Dana Rohrabacher

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to both the rule and the so-called DREAM Act. Madam Speaker, the American people are adamantly opposed to the DREAM Act because they understand that it is nothing more than mass amnesty that will undoubtedly encourage millions more to illegally immigrate into our country. Yes, we are being told by those on the other side of the aisle that this is not amnesty. But if it walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, then it is a duck. And this may be a lame duck, Madam Speaker, but it is amnesty. The DREAM Act specifically focuses on promising young foreigners a bright future if their parents choose to break the law. This will unquestionably encourage desperate parents to bring their children, perhaps millions of them, across our borders illegally. And once the children gain citizenship, their parents and other immediate family members will be put on the fast track to citizenship through family unification and then will be eligible for all the rights and services currently enjoyed by American citizens. Moreover, if an illegal immigrant happens to be a racial or ethnic minority--the vast majority, of course, of illegals are of an ethnic or racial minority--then that individual will be entitled to all the education, employment, and other preferences for minorities that are written into our Federal and State laws as soon as, of course, their legal status is granted. As a result, the DREAM Act would not only put illegal immigrants on par with American citizens but, in many cases, would put them ahead of most American citizens who are not minorities and ahead of legal immigrants as well. It is not being coldhearted to acknowledge that every dollar spent on an illegal immigrant is $1 less for our own children, for our own seniors, and for all those in our society who have played by the rules, paid taxes, and expected that their government was going to watch out for them and for their needs before bestowing privileges and scarce resources on illegals who have not played by the rules. Yes, this is the DREAM Act, all right. It is the dream of millions living outside our borders to come to our country by whatever means and partake of the health, education, and other benefits that we can scarcely afford for our own citizens. For us, the citizens and legal immigrants, who have played by the rules, worked hard to build a better home and a better life for our families, this is not the DREAM Act. This is the nightmare act. I am well aware and appreciate our Nation's immigrant heritage. We have more legal immigration into our country annually than all the other nations of the world combined. And we should be proud of this, proud that we are so generous and open. But we must be honest about how many we can absorb without hurting the lives of our citizens and, yes, those legal immigrants who came here within the boundaries of the law.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the affirmative action amnesty act, otherwise known as the DREAM Act, which we are now debating. Mr. Speaker, if this act passes, if an illegal immigrant happens to be of a racial or ethnic minority, which the vast majority of illegal immigrants are, that individual, as soon as legal status is granted, will be entitled to all the education, employment, job training, government contracts, and other minority preferences that are written into our Federal and State laws. As a result, the DREAM Act would not only put illegal immigrants on par with American citizens, but would in many cases put them ahead of most American citizens and legal immigrants. So those voting for this so-called DREAM Act are voting to relegate the position of nonminority American citizens to behind those who are now in this country illegally. This doesn't just give young illegal immigrants in-State tuition; it provides them preference in admission. This is a betrayal of our law- abiding citizens and their families in order to help people who have come here illegally. I urge my colleagues to oppose this affirmative action amnesty. I urge my colleagues to oppose this horrible example of misplaced loyalties and concerns that will help illegals at the expense of our citizens and legal immigrants. It is not being coldhearted to acknowledge that every dollar spent on illegal immigrants is $1 less that's spent on our own children, our own senior citizens, and for all those in our society who have played by the rules, who have paid their taxes and expect their government to watch out for their needs before it bestows privileges and scarce resources on illegals who have not played by the rules. This legislation not only increases the burden on our hard-pressed government programs and services, but will give foreigners who are here illegally preference over nonminority citizens, U.S. citizens. It doesn't get much worse than that. We oppose policies like the DREAM Act, and we must oppose those policies because they will serve as a magnet to those who would flock here illegally. I urge my colleagues to reject this attempt to rob our children of their dream and to vote ``no'' on this divisive and irresponsible legislation which will do nothing more than bring millions of more people across our borders illegally, only now they will bring their kids, all of them. Wake up, America. This is no dream. It is an affirmative action amnesty nightmare.

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Would the chairman yield for a question?

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, tonight this Congress passed the so- called DREAM Act. Several of us on the floor of the House said that this act would be more accurately referred to as the ``affirmative action amnesty act.'' The bill is a piece of legislation that the American people should pay close attention to, and they should see whether or not their Representatives in Congress are, indeed, representing their interests or if they are involved in supporting the interests of the people who are not citizens of this country and who have come here illegally. Now in this case, this bill would not grant amnesty to all illegal immigrants, but instead, the reason it's called the DREAM Act is because it would legalize the status of several million illegals who are young people in our country. Well, what does several million new citizens--or should we say legal residents--of our country mean to the well-being of the American people? Yes, we understand that several million young illegals now made legal in their status would