Ted Poe

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, not all is well in the world. In the 21st century, there is still a fight that must be fought against those bent on killing innocent people. These people's crime? Simply wanting to be left alone and live how they please. In the early morning hours of September 1, Iraqi gunmen raided Camp Ashraf. Camp Ashraf is a camp out in the hinterlands of Iraq where members of an Iranian opposition group used to live after Iran started executing their Members. But 2 years ago most residents were forced to move to a new camp closer to Baghdad and out of over 3,000 people originally at Camp Ashraf, only about 100 remained in the camp on the morning of the attack. By the time the sun came up, they had killed fifty-two unarmed residents and kidnapped seven more. I have seen footage of the attack. Unarmed civilians are running around trying not to get shot while the evildoers systematically gun them down. The evildoers were not trying to talk. They were trying to kill. And they succeeded. A United Nations delegation conducted a visit to the camp the next day and verified that the 52 deceased had ``suffered gunshot wounds, the majority of them in the head and the upper body, and several with their hands tied.'' These people were executed when they had not done anything wrong. They had no weapons. They did not pose a threat to anyone. They were murdered in cold blood. To make matters worse, this isn't even the first time that something like this has happened. Despite repeated assurances by the Iraqi government that they will be safe and protected, since 2012 alone, 113 members have been killed in five separate attacks. It should be clear to all by now that the Iraqi government cannot be trusted to keep these refugees safe. I have traveled to Iraq several times. On my last trip, I asked Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki to let me visit Camp Ashraf. He refused. It seemed like he had something to hide. Mr. Speaker, there were 7 hostages taken on September 1. All we know is that they are somewhere in Iraq still. If we don't find these hostages soon, it is almost certain that they will be killed in Iraq or taken to Iran and executed. Our government must do everything in its power to secure their release. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the Affordable Care Act is here to stay, saith the President. But his legacy landmark law discriminates. The President has arbitrarily granted extensions to Big Business, to some small businesses, and some State exchanges, but ordinary Americans--no extensions for them. I guess special interest groups just have more clout with the President than normal people do. Too bad. Everyone should be treated alike. Postpone ObamaCare for everybody for 1 year. Don't discriminate. The second place the President's wonder law discriminates is who is subject to this law of the land. The President touts his law as good for America. But why has he granted over 1,200 waivers for special groups--waivers to labor unions, for example? That's not fair--waivers for some, but not for others. So delay ObamaCare for at least a year for all Americans and either grant waivers for all Americans or put those 1,200 groups back into this bill. It's unconstitutional for the constitutional law professor to wave his wand of exemptions and delay for some but not for others. That's just not fair. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the President says he will negotiate with Syria over chemical weapons. He is negotiating with the Russians about negotiating with the Syrians over nuclear weapons. He has offered to talk and compromise with Iran over nuclear weapons--but the President it seems says, I will not negotiate with those in the House of Representatives. No compromise on the debt. I will not negotiate with America. Too bad the President is more interested with negotiation and compromise with Russia, Syria, Iran, and now the United Nations than he is in working with Members of the House of Representatives and the American people to keep the government from shutting down. It has been mentioned today of this philosophy of ``my way or the highway.'' Well, that's the President's philosophy. It's my way, says the President, or it's the highway. He won't talk to us about it because he is out campaigning about how ObamaCare is really good for the Nation. He is driving the train wreck of stubbornness which will lead, and has led, to chaos in America. Come home, Mr. President. Let's sit down and talk and negotiate about what we are going to do over the debt limit and the continuing resolution. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Reclaiming my time, I want to spend some time talking about what I think and believe has become a scourge--a scourge not only in America, but in other parts of the world. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to be in the Ukraine. I was there on some energy issues, and I came in contact with that scourge that I will talk about today. The Ukraine, because of its location, because of its former Soviet connections, and because of its high poverty, has a problem that a lot of countries do--and that's human trafficking. I'm not talking about people going from one country to another legally or even illegally. I'm talking about people being trafficked to other locations for sex slavery. The Ukraine is just one of many countries where this seems to be occurring. One scenario is that young Ukranian women looking for jobs--and people from foreign countries come to the Ukraine--they promise them a job in another country and that they will be paid a lot of money if they will go to this country and work doing whatever. They buy into that. They go to that other country, and they are forced into sex slavery. There, they are in a situation that is awful. Many of them never get out of it. The only way to get out, for some of them, is to get someone else convinced to replace them in this scourge. The Ukraine is not the only country. It's not even one of the primary countries. But it's just one. And so I learned about that, and I learned about the situation and what they were doing in the country of Ukraine in trying to educate young girls about this issue and how this was a trap that they could get themselves involved in. Recently, I had the chance to be in Central America for several reasons. One was about terrorism, narcotics trafficking, drugs, et cetera. But I also came upon a situation in Central America in the nation of Costa Rica that's a little different, but not really that different than what's taking place in Europe and in North Africa, and that is the plight, once again, of sex slavery, sex trafficking. In all of Costa Rica, there is one shelter for minor sex trafficking victims. It is called Salvando Corazones. If my Spanish is correct, that means ``saving hearts.'' It's run by an American lady who went down to Costa Rica for other purposes, found this problem, and just decided to stay. Maria is doing, I think, a tremendous job saving hearts. I call her the Mother Teresa of Central America. Her story is unbelievable--what she is doing to rescue young girls out of this sex slavery, sex trafficking that is taking place domestically in Costa Rica. So I and Congresswoman Janice Hahn, a Democrat from California, spent a Sunday afternoon--it was supposed to be about an hour--talking to these folks at this shelter. We spent the whole afternoon talking to these girls about their plight, what had happened to them, and what Salvando Corazones and Maria are trying to do to treat them and help them get back into a life. Because many of them had no life. Let me explain it further. Prostitution in Costa Rica is legal for adults. Minor prostitution is illegal. Prostitution, generally, is legal in Costa Rica. And they attract a lot of foreigners to that country, for a lot of reasons, but this is one reason: for sex tourism. People from other countries and people in Costa Rica take advantage of the legal prostitution system. And that's a debate for Americans to have at another time. But what occurs is that once that phenomenon starts, it's an easy move for a pimp to sell a child into prostitution. Even though they're working with legal prostitution, which is also sometimes sex slavery, it's easy to move into using children. And I asked as many people as I could--the people in the government, the people at the shelter--to tell me who these foreigners are that come to this nation for sex tourism. And they all really just told me the same thing: it's Americans. It's primarily Americans--Europeans and other countries as well--for the legal prostitution. But then you have these young girls that get caught in this system that are sold into trafficking by everybody that comes in contact with them. Sometimes it's their own family members. And so this shelter run by Maria tries to rescue these young girls and salvage their lives and, as the saying goes, save their hearts. I have a lot of examples. Time doesn't permit for me to go but only an hour. We can't have filibusters in the House of Representatives. But during this hour I just want to mention some of the situations and try to focus on how sex trafficking, human trafficking of children, affects Americans and what may be some things that we need to be aware of. And I have changed all the names of these girls because I respect their privacy. Abigail was born in Miami. Her father was a Costa Rican. Her mother was from New York. At the age of 5, Mr. Speaker, her father began sexually assaulting her. At 8, she had her first injection of heroin to keep her quiet during sex. She was removed from public school and kept out of school because teachers were getting