Mike Pence

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support, along with the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), on behalf of this resolution honoring the life and achievement of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, and expressing profound sorrow upon his death. Mr. Speaker, while I am a United States Representative today, my first public position ever was that of an altar boy at St. Columbus Catholic Church in Columbus, Indiana, so it is with a particular sense of privilege that I rise today in this capacity to recognize the extraordinary life and work of Pope John Paul II. My Catholic faith and that of my entire family continues to remain the bulwark of our world view, and much of that over the past three decades has been invigorated by the leadership and eloquence and courage of this man. Now, many in the national media have commented since the Pope's passing this last Saturday about the nature of his appeal and the source of the international grief that has attended his passing. Many commentators in print and on television have suggested that his appeal is a direct result of his well-schooled public abilities, loosely defined as his charisma. But I rise today in support of this resolution to respectfully disagree with those commentators and to say that I believe Pope John Paul II's appeal on a global scale is grounded in his role as a moral leader; in fact, one of the chief moral leaders on the planet of the 20th century. His moral leadership and his personal courage were forged, as we have heard even today, from an extraordinary youth in the grip of Nazi Germany's tyranny. Pope John Paul II, from very early in his life, became an opponent of every form of government organized to present tyranny against the mind of man. His stands against communism throughout his life literally were the underpinning that brought down that wall we heard President Yushchenko speak of with gratitude today. He was also a moral leader not only for his own Christian church, but for the wider world. And as the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) just shared eloquently, after centuries of silent enmity between Christendom and the ancient people of Israel, Pope John Paul II spoke words of reconciliation and healing. In particular, his visit and prayers at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem was, I believe, a watershed event in the history of the Christian church and will resonate for centuries in the work of the Catholic Church and Christians across the globe. Pope John Paul II stood against the immorality of communism and anti- Semitism and ensured that the church would remain a bulwark of moral truth. And he stood for the sanctity of life, as the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) stated so eloquently. When the culture of death has made such a steady advance across Western civilization, Pope John Paul II stood for the unborn. His leadership, his voice, his compassion will be missed in the life of his church and, I argue humbly, the wider world. Pope John Paul II's death is a loss for humanity. He was not just the leader of the largest Christian church in the world, he was truly a moral leader. May God rest his soul and bring comfort and consolation to millions of his adherents.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the House Committee on International Relations, I rise to express a word of humble welcome to one of freedom's men in the former Soviet Union, President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine, who addressed a joint session of Congress just moments ago. Like the democracy's Orange Revolution that he personifies, President Yushchenko is the man who would not die. He survived the toxic machinations of those who see freedom as a threat. And those wicked men were right: freedom in the Ukraine and their brave President are a threat to every form of tyranny against the minds of men and women in that ancient land. It is all together fitting that the capital of democracy on planet Earth welcomed one of its first 21st century heroes to these hallowed halls.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, it is written, ``If you owe debts, pay debts; if honor, then honor; if respect, then respect.'' I rise humbly today to pay a debt of honor and respect to Army National Guard Master Sergeant Mike Hiester of Bluffton, Indiana. As I saw firsthand last December at Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan, Hoosiers have made an extraordinary difference for freedom in Operation Enduring Freedom, and Master Sergeant Mike Hiester was a leader of men in that place. On March 26, 2005, Mike lost his life while fighting to defend America in Afghanistan. His military vehicle with the 76th Infantry Brigade Army National Guard, Indianapolis, struck a land mine 30 miles west of Kabul, Afghanistan, claiming his life and the lives of three other Indiana Army National Guard. At his home in Bluffton, Indiana, he was known as a loving husband and father, a member of the Bluffton Fire Department, and he will not soon be forgotten by this grieving community of Bluffton, which will say goodbye to him this week. I also offer my deepest condolences to his wife Dawn; his two children Emily and Adam; and his parents, Tom and Kay Hiester; as well as his sisters Megan and Michele, and all those across northeastern Indiana and all of our State who cherish the memory of this hero. Master Sergeant Michael Hiester is a hero whose service and sacrifice bolstered the hopes of millions of Americans and Afghanis, and the memory of his sacrifice and service will forever be emblazoned on the hearts of two grateful nations.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, it is written if you owe debts, pay debts; if honor, then honor; if respect, then respect. I rise humbly today to pay a debt of honor and respect to Army National Guard Master Sergeant Mike Hiester of Bluffton, Indiana. As I saw firsthand last December at Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan, Hoosiers have made an extraordinary difference for freedom in Operation Enduring Freedom, and Master Sergeant Mike Hiester was a leader of men in that place. His military awards include the Bronze Star Medal (posthumous), Purple Heart (posthumous), two Meritorious Service Medals, four Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, four Good Conduct Medals, three Reserve Components Achievement Medals, two National Defense Service Medals, Global War on Terrorism expeditionary and Service Medals, Armed Forced Reserve Medal with M device and Bronze Hour Glass device, NATO Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon with ``3'' device, Order of St. George, Pathfinder Badge, Combat Infantryman Badge (posthumous) and the German armed forces Schutzenschnur. His state awards include the Indiana Long Service Medal (2nd award), Indiana Overseas Service Ribbon, and Indiana Outside Continental United States Ribbon (2nd award). On March 26, 2005, Mike lost his life while fighting to defend America in Afghanistan. His military vehicle, with the 76th Infantry Brigade, Army National Guard, Indianapolis, struck a land mine 30 miles west of Kabul, Afghanistan claiming his life and the lives of three other Indiana Army National Guard. At his home in Bluffton, Indiana he was known as a loving husband and father. He was a member of the Bluffton Fire Department and he will not soon be forgotten by this grieving community of Bluffton, which will say goodbye to him this week. According to his wife Dawn, ``Mike very much believed in the cause for which he gave his life. His entire family and friends have supported him in his endeavors.'' I rise to offer my deepest condolences to his wife, Dawn; his two children, Emily and Adam; his parents Thomas and Kay Hiester; his two sisters, Megan and Michele; his nephews Casey, Jesse, Kyle and Jared; his niece Carley; and all those across northeastern Indiana and all of our state who cherish the memory of this hero. Master Sergeant Michael Hiester is a hero, whose service and sacrifice bolstered the hopes of millions of Americans and Afghanis. The memory of his sacrifice and service will forever be emblazoned on the hearts of two grateful nations.