. HOOLEY

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the baseball team of my alma mater, the Beavers of Oregon State University, for their victory over the storied Tar Heels of the University of North Carolina in a best-of-three series at the NCAA College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. The Beavers, with their 3-2 win over UNC, capped a storybook season with 50 wins to only 16 losses and became only the second team in any sport in OSU history to win a national title. It was a title for the College World Series record books as well, as the Beavers became the first team in tournament history to win six elimination games at the College World Series. In the title game, just like during the regular season, great pitching combined with stellar defense, timely hitting and just a bit of luck carried the day for OSU. Five pitchers, including stalwarts Jonah Nickerson, Dallas Buck, and Kevin Gunderson, combined to allow only two unearned runs and just eight hits in the championship game. Mr. Speaker, never in my life have I witnessed a team with more heart, grit, and guts than our OSU Beaver baseball team. The team showed outstanding dedication, resilience, character and sportsmanship throughout the season in achieving the highest honor in collegiate baseball. The Beavers have brought pride to the Oregon State University, the Corvallis community, the State of Oregon and Beaver Nation. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating both teams on a hard-fought exciting series and the Beavers of Oregon State University on being the 2006 NCAA College World Series champions.

Ms. HOOLEY

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, it has been over 2 months since the regional office said, NOAA, you need to declare a national disaster with this. NOAA has said, we are not even going to look at it till February of 2007. We have had the State declare a disaster, the State of Oregon, State of California, the regional area. We have had disasters declared for droughts, for storms, for floods, for winds, and yet here is an industry that will not make it through this season unless a disaster is declared. This is about families. It is about businesses. These coastal communities are not wealthy communities. The base industry is the fishing industry. It impacts every other business in the coastal communities. This impacts families. How are they going to pay for their boats? How are they going to pay for their homes? How are they going to pay for food for their children? This is about families and small businesses. This disaster needs to be declared. They need help.

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, again, I want to reiterate what this is all about. Last year, they reduced salmon fishing by 60 percent. This year, it is almost nonexistent. They can catch 75 fish a week. The only way you can possibly pay for your boat at 75 fish a week is if you can get $100 a pound for it. Well, salmon is really good, but I don't know of a single person that will pay $100 a pound for salmon. So they are not fishing. They can't do it. They can't afford to pay for their boats. They can't afford to go out fishing. They can't afford to pay for their homes. And it impacts the entire community. This is the base industry of these west coast communities. These are small communities. They rely on the fishermen to buy food in the grocery store, to buy appliances at the appliance store, to buy clothing, to buy bait. When they are not operating, other businesses also don't operate. I am happy that we have this opportunity for the $2 million as a placeholder, but what these people need is they need disaster relief. They need this now, and they need money to help them, just like we do for all other disasters that we declare.

Ms. HOOLEY

Ms. HOOLEY. Last year, the fishing was reduced by about 60 percent. This year, the fishing along the Oregon and California coast has been reduced to almost nothing. In March, an administrator from NOAA told us they would be able to expedite a disaster by March of the 2006 season. Well, it is way past March, folks. Yesterday we were told they will not be able to declare a disaster until February of 2007. Let me tell you what happens: The people that cannot go out fishing cannot afford to make their payments on their boats. They cannot afford to feed their families. They cannot afford to put a roof over their heads. They can't afford school books for their children. This is a time when divorce rates go up; suicide rates go up. These are not rich communities. These are poor communities. When disasters happen in other areas, we declare a disaster and help people out. That's what we do. This is unacceptable. We need everyone's help.

Ms. HOOLEY

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the gentleman from California for offering this important amendment. The most tragic victims of the meth epidemic are the drug-endangered children. A recent study in Oregon revealed that police find children living on the premises of one out of every four meth laboratories that they break up. These children are exposed to toxic chemicals on a daily basis and face the constant threat of physical, mental and emotional abuse from the nonstop flow of addicts through their home. The Drug Endangered Children Program provides vital services for these children, ensuring that law enforcement, child protective services, prosecutors and health professionals all work together to get them the help that they need. From removing and supporting these children as they transition out of these dangerous environments to ensuring that they get medical evaluations, mental health screenings, drug and chemical exposure screenings and addiction treatment, the Drug Endangered Children Program gives children a safe and drug-free environment to live in. That is why we introduced this legislation. I hope that my colleagues will see fit to appropriate the $5 million for this appropriate initiative.

