Jim Moran

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, number one, when is the best time to eliminate a program other than before it gets fully established? So I think it is important to follow the committee's recommendation. The second thing is that we know that the police have asked for stables. Once they establish stables, the costs goes up; the program is more established. We have got more investment. Now is the time to kill it. Consolidate it with the Park Police. I fully agree with the committee's recommendation. I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. I appreciate the gentleman's suggestion. I think we will pursue it in that manner rather than trying to find some legislative solution.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mrs. Ruby FitzGerald, a resident of Virginia's Eighth Congressional District that I am proud to represent. Mrs. FitzGerald has truly been a pillar of public service, devoting her career and herself to the betterment of our community. There are citizens who by their perseverance alone decide to make a difference, and she is certainly one. Perhaps Mrs. FitzGerald's most significant influence on the citizens and residents of the City of Alexandria comes from her two decades of volunteer service to public safety. Mrs. FitzGerald first began volunteering at the Alexandria jail, teaching art to inmates there. Later, in 1986, Mrs. FitzGerald volunteered for the Alexandria Police Department, working in the Crime Prevention Unit. Since the Volunteer Program was formalized in 1989, Mrs. FitzGerald has donated more than 7,000 hours of service to the police department. In her regular assignment, Mrs. FitzGerald has handled hundreds of phone calls from people requesting crime prevention tips, neighborhood safety and information about youth programs. Because of her contribution of time and knowledge, citizens and business people received helpful assistance and crime prevention officers were free to be out in the community, conducting security surveys and increasing police presence. Mrs. FitzGerald's service was showcased in May of 2002 by United States Attorney General John Ashcroft. When Attorney General Ashcroft appeared in Alexandria to launch the ``Volunteers In Police Service'' (VIPS) initiative, he specifically recalled Mrs. FitzGerald's service and devotion, recognizing her volunteer work as an example for others to follow. In addition to her exceptional service to the police department, Mrs. FitzGerald organized an annual holiday party for children in need. For years, as part of the Alexandria Crime Prevention Council, Mrs. FitzGerald collected gifts and coordinated a holiday event for the city's young people. In 2000, Frances Becker of the Carpenter's Shelter, Northern Virginia's largest homeless shelter, wrote of Mrs. FitzGerald, ``You went above and beyond with your generosity and truly made each and every child feel the love and generosity of the Christmas holiday. We are so fortunate to have angels like you.'' Mrs. FitzGerald has been her neighborhood's lead organizer for National Night Out since it was started. Her local neighborhood street, Summers Drive, is always one of the best organized National Night Out events held in the city. Lastly, Mrs. FitzGerald worked on the Crime Prevention Month display at Landmark Mall when the Crime Prevention Council was working on that event. The council hosted this event for several years, discontinuing it only when the mall attendance was getting low. As if her work for the police department and children weren't enough, Mrs. FitzGerald has set up annual blood drives at police headquarters for as long as anyone can remember. She worked closely with the Red Cross and recruited dozens of donors every time. Mrs. FitzGerald is one of those incredibly gracious and modest people who give to others for the truest of reasons, because she really, really cares. Mr. Speaker, the people of Virginia's Eighth Congressional District are losing Mrs. FitzGerald as she returns to her home state of Montana. That state is fortunate to inherit a gem of a person. We wish her the best of luck in all of her future endeavors, and thank her one last time for blessing our community.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Just to respond to the points that were made, first of all, I agree that our soldiers like the weapon. I want them to continue to be able to use it. And this, of course, does not restrict their usage. I just do not want it to get into the enemies' hands. And I think that the gentleman does not want terrorists being able to buy these. Al Qaeda has purchased 25 of them. To respond to the gentleman from Iowa when he said that any number of guns could disable a commercial jet aircraft, to complete the quote, it can disable a modern jet aircraft from over a mile away. That is the point of it. These are unparalleled weapons. I am not trying to restrict them in the United States. They can have these U.S. clubs for .50 caliber guns. I just do not want them sold by arms dealers. We know that is what is happening, and they are getting into the hands of our enemy. In a day when we see reports about people being arrested on public property because they were photographing public buildings, on the one hand, and then on the other hand we are allowing these weapons to be sold to terrorists? No. It is okay to sell them to a government, but not to these private individuals who are going to turn around and sell them to the terrorists. There are certain things that we need to adjust to after 9/11. We are in a war against terrorism. Why would we go along with arming the opposition? So I think much of the argument that has been made supports our contention that we ought to ban the export of these to nongovernmental entities. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request. (Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I cannot understand why, without passing the Maloney amendment, we punish millions of women throughout the Third World. Our annual $34 million contribution could prevent 2 million unintended pregnancies; 800,000 induced abortions; 4,700 maternal deaths, and most of them are young girls that have no control over their lives; and 77,000 infant deaths. That is what we should be doing. This should not be about China. This should be about the Third World.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today to offer an amendment that would strengthen current State Department policy regarding the export of .50-caliber sniper rifles. Under this amendment only official government entities would be allowed to purchase these weapons through the export process. The language of the amendment would simply prevent export to any nongovernmental entity; in other words, the arms dealers that bought 25 of them for al Qaeda and the representatives of the IRA and the KLA. The .50-caliber sniper rifle is in a class by itself. A weapon of war, the Army Handbook on Urban Combat states that the .50-caliber was designed to attack both fuel tanks and other impenetrable targets. It is considered able to penetrate all but the heaviest shielding material from up to a mile away. This high-powered antimateriel weapon has even been touted by its manufacturers in advertisements that it is capable of disabling or destroying a modern jet aircraft. I quote from Barrett Firearms Manufacturing. In their advertisement, they say, ``The cost- effectiveness of the .50-caliber sniper rifle cannot be overemphasized when a round of ammunition purchased for less than 10 U.S. dollars can be used to destroy or disable a modern jet aircraft.'' I should repeat that because it is hard to believe. But despite this unparelleled potential for damage, including the threat posed to railcars carrying hazardous materials and civil aviation, the .50- caliber is easier to obtain than a handgun and no less available than a common shotgun. Governor Schwarzenegger, who recently signed a law banning the .50- caliber in California, stated that this gun is ``a clear and present danger to the public's safety.'' These guns are sought after by terrorists, warlords, drug smugglers, and other individuals looking to use the .50's exceptional power, accuracy, and distance for terrorist and criminal purposes. There have been any number of substantiated reports that al Qaeda, the IRA, and the KLA have purchased a number of these guns in recent years. There is an arms race taking place just south of the border in Mexico where drug cartels are employing .50-calibers in a bloody turf war that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people caught up in the crossfire. The ``60 Minutes'' TV show has reported at length on this issue. In their most recent piece, they profile an Albanian American gunrunner named Florin Krasniqi. Mr. Krasniqi details how he has coordinated the export of .50-calibers from the U.S. to arm the Kosovo Liberation Army in their guerilla war to break away from Serbia. The reason the .50- caliber was his weapon of choice, he stated simply, ``You could kill a man from over a mile away. You can dismantle a vehicle from over a mile away.'' And they are so easy to buy. If we are not going to deal with the danger that .50-calibers pose to the American public, let us at least prevent the export of these weapons of terror to foreign terrorists. Restricting exports of .50- calibers is necessary because, unlike most items controlled under the U.S. Munitions List and comparable international control lists, firearms are frequently licensed for commercial resale, increasing the likelihood that they will end up in the hands of our enemies. Mr. Chairman, this is a human rights issue, and it is an issue of protecting our national security. We need to pass this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. I thank my friend and colleague from Massachusetts for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, I am very much interested in the debate that just took place. I cannot help but be mindful of the fact that we are still debating today the advisability of going to war in Vietnam which concluded 30 years ago and we may continue this debate on the Iraq war for another generation. But the comments that the gentleman makes are really not particularly relevant to this amendment that we are focusing on in the rule. I did not feel we should go into the Iraq war without an adequate exit strategy and without more reliable information connecting Saddam Hussein to the 9/11 attacks, but I was in the minority. The Congress gave the President the authority to go to war in Iraq. We accept that. But we did not give the President the authority to spend an unlimited amount of money. We did not give the President the authority to take an unlimited amount of time in completing the mission in Iraq. We certainly did not give the President the authority to expend an unlimited number of Americans' lives in pursuing that mission. We have to retain our oversight responsibility. In the newspaper today, in The Washington Post, maybe some of my colleagues were struck at the juxtaposition of headlines, one headline says, ``Bush Is Expected