Kendrick Meek

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to make sure that my Republican colleagues know, either in the leadership or the rank and file, that they know it is okay for you to call for an independent commission even though there is a Republican in the White House, even though there is an agency appointed by that Republican administration, because we are all Americans. We should have this independent commission to make sure that we are able to deal with the Federal response to natural disasters or terrorist attacks, whenever it may happen, or making sure that we can deal with some of the issues in the present. There are still 100,000 individuals that were affected by Hurricane Katrina that are still in shelters or displaced in some Red Cross emergency housing. The deadline for shelters to be empty was a couple of days ago, but we have trailer parks that are sitting empty. The trailer park has been established, the asphalt has been laid, the trailers have been delivered; but the people cannot move in because of technical issues of getting them in, need it be someone did not hook the power up to the trailer or the sewage is not where it is supposed to be. So there is still a lot of work to be done and lessons to be learned. Any American city, here in Maryland today, there was an alert about a possible tunnel attack. The week before last it was the New York subway station. So we see cities and counties and local communities finding themselves in harm's way, and Americans may have to leave with what they have in their pockets or on their backs. If we do not learn from lessons learned, having an independent commission of people who do not have a vested interest, a political vested interest in the outcome of the report, then we are not going to get better as a country, and we are not going to be better prepared. Two things that we learned under the scenario of Hurricane Katrina: one, we are not ready. How about that. All of these top-off programs that have been created, and when I say top-off, I want to make sure Members understand what I am saying. These are the programs where the Department of Homeland Security would go into a local community and go through an exercise in case a chemical weapon was actually detonated or a terrorist event was to take place here and how would you deal with it, how would hospitals deal with, how would first responders deal with it. Where would the people go. We did that with Hurricane Pat in New Orleans. We knew. When I say ``we,'' the Federal Government knew that anything over a category 3 would bring about catastrophic damage to the area. I have a little picture that too many Americans are all too familiar with. This is a neighborhood east of downtown New Orleans. Billions of gallons of water flooded 80 percent of the city of New Orleans. Now, that is not Hurricane Katrina by herself; this is a lack of governance. I want to know why the Corps of Engineers stopped their work. After 37 years of working on the levee, why did they stop working to make sure it is safe. Hurricane Katrina came through and the event was over, and it did not look like this. When the levee broke in several areas, all of the loss of life took place at that time. Pretty much all of the property damage for sure took place at that time. When you say it was an act of God, well, I am not going to put all of that on God. I am going to put some of it on this government that should have been there. Let me just put this poster down because I want to make sure that this aerial picture that was taken, and I am going to put it down for a minute because the real issue, and this is the picture before or right after people were on those roofs waiting, living it out for 3 days, waiting on the cavalry, waiting on someone to come and say is it possible to get off the roof. Here is another picture. There is concern about somebody looting a Walgreen's for food, and people had to improvise. People are jumping in a boat not with a paddle, but with a board. Here is a kid in a refrigerator trying to find safe haven. It took awhile for all of this ingenuity to come about because definitely they could not count on the government, whether it be State, Federal, local. We need to get to the bottom of this. We need to make sure that this is not coming to a city near all of us, and we are not standing and waiting and hoping and praying that the helicopter is going to come soon or the boat is going to come soon. I think it is important. We need to learn from our past mistakes. So 81 percent of Americans support this independent commission. For people to talk about they do not quite understand, independent commission, why? We do it when we have a horrific event in our country, whether a plane crash or a natural disaster. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, during this time, they spent more time having press conferences thanking everyone and saying you are doing a wonderful job. No, you are doing a better job. No, I want to make sure you know that you were doing a good job. Meanwhile, folks are still clinging onto life, people are running out of insulin. They need medical supplies and people are drowning in nursing homes. These are Americans. These are Americans. These are individuals that live in our communities. There were veterans caught up in this stuff. There were teachers caught up in this. There were individuals counting on their government for them to be there for them, be it State, local, or Federal. I am not here to protect anyone. I want to make sure that we have what we need from an independent commission to make things better. I remember this time very vividly when these e-mails were going on. This was at the height of the rescue, and they were running around here talking about titles and respect.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, since the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is at the younger end, he wants to talk more about the older people that are involved and the wiser people. And I would say to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), we will not prolong it any more.