Ed Markey

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to begin by first thanking my good and great friend, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton), for that wonderful opening statement and to the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin), to the great Member of Congress from the State of Michigan (Mr. Dingell), the dean of the entire House of Representatives, for his wonderful work on this legislation, and to all the Members who participated in the formulation of this excellent piece of legislation. I want to thank all of them for their help in putting this bill together today. The goal of this legislation is to establish a policy mechanism that may assist the Federal Government in reallocating airwave frequencies from the Federal Government to the Federal Communications Commission. Ensuring the best use of such frequencies for the public is a vital function of both the National Telecommunications Information Agency and the Federal Communications Commission. The bill we bring to the House floor this morning proposes the creation of a fund derived from FCC auction revenue to pay the military and other Federal users for moving out of particular bands of frequencies. Establishing such a mechanism when and if the FCC chooses to license certain government frequencies through auctions may bring greater certainty to the process and may also speed along the availability of certain frequencies. In addition, one issue that we will need to continue to focus on is the necessity of ensuring that the money raised is spent wisely and with adequate oversight. We have returned to an era of Federal budget deficits for as far as the eye can see and, as a result, this is a very important issue. The bill does contain improved oversight and reporting provisions to guard against cost overruns by Federal entities that seek to use money in the Spectrum Relocation Fund, but this process will likely need ongoing review as the bill is implemented. I want to commend the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton), and the gentleman from Louisiana (Chairman Tauzin) for their work in this area. Second, it is important to note that today's bill puts in place a new policy for Federal spectrum reallocations. It does so through establishing a Federal fund derived from auction proceeds to compensate the Federal users for the costs associated with moving out of their current frequencies. One issue that arose during the committee consideration of this bill is that this new policy is only operative in circumstances when an auction actually occurs. I think it is important to recognize that in the future certain frequencies utilized by Federal entities may be reallocated by the Federal Communications Commission, yet not licensed through auctions. They may be for public safety, noncommercial uses, shared frequencies, or unlicensed use such as the so-called WiFi technologies. In other words, in order to ensure the highest and best use of such frequencies for the public, the FCC may seek to allocate or assign such frequencies without auctions. In recent years it has become evident that one of the telecommunications sector's economic bright spots has been unlicensed applications such at WiFi. Ensuring that we have a policy in place to permit the Federal Communications Commission to continue to promote unlicensed spectrum is important. But in addition, retaining the historic flexibility for the Federal Communications Commission to allocate frequencies for both commercial and noncommercial use is something we should safeguard, even as we put in place a new policy to compensate Federal users for the costs of moving out. We do not want the absence of an articulated policy for unlicensed use, shared use, public safety use, or noncommercial use to be construed as compelling the FCC to use auctions whenever it intends to move a Federal user to another frequency band. I am pleased that the legislation contains a provision that I authored in this policy area. First, the provision safeguards the FCC's historic authority to allocate frequencies as the public interest is deemed to be best served. Second, it also directs the National Telecommunications Information Agency to develop reports on various policy options to compensate Federal entities for relocation costs when such entities' frequencies are allocated by the commission for unlicensed public safety, shared or noncommercial use. Finally, I believe that when the Federal Communications Commission does decide to proceed with auctions as a means of granting licenses for use of the public's airwaves the public deserves to reap the benefits of the sale of licenses to its airwaves. These benefits should not only manifest themselves in the offering of new commercial services or the temporary infusion of cash into the Federal Treasury as under current law. I have proposed in H.R. 1396 that the public should also enjoy the dividends that can be reaped by reinvesting auction money into a Digital Dividends trust fund. This fund would generate interest, and that interest could be used in the form of grants to promote educational technology projects, public safety telecommunications initiatives, software R&D, teacher training, and digitizing for online access the important cultural assets held in our Nation's libraries and museums, among other initiatives. Investing surplus auction revenues in this manner is a wise investment. It supports the educational infrastructure of our country. It will help to better prepare our citizens for an information-rich, knowledge-based economy. An educated citizenry is indispensable to our democracy. Educating citizens so that they possess the necessary digital skill set that they will need in order to compete in a modern global economy will make us a more secure, more productive country for the generations to come. Again, I want to thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Chairman Tauzin), the gentleman from Michigan (Chairman Upton), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), and all of the Members who have helped to construct this very progressive legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns), the principal cosponsor of this legislation.