Ms. HOOLEY

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate being offered the time. In my three decades of public service, I have never seen a problem as pervasive or as damaging as the meth epidemic faced by my home State of Oregon. Talking to law enforcement leaders about the meth problem, I have heard one message loud and clear. Local law enforcement lacks the money needed to extinguish this wildfire. The Byrne-JAG program is an effective partnership between Federal authorities and State and local law enforcement. It enables State and local leaders to leverage resources in key areas and facilitates collaboration among law enforcement, treatment and prevention programs. Last year, the Byrne task forces nationwide seized 5,600 meth labs, 55,000 weapons, and massive quantities of narcotics, including 2.7 million grams of methamphetamine. Many States have already been forced to cut or completely eliminate their gang and drug task forces. If we don't increase funding for the Byrne-JAG program, those cuts will only be deeper. I urge my colleagues to support the Kennedy amendment.

Ms. HOOLEY

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona to strike the funding for the Northwest Manufacturing Initiative. The Northwest Manufacturing Initiative encompasses Oregon and southwest Washington. The initiative is organized as a regional coalition, and its purpose is to make the Northwest region's diverse manufacturing sector a stronger contributor to the Nation's defense and national security. The initiative seeks to provide to the Defense Department a coordinated, regional resource for assessing products and services being offered by the private sector that meets our Nation's future defense needs. A key goal of the initiative is to increase the contribution of the Northwest coast to the Nation's industrial preparedness and security. A focus of this project is to assist small and medium-sized manufacturers to become providers of products to defense contractors. My colleague talked about HemCon; he talked about another company, Danner Boots. I could name several companies. There is another company, Hydration, which allows you with a membrane to fill water into this CamelBak and give you clean drinking water from the filthiest water you can find. Those are the kind of companies. These are small, innovative companies. This is where we get our innovation. The Oregon Manufacturing Initiative is a key component of the Oregon business plan and economic development plans in communities across Oregon and southwest Washington. Local, regional and State funding has been used to plan and develop the initiative. As manufacturing has declined in many parts of the Nation, it has become more urgent that small to medium-sized companies are mobilized to provide the necessary goods demanded by a modern military and the Nation's security. Through the Northwest Manufacturing Initiative, the Defense Department will have a one-stop resource when it needs information on what companies are providing to meet defense needs or when it seeks critical manufacturing research and development. The Northwest Manufacturing Initiative is a regional model designed to create efficiencies and cost savings. While I appreciate the intentions of the gentleman from Arizona, I must urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment and ask they support this worthwhile project.

Ms. HOOLEY

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Mark Abbott, Dean of the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University, on his nomination to the National Science Board. Oregon has long benefited from Dean Abbott's impressive scientific knowledge and I am delighted that he will now have the opportunity to share this insight with the rest of the country. We in Congress have already benefited from Dean Abbott's scientific expertise. In July, 2002, he testified before the House Committee on Science's Subcommittee on Environment, Technology, and Standards about satellite data management at NOAA from the perspective of the Earth science community. During his time at Oregon State, Dean Abbott's research has been focused on the interaction of biological and physical processes in the upper ocean. He has been a pioneer in the use of satellite ocean color data to study coupled physical/biological processes and he has also advised the Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation on ocean information infrastructure. Dean Abbott was also recently appointed a co-chair of the State of Oregon's Climate Change Integration Group. This panel, appointed by Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, has been charged with tracking the State's progress on greenhouse gas emission reductions and looking at future economic and societal implications of climate change. The National Science Board is the governing body of the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency established to promote the progress of science, advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare, and secure the national defense. The National Science Board has the duel responsibilities of serving as the national science policy advisor to the President and the Congress and serving as the governing board of the National Science Foundation. Today, the Nation and the world are confronted with many questions about the possible impacts that human behavior is having on the environment. We need to make sure that our policy decisions are based on science and not the other way around. With Mark Abbott and others like him serving on the National Science Board, I know that this will continue to be the case.

