Ted Poe

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, when government runs health care, senior citizens sometimes are refused treatment because of their age. In Sweden, an 83-year-old woman was refused medical surgery by the government-run hospital. They said she was just too old for treatment. Marianne Skogh had pain and numbness in her legs for 5 years. She waited more than a year trying to get approval for back surgery to cure the problem. She was rejected by the government. Without the operation, she would be living in incredible turmoil. She said, ``What kind of life is that?'' Despite her long wait, Marianne was told her ailment was treatable but she was just too old for surgery. The government-run hospital said since she had previous heart surgery, they were denying her the back surgery. They told her just to take some pain pills. When the pain pills didn't help, the government still wouldn't let her have the surgery. Marianne ended up paying for the operation herself with some private funds and funds she received from friends. She's now pain-free. Government-run health care lets bureaucrats decide who receives rationed care and who doesn't, who lives and who just dies. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise in support of this resolution. Along with my friends who have already spoken, we fly Continental every week. Sometimes there are up to 10 Members of Congress on the same flight either going back to Texas or coming from Houston to Reagan National. And I represent probably most of the Continental employees in the Houston area, since my district circles the airport; although, it doesn't include the airport. Something about redistricting, I believe, Mr. Green. But be that as it may, great people, great airline. As my friend, Mr. Brady, has mentioned, the employees are topnotch, from the flight attendants to the pilots, in the way they treat not only people who fly but the way they treat other people. And I commend Continental Airlines for their success over the years. It is the best airline. Many years ago, they merged with a little bitty airline called Trans- Texas Airways, and I was one of those that wanted them to adopt the name Trans-Texas Airways after Continental merged with Trans-Texas. But they eliminated the ``Trans-Texas'' phrase and adopted the phrase ``Continental,'' which has served them much better because it is an intercontinental flying community and do a super job. And I, too, commend the good work they've done and the tenacious employees that work, not only in the planes but on the ground, the mechanics, and the ramp crews. And so I congratulate them, and I appreciate my friend from Texas offering this resolution.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, America lost a great lawman last Thursday near Campo, California. United States Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas was brutally murdered on July 23 by thugs illegally crossing into the United States. Agent Rosas was shot and killed at approximately 9:15 p.m. while following a group of people who had crossed the border illegally. Agent Rosas was by himself, like a lot of our agents nowadays. He radioed for backup. The group Agent Rosas was following split up before backup agents arrived to help him. Agent Rosas was following one of the groups; but when fellow officers arrived, they found Agent Rosas outside his Border Patrol vehicle. He had been shot several times in the head and other places in the body. Agent Rosas had served with the Border Patrol for 3 years. He was only 30 years of age. He was married and had a 2-year-old son and an 11- month-old daughter. A suspect, Ernesto Parra-Valenzuela, is in Federal custody in Baja, California. He had a standard Border Patrol-issued 9 millimeter pistol tucked in his clothes when he was arrested. Four other Mexican nationals were also arrested. They were part of a violent smuggling ring, and one of the other men arrested is wanted for two homicides and a rape. Also detained were 21 illegals. Shooting at Border Patrol agents is a drug cartel way of life. T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said that around 50 border agents a year are shot at. Others are run down by vehicles. For example, in January 2008 United States Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar was run down and killed by a drug smuggler in a Humvee 15 miles north of the border in California. When agents spotted a drug-laden Hummer trying to flee back to Mexico, Agent Aguilar threw down a spike strip to stop the vehicle. Witnesses said the driver of the Humvee swerved to intentionally hit Agent Aguilar, and the vehicle was traveling over 55 miles per hour. Agent Aguilar was killed. He was a 6-year veteran of the Border Patrol. He was 32 years of age, and he left behind a wife and two kids. The Humvee driver, the drug smuggler, escaped back into Mexico. There are others who were killed by smugglers. In August of 2002, United States Park Ranger Kris Eggle was shot and killed in the line of duty at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona. The area has become a haven for drug and alien smuggling. The area is known as Cocaine Alley. A drug cartel hit squad fled into the United States after committing a string of murders in Mexico. Out-manned and outgunned, Ranger Eggle never had a chance. He was 28. Agent Rosas is the first Border Patrol agent to be shot since Ricardo Salinas and Susan Rodriguez were slain in Texas in July