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Protection of Incapacitated Persons Act of 2005, and I rise at this late hour to commend the author of this legislation, the distinguished chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner). I also offer commendation to its lead cosponsor, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Weldon). Without the vision and the compassion of this chairman and this physician-turned Congressman, we would not be here tonight, and in all likelihood Terri Schiavo's life would begin to end this Friday when her feeding tubes are removed. As the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) just said, a nation's commitment to life can be judged by the way it treats its most vulnerable. The courts in Florida at this very hour are poised to have Terri Schiavo's feeding tubes removed Friday. But in a stroke of rhetorical and legislative brilliance, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Chairman Sensenbrenner) has instead offered, instead of removing her feeding tubes, that Congress will make it possible to remove her case to Federal court. Under the protection of the Incapacitated Persons Act of 2005, individuals in an incapacitated state would have the opportunity to have their cases removed to the Federal courts. The District Court's consideration is restricted to determining whether the State court's ruling violates any right, privilege or immunity secured by the Constitution. I must say I am a bit befuddled by the gentleman from New York's objections to this bill. It seems to me that many of our colleagues on the left are often content, and rightly so, to have the Federal courts defend the constitutional rights of Americans, and here in the case of one of our most vulnerable citizens, the arguments are lost on me as to why as to securing those constitutional rights the Federal District Court would not be the proper jurisdiction. And with this I close: The Bible tells us we have three duties; to do justice, to love kindness, to walk humbly with our God. This is a deeply meaningful moment to this Member of Congress. I am grateful to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Weldon) for his leadership. I am profoundly grateful to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Chairman Sensenbrenner) for his compassion and his vision in bringing this bill to the floor. In so doing, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) brings justice and kindness to the law in this extraordinary case and comes alongside the family of Terri Schiavo to say the American people hear you and are anxious to bring you relief.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. I rise to commend the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling), who is a man of principle and a man of personal courage, in his quest to restore fiscal discipline to Washington, D.C. In just a few short years, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) has emerged as a national leader on fiscal restraint in Washington, D.C., and it is an honor for me to be associated with his handiwork in support of the Hensarling amendment. I too join in the chorus of those conservatives who have spoken tonight in commendation of the gentleman from Iowa (Chairman Nussle), who has, in fact, produced the most conservative budget since the historic years of the Reagan administration. And the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle), who history may be calling him to other duties sometime soon, will leave a lasting and indelible mark on the budget at the Federal level, and we are grateful for his principled leadership and support as well. I do support the Hensarling amendment, though, which today was endorsed by the 350,000-member National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform, just to name a few, because it is long past time for Congress to put our fiscal house in order. The OMB estimates the total fiscal outlays in 2005 will be a stunning 33 percent higher than outlays as recently as fiscal year 2001. We have seen extraordinary growth in various departments, including spending in the Department of Education, which has grown at almost twice the rate of even military spending. Spending at the Labor Department will have risen 26 percent during the same period. The RSC budget, known as the Hensarling amendment, would provide for needed restraint by reducing nondefense-related discretionary spending by 2 percent and calling for $57 billion more in savings than the Committee on the Budget's budget; but better yet, the RSC's budget would dramatically enhance the possibility that Members will adhere to the spending levels set out in the budget resolution by providing bold initiatives in process reform, point of order protection, forcing Congress to define emergency spending and account for it in the budget, creating budget protection accounts that would allow spending cuts to be directed toward deficit reduction or tax relief, just to name a few proposals. The RSC budget is an opportunity for Members of Congress to vote for the President's number on defense and homeland security and a little bit less than the Committee on the Budget's number on everything else. Voting for the RSC budget is voting for finding more savings in the largest category of Federal spending, mandatory spending. And voting for the RSC budget is voting for a way to enforce the budget that the House passes and to embrace a series of budget process reforms, which, if they are not successful in the Hensarling amendment, may yet be entertained by the 109th Congress in the months and days ahead. I strongly support the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling), his courage, his principle; and I urge support of all of my colleagues of the Hensarling amendment.