Tom Lantos

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 6 minutes to my good friend, the distinguished gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo).

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and I first would like to commend the authors of this resolution, the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) and the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega). We are grateful for their leadership on matters related to the Pacific. This resolution recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Bravo nuclear weapon test which occurred in March 1954. It reaffirms the strong relationship between the United States and the people of the Marshall Islands. The timing of this resolution is particularly appropriate as Congress last year approved legislation renewing the Compact of Free Association. This compact is the guiding document for our relations with the Marshall Islands and with Micronesia. Mr. Speaker, the beginnings of our Nation's close relationship with the people of the Marshall Islands are etched in history. In 1944, we joined with the Marshallese people to liberate the people from Japanese military rule. At the end of the Second World War, the United States began a decades-long trustee relationship with the Marshall Islands, culminating in Marshallese independence in 1982. During the trusteeship period, the United States conducted 67 atmospheric nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, the largest of which was Bravo, which occurred in March 1954, a half a century ago. This test yielded approximately 1,000 times greater explosive power than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Our nuclear testing program did enormous, long-term damage to the health of the Marshallese and the environment of the islands. Yet rather than turning away from the United States, the people of the Marshall Islands sought a close political, strategic, and social relationship with our Nation. As we speak, Mr. Speaker, Marshallese soldiers are serving with our troops in Iraq. The Compact of Free Association amendments recently enacted into law will further solidify U.S.-Marshallese ties by ensuring that the U.S. contributes to the economic and educational development of the Marshallese people for the next 2 decades and that we continue to operate the Kwajalein test facility on the islands. So as we remember the 50th anniversary of the Bravo test, we also celebrate 6 decades of friendship and amity between the American and Marshallese people. I urge all my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 364. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS

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

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

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation. This legislation assists the war on terrorism in two ways: speeding financial incentives to people who help the United States capture narcotics traffickers who are linked to terrorism, and raising the limits on reward for the capture of terrorist leaders. Mr. Speaker, these legislative changes are long overdue. Under current law, the State Department's reward money is not being spent in the most effective way. In Afghanistan, where profits from heroin sales finance groups such as al Qaeda and the Taliban, informants in successful seizure and capture operations receive financial rewards from the Drug Enforcement Agency. But the State Department does not contribute to this effort due to a false distinction between narcotics trafficking and terrorism. Presumably that distinction lets agencies like the Pentagon and the Department of State avoid the complexities of interagency collaboration to carry out a unified strategy that attacks both issues at the same time. For the struggle against terrorism to succeed, our government must be unified, not divided. This bill ensures that money from the State Department's rewards programs can be given to informants when their assistance leads to drug shipments or drug labs, or otherwise disrupts narcotics trafficking as long as such actions are likely to disrupt terrorist financing. Any interruption of the drug trade that takes money out of the pockets of terrorists may well prevent tragedies. Mr. Speaker, the State Department Rewards Program has been a useful tool in the past to capture wanted terrorists. Our resolution makes it easier for the Secretary of State to double the current reward of $25 million for ring leaders of foreign terrorist organizations, including Osama bin Laden. I strongly support this legislation, and urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 3782. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), a valued member of our committee.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff), my colleague and a distinguished member of the committee.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), a valued member of our committee.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson), my good friend and distinguished colleague.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), our last speaker.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel), a distinguished member of the committee.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), the distinguished chairman of the Democratic Caucus and an important member of the Committee on International Relations. (Mr. MENENDEZ asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown), a distinguished member of the committee.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Ackerman), ranking member of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia of the Committee on International Relations. (Mr. ACKERMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, before yielding to the gentleman from Florida, let me remind the gentleman from Wisconsin that national unity and cohesion are not matters of parliamentary procedure. They are at the core of uniting the United States and the American people at a time of war. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Wexler), a distinguished member of the committee.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the resolution we are considering today is deeply flawed. The way it was handled was meant to be divisive, and it has achieved that goal. None of us in this House knows if next January we will have a Kerry administration or a Bush administration, but we do know that whoever is in the White House must ensure the success of U.S. policy in Europe. Success in time of war requires cohesion and unity. We do not need a divisive, partisan resolution. This may be the way to prepare a Republican tax bill, but it is not the way to prepare a foreign policy resolution to win broad bipartisan support. Mr. Speaker, the conflict in Iraq should not be a partisan issue. The soldiers who are fighting in Iraq are Democrats and Republicans and Independents. The soldiers who are wounded and killed in Iraq are Democrats and Republicans and Independents. The families who grieve for their sons and daughters who died in Iraq are Democrats and Republicans and Independents. The citizens of this country who are paying for this war are Democrats and Republicans and Independents. Mr. Speaker, it is totally unacceptable that not a single amendment to this resolution was made in order. This was a Republican resolution, drafted with partisan intent by the Republican leadership. Many of us in this House who have been committed to and who have worked for a bipartisan foreign policy for decades know that this is a slap in our face. A resolution that commends our troops ought to receive the unanimous support of this body, but this resolution has been written specifically to prevent that result. Mr. Speaker, war is a time for shared sacrifice, a time when we are all united in a common struggle. This is not shared sacrifice. Some Americans are being killed, some are being wounded, some are asked to leave their families and risk their lives far from home; and some at the very top of the income scale are being asked to accept massive tax cuts. Mr. Speaker, this resolution commends the troops, but it does not acknowledge the supreme sacrifice of many who are fighting. This resolution makes no reference to the more than 550 service men and women who have died in Iraq. It makes no reference to the thousands more who have been wounded. It offers no condolences to the families of those who have been killed. It makes no reference to the sacrifices of the families whose members are away from them serving in Iraq for many months or over a year. It makes no reference to the many civilian and humanitarian workers who risk their lives daily. It makes no reference to the contribution of our allies who have thousands of troops in Iraq, and it makes no mention of the death and casualties they have suffered. And it makes no reference to the Iraqi civilians who have lost their lives and suffered injuries, including dozens who were killed today. Mr. Speaker, there are other serious omissions in this resolution. We should spend our time today debating substantive legislation to fix these problems. The American people have not sent us here just to be an ``amen'' chorus for this administration. There are serious problems, and we should be debating serious solutions. There is no mention in this resolution of the flawed intelligence that was the basis of the administration's argument for going to war in the first place. We should be debating the establishment of a truly independent commission to examine the shortcomings of U.S. intelligence and the way it was used. The members of this commission must not be appointed solely by the President, and the commission should make its findings known before Election Day. Only a truly independent investigation, and an investigation that the American people perceive to be independent, can bridge the credibility gap in our intelligence both here at home and abroad. The failure of this Congress to deal with the problems facing our intelligence agencies will ultimately harm our national security, the war against terrorism, and our fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Speaker, we are commending our troops but we are not taking action that we can and should take to make their lives and to make the lives of their loved ones easier. The sacrifices being made by our National Guard and reservists in Iraq and elsewhere are extraordinary. Many National Guard and Reserve families have suffered serious financial losses because of the pay gap between their military pay when they are called up and their private sector pay. With longer rotations, Guard and Reserve families are facing dramatically increased financial burdens while their loved ones risk their lives far away from home. One of the consequences is a serious problem with reenlistments in the Reserves and the National Guard. My legislation, H.R. 1345, legislation that I introduced 1 year ago this week, would fill that pay gap. My bill would ensure that government and private sector employees can continue to defend our country without being forced to worry about their families facing financial disaster. Words of support for our troops ring hollow when substantive legislation to improve their conditions is sandbagged by the leadership on the other side. Mr. Speaker, I very much regret that this resolution in its present form is brought before the House today. This should be a time for bipartisan unity and cohesion, not a time for partisanship. This should be a time for us to deal substantively with serious problems we face in Iraq and in our foreign policy. This should be a time for us to take serious action to help our service men and women. All of us join in commending our brave men and women of our Armed Forces. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the rule, I designate each of the following three Members to control \1/2\ hour of time allotted to me under the rule: \1/2\ hour for the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), \1/2\ hour for the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman), and \1/2\ hour for the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha).

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), our distinguished whip.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman), the distinguished ranking member of the Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights. (Mr. SHERMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks), a distinguished member of the committee.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to a brilliant and remarkable scholar, Professor Randolph L. Braham. Dr. Braham is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science from the City College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he is also Director of the Rosenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies. He is a distinguished member of the Academic Committee of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. Professor Braham is an outstanding scholar and chronicler of the Hungarian Holocaust whose sixtieth anniversary we are commemorating this week. His two-volume work, The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary, won the Jewish National Book award in 1981, and earned him citations in the New York State Assembly. In 1995, he was awarded the Order of Merit Officer's Cross of the Hungarian Republic. Born in Romania in 1922, Professor Braham received a traditional Jewish upbringing in Dej, a small town in Transylvania. His parents and many relatives perished in the Holocaust. He spent 1943-45 in a forced labor battalion with the Hungarian and German armies in Ukraine. Later, he was captured and incarcerated in the gulag where he experienced the horrors of Soviet labor camps. After the war, Professor Braham came to the United States on a Hillel Fellowship at the Graduate Faculty of the New School University and encountered many of the emigre luminaries, including Frieda Wunderlich, Arnold Brecht, Erich Hula, and Boris Mirkineguetzevitch. Professor Braham has spent over forty years as a professor at the City College of New York. He is the author or co-editor of forty-two books on the Holocaust in central and eastern Europe including his all important documentation The Nazis' Last Victims: The Holocaust in Hungary. Professor Braham has made a most significant contribution to the scientific historiography of the Holocaust in general and the tragedy of Hungarian Jewry in particular. Mr. Speaker, I want to pay tribute to Dr. Randolph Braham for his remarkable achievements and scholarly contributions in documenting the persecution of Jews in Europe, particularly his extensive history of the Hungarian Holocaust. The life's work of Dr. Randolph Braham is a major contribution to the understanding of the history of the twentieth century, and therefore it deserves to be recognized and honored by the Congress of the United States. As George Santayana reminded us, ``those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'' Dr. Braham's important legacy should help all future generations to learn the dark lessons of the past and thus enable them in the future to create societies based on justice and on values that will always include respect for the rights of the minorities and human rights in general.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. I want to thank my friend for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this rule, and I urge all of my colleagues to vote it down. I deeply regret that this resolution was not handled in a bipartisan manner. The Democratic side was not consulted on this resolution, and the Republican leadership bypassed its consideration before the Committee on International Relations. It is simply unacceptable that not a single amendment was made in order, no substitute is allowed; and there is no other way we on our side can offer improvements to this resolution. Mr. Speaker, the country is at war. The men and women who serve are Democrats and Republicans and Independents. The men and women who are wounded are Democrats and Republicans and Independents. And, yes, Mr. Speaker, the men and women who die are Democrats and Republicans and Independents. The families grieving are Democrats and Republicans and independents. Many of us have tried very hard for a long time to work towards a bipartisan foreign policy decades ago and certainly since September 11. The manner in which this resolution was crafted and the way in which it is being considered under this rule is a slap in the face of all those who have tried to conduct a bipartisan foreign policy in the national interest. You on your side have neither a monopoly on wisdom nor a monopoly on patriotism. You should have come to the Democrats to craft a resolution honoring our troops, which would have passed this body unanimously. You have created divisiveness at a time when we need cohesion and unity. You have created divisiveness for no reason except illusory partisan advantage. This is a flawed resolution, flawed in its presentation, flawed in its procedure, flawed in its partisanship. This is not a Republican tax bill to be handled only by Republicans. This is a bill of national importance. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans have a right to have an input, to say how much we admire the courage and patriotism of our troops. You have failed, and you have failed miserably. I urge my colleagues to defeat the rule and to come forward with a reasonable resolution supported across the political spectrum in this body.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support H.J. Res. 87, which commemorates the contributions of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the anniversary of his birth. As this legislation so eloquently states, FDR's leadership ``was instrumental in extending freedom and democracy around the globe, and uniting the world confronted by tyranny and aggression.'' Furthermore, he led the United States out of the Great Depression by initiating programs that provided employment and social services to the millions of people whose hopes had been dashed by joblessness and severe economic conditions nationwide. Mr. Speaker, I have a particular connection to FDR's legacy: As a young man living in war-torn Europe, I wrote an essay about his economic policies that helped secure a scholarship to the University of Washington. I went on to earn a Ph.D. in economics and to teach the subject at university level for 30 years. And when I later was honored with the opportunity to become a Member of Congress, I was able to join the House International Relations Committee to help build on the alliances that FDR forged, and--through co-founding and guiding the Congressional Human Rights Caucus--to further the principles for which President Roosevelt stood. That is why, Mr. Speaker, I raised my voice in protest to a preposterous proposal late last year to replace the portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the U.S. dime with a picture of Ronald Reagan. We can't let partisan politics simply wipe out national awareness of one of our greatest presidents. Our Nation and the world gained so much from the work of this one extraordinary man. This spring, the National World War II Memorial will open on the Washington Mall. Along with the unique and moving memorial to FDR nearby--a thought-provoking collection of sculptures and plaques, fountains and plantings, bordered by the Potomac and the placid Tidal Basin--the new monument will serve to remind Americans and visitors from around the globe of the accomplishments of this legendary leader. I am proud to contribute now to a congressional statement affirming our appreciation for the life and legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and I urge all of our colleagues to support H.J. Res. 87.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel), a distinguished member of the Committee on International Relations who has a long-standing special interest in this region.