Kendrick Meek

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Please say it.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I think it is important, as we start to look at this, I cannot help but reflect on the fact that as of 10 a.m. today, and that is today, that we have lost 3,222 men and women in Iraq. I mean, that is not a small number when we look at the sacrifices that have been made. Also, we are looking at another 13,415 wounded that have returned to duty, and 10,722 wounded that cannot return to duty. Then we have folks that are whining about having some accountability in what we now call 5 years later emergency supplemental funding. I think it is important, Mr. Speaker, for the Members to understand because we want to come to the floor, we do not want a Member going back to their district saying they did not understand what was in the bill because we know it is on the other side of the aisle. Mr. Ryan pointed that out we have some folks that are just going to vote on principle; I am going to vote against this because it was not my idea. I am going to vote against it because I am a Republican. Well, guess what? The American people voted last November for leadership, not saying that I am going to send a Democrat or Republican. We had Republicans that were tenured in this House, served 10-, 15-year terms unelected because they were following partisan politics. It is very, very important that we look at the bipartisanship in this. I will yield because I was about to make a point on the readiness issue.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Murphy, I think it is important for us to look at the following line. This bill puts also enforcement behind what is already out there. There is no policy risk here in this bill. We know that the Iraq Study Group says that we should have timelines. That is in this bill. We know that the military, as it relates to readiness, and we know that there are four basic components to readiness, you have, for instance, we have 100 Striker brigades that are in our military right now. We know in every Striker vehicle you have to have a commander, a gunner and a driver. We need to make sure that we have all three of those components before we send a Striker force into Iraq or Afghanistan. That is in this bill, and that is what the military calls for. I think it is important to also outline that there is not a National Guard unit that is right now in our National Guard force that is combat ready. Right now, I say that with great confidence. We don't have that right now. I am on the Armed Services Committee because I know this stuff. I mean, I know this stuff because we talk about it. We talk about the fact that we are not ready to do the things that we need to do as it relates to equipment maintenance. In many parts of the theater we don't have what we need to keep heavy vehicles moving. We look at the reason why we don't have up-armored vehicles, in some instance, going out on patrol. If you ask some here in Washington DC, that is every time, but not all the time. In Baghdad, this is very, very important, the training and making sure that everyone is trained and have what they need to have to carry out the task within a brigade is very, very important. In this supplemental we are meeting the needs of the Army as it relates to what they need. I think it's 36,000 troops, additional troops. They need an Army, and we are also increasing the Marines by three brigades, if Members want to vote against this piece of legislation. I think it's also good to outline in 2001, we were at 80 percent of readiness. When we say ``readiness,'' everyone was trained and equipment was in place to be able to deal with it. We haven't been down at the numbers or the level we are now as it relates to readiness or a lack thereof since the end of the Vietnam War. In this day and time when we have Iran and we have Syria and we have North Korea and we have other countries of interest to the United States as it relates to a threat, now more than ever we need to make sure that we are there not only for the troops but also for the American people. I think it is also important to shed light on the fact that there are several other great things that are in this bill, $2.6 billion to deal with Homeland Security issues that were not dealt with, Hurricane Katrina relief, $2.9 billion, also as it relates to urgent State children's health care and insurance needs at $750 million, urgent needs for pandemic flu preparedness at $1 billion. As we start to look at and uncover in these hearings, as some talk about, that are a waste of time, we start looking at the gaps of the lack of oversight and a lack of execution on behalf of programs and initiatives that will make our troops' lives better, those that are enlisted, those that are Reservists, to be able to secure our troops that are in theater at this time, many of whom are in the areas of great danger and constant fire, and also looking at the needs of the country, of the everyday American people. Now, it is interesting because the minority side, the Republicans over there, when we start looking at some of them, when we start looking at some of these votes that have taken place, many of the Members of the leadership, if not all, have voted against commonsense legislation that we passed on a bipartisan basis. I mean, we had a number of Republicans voting for bills that were brought up by this Democratic Congress. You look at implementing the 9/11 Commission recommendations, we had 299 votes, Democrats voted in the affirmative, we had 299 overall votes, 86 of those individuals were Republicans. Minimum wage, to be able to raise minimum wage, 315 with 82 Republicans joining us. Also, you have funding enhancement for stem cell research, 253, and a majority of Members