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, the Good Book tells us to know the condition of our flocks and keep careful watch over our herds, for riches do not endure forever. Tomorrow the budget debate begins here on Capitol Hill as the Committee on the Budget begins the process of writing our Federal budget, and President Bush has sent to Capitol Hill a strong conservative budget that represents a good start as we head down the road to fiscal discipline. But as the debate begins, let us also insist that we change the way we spend the people's money. Observers of Congress know that it is not bad people who spend the people's money, it is a bad process that has not been fundamentally reformed since 1972. Only through fundamental budget process reform and a budget that represents fiscal discipline will we begin again to restore fiscal discipline to the national budget.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, Mary Dollison, of Muncie, Indiana, sees people's needs and selflessly works to help them. Yet her generosity does not stop there. Mary motivates others to do the same. In this way, she continues to dramatically improve children's lives, and as a result, transform the entire Muncie community. The Muncie Star Press newspaper publicly recognized her outstanding community service on December 31, 2004, when they declared her the ``Person of the Year'' for her work with Motivate Our Minds (MOM). What began in 1987 as a group of 20 children in her living room has grown into a program of 350 to 400 students who meet for after-school activities in MOM's permanent facility in downtown Muncie. Starting MOMs and shepherding it to its present form was not always easy, though. Over the years, Mary dealt with major budget shortfalls, the lack of a permanent building, and numerous other potential roadblocks that would have caused other people to give up. Fortunately, Mary persisted, and succeeded. MOMs secretary Lenella Maxwell says of her, ``She is just a very giving and loving person. She has a heart for children. She loves God very much, and her family is important to her. She has a very contagious smile. It's just like magic watching when she works with children. She can bring out the best in them. She has a heart of gold, and she wants to just help people.'' Mary recently told the Muncie Star Press, ``I'm not happy not working with kids. My reward is just hearing young people or children come back and tell me stories that I've made a difference in their lives. The goal is still the same, help improve the lives of people, and I think education is one of the ways that we can help do that.'' Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mary Dollison for her tireless service to the Muncie community. She truly makes the community, and the world, a better place.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Madam Speaker, as I had the privilege to write this morning on the editorial page of USA Today, nobody doubts this President's heart for our kids. As a Governor, George W. Bush championed education reform, and, upon being elected President, brought his vision for standards and school choice to Capitol Hill. Unfortunately, the defenders of the status quo in education succeeded in turning the President's original vision for education reform into a huge increase in the Federal Government's role in our local schools and, regrettably, they are at it again, as No Child Left Behind II, with national testing for high school students, comes to Congress. The American people have always known the government that governs least governs best in those functions of government closest to the family. However well-intentioned, one more unfunded mandate from Washington, D.C. will not cure what ails our local schools. Resources that promote reform through competition and school choice will. There is nothing that ails our local schools that parents and teachers of America cannot solve with the resources and the freedom to choose. Let us say no to more national testing. Let us say no to No Child Left Behind II.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. I yield to the gentleman from Indiana.

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I do want to express my profound gratitude to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola) for being willing to leave family and his constituents behind and travel, as we described tonight, through Islamabad, Pakistan; through Parachinar, where we met with tribal leaders; into Kabul, where we went to Camp Phoenix; through the mountains of Jalalabad to Bagram Air Base, and then out of the country. It was a great, great privilege to travel with the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola), the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Davis), and the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake), all of whom I think exemplified the very best of a servant's attitude about public service. I told many soldiers as we traveled that there was not hardly a person that I served in all of eastern Indiana who would not rather be standing right there in front of them thanking them for their service, assuring them of their prayers, and expressing the gratitude that the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola) just described, that the American people feel for the success that the American soldier has wrought and is continuing to provide to the good people of Afghanistan. I close by just reminding, Mr. Speaker, anyone that might be looking in, what the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola) heard from President Karzai. As I have said again and again tonight, Afghanistan is a place where American power and American generosity of work are working. But when the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola) asked President Karzai at the presidential palace, ``What would you have us tell our constituents if you were there,'' and he said, ``Tell the American people our success is their success, and that the President of Afghanistan said congratulations, America, on being a part of freedom and stability and opportunity coming to the good people of this historic land.'' So, Mr. Speaker, with a grateful heart for the opportunity to have led CODEL Pence through Pakistan and Afghanistan, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I am jealous to learn about the signed battle flag, but it is to the gentleman's credit, because it was the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola) who remembered to bring those flags from home, and I want to commend him again for his thoughtfulness in remembering to bring that for our soldiers, but also to have them return, to have them show their appreciation. I guess I just appreciate, Mr. Speaker, the gentleman's reflection on the character of the soldiers that we saw in Operation Enduring Freedom. There is a toughness there. I think, candidly, we were there at a very tough time of the year. I have had the privilege in my 45 years of never not being home for a little bit of Christmas. I have always been able to be home for part of Christmas. It is a grievous thing to not be home, and yet beyond what on the surface you could tell was not an easy time for many of them, was a seriousness and a professionalism and an understanding of the importance of what we are doing in Afghanistan, which is still a dangerous place. I guess that is where I would like to close our reflections tonight as we have talked about President Karzai and our meetings in Kabul, as we have talked about the children that we saw, the provisional