Mike Pence

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Chairman, my dad used to tell me life is not fair, but we almost always get out of things what we put into them. Sadly, that is not true for the highway bill, but really it has never been. But in the last highway bill, Congress actually made States like my home State of Indiana get at least 90\1/2\ cents back on every dollar we paid at the pump in gasoline taxes. But this highway bill that we will consider today actually reduces that amount by about 10 cents on the dollar, for every State in the Union, as my friend from Indiana just said. The Isakson amendment asks only this: Keep the 90\1/2\ cent minimum guarantee for every State in the union just the way it is. We are asking to keep the status quo. Let us keep things the way they are. Life is not fair, but the way we use taxpayer dollars in the highway bill should be.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Chairman, with great respect to the chairman and the ranking member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, I rise in strong support of the Flake fair amendment because it is simply that. It is only fair that we would deduct, as the gentleman from Arizona suggests, the amount that has been earmarked specifically by Members of those States from the formula for distributing assets under the transportation bill rather than excluding them and then allowing the formula to only be placed on those which have not been designated as being of particular national significance. It seems to me the money is spent in those States, it is spent on infrastructure projects that the Members of those States can point to with pride and appreciation because of their significance, but it ought not to work a detriment, as it so distinctly does to States like Indiana, that I have the privilege of serving, States like Arizona and so many States in the Union that have to wait until after the special projects to divide up what is left. I support the Flake fair amendment strongly. Mr. Chairman, I want to commend the gentleman from Arizona for his hard work on this fair and sensible amendment. The Flake amendment would solve inequities in TEA-LU by ensuring that the apportion formula can function as intended. Currently, earmarks secured by each member stand apart from the Minimum Guarantee formula. This drastically changes the actual rate of return, as some states perform far worse in this process, losing hundreds of millions of dollars. Mr. Chairman, this is unacceptable. If we are truly concerned about, and fighting for, equity, why do we not subtract these earmarks from the formula totals in the Surface Transportation Program, thus ensuring equity? Why create an environment in which states must fight one another for extra projects, when instead the formula could be allowed to function as designed? Mr. Chairman, we cannot allow some of our states to experience a reduction in core programs. The great highway infrastructure of each state serves more than just the citizens in that state. In fact, my home state of Indiana is affectionately known as the Crossroads of America for that very reason. Hoosier Highways serve the whole country through interstate commerce, personal and business travel, and military mobility. For this reason, I am in strong support of Mr. Flake's amendment, subtracting the amount of earmarks from state formula totals, and furthering equity between all states. I urge my colleagues to support the Flake amendment.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, since the days of the Roman Empire, nations have understood the connection between roads and prosperity and national security. And today Congress will deliberate on a new highway bill, which I will support only if it can be fiscally responsible and fair to so-called donor States like Indiana. But I rise at the outset of this debate to congratulate the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) and the membership of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure for resisting the temptation to raise gasoline taxes. With the news this morning that OPEC will be cutting production and raising the cost of crude, that gasoline is at $3 a gallon on the West Coast, I am personally grateful to the chairman of the transportation committee and all of its membership for saying with regard to this highway bill, no new taxes.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, Robert N. Brown's story began in Columbus 83 years ago on May 7, 1920, when he became the second baby born at the Bartholomew County Hospital. He was born the son of Raymond S. and Anna Newell Brown. He married Alice Elizabeth ``Betty'' Frantz on Aug. 9, 1947, in Columbus. He married Eloise Albert Sears on May 7, 1994, in Columbus. He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife on August 19, 1991; and a sister, Elizabeth Marshall. And Bob Brown was a family man who loved his family. He is survived by his second wife, of Columbus; a son, Jeffrey N. Brown of Columbus; daughters, Peggy A. Brown of Fountain Hills, Arizona, Rebecca E. Brown Thompson of Christchurch, New Zealand, and Susan A. Brown of Downers Grove, Illinois; stepchildren, Susan Sears of Briarcliff Manor, New York, and B.J. Sears of Los Angeles; a brother, Dr. Richard Brown of Phoenix; grandchildren, Zoran and Alex Gvojic, both of Downers Grove, Sarah DeClue of Chandler, Arizona, Erin Boggs of Scottsdale, Arizona, Cameron Thompson of Christchurch, and Christi and Ian Brown, both of Columbus; and two step grandchildren, Kelsey and Sayre Sundberg, both of Briarcliff Manor. Please know that each of you have our deepest sympathies and prayers in your loss. His daughter Susan told me this week, ``Dad always had time for us, and until I grew up, I never knew how unusual that was.'' His professional accomplishments are equally extraordinary. Mr. Brown was the former publisher of