Steve Israel

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a sad heart to honor a great man, a dedicated public servant and a good friend. In our own ways, each of us will miss something special about Bob Matsui. Let me share with my colleagues my own experience with him. Bob Matsui gave me my first job on Capitol Hill. In July, 1979, I went to work for him as a part-time assistant, entering constituent information into a computer, and then helping to write legislative correspondence. Bob was a freshman Member then, but even at that time I realized he was to have a long and brilliant career in the Congress. Twenty-two years later we reunited on the floor. Just recently I showed him a photograph we took together on the steps of the Capitol. The color was faded and the paper brittle. But I kept it throughout the years to remind me of the first Member of Congress who gave me an opportunity in public service. Bob Matsui embodied the best values of public service. He believed so strongly in opportunity here at home and through sensible trade policies abroad. It was an honor to have had the opportunity to learn from a man who put the good of his constituents and of Americans generally over partisanship and political one-upsmanship. It is a lesson I have strived to apply during my own tenure in this body. Bob Matsui set an example for all of us with his integrity and dedication. He will be greatly missed.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the birth of Harper Natalie Bruckenthal. On Friday, November 19, 2004, this beautiful young girl was born to Patricia Bruckenthal, the widowed wife of Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan Bruckenthal, an American hero lost to us in the conflict in Iraq. The birth of Harper Natalie Bruckenthal ensures that everything that was good about Nathan Bruckenthal will live on for another generation and many more to come. In that infant baby's eyes can be seen the images of her heroic father. It is tragic that she will grow up not knowing her father, but I hope that she will be able to find some comfort in his legacy and allow his spirit to guide her. Today, I honor once more the sacrifice of Nathan Bruckenthal; I honor his wonderful wife Patricia, mother of his infant child; and, most importantly, I welcome his new daughter, Harper Natalie Bruckenthal, the child of an American hero, to our world. It is a better world because people like Nathan Bruckenthal answered the call to duty, made great sacrifices and met the greatest challenge posed to every generation: leaving behind a better world for their children.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Marion Bergman, a pulmonologist and an attending physician at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital, and recipient of the hospital's 2004 Dr. Jacob Dranitzke Award. Dr. Bergman was born in South Africa while the oppressive doctrine of apartheid was still in place. During her childhood she witnessed countless acts of racism and discrimination, acts that had a profound impact on her. While still young, Dr. Bergman began what would become a lifelong commitment to service when she began working in the severely poor area of South Africa called Soweto. The training she received there has affected her life's work in numerous ways--including a passion for an equitable heath care system. Dr. Bergman is now a highly esteemed pulmonologist and attending physician at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital where she has served with great distinction for over two decades. During her tenure, Dr. Bergman has served as Medical Director of Respiratory Care Services and, for a period, as president of the hospital. Dr. Bergman provides essential mentoring services to medical students, who she invariably instills with her dedication to excellence and giving. While carrying out this challenging career, Dr. Bergman has simultaneously worked towards a master's degree in public health from the Wagner School at New York University, raised two wonderful sons and contributed extensively to her community. Specifically, Dr. Bergman serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Medical Education for the South African Blacks charity therefore maintaining a strong link to her past. This nonprofit group is a fundraising organization that provides South Africans with a chance at higher-level education. Furthermore, Dr. Bergman is an active member of the International Women's Health coalition and recently traveled to Nigeria as part of this coalition. Finally, Dr. Bergman serves on the Executive Committee of the Long Island Chapter of the American Jewish Committee. Dr. Bergman is being awarded the prestigious Dr. Jacob Dranitzke Award. Dr. Dranitzke was a child immigrant from Russia who went on to become a committed doctor on Long Island and served the Patchogue community with great distinction. Dr. Dranitzke was a founding member of the Brookhaven Memorial Hospital and served as the hospital's first chief of surgery. Dr. Bergman has followed in the footsteps of Dr. Dranitzke with her unparalleled level of service to peers, to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital, and to her community. I wholeheartedly congratulate her on her remarkable achievements among which she can now include the presentation of this award, an award that could not be given to a more deserving person. Dr. Bergman is a leader in our community and in every community she enters.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, this past September I was contacted by officials in the two counties that I represent urging me to do everything I could to extend the Qualifying Individual-1, QI-1, program. This important program gives Federal money to State Medicaid programs to pay for the Part B premium for low-income seniors. They stressed extending the program is particularly important this year as the Medicare Part B premiums are increasing over 17 percent from $66.60 to $78.20. Medicare Part B is theoretically voluntary, but in reality is necessary for any senior who does not have some form supplemental insurance. Medicare Part B covers outpatient services, doctor visits, and other health care services not covered by the Hospital Insurance component of Medicare Part A. Unfortunately, seniors must pay a premium for Medicare Part B. Low- income seniors live on very tight budgets. If Congress allowed this program to expire, there would be a number of low-income seniors who would have to decide if the monthly $78.20 would be better spent on food rather than on their health care premium. I responded to local officials by introducing legislation that would extend this program for another year. My legislation is identical to the Senate bill that we are voting on today. It extends this vital program for another year, and I am proud to have sponsored it in the House. I was not the only Member to respond to this call. Representative Jim Saxton and I both introduced this bill. Two Members of Congress in different parties introducing the same bill shows the universal support for this bill. The QI-1 program has been to the brink of expiring before. It was enacted as part of the Balanced Budget Agreement of 1997 and was originally scheduled to expire in December of 2002. Since the program has proved to be vital for low-income seniors, it has been extended a number of times through continuing resolutions, TANF reauthorization, and it was last extended in the Medicare Modernization Act. The last extension expired on September 30, 2004; however, it was extended through a continuing resolution through November 20, 2004. I am very happy and relieved that QI-1 program will be extended for another year. It is my hope that next year, Congress will enact legislation that permanently extends this program. Our low-income seniors and their advocates should not be made to deal with the emotional roller coaster each year, while this program comes so close to ending. I urge my colleagues to pass this legislation and I look forward to working with them to enact legislation that makes this program permanent.