John Hall

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 65, I was chairing the VA Disabilities Subcommittee hearing. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Thank you, Congressman. It's my pleasure to join you tonight. I wish I had as much pleasure looking at the budget the President submitted as I do discussing it with you, and all of us, of course, earlier this week received a copy of the President's budget. Like all of us, I was disappointed by the questionable accounting and fiscal irresponsibilities contained within this budget. I wish I could say I was surprised, but unfortunately it represents the same missed opportunities and misplaced priorities that have highlighted this administration. First of all, I would have to say for a President and an administration that claimed to be fiscally responsible and who constantly accuse Democrats of being fiscally irresponsible, it's really shocking and deserving of mention that this President, George W. Bush, has been responsible, his administration, responsible for the five biggest deficits in American history. Here they are. We all remember, of course, at the end of the 1990s when President Bush took over from President Clinton that we had a surplus, and we were, in fact, paying down some of the national debt for a change. But due to his tax policies and his overspending and his penchant for borrowing, our President and his administration have run up, in 2003, a deficit of $378 billion; in 2004, a deficit of $413 billion; in 2005, $318 billion; 2008 actually is the next figure here, $410 billion; and for 2009 is a projected $407 billion budget. We can't keep this up. Any family knows that they can't keep spending. In fact, too many families are finding this out, that the chickens eventually come home to roost. I, as a former school board president and school board trustee who had to balance the budget every year know that you can't go on spending more money than you take in without some kind of disaster befalling you. Unfortunately, what's happening in terms of the value of the dollar, in terms of our exporting jobs, in terms of foreign interests buying up pieces of the United States or corporations or infrastructure in the United States, in terms of our weakened markets, and volatile and declining markets, all these things have to do with the basic foundation, the underpinning of our country being massive debt. The other thing about the President's budget that I was surprised to see and disappointed to see, it does nothing to fix the alternative minimum tax, or the AMT, a tax which was originally designed, when it first took effect in 1970, to affect only 155 households, the most wealthy, the most affluent households in America who were using tax loopholes to avoid paying any tax at all. Congress wrote, in the late 1960s, this bill which the AMT took effect in 1970, to hit the very top of the most wealthy people in the country. Now because it was never indexed to inflation, it was never given a cost-of-living increase, it was never allowed to float as the cost of living and the average salaries and income in the country changed, that AMT has dipped every year deeper and deeper and deeper into the American tax-paying public and dramatically increasing the tax rate paid by millions of middle-class families who were never intended to be hit by the AMT, over 20 million of whom will be forced to pay it next year. Without a permanent fix, half of all taxpayers in this country will pay this AMT that was originally designed to hit 155 of the wealthiest households in the country. But the President does nothing to stop this. Instead, he calls for more than $1 trillion in tax cuts for the top 1 percent of all Americans. Once again, we have 5 years in a row of record increases in the poverty rate, we have record increases in personal debt, we have record increases in national debt, we have record increases in our balance of trade deficit. Strangely enough, at the same time, I read in the paper that ExxonMobil has declared 40 point some billion dollars in profit, the largest single yearly corporate profit in the history of the world, breaking the previous record which was held by ExxonMobil themselves. Some people in this economy and in this current fiscal and business financial scheme are doing very, very, very well and will continue to do very well. There are others, mainly the middle class and lower income Americans, who are being squeezed from all sides. Believe me, they are not being squeezed up, they are being squeezed down. The middle class is having their options and their opportunities cut, whether it's the cost of sending their children to college, whether it's being the cost of purchasing health care for their families, the cost of property or property tax, the cost of fuel for their cars or for their homes. I mean, even the fact that the President in this budget slashed the low-income heating assistance program, LIHEAP, is scandalous. At a time when we have families and seniors who are struggling to heat their homes in the northern parts of this country, I wouldn't have expected the President, a so-called compassionate conservative, to be so discompassionate as to cut heating assistance for low-income people in this current climate of economic uncertainty and astronomical fuel costs. I would just say that I am happy to be here to discuss this, and, more importantly, to talk about how we are going to move to a real budget, not a fake budget that's based on some platitudes and some kind of ideological belief, some faith-based budgeting that has nothing to do with reality and nothing to do with the well-being of the American people.

