Ric Keller

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I do not have any more speakers, and reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 668) celebrating the 40th anniversary of Texas Western's 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship and recognizing the groundbreaking impact of the title game victory on diversity in sports and civil rights in America, as amended.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I will continue to reserve the balance of my time at this point.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I also yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk about the national security implications of illegal immigration. Last year, our Border Patrol agents arrested 155,000 illegal aliens from countries other than Mexico who attempted to cross into the United States by the Mexican border. They included illegal immigrants from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. This poses a very serious national security problem, according to CIA director Porter Goss. On a recent trip to the Mexican-California border, I spoke with Border Patrol agents who had apprehended suspects on the terrorist watch list. On the day I was there, two illegals from Pakistan were captured. When we go to the airport, our names are checked against a terrorist watch list, we have to produce photo ID, we remove our shoes, we walk through a metal detector, and we send our luggage through an X-ray machine to check for bombs. Who is doing checks on the 8,000 people who arrive here illegally every day? The House has recently passed a tough border security bill. I urge the Senate to act now in the name of national security.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, if you would have told me when I was in college that one day my idea of a romantic Valentine's Day evening would be standing around giving a speech on border security, I would have probably drank a cup of hemlock back then. But here we are, and I am happy to drink this cup of water beside me. Mr. Speaker, I have just returned from the Mexican border, and I am here to report my findings. We were 5,000 feet up in the mountains along the border California shares with Mexico at 2:00 A.M., freezing in 30-degree weather, with the wind howling in our faces. Eight shivering young men, illegal aliens in their late teens and early 20s, sat on the cold ground in handcuffs, grateful to be caught. One of them pleaded with a border patrol agent to find his girlfriend, Maria, who was still stuck out on one of the cliffs. Illegal aliens like the ones I saw in handcuffs continue to enter the United States from Mexico at the rate of 8,000 per day. Today, we have 11 million illegal aliens in the United States. Illegal immigration presents a huge problem. That is why I decided to spend a week along the southern border to see firsthand how bad the problem is and, more importantly, what Congress can do to fix it. Last year, our Border Patrol agents arrested 1.2 million illegal aliens attempting to enter the United States from Mexico. Significantly, 155,000 of those arrested were from countries other than Mexico. They included illegal immigrants from Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. This poses a very serious national security problem according to CIA director Porter Goss. I spoke with Border Patrol agents who had apprehended suspects on the terrorist watchlist. One night, while I was riding along with the Border Patrol, two illegals from Pakistan were captured. One convicted sexual predator was caught trying to cross. So were wanted murder suspects, drug dealers and smugglers. If the job of a Border Patrol agent sounds dangerous, imagine the risk to people who actually live along the border. I sat down in the living rooms of four different families who own ranches along the border. One couple, Ed and Donna Tisdale, documented on home video 13,000 illegal aliens crossing their property in 1 year alone. The Tisdales had their barbed wire fences cut by illegals running off the family's cattle. When their dogs barked to scare off intruders, the dogs were poisoned. Another rancher told me about numerous break-ins at his home while his family slept as illegal aliens searched for food and clothing. One morning his daughters had gone out to feed their pet bunnies, only to find them skinned and taken for food by illegal aliens trying to escape to a nearby highway. The economic impact of these illegal crossers who are successful is catastrophic. Illegal immigration costs taxpayers $45 billion a year in health care, education and incarceration expenses. The cost of the estimated 630,000 illegal aliens in my home State of Florida is about $2 billion a year, meaning every family in my congressional district pays a hidden tax of $315 each year and yet still faces artificially depressed wages because of illegal immigration. So how do we fix the problem? Well, first, we need to crack down on employers who knowingly hire illegal workers. Jobs are the magnet attracting illegal aliens across the border, and the U.S. House has acted to make it mandatory for employers to check the paperwork of new hires or else face stiff penalties. Now it is time for the Senate to act. Second, we complete construction of a double fence for 700 miles along the border near highly populated urban areas. For example, San Diego saw a steep reduction in crossings from 500,000 down to 130,000 when their double fence was completed. Third, where mountains and rugged terrain make completion of a double fence impossible, we need to have a virtual fence. That is, Congress needs to appropriate money for infrared cameras that allow agents to see the entire border in day and nighttime. Finally, we need more Border Patrol agents. Although Congress has already tripled the number of Border Patrol agents since the late 1980s, more are still needed. Mr. Speaker, one million immigrants