The Republic newspaper and chairman of Home News Enterprises. A Purdue University graduate, he was a U.S. Army veteran serving in World War II and during the Korean War. He was named to the Indiana Newspaper Hall of Fame and received the Community Service Award from the Chamber of Commerce and the Mayor's Arts Award. Professionally, he served as president of Hoosier State Press Association and the Inland Daily Press Association and was deeply involved in the American Newspaper Publishers Association and the American Press Institute. He was an inventor, obtaining patents for a copy-cutting device and a composing room system for classified advertising. Among his community affiliations were Bartholomew County Hospital Board trustee, Hospital Foundation, North Christian Church, United Way, Rotary Club, Heritage Fund, Columbus School Foundation, Foundation for Youth, Columbus Jaycees and the Boys Club Council. He and his wife, Betty, established the Robert and Betty Brown Awards for Vocal Excellence. An instrumental scholarship also was added. And we will enjoy the product of that philanthropy throughout this service. His story ended Friday, March 19, 2004, at Shell Point Pavilion in Fort Myers, Florida. But that hardly tells the story. There is so much more to tell because Bob Brown was also a hero and an inventor and that story needs to be told as well. Bob Brown was a soldier. After graduating from Purdue in May of 1941 Bob Brown went to work but would write in the family history, ``Overshadowing everything we did was an ominous cloud of war.'' Duty called. He enlisted in Army in 1942. Enrolled in the army school of advanced electronics at Chicago University and 2nd Lt Bob Brown, US Army Signal Corp reported to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey on 3 Dec 1942. An engineer by training, Lt Brown was schooled to operate a dramatic new top-secret technology known as Radar. On 22 January 1944, Lt Bob Brown shipped out for the European theatre aboard the Queen Mary. He arrived in England and helped assemble Starting Point, the first early warning radar system in the history of modern warfare. And he was there on 6 June 1944: D-Day. He wrote of that experience in the family history and I quote generously from his account of that time: One of the most dramatic days of my life was 6 June 1944. I awoke to a deafening roar and leaped out of my pup tent to find the sky filled with planes from horizon to horizon. There were bombers and fighters from the Allied countries of every size . . . All were either going or returning across the channel. `My God! It's here'--the long awaited invasion had actually come. We knew we were part of it, but when and where? On 10 June 1944, four days later, the word came down. ``Board an assigned landing craft with all vehicles at dawn 11 June and be prepared to land at Omaha Beach.'' The tension and excitement were unbearable. Our time had really come . . . As the beach neared, we all became quiet with apprehension. What would it be like to face enemy fire? When we arrived at the beach we were relieved to see the fighting had moved in land . . . For 100 miles around us, including the southern coast of England, the northern coast of France and the Channel between I could clearly see every ship in the water and many vehicles moving on the land. . . . For that brief period the magnitude of the operation overwhelmed me. We had actually landed in France! This invasion had to be the greatest feat in history. Lt. Brown would serve courageously from D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge. After WWII, he returned to the service during the Korean War to train new heroes in the use of radar in combat operations at bases around the country. Years later, as the illness that would take his life clouded his mind, according to Peggy, it was the memories of his service in World War II that, ``Were the last memories to go.'' Almost until the end, he spoke with affection of the men and the times when his generation won freedom for the people of Europe and every generation that would follow. His son Jeff told me that even 50 years later, ``He felt his military service in World War II was the greatest contribution of his life.'' And he was right. Lt. Brown was a hero. Accordingly, and in recognition of his service to the people of France, I have been authorized to posthumously present the Medal of the Jubilee of Liberty, minted on the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion to Robert N. Brown on behalf of the Regional Council of Normandy and the grateful people of France for his heroism in Normandy France during Operation Overlord in June of 1944. And Bob Brown was an inventor. Having studied electrical engineering at Purdue University and serving as a radar technical officer during World War II, Brown was fascinated by new technologies and gadgets. And while he held two patents on laborsaving newspaper-production devices, it went deeper than that. As his son Jeff told me this week. ``He was an inventor. He wanted to invent something So he invented a newspaper.'' Brown had succeeded his father Raymond Brown as publisher of the family-owned newspaper in Columbus, the Evening Republican (now called The Republic). Ambition and entrepreneurial spirit motivated Bob Brown in the early 1960s to start a newspaper from scratch, rather than buying an existing newspaper. It was, as Jeff would tell me this week, ``His defining professional moment.'' Foreseeing Johnson County's booming population growth in the decades ahead, Brown founded his newspaper, the Daily Journal, to cover the entire county. Brown spearheaded construction of the Daily Journal's first ever glassed-in plant on US 31, the first newspaper in the nation to be built from the ground up with the then innovative offset-press technology. The ``Journal Hill'' site north of Franklin took shape Sept. 14, 1962. The 11,000-square