Mr. HALL of New York. Thank you, Mr. Yarmuth. I appreciate your leading this discussion. I also want to acknowledge my colleague from New York (Mr. Arcuri). Thank you for serving as Speaker pro tem during this period of time. I'd just like to respond to Mr. Walz's comment about what kind of sense does it make for this cut in the water program in your district. Well, I can say it makes about as much sense as the President's completely eliminating the Byrne Grant program and the COPS program, both of which are vital to my district to provide cops, additional policemen on the streets in the 19th District of New York. It makes about as much sense as cutting the important programs that provide local and State law enforcement agencies with funds to fight terrorism and crime, including almost $140 million that were cut from bioterrorism preparedness. They make as much sense as the President cutting Medicare and Medicaid at a time when health insurance costs are skyrocketing, when more and more Americans are forced to live without health insurance. This budget cuts $200 billion out of health insurance from Medicare and Medicaid. At a time when we're facing one of the most damaging housing crises in our history with foreclosures and evictions due to the subprime mortgage crisis, it makes as much sense as this President cutting the Nation's largest rental assistance program. It makes as much sense, as I mentioned before, as cutting the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program by almost 25 percent, preventing people in the lower income segment of our economy from being able to heat their homes during the winter. We were talking about your district. I'll talk about something specific to mine. We have, many of us think due to climate change, suffered from three 50-year floods in the last 3 years in the 19th District, the Delaware River, the Wallkill River, the Ten Mile River, all flooding farms, homes, businesses, golf courses, which might not sound too important, except they do employ people and they're a source of economic input into the local economy. And, but as importantly, lives were lost. In Congressman Hinchey's district in Sullivan County, there was a drastic, catastrophic flood shortly after the April 29 nor'easter, which was the third in 2007, the third in a row of our 50- year floods that came within 3 years. So last year, when I was new, I was a freshman, wet behind the ears, just been sworn in for my first turn, we got into the appropriations process. And you know what it's like. People come into your office from different departments of the government asking to have funding restored to these different important programs that have been cut by the administration. One of those who came to my office was the general who is the Army Corps of Engineers director of the Philadelphia district, which includes the Delaware watershed. Now, the Delaware Corps of Engineers offices go by watersheds, not by State lines or any kind of political jurisdictions. Her district, the general's, ran from Philadelphia up to Delaware and into New York from Pennsylvania and all the way up to the reservoirs that feed New York City's drinking water system. This is one of the rivers that has had, at that point in time, three 50-year floods in a short span. She came in to ask if I could help restore funding. And I said, well, what was it cut to? And she showed me in the President's budget it was cut to zero. It was a goose egg. Now, flood control, in the days after Hurricane Katrina, we all know is a serious matter. This obviously is not a serious document any more than last year's budget was a serious document. This document is a fictitious document that is aimed at pretending to balance the budget in 2012. And we all know that can't be done. And, in fact, the general and others who have come from different departments to my office and others have said, off the record, that it's done with the knowledge that the Democratic majority will restore some of these funds at least to be able to keep the programs going and to protect people, and then we'll get blamed for being big spenders. Well, in terms of being big spenders, I just want to bring out this chart which I happen to have here which shows the surplus that was the United States budget surplus when, in 2001, the Bush administration began its term. There was a $5.6 trillion surplus. In the time since then, there's red ink of $8.8 trillion, so that at this point in time we're at a $3.2 trillion deficit, including omitted items. Now, we all know there are items that are not included in this. For instance, the war is off budget. We fought wars in the past, World War II or the Korean War or the Vietnam War, World War I, during which time people were asked to sacrifice. People were asked to pay for the war as they went. This is a war that we're borrowing money to pay for, and Congressman Klein's chart that he showed before, of the increasing foreign ownership of our debt, I think, is really important and really interesting for several reasons. Obviously it's not healthy for us to have this much debt and to accumulate an ever-growing interest payment that eclipses anything we can do for education or for housing or for veterans or for homeland security and that we're going to pass on to our children and our grandchildren. That's really unconscionable. But the other thing that that does to have that kind of huge debt to the Chinese or to the Saudis or to the Mexican or Japanese Governments or investors from other countries is it loses our sovereignty when we can't talk to China about Darfur or when we can't talk to China honestly about human rights violations in their country or about the obliteration of the history of Tibet or about whether they're being as tough with North Korea about their nuclear problem as we want them to be or about lead in toys that are being imported for our children to play with or about contaminated food or animal feed or contaminated medicine. When we can't talk to the Saudis honestly about human rights violations in their country or about their funding of the madrasas, we have suffered what I call a loss of sovereignty. When you no longer can make honest, diplomatic, economic, military, international decisions or really state what is in your best interest because you are afraid that your hands are tied for want of getting a commodity from one place or the money to pay the debt off from another place, then you have lost some of your sovereignty. And I'm telling you, in this country, the American people are not aware of the extent of it yet, but they better get aware of it because this is already a major factor in our foreign policy, but it will be more and more of a problem and restrict our options more and more in the future if we do not get back to a surplus in terms of our budget, if we don't get back to a surplus in the balance of trade, if we don't start producing things here. I, personally, am especially fond of the options of renewable energy technologies and high tech and computer and medical advances and so on that we have traditionally led the world in. But we need to invest in education, we need to invest in these innovation approaches to technologies and especially to invest in new forms of energy to get us away from the billions of dollars a day that go to import oil. But all of these things are our freedom, and they equate our future sovereignty. And I hope we make the right decisions, as opposed to the wrong decisions, that are embodied in this budget that the President just released so that our children and grandchildren will enjoy being a truly sovereign country and a leader in the world in these things rather than being subservient to whatever foreign interests happen to own our debt.