voted for that bill. Thirty-seven Republicans joined us making prescription drugs affordable for seniors. H.R. 4, 255, it passed with 24 Republicans joining us. Cutting the student loan interest rates in half, H.R. 5, 356, with 124 Republicans joining us. Again, creating long-term energy initiatives, H.R. 6 passed, 264, with 36 Republicans joining us. Now, I can tell you tomorrow or Thursday, there will be a number of individuals thinking about how they are going to vote. But I can tell you this, there are several things that we can say about this emergency supplemental that is really, really good for the country, and there are also eight or nine points that I can point out that are leadership calls. You have to be a leader to take a position on anything, and I think we have some Members on the minority side that don't want to take a position. Let me go back to David Broder's article that he wrote, and the Members can get it at miamiherald.com; it was March 18. It should still be on, you can get it for free on the World Wide Web: ``Congress won't sign any more blank checks,'' but it goes on down to paragraph 6 and talks about the fact that for 6 years the Bush administration and the aids that they are talking about earlier in the bill would have free rein on carrying out whatever political policy or assignment they wished, and also the President. Let's just say hypothetically, that the President wanted this done. A Congress, under a firm Republican control, was solemn when it came down to oversight of the executive branch. No Republican committee chairman wanted to turn rocks over as it relates to the Republican administration. I think it's important that we have the kind of forward lean that we have now, because that is what the American people have called for. They asked for accountability. They asked for oversight. They asked for Members of Congress to come here and be Members of Congress, not just say Mr. Murphy is my friend, and we all get along and I see him in the hall, he wears nice ties, what have you, is a member of Financial Services and also Government Oversight. They didn't send us here to have great relationships and to slap each other in the back. They sent us here to provide the kind of leadership that they deserve. The bottom line is, when that bill and this emergency supplemental bill comes up, war supplemental comes up on the floor, we will have to take a position. We have to answer for the fact that we have put benchmarks in this bill saying that the Iraqi Government, their feet have to be held to the fire, because, guess what, back in my district there are mayors and there are county commissioners and there are city commissioners and there are school board commissioners and there are constituents of mine that want health care, and their feet are being held to the fire. Mayors have to fill out more paperwork. I guarantee you the mayor of Baghdad has to fill them out too as it relates to Federal dollars. You talked about in the early days of voting money on the back of a truck and passing out cash money to pay government workers in Iraq and to do other things that we know very little about now. We also know that weapons that we bought are unaccounted for at this time. To say that we are the so-called board of the United States of America, and the President is the chief CEO, the chief executive officer, we are not carrying out our responsibilities, making sure that the President does exactly what he said he would do, making sure that Iraqi government does what they said they would do. We need to make sure that our men and women don't have to speak under their breath as it relates to readiness, as they board a plane to go to Kuwait to then be shipped to Iraq, that they don't have what they need in a Striker brigade, that they don't have what they need as it relates to the training or the equipment or the down time that they deserve, not a rotation based on some bureaucrat in Washington DC saying, well, we need three more brigades in Iraq. Oh, well, I know they have only been home for 120 days, but we need them there to keep up our troop level there at over 147,000. I must add, where other countries have announced or have withdrawn, we have replaced them with American troops. Yes, this is a leadership vote, and, yes, some of us are going to have to go to the wizard and get some courage and come here and vote on behalf of the supplemental. Now, I respect folks having different opinions, but this is a far better supplemental bill than Members in this Congress have voted on in the past. We have voted on at least two of them since I have been here. I can remember two of them, and they did not have benchmarks. They just had money in the bill saying trust the President and trust the Department of Defense, they know what they are doing.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Guess what, the American people have said, I don't like that. I don't want to do that any more. So now we have the opportunity to put the language in the bill that would hopefully get us to the point where the Iraqi Government will say, wow, the U.S. Government is no longer playing around with us. The American people are no longer playing around with us. We will actually have to perform. We will actually have to turn out the troops and keep the retention as it relates to our security forces and to secure our own country. We are not going to be there forever. We are going to make sure of that. For those that are saying we have to be there as long as we have to be there, I am saying that there has to be benchmarks. I am saying $500 billion has been spent in this war thus far and will continue to be spent unless someone stands up and takes the responsibility on. I commend the Speaker, commend the leadership, commend every Member that has put