Jack Kingston

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Well, again, I understand a difference in philosophy. I have a lot of friends in the other party who did not like the economic security bill. Maybe they did not like particular parts of it, maybe they ultimately voted against it. But to their credit they engaged in the debate. They came down on the floor and they voted. Whereas in the other body it appears that the best action is total inaction, and that is tragic. There are too many people who have worked hard on a package to try to jump-start this economy, but we need to have it. I am not sure, Mr. Speaker, if I can talk about appropriation bills or not. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones).

Mr. KINGSTON. I thank the gentleman. I stand corrected. And I want to commend the freshman sitting in the Chair for his very careful and thorough job tonight, and being patient with frustrated Members like me. We have had a very productive year on the House side of the branch of the legislature, and we just hate to go home, at Christmas time nearly, and do it incompletely when there is an opportunity still to pass so many great pieces of legislation that will help real people in the real world get jobs, get jobs back, get benefits, secure benefits that they have, obtain a good food supply, good energy supply, and an education program that works. There are just so many things that are within our legislative grasp to do something about, and it is so frustrating to have only part of that done. There is just one area in the legislative branch where there seems to be a gap. We have the executive branch all ready with the ink pen full of ink ready to sign the legislation to get America moving again. We have worked hard here, Democrats and Republicans alike on the House side. We have had great leadership under the Speaker of the House, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert), and the recently- announced retiree, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), even though that will not be for a year from now. And of course the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Watts) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. So many great things. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, who I do not think has been home since August in terms of working overtime to try to get these appropriation bills passed. The gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) of the Committee on Ways and Means moving on trade and health care bills and so forth.

Mr. KINGSTON. Okay, Mr. Speaker, and I will not use this one again. However, it does show a particular philosophy of a body that wants to spend money rather than a body that wants to preserve and protect jobs. And I think if maybe there is a real difference between being a Democrat and being a Republican that is reflected in the Republicans running the House and the Democrats running the other body, it is in the economic security bill. Because here we are standing strong with jobs, standing strong with laid-off workers for benefits, for health care benefits and for unemployment checks, and yet this other body, controlled by the other party, is sitting on it and saying we would rather you do spending bills than an economic stimulus package. I think that is egregious and totally irresponsible in today's economy.

Mr. KINGSTON. Well, again, actions by the House on energy bill, faith-based initiatives, farm bill, trade promotion bill, appropriation bills, terrorist reinsurance plan, human cloning, education, and a patients' bill of rights, and we are still waiting for them to come back around. I do want to talk about the economic security bill, because in my area of Georgia, a big tourist area, tourism is down. Amongst retirees, their stock portfolios, their retirement programs have shrunk considerably. Down the street people are laid off. A friend of mine who has two children was laid off recently. Lots of people are losing their jobs. We passed an economic security package in October. And I do not know, the Speaker will have to help guide me, because I have this quote here and it says that the leader of the other body, Mr. Daschle, said that ``It is not as front-burner an issue as other legislation, particularly government spending.'' And that is from the Associated Press, October 27. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. KINGSTON. Well, I thank the gentleman. Yet another example of something that we have done in the House is we passed an education bill back in May. Again, it is over in that deep dark hole over on the other side of the United States capitol. An education bill. That was George Bush's top priority, and we passed it. Again, it has been sitting floundering, waiting. And, hey, no call, no letter, no anything. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner) has said we may be able to get the education bill out maybe Thursday, maybe Friday, maybe even next week, and I think that we all want to do that. But we are excited. A patients' bill of rights, which we passed back in August. Again, it has been sitting over there in the morgue, also known as the other body.

Mr. KINGSTON. Well, I agree with the gentleman. Another issue that the House has passed and the United States' other body has not done anything on, is none other than human cloning. We had a very lively debate in July about that. Now, suddenly, there is a company and they have announced they have the ability to clone human tissue. And everybody gets excited and they say to us, as Members of Congress, what are you guys doing about it? We say, well, we have passed this legislation. It is our hope that our friends on the other side of the House, on the other side of the United States Capitol, will actually wake up and decide that when they are paid to do a job they will do the job, and that means they will vote and debate legislation on or off the floor. Move it on, vote it up or down, one way or the other. Human cloning might be a good thing.

