Nick Lampson

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Houston, Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), who represents many of the friends and family of the lost crew members of the STS-107. (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Dallas, Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson), in whose district some of the shuttle actually came down.

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Turner). I know that in East Texas thousands of people turned out to look for the remains of the shuttle and they came down in the district of the gentleman.

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), my friend who was visiting in Houston this weekend.

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega). (Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

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

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Gordon), the ranking member, and want to commend him on his ascension to being ranking member on the Committee on Science and thank him not only for what he is going to be doing as ranking member but for the great work the gentleman has done on the committee along the way. It is a pleasure also to work with the gentleman from New York (Chairman Boehlert) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, as well; and I look forward to that. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of S. 610; and even though it does not address all of the important issues facing the NASA workforce, including those outlined by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Gordon) earlier, it is the only NASA workforce bill that we are likely to get out of this Congress this year, and as such, I intend to support it. When a House version of this workforce legislation was marked up by the Committee on Science last year, I objected to the lack of any challenging goals for NASA's human space flight program. I offered an amendment to establish some specific goals. Unfortunately, my amendment was defeated on a party-line vote. I thought that was a mistake, and now it appears that President Bush agrees with me; and he has announced this ambitious, long-term exploration initiative that mirrors my amendment in earlier legislation that I had introduced; and I am very pleased to see that happen. The challenge, however, will be in turning those goals into a reality in a manner that does not damage NASA's other important programs or take away from our commitments to those members of society who do indeed need our help. Mr. Chairman, NASA's management has said that they need this workforce legislation. I am prepared to support it because I deeply care about the hardworking, dedicated men and women who work at NASA and especially at the Johnson Space Center, and I want to do whatever might help them achieve their full potential. Yet simply increasing the size of the bonuses available to NASA employees is not a cure-all, especially if NASA is not making full use of its existing bonus authority, a possibility that is being investigated, as we speak, by NASA's inspector general. I do not believe that NASA's best and brightest are motivated primarily by money anyway. Rather, I think it is the chance to work on cutting-edge research and development and to attempt the near impossible that attracts them to NASA, and that is what is going to keep them there. I remember a year or so ago getting up and leaving our table at the committee hearing and going out into the audience and sitting with about 20 or 25 college students and asking them, when we were talking about financial benefits that would supposedly motivate them to go to work for NASA, what it was that they wanted to see, and the response was destination goals: it will give me an opportunity to live my dream, give me an opportunity to go work on something that will make a difference to society. That is also why I was so upset a few years ago when the NASA leadership decided to cancel the X-38 crew return vehicle project. The X-38/CRV was an exciting example of NASA employees coming up with an innovative, low-cost way of meeting an important space station requirement, and they were working hard to turn it into a reality. Yet it was cancelled just as it was nearing completion, and I might add, at a greater cost than it would have taken to complete it. The dedicated NASA team that had worked on that project was broken up and dispersed. So where are we now? It appears that after several years of false starts on a more expensive project for the X-38/CRV, NASA leadership has now decided to pay the Russians to provide the same capability, create jobs in Russia. I sponsored legislation to allow the United States to use the Soyuz after the Columbia tragedy, to give more flexibility to the administration. The Congress is going to have to revisit the Iran Nonproliferation Act if we are going to rely on Soyuz, as the administration wants, to get us to and from the Space Station after the Shuttle is retired in 2010. So whatever we may think of the wisdom of sending U.S. taxpayer dollars to Russia, it certainly does not strike me as being the way to reward innovation by the NASA workforce. Quite the contrary. I intend to take a close look at NASA's plans for the Space Station and the Space Shuttle as we review the fiscal 2005 budget request over the coming months. We owe it to the NASA workforce to ask the tough questions. We need to ensure that they are being given sensible plans to implement, as well as the tools to carry them out. In the meantime, I think that S. 610 represents an improvement over legislation that we considered earlier, and I am prepared to support it.