certainly be their dream, but what does it do to other Americans? What is the effect? Is it a dream or a nightmare? The American people need to look and see who voted for what and who is representing whose interests here. I want to note that illegal immigration is probably one of the greatest threats to the well-being of my constituents, and they understand that. And I would think that people throughout our country understand that the quality of our education is going down, the quality of America's health care is going down, our personal security--meaning the security of our neighborhoods and our families--is going down as the criminal justice system is put under incredible strains by this massive flow of illegals into our country. By legalizing the status of 2 million younger illegal immigrants, what we are doing is making sure that those people who are considering coming to our country illegally will certainly bring their children-- all of them--with them, realizing that the chances are that if the American people see that someone's here illegally and is a young person, we now have set the precedent that we will legalize their status sometime in the future. What we are really talking about is encouraging a massive flow of illegals into our country bringing their children with them. And what will that do to the education system of our country? What will that do to the health care requirements that people now are finding that their own health care facilities are overcrowded and that the budgets for providing health care to the less fortunate are being strained to the breaking point throughout the country? This bill was done at the expense of the American people. The young people who they are helping, the young people who supposedly would be assisted in getting a college education if they go to school, they're going to have their status legalized. Yes, those people may be helped, but it is being done directly at the expense of the American people. This is about as bad as it gets when we have Members of Congress that, instead of considering what this will do, what their actions will do in harm to their own constituents, have decided just to, yes, side with those people--who are wonderful people overseas. There is no doubt about most of the young people we are talking about, and most of the illegal immigrants coming into our country are wonderful people, but their well-being--we are not being selfish by suggesting that at a time of unemployment, a time when the budgets for all of our own programs are being strained to the breaking point, that we have to take care of our own people before we encourage other people to come here illegally. I am proud that our country has a very liberal and open policy for immigration. We allow more legal immigrants into our country than any other country of the world. In fact, all of the other countries of the world combined do not permit the legal immigration into their societies as we permit into America. But if we don't watch out for our people, if we do not carefully look at this issue and try to say what is good for our people, our people will be severely damaged, and that will be the product of the DREAM Act. It will be the Nightmare Act of the American people. Perhaps the worst element of this is this bill--and I know there are many people who are suggesting that that's not true, but it is true that this bill will provide an affirmative action status for those illegals who have been legalized who happen to come from a minority background. Now, most illegal immigrants who come here are Hispanics or some other minority. Thus, if their status is legalized, all of a sudden all of the laws that give preference to minorities in the United States, all of these preferences are provided to these people who were illegal just a few days ago. We are not providing equality. What we're providing is that illegals now will take their spot at the head of the line when it comes to job training, when it comes to education and being accepted at universities. In terms of all of these types of programs in which racial preferences have been written into the law, these illegals will now have a status ahead of U.S. citizens. This is about as bad as it gets. This Congress is supposed to represent the interests of the American people. In this case, the interests of the American people were betrayed with a misplaced value system being focused on the plight of, yes, some very deserving young people--several million of them--who are here illegally. I would hope that the American people take a look closely at this vote and realize what it signifies. There are many people struggling right now in our country. Our social programs are strained to the breaking point. And yes, what happens when you legalize the status of several million young people and you make sure that these young people, many of whom are of a minority status, that they then receive the preferences written into our law for our own minority citizens? It will cause great damage to our country and to the very most vulnerable Americans that we are supposed to be representing. So tonight I would ask the American people to look closely at the vote of their Member of Congress. Was their Member of Congress representing them? Was their Member of Congress representing, and with all good intentions, but representing the interests of someone else? I would say that the illegal immigration issue is an issue that reflects that dichotomy more in our country than any of the other major issues that we face as a people. So tonight the choice is stark, and the people here have cast their vote. It is now time for the American people to hold us accountable; if we are representing their interests and the interests of the less fortunate people in our society or whether or not we are giving away scarce resources and putting our own people in jeopardy in order to perhaps attract as voters, or whatever, illegal immigrants who are coming to our society and thus attracting even more illegals to come here. And of course, now after they come here, they will make sure that they bring their entire family. And once, by the way, a young person is legalized, that young person, through family unification laws and programs, will be able to then start the action necessary to bring even more and more illegals into our country to have their status changed. Is this in the interest of the United States? Is this in the interest of the American people? I say no. And I say that the American people need to pay attention and judge us on our vote on this act tonight, the DREAM Act, which is the Nightmare Act. Let's wake up, America. Your country is being taken from you and given to somebody else.