come to America legally each year; and my staff members spend the majority of their time helping those who want to come to our country to work hard and play by the rules. We are protected from dangerous people entering the country at our airports. IDs are checked against the terrorist watchlist, and baggage is screened. Who is doing checks on the 8,000 people who arrive here illegally each day? Who is our last line of defense? It is a Border Patrol agent in a green uniform working alone. At 2:00 a.m. tonight, after all of us are asleep, he will be once again working somewhere near the top of a cold 5,000-foot mountain along the California-Mexican border. He will get a radio call telling him to approach a group of illegals who have been spotted by an infrared scope and are located near the top of that mountain. He will track their footprints in the dirt and make his way toward them. As he approaches, there is something he does not know. Are these illegal aliens a group of harmless teenagers who are scared and freezing, or are they heavily armed, dangerous drug traffickers like the ones who have killed so many of his colleagues? Either way, he will approach them because it is just another day on the job. Mr. Speaker, I have a message for that Border Patrol agent. The United States Congress knows you are there. We appreciate your service, and help is on the way.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to salute the bravery of Border Patrol agents working along the Mexican border. I recently returned from a week-long trip to the Mexican-California border, where I had the opportunity to ride along with our Border Patrol agents. I was impressed by the bravery of the Border Patrol agents who escorted me. We personally saw a Border Patrol supervisor pull an illegal alien off a 10-foot wall and arrest him despite his violent attempts to resist arrest. I witnessed another Border Patrol agent scale a 5,000-foot mountain at 2 in the morning in freezing 30-degree weather and single-handedly arrest and handcuff eight illegal aliens. The Border Patrol agent I rode with told me that he had been shot at on several occasions. Twenty-three of his colleagues have been killed in the line of duty since 1990. For example, Border Patrol agents Susan Rodriguez and Ricardo Salinas were gunned down by a murder suspect. Agent Jefferson Barr was shot to death by a drug trafficker. I have a message for these brave Border Patrol agents: the U.S. Congress knows you are there. We appreciate your service, and help is on the way.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I have just returned from the Mexican border and I am here to report my findings. We were 5,000 feet up in the mountains along the border California shares with Mexico at 2:00 a.m., freezing in 30-degree weather with the wind howling in our faces. Eight shivering young men, illegal aliens in their late teens and early 20s, sat on the cold ground in handcuffs, grateful to be caught. One of them pleaded with the border patrol agent to find his girlfriend Maria who was still stuck on one of the cliffs. Illegal aliens, like the ones I saw in handcuffs, continue to enter the United States from the Mexican border at the rate of 8,000 per day. Today, we have 11 million illegal aliens in the United States. Illegal immigration presents a huge problem. That is why I decided to spend a week along the southern border to see firsthand how bad the problem was and what Congress could do to fix it. Last year, our border patrol agents arrested 1.2 million illegal aliens attempting to enter the United States from Mexico. Significantly, 155,000 of those arrested were from countries other than Mexico. They included illegal immigrants from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. Our porous Mexican-U.S. border offers the perfect cover for terrorists, especially since tighter controls have been imposed at airports. This poses a very serious national security problem, according to CIA Director Porter Goss. I personally spoke with border patrol agents who had apprehended suspects on the terrorist watch list. One night while I was riding along with the border patrol two illegals from Pakistan were captured. One convicted sexual predator was caught trying to cross, so were wanted murder suspects, drug dealers and smugglers. I was impressed by the bravery of the border patrol agents who escorted me. I saw a border patrol supervisor get out of his vehicle, pull an illegal alien off of a 10-foot wall and arrest him despite his violent attempts to resist the arrest. The border patrol agent I rode with told me he had been shot at on several occasions. Twenty-three of his colleagues have been killed in the line of duty since 1990. For example, border patrol agents Susan Rodriguez and Ricardo Salinas were gunned down by a murder suspect. Agent Jefferson Barr was shot to death by a drug trafficker. If the job of a border patrol agent sounds dangerous, imagine the risk to people who actually live along the border. I sat down in the living rooms of four different families who own ranches along the border. One couple, Ed and Donna Tisdale, documented on home video 13,000 illegal aliens crossing their property in one year alone. The Tisdales had their barbed-wire fences cut by illegals, running off the family's cattle. When their dogs barked to scare off intruders, the dogs were poisoned. Another rancher told me about numerous break-ins at his home while his family slept, as illegal aliens tried to find food and clothing. One morning his daughters had gone out to feed their pet bunnies, only to find them skinned and taken for food by illegal aliens trying to escape to a nearby highway. The economic impact of crossers who are successful is catastrophic. Illegal immigration costs taxpayers $45 billion per year in health care, education and incarceration expenses. The cost of the estimated 630,000 illegal aliens