of 1998. The Cameron County, Texas, Sheriff's Department was investigating a report of shots fired in Rio Hondo, Texas. That's in the Rio Grande Valley. Deputies found a woman, Margarita Flores, and one of her daughters, Delia Morin, dead at their home. Her son was also shot and seriously wounded. The killer, Ernest Moore, was seen fleeing in a pickup truck; and with the help of the Border Patrol, sheriff's deputies spotted the vehicle in a driveway of a San Benito house Moore shared with his father. The deputies and the agents were searching the home and the nearby cornfields when they heard rifle shots. Border Patrol Officers Ricardo Salinas and Susan Rodriguez were both found shot and killed. The perpetrator was also killed. Madam Speaker, the border regions in this country have become the most lawless areas in the United States. Drug cartel thugs roam the border frontier, transporting drugs, weapons, cash, illegals and victims of sex trafficking across the border at will. The noble Border Patrol agents are out-manned, outgunned and out-financed by the drug cartels; and these outlawed drug cartels need to be captured and brought to justice. In the meanwhile, our Border Patrol protectors need our support. We owe the brave men and women who guard the border more than gratitude for the sacrifices they make. We owe them the proper funding, manpower and support to guard not just our border but their safety as well. These agents are the first line of defense between the illegal drug smuggling cartels and the American people. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for yielding, and I thank the gentleman from American Samoa for his support of this resolution, H. Res. 496. Madam Speaker, it started with these words: ``General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.'' Most everyone has heard these famous words spoken by President Ronald Reagan on the day he addressed a crowd of about 45,000 people at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, Germany. However, it would be 2 years later before those fateful words issued that day would actually come to pass. It happened on the night of November 9 after hearing East German Minister of Propaganda Gunter Schabowski announce in a live statement that East German citizens now had the right to travel abroad ``immediately and without delay.'' Thousands of East Berliners charged forward towards the border crossings. Upon arrival, they were met by guards at the checkpoints, who, due to the massive numbers of crowds of people, had no choice but to allow the East German citizens to pass through, and pass through they did. They charged to freedom through checkpoints, including the famous U.S. Checkpoint Charlie. Once across, East Germans were greeted by their friends, the West Germans, who danced on top of the Berlin Wall in celebration while others hammered away at the wall on both sides until a section came down, at which point more East Germans walked through and shouted, ``Freedom. Freedom. Just once, freedom.'' November 9, 1989, was that date. It did go down in history as an important day for world peace and for world liberty. Madam Speaker, today, we stand here to recognize the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It continues to live in history, not just in the pages of books or in resolutions but in the hearts and minds of people all over the world who were freed that night because that wall came down. They will continue to remember and to celebrate the day that democracy, freedom of the people, triumphed over Communism--the day the Berlin Wall fell and was torn down. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Sammy Mahan is a small business entrepreneur. He owns and operates Sammy's Wrecker Service in Baytown, Texas. He owns 7 trucks, employs 5 drivers, a dispatcher, and people who work the wrecker yard. His drivers work on a commission, and he cannot afford to furnish them health insurance. He told me how the new government health care plan that mandates employers provide employee health benefits would affect him. Leaving out his colorful language, he said, ``I am worried to death. This government health care bill and the new taxes on energy and small business will ruin me. I will have to lay off my drivers. They're all young, some with young families, and then they will have no jobs. I will be the lone survivor of the business. Then I won't be able to sell the wreckers I can't use. Who would buy them? I will be putting the trucks on the side of the road next to the kids who have signs saying `free kittens' and offering `free wreckers.' '' Now, Sammy has a point. The government-run health care plan will cost jobs and put workers on the street or, shall we say, sitting on the side of the road. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. I thank the gentleman from Texas. I appreciate the time to address this issue. You've brought forth an excellent argument and concern. As you have mentioned, the bigger problem about what is occurring has to do with the Constitution where the First Amendment says, ``Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.'' Of all places on Earth, this body, this group of people in this House should have the absolute freedom to speak freely about things that concern the people we represent, things that concern America, things that are good about America, and things that we need to help for America. This place, Congress. And yet this own body, through this censorship commission, prohibits us from talking to people in our own districts in a candid way. So much so that you and I and other Members throughout this House of Representatives can say anything we wish on this House floor--almost anything that doesn't violate the ethics rules that we've all agreed on. But yet we can say things on this House floor that we cannot say to our constituents back home in the form of a newsletter or a telephone call. The example you gave: We can say government-run health care plan, but we can't say that to our people back home. The reason is because there is a censorship commission that garnishes and looks after our words and says, No, you cannot have that freedom of speech. So this issue is bigger than health care. It's bigger than energy cap-and-trade. It's bigger than all of those issues. The issue is the freedom to speak freely as a Member of Congress. Now we are slowly entering the abyss where words that we want to say in our own way are going to be controlled by the speech police in Congress. Who would have ever thought this would occur? But yet, as you mentioned, this is occurring because of the things that we wish to communicate with the people back home in Texas or California or Michigan or Iowa. We cannot tell them in a candid way what we think about what's going on here and answer their concerns when they ask us questions through e-mails, letters and phone calls. We are now being told that there are some things you just cannot say as a Member of Congress, and it's very disturbing. The First Amendment is first for a reason because without the First Amendment, none of the others can be enforced. Freedom of speech and the freedom of press are first, along with the freedom of religion and freedom to assemble, because they are the most important amendments and rights that we have. Now it's disturbing, as you said, that we find ourselves in a place where we have to get permission to say things from a censorship board that prohibits us from communicating our thoughts and our ideas back home, things that we can say on the House floor that we can't say in writing. Who would have thought? It ought not be.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the women of Iran are inspiring people around the world leading in the cause and fight for freedom. They have taken to the streets by the thousands because of the fraudulent government elections and repressive government subjugation. They are giving even men courage to protest. The New York Times ran an eyewitness report saying, ``For days now, I've seen women urging less courageous men on. I've seen them get beaten and return to the fray.'' Women shout at the men to ``Get up. Get up. Speak out against government oppression.'' Untold numbers of Iranian women have been arrested. Shadi Sadr is a journalist, lawyer, and a human rights activist. She was last seen Friday, July 17, on her way to prayer. She was seen struggling with government henchmen as they beat her and dragged her into a car. Shadi managed to break away for a few moments, but she was chased down, beaten with batons and taken to prison in Tehran to keep her voice silent. She is jailed this very night as we assemble here in this cradle of liberty. What's the charge? What's her crime? Seeking freedom and respect seem to be her crimes. And by any means necessary, the black-booted government thugs want to silence those who exercise the first human right of freedom--and that being the freedom to speak out against oppression. As a lawyer, Shadi represents Iranian activists and journalists. She has won cases for several women sentenced to be executed for violations of religious laws, and those convictions have been overturned. She is also involved in Women's Field, a group defending women's rights in Iran, including the ``Stop Stoning Forever'' campaign. Mr. Speaker, women are tragically stoned to death for religious violations in Iran, for acts that aren't even crimes in civilized countries. They are buried up to their waist with their hands tied behind their backs, then a mob throws stones at them until they're dead. And sometimes it takes more than an hour to die. These violent, barbaric acts are to be condemned by those who value life and liberty. For the first time in a Presidential campaign in Iran, women made their oppression an issue in the election. Women courageously confronted their oppressors demanding freedom. One Iranian woman said, ``When the elections were stolen, women felt betrayed. They took to the streets. Images of security forces beating up unarmed, innocent women were shocking and fueled their anger. At times, the number of women exceeded those of men in the protest.'' One protester told reporters, ``We don't sit in the corner and wait for the men to make change. We do it. We are the mothers of Iran.'' You see, Mr. Speaker, women in Iran have been fighting for dignity and respect for over 30 years. Mr. Speaker, these mothers of Iran have true courage, the kind of courage that comes from standing for truth over government lies. The kind of courage that comes from fighting for freedom against tyranny. It's been said ``Tyranny is when the people fear the government. Freedom is when the government fears the people.'' And now, the government of Iran has begun to fear these ladies of liberty. The women of Iran have shown their courage to the world. They speak with one bold voice saying ``NO MORE''. They will not be silenced because truthful, righteous words cannot long be silenced by the stones of oppression and the rocks of brutality. The Ladies of Liberty are writing their own glorious page in history. They have been unjustly trampled, dragged, beaten, shot, and killed by a government that has declared war on its own people. They have earned their honored place among those who have shed blood for freedom. But their fight is not for their native Iran alone. It is a fight for all freedom-seeking women and men worldwide that are being persecuted by their own government. Shadi Sadr and the wonder women have earned the respect of the free world. Mr. Speaker, it is only a matter of time before the women of Iran win their freedom. They are throwing off the yolk of tyranny. With every step they take, they move closer to the day that liberty will be theirs. When they are successful in liberating their country from tyranny, Iran and the world will be safer. Their cause is righteous and their actions are just. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it's time to put common sense into health care reform. The first thing to do is focus on current fraud and waste. The part of health care that the government already runs, like Medicare and Medicaid, wastes billions of dollars every year, and billions more are lost through fraud. The national health care antifraud system says Medicare fraud costs American taxpayers $68 billion every year. The FBI says health care fraud may be as high as 10 percent of costs, which means the crooks and the cheats are stealing $226 billion a year from taxpayers. That's money that should be going to treat the sick and the disabled. Now taxacrats want to hand all of our health care money over to the bureaucrats. Law enforcement needs to go after Medicare and Medicaid cheats before we consider nationalized health care. We can save billions of dollars on health care by simply sending the crooks to jail. Fix the obvious stealing and waste before we encourage more fraud and abuse under a universal government-run health care system. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of H.R. 3293, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Related Agencies Appropriations Act, FY 2010: Requesting Member: Congressman Ted Poe Bill Number: H.R. 3293, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Related Agencies Appropriations Act, FY2010 Account: Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration--Health Facilities and Services Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas Address of Requesting Entity: 3080 College Street, Beaumont, TX 77701 Description of Request: I have secured $200,000 in funding for Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas to help renovate their 40 year old Behavioral Health Center. Requesting Member: Congressman Ted Poe Bill Number: H.R. 3293, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Related Agencies Appropriations Act, FY2010 Account: Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration--Health Facilities and Services Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Lamar University Address of Requesting Entity: 4400 MLK Boulevard, P.O. Box 10119, Beaumont, TX 77710 Description of Request: I have secured $350,000 in funding for Lamar University's Community and University Partnership Service (CUPS) to coordinate, plan, and promote quality healthcare for underserved populations in Southeast Texas. CUPS will provide critical access to resources and expertise for quality healthcare coupled with traditional community-based delivery systems through efficient utilization of University resources and partnerships. Requesting Member: Congressman Ted Poe Bill Number: H.R. 3293, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Related Agencies Appropriations Act, FY2010 Account: Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Training and Employment Services Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Digital Workforce Academy Address of Requesting Entity: 2209 Rosewood Drive, 1st Floor, Austin, TX 78702 Description of Request: I have secured $300,000 in funding for the Digital Workforce Academy to help retool and train individuals for the skilled and highly demanding jobs required to take on the sophisticated construction, pipe fitting, welding, and related skill sets to participate in the petrochemical infrastructure expansion occurring in Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange, TX. The Academy focuses primarily on the underserved , the overlooked, the unemployed.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, American taxpayers spend millions of dollars a year screening people who board an airplane. We check IDs and roll-on luggage. We check purses, pockets and computers, and we take off our shoes. We check everything that goes through the door. But the next attack on our country is probably not going to be because somebody is flying in an airplane. It will probably be because somebody has access to our airports and our airplanes who shouldn't. Byron Burris of WFFA in Dallas reports that the San Antonio Aerospace facility in Texas has hired 767 foreign airplane mechanics over the past 2 years without a real background check. These mechanics come from 45 countries, including Vietnam, Ethiopia, Egypt, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, Jordan, China and Sudan. These people work on American airplanes. The State Department says it does a ``criminal'' background check, but reports indicate those checks are of poor quality and sometimes are left up to a third party. We are ignoring the obvious when it comes to airline safety. Foreign workers with shady or unknown backgrounds should not have access to American aircraft. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove as cosponsors from H.R. 2469 the following Representatives: Mr. Latta of Ohio; Mr. Broun of Georgia; Ms. Foxx of North Carolina; Dr. Gingrey of Georgia; Mr. Shadegg of Arizona; Ms. Fallin of Oklahoma; Mr. King of Iowa; Mrs. Schmidt of Ohio; Mr. Issa of California; Mr. Pence of Indiana; Mr. Conaway of Texas; Mr. Kingston of Georgia; Mr. Fleming of Louisiana; Mr. Pitts of Pennsylvania.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, let me say this, that the Mayo Clinic opposes this health care bill because it's nonsense, it costs too much, and it's going to put America more in debt. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of H.R. 3288, Department of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010: Requesting Member: Congressman Ted Poe Bill Number: H.R. 3288, Department of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 Account: Federal Highway Administration Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Texas Department of Transportation Address of Requesting Entity: 125 East 11th Street, Austin, TX 78701 Description of Request: I have secured $400,000 in funding to help upgrade Loop 494 from Sorters McClellan Road through Northpark Drive in Kingwood, TX. The goal of the project is to widen the existing two-lane road into a four-lane concrete boulevard with medians, curbs and appropriate drainage similar to the look of existing streets in Kingwood. The project helps the flow of traffic on this busy road and increases safety. Requesting Member: Congressman Ted Poe Bill Number: H.R. 3288, Department of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 Account: Federal Highway Administration Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Texas Department of Transportation Address of Requesting Entity: 125 East 11th Street, Austin, TX 78701 Description of Request: I, along with Reps. Gene Green and Ron Paul, have secured $400,000 in funding to help construct a flyover ramp connecting southbound Highway 146 traffic directly to Spur 330 in Baytown, TX, which is a direct connector to Interstate 10. This project will help with improved mobility in the community and is needed especially in disaster evacuations as a result of hurricanes.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Mr. Smith from New Jersey may manage the rest of this resolution and the remainder of the Foreign Affairs resolutions.

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of this resolution, which highlights the efforts of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and its Mediterranean Partners for Cooperation. Twenty years ago the OSCE and its Mediterranean Partners for Cooperation recognized that, in an increasingly globalized world, the security challenges confronting them in their respective regions were increasingly linked. As a result, they agreed to formalize a diplomatic mechanism to facilitate closer cooperation on a range of issues, including the development of a model strategy to address 21st century security threats and improve stability in the Mediterranean region. The efforts toward this cooperation have already borne fruit, with the Partnership addressing issues such as migration and integration and exchanging information on ``best practices'' in order to develop strategies which reduce feelings of exclusion and estrangement among immigrant populations which, as we've all seen, can contain the potential to motivate some individuals to embrace extremist ideologies. I note that representatives of the OSCE and its Mediterranean Partners will meet in Washington this week to discuss further expansion of relations and to hold a dialogue on shared concerns. Dialogue on these complex but critical issues is a meaningful way to enhance the stability and economic growth of both the OSCE member-states and the countries of the Mediterranean region. I support the resolution which underlines the worthy endeavors being undertaken by the OSCE and its Mediterranean Partners for Cooperation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the administration is demanding that Congress pass nationalized health care before we go back to our districts for the August work period. They said it's urgent, that we have to do it or it will be the end of health care in America forever. That's what was said about the Wall Street bailout. Congress had to pass the Wall Street bailout in 24 hours or we were all going to die. And it passed. And it's a miserable failure. Next came the so-called stimulus bill. It was over a thousand pages long, filed in the darkness of night. Nobody had a chance to read it. We were told we had to vote on it immediately or the world would end. Well, none of that happened. The stimulus bill, too, was a disaster for our country. Hasn't Congress learned its lesson that quickly passing legislation because Presidents say so is a bad idea? Most Americans don't like this health care bill. They don't want it. It's going to raise taxes. So what's the rush? We need to get health care right instead of just getting it done. The very lives of the American people depend on it. Besides, the administration's current health care bill is a sick solution for America. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the women of Iran are standing shoulder to shoulder in the streets protesting against the rigged, corrupt Iranian elections. At least that's how it began. Now these legions of women, mostly wearing black, full-length Islamic dress, stand in defiance of their government's treatment of women. These women have shed their blood, suffered the same beatings and imprisonment as men. Some have sacrificed their very lives. In America our hearts ache as we watched the video of Neda Agha Soltan. She was shot by her own government henchmen as she walked through the streets. She bled to death in that street, a martyr for democracy in Iran. Neda was only 26 years old, but her voice still cries from the grave: ``that the people of Iran demand human rights, equality and freedom from tyranny.'' Young women like a girl named Parsia told reporters, and I quote, ``This regime is against all humanity, more specifically, against all women.'' She continues, ``Lots of girls and women in these demonstrations. They're all angry, ready to explode, scream out and let the world hear their voices. I want the world to know that as a woman in this country, I have no freedom.'' The women of Iran have a rich history of fighting for freedom. In the early 1900s, in Persia, later called Iran, Britain and Russia tried to rule Persia through a puppet government. In 1906, the Persian people fought the shah, and became a constitutional republic. They had a Congress called the Majlis to make their laws. American economic expert Morgan Shuster was appointed to that democratic government in 1911 to organize Persia's finances. At that time, members of the Majlis were threatened or were bribed by Russia, with support from Great Britain, to disband that constitutional government. Shuster wrote in his memoirs about Persian women who armed themselves and who marched on the Congress. He writes about those bold, brave women, ``Out from their walled courtyards and harems marched 300 women with the flush of undying determination in their cheeks. They were clad in their plain black robes with the white nets of their veils drooped over their faces. Many held pistols under their skirts or in the folds of their sleeves. Straight to the Congress they went.'' These ``Persian mothers, wives and daughters'' dropped their veils and waved their pistols, saying they had decided to ``kill their own husbands and sons and leave behind their own dead bodies'' if the Congress ``wavered in their duty to uphold the liberty and dignity of the Persian people and nation.'' Because of these courageous women 100 years ago, the Persian Congress stood firm in their struggle for liberty and freedom for the people. However, Russian Cossacks marched into Tehran a week later, disbanding the government by force and executing every constitutionalist they could find. History speaks to the courage and bravery of Iranian women, which goes back for centuries. It is no surprise they are again at the forefront of the struggle for human rights and dignity in Iran. The women of Iran are not the property of the government, and should not be punished because they demand equality with men. These women present a great challenge for the hard-line government. They are a force to be reckoned with, and the government knows it. My grandmother used to tell me that there's nothing more powerful than a woman who has made up her mind. Let me tell you something, Mr. Speaker: The women of Iran have made up their minds. They are not going to take it anymore. Like their sisters in freedom 100 years ago, they are not going to give into the black-booted thugs who are trying to steal freedom and human dignity from them. Iran is their country. These women are no longer going to be treated as second-class people. Woe be to those who try to stop them. The daughters of Iran have inspired the world with their bravery. Their cause is righteous. Their actions are just. May the almighty who rules the universe make them strong and courageous. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the unemployment rate is in double digits around this country. Some States have the highest unemployment rate in history. The economy is bleeding jobs because the trillion- dollar stimulus bill was a jobs disaster bill. Jobs, jobs, jobs, that's all we heard from the taxacrats as they jammed that bill through Congress. They didn't give anybody a chance to read it. They sure didn't want Members of Congress to read it. The American people didn't get to read it, and they have to suffer the consequences. But the stimulus bill did help one city, however. Washington, D.C., has the lowest unemployment rate in the country. Now, how can that be? Well, the stimulus bill stimulated government programs funded at taxpayer expense. These aren't real jobs. Government doesn't create anything. All they do is suck money out of a private economy that could create real jobs. The bureaucrats created more jobs for red tape regulating bureaucrats and forced citizens to subsidize it. All the trillion-dollar stimulus bill did was spend taxpayer money to create more government regulations, more government control, and more government bureaucrats. That's too bad. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, as a former judge who has had the misfortune of observing the life-shattering effects of crimes of sexual violence on the victims as well as their friends and families, I rise today to highlight the importance of the National Sexual Assault Hotline programs in supporting the victims in their recovery from these terrible crimes. An estimated 1 in 6 women will become a victim of sexual assault or rape in her lifetime; and the FBI ranks rape as the second most violent crime (second only to murder, which is classified as the most violent crime). According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which conducts an annual crime survey of the nation's households, we have made some progress in the fight to end sexual and domestic violence over the last two decades. But statistics also suggest that we still have much work to do: at least 200,000 Americans are sexually assaulted each and every year, and only about 40 percent of rape victims ever come forward and report the attacks against them to the authorities, according to DOJ. Research suggests that those who receive crisis intervention support and counseling services are more likely to cooperate with law enforcement in pressing charges against their attackers. That is why it is so important that we continue to support programs, such as the National Sexual Assault Hotline programs, which help ensure that rape victims (as well as their friends and family members) can receive the information and support services that are so vitally important in one's full recovery from an assault. The National Sexual Assault Hotline, accessible toll free around the clock at 800-656-HOPE, has helped more than 1.2 million callers since the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) created the telephone hotline in 1994. RAINN continues to operate this telephone hotline today, in partnership with close to 1,100 affiliated rape crisis centers located in every state and the District of Columbia, as well as thousands of volunteers across the nation. In 2006, RAINN also launched the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline, accessible at www.RAINN.org, which has helped close to 30,000 people since its inception. It is the first web-based hotline of its kind for rape victims, offering information and support to those who might be reluctant to pick up the telephone and dial for help. The online hotline, which RAINN created and operates with the assistance of staff at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. and volunteers located around the nation, is designed to reach additional populations (particularly teenagers, males, and even people living in rural, sparsely populated areas) who might not otherwise seek out necessary information and support. Our colleagues in the Senate specifically recommended $300,000 for RAINN to carry out the National Sexual Assault Hotline programs, which are federally authorized under Section 628 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, in fiscal year 2010. Appropriations leaders in this chamber, however, omitted to include a specific amount of funding for RAINN in the House version of the fiscal year 2010 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 2847). I will note, however, that the full House Appropriations Committee, during its consideration of H.R. 2847, did approve report language that is directed specifically at RAINN. This language, which is part of House Report 111-149, calls on the U.S. Department of Justice to continue supporting programs, including hotline programs, that facilitate the delivery of confidential recovery services to rape victims. The inclusion of this committee report language is significant, as it signals Congress' intention that victims of sexual violence should continue to be able to access the National Sexual Assault Hotline programs and the other programs that Congress has authorized RAINN to carry out, with the support of the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the members of the Appropriations Committee for accepting this report language, at the request of myself, Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz, and other members of this chamber. I also want to express my interest in continuing to work with the House and Senate leadership on a final version of the Commerce, Justice Appropriations Act that will ensure that RAINN receives the level of federal support that is necessary to continue operation of the National Sexual Assault Hotline programs in fiscal year 2010.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, government-run health care leads to doctor shortages, rationing of services and long waiting lines. The United States Government has been trying to run health care for the American Indians for over 200 years. And it is a miserable failure. It has resulted in medical malpractice against Native American Indians. Over the last two centuries, Members of Congress have spoken out about the way Indians are treated by the Federal Government. Among those outspoken critics include David Crockett and Sam Houston. The prime example of mistreatment today is the government-run health care for Native Americans. In 1787, the Federal Government agreed to provide for the health, safety and well-being of Indian tribes on reservations in exchange for over 450 million acres of land. The United States Government has been running Indian health care ever since. The Indian Health Services is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. They took over the Indian health care in 1954 from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Now, Indian Health Services oversee medical care for about 2 million American Indians and Alaskan Eskimos in 35 