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Overseeing the Federal Government, but see, the issue that is so difficult here is the fact that this is our main job, and we are not doing it. It takes a while to get a culture. If it is corruption, it comes and it goes. When you have a culture of corruption and cronyism, that means two things. Someone has not been overseeing the rules. Someone has not been saying listen, no, I am sorry. We have the Department of Transportation. This is what you are supposed to be doing because we are the oversight committee of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and we have oversight over you and we are elected by the American people to make sure that your tax dollar is being spent in the appropriate way.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. This is what we have done, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita. We are living with the highest deficit in the history of the republic. We are standing and we are doing this, and what goes back to this article that I was addressing a little while ago, it talked about the fact that there is no checks and balances. I just want to remind the Members, since some might have maybe not fully focused on what is happening, the Senate is Republican- controlled. The House is definitely Republican-controlled. The White House, we know for sure that it is under Republican control, and when we see the amount of money that is now having to be spent, I am just going to take Katrina. I do want to talk about health care, and I know the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) has the next hour, and I just want to talk a little bit about health care again. But I can tell you this, I am going to take Katrina for an instance, $200 billion plus. A big part of that is the fact that Louisiana or New Orleans were flooded, under water. Hundreds of thousands of Americans were displaced. Two things happened there. Americans died but two things happened there. There was a lack of governance, and I can tell you that if we had the right kind of oversight, if maybe that Army Corps of Engineers captain or commander would have gotten what he needed to do exactly what the National Hurricane Center called for or to do exactly what Members of Congress from that area asked for, or to say that since we are doing all of these strategic review of vulnerabilities, I am on Homeland Security so I know the language, since we are doing all of that and we did all these things when we knew when we were vulnerable, then we are supposed to respond to that, and we did not. That is where the lack of governance comes in. So this whole issue of oversight is a big issue, and if folks feel that it is not going to be in a community by you, it is already there. Katrina knocked the scab off of the Department of Homeland Security and others that have said that we are ready for anything that happens. It is a perfect example that we are not and we were not. Communities should not have to go through it to learn it, and we are the Congress and we are supposed to do better when we know better, and we know better, and we are not doing better because we are not willing to lead. On this side of the aisle, we are here at some couple of minutes before 10:00 saying that we are ready and willing to lead or share in the leadership. What is important here is that we allow a bipartisan nature in dealing with some of the issues that we pointed out here tonight, and that is not happening. That is where it comes in. So I am glad historically that the gentleman was able to share with us what happened when Democrats were in control, how many opportunities that the minority had an opportunity to be a part of legislation and inclusion.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I just want to share something with the gentleman, because this is serious business when we come to the floor to talk about these issues. We always say we were elected to represent not only our constituents but also the American people. When they voted for us, they federalized us. They allowed us to come here to vote on policy and to create policy on behalf of the betterment of this country. The gentleman mentioned something and we do a lot of work here. We have information. We meet off the floor to be able to talk about some of these issues. The Washington Post Federal Page, I just want to take this and make sure everyone understands this is about saluting one flag. This is not about what side of the aisle we are on. But the reason why we point out the fact, Mr. Speaker, that the majority leadership has not taken leadership to lead us in a way that we should be led in fair play when we are saluting one flag on issues that are facing national security, I am on the Committee on Homeland Security and I am on the Committee on Armed Services with the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan); and I can tell the Members right now that energy, as far as I am concerned, is a national security issue. So when folks come to the floor not on behalf of the American people and national security but on behalf of special interests, I personally have a problem with it. I take the Federal Page from the Washington Post. This is actually from October 5. This story here talks about: Storms show system out of balance. GOP Congress has reduced agency oversight. I think it is important that we pay very close attention to not only this article. It names not only three Republicans, one on the other side of the body in the Senate and two here in this body. As a matter of fact, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Harris), two of my colleagues, called for hearings, Mr. Speaker, on FEMA, the money that was spent last year in Florida on counties that were not truly affected by the four storms that came through, the money that was just given out without any oversight, just simply, for the committees wrote a letter, which one I sent on, to have oversight hearings on FEMA. I agreed with that, yes, we should have oversight hearings. If something went wrong, that is the thing that the Congressperson does, call for oversight hearings. These are Members that are in the majority. These are not Democratic Members that have said we need to have oversight hearings. These are the Members in the majority side that said we need oversight hearings. Guess what. They did not happen, and this was last year. This was the story that they asked for the hearings last year. It still did not happen. The point I am making on this article, it goes on to say that it took an analysis of the first 6 months of Congress between 1983 and 1997, to make a comparison. This researcher found that both Chambers of Congress both reduced their numbers of hearings. Actually, in the House, there were 782 hearings in 1983 of oversight, and it went down in 1997 to 287. In the Senate, they had 439 hearings on oversight, and in 1997 it went down to 175.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) brought up some interesting points; and I can tell him, as a parent myself, this issue of No Child Left Behind, we would talk to our Republican leadership colleagues and they would say, well, that was a bipartisan bill and over on the opposite side, in the Senate, folks were having press conferences and bill-signing ceremonies and everything. But we believed that we were going to see full funding of No Child Left Behind and that this Congress would go down in history as the education Congress, and we are not even close to fulfilling our obligations. As a matter of fact, we have about eight States that are suing the Federal Government over No Child Left Behind unfunded mandates. These are States. These are not other countries. These are States here in the United States that taxpayers pay money. We have a number of school districts that say, listen, if we can opt out of it, we want to opt out. We do not want to opt in. That is not a federalized education program to help local communities and chambers and all the other do-gooders in small communities and big communities who want to make sure they have an educated workforce. It is not that same theory. We have one other issue that is here. The gentleman mentioned the issue of the energy bill. I am glad that resurfaced because I am going to tell the Members the reason why that is important. The energy bill came to this floor, and for 90 minutes we sat and stood here on this floor waiting for the board to close. What we call the board here in Congress is a voting board. For several minutes, almost 1 hour. The bill was defeated. And, Mr. Speaker, I think this is where if I had a yellow flag and I was a referee or an official on the 40 yard line that I would actually throw a flag. I would have thrown the flag because the spirit of the rules were violated because when the board opens up and there are 15 minutes to vote, there are 15 minutes to vote, give or take 1 or 2 or 3. But when they say the board is open for 15 minutes and we will close it when we win, then that is a violation of the spirit of the rules of this House. And it feeds into the whole issue of the corruption and cronyism. I have two young children; and if there were a homework assignment that was due, and my wife and I have to sign their reading stuff and say that it is done, but it would not be fair if my children were to do their homework and there were two other children in the same classroom or in the same school that say, Well, I do not have to do my homework. I will just do it two nights from now because my father or my mother is a chairperson of the PTA and we have power like that. We can do it. That would not be fair to the children who actually did their homework. I use that analogy because I want to make sure that the Members and the American people understand what we are talking about. Yes, it is a bad thing dealing with children, but it is a horrible thing when we are talking about national policy for the greatest country on the face of the Earth, the shining example of democracy. Now, we salute one flag. And my colleagues heard me speak a couple of weeks ago about those Americans; and, yes, we think about those 2,000-plus individuals who have fallen in this war, but for those Americans who are still here who are voting for representation and fair play, they are individuals that are without limbs now. We have all gone to Walter Reed. We have all gone to these hospitals in our own communities, these VA hospitals, watching these men and women come back, half of their head blown off, legs and arms missing. And we are here and we walk through this door and we put our voting cards in these machines to represent them and the Americans that they fought for. And then we come to the floor because the majority did not get what they wanted when they wanted it, to say that they will hold this vote open as long as they have to to make sure that they twist enough arms on the Republican side because every Democrat voted against the bad policy, this bill. I do not even want to address it as an energy bill because basically it was just a giveaway to the industry. That is all it was. Everything, 7 months prior, that could not go straight-faced into the ``energy bill'' at that time they got in this last time right before we took a break of the bill that just passed recently. And the reason why they got it: A, Hurricane Katrina came through. Hurricane Rita was on its way. The bill was already being marked up before Rita came, but it was on its way to help deal with the issue of price gouging and making sure that we are able to provide energy for our country and hopefully bring down the price of gas, and it did not do that. What it did was it raped our environmental laws. It raped the process of fair play in this institution. There are certain things, as Members of Congress, we cannot allow to happen on behalf of the institution. When the record books are opened, the annals of history of the 109th Congress, yes, there will be individuals that will be mentioned; but also it will be that day that we were on the floor and the spirit of the rules of the House were violated in the worst way, time after time again. Time after time again. The leadership from this side, Mr. Speaker, came to the floor with a parliamentary inquiry. The clock was at triple zero. Obviously, the measure did not pass, Mr. Speaker. Can we ask for the Speaker to call the vote? And each person was gaveled down for not making a parliamentary inquiry, and the Speaker said what he had to say at that particular time to keep it going. The gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), Democratic leader, came to the floor, gaveled down for asking the question and then pointing out the fact this is what is wrong with Washington now, the culture of corruption and cronyism, not in the dark corners of Congress but under the lights on international, not national, but international television that we are willing to rape the spirit of the rules of this House and the spirit of fair play in America. Not something that we watched on cable television in some foreign land somewhere in a Third World country. Not there. But right here for the world to see. I would not say the hypocrisy of the democracy of everyday Americans, but because of the leaders who allowed it to happen here in this House. Mr. Speaker, last point, I just want to make sure that we understand, as Members of Congress, that we have a responsibility in the majority and minority. I take full responsibility for what took place, Mr. Speaker, here on this floor, yes. Did I do everything I could? Of course I did. Did I walk over to the other side of the aisle and talk to some of my friends over there that are level-minded individuals, who will go unnamed because we do not want them to receive any repercussions for speaking out, who said, I think that the vote should have been called. Well, you need to go tell your leadership that the vote needs to be called. I mean, we want to do it in a gentlemanly way. We call ourselves, Mr. Speaker, gentlemen and gentlewomen, respect for the institution, and still the vote was not called. I mean, individuals' arms were twisted. You vote, hurry up, and trying to call the vote while they went. And it almost happened once, and then the conscience kicked in of some Members and they changed their vote and it went back to a losing vote again, and they said we have to hold the board open another 20 minutes because we did not get our way.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I never say anything about the gentleman's age.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I am 39.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, once again it is an honor to come to the floor. We would like to thank the Democratic leader as well as the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), our Democratic whip, for allowing us to have this hour here to talk about the issues that are facing Americans and the issues that we feel should be brought to the forefront which are not being addressed. Tonight I am joined by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) and also by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan). I am glad to be joined by them once again because, as we have said before, we are going to come to the floor night after night to try to push the American agenda forward as best we can. As my colleagues know, being in the minority here in the House of Representatives does not bring about the kind of power one needs to be able to respond to the needs of Americans. But I can say that being in the minority and pointing out these issues of how we could do the job better than the majority side has done, I think is not only educational for the Members of this House but also should bring about some kind of change so that we can have better representation here in Washington, DC, especially representation in terms of legislation that passes from this floor and out of this Congress and on to the White House. We have been out for a week on the Columbus Day break, and I know the gentleman and his constituents have been getting lots of rain in New Jersey, so my prayers go out to your constituents and many others. Being from Florida, as you know we receive our fair share of good and bad weather. Mainly good, and so we want folks to come to Florida; but we know the Garden State has been hammered, along with other States around it, for quite a few days now. So I hope all is well with those counties that are trying to survive some of the flood waters. I think it is important to begin where we left off almost a week ago, Mr. Speaker, and to address the issue of having an independent commission for the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita and making sure that not only are those Americans not forgotten but that we not forget the mistakes that took place during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina so that they never happen again. Never again in the United States. I think it is important for us to also realize, Mr. Speaker, that it was not just a storm. It was the aftermath of the storm and the lack of governance on the front end, making sure that our levee systems were where they should have been and the issues as relates to those buffer islands in the gulf coast area, especially in Louisiana. Those issues should have been addressed by the Federal Government in making sure that we have the kind of buffer to protect one of our greatest U.S. cities. As my colleagues may know, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) and also the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez) on our side of the aisle have introduced an independent commission bill that we have been working to get to the floor for some time now. I think that not only the Members but the American people need to realize that the power of this House, if we were in the majority, and this is not a partisan issue, but if we were in the majority, because there is a bill that is there that almost every Member, if not every Member from the Democratic Caucus, has signed on to this bill calling for a 9/11-like commission to deal with the issues that are facing the Katrina victims and to be able to analyze in an independent way outside of this process, outside of the partisanship, to make sure we do what we did for the 9/11 victims, to give them their fair share of representation and insight; making sure that they are not dragged through the mud, becoming victims once again. Mr. Speaker, as we open our discussions here tonight, I also wanted to make sure that we deal with the issue of corruption and cronyism. When we left here over a week ago, we were dealing with that issue; and I wanted to make sure that we talk about that a little tonight with my colleagues. I also brought some articles with me that I think Members should be made aware of, and that we share with them the importance of governance and oversight. So there are a number of issues that we are going to talk about, and I just wanted to make some opening comments regarding those items, but I will be happy to yield to my colleagues at any time.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well, A, congratulations; and, B, because you were feeding the baby for the first time yesterday, I hope that you knew what to do when you were feeding the baby.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. There you go. Great uncle.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Two-fer.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Ninty minutes.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I think what is important here are several points that the gentleman has already made. You have this chart here dealing with the whole gas price issue on the middle class, and I just want to take a couple of minutes of this hour just to talk a little bit more about what is called an energy bill. We had an alternative, and the reason why I call it an alternative to the gas or to the energy bill is the fact that we were in the majority and it would be called an energy bill dealing with price gouging and also making future investments and bringing out alternative fuels to be done by a certain date. Also, our alternative said if you price gouge, we are not talking about someone at the pump, we are talking about the oil industry that has soaring, through-the-roof profits in a time that we have individuals who cannot even make it to work now because they cannot afford to buy a tank of gas. They did not get an increase. Their employer did not say, listen, we are going to give you about three hundred more dollars a month so you can pay for gas. They did not say that. So we dealt with those individuals in our alternative by saying that if you price gouge the American people, not only will it allow State Attorneys General to enforce the law, but you will pay serious fines, up to $3 million a day. Every day you price gouge, you pay. You do not get your profits and run off and the stockholders are happy. No, you are punished, and it not only dealt with gas. It dealt with oil and LP Gas and heating gas. I think it is important for folks to understand that we were for real about it, and the majority side was really defending the industry. I know we are going to have more time.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. But what I am saying is that we do not do things because we are supposed to do them; we respond to it after it happens.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Examples are the health care system, and New Orleans.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Madam Speaker, $14 billion to make ready for a category 5 storm, $200 billion later, or several, up into the $60 billion and $70 billion to not only fix it, but also deal with other issues, because of a result of the fact that we did not do what we were supposed to do when we were supposed to do it. Going back to vulnerabilities here in the United States, that community was ranked number one as it relates to a storm, a natural disaster in a catastrophic way as it relates to the damage that would be done. Madam Speaker, I think it is also important for me to point out, when we start talking about this issue, the gentleman mentioned Democrats having to stand up and make sure that we deal with the whole corruption and cronyism issue, and I think that that is important. And I think it is also important to make sure that we deal with that, but to deal with that, A, we are trying to deal with it by calling out some of this stuff out here on the floor. We are trying to do the best we can. And there are others who are trying to do the best they can. The gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), who is the ranking member on the Committee on Government Reform, can only do all that he can do to point out some of these issues. And I have a number of reports as it relates to contracting under the Bush administration. But guess what? If we were in the majority we could do these things and make sure that we save the Federal taxpayer money, we save those dollars. We make sure that they are paying taxes, which we all are, okay, that it is being spent in the way that the American people want us to spend it, in a responsible way. Now, this whole issue, once again, this corruption and cronyism issue is so deep here in Washington, DC, I do not even have to say, well, let me pick up the paper a week ago because there were some stories in there that I think I need to bring to your attention, or I hear there is a story coming out on Thursday about some of this stuff that is going on here in the Capitol. You can just walk out the door here in Washington, DC or in your local community and pick up the paper on any given day, be it a Saturday or Sunday or Monday or Tuesday, it does not matter what day, there is always something here, because there are several things that are here because there are several things that are going on in this town, and that is just in the present. That is just what has happened already. Think about what is happening as we speak, and what is not happening under the culture of corruption of cronyism. What do not we know about now that we will know 6 months from now, because it will have worked on someone's conscience to be able to say, hey, you know something, this is wrong. And it is not wrong because of a personal decision that someone has made, it is wrong because they made a decision that changed the very fiber of the Congress. I mean changed the culture of Congress, I mean, what we are supposed to be doing and not doing. Yes, we know we have individuals that make bad independent decisions. Oh, I have made some. But they were independent. Did not affect my constituents. Did not affect this country, a bad decision that I have made. But you have folks that are knowingly and willfully making bad decisions that are altering this Congress, and that will alter many Americans' lives and the way they live and the way they provide for their children, and it is happening every day without a conscience. Now in the Washington Post, there are some folks here, and we know that there are some folks here in the Capitol that have said, okay, we have to deal with this Katrina issue. It is $200 billion and we are going to have offsets and we are going to deal with it. Where are we going go for the offsets? Well, in this story, it is not saying, well, maybe we need to look at some of our advanced weapons systems that possibly may be useful to us sometime in the future. Maybe we need to say that we are spending $50 million or $50 billion or $130 billion out there on advanced weapons systems, maybe since they are, you know, advanced, maybe there are some other areas we can take 5 billion here or ten billion there and then maybe we can come up with some offset. No, not that. Maybe we can go to the tax cuts that we gave to the billionaires. All right. I am not even talking about the millionaires. I am talking about the billionaires. Maybe ask them to give a little sacrifice under this time that the country is going through a lot. Maybe, you know, maybe just a 5 or 2 percent cut from there. No, they are not mentioned. No, where we are going to go, this is the Republican leadership. This is the discussion that is taking place over there. This is not my report, because I am going to tell you right now this is the Washington Post. House GOP leaders are setting up third party validator, set to cut spending as it relates to Medicaid. Wow. Let us go after the big people. Let us, you know, the folks that catch the early bus in the morning. Let us go after them. Yeah. They are really strong. In a program that has already been cut.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Let us go pick on someone that is not our own size. Yeah, let us go after individuals and make them, because they are not giving in the way maybe some of these other folks are. Okay. Let us go after them.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well, let us go after some folks that we were sent up here to protect. Let us go after them. Let us turn on our own. I am bigger than that person. So maybe that guy, you know, that is driving the pickup truck running around here shopping where he is bundling T-shirts and clothes and leaving the truck now parked because he cannot take the kids to the recreation center where they can stay out of trouble, let us beat up on them. Let us deal with the individuals that the company that they went to work for, said maybe you need to go get on Medicaid because it is better than what we have to provide, because there is really no incentive as a business person for me to provide health care for you, because there is no national policy. Let us pick on them. Let us take Title I lunch programs to help poor kids to have the nutrition to be able to go to school and think correctly so that they can learn, and so they have to pass a standardized test that this Congress has called for to make sure that they learn, or they retain, whatever the test is supposed to pull out of them, let us take that, let us reduce that. Yeah. Let us take away from the kids, because guess what, they cannot vote. They are definitely not going to give a campaign contribution. Let us deal with them. Now I am going to tell you something. And I know there are some well- intended Members here in this Congress. And I know that there are some leadership individuals that are saying, well, you know, maybe that is a great idea. But I can tell you right now, if you are going to do it, we are not going to be sitting here watching and allowing you to do it. You are not going to talk about it in the back halls of Congress and then come to this floor under regular order and say, well, we are doing this because we have to help the people in the devastated area. As a matter of fact, not only are we helping you, the folks in the devastated area, and I must add there is no discussion in here, well, we are going to take away from the Democratic areas, we are going to carve out those counties and parishes and we are going to cut them. No, no, we are going to do it to you all. We are going to make sure, and this is a national blanket cut, so if you are sitting in Illinois tonight, Member, or if you are down the street, you know, at your apartment or house, I want you to realize that what some Members of the Republican Congress are talking about is cutting programs in your district. This story goes further on to talk about small farming programs. Okay, so if you are sitting there, Member of Congress, saying, well, they are not talking about me, they might be talking about those folks that are on Medicaid, that I must add if a Member is saying they are talking about those folks on Medicaid, they are talking about your constituents too, but they are going to cut that. Meanwhile, whatever Mr. Rumsfeld calls for out of the Pentagon, and whatever the White House says that needs to happen, without an exit strategy or even a discussion of the exit strategy on what is our goals and objectives outside of the several elections that are going on in Iraq and that will continue to go on. What we are going to need as long as we are going to need it. Do not ask any questions. What are you asking questions about? You are asking a question of me about what I am asking for for the troops as it relates to money? My question is, is it really for the troops or is it really to continue to feed family and friends that are out there making billions on this war, billions they are making? And I will tell you this also. They can run commercials, I know Halliburton is the shining example of what goes on under a culture of cronyism and corruption and a lack of oversight. I just gave an analysis of what took place of oversight hearings and how the decline has taken place, because no one wants to call out the next person, because we have an oversight hearing, oh, my goodness, we may start to govern around here. I think it is important for us to also understand that we are sitting here talking about we are for the troops and you know all of this kind of stuff, but we are not willing to lead in a way to say that, hey, excuse me, excuse me, Mr. President, can we talk about maybe when will this be over? Or maybe what is the strategy? Is the strategy as long as there is an insurgency, we are going to be there? Well, that is a 20-year strategy, Madam Speaker, because we are spending billions to fight an insurgency, not the troops, not the individuals that a train was not ready. The individuals that said that we should go did not do what they were supposed to do as it relates to the planning. We are going to run to Baghdad, we are going to have bombs and stuff. We are going to get there and this is a race and everybody has a clock going, and the news media like we are here now. Wow, record time. Wow. There was nothing after that. And because of that, hundreds upon hundreds of Americans have lost their lives, thousands upon thousands of Americans are injured that have come back to their community, that have served their country because their country asked them to serve. And I am going to tell you, and I want to make sure that we get clarity on this, that it is our job to govern here in the Congress. It is our job to protect these individuals. It is not our job to continue to hold on and to cover for individuals that are making bad ideas or that are sharing bad ideas and continuing to compound on these ideas, and to continue to come here and say, well, you know, why are you asking me the question, and with great arrogance. Now I am going to share this with you. It is our job, and you know it, for us to not only call out the fact of a lack of governance, a look of oversight, a lack of bipartisan working on these very issues, and bringing to a head of what is important here. The head is, is making sure that we govern in the way we are supposed to govern. And for some of the individuals that are calling out saying that we have to have offsets, Hey, we have been calling for offsets. We have been saying, if you are going to spend it, you better have a plan on how you are going to pay for it but, listen, did not get religion now when we are talking about the American people. Do not stand up and say, well, I am going to get religion on this week. I am going the make them pay when you will not even stand up to big companies, when you come to the floor with an energy bill that is a gift to the industry. You did not come here on behalf of the American people. You came here on behalf of oil company profits. Tell the truth. At least come to the floor and be straight with the American people. Because if you are not, we will. And let me tell you something. It really infuriates me that folks will run around here and even hold their head up going after poverty programs saying that we are going to balance the budget on the back of poverty.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Madam Speaker, that is the reason why people elected us to come up here and govern, to make sure that we stand up and forecast future issues. Now, that hospital had to close, I am pretty sure, because the funding just was not there in the preventive way to be able to deal with the issues that are facing indigent patients, or everyday working folks.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Madam Speaker, let us just think about that for a minute. A 60 percent pay cut, the gentleman does know that a 60 percent pay cut, some folks are going to lose their homes.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. The media quick-fix probably would be to try to go out and get a loan. Now you make a little bit less than what you used to make, and you may not be able to get the loan because you do not make the money you used to make and the uncertainty of how long your company is going to be able to provide the money that you thought that you were going to be able to make. I think this is a real issue. I think it is a real issue, and I think it is something that we need to be very concerned about. I agree with the gentleman 110 percent. I have been reading in the paper what is going on. The gentleman from Ohio is living it because it is right there in his district. But guess what, I say to the gentleman, it is happening throughout America. A number of other communities are going through it. And once again, I think it is important, it falls back on the heels of governance again, and also our stronghold and our love affair with China. I mean, it goes far beyond, far beyond that particular company and the relationship with China. It is almost like if China was to make some sort of move, it would affect the United States of America, whether it be in manufacturing, or if they were to make an issue as it relates to debt, call in some of those chits that they have out there with us as it relates to the debt, because they are buying our debt. If they were to deal with other countries as it relates to oil, it would have some issues and would deal with our economy. So it is almost like we have to be very, very careful, because the U.S. taxpayers are not only, obviously, the main contributor to many of our trade policies, because it is, unfortunately, a negative trade policy, and that we are having to take in space where U.S. jobs have been lost, people cannot provide for their families like they used to, so then government has to try to be there to be able to assist not only local governments but State governments in areas where individuals through even their payroll taxes could cover some of the costs of some of these unfunded mandates that are now out there, and the Federal Government has to rise up and be a part of that experience. But I wanted to just, I want the gentleman to finish his point on sharing with us what is happening in your district, and then I want to go back to an article that talks about the issue of not only health care, but where our priorities are as a Congress when it comes down to dealing with the American people. Because that is what the gentleman is talking about right now. The gentleman is talking about the American people, and the gentleman has a lot of individuals that are deployed out of the State of Ohio that are in harm's way right now, and some of their families are tied up in this. And I can tell my colleagues right now, I am here, I am with my family; but what if I were not and something like this were to happen to a spouse or a loved one or a significant other or a brother or a sister. We are going have to all come together to try to help that individual financially.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the life of Mrs. Cora Eaves Braynon, a true leader whose rich legacy will enhance our community for many years to come. Cora Braynon spent her entire career in public health--as a nurse, educator, administrator and as a North Broward Hospital District Commissioner. Mrs. Braynon received a bachelor's degree in nursing from the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and a Master's in Public Health from the University of Michigan. Mrs. Braynon was appointed to the North Broward Hospital District Board in 1999 and reappointed in 2003. Her last role was that of Vice Chair. Mrs. Braynon also served on numerous District committees including the Executive Committee, Joint Conference Committee, Minority Business Enterprise Committee, and the Quality Assessment/Oversight Committee. Prior to receiving the appointment as Commissioner of the North Broward Hospital District, Mrs. Braynon was the first black Registered Nurse employed by the Broward County Health Department. She served as Senior Executive Nursing Director for 18 years and retired in 1994. Mrs. Braynon was also an instructor at Broward Community College, Florida Atlantic University and an adjunct faculty member of Barry University Adult and Community Education Program. She also served on the Advisory Council on Nurse Education, Division of Nursing for the Public Health Services, Department of Health and Human Services. Aside from her commitment to public health, Cora Braynon served 52 years as a life member of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc., a public service sorority. She was a pioneer in developing programs to help safeguard the health of teenage mothers and their babies. Her interests were reflected in her sorority work where she implemented the Reaching Adolescent Parents Program. She was also devoted to the Delteen youth program where she mentored many young women on their role and commitment to finer womanhood. Cora Braynon, the immediate past president of the Broward County Alumnae Chapter, served three terms as President. Additionally, she served on regional and national committees of the sorority. Cora Eaves Braynon, a woman of great accomplishment, leaves behind a large and accomplished family, including her beloved husband, Ronald A. Braynon; three children: Oscar Braynon, Sr. (Patricia), of Miami, Florida; two daughters: Andrea A. Braynon, of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Terri Braynon Glasford (Jason), of Miramar, Florida; one sister, Carrie Eaves Evans (Willis), of Louisville, Kentucky; one brother, Frank Eaves (Ella) of Prospect, Kentucky; one brother-in-law, Roger Forbes of Fenton, Michigan; sisters-in-law: Betty Sharpe of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida and Rosemary Braynon of North Miami, Florida; grandchildren: City of Miami Gardens Vice Mayor Oscar Braynon, Jr., Gina Braynon and Marina Braynon Moore, a host of nieces, nephews and other family members and friends. Cora Braynon will surely be missed, but we will all remember her with wonderful thoughts and memories of the person that she was and the many ways that she touched our lives.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate and pay tribute to two people who are bound both by marriage, and by their service to God and our community. It is one of these ties that I want to recognize today, for Pastors Randall and Sharlene Holts of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. Reverend Randall E. Holts is the Senior Pastor of the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church of Miami. Since 1985, Pastor Holts has served as the Chief Administrator responsible for administering the spiritual and temporal affairs of the church. Under his dynamic leadership the congregation has grown to more than 2,500 members. In addition, in 1997, Pastor Holts and his leadership team organized and established the ``New Hope Development Center, Inc.'', a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The mission of NHDC is to foster self-sufficiency of families through economic empowerment, and delivering human and social services to improve the quality of life for residents in the community. Mrs. Sharlene D. Holts currently serves as Pastor of Women's Ministry at the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church of Miami, Florida. In December of 1995, Mrs. Holts heard and accepted the call of God summoning her to the Gospel Ministry. Since that time, she has faithfully prepared herself in prayer and study of the Word to do God's will. Pastors Randall and Sharlene Holts were high school sweethearts, and are currently partners in life, as well as, ministry. They are the proud parents of Shontel Holts-Rich, Ericka Holts and Randall Holts, Jr. Each is a valuable contributing member of the South Florida family, and together they have truly emerged as leaders helping to foster the empowerment of a people and an overall better quality of life in our community. Our prayers and good wishes go with them for many more happy, productive years in the future.