Mr. HALL of New York. I would like to close by saying as college costs rise, this President eliminates programs to help pay low-income students for higher education. As health care costs rise, this budget proposes a significant cut in both Medicare and Medicaid. It actually cuts funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, which would endanger the health and welfare of all Americans. So to quote from this President Bush's father, the first President, Herbert Walker Bush, when he was responding to the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein, This will not stand. I will say, as far as this budget being brought to this Congress, this will not stand. It will be changed, and I hope the next time around on the floor of the House we will be talking about the positive changes that we've made to reflect the priorities of the American people which we were elected to espouse.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, times are rough right now. Signs of economic turmoil are multiplying, and we seem to be headed for, or already are in, a recession. Last week stock markets around the world dropped precipitously, and only an emergency rate change by the Federal Reserve prevented them from falling even farther. The people I represent in the Hudson Valley have been particularly hard hit. Oil has passed the $100-a-barrel mark, making it more expensive than ever for people to heat their homes and drive their cars. In suburban communities in the Northeast, like the area I represent, home heating bills are up by more than 30 percent over last year. Expenses are rising; wages are stagnating. As a result, families struggle to pay their everyday costs. Our debts increase and investment in our future plummets. Congress must act quickly. I am proud that this Congress will pass legislation today to stimulate the economy to help people and businesses, but especially the working families who need it most.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Madam Speaker, regarding H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, I am disappointed that changes have been made from the bill passed in December which will weaken the ability of Americans tortured by Saddam Hussein to collect an award determined in federal court for the abuses of his regime. I am hopeful that this unfortunate circumstance will be remedied and that Congress and the President will find a way to ensure that these brave troops are able to pursue justice.

Mr. HALL

Mr. HALL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 2007 Celina Bobcat football team. On December 22nd, 2007, the Celina Bobcats defeated the China Spring Cougars by a score of 21 to 14 to win the Class 3 AAA Division II State Championship at Texas Stadium. Under the leadership of Coach Butch Ford, the Bobcats finished the 2007 season with a perfect 16-0 record to claim a new state record 8th State Championship. This is a remarkable accomplishment that merits recognition. With a record eight state titles and wins in two out of the last three championship games, the Bobcats have a heritage of excellence in football. This tradition of winning is proven by their historical rankings with more wins in the last 10, 20 and 40 years than any other team in Texas. By halftime the Bobcats found themselves in their first halftime tie of the season with a close 7-7 game, and by the end of the third quarter it was still tied at 14-14. However, by the end of the fourth there was no doubt which team was champion. In a close game where every play counted, the Bobcats pulled ahead at the end to win by 7 points. This State Championship win marks another tremendous milestone in the continued excellence of Bobcat football, and I am proud of their accomplishment. Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate the Bobcat players as well as their coaches, trainer, cheerleaders, the Las Gatitas dance squad, band members, teachers, school administration, and other community supporters for their success in both championship and regular season play. I ask each of my colleagues to join me in honoring Celina High School in their record-breaking 8th State Championship.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Madam Speaker, first let me wish a happy and safe holiday to all our men and women in uniform who are serving here and abroad. After watching the Department of Veterans Affairs face a $1 billion shortfall during a time of war, I came into this Congress convinced that if we had the money to fight a war, we must have the money to treat the warrior. One of the first votes that this Congress took was to increase funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs. And one of our last votes of the year will be to provide $6.7 billion in new funding to the Department to ensure that our Nation's veterans get the care they have earned. The way the government spends its money is a true indication of its priorities. With this appropriations bill, our new Congress has shown that America's veterans are a top priority.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Madam Speaker, the nineteenth district of New York is one of the districts in this country most affected by the AMT. Last year over 30,000 families in my district paid AMT. I wish we had the support in both the majority, and the minority, that we need to advance the major tax reform necessary to prevent the AMT from unfairly penalizing thousands of families in the Hudson Valley. The ``patch'' legislation that we considered today is the best legislation that we can pass at this time to prevent more families from being impacted by the AMT, and will ensure that an additional 70,000 families in my district alone will not be hit next year by the AMT. I am proud that the Democratic Majority in the House of Representatives has twice passed a responsible AMT patch; offsetting the $50 billion in lost revenue from the AMT by eliminating tax loopholes for some of the richest people in the country, who choose to use offshore tax havens to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. However, neither the President nor his allies in Congress are fiscally responsible. They will not accept any legislation that acts responsibly by ensuring that the cost of protecting working families from the AMT will not be borne by their grandchildren. I believe I was elected to Congress last year to help restore fiscal integrity to the Federal Government, and I stand by the numerous votes I have cast in support of a responsible Pay-Go system. Although I am deeply disappointed that we will not be able to pass a version of AMT reform with a revenue offset this year. I am unwilling to let working families in my district suffer as a result of the President and the minority in Congress. That is why, despite its obvious inadequacies, I feel that I must support this bill. I am disappointed that we were forced to pass this bill by borrowing the resources to do so. As Congress continues its work in the future, I am committed to working to make sure our government operates within its means and respects the principle of fiscal responsibility.