their shoulder to the wheel and said this must be done now, not next year, not 3 years from now, not maybe we will think about it one day. The bottom line is there are folks here saying we don't want to let down Iraqi people but, guess what, I don't want to let down a U.S. taxpayer. I don't want to let down that individual that is sitting in a veterans hospital now hoping and wishing they could get the kind of good care if the Congress was to stand behind them. It's not a gift issue as it relates to the majority here in this House. It is when we vote on this bill Thursday the they will be able to see the accountability they deserve. We have a process, get it through to the President. This President can go on and on about how he will veto it, but I remember all of the tough talk. I have gone to the White House; I have spoken to the President. I don't have to talk in third party. I have done that. I don't have to have someone tell me what the President said. The President said, even in his speech as it relates to the escalation of troops, well, we know that the people know that, yes, they are passing a nonbinding resolution now. It is nonbinding, but there will be a binding resolution as it relates to the emergency supplemental. And I agree with the President; yes, it was nonbinding, and, yes, we had a vote. And I told the President that bill will pass overwhelmingly against your initiative and escalation of troops in Iraq. He said, yes, Kendrick, I do know that will happen, but there will be a binding resolution. And this is the binding resolution. And if the President wants a blank check, he is just not going to get it. And he has to come through this House of Representatives, he has to go through the Senate. And it is something we have to hold this government's feet to the fire, the Iraqi Government's feet to the fire, or you might as well start going back home, Members, and sharing with your constituents, how old is your son? Oh, he's 12? Well, he is going to be going to Iraq one day, and he is going to do it because it is going to continue to go on and on and on if we keep following the Bush philosophy. And there is nothing wrong with our volunteer force. We have some individuals that graduated from high school and want to go into the Army. I am all for that. I help recruit on behalf of armed services. But I think it is important that we do not give our men and women a fixed deck because we weren't man enough and woman enough and leader enough to vote on their behalf for their accountability measures so they will have what they need when they go into theater.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. You know, Mr. Murphy, it is so refreshing to hear you speak about this legislation, especially being fresh off the campaign trail, especially being a new Member of Congress. And I can tell you that as long as you continue to keep that spirit, and Members of this House and the majority continue to keep the spirit of wanting to do everything that you said you would do on the night that you were elected. You know, many of us gave these great speeches, Mr. Speaker, talking about when we get to Washington, this is what we will do, and that I am going to be there for you, and that I am going to make sure that you get the kind of accountability that you deserve. I am going to make sure that your tax dollars are being spent in an appropriate way. I am going to make sure that we take care of the troops. I am going to make sure that we hold this administration accountable. And then many times in the past, not this time fortunately, but many times in the past, a Member gets here to Washington, DC, starts walking around the Halls of Congress; a couple of folks call you Congressman or Congresswoman, you have a parking space downstairs. You know, folks, military folks, salute you when you get off a plane. You travel over into a foreign land, and in a motorcade going down the street, and then you forget about all those things. And I am so glad, Mr. Murphy, that you have that spirit still in your heart. And there are a number of Members of Congress who still have that spirit. And, Mr. Speaker, the reason why sometimes I get a little animated and a little excited about the fact that we have some Members here in the House who are willing to be followers when it is time for them to be leaders, and to take a position on anything, it doesn't matter what it may be; if it is changing, you know, the color of the paint in your office, it takes leadership to be able to do that because you have to stand behind that decision. The decision saying that we want to make sure that the readiness level of our troops before they are put into harm's way is an important decision to be made and a decision that has been endorsed by the Defense Department. This is not new language, this is not a new idea, this is something that has to be placed into this supplemental to make sure the Defense Department does exactly what they said they would do in their own policy. We are not putting forth any new benchmarks for the Iraqi Government; this is what the President said. This is what he said, this is what came out of his mouth, that they have to meet these benchmarks, or we will no longer continue to do the things we have been doing. So that is the reason why it is in writing. It is almost like when you talk to someone on the phone, and you have a health care crisis, and you call down to the hospital and you say, listen, I have a problem, I need you to help me out. You are talking to a person on the phone. First of all, you may say, can I have your name, please; who am I speaking with? Or another example: If I'm looking for financing for my house, and I am talking to someone on the phone, and they say, yes, sure, we can give you a very low interest rate, a 3.2 