Ms. HOOLEY

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, today I rise to offer an amendment with Congressman Hulshof and Congressman Skelton that would provide an $8 million increase to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program. Mr. Chairman, for the past 5 years, HIDTA has essentially been levelly funded despite the increasing threat from the spread of methamphetamine throughout our country. This amendment would enable the Office of National Drug Control Policy to maintain full funding to existing HIDTAs as well as provide additional resources for the establishment of new HIDTAs. Mr. Chairman, in my three decades of public service, I have not seen a problem as pervasive or as damaging as Oregon's meth epidemic. The production, distribution and use of meth is a serious threat to public health and safety. I have traveled around the State talking to policymakers and law enforcement leaders about the meth problem. I have heard one message loud and clear: local law enforcement lacks the resources needed to extinguish Oregon's meth wildfire, and I know Oregon is by no means alone in this fight. HIDTA provides State and local law enforcement with critical Federal resources to fight meth abuse. It is particularly effective because these resources are targeted at the areas most adversely affected by drug trafficking. It allows communities to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to combat meth and other illegal drugs, one that addresses enforcement, treatment, prevention education, and control of precursor chemicals. Last year, I offered a similar amendment to the FY 06 meth appropriation bill that added $9 million to HIDTA. While this amendment passed overwhelmingly, the funding was stripped from the final conference report. HIDTA deserves the support of this Congress because it not only helps law enforcement identify and dismantle labs, but also helps break the cycle of other crimes associated with meth use, crimes from domestic violence and child abuse to identity theft. We must continue to support this valuable initiative so our communities have the resources they need to stop the spread of methamphetamine. I urge you to support this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will answer a question, this was $9 million, not $12 million.

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming the balance of my time, this amendment is really about priorities. The National Archives is an excellent program, and one I fully support; but this amendment still leaves them with $281.6 million for operating expenses. It is an increase. HIDTA is at level funding, and it allows HIDTA to improve and expand its services for the first time in 5 years, at a time when communities across this country are facing an increasing problem with methamphetamine. Everybody knows this is a huge problem, one of the fastest-growing drug problems in the Nation. I think we need to provide HIDTA with the funding they need. It is not that I don't support the archives program; it is terrific. But HIDTA has been funded at a level that it already had an increase, and I think we need to fund this. This is a horrific epidemic in this country, and I think we need to fund it. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Ms. HOOLEY

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, communities across this country are facing an increasing problem with methamphetamine, a drug that is cheap, easy to make, and gives addicts an intense longlasting high, but one that destroys their brains, causes them to abuse and neglect their children, and can lead to paranoid acts of violence. And while we have taken action to cut off pseudoephedrine sales to the mom and pop meth labs, the vast majority of meth consumed in this country is made in Mexico and smuggled into the U.S. by Mexican drug cartels. My amendment would help address this issue by designating $10 million in the international narcotics control and law enforcement for counter-methamphetamine efforts in Mexico. International narcotics control and law enforcement is funded in this bill at $703 million, a $231 million increase over last year's funding. While the overall account is adequately funded within this program, the committee report designates only $40 million for Mexico, with the money being spread among a number of narcotic control and law enforcement efforts, including strengthening the northern border infrastructure and fighting drug and weapons smuggling. The amendment simply increases funding for international narcotics control and law enforcement by $10 million and immediately reduces it again. The intent of the amendment is to redirect these funds to the designation for Mexico, devoting the $10 million specifically toward the counter of methamphetamine efforts. The money should not come from any other already designated account within international narcotics and law enforcement, but from those funds which have not yet been allocated either through the legislative language or committee report. We must provide the State Department with additional resources so they can better stem the rising influx of methamphetamines produced by these Mexican drug cartels. My amendment would ensure that the State Department devotes its resources specifically toward stemming the rising influx of methamphetamine produced by these Mexican drug cartels.

Ms. HOOLEY. I yield to the gentleman from Arizona.