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, today this body did something that it failed to do last year under the previous majority by passing legislation to direct the spending of our Federal Government. I am disappointed that the choice of the President and the minority to engage in confrontation and obstruction instead of cooperation and progress prevented us from more fully meeting America's needs in this bill. Despite their intransigence, we were able to pass a bill that began to reinvest in critical national priorities that had been neglected for too long. Priorities like life saving medical research, law enforcement, border and homeland security, K-12 education, college aid, needed infrastructure improvements, renewable energy, and energy efficiency. In addition to those steps, this bill lived up to the commitment of this Congress to keep our promises to America's veterans by providing $3.7 billion over the President's request for veterans' medical care, claims processing, and facility improvements. I indicated when the House considered this legislation earlier this week that I believed this is not a perfect bill. However, I believe that the spending bill we approved on December 17, 2007, does a tremendous amount of good by funding key programs that will make America more secure and more prosperous. It makes necessary investments in America's future, and that is why I voted for it. Unfortunately, the Senate has added funding for the war in Iraq without placing a time line for withdrawal. For that reason, I could not support the Senate version of the bill and voted against it.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, tonight this body did something that it failed to do last year under the previous majority by passing legislation to direct the spending of our Federal Government. I am disappointed that the choice of the President and the minority to engage in confrontation and obstruction instead of cooperation and progress prevented us from more fully meeting America's needs in this bill. Despite their intransigence, we were able to pass a bill that began to reinvest in critical national priorities that had been neglected for too long. Priorities like life saving medical research, law enforcement, border and homeland security, K-12 education, college aid, needed infrastructure improvements, renewable energy, and energy efficiency. In addition to those steps, this bill lived up to the commitment of this Congress to keep our promises to America's veterans by providing $3.7 billion over the President's request for veterans' medical care, claims processing, and facility improvements. As I indicated this is not a perfect bill. I am deeply troubled by the decision to include language that provides authority for the Department of Energy to issue over $8 billion in loan guarantees to coal-based energy projects, and over $20 billion for nuclear energy projects, while authorizing only $10 billion for renewables and energy efficiency. Nuclear power has shown itself to be an environmentally and economically unsustainable form of energy, and has repeatedly failed the test of whether it can survive without taxpayer support. Given the nuclear industry's record of risk and nonperformance, expanding taxpayer support for nuclear power would be throwing good money after bad. In order to truly make the most progress possible toward a clean, profitable, independent energy future for our Nation, it will be more effective to devote maximum federal support to renewable energy technologies like wind, solar, geothermal as well as new technologies and improvements in efficiency. While I remain concerned about the loan guarantee language, I believe that in its totality the spending bill we approved tonight does a tremendous amount of good by funding key programs that will make America more secure and more prosperous. It makes necessary investments in America's future, and that is why I voted for it.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I voted ``nay'' on the motion to recommit H.R. 2082 with instructions to conference committee because such a vote would have killed the bill. H.R. 2082 includes a provision to ban torture and authorizes the intelligence activities of the United States. While I would have strongly preferred for the Conference Committee to follow the instructions adopted by the House, I believe the intelligence programs and ban on torture included in this bill are too important to the national security of the United States to endanger it by returning it to conference.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to rise today in support of this rule because last November the American people sent a new majority to Congress with a clear mission, to reduce our energy dependence on foreign oil, fight skyrocketing energy prices, and to protect our environment. The landmark legislation before the House today makes good on that goal. You know, in my district, we're able to buy wind power on the back of our electric bill. My wife and I burn 20 percent soy biodiesel in our home heating oil in our furnace. We're driving an American-made hybrid car which today gets 33 miles per gallon, although one can get 35 if one drives a little slower with a gentle foot on the accelerator. These things are attainable now. The technologies, many of them are available now. We had a woman call our office and say, I'm all excited; I just got a flex fuel vehicle. Where can I get some flex fuel? And my staff had to tell her that there were two pumps in New York State for E-85. There's plenty of supply. We've heard in front of the select committee that there's a surplus right now of both biodiesel and ethanol, but not the infrastructure to get them to market. And so we need to put the supply and the demand together, and that will produce more incentive for people to develop these biofuels. I believe that they can be produced, and they are being produced, in fact, by several producers in my district. This sweeping array of provisions on this bill includes two historic measures. First of all, the first CAFE standard fuel economy increase in three decades, which will save drivers $1,000 at the pump and cut Persian Gulf oil imports in half. And for the first time we will adopt a renewable energy standard so we can replace the polluting electric generation plants we rely on today with domestically produced power that helps us fight climate change. With energy prices burdening our working families, dependence on foreign oil continuing to undermine our sovereignty, I urge my colleagues to support the rule and this bill.