Joseph Pitts

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, yesterday I visited a waste-to-energy facility in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and concluded, once again, Lancaster County gets it right. This facility is a great example of the kind of ingenuity that we need to put America on a path toward energy independence, and it is disposing of waste at the same time. The plant burns solid waste at very hot temperatures, using the heat to turn water into steam which is used to turn a turbine and create electricity. Ninety percent of that electricity is sold to the local electric utility. Metals, glass and plastics are recycled out in the process. This process is saving pollution from ending up in the Chesapeake Bay. It's saving land by reducing the need for landfills, and it's creating clean energy in the process. One ton of solid waste has the energy equivalent of 1 barrel of oil. Last year, over 342,000 tons of waste were processed at the facility, and I'm told that something like 30,000 tons of trash a day is trucked out of New York City to landfills. Maybe our State and community leaders should take a cue from the people of Lancaster County as we search for more energy to meet our needs.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Today marks the 66th day since this House allowed the Protect America Act that affects foreign intelligence surveillance to expire. For over 2 months now, we have needlessly hampered our intelligence agencies' ability to conduct surveillance on foreign terrorists because some in this Chamber would rather allow the trial lawyers to have an opportunity to sue telecommunications companies that assisted the government following the September 11 terrorist attack in some 50 frivolous lawsuits in the San Francisco courts. Sixty-six days have passed while the House considers bills such as the Beach Protection Act, National Landscape Conservation System Act, Arts Require Timely Service Act, and the National Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation Act. This body is failing in its responsibility to protect the American people by continuing to delay passage of a foreign intelligence surveillance bill that will provide our intelligence community with the tools they need to listen in on international phone calls from terrorists plotting to attack the United States. No matter what my friends on the other side of the aisle say, this is an urgent matter.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, with the Olympic torch traveling the world right now, we are seeing the Chinese Government's true repressive colors. Everywhere it stops, it is accompanied by a group of Chinese guards who have been called ``thugs'' in the press. I am not surprised that Chinese leaders would send secret police along to protect the torch, but I am surprised the United States would be so complicit in putting down dissent that they would allow members of the Chinese secret police into the United States to ensure the security of the relay. Are we so concerned with appeasing China that we could not ensure the security of the flame ourselves? The group designated to protect the torch is from the paramilitary People's Armed Police, the same force that helped to violently quash the recent protests in Tibet, now using brute force to ensure that protestors in cities like Paris, London and San Francisco, will not interrupt the ceremonial relay. Maybe the Chinese need to be reminded that repression and torture are not Olympic sports.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, taxes are a function of spending. If you spend more, you must tax more. The spending budget we passed previously is predicated on the largest tax increase in American history. Tax increases are coming to all Americans. Tax increases are on autopilot. Without even a vote, tax levels are going to snap back up to the old levels, the levels that existed before the 2001 and 2003 tax reductions. In other words, doing nothing is doing something. One of the reasons for the uncertainty in the market is because people know these tax increases are coming. All marginal income tax rates will increase, capital gains rates will increase, the marriage tax penalty will come back, the child tax credit will decrease, the death tax will jump back up to 55 percent. This will hurt the economy. The Democratic leaders have blocked free trade with Colombia, they have blocked efforts to produce more oil and natural gas resources, they have blocked lower taxes. All this will hurt the economy. People are beginning to call this the Pelosi recession. Maybe they are right.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the Middle East Research Institute, which monitors extremist media, recently reported on a disturbing children's production that aired on Hamas TV. The program, aimed at a child audience, depicted a little boy who accuses President Bush, along with Israel, of killing his family. In the show, the boy proceeds to take out a sword and stabs the President to death. This is a children's program. There is little chance for peace in the Middle East if the young minds of the region are polluted with this type of hatred and violence. Many young people in the region are being exposed to similar messages in their school textbooks. I commend the Council of Religious Leaders in the Holy Land, religious leaders from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faith who are working together to counter this type of hate speech and violent message, and they do it with moral authority. We need more brave leaders like those on the Council if we are going to create a condition for peacemaking in the Middle East.