Jerry Lewis

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I would like today to pay tribute to Allen B. Gresham, a legendary attorney and highly respected community leader for more than four decades in San Bernardino County, California. Mr. Gresham is retiring from full-time practice after 41 years of building one of the top legal firms in Inland Southern California, and nearly as long helping make our community a better place. My friend Allen Gresham grew up in El Centro, California and received his law degree from Stanford University before joining a San Bernardino law firm in 1959. In just 3 years, he was named as a partner, and became the senior partner by 1978. Gresham, Savage, Nolan and Tilden now has 27 lawyers and is one of the most respected and accomplished law firms in Southern California. Mr. Gresham served as president of the San Bernardino County Bar Association in 1969 and as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers for the past 25 years. He was named one of the ``Best Lawyers in America'' for the past decade, and was honored as one of the top lawyers in America in 2001. He was selected as one of the top five business litigators in the Inland Empire in that year, as well. Almost from the beginning, Allen Gresham was active in our community. He has been a member of the Kiwanis Club of San Bernardino since 1960, and has been a director of Arrowhead United Way since 1964. He was a director of the San Bernardino County Symphony Association from 1967 to 1973 and rejoined the board in 1989--serving as its president for the next 4 years. In 1971, Mr. Gresham stepped up his activities dramatically, beginning 32 years of service in two groups that have helped ensure that San Bernardino County grows economically and in its educational opportunities. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of the San Bernardino Community College District--and has been reelected for 8 consecutive terms. As board chairman for 3 of those terms, Mr. Gresham has helped a sleepy community college of a few thousand students grow into an academic powerhouse that today serves more than 30,000 on two campuses. In that same year, Mr. Gresham joined Inland Action, Inc., a service group formed by community leaders to maximize the economic development of San Bernardino County, and to ensure that the county retains the benefits of Norton Air Force Base. Over my 25 years in Congress, I have worked closely with Allen Gresham and the other members of Inland Action to keep the Inland Empire high in the attention of the Federal Government. Although Norton was closed in 1988, the group has continued to strive for economic progress, and was a significant factor in winning community control of the former base in 1998. There is no doubt in my mind that the efforts of Allen Gresham and the other members of Inland Action has helped ensure that San Bernardino County is on course to be an economic powerhouse for decades to come. I have always looked forward to the annual Inland Action trips to Washington--not least because a meeting with Allen Gresham was always a joy. He provides a combination of personal stability with an amazing ability to laugh at himself and bring laughter to those around him. His engaging and informed participation is one of the reasons Inland Action has forged numerous ties to lawmakers and federal officials that have paid off handsomely for the San Bernardino area. Allen Gresham has received many well-deserved honors over his life of community service. He was named Citizen of the Year by the local board of realtors in 1975, Distinguished Citizen by the Military Airlift Command in 1988, Citizen of Achievement by the League of Women Voters in 1991 and received the San Bernardino County Bar Association's ``John B. Surr Award'' for outstanding service to the legal profession in 1999. Mr. Speaker, as Allen Gresham retires from active practice, he is also stepping down from his role in Inland Action to give him more personal time with his wonderful wife of 49 years, Clara Thompson Gresham. Please join me in wishing them well in their retirement years, and thanking them for all of the many, many years they have devoted to their community.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I must say that the gentleman presented the 5-minute or so speech I was planning to make. I want to associate myself with the gentleman's remarks. I think with great foresight the gentleman has recognized that we have done a good deal of the job that had to be done a long time ago. There is no reason to move away from where we are today, indeed, in connection with this competition is having its effect and cross- ownership is highly overblown. Mr. Chairman, there may very well have been a time when people were justified in their concern that ABC, NBC and CBS dominated the media world and controlled what we watched. But it is clear that competition has changed that world in many and varied ways. Today we have cable and many other offerings that give us more choice than we have ever had. Those who want to overrule the FCC rules entirely are concerned with what they consider to be inappropriate programming. But it is not just ABC, NBC and CBS that provide these programs. Today many broadcasters and cable programmers provide endless avenues of entertainment that our diverse American public can enjoy. We cannot dictate the tastes of the American public. And we have learned that when we try to control the marketplace by federal dictate, we most likely end up having our quest for perfection become the enemy of the good. This amendment would not solve problems, it would create them, and should be opposed.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have my name removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 1472. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from California?

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentlewoman's amendment.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I repeat to the gentleman that I very much appreciate his forthright discussion of this matter. I know of the potential difficulty that could be faced, but I want the gentleman to know that we are very committed to working with him to carefully see that this very potentially valuable property is used for the best interest of people of Puerto Rico. Our experience with base closing would suggest there is a variety in mix of approaches that might very well be taken, and we look forward to giving him all the support that we possibly can.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order against the amendment.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, the minority has seen the amendment and has no objection. I simply ask for its passage.

Mr. LEWIS of California. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. First, I appreciate very much having the opportunity to share this time with the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha). I am very pleased today to bring before the House the 2004 defense appropriations bill. It is a bill that reflects very much the direction of the Commander-in-Chief as well as the Department of Defense regarding the war on terrorism that we are pursuing in the Middle East at this point, but also recognizing its great threat around the world. The bill itself is a very, very good bill that I highly commend to the Members, Mr. Chairman. I must say that in terms of its allocation, I am a bit disappointed, for the bill before us is in the neighborhood of $3 billion below the President's request. But having said that, we did provide some reallocation that helps some of our other bills, and in the meantime, we are doing all we can to recoup some of those dollars by way of other venues. Having said that, the bill is a very balanced bill, and we have made every effort to reflect the will of the House as well as the needs of our men and women who are representing us so well around the world. Before going on and commenting briefly about the bill, I want to express my deep appreciation to my colleague from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha), who works hand in glove with me in developing this bill, always, but particularly in this very difficult year with the challenges we face in the world. Mr. Chairman, I must say that this work would not have been able to have been carried forward in this timely fashion without the help of our very fine staff, Kevin Roper particularly, on my side, and a variety and mix of other fine staff members. I will let the gentleman from Pennsylvania talk about his fantastic staff on his own. But in the meantime, rather than going into great deal about the bill at this point in time, let me say that we have made every effort to fully fund the personnel needs that we face in this challenging world, such as a modest pay raise for our men and women who make up our forces, and funding the health care programs that are so vital to their needs, as well as their housing challenges. We are also providing funding to make certain as we go about being successful in this war on terrorism we also are laying the foundation for America's leading the world in a way that will preserve peace for all of us. At this point, Mr. Chairman, I would like to insert the following tabular summary of the bill. [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH08JY03.001 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH08JY03.002 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH08JY03.003 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH08JY03.004 Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the amendment.

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

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the amendment.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I certainly would agree with the statement made by my colleague from Pennsylvania. As the gentleman and I discussed on an earlier occasion, it is our intention to work very closely with the Delegate to see that every step is taken to make certain that the people of Puerto Rico have all the flexibility they possibly can have to maximize the potential of this potentially very valuable property, and one that could provide a great stimulus for their economy.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), chairman of the full committee.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, echoing the words of the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha), I withdraw my point of order.

Mr. LEWIS of California. I yield to the gentleman from Washington.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise to very briefly oppose this amendment. Mr. Chairman, this is appropriately an item that should be a part of the authorization process. It is my understanding at the subcommittee level there was support for this proposal and there was a decision at the full committee to turn that around, and the authorizing committee has spoken in terms of this question. It is, in my judgment, poor policy on the part of the Committee on Appropriations, going through the back door by limiting appropriations to essentially undo what is the policy in the existing law, a policy which has not been changed by the authorizing committee.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my point of order.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 2658, making appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, and for other purposes, and that I may include tabular and extraneous material.