foot glass-enclosed building allowed passers-by on US 31 to see the new Goss Suburban offset press inside. Offset printing was a technological leap forward. After a newspaper page was composited, it was photographed and the negative was rendered into a thin plate for the printing press. The innovation was less time- consuming and labor-intensive than the old ``hot-type'' printing method. Publishers from all over the country came to Journal Hill to marvel at the new technology and this showman's glass wall display of the presses. Today virtually every major newspaper in America reflects both of these Brown innovations. The first issue of the Daily Journal rolled off the press on July 22, 1963. Afternoon delivery was the norm at the time. From the start, his colleagues attest, Mr. Brown set the tone for the Daily Journal's news coverage: Fairness to all and special treatment for none. Howard ``Bud'' Herron, former editor and later publisher of the Daily Journal and now publisher of The Republic in Columbus, noted Brown's push for employees to excel. Herron recalled that Brown gave editors and publishers the freedom to make their own news judgments. ``He was a believer in the total integrity of the news operation,'' Herron said. And Bob Brown was a gentle man. As Dorothy Hayes, one of the Daily Journal's original employees, recalled last week in a story that demonstrated the rare combination of kindness and high standards that characterized his life. ``He was a perfectionist, and you tried so hard to do everything the way he wanted it done.'' Hayes, now 70, remembered that Brown insisted on certain rules. ``He had this thing about Scotch tape. He didn't like it,'' she recalled. Hayes, who had just turned 30, had whimsically Scotch-taped a clipping stating ``Don't trust anyone over 30'' to her cash register. The boss was not amused. Brown wandered over and was talking to Hayes; and during the conversation, he nonchalantly scraped off the Scotch tape with his fingernail. ``He never said a word to me, but I got the message: `Do not use Scotch tape,' '' Hayes laughed. ``He was very meticulous,'' she added compellingly. ``He was the kindest man I've ever met, and the most fair.'' And so he was. When I met Mr. Brown as a floppy haired junior highschooler, I was taken aback by his genuine interest in me and my future. He listened to my ideas and ambitions and always took time to gently challenge my plans and my thinking with a grandfatherly touch. I can still hear his voice during countless sessions in the Brown family living room, following one of my pronouncements about how I saw things, when he would gently say, ``Mike, you might want to look at that a little differently.'' Bob Brown was a gentle man, an inventor, a hero and a family man. But make no mistake about it, Bob Brown was a leader too. As Bud Herron said, ``He didn't tiptoe through life. Everywhere he went he left broad, bold footprints.'' And perhaps his peer and personal friend, Mr. J. Irwin Miller put it best when he said, ``Today this community lost one of its great sons.'' The former Cummins Inc. Chairman went on to say, ``The fact that The Republic is a thriving, fourth-generation family business is a testament to Bob's leadership, vision and hard work. He will be greatly missed by his family and by all of us who were honored to know him personally.'' His devotion to his family, his service to America, his personal kindness; and his bold vision for his enterprise and our community are all the elements of a life of great quality. It is written, ``No greater love has a man than this that he should lay down his life for his friends.'' Bob Brown put his life on the line for his nation, and laid down the balance of his life for his family, his community and the people of the enterprise to which he was born . . . namely . . . his friends. And we, his friends, bid him this tender farewell with hearts overflowing with gratitude to God for the privilege of having known this man . . . Confident that just a few days ago, this good man--his mind and memory restored--his body young and strong again--as he did so many years ago, stepped onto the sands of another shore into the warm embrace of Raymond, Anna, Betty and Elizabeth and heard those deserved words, ``Well done, thou good and faithful servant.''

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, today the city of Columbus, Indiana, bid farewell to one of its great sons, Robert N. Brown. Robert N. Brown was born 83 years ago in the city of Columbus. During the course of his lifetime, he was a publisher of newspapers, a founder of newspapers, a World War II veteran who went ashore on Omaha Beach on D-Day Plus 3, the proud father of four and grandfather to many, many more in our community. It was my privilege to offer the eulogy today at First Christian Church in Columbus, Indiana. I rise today to offer my condolences to the family and to the community at his loss. May he and his family feel the peace of Christ in this time of loss.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Chairman, I was detained in my district for a funeral earlier today. Had I been present, I would have voted in the following manner: Rollcall 84 (Previous Question on H. Con. Res. 33)--``aye''; rollcall 85 (Bureau of Engraving and Printing Security Printing Act)-- ``aye''; rollcall 86 (District of Columbia and United States Territories Circulating Quarter Dollar Program)--``aye''; rollcall 87 (An Act to authorize the President of the United States to agree to certain amendments to the Agreements between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the United Mexican States concerning the establishment of a Border Environment Cooperation Commission and a North American Development Bank)--``aye''; rollcall 88 (Congressional Black Caucus)--``no''; rollcall 89 (Blue Dog)--``no''; rollcall 90 (Republican Study Committee)--``aye.''