to Address Specifics on Iraq.'' And on the page facing it, it says: ``Exit Strategy on Social Security Is Sought.'' Interesting juxtaposition. But in the story on Iraq, the White House spokesperson says, the President takes seriously his responsibility as Commander in Chief to continue to educate the American people about our strategy for victory. That is all this amendment was about. That is all we are asking for, some reasonable information that is critical for assessing how well we are doing, how much in the way of resources are necessary. We put that language into the conference on the Iraq supplemental. The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) and I had it put into report language. The minority leader asked that that language become bill language as part of the defense appropriations bill. I do not think it is inconsistent with what the White House acknowledges is their responsibility to provide us with measurable criteria for success in Iraq. What level of military capability is necessary for the Iraq forces, what level of economic viability is necessary for the Iraq economy, what level of political stability is necessary for the Iraq Government. That is what we are asking. More importantly, that is what our constituents are asking. If we had a child in that war, would that not be the first thing we would want to know? What does it take to accomplish the mission so they can get back home to their loved ones? The Government Accountability Office, the GAO, just gave us a report that states that ``U.S. Government agencies do not report reliable data on the extent to which Iraqi security forces are trained and equipped. The reported number of Iraqi police is unreliable because the Ministry of Interior does not receive consistent and accurate reporting from the police forces around the country. Further, the Departments of State and Defense no longer report on the extent to which Iraqi security forces are equipped with their required weapons, vehicles, communications equipment, and body armor. Without reliable reporting data, a more capable Iraqi force, and stronger Iraqi leadership, the Department of Defense faces difficulties in implementing its strategy to draw down U.S. forces from Iraq.'' I quoted all those words. That is our GAO. We are not fighting the issue of the war. We are trying to exercise our oversight responsibility. What number of Iraqi military forces are going to be necessary, adequately trained, sufficiently equipped so that we can turn over some of the military responsibility? What number of Iraqi police forces are necessary to restore law and order in that country? How much more in the way of American dollars are going to be necessary to reconstruct the infrastructure of the Iraqi economy so that it will be economically viable? And how much more in the way of political stability will be necessary so that they could start to govern themselves? Until we get those questions answered, we do not know where we are going. And if we do not know where we are going, we are never going to get there.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, if you do not know where you are going, you are never going to get there. Another truism is that you do not begin a war without a plan to win the peace. Is it now well past time for the legislative branch to ask of the executive branch the very things that our constituents are demanding of us: What is the White House's strategy for success in Iraq? How many Iraqi troops need to be adequately trained and sufficiently equipped, to take over the military protection of that country? How many Iraqi police forces are needed to restore law and order? How many more American dollars are needed to rebuild the infrastructure so that nation can be economically viable? And what does this administration consider to be political stability? These are reasonable questions. We should have had the answers before we went to war, but we must demand them now. It is unfair, not only to the mothers and fathers of our soldiers, but to our senior military officers of our country not to know where they are headed in Iraq.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate National Hunger Awareness Day and to honor the Arlington Food Assistance Center, which is located in my congressional district. National Hunger Awareness Day was established to help inform individuals, communities, corporations and policy makers that hunger is a severe domestic issue and deserves our critical attention. The Arlington Food Assistance Center's sole mission is to feed the hungry. This important action allows their clients to make other necessary purchases, such as paying for rent and utilities, without having to sacrifice their health and nutritional needs. Despite the fact that Arlington County is one of the wealthiest areas in the country, plenty of local residents do not have enough to eat. The Arlington Food Assistance Center, AFAC, seeks to remedy this problem by distributing bread, vegetables, meat, milk, eggs and other food items to those in Arlington who are in need. The Arlington Food Assistance Center currently distributes approximately 1100 bags of groceries each week to over 900 clients, nearly half of whom are children. Each week, families with one to three members receive one bag of food and families of four members or more receive two bags of food--amounts that are expected to supplement a week's meals. AFAC obtains surplus food at a minimal cost from the Capital Area Community Food Bank and at no cost from local bakeries, supermarkets, farmer's markets, food drives and private donors. I would like to commend the staff and volunteers of the Arlington Food Assistance Center who work hard to provide needy families in Arlington with groceries each week.