Ric Keller

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Coble for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, I have just returned from visiting our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. I witnessed the impact of Zarqawi up close and personal. I have seen the damage Zarqawi inflicted. I visited the areas where Zarqawi lived and terrorized people, and I met the brave soldiers who ultimately tracked him down and killed him. It was Sunday evening, May 28, 2006, and I was in Amman, Jordan, with a small delegation of six Congressmen. As I walked through the metal detector to enter the hotel's lobby, I thought of Zarqawi. It was here, in Amman, Jordan, that Zarqawi, a native of Jordan, killed 60 people by bombing three hotels on November 9, 2005. The next day was Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, and I was in Iraq visiting with our troops. Once again, my thoughts turned to Zarqawi. I toured the Special Operations Command Center with General Stan McCrystal, a three-star general in charge of tracking down Zarqawi. All over the walls of the command center were posters of Zarqawi. General McCrystal and his team were confident that they would get Zarqawi, and they briefed us on their efforts. That same day I flew in a Blackhawk helicopter around the area of Ba'Qubah where Zarqawi was ultimately located. I also toured Baghdad, where Zarqawi intimidated the U.N. by bombing their headquarters and where al Jazeera TV once broadcast a videotape showing Zarqawi personally beheading an American citizen. A week later, on Wednesday, June 7, I was at the White House with a few other Members of Congress to brief President Bush about what we saw in Iraq. At exactly 3:57 p.m., National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley slipped a note to President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Condi Rice. President Bush read the note, smiled and winked at Condi Rice. Zarqawi was dead. General McCrystal later personally went to the scene and determined for himself that Zarqawi had officially been killed. President Bush already called General McCrystal to thank him and his troops, and today Congress thanks them as well. Mr. Speaker, Amman, Jordan, is a long way from my hometown of Orlando, Florida. Tonight, thousands of people in Orlando will walk into hotel lobbies without having to go through a metal detector, unlike the hotels in Amman, Jordan. Why? Because our soldiers are taking the fight to the terrorists, like Zarqawi in the Middle East, so the rest of us can live freely in the United States. However one feels about the war in Iraq, realize that our troops deserve our support 100 percent. God knows they have earned it. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on House Resolution 861.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I have just returned from visiting our troops in Iraq. I have seen the damage Zarqawi inflicted. I visited the areas where Zarqawi lived and terrorized people. And I have met the brave soldiers who ultimately tracked him down and killed him. I visited Amman, Jordan, where Zarqawi killed 60 people by bombing three hotels. I toured the special operations command center in Iraq with General Stan McCrystal a three-star general in charge of tracking down Zarqawi. All over the walls of the command center were posters of Zarqawi. I flew in a Black Hawk helicopter around the area of Ba'Qubah where Zarqawi was ultimately located. I also toured Baghdad where Zarqawi intimidated the U.N. by bombing their headquarters and where al-Jazeera TV once broadcast a videotape showing Zarqawi personally beheading an American citizen. I was with President Bush at the White House on June 7 when he got the message that al Zarqawi had been killed. However one feels about the war in Iraq, realize that our troops deserve our support 100 percent. God knows they have earned it.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I just returned from Afghanistan. I went there to personally thank our troops and to speak directly with President Karzai and our generals to see how things are going. They told me that the U.S. and Afghan forces are working successfully side by side against the Taliban fighters and al Qaeda terrorists. They are also working together to build roads, bridges, and schools to help change hearts and minds over the long term. As I rode down the streets of Kabul, I saw little boys and girls skipping on their way to school, carrying their American book bags. When the Taliban was in charge, there were no girls in school, and the country had an 80 percent illiteracy rate. Now there are 6.7 million Afghan children in school. I met with several of the 68 women who were recently elected to Afghanistan's Parliament. They are excited about their new-found freedom and democracy. The Taliban are hoping that democracy in Afghanistan will fail so they can return to power. But the people there have tasted freedom and they like it.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me this time. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4894. This is a commonsense piece of legislation to protect our schoolchildren from being exposed to convicted pedophiles on a daily basis. Isn't it a matter of common sense that a school in my hometown of Orlando, Florida, can do a nationwide criminal background check to make sure that its janitors, coaches and schoolteachers are not convicted pedophiles from New York, Massachusetts, California, or Texas? Well, that is not happening right now. What does happen is they perform a background check in-state to make sure that someone hasn't been convicted in Florida of being a pedophile, and they perform a background check in 26 other States that signed on as part of a reciprocity agreement in 1998. What they don't check, however, is if anyone has a pedophile conviction from 24 other States, including the largest States in this country, States like California and New York and Texas and Massachusetts. I became involved in a mentoring program as a volunteer back when I was practicing law called the Compact Mentoring Program. I personally went out and recruited 700 individuals in my community to be mentors to kids who were at risk of dropping out of high school. My number one fear is that one of those people I recruited may be a convicted pedophile from another State. We didn't have the tools to do anything about it. Congressman Jon Porter's bill gives us the tools to do something about it. I think this bill should get an award for the most commonsense piece of legislation we have considered all year. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 4894.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, the killing of al-Zarqawi is the most important victory in Iraq since capturing Saddam Hussein. Al-Zarqawi was the Osama bin Laden of Iraq. He was al Qaeda's leader in Iraq. He personally beheaded American hostages on national TV. He bombed U.N. headquarters in Iraq and hotels Jordan. I was with President Bush yesterday at the White House at the very moment he got the message that al-Zarqawi was killed. At exactly 3:57 p.m., National Security Advisor Steven Hadley told President Bush and also handed a note to Vice President Cheney and Condi Rice that he had been killed. President Bush looked at the note, smiled and winked at Condi Rice. I knew something big had just happened. I have just returned from Iraq, where I personally met with the people who tracked down al-Zarqawi. I met with General Stan McChrystal and his Special Operations team at their command center. All over the walls of the command center were posters of al-Zarqawi. They told us they were close to getting him and they would get him. Well, they did get al-Zarqawi, and today the world is a safer place. Thank God for our troops.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for yielding. I rise today in support of H.R. 5252, and I want to discuss the so- called net neutrality provisions. The free Internet that we have today will remain free. If you can go there today, you will be able to go there tomorrow. If you would like to be able, in the future, to immediately download full-length movies and high definition video games and you are willing to pay for that greater bandwidth to do that, you will have the freedom to make that choice as well. If we take away these choices, it will be like trying to send a golf ball through a garden hose in terms of clogging up the bandwidth for everyone. In a nutshell, it seems to me that more consumer freedom and less government regulation is the better approach. If down the road the telecommunication companies improperly restrict access to the Internet and the FCC fails to act, then we can drop the hammer on them. Until then, it seems like imposing new regulations on the Internet is a case of Big Brother being a big pain in the behind. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 5252. I rise today in support of H.R. 5252, and I want to discuss the so- called ``Net Neutrality'' provisions. I don't understand why we need new laws for a problem that doesn't yet exist. I've heard that some high-tech companies, like Yahoo and Google, are worried that certain cable or phone companies might block, or limit, consumers' internet access. At this early stage, it seems to me that the market place will take care of that issue real quick. Consumers simply will not continue to purchase service from a provider that seeks to block or restrict their internet access. For example, when I'm at my home in Orlando, Florida, I use Google and Yahoo nearly every day, and I get my high speed internet access through my local cable company, Bright House. If Bright House restricted my access to either Google or Yahoo, I would switch to my local phone company, BellSouth, so fast it would make your head spin. In other words, competition is what will keep companies on the straight and narrow. The free internet that we have today will remain free. If you can go there today, you will be able to go there tomorrow. If you would like to be able, in the future, to immediately download full-length movies and high-definition video games, and you're willing to pay for the greater bandwidth to do that, you'll have the freedom to make that choice as well. If we take away these choices, it will be like trying to send a ball through a garden hose in terms of clogging up the bandwidth for everyone. In a nutshell, it seems to me, that more consumer freedom, and less government regulation, is the better approach. If, down the road, the telecommunications companies improperly restrict access to the internet, and the FCC fails to act, then we can drop the hammer on them. Until then, it seems like imposing new regulations on the internet is a case of Big Brother being a big pain in the behind. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 5252.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I have just returned from Iraq where I had the privilege of spending Memorial Day with our troops from Florida. I went to Iraq for two reasons: First, to say thank you to our troops for their service; and, second, to see for myself how things were going in Iraq by meeting with our generals, our soldiers, and the Iraqi leaders. The day I was there was quite hot, 115 degrees, and it was violent. Forty people were killed while I was there, including one U.S. soldier and two CBS news employees. I was so impressed with the bravery of our soldiers. For example, one soldier had his helicopter shot out of the sky. Upon landing, he replaced the blades in the helicopter with brand- new blades and went right back into battle. Regardless of how you feel about the war in Iraq, realize that our troops are in harm's way, they are performing very bravely, and they deserve our support 100 percent in the U.S. Congress.