Steny Hoyer

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor a great patriot as well as a great friend, Robert ``Bob'' E. Waxman. On March 1st, 2006, Bob retired as the Deputy for Aircraft Division operations for the Avionics Competency of the Navy Air Navigation Electronics Project (NANEP). Bob has had a long and distinguished career in service to our nation. He graduated from Forest Park High School in 1942, and worked for the Army Air Corps from 1943-1946, where he trained as a Navigator in B- I7's and B-29's. Bob next attended the University of Maryland, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1950. In 1951, Bob began working for the Electrical Test Division's Radio Communication Branch of the NANEP at Patuxent River. Two years later, he was promoted to the Supervisory Electrical Engineer for the organization. In 1958, Bob was promoted to the Technical Director of the NANEP, a leadership position he would hold for almost 48 years. One of Bob's major accomplishments as the Technical Director occurred when he oversaw NANEP's move to Webster Field in 1960. During the 1960s Bob earned his Master's of Science in Electrical Engineering Management from George Washington University. In 1994, Bob successfully led the transition of the Naval Electronic Systems Engineering Activity into NAV AIR, the Naval Air Systems Command. Bob Waxman has guided Webster Field through an unprecedented period of growth and success. When he began his service, Webster Field had 57 employees and a $320,000 budget. Under Bob's leadership, Webster Field reached a peak of more than 2,800 employees and a budget of more than $368 million. Bob also achieved another milestone: Webster Field was supposed to have been closed on five separate occasions. On each of these occasions, however, Bob succeeded in saving the organization. These acts alone make him a great leader and a hero to many. Throughout the past 25 years, Bob's achievements have been recognized time and again with myriad awards and honors. In 2002, Bob was honored as the first employee at Patuxent River to receive a 55-year Length of Service Certificate. Bob is the recipient of the Navy Superior Civilian Service Award, the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award, the Distinguished Civilian Service Award, and a Congressional Certificate of Appreciation. In 2001, the Air 4.5 Avionics Robert E. Waxman Leadership Award was established in Bob's name. Finally, Bob's expertise and leadership skills were recognized by his peers when Bob was elected President of the Society of Engineers and Scientists. Mr. Speaker, throughout his dynamic career, Bob Waxman has been a positive influence on many lives. On behalf of the thousands of individuals that Bob has helped over the years, I would like to congratulate and thank Bob Waxman for his extraordinary contributions to not only our community, but to our Nation.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, today the Senate will vote on the $781 billion increase in the national debt, the fourth debt limit increase in 5 years. And the Republican Party continues to push tax policies that will drive us even deeper into debt. In 5 years, the Washington Republicans have racked up more new debt, more than $3 trillion, than the entire debt amassed from 1789 to 1988. We are now borrowing more than $600,000 per minute, $218 billion this year alone. In March 2001, President Bush promised, ``We will pay off $2 trillion of debt over the next decade. Future generations should not be forced pay back money that we have borrowed. We owe this kind of responsibility to our children and grandchildren.'' Promises made, promises broken, a $5 trillion mistake the President made. Sadly, the administration and the Republican majority in this Congress continue to pursue their reckless, irresponsible, debt-creating policies. How sad. How wrong. I tell the gentleman from North Carolina, it is not that we can do better, we did better.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, I rise, and I will be very brief, in support of the gentlewoman, the ranking Democrat on the House Administration Committee, which has jurisdiction over elections, who I understand will be offering an amendment which I offered in committee dealing with the challenges to the five-state region struck by Katrina and by Rita as it relates to the administration of elections. As we know, New Orleans has an election coming up within the next 30 days. Other jurisdictions have elections. I tried to offer $5 million in the committee through the EAC. I want to say that the gentlewoman, I appreciate her leadership on this issue. I support her amendment. I hope it is made in order. I hope it is not objected to. And I hope that we can see it adopted. I want to tell the gentlewoman as well that Mr. Knollenberg and I have been discussing this, because FEMA has said that they cannot spend, under the Stafford Act, certain expenditures which are required to administer the elections, particularly in New Orleans, because that is upon us, but in other jurisdictions as well. They did pay for the loss of machines. They did pay for the loss of ballot boxes and other paraphernalia necessary, but they have said under the Stafford Act they cannot pay for the election expenses in either Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana. The gentlewoman's amendment speaks to that and I would certainly be in support of it. Mr. Chairman, I plan to vote for the emergency supplemental appropriations bill that we are considering today. H.R. 4939 will pay for supplies and materiel that our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan desperately need to carry out their mission. The supplemental will also provide much needed resources to Gulf-Area States that were ravaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. However, this bill is not perfect. I am disappointed that the appropriations committee did not address a problem that has come to light in recent weeks with respect to voting in States that suffered the brunt of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. On August 29, 2005, residents in Gulf Coast States endured one of the most devastating natural disasters in our nation's history. Tens of thousands of voters were displaced. One month later, hurricane Rita caused additional widespread damage to voting infrastructure in Gulf-Area States. An extraordinary amount of the Gulf region's election infrastructure--voting