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, in a recent speech in my home State of Pennsylvania, one of the candidates for President referred to the possibility of his daughter conceiving a child as a ``punishment.'' In referring to his own two daughters, he said, ``I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD.'' I agree that teens should be taught about values and morals. But I find it disturbing that any candidate for high office finds the notion of a grandchild to be punishment, a punishment on the same level as a sexually transmitted disease. Have we come this far? Has the opposing party embraced an ideology that is so opposed to life that a grandchild is seen as a punishment? In the same speech he said, ``This is an example where good people can disagree.'' Well, I see nothing good about believing a grandchild is a punishment. Not his most eloquent or uniting speech.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be withdrawn as a cosponsor of H.R. 1108.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, we are voting later today on the Democrat budget. I am not surprised that it represents larger government and higher taxes. That is the type of government our friends on the other side of the aisle generally prefer. I am surprised, however, that at a time when our economy is shaky and American families are making difficult budget decisions at their kitchen table, that our friends have chosen not to make the difficult decisions necessary to craft a responsible budget. Their proposal represents what will be the largest tax increase in American history; $683 billion in increased taxes. It is nothing short of irresponsible to simply ignore the coming fiscal crisis, a tsunami, represented by increased spending and entitlement programs. Perhaps if our friends on the other side of the aisle would ask their constituents what they think, they would hear what I heard from a constituent named Debra in Pennsylvania who said she is working two jobs to pay taxes and oil bills. She said, ``There is no way I can afford to pay more taxes. Enough is enough.'' Well said, Debra.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the 21-day FISA extension that our friends on the other side of the aisle fought hard to pass 2 weeks ago would have expired this week. This extension was the Democrat alternative to a permanent bill to provide our intelligence community with the tools they need to fight the war on terror, and yet we still have not voted on the bipartisan Senate bill, or any alternative bill for that matter. We've done nothing. I believe this exposes the House leadership's plan for what it is, an abdication of their duty to provide our intelligence community with the tools needed to protect the United States. It has been 17 days since the Protect America Act expired. In the words of the Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, our intelligence gathering capabilities have already been ``degraded.'' Contrary to what some say, there is urgency in this matter. We are losing out on obtaining new and evolving intelligence to enable our fight against terror. There are enough votes in the House to pass the bipartisan Senate bill. It's time for the Speaker to bring the legislation up for a vote.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the press in Great Britain has reported that British Olympic athletes will be required as a requirement for their inclusion on the Olympic team to sign a contract promising not to speak about China's appalling human rights record. I'm surprised and dismayed that a country with a history such as Britain's would be so short- sighted. The country that paved the way for the enumerated rights of individuals in the Magna Carta is now restricting the free speech of its athletes from condemning some of the most brutal human rights violations in the world today. The country of William Wilberforce, the man who was so outspoken in his campaign to end the slave trade, must have forgotten its history as a society dedicated to human rights. It is deeply disappointing that our closest ally has chosen to kowtow to the Chinese regime. Wilberforce's friend, another British statesman, Edmund Burke, once said, ``All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.''

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, recently there have been a number of stories in the Western media bashing Afghanistan President Karzai. One in the Washington Post even raised doubts about his anti-Taliban activities before he became President. This is deeply disturbing. President Karzai has a proven track record of being a very strong ally of the United States and a courageous and visionary leader for his own country. His record of activities against the Taliban are well- known and well-documented. He testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the year 2000. And in a policymakers' forum, right here in this Capitol building in 1999, he warned us of the dangers of neglecting Afghanistan and the threat the cruel and brutal Taliban posed to the stability and security of Afghanistan and the region and, indeed, the world. This rash of articles is perplexing. Karzai is a leader who clearly holds the best chance of leading his country towards lasting peace, unity and democracy. The international community and the United States must continue to support President Karzai.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, in August of last year, Congress passed the Protect America Act to close a dangerous loophole in our ability to collect intelligence information on foreign targets in foreign countries. When this legislation expires on Thursday of this week, our intelligence community, responsible to collect intelligence on terrorist enemies, will lose their eyes and ears. Congress has stalled for 6 months to review the policy and come up with a solution to bring FISA up to date with our 21st century technologies and give our intelligence community the tools they need to fight terrorism. Now the House wants to pass a 30-day extension. The Senate can't even agree to that. Democrats in Congress want to empower judges and lawyers in their discovery proceedings and frivolous lawsuits over intelligence needs. The laws governing our intelligence collection should not be dealt with in the same way one pays rent for an apartment, month to month. We need to pass legislation to permanently create a solution that gives our intelligence community the tools they need to fight terrorism that threatens the security of every American.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, over the break I had the opportunity to travel to Iraq to meet with our troops and military commanders on the ground there. Two observations: the morale of our troops is high, and the surge is working. General Petraeus has crafted a highly sophisticated counterinsurgency strategy that has put the terrorists on the defensive and brought some level of security to many Iraqi communities where there had been none before. Now I know it's hard to admit when you are wrong, but there are many in this Chamber who came to this floor and opposed the surge saying it would be a failure. Well, it hasn't been. It has been a success. In fact, even the United Nations is recognizing the success of the Petraeus strategy. The U.N.'s top envoy in Iraq acknowledged the improvements in security and even tentative steps towards national reconciliation this week. Even for the war's opponents, it is now time to admit the success of the surge strategy in Iraq. But, instead of honoring the great work of our troops, all I hear is silence.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, the world has watched over recent months as the brutal dictatorship in Burma has arrested and killed Buddhist monks and democracy activists and as it continues to attack, rape and kill ethnic minorities. The House has just passed an excellent bill imposing further sanctions on Burma, the JADE Act. Amazingly, in the Senate, leading Democrats don't want the House version of the bill. Instead, they want to allow for cash money to go to the ruling regime for humanitarian purposes. Hello? Aid that goes through the regime does not get to the people of Burma. The rulers simply enrich themselves with any moneys coming into the country. In addition, certain Senators wish to give the Treasury Department an opening one could drive a Mack truck through so that Treasury could make any regulation it likes regarding U.S. money going into Burma. I hope those Senators will read the reports and look at the photos from Burma. The democracy activists, monks and ethnic minorities are the ones who should get our support, not the brutal military regime.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 1201, the Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship Act of 2007.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, the Pentagon said last week that layoff notices for Army employees could start going out the middle of this month. ``Merry Christmas, here's your pink slip'' may sound like a harsh way to greet an employee this time of year, but that is what the Defense Department will be forced to do with civilian employees and contractors in the run-up to Christmas. Because congressional leaders refuse to negotiate with the President to fund our troops in the field, the Department of Defense has been forced to cut spending in other areas in order to pay the bills for continued operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even as our troops have made major security gains in Iraq, the Democrat majority wishes to pull the plug by cutting the funding to support their mission. I believe we're sending exactly the wrong message to the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces: not funding our troops. Each day that goes by without such a bill is a failure of the leadership of this dysfunctional Congress.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, last week, America lost a true statesman when Henry Hyde passed away at the age of 83. Representative Hyde was a student of American history, a constitutional scholar, a thoughtful legislator, and a skillful orator. But above all, he will be remembered as a man of integrity who stood for the most basic principles of liberty, justice, and, above all, respect for life. On November 5, President Bush awarded Mr. Hyde the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the very highest honor the President can bestow on an American citizen. In his first term, Henry Hyde offered an amendment that ensured that Americans who believe in the sanctity of life would not see their taxpayer dollars go to the funding of abortion. That was just the beginning of Henry's long legislative career spent working to protect the sanctity of human life. I urge the Democrat leadership to bring the bipartisan H. Res. 843 to the floor for a vote. It would be a mark on this body if we did not honor the life and work of a man of character like Henry Hyde.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, as we vote on H.R. 3887, I would like to express my thanks to those Members, like Chris Smith and Frank Wolf, who continue to provide leadership on human trafficking issues. I strongly believe we must work to ensure that we fix any loopholes in our laws or regulations that the brutal human traffickers might use to exploit their victims. In light of Congress's desire to ensure that we do all in our power to support trafficking victims and prosecute traffickers, I would like to associate myself with the concerns expressed about the bill by the Departments of Justice, State, Homeland Security, and USAID. It is important that Congress works with the administration in order to amend the legislation to appropriately address their concerns. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate on these concerns and on human trafficking issues in general.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw attention to a new report by Human Rights Watch detailing the use of child soldiers in Burma, particularly by the brutal dictatorship there. Past reports have suggested that there are approximately 70,000 child soldiers in Burma, the largest child soldier army in the world. It is difficult to know the exact number. But we do know that not only does the SPDC regime refuse to allow democracy and engages in ethnic cleansing, it also deliberately, as policy, targets children for military recruitment, training, and battle. Children are targeted simply walking down the street or waiting for a train. If they don't have their ID cards, so-called ``recruiters'' tell the children they will be sent to prison or they can join the army. If the children try to run away, they are severely punished. Children are also forced by the SPDC to participate in human rights violations such as burning down villages or shooting villagers on sight, women and children included. Mr. Speaker, the SPDC dictatorship must go. It is time for democracy in Burma.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, several States held elections this week, and now the 2008 Presidential elections are just 1 year away. This is a good time to reflect on the importance of voting and the integrity of our election process. The right to vote is one of the most important freedoms granted to citizens in the United States. It's a right and a privilege that should not be taken lightly. Our voter registration process needs to be reformed in order to ensure that only American citizens are eligible to vote. It is alarming that eight of the 9/11 hijackers were registered to vote. The sanctity of the ballot box must be paramount. If we can't ensure the integrity of our elections, our representative form of government breaks down. When a person gets a driver's license, they can check a box to register to vote, and there's no guarantee that the person's eligibility to vote will be verified. There are House seats that have been decided by just a few votes per precinct. The American people deserve to know that elections will be won and lost by legal, rightfully registered voters.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Chairman, I rise in opposition to this ENDA bill. This bill, if signed into law, will have serious long-term implications on one of our most basic and treasured institutions, marriage. A Federal ENDA will provide activist judges with the legal ammunition to move toward the legalization of same-sex marriage. In fact, State ENDA laws are already being used by activist judges to impose gay marriage and civil unions on States. One example is the landmark decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court which determined that there was ``no rational basis for the denial of marriage to same-sex couples.'' And this decision used the State ENDA laws in their argument. Another example took place in Vermont where the court ordered the State legislature to pass either a same-sex marriage or civil union law. Again, this case referenced existing State ENDA legislation. Another example is the New Jersey Supreme Court, which gave the State legislature 6 months to either pass a same-sex marriage law or civil union law, and the court cited New Jersey ENDA laws in defense of this ruling. Although ENDA is bad legislation on its face, more importantly, it is just one component of a larger strategy. An editorial in an activist publication recently compared this approach to building a house. It explains that hate crimes legislation is the foundation, ENDA is one of the walls, civil unions is the roof structure, and marriage is the shingles. The author states, ``When all the various above issues have been resolved, think of all the money that would be freed up to focus on marriage. We can lobby the President and Congress on repealing DOMA, while targeting the weakest States to repeal their one man-one woman amendments.'' The strategy as laid out above is clear. ENDA is merely a building block for efforts to overturn traditional marriage laws and to impose same-sex marriage on States. I urge you to protect traditional marriage and oppose H.R. 3685.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, last week the Ways and Means Committee chairman outlined the provisions of what he has been calling the ``mother of all tax bills.'' The most important piece of information about this proposal is the bottom line. The proposal would mean a multi-trillion-dollar tax increase on the American taxpayer. I think this is a good moment to take a step back and look at the philosophical difference between Republicans and Democrats. On this side of the aisle, we simply believe people know how to spend their money better than the government. But just look at the legislation passed in the House so far this year: $431 billion in tax increases have been included in bills that have already passed the House this year. Madam Speaker, we should remember, no one knows how to spend their money better than the taxpayer. We should be looking for ways to decrease the tax burden, not increase it.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, due to the current crisis in Burma, it is vital that even while media coverage of the situation in Burma has decreased we still maintain a constant watch over Burma. The regime's human rights violations are horrific. I have stacks of reports in my office detailing the dictatorship's use of rape as a weapon of terror, the use of ethnic minorities as human landmine sweepers, and many other abuses. On September 18, 1988, the military forced its rule on the people of Burma, a rule that has been dominated by severe violence and oppression. Ever since, the people of Burma have struggled to survive under this brutal regime. While the Buddhist monks and democracy leaders have received much deserved attention recently, the struggle of the ethnic minorities remains difficult and also must receive the spotlight of international attention'. Article 2 of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, defines genocide as ``any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.'' Reports make clear that the ironically-named State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) of Burma, the ruling military junta, has engaged in a deliberate policy to eliminate the ethnic minorities. The regime engages in a scorched earth policy, destroying entire villages along with food storage and production sources; use systematic rape as a weapon of terror; uses ethnic minorities, including women and children, as human landmine sweepers; engages in forced labor, also known as slavery; has the highest number of child soldiers in the world; and refuses to allow the duly elected leader of the country to take office. While there is extensive photograph evidence of more recent massacres, I want to draw attention to a massacre that took place in Burma's Dooplaya district on April 28th, 2002. The regime targeted children. These photos, which show the bodies of the victims stacked neatly, are incontrovertible evidence of the regime's crimes against humanity and the increasingly horrific human rights situation in the country. The regime's soldiers shot and killed the Karen villagers in their quest to completely subjugate the entire country. The dozen who were killed include Naw Pi Lay, who was just a baby, Naw Daw Bah, a 2- year-old girl, and Naw Play and Naw Ble Po, two five year old girls. Nine others were shot and lucky enough to escape, including a six-year- old boy who played dead until the regime's troops left. What possible threat could these babies and young girls have presented to Burma's military regime? The various ethnic minorities of Burma, which comprise approximately 60 percent of the population, are not of the Burman ethnic group. The desire of the junta, composed of members of the Burman ethnicity, is to ensure that it remains the ``master race,'' or maha bama. In 1988, the regime issued a blood assimilation order which stated, ``With a view to attain success in accordance with our basic aspiration, which holds that our one race, the Burmans alone must inherit prosperity with an achievement of a long standing dominion. The easiest way to realize our above aim, we, the superior sons of the mainland of Burma are to employ the strategy of `Blood Assimilation' against the female members of other non-Burman ethnic races. Our objective is to take marital possession of their women.'' Soldiers are instructed to dilute the bloodlines of the ethnic minorities in order to ``purify'' them and make them more Burman. While some might dispute the use of genocide in relation to this situation, it is clearly, at the very least, ethnic cleansing. Astonishingly, other nations are enabling the dictators to continue their attacks against the ethnic minorities, democracy activists, protestors and Buddhist monks. Reports suggest that since 1989, the Chinese government has provided the dictators in Burma with over $2 billion worth of weapons and military equipment. This Chinese weaponry has allowed the regime to quadruple the size of its forces to 450,000. Russia also is supporting the dictatorship by helping build a nuclear reactor in Rangoon. The regime says the reactor is for peaceful purposes for medical research. However, Burma is ranked second from the bottom by the World Health Organization in terms of national health care, thus begging the question why they need nuclear medical research when there are barely even provisions for basic medical needs. European Union non-governmental organizations recently released a report entitled Indian Helicopters for Burma: making a mockery of embargoes? The report provided details on India's negotiations with Burma's military junta since late 2006 and focused on the transfer of Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) to Burma's military. India, the world's largest democracy, has increasingly spurned democracy supporters in Burma in favor of increased cooperation with Burma's military regime, even providing Burma's ruling generals with tanks, aircraft, artillery guns, radar, small arms, and the ALH. Absent any external enemy, Burma's military rulers have employed these arms and military equipment against its ethnic minority civilian population, resulting in the destruction of more than 3,000 villages, the use of forced labor, and the rape and murder of thousands of ethnic minority civilians. Even more appalling than the increased military cooperation and sales between the Government of India and Burma's military regime is evidence that the transfer of military hardware risks violating both European Union and U.S. arms restrictions in place against Burma's military regime. Parts and technologies vital to the manufacture of the ALH were provided by several European companies and two American companies, Aitech Systems, Ltd. and Lord Corporation. It is essential that our government immediately investigate whether or not the inclusion of American parts and technologies in the production of India's ALHs and the potential impending transfer of the ALHs from the Government of India to Burma's brutal military generals violate U.S. export control regulations and the U.S. arms embargo on Burma. Sadly, until recently, the international community generally has turned a deaf ear to the cries of the ethnic minorities, the refugees, the IDPs, and the democracy activists. While a number of states and international organizations currently have made helpful statements condemning the dictatorship for its actions, they long ago should have been helping the people of Burma. Action is what will bring change to the situation in Burma. The SPDC regime deceives the international community again and again by saying one thing and then doing another. The international community, on behalf of the people of Burma, should make it clear that the oppressive dictators of Burma will no longer be tolerated--we do not want to remember