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, there are times in our lives when we fully realize the presence of heros among us. And there are times when we fully realize that we have lost one of those heros; that is the case with Marine 1st Lt. Matthew Lynch, a young man who gave his life for his country in Iraq. It is difficult to memorialize a man who stood as tall in life as Matthew did and harder yet to memorialize a man who stands even taller in death. I believe the words of his father, Bill Lynch, spoken at Matt's funeral speak best to this fallen hero and not only capture the magnitude of the great life Matt lived but the magnitude of the loss to our nation: ``To all Matt's friends, and you are many; I thank you for coming. Saying farewell to our beloved Matthew is the hardest thing I have ever done. At this time, my thoughts alternately fly through my mind like sharp arrows; or slip through my mental fingers like quicksilver; and I cannot hold them fast. Because of this; and because I have only this one time to pay tribute to Matt, and to tell you about his life, I must affix my thoughts to paper, and read them; and for this, I beg your indulgence. But for now, I borrow from Shakespeare, and tell you that . . . We gather today to praise Matt, not to bury him. And that is because all the things Matt was; Love of family and friends; gentleness, strength, humor, grace, dedication, honor, loyalty, patriotism, humility, and yes, of course, courage . . . can never be buried, because they are eternal, as is now, our beloved Matt. While we mourn Matt's loss it brings with it an opportunity for us all, in private moments, to reflect on what he was, and perhaps to develop in ourselves, those attributes he had, which we lack; so that the warm light of remembrance which fills this church today, may one day shine on us. I will speak to you today of Matt's life, and of ironies gentle, and tragic, which at present you know nothing of, and I will tell you of a curious sign I've lately seen which reassures me. But for now, to understand Matt's life, you are in the right place; because this is where all that he was, began, on a Summer day in 1979, when my wife Angela and I brought our little Matthew Devin Lynch to that very baptismal font, to be baptized. The Gospel that day, I remember vividly, was the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, and I thought that a very propitious beginning. The name Matthew, we knew, came from Hebrew, and meant ``Gift of God.'' And what a gift he was! Cherubic, loving, obedient, and oh yes, very active. As he developed, it was evident that he had extraordinary athletic skills. One day when he was about 3 years old, and bounding about with his brother Tim and their friends, a visitor to our neighbor's patio said to me ``Is that your son?'' ``Yes,'' I replied. ``Do you realize that he is a natural athlete?'' the man said. ``How do you know,'' I asked? ``I am a pediatrician,'' he said, ``I see thousands of kids, and believe me, he is a natural athlete.'' It was a prophecy, which would be fulfilled. I raised both our sons as athletes, and spent countless hours drilling various skills into them. I always did it with some zany game I had devised . . . Kids learn best when they are having fun. In most of those games, I was the villain, the opponent, the one to be conquered, but I always did it with humor, and they came to love ``the games.'' When they were only 5 or 6 years old, we used to play a game I had devised to build their swimming speed, I called it ``Shark and Minnows.'' In our community pool, I would emplace Matt and Tim near a ladder at one end of the pool. Their mission was to swim to a ladder directly opposite them, and get out of the pool before the shark could catch them. I stood waist deep in the water, at the far end . . . the feared and fearsome Shark. At first I was a very successful shark, but very shortly, the minnows got much quicker, and the shark caught nothing but air. Soon the Minnows ``can't catch me'' glee, told me that my days as a big fish were over, and that Matt's were just beginning. A few years later, as Matt swam by me, I raised my head, to see if someone was pulling him on a rope. At that time, Tim, had his eyes on two Jericho High School swim records, and he decided to join the Long Island Aquatic Club, to begin his assault on those records, which he did in fact, later claim. But in the beginning Matt just tagged along. After their first three hour LIAC workout, I asked Matt ``How did it go?'' ``I . . . NEVER . . . want . . . to . . . do that . . . again,'' said Matt. But like everything Matt did, he went back, and excelled . . . a theme you will come to recognize. Soon, he became one of the elite LIAC swimmers. He also swam right across his high school's record board, eclipsing every individual record, even Tim's, leaving his own name in his wake. He set the country record in the 200-yard individual medley, finished third in New York State in that event and the 100-yard freestyle. He was All County swimmer three years in a row; a County champion in two events each of his last two years. Baseball was the same. All-County catcher his last two years in high school, nominated for the ``Diamond Award,'' as one of the best players in Nassau County; and as a senior, he tied for the home run record, all of this easily fulfilling the prophecy that stranger had made so many years ago. He continued this at Duke University. He was the swim team's ``Rookie of the Year,'' and became a mainstay of that team. He was also a catcher on the Duke baseball team for two years, but in his Senior year, carrying out the theme which defines his life, he told his swim coach he wanted to return to his swim team ``family,'' his buddies, and he did. As a Senior, and in his very last race, when his team needed him to step up, we saw him swim one of his best 100-yard freestyle times, then sadly walk off, his career over. Between high school and college, he loved his job as a Jones Beach lifeguard; competed on their competition team, and there too, he excelled, and developed many friends. ``What next?'' I asked him shortly after he graduated from Duke. ``Dad, the Marine Corps, or course.'' ``Are you doing this because Tim and I did it, or because YOU want to do it?'' I asked. ``Dad, I want to do it,'' he replied. The next few years were difficult for Angela and I. Our Marine sons began to go in harm's way. First, Tim in Afghanistan; then Tim and Matt in Iraq. But they always returned. Last Easter, Matt phoned us to say he was ordered to Iraq a 2nd time, as a replacement for some Lieutenants in another unit who had been wounded. But after 3 months, he again returned, and we were overjoyed. But shortly, he said, ``Mom, Dad, you will think I'm crazy, but my old unit, my buddies are going back to Iraq, and I really want to join them.'' Again, that theme of loyalty, family. All during our son's deployments, I had been haunted by a specter of Marines in Dress Blue uniforms, walking to our door, bearing terrible news . . . and that specter was rooted in my past. You see, in 1966, I too was a lst Lieutenant, then serving a short tour at The Marine Corps District Headquarters in Garden City. One of my duties was casualty calls. That meant when a Marine was wounded or killed, I had to personally notify his next of kin. ``I'll only be here 3 months,'' I thought, ``I should be O.K.'' The next week, my Colonel grimly dropped a Teletype on my desk. ``KIA,'' it started. ``Lt., will you handle this?'' he said. My stomach rolled. My duty that day was to break a mother's heart. I gathered two NCOs, got a priest, and drove to the Marine's home. His mother was getting out of her car . . . she had just returned from the beach . . . she looked at us . . . and dropped like a stone. We took her inside, neighbors came, someone called her husband, ``Come home right now, was all he was told.'' When he arrived he told me that he had immediately punched the wall at work, and would have punched me, had he been at home. ``I just would not have wanted to hear what I knew you were going to say,'' he said. I told my Colonel we had a dangerous situation, and that someone would eventually get hurt. We had no standing operating procedure for these casualty calls . . . no S.O.P. ``Write one, Lieutenant,'' he said, and I did. I specified NCOs for wounds . . . but always an NCO and an officer for a death. I put my heart and soul into it, trying to devise something, which would give aid and comfort to