reconstruction team, but is to say it is my hope that anyone looking in, Mr. Speaker, would understand that Afghanistan is not succeeding because there are no bad guys there. Afghanistan is not succeeding because it is an easier place to build a democracy than Iraq. Afghanistan is succeeding because American generosity and American power, in partnership with the good people of Afghanistan, is causing that success, day in and day out. As we approach, I believe, the parliamentary elections this coming April, where the legislative body of that government will be elected, that is all being made possible because the people of Afghanistan, who, as I suggested earlier in this conversation, it strikes me that from our conversations with regular Afghanis as well as President Karzai, is the one thing you hear from folks, is this: They are bone weary of war in Afghanistan, the war that was pressed down on them by the Soviet communists, the war that was pressed down on them through tribal in- fighting, the war that was pressed down on them by the Taliban and al Qaeda under its patronage. And when the American military came in and the generosity of the American people was unleashed, the people of Afghanistan have opened their arms and said, ``Yes, come, stay, help us build stability, help us create a country that is no longer dependent on the narcotics trade. Help us transition to an agricultural economy.'' But it is all working. I guess my real burden in trying to take up an hour of the people's time tonight, Mr. Speaker, and I will yield to the gentleman for any closing thoughts, is just to make sure that as we go into a debate over additional funding for Afghanistan, as we go into a debate for additional counternarcotics funding, and there will be those of us that would argue that those things should happen in the regular budget as opposed to the supplemental, but beyond all of those arguments, it is my hope that the American people would understand that we are succeeding in Afghanistan because of American generosity and American power and the Afghan people are making it happen. It is not happening automatically. It is not the absence of conflict or the absence of danger that is resulting in this success. It is in spite of those things that we are succeeding. And even though no news rarely makes it in the newspaper, the truth is if things are not blowing up on a daily basis, things slip out of the news, and Afghanistan has slipped out of the news and the American people tend to, and I think I am as guilty as the next person; before we went, I tended to think it is not that tough over there. It is tough. It is hard. It is commitment and focus every single day. But it is working, and it is my hope that we really celebrate that. As we have a debate over additional funding for Afghanistan, at every level, that we will understand that the good people of Afghanistan have embraced the American people with gratitude, they have embraced the American soldier, as the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola) just recited, as the Iraqi woman embraced the mother of the fallen soldier just yards away from where we are standing now, and to understand that we must keep that commitment to bring these good people of Afghanistan the freedom they so richly deserve. I yield for closing remarks to the gentleman.

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, that is especially well said, and it is fitting because in some of the time that we have remaining, I wanted to reflect on the American soldier and the opportunity that we had both at Camp Phoenix in Kabul, in Jalalabad, and then Bagram Air Force Base and probably for me as well being able to visit injured soldiers at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center on the way back. But one of the things that was a great privilege for me was, Mr. Speaker, along with the gentleman from Indiana, thinking of the 1,500 Hoosier National Guard who were in Afghanistan and thinking, Mr. Speaker, of the holiday season that was upon us, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola) and I developed what we came to call Operation Holiday Greeting. And it resulted in our inviting our constituents, three quarters of a million people in north central Indiana and three quarters of a million people in eastern Indiana, to send in holiday greeting cards to soldiers. We announced the initiative on November 11; and within 10 days we received, Mr. Speaker, more than 25,000 lovingly handmade holiday greeting cards that we were able to take with us to Operation Enduring Freedom. This photograph captures just one of literally dozens and dozens of scenes where the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola), the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake), and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Davis) and I were handing out greeting cards to the delight of soldiers who read them. One soldier in the foreground of this photograph has completely forgotten about us and is into what we can clearly see from the American flag was a hand-crafted card very likely by some grade schooler in South Bend or a grade schooler in Muncie, Indiana. And this was such an extraordinary blessing to be able to be a part of it because it does strike me, and then I will yield to the gentleman for his memories of this particular part of our trip, that having some politician walk up to someone on a far-flung theater of operation and deployment and say, Hey, the folks back home are praying for you, appreciate what you are doing, and have got you in their hearts, it is a whole other thing for that politician, who by and large we do not trust anyway, to hand to the soldier a fist full of lovingly crafted holiday greeting cards that say we are praying for them, we are thinking of them, we would love a note from them to say how things are going. I saw some of the biggest, toughest most grizzled soldiers at Bagram Air Force Base in that cafeteria where we wandered, when we walked up to them and they kind of had that lockjawed look and they do not know who we are and they do not know if they like us; and when we tell them we are Congressmen from Indiana, they think, well, that is okay, thanks for coming over and we appreciate it. But then when I would hand them the cards, these big guys would melt. Just one after another I saw more than one guy start to wipe tears from his eyes. And as the song goes, ``It Ain't Funny When a Soldier Cries,'' but I saw more than a few well up with tears, not because of anything I did or I would say anything that the gentleman from South Bend did, but these cards and the fact that in 10 short days Hoosiers of all ages, senior citizens, grade school kids, people at churches and synagogues, took time to sit down and express their prayers and their good wishes and their greetings to these soldiers. And the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola) and I, I must say, Mr. Speaker, we lugged a lot of boxes, and I want to commend the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola) for his tireless effort in passing these cards out. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana for any memories of Operation Holiday Greeting.