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, let me first suggest that I am honored to be here in the presence of Chris Smith, who has done so much, and Speaker Pelosi, who over the years, over these last two decades while I have been in Congress, have proven to me over and over again that they are the type of moral and honest people that I emulate and would seek to strive to meet your standards. So thank you very much for the leadership both of you have shown, and nowhere is that more evident than when it comes to our relations with China. I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1717, which urges President Obama to work for the release of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, as well as the release of all the heroic signers of Charter 08. They are now in detention and house arrest for being so courageous to put their name on a democratic document. There is nothing so low in the arena of global politics as officials of a regime who order the arrest and imprisonment of a Nobel Prize winner. Such oppressors deserve a prize of their own, a prize for arrogance and brutality. This year's prize would then go again to the Chinese leadership, who have awarded themselves this prize of infamy. More perplexing than gangsters acting like gangsters are American Government officials who insist on treating the communist dictatorship as if it is morally equivalent to democratic government, thus worthy of respect, of trust and cooperation. For 30 years, our State Department has pushed a policy of open doors, of trade and commerce with Communist China. And we have, of course, shared our technology with Communist China, invested in Communist China. We have closed factories here and opened them up in China. We have trained their young people and equipped them. And we were told that if we so outreached, that our goodwill would then civilize the brutal thugs in the Communist Chinese Party. Now that all of our jobs and factories have been sent to Communist China, they still repress their people, even Nobel Prize winners. Yet we must watch out how heavily we criticize. They might turn down our requests for loan extensions, or our CEOs might feel threatened that their factories that they put over there might be expropriated. Madam Speaker, we need to raise our voices for freedom in China and the imprisoned Nobel Prize winner. But more importantly, we need to identify the Chinese regime as a militaristic dictatorship that threatens everything we hold dear, threatens the peace of the world, and threatens all freedom-loving people in the world, and then act accordingly. Therefore, I rise in support of this resolution, joining with Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Smith and my other colleagues who know if we do not stand for these truths that our country supposedly believes in, it will come back and hurt us later. Therefore, I rise in support and urge my colleagues and the American people to wake up and stop treating China like as if we treat them well and ignore their crimes against humanity that they will change. That may be what you do when you are complaining to a democratic government and you suggest that they made a mistake, they are doing something wrong, yes, and then follow through with goodwill gestures. That is seen as weakness on the part of dictatorships. And it is about time that America stands strong and be seen as a courageous voice throughout the world for freedom, democracy, and peace, and especially as we send that message to the people of China.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, Dr. Brian Marsden directed the Minor Planet Center, MPC, at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts for nearly 30 years, where he kept track of the thousands of daily asteroid and comet observations from around the world. The responsibility of keeping track of these near-Earth objects, and potentially the fate of all humanity, could not have been in better hands than those of this capable, conscientious scientist. Dr. Marsden became interested in astrophysics at the early age of five, when his mother displayed to him that method by which eclipses could be predicted in advance. His teen years were spent calculating forecasts of astronomical phenomena--long before modern computers or even calculators were available. By the time he was an undergraduate student, he had achieved an international reputation for the accuracy of his predictions of comets and for a number of new discoveries. One of the most outstanding examples of his predictive prowess can be seen in his calculation of the return of comet Swift-Tuttle. The scientific consensus was that the comet would return in 1981, almost 120 years after it was last seen, but Dr. Marsden analyzed the available data and projected correctly that it would not return to the inner solar system until late 1992, over a decade later than previously expected. Swift-Tuttle has the longest period of any comet whose return has been successfully predicted. Dr. Brian Marsden passed away on November 18, 2010. His soaring accomplishments have made this planet a safer place, and his legacy will live on for centuries.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I would like to express my deep appreciation of the ranking member as well as the chairman now of the full committee. And again, you have heard these accolades many times, but you will be missed in the next Congress. We have worked together in a very bipartisan way to accomplish things through technology for our country and our people and the people of the world. I rise today in support of H.R. 5866. Nuclear power has been a cornerstone of American domestic energy policy for decades, and it could have had a greater positive impact had we not succumbed to irrational attacks by environmental radicals who seem to oppose any type of energy. They ended up costing us hundreds of billions of dollars for imports that we otherwise would not have needed. We now, however, have a tremendous opportunity to use the latest nuclear technology developments to produce safe, clean, cost-effective energy for our country and for the world. This bill updates America's nuclear energy research and funds those technologies that show the greatest possibilities. We are on the cusp of a new era, a new era of nuclear energy. Small modular reactors will provide safe, cost- effective electricity without the significant