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Chairman, Federal spending in recent years has been growing, particularly in the wake of our national emergency on September 11, at a record-breaking pace. The Congressional Budget Office projects that current policies could produce a cumulative deficit of nearly $2 trillion for the 10 years that lie immediately ahead of us. Federal spending breaks down today to a burden of more than $20,000 per household, the highest since World War II, and yesterday's report by the Social Security and Medicare board of trustees was disconcerting, to say the least, about the long-term obligations that this government faces. Many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle know that I have taken some strong stands in recent days to confront my concern for runaway Federal spending, but it is with equal conviction that I rise today to endorse and support the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2005. The good news today in this budget is that Republicans in Congress are taking an important first step under the leadership of the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle) and under the leadership of our Speaker, our majority leader, and the balance of the majority of this Congress to right the fiscal ship that has been listing in the direction of government spending. We are truly taking an important first step in this budget to put our fiscal house in order; and I, as a conservative Member of this Congress, rise to extol its virtues. This budget holds the line on spending. It makes permanent the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, and it funds our vital defense during a time of war. Mr. Chairman, during World War II, President Roosevelt signed a budget that actually reduced nondefense spending. President Truman did the same thing during the Korean War, and this budget resolution follows the same ethic by freezing nondefense, nonhomeland security spending at current levels for the first time in a generation. Mr. Chairman, this budget is a tough solution to a tough problem. The easy solution, on the other hand, would be to listen to many who propose that simply some day in the not-too-distant future that we will raise taxes, but one of the undeniable truths of the modern era is that when we raise taxes on the American family, the Congress simply raises the amount of money it spends in Washington, D.C. Mr. Chairman, budgets are all about priorities, and there are those in this body who claim that we are not spending enough in this budget; but in the very same breath, we will hear on this floor tonight and tomorrow a lament about deficits and about debt. Well, they cannot have it both ways. This budget sends a clear message to the American people that we are truly committed to cutting the deficit and to winning the war on terrorism and to growing this economy through tax cuts. Again, I commend the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle) for his yeoman's work on this budget, as evidence of the fiscal conservative principles for which this Republican majority is endorsed and celebrated by millions. As a conservative, I support these priorities. As a conservative, I support this budget and urge all of my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats alike, who lament the deficits and the fiscal, spendthrift ways of the past and urge their support in passage of this 2005 budget.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, Thomas Jefferson wrote those transcendent words in the Declaration of Independence, that our founders believed that we were endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. Abraham Lincoln, in establishing the first National Day of Prayer, quoted scripture as he affirmed that which had been truth throughout the ages, that only those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord. Nevertheless, at this hour across the street the Supreme Court of the United States of America is hearing a case about whether the American people may acknowledge that we are one Nation under God in our Pledge of Allegiance. This case today I offer, Mr. Speaker, is less about the facts than it is about who we are as a Nation, a Nation with a Congress that opened this day in prayer, and a court, a Supreme Court, that actually opened their work today with the words ``God save the United States and this honorable court,'' about a government that displays the name of God throughout its buildings and in its best traditions, telling the American people that they cannot do likewise. Let us hope and pray that those nine jurists on the Supreme Court see the freedom of religion and not the freedom from religion in the first amendment of our Constitution.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) for yielding and for his participation. And I think those words especially eloquent. Because it was the gratitude and the enthusiasm for their freedom that I found most moving among the Iraqis that we met. I close with a picture, Mr. Speaker, that I think the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) actually took. We were visiting the second of two palaces of Saddam Hussein now being rehabilitated into a hospital for Iraqis in Baghdad. And as we were making our way, we came across regular Iraqis who were moving materials. And as you see here, and I hope it is evidenced in the picture, the enthusiasm with which we as Americans were greeted was overwhelming. People stopping, smiling, reaching out. I did not even expect that the thumbs up symbol would be international, but it was. And you see the warmth and you see the generous spirit that is present among the Iraqi people. I say without hesitation, as I said to many people upon my return, I fell in love with the Iraqi people. They are bright, visionary, optimistic, educated, and a people that are of such strong opinions that I thought they were from the Midwest in most of our conversations. But in the midst of all of it, I came away with an image that I had a burden, Mr. Speaker, to come back and as we consider this important resolution today, even to help finish the debate today with my colleague from Arizona (Mr. Flake), to try and focus this debate on the real beneficiaries of Operation Iraqi Freedom, because certainly Operation Iraqi Freedom brought down a tyrant who represented, as the President concluded, a threat to the United States of America and our allies and that clear and present danger justified our decision to go to war. But the true beneficiaries are these Iraqis and the generations of Iraqis who will follow them, who will be born in a free country, that will live under not the rule of one, but the rule of law. And they will live under a constitution that is, as Ambassador Bremer said to us, not so much a revolutionary document, as for this part of the world and its torn history, a radical document, with freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of speech, and equality of the genders. This is an astonishing accomplishment. And I am here to report very simply, Mr. Speaker, that the Iraqi people that we met with, some four or five dozen in the course of our days in Basra and Baghdad two short weeks ago know that. They understand that. They are deeply and profoundly grateful to the people of the United States, to the families of our men and women in uniform for the sacrifices that have been made on their behalf. And they are deeply hopeful and deeply enthusiastic and deeply ambitious to see democracy and a constitutional republic take hold in this beleaguered land. With that, Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake).