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Conor Michael O'Rourke of Arlington, Virginia. Conor has not only achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America; he has pursued his accomplishments with a sincere commitment to the fundamental ideals of improving our community. As a member of Troop 50 in the National Capital Area Council, Conor has exemplified the finest qualities of leadership and citizenship in earning Boy Scouts' most prestigious award. He is currently a junior at Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School in Arlington, Virginia and is the older son of Mary Anne and Michael O'Rourke. At Troop 50, Conor has provided leadership in a variety of positions. He has led his troop as Patrol Leader (twice), Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, and High Adventure Assistant Crew Chief. In addition, he served for several years as Den Chief, in which he was a role model and guide to a group of Cub Scouts at St. Thomas More School in Arlington. As a Boy Scout, Conor has trekked through the mountains of New Mexico on horseback, explored underground caves, sailed the Florida Keys and went on numerous camping trips. He has earned 28 merit badges and four religious awards, including the Boy Scout Ad Altare Dei. He is truly an exemplary Scout. For his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project, Conor directed three dozen volunteers, who donated over 140 hours of labor to the Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation for the construction of a new park trail. Because of his dedication and service to the community, I have great expectations for Conor--he will be among the young men who leads our Nation through the 21st. Century. Mr. Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in commending Conor Michael O'Rourke for achiving the highest distinction of Eagle Scout, and wish him luck on all of his future endeavors.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Ms. Betty B. Michaliga, a resident of Virginia's 8th Congressional District that I am proud to represent. Ms. Michaliga has contributed greatly to our high quality of life in Northern Virginia. Specifically, she has distinguished herself with exceptionally meritorious achievements in public service to this Nation by serving the United States Army for over thirty-four years. In 1971, Ms. Michaliga began her superior career as a United States Army Civil Service employee in the Headquarters, United States Army Corps of Engineers. Because of her demonstrated abilities, she moved in 1983 to the Army Secretariat in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations and Housing), Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations and Environment). Currently Ms. Michaliga is a Program Analyst responsible for developing and monitoring the legislative process and Congressional reporting requirements for Army installations. Throughout her career, Ms. Michaliga has provided outstanding advice, and sound professional judgment on significant issues that affected both the Army and the Congress. Her actions and counsel were invaluable to Army leaders as they considered the impact of important issues, and her dedication to accomplishing the Army's mission has been extraordinary. Mr. Speaker, Ms. Michaliga has been a truly outstanding career civil servant and will be missed by the United States Army.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I thank my friends, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sweeney); the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt); and the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield). What has become of us as a country, selling these horses off for horse meat to be eaten on the other side of our oceans? The wild horse is an icon of American history. The gentleman from Iowa asked what is the difference between a horse and a steer and a hog? The horse is an icon along with the bald eagle. What is the difference between a bald eagle and a pigeon or a turkey? And if you do not know the difference, we cannot explain it to you. Shakespeare once said that ``Horses are as full of spirit as the month of May and as gorgeous as the sun in midsummer''. Does everything have to be converted to the bottom line? There are so many alternatives to slaughtering these beautiful creatures that are on public lands. We used to have 1 million at the turn of the century. We are down to 35,000 wild horses on public lands. That is sad and wrong. We have responsibility over these beautiful creatures. They ought not be cut up in such an inhumane way, and shipped overseas for people who want to eat horse meat. That is not what we are about as a country. There are so many other alternatives. We can use animal contraception methods. We could reopen over 100 herd management areas that the Bureau of Land Management has closed. We could start centers such as the one I saw this weekend, 61 horses brought from the wild West for adoption. They came from Nevada and Wyoming and California, beautiful creatures. People in the east coast are adopting them. There are so many things we could be doing rather than selling these beautiful creatures for horse meat. We are not just about dollars and cents. We are about the things that made our country great. The wild horse is one of those things. It inspires poetry; and if my colleagues do not understand that, I guess we can't very well communicate why this is so important to us. But I trust the majority of this Congress knows what we are talking about.