machines, polling places, and voting materials-- were destroyed or severely damaged by the destruction wrought by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In Louisiana alone, over 250 polling places in the State's coastal parishes were destroyed. To make matters worse, tens of thousands of people were forced to temporarily resettle in cities and towns throughout the United States while their communities are rebuilt. Many if not most of these displaced people have every intention of returning to their communities as soon as conditions allow. In the meantime, they are determined to maintain as many ties to their communities as they can. Understandably, they would like to participate in elections that will be held this year in their communities. Unfortunately, FEMA has proven ineffective at delivering assistance to election officials in hurricane-stricken States who are busy mounting what may be the most extensive and expensive voter outreach, education, and absentee voting program in the Nation's history. According to FEMA's narrow reading of the ``Robert T. Stafford Act,'' the agency is only empowered to make reimbursements to States to replace destroyed voting machines, but not for outreach to displaced voters. In other words, FEMA can pay to replace damaged or destroyed voting machines, but it cannot pay to help States plan and execute the voter outreach and voter absentee programs that will be crucial to maintaining electoral continuity in 2006. As a consequence, of the roughly $3.8 million in claims that the State of Louisiana has so far submitted for reimbursement, for example, only $1.2 million have been approved by FEMA. During markup of this bill last week, I offered an amendment that would have provided funds to the election assistance commission to help States pay for the entire range of activities that are crucial to running fair, accurate, and secure elections in 2006. I regret that my amendment was not accepted, and I regret that the bill before us today does not include a provision specifying that under the Stafford Act FEMA is authorized to reimburse States for a wider range of election activities than the agency insists. Let me be clear: I do not blame this omission on partisanship because there is nothing partisan about the issue. Democratic, Republican, and Independent voters in the Gulf States all endured last year's trauma. However, I am very pleased that Chairman Knollenberg recognizes the significance of this issue and has agreed to work to address it in conference. In the days ahead, I look forward to working with Chairman Knollenberg and his staff to ensure FEMA has the necessary authorities to reimburse the hurricane-stricken States for a much wider range of essential election activities than FEMA claims it has under current law.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this important Resolution offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), urging the Russian Federation to fully protect the freedoms of all religious communities without distinction, whether registered or unregistered, as stipulated by the Russian Constitution and international standards. It is undoubtedly true that the Russian Federation has made democratic progress since the breakup of the former Soviet Union. However, there is legitimate cause for concern that Russia is backsliding on some of the most basic democratic values, including the fundamental and inalienable human right to worship God according to the dictates of one's own conscience. As this Resolution points out, registration is critical for religious groups to fully enjoy their religious freedoms. In fact, many of the rights and privileges afforded to religious communities are contingent upon registration. Yet, some religious communities have been unjustly denied registration or had their registration improperly terminated. Other religious communities refuse to seek registration on theological or other grounds. In addition, there have been arson attacks on unregistered Protestant churches, with little or no effective response to bring the perpetrators to justice. And, in some areas of the Russian Federation, law enforcement authorities have carried out violent actions against believers from unregistered communities peacefully practicing their faith. These actions are counter to values that democratic society's embrace and they are simply unacceptable. As the former Chair and Ranking Democrat on the Commission on Security and Cooperation and Europe, I am well aware of the history of religious persecution and discrimination in Russia. In fact, when I served as Chairman of the Commission, I frequently met with religious dissidents and their families in the former Soviet Union. For example, during a Congressional delegation trip in 1988, Congressman Smith and I met with Russian Baptists at the Hotel Pulkovo in Leningrad and with Father Gleb Yakunin at his apartment in Moscow. I also met with numerous Soviet Jewish refuseniks, some of whom were prosecuted for teaching Jewish traditions and history. This Resolution, among other things, urges the Russian Federation to ensure full protection of freedoms for all religious communities without distinction, whether registered or unregistered, and to end the harassment of unregistered religious groups by the security apparatus and other government agencies. In addition, it urges the Russian Federation to vigorously investigate acts of violence against unregistered religious communities. Mr. Speaker, I know there is sometimes a temptation to look upon Resolutions such as this one as mere words on paper without significant meaning. However, we know from experience that we must never under estimate the power of our democratic ideals and values. The truth is, the signing of the Helsinki Final Act in 1975--with its emphasis on respect for human rights--was instrumental in focusing attention on human rights abuses, including religious persecution, in the former Soviet Union. And, the attention on these abuses was such an embarrassment to the former Soviet government that it slowly, if grudgingly, began to address them. Today, we must be no less vigilant in holding the Russian government to account for these on-going abuses. I urge my colleagues to vote for this Resolution.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman. From what you have said, it is my presumption then that the Online Freedom of Speech Act will be the last order of business?

