Steven LaTourette

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, House Resolution 822 recognizes the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Port of Los Angeles. The Port of Los Angeles is the busiest port in the United States in terms of maritime cargo volume and, when combined with the adjoining Port of Long Beach, is the fifth busiest commercial seaport worldwide. This trade is a critical component to our national economy and directly and indirectly supports millions of jobs nationwide. The port has also taken action to lessen impacts on the surrounding areas and the environment by recently implementing a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions from ships and port operations. I join the resolution's sponsor, Congresswoman Richardson of California, and all of the cosponsors in recognizing the Port of Los Angeles' first 100 years and in wishing the port continued success in the future. I urge all Members to support the resolution.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, more than 600 people gathered at Federated Church in Chagrin Falls OH, to mourn the loss of Allison Walden, 19, a 2006 graduate of Chagrin Falls High School and the daughter of Terry and Diane Walden of Chagrin Falls. Allison was one of seven students to die in the tragic beach house fire in North Carolina. Her father, Terry, said she was a wonderful girl and full of life. She had a scholarship to University of South Carolina, where she was a sophomore studymg pre-med and a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. She had planned to return to her beloved Chagrin Falls after graduation and study anesthesiology at Case Western Reserve University. This senseless fire that took the lives of seven wonderful young people capped a very difficult year for the Walden family. Their son, Greg, a 2005 Chagrin Falls graduate, is a student at Virginia Tech and was there in April when a deranged student shot up the campus, killing 33 people Fortunately, Greg, an honors engineering student, was unharmed in that horrific attack. I can't imagine as a parent going through that, and then losing your only daughter just five months later in another tragedy. It is just unspeakably cruel. As their father said, ``What is the chance that out of all the schools in the country that our children would go where tragic events unfold?'' On behalf of the 14th Congressional District, my sympathies go to the Walden family on their horrible loss, and may they find comfort in their family, friends, faith and community.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 2095, the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007. A number of the speakers who will speak on this bill today, when the bill was first introduced I had some difficulty with some of the provisions, but I want to thank Chairman Oberstar, Chairwoman Brown, Ranking Member Mica and Ranking Member Shuster for continuing the great hallmark of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and working through those issues, be it limbo time, be it Federal preemption, be it a variety of other issues, and reaching a product that was brought to the floor today that I think that most, if not all of us, will be supportive of, as well. Just a moment about Chairman Oberstar. When the majority changed, there's more Democrats on the committee than there are Republicans. They could write their own bill. But that hasn't been the way this committee has ever worked, and that isn't the way Chairman Oberstar is running the committee either. He reached out to our side of the aisle to talk about these issues, and the result is that he has brought to the floor a piece of legislation that will overwhelmingly pass sometime later this evening. Mr. Chairman, this important legislation will bring industry and government a long way towards the shared goal of improving rail safety. Although the number of train accidents decreased last year by almost 500, it is unclear whether that 1-year progress will continue. We are and we should always be looking for new ways to improve safety, not only for railroad employees, but for the surrounding communities as well. Despite everyone's best intentions, disasters will strike. As the current Speaker pro tempore is well aware, in January of 2002, a Canadian Pacific train derailed 31 of its 112 cars in Minot, North Dakota. Five tank cars carrying anhydrous ammonia, a liquefied compressed gas, catastrophically ruptured, and a toxic vapor plume covered the derailment site and surrounding area. More than 11,000 people were impacted, and there was one fatality. More than 300 people were injured, including two members of the crew. Damages in that event exceeded $2 million, and more than $8 million has been spent for environmental cleanup efforts. Mr. Chairman, just last week in Painesville, Ohio, about a mile from my district office, a CSX train derailed 30 of its 112 cars. A car containing ethanol exploded and fire engulfed several cars containing grain and ethanol. It burned for a number of days. More than 1,000 residents were evacuated, schools were disrupted, and roads, highways and businesses closed. Fortunately, in our event there were no injuries, but it was a tremendous disruption in the lives of many people. The six law enforcement agencies and 24 local fire departments that responded put in an untold number of overtime hours. Officials are only now evaluating the environmental fallout as they search for a cause. To its credit, CSX Rail has stepped up following this incident. They are paying for hotel rooms of displaced persons, assisting in a variety of manners with the recovery and cleanup efforts, and have shown that they are willing to take responsibility when something goes awry. Our local responders and CSX worked together and provided a seamless response in Painesville. Mr. Chairman, I am also happy to announce that following my conversation last Friday with Tony Ingram, the chief operating officer of CSX, the company has offered to work to cover the costs incurred by our local first responders. I greatly appreciate that and know that this is going to be a huge relief to cash-strapped communities in my district whose budget cannot handle the overtime. While CSX is doing its best to minimize the damage this derailment has caused, it goes to show that when accidents do happen, this disruption is enormous. We must do everything that we can to prevent these types of incidents from occurring. The bill that Mr. Oberstar has brought forward today before the Congress takes a number of steps in the right direction. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the subcommittee chairman, Mr. Cummings from Maryland, for bringing this important measure to the floor in such a bipartisan way. I enjoy continuing to work with the chairman on a variety of matters that affect the Coast Guard and our Nation's maritime industry. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 549, which recognizes the importance of America's Waterway Watch program in enhancing our Nation's maritime security. America's Waterway Watch was established by the Coast Guard to encourage America's 70 million recreational boaters to report suspicious activity in the maritime environment to local law enforcement agencies. The program is a nationwide initiative that is similar to the Neighborhood Watch program that is so effective in many of our neighborhoods back home. Through America's Waterway Watch program, the Coast Guard, the Coast Guard Reserve, and the Coast Guard Auxiliary are actively educating the public on actions and behavior that constitute suspicious activities. These outreach efforts are being made in cooperation with our Nation's recreational boaters, marine dealers, marinas, and other businesses located near waterways. America's Waterway Watch program acts as an important force multiplier for Coast Guard and local law enforcement and enhances the capabilities of local and regional security programs. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the resolution's sponsor, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), and all of the other cosponsors for rightly recognizing this important community program. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of the Members of the House to support this resolution. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I yield back the balance of my time and urge adoption of the resolution.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I would advise my friend, the distinguished chairman of the subcommittee, that we have no additional speakers, and if he is prepared to yield back, I will yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I thank the chairman. At this time, it is my pleasure to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the author of the resolution.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Les C. Vinney, a resident of the 14th Congressional District of Ohio, who retired at the end of September from his position as President and Chief Executive Officer of STERIS Corporation in Mentor, Ohio. Mr. Vinney joined STERIS as Chief Financial Officer in 1999, and from July 2000 through September 2007 he served as President and CEO. Mr. Vinney presided over a period of unprecedented growth at STERIS, including a growth in revenue of more than 50 percent, a near quadrupling of stock values, and a rise in employment in Mentor from fewer than 400 employees to almost 1,000. Mr. Vinney has innovatively led the way at STERIS, transforming it from primarily a healthcare company to one that has adapted its proven technologies for new markets. Most significantly, he established STERIS's Defense & Industrial Group to adapt and market STERIS's technologies to help businesses and government address the risks of biochemical contamination. Following the anthrax attacks in 2001 that closed down much of Washington--including my congressional office--STERIS successfully completed the cleanup of State Department and the General Services Administration's mail processing facilities. Since then, he has briefed me regularly as STERIS has successfully conducted collaborative research and development work with the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center to adapt and modify STERIS's Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide (VHP) technology for use against biological and chemical warfare agents. Mr. Vinney is keenly aware that military applications can be applied to other settings, and has helped grow STERIS into a model for military, public and commercial applications of its technologies. The cutting-edge VHP decontamination system can be used to kill bacteria, viruses and spores in settings from operating rooms to jets, and was even used after Hurricane Katrina. Beyond his work with STERIS, Les is a civic leader as well, and has served as Chairman of the Northeast Ohio Technology Coalition, an organization promoting economic and technology development in Northeast Ohio. He's also served on the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, University Hospitals, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, and as a past chairman of the Lake County United Way Campaign. Outside Ohio, he also serves on the boards of Campbell Soup Company and the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed). I wish Les the best in his retirement, and know how much he is looking forward to spending more time with his wife, Linda, and their family. On behalf of the 14th Congressional District of Ohio, I congratulate Les on all of his fine work, and thank him for his leadership for Northeast Ohio and the nation.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlelady for yielding, and I rise today to support the manager's amendment and to offer my thanks to the chairman of the full committee, Chairman Frank. About a year ago in Ohio we had a 500-year event, and a lot of places that had never flooded, flooded. And what we found was that the current structure of the National Flood Insurance Program indicates that if the primary insurance, if there is a finding that it is underinsured, there is a penalty that attaches to it. It further goes on to say that if the penalty attaches and you don't pay out the limits on the first policy, you can't reach the secondary insurance. We had people in our hometown that basically did what they were supposed to do; they bought the secondary insurance, they were fully insured. The condominium owners association, however, was underinsured, and therefore we didn't reach the policies. The chairman joined with me in August in writing to FEMA to see if we could administratively reach some resolution. Sadly, we were unable to do that, and my thanks to Chairman Frank for including in his manager's amendment today something that not only reaches my constituents, because apparently that would be some kind of illegal earmark, but it reaches all people in the country that find themselves so afflicted. So my thanks to the chairman.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

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

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I yield to the ranking member of the subcommittee.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I want to thank the chairman of the full committee, Mr. Oberstar, and the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Costello, together with the ranking member of the full committee and subcommittee for working with me on this amendment. The chairman of the full committee is fond of saying that the civil aviation system in the United States is the safest in the world because under his leadership, and with the work of others, we have built in an amazing amount of redundancy. Redundancy not only deals with the equipment that flies in the air, the air traffic control system; but it also relies upon the fact that you need to have sufficient capacity should there be a disaster, or weather, or other things. As a result of this amendment, if this amendment is agreed to, we will make sure that northeastern Ohio continues to have sufficient capacity in its civil aviation system. I urge the passage of the amendment and would be happy to yield to the chairman of the full committee.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the dean of our delegation for authoring this resolution. I also want to thank our Democratic friends from Ohio and Members from other States who I see gathering on the floor. Mr. Speaker, there is no way to describe today's news about our friend, Paul Gillmor, other than shock, a devastating loss to his family, to his friends, his colleagues, Ohio and our Nation. Unlike a number of the other members of the Ohio delegation, I didn't come to Congress through the Ohio legislature, and so I didn't serve with Paul in the Ohio legislature, although I knew of him from Republican gatherings around the State of Ohio, he also was my mom's Congressman. She always told me the story about how excited the people were who were up in Lakeside, Marblehead and the Islands that Congressman Gillmor was going to come up and share his thoughts. But I didn't have the chance to work with him until I arrived here about 13 years ago. What I found was what I had heard, and that was that Congressman Gillmor was a hardworking, smart legislator who loved his family, loved his friends, loved this institution and the people he served. He was willing to take the time to show a young freshman around back in 1995. He was willing to share his vast knowledge of financial services with those that didn't quite have the same expertise. If you were having a sadness or a joy in your life, he was willing to share in that. And he was a wonderful fellow to sit and have dinner with. And after dinner, he was a wonderful fellow to sit around with and tell war stories. And over the course of the years, many of those stories were exaggerated with the passage of time and also the failing of memory, but it was always a good time. I was reminded by my staff, because I want to talk about Paul's family, but I also want to talk about Paul's other family. And my staff reminded me, when they learned of Paul's passing today, that we were neighbors in the Longworth Building, and my staff told me how lucky we were to have a neighbor whose staff was always willing to walk us through another clueless day in the 104th Congress. And how you could always walk into the lobby, and how he taught us about constituent services because you would always find a bowl of Dum Dum suckers because the Spangler Candy Company was located in Bryan, Ohio, which was in the Congressman's district. Our Ohio delegation is poor today with the loss of our friend, neighbor and mentor, Paul Gillmor. Our thoughts and prayers are with Paul's wife, Karen, his five wonderful children, and also, Mr. Speaker, with his Capitol Hill family, many of whom have been with him for many, many years and who miss him very badly today.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of our time. General Leave

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. LaTOURETTE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, H.R. 2722, the Integrated Deepwater Program Reform Act, makes significant changes to the Coast Guard's Deepwater program and will reform the way that the Coast Guard oversees, manages, and carries out the program as the service takes on the lead systems integrator responsibilities. I want to add my thanks on the floor tonight and appreciate the cooperation of Chairman Oberstar and Chairman Cummings to consider both at the subcommittee and during the full committee markup amendments from our side of the aisle to improve the bill through the markup process. The bill that we are considering today is the product of several oversight hearings and has been developed under the regular order in both the subcommittee and full committee markups. I want to thank both chairmen for their efforts to develop this bill in a truly bipartisan manner Madam Speaker, I appreciate the cooperation of Chairman Oberstar and Chairman Cummings to consider amendments from my side of the aisle to improve this bill through the markup process. The bill that we are considering today is the product of several oversight hearings and has been developed under the regular order in both Subcommittee and Full Committee markups. I thank both Chairmen for their efforts to develop this bill in a bipartisan manner. Our Subcommittee has held four hearings to oversee the Deepwater program over the past six months, and we have delved into the problems that have troubled this critical acquisition program. This bill addresses many of the areas that were identified through our oversight process. This bill will provide the Coast Guard with the framework to turn the program around and to support the successful acquisition of enhanced vessels, aircraft, and systems necessary to carry out the service's many missions. However, I do want to point out that despite problems with some Deepwater program--most notably the failed 110 to 123 conversion, the program has had successes. Most importantly, the improved communications between shore, sea and air assets have already led to improved operations. I also want to note that not all of the program's problems result from contracting issues. The program has never been funded at the level the Coast Guard determined it needed to carry out the program in the timeframe it described. Unfortunately, it appears those funding shortfalls will only get worse in the coming fiscal year. In fiscal year 2007, $1.1 billion was appropriated to carry out the Deepwater program. For fiscal year 2008, the Administration sought $837 million for the program, the House has provided $698 million, and the Senate has approved an amount of $770 million. At those levels, acquisitions of new ships and aircraft will be further delayed, meaning that ready- to-be-retired legacy ships and planes will be kept in service longer. Those assets will, in turn, incur higher maintenance costs further reducing the funds available to acquire new assets. The bill before us today improves the organization and administration of Deepwater and seeks answers to questions about the implementation of the program. However, if Congress and the Administration continue to fail to seek and provide funds at the level planned for, then Deepwater has no chance of meeting its targets and goals. While this bill will not solve the problems that result from funding shortfalls for the Deepwater program, the bill will give the Coast Guard adequate time to build its in-house staff and capabilities to the level necessary to successfully assume the lead systems integrator role and to put in place arrangements to acquire additional personnel and expertise from the private sector and other Federal agencies. This is a necessary programmatic change. I support this bill and urge all Members to approve H.R. 2722.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 735 designates a Federal building under construction at 799 First Avenue, New York, New York, as the Ronald H. Brown United States Mission to the United Nations Building. Ron Brown was born in Washington D.C., grew up in New York City, and had a distinguished career and exemplary life. This is a good piece of legislation Ron Brown was born in Washington, DC and grew up in New York city. After attending Middlebury College, he commanded several units in the United States Army and served with distinction. Following his service in the Army, Ron Brown attended St. John's Law School. After finishing law school, Ron Brown began a career as a lawyer and a lobbyist. He served as chief counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee under the chairmanship of Senator Ted Kennedy. In addition, he chaired the Senior Advisory Committee of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and was an elected member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Ron Brown's career culminated in his appointment as Secretary of Commerce by President Bill Clinton. Tragically, his life ended abruptly while on a trade mission to Croatia in 1996. Secretary Brown was an accomplished politician and diplomat. I would like to note that after the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure marked up this bill, the State Department raised concerns about setting the precedent of naming a U.S. Embassy. I hope the chairman could work with the State Department to resolve this issue before this bill is signed into law. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I want to thank the distinguished ranking member for yielding, and I want to thank the body for its indulgence as we wrap up this important debate. I want to describe and discuss an amendment I was going to offer but did not and some of the reasons for it. Contained in this bill is a $2 million earmark for the Parker Hannifin Company of Cleveland, Ohio, for the hybrid drivetrain program. I am not going to offer the amendment for three very important reasons. One is the earmark was requested by my good friend and neighbor, Congressman Tim Ryan; two, in doing research on the hybrid drivetrain program, it is a good one, and three, Parker Hannifin is a great company that I am going to talking about in a minute. But my amendment would have redirected the $2 million from the hybrid drivetrain program to their plant in Eastlake. Parker Hannifin has announced their intention in the near future to close a plant in Eastlake, Ohio, and cause the loss of 177 jobs. Most of the folks that work there have been working there for a number of years and are members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. But I want to talk a little bit about Parker Hannifin and why I am not offering the amendment and then have a request at the end. Parker Hannifin Company was started in 1918 by a guy named Arthur Parker. Just to show you how some of our entrepreneurs have had tough experiences, in 1919 there was a truck accident that wiped out the entire inventory of the company, and he had to go back to another job. He started again; and at the height the Depression, he bought an auto plant in 1935 in the City of Cleveland, and then during the height of World War II, employed 5,000 people in Cleveland, Ohio, supplying the war effort. The war ended. Mr. Parker died. Again, the defense contracts dried up. It looked like there wasn't going to be any progress for the company. His widow said no, and they continued to reinvest in northeastern Ohio and northeastern Ohio continued to reinvest in them and they rewarded them as well. Today, they are a $10 billion company employing 50,000 people worldwide. My simple request is, I am not going to ask to redirect this money to the plant in Eastlake, Ohio, but as this bill moves forward, I would hope that we can continue to talk to the folks in Cleveland and Parker Hannifin, because if you think about this $2 million, some of those 177 machinists who potentially will lose their jobs paid into the Federal Treasury some of the money that comprises this $2 million that is going to the hybrid drivetrain project, and I hope that we are able to resolve this in a way that we not only have the new technology for fuel efficiency that comes from the hybrid drivetrain technology, but given northeastern Ohio's solid commitment to this company since 1918, that they take that into consideration as we move forward and they make tough decisions in this global economy as to whether or not these jobs remain in northeastern Ohio. Again, I very much thank the ranking member and the chairman for their indulgence.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I speak on this motion with the greatest respect for the gentlelady from Tennessee. But I would say that in my prior life, before coming to the Congress I was a prosecuting attorney, and I was responsible for sending a lot of people to prison. I also had a responsibility to go down and visit people that I'd sent to prison. And I remember the first visit that I made down to one of the prisons in Ohio, and there's these trustees outside the prison gates with white stripes on the side, and they were given trusted positions within the prison. And I said, who are the trustees? How do you get to be qualified to be a trustee? And they said, well, they're murderers. And I said, what do you mean, they're murderers? They said, they're murderers. What we find is that in the crime of murder, most murders in this country are committed in crimes of passion, a husband murders a wife, a wife murders a husband, a boyfriend and so forth and so on. But they are also the least likely people to ever commit crime again. And what concerns me about the requirement of receding to the Senate provision in this is that it ignores the opportunity for rehabilitation. It ignores the opportunity that people make mistakes, and they're not a threat to national security, and they can be good productive people. They can work in our ports. And I am concerned that murder is one of the automatic disqualifiers. I am also concerned that the other list of crimes that have waiting periods of 5 to 7 years, they have nothing to do, in my mind, with terrorism or port security. And I am all for a system where the Secretary or even in law the Congress of the United States says, you know what, if you committed a crime of violence we're going to take an extra look at you; but to be automatically disqualified, either forever or for a considerable period of time, I think disturbs me. I intend to vote against the motion. I respect the gentlelady's opinion and why she's brought this motion, but sadly, I can't agree with it.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. To the distinguished chairman of our full committee, I just want you to know how well your staff is taking care of you today. As we were calling up the bill, knowing you were traveling back, I didn't know you were coming from Appalachia, but Mr. McCarragher came over and said, ``Could you talk as long as possible so we can get the chairman back here?'' And now I don't have to do that, so I don't think I will need the full 5 minutes. I do want to remark on the ARC, Madam Speaker. No one can stand up and say that the vision of John F. Kennedy implemented by legislation in 1965 by Lyndon Johnson has not been a wonderful success in dealing with the abject poverty of the Appalachian region. The chairman rightly talked about the infrastructure part of our committee's assignments. But one of my favorite hearings, when I had the pleasure of being the chairman of the subcommittee, is when the ARC stakeholders would come in and talk to the Republicans and Democrats on the subcommittee. And aside from industrial parks, aside from roads, aside from bridges, aside from safe drinking water, they beamed with pride about how their graduation rates had improved and how the young people in their region were now taking pride in the education they were receiving, and they were graduating from high school at record numbers, something that would not have happened had it not been for the ARC. I came to the floor this afternoon to specifically thank the chairman of the full committee, Mr. Oberstar, and also the chairman of the subcommittee, Ms. Holmes Norton, together with Mr. Graves and Mr. Mica. One of John F. Kennedy's most oft quoted quotes is: ``A rising tide lifts all boats.'' And so Congressman Tim Ryan and I looked around and we saw, boy, everybody around us, to the east, to the south, to the west, seems to have participated wonderfully well in the Appalachian Regional Commission. And if you put a map of the Midwestern United States up, there's only a few little white squares, and they are regions that Congressman Ryan and I represent, Ashtabula, Trumbull and Mahoning County. We had a discussion with Chairman Oberstar during the course of the markup of this legislation, and it seems that Congressman Ryan and I weren't the only ones interested in this. And as a result of those discussions, Chairman Oberstar has added 13 additional counties to the purview of the Appalachian Regional Commission. So I came down today, Madam Speaker, to thank the chairman for working with us. And I firmly believe that the addition of these three counties in Ohio, together with the 10 counties located throughout the region, are going to permit our people in transitional counties to benefit the same way as other counties have benefited since 1965.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

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

Mr. LaTOURETTE. First of all, Mr. Chairman, I want to compliment you on the way you have conducted this debate. In happier times I had the privilege of being where you are, and I have to tell you, you have done a tremendous job and I appreciate it very much. I am pleased to offer this amendment with my friend, a colleague from Cleveland, Ohio, Congressman Kucinich. This amendment basically recognizes what I think that every Member of this House should recognize: that the implementation of the passport travel requirements in the Western Hemisphere has been a disaster. The State Department and Department of Homeland Security made an estimate, and they have been swamped. My constituents call me on a regular basis saying that they have applied for passports 12, 14, 20 weeks. They don't have their passports. Their trips are canceled. And this is a bad thing. You would think in the face of that track record that perhaps we wouldn't go to phase 2. Phase 2 says that we need to have documents as we cross the border by land into Canada. Where Congressman Kucinich and I are from, we go through Detroit or Buffalo and the southern border as well. But that hasn't been the case. On Friday the two agencies announced, reluctantly, that, you know what? We have got it wrong, and as a result we are not going to require passports for air travel to the Caribbean or to Canada anymore, and that a photo ID will be sufficient. However, even with this chaos, the administration has vowed that it will move forward with phase 2 on January 1. Now, I want to commend the chairman of the Rules Committee, Congresswoman Slaughter, for the work that she has done to put in this bill triggers that say maybe we don't have it right. Let's do some pilot programs and things of that nature. But those provisions were put in this bill before this disaster happened. And I don't assume that I am the only Member of this body that has received angry phone calls from their constituents and say, you know what? Maybe, maybe, we just need to slow it down. So this is a complete prohibition. It says to the Department of Homeland Security in this bill, and we will do it again in the State Department bill, saying we gave you until June of 2009 to get this right, to come up with the Pass card, to come up with whatever you are going to come up. But please, please, don't do this to our constituents on January 1, 2008. Mr. Chairman, at this time it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to my good friend and colleague from Cleveland, Ohio, Congressman Kucinich.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I thank my colleague.