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Texas, my friend and colleague, for yielding me this time. I would like to bring to the subcommittee's attention and to all of the Members of the House an issue that falls under the jurisdiction of the Military Quality of Life Subcommittee, and that is the Department of Defense's security standards for buildings. I do not think that these standards really meet the test of scrutiny when applied to cost effectiveness nor to mission accomplishment. The Department of Defense has issued standards without checking with the Congress, without having any hearings and I think without fully assessing what the cost and operational impact will be. These building security standards preclude the Department of Defense from leasing any office space in a metropolitan area because they require a setback of anywhere from 82 feet to 148 feet from the street. Under these newly issued requirements, buildings cannot have underground or rooftop parking. They cannot have retail activity on the ground floor. They basically cannot be accessible to the public or have reasonable traffic and parking plans in operation. We have been working in Northern Virginia in concert with the Pentagon for years to get the Department of Defense employees to their work in a cost-efficient manner and to be able to meet the Pentagon's needs. Now they say none of your buildings qualify. Well, I am not going to go into this just for my own self-serving purposes, but I do think that when DOD issues a mandatory requirement affecting tens of thousands of people that its consequences ought to be fully considered. In this case, it is a mandate that has been imposed unilaterally, resulting in the displacement of over 23,000 Defense Department personnel in Northern Virginia. It is going to affect additional thousands of people around the country. But beyond that, it is going to require hundreds of millions of dollars to build new buildings with this enormous setback from the street, and no one else is going to want to use these buildings. The cost premium of building these buildings that meet the prescriptive DOD standards is so excessive that no other activity is going to be able to afford the cost of these buildings. So we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars spent excessively to build buildings that will soon become outmoded by technology and common sense. The General Services Administration has come up with an alternative, what is called a performance-based standard, as opposed to DOD's prescriptive-based standard, that provides just as much security, but they use traffic management, they harden the building, make the windows shatterproof, and move the most sensitive activities to the interior space. They use technology, they use a lot of common sense and judgment, and they accomplish the same purpose and still they can locate buildings in metropolitan areas at much less expense. They just built a building in New York that meets all of the building security standards, much less expensive than DOD wants but just as secure from terrorist attack. So what I am suggesting is that this subcommittee look at this matter, look at the cost implications, consider whether there may be better ways of accomplishing the same security objectives. This DOD requirement is based upon protecting ourselves from a truck bomb carrying an arbitrary figure of 200 pounds of TNT, whereas a truck can carry 1,000 pounds of TNT. Furthermore, there are so many other ways a building could be attacked that these security standards don't address.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. I would be happy yield to my friend, to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, would the gentleman consider some report language, requiring some feedback from the Defense Department on cost implications and alternative ways of accomplishing the same security objectives?

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I thank my friend very much and look forward to fixing this situation in a fiscally efficient and operationally effective manner.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of Children's Hospice International, a ground- breaking, non-profit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia. Since 1983, Children's Hospice International (CHI) has been a champion of children with life-threatening conditions--and their families--by calling for the U.S. healthcare system to do more to meet their medical and emotional needs. In 1983, only four of 1,400 hospice programs in the United States were willing to accept children. Since then, great progress has been made--and now, aided by the efforts of Children's Hospice International, 450 of about 3,000 hospices include child-specific services. But CHI's work is far from done. The standards and training it has developed for pediatric hospice programs need to be universally adopted by hospice, palliative care, and home care programs. CHI is also working to include the hospice perspectives in all areas of pediatric care and education. Of the 10 million children in the United States who are living with a serious chronic condition, each year about 54,000 will die without hospice services--and another 1.3 million children's lives could greatly benefit from this care. CHI is seeking to eliminate the roadblocks in private and public insurance programs