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman for that memory and, more importantly, the observation about the critical importance of education. This photograph is just so meaningful to me, and I think I could live to be a lot older and have just a little bit more gray hair and not cherish any photograph more. And I hope anyone peeking in would examine this or even go to my Web site and take a careful look at it. As the gentleman will remember, we were walking down this road outside of the provisional reconstruction team's compound in Jalalabad. We were surrounded by soldiers carrying very large weapons and wearing body armor; and we were walking along what we can see is a small village, which, like most villages in that area, was walled with a rustic door. But what struck me and what strikes me about this photograph, it speaks to the gentleman's point about education and it speaks to the gentleman's point about whether it be in Afghanistan or Pakistan or other parts of the world that if we can win the hearts of the children for freedom and to understand the heart and the intent of the good people of the United States of America, we will have gone a long way toward defeating terrorism in the 21st century. What I love about this photograph is that, and the gentleman will recall, as we came down this street again in an intimidating environment, we were surrounded by big men carrying big guns and wearing body armor, but these children came streaming out of this door running up to the soldiers as long-lost friends. Every one of the soldiers, after checking the perimeter carefully, took a knee. Many of them began to speak in the native tongue with the children. The gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola), the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake), and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Davis), all of us kind of fanned out and started learning names and chatting with children and posing for pictures; and the most striking thing to me about this photograph, and these are all children, and I am sure we were told but I cannot imagine what their families live on per year but it has to be pennies a day in our currency, and yet every child in this photograph is smiling. Every child in this photograph looks healthy and well fed. And I know the only reason that is true is because of the United States of America and because of the American soldier; that Jalalabad was an area that was destitute, impoverished, lacking in fundamental basic services, lacking in schools because, as we met with regular Afghans, they told us, We have never had little girls be able to come to school. The Taliban would never allow it, and we never had buildings to come to school in until the United States of America. So what this picture represents to me with almost an Old Testament- looking wall and door behind it, which if one goes through Afghanistan, it is pretty Old Testament. I mean, it literally looks like a scene out of an Easter pageant. The whole country does, with mud walls and mud streets and ox-drawn carts, and yet to see these children and to see the looks on their faces that is evident in this photograph just moved me and blessed my heart at a level that said what these soldiers have done, what their families who have sacrificed their time and in some cases they have said good-bye forever to their sons who have fallen in Operation Enduring Freedom, is in some way recompensed by these smiles and by the affection. I do not know if the gentleman remembers that or the times that we went into classrooms in Jalalabad. The reaction that we got from children was just extraordinary to me to see the way these children were responding to American soldiers and to American personnel and to know they knew we were from America and that America was doing all of these things in Jalalabad and in Kabul and all over Afghanistan for their people. It just was deeply moving to me.

Mr. PENCE. If I may interrupt the gentleman on that point, before the gentleman arrived, I was reflecting on our experience in Pakistan and in Islamabad; and I might, Mr. Speaker, with your permission, encourage the gentleman to speak about precisely that point, which is a profound point which he made both on national television appearances related to this trip, that economic development and education, I think his phrase was, are the principal means to combat terrorism long term. I am wondering, Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman might reflect on what we saw in the advances at what are known as madrassas or traditionally religious education facilities. We were one of the few American delegations to be permitted to visit a traditional Islamic madrassa in Islamabad, Pakistan. Mr. Speaker, I would ask the gentleman to reflect on that and how that bears on his keen insight about the need to encourage greater, more expansive education in this difficult part of the world.

Mr. PENCE. I am grateful for the gentleman's remarks, Mr. Speaker. This is an area, and I hope anyone that might be looking in to this august Chamber tonight might hear what my colleague from Indiana just said about the gratitude that came out of President Hamid Karzai. I had literally forgotten until you recited the story that that is precisely how he answered the gentleman's question, was to say our success is the success of the American people. It has been an incredible success. Afghanistan, as the station chief where we overnighted at the American embassy in Kabul told us, and I will never forget it as we met for a briefing there on the embassy compound. He said, Afghanistan is a place where American power and American generosity are working. Let me say it again for the benefit of any here: Afghanistan is a place where American power and American generosity are working. We have our challenges in Iraq and with this strong Commander in Chief that we have, we will see our way through this and we will see those good people with their ink-stained fingers through to the freedom they so richly deserve. But Afghanistan is a place we do not read about as much in the news. I think that animated my colleague from Indiana and my desire to go there and tell the story of the success that we had seen. One of the things that we saw there was to travel in Kabul to the northern outskirts of the city to what has come to be known as Camp Phoenix, a large military installation and principally where, as near as this non-veteran could appreciate, where a great deal of the supplies are managed on a regular basis for Operation Enduring Freedom. And also, I might add, it is also a place where, if we can brag for just a moment and go to a different poster, 15 percent of the Army National Guard in Afghanistan are stationed and every single one of them is a Hoosier. For anyone looking in who does not know the vernacular, that means from Indiana. This, of course, is a photograph that my colleague actually should be in this picture because the gentleman from Indiana actually brought this Indiana flag, but all of these soldiers, this photograph taken at the provisional reconstruction team site in Jalalabad are of some 1,500 members of the Indiana Army National Guard, away from their families, away from their husbands and their spouses and their wives and their children and their grandchildren, and doing the kind of work day in and day out that is the building of schools, the establishing of fresh water, the establishing of basic services through these provisional reconstruction