risks evident in the current, large-scale reactor system. The next generation of reactors will be using as fuel the waste of today's reactors. Thus America's waste storage needs will be drastically cut. Advanced, gas-cooled nuclear systems will meet industrial needs without relying on a lot of water sources, eliminating conflict over water use and leftover waste and other environmental concerns. New high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor systems will leave behind less waste, and it will be impossible for them to melt down; this, based on their pebble bed design. Investments in such innovations now will provide long-term benefits of energy production, waste disposal, and environmental stewardship; all of these enhanced by this legislation and the use of these reactors. The security implications, of course, of weaning ourselves off of foreign oil is evident to all Americans. Obviously, a sustainable long- term, domestically produced clean energy future is in the best interests of all Americans. Investing in new nuclear technologies can accomplish this and will put our country back on the path to energy self-sufficiency. One admonition, however. Powerful interests would have us waste money on old technologies like light water reactors or on nuclear fusion, which has had little demonstrable progress after decades of massive investment. So it is time for us to start building what is possible for us to build, especially when it has come so far already and is ready to go. It is for these reasons that I strongly endorse the American nuclear energy industry, and I ask all of my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 5866.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of today, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to address my colleagues about the greatest threat over the horizon, ``Made in China.'' Mr. Speaker, while focused on the deadly threat posed to our immediate safety by the forces of radical Islam, many Americans seem oblivious to the storm clouds just over the horizon. I come to the floor with a grave warning to the American people. We face a threat to our national security with complexity and global scope such as we have never experienced in this Nation's history. This threat is pervasive. It challenges our economic, political, and financial structure, as well as the security of our homeland. I have come to the floor to plead: We can no longer look at the dynamic shift in power that is taking place and console ourselves with wishful thinking. We must quit fooling ourselves that there are offsetting elements at play, that the glass can be viewed as half full or half empty. It is clear that a powerful adversary is unabashedly out to grab that glass and drain it, consume it at the expense of the American people, and leave Americans of the future in thirst of the prosperity and security which we now take for granted. And it is not only our children's future at stake. What we do as a people, as was the case of Americans before us, will determine which diametrically opposed system of governance--freedom or tyranny--will shape the world and human events for generations to come. Today, radical Islam can be, must be, and will be thwarted. Yes, it is a threat that is now upon us. Radical Islamists, however, are not only butchering Christians and Jews, but a multitude of Muslims as well. And yes, forces of modernity within the Muslim world who are themselves threatened with extermination will help us defeat this evil plague of radical Islam. Today, if we remain vigilant and if we remain engaged, we can be confident of this outcome. Yet, as I say, a greater threat is just over the horizon. I am referring to China, a dragon of immense power and insatiable appetite. This challenge will far outshadow the current battle with radical Islam. China is already engaged, already manipulating, already doing damage, already making serious moves to catapult itself into a position of preeminent power on the Earth. To them, that would simply be moving the center of the Earth back to China where it once was and rightfully should be, from their ethnocentric perception. Right off, let me assert my intention is not to be a China basher. Surprise, surprise, because I am not a China basher. China is not the regime that controls that territory, but the people who reside there. They are a people with a magnificent history and culture. Today, over 1 billion Chinese men, women, and children survive in abject poverty. They are in servitude to a small clique, a small, heavy-handed clique, a cadre. Yes. You might say a band of cronies which represents only about 2 percent of the Chinese population. That clique is kept in power by the brutality of their hacks and thugs and the deployment of technology which all too often can be traced back to Western benefactors. With modern Western-developed technologies, they have created a high-tech police state that mirrors the imagination of George Orwell in his prescient novel, ``1984.'' The Chinese regime that holds power in Beijing is a hostile force to the freedom of its own people and a threat to us. The hardworking, long-suffering, yet dignified and proud people of China, they are our allies in waiting. Our sympathy and loyalty should focus on them, the Chinese people. Their greatest hope is our greatest hope, that they will some day demand and win their own freedom and thus shift China into the family of free nations and free people. This should not only be their goal, but our goal as well. But for now, the aggressively authoritarian and murderous regime in Beijing holds power with an iron fist at home and makes alliances with gangsters and tyrants the world around. The growing power of China is obvious in the confidence and bullishness of its antidemocratic regime, in its leverage as a formidable economic competitor, and its expanding military force. All of this has been steadily assisted by our own government and by the elite captains of America's finance industry. These American tycoons still plot, scheme, and invest to make a quick buck by exploiting a massive cheap labor pool and a mega market in China. It is the same dream of a century and a half ago, when ambitious Western businessmen dreamed of ``lighting the lamps of China'' and making a fortune doing it. Only now, the fortune is being made by America's elite, but it is not benefiting our country. It is being done at the expense of the American people. The Chinese regime as of late has been masterful at manipulating the greed and avarice of Western