Ted Poe

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. So what does all this mean? I have given 20 or 30 enumerated counts of an indictment against Pakistan, alleging them of supporting terrorism in the world. What can we do about it? Pakistan is not an ally of the United States. But the United States, every year, gives millions of dollars to Pakistan. Congress has even brought this up before, has tried to cut some of that money off. It has passed the House, but it has never passed and become law. And we continue to give them money. The United States does not, and should not, continue to give Pakistan money because the money we give them goes to ISI, and that money goes to support terrorist activity in Afghanistan that kills Americans. Why are we doing this? But we continue to do it, for some reason that I think is absurd. So the first thing we need to do is cut off the aid to Pakistan. We don't need to pay them to kill us; they will support killing Americans on their own. Cut off the aid. The second thing we do is to label Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism. That is what they are: a state sponsor of terrorism. Congress needs to label them and make that designation so they suffer the consequences for their terrorist mischief throughout the world. And the third thing we do is we need to remove and revoke their major non-NATO ally status. That is a fancy word for: because Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally, they get certain benefits, militarily, that other countries don't get. Revoke that. Quit giving them military aid. Quit giving them money. Designate them as a state sponsor of terrorism, and remove the major non-NATO ally status against Pakistan. There needs to be consequences for this long history, that most Americans are not aware of, where Pakistan says one thing and, like the ambassador said, does something else; and those consequences need to come down to get attention. The longest war in American history continues today, and it is a war supposedly against terrorism. But Afghanistan still is a hotbed because of what takes place and supported from Pakistan. The Afghan Government knows it, we know it, and the Pakistan Government knows it. So there must be consequences. I think Pakistan is found guilty of supporting terrorism, and there should be action by the United States immediately to do these three things. And that is just the way it is. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, when our forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the goal was simple: remove the terrorist group, the Taliban government that sheltered the plotters of the 9/11 attacks on America, and destroy al-Qaida, a terrorist group. This was a NATO operation. A little history is in order. The United States was attacked. The member nations of NATO agreed that this was an attack on one nation, and NATO agreed to retaliate to the terrorist attack under article 5 of the NATO agreement. Article 5 has been talked about recently in the press. So these 28 nations, NATO, went into Afghanistan, a haven for terrorists who sought to attack and kill Americans. That was 16 years ago. This is the longest war in American history, and yet it is still going on. Let's examine how all of this is taking place and center on one nation, Pakistan, and their role in all of this. The Taliban, since that attack, has waged an insurgency in Afghanistan, a neighbor to Pakistan, and destabilized the country, creating a perfect condition for terrorists to exploit in Afghanistan and spread that terrorist activity to other parts of the world. The Taliban and al-Qaida have launched many of their attacks in Afghanistan from their neighbor, Pakistan. Recently, a Taliban sneak attack killed more than 160 Afghan soldiers, prompting the defense minister and the army chief of staff to resign. The Taliban, a terrorist group, doesn't just stage attacks. They seize territory. The Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction said, in January, that 172 Afghan districts are controlled, influenced, and contested by the Taliban. Al-Qaida has a long history and loyalty to the Taliban--two terrorist groups working together. Osama bin Laden swore his allegiance to the Taliban's leader, Mullah Omar, even before the 9/11 attack on the United States. When bin Laden was killed in Pakistan, Ayman al-Zawahiri renewed that oath and cemented ties between al-Qaida and the Taliban. Wherever the Taliban is, you will see that al-Qaida is not far behind. Since 2010, the United States incorrectly claimed that al-Qaida had just a little, small presence in the country, limited to only 50 or 100 fighters. Well, we know now that is absolutely incorrect. Then, in 2015, the shocking U.S. raid in Afghanistan uncovered a massive al-Qaida training camp for terrorists, rounding up over 150 al- Qaida terrorist activity individuals. This was more fighters in one raid than the U.S. claimed existed in the entire country. By the end of last year, U.S. officials announced that 250 al-Qaida terrorists were killed or captured in 2016. The point here is that United States intelligence has been wrong about the activity of terrorists in Pakistan and in Afghanistan, but we are getting it right now. Along with al-Qaida in Afghanistan, we have another terrorist group-- I should have brought a chart to list all of these--the Haqqani Network. Who are these folks? It is another terrorist group linked to al-Qaida and the Taliban. The Haqqani Network is responsible for more American deaths in the region than any of the other terrorist groups that I have already mentioned. The Haqqani Network attacks inside Afghanistan, and they have been directly traced back to Pakistan. All roads to terror lead to Pakistan. In fact, in 2011, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified to the Senate, ``the Haqqani Network acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency.'' What is that? That is the military arm of the Pakistan Government working with terrorist groups throughout the world. The truth is, Pakistan has ties to about every terrorist group in Afghanistan, and we know that the Taliban terrorist group is based out of Pakistan. It came as no surprise that when the U.S. drone strike killed the leader of the Taliban in 2016, guess where he was? He was in Pakistan hiding out. There is a laundry list of evidence of Pakistan's support for terrorist groups, and