that prevent these children and their families from receiving the full range of services they need. Historically, hospice and reimbursement guidelines--in Medicaid and most private plans--require that patients forego all life-saving care before they can be admitted to hospice, and that the patient be within the last six months of life. CHI has worked with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to facilitate State implementation of CHI PACC programs that will reduce the impact of these requirements on children and families. These restrictions simply do not work with patients in pediatric care. We know that the most critical time for children and family members-- when they need intensive support and guidance that hospice and palliative care programs provide--is at the point of diagnosis. A parent should never have to choose between hospice care and the hope for a cure. And, because of the unpredictable course of many serious childhood illnesses, it is often very difficult for doctors to determine when a child is within six months of death. Since 1997, CHI has worked with CMS to set up the Program for All- Inclusive Care for Children and their Families (CHI PACC). Unlike traditional hospice/palliative care models, a CHI PACC program provides a continuum of care for children and their families from time of diagnosis, with hope for a cure, and through bereavement if a cure is not attained. This program will allow states to receive federal reimbursement for a more coordinated service package than is generally provided under Medicaid, including counseling for children and families, respite care, and bereavement services. States operating CHI PACC programs through the Medicaid Home and Community-Based Waiver authority will also be able to serve children in families who earn too much to typically qualify for Medicaid. With Congressional support, a total of 16 states are already benefiting from CHI PACC. Six states have their own CHI PACC Medicaid program in development. These are Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, New York, Utah and my state of Virginia. In addition, the New England Region is also working toward implementing CHI PACC to cover four states--Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. The Colorado program will also cover a region, providing services to patients in six additional states--Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota and Wyoming. While the CHI PACC model creates a core set of standards and principles have been developed, the model itself is flexible, allowing states to tailor-make different approaches to running the program. Currently, about 30% of the children who have life-threatening conditions qualify for Medicaid. All of these children and perhaps many more will benefit from this model of care. And with the support of my good friend, Mr. Murtha of Pennsylvania, the Department of Defense is working to adopt the CHI PACC model for its health care system. Children's Hospice International is a living memorial to Ensign Alan H. Armstrong and his shipmates lost aboard the U.S.S. Frank E. Evans during the conflict in Vietnam. Armstrong is the brother of CHI Founder Ann Armstrong-Dailey. The goal of all of these efforts is to prove the effectiveness of the CHI PACC model so that it can be adopted universally--through Medicaid, S-CHIP and private insurers. Projections from the states developing CHI PACC programs indicate that they not only expect these programs to be budget neutral, but they hope they will actually save the taxpayers money. Since 1983, Children's Hospice International has provided new hope to the millions of children with life threatening conditions and their families. It is in recognition of these efforts that I want to express my personal gratitude for the work of Children's Hospice International-- and to congratulate them on their 22nd anniversary. Mr. Speaker, I would like to also submit for the Record, a poem by young Mattie J.T. Stepanek, a New York Times best selling author who passed away last summer, after a valiant fight with dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy. Mattie volunteered for many years to be CHI's spokesperson--he is a hero and inspiration to us all CHI PACC is a living memorial to Mattie. A New Hope I need a hope--a new hope. A hope that reaches for the stars, and That does not end in violence or war. A hope that makes peace on our earth, and That does not create evil in the world. A hope that finds cures for all diseases, and That does not make people hurt, In their bodies, in their hearts, Or most of all, in their spirits. I need a hope--a new hope, A hope that inspires me to live, and To make all these things happen. So that the whole world can have A new hope, too. --Mattie J.T. Stepanek, 1999.