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise today to oppose the latest demonstration of this administration's misplaced priorities. President Bush wants to slash $2 billion in funding that will help our police and other first responders protect Americans here at home from terrorists and other threats so that he can send $3 billion over to Iraq to train police there. That money means a lot to our police and firefighters here at home. By cutting this funding, President Bush will endanger security at our ports, subways and rail lines. Further, his proposal will not allow law enforcement agencies to use grants for counterterrorism or intelligence personnel, funding which has helped the NYPD uncover and stop nearly 20 terrorist attacks. By proposing these cuts, the President rejects the advice of the Department of Homeland Security and the 9/11 Commission and again shows his priorities are not those of the American people. I urge the President to reconsider this request and will work with my colleagues to reverse these deeply misguided cuts to homeland security.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Madam Speaker, I voted in favor of the motion to instruct conferees, which included Senate language stating that ``the Senate should not pass legislation that will undermine our military's ability to prevent a failed state in Iraq'', because I believe the men and women of the United States military are admirably and ably performing their duties. They are already doing everything the can to prevent Iraq from becoming a failed state, and I continue to support them and the professionalism and skill they have displayed. However, it is not the role of the United States military to control the long term viability of the Iraqi government. To avoid becoming a failed state, Iraqi political leaders must come to a consensus regarding the future of Iraq and the Iraqi government. There is no role for the United States military in that task. I continue to call for strong diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation in Iraq, and believe that a firm time-line for the withdrawal of U.S. troops will force Iraq's political leaders to take responsibility for the future of their country.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Chairman, today, during the consideration of H.R. 3915, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007 I voted against the Motion to Recommit forthwith. If passed, that motion would have required anyone seeking to get a residential mortgage loan to produce one of four forms of identification prior to approval; a Social Security card and picture ID, a Real ID drivers license, a U.S. or foreign passport or an ID card issued by the Department of Homeland Security. I am opposed to giving illegal immigrants access to mortgages. However, the language contained in the Motion to Recommit forthwith would not only have failed to meet the goal of denying mortgages to illegal immigrants, but it could have actually made it more difficult for legal citizens of New York and other states to obtain these same housing funds. The motion could have made it more difficult for people from states that have not yet adopted Real ID standards or do not have ready access to other documentation to qualify. However; any illegal immigrant with a passport from their native country would have no difficulty in using that passport to get a mortgage. That is not the kind of requirement we want or need. I believe it is important that Americans have the opportunity to qualify for mortgages. Owning one's home is a vital part of the American dream. I cannot and will not support legislation that will make it more difficult for citizens and legal immigrants to get mortgages, and easier for illegal immigrants to do so. This motion would have done just that, and as a result I could not support it.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Madam Speaker, if nothing is done soon, 27 million families across the country will be obligated to pay the alternative minimum tax, the AMT. Over 100,000 of these middle-class families live in New York's 19th District. They will have to go through the tedious process of computing their tax returns twice, and they will end up having to pay thousands more than they otherwise would. The AMT is an unfair tax which in 1970, when it first took effect, only affected 155 households in the entire country. The people who pay it lose the opportunity to take many of the deductions and exemptions that make the tax code friendlier to families. Under the AMT, it doesn't matter what money is spent on health care, on property tax or on education; everyone pays the same amount of tax regardless. Tomorrow, we will consider legislation to allow almost 73,000 of my constituents to escape the AMT. Today, millions of middle-class families are in danger of being ensnared by a tax that was never intended to affect them.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor in defense of fiscal responsibility. After 6 years of disastrous management and record deficits, the new Democratic House has restored fiscal sanity to the Federal Government. We have reinstated PAYGO, or pay as you go, and passed a budget that will balance Federal spending. As the Speaker knows, PAYGO requires the House to live by the same rules that American families live by. Like them, if we want to spend more money on something, we know we have to spend less money on something else. Just as families sit down and make tough choices every day, Congress now has to decide what the government's priorities should be. And the new Democratic majority has made America's priorities the priorities of this Congress. We have twice passed the SCHIP legislation to provide working families with health care for their children. We passed the College Cost Reduction Act, the largest investment in college financial aid since the GI bill. This bill increased Pell Grants, provided tuition assistance for future teachers, and enabled loan forgiveness for first responders, law enforcement officers, and fire fighters. The new Democratic Congress also honored America's promise to our veterans by passing the largest budget increase in the history of the Department of Veterans Affairs. We have passed appropriations bills that fund the most pressing needs of our country. As the bridge collapse in Minnesota showed, there are serious infrastructure needs throughout the country. In fact, there are 13 deficient bridges alone, according to a study that we were shown today in a Transportation and Infrastructure hearing, in my district, the 19th Congressional District of New York. The House has increased funding for highway repair by $631 million over the President's request to make these important repairs. We have provided $400 million extra to improve the quality of teachers in America's schools. House Democrats provided $1.8 billion above the President's request to invest in renewable energies to save our environment and end our dependence on foreign oil. Because we have funded these vital needs for America, the President has threatened to veto these bills. After borrowing more money than every other President in history combined, President Bush has decided to pretend to be fiscally responsible. Unfortunately for the President, his Halloween costume just doesn't fit. For as he protests over $22 billion for American needs, he has watched $35 billion in taxpayer money get lost or