the bereaved, and protection to our Marines. Years later, I encountered marines from that same office. and we discussed casualty calls by then quite numerous. ``It's no fun,'' they said, ``but at least we have a really good S.O.P.'' ``I know,'' I said, ``I wrote it.'' On August 31, Matt returned with his buddies for a third tour, and, on October 31, he was killed by a roadside bomb. That same day, my wife Angela and I, still unaware, drove to the beach, to walk the boardwalk. It was a gorgeous day, and we spoke of how fortunate we were to have such fine sons, and how proud we were of our two Marines. We passed the beach where Matt worked, and again spoke of him, and then we returned home. I parked the car, we entered our house . . . just as that mother had done almost 40 years ago . . . the day I broke her heart. The door was ajar, and as I heard Angela exclaim, ``Oh No!'' . . . I turned to see two Marines in dress blue uniforms, grimly walking towards us. One an NCO, the other an officer. Each wore the same stony mask I had worn years ago, and in an instant I knew our Matt was gone . . . you see, I'd written that S.O.P. How ironic that the pain I'd delivered so long ago to someone else; was now visited on my doorstep; and stranger still, that the procedure I'd then written to console others, was now applied to us. The next day, Angela and I took our shattered hearts to this church. It was All Souls Day, and the Gospel that day . . . was according to St. Matthew. ``Wire to wire,'' I thought, ``Saint Matthew.'' Matt, our beloved gift of God died trying to free a people from a vicious enemy, whose unspeakable acts of barbarism, even against their own people, while done in the name of God, reveal them to be Godless; and such evil must be opposed. We revere Matt's service, and while we are saddened, we are not angry. Not at our government, not at our President, and certainly not at the United States Marine Corps, that fine fighting force our Matt was so proud to serve. The days ahead will be difficult for us. When the last of you have gone, and our door has closed, our ordeal will begin. A bright light has left our home, never to return, and all the sand in Iraq cannot fill the hole in our hearts. But recently, I've noted a sign, although in the strangest place, which suggests reassurance. Now, you may think this forced, contrived, or fabricated for this moment; perhaps the ranting of one whose heart, buffeted too hard by this tragedy, is trying too hard to see, but you are wrong, because I saw this sign long before Matt's death. Some months ago, I looked down upon a floor tile in our home, and saw clearly what could easily be an artist's rendition of the face of Christ. It stared directly at me. Curious. For weeks, I looked at that visage every day. What to make of it? Eventually, my eyes began to scan around the visage, and recently, I also clearly saw, sheltered in the corner, and under the right shoulder of that visage . . . the perceptible head and face of a very small child. Each had slowly been revealed to me, and until lately I have not known what to make of this; but clearly, the events of this last week suggest to me that Matt, and formerly our little Gift of God, has, as was his custom, made one final return to family and is now, the visage assures me, sheltered, and safely home, and this gives me great comfort. It is time to close, and I must do this in two ways: To the heavens I say: ``Lord this is our son Matthew, in whom we are well pleased. He was your precious gift to us, and we return him to you now. Please grant Matt a place of favor, where he may rest comfortably until those of us who have loved him so can join him.'' And finally, to our son Matt, I say those words every Marine longs to hear; ``Well done Marine . . . and Semper Fi!''

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, U.S. Army Pfc. Jacob S. Fletcher died on November 13, 2003, from wounds he suffered when the vehicle he was riding in was hit by an improvised explosive device. Throughout our nation's history we have triumphed over adversity because of the bravery of people like Pfc. Fletcher. In recognition of his sacrifice, I would like to have his mother's touching account of his life read into the Congressional Record: My son, Jacob Samuel Fletcher, was born in Mineola, New York on November 25, 1974. He spent his childhood in Babylon, where he grew up with me, his stepfather Ray, stepbrother Scott and stepsister Tara. He graduated from Babylon High School in 1992. He played lacrosse in his younger years and varsity wrestling in his last year of high school. Jacob always drew and sketched, which was his natural talent. He was gifted with words and wrote eloquently. His passion for music eventually led him to play drums. Jacob gave great love to his family and was known as a loyal and caring friend. He would be there for anyone in need to listen to or help in any way he could. He loved children dearly and was moved by animals of all kinds. Jacob first tried to join the Army when he was 8 years old by filling out applications in a magazine. He tried twice, but I sent the officers away when they called for Private Fletcher. He was about to be sworn into the Army when he was 23, but hurt his knee, keeping him out of the service. At 27 he finally joined the Army, with 9/11 being the catalyst to once again fulfill his calling to serve his country. Jacob's training in the Army was completed in Ft. Benning, GA. After his basic training he trained for his paratrooper wings, which he also received at Ft. Benning. He was originally stationed in Vicenza, Italy, where he stayed for 3 months before deploying to Iraq. He parachuted into Iraq along with 999 other paratroopers in the dark of night. On March 26, 2003, he and the others seized an airfield in Northern Iraq and then went with the Kurds to Kirkuk, Iraq, where he patrolled and went on many missions. He was given 3 days of rest and relaxation in Qatar on November 9. On November 13, on the way back from Qatar, on Highway 1 in Samarra, a bomb hit the bus he was on. My beloved son, along with Joe Manucci was airlifted to a hospital where doctors tried to save him, but he soon died from his injuries. I know that Jacob had a deep feel for the Iraqi children. He was saddened by the condition that the Iraqis were made to live in. It broke his heart to see the injustice. He had a strong sense of fairness and duty to serve his country. He truly understood what freedom is about and the choices we have to make as Americans. Jacob is buried at Long Island National Cemetery. The words courage and compassion, which grace his headstone, will tell those who glance his way, that he was a passionate and brave young hero. He takes with him the essence of the Purple Heart, Bronze star, Combat Infantry Badge, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Service Ribbon and Army Service Ribbon.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4200, the FY 2005 Department of Defense Authorization Conference Report. I commend our Chairman and Ranking Member and all of the conferees for their leadership and hard work. This is an important bill for troubling times. As I have said often, thank God we live in a nation, which gives us the right to agree with a decision to go to war, the right to disagree with that decision, even the right to remain silent. But no one has any right at all to forget the courageous men and women who answered the call when summoned, who sacrificed by serving. What is our obligation to them, Mr. Speaker? It is to make them a priority in our hearts as well as our budgets. We also have an obligation to give them all the tools and resources they need. Not just hardware, but software. Not just situational awareness that tells them where an enemy is and what the enemy's firepower is, but the cultural awareness that tells our troops who the enemy is and what its will power is. That is why I am especially proud that the conference report included two amendments that I offered. While the brilliant speed with which our forces toppled the Taliban and the regime of Saddam Hussein demonstrates the unrivaled technological and professional superiority of our military, the current situation on the ground would seem to suggest that we haven't given enough attention to the ``full spectrum'' of operations that they will face. My amendment will look at how U.S. military's education and training program is preparing soldiers to meet the challenges of an era when our enemy is just as likely to be a tribal warload as a trained infantryman and how we deal with the battlefield after the battle. A second amendment, Mr. Speaker, formally recognizes the courageous actions of Army Specialist Joseph Darby, who was brave enough to notify his superiors about the abuses at Abu Grayb when no one else was. He is a true American hero. These are truly dangerous times. We are involved in a struggle that we cannot lose. On behalf of our men and women in uniform and all they are doing to keep America safe, I strongly support passage of this conference report.