in Florida is about $2 billion a year, meaning every family in my congressional district pays a hidden tax of $315 each year, and yet still faces depressed wages because of illegal immigration. So how do we fix the problem? First, we need to crack down on employers who knowingly hire illegal workers. Jobs are the magnet drawing illegal aliens across the border, and the United States House of Representatives has acted to make it mandatory for employers to check the paperwork of new hires or else face stiff penalties if they do not. Now it is up to the Senate to act. Second, we need to complete construction of the double fence for 700 miles along the border near populated, urban areas. San Diego saw a steep reduction in crossings, from 500,000 down to 130,000, when the double fence was completed there. Third, where mountains and rugged terrain make completion of a double fence impossible, we need to have a virtual fence. Congress needs to appropriate more money for infrared cameras that enable agents to see the entire border. Finally, we need more border patrol agents. Although Congress has tripled the number of border patrol agents since the late 1980s, more are still needed. Mr. Speaker, one million illegal immigrants come to America legally each year, and my staff members spend the majority of their time helping those who want to come to our country to work hard and play by the rules. We are protected from dangerous people entering the country at our airports. IDs are checked against the terrorist watch list and baggage is screened. Well, who is doing the checks on the 8,000 people who arrive here illegally every day? Who is our last line of defense? It is a Border Patrol agent in a green uniform working alone. At 2 a.m. tonight, after all of us are asleep, he will be working somewhere near the top of a cold 5,000-foot mountain along the California-Mexican border. He will get a radio call telling him to approach a group of illegals who have been spotted by an infrared scope and are located near the top of that mountain. He will track their footprints in the dirt and make his way toward them. As he approaches, there is something he doesn't know: Are these illegal aliens a group of harmless teenagers who are scared and freezing, or are they heavily armed and dangerous drug traffickers, like the ones who have killed so many of his colleagues? Either way, he will approach them, because it is another day on the job. Mr. Speaker, I have a message for that Border Patrol agent working tonight: the United States Congress knows you are there, we appreciate your service, and help is on the way.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, the number one issue my constituents raise with me at town hall meetings is the need to strengthen our border security by cracking down on illegal immigration. Why? Our current immigration system is broken, and the American people expect us to secure our borders. We have 11 million illegal aliens in the United States. Illegal aliens continue to enter the U.S. from the Mexican border at the rate of 8,000 per day. Last year, our border patrol agents arrested 1.2 million illegal aliens attempting to enter the United States. Significantly, 155,000 arrests of illegal immigrants were from countries other than Mexico. They included illegal immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan. This poses a very serious national security problem according to the testimony of CIA Director Porter Goss before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 17 of this year. Our law enforcement authorities believe that the mass movement of illegal aliens across the porous Mexican-U.S. border offers the perfect cover for terrorists seeking to enter the U.S., especially since tighter controls have been imposed to airports. For example, when we go to the airport, our names are checked against the terrorist watch list. We have to produce a photo ID, we remove our shoes, we walk through a metal detector, and we send our briefcase and luggage through an x-ray machine to check if there are any weapons or explosive devices. Of course, this does not happen to 8,000 illegal aliens who enter the U.S. every day from the Mexican border. There are no terrorist background checks, no photo ID checks, no shoe removal, no metal detectors, and no x-ray machines for bombs or weapons. In addition to threatening our national security, illegal immigration places a crushing burden on the American taxpayers who end up getting stuck with a tab for over $45 billion a year for the health care and education of illegal aliens. Mr. Speaker, we must get serious about strengthening our border by cracking down on illegal immigration. Good fences make good neighbors, but that is only a start. We need to build more fences, hire more border patrol agents, use unmanned aerial drones to enforce the border, authorize our local sheriffs to enforce our immigration laws, and hold our employers accountable for knowingly hiring illegal workers. This bill is a step in the right direction. I urge my colleagues to take positive action today to secure our borders. Vote ``yes'' on the rule and vote ``yes'' on H.R. 4437.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act before it expires on December 31 is literally a matter of life or death because it is helping us to win the war on terrorism. Since we passed the PATRIOT Act in 2001, we have convicted 212 terrorists, and we have frozen $136 million in terrorist assets. Passing the PATRIOT Act is purely a matter of common sense. Is it not common sense that we give law enforcement the same tools to go after terrorists as they now have to go after Mafia dons and drug dealers? Is it not common sense that we can now share data between the intelligence community and the law enforcement community? Is it not common sense that we can now track deadly terrorists even though they cross jurisdictional lines or switch cell phones? Now, some Members of Congress want to postpone this legislation or even filibuster it. The worst thing that these critics can say about the PATRIOT Act is that supposedly law-abiding citizens will have their book store and library habits monitored. That is a totally bogus allegation. In reality, a prosecutor seeking this information must go before a federal judge, get a court order and prove that it is a matter of international terrorism. Now, how many times has that happened since we first passed the PATRIOT Act in 2001? Exactly zero according to the U.S. Attorney General. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on the PATRIOT Act and yes on the underlying rule.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, aiming a laser beam into the cockpit of an airplane is a clear and present danger to the safety of all of those on board the aircraft. It is only a matter of time before one of these laser beam pranksters ends up killing over 200 people in a commercial airline crash. These easily available pen-sized laser pointers, like the one I purchased here at the office supply here in the House of Representatives for $12, have enough power to cause vision problems in pilots from a distance of up to 2 miles. This legislation is simple, straightforward and common sense. It makes it illegal to knowingly aim a laser pointer at an aircraft. Those who intentionally engage in such misconduct shall be fined or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both, in the discretion of the judge. Significantly, 100 percent of the Democrats and Republicans on the Judiciary Committee voted in favor of this legislation and it enjoys wide bipartisan support. Mr. Speaker, I am honored that the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble), the ranking member and chairman respectively of the Crime Subcommittee, are the cosponsors of this legislation. A recent rash of incidents involving lasers aimed at aircraft cockpits have raised concerns by pilots and law enforcement officials over the potential threat to aviation safety and security. The problem is more widespread than one might initially think. According to the Congressional Research Service and the Federal Aviation Administration, there have been over 400 incidents reported since 1990 where pilots have been disoriented or temporarily blinded by laser exposure. So far none of the 400 incidents involving flight crew exposures to lasers have been linked to terrorism. Rather, it is often a case of pranksters making stupid choices to put pilots and their passengers at risk of dying. Let me give you just one real-life example of what it is like to be in an aircraft cockpit hit by a laser beam. In September of this year, I spoke with Lieutenant Barry Smith from my hometown of Orlando, Florida, who was actually in the cockpit of a helicopter that was hit by a laser beam. Lieutenant Smith is with the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. He and his partner were in a police helicopter searching for burglary suspects at night in a suburb of Orlando when a red laser beam hit their aircraft twice. Lieutenant Smith said the Plexiglass windshield of the helicopter spread out the light to be the size of about a basketball. It shocked them. They were flying near a large tower with a red light, and they mistakenly thought that they had flown too close to the tower. They were disoriented and they immediately jerked the helicopter back. When they realized that they were not actually near the tower, Lieutenant Smith began to worry that the light could have come from a laser sight on a rifle. He wondered if they were about to be shot out of the sky. He told me, ``It scared the heck out of us.'' In reality, it was just a 31-year-old man with a small pen-sized laser light standing in his backyard. Unfortunately, there are over 400 other stories just like this one where laser beam pranksters nearly caused fatal aviation crashes. Surprisingly there are currently no Federal statutes on the books making it illegal to shine a laser beam into an aircraft cockpit unless one attempts to use the PATRIOT Act to claim that the action was a terrorist attack or other attack of violence, intentional, against a mass transportation system. On February 17, 2006, a Federal judge in Newark, New Jersey, will sentence a New Jersey man who pled guilty last month to shining a hand- held laser at two aircrafts back in December of 2004. The defense attorneys for the defendant, Mr. David Banach, argued that the PATRIOT Act was supposed to be used against terrorists. The Federal prosecutors acknowledged that Mr. Banach is not a terrorist, but they said they had no other choice but to use the PATRIOT Act since no other Federal law applied. Clearly, this legislation before us is needed to clarify the law and make it crystal clear that we will not tolerate either pranksters or terrorists who jeopardize the safety of pilots and passengers by aiming laser beams into the cockpits of aircrafts. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote yes on H.R. 1400.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Chairman, I rise today as a cosponsor and strong supporter of the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act. I am going to tell the Members why I support this legislation and what the key components of this legislation is. First, why do we need this legislation? We need tough mandatory sanctions to crack down on frivolous lawsuits. We need to care about each other more and sue each other less. We need to get back to the old-fashioned principles of personal responsibility and get away from this new culture where people play the victim and blame others for their problems. Most importantly, we need to protect those small business people who are out there creating 70 percent of all new jobs in America. These small business people work hard and play by the rules, but they cannot afford to defend themselves from meritless litigation. For example, if they have a suit brought against them, to take it to trial to successfully win the suit, they often have to pay over $100,000 to a defense attorney. So what do they do? They have to pay about 10 grand to settle the case to get rid of it for strictly business reasons even though they did nothing wrong. This bill will help crack down on these frivolous suits by doing three key things. First, it provides tough mandatory sanctions, not discretionary sanctions, if a judge finds that we have a violation of Rule 11, which may include the payment of the other side's attorneys' fees. Second, this bill has teeth in it by having a three-strikes-and- you're-out penalty. Three strikes and you're out means if a judge finds that they have violated Rule 11 bringing a frivolous claim on three separate occasions, they will be suspended from practicing law in that particular Federal court for 1 year and will have to reapply for practice there. That is a tough sanction. I happen to be the author of it. But it is key for Members to know that there is a bipartisan idea, three strikes and you're out. To my left here, you see a quote from Senator John Edwards, himself a lifelong well-known personal injury lawyer, a former Senator from North Carolina and former Vice Presidential candidate. He said in Newsweek magazine, December 15, 2003, ``Frivolous lawsuits waste good people's time and hurt the real victims. Lawyers who bring frivolous cases should face tough mandatory sanctions with a three-strikes penalty.'' Senator Edwards is not the only one who holds that view. You will see that Senator Edwards' running mate, Senator John Kerry, told the Associated Press on October 10, 2004, ``Lawyers who file frivolous cases would face tough mandatory sanctions, including a three-strikes- and-you're-out provision that forbids lawyers who file frivolous cases from bringing another suit for the next 10 years.'' President George W. Bush, back when he was a candidate, February 9, 2000 said, ``As President, I will bring common sense to our courts and curb frivolous lawsuits. If a lawyer files three junk lawsuits, he will lose the right to appear in Federal Court for 3 years. Three strikes and you're out.'' The Austin American Statesman summarized President Bush's plan as saying, ``Bush's plan includes stiffer penalties for lawsuits determined by judges to be frivolous, including a three-strikes-and- you're-out rule for lawyers who repeatedly file such claims.'' On the day before we marked up this bill in the Judiciary Committee, May 24, 2005, I visited with President Bush in his personal residence and asked him, Mr. President, do you still stand by this policy that we need three strikes and you're out to crack down on frivolous lawsuits? He said, I absolutely do. That is the policy of the White House. So we have the Democrat Presidential candidate, Mr. Kerry; the Democrat Vice Presidential candidate, Mr. Edwards; the President of the United States; and the Judiciary Committee on a voice vote adopted this three-strikes-and-you're-out provision. The third key element of this Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act is language to avoid forum shopping. It is the same language that we had in the class action legislation, which was approved on a bipartisan basis by both the House and the Senate and signed into law. Essentially, if there is an accident, the claim will be brought where the accident is or where the plaintiff resides or where the defendant resides. For example, if you lived in Orlando, Florida, like I do, and you went to your local McDonald's and you slipped on a puddle of water, you could bring your suit in Orlando, where it should be. What you could not do is say, well, I know that Madison County, Illinois is a judicial hellhole, and there are lots of plaintiff-friendly judges, and McDonald's does business up in Madison County, Illinois. We are going to go file our suit there and do a little forum shopping. That is the kind of thing that is not going to be allowed here. In short, this is a commonsense bill that provides tough mandatory sanctions to crack down on frivolous suits and includes provisions that enjoy bipartisan support. This bill has already passed the House. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this important legislation.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule and the homeland security appropriations bill. This legislation improves our homeland security in three key ways. First, it helps us crack down on illegal immigration and protects our borders by providing funding to hire 1,000 additional border patrol agents. Second, the bill provides $3.3 billion for first responders, including grants that go directly to high-risk urban areas and firefighters. Significantly, for the first time, the majority of the funding for first responders is appropriately allocated based on the actual risk of terrorism to these areas. Third, this legislation provides key funding for critical explosive detection devices, which are used to screen high-risk cargo coming into the United States through our seaports and airports. I am proud that one of the top manufacturers in the world of these explosive detection devices is CyTerra, a company headquartered in my district of Orlando, Florida. On August 15 of this year, Senator Mel Martinez and I toured CyTerra's facilities and met with their employees. These hard-working folks are proud of their role in making our country safer, and they should be. Their bomb detection devices have already saved many lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the rule and ``yes'' on the underlying homeland security appropriations bill.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule and of the underlying Head Start bill. Since I was elected to Congress in 2000, we have increased Head Start funding by 28 percent, from $5.8 billion in 2000 to $6.8 billion today. Head Start is a crucial program for over 900,000 of our Nation's most needy students. It provides child development, educational, health, nutritional, social and other activities to help prepare young children for kindergarten. A good Head Start program will make sure that low- income 4-year-old children will know their ABCs, be able to count to 20, have the building blocks they need to hit the ground running on their first day of kindergarten. We know today how important early childhood education is to a child's long-term success. Head Start makes sure that children from low-income families have the educational foundation they need to succeed. As a father of two, I know firsthand how precious our children's first years are and how important they are to our children's future. I am proud of Congress' increased support for low-income children through the Head Start program, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the rule and ``yes'' on the Head Start reauthorization bill.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Chairman, the Head Start bill before us today is a good bill, I plan on voting for it, but I also believe that the Souder amendment will make it an even better bill by restoring the full authority of the parent policy councils in the Head Start program. Currently, Head Start programs across the country are jointly governed by a board of directors made up of experts and by a policy council made up of parents. Regrettably, the Head Start reauthorization bill before us fundamentally changes the authority of the parent policy councils. Specifically, it removes their ability to vote on program policy and instead makes them merely an advisory committee to the board. Well, who knows what is best for kids, the parents who are with them every day, or the bureaucrats and politicians who live 1,000 miles away? Clearly, the parents are in the best position to know what is best for the children, and I do not have to guess about that. On August 8, 2005, I personally met with 120 Head Start parents in Orlando, Florida. They told me they were concerned about the reduced role of the parent policy councils under this bill, and they wanted to restore the voting authority. That is what the Souder amendment does. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Chairman, I am a co-sponsor of the Children's Safety Act because we must crack down against child molesters by making sure they serve longer sentences and by requiring sex offenders who fail to comply with registration requirements to go back to jail where they belong. The best way to protect young children is to keep child predators locked up in the first place because someone who has molested a child will do it again and again and again. Earlier this year, two young girls from my home State of Florida, 9- year-old Jessica Lunsford and 13-year-old Sarah Lunde, were abducted, raped and killed. In both cases, the crimes were committed by convicted sex offenders who were out on probation. Coddling pedophiles with rehabilitation and self-esteem courses does not work. Locking them up works. This law imposes a mandatory minimum punishment of 30 years for those who commit violent sexual crimes against children, as well as a minimum punishment of life in prison or a death sentence when that crime results in the child's death. This legislation also cracks down on those sex offenders who refuse to follow registration requirements. Nearly 100,000 sex offenders remain unregistered and are moving freely about the country. This legislation will make it a Federal crime for those sex offenders who fail to register and will send them back to jail for another 5 to 20 years. It is high time that our government cracks down on child molesters by implementing these commonsense reforms, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 3132.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3169) to provide the Secretary of Education with waiver authority for students who are eligible for Pell grants who are adversely affected by a natural disaster, as amended.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 3169.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year I introduced the Pell Grant Hurricane and Natural Disaster Relief Act. Last week Hurricane Katrina struck Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. While the damage from this storm is particularly tragic, the hurricane's devastation was a familiar sight. Last year, four hurricanes ravaged Florida over a 40-day period. Many students lost their homes, their jobs, and they were forced to withdraw from school. In addition to all the suffering they underwent, Pell grant recipients who withdrew from classes were forced to repay any Pell grant funds they used to pay for school expenses beyond fees and tuition, or else were barred from enrolling in future classes. I believe that our neediest students, who would not have access to college without Pell grants, should not be further punished after enduring a natural disaster. After writing a letter to the Secretary of Education to ask for relief for these students, I discovered that students who are victims of natural disasters can receive similar help with regard to student loans, but the only way to help Pell grant recipients is by passing this legislation. My bill would allow the Secretary, in her discretion, to provide a waiver for repaying Pell grants for students who were forced to withdraw from classes due to a natural disaster as declared by the President of the United States. Language from this bill was incorporated into the higher education bill passed by the Committee on Education and the Workforce earlier this year with unanimous, bipartisan support. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 3169. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), the chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.