Jack Kingston

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Let me say this, too. I am a father of four, and I believe the gentleman has three children.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, let me ask the gentleman a personal question. If it was the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart) instead of Mr. Estrada, and the gentleman had all of his qualifications, do you think that they would let you through based on what you are saying?

Mr. KINGSTON. And I know that the gentleman's daughter had a real high SAT score.

Mr. KINGSTON. I thank the gentleman for bringing that out, and I also wanted to say that it is important for us, for these soldiers, not just to pass the tax relief for them personally as a soldier in the field. I mean, it is, of course, very important and paramount that we support the war effort, but the other thing we can do for the soldiers is to improve the economy domestically. I am proud that this administration, while fighting the war on the international and domestic front in terms of homeland security, are also trying to turn the economy around and address so many of the critical issues in our economy. President Bush has proposed a tax bill, which we will be voting on very soon in the House, that reduces some of the tax rates. Now, that has already been approved by this House. It is just that it phases in and phases out in 10 years. We are saying if it was good enough for last year's election purposes, from the liberal standpoint, then let us go ahead and put them on the books permanently. The Bush plan also stops the double taxation on savings. As the gentleman knows, if you buy a stock and you are paid a dividend from that stock, you pay taxes on it. The corporation has already paid taxes, so you are being taxed twice on your savings. This tax bill stops that. It also gives small businesses an expensing item so that they can buy new equipment and write off about $75,000 of it. Seventy percent of the jobs in America come from small businesses. We have to worry about the small businesses, the small Main Street folks, and this bill does address that. It also helps those who are unemployed, like my paper mill workers down in Camden County, Georgia, who work for the Durango Paper Mill that closed up. This will give them some unemployment help, but it will also help them create a personal employment account, and that gives them some discretionary money for some of their short-term expenses until they get a job. And once they get a job, they get to pocket the difference. That helps them move down the road. And the ultimate idea also is that it would shorten some of the time period people actually need unemployment. It gives everybody incentive. It is a win-win. I am excited about this tax plan because I think it is so important, along with ending this conflict in Iraq. It is very important for us to stimulate the economy. And to show the kind of money it would put on the streets, 92 million taxpayers would get $1,083. And this is basically immediately. It has what Steven Friedman, one of the economic advisers to President Bush, calls a near-term lift, an immediate near- term lift. This is not something that is going to happen down the road, but this will have a very positive effect on the economy and job creation. Thirty-four million families would get $1,473. Six million single mothers would get $541, and 13 million seniors $1,384. That is money in their pocket this year, right now.

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Speaker, we need to be sure we get that in the Record; that she inherited her mother's brains.

Mr. KINGSTON. Yes.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I agree and I want to get off France for a minute. France is looking after their own national interests. Let us talk about oil. That is the country that is making this a war over oil because they are the one with all the sweetheart deals with Iraq for oil supply; but look at our items that we buy that are French, and if we choose so, do not eat them. Let us talk about Germany. My colleague and I do a lot of work for our military, and in my district we have five military installations. Big fear in Georgia right now, 13 total, is BRAC, base realignment and closure commissions. Do we need a military base in Germany with countries like Bulgaria and the emerging, less affluent countries that are strategically better located anyhow? But they are dying for our business because let me say this. If Moody Air Force Base or Fort Stewart or Robbins get on the BRAC list, people in Georgia are going to be nonstop scurrying around trying to get them off the BRAC list as they did last time, as will happen all over the world, all over the country; but meanwhile, we have got bases in Germany. If that is not 100 percent America's interests, then maybe we ought to move those bases. What does my colleague think?

Mr. KINGSTON. Last year when a different party was in charge of the other body, we passed lots of legislation that died, lots of legislation that was not allowed to come out on the floor for a vote. It seems that those same folks who lost the majority because of their inability to make decisions are at it again and it is absurd. Hey, vote the guy down. Have the guts. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. KINGSTON. So there is a practical side to it and a moral side. It is a pat on the back saying we cannot be there.

Mr. KINGSTON. But we really appreciate what they are doing. I think it is so important for these wives and the families in my area, and I know in California that the gentleman has lots who are deployed, same thing. Mr. Speaker, switching gears slightly, I always pick up the paper here, and one would think that it is the United States and Tony Blair, not the United States and Great Britain, but just Tony Blair, oh, and Jack Straw; but one would think it is just a couple of us out there fighting Saddam Hussein. Here is a list of countries: Albania, Angola, Australia, Bahrain, Britain, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Guinea, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Lithuania, Macedonia, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Yemen who have all expressed support of the Bush policies towards Iraq. Why is that not in the paper? And in my colleague's opinion, is it important for us to wait out the U.N.? I think we are on number 17 in terms of resolutions now. Keep in mind, the very first resolution going back to April 1991 called for disarmament within 90 days; and it did not say, and we are having to come prove the case against you, it says you have got to show us that you have disarmed. What is the gentleman's view?

Mr. KINGSTON. Absolutely.

Mr. KINGSTON. Let me ask the gentleman from California, in California, they have some very good wines, and in Georgia we have Chateau Elan, which is also a good wine, and of course, there are a lot of wines.

Mr. KINGSTON. I know the gentleman is a Navy guy, but right now there is just not that much water in Iraq. We have from Fort Stewart alone, nearly 18,000 troops who are deployed. Lots of mothers, some fathers, and lots of children left behind while these troops are gone. We in the House are passing an important tax relief bill tomorrow to give them a little breathing room, and I wanted to ask the gentleman as a guy who has been out there, who had to leave behind, this bill that we are going to pass gives them some capital gains tax relief, gives them a death gratuity tax relief, some dependent care tax relief. Basically it gives the soldiers just a little more wiggle room and a few more tax benefits while they are out there fighting for our freedom. And I do not really want to ask the gentleman about the technical part of the tax bill which, of course, he is welcome to speak on; but as a man in uniform, tell me what this means to you out there on the front line? Is this important at all or does this send a signal? What is your feeling?

Mr. KINGSTON. It is ridiculous, though, because as I understand it, most Hispanic and Latino national organizations have endorsed Estrada. And yet our friend from Florida (Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart) says, Well, his big problem is he is not Hispanic enough. Now this is from a guy who is raised in Honduras, but he is not Hispanic enough for the liberals. As the gentleman also said, they do not even know how to speak Spanish themselves but they are telling somebody else that he is not Hispanic enough. The reality is, this is a very strong guy but they cannot stand the fact that there might be a minority group getting off the plantation. And that is the reality of it. It is a sad, sick commentary.

Mr. KINGSTON. I guess the problem though really is what is his crime? The crime is he is Hispanic and in the liberal welfare support society out there, if you are a minority group in America, you are supposed to think and act in a certain way, and if you do not, by golly, look what happens. My friend, Clarence Thomas from Sandfly, Georgia, he went through the same living hell and personal accusations and everything else because he was an African American and did not believe in everything that he was told he was supposed to believe in. His problem was he was an independent thinker. And I guess Estrada is an independent thinker who does not look to liberal institutions to tell him how he is supposed to think and behave and that is what this is about.

Mr. KINGSTON. And I agree with the gentleman. By golly, vote yes, vote no, but have the guts enough to vote. Do not hide behind parliamentary procedures. One of the charges against Mr. Estrada is that he does not have judicial experience, and yet I believe there are eight judges on this court, and 5 of them did not have it. And incidentally, many of those came through some of these same liberals who are opposing him now and they voted to support these folks. On the Supreme Court, we have Byron Wright, and we have the Chief Justice Rehnquist, who did not have judicial experience. But we know how it is, if you oppose something you can come up with any reason you want. I wanted to jump into something because I think it is very important for the President, whoever it is, to be able to get his own team in place and try to get some good people on the judicial benches, but we have a war going on. Very serious issues in front of us. The gentleman here is a former top gun. He was the inspiration for the movie Top Gun. He has been out there on the frontline. He is a great advocate for the military. I am wearing, I do not know if the gentleman can see it from where he is standing, a Third Infantry Division patch which was given to me by the wives who have been left behind in Hinesville, in Savannah and coastal Georgia.

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Speaker, liberal Democrats did not want to debate it for 10 hours so they went to 12 hours. That was not enough. So the next day on February 11 they went to 6 hours. It was not enough. They went to 14, then 24 hours, then 44 hours, and then on the 12th 6 hours. Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Speaker, I am not allowed to say U.S. Senate?

Mr. KINGSTON. Investigation.