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my good friend, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), the distinguished majority leader, for purposes of telling us what the schedule for the coming week is.

Mr. HOYER. So would that mean that we might consider the Internet bill prior to the supplemental? I yield to my friend.

Mr. HOYER. And the emergency supplemental appropriation, you say Wednesday or Thursday?

Mr. HOYER. Obviously. Can you tell us when you think the budget might come before the House? I yield to my friend.

Mr. HOYER. So in the latter part of March or third or fourth week in March?

Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for the information that he has given to us.

Mr. HOYER. With respect, Mr. Leader, to the budget, I know there was some talk about doing it prior to our break, but you had indicated last week it might roll over. Do you have a guess?

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I agree with the gentlewoman and the gentleman from Michigan, but I want to speak about the previous question, which the general public really does not understand. But if we defeat the previous question, we get an opportunity to offer an amendment to this piece of legislation. Because so few pieces of legislation are passing this body, we have to take the opportunities you get, and I appreciate that the chairman of the Appropriations Committee Mr. Lewis has stated that he will insert language in the supplemental appropriation bill this afternoon, a supplemental for the war in Iraq and hurricane recovery, that will block the takeover of major American seaports by a Dubai company owned by the United Arab Emirates. The Appropriations Committee will mark up that supplemental spending bill today, and it may be considered on the House floor next week, but the American people should harbor no illusions. We have absolutely no idea when the other body will take up this spending bill. Moreover, we have no idea of whether the Senate bill will even include a provision that addresses the vital national security issue of who owns our ports. In fact, just today, Senator Stevens, who chairs the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, is quoted as saying, ``I believe it ought to go through the 45-day review.'' So they are not going to take it up very soon. Mr. Speaker, every Member of this House has the opportunity right now today to go on record as opposing the management of American seaports by a company owned by a foreign government. Now, it is not owning the seaports, but managing those seaports, and there is no excuse for not doing so. We have the opportunity. If we defeat the previous question, that will be our intent, to offer an amendment to this bill, send it to the Senate, which will preclude ownership of the management of the ports of America by the Dubai corporation owned by the state. I urge every Member, oppose the previous question on the rule in order to allow consideration of language blocking the port deal. Furthermore, I urge the American people to not lose sight of the bigger issue. This administration and this Republican Congress have failed to do what is necessary to protect our homeland and our people from attack. Just last week Steven Flynn, a former Commander of the Coast Guard and an expert on homeland security, testified before the House Armed Services Committee, ``My assessment,'' this is the Commander of the Coast Guard, now retired, ``My assessment is that the security measures that are currently in place do not provide an effective deterrent for a determined terrorist organization intent on exploiting or targeting the maritime transportation system to strike at the United States.'' Five years after the catastrophic attacks of September 11, there is simply no excuse for these continuing vulnerabilities to our national security. Today, by voting ``no'' on the previous question, we have an opportunity to say no to the management of America's ports by government-owned entities. Vote ``no'' on the previous question.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, the month of March is a time for us to officially recognize the essential role the American Red Cross plays in our communities. 2006 is a special year for the Red Cross, as we commemorate its 125th year of making our country safer, healthier and more secure. In honoring the national organization of the Red Cross, we must also recognize the local chapters that work tirelessly to achieve these goals, such as the Red Cross of Southern Maryland, now in its 80th year of service. The Southern Maryland Red Cross, and the Nation, faced new challenges in 2005. The deadly tsunami in late 2004 tested the character and will of the international community, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita uprooted families and communities. Throughout every trial we faced, the Red Cross was there to help ease suffering and aid recovery. These dedicated people were first in line to help families and individuals, friends and strangers. The Southern Maryland Red Cross faced not only the national disasters of 2005, but ones that hit closer to home. The response they provided is a testament to the kindness of any American touched by tragedy. The citizens of Southern Maryland rolled up their sleeves to donate over 7,000 units of blood and gave donations to aid the victims of 200 house fires. They learned CPR, lifesaving skills, and first aid techniques. They volunteered their time, money and hearts to anyone who needed help. And they did not just aid their neighbors at home, but also those abroad, allowing over 200 military personnel to communicate with their families in Maryland. Mr. Speaker, the people of the Southern Maryland Red Cross are no different from you or me. They have full time jobs, families, and responsibilities at home. What makes these Americans so extraordinary is that they have selflessly taken time out of their lives to help schools, workplaces, families, and any person who needs a hand. The Southern Maryland Chapter consists of 200 volunteers and donors, but it responds to the needs of a nation. The Southern Maryland Red Cross brings aid and recovery, gives hope and comfort, and inspires Americans to reach out when help is needed. I feel assured knowing that the Southern Maryland Chapter is working every day to better the lives of my fellow Maryland residents. We must all do our part to recognize the vitality of the Red Cross and ensure that they are ready to help us respond to the challenges that lie ahead. In honor of the Southern Maryland Chapter of the Red Cross, I would like to take this time to officially recognize March as American Red Cross Month. Whether it is a donation of time, money or courage, the American Red Cross is there for us. This March is a time to stand up and recognize their continued service. I encourage all Americans to show their commitment to the Red Cross by donating money or volunteering their time at one of the many local chapters across the country.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. I appreciate that. Last, these are all important and while we are being humorous to some degree about when we know about these, clearly we have a lot of important business to do, and we are now going into the third month of the year. Can you tell us what your expectations are on the tax reconciliation conference report? Obviously, that was a very contentious bill as it passed out of the House as you know, Mr. Leader; and we would like to be prepared for that bill when it comes back, when the conference committee comes back to the House.