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in very strong support of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which will expand the federal policy and implement stricter ethical guidelines for this research. Embryonic stem cell research is necessary in discovering the causes of a myriad of genetic diseases, to testing new drug therapies more efficiently on laboratory tissue instead of human volunteers, and to staving off the ravages of disease with the regeneration of our bodies' essential organs. President George W. Bush's policy on stem cell research limits federal funding only to embryonic stem cell lines that were derived by August 9, 2001, the date of his policy announcement. Of the 78 stem cell lines promised by President Bush, only 22 are available to researchers. Unfortunately these stem cell lines are aged and contaminated with mouse feeder cells, making their therapeutic use for humans uncertain. According to the majority of scientists, if these stem cell lines were transplanted into people, they would provoke dangerous viruses in humans. What is even more disturbing is the fact that there are at least 125 new stem cell lines, which are more pristine than the lines currently available on the National Institutes of Health registry, which are ineligible for federally-funded research because they were derived after August 9, 2001. This restrictive embryonic stem cell research policy is making it increasingly more difficult to attract new scientists to this area of research because of concerns that funding restrictions will keep this research from being successful. The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act does not change the current policy on the use of federal funds; this measure simply seeks to lift the cutoff date for lines available for research. H.R. 810 will also strengthen the ethical standards guiding the federal research on stem cell lines and will ensure that embryos donated for stem cell research were created for the purposes of in vitro fertilization, in excess of clinical need, would have otherwise be discarded and involved no financial inducement. Contrary to what opponents have been saying, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act will not federally fund the destruction of embryos. H.R. 810 is clear that unused embryos will be used for embryonic stem cell research only by decision of the donor. No federally-funded research will be supported by this measure if the embryos were created and destroyed solely for this purpose. In February 2005, the Civil Society Institute conducted a nationwide survey of 1,022 adults and found that 70 percent supported bipartisan federal legislation to promote embryonic stem cell research. Let public interest triumph over ideological special interests. Public interest is best served when the medical and the scientific community is free to exercise their professional judgment in extending and enhancing human life. I urge all my colleagues to vote in favor of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a teacher who has made an impact on our community through selfless dedication and commitment to her students. Ms. Cynthia Dunn Kearly is a special education teacher at Douglas MacArthur Elementary School in Alexandria, Virginia. But to her students and their families, she is much more than that. An educator with gifts of creativity and passion, Ms. Kearly serves as an inspiration for what great instructors can offer. At Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, Ms. Kearly is regularly asked to take students with special needs and foster in them confidence and success. Her work with students has not only earned her the respect of parents and her colleagues, but has also won her numerous accolades locally and nationwide. As an educator in the Alexandria City Public School system, Ms. Kearly was a recipient of the Harry Burke Award for Outstanding Performance in Special Education. This honor has been bestowed on many great teachers and Ms. Kearly's selection follows perfectly in this tradition. Additionally, Ms. Kearly's exemplary work is being recognized nationally as well. She is one of three teachers nationwide to be awarded the 2005 Commonwealth Academy Recognition for Educators (CARE) Award. The CARE award recognizes outstanding educators who have made significant contributions to leaving no child behind in their local communities. The focus of the award is to highlight teachers who work with students that have organizational, attention and learning challenges. To her coworkers and supervisors, there is little doubt that Ms. Kearly is a worthy recipient. The Superintendent of Schools for the City of Alexandria has said about her that ``She truly exemplifies the kind of professional who should be recognized and honored for her great work with special needs students.'' Mr. Speaker, I am proud to have Ms. Kearly teach within Virginia's Eighth Congressional District. She is transforming lives with her selfless dedication to serving young people in our community. I often remind friends and neighbors that good teachers are among our greatest assets in Northern Virginia. For this reason, we must take opportunities to encourage our best and brightest to commit themselves to this service, but also to thank the men and women already giving so much of themselves.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Madam Chairman, let me share with you two recent experiences that confirm why we should support the Slaughter- Shays-Dicks-Leach-Price amendment to increase funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of joining NEA chairman Dana Gioa at the Folger Theater to help judge young high school students in a poetry recitation contest. As one of the judges, I had to pick a winner, but I can tell you there were no losers. It was plainly evident all were winners. Each student provided a masterful performance, had presence and demonstrated a clear and impassioned understanding of the work he or she presented from some of the English language's best poets. It was a memorable evening. But as much as I enjoyed it, I know it left an even stronger impression on the student and the families and friends who joined them. That evening at the Folger Theater brought us all to a common point of a shared experience where barriers and pretenses were cast