stolen in Iraq. With the money the President has lost in Iraq, we could pay for all of these important needs with billions left over. The President has spent over $2 billion in Iraq to improve oil production; yet still, production of oil in Iraq remains at below prewar levels. Now the President threatens to veto the Homeland Security bill because House Democrats have added that same amount to train first responders and protect our ports. It seems that the President believes it is more important to waste money in Iraq than to provide critical equipment and protective gear for 250 fire departments in New York. The President has stood by while contractors have gone $144 million over budget building the embassy in Iraq. With this $144 million, I believe we should instead provide health care for over 20,000 New York veterans. The President has paid $2 billion to provide drinking water to the Iraqi people, although fewer Iraqis now have access to drinkable water than before the war. Yet the President threatens to veto $1.2 billion, as compared to $2 billion, for clean drinking water here in America. Finally, the President stood quietly by as the American government shipped $8.8 billion in cash to Iraq and simply lost it. You heard me correctly, lost it. There are absolutely no records to explain where this money went. It just disappeared into the Iraqi desert. The new Democratic majority has spent the last year restoring fiscal sanity to the government's budget. We have passed legislation to help middle-class families insure their children and pay for college. We have funded important needs across this country. I am proud of our work and I urge the President to stop playing politics and sign these important bills.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. I am very pleased that today the House passed S. 2106, the Procedural Fairness for September 11 Victims Act. This bill is the Senate companion to an important piece of legislation I sponsored along with my good friend Representative Tim Bishop of Long Island. To start off I'd like to thank Mr. Bishop for introducing this important bill in the House, and Mr. biden for introducing it in the Senate. This is a simple bill, but a vital one to the people who it will affect, and I applaud both gentlemen for calling it to my attention, and that of the Congress as a whole. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Congress passed legislation to the effect that those victims and families of victims seeking legal redress as a result of the events of 9/11 may do so only in the federal court in the Southern District of New York. However, under the Federal /Rules of Civil Procedure, parties can only issue subpoenas for testimony and documents located within 100 miles of the District. This means that a significant percentage of evidence that might be relevant to the case is unobtainable to the participants only because it is not located within the New York City metropolitan area. When Congress mandated that only one specific court could hear lawsuits from those people who opted out of the 9/11 Compensation Fund, no one foresaw that the decision would prove to be a barrier for those people who seek evidence from outside the jurisdiction of this court. But there is no alternative as to where they can bring suit. I am proud to support this bill because it fixes this unintended flaw by providing nation-wide subpoena power to all the parties involved in litigating 9/11 claims. The 9/11 attacks were an attack on the whole country. It was a tragedy that greatly affected us all. There's no reason why victims should be prevented from obtaining possibly vital evidence, just because it happens to be outside the jurisdiction's direct subpoena power.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Thank you so much, Congressman, for yielding. I am proud to join my fellow new Members of the class of 2006. Freshmen, new Members, whatever you want to call us, I am really honored to be here with all of you and to tell you, speaking of oversight, about my trip this last weekend to Iraq. I think it's one of the most important functions the Constitution gives to Congress, the power, the sole power, to make war and to fund that war should it decide that it needs to happen. I flew out on a congressional delegation that was led by our fellow classmate, Dave Loebsack, Congressman of Iowa. And after a few hours of sleep in Kuwait, we were flown in by a C-130 to Balad Airbase in Iraq. On the way in, the plane's crew deployed flares against a perceived threat from the ground. I never found out exactly what they saw, but they fired flares for protection. We got a tour of the base and the Air Force Theater Hospital there. We spent a night in the Green Zone. I slept in a guest room in one of the pool houses by one of Saddam's palaces, with a big Olympic swimming pool and gold fixtures and a marble bathroom that the guesthouse had. And I understand this is a subject of some friction with the Iraqis who feel that after 4 years we should have handed over the national palaces to the Iraqi people rather than inhabiting them ourselves, but that's another subject. I have good news and I have not so good news. The good news that I first perceived on my trip is that, first of all, I cannot state strongly enough my admiration and respect for our Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine personnel. Officers, medical teams, enlisted men and women, all are displaying creativity, commitment and a work ethic that should make all of us proud, even when they're carrying out duties other than they were trained for, such as an artillery officer doing civil affairs or training Iraqi police. They are more than up to the mission. The other good news is the money that we and our fellows here in Congress voted for MRAPs was definitely money well spent. We saw a picture of a Cougar MRAP that was hit by such a powerful explosive that it blew it up 25 feet or so into the air, hooked the utility lines, and brought them down with it as it landed upside down. Four soldiers inside that MRAP, two of them walked away; the other two spent a night in the hospital with relatively minor injuries and returned to their units. Their commander told us that in any other vehicle all four would have been fatalities. Now for the bad news. We have a lot of other vehicles. We were shown a huge parking lot. Imagine the biggest used car lot that you ever saw full of Humvees, Bradley vehicles, tanks, trucks, all kinds of vehicles that had been hit by IEDs. Some, including Abrams tanks, looked like they had been opened up by a can opener and had metal inside that had melted and resolidified. Tires, treads, electronics and other useable parts were being salvaged, and the twisted steel that was left sold for scrap to Kuwait. Some vehicles were deemed fit for repair, but most of what we saw was clearly far beyond repair. The lot we looked at represented thousands of American casualties and billions of taxpayer dollars. We were not, by the way, allowed to take photographs of it. In