States. Last week, I talked about just a few of the tense tragic stories of some of the victims of this U.S. Government-run health care system. Like Ta'Shon Rain Little Light, the little girl who went to an Indian Health Service clinic in Montana. The doctor said Ta'Shon was just depressed. But she kept complaining to her mom that her stomach hurt and stopped eating and drinking. After going back to the same clinic 10 more times, her lung collapsed. She was then airlifted to a private children's hospital, where she was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer. She died a few days later. Ta'Shon Rain Little Light was 5 years of age. Rhonda Sandland lives on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. She had to threaten to kill herself to finally get treatment for severe frostbite on her fingers. The government health care providers wanted to cut off all of her fingers. A private doctor happened to stop by on the reservation and prevented the amputation. Instead, he prescribed the medicine that took care of the problem. And then there is Victor Brave Thunder who had congestive heart failure. The clinic at Standing Rock gave him Tylenol and cough syrup and sent him home. He died of a heart attack a few weeks later. Then there's Harriet Archambault who died when her hypertension medicine ran out. She tried five times to get an appointment to get her medicine refilled. She never got to see a doctor before she died. These are not isolated incidents. The Cheyenne River Sioux tribal officials have held hearings on their South Dakota reservation to document conditions at the Eagle Butte Indian Health Services hospital. Betty Crowe worked at the reservation hospital for years. Betty said all they could do most of the time was hand out painkillers. Others testified at that hearing that people who had appendix problems were given pain medicine and sent home until their appendix burst. Betty's own son had leukemia. He used to get his leukemia medicine through his wife's private insurance, but then he got a divorce and he lost that insurance. He couldn't pay for it by himself. And Betty said that the bureaucrats at the Butte Indian Health Services hospital wouldn't allow him to get the leukemia medicine from the Federal Government. Germaine Means says that nonmedical staff was deciding who would or would not get medical treatment. Now imagine that, Madam Speaker. In the Indian Health Services agency, a bureaucrat, not a doctor, decides who can get medical care and who doesn't. That is called ``rationing.'' On the reservations it is said, don't get sick after June because the government runs out of money and runs out of medicine. The Indian Health Service Agency itself calls their organization a ``rationed health care system.'' When the taxpayer money runs out, they can't pay for those services. So they ration. America has proven universal nationalized health care results in a rationed system of care by the way we treat the American Indians. And every nation that has tried socialized medicine has proven its results in rationing and in poor health care. There are more problems with this universal plan. To cut costs, the government solution is to pay all the private doctors the Medicare rate for their services. It's in their 1,000-page bill. They call it ``cutting medical costs.'' The main problem with that scenario is that Medicare rates don't pay for a doctor's overhead. So they run the doctors out of business. Why would anyone want to go to medical school and spend all that money just to open up a practice that doesn't pay for itself? And to make matters worse, the American Medical Association has warned us that we are losing more doctors than we are getting. Madam Speaker, we don't have to wonder what health care, run by the Federal Government, looks like. We have our own long, lamentable, sad, sick history to prove it doesn't work. Socialized medicine has the competence of FEMA, the efficiency of the post office and the compassion of the IRS, and results in medical malpractice against the American Indians. Just ask them. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, on July 20, 1969, America accomplished the greatest single technological achievement in the history of the world: Americans walked on the Moon. And on that July afternoon 40 years ago today, we all crowded around our TV sets and radios, listening to mission control in Houston, Texas. At 4:17 p.m. the distant word came from Lunar Module Flight Commander Neil Armstrong: ``Houston, the Eagle has landed.'' Shouts and cheers rang out at mission control in Houston, Texas, and spread out across the United States. Six hours later, kids in America, including me, were still up way past their bedtime. Neil Armstrong stepped down from the ladder of the lunar module in his big, bulky space suit and said: ``That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.'' He was standing on the Moon. Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin then planted the Stars and Stripes on the lunar surface. These men, along with Michael Collins who was circling in the command module, had done something unbelievable. By their achievement, they summed up the greatness of America. A country founded by bold explorers had, itself, boldly explored the universe. The Moon men proved that in America, no mission is impossible. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. POE of Texas

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.