I think a little more history is in order because this activity by Pakistan has been going on for years and has been below the radar. So let's just list some of the counts of the indictment against Pakistan and their terrorist activity. Let's go back to 1980. Pakistan actively assisted countries like North Korea, Iran, and Libya in their efforts to build a nuclear weapon. Now, where are we today? Iran, the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world, got some of its nuclear ability from Pakistan. North Korea, on the other side of the globe, guess what, they are developing nuclear capability, and we can trace some of their roots for their science back to Pakistan. Since 1980, Pakistan has provided a safe haven and support, as I mentioned, for the Haqqani Network. The Haqqani Network operates many places in the world, including Lebanon, a threat to Israel. Since the 1980s, Pakistan has hosted multiple madrassas that indoctrinate thousands of Pakistani young who join radical groups. That is a nice way of saying terrorist groups. One Pakistan madrassa, which receives millions of dollars in state funding, has so many prominent terrorists in its alumni that it has the name of the University of Jihad. I will continue. Since 1990, Pakistan has supported terrorist groups in Kashmir, like the Lashkar-e-Taiba, called the LeT, and other terrorist groups in its proxy war with India. These groups have carried out attacks inside India, such as the 2001 attack against the Indian Parliament. Since the 1990s, Pakistan has allowed those terrorist groups like the LeT to openly fundraise in the country of Pakistan. Beginning in the 1990s, Pakistan provided training, advisers, intelligence, and material support for the Afghan Taliban, a specific terrorist group that operates in Afghanistan based in Pakistan. Pakistan had forged the alliance between the al-Qaida and the Taliban before 9/11, and Hamid Gul, the former head of Pakistan's ISI, is called the father of the Taliban. Pakistani nuclear scientists met with senior al-Qaida--this is a terrorist group--leadership in 1998, to discuss the terrorist group's desire to acquire nuclear technology. In 1998, several Pakistani officers were killed in an al-Qaida training camp by the United States. Well, what were they doing there? They were training the al-Qaida in terrorist activities. This was a retaliation by the U.S. for the Africa Embassy bombings. In 2001, Pakistan ISI helped revive the Afghan Taliban after it was defeated by the United States in the Northern Alliance. While Pakistan is fighting the Pakistani Taliban, it allows the Afghan Taliban, or what it refers to as the good Taliban, to operate freely in its territory. Let me try to explain this. There is the Pakistani Taliban. It operates in Pakistan. The Pakistan Government goes after those people because they are causing crimes in Pakistan. But there is the Afghan Taliban that operates out of Pakistan that is supported by ISI and works in Afghanistan to kill NATO forces, including Americans. Pakistan says: oh, we are after terrorists. We are going after them. They are only going after those terrorists that operate in their country against Pakistanis, not terrorist groups that operate in other parts of the world against Americans. After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Osama bin Laden and many senior al-Qaida leaders fled to Pakistan. Many of them are still there. Pakistan facilitated arms purchases and foreign fighter flows for al-Qaida as the war continued. Since 2004, eight major terrorist plots against Western countries were planned in Pakistan. In 2008, the GAO--that is the folks who take care of our money, or at least try to track it--found that the Pakistan Government may have falsified claimed costs for providing support to the United States-led military operations. What does that mean? We give to the Pakistan Government to help their military supposedly go after terrorists, and they give us back vouchers to say: well, this is what we did. Well, our government went through these vouchers and found out that Pakistan lied about this. They were asking for money for an activity that never occurred. So they tried to cheat the American public on these reimbursements. And there is more. In November 2008, LeT conducted the Mumbai attack in India that killed more than 160 people with Pakistani assistance. Remember, LeT is a terrorist group. In 2009, a Taliban leader, who had begun peace negotiations with the Afghan Government to stop the killing and the war, was arrested by Pakistan authorities for negotiating a peace talk because Pakistan did not want and does not want peace in Afghanistan. In 2010, Pakistani intelligence is believed to have leaked the identity of an American CIA intelligence chief based in Pakistan. Of course, he had to flee the country. In 2010, Pakistan closed the NATO supply route in Afghanistan for one week in response to NATO's helicopter strike that killed three Pakistani soldiers. Documents leaked in 2010 revealed direct meetings between ISI and the Taliban to organize and orchestrate attacks on American soldiers in Afghanistan. That was in 2010. I will continue. The terrorist perpetrator of the 2010 attempted car bombings in Times Square, that is in the United States, was known to have undergone weapons training in Pakistan. In 2011, Osama bin Laden, we all know who he was, the number one terrorist in world history, well, he was found and killed in Abbottabad outside of Pakistan's version of West Point. In other words, you have a military installation, you have Osama bin Laden hiding in his big old home there, and the Pakistanis had been hiding him out. He was found there, Americans went and took him out, didn't tell the Pakistani Government because they would have moved him again. We have evidence that Pakistan supports terrorism. What happened was, Pakistan scrambled American-made jets to go after the Americans who took out the Taliban. Fortunately, the Americans were able to get away and they were not attacked by the Pakistan Government. To show how supportive Pakistan is, one of our helicopters, you may remember, had stealth on one of its rotors. Well, it crashed there, and they turned that evidence over to the Chinese and let them take whatever evidence they wanted to show the stealth in that helicopter. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask you how much time I have left.