Mr. KINGSTON. So you have this other body and they have already spent 85 hours debating a guy who the American Bar Association has rated as one of the most highly qualified. He has worked under the Clinton administration. He has worked under, I think, even the Carter administration. This guy came to America when he was 17 years old. He was raised in Honduras, did not speak any English. He graduates from Harvard. He is a distinguished lawyer by anybody's measure. And the only thing the Democrats want to do is debate him. Bush wants to put in his own team. We have a war going, but this is the number one issue now for the liberal Democrats. Madam Speaker, I yield to my friend from California (Mr. Cunningham).

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Speaker, it is great to be here. And I am always so proud to have an opportunity to come down on the floor of the United States Congress and have an opportunity to debate topics of the day, and I do so with great respect to anybody who has the opposing view. Madam Speaker, I notice my friend, the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham) is here. Maybe he is going to join in. He is going to be talking about aviators later on. I do want to say a few comments on a number of topics. One of the things I want to talk about this Miguel Estrada nomination is, I think, it is ironic that here we are, we have the guy who has been rated was one of the most highly qualified by the American lawyers, by the American Bar Association. Here is a guy who graduated from Harvard magna cum laude, editor of the Law Review. He has argued 15 cases before the Supreme Court, and yet our Democrat colleagues and liberal colleagues are so offended by his success that they are holding him up in the face of war, troops overseas, national security, and economy that is in the tank. How absurd is it, Madam Speaker? I wanted to give you this. The liberal Democrats over in the Senate have objected and we want to give you some hours, 6 hours of debate was not enough. That was on February 6. So they went to 8 hours. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. KINGSTON. Well, the gentleman might want to look it up on the Internet. At fromage, which is the French word for cheese, F-R-O-M-A-G- E, .com, it is a French cheese distributor, and they are down 15 percent. I recommend to everybody, look up fromage.com, see what their products are and continue the boycott. I think we should also boycott the Paris air show. I think we should discontinue drinking their wine and champagnes and anything else; and, hey, I am not even anti-French.

Mr. KINGSTON. I believe that we all are elected, be it a House or a Senate Member, or even a State representative back home, a county commissioner or a mayor, you are elected to vote, to take a position and not play parliamentary games, which is what has been going on.

Mr. KINGSTON. If I may ask the Speaker, you can make a factual statement about the other body; is that correct?

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise to honor Mr. John Isaac Lee today. Mr. Lee is a champion of education as well as a devoted husband and father. John is the longest serving member of the Brantley County Board of Education and will be retiring after 36 years of service at the end of this term. It is for his service to the State of Georgia and the people of Brantley County that I wish to thank him, and I can think of no better place to honor him, than within these great walls of the U.S. House of Representatives. John Lee was first nominated to be on the Brantley County Board of Education by Mrs. Mabel Moody and elected by grand jury on October 1, 1968. From that time until now, he has served in this capacity continuously, with not one break in service. In fact, during his 34 year tenure, he has missed only one regularly scheduled meeting; which was when he decided that he would attend his son's graduation from the University of Georgia. Mr. Lee has believed in his commitment to the students that he served. It is only fitting that when John decided to have hip replacement surgery on both of his hips, he made sure that the surgery and recovery would not conflict with any of his duties as a board member. The students and teachers that live in Brantley County all know how wonderful Mr. Lee is, Mr. Speaker. But probably none know as well as his family that loves him so dearly. In addition to being a county school board member, John Lee was married to Mrs. Eula Mae Herrin for 58 years before she passed away, unfortunately, on October 16, 1998. Together they raised 3 sons and 3 daughters, and John is the proud grandfather of 15 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. They can all be proud of John and join with me in celebrating his life and thanking him for his tireless service. It is hard to imagine that someone could commit 36 years of their life to one cause and do it so well. But John Lee has done that as a member of the Brantley County education board, and he has done it with great humility. I am glad that Mr. Lee will now be able to relax and enjoy his life as a simple farmer, which is his natural profession, having farmed all of his life. He is a deacon and member of Hickox Baptist Church, and it is high time that he be able to enjoy the days in Hickox, GA. He has earned his time to rest, and the entire State of Georgia is indebted to him and his service. Thank you John Lee, you have meant more to the people of Brantley County than you could know, and you will never be forgotten.