Mr. KINGSTON. Another thing that ties into the food supply is our trade policy. We have to have a tough trade policy to move our goods around the globe. A statistic I heard the other day is that in China, if they consumed as much Coca Cola per capita as the country of Australia, Coca Cola could double the size of its company. Now, there are a lot of thirsty Chinese folks over there who would like to have an opportunity to have a Coca Cola, and a lot of other goods that are made in our country, and trade promotion allows the President of the United States to sit at the bargaining table on these multinational trade agreements and come up with the best deal for American producers and American buyers. We have passed it in the House, but the Senate is nitpicking it to death. Again, vote on it up or down, send it back to us, amend it, but do not just sit on it. Another issue: Terrorism reinsurance. Like it or not, a lot of businesses have to have terrorist insurance in order to get loans from banks. Small businesses. But after September 11, traditional insurance companies do not want to provide terrorist coverage. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. KINGSTON. The other thing, when we talk about security, obviously we need economic security, we need energy security, we need to have security so our people will be able to spiritually compete in the free enterprise system, but none of it means anything if we do not have a good foreign policy. I represent Kings Bay, and we have one of the nuclear submarine fleets there. There is a great story of Kika de la Garza, a former Committee on Agriculture chairman. He goes out in the submarine and spends the night. He says to the captain of the sub, How far can you go? And the captain says, As far as we want. He said, When would you turn around? When would you need more gas, more energy for the nuclear generator? He said, We will not. He says, What makes a nuclear sub go back and forth? He said, We run out of food. It is that simple. Now, in terms of independence and security, what can be more important than an inexpensive, abundant food supply? Yet we passed our farm bill October 5 and the Senate has yet to move on it. And again, hey, agree, disagree, talk to me, let me know how you feel; but nothing has happened.

Mr. KINGSTON. It is very important. And I think if the majority leader in the Senate is worried about people actually getting an abundant supply of gasoline, which apparently he is opposed to, then killing this bill still is not the solution, because there are some other things in here that are very important. I wanted to talk just a little bit about fuel cell opportunities for automobiles. On Monday in Hinesville, Georgia, I had a great opportunity to go for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new business called E-Motion, which makes an electric car using fuel cells. It is a very smart idea. The concept is that in Hinesville, Georgia, they will start manufacturing a smog-free automobile, so when the gentleman flies to, say, New York City or Atlanta, Georgia, or wherever, he will be able to rent an electric car. He will have a smart car. That car will be tied into a GPS operating system. The gentleman will know where he is going in it. He can return it at the end of the day. Why is this important? Because we are not saying, let us just keeping driving Suburbans forever, let us keep drilling for oil all over the globe. That is not the point at all of the energy package. The energy package is to look at the energy needs from a national security point of view and come up with a combination of what works. What E-Motion will be doing is using things like fuel cells to help drive automobiles. In California, they have recently passed regulations saying that 22,000 automobiles that are sold that year have to be smog- free. In Europe, they are going to have emission-free zones in certain cities where, unless it is mass transit or a no-smog automobile or an electric car, they will not even be able to drive there. In Iceland, which is very fossil-fuel dependent on getting fossil fuels in from other countries, they are actually looking at using thermal heat from volcanoes to separate hydrogen from water and use it as an energy source. So here again, the good old folks in the other body and Mr. Daschle are sitting on this technology. That bill, the energy bill that Mr. Bush has pushed, puts millions of dollars into fuel cell research. So this is not just something that is happening in Hinesville, Georgia. This is not something that somebody has to explain. It is something everybody knows, oh, yes, I know what a fuel cell car is. As a matter of fact, I am looking at one right now. They are available in every town. That is being held up because Mr. Daschle is preferring to play up the fears on drilling for oil in Alaska, so he is holding up all these other good things in that energy bill.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I think that is so important. The gentleman had mentioned the energy package. There are a whole lot of things that the House has passed that the Senate is sitting on. I think it is real important to say, hey, we understand that they are now run by the Democrats, and they are going to disagree with the House philosophy. No problem with that. The gentleman came from North Carolina, I came from Georgia, to carry our points of view and our philosophy, and sharpen our ideological swords against opposition, and come up with a better product and a bipartisan product. So we do not expect the Senate to rubber-stamp what the House does, but vote on the things, vote it up or vote it down; have the guts, the integrity, the fortitude to face the American people and say, These are our actions, we are proud of them, and we are right about them. Now, what is interesting on the energy package, the stumbling block for Mr. Daschle happens to be the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve, because he has Democrats who actually want to explore oil there and opportunities, so he does not have the vote to kill the legislation, so he is going to hold the legislation. We are a funny country. We do not want to park our Suburbans, we all like our sports utility vehicles, but we do not want to drill oil just anywhere, and we are also tired of buying it from the Middle East. But let us have a sober, adult, mature discussion of ANWR for just a minute. Just to put it in perspective, if Members can look at this chart, the red outline is the State of Alaska. The blue outline is the State of Texas. The gray outline in the middle of Texas is the State of South Carolina, and the little red dot is the size of the potential drilling area. The wildlife reserve is the size of the State of South Carolina. The little red dot is about 2,000 acres, probably the size of the gentleman's airport. Savannah, Georgia, has an airport about 2,000 acres. That is where it is. That is national security. Do we have a model for this? As a matter of fact, we do. We have Prudhoe Bay. The same people who were telling us the sky was falling if we explored oil in Prudhoe Bay, now they do not mention the fact that the caribou herd has actually increased, for some reason; and it has not hurt the wildlife. I am a hunter, an outdoorsman. My constituents love the woods. I do not want to harm the environment, but I also know this. This summer I was driving up to New York City with my wife and four kids in the car, and I did not even know what State we were in at the time, but we were driving our good old Suburban, and there were five lanes of traffic, two on one side, three on the other, all going one way, so it was a ten-lane interstate. The car in front of us hits the car in front of it. Another car swings into our lane. Before you know it, we are in the middle of a four-car collision. I do not even know what State we were in. It turned out we were in Delaware. I do not know how Delaware folks like people from Georgia. I was a little nervous and thought they might see the Georgia tag and put an-out-of-state surtax on whatever problem it was. I am sitting in the middle of these cars whizzing back and forth, trying to get over to the shoulder and get my children out of the car waiting for police, and it turns out that out of the four cars in the collision, one of them was untouched, or not damaged at all. It was our car, our Suburban. The guy behind us who hit us had about $2,000 worth of damage. I am not sure if his car was drivable or if he had it towed. The police came and actually did not even fill out a report on us. They filled out a report, but we did not file for any insurance because not one person out of six in our car was hurt, and there was not a scratch on anything. The point is, why do I want to drive a big car? It is because my children are more important to me, and I do not want to jeopardize their safety. I want to have that option. Because of that, I think it is important to have an abundant fuel supply. That is why we Americans, when I drive in the car pools Monday and Friday when I am in town, and all it is Ford Expeditions, Suburbans, and other cars; and it is not because we are all going out in the woods in them; it is because of safety and children.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I would tell the gentleman, that is exactly the way it works. In Savannah, Georgia, we have St. Paul's A.M.E. Church. Reverend Delaney is the minister there, and he has a tremendous ministry. They feed the poor. They have a school program there for young kids. They have outreach to help people who have drug addiction and alcoholism, and need job training. They are doing all of this, and they cannot compete for any Federal funds, even though their outcome and the result there shows that Reverend Delaney is effective at this. The reason why is because that recipient, he knows their full name and where they live; he knows their brother, their sister, their mother, their father; he knows their neighborhood; he walks the same streets. He knows them, and he is driven by love for them, not driven by a paycheck. Yet when he goes to try to get Federal funds to expand his soup kitchen, they say, No, you cannot do that, you are doing too good of a job. You are doing a good job, but you are doing it in the name of religion. We just cannot have that. If faith-based grant programs are driven by results, then what is wrong with letting the Reverend Delaneys of the world take care of the hungry and help, with the Federal Government; not take over it, but help?

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to hear that, because when I drive up from Savannah, Georgia, I often have to stop in Lumberton, and they always get about 30 gallons worth for my Suburban. It is very expensive to get gas in North Carolina. In Georgia, it is always a little less. But in Georgia, North Carolina, Washington, D.C., New York City, California, and in Colorado where my mama lives and in Texas where my sister lives, gas prices have come down. So there are those in the Senate who think, well, okay, we do not need an energy policy anymore, and in California, they have sorted out their situation and they say, let us back off this. But I feel more than ever now that we have got to move towards a comprehensive energy policy. So we passed on August 2 an energy bill in the House. Where is it now? Well, Mr. Daschle does not want to bring it up on the Senate Floor. We passed July 19 faith-based initiatives, so that we can have charitable groups who deliver welfare services, welfare-to-work, independence-type services, faith-based groups can participate in that. That is actually just broadening the 1996 welfare reform law signed by President Clinton. We passed it over there, and where is it? It has been sitting there for 141 days.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, George Bush has never strayed from that. In this House since September 11 we have had lots of challenges and the House has moved quickly for a number of reasons to give the President the tools he needs to fight the war and to fight terrorism and to secure the airlines. But the House has consistently done a lot more work than just focusing on the war effort. We support the war effort on a bipartisan basis. We think it is very important to do that. But there are a lot of issues domestically where it is just hard for me to go along with the liberal, big-spending Democrat models that we have seen over the years. I am glad that Speaker Hastert has been a workhorse. This team in Congress has done a lot of things that unfortunately we cannot get our friends in the other body to do. I will show my colleague a chart of some of the House accomplishments this year. We passed an energy package. Now what are gas prices doing in North Carolina these days? Are they going down still?