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to engage in a colloquy for the remainder of this Special Order joined, as I was in travel, by my colleague, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake), also of the sixth district, him of Arizona, me of Indiana. The gentleman from Arizona and I had the privilege of traveling in the last 2 weeks to cities in Iraq under the leadership of the distinguished subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), of the Committee on International Relations. On this trip, as we will reflect tonight, we not only, as this photograph suggests, had the opportunity to spend time with soldiers in the instance of this photograph in the belly of a C-130 on our way into Baghdad. But more compellingly, it seems to me, Mr. Speaker, today, as we went through a vigorous and, in many ways, historic debate in this Congress, about the merits of Operation Iraqi Freedom, we found ourselves arguing one between another about the existence of certain types of weapons and the credibility of arguments. It seems that there was a group of people that was left out of that discussion today, and it was the people of Iraq and how they have benefited or how they have been moved or how they have been inspired by the heroism of American and allied forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom. It is in that spirit, Mr. Speaker, that the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) and I come together tonight on the House floor to reflect on our experiences, principally during the first congressional delegation trip into the city of Basra, Iraq. Basra, which is an area of southeastern Iraq under British control, had, prior to 2 weeks ago, never entertained American Congressmen. So when we arrived in Basra that day, we were literally, the four of us, we were the first Members of Congress that these Iraqis, regular, rank- and-file Iraqis, men and women from every station in life had a crack at, had a chance to speak to. We had truly a unique opportunity meeting with religious leaders, political leaders, but, more to the point as we will emphasize in our reflections today, regular Iraqis who shared, as I will reflect and detail and then yield to my colleague, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake), they shared a story that we are not hearing in America today. And I would offer humbly, Mr. Speaker, we did not hear very much about it on this floor today; and it was an outpouring of gratitude and appreciation for American soldiers and allied soldiers who had freed them from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, and just as intense was their enthusiasm and their passion in almost a grade-school level enthusiasm that I saw for democracy that is beginning to take hold. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague, the gentleman from Arizona, for such remarks on the trip as he would make.

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments. In fact, as my friend from Arizona said today in his remarks during the debate over the resolution, the opulence of Saddam Hussein's palaces is rendered even more immoral when one sees the squalor in which he forced the largely Shi'ia population of southern Iraq to live in huge communities like Basra, and where we see sandstone homes, a sewage system that has 20 percent of the capacity that it needed. So as one Iraqi told me, for years a good rain in the streets become the sewers. Yet, as we traveled to Baghdad, we saw, having visited not just a couple of Saddam Hussein's palaces, but the sheer opulence, the decadent self-indulgence was, in my judgment, sinful. But it showed the immorality.