suspicious. Then, at the age of 11, she was sent by her father to Costa Rica so he could have her shared with other people. Generally, the family members. She got pregnant twice and decided that if all she was good for was sex and the people who really loved her treated her this way, she might as well turn to prostitution. So she did. She started when she was 11. She was eventually found at a bus stop, apparently strung out on drugs, barely hanging onto life. She was rescued by this organization and treated with the dignity that she deserved. And the process now is a success story. After she was home- schooled by Maria, she began the healing process. And now she's older, she's sober, and she's married, and a child is on the way. That's a success story of someone that was put into international sex trafficking. At the age of 5--another 5-year-old--Diana was sold by her mother for a cell phone in Costa Rica. She was sold every week, for over a year, until somebody saw the problem and complained to the government. She was actually raised thinking this was a normal lifestyle for a 5-year- old. The staff at Salvando Corazones rescued her, and they're working with her today. I had the chance to meet her. A remarkable person. Felicia was raped by her stepfather, gave birth at 13 to her brother's child, and is now pregnant again at 16. She was sold by her stepfather to someone who wanted to put her to work on the streets. Her stepfather thought, this is easy money for me to sell my stepdaughter on the streets of Costa Rica. She recently was rescued and is at this safe house. Of course, we need to understand that these girls are tough. They're tough victims to work with. If you talk to anybody, including the numerous groups in the United States working especially with these young women, they're hard victims. They're mad at the world. They have a lot of hate and anger. Of course they do. Who wouldn't, being treated this way from a mere infant? And so I just want to make it clear to Americans that these victims are hard to work with. Understandably, we can see why they are in the situation that they are in. Why have they become victims? The reason, Mr. Speaker, boils down to one word: demand. There is the demand to abuse these young girls for money. And the demand being money--the pimp sells the girl so he can get money--and the demand being the customer. There's three people in this scenario. There is the trafficker that goes around trafficking these young women either domestically or internationally. On the other end is the victim. And she is a victim. She is not a criminal. She is not a prostitute. She's forced into this conduct. But in the center is the person who demands that service and is willing to pay for it. I'm going to spend the rest of my time mentioning the demand and what needs to be done about that. Beatriz, she was just 14 and was brought to Costa Rica from Nicaragua, an internationally trafficked child, to work in a home, similar to the young lady that I mentioned in the Ukraine--promised a job in another country. She's going to help her family, good person, but she's trapped once she gets into that foreign country and that is not what she's going to get as a job. But that's what she was promised, that you could get a job in Costa Rica. You're from Nicaragua, you're poor, you don't have any money; I've got a job waiting for you in Costa Rica. So she goes, had the thought of helping her family out, and instead she was trapped into sex trafficking and forced into prostitution. She was sold in hotels, brothels, and luxury condos, and she had to have sex with men up to 17 times a day for money. She was gang-raped by foreigners, she was tortured into compliance by her pimp, and she was drugged so that she would comply. That is slavery, Mr. Speaker, forced slavery in the name of money. There was a young mother from Mexico named Alma. She came to the United States to work in 2009. She, like many others who come here looking for a better opportunity, wanted to help her family. She paid a coyote to help her cross the border into my home State of Texas. Her ultimate destination was South Carolina, but the coyote wanted to stop in Houston for some other business. Alma arrived at what she thought was a safe house in my congressional district, in an area of what is called Spring Branch. She later discovered that this wasn't a safe house at all. She said it was a living hell--the home of the leader of a human trafficking ring in Houston, Texas. Alma and some others that had been trafficked were all told that they had to give the trafficker information, because the information they gave was about their families so the trafficker could hold them for ransom because they were kidnapped. The trafficker made the ransom calls to the families demanding money. The problem was, with Alma, her family had no money. She was held in that safe house as a hostage, in that prison--living hell--and she was sexually assaulted numerous times. The family, like I said, could not afford to pay any money, and so the trafficker used her as a sex slave. She was sold to customers who had the demand for that activity. Eventually, though, she was arrested, and she was glad she was arrested. Law enforcement did a good job--went after the trafficker, got him, got Alma and rescued her. She believed that she would have been killed or certainly further abused had she not been rescued by the police. Other than the name, it's a real person, real victim, trafficked internationally into the United States. Unfortunately, many victims are not rescued. Some certainly are not rescued very quickly at all, and they face the daily abuse of being a slave. Who are the individuals that traffic these victims? Well, they cover a lot of individuals. You have the drug cartels, for example, and the criminal gangs. They traffic young women, and they do it for money as well. The thing about using a sex slave, there's more money involved in sex slavery than there is bringing drugs into the United States. I mean, you bring drugs into the United States, it's a one-time deal. You get the money. As the bad guy, you're gone, you're captured, you go to prison. I used to be a judge. I sent a lot of them to prison. But with sex slavery, the trafficker has the ability to use the slave more than once, and there's a lot of money. And the risk of what punishment may happen to the trafficker is really less than in selling drugs. So you have the drug cartels. You have criminal gangs, like the one I mentioned with Alma. You have individuals doing this. You have family members doing this, either trafficking these kids in their own country or moving them to foreign countries. And it's happening worldwide, Mr. Speaker. It's not just happening in a handful of countries. I don't know the estimate of the number of people human trafficked throughout the world, but the numbers are staggering from what I do hear. I'd like to mention one other person from Texas. Cheryl grew up in an abusive home. She was sexually and physically abused by her father. Her mother left when Cheryl was young to escape the abuse by this abusive male. So at the age of 12, Cheryl ran away. Some of these victims turn out to start as runaways from home. She began hitchhiking with truck drivers and anyone else that would take her. This led her to end up being with a motorcycle group, a biker club, and she was taken advantage of by those individuals. One of those individuals became a trafficker. So what happened to her, after she left home at 12, she was forced to dance at a strip club by day, and then at night she was sold on the streets. She was in this world of human trafficking. She was not a criminal; she was a victim. We need to make sure that's understood. She had no idea how to get any help because of the abuse that the trafficker would instill on her if she tried to leave. It actually happened that she was performing at a strip club and one of the patrons figured out she was not an adult. She was 15 by then, after all these 3 years of abuse. One of the patrons helped her escape. There's a long road to recovery and restoration, but Cheryl's a survivor, and she has personally founded the Mission at Serenity Ranch to help other victims of human trafficking. So those are some examples, Mr. Speaker, of some real individuals. When Ms. Hahn and myself were visiting those young girls in Costa Rica, their shelter, like I said, is the only one in the country. It's up in the mountains. It's hard to get to. We complained a little bit--I did--about the rough road, the dirt road going up into the mountain to visit this shelter. After visiting with those girls, we didn't complain anymore about the rain, the roads. When we left, we just thought about those girls. I call them girls because they were girls; they're minors. I believe the youngest one that I talked to that day was 10 and the oldest was 13. When we left, all we could talk about--we didn't really talk much at all--was about the plight of how here we are in the year 2013, how humanity maybe has progressed in some areas, but in the area of slavery, sex slavery, it's maybe getting worse. It has become a scourge. So, does it just happen in other places? No, sir, it does not. I've already mentioned Houston. Houston, because of its location, is one of the hubs in the United States for sex trafficking. It's close to the Mexican border, the Gulf of Mexico. It's an international city. Young girls are brought there, and adult women, and trafficked to other parts of the United States. So what happens? Well, the police will raid a prostitution ring, let's say. They will arrest the trafficker, the pimp. They will arrest the victim, even though, in many cases, she was forced into prostitution. They put the victim in the criminal justice system-- usually the juvenile justice system, but it's still the criminal justice system. They go to jail. And here's one of the reasons why--and I'm not faulting the police, because I know a lot of police officers and a lot of them that work in this area; tough assignment. But, Mr. Speaker, there's no place to put them. There's no place where that police officer can take that 12-year- old trafficked victim that has been forced into prostitution, either domestically or internationally. There is no place to put them at all. I understand from SPCA that there are about 5,000 animal shelters in the United States. That's great. I have dalmatians. I've gotten dalmatians from Operation Rescue, from a shelter, from the SPCA, so I think that's a good thing that we've got those shelters for animals. But in the United States, for minor sex trafficking victims, there are 226 beds. That's it. That's all there is. So the police officer often doesn't have a place to take this victim, a minor sex trafficked victim, except put them in jail for their safety and for other purposes. You can see a lot of problems with putting them in jail. First, they have a criminal record even though they are not a criminal at all. They're forced into this. So that doesn't make them a criminal. That makes them a victim. They have a criminal record. They're put in the criminal justice system. Once they're in the criminal justice system, they stay in the criminal justice system because there's no place to put them. I will put into the Record the statistics I have obtained of the 226 beds for minor sex trafficked victims, where it comes from, different organizations, Shared Hope, et cetera. Shelters for Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Victims in the U.S. According to a provider survey conducted by Shared Hope International, ECPAT-USA, and the Protection Project in conjunction with Children at Risk as part of their 2012 National Colloquium on shelters and services, there are 226 beds for domestic minor sex trafficking victims in the U.S. According to a survey conducted by Polaris Project from January-June 2012, there are 348 beds in the U.S. designated specifically for sex trafficking victims. There are about 5,000 community animal shelters nationwide according to the ASPCA. So that is a problem we need to work on--finding places to put them when they are rescued--and having a mindset changed in this country that we as Americans see this situation in three parts: We see the trafficker; We see the demand, the customer--I'll get back to that person again in a minute; But we see this third person as a prostitute, no, but a victim, yes, and treat them as a victim, and we can go a long way helping stop this problem of the scourge of human trafficking. So I've introduced legislation, bipartisan legislation, with Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat. Carolyn Maloney has been working on this trafficking issue before I was ever in Congress. But we've introduced the End Sex Trafficking Act, along with Kay Granger from Texas, Rick Nolan, and Kristi Noem in the House. On the Senate side, it's bipartisan as well. Senator John Cornyn and Senator Amy Klobuchar have the same bill in the Senate. What does it do? Well, let me mention this. The United States spent about $25 million in 2010 on domestic antitrafficking. The United States spent $85 million on international efforts to stop human trafficking. Yes, there is more for international trafficking issues, helping those, than there is in the United States, $25 million. That is a number, but in the big scheme of things, what is $25 million? Well, I understand a Predator costs $25 million. The United States spent $25 million teaching pottery classes in Morocco. About $25 million was given to Pakistan for their schools. I'm just saying how much $25 million is. It's not a lot of money, but that's how much money was spent in the United States in 2010 on this issue. So what we want to do is to expand that amount of money. I'll show you how we are going to do it without raising taxpayer money. But specifically talking about the End Sex Trafficking Act that we've introduced. Here's what the Federal law does. If the trafficker, a bona fide human trafficker gets caught, Federal law is tough. These Federal judges, God bless them, they are really nailing these traffickers, as they should. I mean, they are the scum of the Earth, these people that sell little girls--and boys too--for sex slavery. On the other end, of course, we are not doing a whole lot to find homes, shelters, for the young girls. But the person that escapes, really, prosecution is the person in the middle--the customer. So what we have done in this bill, the End Sex Trafficking Act, we are going after the customer, the demand, because as I mentioned earlier, that is the root of all this evil, is that there is the demand for it. All we do is we apply the same Federal laws to the trafficker to the customer--sure there has got to be a Federal nexus. Interstate commerce has got to be involved. We are talking about only Federal cases, we are not talking about State cases--so that the demand is decreased by punishment because, as we all know, we've seen the reports of when a prosecution ring is busted somewhere, not involved in trafficking necessarily, you find out the name of the pimp and how careful we go out of our way to protect the identity of the person that's the customer. Well, those days are going to end if we get this legislation because those customers are going to be able to be punished under the law for buying sex, giving that money to a trafficker to have sex with minor children in the United States. So that's what we do in this bill. The days of ``boys being boys,'' they're gone, hopefully. We can make sure that they are gone by making sure that they're held accountable for the actions that they chose to voluntarily do. As I mentioned, I used to be a criminal court judge in Texas. If I had my way and I was writing the law the way I thought it would be best to stop the demand, these people who are convicted, they would not only go to jail--you talk about having photographs on the Internet--we would have the photograph of the customer, the person that abused the child that had been sold into sex slavery. That would slow that down. It would slow the demand down if we started publicizing who those people were if they were convicted. If there was no demand, there would be less supply. The demand is the answer, I think, Mr. Speaker, into going in after stopping the scourge on the United States and other countries. There are over 100 organizations that support this bipartisan legislation. I would like to put the names of these 100 organizations into the Congressional Record. That's the first step: hold a person who buys this girl--this crime-- accountable for their conduct. But let's go back to the victims of the crime. The victims of the crime need help as well. In fact, that should be our first priority, rescuing those victims. I told you about how many shelters there are in the United States, or beds, less than 300 beds for minor sex trafficking victims exclusively. We need places to take these young women primarily and help them regain some life because life had been stolen from them. How do we do that? I mentioned to you we spend $25 million a year on domestic sex trafficking victims, about $85 million a year, foreign countries receive that. We are introducing soon the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. Once again, Carolyn Maloney from New York-- bipartisan--is the cosponsor in the House. I mention ``bipartisan'' for a lot of reasons. This is a bipartisan issue. But Carolyn Maloney, she and I don't see a lot alike on a lot of issues. I mean, we disagree on a lot of things. We don't even speak the same language. I mean, she's from New York, I'm from Texas. We need an interpreter when we talk to each other. But this issue it is an American issue. I appreciate the work she's done, and others on both sides, on focusing in on trying to solve this problem. And once again, John Cornyn in the Senate is leading the efforts over there. So what we are going to do on this legislation is try to fix current law, a law that was first originated, I think, by Chris Smith from New Jersey years ago. Let me explain to you the problem with this. When a victim from another country is trafficked into the United States--and let's use a girl, a young girl--because she is from a foreign country, and she is trafficked internationally into the United States--and if she is rescued she is able to receive certain services from Health and Human Services--she can be certified as a human trafficking victim. Once she receives that certification that she is actually a trafficking victim, there are certain services available to her, but only to international victims. So this law will say, look, we are going to treat international victims, yes, help them, but if it's a domestic victim they're going to be able to receive those same services, and shelters will be able to receive those same services as an international trafficking victim. So once they can obtain certification that they are a trafficking victim, then they can apply and receive those same services as well. But also we want to be able to have funding for the shelters that we need throughout the country. Mr. Speaker, I'm not going to talk to you about raising taxes--that's not the issue--or even taxpayer money. How are we going to come up with some money for grants for these nonprofits throughout the country that are really doing as good a job as they can but are short on money? Well, let's go back to the courthouse. We have got people