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Illinois for the time. I want to thank our chairman of our subcommittee, chairman of our committee and our ranking member for their bipartisan cooperation, and I also want to thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) for keeping this Congress focused on this vitally important issue. I am particularly pleased with a provision of this bill that the gentleman from Kansas just discussed which he and I worked together on on a bipartisan basis requiring the DOD to maintain a list of all sales agents who have been barred from any base and to report such barring to the relevant State or Federal regulator. That database will ensure that agents barred from one base cannot simply move to another base to prey on personnel in different areas. Simultaneously, the reporting requirement will enable the regulator immediately to begin taking investigative action and appropriate disciplinary action. These measures will protect our troops from those who are looking to exploit them wherever, whenever they can. This is an important step, but we still have a long way to go. We still have a long way to go in protecting the protectors and meeting the financial needs of those who are fighting for our security. In that vein, Mr. Speaker, I want to share with my colleagues the story of one of the families that I represent, a constituent that I used to represent, Raheen Tyson Heighter, 19-years-old, grew up in Bay Shore, New York, enlisted in the Army. When he enlisted, he was told he had to have life insurance. He said I cannot afford life insurance; they do not pay me enough to pay my premiums. They said, you have got to have life insurance. He said, well, I am 19 years old. He thought, like most 19-year-olds, I am invincible. He said, give me the cheapest policy you can. He was killed in action in Iraq. His mother received a call from a casualty officer saying we regret to inform you of the death of your son, and all he had was a $10,000 life insurance policy because that is all Raheen Tyson Heighter could afford to pay. No family in America who receives the horrible news of the death of their son or daughter in war should also have to suffer the indignity of being financially abused. We have a bipartisan bill in this Congress, sponsored by the gentleman from New York (Mr. King) and myself, called the Raheen Tyson Heighter Life Insurance for America's Troops Act. If we really want to protect the protectors, we ought to be providing them with the base amount of $250,000, and we ought to pick up the tab for their premium. If they can afford to give up their lives for us, we ought to be able to afford to pay their life insurance. This is a good bill. This is an important bill. It is a good step, but we still have a ways to go in protecting our protectors. I thank the committee for their bipartisan cooperation in moving this forward, but we still need to go a little further.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, as some of my colleagues have said, this is about protecting our children. Do my colleagues know what I want my children to be protected from? From Osama bin Laden. We still do not know whether he is dead or alive. From the anthrax mailer, whom we still have not found. From the 6 million containers that come into our country every year, of which only 5 percent are inspected. From missiles that are being developed in Iran. From missiles that are being developed in North Korea. I want to protect children of parents who today are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, some of whom still do not have the protective gear that they need. Mr. Speaker, I will go home tonight and say to my two children, thank God, we have kept you safe from same-sex marriages; but we have not kept you safe from other threats in the world. Mr. Speaker, some of us want to make the world safe for democracy; others want to make this world safe for hypocrisy. This resolution is not an act of Congress. It is an act of hypocrisy. It is divisive and should be defeated.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Nathan B. Bruckenthal, a life that he gave for his country. P03 Bruckenthal, U.S. Coast Guard, was killed in action at the Khawr Al Amay Oil Terminal off the coast of Iraq on 24 April 2004 in a terrorist-suicide bombing. DC3 Bruckenthal became the first Coast Guardsman to lose his life in combat since Vietnam. P03 Bruckenthal was born on July 17, 1979. Growing up in Stony Brook, Long Island, he had a strong sense of service from his earliest years. A member of the Junior ROTC while in high school and later a volunteer firefighter in Ridgefield, Connecticut, Bruckenthal later returned home to Long Island where he joined the Coast Guard. Bruckenthal went on to serve at Coast Guard stations in Montauk, New York; Yorktown, Pennsylvania; and Neah Bay, Washington. Having volunteered to become a damage control officer, Bruckenthal made an even greater commitment to continued service by reenlisting, a decision he made with his new wife Pattie whom he had met while serving in Washington. Bruckenthal was subsequently selected for the elite Coast Guard tactical law enforcement program and assigned to TACLET South, housed at the Coast Guard's Miami Air Station. Lauded for his leadership by his commanding officers and continually decorated for his achievements, P03 Bruckenthal was selected for deployment to Iraq where he would work not only with the Coast Guard but with the Navy and numerous foreign services. His dedication to service was needed in what would soon be a war zone; his leadership was needed to make working with so many disparate services a success. P03 Bruckenthal went on to work in and around the critical Iraqi port of Um Qasar before being redeployed to the United States. But one tour of duty was not enough for a man who always sought greater service. He volunteered to go back to Iraq. While serving on his second tour, Bruckenthal learned his wife was carrying his unborn child. Still he soldiered on. While patrolling in the Persian Gulf and training two Navy seamen on intercept operations, P03 Bruckenthal noticed a suspicious vessel. When the vessel would not heed his commands, Bruckenthal moved with his crew to intercept the vessel. The vessel exploded and P03 Bruckenthal and his two crewmates were killed. Their selfless action saved the U.S.S. Firebolt and its sailors as well as the off shore oil platform and terminal at Khawr Al Amaya. P03 Nathan Bruckenthal had now made the ultimate sacrifice for his country: he gave his life. P03 Bruckenthal had been well decorated during his career, earning the USCG Marksmanship Ribbon, the Unit Commendation Award, the Coast Guard Sea Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, the Coast Guard Merit Team Commendation and the Combat Action Medal. He will not know of his final two decorations but they speak directly to his characteristics of selflessness, leadership and sacrifice. For his heroic intercept of the suicide vessel, P03 Bruckenthal was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star with Valor and the Purple Heart. Words do not easily capture the greatness of a young man like Nathan Bruckenthal nor can they do justice to his sacrifice or to the deep loss of his family. However, it is our duty to ensure that the legacy of this great American, like that of many who have fallen with him, is known and honored. Tom Brokaw wrote not so long ago about what he termed ``The Greatest Generation.'' He illustrated that they were people who knew there was a need for service and then quietly answered that call. They were people who sacrificed so much but complained very little. They were people who labored far away while penning letters to loved ones at home speaking only of happiness, their love and their future. Nathan Bruckenthal may not have served with the men and women who are part of that WWII generation, but I can tell you he would be right at home with them.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Jim Morgo, who has exceptionally served the people of Long Island, as an affordable housing advocate. I also wish to congratulate him on his appointment as the Commissioner of Economic Development for Suffolk County. Jim has served as the President of the Long Island Housing Partnership for over 17 years. During this time, he has become Long Island's leading voice in support of both the preservation and production of housing for our region's working families. The Long Island Housing Partnership LIHP is a private, not-for-profit organization created by Long Island's business, religious, educational and professional leaders to address the region's growing housing crisis. This partnership is dedicated to providing housing opportunities for those who could not otherwise afford decent and safe housing. The LIHP realizes its purpose through mortgage counseling, housing development, and promotion of affordable ownership and rental units for low and moderate income Long Islanders. Created in 1988, Jim Morgo was it's first President and he played a critical role in placing the LIHP at the forefront of all of the area's debates affecting affordable housing and community development. It is impossible to measure the number of families Jim Morgo has helped and lives he has touched as he worked to develop affordable homes, and create new and innovative ways to enable working families to achieve the dream of homeownership. I am sure that in his new role, Commissioner Morgo will continue to find creative means to help low-income families achieve the dream of homeownership, help our young families purchase their first home in the neighborhood where they grew up, and expand community development opportunities for the entire Suffolk County Community. I congratulate him on his appointment, thank him for his service, and look forward to working with him in the years to come.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Kansas, my fellow Blue Dog, a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, which may very well be the last group of Members of this House left that works every single day for balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility and against indebtedness. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this motion to instruct conferees because this Congress needs to start taking our children's future into account. What this motion says is, extend middle class tax relief but do not expect future generations of Americans to pay for that middle class tax relief. Mr. Speaker, I have supported many of the President's tax cuts. I understand and I appreciate that most middle-class families, people, that their tax burdens are overwhelming. However, I believe that it is incumbent upon us to ensure that we relieve those burdens in a responsible manner and not literally pass the buck to our children and our grandchildren. There is not a single Member of this House on either side of the aisle who would walk into a luxury car dealership and say to a sales person, I will take the most expensive car you have on the floor with the most elaborate fancy options, load it up as much as you can, and send my children the bill for that car. Not a single Member would do that. If we do not pay for these tax cuts, that is exactly what we are doing to our children. We are placing the burdens of our tax cuts on our children's shoulders. The national debt is over $7 trillion. This year's projected budget deficit is $422 billion. The Treasury Department has estimated that the national debt will exceed the statutory authority in the next 60 days. We need to start making better decisions on a bipartisan basis now on how to manage our money. Now, conferees have options on how to implement tax extensions at little or no cost. Conferees have options on how to proceed in a fiscally responsible manner. Conferees can help pay for these cuts by closing tax loopholes, and this motion instructs them to do so. Mr. Speaker, everyone who pays a credit card knows that the least productive part of that credit card bill is interest payments. We are paying $1 billion a day on interest on our national indebtedness, interest on the decisions that we have made. We need to bring fiscal responsibility back to this House. America's middle-class families are spending an average of $4,400 a year on our debt. That is a death tax, and it is one that we will not be able to repeal. Mr. Speaker, I want to close by reminding my colleagues and the American people that the middle class is being squeezed. They do not need that reminder. They know it every day. They know it because they are paying higher interest rates. They are paying more to gas up their cars. They are paying more for college tuition. They are paying more for their children's health care, more for their parents' health care. They are paying more everywhere they turn. They deserve relief now, and our children do not deserve to have the buck passed to them later. That is why I so strongly urge my colleagues to heed the words of the gentleman from Kansas. Let us put politics aside. Let us not harp on the past but start thinking about our children's future.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time, and I also thank the chairman of my subcommittee of the Committee on Financial Services for his leadership. I rise in strong support of this resolution. I have been working with several of my colleagues to organize a Civil War Caucus here in the House of Representatives. Outside this building, just on the West Front, is a statue of General Grant at the very footsteps of the Capitol. A few blocks away from that is a statue of General Meade. Beyond that is the Lincoln Memorial, and beyond that in the hills of Arlington is the Custis-Lee Mansion. Why do we remember? Why do we erect statues? Why is this bill important? It is important because the Civil War is really not about the past; it is about our present, it is about our future. It is important because what happened in the Civil War will instruct us in how we meet challenges today. I serve on the Committee on Armed Services and we are dealing with profoundly difficult challenges around the world, in Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, the global war on terror. Sometimes those challenges seem almost insurmountable. What the Civil War teaches all of us is that no challenge is insurmountable. When I think about the military difficulties that we have in the world today, I also think about the 20th of May on Little Round Top in Gettysburg. It was on that hill that just a small group of men were told to remain in place, to hold that hill at all hazards. They were confronted with enemy in front of them, overwhelming numbers, overwhelming numbers of enemy to their left and above them, and still they held that hill. They repulsed attack after attack after attack, and when they ran out of ammunition and hope, their leader, Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, ordered the men to fix bayonets and charge. That is surmounting challenge. What we were taught from that battle on many battlefields, on many boats, in north and south, is that we are a unique and special country. That fight was for us. That fight was for our future. That fight was to teach a lesson that higher principles guide us, that there are things worth fighting for that are even more important than ourselves. This bill is not about statues, it is not about commemoration, it is not about the past. It is about the country we are today and the country we will be tomorrow. For that reason, I strongly support this bill and urge its adoption.