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. And I think it is a wonderful place for us as we approach the end of our conversation tonight to end it that I am overwhelmed by the sense of gratitude expressed by the Iraqis with whom we interacted in Basra. I mean, the touching of the heart, I came to find out virtually every Iraqi that we met ended their conversation with me, and I know with the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake), by touching their hearts. And I would later find that this is a form of deep respect in the Muslim and Islamic tradition. It is the touching of the heart that means the ultimate expression of gratitude. When we met with political prisoners and we thanked them for their candor and we thanked them for being willing to meet with us, they touched their hearts and bowed to us. And in this instance here where we visited one of hundreds of democracy workshops that are taking place all over Iraq, and here you see Ana who is a young Islamic Iraqi woman, wearing an abaya, and she is presenting me one of my most treasured possessions since becoming a Congressman. It is a stack of handwritten poems in English about what freedom means to her. And she illustrated the poems with almost child-like caricatures of freedom of religion and freedom of expression and the right to vote with a small ballot box. The enthusiasm of all the people in this room that spoke broken English was very endearing to me and profoundly inspiring. Not only had we managed in Operation Iraqi Freedom to bring to an end a darkness, as one Iraqi said to me that day in Basra, a darkness that had descended on their people, but also the daylight of democracy, the daylight of freedom and liberty streaming into Iraq. And it is being greeted with enthusiasm. The devastating bombing that took place today claiming lives in Baghdad, the car bombs that were detonated the day after we left Baghdad Airport, it was the bloodiest day since the end of major combat hostilities, all draw the mind to the violence. They draw, it seems to me, the American public's focus to a very small number of Iraqis who seek to use violence to reclaim the dictatorial power they once enjoyed when this is a country of 10 million people, a sample of which we met, who were overflowing with gratitude to the people of the United States and our allies in this cause. As this picture attests, and I hope it is on screen and, Mr. Speaker, I hope it can be seen, that you can see that enthusiasm on their faces, that enthusiasm for democracy that I encountered in Iraqi after Iraqi. And it is an enthusiasm I believe will be a foundation for a free Iraq for decades to come. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would yield, I must tell him that that time that we spent, and this is another photograph of our time with Iraqis during this trip, but the time that we spent with former political prisoners, one man who had been jailed a dozen times in the course of 25 years, to hear not just that individuals were dragged from their homes in the dead of night if they were thought to be suspected of disloyalty of the regime, not just that those individuals were tortured by the regime of Saddam Hussein, but to hear from these men that it was routine and ordinary practice to torture prisoners' wives in front of them, their mothers, and their children in order to extract information; and that oftentimes the torture would result in the death of a loved one and then the summary execution of the prisoner; and that this happened in numbers that boggle the mind. And I must tell my colleague that I returned with a burden on my heart to carry this message back on behalf of these good people in Iraq for whom I developed a tremendous amount of affection and respect, that they lived in a hellish environment, subject to the most unspeakable cruelty by the tyranny of Saddam Hussein. We cannot lightly pass over that and we cannot lightly ignore that and we cannot trivialize that, regardless of whether or not the human rights record of this regime was a central focus in the public debate prior to the war. It is nonetheless a fact that cries out from over 270 mass graves that have been found so far and the remains of some 400,000 Iraqis. I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake).

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I have tried to explain that. I admire the way my friend describes the morale of the troops, because I really believe it is also a good description of the enthusiasm of the Iraqis, some 60 or 70 with whom we spent a considerable amount of time that day in Basra, that regardless of the arguments that we have here on this floor and across this country and, frankly, through the course of a Presidential election year, all of which are appropriate, about evidence and information and intelligence, it struck me that that was completely irrelevant to the cause as it was understood by our soldiers that we met in Iraq and the Iraqis that we met; that this was a cause really between good and evil, between a tyrant who oppressed and murdered over a million of his own countrymen, 400,000 bodies of men and women, boys and girls who have been found in mass graves so far, over 800,000 Iraqis remain missing, people dragged from their homes in the dead of night without due process of law, never to be heard from again, versus the forces of the Western World coming together for the rule of law and for ending that tyranny. I am very grateful for my colleague's reference to a cause, because it emanated out of everything that I sensed about the people with whom we spoke.

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, our first meeting, as is captured in this photograph with the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) and myself and our delegation, on the right was with a series of Iraqi religious and political leaders. We see a Muslim imam here, the Catholic bishop of Basra was in attendance and warmly received by those present. But my memory of this meeting had more to do with the very silent Muslim cleric who sat at the end of the table, the gentleman wearing ancient garb and a long beard who, after we had gone through the series of questions about everything from border jurisdiction to the process of reconstruction, it fell to us to be able to ask questions. And up to this point, we had heard mostly from these religious leaders who were quite chatty through an interpreter, and this gentleman had been icily silent. At that point I remember asking, What do you think of our decision to remove Saddam Hussein? And before any of these three could answer, the gentleman in the white headdress suddenly leaned forward and began to speak urgently in Arabic and pointing his finger in my direction with his eyes on fire. And as I waited for the translation, the interpreter explained that he had said, Saddam Hussein is a nightmare, and the day you ended his regime, you lifted a dark curtain from our people and the daylight was able to shine in. It was for me an extraordinary moment where this icy and quiet figure who was clearly suspicious of American officials traveling thousands of miles to sit down in a delegation meeting, suddenly had his moment to speak a truth from his heart, and it was a truth about a nightmare that the United States of America had brought to an end. I yield for the gentleman's reflections.