that are coming down to the courthouse that are being convicted of being involved in human trafficking. We get the customers involved in punishment, as well as the trafficker. This legislation would require that these criminals pay rent on the courthouse. They'll pay for the crime that they have committed, the system they have created. Not just with going off to the penitentiary, the Do Right Hotel, but they are going to pay into a fund--$5,000 will go into a fund. This fund then will be money that will be open for grants, going through the grant process of the Federal Government, for nonprofit organizations and other organizations, other government entities, to receive for funding to help the victims. The money is needed. We are spending $25 million. Let's get some more. Let's punish those criminals, make them pay for it, go to prison, hold them accountable, pay the fine. And, of course, the fine would come after restitution. There will be restitution to the victim. Federal judges know how to do all of those things. Then the money would go into the fund that would go to trafficking victims, similar to the VOCA fund concept that was used or began several years ago where criminals generally in Federal Court pay into a crime victims compensation fund. That money then goes to crime victims. But this would be a special fund that those people convicted of those dastardly crimes would be required to pay into. That's the basis of the bill. Let's try to get a grip on this issue-- hold people accountable, hold the trafficker accountable, hold the person that is the customer accountable, and then rescue the victim and treat her with the dignity that she deserves as a human being and get them out of that slavery that they have been trapped into. We will soon introduce that legislation in the House and in the Senate. Mr. Speaker, this conduct that I have talked about I would hope would concern Americans. As I mentioned, I spent a lot of time at the courthouse in Houston, first as a prosecutor, 22 years as a criminal court judge, saw a lot of victims of crime, a lot of children, a lot of those cases, many of these cases, were crimes that were sexual assault. Sexual assault cases are a unique type of case, Mr. Speaker. Sexual assault cases against minors have a dramatic impact on the minor. Sexual assault against minors that have been trafficked into slavery, I don't know of anything worse because of the repetition of the crime that is committed against that child. These traffickers, when they commit these crimes, these assaults, on young women primarily, boys as well, or older adults who are still forced into prostitution, that is a sexual assault, it is a crime. When a person commits the crime of sexual assault against another, it is more than a physical crime. It is a crime where the perpetrator tries to steal the soul, the very life, the very heart of the victim, and sometimes, Mr. Speaker, they are successful. That is why sexual assault is such a horrific crime, because it goes after the inner being of the victim. That's why it ought to bother us that that occurs. It ought to bother us that what's taking place in other parts of the world--whether it's in Europe, central South America, and in the United States--against children, it ought to make us mad so that we can do something about it and hold people accountable. Congressman Jim Costa and myself--a Democrat from California and I-- started the Victims' Rights Caucus several years ago in 2005, bipartisan, to try to help victims of crime. We have a lot of Members on it--almost 100. We are focusing on this issue of minor sex trafficking victims in the United States, and in other countries, to try to get them rescued--to take them to shelters like Mario runs in Central America, the same type. When Ms. Hahn and I were there at this shelter talking to these girls they were happy to see us--really happy to see Ms. Hahn. She just has that personality. You know, I'm kind of a grumpy old guy from Texas. They were pleased that somebody actually cared about them, and they made us things. I have a bracelet that a young girl made for me--Ms. Hahn has one too. They tied it on our wrist. I get a lot of things. I have 10 grandkids. They make me things. I wear this bracelet for a lot of reasons. One, because a child gave it to me that had just horrible things happen to her in her life. It is important for us--with all of the issues we've got to deal with here in Congress in the United States--that we get back to some basics about how other people in this country are treated. When they are not treated right we need to be upset about it. In this case, we need to hold people accountable for doing things to kids. We can do that. We can make things better--treat victims like they're victims, hold criminals accountable, stop the demand for minor sex trafficking by putting those folks in jail, making them pay into a fund that goes to grants that will end up in the hands of shelters that try to help these kids, and some other things. Awareness is very important. It has been said by a lot of people over the years that when we are judged, either as a Nation, Congress, country, we are not judged by the way we treat important folks, we are not going to be judged by the way we treat the rich, the famous, the powerful. We are going to be judged by the way we treat the poor, the unfortunate, the elderly, children, and victims of human suffering. I hope we are judged well. I hope we see the American conscience raised to a level of: this is important. Children are important in this country, and those who have had bad things happen to them, we're going to be concerned about it and not just walk over, as the Good Book says, on the other side of the road and pass them by. And that's just the way it is. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. American Association of University Women (AAUW), American Bar Association (ABA), Americans Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center, Araminta Freedom Initiative, Attorney General of Texas Greg Abbott, Aware, Inc., Breaking Free, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Child Justice, Inc., Child Welfare League of America, Children's Advocacy Institute- Sacramento, Children's Assessment Center-Houston, Children's Defense Fund, Children at Risk, Council on Church Financial Integrity. County Welfare Directors Association of California, Courtney's House, Covenant House International, Crittenton Services for Children and Families, Division of Indian Work, Erik L. Bauer, Attorney at Law, WA, Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services, End Child Prostitution and Trafficking-USA Equality4Women, Equality Now, Florida Coalition Against Trafficking, Foster Family-based Treatment, Association Fraternal Order of Police, Futures Without Violence, Georgia Women For a Change, Inc., Girls for Gender Equity. Give Way to Freedom, Harris County, TX Sheriff Adrian Garcia, Heartland Girls Ranch, Human Rights Project for Girls, Illinois Victims.org, Innocents at Risk, International Association of Chiefs of Police, International Initiative to End Child Labor, Jesse Duplantis Ministries, Jewish Women International, Junior League of Seattle, Lakewood Church, Lauren's Kids, Lutheran Social Services of New England MaleSurvivor. Maryland Human Trafficking Taskforce, Men Can Stop Rape, Minnesota Alliance on Crime, Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center, Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition, Multnomah County, OR Department of Community Justice, Nancy O'Malley, District Attorney, Alameda County, CA, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV), National Association for Children's Behavioral Health, National Association of Council for Children, National Association of County Human Services Administrators, National Association of Police Organizations, Inc., National CASA Association, National Center for Housing and Child Welfare. National Children's Alliance, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, National District Attorneys Association, National Domestic Violence Hotline, National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), National Network for Youth (NN4Y), National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA), National Organization of Women, National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, New Media Company, New York State Anti- Trafficking Coalition NOMI Network, PACE Center for Girls. People Against Violent Crime, Perhaps Kids Meeting Kids Can Make a Difference, Pierce County, WA Coalition Against Trafficking, PROTECT, Sanctuary for Families, Saving Innocence, Sensibilities Prevention Services, Sex Trafficking Survivors United, Shared Hope International, Sheriff Marlin Gusman, Sheriff of New Orleans Sheriff Thomas Dart, Cook County Illinois Sheriff Southeast King County, WA Coalition Against Trafficking, State Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Washington District 36. State Senator Sandra L. Pappas, Minnesota District 48 and President of Senate, Street Grace, Susan D. Reed, District Attorney, Bexar County, TX, Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA), Texas CASA, The Advocates for Human Rights, The Center for Children & Youth Justice The Demand Project, The Family Partnership, The Freedom Center of New Orleans, The National Crittenton Foundation, The NYC Association of Runaway, Homeless, and Street-Involved Youth Organizations. The Protection Project, The Women's Center of Tarrant County, The Women's Foundation of Minnesota, To Love Children Educational Foundation International, Inc., Washington Engage, Witness Justice, World Hope International, World Vision International, YouthCare youthSpark/A Future. Not A Past.