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in appreciation of my constituent, Deanna Carol Beadman Walker. Mrs. Walker retires from the Southeast Texas credit industry this month after 18 years at the Beaumont office of Computer Science Corporation with the gratitude and admiration of the Ninth District. Thousands of Southeast Texans have been able to start their lives as homeowners, maintain their credit, and enrich the lives of their families because of Mrs. Walker's work. Mrs. Walker's efforts have contributed to a highly respected, well- run credit organization that is central to the economic vitality of a community, gives peace of mind to financial institutions and provides the tools consumers need to obtain creditworthiness. She earned the respect of her colleagues, serving on the Board of Directors of the Gulf Coast Area Consumer Credit Counseling Service and the Beaumont Housing Authority. She served as President of Credit Women International--Orange Chapter and the Credit Management Association-- Beaumont Chapter. She earned a place in the International Credit Association of Texas's Hall of Fame in 1996 and the distinction Credit Executive of the Year in 1998. Mrs. Walker's professional success as a career woman complements her life success as wife to Weldon Walker and devoted mother to Becky, Ben, Tom, and Lisa. She is an asset to our community who has set a high standard of service and dedication to the people of the Ninth District. I commend Mrs. Walker for her efforts and congratulate her on this achievement.

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to wish a fond farewell to a member of my staff, David Lofye, who will be leaving Capitol Hill at the end of this calender year. David is leaving his position as my Deputy Chief of Staff, and will be moving to Austin, Texas with his wife, Andrea Lofye. All of us who serve in Congress know how important our staff members are to us. David came to my office after completing law school nearly six years ago. His knowledge of legislative issues, his strong work ethic, and his desire to make a difference have grown exponentially during this time. I value David's council and his pragmatic and methodical approach to each task he undertook. David has staffed me on both the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as the Science Committee. His depth of knowledge on these and other issues has been invaluable over the past six years. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to know and work with David. I am confident that his abilities and his work ethic will continue to serve him well in the years to come. David, thank you for your hard work over the last six years. You will truly be missed.

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 105th Anniversary of the highly regarded Fertitta Family in Galveston, Texas. The Fertitta family generously devotes their time, integrity, and leadership to every community their journey encounters. This family reunion is a rare celebration of perseverance, achievement, loyalty, and love of an incredible ancestry. The Fertitta family heritage traces their roots back more than a century ago to Palermo, Sicily where a courageous young man named Joseph Fertitta made the pivotal decision to come to America in 1897. Joseph and Olivia Fertitta have inspired hundreds of descendents to travel across the country to Galveston, Texas to celebrate the trials and joys of life together as a family. It is to he and his wife Olivia that a profound amount of respect and honor should be paid to, and upon whose base this incredible family is built upon. Mr. Speaker, on November 29th, this family will commemorate its anniversary of over 100 years of faith and love. I ask you, and all of my colleagues, to join me in recognizing this remarkable family's triumph that has passed the test of time and remains a shining example of America's strength and unity.

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, the previous speaker said that we do not know, and we do not know what all is in this bill, but during this week I have heard from representatives of thousands of senior citizens in southeast Texas, like my 93-year-old mother, that they overwhelmingly oppose this proposal, and they give three reasons why. They believe the privatization provisions will cause Medicare to wither. They are astounded that the bill prohibits our government from bargaining for better drug prices. They are concerned about the uncertainty of being put back into HMOs that dumped them recently. Do our seniors a favor, slow this train down. Put some dignity back in the process and open it up. The benefits will not even go into effect for 2 years. What is it going to hurt to wait two more weeks and do what the seniors requested at that White House Conference on Aging in 1995 at the beginning of this debate. Save Medicare and let us live our lives in dignity and independence. In 1995 I was sent as a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging. 4000 seniors gathered for this non-partisan meeting. They set goals at that meeting and asked our government to do 3 things: protect medicare; protect social security; and allow seniors to live their last years in dignity and independence. We have been debating medicare and a medicare drug component for years now. I have promised to work to create a program that would help seniors achieve the goals I just listed. During this week I have heard from the representatives of thousands of seniors in Southeast Texas, like my 93 year old mother, that they overwhelmingly oppose this proposal . . . and the reasons they give are 3: They believe privatization provisions will cause medicare to wither and die; They are astounded that the bill prohibits our government from bargaining for better drug prices; They are concerned about the uncertainty of having to go back into HMO's that dumped them. My colleagues, do our seniors a favor, slow this train down. Put some dignity back into this process and open it up. The benefits won't even go into effect for 2 years. Let's take a couple more weeks and do what the seniors of this country asked at the beginning of this debate 8 years ago . . . save medicare and let them live their last years with dignity and independence.

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding me this time. It is nice to be able to join on an issue as important as this and one that does not deal with redistricting in Texas. I do rise today in support of the Sandlin motion to instruct on Medicare prescription drugs. This motion carries with it the efficacy of protecting seniors and health care providers in rural areas. It was not too many years before I came up here to Congress that I was serving on a board called the Area Agency on Aging. It was a board where we spent a great deal of our effort with senior citizens and the needs that they had. Ultimately, they selected me to be a delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Aging, and the goals that came from that meeting of several thousand people gathered across the country had to do with allowing seniors to live in independence and dignity, to make sure they continued to have access to the programs that made such a significant difference in their lives, Medicare and Social Security. Since Medicare was enacted in 1965, it has truly provided health care security to millions of America's seniors and people with disabilities. Medicare is the binding commitment of a society to our most vulnerable citizens and a commitment that America must always keep. One segment of society that is neglected time and time again in Washington is seniors living in rural communities, and I come here today to tell the conferees that we have a real commitment to rural seniors. Mr. Speaker, I represent a fairly diverse district. It consists both of urban and rural areas, and therefore I have witnessed the degradation of care for my constituents living in these rural years. This Congress has a responsibility to represent all people throughout the country and to provide guaranteed prescription coverage through a Medicare fallback option in areas where private drug plans are not available. We must ensure that cuts in payments to hospitals that were included in the majority-offered House bill which adversely affect hospitals in rural areas are not included in the conference report. These cuts will serve to further undermine the ability of rural hospitals and health care providers to ensure that adequate coverage is offered in rural areas. I cannot in good conscience allow this House to send to the conference committee a bill which would leave our Nation's rural areas in continued peril. I have pledged with my colleagues to work to provide adequate health care to all Americans; and, frankly, this bill as it currently exists imperils citizens living in rural areas. HMOs and other private health plans have had a very poor record of serving seniors living in rural areas. Indeed, according to the government's own advisory board, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, only 19 percent of rural Medicare beneficiaries have the option of enrolling in a Medicare managed care plan in 2003. How can we as a Congress participate in passing such a broad and affecting piece of legislation without ensuring that the disparity between rural and urban areas is abolished? So the Sandlin motion to instruct will help to ensure that we do not leave our rural citizens behind. I support this motion to instruct, and I call on my colleagues here to join us and do exactly the same thing.

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I too rise in support of this amendment that has been put forth by the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). This amendment would provide the citizens of Houston the opportunity to decide their fate regarding the construction of light rail. This is something that is local. It is something that makes a difference to Houston. We ought to be making those decisions for ourselves. For far too long this Congress has arbitrarily revoked the rights of Houstonians to make significant infrastructure decisions. Quite frequently I have heard many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle rise in support of allowing significant decisions which affect localities to be made at the local level. Communities should have the opportunity to determine what is in their best interests. Houston is a city which is rapidly growing. It is spliting at the seams because of lack of necessary infrastructure. The citizens of Houston have attempted for years to build light rail, but they have been stymied at almost every attempt. And as a member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, I certainly recognize the importance of having multiple modes of transportation available to metropolitan areas. Houston now suffers some of the worst highway congestion in the Nation. The average commute for Houstonians is over an hour. Mr. Chairman, Congress should not and must not be in the business of micromanaging the politics of localities. The city of Houston has asked for and they should receive the same treatment as any other metropolitan areas that have been granted access to Federal funds for light rail. Let us do what is right for Houston. Interestingly enough, they have reached across party lines; they have reached out across ideological lines. They came together in a compromise that is putting this issue on the ballot on November 4. They have done an extraordinary effort to do what is right for themselves, and all we are asking for is that we leave them alone and let them make the decisions for Houston. Let us do what is right for Houston. And I do urge a ``yes'' vote for this amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Mr. LAMPSON. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Chairman, that is what we understand. We also understand it is the single largest city that does not have this kind of infrastructure that the citizens themselves have chosen to put into place and definitely want to have.

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I imagine when a precedent is set, it could be used in other places. It would be the wrong direction for us to go in for this.

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Chairman, we truly do not want to restrict the rights or interests of a community to be able to choose for themselves what they want, and in this case Houston has said let us bring it to the people on November 4. They have the referendum set. They are going to speak. They want to do for themselves what they can do and then reach out to the Federal Government for the assistance that is there for other communities. We do not want the kind of precedent that the gentleman is speaking about set.

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Chairman, we do not want any Federal officials impacting. We want to reach out and make sure the people of Houston have their own say in this matter.

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have my name removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 1582.

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Juneteenth. The freedom to have a family. The freedom to live anywhere. The freedom, simply, to have a last name. Those freedoms arrived June 19, 1865, to black slaves in Texas. While we celebrate Juneteenth in 2003, it is helpful to look back at our history to fully appreciate the great obstacles that many faced in their struggle to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. While President Abraham Lincoln technically ended the right to own another human being in 1863, most slaves gained their freedom only when Union troops took control of Confederate territory and released them from forced bondage. It took two and one-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation for the Union army to reach Texas. Union General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston and announced to the State's 200,000 slaves that they were free. They immediately erupted into a jubilant celebration, much like the Fourth of July. Although Juneteenth originated in Texas, it is being celebrated throughout our Nation. Today, Juneteenth commemorates African-American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. It is a time for reflection and rejoicing. It is a time for assessment, self-improvement and for planning the future. Part of that assessment means looking at where we stand today. Americans, including African-Americans, face ever growing challenges. We face economic crisis and a lack of access to healthcare for millions of Americans. We must work together to make sure that workers make a living wage and that children get the healthcare they need. As we look ahead, I challenge all of you to take this opportunity, while we honor the rich history of this celebration of freedom, to rededicate ourselves to the value of equal opportunity for all Americans. That is at the heart of Juneteenth and the American ideal.

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I find it a little astounding that I come here to ask the question of what is happening to our government. Why are our fellow citizens withholding information from us, even from Members of Congress? Why are some of the agencies that are designed to help us seemingly working against us? It is all our government. I am a little bit astounded at having to come here and again tell the story about what happened when the Texas legislature ran amuck, when members of that legislative body began to respond to actions there that have been reflective of what the United States House of Representatives has been, very divisive, very unfortunate, where people get to the point where they feel like they are not allowed to be a part of the process and they have to rebel against the system by looking for parliamentary procedure to try to send their point or make their point or get their message out. Fifty-five brave men and women allowed their backs to be pushed up against the wall for months and finally could take it no more and broke the quorum of the Texas legislature to stop that from happening there. And then, lo and behold, what happened following it started all sorts of things to happen that include Federal agencies becoming involved in investigations to look for missing Texas legislators. The people of this country ought to be outraged that Federal agencies designed to protect us, designed to do good for us, were called into a political fray in the State of Texas, and since that time Members of Congress have asked repeatedly of the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, and the transportation agency for information that would give us a better understanding of who played what role in this Federal Government being involved in an issue that was a political one in the State of Texas and finding funds that we know are already very short for us. We do not know how we are going to be paying for all of the many, many needs that our homeland security faces. We are very short-funded as it is. Yet we could find the money, the time, the effort, the personnel, the equipment to track an airplane across the country of a member, a little cotton farmer out in west Texas who was going off to Ardmore, Oklahoma, and stopped off to see his mother. If he had not done that, they would have probably found him. To have agencies respond in the way that they have, there is something wrong with this picture. The people of this country truly ought to be outraged. It has been over 3 weeks now since we began to ask formally of these agencies, give us the information that you have, show us surveillance tapes, give us tapes of phone messages. Even the Director of Homeland Security indicated that it was a potential criminal investigation that is going on and that was the excuse for not turning over some of this information at the time. Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for us as a body, as a Congress, to stop this kind of action in the United States of America, whether it happens to Texas or Louisiana or Michigan or any other State in this Nation, and we truly ought to be outraged and stand up and say we are not going to stand for that secrecy anymore. Let the agencies that exist as a part of our government give us the information that we need to know that our government is working in our behalf and not working against us; that we are not having some kind of a political soiree in this country that is going to allow power to be held by a few at the expense of so very, very many. We even had destroyed documents over time. What is there to hide? If there is nothing on the tapes that is incriminating to anyone, then make it public and let us see them. If there is something there, as certainly the indication is starting to be--why else is there a cover- up--then perhaps there may be criminal activity. Something is wrong with this picture and something is going wrong with our government. It is time for us to begin to ask the questions and demand the answers from all of the agencies that can tell the citizens of this country that we are not going to be living in a police state, that we are going to be able to all participate in making the policy of this Nation and the policy of our States, and that we are not going to have to fight our way through the darkness of night in order to play the role that we so rightly deserve.

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in great sadness to honor my friend, Reverend Ransom Howard, the pastor for almost 4\1/2\ decades of First Sixth Street Baptist Church in Port Arthur, Texas. Reverend Ransom Howard died on Thursday, May 29. Reverend Howard was a remarkable man who was committed to his community, to his country, and, above all, to his family. Reverend Howard was a long-time civic and community leader. He was always a man who believed in equality and justice. He fought hard for civil rights when it was not an easy thing to do, although it is never an easy thing to do. His impact on the community could be felt everywhere, but you could certainly say he was a positive force for all of southeast Texas. Rev, as we called him, was instrumental in the integration of the Port Arthur public schools and city businesses. He served as youth director for the YMCA, was a past president of the NAACP, and president of the Concerned Citizens of the Port Arthur Association. He was of the utmost character, and his attributes of selflessness and commitment to others are rare gifts that this Nation was lucky to have. It was interesting that one of the times I saw him, probably 25, maybe 30 years ago, I saw him in coveralls working around a building that was being demolished. He was cleaning bricks and had several people working with him. Mr. Speaker, what I found was interesting, that he believed that godly men and women should serve their communities and should be role models for others within their communities, and he did that. Regardless of what the job might be, he was willing to work the dirtiest, the hardest, perhaps the lowest of jobs to encourage someone else to be a better person within his community. He was a man who served his community with a great deal of pride and with a great deal of devotion. He was my friend. Interestingly, also, Reverend Howard would not want us to mourn today, so I ask Members to celebrate his life, that we should come together as Americans and continue to work toward the principles by which he lived which are so very important to each and every one of us and to our freedoms. It is important that current and future generations understand the history of African Americans, of their struggle for freedom and the part that people like Martin Luther King, Jr., like the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) and, yes, like Reverend Ransom Howard played, the awesome part that they played. Mr. Speaker, Reverend Ransom Howard was part of the fiber of Southeast Texas and, with his passing, a great loss will be felt in the spirit and the heart of our community. It has been said about some people, he knew his flock and his flock knew him; and in this case, they dearly loved him and will truly miss this great gentleman.

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up with what the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sandlin) was talking about with the people that decided to stand up against such an egregious process, where they felt left out and had no recourse in Texas but to go away from the legislative process long enough to slow things down and let it cool off. Because none of us like to be excluded from the development of legislation. There it affected many different kinds of legislation. It had to do with school finance reform. It had to do with what we have been talking about as redistricting. But the redistricting issue was just one small piece of it. It by itself was an egregious process, where people literally were locked out of the capital building in the State and not allowed to attend hearings. We do not have a closed government in the United States of America, whether it is at the Federal level, whether it is in the State of Texas or any other State in this Nation. We have fought, we have died, we have shed blood to have a government that is open, where we are free, where we can do the kinds of things that we believe in. So when legislators are pushed to the point where they have to take extraordinary measures to get their message across, they ought to be treated as heroes, the heroes that I certainly believe that they are. I found it interesting the other night, Saturday night, the weekend of Armed Forces Day, a gentleman came up to me at an event where I was speaking about Armed Forces and the wonderful military people who have sacrificed themselves, their families and sometimes their lives fighting for the freedom of those of us in the United States to make sure that our government is free. This gentleman came up and thanked me, or praised me, I guess, for not being a Member of the Texas legislature and not having gone off to Ardmore, Oklahoma. I said, ``David, I must strongly disagree with what you are saying.'' I said, ``I do so largely because I look at you and see the commitment that you made to the United States of America by being willing to put on that uniform and to go and potentially sacrifice your life for my freedoms, for what I believe in for my government.'' I said, ``But, you know, we can lose our government from within as well as from without, and we have to be vigilant in making sure that the process that we set up is one that all of the people of our country can be comfortable with, can trust, can believe in, and know that our interests are going to be addressed.'' So here we have recently sent men and women of this Nation off to fight in a country that is far, far away from us, and it was the same ideals that we are talking about that they went off to another area. The Armed Forces answered our call, and some of them gave their lives to free the people of Iraq. So we went to war in Iraq to free a people from a government that abused its powers. Iraqis were unable to question the actions of Saddam Hussein. So are we unable to question the actions of the leaders of the State of Texas. That is wrong. We were successful in Iraq with a war, but now the abuse of power is happening right here at home, by the most unlikely of agencies in the United States Government, the Department of Homeland Security. Secretary Tom Ridge has stonewalled efforts by Members of Congress and the press to learn why the Department of Homeland Security used its equipment to track down former house Speaker Pete Laney's airplane to find the Texas Democrats who went to Oklahoma in opposition of an unfair, unconstitutional redistricting plan. That is repressive government. We sent our military to bring free and open government to another Nation. We need to do the same in the United States of America. On the day that we called for an investigation of these happenings in Texas, the Department of Public Safety ordered documents regarding the misuse of Federal law enforcement for political purposes to be destroyed. Secretary Tom Ridge and the Texas DPS have failed to answer questions about their involvement and what happened exactly. They are trying to cover up an abuse of power. Our Nation is facing a Code Orange level of terrorist alert. The resources of the Department of Homeland Security should be focused on that. Instead, they were ordered to skirt Federal statutes and had their manpower diverted for purely political purposes. In this country, the people have a right to question the actions of their government, and the government has a responsibility to its citizens to be forthright and to give them an answer. This is an abuse of power of the most egregious kind. It is time for Secretary Ridge to turn over the tapes, open up our government, tell the people in the United States of America what we are doing, and please do not pass on the divisiveness of the United States House of Representatives to the State of Texas.

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time of the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).

Mr. LAMPSON

Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, tonight I strongly encourage Secretary Tom Ridge to release the tapes of the call from the Department of Public Safety in Texas asking for the Department of Homeland Security to track down Texas House Democrats who fled to Oklahoma last week. I came up here for literally years talking specifically about the issue of missing children. I find it a little astounding that I am standing here talking about something that is really having such a dire effect on the people of the State of Texas because of the incident that occurred recently, where people literally attempted to cram legislation down the throats of Texas citizens without giving them a voice in that process, a very onerous thing to have happen. I want to turn my tasks to what I can make a serious difference with on families, something about children. But here I am, asking the Secretary of Homeland Defense to step into a situation where his own agency could have delivered information, and still might, deliver information that could make a difference in helping us understand what it was that drove those 51 legislators out of the State of Texas and over into Ardmore, Oklahoma, to send a message, to send a message that we are not going to take being excluded from participating in the process of making legislation anymore. Whether it is at the Federal level or whether it is in the State of Texas, it is wrong. The people of this country created a system that we all participate in through our representatives. When representatives are excluded, then the people are excluded. Their voices are not heard. Back to our request of Secretary Ridge, the use of the Homeland Security Department for political reasons is shameful, and it needs to be investigated. We need to know answers of why, what happened. I remember when I was teaching at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, during the years of the early 1970s, the Watergate era. Like all Americans, I was absolutely shocked and dismayed at the wanton abuse of power of the Nixon administration. Secretary Ridge's decision to not release these tapes yesterday brings back memories for me of that dark era in American history. That is not what we are about in the United States of America. We should not have a secret government that keeps stuff from the people. The Nixon administration used the FBI for political reasons, and then they refused repeated requests from journalists to review their actions. Two weeks ago, the majority leader, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), told numerous reporters that he wanted the FBI to use its resources to track down the Democrats who went to Oklahoma. The thought of using the FBI for such reasons, in my opinion, is unconscionable. Now we have learned that the Texas Department of Public Safety used the Homeland Security Department to track down a plane belonging to former Texas House Speaker Pete Laney. The Department of Homeland Security should be used for protecting Americans from terrorists, not for political objectives, regardless of from whom the political objectives come. Many of my colleagues have asked to review those tapes of the phone calls between the Department of Public Safety in Texas and the Department of Homeland Security, but we are told by Secretary Ridge's office that the tapes are currently unavailable. That makes me and many of my colleagues wonder why.