Sue Myrick

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to participate in the following votes due to a family medical emergency. If I had been present, I would have voted as follows: Rollcall vote 324, on agreeing to H. Con. Res. 439, I would have voted yea. Roll call vote 325, on agreeing to H. Res. 492, I would have voted yea.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve my time.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would just like to remind the House that the minority does have a motion to recommit on every bill that we do. Mr. Solomon had said that he wanted to be sure that the minority always had a motion to recommit. I say that just for the record. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Ryun).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purposes of debate only. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday the Committee on Rules met and granted a closed rule for the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban of 2002. H.R. 4965 would ban performance of a partial-birth abortion except if it were necessary to save the mother's life. As an original cosponsor of this legislation, I am pleased to see the legislation reach the floor of the House. I also believe that President Bush deserves the opportunity to put an end to this horrific act of human violence by signing this legislation into law. I must tell my colleagues, as a mother and a grandmother, it is still astonishing to me today that this is even remotely legal in America, but it is, and as we will no doubt hear on the floor today, it is practiced all too often in this country. The vast majority of partial- birth abortions are performed on healthy babies and healthy mothers. Although language banning this procedure has been struck down in the past by the Supreme Court, this new legislation has been tailored to address the Court's concerns. The five-Justice majority in Stenberg vs. Carhart thought that Nebraska's definition of partial-birth abortion was vague and could be construed to cover not only abortions in which the baby is mostly delivered alive before being killed but also the more common dilation and evacuation, D&E, method. H.R. 4965 defines partial-birth abortion as an abortion in which the person performing the abortion deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living fetus until, in the case of a head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother, or, in the case of a breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus. The tighter definition not only clarifies the procedure so that the Court will not reject it, it also draws attention to the violence of partial-birth abortion by describing how far out the baby can be. I am pleased that we are bringing the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2002 to the floor again. We have changed the bill, adding findings of fact to overcome constitutional barriers, and I am confident that it will survive judicial review. The American people, Mr. Speaker, want this bill in overwhelming numbers, believing in their hearts that we are better than this. We are a better people. To that end, I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 498 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great leader and a pillar of the community, Rollan Jones. Founder and Chairman of the Board of R-Anell Housing Group in Denver, North Carolina, Rollan was known as a driving force in the manufactured housing industry until his death on May 29, 2002. His vision and his determination were contributing factors to the growth of manufactured housing in North Carolina and the Southeast. In his 46 years in the manufactured housing industry, he gained expertise in every facet of the business, from production line to Chairman of the Board. His accomplishments as an innovator and leader in the manufactured housing industry were nationally recognized with his induction into the Hall of Fame in 1994. He was also a founding member and past President of the North Carolina Manufactured Housing Institute, James E. Lavasque Award recipient, and served on the MHI Board of Directors for ten years. Rollan is credited with pioneering many of the manufacturing processes and technologies in use today. Noted as a champion of design, materials, workmanship and service, he established the core principles required to make R-Anell Housing Group an industry benchmark. He will be remembered through the countless lives he touched, the friends, family and acquaintances he held so important, and his habit of lending a hand wherever it was needed. In all of his glory, through his tireless efforts in the housing industry, somehow Rollan found the time to be a FINE fisherman as well. He will be sorely missed.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the Assistance League of Charlotte on its tenth anniversary. The Assistance League of Charlotte is a volunteer organization that has dedicated ten years of hard work to bettering the Charlotte- Mecklenburg community and is deserving of public recognition and commendation. This nonprofit organization was founded in 1992 as the 93rd chapter of the National Assistance League. Its volunteer members are dedicated to identifying, developing, implementing and funding philanthronic projects to serve the needs of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community. In 2001-2002, 113 members devoted almost 26,0000 hours of community service to local children. Its motto is Changing Lives for a Better Community, and the League has certainly lived by this credo, working tirelessly to enrich and uplift the people of Charlotte. Through philanthropic projects such as Operation Check Hunger, Operation School Bell, the Mecklenburg County Teen Court, and a scholaship fund for Charlotte-area seniors, the Assistance League of Charlotte has continually demonstrated its outstanding ability to enact real and beneficial changes in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community. I an honored to recognize Assistance League of Charlotte on its tenth anniversary and to extend my heartfelt thanks to its members for their vision and integrity in serving the people of Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, corporate responsibility and personal integrity is on the minds of most Americans. After all, honesty and integrity have always been the backbone of our American way of life. When I was a young girl, I used to frequently see my dad seal a business deal with a handshake, which he always honored. There sure is not a lot of that going around today, is there? We, the Members of Congress, have an opportunity to play an important role, beyond our usual duties, in determining the future direction of America. We have a very clear choice of either being examples of steadfast integrity or continuing to just be more examples of the lack of integrity we see so much of today. Which will it be?

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Freylinghuysen).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. In conclusion, this is a good rule and it is a very good bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the amendment and on the resolution.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time we have remaining on this side, please?

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Dan Miller).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), and I believe this is the first time we have done a rule together, welcome, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. On Wednesday, the Committee on Rules met and granted an open rule for the Military Construction Appropriations Act for the fiscal year 2003. H.R. 5011 recognizes the dedication and commitment of our troops by providing for their most basic needs, improved military facilities, including housing and medical. Mr. Speaker, we must honor the most basic commitments we have made to the men and women of our Armed Forces. We must ensure reasonable quality of life to recruit and retain the best and the brightest to America's fighting forces. Most importantly, we must do all in our power to ensure a strong, able, dedicated American military, so that this Nation will be ever vigilant and ever prepared. H.R. 5011 provides nearly $1.2 billion for barracks and $151 million for hospital and medical facilities for troops and their families. It also provides $2.9 billion to operate and maintain existing housing units and $1.3 billion for new housing units. Military families also have a tremendous need for quality child care, especially single parents and families in which one or both parents may face lengthy deployments. To help meet this need, the bill provides $18 million for child development centers. Mr. Speaker, this is a fair and an open rule for consideration of the fiscal year 2003 military construction appropriations bill. I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. MYRICK. This is providing a straight up and down vote.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 462 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, this is Senate 2578 to amend title 31 of the United States Code, and this is at the end of the resolution without an intervention of any point of order we would consider this; and this title 31 of the United States Code is to increase the public debt limit, and it would be considered as a bill as read for amendment. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill to final passage without intervening motion except for 1 hour of debate on the bill equally divided and controlled by the chairman and the ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means, and one motion to commit, and this has been shared with the minority.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to my friend and neighbor, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes). (Mr. HAYES asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes). (Mr. HAYES asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)