John Mica

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Am I allowed to give Mr. Oberstar 2\1/2\ minutes or 3 minutes?

Mr. MICA. I have at this time no further speakers. I will reserve the balance of my time for my closing remarks and whatever time that Mr. Oberstar chooses to take, or if he needs additional time, I will be glad to assist him.

Mr. MICA. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. Let me just conclude by again thanking folks. Around this place it is very difficult to bring new ideas forward. I've said in the past that sometimes trying to get a new idea through Congress is like giving birth to a porcupine. I can't say that this has been the easiest task we have undertaken, but we have given birth today to a new idea. And the answer is not to just say ``no,'' or to zero out a program that is so essential to this country. The answer is to come up with a positive solution, a positive solution for energy. And today, again, when gas is $4.05 a gallon, this gives some little hope, but it is probably the biggest thing that we are going to do. And it will have the greatest positive impact on America's environment and its energy needs of anything we have done this session. So I am pleased at this time to yield time to Mr. Oberstar. How much time do I have remaining?

Mr. MICA. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Constantino Brumidi, who has been referred to as the Michelangelo of the United States Capitol Building. It is appropriate that Congress honor his incredible contributions to our Nation by awarding him the Congressional Gold Medal. On July 26, 1805, Constantino Brumidi was born in Rome, Italy of an Italian mother and a Greek father who inspired him with a love of liberty. While Constantino Brumidi's Greek ancestry stirred his passion for liberty and citizenship, his Italian heritage provided the art styles of the Renaissance and the Baroque which influenced the artwork of the U.S. Capitol. Constantino Brumidi became a citizen of the United States as soon as he was able, embracing its history, values and ideals. Beginning in 1855, Constantino Brumidi designed and decorated one House and five Senate committee rooms in the Capitol, as well as the Senate Reception Room, the Office of the Vice President and most notably, the President's Room, which represents Brumidi's supreme effort ``to make beautiful the Capitol'' of the United States. In 1865, Constantino Brumidi completed, in just 11 months, his masterpiece, ``The Apotheosis of Washington,'' in the eye of the Capitol dome. In 1871, Constantino Brumidi created the first tribute to an African American in the Capitol when he placed the figure of Crispus Attucks at the center of his fresco of the Boston Massacre. In 1878, Constantino Brumidi, at the age of 72, and in poor health, began work on the Rotunda frieze, which chronicles the history of America. On February 19, 1880, Constantino Brumidi died at the age of 74, four and a half months after slipping and nearly falling from a scaffold while working on the Rotunda frieze. Constantino Brumidi, proud of his artistic accomplishments and devoted to his adopted country, said: ``My one ambition and my daily prayer is that I may live long enough to make beautiful the Capitol of the one country on earth in which there is liberty.'' Madam Speaker, Constantino Brumidi's life and work exemplifies the lives of millions of immigrants who came to pursue the American dream.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Madam Speaker, on Saturday, May 17, 2008, 102 Volusia County veterans from the Second World War visited our Nation's Capital as part of the Honor Air program. The trip was made possible through the Rotary Clubs of Volusia County and with the support of sponsors and the 49 Guardian escorts. It was my pleasure to assist in hosting the veterans during their visit to our Nation's capital. They first stopped at the World War II Memorial to pay tribute to their fellow patriots. In the first visit for all of the servicemen, it was a moving occasion. It was an emotional moment as these heroes stood among the stone columns, fountains and pools that comprise the Memorial. In the afternoon, the Volusia veterans paid their respects at Arlington National Cemetery. Veteran leaders and I had the privilege to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in a solemn tribute to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. The day concluded with visits to the Woman in Services Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and the Iwo Jima Memorial. As the Congressman from Florida's Seventh Congressional District, it was my honor to play a part in our Volusia County heroes' visit. I would like to acknowledge former U.S. Senator Bob Dole, a fellow World War II hero and Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England who both graciously addressed the group. I ask that the United States House of Representatives join me in expressing our appreciation to the 49 Guardians, who through a sense of duty and at personal expense, escorted the World War II veterans on that memorable day. The May 17, 2008 Volusia Honor Air Guardians included: Joesphine D. Alexander; Stephen E. Alldredge; Jerry L. Autry; Jerry L. Autry, Jr.; Peter D. Bauer; Roger B. Baumgartner; Ken Bradley; Melina Brannon; David Franklin Brannon II; William Herschel Breneman III; Michael W. Brooks; Joseph Bryant; John F. Cheney; John H. Childress; Leslie Stafford Coggins; Robert L. Doyle II; Geoffrey E. Felton. Thomas B. Fleishel; William B. Flowers, Jr.; Thomas R. Fowler; Eleanor Gustavsson; John Jeffrey Harting; Raymond H. Heffington; Robert Michael Hill; Randall Jackson; Ben F. Johnson; Russell L. Kelton; Candace Lankford; Gerald H. Lyons; Jeffrey A. Malmborg; Jefferson J. Mancinik; William C. Mancinik; James Mazurak; Clair Roach Metz. Charles Paiva; Albert J. Razzetti; Alessandra Razzetti; Joseph Frank Rudolph; Thomas D. Smith; Brad Strickland; Theodore J. Surynt; Donaldson Paul Taylor; Carolyn Ganntt Teal; Parke Statford Teal; Kevin Thomas; Warren A. Todd; Alexander B. Veech; Gery Walker; and Douglas Allen Wedekind.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5658, which provides funds for the Sonobuoy Flight Vehicle. I am requesting funding in the FY09 Defense Authorization bill, Navy RDT&E account for the Sonobuoy Flight Vehicle, manufactured by Sparton Electronics, located at 5612 Johnson Lake Road in DeLeon Springs, Florida 32130. The deteriorating condition of the aging P-3 Orion fleet and the recent termination of the S-3 Viking program have resulted in fewer manned airborne ASW platforms available to the Navy's surface forces. While full operational capability of the new P-8 Poseidon is not expected until 2017-2020 or beyond, Navy surface combatants are in urgent need of a low cost, organic system to rapidly deploy acoustic sensors at a distance from the force. SFV capability will be critical where there is a deficiency in organic airborne ASW assets, or in the littoral in situations where a hostile coastline poses a threat to manned ASW aircraft. This is the first year funding will be needed to begin the research and development phase of this project. There will be no cost share, as this project is being developed for the Navy. Requested government funding of $2.6M for the Sonobuoy Flight Kit will achieve the following: 1. Detailed design of SFV and system components. 2. Land- based flight trials verifying overall system performance, including range, speed, and endurance of the SFV. 3. Complete a production tooled design capable of supporting LRIP testing. 4. Design and fabricate a compact ship-based launch mechanism for use on LCS or other surface combatants.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5658, which provides funds for the Gateway System. I am requesting funding in the FY09 Defense Authorization bill, Navy Procurement account for the Gateway System manufactured by Ocean Design, Inc., located at 1026 North Williamson Boulevard in Daytona Beach, Florida 32114. The $3 million authorized in the Navy's Procurement budget is to provide funding to the Navy for the purchase of the Gateway System that has been under development by the Navy to provide a fixed surveillance system in meeting the Nation's Maritime Domain Awareness security requirements. This is the first year procurement money will be used to fund this project. There will be no cost share, as this project will benefit the United States Navy. The U.S. Navy has a requirement to defend the maritime approaches to the United States and monitor the littorals as articulated in the Navy's 2006 National Strategy for Maritime Security. The Gateway System is an open architecture system that allowed for sensors to be connected covertly to monitor activity on the ocean floor, from the ocean floor to the surface of the water, and above the water to provide awareness of all activity to counter mines, submarines, water traffic, and terrorism that may pose a threat to the fleet and to the United States.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, the Democrats have had control of the Congress now for a year and a half. We are still waiting for an energy plan. We are going to celebrate Memorial Day this weekend. We are still waiting for an energy plan. What have the Democrats done so far as an energy plan? Well, let's just take a look at it. This is a spoon from the House cafeteria. They bought this spoon at great expense to the taxpayers, and it is a green spoon. In fact, it melts in your coffee. This is Exhibit 1. What have the Democrats done when gas is $4? Well, go down to the gift store and you will see these Green the Capitol bags. So now we have, at greater expense to the taxpayer, printed these little Green the Capitol bags. Now what is the centerpiece of their energy policy when you're going to pay $4 a gallon and more around the country for gasoline? They are going to change the light and green the light on the top of the Capitol. Just the study, I'm told, is going to be $800,000, and then millions of dollars. And $4 gas.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Madam Speaker, on Saturday, May 17, 2008, 102 Volusia County veterans from the Second World War will visit our Nations Capital as part of the Honor Air program. For each of these central Florida veterans this will be their first opportunity to see the World War II Memorial. As the Congressman from Florida's Seventh Congressional District, it will be my privilege to assist in their visit. As part of their mission to Washington, DC, I will join them in laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery to honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our Nation. This will be a special occasion in the lives of our World War II veterans. It will be my pleasure to welcome the first Honor Air visit from central Florida. I ask that the United States House of Representatives join me in recognizing Our Greatest Generation from Florida's Seventh Congressional District and wish them well as they gather in America's Capital City. It is my privilege to honor the service and sacrifice of those veterans who will be visiting our Nation's Capital on May 17, 2008: Berkley E. Adams; Robert W. Anderson; Melvin Arnold; Frank R. Balzer; George A. Bass; Jacob R. Beard, Jr.; Edwin L. Best; Vernon B. Bly; Imon F. Boarman; Alfred G. Boykin; Melvin Burgess; Kenneth P. Burnette, Jr.; Lewis H. Buzzell, Jr.; James Callahan; Charles Carafano; Duncan S. Chamberlin; John F. Cheney. Lawrence E. Cheshire; Ralph H. Chesser; Francis H. Clifton; Odbert H. Cornwell; Edmund D. Covington, Jr.; Otis R. Daniels; William J. Dreggors, Jr.; Ernest S. Eckhardt; H. Leslie Ferrell; Charles Finlayson; Jack F. Fortes; Kenneth E. Fowler; Richard B. Fuquay; Homer Goff; Richard A. Gray; David F. Greenawalt; H.L. Guthrie; Hayden K. Hale. Dorothy E. Halevy; Georgene E. Hall; Chester V. Hamilton; Edward M. Hampton; Edward L. Herendeen; Wayne Holby; George R. Holden; Paul Hornbaker; Lawrence J. Hubbard; Vera L. Hubler; Russell W. Hunt; Daniel Jarczynski; Eddie Jenkins; Erling Johnson; Irving Kelton; Joseph R. Killeen; Jess Knight; John A. Konrad III. Claude G. Labranche; Edwin L. Lazarus; Ernest Lee; William F. Litke; Richard Macak; Robert B. Marriett; Evelyn Mazurak; Clifford E. McCalley; William R. McKenzie; Evert Mills; Max W. Minear; Frank R. Nicolo; Chester W. Nixon. John C. Nuttall; William Orr; Robert L. Orwig; Priscilla I. Pagano; Charles Paiva; Earle H. Palmer; Harold Parson; William F. Patterson; Harold N. Pelton; Robert F. Pennington. Edward J. Perry; Omar Pritchett; James P. Ragan; John Rokop; John K. Ross; Sam Roth; James E. Sankey; John A. Seeders; Bill W. Sharp; Richard A. Shaw; Phillip Sheak; Leonard Slater; Margaret E. Snowdon; Stephen M. Straight; Robert V. Talley; Margaret S. Terbeek; Angelo Todarello; John C. Toenjes; George V. Tucker; Alexander B. Veech, Jr. Gordon L. Ward; Richard H. Westervelt; Delmar E. Whipple; Donald W. Whynot; John W. Williams. I know I join countless Americans who continue to recognize their heroism and their families' incredible sacrifice to our Nation.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, talking to folks in the district last night in a telephone town hall conference and visiting with folks in my district, they want to know what Congress is doing about gas prices and energy prices. People are struggling as they try to fill up their gas tank. They're struggling when they go to the store and see inflated food costs. And so far, we haven't seen any results from Congress. Now the other side of the aisle, the Democrats, are in charge, they've been in charge. They said they were going to take over and they would have a plan. The Speaker, the then leader on the other side, said they would have a plan. Where is the plan? Gasoline prices when the Democrats took control were just a little over $2. Now they're reaching $4 in some areas. Where is the plan? The only plan I've seen is the $870,000 plan to replace the light in the dome of the Capitol, a 200-year payout. Where is the plan? People in America want to know where the plan is and how we're going to reduce gas prices for them and food prices for them.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. As we consider before the House H.R. 1195, I want to express my support for this legislation. And, first off, I'd like to thank the chairman of the committee, Mr. Oberstar, for his work and efforts, for his staff; Mr. DeFazio, who chairs the Highway Subcommittee; and also Mr. Duncan on our side of the aisle. Now, I know that this bill's being here didn't come by accident. As you heard, this has passed the House at least four other times. A great deal of credit for the achievement in bringing this legislation forward also must go to the former Chair of the committee, the distinguished gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young). Mr. Young worked closely with Mr. Oberstar in crafting legislation to deal with some of the needed changes that were necessary. When you pass a, I think it was, $286 billion transportation and highway transit authorization bill, there are always technical corrections that are needed. It's almost impossible to pass a bill of that magnitude with that many numbers, that many projects, and not come back and make adjustments, both in some of the formulas that are required and also in some of the requests from Members. So this is part of the process. One of the most important things, as people also ask us what we are doing to move the economy forward, I think it's absolutely essential that our transportation and infrastructure projects move forward. And without this legislation that cannot be possible because, again, of some of the drafting requirements under the July, 2005, SAFETEA-LU bill that was passed. So here we are, the