Mr. HOYER. Reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman for that information. Mr. Leader, as you know, we have been considering the rule for the food labeling bill. It is my understanding we are going to be limited to general debate. It is also my understanding that the reason we are not completing the bill is the Rules Committee has had some issues with reference to exactly the way in which we are going to consider the bill and the amendments. Mr. Leader, as you know, this bill has had no hearings. None. As you further know, there are States who are very concerned. As a matter of fact, I think I have gotten a letter indicating there are 36 attorneys general around the country, Republican and Democrat, who have concerns with this bill. Mr. Leader, I would hope that the leadership on your side would convey to the Rules Committee the necessity to have, A, open debate, and hopefully, as well, significant possibility of amendment. I do not know whether it would be an open rule or certainly, I hesitate to use this word, but a liberal rule which will allow significant amendments to be considered by this House, again, in light of the fact that it has had no hearings whatsoever as it comes to this floor. I yield to my friend.

Mr. HOYER. I appreciate the leader's information. Again, in closing, I would ask the leader if he would use his good offices on the food bill because there is substantial controversy around the country, as well as on the House floor, on that bill to provide for as full a consideration and amendatory process as possible. I appreciate the leader's attention to that.

Mr. HOYER. That word will do if it becomes realty. We appreciate your comments, Mr. Leader. The PATRIOT Act, that was supposed to be on the calendar, we thought, this week. It is not on the calendar. I see you have not mentioned it in the work for next week. Can you tell me whether we expect it to come before us next week as a suspension bill or under a rule?

Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for that comment. Let me move on, if I can, to the budget resolution. Can you give us a sense at this point in time of the timing of the budget resolution? We know that there have been some concerns raised in the other body; obviously, some concerns raised here. We understand that it was the intention to bring that up prior to the St. Patrick's Day recess. Can you tell me whether that is still the intent and when we might expect to see that bill on the floor?

Mr. HOYER. Well, that will be a first, if I am the first to know.

Mr. HOYER. Thank you, sir. On the supplemental appropriation, we know that the President has made a request. Can you tell us when the supplemental appropriation might be considered?

Mr. HOYER. I see there is not a representation, however, that I will be the first to know on this one.

Mr. HOYER. And how I stand here in anticipation of that fact. If the leader does not mind, I will hold him to that.

Mr. HOYER. This is a new era in which we are moving, and I cannot tell you how excited I am about that.