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, 94 percent of the felons arrested for illegally smuggling aliens across the Mexico border near San Diego are never prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney. This is according to a shocking internal Border Patrol report just revealed by the Associated Press. Are you surprised? I told the Attorney General about this problem on April 6, and I spoke on the House floor about it on April 27. On my recent trip to the Mexico border, Border Patrol agents in California told me that they have arrested the same coyotes 20 times but they are not prosecuted. The pathetic failure of the U.S. Attorney in San Diego to prosecute alien smugglers who have been arrested 20 times is a demoralizing slap in the face to Border Patrol agents to who risk their lives every day. This U.S. Attorney has, however, recently prosecuted someone for selling a Mark McGuire baseball card with a forged signature. Here is a tip: Stop worrying about baseball cards and start worrying about enforcing our immigration laws.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, today I am happy to welcome Tom Davis to Washington, DC. He has traveled here all the way from Spring, TX, to testify before the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness, which I chair. I invited him to talk about the ways that the private sector can help increase college access for millions of Americans. Tom Davis is already doing his part. He is the owner of Davis Brothers Construction, a company of about 35 employees that builds multi-family homes. Most of his employees are hourly laborers who make a decent living but can't afford to send their kids to college. So Mr. Davis has said that, for any of his employees whose children want to go to college but can't afford it, he will pay for their tuition and books. His generosity has built fierce loyalty among his employees, and he has already sent seven kids to college who otherwise couldn't have gone. It is because of businesses like his that I introduced the Family Friendly Employers Act which gives a tax incentive to those employers who pay for their employees' children to go to college. Our country could use more family friendly employers like Tom Davis.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, hypocrisy has crossed the border. Mexico has its own serious illegal immigration problem. Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants are coming across Mexico's southern border from Guatemala and other Central American countries. What do Mexico's politicians say about it? They say these illegals are overcrowding Mexico's hospitals and schools. They say they are taking away jobs from Mexican citizens. They say it poses a security threat to Mexico. In other words, they sound like the Minutemen. What did Mexico do about it? Did they put out a welcome mat? Did they grant everyone citizenship? No. They got tough. Mexico put their military at the southern border to stop illegals. Mexico deported 250,000 illegals last year. And Mexico criminalized illegal immigration, making it a felony punishable by 2 years in prison. Now Mexico hypocritically criticizes our having National Guard troops on the border. We have a saying in this country: Actions speak louder than words.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to applaud President Bush's decision to place additional National Guard troops on the Mexican border. I recently returned from a week long trip to the Mexico- California border. And as this photograph shows, I met with National Guard troops who were constructing a border security fence in the San Diego area. President Bush's decision has been criticized from two sources. First, some American politicians have complained that National Guard troops have no business being involved with border security. Well, this photograph clearly shows that National Guard troops are already playing a key role in helping to secure our borders. Second, Mexico's President Vicente Fox complained about the U.S. possibly militarizing our border. This is the height of hypocrisy. Mexico was the first one to put their military on their southern border to stop illegals from coming into Mexico from Guatemala. The American people want less whining from the open borders crowd and more action from the rest of us to secure our borders. This is a step in the right direction.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, the most controversial issue in this illegal immigration debate is amnesty. Opponents say it rewards illegal behavior. Supporters say it is not amnesty because they pay a $2,000 fine. Who is right? Well, consider this analogy. Somebody robs a bank and gets away with $1 million. Our government tells him he can keep the money, but we expect him to pay a $2,000 fine. Now apply that to illegal immigration. A person breaks our laws by sneaking across the border. They then commit a felony by using a fake Social Security card to get a job. Our government tells them they won't be prosecuted; rather, they can remain in this country and apply for citizenship as long as they pay a $2,000 fine. In both cases, the bank robber and the illegal alien get to retain the benefit of their illegal behavior merely by paying a small fine. Common sense and history tell you that rewarding illegal behavior will only encourage more of it. After granting amnesty to illegals 20 years ago, we have gone from 3 million illegals to 11 million illegals. Our government has been fooled once by this amnesty argument, let us not be fooled again.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, last week, street protests revealed a lot about the hypocrisy of Mexico. With a great deal of bluster and self- righteousness, the protestors objected to the House-approved border security bill. They said it was ``too harsh.'' They said it was ``draconian.'' They said we shouldn't criminalize 11 million illegal immigrants. They said we should, instead, give them amnesty and citizenship. They waved their Mexican flags with great pride. Well, a new study just released by the Law Library of Congress, reveals that Mexico itself is far harsher on illegal immigrants than the United States. For example, in Mexico, it is a felony punishable by 2 years in prison merely to be an illegal immigrant. In contrast to giving them citizenship, Mexico actually deported 250,000 illegal immigrants last year. Mexico even put their military soldiers on their southern border to stop illegals from going into Mexico from Guatemala. Hypocrisy has crossed the border. It makes you wonder, were they protesting the wrong country last week?