percent interest rate. Hey, can you give me that in writing? What we are doing here in this emergency supplemental is we are giving the American people and our men and women in harm's way a supplemental in writing. It is not a speech. We are not talking to the Kiwanis Club, even though we have great Kiwanis Clubs out there, don't get me wrong. We are not at a Rotary luncheon giving those speeches back home saying, ``I love the troops, I love the troops.'' We are putting it in writing. We are not saying we love the veterans, when the veterans come up here to look at this great Capitol and see the flags flying over the House Chamber and over the Senate and over the dome of the Capitol and over the office buildings and all, proud to be an American, proud that they had something to do with allowing us to salute one flag. It is not about a little speech I give out on the sidewalk thanking them for help. They want to see it in writing. They want to make sure we have their back. This is a leadership call, you have to make a decision. And the bottom line is we have been elected and federalized by our constituents to make decisions. And I can guarantee you, Mr. Murphy, there is not a Republican voter or a Democratic voter or any Independent voter who has a problem with accountability, and that is what this bill does. Now, someone may have a problem with the fact that they didn't do what they needed to do when they were in the majority to do it. And now we have provided an opportunity, and I have pointed out all of the votes here earlier, and then some, of the opportunities that we have allowed Republicans to have a bill that they wanted to vote for all along to the floor, and they voted in the affirmative, even though their leadership voted the other way. Now, that is for their leadership to say that they are accountable to their constituents because they decided to vote against something good. But when you look at this emergency supplemental, this emergency supplemental is the first time since this war has started, Mr. Murphy, Members, Mr. Speaker, the first time that the President actually would have a document in writing that passed in the affirmative on this floor to say that the Iraqi Government will meet these benchmarks, or redeployment will stop; to say we will make sure that we invest in veterans health care and giving Homeland Security what they need to be able to carry out the duty and protection of the homeland. It also says, Department of Defense, pulling a page out of your own regulations, and we are going to put it in the bill to make sure that you actually do it, not just some bureaucrat sitting over there at the Pentagon saying we have to find three more brigades from somewhere, if they are ready or not, we have to make sure that we have the numbers in Iraq. If that soldier has only been home for 120 days, and we call for 200-plus days of downtime with their families to be able to regroup from being in a battle zone, those are rights that our men and women have. So we are no longer leaving that decision up to some bureaucrat in the Pentagon to make on behalf of an American who goes off to fight on our behalf. Now, is there language in there in case of emergencies; you know, if the President, within the national interest that we have to redeploy, we have to send these troops back into the theater? Of course there is. Are we hindering the President from him being Commander in Chief? No, we are not. But what we are saying is that there are rules, and you have to live by those rules. And it is going to be a majority vote here in this House, and the question, Mr. Speaker, how many Members are going to be with us when we make that majority vote here in the House to set forth the parameters of success on behalf of not only the men and women in uniform, but those that have worn the uniform and those that have been injured and cannot return back to battle, and even for those that are going to battle, that they have exactly what they need. We know that we have the number one best military, most able military on the face of the Earth. But at the same time, we have to have respect for that military and making sure that the men and women have what they need and their families. Mr. Murphy.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well, I can tell you, Mr. Murphy, it has definitely been a pleasure and a joy to be here on the floor with you tonight. And I know that I have some information that you want to share with the Members that may want to get in contact with us.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well, I know the good people of Connecticut have been well served. And we also want to thank, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Ryan for coming down at the top of the hour to spend about 20 minutes with us. That is pretty good for an appropriator.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. It was a good quality 20 minutes, I must add. And, Mr. Speaker, it is always an honor and a pleasure to address the House, and I mean the full House. I think it is important that we continue this discussion. As you know, we are going to be dealing with the emergency supplemental on Thursday, and next week we are going to get into the budget. These are real issues. Timelines will be met. All the appropriations bills are moving through the process. They will be passed on time. We will no longer be in the business of continuing resolutions. This is so, Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say, I used to say in the 109th Congress, I mean, it is kind of rough when you go in front of your hometown and you say, well, I am a Member of the 109th Congress. It is almost like kind of saying like you are a bad guy. But in the 110th Congress, I must say, and every Member of Congress, I am not