fifth time the House of Representatives will pass this legislation. It should be on its way to the President. As you heard, this legislation passed in the 109th Congress. It passed in the 110th Congress. Under the leadership of Chairman Young and then ranking member of the committee Mr. Oberstar, it moved forward, and now we have it in this Congress. The technical corrections in this bill have been clearly identified by the Department of Transportation and also by State Departments of Transportation and are mostly a conforming nature or correcting drafting errors. Again, a huge bill with many provisions. The largest section of the bill, section 105, makes changes to 386 high-priority projects in section 1702 of the SAFETEA-LU bill. These changes address surface transportation projects that cannot be executed as they are currently drafted in the current law, again, that we passed back in July of 2005. And, of course, next year we will be doing another bill, and that's why it's so important that we get this on the President's desk as soon as possible so that these technical changes clarify who the recipients are and project descriptions and make corrections that in some instances will increase project funding levels and decrease others to achieve budget neutrality. There are many Members of Congress in the House and Senate who have written to our committee or to the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works or the Banking Committee in the Senate supporting specific projects and policy corrections. These requests have been submitted, I believe, through an open and transparent process. On my side of the aisle, I've tried to keep all of these requests public, available to the press, and, again, in a very transparent manner for everyone to see what has been requested, what the projects are, and who has requested them. In this legislation there are 150 corrections made at the request of Senators, 197 corrections made at the request of House Democrats, and 138 corrections made at the request of House Republicans. I support this legislation. It's necessary, again, to move these projects forward to stimulate our economy and build our Nation's infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. Might I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. In closing for our side, again I want to thank Mr. Oberstar and Mr. DeFazio and Mr. Duncan, who spoke previously, and Mr. Young, the previous Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Let me just respond to a couple of items here. First of all, I want to join Mr. Oberstar. Both of us worked very hard and intently with the Governor of Virginia and with the delegation from Virginia, the Northern Virginia congressional delegation. I am so delighted to see that the extension of the Metrorail will continue out to Dulles. It is expensive, folks. It is not going to get any cheaper. If you are looking at solutions to help the environment and deal with congestion, that is one of them, and we have to move forward. I am very pleased, and I thank the gentleman for his efforts and our joint efforts in making that possible. We are all joined together by one common denominator in transportation, from sea to shining sea: We face congestion everywhere, in small towns, middle-sized towns, metropolitan areas. This bill, more than any other legislation that we will do this year, will move projects forward. Now, there has been some criticism that this changes earmarks or redefines some earmarks. Yes, it does. These are congressional earmarks, and I say from our side of the aisle, I can tell you that we have done everything we can to make this process transparent, open, and have Members publicly state what their intent is. So I feel good about what we have done. I can't control what the other body does. Mr. Oberstar can't either. But we have done our best to vet these projects and move the interests of this country, which is building and moving the infrastructure of this country forward. This legislation will do that. I urge Members to support this legislation. Now, I know it does have a provision in here that does allow the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation on one of the projects. The leadership of the House and Senate and Mr. Young and others have agreed to move forward with this. I don't think it sets a good precedent, because the House and Senate should be the judge of their own Members under the Constitution. Be that as it may, I will still support this bill, move forward with the process, and we will try to do our best to keep America moving forward with its infrastructure and transportation projects, which is absolutely vital to our economy at this time. I ask Members to support this legislation, and again thank all those involved. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. May I inquire as to how much time our side has?

Mr. MICA. I do have other speakers. I would be pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake).

Mr. MICA. I would like to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman who heads up the Highway Subcommittee on our side, our ranking member, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan).

Mr. MICA. I would like to yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young).