Mr. POE of Texas. I will just make one more comment on the speech. The Ambassador says: ``Pakistan talks one policy, but walks the other.'' I will continue. The World Muhajir Congress has written a letter to the United States Congress. Who are these folks? Well, they represent the views and interests of the Muhajirs. They are decendents of Muslims who migrated from India to Pakistan at the time of the partition of India in 1947. They write a letter, and the title of their letter is: ``World Muhajir Congress request U.S. Congress to cut off military aid to Pakistan.'' They go into detail talking about the terrorist activity of the Government of Pakistan, and not only in Pakistan, but in borders across the world. They ``request Trump administration and the U.S. Congress to cut off military aid to Pakistan. Pakistan army and intelligence agency ISI is mainly using this military aid''--American military aid--``to kill innocent Muhajirs, Baloch, and Pashtoons. The double game of Pakistan's security establishment with U.S. administration must come to an end, which has put lives of U.S. and NATO soldiers in danger in Afghanistan.'' Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the letter. [From World Muhajir Congress, June 15, 2017] World Muhajir Congress Request US Congress To Cut Off Military Aid to Pakistan World Muhajir Congress represents the views and interests of Muhajirs--descendants of those Muslims who migrated from India to Pakistan at the time of the Partition of India in 1947 at appropriate international forums. Indeed, our forefathers had created Pakistan as a homeland for Muslims in India primarily to safeguards their political and economic interests. However, their idea of Pakistan envisaged a secular state where other religious minorities would be guaranteed equal rights and complete religious freedom. The founder of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah--known as Quaid e Azam--left no doubts about his vision for Pakistan when he chose a number of non-Muslims in the first Cabinet for Pakistan. In his address to the First Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, Mr Jinnah made his views abundantly clear when he said, ``in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.'' Unfortunately, the British Raj had left behind a huge Indian army at the time of Partition that was mainly comprised of Punjabi Muslims. This Punjabi Army soon took control of every major institution in Pakistan and never let the true democracy flourish. Protecting the interests of Punjabis has been the primary mission of this Army since the creation of Pakistan, even if it had to at the cost of national interests. Denial of basic constitutional rights to majority Bengali population and subsequent disintegration of Pakistan's Bengali-majority East Pakistan is just one example. In the last few decades, Pakistan's Punjabi-dominated security establishment has blatantly used religion, Islam, as its major tool to perpetuate its domination over other ethnic groups in Pakistan, Muhajirs, Balochs and Pashtoons in particular. The Army itself has gradually become highly radicalized and seems obsessed with the idea of dominating the entire region. The most alarming trend in the last three decades, however, has been the creation and blatant use of `religious proxies' by Pakistan Army to promote its sinister agenda of Punjabi dominance over Pakistan as well as the region. Jihadi terrorist outfits created by Pakistan Army have caused havoc in the last three decades both inside and outside Pakistan. Even though hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis have died as a result of attacks carried out by these ruthless proxies of Pakistan's security establishment, the targets of these terrorist outfits have never been confined to Pakistan and pretty much every country in the region has suffered at the hands of these terror groups. Whether it is the world's ``most wanted'' man Osama bin Laden or the chief of Taliban Mullah Omar; whether it is al- Qaeda's ideological founder Ayman al-Zawahiri or TTP Amir Mullah Mansoor Akhtar or 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, they all have lived and freely operated from Pakistan. It is not even remotely possible that such notorious mass murderers could have lived and operated from Pakistani soil without the overt or covert support from ISI. In fact, thugs of every fanatic religious outfit are still freely operating in Pakistan, particularly in Karachi, very often under the overt protection of Paramilitary Rangers. We have video evidence confirming that militants of banned extremist religious outfits are allowed to freely collect donations in Karachi to wage ``Jihad against America.'' The region as well as the world has suffered enough due to the mindless policies and treachery of Pakistan's Punjabi- dominated security establishment. In fact, ethnic minorities of Pakistan have been the biggest victim of Pakistan Army and its intelligence agencies' ruthless pro-Punjabi policies. Over 20 thousand Muhajirs have been killed by Pakistan's state agencies since 1992 alone. Two federal governments in Pakistan were deposed on the charges of extrajudicial killings of Muhajirs in Karachi but none of the culprits was ever punished. Tens of thousands of Balochs have been killed by Pakistan's security agencies in the country's largest Balochistan province. Hundreds of ethnic Pashtoons too have either been killed and injured or made homeless by Pakistan Army in the last few years under the garb of security operations in the country's northern areas. Pakistan Army and ISI are actively silencing every sane and secular voice in Pakistan and are supporting, arming and training every jihadi terrorist outfit under the sun. In recent days, General Janjua, the former Crops Commander of Balochistan, now the country's security czar, has facilitated legislation that now allows graduates of religious seminaries (Madrassahs) to receive Commission in Pakistan Army. The previous Director General of ISI (now the head of Pakistan's National Defense University) General Rizwan Akhtar has even proposed to `incorporate militants belonging to banned extremist religious outfits into paramilitary forces.' The region is burning due to the highly unprofessional and irresponsible policies and acts of Pakistan's military establishment and ISI. The entire world is suffering. As the British Prime Minister Mrs. Theresa May said following the most recent terrorist attack in London ``enough is enough.'' It is about time for the world to act against this madness and put its foot down. World Muhajir Congress sincerely request Trump Administration and US Congress to cut off military aid to Pakistan. Pakistan Army and intelligence agency ISI is mainly using this military aid to kill innocent Muhajirs, Baloch and Pashtoons. The double game of Pakistan's security establishment with US administration must come to an end which has put lives of US and NATO soldiers in danger in Afghanistan.

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, thank you. In 2011, Pakistan jailed Dr. Afridi, who helped the United States track down Osama bin Laden, and he is still in jail. So Pakistan claims that they are a help to the U.S. in tracking down terrorism in the world, but they are not. The evidence shows the difference. Whose side is Pakistan really on? After the 2011 raid to kill Osama bin Laden, Pakistan, as I said, invited the Chinese to inspect the wreckage on the stealth helicopter that the U.S. forces left behind. If people are allies of the U.S., they don't turn over technology to China. Once again in 2011, Pakistan ISI poisoned CIA Chief Mark Kelton following the Osama bin Laden raid. In 2011, Pakistan shelling killed 42 Afghanistan civilians. Pakistan is notorious for its blasphemy laws which are used to persecute numerous minorities, including Christians. Asia Bibi, a Pakistan Christian mother of five, was sentenced to death for blasphemy in 2011. Pakistan launched counterterrorism raids in 2014 into the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, yet turned a blind eye to the Haqqani Network and the Afghanistan Taliban operatives in the area. In September of 2016, Pakistani terrorists attacked an Indian military base in Kashmir, killing 17 Indian soldiers. Indian officials say the terrorists were from a group backed by the Pakistani ISI and were using weapons with Pakistani markings. In 2017, Pakistani cross-border shelling forced hundreds of Afghanistan villagers to flee their homes and further strained relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Well, no kidding. Let me give you some other evidence, Mr. Speaker, and let me make this clear. The issue here is not the people of Pakistan. The issue is not Americans of Pakistani descent. Our quarrel and our issue is not with those folks. I represent a lot of Pakistani Americans. Good folks. Hardworking individuals. The issue is with the United States' relationship with the Government of Pakistan that is playing the United States. Recently, before the United Nations Security Council, H.E. Mahmoud Saikal, Ambassador, Permanent Representative from Afghanistan spoke to the U.N. He has an excellent speech. The speech is Afghanistan's relationship with Pakistan. I am not going to read his entire speech, but I do want to make a couple of comments from his point of view about Pakistan and their terrorist activity. He says: ``In recent months, dozens of terrorist attacks across Afghanistan have claimed scores of innocent lives. In January, three simultaneous terrorist attacks in Kabul, Kandahar, and Helmand provinces killed and maimed over 160, including six UAE diplomats. In February, the Supreme Court, our symbol of justice, was attacked, causing numerous fatalities. Last week, two separate attacks in the heart of Kabul killed many civilians. Finally, just two days ago, Afghanistan's largest hospital was attacked, leaving over 140 killed and wounded, many of whom were doctors, nurses, and patients. The Taliban''--terrorist group--``have claimed responsibility for most of these attacks, but regardless of whose names are being labeled on these attacks, our own investigations have clearly established that they were generally plotted beyond our frontiers,'' namely, in Pakistan. I include in the Record the entire speech of the Ambassador to the U.N. United Nations Security Council Debate on the Situation in Afghanistan H.E. Mahmoud Saikal, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United Nations, March 10, 2017, New York) Thank you, Mr. President. Let me congratulate the United Kingdom on its leadership of the Council this month. I thank the Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, for presenting his first report on the situation in Afghanistan. Also, allow me to thank the SRSG, Ambassador Tadamichi Yamamoto, and Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commissioner, Dr. Sima Samar, for their briefings. Given the severity of the situation in my country, I would like to dedicate my statement today to the challenging security situation, hidden agendas, the peace process and the ever-increasing necessity for regional and global cooperation. Mr. President, in recent months, dozens of terrorist attacks across Afghanistan have claimed scores of innocent lives. In January, three simultaneous terrorist attacks in Kabul, Kandahar, and Helmand provinces killed and maimed over 160, including six UAE diplomats. In February, the Supreme Court, our symbol of justice, was attacked, causing numerous fatalities. Last week, two separate attacks in the heart of Kabul killed many civilians. Finally, just two days ago Afghanistan's largest hospital was attacked, leaving over 140 killed and wounded, many of whom were doctors, nurses, and patients. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for most of these attacks, but regardless of whose names are being labeled on these attacks, our own investigations have clearly established that they were generally plotted beyond our frontiers, on the other side of the Durand Line. This, Mr. President, is the fundamental factor which needs to be addressed. The UN Security Council issued prompt statements condemning these attacks in strongest terms, for which we are thankful. The statements underlined--and I quote: ``the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice''. It also urged ``all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Afghan authorities in this regard.'' This is indeed what Afghanistan has been asking for many years. My Government and people would like to know why, after countless terrorist atrocities and specific Security Council statements condemning them, we are still witness to impunity for perpetrators and orchestrators of endless violence? Mr. President, let me be very clear. The conflict in our country is not homegrown, as some desperately and deceptively try to portray. On the contrary, it is the nexus of illicit narcotics, violent extremism, and state sponsorship of terrorism with regional dimensions and global consequences. Tragically, it has morphed into an undeclared war by a neighboring state that has for many years, and still continues to coordinate, facilitate, and orchestrate violence through proxy forces and more than 20 terrorist networks. These groups benefit from a full-fledged external infrastructure to keep Afghanistan off-balance for motives that are inconsistent with our desire to live in a peaceful and prospering region. In earlier statements to this Council, we have emphasized, time and again, on Pakistani actions that sustain terrorist activities in our country. Today, let me quote leading Pakistani officials themselves. General Pervez Musharraf, who led Pakistan for eight years as President, proudly commented in a 2015 interview with The Guardian newspaper that ``Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) had given birth to the Taliban to counter Indian action against Pakistan''. Last year, Mr. Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs, went on record to say that Taliban leaders reside in Pakistan and that they have influence over them. A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, former ambassador of Pakistan to the US, Russia, China, and India and UN SRSG to Iraq and Sudan, wrote in the Herald Magazine of Pakistan: ``after the Soviet defeat and withdrawal, we (wittingly or unwittingly) unleashed a ruinous civil war and imposed a barbaric and medieval Taliban upon the hapless Afghan people.'' His words are but confirmation of the truth that ``Pakistan talks one policy, but walks the other''. Mr. Husain Haqqani, another former Ambassador of Pakistan to the US and Sri Lanka, categorizes in clear terms, in a NYT 2013 article, the links between Pakistan's state apparatus and the Taliban over time, and mentions in the context of peace talks that ``the Taliban and their Pakistani mentors have hardly changed their arguments or their tendency to fudge facts''. These quotes and admissions that I just read were not ``rhetoric from Kabul'' or ``blame game'' as often claimed by a known member state. This was Pakistan talking! Mr. President, against this backdrop, in February, a series of unfortunate terrorist attacks in Pakistan killed dozens and wounded many more innocent men, women, and children. As is the case, Afghans always share the pain and anguish of our Pakistani brothers and sisters. However, the Government of Pakistan, immediately and without any regard for an investigative process or clear facts, blamed Afghanistan for the attacks and resorted to increased breaches of our territorial integrity, the closing of the main border crossings, blockading trade and transit, and harassing our nationals traveling to or living in their country. Such measures constitute a clear violation of principles of WTO and the rights of land locked countries, including their access to sea. From January till today, we recorded at least 59 instances of violations of Afghan territory by Pakistan military forces, including three violations of our air space, over 1375 cross-frontier artillery shellings that caused dozens of casualties, displacement of 450 families in the middle of cold winter in our eastern provinces, burning of our forests, illegal construction of infrastructure near the frontier region, and hostile maneuvering of tanks and heavy weaponry.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in Texas, whether you are two- stepping, herding cattle, or sitting in the summer heat enjoying some barbecue, you will rarely find Texans without their boots. And, Mr. Speaker, the finest boots in Texas were made by Houston legend, Rocky Carroll. This week, after a long and colorful life, Rocky died. The moment I met Rocky, I was immediately struck by his swagger. He looked like an outlaw out of an old western movie. He was proud of the fact that he worked 25 years with the Harris County Sheriff's Department. Through the course of his life, Rocky also handcrafted boots for seven Presidents, celebrities, the Queen, the Pope, and many others. I once performed a small wedding ceremony for Rocky and his new bride, Judge Denise Collins. And right before the wedding started, in walked Rocky's friend, President George H.W. Bush. Rocky knew everybody. And while the walls of his shop, which really looked like an old barn, were adorned with photos of famous people, most of his customers were regular folks like me. Rocky Carroll was larger than life and uniquely Texan to the core. We will miss our dear friend, bootmaker for the Presidents, bootmaker for the stars, and bootmaker for regular folks. And that is just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, once again, Americans' privacy is under attack, this time by the spying eyes of our own U.S. Government. And people across the U.S. are wondering what is this section 702 issue. Well, Mr. Speaker, section 702 is a provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. We call it FISA. It permits government to monitor the communications of suspected foreign agents, including terrorists, and to find out, in that communication, if that foreign agent wants to hurt us. However, sometimes these individuals under surveillance communicate with American citizens, and this surveillance allows the conversations of ordinary citizens to be recorded, and that includes text messages, emails, and the conversation itself. But what many Americans don't realize is these secret communications are not destroyed by the intelligence agencies. They are kept and kept forever. In fact, the government stores this data, and often goes back into that data and searches it, without a warrant, in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, for information on American citizens. What we do with the foreign agents, hey, it is okay. But government then takes that information they have seized on Americans and then goes back and looks through it without a real warrant. That includes the IRS, the FBI. And they get the NSA to give those conversations on Americans, unrelated to the conversation with the terrorist, and they use that information to maybe prosecute them for some unrelated offense years later. Usually, this subsequent search is for reasons wholly unrelated to the original collection. Essentially, the government uses this procedure to spy on Americans who may have done no wrong, and the search is not based on probable cause, not based on a real warrant from a real judge. The National Security Agency is designed to keep a close watch on terrorists and foreign agents, not Americans. NSA surveillance is supposed to keep us safe from those foreign agents who wish to do us harm. But before the Federal Government decides to invade the privacy of Americans, they should obtain a real warrant. Under current law, FISA courts, those are secret courts that operate in secret and issue secret warrants--I have got a whole issue problem with secret courts in this country anyway, based upon the history of the Star Chamber in England. However, those secret courts allow government to search and collect that data, and the FISA courts almost always grant the requested warrant on the foreign agent. Our Founders feared that a government powerful enough to commit unreasonable searches and seizures on Americans should be closely watched. That is why they crafted the Fourth Amendment, to protect our right to privacy. As a former judge, I heard issues on the Fourth Amendment every day. And let me read it again, especially for those folks in NSA. ``The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, effects''--that would be conversations--``against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.'' That applies to the NSA. If they can get a warrant from a real judge based on probable cause to search that data on Americans, go for it. But they can't. They just seize the information and peruse it later and get information on Americans and then prosecute them. This kind of reverse targeting on Americans is not what Congress intended under 702 of the FISA authorization bill. Technology may change, but our Constitution never changes, and spying on Americans just has to stop. Americans should not be forced to sacrifice liberty and constitutional rights for security, especially for overreaching Federal bureaucrats. Regardless of the result surrounding the alleged incidental capture of campaign officials' conversations, the American public must realize the implications of this little provision called 702. Reverse targeting of Americans without a search warrant based on the Fourth Amendment has got to stop. Can't do it. But right now Congress has the ability to reform overreaching law as part of the larger FISA reauthorization process that will take place this year. Opponents of 702, the concept that you can't spy on Americans, are wishing for what they call a pure reauthorization of FISA, without any new safeguards. They argue that these mass invasions of privacy will make us safer. Those who preach we must sacrifice the Constitution on the altar of false security are wrong. We must never