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Ms. Sinema from the State of Arizona for her holding the last Special Order, bipartisan, to talk about this terrible plight that has happened to our veterans. Twenty-two veterans a day, Americans, commit suicide. So I thank the gentlewoman for bringing that to the attention of the House and to the American public. That's an issue that we will continue to work on in a bipartisan way to help our veterans. I would like to, Mr. Speaker, at this time, yield to the gentlewoman from the great State of Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty signed by this administration today is an attempt by Third World countries to control guns worldwide, including personal firearms in the United States. Under the section of ``scope,'' the treaty indicates that covered weapons include small arms and light weapons. The language is so broad that nations are expected to track all weapons movements from the time they are manufactured until the time they are destroyed. The language is vague so that the treaty could be interpreted to restrict the ability of the United States to help its allies, like Israel. The U.N. treaty allows government regulations to be imposed to collect data on gun owners. The treaty presents a clear and present danger to the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. This is another attempt by this administration to control firearms of individual Americans. The constitutional professor is letting the U.N. override the Second Amendment and destroy individual liberty. The President took an oath to the United States Constitution, not the U.N. Charter. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. I thank the gentleman. Madam Speaker, a single mother in Houston, Texas, wrote me this letter: The Affordable Care Act is affecting my family. I am a single mother. I have raised five boys on my own. I currently work two jobs to keep up with my monthly mortgage and utility bills. This is because my primary employer would not hire me to work more than 29 hours per week thanks to ObamaCare. Now I have to work 7 days a week at two jobs to make ends meet. While I am thankful I have these jobs, I am unable to provide supervision and guidance I feel my son needs and deserves to be successful. I had to make a tough decision that I did not want to make. My son is now living with relatives in another city. I am depressed that ObamaCare has begun to tear my family apart and also has put an unhealthy burden on me. Madam Speaker, real person, real tragedy. It's time to free Americans from the shackles of ObamaCare. Defund ObamaCare and tell the Senate to do the same. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in developing countries, access to clean water isn't as easy as walking over to the kitchen faucet. Communities suffer and die from diseases they contract from bad water. And in their search for life's basic need, they put themselves in harm's way. In Third World countries, women walk miles to wells to find clean water; but some wells are controlled by criminals who brutally assault these innocent women right in front of their own kids. And then they must then buy the water. We have the ability to help these countries that don't have access to clean water. We can help them dig wells, for example. That's why Congressman Earl Blumenauer and I have introduced the Water for the World Act. This bill uses existing taxpayer money more effectively by making water available and a priority in Third World countries. I'd like to thank Congressman Blumenauer for his relentless efforts, and the groups who advocate for Water for the World. No one on Earth should be assaulted just to obtain clean water on a daily basis. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it was 2010 when Australian John Naismith traveled to Vietnam, a country rich with history, to teach English. During his fascinating time there, Naismith explored an old abandoned airstrip where the Battle of Khe Sanh took place in 1968. It was one of the bloodiest, most violent, and longest (January-July) battles of the Vietnam War between the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Americans--primarily U.S. Marines, Soldiers, and Airmen and South Vietnamese soldiers. In this mountainous, rainy, hot region of the former South Vietnam, Naismith discovered an old discolored aluminum dog tag shining lightly underneath the dirt. He picked it up. He held the dog tag in his hand, looked curiously at it, and wondered about the history of it. The war had ended long ago; life started all over again for many. The area of the battle had changed. A museum had been built where the battle was once fought. But a dog tag remained where it was left behind--for 43 years--presumably belonging to an American Marine, likely a casualty of the Vietnam war. It represented someone's past. It wasn't something that Naismith could put down. He carried it with him in hopes of putting together an image of a young American warrior who had worn the dog tag into the battle of Khe Sanh. Thus the search for history of the dog tag began. The U.S. entered into the Vietnam War to prevent Communist North Vietnam from taking over South Vietnam. However, the number of U.S. casualties grew significantly during the war. Some Americans never returned home. Some returned with the wounds of war. Those wounds were both physical and mental. Until the war in Afghanistan, Vietnam was the longest war in U.S. history. American bodies of the fallen and wounded were sometimes difficult to identify, so every member of the military wore, as their fathers had done in previous wars, dog tags. In Vietnam, one tag was put around the neck and the other laced onto the boot. The dog tags listed the American's initials, last name, blood type, serial number, gas mask size, and religion--everything anyone would need to know in order to identify the individual who fell in battle. But this dog tag found 43 years later . . . to whom did it belong? Was the warrior dead or alive? Naismith was determined to find out. His first source was the United States Government, but after months of looking, it could provide no clues where the owner of the tag was or if he was alive or dead. Naismith poured through casualty lists and could find no record of the individual who owned the dog tag. He had hit a wall. The Government continued to search its own records. Meanwhile, Naismith left Australia and traveled to the U.S., where he found others interested in finding out what had happened to the U.S. Marine. Naismith met up with his friend Charlie Fagan, owner of Good Time Charlie's Motorcycle Shop, in California. Motorcycle shops like Charlie's were aware of numerous motorcycle groups made up of old ``war horses'' from the Vietnam War. Naismith told Charlie the story of the dog tag and his two-year quest to find the dog tag's owner. Charlie knew of Tanna Toney-Ferris, a woman who worked intensely with Vietnam vets on numerous issues, including locating them. So, using social media, Tanna told the story of the dog tag. The dog tag saga spread rapidly across several online social networks and websites. Finally, in June 2013, ``Sparky'' in Florida posted the following message to an online Marine network: ``[H]elp me locate the owner of the USMC Vietnam Veteran's dog tag. [ . . . It was] found in Khe Sanh Vietnam 2 years ago by an Australian teacher. The name is L.P. Martinson. His name is NOT on the WALL, so he made it out of Vietnam.'' Finally, half way around the world in Afghanistan, Marine Staff Sergeant Joshua Laudermilk, on active duty, saw the post, called Information, and obtained Martinson's phone number. He then contacted Martinson by phone. The Marine had finally been located. U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Lanny P. Martinson, from Minnesota, was a part of the Khe Sanh Battle of South Vietnam. On June 4, 1968 his leg was blown away during the fighting. The 23-year-old Marine was carried off the battlefield and immediately taken to surgery. When he woke up, he did not realize neither of his dog tags were with him. Time passed and Lanny Martinson dealt with his war wounds best he could. He became successful in construction management in Minnesota. He worked until the VA granted him 100% disability in 1998 and he took up art and portrait painting. Four years ago, he and his wife Delphine moved to Texas. When his daughter Bobby was 16 in 1998, she asked Martinson for his dog tags. She admired her warrior father and wanted the tags to wear to show he was part of the rare breed of Vietnam fighters. Martinson looked in his ``war chest'' and was surprised that they were not there. He surmised that the dog tag on the boot had been destroyed and the other tag was left behind on the battlefield. His guess had been right. It remained on that same battlefield for 43 years, until Naismith found it. On August 20, 2013, Naismith and some of the other searchers got on motorcycles, left California and headed east--to Sugarland Texas. They took L.P. Martinson's dog tag with them. Three days later--45 years after Martinson was wounded in battle--Martinson and Naismith met for the first time at Martinson's home. The day after they met, a special ceremony was held in Missouri City, Texas, in honor of Sergeant Lanny P. Martinson, United States Marine Corps. More than 100 people attended the event, including motorcycle club members, Vietnam vets, citizens, and City Councilmember Danny Ngyuen--who was a young child living in South Vietnam during the war. Naismith presented Martinson the dog tag that had been left behind. The Australian teacher and the U.S. Marine--now friends--plan to travel to Vietnam together. They will visit the battlefield of Khe Sanh where Martinson and his buddies valiantly fought, where he was wounded, and where a dog tag . . . was left behind. Lanny Martinson intends to bequeath his dog tag to his daughter. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it seems the administration has finally made up its mind and will arm the Syrian rebels. Never mind Syria is in the messy midst of a civil war. That involvement is not in the national security interest of the United States. The other rebel groups include foreign mercenaries, criminals, and, in my opinion, half are al Qaeda operatives. That includes al Qaeda from the state of Iraq and al-Nusra, an al Qaeda terrorist group. The last I heard, Mr. Speaker, the United States is at war with al Qaeda. There is no way our government can prevent the guns sent to Syria from getting into the hands of al Qaeda rebels. The administration constantly and conveniently goes out of its way to keep Americans from possessing firearms, but it seems to be enthusiastically delighting in running guns into other countries--to groups like drug cartels in Mexico, rebel groups in Libya and al Qaeda in Syria. Odd gun policy, don't you think, Mr. Speaker? And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, the United States is considering sending missiles into Syria. Also, CIA-funded weapons have begun flowing to Syrian rebels. The rebels are made up of the Free Syrian Army, al Qaeda, and others. It seems the Free Syrian Army is liberating areas, and al Qaeda comes in behind and imposes strict Islamic shari'a law in those territories. Al Qaeda is a terrorist group that is at war with the United States. Richard Engel, with NBC, interviewed Abu Abdul Rahman, one of the thousands of al Qaeda fighters in Syria. In the interview, Engel asked Rahman this question: The United States is considering launching military strikes against Syria. Would that help you? Rahman replied: We have a prayer: ``Allah, please annihilate our enemies by other enemies.'' Assad is an enemy and America is an enemy. Let them fight. Madam Speaker, in this civil war, why would we ever consider getting involved by launching missiles into Syria or arming the rebels, which include our enemy, al Qaeda? And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker: In Libya, al Qaeda cousins, as I call them, the Ansar al- Sharia, claims responsibility for the murder of our U.S. Ambassador and three others. It's no coincidence that these two attacks occurred nearly at the same time, and they both occurred on September 11. In the past, the United States has always held and went after those that were responsible for this type of conduct. In 1998, when the Kenyan Embassy was attacked and Americans were killed, we responded. Of course, we responded on September 11. We responded after the first World Trade Center bombing. Then, in 1996, when 19 American soldiers were murdered in Saudi Arabia, we responded. Madam Speaker, the United States must always respond to terrorists, and we must let them be reminded again and again we will respond in an appropriate manner, as we did on September 11. We must respond today, and we must respond tomorrow. I am encouraged that the President will soon address the Nation on what our response will be. We must hold those responsible personally accountable because we must let people understand that they need to leave us alone. That is what the message needs to be. We must have justice in these terrorist attacks by these individuals against Americans because, Madam Speaker, justice is what we do. Mr. Speaker, that was the speech I gave on this House floor 1 year ago. September 12, 2013, was when it was given. But it has been 1 year since the attack in Benghazi, Libya; and we still have no answers. Today, as we remember those who were murdered 12 years ago on September 11, 2001, in New York, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon, young and old, from countries all over the world, we should also remember those four Americans murdered 1 year ago in Benghazi, Libya. We went after those first 9/11 killers--as we should. America had resolve, as it usually has had in our history. But the Benghazi killers run free today. Mr. Speaker, it is ironic that the greatest power that has ever existed, with all our vast resources of military, CIA intelligence, the NSA intelligence, the FBI, we can't capture some killers who killed Americans in Benghazi, Libya. When the media can go and talk to them and have them on television, we can't even find them, capture them, and bring them back to justice. It's been a year. What does that tell the families, what does it tell Americans, when we haven't been able to accomplish this capture of terrorists? We know that Ansar al-Sharia was involved. I said that the day after this murder occurred last year on this House floor. So today, I filed the Ansar al-Sharia Terrorist Designation Act of 2013. It says, ``Ansar al-Sharia is a terrorist organization, and we must use all resources available to go after these killers.'' We must label them as terrorists and deal with them appropriately. We're not sure about United States policy today in the Middle East. We don't know what the current U.S. policy is about Americans killed overseas. All we get is a lot of words. Even the White House Press Secretary said, ``Well, Benghazi was a long time ago.'' It seems like more is said than done in the Benghazi episode. Our enemies continue to test us because they no longer fear us, Mr. Speaker. The world no longer knows where America stands when we are attacked, either at home or abroad, not our allies, not our enemies, and not American citizens. The President is concerned about Syrians being killed by Syrians. I wish he was just as concerned about Americans being murdered by terrorists in Benghazi, Libya. The administration needs to go after these terrorists by any means necessary and bring them to justice and restore our credibility with the American people, because justice is what we do in this country. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, the drums of war are being beaten by the President who, ironically, won the Nobel Peace Prize. The ``Peace President'' wants to fire missiles into Syria because tyrant Assad is violating the rules of war by allegedly using chemical weapons. The President's goal is not to remove Assad, not to destroy the chemical weapons, but to send Assad a message. To be clear, there is no imminent national security threat or interest for the United States by us starting this war. And make no mistake, shooting rockets into another country is an act of war. War has consequences. What if the outlaw Assad chooses then to use chemical weapons again or chooses to shoot back? He could retaliate against the United States, one of our embassies, the Navy that fired the rockets, or other U.S. military installations, or even specific troops, or retaliate against his neighbor, Turkey, or Israel, using our aggression as an excuse. In any of these situations, this limited war escalates with more U.S. response, intervention, and involvement. Now, who are the players in this war that is taking place already? On one side you have Syria, tyrant Assad, with the aid of Russia, with the aid of Iran that news reports say has 10,000 Iranian troops in Syria, and Hezbollah. Hezbollah, as you remember, Madam Speaker, is a terrorist group. Then, on the other side, you have the Free Syrian Army. You have patriots. You have mercenaries, paid soldiers from other countries. You have criminals that have come in to just pillage the land and use this as an opportunity. You also have al Nusra, an al Qaeda affiliate. You also have al Qaeda from Iraq. Now, last time I recall, the United States is already at war with al Qaeda. They are the enemy of the United States. And it looks like now you've got the terrorist group Hezbollah on one side and the terrorist group al Qaeda on the other side. And we want to get involved in this civil religious war to send a message not to use chemical weapons? Of course, you not only just have these players, but you've got Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar lined up on the side of the Free Syrian Army. Turkey is a next-door neighbor to Syria. A year ago, a Turkish F-4 built by the United States was flying along the Syrian border, and it was shot down. We don't know who shot it down. Meanwhile, the United States already has, along with its NATO parties, patriot batteries on the Syrian border facing Syria that are in Turkey. The Dutch, the Germans, and the Americans have manned those batteries. Why? To make sure that our NATO ally is protected from incoming rockets. If we escalate this regional conflict in one country, it may escalate to other regions, like Turkey. Then we've got real issues because Turkey is a NATO ally. We are obligated to help them if they get into a war with Syria. And then about the terrorists. As I mentioned, they are really on both sides. And we hear from the administration, with all due respect, that the minority of fighters on the rebel side are al Qaeda. I respectfully disagree with the Secretary of State. What seems to be happening is the Free Syrian Army is going through Syria liberating Syrians, and al Qaeda is in the background, coming in and occupying the territory and imposing strict Islamic sharia law. We can see this play out. If the rebels eventually are successful, then we may have a second civil war between the Free Syrian Army and al Qaeda. All of that may be down the road. And why would the United States want to get involved in this situation? So today, Madam Speaker, I have filed a resolution stating that no U.S. funds will be used for this war with Syria. This religious civil war is not our war. So no money for the ``Peace President's'' war. And if he starts a war with Syria, I suggest the President return the Nobel Peace Prize. If he really wants to send a message, he should follow Samuel Goldwyn's advice: ``try Western Union.'' And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the remarkable career and outstanding community involvement of a great Texan, devoted public servant and my good friend, Robert Pelton. It is an honor for me to recognize Robert, not only for his numerous professional accomplishments and many contributions to our Houston community and the great state of Texas, but also for his service to our country. Robert and I met many years ago while I was working in the Harris County District Attorney's Office as a prosecutor. Our friendship may have seemed unlikely as Robert, a criminal defense attorney, was more often than not defending the people I was prosecuting. Even though we were on opposing sides, there was a mutual admiration among us that to this day, has not wavered. I am grateful to call Robert a friend. Robert's humble nature comes from his small town roots and strong patriotic upbringing in Abilene, Texas. As a child growing up in West Texas, Robert had a passion for reading. The books Robert read made Texas history come alive and his fascination with Texas legends and lawyers took root. He began to notice how folks less fortunate were mistreated and taken advantage of in his small town. So, at the young age of 14, he made up his mind to become a great lawyer, like the heroes he read about in his books. Robert still likes classic old west movies about good guys and outlaws. His West Texas roots taught him that his word was his bond. He lives by that character trait. Like many honorable men, Robert wanted to serve our nation and enlisted with the Texas Army National Guard. He trained as a combat infantryman, a job that is not for the weak of heart, with the 36th Infantry Division. After honorably serving from 1966 to 1972, Robert was discharged with the rank of Sergeant (E-5). Still determined to become a lawyer, Robert enrolled with South Texas College of Law after graduating from McMurry College in Abilene. During law school, he served as Chief Prosecutor of the Honor Court and as a Justice on the Honor Court. And the rest is history. During his internship with the famous attorney Jim Skelton, Robert worked on a case where Mr. Skelton represented David Owen Brooks--a defendant in the largest mass murder case in the United States at the time. After helping with this case, Robert realized that his calling was to defend those accused of crimes. Since May 1975, Robert has represented numerous people during his legal career. Of all of his clients, a highlight in Robert's legal career was representing the late Marvin Zindler, as his personal lawyer for over 30 years. Marvin Zindler was known for his consumer reporting--on ABC News on channel 13--one of the first in the business to do so--letting the unsuspecting public in on the down and dirty dealings of local businesses throughout Southeast Texas. Marvin was a fighter for the little man and defended those who were swindled or scammed--seeking retribution the best way he knew how, with a bright light, an all-seeing camera lens, and a television audience. It makes sense that Robert represented this local legend. Robert's extensive knowledge of the justice system and his incredible work ethic earned the respect of his colleagues in the law profession. Over 50 of Robert's felony criminal cases have resulted in no-bills due to the Grand Jury Defense presentations that his team worked on. In 2012, he helped prove a wrong man had been arrested, which resulted in another capital murder case being dismissed. The impact of Robert's work is far reaching. Over his career, Robert has maintained a strong focus on ethics and has received numerous accolades. He is the Founder and Chairman of the Ethics Committee for the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association. In 2011, he recognized a need for criminal defense attorneys to have access to an ethics hotline and urged the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association to create one. In addition, Robert has been named by H-Texas Magazine as one of Houston's Best Criminal Defense Lawyers each year from 2004 to 2010 and as well as one of Houston's ``Top Lawyers for the People'' each year from 2004 to 2010. In 2012 and 2013, Robert received the President's Award from the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association in recognition of his excellent work during those years. In addition to these honors, Robert has recently been named by the College of the State Bar of Texas as the recipient of the Jim D. Bowmer Professionalism Award for 2012. This high honor is awarded annually to an outstanding College member based on achievement or contribution to professionalism. Robert continues to contribute to the legal profession by authoring monthly columns in The Defender and The Voice for Defense Magazines. He also serves on the faculty of the Center for American and International Law. In addition, there are books written about several of his high profile cases, including Ashes to Ashes and another book about Pam Perillo, who was eight hours away from execution, but because of a writ hearing in Federal Court that Robert filed, her life was spared. Several of his well-known cases, were documented on national TV specials: ``Women on Death Row'' and ``Caught on Camera''. As a former prosecutor and then judge, I know how consuming this career can be. But, I also know how meaningful and rewarding it can be. Robert's innovation, determination and compassion for helping others makes him one of the best attorneys in the nation. I am truly blessed to consider him one of my dearest friends and am honored to give him the recognition that he deserves. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, every year, millions of Americans across the fruited plains send their tax returns to the IRS. Some claim exemptions so they can keep more of their money; now the IRS wants an exemption of its own. IRS employees want an exemption from participating in--guess what-- ObamaCare. That's right. The IRS workers have asked for an exemption from ObamaCare. They like their current health plan, and they just want to keep it. These are the same people in charge of enforcing ObamaCare and penalizing Americans that are forced to be under ObamaCare. This is the same abusive, scandalous IRS that uses power to punish political opponents. The IRS taxocrats don't want the law to apply to them; they want it to apply to us. More arrogance of power. Their policy is: laws for thee, but not for me. Ironic, don't you think? The real truth, to be clear, Mr. Speaker, is the IRS wants to be exempted from ObamaCare and so do Americans. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, for some of us, growing up was the best of times; simple times; safe times. But life isn't that way anymore for some kids. Today, young girls, the average age between 12 and 14, are lured into a crooked, despicable business. It's sex trafficking--modern day slavery. Girls have been threatened, raped, forced into selling their bodies on the streets by the worst deviants in our society. Some of these girls are smuggled into the United States by slave traffickers from other countries, and some are from our own neighborhoods. Sex traffickers should be put into the jailhouse forever. But society must get to the root of the problem: the demand. That's why I have introduced the End Sex Trafficking Act, along with Representatives Maloney, Granger, and Nolan. Our bill targets the interstate criminals who purchase sexual acts from child victims and ensures that they, too, are prosecuted as human traffickers. No longer can these deviants hide. Let the long arm of the law punish the child-molesting pedophiles who steal the innocence of children. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to honor Windi Akins Pastorini, for being named the 2012 Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Year and the 2012 Harris County Criminal Lawyer of the Year. This is the latest in a long line of awards given to this extraordinary lawyer. I have known Windi for over 20 years in my work as a judge and prosecutor in Texas, I witnessed first hand Windi's passionate dedication to the law and to her clients. Those who know her best describe her as dedicated, powerful, and relentless. After graduating from the University of Texas at Arlington, Windi earned her law degree from the University of Texas in Austin. Windi began her legal career as a prosecutor for the Harris County District Attorney's office, and then she became a trial lawyer where she has served for over 25 years. She is an advocate in every sense of the word who works passionately to defend those who are accused of crimes. Windi's extensive knowledge of the justice system and her incredible work ethic quickly gained her respect from her colleagues in the law profession and citizens of Harris County. Over her career, Windi has a history of victories defending those charged with drug related crimes, white collar crimes, fraud and violent offenses. Her success in defending her clients has led to her inclusion into a selective group of lawyers certified to represent indigent defendants in death penalty cases in Texas. Windi has changed many lives. The fact that she was the defense lawyer has made the difference in the outcome of numerous cases. Windi has a long history of advocating for victims. Recently, Windi defended the rights of a young 12 year old girl who had been repeatedly sexually abused by her father since she was just 6 years old. One evening, the young girl finally stood up for herself and told her father to leave her alone. After receiving threats by her father that she would ``regret her actions'', the young girl shot and killed her father later that night in fear for her life. Ms. Pastorini stood by her client and successfully fought for her right of self defense. The young girl was acquitted of murder, providing an invaluable win for abused victims everywhere. Besides being an excellent trial lawyer, Windi drives Jeep Renegades/ Wranglers. Being a Jeep owner myself, I appreciate others who drive such rugged, superior vehicles! On behalf of the Second Congressional District of Texas, I commend this remarkable Texan for her exemplary service and dedication to Harris County and to the State of Texas. Thank you, Windi, for a lifetime of remarkable achievements within the legal community and for your steadfast commitment to representing the accused citizens of Texas in the court room. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. This new so-called President of Iran is no different than Ahmadinejad. Rouhani is no moderate; he's just slick. He has lied to the United States in the past. Don't be deceived; he is not even in charge of Iran. The Ayatollah is in charge, and the Ayatollah picked all of the candidates running for president. The Ayatollah is still running the shots and is determined to get nuclear weapons and eliminate Israel and then the United States. And then what? Are we going to say, Oops, we made a mistake. We need these sanctions. We need a regime change in Iran, a peaceful one with the Iranian people. This Ayatollah has Hezbollah running all over the world causing terror, including killing his own people in Camp Liberty. We need to pass this legislation.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. I understand the gentleman's position and the concerns from my colleague and his constituents who really don't want the rail in your congressional district. I respect that representation. The gentleman understands that we have a disagreement as to what constituents want in the affected area. Your constituents don't want the rail. That small section in mine do want the rail. I hope we can work together with Metro productively to get something built that is in the interest of all concerned. I yield back to the gentleman.

