Mark Kirk

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Madam Speaker, I yield to the majority leader.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, our American body politic is turning to a renewed examination of Iran, its government, and our relations with that country. It has become an important member of the OPEC oil- producing cartel. Iran is also a state sponsor of terrorism and a leading voice for one part of Shia Islam. Recently, Iran elected a new president, a leader who replaced a moderate but ineffectual office holder who had presented Iran in a softer light, hiding a continuing policy of supporting terror and a nuclear program largely hidden from the view of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that Iran signed and the U.N. inspectors who enforced it. Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has presented an entirely new face for the government of Iran. We have heard various quotes by the Iranian president in news media sources, but nowhere have all of President Ahmadinejad's statements on key topics been presented in one place for a review by the American public and our allies. Recently, I asked the Congressional Research Service to compile a list entitled ``Ahmadinejad In His Own Words'' and I present it to the House today. History can be a very good guide in informing us on the direction of countries, of movements of dictators. When we are well informed, we may see the warning signs of dangers ahead so that the American people, our government, and our allies can respond with the most effective and least costly policies to avoid a coming danger. Our past teaches us that we failed to see the coming danger from Germany and Japan, and that mistake led us into a very costly Second World War. Conversely, President Truman saw the threat of the Soviet Union, and his response, including the Marshall Plan, the Voice of America, and NATO, helped the United States avoid a third and costly world war. Our lessons teach us that tyrants or would-be tyrants often tell us what they are going to do long before they do it. And if we listen, if we truly listen, then the warnings that we are given can move us to action to avert a humanitarian crisis or even a future war involving the United States or our allies. President Ahmadinejad has been prolific on the subject of Israel, of Jews, and of the Holocaust. And who is this new president of Iran? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born in Garmsar, southeast of Tehran in 1956. He is the fourth son of an Iranian iron worker who had seven children. He and his family migrated to Tehran when he was one year old. He got his diploma and was admitted to the University of Science and Technology in the field of civil engineering, where he ranked 130th among nationwide university entrance exams in 1975. He was accepted as an MS student at that same university and in 1986 got his doctorate in the field of engineering and traffic transportation and planning. Following the 1979 Iranian revolution, he became a member of the ultraconservative faction of the Office for Strengthening Unity. Between universities and theological seminaries, the OSU was established by Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, one of Khomeini's key collaborators, to organize Islamist students against the rapidly growing Mojahedin-e Khalq. When the idea of storming the American embassy in Tehran was raised by Ahmadinejad's OSU, he also suggested storming the Soviet embassy as well. With the start of Iraq's war against Iran in 1980, Ahmadinejad rushed to the western fronts to fight against the enemy, and he volunteered to join the special forces of the Islamic Revolution's Guard Force in 1986. He served in the Revolution Guards Corps in intelligence and security operation. Ahmadinejad was a senior officer in the Special Brigade of Revolutionary Guards stationed at the Ramazan Garrison near Kermanshah in western Iran. It was there at his headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards' extraterritorial operations that he helped mount attacks on Iran's borders. His work in the Revolutionary Guards was related to the suppression of dissidents in Iran and abroad, and he personally participated in covert operations in Iraq around the city of Kirkuk. With the formation of the elite Qods, Jerusalem, Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Ahmadinejad became one of its senior commanders. He directed assassinations in the Middle East and Europe, including the assassination of Iranian Kurdish leader Abdorrahman Qassemlou, who was shot dead by senior officers of the Revolutionary Guards at a Vienna apartment in July of 1989. Ahmadinejad was a key planner of that murder. He also is reported to have been involved in planning an attempt to assassinate author Salman Rushdie. Ahmadinejad served as a governor of Maku and Khoy cities in the northwestern West Azarbaijan province for 4 years in the 1980s, and he was an adviser to the governor general of the western province of Kurdistan for 2 years. While serving as a cultural adviser to then Ministry of Culture and Higher Education in 1983, he was appointed as governor general of the newly established province of Ardebil. He was elected as the exemplary governor general for three consecutive years, but in 1997 the newly installed Khatami moderate administration removed Ahmadinejad from his post as a governor general. Ahmadinejad returned to university to teach in 1997, and there he also became involved in the cultural and political work of Ansar-i Hizbullah, the Followers of the Party of God, a violent Islamic vigilante group. In April of 2003, Ahmadinejad was appointed the mayor of Tehran by the capital's municipal council, dominated by hard-line Islamic Iran Developers Coalition. As mayor, he reversed many of the policies of previous moderate and reformist mayors, placing serious and religious emphasis on the activities of cultural centers, turning them into prayer halls. He also closed fast-food restaurants and required all male employees to have beards and wear long sleeves. He instituted the separation of elevators for men and women in municipal offices and also suggested the burial of bodies of the martyrs of the Iran-Iraq war in the major city squares of his capital, Tehran. Ahmadinejad was also a member of the hard-line Islamic Revolution Devotees' Society. While they endorsed another candidate in the 2005 election, it was Ahmadinejad that emerged out of that flawed process, for it was during the elections in 2005 in Iran that thousands of moderate candidates were knocked off the ballot by Iran's ruling council of clerics. As one of the candidates still allowed to be on the ballot, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the presidency on June 24, 2005. Now, since being elected the president of Iran, Ahmadinejad has left no doubt about his views on Jews, Israel, and the Holocaust. On October 25, 2005, in advance of Iran's Jerusalem Day, established by Ayatollah Khomeini, he wrote at a conference for the Society Defense of the Palestinian Nation and Islamic Students Union. In his speech, he described his vision for an age-old confrontation between the world of Islam and, as he put it, the world of arrogance, that is the West, portraying Israel and Zionism as the spearhead of the West against the Islamic nation. He emphasized in that speech the need to eliminate Israel, which he said was an attainable goal. He delivered this speech before several representatives of Hezbollah and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and Hamas leader Khaled Mash'al. Speaking to a student conference entitled, ``A World Without Zionism,'' Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated: ``Very soon this stain that is Israel will vanish from the center of the Islamic world, and that is attainable. The people who sit in closed rooms cannot decide this matter. The Islamic people cannot allow this historic enemy to exist in the heart of the Islamic world. I hope that Palestinians will maintain their wariness and intelligence, much as they have pursued their battles in the last 10 years. This will be a brief period, and if we pass through it successfully, the process of eliminating the Zionist regime will be smooth and simple. ``Our dear Imam Khomeini ordered that the occupying regime in Jerusalem be wiped off the face of the earth. This was a very wise statement.'' On April 15, 2006, at the opening of a conference on supporting Palestinians he said, ``Like it or not, the Zionist regime is headed towards annihilation.'' On April 27, 2006, he stated in a speech in the western Iranian town of Zanjan, carried on live state television, ``The regime in Israel will one day vanish.'' On May 11, 2006, in a reference to Israel, in a speech to students and instructors at the University of Jakarta, ``I advise all of you to pack up and move out of the region before being caught in the fire they have started in Lebanon.'' On July 8, 2006, speaking to regional officials at the opening of a two-day conference in Tehran on the security of Iraq he said, ``The basic problem in the Islamic world is the existence of the Zionist regime, and the Islamic world and the region must mobilize to remove this problem.'' On July 29, 2006, during an emergency meeting with Muslim leaders he said, ``The real cure for the Lebanon conflict is the elimination of the Zionist regime, but there should be first an immediate cease- fire.'' On August 3, 2006, in a speech before the Organization of the Islamic Conference, to Presidents and Prime Ministers and policymakers of 17 Muslim-majority nations in Malaysia, a major international conference, he said, ``The Zionist regime is fraudulent and illegitimate and cannot survive.'' On October 19, 2006, speaking to crowds of people in Islamshahr, southwest of Tehran, he said, ``The regime in Israel will be gone, definitely. You,'' the western powers, ``should know that any government that stands by the Zionist regime from now on will not see any result but the hatred of people.'' Earlier this year Congressman Steve Israel and I had lunch with Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations in New York. After a businesslike 20-minute discussion, the Ambassador for the Islamic Republic of Iran entered into a 30-minute monologue on how he believed the Holocaust in Europe had not happened. After about half an hour I interrupted the Ambassador and told him I was surprised that he used our time to discuss the Iranian nuclear nonproliferation commitment, under a treaty that Iran had signed, to instead discuss issues: number one, of which there was no significant debate about the Holocaust occurring; number two, on events happening over half a century ago; and number three, all occurring outside Iran. Iran's Ambassador said that his President had ordered him to deny the Holocaust. It was no accident. And on several occasions, we have seen President Ahmadinejad has tried to convince his people that indeed there was no Holocaust. On December 1, 2005, in a speech to thousands in the southeastern city of Zahedan in southeastern Sistan va Baluchistan Province, and this was carried on Iranian television, he said, ``Today, the Europeans have created a myth in the name of Holocaust and consider it to be above God, religion and the prophets. If you committed this big crime, then why should the oppressed Palestinian people pay the price? This is our proposal: If you committed the crime, then give part of your own land in Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to them so the Jews can establish their country.'' On April 24, 2006, at a press conference in Tehran, he said, ``Every German-born is indebted to the arrogant and greedy Zionists. Sixty years after the war, why do the Palestinians have to burn in the crimes of Zionists under the pretext of the Second World War.'' And on December 8, 2005, speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of an Organization of the Islamic Conference antiterrorism summit in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, he said, ``Today, they have created a myth in the name of the Holocaust and consider it to be above God, religion and the prophets. If you,'' Europeans ``committed this big crime, then why should the oppressed Palestinian nation pay the price? You should pay the compensation yourself. This is our proposal: Give a part of your own land in Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to them so that the Jews can establish their country.'' This is President Ahmadinejad in his own words that I place before the House, all accurately translated and provided in one place by the Congressional Research Service to present clearly a rising danger to our allies in Israel and to the West in general. Tomorrow we will see the results of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group report. This report is the work of serious men and women. It will lay out well thought out proposals for the United States in the Middle East. One proposal that it may contain is to increase our dialogue with Iran. Now we should always talk with every country and every leader, but we should have this dialogue with Iran in an informed way so our discussion is clearly led by knowing with whom we are speaking. We should not begin our dialogue with Iran from a position of ignorance as to what the president of Iran has already said to large crowds in published works and on their national television. What I have laid before the House this afternoon is Ahmadinejad in his own words, so that as we begin a new phase of U.S. relations in the Middle East, we begin by learning more and knowing about this man and what he believes and what he thinks he must do to the world. I was looking briefly at a recently translated quote by another leader who said, ``Why does the world shed crocodile tears over the richly merited fate of the small Jewish minority? What has happened to the conscience of the world when millions in Germany are suffering from hunger and misery? I ask the American people: Are you prepared to receive in your midst these well-poisoners of people and the universal spirit of Christianity?'' It may sound like a recent speech from President Ahmadinejad. It was actually the works of Adolf Hitler published in the magazine Staatszeitung. Looking at these words, we have an eerie echo of the past, but potentially a warning of the future. I lay them before the House today so we see them all clearly for who this leader is, what he has stated publicly, and where he would like to take his Nation and its relation with his neighbors in the Middle East. I want to thank Peter Black, senior historian for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Greta Stults and Harold Edinger for their help in these translations. With that, we have laid Ahmadinejad, in his own words, before the House on this very special week for U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, as co-chair of the House Great Lakes Task Force, I rise today to honor former Chicago Alderman Bernie Hansen for his outstanding service as a member of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. As a member of this prestigious, binational commission, Alderman Hansen worked tirelessly to support measures that protect the Great Lakes fishery and helped to improve the regional economy and environment. He held several positions on the commission including Chair, Vice-Chair, U.S. Section Chair, and Chair of the Finance and Administration Committee. He retired from the commission earlier this year after 12 years of dedicated service. The Great Lakes Fishery Commission was established by the 1954 Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries, a treaty between the United States and Canada. The commission is responsible for conducting fisheries research, making recommendations to the government about how to improve fish stocks of common concern, and, most notably, controlling the destructive, invasive sea lamprey. U.S. commissioners are appointed by the President of the United States and serve because they are honored to do so, without compensation. Alderman Hansen excelled at his job as commissioner. As a sitting Chicago Alderman, his knowledge of the Great Lakes' political landscape was a great benefit to the commission, particularly during the work of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, convened under President's Bush's Executive Order for the Great Lakes. He vastly improved communications between the commission and elected officials, he consistently brought new and relevant issues to the commission's attention, and he helped the commission better manage and evaluate its programs. He left a lasting mark on many commission products and programs including the Strategic Vision for the First Decade of the New Millennium and the communications program. Alderman Hansen is a life-long resident of Chicago and served as Alderman for 20 years, retiring in 2002. He is particularly proud of his role on the City Council for environmental and recycling legislation, which gave Chicago one of the most aggressive and workable recycling programs in the country. Alderman Hansen is a true asset to Chicago and to the Great Lakes region. Because of his work on the commission, the fishery is stronger, the environment is healthier, the people of the region are better off, and the commission itself is a better institution. I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking him for his remarkable service to the Great Lakes.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a resolution with Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) calling ``on the Government of Bangladesh to drop sedition charges pending against Bangladeshi journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury. We introduce this resolution today to coincide with beginning of Mr. Choudhury's sedition trial. Mr. Choudhury faces these charges because of his belief in an interfaith dialogue between Jews and Muslims and articles he published critical of Islamic extremism. Under Bangladeshi law, sedition is a crime punishable by death. Mr. Choudhury is a journalist in Bangladesh known for his views on expanding dialogue between Muslims and Jews, developing ties with Israel, and criticizing the rise of Islamist parties in Bangladesh. Mr. Choudhury was detained in November 2003 at Zia International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on his way to board a flight bound for Tel Aviv, Israel, to participate in the annual Hebrew Writers Conference. Mr. Choudhury's passport was seized, along with considerable sums of money and several personal items. On that same day, police raided his home and newspaper, seizing files, computers, and other valuables. Since Bangladeshi law prohibits travel to Israel, Mr. Choudhury was first cited for a minor passport violation. He subsequently was charged with sedition, accused of espionage as an Israeli spy, and incarcerated for 17 months. He was subjected to harsh interrogation techniques, and received no treatment for a debilitating case of glaucoma. Despite public pledges from senior Bangladeshi government officials that all pending legal action against Mr. Choudhury would be dropped, the government pressed forward on its prosecution of Choudhury for sedition. Mr. Choudhury won PEN USA's ``Freedom to Write Award,'' and was presented with the American Jewish Committee's prestigious ``Moral Courage Award'' in absentia in Washington DC. Mr. Choudhury's newspaper offices were bombed by Islamic extremists in July, and he was attacked by a mob in his office on October 5. Then a judge with alleged ties to an Islamic extremist group ruled that Mr. Choudhury must stand trial for sedition. For his message of moderation and interfaith dialogue, Shoaib Choudhury is facing unjust criminal charges in an effort to silence him. Congress must send a clear message: we cannot allow moderate voices in the Muslim world to be silenced. The resolution I introduce today calls on the Government of Bangladesh to drop all charges against Shoaib Choudhury, return his passport and possessions, and end his harassment I want to thank Congresswoman Nita Lowey for being the lead co-sponsor of this legislation. I look forward to working with her and my other colleagues on this important human rights initiative.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, I want to honor a true hero and patriot who passed away on Wednesday evening, September 27th. A pioneer for African-Americans everywhere, Frank Sublett was one of 13 men who broke the Navy's color barrier in 1944. Dubbed the ``Golden 13,'' these men bravely stood up in the face of racism in the Armed Forces and entered Naval Training Station Great Lakes, Illinois. In February 1944, Frank became one of the first 13 African-American commissioned naval officers. The Golden 13 scored higher on standard tests than their white counterparts and went on to serve with distinction and fight the Nazis in the Atlantic and the Japanese in the Pacific. Frank Sublett continued to serve until the war ended in 1945. When I first met Frank I was inspired by his story. And when I learned that he and other members of the World War II Black Navy Veterans were raising money to build a memorial honoring African- American Navy veterans from World War II, I wanted to help. I am saddened that Frank Sublett will not be standing next to me when we dedicate the memorial in North Chicago on Veterans Day. I hope that this monument to the courage of Frank and his comrades in arms will inspire young people to dedicate themselves to public service, whether in the military or as a civilian. I want to offer my condolences to the Sublett family, especially to Frank's wife, Susan. Frank will be missed, but the memory of the Golden 13 will live on.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Illinois who put together this legislation as a leader in Congress. Along with Congressman McCall of Texas, you have outlined an alternative energy and renewable fuels future for the country in a bipartisan way, along with the gentleman from Tennessee. The U.S. imports nearly 5 billion barrels of oil a year. And there has been a recent decline in the price of gas across the United States, but we need oil independence to protect us from a volatile world of oil markets, increasing global pollution, and unstable leaders in Iran and Venezuela. We know that alternative energy and renewable fuels equals national security for the United States. This legislation will accelerate the development of advanced and clean technologies. It promotes the implementation of solar photovoltaic, wind, geothermal and hydropower. It establishes a research and development program for the conversion of coal into pipeline-quality fuel. In my State of Illinois, we have a 250-year American supply of coal, one of the largest supplies in the United States; and with the development of clean coal technology we can better utilize a vast resource to help out the energy independence of the United States. The grants, incentives and programs established in this bipartisan bill have the potential to save American consumers billions of dollars, create thousands of new jobs and dramatically decrease energy consumption and pollution. In achieving the goals set forth in this bipartisan bill, we end our addiction to foreign oil and enhance our national security. Mr. Speaker, on a day in which we look at the loss of a colleague in this House, in which we see vigorous foreign policy debate, what is being missed without a single reporter in the gallery is bipartisan legislation working on an alternative-energy future for the Nation. It is a story that should not be missed, both parties joining together to make sure that we enhance renewable and alternative fuels and that we make sure that America leads.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Westgate Elementary School in Arlington Heights, Illinois, for being named a 2006 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School. Nearly 600 students, kindergarten through 5th grade, attend Westgate Elementary. The teachers and faculty at Westgate are focused on providing hands-on instruction that motivates and excites children about learning. As a result, these students consistently score above state and national averages on standardized tests in all subject areas. Westgate Elementary is among 250 schools from across the nation chosen by the Secretary of Education to receive this acknowledgement. These schools have distinguished themselves by embodying the goals of reaching high standards and closing the achievement gap. Schools selected for this honor either have students from all subgroups that have demonstrated significant improvement or have students that achieve in the top 10 percent of their state on statewide tests. This is a great honor for the 10th district, and I congratulate the principal, Dr. Kevin Dwyer, the students, and teachers at Westgate Elementary for this achievement.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 2430, the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act. I would like to thank Mr. Kildee (D-MI) for his leadership on this critical effort to restore one of our nation's most precious natural resources. The Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act reauthorizes the Fish and Wildlife Service to double the annual grants to States and tribes for the enhancement, conservation and restoration of fish and wildlife habitats in the Great Lakes. Since 1998, $3.9 million in federal funds and $2.7 million in non-federal matching funds were directed toward these efforts. The Act clearly draws vast participation from the Great Lakes communities in restoring this tremendous resource. A key component of this legislation is wetland restoration. In Illinois, wetlands provide protective habitats for the forty percent of the state's endangered species and help stave off major flooding. Unfortunately, a staggering ninety percent of Illinois' wetlands have been destroyed. Through grants provided by the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act, 68 acres of rare wetlands in the northeastern Illinois' Nature Preserves were restored. Another eight wetland restoration projects were undertaken in the Chicago area. We must provide the authorization and management to continue such restoration and reverse the rapid rate of wetland destruction around the Great Lakes. I want to thank Chad Lord from the Healing Our Waters--Great Lakes Coalition, Cameron Davis of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, and all the other organizations that work tirelessly on behalf of our environment and the Great Lakes. I urge my colleagues to support this bi-partisan legislation so that we may continue our mission to provide for the long-term sustainability of this treasured ecosystem.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, on Monday September 25, 2006, I missed the following votes: Rollcall No. 471: H.R. 5059, To designate the Wild River Wilderness in the White Mountain National Forest in the State of New Hampshire, and for other purposes.; Rollcall No. 472: H.R. 5062, To designate as wilderness certain National Forest System land in the State of New Hampshire; and Rollcall No. 473: H. R. 6102, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 200 Lawyers Road, NW in Vienna, Virginia, as the `Captain Christopher P. Petty and Major William F. Hecker, III Post Office Building'. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on Rollcall No. 471, Rollcall No. 472, and Rollcall No. 473.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my strong support for the three bills under consideration this week relating to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan. These bills, H.R. 3127, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006 conference report, H. Res. 723, which calls on the President to take immediate steps to improve the security situation in Darfur, and H. Res. 992, which urges the President to appoint a Presidential Special Envoy for Sudan, all take concrete steps towards ending the genocide in Darfur. The situation in Darfur, Sudan is increasingly concerning. Nearly three million Sudanese citizens will require emergency assistance in the next year. Sudanese government forces support Janjaweed Arab militias that commit crimes against humanity, including genocide. More than one million people were driven from their homes since February 2003, while over 150,000 people took refuge in neighboring Chad. The hundreds of thousands of displaced people who remain in the Darfur region are confined to government controlled camps. Using Sudanese government resources, the Janjaweed militias rape, attack and prey upon these helpless victims. We must hold the Sudanese government accountable. I commend Representative Henry Hyde (R-IL) for introducing the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2005. I am a cosponsor of this important bill that intensifies sanctions on the Government of Sudan, particularly targeting those responsible for genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity. The United States should do more to end the brutal killing and ethnic cleansing of civilians. We must bring war criminals to justice. I was glad to see H.R. 3127, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act conference report pass the House of Representatives yesterday by voice vote. I urge President Bush to sign this important bill which takes significant measures to bring a lasting peace to this war-stricken region. I am also a firm supporter and cosponsor of House Resolution 992, which urges President Bush to appoint a Special Envoy for Sudan. I joined Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA) in sending a letter to the President requesting he appoint a Special Envoy earlier this summer. I was pleased to hear President Bush declare in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly that he is appointing former USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios to be the new Presidential Special Envoy for Sudan. Earlier in my career I worked closely with Mr. Natsios to tackle one of the worst humanitarian crises of the 1990's. Natsios coordinated food aid during the North Korea famine which saved tens of thousands of lives. Mr. Natsios is an experienced diplomat, and I am confident in his ability to coordinate American policy in the region to resolve this conflict. Despite the sincere efforts of our government, which has led the international community in providing nearly $440 million in emergency supplemental aid this year, millions of victims continue to live in camps under horrible conditions. Murderous militias continue to slaughter innocent civilians. We have a duty to bring an end to this humanitarian crisis. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting these bills that demonstrate America's leadership in defense of those who need our help the most.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 474 and 475, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Madam Speaker, I want to thank Congressman Jim Gerlach for his leadership for the entire Nation in protecting suburban green and open space. Now, we all support the National Park System, and I believe the next President should set a goal of doubling the National Park System. But we also need to take action to protect more green and open space near home. Without this bill, more green and open space would disappear in an unending series of strip malls. In my own district, we just set aside 77 acres of Lake Michigan shoreline as part of a new park to preserve habitat for all time. But we need to do more. Under Congressman Gerlach's leadership, this bill became part of our bipartisan suburban agenda to meet the education, health care, conservation and economic needs of suburban families. This bill advances those needs by making sure that we preserve more green and open space in the suburbs. In my own State of Illinois, we are losing over 41,000 acres of farmland to development, 71 percent in suburban areas. The rate of farmland loss in our State has increased over 130 percent in the 1990s. This bill directly meets that need, and I want to thank Chairman Goodlatte for moving this legislation that makes sure that suburban families have more green and open space near home.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 461 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a bill with Congressman Jim Matheson awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Margaret Thatcher. The Congressional Gold Medal is the Nation's highest and most distinguished civilian award. First presented to General George Washington in 1776, the Congressional Gold Medal is awarded to individuals who perform outstanding acts of service to the security, prosperity, and national interest of the United States. Margaret Thatcher's distinguished service to the West included helping to win the cold war and reviving the economies of Europe. During her tenure as prime minister, America had no better ally. Margaret Thatcher was the first female head of state of a Western nation, and the longest serving British prime minister in the 20th century. Soviet leaders called her the ``Iron Lady.'' And so she was in the West's final chapter against the Soviet empire. The end of the cold war was due in no small part to her close partnership with the United States with the shared goal of defeating Eastern European communism. Margaret Thatcher was a woman of principle and a strong leader. She resurrected a stagnant British political landscape and forever strengthened the Anglo-American relationship. For her unwavering friendship to the United States, I can think of no greater honor than bestowing on her the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal. I want to thank my good friend Congressman Jim Matheson for being the lead cosponsor of this legislation. I look forward to working with him and my other colleagues on this important initiative.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, which condemns the Government of Iran's repression of the Baha'i community. I would like to thank my very good friend, Congressman Tom Lantos, for joining me as the Democratic cosponsor of this important human rights resolution. The North American Baha'i Temple is located in Wilmette, Illinois, inside my congressional district. It is a magnificent house of worship, gracing Lake Michigan's shoreline. The Baha'i faith, founded nearly 150 years ago on principles of peace and tolerance, is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. Yet since the Iranian revolution of 1979, the Government of Iran has intensified a deliberate campaign of discrimination, harassment, detention, arrest and imprisonment against the 300,000 members of the Iranian Baha'i community. The plight of the Iranian Baha'is has significantly deteriorated during the last year. On March 20 of this year, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief revealed the existence of a confidential letter by the chairman of the Command Headquarters of Iran's armed services to Iran's intelligence services, military and police. In this letter, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini instructed Command Headquarters to identify all Baha'is and collect any and all information on their activities and addresses. Our Anti-Defamation League recently compared this secret letter to steps taken against the Jews in Europe in the 1930s, and yet the secret order has not happened in isolation. Over the past 18 months, Iranian security forces have begun imprisoning Baha'is without charges, and Baha'i youth in Iran have been denied access to university. Further, since October of 2005, there has been a campaign of vilification against Baha'is in Kayhan, the government-sponsored press. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom recently released in its 2006 annual report citing numerous egregious human rights violations committed by Iranian Government officials against Baha'is in Iran. The report says that, ``In the past year, dozens of Baha'is were arrested, detained, interrogated and subsequently released after, in some cases, weeks or months in detention. Charges typically ranged from `causing anxiety in the minds of the public and of officials' or `spreading propaganda against the regime.' '' Clearly detentions based on claims of causing anxiety or spreading propaganda show a growing weakness in the Iranian regime. That Congress is considering this resolution today is particularly significant. The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will address the United Nations General Assembly today to call for all developing countries to join him in confronting the West. It is incumbent on Congress to reveal the real truth about this Iranian leader. We must demonstrate to the international community that while Iran's President has become a ruthless dictator who espouses hatred, discrimination and tyranny, the United States is standing for liberty and toleration and human rights and freedom, especially for Baha'is in Iran. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I would like to thank our ranking member Congressman Lantos for his friendship and support on this measure, a tireless advocate, a Holocaust survivor, a man who knows when the authorities call for the names and addresses of a particular minority what the next step is. We have seen this before, and I want to particularly thank Chairman Hyde and Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen for their strong support, upon whom this resolution would not be coming to the floor on this crucial day in which the Iranian dictator speaks before the United Nations. Finally, I would also like to thank Kit Bigelow and Aaron Emmel from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States for their dedication to their afflicted coreligionists inside Iran.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. I thank the gentleman. Columbine High School, Colorado. East High School, Green Bay. Hubbard Wood School in Winnetka. Each of these schools bore witness to an attack or an attempted attack using a gun in school. I served as a teacher, and I remember the kids who were the brightest lights of our country's future, and I also remember those who bore scrutiny as people who might bring a gun to class. Americans have the right to send their kids to safe, gun-free classrooms. Just last week, alert school officials foiled a Columbine-style attack on a Green Bay school. In my district, we were not so lucky in Winnetka. There, an attacker shot and killed a child and wounded five others in class. Jeffrey Phillips of my own staff was a first grader in that school on that day. I spoke with a number of fellow teachers who say they hesitate before searching a child. Dan Larsen and Andrew Conneen, teachers at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, told me that teachers many times hesitate before searching a book bag for a gun. They worry about being punished; they worried about being sued. This bill reassures teachers that they have the power to search any minor child to make sure that their classroom remains gun free. And the Nation's largest teachers union, the National Education Association, strongly endorsed this bill. Like all other American workers, teachers deserve to work in a safe, drug-free, and gun-free workplace. Diane Shust and Randall Moody of the NEA wrote: ``On behalf of the 3.2 million members of the NEA, we would like to commend you for introducing the Student and Teacher Safety Act. H.R. 5295 will help promote a safe school environment.'' The National Education Association knows that there is nothing more important than the safety of children and teachers who have dedicated their lives to education. Let common sense prevail. This bill puts teachers back in charge and makes classrooms safer. If this bill helps one teacher stop one Columbine massacre, then Congress today will have served the Nation well and protected its children. I urge Members to support this bill so strongly backed by the National Education Association.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Madam Speaker, news reports indicate that there may be an ongoing military coup under way in Thailand against the democratically elected government. As a new member of the National Endowment for Democracy's board, I think we should take all threats to new democracies very seriously and lay out a clear policy for the United States to follow. We should support the democratic Prime Minister of Thailand. And if military forces succeed, it should be the policy of our State Department to terminate all U.S. assistance to Thailand. It should be the policy of our Treasury Department to undermine the Bot, the Thai currency; it should be the policy of the Department of Defense to cease all military contact with the Thai military; and it should be the policy of our government in general to undermine military rulers in Thailand and return a democratically elected Prime Minister to office.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Madam Chairman, I rise today in strong support in H.R. 503, which would prohibit the slaughtering of horses for human consumption. Last year more than 90,000 American horses were slaughtered in this country by three foreign-owned plants. Horse meat is not eaten in the United States, but it has been exported to overseas markets, such as France, Belgium, Japan and Italy. Animals deserve to be treated humanely, and I do not support this industry. This Congress made its opposition to horse slaughter clear in the Agriculture Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2006. I supported an amendment introduced by Representative Sweeney and Representative Whitfield that would have essentially tied the hands of the horse slaughter industry. Unfortunately the language approved by both the House and Senate, which had the clear intention of ending this industry, was altered in conference and allowed the slaughtering of horses to continue. H.R. 503 would permanently shut down this inhumane practice. This legislation has wide bipartisan support in the House as well as extensive backing from the animal welfare community. I want to specifically thank Representative Sweeney and Representative Whitfield for their hard work and leadership on this important issue.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this legislation because it will dramatically improve civilian health care, the way this technology has already done for veterans across America. When Katrina hit New Orleans, many civilian hospital record rooms were wiped out, including the medical history of thousands. Meanwhile, American veterans already had fully electronic medical records, and their medical histories were seamlessly transmitted to other VA hospitals in Baton Rouge or Houston for complete care. There is a reason why Senator Clinton and Speaker Gingrich both so strongly support a full deployment of electronic medical records. They reduce medical errors and improve care as they already have demonstrated to do so heavily in the VA. Our Federal law already sanctions any violation of medical privacy with up to 10 years in jail and $250,000 fines. This legislation is the third part of our suburban agenda, commonsense reforms to improve the health care for all American patients.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, I will just say, also, this legislation responds to a rapidly growing phenomenon in America. Over 25 million American children have their personal data on these sites. These sites are now the number one sites on the Internet, and we are applying a tried and true principle of our jurisprudence, now 800 years old, that when you make money off of children, as these sites do, we have always recognized a higher duty of care in the protection of children, and that is the principle that this legislation stands for.

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, to respond to my Democratic colleague, I agree with her that parents cannot be with their children all of the time, but sexual predators should not be with the children at any time, and that is the principle by which this legislation stands. Americans have a right to send their children to safe schools and libraries. In Lake County, Illinois, we have seen what can happen when Internet predators make contact with children. Last October, Joseph Caprigno molested a 14-year-old boy that he met on the Internet. Caprigno, a 40- year-old man, arranged to meet the boy in a 7-11 parking lot through an Internet chat room. In January, a 20-year-old man, Michael Zbonski, molested a 16-year- old he met on MySpace.com. Frighteningly, he not only communicated with this girl for 2 years via MySpace, he also admitted to sexual relationships with one of the victim's underage friends. The Deleting Online Predators Act is a commonsense piece of legislation that empowers parents to play a more active role in their children's activities online. This bill calls on the Federal Trade Commission to issue consumer alerts and to establish a unique Web site to better educate parents as to the dangers posed from Internet predators. Parents are the first and most important line of defense against these predators, but it is imperative to arm them with timely and accurate information to protect their children. This bill also requires schools to prevent children from accessing social networking sites and chat rooms unless they are doing so for legitimate educational purposes under adult supervision. We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars across America in locking school doors and controlling the access to children. This bill takes the commonsense step to make sure that predators cannot sneak in through the library computer. Our legislation also requires public libraries to provide the same levels of protection to children. I believe this is an entirely appropriate action to help parents determine where their children go and what they do online. It seems foolish for the taxpayer to subsidize what amounts to a loophole that sexual predators can exploit. Mr. Speaker, Lake County offers one other case that plainly demonstrates the need for this legislation. The Lake County State's Attorney recently filed aggravated criminal sexual abuse charges against two teachers who were accused of soliciting and arranging to molest underage students at a school where they were taught. Jason Glick and James Lobitz didn't just molest two underage students, they arranged to do so using school-owned computer equipment and resources during school hours. The cases against Jason Glick and James Lobitz are still pending, but by passing this bill today we send a message to parents that we will close every loophole sexual predators will use to roam the virtual halls at school. Mr. Speaker, this is the second suburban agenda bill to pass the House. Tomorrow, Representative Jon Porter's bill will become law, allowing schools to check national felon databases before hiring a coach or a teacher. Tomorrow, we will take up a third suburban agenda item, accelerating the deployment of fully electronic medical records for all Americans. Mr. Speaker, by tomorrow night, half of the suburban agenda legislation will have passed the House of Representatives. But today I want to thank Chairman Barton, Chairman Upton, and Congresswoman Melissa Bean for their help on a bipartisan basis in supporting this legislation. I also want to thank Howard Waltzman of the committee staff for his invaluable assistance. But, most importantly, I want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick) for becoming an outstanding leader of protecting American children from online predators.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of turn.

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, the Nation has been focused on the war declared by Hezbollah against Israel this past week. And while most of the media focused on stories of the conflict in Israel or Lebanon, they have not covered an aspect of the story critical to our fellow citizens, the protection and evacuation of American citizens from this conflict. On the day that Hezbollah started this war, we estimated that there were over 20,000 Americans in Lebanon. I want to first commend our ambassador in Lebanon and the U.S. embassy team in Beirut for rapidly assembling the plans and data on the Americans to be saved. The U.S. Government regularly plans and sometimes executes what is called a noncombatant evacuation operation, or NEO in Pentagon parlance, to rescue Americans abroad. The scale of the Lebanese NEO was very, very large. This operation, assembled on very short notice, responded remarkably to a rapidly changing, massive movement of our fellow citizens. Some of the unsung heroes of the Lebanon NEO are the men and women of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. I want to give special thanks to the crews of the USS Nashville, the USS Trenton, and the USS Whidbey Island. Along with the merchant vessel Orient, the crews of these U.S. navy vessels rescued thousands of Americans from Lebanon over the last several days. The crews of these ships were backed by U.S. Marines flying helicopters to save the people in most urgent need. I also want to thank the men and women of the U.S. Transportation Command who arranged military airlifts for Americans living in Cyprus, and now Turkey, to complete their trips home to the U.S.A. We must also note the outstanding contribution of the State of Maryland and its governor, Governor Ehrlich, who welcomed them at Baltimore Washington International Airport. Mr. Speaker, Dr. John Michael of my district called me from Lebanon to ask for his support. I arranged for his registration and quick contact with the U.S. embassy there. Thanks to the work of the United States Navy, the Marine Corps, the State Department and the Transportation Command, Dr. Michael, his wife Christine and their children, Daniel, Ramson, Edessan and Kamber, all from my district, were caught in Lebanon, but now were rescued by the U.S. military and State Department. But for this operation, they might still be in harm's way, but thanks to the work of these professionals, the men and women of the State Department, Navy and Marine Corps, they are home in the United States. Mr. Speaker, we have saved over 5,000 Americans to date, and I am told today that the number of Americans seeking to leave Lebanon is now declining. We will soon be the first Nation to use this large logistical effort to begin a massive humanitarian aid lift to support the people of Lebanon itself. Mr. Speaker, take a moment tonight to thank the young Americans who serve on the Nashville, Whidbey Island and Trenton. Due to their training and professionalism, they were there exactly when thousands of their fellow American citizens needed them to escape from Lebanon.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, this House should override the President's veto of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. With regard to medical research, science should triumph over politics. Stem cell research offers the best promise of ending diabetes, Parkinson's, and cancer. Americans strongly support the treatment of disease, but we are passionate about finding cures. America has won more Nobel Prizes in medicine than all European countries combined. This legislation is needed to maintain U.S. leadership. Mr. Speaker, the leading candidates for President in our country of both the Republican and Democratic Parties support this bill. In the House the Republican chairmen of our most powerful committees, Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Energy, all support this bill. In the Senate the Republican majority leader and the Chairs of Armed Services, Commerce, Appropriations, Foreign Relations, and Rules all supported this bill. At worst, the President's stem cell policy will last only 30 more months and be reversed on January 20, 2009, regardless of who wins the Presidency.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a bill that will improve No Child Left Behind (NCLB) implementation while maintaining its important accountability provisions. NCLB provides a crucial level of accountability for the results of study in the classroom. While this change was welcome on both sides of the aisle, this law did present some technical problems in its ground- breaking measurement and assessment of education achievement. I have worked closely with education specialists at the North Central Education Lab as well as local education professionals as part of my Education Advisory Board to gather data on NCLB implementation. This work resulted in a White paper detailing areas of concern to my local schools, coupled with practical solutions to these problems. Specifically, this Education Assessment Technical Corrections Act focuses on highly-qualified teacher requirements, determinations of Annual Yearly Progress (AYP), and NCLB sanctions. My legislation maintains NCLB's important accountability provisions while improving implementation of the law in these key areas. Every child deserves an excellent teacher. Unfortunately, several schools are experiencing difficulty meeting the highly-qualified teacher requirements in certain hard-to-staff areas. Much like rural teachers were given relief through rules, teachers in ``hard to staff'' areas should be granted relief for the highly qualified teacher provision in the form of a two year extension. However, schools must demonstrate that they are working towards full compliance in order to qualify for the extension. Secondly, I strongly support measuring AYP for students. However, current law does not measure individual student improvement, counts students under multiple sub-groups, and creates discrepancies between NCLB and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. My legislation ensures that students are compared for consecutive years rather than two different classes for the same school year, places equal weight on each student, and clarifies Individualized Education Program status under NCLB. All these changes still maintain accountability measures under NCLB but provide more accurate assessments. Now that this landmark legislation has been in effect for a few years, it is important we revisit its effects. My bill takes into consideration important practical concerns of my local school boards while staying true to the goals of NCLB. I am proud that this bill reflects the advice and counsel of the North Central Education Lab, my Education Advisory Board and the National Education Association. I want to pay special thanks to Dr. Paul Kimmelman, the chairman of our 10th Congressional district Education Advisory Board, who led much of this work. Mr. Speaker, the Education Assessment Technical Corrections Act represents a strong bipartisan consensus, backed by school management and unions, to make the job of defining success and education achievement more accurate and useful.