abdicate our rights because the national spy agency, NSA, demands it. In fact, even a FISA court judge found that NSA analysts had been collecting searches that violate the procedures under FISA ``with much greater frequency than had previously been disclosed to the court''. The FISA court called this a very serious Fourth Amendment issue. Well, no kidding. It is a violation of current law, but the NSA violates current law and spies on Americans. After these findings were released and NSA was caught, the NSA pledged to stop the warrantless surveillance of Americans. But, Mr. Speaker, their promise is useless. FISA and 702 must be fixed by inserting the specific language that prohibits reverse targeting on Americans without a valid search warrant. If government wants information on Americans, get a warrant. Without clear and specific language, our intelligence agencies will continue these unconstitutional searches, even if they promise to end their procedure. But we can't trust the NSA not to spy on Americans, so Congress needs to have an open debate on the spying of Americans and not reauthorize the FISA procedure unless we make sure that the American right of privacy is protected. Congressional action must be taken on this issue. It is time to end spying on Americans. If you want to spy on an American, get a real warrant from the Fourth Amendment. Continue that surveillance of foreign nationals. That is a different issue. But you can't do both. You must protect the American right of privacy. Congress has that obligation because that is our job to enforce the Fourth Amendment right of privacy. And that is just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, 15-year-old Bianca struggled with insecurities and depression, so she turned to social media for comfort and companionship. She met a person named Ariel, to her later displeasure, but after he brought her to a seedy motel room and forced her to watch as he raped two other girls, she knew she had walked right into the bonds of sex slavery. Held captive, he put up advertisements about her on the notorious backpage.com, selling her to dozens of men a day. After 2 years of this hell, Bianca finally escaped, bolting from the motel room, and found safety, finding a police officer. Four days later, her trafficker was arrested and thrown behind bars. Unlike Bianca, many victims don't escape this trafficking. That is why Senator John Cornyn and I have introduced the Abolish Human Trafficking Act that increases funding for law enforcement to find and arrest traffickers like Ariel and helps restore and rescue victims. We must use every tool in our resources we can find to help stop the scourge of human trafficking. And that is just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in 2001 the U.S. Government shut down the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for its role in sending money to Hamas. But some of the Holy Land Foundation's employees are now working at 501(c)(3) ``charities'' that are leading the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in the U.S. against Israel. Charitable American donors have no way of knowing of the questionable histories of some of the employees of these charities before they donate. My bill, The Charity Transparency Act, will require organizations applying for 501(c)(3) status to disclose if any of their key employees once worked for such organizations. It would require no new paperwork and give the IRS no new authorities. It would just require one more disclosure on the already existing IRS documents. It would also not penalize any of these charities. It would simply protect charitable American citizens and arm them with the information they need to make better informed decisions regarding where they donate their hard earned money. I urge my colleagues to support this important bill. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, North Korea released Otto Warmbier last week after 17 months of imprisonment and torture. Otto returned home in a coma, never again to speak or see his parents. Yesterday, he died--murdered, actually--from brain damage because of the Korean beatings that he endured. North Korea had humiliated Otto for allegedly stealing a pro- government placard, forcing him to publicly beg for forgiveness. Now, these are the tactics of terrorists. We need to ramp up the pressure on North Korea. Three other Americans are still being held in North Korea for apparent political reasons. We must prioritize saving their lives. It is time to call it like it is: designate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. Doing so would isolate the country and publicly categorize North Korea with many other rogue nations. The House has already passed my bill to designate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. Now the Senate needs to do the same. Little Kim has American blood on his hands. Give him and his outlaw regime the designation it deserves, a terrorist state. And that is just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of a common sense bill, H.R. 1393 which would set a national standard of 30 days for states to subject non-residents to income tax requirements within that state. Under current law, many of the 41 states with a broad based personal income tax rate subject out of state residents to income tax in that state on the first day they ``work'' in the state. This patchwork of state laws have created a confusing and unworkable nationwide system where individuals who travel to another state for a conference or meeting can find themselves subject to income tax requirements in a state where they only spent a few days. In fact, these overburdensome requirements can create a scenario in which a company of 7,000 employees who travel for domestic business may have to file 10,500 W-2's over the course of a given year. This burden can be even worse for a small business. One small business, which operates several customer service centers throughout the United States and has 600 employees working in 46 states, faces a significant burden trying to comply. Most of these 600 employees work out of one of the customer service centers, but 12 employees travel out of state to do a job occasionally. The manager of this company has to spend 3 plus hours every week figuring out the tax reporting requirements for these employees, even though most of them only pay $30 to $100 a year into these different taxing authorities. Is this really a good use of the time of a small business? Wouldn't we rather have these individuals working to create jobs and grow our economy then wasting time complying with the burdensome reporting requirements for 42 different taxing authorities? H.R. 1393 is a common sense solution to this problem. 30 days is a fair baseline standard that can be applied nationwide. It allows U.S. workers to travel and work around the country for a reasonable amount of time without subjecting them to reporting requirements for taxation in all of the jurisdictions in which they travel. If they stay longer than 30 days in any particular state then the state is free to tax them according to their own state laws. With this new standard, American business will know what the rules of the road are across the country and they can plan their business accordingly. I thank the Chairman for moving this important bill through the committee, and urge your support.