talking about just some Members, I am talking about every Member because there were so many issues that were going on here in Washington, D.C. But now we have the opportunity to work on behalf of the American people. We have the opportunity to do good things for veterans. We have the opportunity to do great things for children that are on military bases. We have an opportunity to make sure that our troops have what they need when they go into harm's way. And that is something we should all feel good about, on both sides of the aisle. And I think that, come Thursday, Members will have a work product that they will be able to vote for and not think about. I mean, I feel sorry for the Members who have to walk around and say, goodness, I have to vote not to fund operations of troops that are in harm's way. They shouldn't walk around with that burden. They should be able to say that we cannot, I voted for the supplemental. I voted for it twice. They didn't have the parameters and the benchmarks that I wanted in it. But for the greater good, to make sure that our men and women have what they need, Mr. Murphy, if they are in there doing what they were told to do, that they must have what they need. So, Mr. Speaker, with that we will continue this debate, and we will also continue to do the good work up here in Washington, D.C.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Nothing like a good chart.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Another thing that is so very, very important, is his name David Broder, the conservative writer? I was home reading a hometown paper. Some folks in this town admit that they do not read the paper, but I do, and he wrote an article saying no blank checks out of this Congress, and it talked about oversight hearings and talked about what is happening in Justice, Mr. Speaker, and it talked about what is happening in some of the other Federal agencies. But he ended the article by saying it really does not change government. It does. This is where he is wrong. It does. Half of the things that we know now about Walter Reed, most of the things that we know now about the Iraq war is that the Congress is now carrying out its constitutional responsibility, and that is to have oversight. So I just wanted to, just if we continue like Mr. Ryan was saying, listening to these voices of the past, saying let us stay in the same direction, oh, do not worry about having oversight hearings, where were these voices when folks were giving away millions of dollars in special interest tax cuts to the superwealthy and to the superconnected? So I think it is important we are on the right track.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. On Thursday?

Mr. MEEK of Florida. That just happened. That just happened.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. We are within our fifth year now, our fifth year, and Mr. Speaker, I always say there is nothing like the Congressional Record. That is the reason why the 30-something Working Group, we like third-party validators, and we love the Congressional Record because that is the reason why we meet. That is the reason why we make sure we have what we need to have to give good, accurate information to the Members. But we have a very important Member that is on the floor that is a member of not only the Financial Services Committee, but also Government Oversight, that has their work cut out as it relates to making sure that this government is efficient, and that is Mr. Murphy. I think that it is very important that we hear from him and some of the information that he has to share, because a lot of the information we have now is from Mr. Murphy's committee.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I have to run to the whip's office for an important meeting. I am a member of the Ways and Means Committee. Maybe you all will get a call. I know you are all important, you may get a call as members of the Appropriations Committee to go to the Democratic whip, office of the majority whip, but let me just say this very quickly, the men and women in uniform are standing by for us to sling- shot them in. They want us to stand up for them. Mr. Ryan, I told you the other day a great Ohio saying, you have to have these sayings in Washington, D.C. and in politics, where they said that we have to remember that the field mouse is fast, but the owl can see at night. It's important that every Member of the House remember why we are here in the first place. People voted for us, you mentioned families, people voted for us to stand up for them, not stand up for a political party or to stand up on behalf of, oh, well, my President is in the White House. Guess what, the President is the President for the entire country. I don't say your President, he is my President too. When we have issues such as this and we have supplementals, the President said we had a nonbinding resolution, it's nonbinding. Guess what, this is binding. For folks who are looking for a binding document, this will be a binding document with accountability measures. I hope the two of you as members of the Appropriations Committee can go into it further, because we do have some Members that are on the fence, and we want those Members to vote on behalf of the continuing emergency supplemental so that the troops get what they need. They want us to stand in for them. They want to make sure that we make sure that we sling-shot them in for a win for a change, and this is on behalf of the men and women in uniform, our veterans have been waiting for them.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Make that point.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, if you would yield. I mean, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, we were just talking just the other day about outing CIA agents; we were just talking about it. And in the last Congress folks were like, why are you all speculating? We are not speculating, I mean, someone is not telling the truth. Now a court of law said that people did know certain things. And you are right, Mr. Ryan, I mean, the most endangered job, especially if you are on the other side of the aisle, is to be chief of staff. Now people are looking at the chief of staff in a different way than they have done before in the past.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I know Ms. Wasserman Schultz will be returning soon, but while we have two high level members of the House Appropriations Committee on the floor at the same time, since you share with me how important the Appropriations Committee is, we need to talk about what's going to happen next week, because I think it's important that the Members understand that we are carrying out a great mission here. On Tuesday, I know the House will meet at 10:30 for morning business, and we will consider suspension bills, what have you, but we are going to have on the floor next week H.R. 1227, which is the Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act. That is going to resolve many of the issues that gulf coast States and States in the future will face, and will allow us, allow the Federal Government to work in an appropriate way versus an inappropriate way of not being prepared for the needs of the American people. Then on Wednesday we are going to deal with U.S. troop readiness and accountability act, the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act. Mr. Ryan, you and I were talking about this yesterday, and you were marking it up, or you have marked it up in the Appropriations Committee. I think it's important that we share with the Members, as they break to go home back to their districts, that the real story within this bill is that it has accountability, that it is protecting the troops in a way that the Department of Defense has said that they should be protected, using their own rules and regulations for readiness. Now, what does that mean? That is to assure, Mr. Ryan, as you mentioned yesterday, that they have what they need when they go into theater, that it is already there before they get there. They have things that are simple like Kevlar vests, up-armored vehicles, to make sure that they have appropriate downtime before they are put back into the theater. These are Department of Defense regulations. These are not regulations that we came up with here in Congress, this is Department of Defense regulations. So we took those regulations and put it into this legislation. Looking at holding the Iraqi government to the benchmarks that the President spoke about, when he spoke of his escalation on plan, it's holding the President and also the Iraqi government accountable for benchmarks as it relates to continued funding. Also, I mentioned the strategy of redeployment of U.S. troops by 2008. I think that is very important. Yesterday I read some poll numbers, Mr. Ryan, that the American people are far ahead of the Bush administration on this issue. Guess what, we are helping the American people make sure their message makes it into law, makes it into this great emergency supplemental that has teeth in it and that has benchmarks for accountability and fiscal responsibility. Also, when we look at refocusing military efforts on Afghanistan and fighting terrorism, it's in the bill. What is also in the bill is expanding funding for veterans health care and hospitals. Our track record is clean on this, $3.6 billion went into veterans health care prior to the Walter Reed story breaking, prior to this emergency supplemental, and the continuing resolution that we passed almost a month ago. If we can talk a little bit about this legislation, the legislation is coming up next week, but talk about the significance, not only of housing for individuals who are in gulf coast areas, but also the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act. You all just had a great discussion on it today. Can you share it with the Members so they know exactly what they are voting on next week? You know, in the 30-Something Working Group, we hate to see Members that don't fully understand what they are voting on, because when they go back home and a veteran walks up to him and says, Congressman, Congresswoman, why didn't you vote for additional funding for veterans health care, or when they go to a military base, a Reserve unit, National Guard or Active duty, and they say, well, Congressman, Congresswoman, why are you putting me back into the theater and I just left the theater 120 days ago? That is against Department of Defense regulations.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Which is very interesting. I don't know of the 73 that voted against it today, if that is going to be the basis for saying that that is the reason why I am going to veto it, because 73 Members of the House voted against it. But neither be here nor there, I am glad that we are here in the majority, Madam Speaker. We have been in the minority, but we still have not allowed the majority to get to our heads or to our heart.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I will yield, but I was just making a wonderful point. I will yield, Mr. Ryan, if you want me to yield.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. We are not letting it get to our heads or our heart or the reason why we are here in the first place. And the reason why the 30-something Working Group continues to come to the floor, Madam Speaker, because some folks thought, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, this is just a minority project. Oh, they are in the minority, they want to go to the floor, they want to talk about what's wrong, they want to talk about what they will do if they ever get in the majority, and that will be it. Well, guess what? We are here in the majority celebrating the fact that we are doing the things that we said we would do. I mean, that is a paradigm shift in Washington politics: you run for office and you come here and you actually do what you said you were going to do. And now that is being carried out. We have always said some of our friends on the other side of the aisle wanted to be a part of good government, 6 in `06, implementing the 9/11 Commission. We were able to get 299 votes with 68 Republicans voting with us on that. Raising the minimum wage, we were able to get 315 votes with 82 Republicans voting with us. Funding on enhancement of stem cell research, H.R. 3, 253, with 37 Republicans, on and on and on. And the reason why that is happening is not because Republicans all of a sudden say, hey, I want to vote with Democrats and I am going to be bipartisan. They are voting because they always wanted the opportunity, Madam Speaker, to vote for good legislation. Back home, I am going to tell you right now, there are Republicans that are saying I wanted the 9/11 recommendations to be fully implemented to protect America. They don't care who is the leader of the Republicans in the House and who is the leader of the Democrats in the House. They want to be secure. And those Republicans that voted with Democrats to implement every last one of those 9/11 recommendations did so on behalf of their constituents. So we come to the floor to talk about bipartisanship. We come to the floor because we have always said bipartisanship can only be allowed, Madam Speaker and Members, if the majority allows it; and we are allowing it. Ms. Wasserman Schultz.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. March 15. That's a good thing, Mr. Ryan.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Definitely at this point in the 109th Congress, in the 108th Congress. But go ahead, Mr. Ryan.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, it is more than 67 hearings. You meant 97 last week, but now it is 104 hearings. Three digits.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Madam Speaker, today I rise with great gladness over the inauguration of Dr. Karl S. Wright as the 11th President of Florida Memorial University. On March 15, 2007 he will take over the reins of this university amidst ceremonies that evoke the historical significance of this occasion. Having earned his Ph.D. in Economics at Mississippi State University and his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Maryland at College Park, Dr. Wright will preside over South Florida's only historically Black institution of higher learning which has played a major role in responding to the needs of a burgeoning urban center like Miami-Dade County. He is not new to the challenge since he has served as executive vice- president and provost when he oversaw the dramatic increase in the size of its student enrollment. He has actively participated in navigating the rough waters of this university's change from a college status to that of a university. Dr. Wright is no stranger to this institution's upgrading since he has managed not only the quality of the faculty and staff, but also the number of courses and degree programs that now validate its status as a major university. Being an institution of higher learning alongside the Baptist tradition, Dr. Wright's role is enhanced by his commitment to religious education amidst the challenge of academic achievement and higher learning, emphasizing financial management and entrepreneurship, aerospace engineering and personal development. He has also devised a very innovative program on physical fitness and dropout prevention strategies during a time when this urban university reaches out to inner city students in need of mentoring and tutorial assistance. These unique programs are making Florida Memorial University into one of those pioneering institutions whereby its outreach efforts to the youth of Miami-Dade County and beyond are generating dividends toward enhancing its prestige and reputation. In the midst of these innovative educational strategies, Dr. Wright will continue to strengthen this university's graduate degree accreditation process, while expanding qualitatively its presence in the South Florida community and throughout nearby countries within the Caribbean basin. Having served for 7 years as Dean of the School of Business at South Carolina State University, he is well equipped with his educational background and hands-on experience to bring the necessary upgrade toward ensuring that Florida Memorial University become indeed a world-class university. Defined by his ability to reach out beyond the confines of a university setting, Dr. Wright will no doubt bank on his role on the Miami-Dade County Investment Advisory Committee, as well as on the prestigious 100 Black Men of Ft. Lauderdale to give him the necessary tools to consolidate community and business support for the university. Most importantly, Dr. Wright has been recognized by the Kellogg Foundation as a leadership Fellow, and has earned kudos from the American Association of State Colleges and University, which recently selected him to participate in the Millennium Presidential Leadership Fellows Initiative. As he is sworn into office, I am confident that Dr. Karl S. Wright will demonstrate to all those called upon by public service that excellence is never beyond the reach of those willing to make the sacrifice and dare the impossible on behalf of our leaders of tomorrow. I rest assured that he is truly imbued with the personal integrity and intellectual acumen to bring Florida Memorial University into one of the leading universities in our State.