another anniversary of the human rights violations against Burma's people. Instead, next year, we should be celebrating the return of democracy and freedom to the people of Burma. I strongly commend the EU for increasing sanctions against the brutal regime and I applaud the government of Japan for cutting its aid to the dictatorship. I also commend recent steps against the dictatorship by our Administration. However, I urge our Administration and my colleagues in Congress to act to support democracy in Burma and provide increased aid to the suffering ethnic minorities. We should exponentially increase the U.S. aid program to Burma by increasing aid to IDP, refugee, and democracy organizations, as well as by providing funding to help rehabilitate child soldiers, establish health programs addressing malaria, TB, and HIV/AIDS, support education programs, increase human rights documentation capabilities, and assist with protection capabilities. The U.S. government spent approximately 100 million trying to help the people of Serbia against Milosevic--the people of Burma are as important as the populations of Southeast Europe and we need to put our money where our mouth is. Further, the U.S. government must take immediate steps to implement the recommendations outlined in the report on Indian helicopters and other weapons by commencing negotiations with the Government of India to cease the transfer of Advanced Light Helicopters to Burma's military regime; discontinuing all future defense production cooperation with India that might lead to transfers of embargoed controlled equipment to Burma; attaching to all future licenses for transfers of controlled goods and technology to India a strict and enforceable condition, with penalty clauses prohibiting re-export to states under an embargo to which the original exporting state is party without express governmental permission; and drawing attention to the high likelihood of that military equipment being used by Burma's military to commit ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity in violation of international law including international human rights and humanitarian law. The U.S. government and the international community together must press China and Russia to immediately cease their cooperation with and support for the brutal dictators in Burma. In addition, I urge the international community to press Burma's regime to cease the violence and murder perpetrated against the people, to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners, and to allow the legitimately elected leaders of the country to govern. Further, the government of Singapore should freeze the bank accounts of the dictators. Madam Speaker, it is time for the world to act to stop the honors taking place in Burma. While the military regime woos diplomats and guests in downtown Rangoon, Burma's people outside the realm of international scrutiny endure intensifying and acute repression. I demand that Burma's military regime immediately stop its campaign of terror against the Burmese people, and urge my colleagues to raise their voices for freedom. I reiterate, public statements in support of the people of Burma are helpful, but only issuing statements is like putting a tiny band aid over a gaping, infected wound--it will not help where massive surgery is needed. The only thing that will solve the problem of the brutal dictatorship in Burma is to get rid of the SPDC. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House, the Senate and the Administration, and the international community to see that Burma's military regime soon joins the Soviet Union, Ceausescu's Romania, Milosevic's Yugoslavia and other regimes and dictatorships that now reside in the ashbin of world history. Finally, I say to the people of Burma: You are not forgotten. We stand with you and will continue to work with you for as long as it takes to ensure that the people of your nation are able to live in peace and freedom.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, in the early hours of May 11, seven U.S. soldiers were on lookout near a patrol base in Iraq. Some time before dawn, heavily armed al Qaeda gunmen made coordinated surprise attacks on the soldiers. Four of the soldiers were killed and three others taken hostage. What happened next is a travesty and a failure of our public policy in support of the troops in the field. A search to rescue the men began immediately but was brought to a halt because of our FISA law, by the need for military lawyers to jump through legal hoops in order to gain approval to conduct surveillance of terrorist communications. Ten hours passed before they were granted such permission. The search for a kidnapped U.S. soldier was halted so that lawyers could find grounds to have the Attorney General grant special permission to listen in on the communications between the individuals in Iraq. Our FISA law, as the President has requested, needs reform, not the flawed bill the Democrats are seeking to pass.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, I'm somewhat puzzled over an event held on Monday this week. The Government of Russia, the Government of China, and a U.N. agency gathered for a conference entitled ``Exploring Cooperative Approaches to Security in Space.'' I find this fascinating, ``Cooperative Approaches to Security in Space''; yet China, with Russia and India's help, is almost single-handedly propping up the brutal dictatorship of Burma. This is a brutal dictatorship that uses ethnic minorities as human land mine sweepers, has destroyed 3,000 villages and has the highest number of child soldiers in the world. Perhaps China, Russia, and the U.N. should help bring democracy to Burma, which would bring security and stability to that country, before trying to bring security in space. The suffering people of Burma deserve better, but apparently the Chinese and Russian Governments don't think so.