Mr. POE of Texas. I wish to enter into a colloquy with the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Culberson). Houston is the fourth most populous city in the country; but unlike other large cities, we have struggled to have an effective mass transit system. Ten years ago, Houston had only buses. Wider highways were always the solution for transportation. Over the past decade, Houston has but one light rail that averages 36,000 weekly boardings. I have never been a strong champion of light rail; but my congressional district includes a significant portion of the proposed rail line in section 166, the University rail line, which would go from downtown Houston toward the Hillcroft Transit Center. A majority of my constituents in the affected area that would be served support the light rail. I am concerned about section 166 of the bill that would prohibit Federal funds from going toward a part of the University line that falls in the neighboring 7th Congressional District, Mr. Culberson's district. This language, although affecting his district primarily, indirectly affects my constituents because it has the effect of killing the whole project. Federal funds are needed to build the University line in Houston. To be clear, section 166 really doesn't save any Federal money. It just sends those funds somewhere else--maybe to New York City. If we're going to spend the money, let's keep the money in Texas and put Texans to work. I've recently surveyed the constituents who live in the affected area in my congressional district. My office went door-to-door meeting with local businesses over the last few days, speaking with organizations and talking to constituents. Those in the affected area want light rail. On Facebook alone in the last 2 days, 604 people supported light rail and 340 opposed it. One Houstonian commented: Houston needs a viable east-west transit corridor to connect to the Main Street line. As a 23-year-old young Houstonian, I strongly support the Richmond rail and project for Houston's future. At least 26 community and civic organizations support the University line. At this time I will yield to the gentleman sponsoring section 166 in the bill, Mr. Culberson, for a colloquy.

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. POE of Texas. I thank the gentleman for his offer to work together. I certainly respect his position. It's my hope we can move forward and work productively and not block Federal funds that are coming to the Houston area that would go somewhere else. Let's work together with Metro, the City of Houston, the mayor's office, and the residents along the entire proposed line and see if we can find a solution that we all agree on, and hopefully we can keep this money in Texas. I yield back the balance of my time. support for university rail line Greater Houston Partnership; Houston Citizen's Transportation Coalition; Houston Tomorrow; Richmond Rail.org; Montrose Management District; Claude Wynn Interests; Museum District Business Alliance; Neartown/ Montrose Super Neighborhood; East Montrose Civic Association; Cherryhurst Civic Association; Board of Directors of the University Place Association; University Place Super Neighborhood Council; and Boulevard Oaks Civic Association. Morningside Place Civic Association; Old Braeswood Property Owners Associations; Southgate Civic Club; Southampton Civic Club; Museum Area Municipal Association; Rice Village Alliance; Brays Bayou Association; Greater Houston Preservation Alliance; Uptown Management District; Menil Foundation; Museum of Fine Arts Houston; Friends of Mandell Park; and Former City Councilman Peter Brown, Director of BetterHouston.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, the President says the country is being distracted by phoney scandals. A more accurate statement would be the President is using phoney distractions to cover up the administration's scandals. Here are two of them: Fast and Furious. The ATF, with Justice Department knowledge, smuggles 2,000 automatic weapons to Mexican drug cartels. Americans are killed. Two hundred Mexican nationals killed, including two police chiefs and even a beauty queen. No one is held accountable. Nobody goes to jail. Lower-level operatives blamed. Eric ``Withholder'' held in contempt for withholding evidence from Congress. The administration wants us to forget their fiasco. Benghazi, Libya. Four Americans killed by terrorists. The United States refuses to send help during the firefight. Four Americans left behind. No killer is ever captured. The administration misleads the American public and blames the attack on a video, not the terrorists. No one goes to jail. No accountability. Lower-level operatives blamed. The administration wants us to forget their fiasco. Are these distractions and phoney scandals the President is talking about? Well, tell that to the families of the murdered Americans and Mexican nationals. A Navy SEAL put it best: ``Phoney scandals don't come home in body bags.'' So, Mr. Speaker, the next time you visit with the President, tell him these ``distractions''--these ``phoney scandals''--are not going away. The American people are going to get the truth, whether the President likes it or not. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Warrants need to be particular and specific about the place to be searched and the items to be seized. No judge would ever sign a general search warrant like the British did, allowing the police to search every house on the block, much less seize everybody's phone records, but this is what has happened under section 215 under the government. The government has gone too far in the name of security and the Fourth Amendment has been bruised. Rein in government invasion. No more dragnet operations. Get a specific warrant based on probable cause, or stay out of our lives. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am always pleased to see my fellow Texans succeed. Today, I want to take a moment to recognize yet another accomplishment by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Hospital. MD Anderson has been ranked as the top cancer treatment center by the latest US News & World Report's ``Best Hospitals'' study. Of course this should not come as a surprise considering that the hospital has been ranked number one by the study for the last six years in a row. The accomplishments of MD Anderson do not stop there. In several subspecialties, the hospital has been ranked highly. In particularly, the Ears, Nose, and Throat subspecialty is ranked third. MD Anderson Hospital succeeds because of the dedicated people that labor tirelessly every day with one shared purpose: fighting cancer. Under the direction and leadership of President Ronald DePinho, 20,000 employees and 1,100 volunteers help countless individuals through their expertise, research and simple compassion. MD Anderson has had a huge impact on many children and gave them the hope of life despite adversity. For Joey Nichols, he received a diagnosis of lymphocytic leukemia at the young age of three. He couldn't understand what that meant or why he felt ill. Today, Joey acknowledges that he has no clear memories during his time at MD Anderson, but he sees it as a defining moment in his life. MD Anderson saved his life, and because of its work, Joey has aspirations to become a pediatric oncologist and to work at MD Anderson one day. MD Anderson's dedication to fighting children's cancer should be acknowledged and celebrated. In a separate survey, the MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital was ranked 21st in the nation. MD Anderson's services go beyond the well-being of the patient. The children's hospital provides support groups, activities, and camps for families of children with cancer. In a difficult time for a family, there is some comfort in knowing that we have such knowledgeable and compassionate people to fight cancer alongside them. Mr. Speaker, these remarks only scratch the surface of the accomplishments achieved by the MD Anderson Cancer Hospital. I am confident that the hospital will continue to exceed expectations and to remain as one of the top cancer centers in the United States. I am proud to see such a prestigious hospital in the great State of Texas-- and the great City of Houston. And that's just the way it is.