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, last year Al-Qaeda nearly downed an airliner in Somalia using an explosive disguised as a laptop. This bomb got past X-ray machines and blew a gaping hole in the aircraft. Al-Qaeda has been working for years to create sophisticated explosives that can target airplanes. It came as no surprise that last week the Department of Homeland Security announced new security restrictions on electronics on board certain U.S.-bound flights. These new restrictions are deadly serious. Al-Qaeda has units deployed in places like Syria, Pakistan, and Turkey that are dedicated to planning attacks against the West. The hysteria around this announcement is purely political. Everyone should be concerned about the growing threat from al-Qaeda. We must not allow politics to divide us in the face of a mortal enemy seeking to kill and injure as many Americans as possible. I commend the Department of Homeland Security for responding to crucial intelligence and taking this step to protect the American people. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it's been over 66 years since the sinking of the USS Hobson. However, for those involved, that fateful day feels like it was just yesterday. The Hobson was a Destroyer as well as a minesweeping ship that survived multiple battles during World War II, including the invasion of Normandy and the assault on Okinawa. Yet, it was not an enemy ship or plane that took the Hobson down, but a U.S. aircraft carrier. Late in the night of April 26, 1952, the Hobson was participating in a naval exercise with the carriers Wasp and Rodman. The USS Wasp, in preparation for airplanes to land on its deck, turned into the wind. In order to avoid the Wasp's new position, the Hobson needed to maneuver out of its path. Instead of slowing down and passing behind the Wasp, the Hobson cut across the Wasp's bow. This proved to be a fatal mistake. The Wasp struck the Hobson in its middle. The impact caused the Hobson to split in two. Within four minutes, the ship had sunk to the bottom of the ocean, taking 176 crew members with it. Most of the crew was asleep at the time of the accident, thus having no chance at surviving the crash. Fortunately, sixty-one crew members were able to be rescued from the sea by the Wasp and the Rodman. The sinking of the USS Hobson and its crew members was a terrible tragedy for our country. The crew members who lost their lives that night will forever be remembered for their bravery and dedication. We must do our best to keep our heroes safe, both in and out of war. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, last week, Cheniere Energy, headquartered in Houston, Texas, delivered its first liquified natural gas shipment out of the Sabine Pass terminal to northern Europe, to the Netherlands, and to Poland. This follows shipments to southern Europe from earlier this year. Put simply, this is a tremendous game changer. Exporting LNG is not just an economic issue, it is a geopolitical security issue. These shipments help thwart Russian aggression and weaken Russia's stranglehold over Europe, and it is about time. Under Secretary Perry's leadership, the Energy Department is finally approving licenses for LNG terminals to ship LNG overseas. Our natural gas is cheaper and more abundant in supply than anywhere in the world. Harnessing our domestic energy resources and exporting some of it to our friends and to our allies around the world makes sense for our economy and for our national security. We should apply the Blue Bell ice cream philosophy to our domestic energy resources. It is: Use what we can and sell the rest. And that is just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Americans once thought that the horrors of human trafficking were a foreign problem. However, traffickers lurk all around us right here in America. Debbie's mother thought nothing of letting her young daughter meet a friend in front of their yard one night to play. Her mother didn't realize her 15-year-old daughter, who was clad in her cartoon pajamas, was quickly abducted by two men in front of their house. These deviants threw Debbie in the car, drugged her, and gang raped her. They threatened to shoot her if she ever tried to escape. For 60 days she was forced to have sex with countless men. An anonymous tip led police to a hotel room where they found Debbie tied up and stashed under a bed. But many trafficking victims are never rescued. We cannot allow this scourge to continue to rage in America. Our children are not for sale, period. And that is just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time and for his work on this very important resolution. Mr. Speaker, last month, as fans streamed out of a concert in Manchester, they were met by the worst kind of despicable treachery. A terrorist lay in wait with his time bomb to inflict maximum damage on people, killing as many as he could and creating fear among survivors. Twenty-two innocent people were slaughtered, including many children. The attack claimed by ISIS thugs was, unfortunately, not the last to hit the United Kingdom. Over the weekend, terrorists attacked innocent civilians in London, killing 7 and wounding at least 48 others. Free countries cannot and must not tolerate these attacks and must not ever accept these attacks as the norm. We must defeat the cancer of Islamic terrorism and the perverted thinking that inspires it. I strongly support this resolution which condemns the attack in Manchester and expresses our support to the people of the United Kingdom. We will and must continue to stand together with the United Kingdom for many reasons, but the main reason being the bond of freedom that we have shared for so many years. We must stand together to combat and defeat those who seek to attack freedom and liberty and destroy our way of life. They must not win. Mr. Speaker, I offer my sincere condolences to the victims of the attacks in the United Kingdom and their families. This evil cannot be allowed to continue without a bold response. Mr. Speaker, justice demands that we track down these terrorists and hold them accountable for their evil deeds whenever and wherever they attack. Justice must be served because, Mr. Speaker, justice is what free people demand. And that is just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, after his victory over Pearl Harbor, when asked why he wasn't celebrating, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto replied, ``I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.'' Admiral Yamamoto was right, and he felt the terrible resolve of this giant on June 4, 1942 at the Battle of Midway. Midway was an important battle in the Pacific theater: it was the turning point that put the United States in an offensive position to take on the Empire of Japan. Those of the Greatest Generation proved that when the peace of this nation is threatened, our people will stand up and fight, bringing the thunder of God upon our enemies. Japan's goal at Midway Island was to destroy and ambush the remainder of our fleet in hopes of invading Hawaii. In the early morning on June 4th, Japan launched its attack on Midway by bombing the island. This strategy proved to be ineffective. In response, the three U.S. carriers--Enterprise, Hornet and Yorktown--launched fighters and bombers against the Japanese fleet and sank all four Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu. These four Japanese aircraft carriers were the same carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor six months earlier. Over the next two days, the Imperial Japanese Navy suffered the loss of four aircraft carriers and hundreds of pilots--pilots that had bombed Pearl