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask that the House of Representatives take this opportunity to honor Gerard Doherty, a man who has dedicated his enormous talents and unlimited energy to public service and charitable ventures throughout his life. Gerard Doherty is an exceptional leader in Charlestown, in our Commonwealth of Massachusetts and throughout our Nation. Mr. Doherty is one of the founders of the John F. Kennedy Family Service Center. He serves as a member of the Boston Public Library Foundation, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and the Suffolk University Board of Trustees. He is remembered on Beacon Hill as one of our most respected members of The Great and General Court, where he was elected to four terms as State Representative from Charlestown. Because of his efforts to improve educational opportunities for children, Gerard Doherty has received numerous awards including an honorary doctorate degree from Our Lady of the Elms College. And Mr. Speaker, when I return to my alma mater of Malden Catholic High School to attend a basketball game, I take great pride in walking through the doors of the Gerard and Marilyn Doherty Gymnasium, dedicated in the name of MC's most beloved couple. Gerard Doherty has also placed his indelible mark on national politics. He served as a close and trusted advisor to President John F. Kennedy, Presidential Campaign Director for both Senator Robert F. Kennedy and President Jimmy Carter and Campaign Manager for Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor one of the Bay State's most famous sons on his 75th birthday. Gerard Doherty's commitment to public service and community philanthropy has made an immeasurable impact in his community, in our State and throughout our Nation.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, Memorial Day is the beginning of the season when American families take their children to our amusement parks for a day of fun and sun. Unfortunately, it is also the case that over 75 percent of the serious injuries suffered on these rides occur between the months of May and September. Most of America thinks that the rides at these parks are subject to oversight by the nation's top consumer safety watchdog--the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC.). But this is not true. The industry used to be subject to federal safety regulation, but in 1981 it succeeded in carving out a special-interest political exemption in the law--the so-called Roller Coaster Loophole. It is time to put the safety of our children first--it is time to close the Roller Coaster Loophole. Today I am introducing the NATIONAL AMUSEMENT PARK RIDE SAFETY ACT, to restore safety oversight to a largely unregulated industry. I am joined in this effort by Representatives George Miller, Bill Pascrell, Barney Frank, Frank Pallone, Richard Neal, Jan Schakowsky, Jim McGovern, Carolyn Maloney and John Tierney. support for the bill We are supported in this endeavor by the nation's leading consumer- protection advocates, including Consumer's Union, the Consumer Federation of America, the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, Saferparks.org, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Moreover, the nation's pediatricians--the doctors who treat the injuries suffered by children on amusement park rides--have endorsed our bill. According the American Academy of Pediatrics, ``a first step to prevention of these injuries is adopting stronger safety regulations that allow for better inspection and oversight of the fixed-rides.'' the problem with state-only regulation ``Fixed'' or ``fixed-site'' rides are found predominantly in destination theme parks. When an accident occurs on such rides, the law actually prevents the CPSC from even setting foot in the park to find out what happened. In some states, an investigation may occur, but in many, there is literally no regulatory oversight at all. And no matter how diligent a particular state might be, there is no substitute for federal oversight of an industry where park visitors often come from out-of-state; a single manufacturer will sell versions of the same ride to park operators in many different states; no state has the jurisdiction, resources or mission to ensure that the safety lessons learned within its borders are shared systematically with every other state. rides can kill, not just thrill Although the overall risk of death on an amusement park ride is very small, it is not zero. Fifty-five fatalities have occurred on amusement park rides in the last 15 years, and over two-thirds occur on ``fixed- site'' rides in our theme parks. In August 1999, 4 deaths occurred on roller coasters in just one week, ``one of the most calamitous weeks in the history of America's amusement parks,'' according to U.S. News and World Report: August 22--a 12-year-old boy fell to his death after slipping through a harness on the Drop Zone ride at Paramount's Great America Theme Park in Santa Clara, California; August 23--a 20-year-old man died on the Shockwave roller coaster at Paramount King's Dominion theme park near Richmond, Virginia; August 28--a 39-year-old woman and her 8-year-old daughter were killed when their car slid backward down a 30-foot ascent and crashed into another car, injuring two others on the Wild Wonder roller coaster at Gillian's Wonderland Pier in Ocean City, New Jersey.) Since that week, there have been six more fatalities on amusement park rides, including an 11-year-old girl just over two weeks ago at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Every one of these is an unspeakable horror for the families. It is simply inexcusable that when a loved one dies or is seriously injured on these rides, there is no system in place to ensure that the ride is investigated, the causes determined, and the flaws fixed, not just on that ride, but on every similar ride in every other state. The reason this system does not exist is the Roller Coaster Loophole. Every other consumer product affecting interstate commerce--a bicycle or a baby carriage, for example--endures CPSC oversight. But the theme park industry acts as if its commercial success depends on remaining exempt from CPSC oversight. As a result, when a child is injured on a defective bicycle, the CPSC can prevent similar accidents by ensuring that the defect is repaired. If that same child has an accident on a faulty roller coaster, no CPSC investigation is allowed. That's just plain wrong. fatalities per mile compared to trains, planes, buses and autos The industry attempts to justify their special-interest exemption by pretending that there is no risk in riding machines that carry human beings 70, 80 or 90 miles an hour. The rides are very short, and most people are not injured. But in fact, the number of fatalities per passenger mile on roller coasters is higher than on passenger trains, passenger buses, and passenger planes. The National Safety Council uses a standard method of comparing risk of injury per distance traveled. As can be seen from the following table, riding on a roller coaster is generally safer than driving a car, but is not generally safer than riding a passenger bus, train or airplane: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fatalities Fatalities

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, last October I voted for the Bush resolution on Iraq. The reason I did is the President said he wanted to stop Saddam Hussein from obtaining a nuclear weapon, that we were going to stop him and anyone else in the world from the capacity to develop nuclear weapons. The message the Republicans are sending to the world today is that nuclear weapons are usable. If the Russians send nuclear weapons to the United States, shoot them at us, every Trident submarine we have has up to 100 nuclear weapons on it. Russia will be destroyed in 1 day. But if we use one nuclear weapon in Baghdad, in Damascus, in P'yongyang, we will send a signal to dozens of countries in the world that nuclear weapons are usable, and that will destroy our moral and political credibility to end the spread of weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons, on this planet. This is the most important vote we are going to have, and I urge an ``aye'' vote on the Tauscher amendment so that we fulfill the commitment of those who voted on the resolution to support a war with Iraq in order to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time. The bunkers which the Republicans want to drop these nuclear bombs on are in the middle of Baghdad. They are in the middle of P'yongyang in North Korea. These bombs, these nuclear bombs, are bigger and more powerful than the bombs we dropped on Hiroshima. We are like those that would preach temperance from a barstool. We cannot tell the other countries in the world that nuclear weapons are unusable if we are at the same time saying that one can use them, that one can be successful and that one can win if one drops nuclear weapons in the middle of the most densely populated cities in the world. We just brought Iraq to its knees in 3 weeks using conventional weapons. The signal the Republicans are sending is that nuclear weapons are usable and they are usable in the middle of cities where bunkers are being built. And they are wrong, and it is immoral for our country to be taking this step.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, we are not going to be debating star wars, the missile defense program, out here on the House floor. Now I made a request to the Committee on Rules that they put in order an amendment which I wanted to make which said that the missile defense system cannot be deployed until it is proven to work. In other words, the old defense test that you have got to fly before you buy. And that applies to every other weapons system, but it is not going to apply to missile defense. They want to deploy it even before they have proven that it works. Now the interesting thing is that it is kind of a fantastical concept, but the Missile Defense Agency has actually put together, I am not kidding you, a Missile Defense Agency coloring book which they pass out to schools so they can help kids to understand how this system, which they do not want to test before it flies, will work. They actually have crayons that go with it. I am not kidding you. But unfortunately it says ``Made in China'' on the crayons, which means we should color this part Red in the book for the Red Chinese that we are going to deploy the missile system to protect ourselves against. Then you reach the next part of the little coloring book, Ronald Reagan, who we can color red, white and blue, a great patriot who really believed in this system. He always did. But unfortunately it has yet to be proven to work. So that is red, white and blue. Next we have the ground-based mid-course defense. Unfortunately, the incoming missile has to yell ``yoo-hoo'' at the rest of the world so that it can be shot down by the Defense Department. So we can color that black. Finally, we have the airborne laser in the cartoon which is supposed to be on a plane. But the plane is so weighted down that it cannot fly, so we can color that gold for gold-plated for the Defense Department. None of this will be debated on the House floor, although they have taken the time to give us a missile defense coloring book so we can all play out here on the floor rather than debate the national defense of our country.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, I would like to use that 1 minute to compliment the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel) for his amendment and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Everett), because we clearly have a meeting of the minds here that there should be an ongoing accounting of what is going on in the area of dismantling of these weapons in the former Soviet Union. The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel) I think has put his finger on a very real defect that exists in the current system. By ensuring that there will be an accounting scheme that is put into place, I think that we are going to be able to much more quickly advance the goal of nuclear nonproliferation. I thank the gentleman for making his very important amendment.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, it's been said that the French drink champagne only when they're happy or when they're sad. Otherwise, they never touch it . . . unless they're thirsty. This is kind of like the Republicans' approach to tax cuts. Republicans propose tax cuts when the budget is in surplus. They propose tax cuts when the budget is in deficit. Otherwise, they never propose tax cuts . . . unless they're thirsty for more giveaways for the rich. President Bush took office with a projected $5.6 trillion budget surplus and the Republicans immediately called for a huge tax cut. Now the Republicans have turned that surplus into what will be a $4.0 trillion budget deficit by 2011, and they are still calling for a huge tax cut. Republicans have violated the First Law of Holes, which is ``When you're in one, stop digging.'' Although the war in Iraq has ended, but President Bush has dropped his own version of the MOAB--the Mother Of All Budgets--on the American economy. Unlike the Army's MOAB, the Bush MOAB devastates the Medicare program and the Social Security trust fund. The Bush MOAB pounds the Social Security and Medicare trust funds for the Greatest Generation who built this country. The Bush MOAB shells funding for health care for America's veterans. And the Bush MOAB obliterates education funding for our children and jobs for Americans out of work. As the Bush administration and this Republican Congress drop a MOAB on the American people and our economy, they are also air dropping bottles of champagne on the wealthiest individuals and corporations in our country who will be the primary beneficiaries of this selfish and unprecedented tax cut. Because according to the GOP, there is no bad time for a tax cut--if you ask a majority of Americans, they'll tell you that in a devastated economy at a time of war, it is IMMORAL to cut taxes for the wealthiest at the expense of the poorest Americans. We should be putting funds aside to help care for the estimated 14 million Americans who will have Alzheimer's by the middle of the century, the more than 1 million people who suffer from Parkinson's Disease, or the 30,000 Americans afflicted with Lou Gehrig's Disease. We should be putting funds aside to care for the Baby Boomers, who will be retiring in huge numbers at the end of the decade. This group will soon begin drawing an estimated $25 trillion in Social Security and Medicare benefits, which are currently unfunded. This Republican tax cut and Bush MOAB blows up our country's fiscal future and the potential for our government to take care of those who built this country and fought for this country.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois and the gentleman from South Dakota for their support for this resolution. The entire Massachusetts delegation appreciates the recognition which these couple of days have played in the history of our country, and over in the Senate, Senator Kennedy was able to pass the identical resolution, because it does mean a lot to Massachusetts and to Maine, as both States celebrate this day as a holiday. But it also means a lot to our country, because it was a shining moment in the history of the United States, because it was the beginning of the most enduring, free, and democratic experiment in the world. These were, after all, Minutemen, people who left their homes to fight an enemy from abroad, much like our Army reservists, our National Guardsmen are doing right now. These are the original Minutemen, the original guards, the original militia that fought to protect our country. On April 19 in 1775, the American colonists in Lexington, in Concord, in Medford, in Arlington, in Lincoln, and in ``every Middlesex village and town rose'' up to claim their inherent right to govern themselves, free of the whims of the English king. While this day is already celebrated as a State holiday in both the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and in the State of Maine, and the national significance of the events surrounding the ``shot heard 'round the world'' is unquestioned, the recent establishment of a national day of remembrance on September 11 as ``Patriot Day'' has understandably confused some Americans regarding ``Patriots' Day'' in April. Today's resolution helps remind everyone that while we now observe a solemn moment in our country's history every September 11 in honor of the victims of that terrorist attack, the freedoms which we cherish had their origins more than 2 centuries ago. And the legacy of those fateful spring days in April of 1775 define the core of our American character. The words are etched into the brains of every American school child and they resonate still: ``One if by land, 2 if by sea! Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. Here once the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard 'round the world.'' It is the foundational poetry of a free people, the remembrance of our roots, and it is the inspiration for the annual proclamation of Patriots' Day, both in Massachusetts and Maine, and similar observances in many other States as the schools, historical societies and other organizations devoted to the living memory of American milestones make a special effort to relearn the lessons of the past as a guide to an uncertain future. So today, we ask the House of Representatives to unite in celebration of Patriots' Day, a day of soaring significance not just to our own free people, but to people everywhere who aspire to a system of government that respects the rights and the liberties of all of its citizens. Mr. Speaker, I will include for the Record at the conclusion of my remarks the poem ``Paul Revere's Ride'' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and ``The Concord Hymn'' by Ralph Waldo Emerson. First, I would just carry on a little bit further than the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) did with his reading of ``Paul Revere's Ride,'' although I will not read it in its entirety. His voice is something that I think does greater justice to the poem than I could possibly hope to attempt, but I will very briefly just remind people of that great poem. Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the 18th of April, in seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, ``If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower as a signal light,-- One if by land, two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm. So through the night rode Paul Revere, and so through the night went his cry of alarm to every Middlesex village and farm; a cry of defiance and not of fear; a voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, and a word that will echo forevermore. For born on the night wind of the past, through all of our history to the last, in the hour of darkness, in peril and need, the people will wake and listen to hear hurrying hoofbeats of that steed and the midnight message of Paul Revere. This was the beginning of our country, and it is appropriately commemorated both by the celebration of Patriots' Day and by this resolution today. I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) for his work, and I thank the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Janklow) once again for his eloquent words on this subject. I include for the Record the poems ``Paul Revere's Ride'' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and ``Concord Hymn'' by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The poems referred to are as follows: Paul Revere's Ride (By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, ``If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower as a signal light,-- One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm.'' Then he said ``Good-night!'' and with muffled oar Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore, Just as the moon rose over the bay, Where swinging wide at her moorings lay The Somerset, British man-of-war; A phantom ship, with each mast and spar Across the moon like a prison bar, And a huge black hulk, that was magnified By its own reflection in the tide. Meanwhile, his friend through alley and street Wanders and watches, with eager ears, Till in the silence around him he hears The muster of men at the barrack door, The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet, And the measured tread of the grenadiers, Marching down to their boats on the shore. Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, By the wooden stars, with stealthy tread, To the belfry chamber overhead, And startled the pigeons from their perch On the sombre rafters, that round him made Masses and moving shapes of shade,-- By the trembling ladder, steep and tall, To the highest window in the wall, Where he paused to listen and look down A moment on the roofs of the town And the moonlight flowing over all. Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead, In their night encampment on the hill, Wrapped in silence so deep and still That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread, The watchful night-wind, as it went Creeping along from tent to tent, And seeming to whisper, ``All is well!'' A moment only he feels the spell Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread Of the lonely belfry and the dead; For suddenly all his thoughts are bent On a shadowy something far away, Where the river widens to meet the bay,-- A line of black that bends and floats On the rising tide like a bridge of boats. Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere. Now he patted his horse's side, Now he gazed at the landscape far and near, Then, impetuous, stamped the earth, And turned and tightened his saddle girth; But mostly he watched with eager search The belfry tower of the Old North Church, As it rose above the graves on the hill, Lonely and spectral and sombre and still. And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height A glimmer, and then a gleam of light! He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight A second lamp in the belfry burns. A hurry of hoofs in a village street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet; That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night; And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, Kindled the land into flame with its heat. He has left the village and mounted the steep, And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep, Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides; And under the alders that skirt its edge, Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge, Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides. It was twelve by the village clock When he crossed the bridge into Medford town. He heard the crowing of the cock, And the barking of the farmer's dog, And felt the damp of the river fog, That rises after the sun goes down. It was one by the village clock, When he galloped into Lexington. He saw the gilded weathercock Swim in the moonlight as he passed, And the meeting-house windows, black and bare, Gaze at him with a spectral glare, As if they already stood aghast At the bloody work they would look upon. It was two by the village clock, When he came to the bridge in Concord town. He heard the bleating of the flock, And the twitter of birds among the trees, And felt the breath of the morning breeze Blowing over the meadow brown. And one was safe and asleep in his bed Who at the bridge would be first to fall, Who that day would be lying dead, Pierced by a British musket ball. You know the rest. In the books you have read How the British Regulars fired and fled,-- How the farmers gave them ball for ball, From behind each fence and farmyard wall, Chasing the redcoats down the lane, Then crossing the fields to emerge again Under the trees at the turn of the road, And only pausing to fire and load. So through the night rode Paul Revere; And so through the night went his cry of alarm To every Middlesex village and farm,-- A cry of defiance, and not of fear, A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, And a word that shall echo for evermore! For, borne on the night-wind of the Past, Through all our history, to the last, In the hour of darkness and peril and need, The people will waken and listen to hear The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed, And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, today my colleagues from Massachusetts and I are introducing identical resolutions in both the House and the Senate that celebrate a shining moment in the history of the United States, the beginning of the most enduring free and democratic experiment in the world. On April 19, 1775, the American colonists in Lexington, in Concord and in ``every Middlesex village and town'' rose up to claim their inherent right to govern themselves, free of the whims of the English king. While this day is already celebrated as a state holiday in both the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of Maine, and the national significance of the events surrounding the ``shot heard `round the world'' is unquestioned, the recent establishment of a national day of remembrance on September 11 as ``Patriot Day'' has understandably confused some Americans regarding ``Patriot's Day'' in April. We introduce this resolution not in any way to diminish ``Patriot Day,'' but only to remind our colleagues and the public that ``Patriot's Day'' continues to serve every year as a reminder of the origins of the freedoms we enjoy today. So this year we ask all Americans to join us in celebrating Patriot's Day, 2003, to be celebrated on Monday April 21. As a reminder of this day, I am including excerpts from Longfellow's ``Paul Revere's Ride'' and from Emerson's ``The Concord Hymn'' Paul Revere's Ride ``Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, ``If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower as a signal light, One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm . . .'' So through the night rode Paul Revere; And so through the night went his cry of alarm To every Middlesex village and farm, A cry of defiance, and not of fear, A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, And a word that shall echo for evermore! For, borne on the night-wind of the Past, Through all our history, to the last, In the hour of darkness and peril and need, The people will waken and listen to hear The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed, And the midnight message of Paul Revere. The Concord Hymn By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood And fired the shot heard round the world. The foe long since in silence slept; Alike the conqueror silent sleeps; And Time the ruined bridge has swept Down the dark stream which seaward creeps. On this green bank, by this soft stream, We set today a votive stone; That memory may their deed redeem, When, like our sires, our sons are gone. Spirit, that made those heroes dare To die, and leave their children free, Bid Time and Nature gently spare The shaft we raise to them and thee.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Boehlert). (Mr. BOEHLERT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

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

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr).