the Green Zone, the most heavily guarded part of Baghdad, one of the safest, supposedly, parts of Baghdad, we were shown the concrete shelters every couple of hundred feet and warned to duck inside one of these shelters if an alarm sounded, because just the week before, two American troops were killed by mortar fire in the Green Zone. Even sleeping in a guest room in Saddam's pool house, with the Olympic swimming pool and gold fixtures, we had to be ready to duck and cover. We had meetings with Ambassador Ryan Crocker, General Petraeus, briefings by the intelligence staff. And my synopsis of the conversations goes like this: Ambassador Crocker said, ``the Maliki government is somewhere between challenged and dysfunctional.'' I asked repeatedly about what progress is being made toward restoration of clean drinking water, sewer service, and uninterrupted electrical supply. The answers from all of our briefers were vague. And current estimates are that electricity is only on 2 to 3 hours in Baghdad, maybe 12 hours a day in Ramadi or the Shia-controlled south. The next day we got to go to what they called the safest part of the country, which is Ramadi in Anbar province. Surprise; the last couple of months there has been a decrease in violence there as what they call the Anbar awakening happens with the sheiks deciding they're going to side with us rather than siding with the terrorists. Nonetheless, as we rode in the helicopter to the safe part of the country, we flew low and fast, close to the deck, with two .50 caliber machine guns out each of the front doors, and a couple of times they fired bursts of automatic weapons fire. And afterwards I asked what it was for, and the gunners said they were clearing intersections. I presume that means firing in front of the lines of vehicles to make them stop and not drive directly underneath us. When we entered the marketplace to see the new, safe Ramadi market and the new business center, the small business center that had opened, we were driven there in a Cougar MRAP and told to wear our body armor and our helmets while we were inside the MRAP. And when we took them off and walked around the marketplace, we were surrounded at all times by a ring of dozens of soldiers carrying automatic weapons, and they were wearing their helmets and their body armor. So, if that's the safe part of Iraq, I wonder what the dangerous part is. On the way home we stopped in Ramstein, Germany, launched to a medical center, visited some of our troops. I saw one of my constituents there and had my picture taken with him, and interrupted his lunch to shake his hand and thank him for his service. There were several Romanians there who were injured, a number of Americans, all of whom from Iraq were hurt in Baghdad, attacked in Baghdad, and then there was one attacked or wounded in Afghanistan. Their spirits, in general, were great, and the medical staff was terrific. I can't say enough about our medical core either. And they really appreciate the visits. They really appreciate the donations from home that are coming from individuals, from school kids, from veterans groups and from corporations of everything from fleece and coats and underwear and toothbrushes, anything you might need, duffel bags, because these are soldiers evacuated from the point where they were wounded in the field by helicopter to Balad and then stabilized and sent off to Germany. So, there are good things, but there are also enough negative things going on there so that I returned with the same conclusion that I went there suspecting, which is that the $200 billion more that we're being asked for by President Bush for Iraq, based on the presumption that the Maliki government, which our own ambassador describes is dysfunctional, will be up to the task of resolving and reconciling the differences between the different sects is wishful thinking; and that after a year and another $200 billion, where will we be? What kind of guarantee, what kind of even probability do we have of a stable country to leave behind? If the sheiks in Anbar can get together, if the mullahs in the south, the Shia south can get together, if the Kurds in the north can get together and stop attacking Turkey long enough to have the country that they've always wanted, then perhaps we can bring our troops home and get to business spending that money here on things that Americans, at least in my district, are telling me they need built, infrastructure they need repaired, schools that they need to be improved, and other things that constitute Nation building here at home. That is the short version of my report. I thank you so much for letting me share that with you.

Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. It is true that all of our areas and our districts around the country are different in many ways, but it is also true that they are the same, and our people have the same needs in many ways. The gentleman from Florida talked about Hurricane Katrina. The gentleman from Minnesota mentioned the trailers that FEMA didn't know were contaminated with formaldehyde. Two weeks ago, in my district, the town of Deer Park discovered they had lead contamination in their highway department building and their town hall that was measured at 5,000-plus parts per million of indoor air contamination of lead. My office called and we got FEMA to send a trailer over 2 days later so they could set up some computers and telephones and at least have a rudimentary office in the parking lot next to their closed-down office being remediated for lead contamination. Three days later, the following Monday, I found that FEMA had come and towed the trailer away because it was contaminated with formaldehyde. Two-plus years after Hurricane Katrina, they still don't know which of their trailers have formaldehyde in them and which ones don't. That is why oversight is needed. Whether it is the Veterans' Affairs Committee, which has performed significant oversight, whether it is the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee looking at Coast Guard sweetheart deals with military contractors that resulted in eight vessels being lengthened by 13 feet and rendered unseaworthy, the 123s, as they call them, so they are now being scrapped in Baltimore Harbor, or whether it is oversight of the conduct of the war in Iraq, this body needs to perform oversight, and I am glad after the last 6 years, it is finally doing so.