Harbor. Japan's defeat at Midway began America's drive on toward Tokyo. On that day, over 300 American sailors gave their lives for our country. It was Japan's first defeat of WWII. The victory at Midway was in part due to American intelligence, US codebreakers. These codebreakers were able to decipher the Japanese radio code called JN-25b, which enabled Pacific Fleet Commander and Texan, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, to learn of their exact plans of attack. Admiral Nimitz gained valuable intel leading up to the battle, including the logistics and timing of the attack. As a result of the Navy codebreakers Admiral Nimitz was able to reconstruct the Japanese plan of attack in detail. Like Admiral Nimitz, there were other great Texans who helped contribute to the victory at Midway. Baytown resident Ronnie Anderson told me the story of his dad, James Wyatt Anderson who served during this time. SF3/C James Anderson was a twelve year Naval veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. He served in the United States Navy on the survey ship, the USS Bowditch. He surveyed many invasion sites, including the Marshall Islands, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Midway Island was the only overseas assignment where SF3/C James Anderson was able to bring his family. Ronnie said, living on Midway Island, was like living in a kids paradise, especially for a 10 year old boy. Much of Ronnie's time was spent playing war games in the bunkers with the left over mortars and with anti-aircraft shells. Ronnie has several artifacts from the Battle of Midway including a 40mm brass shell and a mortar tube which are great mementos of childhood treasure hunts. Throughout the years, Ronnie passed down eventful island stories to his children and grandchildren. Now Ronnie's 15 year old grandson, Asher Isaacks, has become fascinated with the Battle of Midway and hopes to one day take his grandfather back to the island. Unfortunately, Midway has been closed to tourism by the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife due to budget constraints. It is now a bird sanctuary because of its ecosystem with little to no predators. The island is home to birds, such as the Short-tailed Albatross ``Gooney Birds'', Masked Booby, and Great Frigatebird. The history of the island is as great as the birds that live there. Midway was claimed for the United States by Captain N.C. Brookes in 1859 and formally annexed in 1867. Originally, the island was meant to be a coal depot; however, this never came to be. In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt placed the island under the control of the Navy. The island became a link in the Hawaii-Guam segment of the first transpacific submarine cable. The name ``Midway'' comes from the island being half the distance from the U.S. and Japan. As we observe the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Midway, it is vital we remember heroes like Admiral Chester Nimitz and James Anderson and give Americans, like Ronnie Anderson, the opportunity to return to Midway Island. On Monday, June 5th at 1:30pm, the United States Navy Memorial in Washington D.C. held the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Midway Commemoration Ceremony. They created the Naval ``Sea of White'', wreath laying ceremony, and played the live stream from the USS Midway Commemoration Ceremony. The importance of this epic battle is a part history made by the ``Greatest Generation''. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, at dawn, in the hard cold rain of the choppy English Channel, thousands of men--boys, really--aboard landing craft assaulted the beaches in a place called Normandy, France. They were under brutal enemy gunfire and artillery shelling. That was the morning of June 6, 1944: D-Day. Their buddies, the paratroopers, had earlier, before dawn, landed in France and met the same stiff resistance by the enemy. The Allies were determined to free Europe from the Nazis; and after the gunfire ceased and the smoke cleared, the successful assault that day was costly. At the top of the cliffs of Normandy, among the white crosses and glistening Stars of David, is the national cemetery of America's war dead. There are 9,387 Americans buried there. The average age is 24. They were the initial casualties of the invasion of Europe. More Americans would later die in the great World War II. Today, we remember those who fought on June 6 and other Americans, like my 91-year-old dad, who went to liberate France and not to conquer it. These warriors are the charter members of the Greatest Generation. And that is just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Nolan Bruder's younger sister believed that she could trust her big brother. So when this 19-year-old brother offered her marijuana ``dabs'' and the opportunity to get high, she accepted, trusting him. But with Nolan's pushing, she became so stoned that she no longer recognized the man in front of her, that it was her older brother. Taking advantage of her drugged state, he sexually assaulted his own 16-year-old sister. This is repugnant, Mr. Speaker. On May 17, Nolan was sentenced for rape of an intoxicated person. The sentence? A mere 240 days in prison and then probation. Why? Because the judge decided that prison would severely impact Bruder. Well, Mr. Speaker, isn't that the point? Even evidence showed the defendant had no remorse and was smug at the trial. I was a prosecutor and a judge in Texas for over 30 years. I met a lot of rape victims and learned that their lives were forever devastated by rapists. Mr. Speaker, sexual assault is never the fault of the victim, contrary to what Judge Follett thinks. Judge Follett got it wrong, Mr. Speaker. He got it wrong in this case. It is time for him to pack his toothbrush and leave the bench. And that is just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman. I would like to ask a couple of questions if she doesn't mind. I know she has other appointments, but I wanted to ask her a couple questions. I would like to know how has the trafficking situation in her home State of Missouri decreased, or how has this legislation helped?

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, how many minutes do I have remaining?

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore). She, like the women in Congress, who I have given a lot of credit for all of this trafficking legislation, is very concerned about victims of family and domestic violence.

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order.

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman being here and making such powerful comments. I yield to the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms. Gabbard). She is an Iraqi war veteran and a former member of the Hawaii House of Representatives. She is working specifically, among other things, in the area of the juvenile justice system, trying to reform that.

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his comments, and now for his work on this issue of trafficking. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho), another Ted here in Congress. Ted Yoho is serving Florida's Congressional District 3. He is vice chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the chairman of U.S. House Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee. He has supported many bills on this issue of trafficking and has worked very hard in his home State of Florida to bring awareness to this.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.