Dennis Moore

Mr. MOORE

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, Congress needs to stop playing politics and pass comprehensive energy legislation this year. Our country needs to reduce its dependence on foreign oil and increase its national energy independence. Increasing our energy independence will stabilize future energy prices, benefit American consumers and businesses, and enhance both our energy security and our national security. For these and other reasons, I supported the energy conference report on the House floor in November 2003. Unfortunately, one issue has blocked congressional passage of this comprehensive energy legislation over the last few months, and it has become clear to me that removing the provision in question would ensure that the Senate will pass, and the President will sign, this measure. Title 15, Section 1502, of H.R. 6, which is substantially similar to H.R. 4503, contains a safe-harbor provision protecting producers of methyl tertiary butyl ether [MTBE] and other fuel oxygenates from product liability claims. As well, this provision includes language applying the safe-harbor retroactively, potentially barring several pending suits against some of the worst environmental polluters in our country. Under this provision, cities and towns would be prevented from bringing against potential offenders ``defective product'' lawsuits, which some cities have employed to recapture the cost of MTBE clean ups. Approximately 130 lawsuits have been filed by states, cities, water districts, and businesses over MTBE contamination. The trade association for the MTBE industry conservatively estimates that a nationwide cleanup of MTBE will cost between $500 million and $1 billion. The U.S. Conference of Mayors, however, maintains that those costs could run higher than $29 billion. Our states and localities, which are struggling with budget deficits, should not be forced to pay the tab for these clean ups. If our states and localities are forced to pay these costs, the real costs will be borne by taxpayers, who should not be responsible for the actions of a few MTBE producers. According to Congressional Quarterly, on November 24, 2003, one week after House passage of the energy conference report, President Bush called House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and requested that Mr. DeLay remove the MTBE provision that is holding up Senate passage of the legislation. As Senator Pete Domenici, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, noted at that time, ``At the end, the President personally tried to get the House to support the MTBE removal. He made the call, at our request, to [Majority Leader] DeLay.'' Regrettably, Mr. DeLay chose to reject the President's personal request. Senate Republican leaders like Chairman Domenici, who has been working to pass this legislation for several years, are two votes shy of passing this measure, and removing the MTBE liability waiver would send to the President's desk the most comprehensive energy legislation in more than a decade. I appreciate President Bush's desire to sign a comprehensive energy bill into law, and I support his efforts to do so. I hope that Congress will put aside its parochial interests and send the President legislation that he will sign into law. Our national energy situation is not a partisan issue, and I hope that both parties can come together to do the right thing for America.

Mr. MOORE

Mr. MOORE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern).

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time remains.

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I think it is truly unfortunate that it takes a time of crisis or tragedy to bring our Nation together. This week, for example, we have seen and heard from Members of both sides of the aisle a tribute to a great President, Ronald Reagan. He was a humble man; he was a gracious man and kind. We may have had differences of opinion on policy, but I think we all concede he was a good, good, decent man. I never presume to speak for my friends on the other side of the aisle, but I think all of us would agree that we have the greatest Nation in the whole world, and one of the things that makes us so great as a Nation are the personal liberties and individual freedoms that we all share here in this country. The Bill of Rights of our Constitution gives us more economic and personal freedoms than people almost anywhere in the world, and we are a better Nation for that. And I think that is something Ronald Reagan would say if he were here right now. I think we can learn a lot of important things, and a lot of speakers on both sides of the aisle have annunciated some of those things this morning. We should try harder to disagree without being disagreeable. We should always treat each other with respect. And we should understand that we are all Americans and we are all in this together. We all want basically the same thing for our country and for our people. If we can do that, I think we are going to be better as a Nation and stronger as a people. We need to find ways to bring us together and not to divide us. I think 85 to 90 percent of the people in this body are good, decent, honorable people who want to do the right thing for our country, Republicans and Democrats. We need to understand that even when we have honest good-faith differences on policy issues, such as the $7 trillion debt we have right now, and the $500-plus billion deficit, this should not be about Republicans and Democrats; this should be about what is right for our country, and this should be about what is right for our children and our grandchildren and future generations in this country. I hope that we will take this occasion, the passing of a great President, Ronald Reagan, to come together and again dedicate ourselves to doing what is right for our country and putting aside partisan politics. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt). (Mr. HOLT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox) for his very cogent remarks, and I really appreciate the civility with which this has been conducted today. The gentleman from California mentioned the fact that President Reagan and a Democratic Congress presided over large tax cuts back during President Reagan's term, and I grant that. But at the same time, President Reagan was not a strict ideologue and he understood that when large deficits appeared, that we as a Nation needed to do something to deal with those large deficits and not put our country deeper and deeper in debt. He agreed to actions to correct that course, and I think we as Democrats and Republicans hopefully can come together here and recognize that a $7 trillion debt and deficits of over half a trillion dollars cannot go on, and our kids and grandkids and the future generations of this Nation cannot sustain that kind of problem if it continues. I hope we will come together with an attitude of civility that was characterized by President Reagan and work on these problems together because we have a lot more in common than we have differences. We are all Americans. We all love our country, and we want to do what is right by our country. Mr. Speaker, I want to conclude by saying that I think if we work together and understand that we are all in this together, we will do the very best we can for the Nation we love, the United States of America. May God bless Mrs. Reagan and the Reagan family, and may God hold Ronald Wilson Reagan in His loving arms.

