John Kline

Mr. KLINE

Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2132) to extend the waiver authority of the Secretary of Education with respect to student financial assistance during a war or other military operation or national emergency.

Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2132.

Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the aforementioned gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne).

Mr. KLINE

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an icon in the state of Minnesota and a symbol of small business success. This year the Red Wing Shoe Company celebrates its 100th anniversary. A cornerstone of the Red Wing Community and the great state of Minnesota, Red Wing Shoes represents a proud tradition of excellence. I have enjoyed the opportunity to visit the Red Wing facility and meet many of the dedicated employees. If the strength of a company is its workers, it is easy to see how the Red Wing Shoe Company has come to enjoy a century of success. On the occasion of this milestone achievement, I want to thank the men and women of the Red Wing Shoe Company for their service to the community and the state of Minnesota. I commend the employees and leaders of this great institution and wish them much continued success.

Mr. KLINE

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the remarkable accomplishments of the members of the Memorial Rifle Squad at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. These men set an example of selfless service for all Americans. Since June 19, 1979, the Fort Snelling Memorial Rifle Squad has performed a critical service by providing a military cemetery burial service for honorably discharged veterans. Over the past 25 years, the rifle squad has conducted 42,000 funerals, free of charge, at the request of families and veterans organizations. The first squad boasted six members, the youngest of whom was 50 years old. Today, the ages of the more than 100 members of the rifle squad range from 26 to 87, averaging a spry 71.6 years. Mr. Speaker, these men never miss a funeral, braving the brutal cold, snow and wind of our Minnesota winters. Mr. Speaker, the members of the Memorial Rifle Squad have unselfishly given to our country through their own military service and continue that tradition today by honoring their fellow veterans. I commend their remarkable accomplishments and thank them for their service.

Mr. KLINE

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time and for his tremendous leadership on this issue. He has been working it for a long time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Occupational Safety and Health Small Employer Access to Justice Act. And I read it that way in the quotes for a purpose. The gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood) mentioned earlier that we have heard language today that ranged on a wide variety of subjects, and I am not sure at all that they were talking about the issue before us today. This legislation that is before us now is one of four bills under consideration today which reflects the commitment of the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood) and me and my colleagues to improve the effectiveness of OSHA regulations and changes the environment that has hindered U.S. employers from creating and keeping more jobs. I have listened to language today earlier this afternoon on these four bills that talked about us losing millions of jobs to China and elsewhere. The purpose of the legislation that we are talking about today is to, in fact, help create and keep jobs here in America. I will repeat what my friend from Georgia said earlier today, that the OSHA Small Employer Access to Justice Act levels the playing field for small business owners and encourages OSHA to better assess the merits of a case before it brings unnecessary enforcement actions to court against small business. Loopholes in the current law make it possible for small businesses to be denied attorneys fees, and as my friends said, therefore, not even take the case to court because they simply cannot afford to defend themselves against a case brought against them by OSHA. This exacerbates the financial harm called by OSHA's sometimes dubious enforcement actions and discourages small business owners from seeking the restitution which rightly belongs to them. By closing this loophole, we ensure it is in everyone's best interest.

Mr. KLINE

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Chairman, while the men and women of our armed forces serve bravely throughout the world, the ability of our U.S. military to recruit highly qualified candidates is being put in jeopardy. Former Commandant of the Marine Corps General Charles Krulak once remarked that our all-volunteer military is an all-recruited force. The amendment offered today by my colleague from California is a clear threat to the continued success of that force. This amendment would prohibit the Department of Education from withholding Title I dollars from school districts that do not provide private student information to military recruiters. Under the guise of ``privacy rights,'' our military recruiters would be denied the same access to our nation's best young minds that is regularly provided to recruiters for colleges or businesses. Mr. Chairman, military service can be a noble and fulfilling choice for our young men and women--including my son, a career Army officer. Planning for the future can be an overwhelming experience. As they consider their postsecondary options, our nation's students deserve to be fully equipped with the information they need to make good decisions. While only a select few individuals choose to devote themselves to a career in military service, the defense of America is not their exclusive responsibility. Each one of us is charged with protecting our nation by doing our part. The least we can do is to ensure those who are interested are not prevented from learning about the opportunity to pursue military service. School principals and administrators ought to be introducing military recruiters to their students--not blocking them. Mr. Chairman, the people of the United States benefit from the protection of the most highly qualified and well-trained military. I am hopeful our actions today will ensure our U.S. military maintains the ability to continue to serve its citizens most effectively. Point of Order

Mr. KLINE

Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the heroic efforts of the servicemen who participated, and even more so, those who perished in the unsuccessful rescue attempt of American hostages in Iran, now over 25 years ago. Madam Speaker, during my 25 years in the Marine Corps, I had the good fortune to know personally many of the heroes of that fateful day, and counted some among my close friends. These brave men were asked, and cheerfully volunteered, to undertake the challenge of rescuing their fellow Americans in a mission of the utmost secrecy and gravest danger. Members from all branches of our armed services came together, bringing with them the best of skills and experience, but it was not enough to do the job. In the end, woefully inadequate equipment, tremendous sand storms, and extraordinary logistical challenges contributed to the death of five U.S. Air Force men and three Marines, serious injuries to five additional servicemen and the loss of eight aircraft. But these circumstances in no way diminished the skill and the bravery of the men who took on this hazardous mission against all odds. The challenge of Operation Eagle Claw began with the isolated location of Tehran. I remember looking at a map after this unfolded and being astonished at the distances involved. Surrounded by more than 700 miles of desert and mountains, the city was essentially cut off, cut off from ready attack by U.S. air or naval forces. We simply did not have anything in the inventory. In addition, the embassy staff and the embassy itself were located in the heart of the city, congested by more than 4 million people. Even more taxing was the primitive state of the technology and helicopters and equipment with which these men were asked to complete their mission and the secrecy demanded for the planning, training, and execution of the mission. Madam Speaker, I knew many of the Marines that became the pilots of the Navy CH-53s that were used. In fact, one of my very close friends in the squadron that I was serving with at the time was pulled off for an assignment. He went out with the others and trained in the desert for weeks. We had no idea of the mission. I did not find out about the mission until the rest of America saw it on the news that April. It was unbelievable secrecy under which these men worked. The equipment by today's standard is incredible. My son is a pilot in the 101st Airborne, and he has got the latest technology and night vision goggles, lightweight devices that clip to his helmet and flip down, allowing him a full view of the cockpit of the Blackhawk helicopter which he flies. These men did not have that. They had equipment night vision goggles taken from ground crews. They had no visibility outside the narrow tunnel that they were viewing; and yet they took this equipment that, by today's standards, would not be allowed near an aircraft, and trained in harsh conditions for a mission that they knew was going to be extremely, extremely difficult. Madam Speaker, a fitting tribute to the men of Operation Eagle Claw is to learn from their experience and apply these lessons to the challenges facing our men and women in uniform today. Some of those have been discussed by my colleagues here on the floor: the creation of the United States Special Operations Command, the joint effort, new technology that is being developed and employed and tested sometimes in battle today. We must bear in mind the importance of continuing to provide our troops with the resources they need to succeed in a mission and not launch them out with equipment simply unsuited for the job. To those who perished in Operation Eagle Claw, I offer my gratitude, my deep appreciation, my great respect. To their families and friends, I offer my prayers and my condolences. It is hard to imagine greater heroes taking on a tougher challenge and making such a sacrifice.

Mr. KLINE

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I thank the gentleman from Indiana for his comments. I want to be very clear that I am in strong support of this legislation that has come forward by the Committee on International Relations, but there are things that raise my interest and my concern. A few weeks ago media outlets throughout the world proudly parroted Amnesty International's unfounded charges of torture and ill treatment in the so-called America ``gulags.'' Instead of condemning the government-inflicted famine in Kim Jong-Il's North Korea or continued human rights abuses in Castro's Cuba, the executive director of Amnesty International USA revealed the true goal of organizations such as his when he called on foreign governments to arrest and prosecute U.S. Government officials and military personnel. We want to make sure that we have got language in here that would prevent that. The Belgian experience, for example, and recent propaganda espoused by Amnesty International shows that we were wise to doubt the merchants who were peddling ``universal jurisdiction'' at the cost of national sovereignty. Indeed, even President Clinton did not send the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court to the U.S. Senate because of its fundamental flaws. The United States is a Nation dedicated to justice and the rule of law, and we cannot allow these fundamental protections to be stripped from our servicemen and women performing peacekeeping missions, and I think we in this body need to be ever vigilant to ensure that that does not happen.

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. This is extremely well-crafted legislation that the chairman has brought forward in close cooperation with many of his colleagues on the Committee on International Relations, and I am in very strong support of this bill. There is language in section 4 which calls for a uniform code of conduct, which I think is a very excellent idea. We want to be very certain that as this legislation goes forward, it in no way can be misinterpreted to impinge upon the Uniform Code of Military Justice or the American Servicemembers' Protection Act. We are trying to avoid any confusion here and make sure that our men and women who are going to work in United Nations peacekeeping operations and go around the world are in no way compromised.

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Chairman, we are trying to make sure that there is no possibility for misinterpretation as we bring forward this very important new legislation, and that it can in no way subject the American Armed Forces or any other American personnel, for that matter, to foreign tribunals or the International Criminal Court.

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), the distinguished majority whip.

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. I just want to be very brief.

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the distinguished majority leader.

Mr. KLINE

Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I will be very brief. I just want to add my congratulations to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) on being a proud member of this fraternity. And it is exciting, I am sure, to see a father-to-son tradition established there. So I extend my congratulations to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) and all my colleagues who are fortunate enough to be a member of this very great fraternity. I urge all my colleagues to support this resolution.

Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 163) honoring the Sigma Chi Fraternity on the occasion of its 150th Anniversary, as amended.

Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 163 offered by my colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gerlach). House Concurrent Resolution 163 honors the Sigma Chi Fraternity on the occasion of its 150th anniversary. The Sigma Chi Fraternity was founded in 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, by seven young men that wanted to establish, and I quote, ``an association for the development of the nobler powers of the mind, the finer feelings of the heart, and for the promotion of friendship and congeniality of feeling,'' close quote. Today the Sigma Chi Fraternity continues to thrive. Its membership has grown to 202,600 active brothers in 219 chapters at colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada. Its members continue to enrich and contribute to the quality of life in their communities by volunteering countless hours of service to nonprofit activities and organizations at the national and local levels. The members of Sigma Chi exemplify the characteristics that the founders of the fraternity believed they should have for admission to the fraternity, good character and fair ability with ambitious purposes, congenial disposition, good morals, a high sense of honor and a deep sense of personal responsibility. The Sigma Chi Fraternity has also played an integral role in the positive development in the character and education of these young men that have served as a foundation for success and achievements in all fields of endeavor, from the sciences to education to business to professional athletes and to public service. Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to recognize and honor the Sigma Chi Fraternity on the celebration of its 150th anniversary and commend the fraternity and its members for its service and achievements over the years. I urge my colleagues to support House Concurrent Resolution 163. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Con. Res. 163.

Mr. KLINE

Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 47) commending the establishment in College Point, New York, of the first kindergarten in the United States, as amended.