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. I rise in strong support of this resolution. One year ago this week, freedom came to the good people of Iraq and the tyrant Saddam Hussein fell. And it is impossible to speak of the one without the other. And the contents of this resolution are therefore fitting and appropriate. I rise to support this resolution, Mr. Speaker, with my feet still dusty from a trip to Iraq just 2 weeks ago. And while I was deeply moved and overwhelmed by the valor of our troops during that journey, I was equally moved by the gratitude and the affection that I experienced from the people of Iraq. I really fell in love with the Iraqi people, and I learned that the Iraqis that I met love the American people. We traveled through a ravaged city of Basra, one-story sandstone homes, and met at Coalition Provisional Headquarters. During our meeting with top civil and religious leaders, I thought when it came to my turn I would just ask them, What did they think of our decision to remove Saddam Hussein? And what had been a cool if not distant atmosphere in our discussion suddenly erupted in a flourish of passion and candor. A local Muslim leader, whose dress and appearance gave him an ancient air, said icily to me ``Saddam Hussein was a nightmare, and the day that your people removed him from power was a day when a dark curtain was lifted from the people of Iraq and the daylight was able to shine in.'' Later we met with a large group of ordinary Iraqis eager to speak to American officials. As we sat around the lunch table, there were pointed opinions. These English-speaking Iraqis were so strong in their views and sometimes criticisms of our reconstruction policies, I thought for all the world I was back on the floor of Congress. But then they began to speak of their gratitude toward the American people, of the horror of living under Saddam Hussein, of 400,000 bodies of men and women and boys and girls that had been found, and another 800,000 that were missing. I saw them many times, Mr. Speaker, with tears in their eyes say to me as an American official ``When you go home, tell the people that you serve that we are grateful to the American people and your allies for what you have done for us.'' And they were breathlessly excited about democracy. I will never forget the moment at a USAID class where I spoke to a group of Iraqi women. They shared with me poems in English that they had written about democracy, and almost with the enthusiasm of grade- school children, their hands almost quivered as they spoke of the future in which they believe. I rise to honor in this resolution our Armed Forces, our allies, and the good people of Iraq, all of whom deserve the resolution and support of this Congress.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, we are told if you owe debts, pay debts; if honor, then honor; if respect, then respect. And today, appropriately, we will commend and pay the debt of honor that we owe to American forces, our allies, and the brave people of Iraq in the success of Operation Iraqi Freedom begun one year ago. But, sadly, we do so against the backdrop of tragedy and retreat amidst an ally in Europe, and so as we celebrate the victory in Iraq today, let our enemies nonetheless hear this today, Mr. Speaker, that this President, this Congress, and the good people of the home of the brave will never cower, will never relent, and will never retreat in the war on terror until the threat of terrorism is lifted from our people and the people of the free world, so help us God.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, because the point he just made to me is a colossal one. The very willingness of regular Iraqis to attend democracy classes sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development is an act of personal courage. The day after we left Baghdad, literally a week ago, was the bloodiest day in Iraq since the end of the war. Four mosques were attacked in Karbala and in Baghdad where we just were. Nearly 300 Iraqis were killed; many more hundreds injured, and all of the mosques that were attacked, as the gentleman alluded to, all the mosques that were attacked were clerics and imams who were cooperating or understood to be cooperating with the transition to democracy in Iraq. One last point. The Iraqis that we spoke to were rather incredulous that we were in any way surprised by the violence. I will never forget the Iraqi who said to me, these people killed over a million of our countrymen to hold on to power. Why does it seem surprising to your people that they would kill to get it back? And I yield back.

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for hosting this special order. And having just returned from Iraq, it is particularly meaningful to me to acknowledge the gentleman's leadership in this Congress in traveling to Iraq since the end of hostilities more, I think, than any other Member of Congress; and having just learned what that has meant to our troops and what that has meant to the people in the transition process at the coalition authority, I want to thank him for that. There is no question this issue of weapons of mass destruction, which has become such a political football in America today, represents some form of an intelligence failure, if by that we recognize that we have not found the vials of chemical and biological weapons. But it is absolutely imperative, as the gentleman suggests, to know that if it was an intelligence failure, it was a world intelligence failure and it was an intelligence conclusion that was drawn by at least two previous administrations. I cite in evidence the remarks of President Bill Clinton on February 17, 1998. Again, these are the words of the President of the United States about what official U.S. policy was relative to the possession of weapons of mass destruction by the regime of Saddam Hussein. President Clinton said. ``And they,'' referring to predators of the 21st century, ``they will be all the more lethal if we allow them to build arsenals of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them.'' President Clinton went on to say, ``We simply cannot allow that to happen. There should be no doubt,'' President Bill Clinton said, ``There should be no doubt Saddam's ability to produce and deliver weapons of mass destruction poses a grave threat to the peace of that region and the security of the world.'' President Clinton went on to say, ``There is no more clear example of this threat than Saddam Hussein's Iraq. His regime threatens the safety of his people, the stability of his region,'' and he went on to describe Iraq as, ``a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists who have traveled the world. If we fail to respond today to Saddam Hussein, he will be emboldened tomorrow by the knowledge that he can act with impunity.'' These are the words of the 42nd President of the United States of America, William Jefferson Clinton, about the conclusions of the Intelligence Community and his personal conclusions as our Commander- in-Chief that Iraq did possess biological and chemical weapons in the year 1998.