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge the Senate to help small business people with the skyrocketing costs of health insurance by passing Association Health Plans. Of the 45 million Americans without health insurance, 60 percent are small business employees and their families. By joining together, small businesses in central Florida will have the same bargaining power to negotiate lower health insurance rates as big companies, like Disney World and Darden. This will help lower their health insurance premiums by up to 30 percent, and expand access to millions of people without health insurance. On April 27, 2005, the House of Representatives passed my Small Business Bill of Rights which created a blueprint for this Congress to follow to help small business create additional jobs. On the top of the list was passage of Association Health Plans. Three months later, on July 26, 2005, the House passed Association Health Plans with a wide margin of 263-153. I applaud the Senate for taking up this important debate today, and I urge them to act now to pass Association Health Plans.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, for the third day in a row I planned to come to the floor of Congress and strongly criticize the Mexican Government for voting for a new law to legalize drugs. For the past 2 days, I pointed out that as a result of this pathetic new law, millions of American young people who travel to Mexico for summer vacation would now legally be able to use cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, and marijuana. When President Fox announced Tuesday he was going to sign this new drug legalization law, I came to the House floor and asked: Who is advising this guy, Courtney Love? Well, a miracle happened last night. President Fox reversed course and announced that he would not sign the law, effectively vetoing and killing the legislation. He said he was sensitive to the opinions of those who oppose legalizing drugs and he would make it absolutely clear that the possession and use of drugs in Mexico will remain a criminal offense. Bravo, President Fox. I applaud your commonsense decision and your willingness to listen to our concerns. It is a positive step forward for U.S.-Mexico relations.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, Vicente Fox, the president of Mexico, is at it again. Yesterday, he said he would sign into law an irresponsible law legalizing the possession of drugs. As a result, millions of American young people who travel to Mexico for summer vacation will now legally be able to use cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, and marijuana. How much is okay? Two ecstasy pills, four joints, four lines of cocaine and 25 milligrams of heroin are now all allowed, according to Vicente Fox. Who is advising this guy, Courtney Love? What a year President Fox is having. Earlier this year, his Mexican government provided maps to illegals to help them cross our borders. Then, his Mexican military soldiers got caught providing an armed escort to Mexican drug smugglers into Texas. Now he wants Congress to reward millions of illegal aliens with amnesty and permanent citizenship so they can earn money here and send it back to Mexico. Vicente Fox says he's our friend. With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I am here to talk about some things the protesters did not mention yesterday. Millions of American young people who travel to Mexico for spring break and summer vacation will now legally be able to use cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, and marijuana because the Mexican government just voted to legalize the possession of these drugs in small quantities. How much is okay? Two ecstasy pills, four joints, four lines of cocaine, and 25 milligrams of heroin are now all allowed. Are you surprised? Earlier this year, the Mexican government provided maps to illegals to help them cross our borders. The Mexican military recently got caught providing an armed escort to Mexican drug dealers into Texas. And Mexico's president, along with a million protesters, now want us to reward illegal behavior with amnesty and permanent citizenship. Why? So they can earn money here and send it back to Mexico. After all, at $16 billion, it is Mexico's second highest source revenue behind oil. It makes you wonder. Were people protesting the wrong government yesterday?

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge our government to start enforcing our immigration laws dealing with alien smuggling. It is a felony, punishable by a minimum of 3 years in prison, to bring an alien into the United States for financial gain. These alien smugglers, also called ``coyotes,'' get approximately $1,500 per illegal immigrant smuggled into the U.S. On my recent trip to the Mexico border, Border Patrol agents in California told me they have arrested the same coyotes 20 times, but they are not prosecuted. The pathetic failure of the U.S. attorney in San Diego to prosecute alien smugglers who have been arrested 20 times is a demoralizing slap in the face to Border Patrol agents who risk their lives every day. This U.S. attorney has, however, recently prosecuted someone for selling a Mark McGwire baseball card with a forged signature. Here is a tip: Stop worrying about baseball cards and start worrying about our national security and enforcing our immigration laws.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk about a commonsense approach to border security. I recently conducted three town hall meetings throughout central Florida. The message I received from my constituents was loud and clear: our first priority must be to secure our borders and enforce the law. After that we can then determine for ourselves how many workers we need for construction, agriculture, landscaping, and other jobs. It is really a matter of common sense. For example, imagine there was a bucket of water sitting next to a wall. Just above the bucket is a faucet turned on full blast. Your job is to take a ladle and remove the water from the bucket. You could do that job for the rest of your life, or common sense would tell you to first turn off the faucet, then it would be much easier to decide what to do with the remaining water. Let's use our common sense and make securing our borders and enforcing the law our top priority in Congress.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give the Senate a roadmap to draft a border security bill that can pass the House of Representatives. The current Senate bill has three flaws that must be corrected. First, the Senate bill waters down the employer sanctions by making then 10 times weaker than the House bill, from $5,000 fine down to $500. Second, the Senate bill doesn't spend a single penny for a single border security fence in any urban area along the border. Third, the Senate bill rewards illegal behavior with permanent citizenship. For example, if a person illegally snuck across the border, committed a felony by using a fake Social Security card, evaded law enforcement for 5 years, waved a Mexican flag and demanded amnesty, they would be rewarded with the chance for permanent citizenship. The Senate should either fix the flaws in their bill or send over a giant pitcher of margaritas with it, because most sober Congressmen won't be able to vote for it.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to give the American people some straight talk on why we need to make the tax cuts permanent. As tax day rapidly approaches, President Bush urged Congress to make the tax cuts permanent, and with good reason. If Congress does not make the tax cuts permanent, a family of four in central Florida making $50,000 would see their taxes go up by nearly 50 percent. It is no accident that we have a strong and vibrant economy today. During President Bush's first term, Congress acted to lower income tax rates across the board, cut taxes on capital gains and dividends, and eliminate the marriage penalty. Now, what have we seen as a result? We have seen 5 million new jobs created in the last 2\1/2\ years. We have seen an unemployment rate that is lower than the average unemployment rate in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. We have seen home ownership rise to 69 percent, the largest record in history. So don't believe the hype. Our government has received more revenue after the tax cuts than we received before the tax cuts. Let's make these tax cuts permanent and keep our economy strong.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 355) recognizing the benefits and importance of school-based music education, and for other purposes, 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 House Concurrent Resolution 355.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise today in support of House Concurrent Resolution 355, which highlights the benefits and importance of school-based music education. Anyone who has seen the movie, Mr. Holland's Opus, can appreciate the value of school-based music education and the importance of music teachers who inspire our young people. I would like to thank my colleague from Tennessee (Mr. Cooper) for his leadership on this issue and for introducing the resolution we are considering today. Research has shown that students' involvement in their school music program is crucial to a complete education. Musical studies develop critical thinking and self-discipline skills and improve a child's early cognitive development, basic math and reading abilities, self- esteem, SAT scores, ability to work in teams, abstract reasoning skills, and school attendance. In an analysis of U.S. Department of Education data on more than 25,000 secondary school students, researchers found that students who report consistently high levels of involvement in music over middle school and high school years show significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12 regardless of a student's socioeconomic status. For these reasons, I support House Concurrent Resolution 355 that recognizes the benefits and importance of school-based music education. The resolution before the House today is simple and straightforward. It states that it is the sense of Congress that music education, grounded in rigorous instruction, is an important component of a well-rounded academic curriculum and should be available to every student in every school. As retired General Norman Schwarzkopf said, ``What a tragedy it would be if we lived in a world where music was not taught to children.'' Music education is important to our children. It can broaden and strengthen their education and improve their lives. I commend music educators and organizations across the country for the key roles they play in helping our children succeed in school and throughout life. For every ``School of Rock'' or ``Mr. Holland's Opus,'' there are thousands of real-life music teachers inspiring our young people every day. They may not have major movies made about them, but they are heroes nonetheless. I urge my colleagues to support music education in our schools and House Concurrent Resolution 355, which highlights the benefits and importance of school-based music education. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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