aside and humanity and understanding prevailed. Last week I had a conversation with a retired school teacher who volunteers as a docent providing school tours at the National Gallery of Art. She was upset because of a decision by the gallery to suspend the volunteer-led tours for a year while a new program is developed. It didn't make sense to me and I agreed to help. During our talk, she mentioned how art at the gallery had touched a young student she had led. He was a recent immigrant who had come from a very troubled land. His English was limited and broken but he was able to say to her that the tour had helped calm his inner turmoil and as he put it, ``helped make some of the hurt go away.'' Art touches people in ways words cannot describe. The dividend this Nation receives from the Endowment for the Arts far exceeds the investment we make with the limited Federal funds. In Virginia, the Wolf Trap Performing Arts Center has received NEA grants for their nationally recognized artistic and education programs. In addition to year-round performances, Wolf Trap offers a variety of education programs both locally and nationwide. Its primary education program, the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, places professional performing artists in preschool classrooms nationwide. In classroom residencies, these artists use drama, music and movement to teach basic skills and encourage active participation and self-esteem in the earliest stages of learning. Wolf Trap Institute Artists also conducts workshops and presentations throughout the country to demonstrate to teachers and parents how the arts can bring new life to learning and literature. As we fight for education funding and standards, how can we look past the significant contribution that performing arts organizations like Wolf Trap are making across the country? This is a time when we must embrace this type of unique programming. A modest increase in funding for the arts and humanities can make a difference creating new opportunities for hundreds of arts and humanities organizations and bringing the organizations out into the communities. When the NEA budget has been cut, we have seen its dramatic effect on the national arts community and specifically on arts education programs developing at community centers and in our schools. Now is the time when we must invest in the cultural lives of our citizens and in our children's futures. I cannot fathom how a Nation as rich and prosperous as ours could not find it in its heart to provide a $15 million increase, $10 million for the National Endowment for the Arts and $5 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities. We could eliminate all funding for the endowments tomorrow, and the arts and humanities would survive. That's not the issue. The grants NEA provides don't make or break most theater productions, studio exhibitions or symphonic performances. What NEA does with its grants is to ensure that these performances, exhibits and productions are introduced to a greater share of America. Support the arts, support the NEA and the NEH, support the Slaugher- Shays-Dicks-Leach-Price amendment.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to support the amendment to the Department of the Interior appropriations bill being offered by Mr. Rahall and Mr. Whitfield to help save a national treasure--the wild horse. The wild horse is known throughout the world as a symbol of the American west, and we should be doing everything we can to protect it. At the turn of the 20th century there were more than one million horses roaming the vast lands of our west, however by 1971 that number dropped to approximately 60,000 due to the actions of their main predator--humans. Public outcry and the work of a group of citizens lead by Wild Horse Annie forced Congress to find a solution and pass the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Protection Act to protect the wild horse. Throughout the years this law has been eroded, and currently, there are only 35,000 wild horses living on our lands today. Current law will only make this number decrease more rapidly. I was saddened to learn about the provision in last year's omnibus appropriations bill that would allow the sale of any wild horse that has been rounded up and is more than ten years old. Because of this provision, at least forty-one wild horses have needlessly been slaughtered. If we do not pass this amendment to ensure that no tax dollars are used for any sale of wild thousands more could lose their lives. There is no need for this senseless slaughter. There are other options that we can explore rather than killing this majestic animal. The Bureau of Land Management could reopen over one hundred herd management areas or use animal contraception methods to keep the size of the herds manageable. There is simply no reason for these horses to be slaughtered for use as meat in other countries. The horse is more than just an animal to our country. It is a beloved literary figure, a character in a movie or television show, a symbol of adventure, a friend of the cowboy, and an important part of our history. William Shakespeare once stated that horses were, ``As full of spirit as the month of May, and as gorgeous as the sun in Midsummer.'' I can say it no better and encourage all of my colleagues to join me and support the Rahall-Whitfield amendment and help save the wild horse.

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 196, I was delayed in traffic. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.'' Stated against: