Eleanor Norton

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio for his graciousness and good wishes. And he knows I would do almost anything for him, but as he knows, baseball has been well beyond my jurisdiction for 33 years. We think we have rectified that with today's announcement. I may have a little more to say about it than I have had since I was a child and the Senators were here. I want him to know that some wise guy called in, when we said, what should we name the Senators? And they said, noting my status on this floor, why do we not call them the Delegates? Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5105 authorizes the Board of Regents at the Smithsonian Institution to construct an astrophysical observatory located at Kitt Peak, Arizona, and to carry out related activities in support of the project. The bill was introduced by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) and referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. This construction project will support the work of the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System, or VERITAS, the project that deals with radiation imaging. The bill authorizes $1 million for the construction and related activities. The construction will involve an inexpensive metal building which will be approximately 4,500 square feet to include a repair area, meeting rooms, general storage and kitchen. The building will be fire-resistant. The project is being conducted in partnership with the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. It is a very worthwhile project, and I urge passage of the bill.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Ms. NORTON asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Ms. Norton asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) for his leadership on this bill and rise in strong support of H.R. 4731, a bill to extend the authorization of the Environmental Protection Agency's National Estuary Program. This popular program provides Federal assistance to local stakeholders to implement locally designed management plans for the protection of the Nation's estuaries. At the same time, the program serves as a national clearinghouse for successful management approaches, technologies and ideas, providing local communities with concrete examples of what works in addressing the unique needs of estuaries. This program authorizes funding for the development and implementation of comprehensive conservation and management plans for estuaries of national significance. A comprehensive approach to addressing estuary health is particularly important as the stressors on the health of estuaries continue to expand. EPA's most recent water quality report indicated that 50 percent of estuary waters do not meet their designated uses. Programs such as this, coupled with significant additional resources for wastewater infrastructure, may allow for water quality in estuaries to improve and ecosystems to be restored. I strongly support authorization for the National Estuary Program. And I urge my colleagues to vote ``aye'' on H.R. 4731. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time, and also for her help on this bill. I thank the gentleman from Georgia who is managing the bill for his excellent statement and for bringing the bill forward. I also would like to begin by thanking my good friends who have taken a special interest in this bill, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), as well as the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Boehner) and the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), the ranking member, for scheduling this resolution. I rise today to honor the 30th anniversary of the Duke Ellington High School named for the legendary composer and musician, the great Duke Ellington, a native son of the District of Columbia. The genius and artistry of Duke Ellington and his fabulous 50-year career are universally recognized. Many of today's musicians, from a variety of genres, but most especially jazz, look to Ellington as the world-class leader of the American classic, jazz. I am pleased to recognize his achievements during the 30th year anniversary of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, a nationally acclaimed high school that trains talented area students in a variety of arts such as dance, theater, instrumental music and the visual arts. The Duke Ellington School of the Arts operates in the tradition of Ellington excellence. It has a partnership with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and offers a college preparatory curriculum with advanced placement courses and professional artistic training. Students perform and work at professional-quality levels. Its graduates, such as the famous soprano, Denise Graves, have carried the Ellington tradition proudly into the arts. The work of students and graduates alike have shown that the high school is worthy of the Ellington name. Duke Ellington was much celebrated during his glittering career. He was a recipient of the President's Gold Medal in 1966 and of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969. He won 13 Grammy awards and numerous honors from organization all over the world. His music gave rise to the famed Cotton Club, which showcased jazz talent from Sarah Vaughn to Ella Fitzgerald to Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong. The popularity of jazz music that he helped spread spawned the creation of Blue Note Records, the influential jazz recording label which is marking its 65th anniversary this year. Music critics have been writing about jazz in the equally important Downbeat Magazine which is celebrating its 70th anniversary. Jazz is our much-celebrated unique American treasure, and Ellington was the leader of the band. We are particularly pleased to recognize the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival which will begin next fall. It will feature a number of artistic events culminating in 2 days of concerts on the National Mall. It is especially fitting this festival will take place here in the Nation's Capital, Duke Ellington's birthplace and the city that nurtured his talent on the 30th anniversary of the extraordinary high school named for the Duke. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for and support H. Con. Res. 501.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. In closing, I would just like to give the Members a sense of what this bill would do. If it passes, it would allow someone to carry a 50- caliber sniper rifle in one hand, armor-piercing ammunition, and incendiary combination ammunition in the other, and go into our Metro, so long as he, and let me read this to my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, as long as he was on his way to an informal target practice or a dog obedience training class. Mr. Speaker, this is sheer lunacy. Save yourself from embarrassment. Save our children. Save our Nation. Save this Congress from looking like idiots and fools in the middle of an orange alert by bringing more guns into the Nation's capital. Vote ``no'' on H.R. 3193. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 45 seconds to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey). (Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen).

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), a member of the full committee.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record an article on al Qaeda seeking ties to local gangs that appeared in the Washington Times. [From the Washington Times, Sept. 28, 2004] Al Qaeda Seeks Tie to Local Gangs (By Jerry Seper) A top al Qaeda lieutenant has met with leaders of a violent Salvadoran criminal gang with roots in Mexico and the United States--including a stronghold in the Washington area--in an effort by the terrorist network to seek help infiltrating the U.S.-Mexico border, law enforcement authorities said. Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, a key al Qaeda cell leader for whom the U.S. government has offered a $5 million reward, was spotted in July in Honduras meeting with leaders of El Salvador's notorious Mara Salvatrucha gang, which immigration officials said has smuggled hundreds of Central and South Americans--mostly gang members--into the United States. Although they are actively involved in alien, drug and weapons smuggling, Mara Salvatrucha members in America also have been tied to numerous killings, robberies, burglaries, carjackings, extortions, rapes and aggravated assaults-- including at least seven killings in Virginia and a machete attack on a 16-year-old in Alexandria that severely mutilated his hands. The Salvadoran gang, known to law enforcement authorities as MS-13 because many members identify themselves with tattoos of the number 13, is thought to have established a major smuggling center in Matamoros, Mexico, just south of Brownsville, Texas, from where it has arranged to bring illegal aliens from countries other than Mexico into the United States. Authorities said al Qaeda terrorists hope to take advantage of a lack of detention space within the Department of Homeland Security that has forced immigration officials to release non-Mexican illegal aliens back into the United States, rather than return them to their home countries. Less than 15 percent of those released appear for immigration hearings. Nearly 60,000 illegal aliens designated as other-than-Mexican, or OTMs, were detained last year along the U.S.-Mexico border. El Shukrijumah, born in Saudi Arabia but thought to be a Yemen national, was spotted in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in July, having crossed the border illegally from Nicaragua after a stay in Panama. U.S. authorities said al Qaeda operatives have been in Tegucigalpa planning attacks against British, Spanish and U.S. embassies. Known to carry passports from Saudi Arabia, Trinidad, Guyana and Canada, El Shukrijumah had sought meetings with the Mara Salvatrucha gang leaders who control alien-smuggling routes through Mexico and into the United States. El Shukrijumah, 29, who authorities said was in Canada last year looking for nuclear material for a so-called ``dirty bomb'' and reportedly has family members in Guyana, was named in a March 2003 material-witness arrest warrant by federal prosecutors in Northern Virginia, where U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty said he is sought in connection with potential terrorist threats against the United States. A former southern Florida resident and pilot thought to have helped plan the September 11 attacks, El Shukrijumah was among seven suspected al Qaeda operatives identified in May by Attorney General John Ashcroft as being involved in plans to strike new targets in the United States. Citing ``credible intelligence from multiple sources,'' Mr. Ashcroft said at the time that El Shukrijumah posed ``a clear and present danger to America.'' In August, an FBI alert described him as ``armed and dangerous'' and a major threat to homeland security. Earlier this month, Mr. Ashcroft confirmed that U.S. border agents and inspectors had ramped up efforts to find El Shukrijumah amid reports that the al Qaeda leader was thought to be seeking entry routes into the United States along the U.S.-Mexico border. Mr. Ashcroft noted that increased enforcement efforts were under way in the wake of a rise of arrests of border jumpers from Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Authorities said Mara Salvatrucha gang members moved into the Los Angeles area in the 1980s and developed a reputation for being organized and extremely violent. The gang since has expanded into the Washington area, including Virginia and Maryland, and into Oregon, Alaska, Texas, Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Georgia and Florida. More than 3,000 Mara Salvatrucha gang members are thought to be in the Washington area, with a major operation in Northern Virginia. Other gang centers, authorities said, include Montgomery and Prince George's counties and the Hispanic neighborhoods of Washington. Mr. McNulty, whose office has prosecuted Mara Salvatrucha gang members, has described the organization as the ``gang of greatest interest'' to law enforcement authorities. He said gang members are recruited predominantly from Hispanic communities and typically among juveniles, some as young as 13. Recruits are ``jumped'' into the gang by being beaten by members while others count to 13, he said. Gang rules, he said, are indoctrinated into new recruits and ruthlessly enforced. Those who cooperate with law enforcement are given the ``green light,'' he said, meaning that the gang had approved their killing. In March, the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office filed an injunction against Mara Salvatrucha, charging that the gang's criminal activity constituted a ``public nuisance'' based on the number of killings, robberies and drug crimes. The injunction requires gang members, under public nuisance statutes, to follow curfew rules and regulations and prohibits them from associating, driving or appearing together in designated areas of the city.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, in all deference to the gentleman from Arkansas, handguns in homes in this town are not used by people. Those guns, according to the police chief, quickly make their way to the streets and do not stay at home. At home, however, they are overwhelmingly used for domestic violence. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on the District of Columbia of the Committee on Appropriations.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay).

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. My law-abiding citizens in the southeast and everywhere else in the District of Columbia have not elected this Member but only the Member before him. So I would appreciate the courtesy of his not telling me what the law-abiding citizens of the southeast want or need. They will get rid of me if I am doing the wrong thing today. They cannot touch him, unfortunately, if he does the wrong thing. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy).

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), chairman of the Committee on Government Reform.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\3/4\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Indiana (Ms. Carson).

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, for the information of the gentlewoman, 100,000 guns are registered in the District of Columbia. We encourage people to use rifles for sports. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I take the gentleman's suggestion that we can scare criminals away by yelling ``gun'' but not that we have guns in our own homes fully assembled, loaded and ready to go. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman).

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), the ranking member of the full committee with jurisdiction over this bill.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am compelled to begin by noting the ludicrous logic on which this debate has already begun. The gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder), the prime sponsor, has just argued that gun safety laws cause murders by arguing the fallacious notion of causation. I am embarrassed for the statement. Mr. Speaker, in my nearly 14 years in Congress, I have come to regard Members not only as colleagues but as friends. At the same time, I have seen various Members of Congress try to do some low-down, dirty, mean things to the people of the District of Columbia, all to promote their own political agendas against the will of the people who live here. This bill to repeal the city's gun safety laws, when child gun killings have sharply increased, scrapes the bottom of the lowest level yet. As citizens, we in the District of Columbia do not take attacks on our all-American right to self-government lying down. I am grateful that these attacks occur less frequently today, and am particularly grateful to the appropriators who have discouraged the use of the D.C. appropriation for such attacks. Congress has seen that we are prepared to fight and fight hard, with D.C. appropriation fights in the past sometimes lasting 8 to 10 hours, with vetoes of our appropriation that we encourage to compel changes. And Congress has seen that we are always prepared to take the fight to the home district of a Member to let his own constituents know that their Member is taking time from their concerns to mettle in the local business of a local jurisdiction far from home. Notwithstanding prior fights on D.C. matters, the attempt to repeal our gun safety laws is a brand new low for this body. That we are here discussing this matter is yet a new low. Repeal shows special contempt for the people who live here because the city has sharply reduced its homicide rate, now at a 20-year low, down almost 25 percent this year alone, and down 55 percent since the assault weapon ban and the Brady bill were passed in 1994. At the same time, the city is heartbroken that 16 children have been killed by gunfire, more than in any recent year. Repeal advocates claim they want guns here to help people protect themselves. Can repeal help the children killed by guns in increasing numbers here in the Nation's Capital to protect themselves? Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the 16 names of the children killed by gunfire this year, and an article on Chelsea Cromartie, the youngest of these children. More Guns Mean More Children Dying Robert Adams, 16; Chelsea Cromartie, 8; Devaun Drayton, 17; Javon Gaskins, 16; Timothy Hamilton, 15; Jahkema Hansen, 14; Antoine Holroyd, 16; Myesha Lowe, 15; David McMorris, 16; James Richardson, 17; Michael Simms, 17; Franklin Smith, 17; Wardell Smith, 17; Michael Swann, 13; Roderick Valentine, 16 and Ashley Walker, 16. D.C. Homicides Down 24% this year but, more children slain by guns in the first 5 months of this year than in all of last year and more than in any recent years. Save Our Children.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, when this law was first introduced, it was simply regarded as another absurd piece of legislation. There are lots of them during a session of Congress. When we moved toward a vote on this law, it left the realm of the absurd and entered the realm of the truly reckless, particularly reckless and callous at a time when 16 of our children are dead from guns in this city, far more than in any recent year; and at a time when, to their credit, the mayor of the city and the police chief of the city have reduced adult homicides by 25 percent. I am on the floor this morning largely because this repeal will largely affect kids in the District of Columbia, and I cannot believe that that is the will of the great majority of the people of this House. There could not be a more wrong time or a more wrong place, a more wrong city, a more wrong region. This region still has not recovered from the sniper attack of 2002, which left 10 people in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia dead, 5 more injured from a Bushmaster assault weapon that would now be legal to have in your homes, to have in your businesses, to have in your workplaces in the District of Columbia, in the Nation's Capital, which is now under an orange alert. This bill did not move anyplace, Mr. Speaker. It was referred to the Committee on Government Reform, on which the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder) and I both serve. He is the primary sponsor of this bill. There was no interest in the committee in this bill. The committee is deep into matters affecting Iraq and Homeland Security and Federal reorganization in the DOD, in the Department of Homeland Security, and even in the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources, which I am pleased to serve on with the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder). Of course, this bill had to leap over every subcommittee and leap over the committee, because it never got a hearing, because there was no interest and there was no view that this is the kind of bill, particularly after 9/11, that any self-respecting Member of Congress would want to bring to the floor of the House. Yet here it has come, courtesy of the leadership of this House. Moreover, this matter was considered a settled matter, if ever any matter is. The one group of local matters most prized as local in our country are criminal justice matters. And this matter has been settled by the people who will be overwhelmingly affected if you vote for repeal today. It has been settled by the people of the District of Columbia, who alone have the right to make decisions as to how to safeguard their lives. Thank you very much, you of the paternalistic variety who are going to tell us how to safeguard our lives. I am not going to tell you I do not expect you to tell my mayor, I do not expect you to tell my unanimous city council, I do not expect you to tell me, that is to say, if you still believe this is a Federal Government and you believe that we are as much citizens of the United States as you are, and we are. When this bill came to the floor, with no opportunity to make any changes, of course, the only thing you can do is to go to the Committee on Rules. There we found a hostile attitude toward amendments, except amendments from one Member. Members came forward from both sides. This is a matter of compelling interest to the entire country. And the only Member to in fact get an amendment in order was the sponsor of the bill. He happens to be a Republican. No partisanship there, of course. Actually, that fact, the one amendment coming from the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder), the sponsor, is the front end of the partisanship of this bill. This bill is not about whether it will pass or fail. It comes a month before election, for reasons that the Members have not even tried to deny: Close to the election, let us hold up the Democrats, especially the Democrats from rural areas, from southern areas, from western areas. Let us dare them to vote for home rule, as they usually do. Let us take them down with NRA ads if they do. Everybody gets it. That is the only reason Democrats are on this bill. They saw Democrats taken out by NRA distortions of their positions on weapons just a few years ago. The Souder amendment is really an amendment to wipe the red off the sponsor's face because he had sent a Dear Colleague, advising that a previous Dear Colleague saying that the bill would allow fully-loaded assault weapons to be carried in public was a matter of scare tactics. I can understand why the gentleman from Indiana made the mistake. It is not his law, it is not his business, he does not know what he is talking about, and he made the kind of mistake I would make if I tried to mess in the business of his jurisdiction. I am not familiar with what they do. He made a straight-out error. He said, oh, no, we were wrong; he was right. Then, of course, he comes forward with an amendment, which is a mea culpa that admits that he was wrong. Actually, his amendment does not help very much, because it assumes an assault weapon, a Bushmaster, a loaded handgun which you could keep in your home, in your business, that somehow they are going to be contained in your homes, in your businesses, in your workplaces. Everybody knows that once you have a gun there, it stays there. That is, unless you have the experience of running the District of Columbia or living in the District of Columbia. And as our police chief says, there would be a moment, a moment in time before weapons in people's homes would find their ways to the streets to settle domestic violence matters, acquaintance quarrels, kids settling matters among themselves. And, Mr. Speaker, we have even seen some of that when guns have gotten into kids' hands. We know what would happen with those guns because we live here and we know our people. They would make their way into Ward Six, where I live, which is close to the Capitol, and they would surely make their way to the streets in the poorest wards of the city, across the Anacostia River, where most of the killings of residents, and particularly of children, have taken place. The gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder) does not know any better, and I can forgive him that. What I cannot forgive him is introducing and pressing this bill at a time when we have child killings at a record we have not seen in many years. Why in the world would anybody want to make laws for somebody else's jurisdiction? So I said, well, if I could do only one amendment, what would I do? Because I knew that you would not want to put in a great many amendments to a bill that was being put forward for transparently political reasons. And I said, I know the one I would do, because I know what I have heard from my police chief. I would put in an amendment to say at least if you are going to have ammunition, let there be no cop killers' ammunition. And I came forward with an amendment that was aimed chiefly at doing whatever little we could do to protect our police officers and our children, the two categories of people most vulnerable because they are the disproportionate victims. This amendment, however, like every Democratic amendment, was not made in order. I think it goes without saying that most Members would prefer not to have armor-piercing incendiary ammunition floating around their districts. The fact is that the kind of ammunition that my amendment would bar are not barred by Federal law. In fact, Congress, in fiscal year 2001, fiscal year 2002, and fiscal year 2003, in the DOD appropriation, actually added to the appropriation language that barred armor-piercing incendiary ammunition being transferred from DOD to private parties. In the name of my children and police officers, I thought maybe they will throw me this sop. There are no sops to be thrown here. This bill not only is brought forward for political purposes, this bill is brought forward in callous disregard of these children. Their parents have been to the Hill, begging to have this vote rescinded. Our mayor, our new superintendent of schools, and our police chief were here yesterday to say this is exactly what we do not need. I ask you to respect the people who know best, the people who will have to pay the price, the people who have had to go to the funerals. I ask you to defeat this bill.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield such time as he may consume to my friend the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gonzalez).

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa)

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I join with Mr. Ortiz of Brownsville, Texas, in supporting H.R. 1402, a bill to name the courthouse in Brownsville, Texas as the Reynaldo G. Garza--Filemon B. Vela United States Courthouse. Mr. Speaker, this bill honors the life and works of two extraordinary Mexican-Americans. Judge Reynaldo Garza was born in Brownsville in 1915. He graduated from local elementary schools as well as Brownsville High School. After graduating from Brownsville Junior College he attended the University of Texas where he received a combined degree of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law. Judge Garza served his country during World War II in the Air Force. After the war he returned to Brownsville to practice law. In 1961 President Kennedy appointed Judge Garza to the District Court for the Southern District of Texas. In 1979 President Carter appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In addition to his judicial duties Judge Garza has long been interested in education issues. He served former Governors John Connally and Governor Mark White on commissions to improve the quality of education in Texas. Judge Garza recognized the importance of education in judicial proceedings and his concern for the uneducated man at the mercy of unscrupulous people. Judge Garza was very active in his church, and has served the Knights of Columbus in the Brownsville area for many years. Pope Pious XII twice decorated Judge Garza for his work in behalf of Catholic Charities. In 1989 Judge Garza was honored by the University of Texas with the Distinguished Alumnus award. His record of public service includes work with the Rotary Club, the Latin-American Relation Committee of Brownsville, trustee at his law school, advisory council for the Boy Scouts, and he was elected as City Commissioner of the City of Brownsville. It is fitting and proper to honor Judge Garza's outstanding, rich life, his commitment to excellence, and his numerous public contributions. Judge Filemon Vela was also a native Texas and a veteran of the United States Army. He attended Texas Southmost College, and the University of Texas. His law degree is from St. Mary's School of Law in San Antonio. Judge Vela served as a Commissioner of the City of Brownsville. He was an active member of the Judges Advisory Committee to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Judge Vela is a former law instructor, and an attorney for the Cameron County Child Welfare Department. His civil activities include being the charter President for the Esperanza Home for Boys, and co-sponsor of the Spanish Radio Program ``Enrich your Life, Complete your Studies,'' Judge Vela's other civic activities include membership on the Independent School District Task Force, and membership in the General Assembly of the Texas Catholic Conference. He is also an active member of the Lions Club. Judge Vela was nominated by President Carter for the Federal bench and was confirmed by the United States Senate in 1980. Judge Vela's career was filled with successes, commitment to his family, devotion to his religion and his church, love for his work and respect for his colleagues. It is most fitting to honor Judge Vela with this designation. I join Congressman Ortiz in supporting H.R. 1402. Mr. Speaker, in recognition of the hard work of the author of this bill who brought this bill forward, I yield such time as he may consume to my good friend the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ortiz). (Mr. ORTIZ asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks, and include extraneous material.)