Jack Kingston

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. I want to start off by saying I have great respect and sincerity for my friend from Georgia, but I disagree with him on this particular issue in terms of using the word ``God.'' I think removing the word ``God'' is not just a casual suggestion or a technical correction. It is a very meaty change to the gist of this. In fact, what many people want to do is acknowledge God, not to the exclusion of other religions but to say that God is the head, regardless of what you call him. We think God is great. We think God is good. We want to have the word God in there. Guilty as charged. The words up here that I look at, in God we trust, should we say in blank we trust? Or maybe instead of saying God Bless America in the great song, maybe we should say fill-in-the-blank bless America. Or in the Pledge of Allegiance, one Nation under fill-in-the- blank with liberty and justice for all. At some point, you have to say, enough is enough. Today, Mr. Speaker, we have lots of constitutional scholars. People are coming out of the woodwork as constitutional experts today. I am glad. I did not know we had 435 of them in this Chamber. It is going to be something good for all issues from here on out. But whenever you bring out something simple, like allowing children in a school to have a student-led prayer for somebody who has a sick mother or before a football game or before a graduation, you get all these experts in there. You know, are these things really to be feared? A prayer before graduation? A prayer before a football game? Somebody's mother gets sick and you say, let us all pray for Susie's mother who was in a horrible car wreck. Are these things to be feared? These prayers will not be headed by the teachers. The school cannot endorse a religion. The school will not be funding religions. But the rhetorical terrorists who are against this and generally against school prayer would have you believe that we are trying to publicly finance religion. It is not the case. Vote down this amendment. Vote for the legislation. Let us give our school kids the right to enjoy prayer before football games.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, we just heard it said that if we have our American armed services personnel on the border that it will harm American constituents. It is not the Army, Navy, Marines that I know of. They are not going to turn their guns and use their weapons on American constituents, and I probably misunderstood what I heard, but I did hear that it was going to harm our constituents. That is not the point. The point is to keep drugs away from our constituents who are being harmed by drugs that are getting in. Mr. Chairman, if one is in a burning building and one has to jump 5 stories, one does not say wait a minute to the fireman below with the safety net, are you from the right fire jurisdiction? I do not want to jump just to anybody. Our school kids are being flooded with illegal drugs, and this is not about which uniform is going to protect our border; this is about protecting the children in the schoolyard, it is not about a turf war between the DEA or the INS or the Marines. It is about protecting children. I am a member of the drug task force. We have been studying the problem for a long time. We cannot effectively fight drugs without a strong interdiction program, and much of that has to be done at our border. This is not about telling the INS they are not doing a good job, this is about saying, send in the cavalry, the war is a lot bigger than we thought it was, and we need to have everybody on deck, helping out to try and stop this, because it is killing our children. Forget which government agency is going to get the credit. Let us save our children and put kids first.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I am here to talk about tobacco. Think about this one minute, those who are cigarette smokers. They may be familiar with the Pagoda Red Mountain cigarette. The Pagoda brand, as Members may know, is the third largest cigarette selling in the world. It is the number one cigarette in China. It is owned by the Communist Chinese government. The Pagoda Mountain cigarette company has an operative named Ted Sioeng. He gave $400,000 to the Democrat National Party. His associate, Mr. Kent La, personally gave $50,000 of the money. He is willing to testify before the Burton committee and just say why a Communist cigarette company was interested in giving the $400,000 to the Democrats. No big deal. Something we all should want to know. Maybe it is that they just like good cigarette smokers, and recognize the Democrats as such. But the reality is, 19 Democrats on the committee will not let him speak. They will not let the guy testify. The Democrat Justice Department, the Department of Justice, said they have no problem with immunity and will let Mr. Kent La speak and have immunity, but 19 Democrats say no. What do the Democrats want to do instead? We heard it this morning. They want to investigate Ronald Reagan. I suggest they have been smoking more than Pagoda Red Mountain cigarettes or whatever it is.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I heard a lot about people denouncing attack ads and independent expenditures and soft money, but it is interesting to me, not one person that has spoken has denied that money being spent in their district. They could very easily say, I do not want any of this money in my district, but none of these self-righteous people are doing that in their own districts. We hear from many people too much is being spent. We also know that Americans spend about as much each year on yogurt and potato chips as we do on electing our officials. Are the proponents of limiting free speech and expenditures trying to tell the American people they spend too much money on yogurt? They are going to come up next and say, you spend too much money on sports, because that money is more than campaigns. Are they going to say, you spend too much money on entertainment, because that is greater than the amount spent on campaigns. We have a lot of concerns. My concerns are foreign money and campaigning on Federal property and illegal money. But, oh, my goodness, we have laws that prevent that. We have to keep this in mind, that you need to enforce existing laws.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Chairman, on that I demand a recorded vote, and pending that, I make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. KINGSTON. Reclaiming my time, I appreciate that.

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

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. KINGSTON. I yield to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Chairman, I appreciate that, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. This amendment is a very simple one. It simply says that after 6 months of enactment of this legislation that a study will be done on institutions with $100 million or less in assets to see how House Resolution 10 impacts them, and it requires the Comptroller of the Currency to conduct that study and just to be sure that our smaller financial institutions, usually community banks, see if they are negatively impacted by it. It is not second-guessing the bill as much as it is saying the bill may not be perfect, there may be some unintended consequences that affect the bill if it is passed without this amendment. So all we are trying to do is say, let us take a look at it, let us make sure that things are working as they are intended to work, and let us get that report back to Congress.

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

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, it is a thrill for me to speak in this chamber today not to talk about any pressing matters at hand or particular legislation, but to pay tribute to an outstanding company that is based in Georgia's 1st Congressional District. This company is known as Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, and they have reached a milestone. Throughout my years as a public servant, I have come to know the Gulfstream Family in Savannah. They truly represent what it takes to become the nation's leading manufacturer in corporate/business jets. Every time I visit a member of this fine organization, I am always reminded of what symbolizes dedication and excellence. Because of their unprecedented achievement, the Gulfstream V, and their flawless reputation, the National Aeronautic Association has awarded the 1997 Robert J. Collier Trophy to the Gulfstream Family. This acknowledgment is no ordinary, run-of-the-mill trophy. It is the aviation's most prestigious award. The Collier Trophy is given annually by the National Aeronautic Association to recognize the top aeronautical achievement in the United States. Gulfstream and the G-V Industry Team were presented the trophy at a ceremony and dinner at which I was privileged to attend on April 29, 1998, hosted by the National Aeronautic Association and the National Aviation Club in Arlington, Virginia. Gulfstream and the Gulfstream V industry team were recognized specifically ``for successful application of advanced design and efficient manufacturing techniques, together with innovative international business partnerships, to place into service the Gulfstream V--the world's first ultra-long range business jet.'' Past winners of the award include Orville Wright, Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 flight crew, Charles E. ``Chuck'' Year and United States Senator John Glenn. Certified by the FAA in April, 1997, the Gulfstream V business jet is the first aircraft of its kind in the world. With unmatched performance, comfort and speed, the Gulfstream V has a range that is 50% greater than any other business jet currently in service. The Gulfstream V can carry eight passengers and a crew of four non-stop distances up to 6,500 nautical miles at speeds up to Mach .88. The V is designed to cruise routinely at 51,000 feet. Last year, in the first eleven months of service, the Gulfstream V set 47 world and national records, consisting of 22 city pair speed records and 25 performance records. The Gulfstream V has made non-stop travel between cities such as Tokyo and Washington, London and Beijing, Los Angeles and Moscow routine business. The Gulfstream V was recognized as one of the ``Ten Most Memorable Flights in 1997'' by the National Aeronautic Association on the flight from Washington, D.C. to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The flight was 6,330 nautical miles and took 12 hours and 40 minutes. It flew non- stop. On behalf of the citizens of the 1st District of Georgia, I would like to congratulate the 6,000 men and women at Gulfstream for their outstanding work and for achieving this extraordinary milestone. I am very proud to have the opportunity to recognize the Gulfstream Family this day. Thank you, and may others throughout the aviation community be inspired to follow Gulfstream's path to success.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. Mr. Chairman, let me just say there are three reasons to oppose this well-intended amendment. Number one, it does get around the McCarran- Ferguson Act, which says States regulate insurance. It would supersede laws in Texas, Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, just to name a few. This is a time when we are trying to decentralize power out of Washington. We do not want to usurp it from the States. Number two, this law will have the unintended consequences of rapid bank investment and expansion into nonbanking activities. Look at the Asian model. Here we are with the Asian markets right now in absolute disaster, which the American taxpayers have been asked to contribute $18 billion to help correct and help bail them out. We do not need another S&L-type crisis in America. Number three and finally, this is corporate welfare. Why should hard- working, middle-class taxpayers who are busting their tail to get to work in the morning and making ends meet at the end of the month, why should they give a subsidy to an industry that made $14 billion in profit last year? American taxpayers do not need more corporate welfare for folks who are already making money. Those are three good reasons to vote against this amendment. Let us vote it down. Pass the bill as is.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield to Mr. Hayworth.

Mr. KINGSTON. Do not leave yet, because I do want to respond to that. The gentleman's 60 seconds were just running out. Let me say this, if the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) was the chairman of that committee or the gentleman from Florida, (Mr. Canady) or the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum), from a distance, it sounds great. But when we think about what happened to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) when he was looking at California vote fraud, he and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney), the cochair, leading people on that committee were accused of racism even though both Republicans have Hispanics in their immediate family, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), three Hispanic grandchildren, but he was called a racist by many, many Democrats. I think that we have gotten into this habit of, if you do not like the content of the debate, attack the person. So if it was not the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) and it was the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), I am sure we would all start talking about something about him that folks found offensive. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak). And, note, I came in at 10 seconds left to go.

Mr. KINGSTON. I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin, and I will keep this on my watch.

Mr. KINGSTON. Reclaiming the time, we have about 30 minutes. I want to say that you are the first two Democrats who would be willing to come down here and discuss this. It speaks well for both of you and your convictions. I wanted to say, also, there are certainly a lot of gray areas in this whole debate. But I also say that there is a heck of a lot of partisanship being exhibited that goes beyond the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton). Why do we not do this? Why do we not all kind of keep this ball rolling and talk for about a minute each, and everybody can get in his point or two. Of course, if I look real bad, I will claim more time, but if that is agreeable, why do we not do that?

Mr. KINGSTON. Wait a minute. Reclaiming the time, if I can go on the technicality argument so eloquently demonstrated by my friend from Michigan, you said ``every editorial.'' Why, that is not true at all. The editorials in my hometown paper, the editorial that I have somewhere around here from the Washington Post says get over the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton). Look at the tapes. So if you want to get into that--

Mr. KINGSTON. The issue is the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is so unfair that the potential that the Chinese Communist government is infiltrating our government is not an issue because we do not like the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).

Mr. KINGSTON. So because the gentleman perceives the procedure as being unfair, then he says there is no problem.

Mr. KINGSTON. Reclaiming the time, this is, as a matter of fact, available to you, as it is me. It is the statement of the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).

Mr. KINGSTON. Have we sold you, brother? Can you come around?

Mr. KINGSTON. How about the gentleman from Wisconsin?

Mr. KINGSTON. I am always glad to yield to my friend, the gentleman from Michigan, in hopes that he will answer the question finally.