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, on February 18, completely consistent with Secretary Albright's remarks, ``In the next century the community of nations will see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now.'' In describing it, President Clinton said, ``A rogue state with weapons of mass destruction ready to use them or provide them to terrorists.''

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, to that end, and I am anxious to get to that conversation, I have to tell my colleague that the search for weapons of mass destruction found for the Iraqis that I spoke to in Basra, it found its locus the day Saddam Hussein was captured by American troops. This is a man who, according to former prisoners of war, he and his regime were responsible for the death by incarceration or other means of 1.2 to 1.3 million of their countrymen. According to Amnesty International, we have identified the remains thus far in 270 mass graves of 400,000 men, women, boys, and girls in the mass graves of Saddam Hussein. But the weapons-of-mass-destruction issue is an issue, and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra) is right to address it in the beginning inasmuch as it is in the mind of the American people. But none other than Senator Daschle, who has been the majority leader of the Senate in recent years, but at the time in 1998 and President Clinton's decision to fire cruise missiles and attack Iraq was minority leader, Senator Daschle said, ``We are here today to affirm that we and the American people stand with the President and the international community in an effort to end Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs and preserve our vital and international interests.'' Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, there is no question whatsoever that the position of the administration and others in America supported the conclusion that the intelligence community, not just of the Bush administration, but of the administration that preceded it came to a singular conclusion: that Iraq was in possession of weapons of mass destruction. I am always anxious to remind my constituents in eastern Indiana that the reason we know Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction was because he used them. He used them on his own people. He used them to kill thousands in Kurdistan in the early 1990s in the immediate aftermath of the first Persian Gulf War. We are told by eyewitness accounts of men, women and children running in the middle of the night out of their bedrooms, out into the streets, grabbing their throats as they were asphyxiated by mustard gas or some other chemical agent and killed in the streets and towns of Kurdistan. Chemical weapons were used against his own people. It is not a subject of theoretical analysis or intelligence analysis; but as the gentleman from Michigan knows, it is a matter of historical fact and record that Saddam Hussein in the early 1990s possessed and used chemical weapons against his own population. What became of them in the days immediately prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom, we will continue to investigate. I traveled by the site of the Iraqi survey group in Baghdad just 1 week ago, and I know in meeting with the intelligence community there that that search goes on. And as we continue to bring Iraq forward in the family of nations, and as the people of Iraq, I believe, become more confident in their own future and in the end of the dark days of Iraq and the regime and the thugs that preceded this new Iraqi Governing Council and this new government, more people will speak and more daylight will shine, and we will eventually find out what became of this program and its horrendously dangerous by-products.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004. Mr. Chairman, I am a Congressman today, but for 7 years I was a radio and television broadcaster in the State of Indiana. Let us be clear on this point, a point that was clear to me as a public broadcaster: the public airwaves are owned and governed by the American people. Everyone who operates in front of a microphone or a camera on the public airwaves knows that they have to do so under the obligations in the family hours of public broadcasting that have been set and upheld by the courts over the decades. This is not a burden. Eighteen hours a week for over 6 years I hosted a talk radio program, and I lived within the standards that have been established and upheld by the courts. Thanks to the leadership of the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) and the ranking member, now we have legislation that will put real teeth behind these standards, and I strongly support it. The opponents say this is an issue of free speech. This is not about free speech. This is about decent speech living within the constitutional standards that every broadcaster should hold on the public airwaves. I urge strong support for the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004.

Mr. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, last night the State of Indiana lost a giant. The honorable Robert D. Orr passed away at Indiana University's medical center. Governor Orr served Indiana for 8 years in the State's top office from 1981 to 1989. He spurred our State's economy out of recession and overhauled its education system. He also oversaw the removal of the State license branch system from political and partisan control and led an aggressive effort to promote the export of Indiana products. Mr. Speaker, his work did not begin in 1981, nor did it stop in 1989. Robert Orr enlisted in the Army in 1942, was commissioned a major for his service in the Pacific theater in World War II. At the end of the war, he went to Evansville and entered the family business, Orr Iron Company. He served as Vanderburgh County Republican chairman and was elected to the State senate in 1968 before being elected the State's lieutenant governor. Even after leaving office, Governor Orr was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Singapore and helped build an international relationship with that nation that America still enjoys today. Mr. Speaker, Hoosiers will remember Governor Orr for all these great achievements and his wise actions, but they will most remember him for his humility and his personal decency and kindness. Governor Orr embodied that very verse in Proverbs: ``With humility comes wisdom.'' Mr. Speaker, I mourn the death of the honorable Robert D. Orr, along with millions of Hoosiers, as we send our heartfelt condolences to his wife, Mary, and his entire family. May Robert D. Orr rest in the peace that he so richly deserves.