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, on November 7, 2003, I came to the House floor to honor and recognize servicewomen who served as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during the Second World War. It is not an exaggeration that we owe a big part of the freedom we enjoy today to these women pilots. Their love of country and love of flying is something for which we will always be grateful. Unfortunately, when I gave thanks to the thirty-eight WASPs who gave their lives in service to their country, I unintentionally failed to include the name of Dorothy Scott. Like the others, her courage is an inspiration for all Americans.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Gayle Rudofsky, a Half Hollow Hills High School East student who has been named a 2003-04 High School All American in Diving. Ms. Rudofsky has a long history of diving accolades, including being named one of the Top 40 High School Divers in the United States, winning the 2003 New York State Public High School Women's Diving Championship and winning the Lester J. Schloen Jr. Memorial Award for Most Promising First Year Diver. She recently broke her own Suffolk County 11-dive meet record and also set a new Suffolk County 6-dive meet scoring record. In addition to these record-breaking performances, the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association ranked Ms. Rudofsky the third best high school diver in 11-dive competitions and the fourth best diver in 6-dive meets. She is also a member of Long Island Divers, a U.S. Diving Team, and is qualified to represent the Long Island region in the 2004 Empire State Games. Not only has Ms. Rudofsky accomplished much on the diving board, she is also gifted in the classroom. She has managed to balance an outstanding athletic career with equally impressive academics. Ms. Rudofsky has been named an Academic All American, New York State Public High School Athletic Association Women's Swim-Dive Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Half Hollow Hills High School East Female Scholar-Athlete of the Class of 2004. She has also received the Citibank/News 12 Scholar-Athlete Award and the 2004 Scholar-Athlete Milk Moustache of the Year Award. This fall, Ms. Rudofsky will attend Princeton University, where she will be a member of the diving team. I congratulate her on her many achievements and am confident that she will have continued success in the future.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Chairman, I rise today with concern for our public education system. As a new school year begins on Long Island, many parents are eager to find out if their children's schools will be labeled failing or in need of improvement, assessments mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. I believe this is also an ideal time for the administration and Congress to assess federal efforts to support our nation's public schools. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and No Child Left Behind Act were landmark federal policies to ensure quality education for children with disabilities and improve learning results. Unfortunately, these well meaning efforts have been met with great controversy on the local level due to immense funding inadequacies. The monumental No Child Left Behind Act passed Congress in 2001. It made a deal with America's public schools: in exchange for new standards of excellence, the legislation promised new federal funding. Unfortunately, the federal government has not held up its end of the bargain. The FY05 Labor, Health and Human Service and Education Appropriations Act alone shortchanges No Child Left Behind programs by whopping $9.5 billion, making it increasingly difficult for schools to meet new, higher standards. In 1975, the federal government committed to pay 40 percent of the cost of educating children with disabilities. Not once have they come close to honoring this commitment. The FY05 Labor, Health and Human Service and Education Appropriations Act, which closely follows the President's funding request, provides $2.5 billion less than what was promised for special education just last year. This keeps the federal government's share at less than 20 percent. This is shameful because fully funding IDEA would benefit every child in every classroom by providing fiscal breathing room to school districts and local tax relief to families. The administration's support of our public schools is failing and the legislation we are debating today is in clear need of improvement. The Fiscal Year 2005 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Act will likely pass this chamber today. It is my hope that a House/Senate conference committee will make substantial improvements in fulfilling our promise to local schools by increasing funding.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill, declaring the atrocities unfolding in Darfur, Sudan, as genocide. In Darfur, villages are being burned to the ground. Death squads herd African villagers into refugee camps until they are full to bursting, lacking food and basic medicines. In a matter of months, government-backed militias have killed 30,000 people and forced more than one million from their homes. People talk about ``indicators of genocide'' and lawyers argue whether the killing, which the administration has already characterized as ethnic cleansing, is genocide. Whatever label one attaches to these killings, there is a moral obligation to do everything possible to stop them. To ignore slaughter on this scale is unforgivable. To its credit, the administration is pushing a UN Security Council resolution. But as that process unfolds, the killing continues. The time has come for action, for the international community to exercise its moral and political and arguably also legal obligations to intervene in Darfur. Genocide has shown its ugly face too often this century: European Jews during World War II, Cambodians in the late 1970s, and Rwandans in 1994. The lesson is clear. We must stop the genocide; prevent further atrocities; and bring those guilty of genocide or ethnic cleansing to justice.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, Americans have always counted on the Coast Guard to enforce maritime law, to secure our waterways and ports, to rescue those in distress, and to intercept illegal drugs. In this new century, however, we are going to need to count on them even more. In the Iraqi theater, the Coast Guard is protecting key ports and oil platforms and helping speed the delivery of relief supplies to those in need. This year, Petty Officer Third Class Nathan Bruckenthal became the first member of the Coast Guard to die in battle since Vietnam. His bravery and sacrifice shines a light on the often overlooked sacrifices made by our Coast Guard. When I spoke to Nathan's father, he said simply, ``My son served his country.'' Mr. Speaker, he did serve, and sacrifice. We have to keep Nathan and his family in our prayers, in our budgets, and keep the Coast Guard the very best in the world. The Coast Guard is always ready to defend our Nation and rescue those in trouble. Now it is our turn. I urge my colleagues to support this conference report and to give the Coast Guard the funds that it needs to meet the national security challenges of the 21st century in honor of the Bruckenthal family which served and sacrificed.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. And let me thank both the chairman and the ranking member for their extraordinary bipartisan leadership on this issue. It was an honor to work with both of them as an original cosponsor of this vital homeland security and national security measure. I am very proud to stand with them tonight in support of this legislation to protect America's flying public from the very real threat of shoulder-fired missiles. Mr. Speaker, I have said in the past that the proliferation of shoulder-fired missiles is so great and the risk is so high that we have to go on offense and defense at the same time. And that is exactly what this measure does. Intelligence officials have published estimates that there are roughly 500,000 portable shoulder-fired missiles available worldwide in the hands of 27 separate terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda. And as we have heard before, shoulder-fired missiles have already been used to shoot down commercial aircraft outside of the United States. Reports from the CIA, the State Department, and other government agencies indicate that shoulder-fired missiles have hit at least dozens of civilian aircraft since the 1970s and killed hundreds of people. I have heard on other occasions that it is better to attack terrorists there than here. And if we agree with that argument on the global war on terror, then certainly it should apply to how we approach the tools of terror, shoulder-fired missiles. In fact, when it comes to shoulder-fired missiles, we have to reduce the threat in both places and reduce that threat expeditiously. Here, it is essential that we accelerate our efforts to equip our planes with antimissile countermeasures, and that is why this bill includes provisions asking the FAA to accelerate the process for certifying defensive systems to protect against the terrorists of shoulder-fired missiles. And elsewhere in the world, we have to aggressively pursue the implementation of international treaties to control the proliferation of shoulder-fired missiles. Ultimately, this is a supply-and-demand issue, and American travelers will not be safe until we control both the supply and the demand. Just recently, the GAO reported that the United States needs to do more work within multilateral forums to establish mechanisms for assessing foreign governments' implementation of their commitments to reduce the proliferation of shoulder-fired missiles. According to that report, the State Department has led U.S. efforts to obtain commitments from member countries, the Group of Eight, the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, and others to strengthen export controls and security of MANPADS, but compliance with those commitments is entirely voluntary, and the forums lack mechanisms to verify that members implement those very commitments. This legislation requires the President to report on efforts to comply with recommendations contained in the GAO report on nonproliferation. It also encourages the President to pursue strong international diplomatic and cooperative efforts, including multilateral and bilateral treaties, to limit the availability, transfer, and proliferation of shoulder-fired missiles, to seek the destruction of excess, obsolete, and illicit shoulder-fired missiles; and it also expedites that FAA certification process for our planes here at home. Mr. Speaker, we cannot afford to wait until the day after a catastrophe to begin to act, and that is why passage of this bill tonight is so welcomed and so important. Once again, I want to applaud the efforts of the gentleman from Florida (Chairman Mica) and the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), the ranking member, for their leadership on this issue. I want to thank them for including me in this issue. I want to thank the House Committee on International Relations for their work, and I urge all of our colleagues to support this vitally important homeland security measure.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) for his leadership of the House Committee on Armed Services, as ranking member, where he commands respect on both sides of the aisle and across our military. Mr. Speaker, I have 3 unique privileges in this institution. One is to represent the people of Long Island's Second Congressional District. The second is to serve under the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton). And the third is to serve under the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) on the House Committee on Armed Services, a committee which has no more profound and fundamental mission than to protect our troops and keep them strong so that they can keep our Nation strong. How do we do that, Mr. Speaker? How do we keep them strong in order to keep our Nation strong? We do it by having right priorities and by giving them the best resources. Having the right priorities means that we be focussed. We have to have focussed priorities and disciplined priorities. And having focus and said disciplined priorities enables us to provide the best resources to our troops so that they can combat the global war on terror. Sadly, Washington has fallen woefully short on those priorities. Let me share some examples that come from some of the people that I represent. These are real people with real stories. I have a policy, Mr. Speaker, that if you have been deployed into any dangerous place in the world, if you are a member of our military or related to a member of the military, my door is open at all times. You can come to my office on Long Island. You can come to my office in Washington and I will sit with you and listen to what you have to say. I sat with the mother of a young soldier who said to me at a table in HopHog, New York. She said, I had to send my son money in Iraq so he could afford the best armored vest because he did not have the best armored vest. And then I had to send him money so he could afford night vision goggled because I believe that my boy deserves the best night vision goggles. And my boy had to spend 2 or $300 our of his own pocket every month to give the men in his command socks and underwear because they could not afford to do that. She said, Do you not think that should be your obligation and not my obligation? I want to share with you the story of Raheen Tyson Heighter, a 19- year-old from Bay Shore, enlisted in the Army. He was asked what kind of life insurance he wants. That 19-year-old did not believe he needed life insurance. Most 19-year-olds do not believe they need life insurance. He said, Give me the cheapest that you have. Because all he could afford from his net monthly paycheck of about $1,200 was a $10,000 life insurance policy. And his pay check was docked about 80 cents a month for that policy. Well, he did not make it back. He was killed in Baghdad. His casualty officer called his mother and said, We regret to inform you that your son was killed in action and his life insurance policy was $10,000, which does not go very far. I believe if we are going to send young men into battle, we can handle their life insurance premiums, Mr. Speaker. It should not have been to come out of Raheen Tyson Heighter's pay check. I want to close by sharing a story that I heard from a young woman whose husband is in the Reserves and has just been deployed. He has been accumulating hundreds of dollars of cell phone calls on his personal cell phone which he loans to the men in his command so that they can call home because they cannot afford it without any reimbursement. These families do not complain. They do not come to my office to complain. They do come to my office because they are patriots, and they believe that we owe them something back. They are seeking fairness. They say, if you are going to honor us, honor us not simply with your words but in your budgets. Do not simply put lapel pins on your lapels, but put us in your budgets and do not balance those budgets on the backs of people who are fighting on our fronts. Those are our sacred obligations to the men and women that are fighting for our freedoms in dangerous parts of the world. There should be no Democratic or Republican way to protect our troops. We ought to do it because it is the right thing to do. And we ought to quit talking about our troops as priorities and spending as if they were our priorities. It is my privilege to serve under the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) so we can reach that vital goal. It is my privilege to continue to advocate for those in my words who advocate for us with their sacrifices.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time and for his leadership on this vitally important amendment. Mr. Chairman, after 9/11, the President of the United States came to this Chamber, stood behind where I am standing now, and said that there is a line in the sand. He said the line divides democracy and dictatorship, liberty and tyranny, education, indoctrination, schools that teach kids how to put things together and schools that teach kids how to blow things up, ballots versus bullets. This amendment, very simply, enforces that line in the sand. It is absolutely unfathomable to me, Mr. Chairman, that we would even contemplate rewarding a regime with U.S. tax dollars that blame Zionists for the May 1 attacks on a Saudi oil facility that killed two Americans, that blame the West for the attacks on our country on 9/11 and that went so far as to blame the Barbie doll for undermining values around the world, calling the Barbie doll a Zionist conspiracy. Mr. Chairman, now faced with a terrorist threat in Saudi Arabia, a terrorist threat that confronts all of us around the world, the Saudi regime's response to that threat is to boldly say we will offer a one- month pass, we will offer a one-month amnesty to those people who are plotting and planning our demise, a regime that continues to fund madrassahs around the world that teach the most virulent hatred without any sense of modernity. Mr. Chairman, it was the President who drew that line in the sand. This amendment enforces that line in the sand. We should not be giving U.S. tax dollars to a regime that has not demonstrated consistently and credibly that they are with us in the global war on terror, and that is why I support and urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time to speak on this very important legislation. Mr. Chairman, I rise today with very great concern for the future of our beaches. Beach tourism contributes $260 billion to the United States economy every year. The administration's fiscal year 2005 budget, unfortunately, cuts shore protection projects and studies by nearly 50 percent. Now, this includes canceling the Fire Island to Montauk Point Reformulation Study, a project that provides storm protection and beach erosion control along an 83-mile portion of Long Island's south shore. An estimated 11.3 million people visit Suffolk County's beaches every year. In Suffolk County alone, south shore beaches contribute $256 million to the regional economy and thousands of jobs. The Fire Island to Montauk Point Study is over 4 decades old and $20 million in the making. Completing this nearly completed study is a top concern for thousands of homeowners and beachgoers in my congressional district. This is like bringing the ball 99 yards downfield, putting it on the 1 yard line, and walking away. The Army Corps of Engineers has recognized on Fire Island that it must work with different groups and associations, from homeowners' associations to environmental advocates. The Corps has utilized a process called project reformulation to build support among all agencies, governments and interest groups involved, and each of those groups recognizes that reaching an overall consensus is the best way to preserve this national treasure for future generations. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to work with the Senate Committee on Appropriations to ensure the continuation of the Reformulation Study. I want to express my very deep appreciation to the ranking member for his commitment to support the Fire Island to Montauk Point study in conference. As this legislation moves forward, I encourage all of my colleagues to continue working to protect our beaches and support a $260 billion contributor to our Nation's economy.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer my sincere congratulations to the Ronkonkoma Fire Department in celebration of their 100th Anniversary. In September of 1903, after a tragic fire at a resort complex took the life of one individual and injured fourteen others, twenty-four men from the Ronkonkoma area volunteered to join a fire-fighting group to replace the existing neighbor bucket brigade system. This group quickly developed, and on June 15, 1904, Ronkonkoma Hook and Ladder Company #1 was officially born. Ronkonkoma Hook and Ladder Company #1's first truck was a horse-drawn vehicle carrying one hundred feet of hose. The alarm system consisted of a locomotive tire, which resembled a huge iron ring, and a hammer, which was chained to the tire so that it could not be carried away. There were no fire wells or hydrants. While there have been many developments since 1904, including a name change in 1933 to the Ronkonkoma Fire Department, the mission still remains the same. The men and women of the Ronkonkoma Fire Department are proudly serving their community by saving lives and protecting property.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share with my colleagues the following prayer written by Rabbi Reuven Mann from Congregation Rinat Yisrael in Plainview, New York. Almighty G-d, we have gathered here today at a crucial moment in our history to honor the memory of all those who fought and made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our Nation and its ideals of freedom, compassion and the highest cultivation of the human spirit. We came not only to honor but also to affirm the lesson of their sacrifice: Freedom is not an entitlement; it does not come for free, it is something which has to be fought for. With humbleness and gratitude let us acknowledge a simple truth: We owe these heroes everything. Without them, we would have lost our freedom long ago. Yet, many people do not feel this way and take what we have here for granted believing that the American way of life is somehow ``coming'' to them. 9/11 was a wake up call--which happened, to a large extent because nobody believed it could happen. Let us admit it: We were afflicted with the cancer of complacency and blinded by the illusion of invincibility. Suddenly our country was under attack by a merciless, barbaric enemy who wanted us destroyed. 9/11 was a wake up call, but all too many decided to push the snooze button and go back to sleep. The enemy does not sleep. He continues to remind us of his barbarism and cruelty by beheading innocent Americans and proudly recording his sadism on camera. 9/11 was a wake up call and the message is: If we do not appreciate our freedom and are not willing to fight for it, there is no guarantee that we will always have it. Therefore, I call on all of you to renew your appreciation for our country and its values for we are at war and every war requires the full support of the home front. We have gathered here today to honor the heroes past and present whose valiant dedication makes our freedom possible. I would be remiss if I did not include among them the civilian heroes of 9/11, the firefighters, police and first responders, who charged into the line of fire to save thousands on that dark day. They wrote a new chapter in the history of bravery and self-sacrifice, and they will never be forgotten. Almighty G-d, Creator of the Universe, may their selfless service inspire us to appreciate all the blessings that You have bestowed on this Nation. Let their memory be for a blessing--motivating us to become better people: more productive, compassionate, and respectful of the dignity of all men and women who were created in Your Image. And may Your Guidance and Protection be with our men and women who are right now in harms way, to give them the strength, courage and dedication to complete the mission in which they have performed so magnificently. May they speedily return in good health to their country, their homes and loved ones. And let us say: Amen.

Mr. ISRAEL

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share with my colleagues a poem written by one of my constituents, Benedict Panzarella of Plainview, NY. Mr. Panzarella is an author, journalist and poet. He served as a U.S. Army Glider Crew member at the Invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. I was proud to present him recently with the Liberty Medal for his service and courage on that day. The events of D-Day inspired Mr. Panzarella's poem ``Normandy.'' Normandy (By Benedict P. Panzarella) Sleep tight tonight. Pack your gear Check it twice The time is near Tomorrow we go On board the craft to take us We know not where. THEY know the place We are to land. It's marked by them on tables of sand. With children's toys They play their games But this is war, WE May go down in flames. A ship of canvas On tubes of steel A motorless ship Pulled by a rope. A trailer load Filled with life (K Rations) And death (Gas and ammo) We pray the pilot On this night Will guide us true On this fateful flight. We fly in darkness On this flimsy craft. We reach our target At last. We know we're there. We know for sure Hitler's greetings Are loud and clear. The rope is cut! The shaking stops. We smoothly glide Over tall tree tops. We stop abruptly As we hit some poles. Planted by Rommell To clip our wings. We are here For us The battle Has just begun.