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu). (Mr. WU asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge).

Mr. MOORE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. McNulty).

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Davis).

Mr. MOORE. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind).

Mr. MOORE. Madam Speaker, I yield 10 minutes to the other side. I understand they have a number of speakers who would like to address the House.

Mr. MOORE. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel).

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MOORE. Madam Speaker, for purposes of debate, I yield 25 minutes, about half of my time, to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox).

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin). (Mr. CARDIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to my friend, the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox).

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan).

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross). (Mr. ROSS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of our time.

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the United States of America lost one of our giants with the passing last Saturday of our 40th President, Ronald Wilson Reagan. We come together today and this week in Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to pay tribute to the man who played a primary role in ending our Cold War with the Soviet Union and who, as the Center for American Progress said earlier this week, projected ``a never-failing sense of optimism which restored faith in the American Presidency in a Nation still scarred by Vietnam and Watergate.'' The Los Angeles Times said this week, ``His sunny self-assurance, his insistence that there really were simple answers to difficult problems, his knack for actually making things happen, all were soothing changes for a country that had endured Vietnam, Watergate, a Presidential resignation, an energy crisis, double-digit inflation, and the seizing of American hostages in Iran in the course of one tumultuous decade.'' In particular, Mr. Speaker, we remember Ronald Reagan for standing firmly with Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker in the early 1980s to drive down inflation and revive the economy, thus setting the stage for the prolonged American economic expansion of the early 1990s. While President Reagan had deeply held core convictions, as a national leader he was also able to compromise and change directions when policies were not working. After instigating a large tax cut in 1981, for example, he later asked for tax increases to fight an exploding Federal deficit and tight monetary conditions. Without President Reagan's active support, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, which ultimately led to deficit reductions through imposition of pay-as-you- go rules, would never have become law. President Reagan signed into law bills protecting 1.9 billion acres of wilderness in Washington State and Oregon. Known as a lifelong crusader against Communism, President Reagan combined military and diplomatic strength to develop a relationship with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that ultimately led to limits on nuclear weapons and the end of the Cold War. The Washington Post recently said, President Reagan was able to win the respect of Europeans through his ``commitment to winning the Cold War and his willingness to work peacefully to bring about the demise of the Soviet Union.'' Even in times of failure and disappointment, President Reagan stood tall, and he won the respect of all. Following the disaster at the Marine barracks in Lebanon and the Iran contra scandal, President Reagan accepted responsibility saying, ``This happened on my watch'' and ``if there is to be blame, it properly rests here in this office and with this President. And I accept responsibility for the bad as well as the good.'' That was a quote from President Reagan, and I think that shows the measure of the man that President Reagan was. In the twilight of his life, President Reagan again provided hope and inspiration for millions of Americans with his valiant battle, with the devoted support of his wife, Nancy, against the ravages of Alzheimer's disease. Mr. Speaker, my father is afflicted with this cruel and debilitating condition. I share the hope of Nancy Reagan and millions of others that expanded stem cell research will some day unlock new discoveries needed to treat successfully Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and cancer. I respect, I greatly respect the religious convictions of those people who are concerned about the expansion of stem cell research, but I hope soon we will find some middle ground between the two extremes and enable us to go forward with this research which one day may save the lives of millions of Americans. One of the legacies of our 40th President will be that we worked together to find a way to join in harnessing this technology and promise. The potential human health and scientific benefits of stem cell research are simply staggering, and I hope that we can join and leave a legacy for President Reagan and for Nancy Reagan as well. In conclusion, I reflect back on Ronald Reagan's last major public address, his speech to the 1992 Republican National Convention. He could have been speaking, though, to all Americans, Mr. Speaker, because he said, he closed with these words: ``My fellow citizens, I want you to know that I have always had the highest respect for you, for your common sense and intelligence, and for your decency. I have always believed in you and in what you could accomplish for yourselves and for others. And whatever else history may say about me when I am gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears; to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty's lamp guiding your steps and opportunity's arm steadying your way.'' I hope that we in Congress, Mr. Speaker, can come together for the American people for an agenda; and I truly believe that even though we have honest, good-faith differences between the parties, we can put aside some of the rancor, some of the partisanship, and work on the American agenda the way that Ronald Reagan wanted us all to do. Mr. Speaker, I could think of no better way to remember the legacy of President Ronald Reagan than by those words that he gave. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from South Dakota (Ms. Herseth), the newest Member of this body.