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. HOOLEY

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize four students from West Salem High School in Salem, Oregon. These four students--Stefanie Gille, Amy Hafer, Tyler Klarr, and John Mai--won the Toshiba/National Science Teachers Association ExploraVision program, Grades 10-12 category. Their winning project, ``The Human Touch,'' is a prosthetic limb that integrates e-skin, skin-grafting techniques and nerve regeneration tubes to allow amputees to sense the world through artificial skin. Microprocessors translate texture, pressure, temperature, and vibration into sensations detected by the patient. The inspiration for these students was Jim Henry, a special education teacher at West Salem who is an amputee. He challenged them to develop a design that would allow him and other amputees to regain the ability to feel objects with their prosthesis. With this as their focus, these students embarked on a year-long research project that culminated with them being recognized by the ExploraVision program as having the best project in a nationwide competition. ExploraVision is a competition for students in grades K-12 from the United States and Canada. The purpose of the competition is to encourage students to combine their imaginations with the tools of science to create and explore a vision of a future technology. Students work in groups, along with a team coach, and select a technology or an aspect of a technology that is relevant to their lives. They explore what the technology does, how it works, and how, when, and why it was invented. The students must then project into the future what the technology could be like 20 years from now. Examples of projects from this year's winners include boots that convert electrical energy to heat to keep feet warm in cold weather and an asthma sensor monitoring system. Earlier this week in the Science Committee, we wrestled with how to get more students interested in math, science, engineering, and technology. These students and their fellow award winners suggest to me that the cause is not lost, that it is possible to get today's students to love math and science. Today's students are tomorrow's scientists, mathematicians, and engineers and with students like Stefanie, Amy, Tyler, and John, the United States will continue to lead the world in technology and innovation.

Ms. HOOLEY

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that my amendment be considered in accordance with this modification.

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of this amendment, which has the support of all of my colleagues in the Oregon delegation. Our amendment, as agreed to by the chairman and the ranking member, would require the Secretary of the Army to supply Congress with a report no later than 60 days from the enactment of this act that outlines the Army's plan regarding the receipt of all CH-47 aircraft in the active and Reserve components. I would like the record to reflect that it is my intent that this report should include a description of the Army's plan, timeline and the cost for the reset of those aircraft. I also believe that the Secretary should include the status of the current backlog and the options that currently exist to accelerate the reset program. I want to thank Chairman Hunter and Ranking Member Skelton for working with us on this important issue to address our concerns. I look forward to working with them in the future to address the problems and obstacles that I anticipate will be identified in the Secretary's report regarding the reset program. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to my colleague, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Ms. HOOLEY. I yield to the gentleman from California.

Ms. HOOLEY. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. HOOLEY

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the First Christian Church of Monmouth. In the past 150 years, the members of this church have proven again and again the depth of their caring and giving, not just to their community, but to all those in need. From 1850 to 1853 pioneers like Elijah Davidson, Ira F.M. Butler and others came to the Oregon Territory from their homes in Monmouth, Illinois--the inspiration for what became Monmouth, Oregon. These settlers, members of the Disciples of Christ Church, came to create a new community and school steeped in their religion and their values, tenets that they shared with the long history of pioneers going back to the beginnings of our nation. In 1856, Monmouth University (present-day Western Oregon University) was chartered, and it became the first home for the church. Just as the buildings that house this faith community have changed and grown over the years, so has the church's congregation. Active in the community, their good works include a teen center for local youth as well as the home for the Monmouth chapter of Meals on Wheels. This congregation represents the heart of the community and the goodness in people which we should all strive to achieve. I want to take this opportunity to honor this church for the efforts that they have made on behalf of the residents of Monmouth and students of Western Oregon University. On this, their sesquicentennial anniversary, I acknowledge and honor the First Christian Church of Monmouth for their service and dedication to their community.

Ms. HOOLEY

Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the city and citizens of Monmouth, Oregon, as they prepare to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the city's foundation. Monmouth is a city that understands the meaning of words like history, tradition, and most of all, community. Since its incorporation in 1856 by members of what became the First Christian Church, the people of Monmouth have held firm to the values that make it an outstanding example of the AIl-American city. The city is home to Western Oregon University which was founded in the same year and is the oldest public university in Oregon, as well as Campbell Hall, the oldest building in the state's public higher education system. The campus of Western Oregon University is also home to one of the tallest Christmas trees in the U.S., a giant Sequoia planted by the students in 1879 that has been nominated for inclusion in Oregon's Heritage Tree Program. Monmouth is home to the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training which provides training facilities for both local and state law enforcement officers along with the Oregon Military Academy. The partnerships forged between the town and these institutions shows the dedication of the citizens to not just a safe community, but safe communities across Oregon and the nation. Beautiful parks in Monmouth are large enough for city-wide festivals such as the annual Western Days Fourth of July celebration--which draw 10,000 visitors annually for the largest and longest patriotic festival in Oregon, yet intimate enough for families to gather and enjoy a day of recreation. Family-friendly activities are available year-round, from active sports programs to dance recitals to high school plays where the whole town comes out to show their support. And so tomorrow, on this town's 150th birthday, I join the residents of Monmouth, Oregon, in celebrating the wonderful community that they have created.