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I want to say finally, prior to September 11, 70 percent of Americans surveyed said that they pray regularly. After September 11, 97 percent. America has gotten back down on its knees, and I am glad that we have an administration that acknowledges the role of religion and spiritual matters in their decisionmaking.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I think that is the case. This has broad bipartisan support. It is a mainstream reflection of America. Certainly there are people on the fringe who maybe want to turn schools into theological institutions. I think that the main reason I send my kids to school, and I know the gentleman does too, I want the basics, reading, writing and arithmetic. It is not up to my schoolteachers to make my children more moral or more spiritual. Then there are other people on the other extreme that do not want any pretense to us. If we look behind us, and I only wish the cameras could show it, but the words in the United States Capitol, 10 feet from where I stand, ``In God We Trust,'' right above the American flag, right above the Speaker pro tempore, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Rogers). What do we do every single morning as Democrats and Republicans and Independents and staff members, Federal Government employees, no less, in this House Chamber, we open and always have opened with a prayer, and we have Christian, we have Jewish, we have Muslim, we have whoever Members invite that day to give the opening prayer. So the hypocrisy and the inconsistency is incredible.

Mr. KINGSTON. What happens, the small businesses, in order to get bank loans, cannot get their insurance because they have a terrorist exclusion in the policy. So what we have done in the House, in a responsible manner, is we have said we will help facilitate a reinsurance fund with the large insurance companies, the Travelers, the Aetnas, the Cignas, the CNAs. What we say is, you provide the first $1 billion in a pool, and then we will set up a reinsurance fund, a buffer above that $1 billion. We will help underwrite it, but you reimburse the taxpayers. Of course, we have passed it, and one more time the United States' other body has not moved on it whatsoever. Again, this is about job creation. This is for small businesses.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, the House this year has had a very, very productive year. We have passed a good education bill, we have passed a faith-based initiative bill, we have passed an energy package; and, of course, we have passed an economic stimulus bill. A funny thing has happened, though, on the way to the President's desk. It is called the United States other body, whose leader said, and I quote, or this is what has been said by that leader: ``The economic stimulus issue is not a front-burner issue. Other legislation, particularly government spending, is more important.'' That is a defining difference between the Republican House and the Democrat Senate. We believe people who are out of work, businesses that are cutting back, the economy that is going sluggish should be a front- burner issue. Unfortunately, the United States other body thinks it is no big deal, and that passing spending bills is more important. But how are they doing on passing other spending? Here is what we have done on the House side. We have passed the energy bill, the economic stimulus, faith-based, the farm bill, trade promotion, antiterrorism and human cloning. Where is the Senate? Nowhere. Maybe Mr. Jeffords needs to reexamine.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Clement) for his indulgence. This simply lets the Corps of Engineers get rid of some excess property they do not want anymore. It allows the county to take that property and trade it to a private developer, 12 acres; but in exchange, they are going to get 40 acres back. I know the gentleman from Colorado will be interested to know that they are going to have a natural park in those 40 acres that is going to be ecologically sensitive, a passive park, which I know the gentleman from Boulder is familiar with. So this is a very good piece of legislation with bipartisan support by the local folks and the Corps of Engineers.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to honor Mr. Chester Williams of Statesboro, GA on the occasion of his 90th birthday. Chester has truly led a remarkable life, and I am proud to be able to celebrate his accomplishments with you today. Chester Williams was born on December 4th, 1911 in Stapleton, GA. He earned a bachelors degree in education from Georgia Teachers College in 1935 and a masters from the University of Georgia in 1950. Throughout his career, he has served as headmaster at four Georgia high schools; they include Reidsville High School, Folkston High School, North Habersham High School, and Metter High School. In addition he served as president of the District High School Principal's Association. Through his life as an educator, Chester has been able to expose young people to the benefits of a strong system of values and a well-rounded life. He continues to maintain daily interactions with the students from Georgia Southern University. Mr. Williams was also a Lieutenant in the US Naval Reserve, seeing active duty in the Atlantic and Pacific War theaters. During this time he was a recognition and gunnery officer on the USS General W.G. Hann. Williams was a four-sport athlete and letterman at South Georgia Teacher's College, which is now Georgia Southern University. He is best know for earning all conference honors as a basketball guard in 1931 and 1932. He was also a member of the track team for three years, competing in the vault, high jump, and high hurdle events. In 1991 Mr. Williams was inducted into the Georgia Southern University Sports Hall of Fame. Mr. Williams served as Speaker of the House in the Georgia Silver Haired Legislature from 1978 to 1981 and four years as a Small Claims Court magistrate judge. He and his wife currently reside in Statesboro, Georgia where he continues to serve on the city's zoning board. He is also a charter member of the Snooky's Restaurant Political Action Committee. Snooky's is Mr. Williams favorite place to eat breakfast, which is evidenced by the fact that he eats their sausage biscuit and grits every morning he is in Statesboro. He has his own special table in the restaurant. Friends come by every morning to tell him hello and receive one of his world famous hugs. Snooky's is located directly across the street from Georgia Southern University and was the location of Mr. Williams 90th birthday party today. Certainly, Mr. Chester Williams has been a wonderful leader and role model to the many individuals he has touched throughout his life. He has demonstrated the enduring principles of education, health, patriotism, service, and leadership. It is my honor to commend the outstanding life of model citizen Chester Williams and thank him for all that he has done for the State of Georgia.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I must start out by saying I know that we have been admonished not to refer to the other body, but in a bicameral legislative body such as the U.S. Congress, often one side of government will pass legislation that the other side does not pass. That is our situation right now. This House has passed a Patients' Bill of Rights. This House has passed an education bill. This House has passed a ban on human cloning. And this House has passed a jobs economic stimulus plan. Unfortunately, it is not moving. It has to pass both bodies in order to become law and get the President's signature. Meanwhile, folks are getting laid off. Meanwhile, workers who are laid off are not getting the benefits that they need. Meanwhile, workers who are laid off and their families are not getting the health care extensions that they need. I hope, as a Christmas present to the American people and to the economy and to all the jobs that are out there at risk, that the other body will in fact pass this job security program so that we can give the American people a very merry Christmas.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I know the gentleman has a lot of transportation experts here, and unfortunately, I have an engagement I want to go to. But one of the central questions here is, do we want to support the President of the United States or not. It is that basic. It amazes me, as I watch television on Sundays, that every week across the aisle, there is a new Senator born who is an expert on security. Yet, I do not recall them being named to any key security committee. They are not in charge on the homeland security. They have not been the foremost experts on terrorism. Yet, suddenly, there are 100 experts on terrorism in the United States Senate, and they want to second-guess the President's team. I think at this time it is important for us to be supportive of the President and his team of experts, and nonpartisan because this is a nonpartisan issue. I am just appalled that every week there is a new Senator who seems to think he has a lock on all of the intelligence that we need to fight terrorism. I feel real strongly that this House bill gives the President and future presidents, Democrat or Republican, the flexibility they need to secure not just the airways, but all modes of transportation in America. I thank the gentleman.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. I thank the gentleman, because as he knows, there is a complete law enforcement facility there. I also want to thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for his support and his visits down there, and extend to the chairman that the door is open. When his very busy schedule allows him the chance to come to Georgia, we would love to host him.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I thank him and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for all the good work they have done on this bill. I know it is very difficult to balance all the requests of Members. I have a particular interest in this bill, in that it provides the funding for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, which is partially head- quartered in the District that I represent. As my colleagues know, FLETC, as we call it, has grown under the gentleman's leadership; and I wanted to ask a question about the issue of Federal sky marshals. We are interested in getting them involved in some of the training down in Brunswick, Georgia. As the gentleman knows, right now there are 250 different classes for law enforcement training, and some 71 different law enforcement groups or agencies are training there right now. We believe the facilities are up and running that would help tremendously in this need to get some trained air marshals. I was wondering if the chairman could comment on that.

Mr. KINGSTON. I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma.