Mark Kirk

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 352 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.'' Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I would like to compliment the manager's amendment on reducing the fiscal impact of this bill. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this legislation--a bill the President has said ``would reduce Federal receipts by several hundred billion dollars over the next 60 years.'' As the Statement of Administration Policy put it, the administration strongly opposed key provisions ``because of their long-term consequences on the Federal deficit.'' This bill establishes new entitlement programs--mandatory spending mechanisms that already drive up our deficit. It establishes costly oil shale leases and imposes other expensive charges the Federal budget cannot afford. I am also worried that the bill sets up the oil and gas industry above all other Federal interests. Under section 16, all Federal permitting is prohibited, despite my other marine or naval concerns. Many of these rigs could be put in sensitive waters with national defense implications. Under this bill, the government can consider no other issue--even for the defense of this Nation. Section 17 allows lessees to request the Federal Government to repurchase leases. This is an irresponsible provision that allows a transfer of risk from an energy company to the taxpayer. This is ironic because while the Federal Government is in the red, most energy companies are earnings record profits. Mr. Chairman, we can have an honest debate about whether we should open the Outer Continental Shelf to energy development but there should be little debate on granting new assistance at the expense of the taxpayer to energy companies who are some of the most profitable entities on earth. This bill, as it has been written, was a great threat to the Treasury. I want to compliment the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member for the manager's amendment they crafted that dramatically reduces the cost of this bill. This amendment heeds many of the fiscal concerns of the President and reduces that budgetary impact of the proposed legislation. I would now urge the authors to further listen to the President's fiscal guidance.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to join with Congressman Lipinski to introduce the Great Lakes Water Protection Act. This bipartisan legislation would set a date certain to end sewage dumping in America's largest supply of fresh water, the Great Lakes. More than 27 million Americans depend on the Great Lakes for their drinking water. We need to put a stop to the poisoning of our water supply. Cities along the Great Lakes must become environmental stewards of our country's most precious freshwater ecosystem. The Great Lakes Water Protection Act gives cities until 2026 to build the full infrastructure needed to prevent sewage dumping into the Great Lakes. Those who violate EPA sewage dumping regulations after that federal deadline will be subject to fines up to $100,000 for every day they are in violation. These fines will go back into State clean water funds. From there, the funds will be spent on wastewater treatment options, with a special focus on greener solutions such as habitat protection and wetland restoration. This legislation is sorely needed. Many major cities along the Great Lakes do not have the infrastructure needed to divert sewage overflows during times of heavy rainfall. In 2004, the city of Milwaukee dumped 1.6 billion gallons of sewage into Lake Michigan. Sewage pollutes our waters and poses grave health risks to people exposed to it. It also results in beach closings. Although there was no direct correlation between Milwaukee's sewage dumping and the closing of Chicago-area beaches in 2004, Cook County beach closings nearly tripled from 213 in 2003 to 613 in 2004. I am particularly concerned over the 150 beach day closings in my congressional district in 2004, the latest year tracked. This trend is echoed throughout the Great Lakes region and is one we need to reverse. Protecting our Great Lakes is one of my top priorities in the Congress. As an original cosponsor of both the Great Lakes Restoration Act and the Save Our Water from Sewage Act, I favor a broad approach to addressing needs in the region. However, we must also move forward with tailored approaches to fix specific problems as we continue to push for more comprehensive reform. I am proud to introduce this important legislation that addresses a key problem facing our Great Lakes, and hope my colleagues will support me in ensuring that these important resources become free from the threat of sewage pollution.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, this week I am introducing bipartisan legislation to ban dumping in the Great Lakes. Along with my Democratic colleague Dan Lipinski, we are moving the Great Lakes Water Protection Act because the number of beach closings in Illinois rose from 213 in 2003 to over 600 in 2004. There were over 140 beach closings in my district alone last year. Our bill, supported by the Alliance for the Great Lakes, the Sierra Club and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Chicago, sets a Federal date certain to ban dumping in the source of our drinking water. Fines under this bill would support building new sewage control projects to protect the lake. I want to give a special thank you to a member of my staff, Ms. Kristy Cole, who drafted this legislation. As she leaves the Congress for a Northwestern JD/MBA program, we will now gather bipartisan support for this commonsense environmental reform.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Chairman, I rise to compliment my chairman, Mr. Wolf, and our ranking minority member, Mr. Mollohan. This bill will help small businesses to comply with the Sarbanes Oxley Act under a new bipartisan provision which establishes an ombudsman at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Both Minority Leader Pelosi and the Speaker have called for help in this area, and the bill does that. With regard to our critical relationship with China, we recommended retaining the current U.S. embassy site even after the new embassy is complete. This is a wise step to allow for the expansion of the U.S. Government in China, especially to help protect the Olympic Games in 2008 from terrorists. We also took action in this bill to preserve the Turkish Service of the VOA, a critical media market for the United States bordering Iran during these days of crisis. Our action will help stabilize that NATO ally. At USTR, we called in this bill for stronger action to stop the theft of American intellectual property in China. And while the central government in Beijing has made the right promises, Congressman Rick Larsen and I noted in our U.S. China Working Group work that this key trade issue between China and America remains unresolved at the local level. And this bill provides clear direction to the USTR in that area. This bill also provides new resources to Federal law enforcement. ATF, the lead Federal antigang agency in this bill, gets $950 million, a $48 million increase from last year. We also provide a $15 million increase for DEA, and I applaud Chairman Wolf for approving new funding for a DEA aircraft to collect intelligence overseas against drug traffickers. This bill funds a critical integration of DEA into the intelligence community. And in my experience, DEA has some of the best information on terror financing in the U.S. Government. The bottom line on this bill is it funds key Federal law enforcement operations in Chicagoland, backing Andy Traver, the special agent in charge of ATF, Robert Grant, the special agent in charge of the FBI, and Rick Sanders, the special agent in charge of DEA. And that is a good thing, especially when they all support our legendary U.S. attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald. It also provides $85 million more for U.S. Attorneys--61 more Assistant U.S. Attorneys--giving more resources to our legendary U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois--Patrick Fitzgerald--and his crusade against terror on the Sears Tower and public corruption in Illinois.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Madam Speaker, 3 years ago, a Congressman, Rob Andrews, and I founded the Iran Working Group to explore all peaceful options with regard to the nuclear crisis. Last June, we proposed a unique option, an international quarantine on the sale of gasoline to Iran. Despite its status as an OPEC oil producer, Iran depends on over 40 percent of its gasoline supply from abroad, and because the mullahs failed to modernize Iran's refineries, she has run short. Iran's government knows of this critical weakness. They have reviewed the congressional resolution and calls for restricting gas sales to Iran. To prepare their people, the Iranian government decided this week to cut in half their gasoline subsidy for foreign supplies, effectively eliminating almost 200,000 barrels a day from their national supply. This will trigger gasoline rationing in Tehran and will begin to tighten the squeeze on the government. It shows that this is a very powerful lever to use in the peaceful resolution of this crisis and one that Iran's leaders already know would be effective.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin, my next-door neighbor to the north, for this important legislation. It is a commonsense way that budget-conscious Republicans and Democrats can come together to cut spending. Now, this legislation is needed, because the line item veto has been used by American States since 1861 to balance their budgets, and over 40 Governors, Republicans and Democrats, have this spending control. Now, we in Congress joined with President Clinton to enact a line item veto in the 1990s, and he used that veto 82 times to defend the taxpayer. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court struck that needed reform down. And when they did, President Clinton called that a defeat for America. The bill before the House now is modeled after the bipartisan base closings legislation that has been used to cut hundreds of millions of wasteful spending in the military by closing down bases that the Secretary of Defense and our commanders say that they do not need. For us at this time, I think the government spends too much, that this is a needed reform tried and true for over 120 years by our Governors to keep balanced budgets and one that we need in this Congress. We should all be worried, in the history of democracies, that while it is the best form of government on the planet, there is a troubled record of democracies spending their way into dictatorship. This needed reform helps us control spending to make sure that the American people keep their freedom, that the democracy that they live under is responsible with the taxpayer dollars, and that we do not waste those precious resources on unneeded projects. That is why we should support this. That is why this should be bipartisan. President Clinton was right to have this power. Forty Governors are right, and it should be adopted by this House.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. I yield to the gentleman from Florida.

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman and wish to work with you and the Chief of Naval Operations on this and make sure that we can work together in conference to make sure our Navy air crews have full electronic support. Amendment Offered by Mr. Engel

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, hell hath no furry like an electronic warfare officer spurred into action. This field is quite technical and obscure, but provides one of the keys to answering the question of why the United States can command the skies with such few casualties. While the Air Force has eliminated its fleet of tactical jamming aircraft, the United States Navy has kept theirs, based on the EA-6B Prowler aircraft. The Navy's choice in this field appears to be superior because during conflicts with Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, our joint combatant commanders have routinely denied entry to U.S. tactical aircraft in a theater of war unless there was a Prowler present to ensure that enemy air defenses were rendered blind or under attack. Mr. Chairman, the Prowler fleet is now aging. Most aircraft are well over 30 years old and are planned to be replaced by the electronic attack variant of the F-18, the F-18G or so-called Growler. The Growler is vital to maintaining the safety of future Navy air crews sent into harm's way against competent air defense forces. Mr. Chairman, under the committee's mark we changed the President's request from buying 30 F-18E and Fs and 12 Growlers to buying 42 F-18E and Fs. This would dramatically delay the F-18 Growler line for a year and may present a gap in the force protection for Navy air crews sent into harm's way. Mr. Chairman, I would like your assurance that when we move this bill to conference, if there is an additional 302(b) allocation available, we might be able to address this critical 12 aircraft F-18G, Growler, model procurement so that we make sure that Navy air crews have not just what they need now, but what they need in the future with regard to tactical jamming aircraft.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, Congress fulfills its potential when we address key problems facing American families. Most Americans in the 21st century live in the suburbs, and the House is now moving a suburban agenda. The suburban agenda includes bipartisan legislation on education, health care, conservation and the economy. We unveiled the first seven bills for the agenda last month, and this morning I am here to report on the progress we have made. Yesterday the House passed Congressman Porter's bill allowing school boards across the Nation to check interstate criminal records before hiring a coach or a teacher. Next week, we will consider Congresswoman Johnson's bill to deploy full electronic medical records shown to reduce errors by doctors by over 80 percent. Action is coming in this Congress to establish 401 Kids tax-deferred savings accounts and new tools for parents to fight against sexual predators who misuse Web sites like myspace.com. The suburban agenda, it is moving through the Congress and helping this House fulfill its full potential.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, today the House will consider the School Safety Act authored by Congressman Porter of Nevada. This bipartisan legislation will help make every classroom in America safer. Recently, Michigan officials found that while the schools check their own State criminal records before hiring a coach or a teacher, 2,500 felons were still hired by Michigan's schools because they had out-of- state arrest records. In 1998, President Clinton authorized States to share arrest records in compacts, and 25 States have done this but 25 have not, including Illinois. John Porter's bill will link the criminal records for all 50 States. It will give school boards the tools they need to prevent a felon with an in-state or out-of-state arrest record from being put in charge of a classroom or team. Americans have a right to safe, gun-free classrooms, and this bill will help make that happen.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, today, I am reintroducing a resolution with Congressman Robert Andrews (D-NJ) which emphasizes that the crisis regarding Iran's nuclear program should be resolved primarily through diplomatic means. I choose diplomacy over conflict; and I believe the United States and our allies can achieve our ends to the Iranian nuclear program without firing a shot. By focusing on Iran's reliance on gasoline imports, this concurrent resolution suggests a thoughtful and effective approach to diplomacy with Iran. The resolution I introduce today states that as part of the diplomatic effort, the United States should consider a gasoline quarantine, organized and enforced by a multilateral coalition of nations. This action would be a strong yet prudent action to dissuade Iran from joining the nuclear club. Despite its wealth of crude oil, Iran imports nearly 40 percent of its refined gasoline. For years, the Iranian regime has subsidized this imported gasoline by $3 billion a year to keep prices artificially low in order to maintain economic and political stability. A quarantine, and the resulting spike in prices, would be catastrophic to the regime's stability. The Iranian economy is nearly at its breaking point due to crushing unemployment, inflation, and the rush of foreign investors leaving the Islamic Republic. A quarantine would push the government's ability to spend to the breaking point, forcing them to consider compromise. Congressman Andrews and I introduced a similar resolution, House Concurrent Resolution 177, on June 14, 2005. Since that time, Iran selected an unpredictable and belligerent new leader. Iran has restarted uranium enrichment and paraded missiles through the street with banners saying ``Death to America'' and ``Wipe Israel off the Map.'' This resolution reflects the current situation with respect to Iran, and suggests an innovative solution to the nuclear impasse. I want to thank my good friend Congressman Robert Andrews for being the lead co-sponsor of this legislation. I look forward to working with him and my other colleagues on this important foreign policy initiative.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing a resolution with Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA) condemning the repression of the Iranian Baha'i community. This concurrent resolution exposes the Iranian Government's persecution of the Baha'is and calls on Iran to ensure that all of its religious minorities, including the Baha'is, are treated in accordance with the basic human rights to which each person is entitled. The North American Baha'i Temple is in my district, and the persecution against the Baha'is in Iran has been a longstanding concern of mine. This concurrent resolution brings he House of Representatives' attention to the latest action of the Iranian Government against the 350,000-member Baha'i community of Iran. On March 20, 2006, 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 forces. In this letter, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, instructed the Command Headquarters to identify all Iranian Baha'is and collect any and all information about their activities. The Anti-Defamation League recently compared the secret letter to ``the steps taken against Jews in Europe'' in the 1930s. This directive is unacceptable. Yet the secret order did not occur in isolation. Over the past 18 months, Iranian security forces have been imprisoning Baha'is without charges and Baha'i youth in Iran have been denied access to universities. I understand that since October 2005, there has been a campaign of vilification against Baha'is in Kayhan, the government-sponsored press. The Concurrent Resolution I introduce today calls on the Government of Iran to cease its practice of monitoring the Baha'is, to allow them to practice their religion and to emancipate fully their religious community. I want to thank my good friend Congressman Tom Lantos for being the lead co-sponsor of this legislation. I look forward to working with him and my other colleagues on this important human rights initiative.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman, the chairwoman of our committee, and I want to applaud her and Congressman Lantos, two Members who cut through the partisan rancor of this institution to act with clarity against murderous intolerance. Mr. Speaker, we sometimes may ask the question: If I was alive in 1939, what would I have done? If I was alive in 1939, would I have recognized the coming danger to America? If I was alive in 1939, would I have seen the seeds of genocide? But we do not live in 1939. We live in 2006, and many of the dangers we see today have parallels in history. Across the sea now, there is an intolerant dictator rising who says that one Holocaust is not enough. The people in Israel rightly fear a new intolerant Islamic mullah who might say that another 6 million should be murdered. The Iranians have many allies in the world. None of their allies are better than Hamas, leaders trained by tyrants, funded by murderers and utterly clear in their political program. One of the lessons of history is that dictators say what they are going to do and then do what they said. And Hamas has told us that they are for killing innocent civilians, and they have done that. They tell us that they support international terrorist attacks, and they have done that, too. Hamas has told us that they wish to drive our democratic allies in Israel into the sea, and we cannot let them do that. Democracies are best when they defend each other, and the best way to defend our allies is to support moderate Arabs willing to join in peace. So we did that. The United States, the Congress, this House over the last many fiscal years, provided hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to support moderate Arabs. We in this House funded the rise of Yasir Arafat. We created the Palestinian Authority. We embraced the ineffective government of Mahmoud Abbas. And each of these efforts, at a cost of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars from the United States, have failed. And so now we see Hamas taking power, a Hamas that what it does not get politically is taking militarily. Yesterday, Hamas tried to assassinate a top key official who works for President Abbas. A civil war is breaking out on the West Bank because Hamas does not have enough power yet and is willing to kill anyone in their way. Mr. Speaker, I do not support this bill just because I support our allies in Israel. I support this bill because Hamas has claimed responsibility for the murder of 26 American citizens. Those American citizens include: David Applebaum of Ohio; Nava Applebaum, also of Ohio; Alan Beer of Ohio; Marla Bennet of California; Benjamin Blutstein of Pennsylvania; David Boim of New York; Yael Botwin of California; Dina Carter of North Carolina; Janis Ruth Coulter of Massachusetts; Sara Duker of New Jersey; Matthew Eisenfeld of Connecticut; Tzvi Goldstein of New York; Judith Greenbaum of New Jersey; David Gritz of Massachusetts; Dina Horowitz of Florida; Eli Horowitz of Illinois; Tehilla Nathanson of New York; Malka Roth of New York; Mordechai Reinitz of New York; Yitzhak Reinitz of New York; Malka Roth of New York; Leah Stern of New Jersey; Goldie Taubenfeld of New York; Shmuel Taubenfeld of New York; Nachshon Wachsman of New York; Ira Weinstein of New York; and Yitzhak Weinstock of California. My colleague from New York talked about the common people that this would hurt. Common Americans have been killed by Hamas, and their blood is on the fingers of Hamas leaders. It is time for us to call it as we see it: intolerant murderous leaders, people who in other uniforms at other times we have seen before; and for us to cut off their funding, to say that the only Hamas moderate is a Hamas radical out of money and bullets, and for us to say that we wish this government, this Hamas government to fail, that in its place a more moderate government will rise, and at that time, it will be the time for the United States to support it and not a minute before that. And I want to take one more personal privilege to say to the gentleman from California, Mr. Lantos: Thank you. Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for your history. And thank you for cutting through all of the rhetoric and giving us clear direction to use your eyes and your experience to teach us of how the past can inform the future so that it does not happen again.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. I thank the chairman. As a member of the subcommittee, I strongly support this bipartisan bill, and it contains a key reform to ensure that Americans in uniform, veterans, sailors, and their families, will join together in a new joint VA-Navy Hospital to be built in north Chicago, Illinois. I have worked on this for 5 years. In 2000, the previous administration announced plans to close the north Chicago VA, saying that veterans in northern Illinois could easily get to downtown Chicago in just 30 minutes. Only a Washington consultant with a map and a string would think that. We knew that we could do much better; that we could dramatically improve health care for veterans who wore green, who wore white, who wore blue, and their families, at a joint Navy-VA facility. This bill begins the funding of that hospital. It includes $23 million for the first joint VA-Navy Hospital in the country. Already, we have moved many Navy services into the north Chicago VA, and this summer we will open several state-of-the-art rooms. But this embraces the new vision of a brand-new facility taking care of Americans in uniform, veterans, and their families.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. The Great Lakes Legacy Act funding cleans one of our national treasures while simultaneously adding value to the areas it addresses. I strongly urge the chairman to lend his support to this program as we move through the committee process. More funding for the Great Lakes Legacy Act is extremely important in the overall effort to clean up the Great Lakes and to restore the economy of our region. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the chairman of the subcommittee.

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Chairman, I thank my friend for yielding and strongly share his sentiments regarding the importance of funding the Great Lakes and especially the Great Lakes Legacy Act. As the gentleman from Michigan noted, the Great Lakes are a national treasure. Our history is filled with supporting these national treasures, and in 2000 Congress and the administration rose to the occasion, providing a restoration plan for the Everglades that yielded impressive results. Today the country is beginning to recognize a new effort. The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration brought together local, State, and national officials and interests, including the administration, to work on a coherent plan, a thorough plan for Great Lakes restoration and protection. Last December all Great Lakes Collaboration members met and endorsed this process. But we must go further. We must waste no time in moving forward with tangible changes in practice and funding. The Great Lakes face a myriad of threats, from invasive species to mercury contamination to the effects of long-term pollutants which are awaiting cleanup. These same Great Lakes are also an invaluable resource for drinking water, recreation, and transportation purposes. And to protect them we must increase coordination and funding of Great Lakes programs. The Great Lakes Legacy Act provides an essential function: addressing sediment contamination in areas of concern in the Great Lakes. My district contains Waukegan Harbor, a contaminated area that, if properly cleaned, would increase the economic value of lakefront property by over $800 million.

Mr. KIRK. I yield to the gentleman from Michigan.

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Chairman, I thank these two chairmen.

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 167 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.'' Amendment Offered by Mr. Chabot

Mr. KIRK

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. We saw a dramatic testament to the value of fully electronic medical records when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. The many civilian hospitals had not yet upgraded to fully electronic medical records, and their record rooms were flooded out. Many of those patients then lost their medical histories, but the veterans in New Orleans did not have that problem. Their records were already fully digitized, and so a veteran reporting to a VA hospital in Houston or in Baton Rouge had their complete medical history protected. That is one key issue in the suburban agenda, but another is protecting kids from predators, especially in schools. We heard of the great tragedy of Jessica Lunsford, an example of inadequate screening for people who come in contact with kids, and one of our experts on this field is my colleague from the State of Florida, and I yield to her.

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the House and my colleague from Georgia for arranging for this time to talk about a new suburban agenda for the country, one that addresses key issues before families in America and reflects the new suburban reality of the way we live our lives. This Congress is well known for being home to a Rural Caucus and an Urban Affairs Caucus. But to date we have never had a Suburban Caucus addressing the needs of suburban families. For us at this time we should recognize not how Americans lived in the 20th century but how they live now in the 21st century. In the most recent election, over half of all voters were from suburban families, and suburban communities are under attack. They are under attack from gangs moving to the suburbs and taking on suburban police departments. They are under attack from Internet predators. Over 50,000 of them online at any one time attempting to contact our kids. We see a growing wave, a disappearance of green and open space that need to be protected. And there is a general fear held by three- quarters of the American public that it may be more difficult for their kids to enter the middle class than it was for them. Five dozen Members of Congress have gathered together to put together a suburban agenda to address these needs. And one of those Members is representing the Atlanta suburbs, Congressman Tom Price, and a member of Suburban Agenda Caucus, and I yield to him.

Mr. KIRK. I thank the gentleman. One of the critical problems we have is from powerful social networking sites like MySpace.com and other sites that have given online predators powerful tools to reach children. Our leader, the author of the Delete Online Predators Act, is a Congressman from Pennsylvania, Mike Fitzpatrick and I want to yield to him.

Mr. KIRK. What we want is to give a message to the country's teachers that when it comes to an issue of the safety and security of kids in the classroom, do not hesitate. Do not worry about some impending lawsuit. Make sure that your classroom is secure. We are going to trust your judgement as a certified teacher, as a full-time employee of the school, to make that call and to make sure the classroom is secure. When you look at all of this, we know that the House has long been a forum for issues on rural issues, and those are very important issues. We have also been a forum for issues on urban communities, and those are vital to the future of the country. But there is a reality in the 21st century and it is that Americans, a majority of them, live in suburbs. Suburban families face a number of critical problems. There are drug gangs moving into suburbs that are seeking to take on suburban law enforcement communities that do not have the experience of big-city departments. There are thousands of online predators who are trying to contact our kids using powerful engines like MySpace.com. We are watching as green and open space disappear in the suburbs. And millions of Americans worry that it may be tougher for their children to enter the middle class than it was for us. Suburban families are under attack, and they need a voice in the Congress; and that is why this agenda is coming forward. These are critical issues in my district of Libertyville, Illinois. They represent commonsense, practical, grass-roots solutions coming from the communities to the Congress in a way that we welcome Republicans and Democrats coming together to move this agenda forward. We will be outlining all of this in detail tomorrow: a School Safety Acquiring Faculty Excellence Act, which helps us screen and make sure that everyone coming into contact with kids is safe and appropriate; a Delete OnLine Predators Act to make sure that these powerful search engines are not put in the service of online predators; a Gang Elimination Act, making the commonsense step forward of identifying the top gangs that are a threat to kids and the Homeland Security of the country and to take them down; a Health Information Technology Promotion Act to accelerate high technology, health information technology to make sure that your medical record, when appropriately available, is appropriate to every doctor that you see and is in a survivable form in case there is a fire or other catastrophe. And, last, a 401-Kids Tax Deferred Savings Account to have more guaranteed access of children, not just in the suburbs, but also in cities and in rural communities into the middle class with tax deferred savings from the day a child is born. I yield to my colleague from Georgia to wrap up.