Tom Latham

Mr. LATHAM

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

Mr. LATHAM. I know that the chairman has worked very hard to fashion a balanced bill and that he has done everything possible to accommodate the concerns of all Members. I had intended to offer an amendment to increase the renewable energy funding level by $8 million. However, with the chairman's assurances that we will work in conference to raise the funding level of this program, I will not offer that amendment.

Mr. LATHAM

Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that all debate on this amendment and all amendments thereto close in 40 minutes and that the time be equally divided.

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

Mr. LATHAM. No, Mr. Chairman. We do not at this time anticipate any further amendments to this amendment.

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

Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Chairman, this unanimous consent would say this amendment and all amendments thereto.

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

Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), yes.

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

Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Chairman, I think we could expedite, also, time limits. I think there is a paper that we are waiting for over here, and if we could expedite that, I think we can come to an agreement.

Mr. LATHAM

Mr. LATHAM. I thank the gentleman for yielding. First of all, I would like to say that the gentleman from New York said that dollars going to protect my citizens in my State, their safety, their well-being, is pork. I take great offense to that. It is not pork to have people who are safe in their homes. I do not care where they live in this country. I will also say that when we talk about this formula, talk about threat, the fact of the matter is there are some very, very large threats or potential threats in rural areas, whether you talk about nuclear energy plants, whatever. But just because they do not have people living immediately around them, they are not going to be eligible for any of the funds at all. I would also like to address one quick point talking about intelligence. The fact of the matter is there were hundreds of U.S. agriculture documents that were found in al Qaeda caves and also a large part of the al Qaeda training manual is devoted to agri- terrorism. If you do not like to eat in New York, apparently, let us just forget about the rest of the country.

Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for yielding me time. Mr. Chairman, I want to rise in strong support of H.R. 4567, and I want to commend the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers) who has shown tremendous leadership on this bill, a very, very difficult bill, and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Sabo) and all the staff on both sides of the aisle doing an outstanding job of moving this homeland security appropriations bill to the floor under a very tight fiscal circumstance. We received a tremendous number of specific requests, and each of us has had to say no many more times than we would have liked to. I know that all Members of this Chamber have specific accounts they believe should have increased funding or areas for which they want to include language. There are particular programs that need more direction and money. Most, if not all, of our colleagues care deeply about homeland security. We want it done right, and we want tangible results. However, at some point we need to focus on the possible and the reasonable knowing that none of us are going to be fully satisfied. I am not satisfied with the level of funding for the State formula grant, but given all of the factors that must be considered when addressing the various risks in each congressional district, the number for this program is not unreasonable; particularly when one considers that is a half a billion dollars over the administration's request. We should also remember that there are hundreds of millions of dollars out there in our States that have yet to be obligated for homeland security. I am not satisfied with what I believe is less than adequate attention devoted to the threat of agroterrorism, particularly as it relates to prevention activities and needed work to advance animal vaccines; and I openly criticized the people in the Department who have been shortsighted in this area. I intend to be an advocate for protecting our agriculture economy from terrorism. The potential cost of agroterrorism to rural economy is hard to imagine, yet alone the cost as far as food safety. For those who want to score easy political points, this is a great bill for you. I will be one of those first who worry about funding levels. But none of us holds the answers to what truly defines adequate funding for homeland security. As we debate this appropriations bill, I challenge the critics today to be honest with the American people. This is not an easy bill to write, and the most complex and the most demanding homeland security functions make easy targets for those who claim to be an authority on what is the best way to spend our homeland security dollars. As the chairman has said, we can all think of more ways to spend money on homeland security, and there is no end to what we could spend. Nobody can argue that. And the issue is how well we shepherd our limited resources. In my view, this is one of the most important spending measures we will consider this year. We all know what the budget situation is; but we have crafted a very, very good bill. I urge the Members to support this bill, keep the debate honest, and pass it quickly because it is so important to our constituents and to this Nation.

Mr. LATHAM. Yes, it would.

Mr. LATHAM. The gentleman is correct.

Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, obviously the chairman is correct. The fact of the matter is, I honestly believe there is not enough money for the formula grants. As we are pursuing this amendment, I have another amendment where we will transfer $275 million back into the formula grants, because I think it is so important that the entire country be protected, and not just certain areas who cannot define threat and are only basing their premise on how many people live in one area.

Mr. LATHAM. I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky.

Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I just rise in strong opposition to this amendment. While everyone fights for money, and that is good, that is natural, it is what we would expect, the fact of the matter is these dollars have to be distributed across this country. The gentleman talked about threat. Well, the way the dollars are given out through the committee, threat is the third highest priority. It is population, it is presence of vulnerability of critical infrastructure and threat; three times more emphasis put on population than on threat. When you talk about defining threat, you tell me about what destroying our food supply in this country would mean: agri-terrorism. You talk about destroying the infrastructure that we have in this country outside of the major urban areas. When we start talking about the places of high threat, I think there is no way to calculate the number of places that can be destroyed. We cannot write off the rest of the country. This bill already recognizes a balance between the urban areas and the rural areas. This bill gives the urban areas over $1.2 billion, directed to urban areas, $280 million more than last year; and now they want to take more away from everybody else in this country. Every State has a plan in place. We have a lot of community entities, counties, in the State of Iowa that are trying to comply with those plans today; and they need the resources as much as any other place does. If we are just talking about who has got the most people, that is one thing. When we talk about analyzing how people can respond to a threat throughout this country, that is another thing. Everybody in this House has approximately the same number of people, and we all love them as much as the next guy does. I want to protect my people as much as anyone in New York or New Jersey, but I think it is wrong to have all of these dollars go to one area out of my people's protection. It is simply wrong. The gentleman talked earlier about we have got to do what the President said. He said we should have this many more dollars as far as urban areas. Well, let us just follow that. If we follow the President's request, we would have no money in this bill for rail security; we would have cut firefighter grants by $245 million; we would have doubled airline ticket taxes; there would be $43 million less for air cargo security. You might be interested, if you are from New York, we would have no money for metropolitan response teams, for which the committee gave $50 million. There would be $50 million less for radiological detection devices at our seaports and $29 million less for baggage screening at our airports. In fact, if we followed the President's request, there would be $500 million less in this bill to go to your protection. I think it is a balanced bill as it is; and like the chairman said, is there ever enough anywhere? Well, maybe not. Will one more dollar do it in one place rather than another? I do not know. No one knows that. But the fact of the matter is, there are real threats in rural America; there are real threats in urban America.

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

Mr. LATHAM. That is correct.

Mr. LATHAM

Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, former President Reagan's influence on the world was tremendous. He was bigger than life. Whether it was on the silver screen or before thousands of cheering Americans--he was, in so many ways, the American dream. His messages of hope and possibility touched so many people around the world. Many Iowans have a special place in their heart for Ronald Reagan or ``Dutch'' as he was known to those who used to listen to him on the radio during the 1930s. In 1932, after graduating from college, Reagan began working as a temporary staff announcer for radio station WOC in Davenport, IA. In 1933, WOC merged with radio station WHO in Des Moines, and Reagan was hired as chief sports announcer for the new station. Here, Reagan announced Chicago Cubs baseball games--reading them from teletype reports. I remember him recounting how he was forced to improvise games for as long as 15 minutes when the teletype machine would unexpectedly stop. At the time, radio personalities were treated as big stars and what a great place to start a career in entertainment--in Iowa. As we all know, Mr. Reagan went on to a career in movies but many Iowans remembered listening to his sportscasts and helped him in pursuit of higher office in the 1970s and 80s. I can remember ``Dutch's Dollies''--a group of ladies who were longtime fans cheering wildly at his campaign events. They were loyal supporters with very long memories of their man Dutch. There are many great stories about Ronald Reagan and his ties to Iowa, but I want to express my admiration for the entire Reagan family. Ronald Reagan touched me in a manner I could not anticipate--through Alzheimer's disease. For the better part of the last decade I shared the sadness of this disease with the Reagan family. Like all Americans, we read about the Reagan family's long goodbye to the President. During their painful days, the entire Latham family was saying their own long goodbye to my father Willard Latham, who succumbed to the disease in 2001. Ronald Reagan will be remembered for many things but for millions this week we are reminded of the ravages Alzheimer's disease has on its victims and their families. Let us all pray for those who are devastated by this affliction and let us keep the Reagan family in our thoughts and prayers.

Mr. LATHAM

Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an accomplished small businessman from my Congressional District. Waldo ``Wally'' Smeby, President of Metalcraft, Inc. in Mason City, Iowa was recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration as the Iowa Small Business Person of the Year. Next week Mr. Smeby will join other accomplished small business people in Orlando, Florida as the Small Business Administration will award the National Small Business Person of the Year. Wally is well deserving of this recognition. Wally first joined Metalcraft as an assistant controller in 1959, and in the true spirit of the American Dream, began working his way up. He went on to become controller, sales and marketing director, general manager, and finally company president from 1988-1993. In 1993, after the passing of founders of the company, Wally purchased the company. His entrepreneurial achievements have established Metalcraft with worldwide sales of over $7 million and 70 employees. The majority of the growth and success the company has enjoyed has come while Wally was in a leadership position. Wally's dedication and work provides benefits to the entire country. Small businesses are the engine of the American economy, as they represent 99.7 percent of all employers. As his Congressman, and fellow small businessman, I join with all Iowans in wishing Wally the best of luck next week. And, I thank him for the work he has done for his community, his state, and his country.

Mr. LATHAM

Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I recently received a letter from a constituent of mine who is an Americanism Chairman for the American Legion in Osage, Iowa. This person asked for the attached article's inclusion in the Congressional Record. Because of the exceptional work that the American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary do for our country, I believe that this gesture is a small token of the appreciation of the Congress. 4th District Junior Conference The Osage Unit 278 hosted the Fourth District Junior Conference on March 21, 2004 with about 70 people in attendance. The new officers for the coming year will be: President--Nicole Schroeder, Unit 672 Fort Atkinson. Vice-President--Alicia Brandau, Unit 278 Osage. Secretary--Mallory Schweiger, Unit 278 Osage. Historian--Amy Schroeder, Unit 672 Fort Atkinson. Chaplain--Kelsey Klimesh, Unit 266 Calmar. Sergeant-at-Arms--Brittney Shannon, Unit 9 Oelwein. Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms--Kalinda Kolek, Unit 605 Protivin. The many talents of the young people of the Fourth District shown through once again in the form of contest entries that were submitted for judging. Congratulations to all who worked so hard on their projects. The top place contestants were: Poppy Posters: Class I--1st--Jake Tyler, Hawkeye, 2nd-- Dustin Elsbernd, Calmar, 3rd--Miranda Walz, Monona Class II-- 1st--Holly Randall, Guttenberg, 2nd--Lukes Elsbernd, Calmar, 3rd--Megan Fink, Fort Atkinson Class III--1st--Emily Faust, Colesburg, 2nd--Kelsey Klimesh, Calmar, 3rd--Lindsi Franzen, Calmar Poppy Corsages: Class I--1st--Grace Blocker, Fort Atkinson, 2nd--Kalinda Kolek, Protivin, Class II--Micki Schuck, Oelwein, 2nd--Carrie Pout, Oelwine, 3rd--Cassidy Pout, Oelwine, Class III--1st--Jessica Milbrandt, Fort Atkinson, 2nd--Kristen Milbrandt, Fort Atkinson, 3rd--Kerri Boies, Oelwein Chaplain's Book of Prayers & Inspirations: Class II--1st-- Jessica Milbrandt, Fort Atkinson, 2nd--Kristin Milbrandt, Fort Atkinson, 3rd--Kalinda Jo Kolek, Protivin Junior History Book: Kristin Milbrandt, Fort Atkinson. Junior Scrapbook: Jessica Milbrandt, Fort Atkinson. Americanism Essay Contest: Kristin Milbrandt, Fort Atkinson. Handiwork: 1st place all classes--Fort Atkinson. A wonderful lunch was served by the host Unit and the entertainment of Hawaiian dancing very enjoyable. The Oelwein Unit will host the 2005 conference and I hope to see many Juniors in attendance. Mary E. Lukes, Fourth District Junior Chairman.

Mr. LATHAM

Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Chairman, I stand in support of H.R. 1561. The legislation is the culmination of years of hard work between the appropriators and the members of the Judiciary Committee. It allows the appropriators to retain oversight of the Patent and Trademark Office, while permanently ending the practice of diverting fees paid by users of the Patent and Trademark Office. In the past, these fees were used for unrelated government programs. I am pleased because these fees will specifically go to improving patent quality, reducing the time it takes to examine a patent and increasing efficiency of the Patent and Trademark Office in total. These are the goals of the 21st Century Strategic Plan that was developed by the Patent Office and reviewed by the Congress. Finally and most importantly this bill ensures that companies can and will continue to have opportunities to innovate and remain competitive in this global economy.

Mr. LATHAM

Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, on October 30, 31 and November 1, 2003, Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, will hold a landmark event that will be the Nation's tribute to the late John Vincent Atanasoff's 100th birthday (October 4, 2003). Dr. Atanasoff, along with electrical engineering graduate student, Clifford Berry, developed the world's first electronic digital computer from 1939 to 1942 while serving as a physics and mathematics professor at Iowa State University. Known as the Atanasoff-Berry Computer, the invention was Atanasoff's solution to finding a better, more efficient way for his students to learn. It was the principles of his invention that changed the face of technology forever. The university is organizing the International Symposium on Modern Computing, October 30-November 1 in celebration of his life's accomplishments. Leaders in the computing field, internationally renowned academic researchers, and college and university students from across the Nation will come together to discuss the newest technologies and research that have the potential to change the world as dramatically as did the principles that Dr. Atanasoff's invention established. Dr. Atanasoff is a recipient of the Nation's highest award for innovation, the National Medal of Technology, which was presented to him by President George Bush in 1990. Dr. Atanasoff died in 1995.