teams. We took a memorable helicopter ride on, I think it was a CH-53, a Hercules helicopter, very much like Luke Skywalker through the mountains of Jalalabad, hugging the mountainsides, and landed softly at this provisional reconstruction site. And these folks who, when they are not in uniform, are insurance salesmen and small business owners and pastors and business people and blue-collar workers, but here they are American soldiers and they are impacting the lives every day of regular, ordinary Afghanis. They are a source of enormous pride to this Hoosier for the sacrifices that they are making. As we think about the role, particularly of General Moorhead who commands the Hoosiers at Camp Phoenix, who are literally fanned out all across Afghanistan, I am reminded as I prepare to yield to my colleague for any memories of that part of our trip and the Hoosiers that we met, the night before we left, many of us, my colleague included, and our spouses were able to be with the President and the First Lady at the White House for a holiday celebration. In the few minutes I had with the President, I told him I was leaving for Afghanistan the next day and he thanked me for that, as the Commander in Chief would, and asked me to thank my delegation for going. And then I said to the President, you know, 15 percent of your Army National Guard over there are Hoosiers. And without missing a beat, the President of the United States said, ``That's why it's going so well, Mike.'' I told that to every single one of the Hoosiers that we met. I thought the President was just being nice, but when we went over there and saw the professionalism and the commitment and the compassion with which these Hoosiers are bringing, in many ways, civilization, stability and democracy to the people of Afghanistan, I became convinced that the President's generous comment was actually pretty close to right. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to have the opportunity this evening to address you on a subject that is both a meaningful memory for me, as the elected representative of the people of eastern Indiana's Sixth Congressional District, but also, as I believe we will hear not only from my recollection but from colleagues who will join us, and a very rare opportunity to have a contemporary conversation about the critical importance and the extraordinary success of the United States of America in Afghanistan. I had the privilege, as a Member of the House Committee on International Relations, to lead a congressional delegation both to Pakistan and Afghanistan this past December. Between the dates of 7 December and 14 December, I had the opportunity of traveling through Pakistan. We landed in Islamabad. We drove by ground transportation to the border of the tribal areas, the city of Peshawar, but also the areas both north and south, Wazirastan, where many may recognize the areas most often associated with theories about the hiding place of one Osama bin Laden. While I and the Members of our delegation were in the city of Peshawar, we actually sat down for a meal with tribal leaders from that central area of south Wazirastan, which is in effect in the western area of Pakistan, and it probably is analogous to the Wild West in American history and folklore. As we met with the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Governor of the Peshawar Province, they referred to this area of Pakistan as the ungoverned areas of their country. So they really are dominated, Mr. Speaker, by tribal leaders who are, in effect, military and familial leaders of communities ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 persons that dot the mountainous landscape of western Pakistan. Now, while we stopped in Pakistan and evaluated the progress of the war on terror in that country, the primary purpose for our trip was to visit Afghanistan, where Operation Enduring Freedom has been an extraordinary success since the months immediately following the devastating attack on our country on September 11, 2001. It was my happy privilege to lead what came to be known as CODEL Pence, but the happier part of that was to be joined by colleagues and senior staff personnel of the House Committee on International Relations, who made this trip that much more meaningful and informative for the four policymakers that were alongside for the journey. My colleagues, some of whom will join me here tonight to share their reflections on Afghanistan and the experience that they had, both in Kabul as well as at provisional reconstruction sites around the country, but my colleagues who joined me included the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake), the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Davis), and my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola). There were also noteworthy senior staff personnel from the House Committee on International Relations who joined us, as well as members of the media, all of whom, I might add, demonstrated an extraordinary degree of compassion toward the soldiers that we met and an extraordinary degree of compassion toward the regular Afghani adults and children that we encountered. And I might also add that while at no time was our delegation in any physical peril, I do want to commend all those who traveled with us for the willingness to go into a combat environment and to carry the encouragement of the people that we serve to these soldiers in what was the holiday season, when they found themselves so far away from home. From that dinner in Peshawar with the tribal leaders, we embarked by a C-130 and traveled for our first day into Afghanistan. We arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan, in the belly of a C-130 cargo plane, and we made our way through Kabul. By way of my first recollection, it was an extraordinarily war-torn city. Our victory in Operation Enduring Freedom was so overwhelming and so quick against the Taliban and the al Qaeda that they harbored that I do not know that I did not really expect to see a metropolitan capital relatively unmolested by war. But that is only because I was not thinking. I was not thinking that it was not the military engagement of the United States of America in Kabul that has wreaked havoc on that, the largest city in Afghanistan. Rather it was years and decades of warfare in that country. More on that later. More on how that has affected the attitudes of the Afghans both toward the American military commitment and presence in the region and how it bears on our relationship going forward. But this city had been torn asunder by the military barbarism of the Taliban and, of course, by a decades-long struggle with the former Soviet Union that used barbaric military force again and again and again to attempt to defeat and subjugate the Afghan people and the Afghan military, ultimately to their defeat and ultimately to their national demise. During our trip, we had a number of great privileges. We met while we were in Kabul with President Karzai. We had the privilege, Mr. Speaker, of being the very first congressional delegation to meet with President Hamid Karzai after his inauguration as the first elected President of Afghanistan. It was an extraordinary privilege for us to be there on December 13, 2004, sitting in the presidential palace and sitting in the office with President Karzai. By way of reporting to this Chamber a few personal reflections on Hamid Karzai, he is a man who I truly believe is the George Washington of this generation of the Afghan people. He is, as General Washington, whose portrait hangs in this very Chamber, he is in every sense the indispensable man of the transition from the brutalities of Soviet Communism to the brutalities of Taliban extremism to the free era of an Islamic democratic republic in Afghanistan. I started to get a sense, as we sat in his office in the palace, about why this man has been so successful. He is, first and foremost, a man whose personal biography is deeply compelling. Hamid Karzai comes from the region of Afghanistan down along the border. We were headed to his hometown, which if memory serves, is Kandahar. His father had been, in effect, a tribal leader in Kandahar during the rise of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan; and as history records, Hamid Karzai's father had been initially very supportive of the Taliban, but very soon saw their twist into totalitarianism and brutality, and Hamid Karzai's father spoke out against the Taliban. And as often happens in brutal dictatorships, Hamid Karzai's father was assassinated, at which point he was spirited across the border into Pakistan. And during much of the reign of the Taliban, he essentially hid out in parts of Pakistan, which of course is very familiar to Hamid Karzai because he had been educated in the country of Pakistan. And to this day he bears both the Pakistani's facile ability with the English language as well as a deep understanding of history and academic thought. It is that Hamid Karzai who, first with his biography was from a family that had suffered under the Taliban, that then he is able to come back and be the first elected president. But I think also, and maybe my colleague from Indiana (Mr. Chocola) can reflect on our meeting with Hamid Karzai as well, I found him to be an extraordinarily compelling personality as well. The one message, and I will yield to my colleague for reflections on that meeting and maybe invite my colleague, Mr. Speaker, to a bit of a give-and-take as we tell the story of our journey through Afghanistan. I found him to be an individual who was deeply humble, who had a profound understanding of history, particularly the history of democracy, and who said to us again and again, I will not steal the gentleman from Indiana's thunder because he really asked a profound question of Hamid Karzai that I hope he recites and refers to, but I had a sense again and again that President Karzai understood that we were probably hearing back home that his people may not want the United States to stay around in Afghanistan. He looked at us again and again, Mr. Speaker, and said, When you go home, tell the people that you serve that we will never in Afghanistan fail to be grateful for what you have done and that we love the American soldier, we are grateful for their sacrifices and we love the American people. To hear that from the elected President of a country that within a matter of years ago was not only one of the great enemies of our country in the world but harbored the al Qaeda, it was just an extraordinary miracle of history and a great testament to this President's leadership. With that, Mr. Speaker, and I hope he will stick around for much of our conversation as we tell the story of journeying through this area, is the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola) who is beginning his second term in Congress, a member of the Committee on Ways and Means. We are proud of his leadership in Indiana. I was especially grateful that his family was willing to spare him to travel through a pretty difficult part of the world to gain a greater understanding as a policy leader. I yield to the gentleman for any reflections on our trip, but most especially would press him for an anecdote about our meeting with President Karzai.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, in 1786, Thomas Jefferson said: ``Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it.'' Today a Federal appeals court in the District of Columbia upheld a ruling against two reporters who could go to jail for refusing to divulge their confidential sources. Their attorney, Floyd Abrams, said, ``Today's decision strikes a heavy blow against the public's right to be informed about its government.'' And he is right. Last week the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Boucher) and I introduced bipartisan legislation known as the Free Flow of Information Act, similarly introduced by Senator Richard Lugar in the Senate. It would provide a Federal media statute to protect the confidential source tradition that is at the very center of the freedom of the press, and I urge its support and passage. In the wake of today's troubling court decision, now is the time for Congress to reassert the first amendment, freedom of the press, vigorously by enacting a Federal media shield. Nothing less than the public's right to know is at stake.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the REAL ID Act and with a particular sense of gratitude toward the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), who has doggedly brought this legislation to the Hill for one reason and one reason only. 9/11 is not theoretical for me. I was here. I was on the Capitol grounds, and my family during the school year lives in the Washington D.C., area, and like millions of other families in New York and Washington, D.C., was imperiled. As the 9/11 Commission Report stated, ``For terrorists, travel documents are as important as weapons.'' On page 390 of the report they point out that ``All but one of the 9/11 hijackers acquired some form of U.S. identification by fraud and that acquisition of these forms of identification assisted them in boarding commercial flights.'' By bringing this legislation today, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) is making my family safer in this post-9/11 America, and also closing asylum loopholes, strengthening our deportation laws. It is time for Congress to get real and pass the REAL ID Act and make our families and our Nation safer.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Madam Speaker, 1 week ago in this Chamber the President of the United States began a national conversation about modernizing Social Security. I think there are a few things every American needs to know about Social Security reform. First and foremost, if you are over the age of 55, Social Security reform will not affect you. Secondly, to every working family, small business and family farm, we will bring about this reform without raising payroll taxes on working Americans. The third thing we need to know is, the current system cannot afford to pay promised benefits to younger workers, so we have to bring the new and powerful idea of personal retirement accounts to give Americans the opportunity to make the same amount of dollars work harder for them in the future. President Franklin Roosevelt, on January 17, 1935, said in a speech to Congress about Social Security that its second wave would be ``compulsory, contributory annuities which in time will establish a self-supporting system for those now young and for future generations.'' President Roosevelt's vision for Social Security was right for the 20th century, and his second vision is right for the 21st.