Charlie Rangel

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the minority leader.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes. Mr. Speaker, this is a very emotional time for me, because our Speaker said that this bill is just as important as fighting the war against terrorism. I think that is a big stretch, to compare the loss of American lives at Ground Zero to the passage of this bill as being on the same level. We cannot bring back those lives at Ground Zero, but we can get another chance to give the President the authority that so many of us believe that he wants and he deserves in order to have an effective trade policy. We do not believe that under our government and the democratic way that we expect to legislate, that what we are doing is undercutting the President of the United States. We believe in our democratic world that the majority and the minority should have an opportunity to express themselves, and the fact that someone can pick up some Democratic friends in the middle of the night does not mean that the process of having bills and having hearings on bills and amendments on bills and having the people on the Committee on Ways and Means have an opportunity to discuss these things means to take away these rights, and for us to stand up for what we know is morally and legislatively right, that we are undercutting the President of the United States. If the Committee on Rules says that we cannot express ourselves, we will fight on this. But we will salute that flag just as high as anybody else. And to infer that to vote against this piece of legislation, which we have no idea where it is going in the Senate, that it is the end of the day and that we are not fighting, that we are not as patriotic as the next American, wrong. I will tell you this: This is just the beginning of our fight against terrorism, and this should be the beginning of us continuing to fight hard to maintain bipartisanship in this House and on the other side. We should not use our fight against terrorism loosely, and we should not compare the bill before us as the same thing in fighting the war against terrorism. I just hope we recognize that we can defeat this bill before us. We can vote on the motion to recommit. We can make certain that we are concerned about the rights of kids, that they do not have to be involved in working in foreign governments and labor and be abused; protecting the environment; make certain we protect the constitutional rights of the Members of the House. We can do all of those things. We can be patriots. We can be Americans and we can do these things. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin). (Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. I am, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to recommit.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I hope the worst thing that happens today on the birthday of the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) is defeat of this bill and that the rest of the day goes well for him. But the best thing that could happen for the country is that we defeat the bill and try to do it the right way. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), the minority leader. (Mr. GEPHARDT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott), a member of the Committee on Ways and Means and an active member on trade.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio). (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior), the minority whip.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to my dear misguided friend, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Roemer). (Mr. ROEMER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), a national leader.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee). (Mr. INSLEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to my good friend the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Clement).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel). (Mr. ENGEL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price). (Mr. PRICE of North Carolina asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman). (Mr. SHERMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.) Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Thurman), a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott), one of the active Members on trade. (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks and include extraneous material.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo), a gentlewoman who has worked hard over the years on trade issues.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Becerra), a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett), member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen).