Paul Kanjorski

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the 50th wedding anniversary of my friends Budd and Sylvia Mizdail of Mocanaqua, Pennsylvania. Their family and friends will honor them with a party on May 3, 2003, at St. Mary's Church in Mocanaqua, the same church where they were married on May 2, 1953. They are the proud parents of two children: John, of Emmaus; and Brenda, of Plymouth Meeting; and the proud grandparents of four grandchildren. Both of the Mizdails have given generously of their time over the years to their church, including running the church picnics for several years. They are retired from the Borden plant in Berwick, where he worked as a laboratory technician and she worked as a secretary. She is the Democratic chairwoman for the Second District in Luzerne County and a 20-year member of the Greater Nanticoke Area School Board. She has been president of the school board for approximately 10 years and is secretary of the Luzerne Intermediate Unit 18 board, of which she has been a member for 11 years. She also continues to be involved with the Conyngham Township Democratic Committee, of which she is a past chair. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of Representatives the 50th wedding anniversary of Budd and Sylvia Mizdail, and I wish them and their family all the best.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the key role that Gerry McNamara of Scranton played in the outstanding season of the Syracuse University men's basketball team, culminating in their winning the NCAA championship Monday. For example, he scored 18 of the team's 81 points in the title game. Clearly, the phrase ``just a freshman'' does not apply to him, and he certainly earned the honor of being named to the Final Four All- Tournament Team. He was also a unanimous selection to the Big East All- Rookie Team, which is selected by the league's head coaches. By helping lead his collegiate team to victory, Mr. McNamara is continuing his outstanding record from Bishop Hannan High School, where he set records and led the team as it won the state Class AA championship last year. Before that, he led the Holy Rosary team to a Catholic Youth Organization title in the eighth grade. Those who know Mr. McNamara's history from Scranton were not at all surprised by how well he has played at the national level. Mr. Speaker, Gerry McNamara has continued to make Scranton and Northeastern Pennsylvania proud. I expect we will see more great things from this fine young man in years to come, and I send my congratulations to him and his family and friends.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to direct the attention of the House of Representatives to a sad anniversary. Almost 60 years ago, on April 13, 1943, Americans awoke to a startling announcement from Radio Berlin: the disclosure that thousands of bodies of Polish officers had been found by the Germans in a remote wood near the Dneiper River called Katyn Forest. These men had been captured in the fall of 1939 by the Red Army and executed the following spring by the NKVD which later became the KGB. Until the German discovery all trace of these men had disappeared. The German discovery put tremendous strain on the western alliance from the moment it was announced. Our mortal enemy had accused the Soviet Union, a great ally who had just defeated the Wehrmacht at Stalingrad, of the unspeakable crime of murdering prisoners of war. For many in the West, it appeared to be a cheap propaganda stunt by Joseph Goebbels. Perhaps the Germans had murdered the Poles and were merely covering their tracks by blaming the crime on the Soviets. But as more and more facts were collected, it became abundantly clear that the Russians, not the Germans, had the blood of the Poles on their hands. Over the next two years the governments of the United States and Great Britain took great pains to hold together the Alliance with the Soviet Union and downplayed Soviet responsibility for the murders in Katyn Forest and at two other sites that took the lives of more than 14,000 Polish officers. Eyewitness reports that should have been made public were classified top secret and subsequently disappeared. An Ambassador to the Balkans was forbidden to disclose incriminating documents and photographs. Polish broadcasters were censored by the Office of War Information. Finally, between September, 1951 and December, 1952, a Select Committee of the U.S. Congress stepped in to investigate this horrible crime. This committee held hearings in six cities and four countries, received testimony from 81 witnesses and took depositions from another 100 who could not appear in person. Its published report of 2,162 pages filled seven volumes. In many ways, this investigation was Congress at its best. It meticulously assembled a body of fact that left no doubt about its principal conclusions: first, that the Soviets were guilty; and second, that the State Department and Army Intelligence (G-2) had engaged in a determined effort to shield the American people from the truth. I recently learned that the seven-volume published record of the Select Committee to investigate the Katyn Forest massacre is not available anywhere in Poland. At the request of the Polish Government, I have arranged to provide Poland with a copy of this record which most experts believe is the most comprehensive body of record ever assembled on this subject. I would like to thank the Librarian of Congress, Dr. James H. Billington, and his fine staff for their extensive cooperation and assistance in this matter. On Friday, I will present this document to Ambassador Przemyslaw Grudzinski, who will accept it on behalf of the Polish government. These records will then travel to Poland with Mr. Allen Paul, an American author whose book, Katyn: Stalin's Massacre and the Seeds of Polish Resurrection, provides a comprehensive overview of the crime and the context in which it occurred. Mr. Paul's book has recently been translated into Polish and will be released at an event in Warsaw on April 12. He will place the hearing record at that time, in my behalf, in the hands of Mr. Andrzej Przewoznik, Secretary General of the Polish Government Council on War Archives, Public Monuments and Historic Sites. It is to be hoped that the record established by the Select Committee will aid public officials, historians and many others in efforts to understand the terrible crime of Katyn and its continuing impact on Russo-Polish relations. I am including with this statement some excerpts of Mr. Paul's reflections on the importance and scope of the select committee which will be delivered on April 12 in Warsaw at a Conference on the 60th Anniversary of Disclosure of the Katyn Forest Massacre. Mr. Speaker, as we observe the anniversary of the discovery of this tragedy, let us hope and pray that humanity is spared such tragedies in the future. Thoughts About the Congressional Investigation of Katyn At this moment we are only a few hours away from the sixtieth anniversary of Radio Berlin's sensational announcement that the Wehrmacht had found the bodies of thousands Polish officers in Katyn Forest who had been ``bestially murdered by the Bolsheviks.'' Fresh from their catastrophic defeat at Stalingrad, the Germans were eager to divert the world's attention from the pierced veil of Wehrmacht invincibility, and they correctly surmised that this, too, was a golden opportunity to sow seeds of discord in the Western Alliance. At that moment the victims--men who had served Poland faithfully, in fact one might say, valiantly, men who represented the present and future leadership of their nation, fathers and husbands, physicians and engineers, professional soldiers and shopkeepers, unfortunate souls placed by an unkind fate in Soviet hands, prisoners of war who were not recognized as POWs by their captors--from the moment the news crackled over the airwaves from Berlin, these tragic victims became geopolitical pawns and would remain so for years to come. . . . Amidst all the atrocities of World War Two why have the crimes commonly referred to as the Katyn Forest Massacre been so enduring? Poland's feisty wartime Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Stanislaw Kot, proved to be eerily prophetic on this issue. In 1941, exasperated by continued stonewalling by the Soviet government on the case of his country's missing soldiers Kot said, ``People are not like steam. They cannot evaporate.'' More than 60 years later, we are still thinking, writing and debating the facts of the case because, I suspect, it provides such a powerful mirror into the human soul. Let me turn now to one of the great milestones on the arduous path to truth about the terrible murders in Katyn Forest, that being the work of what was officially called ``The Select Committee to Conduct an Investigation and Study of the Facts, Evidence and Circumstances on the Katyn Forest Massacre.'' On September 18, 1951 the United States Congress authorized what would become the most comprehensive neutral investigation of this crime ever undertaken. It followed by five years an abortive attempt to address this darkest of tragedies at the Nuremberg trials. That charade collapsed under the sheer weight of Soviet prosecutorial ineptitude. In 1948 the Poles themselves--through their London-based government-in-exile--completed their own investigation and published it as, The Crime of Katyn: Facts and Documents. It was the most complete record of the crime at the time but it was far from what the Poles had hoped for: a high profile, independent investigation and trial to prove once and for all that the Soviets--not the Germans--were responsible for these brutal murders. In their conclusion to the 1948 report, the Poles had emphasized Roman-law canon: i.e. ``nobody can be judge in his own case.'' The Soviets had attempted with disastrous effect to judge their own case at Nuremberg. The Poles knew that they, no more than the Soviets, could judge this case, thus they called for an international tribunal to affix guilt and mete out punishment. In a sense the investigation sponsored by the U.S. Congress vindicated the Poles' findings in 1948. The congressional investigation lasted from September 18, 1951 to December 22, 1952. It resulted in hearings in six cities and four countries; 81 witnesses were heard; and private depositions were taken from 100 individuals, most of whom required anonymity to protect relatives still in Poland. The final report of 2,162 pages filled seven volumes. After all was said and done, the Select Committee of Congress concluded, just as the Polish Government-in-Exile had four years earlier, that an international tribunal, in this case the new United Nations International Court Justice, should investigate the crime. This similarity of findings in no way diminishes the scope and importance of the congressional investigation. Once and for all it put the United States clearly on the side of the truth in this case and that was no small accomplishment. The committee clearly, meticulously and, I would say, courageously documented U.S. concealment of Soviet guilt and its de facto pursuit of an ends justifies the means policy. . . . Like the recommendations of the Polish government-in- exile in 1948, the recommendations of the Select Committee of Congress were never acted on. During the war geopolitical realities--principally the fear that the Soviets would sign a separate peace with Germany--stood squarely in the way. After the war geopolitical realities--the fact that the Soviets could block action at the United Nations--continued to stand squarely in the way. . . . The words of Sir Owen O'Malley and Ambassador Stanislaw Kot ring just true today as the day they were uttered. Kot told us in 1941, ``People are not like steam. They cannot evaporate.'' Kot would tell us today that the quest for justice for Poland's officers and deportees will inevitably continue. And surely O'Malley would tell us that justice, if found nowhere else, must be found in our own hearts.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the long record of service to the community of a constituent of mine, my good friend John Kebles. John is president and chief executive officer of Choice One Federal Credit Union in Wilkes-Barre and outgoing chairman of the board of the Pennsylvania Credit Union League for 2001-2002. The league will thank and honor him for his service at its annual convention, to be held from April 24 to 26, 2003. I grew to know John well in 1998 during the fight to pass the Credit Union Membership Access Act, better known to many as H.R. 1151. The enactment of this law showed the power of average citizens to influence Congress, and, Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that John is an excellent example of those dedicated souls who exercised their Constitutionally guaranteed right to petition their government. As chairman of the state credit union league, he has successfully urged credit union members to become more involved in their government, setting an example for other credit union members around the nation. Another example of the league's many accomplishments under his leadership is the enactment of a state credit union parity bill last year to expand opportunities for state-chartered credit unions. Also during his tenure, the league has launched CU BizSource, a new product and service to offer business loans to members. This is a fine example of the democratic--``little D''--access to capital that credit unions are intended to provide. In the Wilkes-Barre area, John has been a leader in several community-minded initiatives, including spearheading the effort by several credit unions to build a Habitat for Humanity house in Ashley and seeking a community charter, which has made Choice One better able to serve more lower-income people. I am proud to claim him as a constituent and to call him a friend. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of Representatives the honor being accorded to John Kebles by the Pennsylvania Credit Union League, and I wish him and his family all the best.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the honoring of Robert T. Kelly, Sr., by the Scranton Hebrew Day School at the school's 55th anniversary dinner on March 23, 2003. Because he has been both a community leader and a very generous benefactor as a trustee of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, the school will present him with its Special Recognition Award. Mr. Kelly is a graduate of the University of Scranton, where he was also awarded a Master of Business Administration degree. The university has also presented him with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. A member of the advisory board of directors of the First Liberty Bank and Trust Company, Mr. Kelly is a former member of the board of trustees of the University of Scranton and served in a similar capacity with Mercy Health Systems, Northeast Region. He is currently a member of the American and Pennsylvania Institutes of Certified Public Accountants, the Country Club of Scranton and the Johns Hopkins Club of Baltimore. Mr. Kelly has been one of the Weinberg Foundation's trustees since 1990 and currently serves as a trustee emeritus, having been succeeded as a trustee by his son Timothy P. Kelly. An intimate of philanthropist Harry Weinberg since the 1950s when Mr. Weinberg operated the Scranton Transit Company, Mr. Kelly was designated a trustee by Mr. Weinberg to assist in the running of the foundation after his death. Mr. Weinberg passed away in 1990 at the age of 82. At that time, the foundation possessed assets worth nearly $1 billion. It currently distributes more than $95 million annually to the needy around the world and is considered to be one of the top 25 philanthropic trusts in the United States. Mr. Kelly and his wife, the former Rose Marie Simoncelli, reside in Jessup and are the proud parents of four children, Timothy and Mary Louise, both of Waverly; Attorney Robert Jr. of Clarks Green; and Dr. Patricia Kelly-Holmes of South Bend, Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of Representatives the honor being accorded to Mr. Robert T. Kelly, Sr., by the Scranton Hebrew Day School, and I wish him and his family all the best.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise day to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the 60th wedding anniversary of my good friends Albert and Mary Clark of Pittston, PA. The Clarks will be honored March 15 with a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Mary's Church in Pittston and an anniversary dinner at St. Mary's Center in Scranton. Albert and Mary, the former Mary Jordan, were married March 6, 1943, in their neighborhood church in Pittston, in the middle of World War II. He wore his Navy ensign's uniform for the ceremony. At the time he was an administrative officer with the Navy at the Philadelphia Ship Yard, which was then a major deployment facility for troops and shipping traffic. They are the proud parents of seven children: Michael, of Washington, DC; Patrick, of Columbia, SC; Kevin, of San Francisco; John, of Poway, CA; Brian, of Dunmore; Albert, Jr., of Scranton; and Mary Kenney, of Clarks Summit. They are also the proud grandparents of 22 grandchildren. In addition to raising a large family, Mary has been continuously active in various organizations of her parish church, including her role as Eucharistic minister. Last year, Albert was presented with the Man of the Year award by the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of Representatives the 60th wedding anniversary of Albert and Mary Clark, and I wish them and their family all the best.

Mr. KANJORSKI

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

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume rise. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the adoption of H.R. 657, a bill to provide the Securities and Exchange Commission with additional emergency powers. As my colleagues know, the SEC played a crucial role in the recovery of our financial markets from the devastating effects of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In addition to the important role the commission played in coordinating market participants throughout the crisis, the emergency orders issued by the SEC helped to provide needed liquidity and stability to the stock markets. The actions of the SEC also helped to ensure an orderly reopening of our capital markets, something that was in the interest of our economy and all investors. Under our current law the SEC has the authority to issue emergency orders up to 10 business days in order to preserve orderly securities trading, clearance, and settlement. Following the terrorist attacks, the SEC used this authority for the first time to ease a variety of securities regulations including broker-dealer capital rules related to uncleared trades and restrictions on public companies' repurchase of their own securities. The SEC later used its general exemptive authority to extend some of the emergency provisions beyond the initial 10 business days in order to address continued lags in clearance and other areas, as well as to temporarily suspend certain investment company requirements. While the SEC very effectively used its existing emergency powers after the 2001 terrorist strikes, I believe this authority could be further strengthened. At congressional hearings shortly after the attacks, the SEC expressed similar views about the adequacy of its emergency power. The formal legislative request later submitted by the SEC asked that we provide the agency with additional emergency authority to respond to any further crises both by extending the potential length of the emergency orders and by extending the authority to clearly cover all of the Federal securities laws. In 2001 the Committee on Financial Services worked with the commission and other interested parties to craft an appropriate framework for any future emergency actions that the SEC may need to take. The Emergency Securities Response Act subsequently passed the House by a voice vote but it did not become law during the 107th Congress. As a result, we must consider this matter anew in the 108th Congress. The bill before us today makes a number of improvements to current law. For example, it expands the SEC's emergency authority to cover all of the Federal securities laws. The bill further permits the SEC to issue emergency orders for 30 business days, which I believe will give the SEC the flexibility needed to ensure they can respond in a timely and effective manner to any future emergency. The legislation also provides the commission with the authority in limited circumstances to extend emergency orders for an additional 90 days upon the finding that the emergency continues to exist and that an extension of the orders continues to be necessary and in the public interest. As it became clear after the 2001 terrorist attacks, serious disruptions in communications, computer systems, transportation, and many other systems, as well as the physical damage to facilities, can have profound effects on the securities markets and market participants. This bill will give the SEC an expanded set of tools to address such emergencies throughout the securities markets, no matter what the underlying cause of the emergency may be. Mr. Speaker, this bill also is a tribute to the leadership of Harvey Pitt when he was chairman of the SEC Commission. And although Mr. Pitt has now left the commission and probably has been criticized for many people for many things, I think the record should reflect that in regard to handling the crises during 2001 and working with the Congress thereafter to provide for orderly markets, no other chairman of the SEC expressed greater powers and controls with greater responsibility than Harvey Pitt. Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of H.R. 657, the Emergency Securities Response Act. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney).

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the 100th anniversary of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Eagles Aerie No. 314 will celebrate this anniversary with a dinner-dance on February 22, 2003. The Scranton Aerie began on Wyoming Avenue at a four-story building with two large concrete eagles at the top. The fourth floor was a magnificent dance hall; the third floor was used as a meeting hall by the Eagles as well as many local unions; and the second floor housed a social room with a wide, white marble staircase as its entrance. The first floor housed various businesses over the years. Throughout the early years, the Aerie had drill teams that performed in parades. The 300 members of the Scranton Aerie are part of a national organization founded in 1898 that is now one million strong, with members in every state and parts of Canada as well. The Scranton Aerie moved to its present building in 1977 and takes pride in being the only fraternal organization with its own building in Scranton. The Scranton Eagles are active with numerous charity projects, having donated several thousand dollars over the years, and with hosting state tournaments and conferences that bring hundreds of people to Scranton. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of Representatives the 100th anniversary of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Scranton as well as their dedication to serving the community, and I wish them all the best.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the selection of my good friend Attorney Murray Ufberg for the prestigious Community Service Award by the Seligman J. Strauss Lodge of B'nai B'rith of Wilkes-Barre. He will be presented with the award at the lodge's 57th annual Lincoln Day Dinner on February 9, 2003. Murray is a very fitting choice for this award. In addition to his active role in local government and economic development, his deep commitment to Northeastern Pennsylvania and his leadership in one of the most prominent and well-respected law firms in the area, he is a leader in the region's Jewish community. I have known Murray for more than 30 years and have enormous respect for his legal ability as well as his dedication to improving the community. He was born July 30, 1943, in Danville, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Wyoming Seminary in 1960, earned a bachelor of arts from Bucknell University in 1964 and graduated with a juris doctor degree from the Duquesne University School of Law in 1968. Murray has risen to the rank of managing partner with Rosenn, Jenkins & Greenwald in Wilkes-Barre. From 1991 to 1994, he served as chairman of the hearing committee of the disciplinary board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Examples of his dedication to community service abound. They include his service as chairman of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Partnership, Inc., from 2000 to the present; and chairman of the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Wilkes-Barre, 1993 to 1997 and from 2000 to the present; and a member of the board of trustees of College Misericordia and the board of directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Wilkes-Barre, the Jewish Community Center of the Wyoming Valley, and WVIA-TV/FM/HDTV. Murray is also past chairman of the board of directors of the United Way of the Wyoming Valley, from 1992 to 1994, and its general campaign in 1990. He is also past president of the Ohav Zedek Synagogue in Wilkes-Barre, from 1986 to 1988; the Jewish Community Center of the Wyoming Valley, from 1982 to 1983; the Seligman J. Strauss Lodge of B'nai B'rith, from 1970 to 1974; and the Duquesne University School of Law Alumni Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania, from 1997 to 1999. He and his beautiful and gracious wife Margery have three children, Aaron, Joshua and Rachel. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of Representatives the well-deserved selection of Attorney Murray Ufberg for the Community Service Award, and I wish him and his family all the best.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the designation of Frank Bartoli as Greater Pittston Person of the Year by the Sunday Dispatch. He will be honored with a reception on February 2nd, 2003. Frank is a native of Pittston who came back to the area to tackle the challenge of turning around the Greater Pittston YMCA, of which he is executive director. As the Dispatch stated recently, ``in just over a year he has more than succeeded in helping make the Y a viable Main Street entity again.'' Frank, the son of Robert and Leota Bartoli, grew up in Inkerman and is a graduate of Pittston Area High School and Lock Haven University. He and his wife, the former Eileen Burns, have two children, Brian and Ellie. When Frank returned to Pittston in August, 2001, the YMCA needed much improvement. It was saddled with debt that was delaying the receipt of grants and other improvements, and building maintenance had become a low priority. With the help of the board of directors, $240,000 in debt has been eliminated. New treadmills and other equipment improvements have been made, but Frank is most proud of the YMCA's focus on children and families, including expanded day care and preschool, a night of entertainment for pre-teens and the conversion of an old laundry room into a children's room full of toys. Athletics for adults have also been expanded. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of Representatives the well-deserved designation of Frank Bartoli as Greater Pittston Person of the Year, and I commend him for his hard work and dedication.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the honoring of the late Pennsylvania State Trooper Thomas ``Kubby'' Kobeski with the Joe Saporito Lifetime of Service Award by the Sunday Dispatch of Pittston, Pennsylvania. A reception will be held in his honor on February 2nd. Trooper Kobeski passed away last May and is survived by his wife, Jackie, and their three children, Thomas, Matthew and Zachary. As the Sunday Dispatch states in an article outlining why Trooper Kobeski was chosen for this award, ``he was only 39, but he did an astonishing amount of good works in that short time. In an age of declining volunteerism, he was the super volunteer.'' Trooper Kobeski exhibited this spirit when he was still in high school. James Redington, principal at Seton Catholic High School, told the Dispatch, ``He was the most dynamic boy. He was a catalyst to get everybody moving and shaking.'' In addition to Seton Catholic, the many organizations to which Trooper Kobeski donated his time included the Stoners Youth Soccer League, St. John the Baptist School, and the Pittston Little League. At the Pittston Little League, Secretary Nora Shandra, told the newspaper, ``It's going to take 15 people to do what he did. He was equipment man, groundskeeper, coach, treasurer of the league and the auxiliary.'' Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of Representatives the well-deserved honoring of Trooper Kobeski with the Joe Saporito Lifetime of Service Award, and I wish his family and friends all the best.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, all I can say is I am not aware of what objections were made; but this was perfunctory and should have been performed before we adjourned the last session of the last Congress. It is almost farcical. Do you realize in my district alone thousands of senior citizens have received letters that they are no longer insured? They are elderly, in their seventies, their 75th, 80th year and they are completely discombobulated with the idea that this Congress would be so callous as to not respond to their needs. Just as the 800,000 unemployed people are discombobulated today knowing that they do not know when their next unemployment check will come because we failed to extend it before we went home. Quite frankly, I do not care whether it is a Republican problem or a Democratic problem. I do not think this is a party problem. This is a traffic cop problem for the leadership of this House, and the leadership of this House rests on the Republican control. And I am just calling your attention to it as a Member without partisan feeling. We cannot afford to allow this to happen in the future. We passed a bill that a bank cannot issue a mortgage on any residence in the United States that is in a flood zone unless they have flood insurance. So technically we were prepared and have for the last 7 or 8 days barred and put into technical default anybody wanting to mortgage or transact residence sales in the United States for the last 7 days. This is ridiculous. This is important. If you really analyze, we have cost insurance companies, we have cost residences and we have cost constituents across this country millions of dollars and great anxiety for nothing. And all I am urging is let us not have this happen again. This should not be a matter of politics, should not be a matter of who controls the leadership of either side, either body of this House. This is responsible legislation that should have been passed in the last Congress. We failed to. We have the force also in this legislation for unemployment compensation. It is awfully nice for us to argue over the issues of that question for all this time; but our constituents, 800,000 of them across America, do not know whether or not they will be able to buy groceries this week. That is unacceptable in the United States. And I am only speaking for our average constituents and calling the attention of that to the Members of the House. We cannot continue to allow this to happen. This should, and I predict will, pass unanimously. I cannot imagine any Member of the House of Representatives that is opposed to giving flood insurance to the American people. So why are we making it a ridiculous thing here 7 days late to come forth with a piece of legislation where there has been a hiatus and technical defaults all over this country, interrupting commerce, interrupting construction, interrupting all kinds of things when our economy is hurting? And we are saying we are being responsible as a body? I think not. Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my chairman and my ranking member for finally putting this piece of legislation in a timely way here before the floor on this first legislative day. I think it is important. I urge all my colleagues on the Republican side and the Democratic side to support this legislation unanimously. It is something important, and it means a great deal to an awful lot of Americans to maintain their homes with some sort of security. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization Act that would extend for one year the four basic authorities contained in the National Flood Insurance Act As many of my colleagues may already know, virtually all residential and commercial mortgage transactions on properties located in flood zones came to a halt on January 1, 2003. The Senate did attempt to address this problem in the closing days of the 107th Congress. The House, however, regrettably failed to consider the Senate-approved bill before the 107th Congress adjourned. We must now, as a result, take quick action on this legislation in the House in order to minimize disruptions to homeownership and to protect our already struggling economy. I am pleased therefore that the leadership has scheduled this legislation for a vote early in the 108th Congress. This lapse in coverage has already resulted in significant confusion for all parties with an interest in the National Flood Insurance Program. Moving quickly on this bill will help to abate these problems. From my perspective, it is also of the utmost importance that this bill retroactively reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program. In January 1996, the Susquehanna River and its tributaries in Northeastern Pennsylvania exceeded their banks and caused considerable flooding. Mother Nature may cause similar flooding in Pennsylvania or elsewhere before we can complete our work in Washington in the coming days. I am therefore pleased that this bill would protect homeowners in the interim by making these changes effective as of December 31, 2002. In closing, we should protect homeowners and businesses from financial losses by not allowing the National Flood Insurance Program to lapse into an extended legal limbo. Accordingly, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. KANJORSKI. I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I just want to respond to the former speaker. I hope he did not want to indicate that I am either opposed to the passage of this legislation or suggest that it will not be very successful or will not be needed. Because I certainly do not want him to leave the floor with that impression. I just want to make sure the record is very clear. This bill did not have any major objection, to my knowledge, on the floor at all. It was held up because of other tactical reasons for other legislation passed by the Senate that did not want to be considered by the leadership of this House after the Senate passed the bill. I think that is unacceptable as a policy in this House. I am in favor and I will ask all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, as you do, that we should impose this immediately in the legislation; and if we have other things to do, let us have our committee hold hearings to find out what has to be done. But we should not penalize, jeopardize and put into such an anxiety state the American people. I just want the record to reflect that.

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise, of course, in support of this bill today; but I want to call my colleagues' attention to the fact that this has happened a little too often in this House. We allowed unemployment compensation to lapse giving a tremendous Christmas present on December 28 to 800,000 unemployed people in this country. The House of Representatives did not think it was important enough that they could have security. Now we have allowed this bill to lapse by failing just to schedule a bill that passed the Senate by unanimous consent. Some failure of leadership. Last year I participated in the disaster insurance bill, and for a full year it lagged where technical defaults and failures of commercial building occurred because we had some attempt by the White House or others to attach on tort reform. As a Member of Congress, I think our first responsibility is to our constituents. And technically, we have put people in technical default of their mortgages with our failure to act last fall. Now, I think all of our colleagues will support this bill. They would have supported it last fall. Why did we have to have tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people in the United States receive letters from their insurance carriers that they were in technical default?

Mr. KANJORSKI. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio. MR. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, just for a clarification, the last day of the 107th Congress, the Senate passed a bill, sent it over to the House. We brought it up on unanimous consent, and it was objected to by your side. Just for the record, I wanted to point that out.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the service to the community of the Arc of Luzerne County, PA, which was founded in 1952 as the Wyoming Valley Council for the Mentally Retarded. The Arc will hold its 50th anniversary celebration on January 15, 2003. Like many nonprofit organizations, the Arc of Luzerne County started as a small group of parents trying to make a better life for their children. Today, the Arc has become an influential advocacy organization serving all people with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities and their families. The local organization also benefits from its affiliation with the state and national Arc. Among the many accomplishments of the Arc of Luzerne County is the Community Resource Center, which opened in July 2000 to serve people in six northeastern Pennyslvania counties. Since opening, the center has provided a creative arts program and other community integration activities, as well as up-to-date information and a place for the people it serves to meet with each other and with caregivers and service providers. The Arc of Luzerne County also has a long history of working to improve the support services offered to children and adults with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities. In addition, the organization provides representative payee services and independent monitoring teams that assess the quality of residential facilities. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of Representatives the half-century of service to the community of the Arc of Luzerne County, and I commend its members for their hard work and dedication.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the conference report on the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. We need this economic stabilization to provide an inoculation for our ailing economy. Since last year's terrorist attacks, insurance rates for businesses have risen significantly across the country. One recent report by the Insurance Information Institute found that insurance rates have increased by 30 percent or more after last year's terrorist attacks. One of the primarily factors contributing to these dramatic increases is the lack of terrorism insurance. The failure to create a Federal terrorism insurance backstop has also had serious implications for our economy. As the report of the Joint Economic Committee found, the problems associated with terrorism reinsurance pose a significant threat to sustained economic growth. The Real Estate Roundtable found that the lack of terrorism insurance availability for commercial properties has resulted in the cancellation or delay of $15 billion in real estate deals, resulting in the loss of potentially 300,000 fewer good-paying construction jobs. Terrorism insurance is critical to protecting jobs and promoting America's economic security, whether in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, or Hazleton, Pennsylvania, or in New York City. The issue of terrorism insurance may also affect our national economy more immediately and more drastically than any tax or spending issue that Congress has considered in recent years. Without Federal intervention in the insurance marketplace, our already-sluggish economy will likely experience increased instability in the near future. The conference report before us today is workable; it is an effective compromise, one that provides substantial financial protection. I am pleased that the conference report contains a number of provisions which I advocated. For example, the legislation designates the Secretary of the Treasury as the administrator of the program and clearly authorizes auditing powers and penalties. Additionally, I worked to ensure that this conference report allows the Treasury Secretary to consider the effect of payback surcharges on urban, smaller commercial, and rural areas and on different lines of insurance. These considerations are important because they will ensure that the individual policyholders will be treated fairly and a small business, a farmer or other rural policy holder will not be asked to disproportionately subsidize losses associated with national symbols like a skyscraper or large manufacturing plant. Moreover, through the process of considering this bill, I have worked to adapt the simplest, cleanest bill to get us through the period of uncertainty until the private sector can price the terrorism reinsurance. Mr. Speaker, this bill should have been before the Congress a year ago. We worked diligently in the subcommittee; and if the report of the subcommittee had been presented to this floor a year ago, I am convinced in my own mind there would have been well over 420 votes to support it. Unfortunately, as the ranking member of the committee indicated, this got caught up in ideology and other factors, trying to make it a locomotive, if you will, to handle tort reform. I think this is a perfect example of how we could start the new year and the new Congress in recognizing that partisanship and special interests or ideologies should not be made part of public policy. We can start by looking at this case as a case in chief as to how legislation can be accomplished and how it cannot be accomplished and why 1 year lost of construction time and investment is not worth the attempt to win some political point or political benefit. I compliment the chairman of the committee and the chairman of my subcommittee; and particularly I want to compliment, pay respect to, the ranking member from western New York. Without his diligence and without their diligence, we probably could be arguing until the cows come home. Fortunately, everybody realized that America needs this bill. The insurance industry, which is probably the least likely industry that wants Federal involvement, recognized that this is a role government should play. But most of all, Mr. Speaker, the American people and the American economy need this bill. I urge my colleagues to support this conference report to their fullest extent.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the service to the community of Martin Walzer, who will receive the Robert N. Pursel Distinguished Community Achievement Award. The Danville, Pennsylvania, Chapter of the American Red Cross will present this award to him on November 16 in recognition of his lifetime of service to the community. Mr. Walzer was born in 1942 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the third child of Martin Shubert and Mary Flexer Walzer. He graduated from the Hill School in Pottstown and graduated from Cornell University with a degree in agricultural economics. His connection to the Danville area began when he went to work in sales for his father's wholesale food distribution company. One of his customers in the Danville area was the owner of the Pine Barn Inn, Margaret Bush, and when she decided to get out of that business, he bought it and has become known as Danville's ``goodwill ambassador.'' He has also grown the business over the years and it now has more than twice as many rooms as it did when he bought it. Mr. Walzer is a member of the Danville Area Community Center board of directors and a founding member of the Danville Area Community Foundation executive board. He has participated in numerous additional community organizations over the years, including the Danville Chamber of Commerce, Iron Heritage Festival, Montour County Recreation Authority and the Greater Danville Industrial Development Corporation. He has also made large-scale contributions to the community, such as donating the land that Geisinger Medical Center used to create its main entrance as well as donating approximately $6,000 to the Danville Area Community Center by covering the cost of its 15th anniversary fundraising dinner. ``Just as generous, though, are the many smaller kindnesses,'' as the Danville News stated in the article announcing Mr. Walzer had been chosen for this award. Because his inn is next to the busy Geisinger Medical Center, Mr. Walzer has taken advantage of many opportunities to put his generosity and caring into action, whether that simply means being supportive to families with a loved one in the hospital with a serious illness or injury or going further to loan them clothes and give them rides to Williamsport or Scranton. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of Representatives the long record of service to the community of Martin Walzer, and I congratulate him on this well-deserved award.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the service to the community of Mary Ann Keirans from the Visiting Nurse Association in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Having worked hard to improve the lives of thousands of people in the community, she will be honored November 5 on the occasion of her retirement. She holds a master of business administration from Wilkes University, a master of arts in public health nursing administration from Columbia University and a bachelor of science in nursing, from Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing. For more than 33 years, Mary Ann Keirans has dedicated herself to the mission of the Visiting Nurse Association, which has changed names several times over the years. She began working for the association in 1969 and has served as its administrator since August 1975. Mr. Speaker, her professional activities and instances of community involvement are too numerous to list them all here. To give a few examples of her dedication, she has served on the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Association of Home Health Agencies for 28 years, including as the board's president, second vice president and treasurer, and chairing numerous committees of the board. Additionally, she is a member of the board of directors of the Visiting Nurse Associations of Pennsylvania and MMI Preparatory School, as well as a member of the Business School Advisory Council at King's College. She is also a member of the founding board of directors of Leadership Wilkes-Barre and a member of its steering and program committee, as well as a member of the Women's Executive Council of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry. Given her dedication, Mr. Speaker, you will not be surprised to learn that Mary Ann Keirans has received several awards, including the Pennsylvania Association of Home Health Agencies Member of the Year Award in 1985 and its President's Award in 1995, as well as the 1987 Athena Award for Outstanding Professional Woman of the Year from the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry. She is also active in numerous civic organizations and in church activities. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of Representatives the long record of service to the community of Mary Ann Keirans, and I wish her all the best.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, today to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the service to the community provided by Columbia Montour Home Health Services, which is celebrating 35 years of serving residents of Northeastern Pennsylvania. During the autumn and early winter of 1966, groups of interested citizens in Danville and Bloomsburg, identified a need in the community for requests which could be met through the services of a public health nurse. Some of the groups involved included the Danville Council of Churches, the Bloomsburg Business Professional Women's Club and the Red Cross. In January 1967, representatives of Lutheran Social Services and the Pennsylvania Department of Health met with the local people and shortly thereafter a public meeting was held at the Court House in Danville to discuss a cooperative effort between Columbia and Montour Counties for the development of a Visiting Nurses Association. The name chosen for the new organization was Columbia Montour County Visiting Nurse Association. By April 1967, a Board of Directors had been named and immediately began raising funds. Funds were secured from the local United Way Funds, the County Commissioners, other agencies and private individuals. Nursing, physical and occupational therapy and social work counseling were the first services offered. In 1970, speech therapy was added. In 1971, the Homemaking Home Health Aide program was added. The Hospice program was developed in 1981 to care for the terminally ill and their families. During the 1980s, the agency established health maintenance clinics in the housing complexes for older persons in Berwick, Bloomsburg, Danville, Millville and Catawissa. A comprehensive rehabilitation team was established to provide the most up-to-date therapy in the home. The staff is continually educated to care for patients' problems involving simple to complex needs. To meet the continued challenges of growth, the agency moved to new offices in Bloomsburg in December of 1996. It achieved accreditation from the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) in 1993 and is licensed as a home health agency and as a hospice by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The agency is led by Chief Executive Officer Jane Gittler, R.N., M.S.N. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of Representatives the service to the community of Columbia Montour Home Health Services, and I wish its employees and patients all the best.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the honoring of Ed Harry at the Organized Labor 2002 Dinner to be held on October 24 by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Labor Council and the Northeast Alliance Pennsylvania Retirees District 3. Ed will be honored for his many years of dedicated and outstanding service to the local labor movement and the community. Ed is the son of a United Mine Workers member and a member of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. He is a veteran of the Vietnam War, where he worked in Air Force intelligence and spent 1968 and 1969 in Vietnam and Thailand. He began working for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1971 at Retreat State Hospital. Working as a custodian, he became a shop steward in his department in 1972, and in 1974, he became the chief steward for Local 537 of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees. In that capacity, he represented most of the employees at the hospital. In February 1977, Ed spent 22 months organizing public employees in Florida for AFSCME, traveling throughout the state. In September 1978, he returned to Pennsylvania and began working as a staff representative for District Council 88, based in the Reading office. Following the general election in 1980, Ed was able to come home, where he began working for District Council 87. He has been a member of the Wilkes-Barre Area Labor Council since 1972 and has served as a trustee for approximately the past 12 years. He has been active in politics, including most statewide and federal campaigns in Pennsylvania, since the 1970s. Ed is an avid sports fan and during his well-deserved retirement, his friends and colleagues know they will be seeing him at many local and college games. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of Representatives the achievements and service to the community of Ed Harry, and I wish him all the best.

Mr. KANJORSKI

Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the honoring of Joseph L. Gorham at the Organized Labor 2002 Dinner to be held on October 24 by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Labor Council and the Northeast Alliance Pennsylvania Retirees District 3. Joe will be honored for his many years of dedicated and outstanding service to the local labor movement and the community. Joe was born July 11, 1943, in Wilkes-Barre Township to Robert John Gorham, a member of the United Mine Workers, and Genevieve Lombardelli Gorham, a member of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Tragically, he lost his father during a mine cave-in on August 17,1956. Joe graduated from Ashley High School in 1961 and was a member of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union from the late 1950s through the early 1960s. He also worked for United Parcel Service, became a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in November 1965 and was elected shop steward at UPS in 1969. In 1970, he was appointed to the executive board of Teamsters Local 401 and has served on the board both as trustee and recording secretary. In January 1991, he was elected to serve as principal officer of Local 401 and continues to serve in that capacity. Joe was a participant in the first class of Leadership Wilkes-Barre and has attended classes at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Leadership Academy as well as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Organizing School and labor management classes. He has served on the boards of the American Heart Association, United Way and the Labor-Management Committee. Joe currently serves as treasurer of the Wilkes-Barre Labor Council, chief executive officer of the Teamsters Local 401 board, advisory board member of the Central Pennsylvania Teamsters Pension and Health and Welfare Fund, board member of Teamsters Joint Council 53 Health/ Welfare and Pension Fund and chairman of the Local 401 Health and Welfare Fund. He and his wife of 39 years, the former Mary Ann Polny, have four children: Jeannie Marie, Maria Josepha, Pamela Ann and Joseph Matthew Gorham. He is the proud grandfather of 10: Amy and Abby Keller; Duane, Maria, Nicholas and Regina Deno; Todd and Kyle Oravic; and Jacob and Genevieve Antonia Gorham. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of Representatives the achievements and service to the community of Joseph L. Gorham, and I wish him all the best.