Mr. MOORE

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor today to recognize Dr. David Benson, who is retiring this month as superintendent of the Blue Valley School District in the Third Congressional District of Kansas. Since 1993, Dr. Benson has led this outstanding school district, which has experienced exponential growth in facilities and in students. All the while, the district has continued to score exceptionally on all standardized tests and by any other measure of school excellence is one of our nation's outstanding school districts. I am lucky to represent in Congress some of the best schools in the United States, and many, many of them are in the Blue Valley District. During his time at Blue Valley, the district has grown by 8,000 students. This phenomenal growth required two successful bond campaigns, led by Dr. Benson, and the construction of two new high schools, four middle schools, and six elementary schools. A seventh elementary school will open next fall. During Dr. Benson's tenure, the average growth in Blue Valley enrollment was larger than the total enrollment of most Kansas school districts! During his years at Blue Valley, the district developed new programs, including foreign language programs for all elementary schools, a broadcast technology program, a new Wilderness Science Center (with wetlands and prairie environments), an alternative high school program, and a program to teach independent living skills to students 18 to 21 with moderate to severe disabilities. In 2001, Dr. Benson was named Kansas Superintendent of the Year by the Kansas Association of School Administrators. In 2000, he was selected as Communicator of the Year by the Kansas School Public Relations Associations. His leadership extends beyond the education community. Recognizing the importance of the business community's support for public education, Dr. Benson has served as a board member for the Greater Kansas City and Overland Park Chambers of Commerce, and also served as president of United Community Services in 1999 and 2000. Dr. Benson began his career teaching high school in Joplin, Missouri. He has served in various capacities in Salina, Moundridge, Junction City, and Kingman, Kansas, school districts; and also served as superintendent in both Fort Madison, Iowa, and Moundridge, Kansas. I know each of these districts has benefited from this outstanding public educator. I wish Dr. Benson and his wife Donni the very best in their new community. While Dr. Benson will be missed by all students, teachers, staff, and patrons of Blue Valley, the district will continue under the excellent leadership of Dr. Tom Trigg, currently the Deputy Superintendent of Administrative Services for Blue Valley.

Mr. MOORE

Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I recently had the honor of working with the Architect of the Capitol to replant on the east Capitol grounds a pin oak memorializing the late U.S. Representative Joe Taggart of Kansas City, Kansas. Representative Joe Taggart was elected three times to Congress from a House district including Kansas City, Kansas--in a 1911 special election, and then in regular elections in 1912 and 1914. Born in rural Iowa in 1867, Joe Taggart moved to Kansas during his childhood and graduated from Salina Normal University in 1890; after teaching school for two years in Bavaria, Kansas, he was admitted to the practice of law in 1893 in Salina, moving shortly thereafter to Kansas City. Taggart served as Kansas City's prosecuting attorney from 1907-1911, when he was elected as a Democrat to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Alexander Mitchell. Twice re-elected, he was defeated in 1916. During the First World War, Taggart served in the quartermaster corps of the United States Army. After the war, he resumed private law practice in Kansas City and was appointed judge of the Kansas Court of Industrial Relations in 1924. Joe Taggart died in Wadsworth, Kansas, in 1938 and is buried in Atchison. In approximately 1916, Representative Taggart and his family planted a pin oak in his honor on the east lawn of the Capitol. The Architect of the Capitol has generously provided me with several prints of photos of that event. This tree survived, although in declining condition, until the area was leveled in order to construct the Capitol Visitors' Center. The staff of the Architect of the Capitol, led by Senior Landscape Architect and Horticulturist Matthew Evans, recently planted here on the Capitol grounds, near Independence Avenue, Southeast, a young pin oak to replace the earlier Taggart memorial tree. I also want to acknowledge the generous support of the Kansas Society of Washington, D.C.; thanks to the support of the Society's current president Heather Wingate and past presidents David Kensinger and Alan Sobba, the Kansas Society donated the cost of the new tree. The replanting of the Joseph Taggart memorial tree serves as a small reminder of the state of Kansas on the grounds of our U.S. Capitol and I am pleased to have been a part of this event.