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. It seems to me that if there is a real concern about appropriating money up to the full $3.4 billion level that is authorized in the underlying energy bill that is supported on a bipartisan basis here on the floor today, at least that part of the bill, then the best thing that we can do is to make it clear to the appropriators that each of us wants that level to be reached in the appropriations process. The gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Pickering) and I are circulating a letter to Members to ensure that, not like last year where all the appropriators could find was $1.8 billion, but this year they find $3.4 billion so that the cold-weather States and those hot-weather States, whether it be Massachusetts or Mississippi, any other State in the Union, all are able to be fully funded under this low-income program. And I think that that is the only realistic way in which we are going to be able to ensure that we do take care of this problem. Because ultimately the appropriators are left to their own discretion in terms of how much money they want to appropriate for any program, and I am just afraid that with the war in Iraq, with the looming budget deficits that are just skyrocketing, perhaps as high as $500 billion this year, that this language just will not do the job in terms of getting them to take care of this very important program.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, then I reserve that right to close. I am the remaining speaker.

Mr. MARKEY. And what is the order of close on this amendment?

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, may I ask how much time is remaining?

Mr. MARKEY. I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, the good news about the bill itself is on a bipartisan basis, the legislation which we have before us actually does authorize $3.4 billion for the LIHEAP program, which is great news. It is something that essentially reflects the bipartisan support which exists for this program on both sides of the aisle, and we do not really have a debate over that at all. The amendment by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson) asks the Committee on Appropriations to use this money that may be raised from leasing in the Arctic, but they do not have to abide by that, and that is the bottom line in terms of the bite that this amendment would have on anything that the appropriators would do. It should be noted by Members that there is in fact no binding effect which the amendment would have in terms of increasing the actual appropriations that would be set aside for the low-income program. Unfortunately, over the years, the appropriators have always fallen far short of the dollar amount that our committee has authorized to be spent on the low-income program.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 2\1/2\ minutes. Mr. Chairman, when is 2,000 acres, not 2,000 acres? Well, it is when we are talking about the Wilson amendment. This amendment does not mandate that the 2,000 acres be contiguous or that we count roads necessary for production or the gravel mines necessary to build the roads and the pipelines necessary to move oil to market. It would only count when their support posts touch the ground. This is accounting that would make Arthur Andersen very proud. I have a poster which shows my colleagues what proponents of this amendment want us to believe will happen in the Arctic refuge. Here is the red dot placed randomly on the 1002 area of the Arctic refuge, what we are all debating about. The dot is intended to mislead us into believing that its impact on the refuge would be very small. None of us, of course, knows exactly what the industry would do if we let them loose in the refuge because drilling and producing oil is a messy, inexact, unpredictable business. One thing we know for sure is that it would not look like a nice, neat, red dot on a white background. The overlay is much more realistic in terms of what we can expect. This is taken from a 1987 environmental impact statement of the Department of the Interior, the same environmental impact statement the underlying bill says is good enough for starting a leasing program. As we can see, it is not a red dot. It represents impacts estimated by the Department of the Interior spreading over 130,000 acres to 303,000 acres, one-fifth of the entire 1002 area, not a 2,000-acre dot. This shows the pipelines needed to get the oil out of the refuge, the feeder lines to the wellheads and the impact area around the facilities. The surface area is extensive and stretches across the entire refuge. It shows oil extraction the way it appears when it is a serious mineral extraction exercise. Now, just so the listening audience can have an idea as to how much 2,000 acres is, the entire New Jersey Turnpike, 12 lanes, going 100 miles through the entire State of New Jersey, is 1,800 acres. The entire New Jersey Turnpike. Put the entire New Jersey Turnpike, 12 lanes, across 100 miles of this Arctic Refuge. That will give my colleagues an idea of what 2,000 acres looks like. And lest anyone believe that is still a pristine area, they do not understand that oil and pristine wilderness do not go together.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from the State of Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson).

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, yes, I would like to claim the time in opposition.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.