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, tonight, as part of consideration of the Virginia Ridge and Valley Act of 2007, the minority offered a motion to recommit forthwith with the proclaimed intent of clarifying the circumstances under which motorized vehicles can enter wilderness areas. However, I am concerned that the language of the motion may actually work at cross purposes with that goal. The MTR stated that: ``The designation of lands as wilderness or a wilderness study area by an amendment made by this section does not prohibit the use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment, or motorboats or the landing of aircraft or other forms of mechanical transport, on the designated lands when required in connection with an emergency involving the health and safety of persons, including search and rescue efforts or the response to an Amber Alert.'' I don't know anyone who believes that we shouldn't be able to use motorized equipment in a wilderness to react to an emergency. It's common sense, and that's why it's already included in the underlying statute. In fact, the underlying law makes the allowance for motorized equipment in a health or safety emergency without enumerating specific types of equipment or circumstances, giving the widest possible scope of interpretation. I am concerned that by listing specific pieces of equipment and circumstances, the motion offered tonight could have caused more confusion and possibly limited the ability to respond to emergencies, despite any good intentions. For this reason, I voted against it.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Madam Speaker, in a move that defies logic, President Bush made the mistake of vetoing the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, contradicting an explicit pledge he made during the 2004 campaign to ``lead an aggressive effort to make sure uninsured children receive health coverage, guaranteeing them a healthy start in life.'' Instead of living up to that promise, he is denying millions of children access to high quality, affordable health care. CHIP is a vital program for both the Nation and the State of New York. Since 1997, it has proven to be a popular, successful program, covering 6.6 million children nationwide, and helping to reduce the number of uninsured children in my State of New York by 40 percent. The bill he vetoed would help 268,000 more of New York's kids. The President has said that children don't need health care; all they need to do when they get sick is go to an emergency room. I am not sure if that comment was uninformed and irresponsible or simply callous, but I think that parents of New York would like to see the veto overridden.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, today, the House took an important step to restore accountability to our involvement in Iraq by passing H.R. 2740, the MEJA Expansion and Enforcement Act of 2007. This bill serves an important purpose by bringing previously unaccountable private security contractors under the rule of U.S. law. By some estimates there are nearly 50,000 private security personnel working in Iraq. These contractors operate largely outside U.S. and Iraqi law, and episodes of significant contractor misconduct raise animosity toward Americans in the field and lose us hearts and minds in Iraq. The activities of one of the most prominent contractors, Blackwater, highlight why they are a counterproductive influence in Iraq and their activities must be curtailed. Two weeks ago, Blackwater personnel guarding a State Department group were involved in a shootout that resulted in the deaths of as many as 17 Iraqis. Yesterday, the Government Reform Committee disclosed that Blackwater has been involved in 195 escalation of force incidents since 2005 and in 80 percent of those Blackwater fired the first shots. These incidents combined with a host of other abuses clearly indicate that we need to stop putting contractors in Iraq and bring those there under control. That's why I was proud to cosponsor and vote for the MEJA Expansion and Enforcement Act to bring these contractors under U.S. jurisdiction if they commit criminal acts. Only by holding these contractors accountable can we actually begin to restore our standing in the world and win hearts and minds in Iraq. During consideration of this bill, the House of Representatives considered a motion to recommit forthwith that stated, ``Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect intelligence activities that are otherwise permissible prior to the enactment of this Act.'' I am an ardent supporter of our efforts to combat terrorism, prevent terrorist attacks, and bring terrorists to justice. I want our intelligence community to have all of the tools it needs to accomplish these tasks, and believe it can be successful in doing so within the rule of law. Some of my proudest votes on this floor have been to give our government new tools to fight terrorism and keep Americans safe. However, for the following reasons I could not in good conscience vote for this motion to recommit forthwith. It is often said that, ``the devil is in the details.'' In this case, I fear the level is in the lack of details. The drafting of this legislative language is extremely vague, and I have serious reservations about the scope of its impact. It seems that this language could be interpreted to provide legal cover to abuses committed by contractors, like those at Abu Ghraib, that undermine our national security and are contrary to the founding principles of our nation. On a day when the New York Times has reported at length on the concerted efforts of the Administration to twist the law to make practices like freezing and water-boarding legal, I could not support language that could be manipulated to provide cover for such illegal and counterproductive acts. I am doubly skeptical of this language because if it was not meant to provide cover for questionable acts, it would not be necessary. The MEJA Expansion and Enforcement Act does not make any previously legal acts illegal, it simply extends the jurisdiction of U.S. law. Previously uncovered contractors would not be impeded in their work if they were acting and continue to act in accordance with the law. For these reasons, I voted to support the MEJA Expansion and Enforcement Act and voted against the motion to recommit forthwith.

Mr. HALL of New York

Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to decry our unprecedented use of unaccountable private security contractors in Iraq. By some estimates, there are over 50,000 private security personnel working in Iraq. These contractors operate outside U.S. and Iraqi law, raising animosity toward Americans in the field and losing us hearts and minds in Iraq. The activities of one of the most prominent contractors, Blackwater, highlight why they are a counterproductive influence in Iraq, and their activities must be curtailed. Two weeks ago, Blackwater personnel guarding a State Department group were involved in a shootout that resulted in the deaths of as many as 17 Iraqis. Yesterday, the Government Reform Committee disclosed that Blackwater has been involved in 195 escalation of force incidents since 2005; and in 80 percent of those, Blackwater fired the first shots. These incidents, combined with others, clearly indicate that we need to stop putting contractors in Iraq and bring those there under control, which is why I have introduced legislation to freeze the number of contractors operating in Iraq at September 1 levels. And I am a proud cosponsor of the bill we will vote on today, the MEJA Expansion Act, to bring these contracts under control.