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for yielding me this time and, more importantly, for her extraordinary and consistent leadership as chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia. I also want to commend the leadership in the Congress of the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Blunt) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for bringing this measure forward. As ever, I was deeply moved by the courage and candor of the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) who preceded me and who continues to be the lone star for those of us in this Congress and in this country who cherish the dream that is Israel. It is a privilege to follow him in this discussion today. I rise in strong support, Mr. Speaker, of H. Res. 56. Like millions of Bible-believing Christians, I pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and that refers specifically to all of the people of this torn region. So, with the election of the second President of the Palestinian Authority, it is altogether fitting that this Congress commend the Palestinian people for conducting a free and fair presidential election on 9 January, 2005, and, in so doing, congratulating the new Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, for his achievement and his leadership as H. Res. 56 does. It is also altogether fitting, though, that in the same breath as this Congress, on behalf of the people of the United States, speaks a word of encouragement to the people of the Palestinian Authority and its new leader, we must also be willing to speak truth. And in this bipartisan measure, the American people, through this body, do just that, Mr. Speaker. In this resolution, the House of Representatives also will strongly condemn terrorism and urge President Mahmoud Abbas, who has happily previously disavowed terrorism, to immediately take steps to dismantle Palestinian terrorist infrastructure, to confiscate unauthorized weapons, arrest and bring terrorists to justice, consolidate and control the many Palestinian security organizations, and end the incitement of violence and hatred in the Palestinian media, educational institutions, mosques, and other institutions. It may seem somewhat impolitic in what some may have expected from this Congress to have been a greeting card of congratulations to the new President of the Palestinian Authority to bring these matters up, but as this Congress in the very near future, I suspect, Mr. Speaker, will begin to talk about asking the American people to expand our participation in this region of the world, to expand our partnership with the Palestinian Authority, it is altogether fitting that we begin that discussion by expressing the expectations of the American people that the new leadership of the Palestinian Authority be about the rule of law and be about confronting terrorism within their own jurisdiction in the ways enumerated in H. Res. 56. There can be no more important message that we send at such a time as this, a season of opportunity, as the gentlewoman from Florida (Chairman Ros-Lehtinen) described, a season of hope that we describe for the new leadership of the Palestinian Authority what attaches to that hope for the people of the United States who long for the peace and stability and democratic institutions of the people of Israel and the Palestinian people so richly deserve. Mr. Speaker, the Old Testament promises, ``Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.'' For too many nights, Israeli and Palestinian families have wept for their loved ones who have fallen prey to the mindless violence that has sprung from terrorists within the Palestinian Authority. This resolution today is about expressing the profound hope of the American people that a morning of joy has come. With the election of President Mahmoud Abbas, the election of a new leader for the Palestinian people, we are come upon that new day of hope, and we will rise today as a Congress in bipartisan fashion to express that hope, with congratulations, but also with the truth, that there must be results and leadership that lead to peace and justice in the region for all of the people.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, 1 month ago, we stood in this assembled Chamber and pledged ourselves to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. Chief among the rights enumerated in that Constitution is the freedom of the press. Unfortunately, last year almost a dozen reporters were served or threatened with jail sentences in at least three different Federal jurisdictions for refusing to reveal confidential sources. Compelling reporters to testify and, in particular, compelling them to reveal the identity of their confidential sources is a detriment to the public interest. Without the promise of confidentiality, many important conduits of information about government activity would be shut down. Today, 31 States and the District of Columbia have various statutes that protect reporters from being compelled to testify and disclose sources of information in court, but there is no Federal protection. Mr. Speaker, today, along with the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Boucher), I will introduce the Free Flow of Information Act. This important legislation will provide reporters with protection from being compelled to disclose sources of information in any Federal criminal or civil case without meeting strict criteria. ``Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it.'' Thomas Jefferson said that, and he was right. I urge my colleagues to join us in cosponsoring the Free Flow of Information Act and press for its immediate adoption.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, in his second inaugural address just days ago, President George W. Bush restated our Nation's longstanding vision as the beacon of liberty and the arsenal of democracy on planet Earth. This Sunday, January 30th, because of the leadership of that same Commander in Chief and the courage and sacrifice of our American military and their families, that vision will take one more step forward on Earth with the free elections taking place in the war-torn nation of Iraq. The Good Book tells us that where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. So I know I rise on behalf of millions of Hoosiers when I say to the good people of Iraq, you not only have our sons and daughters and our resources, but you will have our prayers; and our prayers are with all the good people of that nation as they take this small step toward liberty. May it be the beginning of a permanent break with their tyrannical past.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the National Funeral Directors Association for their relief efforts in light of the recent tsunami tragedy in South Asia. Following President Bush's plea for monetary donations to assist the humanitarian effort, they established the Funeral Service Asian Relief Fund, which directs the funds to one or more charitable organizations assisting in the relief effort. The National Funeral Directors Association has long been involved in volunteering their time and resources to aid in domestic disasters, such as the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack and the Oklahoma City bombing. However, it is clear that their care and concern for humanity goes beyond our American borders as well. Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the efforts of the National Funeral Directors Association, including a member in my East-Central Indiana district, to aid the international relief efforts assisting the victims of the South Asia tragedy. I sincerely hope that Americans, and men and women throughout the world, will look to this as an example of care and compassion for mankind.