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, one of the members of our committee, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mack) has requested time, and I would like to yield him 2 minutes.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank our ranking member, Mr. LaTourette, for yielding time to me, and I am pleased to speak on an important reauthorization measure, and that's reauthorization of our Coast Guard. Unfortunately, I'm told that even if we pass this bill today, and it will not be passed in totality, it still must be conferenced with the other body, that this authorization is only good through the end of this fiscal year. And, unfortunately, this reauthorization has been delayed, and we will find ourselves back at the beginning gate, starting gate, so to speak. That's one of my disappointments. First, though, before I get into my disappointments, let me commend, first of all, our ranking member, Mr. LaTourette. He's worked tirelessly as the Republican leader of the Coast Guard Subcommittee to try to bring this reauthorization legislation together. He's taken some absolutely terrible proposals that first came out and made them much, much better, and I commend Mr. LaTourette for his hard work on this and trying to reach compromise. I also compliment Mr. Oberstar, my counterpart in the committee, heads up the Democrat side, our chairman, for his efforts to try to bring about bipartisan compromise on the legislation. Mr. Cummings, the chairman of the Coast Guard Subcommittee, has worked with our ranking member. So I thank all of them. Their efforts have been good, and I'm going to cast a vote in favor of this to move the process forward, and I think that's incumbent in my particular position to try to continue to make the bill better. This is a good reauthorization start. I do have two major concerns that I want to say that I am not pleased with, the administration is not pleased with, and I think the United States Coast Guard is not pleased with. First of all, I have opposition to two provisions. Let me speak about the first one, and one you heard a lot about, the safety regime that's created in this bill. Unfortunately, this particular provision, while it may sound good that the safety is being addressed, it really destroys the command and control function that is so essential in a national security agency. Now the Coast Guard's primary responsibility is one of national security. It's also safety, but it is first and foremost, a national security agency. And this regime sets up an unprecedented bureaucracy. It also destroys the command approach that we have had in our services. In fact, it would prescribe the duties, qualifications, and set up a chain of command of senior Coast Guard officials. This represents an extraordinary intrusion upon the service chiefs' authority to command and control a branch of the Armed Forces and, ultimately, the ability of the Secretary and the President to deploy the Coast Guard in an emergency. Now this isn't just my evaluation. This is the Coast Guard, this is the administration, the President's evaluation of what the current language would do. Unfortunately again, we still have this provision that needs to be worked on, and we need to make certain that national security, the ability to command and control a branch of the armed services is not damaged. The second reason that I have concern about this legislation is that unfortunately, the waterside security provisions here that relate to liquefied natural gas terminals and liquefied natural gas tankers requires the Coast Guard to provide security in a manner that is contrary to the existing assistance framework and also at odds with assisted risk-management practices. In simple layman's terms, what's happening is right now when we're having a difficulty of getting a supply of natural gas, and gas prices are soaring. People are seeing natural gas prices reach record levels. We're creating more redtape, more impediments and setting up another regime in which we will limit the supply and also actually create more impediments to getting the supply so the cost can go down and the people who have access to probably one of the best sources of energy has the least amount of damage of any of the fossil fuels to our environment. So those are my two concerns. But, again, I'm going to support the measure. I'm hoping that through conference, we can make the bill much better, that we can address the command regime that's set up here in a new safety bureaucracy, that we can also make certain that we have a supply of liquefied natural gas, access to liquefied natural gas and also bring the prices down for the consumer who's under incredible pressure right now trying to pay bills, meet the costs of increasing energy. So those are my concerns. Again, I want to thank all of the members who've worked on this in the committee, the ranking member Mr. LaTourette, Mr. Oberstar, and Mr. Cummings for their efforts.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding. It's unfortunate that we're here today to consider an important piece of legislation, our Coast Guard reauthorization, and it's also unfortunate we're discussing the rule under which that legislation will be brought to the floor, and that's a closed rule. Unfortunately, this is the first time in at least 20 years that this Coast Guard reauthorization has been considered under a closed rule, not an open rule. I think it's particularly unfortunate that this year, when the Democrat leadership has chosen to restrict debate on this important legislation that has a number of important provisions, including a provision to provide a transportation worker identification card and straighten out some of the problems we've had in trying to get a single transportation worker identification card at our ports and other facilities that we can use. I had an amendment that would have allowed my State of Florida, and other States, a simpler method of obtaining an FBI background check on port workers than is currently available. It would also have saved port workers the cost of paying for the same background check twice. I brought here the TWIC card. We've been waiting since 2002 for this TWIC card, Federal card. We still don't have this card. In fact, the irony of this is they allowed several amendments; one to allow any identification, there's going to be an amendment that's put in order. I can use my driver's license in the interim. Then there's another amendment that they allowed to allow them to enroll for a TWIC card 24/7. The ironies of not allowing something to have a State, again, work with the Federal Government and even go beyond the requirements like Florida does in trying to look at the background, the criminal background of the individual. So that's been eliminated, and my opportunity to present that, from this rule and consideration of this legislation. Also, I'm going to take great exception with this bill because of some other restrictions they put on. Bringing in liquefied natural gas. Natural gas prices are soaring. Prices are high, and this bill creates more red tape, more impediments, and actually will reduce the supply and increase the cost to the consumer out there who's trying to pay those expensive bills for energy. So this bill does nothing for energy. And it takes a trusted port worker, transportation worker card and makes a continual farce out of the whole process, and not allowing a reasonable relationship between the State and Federal Government.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. I want to thank Ranking Member Ehlers and others for working on this bill. I join in opposition to the legislation. First of all, let me say, my colleagues, there's nothing more important than the integrity of the election process in the United States and confidence that all Americans would have in making certain our system of election is secure. But let me tell you, folks, this is compounding error and mistake Congress made, and here it is on Tax Day, 2008, that we're going to commit another two-thirds of a billion dollar mistake. I sat on House Administration that oversees elections. I was there in 2000 when we had the problems in Florida with the hanging chads. We've all heard of the hanging chads. And everybody rushed here, and every vote's got to count; we've got to spend taxpayer dollars and make sure that every vote is counted; and we're going to put in a system, and we have to make it look like we're doing something to make certain that system's secure. Now, we listened to the witnesses and they came before House Administration and they told folks that an electronic voting system, which would cost billions of dollars to implement, would have the possibility of error and just about the same percentage of error if you choose a lever, if you use a hanging chad ballot, if you use optical scan, if you use a paper ballot. And you can mess up any of those elections. They told us. And then everybody rushed down. They voted it out of committee. We passed it. We spent $2 billion or $3 billion to put in place a system that they told us, well, somebody can pull the plug, the electronic thing doesn't work. Duh. Somebody can come up with some sort of electronic device. Even one of these might set it off and you might get some results. They told us there might be errors, and they told us they didn't have a paper trail. Duh. So here we are putting in place the system. On Tax Day, spend another two-thirds of a billion dollars. Keep working out there, Americans. Send it here because they'll spend it in some dumb fashion, and this follows that. Now, we do want the system to work, but there are errors in everything. You heard them talking about the scan. I went down and sat all night and watched the scan voting. It's simple. You just take a pen and you fill in the space. My God, I couldn't believe, hundreds of people, they put X's all the way around, they circled optical scan. They could screw up any kind of a ballot. A paper ballot. Actually I'm told that the old levers are probably the best, that we took out for $2 billion or $3 billion worth of hard- earned taxpayer dollars and replaced with these electronic machines which now we're coming to correct. But they still have the same rate of error. I guess it never stops around here. But here we are again spending that money on another whim. But we'll do it.

Mr. MICA. I didn't get a chance to say this, but there is a quote that I think should be part of the record. And the quote is: ``An informed electorate is the cornerstone of democracy and an educated electorate.'' And that's what we need to do. And they make errors. Folks make errors. They just don't circle one and it's very clear. I'd love to bring the ballots here. Sometime I'll have to do that to show you how people can mess it up. But an informed electorate is the cornerstone of democracy. And, yes, we need to do all we can to make certain that they're provided with all the assistance from the Federal level to make certain that we have a fair, open, honest election.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Madam Speaker, I rise today with great sadness to honor the life of a good friend, outstanding Florida and community leader State Representative Don Davis. Don passed away after a brave battle with cancer on April 10, 2008. He represented part of St. Johns County and Florida's First Coast since 2000. Those who knew him as their Representative in Tallahassee and the People throughout the State of Florida who worked with him lost one of its most capable and dedicated public servants. He served his Nation as a decorated Korean War veteran. He served his community as a true gentleman and someone who was respected by everyone who was honored to know him. Before representing the people of Jacksonville in the State Legislature, Don was elected to the Jacksonville City Council and was elected several terms as president of the council. His leadership and great sense of humor were special hallmarks by which he will always be remembered. Colleagues remember Don as always willing to lend a helping hand in no matter how big or small a task. Don was devoted to his community as a leader in the American Cancer Society, the Florida Theatre, The First Tee of Jacksonville, Prisoners of Christ, and other organizations. Born in Okemah, Oklahoma, he attended the Los Angeles City College (1949-1950), University of Redlands (1950), and the University of California-Los Angeles (1959). The Jacksonville area, the State of Florida, and our Nation has lost a wonderful and distinguished leader. To his wife, Alice, and two sons, Donald Jr. and Dean; and on behalf of the House of Representatives, we extend our deepest sympathy.