businessmen, even as China itself continues to undermine international financial markets and hammers many of those Western corporations which have already set up there in China. Beijing maintains a massive pool of near-slave labor to even attract more foreign capital and manufacturing know-how. This is at the same time that they undervalue their own currency to secure the dominance of their exports, even as they enforce the restrictions they have placed entry into their market. This is not just symptomatic of a nation with gusto to get ahead. They are destroying the economic potential of their future competitors. So much more sophisticated than Mao, the Chinese oligarchs of today look and speak Western. They mean to eclipse our country and, yes, extinguish our ideals of democracy and individual freedom, even as the West stumbles in its retreat before this aggressive and autocratic global force. Wake up, America. We are not only losing jobs to an ever more powerful China, but we are in the process of losing our security, our prosperity, and, yes, our freedom. We are losing more than jobs. We are losing our future. Wake up, America. If eventually the United States and our great democratic experiment is defeated through the avarice and shortsightedness of grasping corporations and their bought-and-paid-for political hacks, who will be able to light the lamps of freedom, not only in China, but around the world? There is no shortage of power-mongers who would cast the world into darkness and deprivation and fear. As evil expands America is, as it has always been, the only hope for a better world, the only hope for the world's oppressed, the only hope for stability and peace. Six decades ago, Japanese militarists understood the role of America. That is why they attacked us at Pearl Harbor, so they could push us out of the picture and they could then dominate the Asia Pacific region with a greater sphere of co-prosperity and, of course, a brutally enforced stability. The Chinese strategists now see us in the same light as the Japanese planners did before World War II. The Japanese, however, only intended to dominate a large chunk of the Pacific region. Today, China's rulers seek domination not just of the Asian Pacific region, but of the world. They are positioning themselves to do just that. And what has been America's counterstrategy? Apparently, to establish economic ties that will build China's economy, thinking that with prosperity will come a new hospitable and benevolent attitude among the Chinese hierarchy. So our country club class of American businessmen have built China into an economic giant and, yes, a global power. And, of course, these captains of American industry have made big bucks for themselves, personally, as part of this effort in building China. America's corporate elite has not seemed to notice the obvious downside for their fellow Americans in sending jobs, capital, and technology to China. Maybe the brutal consequences on the rest of the American family of free people was obscured by the worst kind of wishful thinking. Elite think tanks, coffers filled by corporate giants, I might add these intellectual think tanks, intellectually claimed and have claimed that if you hug a dragon, it won't eat you. Well, the subsidized academics assured us, if we treat it nicely, it will become a warm and peaceful dragon. Well, look again. It has been decades of coddling, and it is still a dragon. It is bigger and stronger and still hungry. The frightening result of our folly and betrayal of American working people is becoming evident. In the month of February 2010 alone, the trade deficit with China was a staggering $16.5 billion. In 1984, just 25 years ago, the U.S. had a trade surplus with China. Our annual trade imbalance with China is now $227 billion and rising. Our lamp is going out. China holds the largest amount of American bonds than any nation and holds the highest percentage of our debt, and has repeatedly threatened to quietly dump those bonds and devastate our national economy if we don't comply with its wishes. What is their goal? First, of course, it is to maintain their unfair trade advantage built on near-slave labor, environmental desolation, devalued currency, and a heavily restricted access to their market, while enjoying access to our market and a continual flow of U.S. investment and technology and know-how into their country. Yet, now if we move to correct the imbalance by seeking equality and fairness in our trade policies, there will be a heavy price for us to pay. So we just let a bad situation continue to slide, even as our economy, our power, and our influence slide into an abyss. The dragon may not be a Marxist red dragon, but it is still a dragon, dangerous as hell, and will not be deterred by appeasement or cowardice. Economic vulnerability is only half of the story. On a parallel track, financed by their profits from this one-way free trade imbalance that they have enjoyed, China is engaged in an unprecedented military build-up. Communist China's military forces, which include nuclear, cyber, and space-based and conventional and terrorist components are on the rise, as our defenses are wearing thin and exhausted. In the past, we have always been able to rely on our technological superiority, ``in the past'' being the operative words in the sentence I just used. Yes, in the past we could rely on our technological superiority. Today, new China laws demand that Western companies, who are now operating in China and wish to, give up technological secrets that can be used for economic and military advantage. Our greatest asset to the future is being given away in exchange for a piece of China's market today. When we had the leverage, our financial and business elites were only looking to short-term profits and benefits for themselves, not for their country. This short-term approach ended up much shorter than expected. The other side now has the leverage, and they are making the best of it. Surprise, surprise. The Chinese elite is a murderous dragon. And, yes, they are still a dragon, and they still intend to eat our lunch. Tomorrow they will eat us. For decades, American capitalists have rushed to China with stars in their eyes and quick and easy profits on their minds, but it has been a deal with the devil, figuratively and literally. American corporations are not acting as Americans. They have been acting as greedy cowards, reflecting the worst of human aspirations, not the best. We Americans pride ourselves at being committed to noble, higher ideals. We are not just a grasping horde seeking self-enrichment. We do believe in treating people decently, and we do believe in people's individual rights given to them by God. Well, we think of ourselves that way. And then we hear that Google and other American companies have enabled the communist Chinese dictatorship to track down dissidents, who are then jailed for daring to oppose tyranny and corruption or to worship God as they see fit. Once compromised, companies like Google found themselves curtailing the free flow of information to millions of Chinese citizens, turning the Internet into a tool for repression rather than a facilitator for free expression, and, thus, a vehicle for the advancement of the human condition. To Google's credit, uncomfortable with the role that it was being forced to play, Google decided not to go along with the heavy handed plan that the Chinese regime expected them to play and to implement. At great risk to their company, Google's executives refused to go along and took a stand against repression. Yes, kudos to Google for that. Conversely, shame on the rest of the high-tech entourage who collaborated and were even used to advance tyrannical corruption. Google was not backed up, for example, by Microsoft or Yahoo Internet providers. Now China is preferring to intensify draconian laws requiring telecommunications and Internet companies to inform on customers who discuss state secrets. That term, ``state secrets,'' can be defined as anything from negative economic statistics to information on environmental calamities or references to Tibet, Taiwan, the Falun Gong, Uyghurs or anything else that would anger the dragon. The Chinese regime obviously understands its control of technology is a way to control the future. Yes, the future. Beijing's focus on space as well as electronic communications says it all. Remember, space-based assets--satellite systems--are a central component of global and national communication, with enormous implications to our own national security as well as our own prosperity. The power of commerce and political change will be determined by the control of these systems, and the freedom to use these systems will have an impact on the future of the country and the world. What happens in space will determine what happens on the ground. With that in mind, the Obama administration's decision to go along with our domestic, high-tech corporate giants and again permit American satellites to be launched from Chinese rockets is a cataclysmic betrayal of America's security, and it undermines both the future of our aerospace industry and undermines freedom on this planet. Fifteen years ago, during the Clinton years, a similar decision was made to permit U.S. satellites to be launched on Chinese rockets. We were assured by the Clinton administration that no technology would be transferred. I bought into that for a short time, then it became abundantly evident that this was a technological windfall for the Chinese regime, that President Clinton had not, as promised, secured that our technology would not be transferred. And when it became clear after the Clinton administration had made that commitment to us that there would be no transfer of technology, and when it became clear that this effort at cooperation was a colossal mistake and that technology was being transferred, no moves were made to limit the damage or shut it down. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Bernard Schwartz's contributions had some impact on President Clinton's reelection bid, meaning Bernie Schwartz was the CEO of Loral Corporation, a company heavily complicit in the illegal transfer of missile technology to China. He was also the biggest single contributor to President Bill Clinton's reelection campaign. Of course, he was not the only contributor to have a stake in this policy of sending missile technology to China. Other contributors to the Clinton campaign were traced and found to be leaders of the PLA, that's the People's Liberation Army missile program, which of course had a different name on their company and a different veneer, the veneer of a private sector and commercial company, but really it was a control company by the People's Liberation Army. I was personally involved in uncovering the initial evidence that exposed this crime, a crime that made our country vulnerable to missiles that were built with technology that had been developed right here, but the missiles were now aimed at us by a hostile power. A full scale investigation ensued. Christopher Cox led a bipartisan task force which unanimously declared our security had been compromised. Before Congress could finally put the cork in the bottle, clearly invaluable rocket secrets were in the possession of this monstrously antidemocratic dragon regime. The world's worst human abuser now had America's utmost missile technology secrets. Unlike the last time around, thanks to the help of their American corporate benefactors, now the Chinese rockets are built further along than they were back in those days 15 years ago. Right now the Chinese have rockets, thanks to our help, that are much more competitive with our own systems. Before we stepped in to help, their rocket launchers more often than not turned into fiery failures. And even if successful, Chinese rockets of 15 years ago only carried one payload per launch. Now with our gift of technology--that I might add cost the American people, the American taxpayers, billions of dollars to develop--Chinese rockets are now reliable and capable of launching multiple payloads, be they satellites or warheads. It's called MIRVing, our gift to the Chinese. No wonder they have no respect for us. No wonder they are becoming aggressive. They think we're stupid. They think we're cowards, trying to buy peace with gifts to our enemies. What else would we expect such tough guys who are in power in Beijing to think? Should they think, oh, how nice it is that the Americans are so willing to give us this power? We should be grateful, and we should be their friends because they are being so nice to us in giving us this technology that can be used for rockets and other high-tech weapons systems. Well the town of Jiuquan is in the high desert of China's occupied regime of East Turkistan. Located there is China's main space launch center. That is where its Long March rockets and commercial space and nuclear-capable ballistic rockets take off from. At the entrance to this complex at this Chinese launch area is a billboard written half in English intended for the world to see. The statement of the Chinese warlords of this Uyghur province, I might add, says, ``Without haste. Without fear. We will conquer the world.'' And, yes, America's policies and the collaborations of our corporations are helping them do just that. Instead of facing the reality of the even more powerful and increasingly hungry dragon that is right in front of our face, interest groups and power players in our country keep raising the question about what's happening with China? Are we making China into our enemy? Yes, so many Americans just love to blame ourselves every time such confrontation with tyranny occurs. During his recent trip to Asia, I half expected to hear that our President had actually bowed down to Chinese despots and apologized for the Opium Wars of 150 years ago. Now of course he didn't do that, but that is the attitude you can see reflected in people who are blaming us for any belligerency that's on the part of the Chinese, or any other enemy of the United States, I might add. This self-flagellation is of course much safer than blaming an increasingly strained relationship on the obvious badness and evil that is going on among the other guys. The obvious tyrants who murder their own people, the people who happen to be the world's worst human rights abuser. Now, maybe it's their fault, but if we blame them for it rather than blame ourselves for the current escalation of hostility that is now evident with the Chinese, we would have to deal with the threat. We have to deal with them. And that would be scary. So instead, so many Americans end up blaming ourselves or apologizing for past errors that America may have committed or may not have committed. So the answer to our question, is the Chinese regime getting more belligerent, the answer is emphatically, yes, it is getting more belligerent. Is it our fault? No. The attitude of those who rule Beijing is the manifestation of an increasing lust for power and the hubris of the clique that controls the world's most populous country with an iron fist. That is what you would expect from such tyrants. That is why our policy should not be aimed at building their strength military, economically, or any other way. Of course, the essence of what's going on has not gone unnoticed by our friends and foes overseas. The perception of American weakness, even decline, eat away at the resolve of our friends and allies even as it contributes to Beijing's cockiness. And let's admit, we are considerably weaker than we ever thought we would be. We have been bled and drained by needlessly expensive small-scale wars around the world as well as a benevolence that has us bankrolling the United Nations and shoving foreign aid out our door even as we borrow money from China. One example of this is seen in America's good-hearted participation in a global fund designed to provide the world's poorest countries support in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other insidious diseases, which kill millions of people a year. Over the 8 years of the fund's history, the United States has willingly contributed $4.3 billion--that's more than 28 percent of all the contributions to this benevolent fund--and we should be proud that we are a generous people, even if we can't afford it. Whether we can continue to be so generous as our level of deficit spending threatens to collapse our economy, now that's another question. But most significant, because of an anomaly in the funding formula, China has been one of the largest recipients of this fund. Over the last 8 years, China has been the recipient of almost $1 billion in grants. Conversely, over that same period China has only contributed $16 million to the fund. That's the fund we've given $4 billion to. I can't come up with one reason of why the American taxpayer should be underwriting the cost of China's public health system. The whole thing is a travesty. Malaria, for example, is a minor problem in China, killing about 38 individuals a year. On the other hand, malaria is a massive problem in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing over 25,000 people last year. Yet in this international fund, China was awarded $149 million to combat malaria and only $122 million went to the Congo. That's $4 million for each case of a malaria death in China while the Congo received $5,000 per person that had died. This issue needs to be addressed, but nobody of course has the guts to address it because China is getting about a billion dollars' worth of benefits, paying a pittance, while the United States pays $4 billion into this fund. What we've been doing in this case is borrowing from China to donate to a fund that gives back to China. Over the years, we then end up paying interest on the debt that's been incurred by this very transaction. Now, this is the kind of ongoing indefensible transfer of wealth from our country to China that we have faced, and we've acquiesced with this. We've put up with it for years. It's got to stop. The burdens of drawn-out commitments that we've had all over the world and the irrational benevolence--you can read that ``giveaways''--makes our Nation poorer. We're talking about it's diminishing our ability here at home to meet our needs, the needs of our own people, and to watch out for our own security because wealth is being transferred out of our country by policies that we've gone along with. We are now vulnerable after all of this to an unrestricted political, economic, and military threat by a major power like China. So China is encouraging those who would tie us down and drain our energy. This is part of their effort. They have been helping those people who have been trying to tie us down and to drain our energies and revenues and our resources. This is part of their effort to disable us by sapping our willpower, our resolve, and our resources. And as we become weaker, China's unquenchable thirst for natural resources such as oil, natural gas, and scarce minerals that are necessary for modern manufacturing, this has spurred China to become the ally, supplier, protected, and puppet master of rogue regimes on a global scale. And the Chinese planetary offensive is evident in countries like North Korea, Burma, Cambodia, Iran, and across Africa, like Sudan and Zimbabwe. Not only are their people being repressed by regimes that are tyrannical but these are regimes that have allied themselves with Beijing, which is becoming the leading--it is already the world's worst human rights abuser and it is the creator of alliances with dictators throughout the world. It's hard to miss that when China establishes an alliance with these countries what its intention is. We need to look no further than to show that China has an alliance and is providing arms with the anti- American blowhard in our hemisphere, the would-be caudillo of Latin American, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. So it's evident elsewhere. Wherever trouble and turmoil threaten U.S. interests, we can find that China has a hand in this. Nuclear weapons and missiles technology were slipped to Iran by China via North Korea and Pakistan, and they have added a dangerous instability to the Middle East. In light of this, there should be no mystery as to why China in the United Nations and in other international forums has opposed stronger and enforceable sanctions against Iran and North Korea. North Korea's sinking of a South Korean naval patrol ship not that long ago, there was a loss of 46 South Korean sailors, and it was publicly treated as a nonevent by Beijing, although it's right there in its backyard. In fact, North Korea's eccentric dictator, who probably could not be in power without Chinese support, was given an official heroes' welcome in China just days after it sunk a South Korean ship, which cost the lives of 46 South Korean sailors. More recently, China has bullied Japan over the control and sovereignty of islands that are not even close to its shores. While it was doing the bullying of Japan, our great ally, the United States was warned by China to butt out and stay away from those islands. ``Aggressive'' and ``belligerent'' are words that come to mind when you're trying to analyze what's the nature of the Chinese regime in these situations. And then there is, of course, Pakistan with its ``Islamic bomb.'' Never forget the Pakistanis are in a strategic partnership with China even while we give them billions of dollars to bolster Pakistan's terminally ill economy. The Chinese gave Pakistan critical nuclear weapons technology. This is insanity. We are borrowing more from China to give to Pakistan, which is an ally of China, even as Pakistan builds its Islamic bomb with the help of China and continues to help the Taliban, who are at this moment killing U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. Wake up, America. We can't continue with this kind of insanity. The opening by Iran of a new missile production plant in March of 2010 enabled Iran to quickly expand its supply of NASR anti-ship missiles. Yep, it was another China deal. Not long after that, a Hezbollah-Iranian cruise missile knocked out an Israeli ship. Aha. Yes, another gift from China. And what is the response of the Obama administration to all these transfers of lethal weapons of mass destruction by China to rogue nations? Well, there have been no penalties imposed, even on the state-owned Chinese companies that are conducting these weapons transfers. Even worse, Washington is again considering letting Chinese rockets launch U.S. satellites. I guess they need to upgrade their system so they can pass even more updated weapons on to their criminal buddies. China's increasingly aggressive and threatening foreign policy are matched at home by severe repression. Millions of religious believers in China are facing increased not decreased oppression. The abuse is indiscriminate, whether they are Christians, Tibetans, Buddhists, Muslims. The most savage treatment, of course, is dealt out to the Falun Gong members. Falun Gong are just yoga and meditation practitioners. They've been tortured, thrown into prison camps, slave labor camps. They have been murdered and their organs have been cut out and sold by the Chinese health industry to the highest bidders, many of whom are Americans. This is the most ghoulish of all repressions. And it continues with devastating intensity. Then again, maybe all this evil is due to the fact that we Americans are just so belligerent to the Chinese. What? Yes, some people want to blame us, so let's reach out to the dragon, not with a clenched fist but with an open hand, with a positive attitude and, most of all, with kindness, not hostility, and with lots of investment money as well, of course, and with lots of technology and secrets. Give me a break. Wake up, America. This has got to stop. This nonsense has led to some of America's military's top commanders to misguidedly welcome China's military leaders to visit our own defense centers and our own international defense forums with our Asian Pacific allies and to permit Chinese military personnel to observe our military exercises. One can only guess that the strategy behind this outreach and inclusion is the idea that it will somehow charm the Chinese into thinking of us as their friends, not as their rivals. Hug a dragon and it won't be a dragon. Well, is it not evident that the very existence of our democracy is what intimidates and enrages the Chinese antidemocratic dictatorship as with all of these dictatorships in the past? It is certainly not a comparison of how many ships we have and airplanes we have as compared to theirs, which has brought on this animosity from Beijing. Beijing knows that the United States has no intention of attacking them. However, like the Japanese before World War II, they know that America is the only power with the courage and the ability to stand between them and their goal, which is one of total domination of a large segment of the world and a heavy-handed influence on the rest. Perhaps the worst aspect of this looming security crisis is that China's aggressive military modernization has been made possible by its rising trade surplus with the United States. We have unintentionally financed their economy and have built their economy at the expense of jobs and manufacturing at home, and they are using the residual profits from their economic transactions with us to build weapons, very good weapons--better weapons than we may have available to us in the future. Their intent is to back us off and to destroy us as a dynamic force in the world. In 1998, the People's Liberation Army's publishing company openly published a book that is publicly available, called ``Unrestricted Warfare.'' The strategist's guidelines in that book called for using economic destabilization, computer viruses, information deception, terrorism, and devastating modern military weapons, including biochemical and nuclear weapons. Among those things highlighted in this Chinese strategy book were two individuals--Osama bin Laden and George Soros. Bin Laden was cited because terror and guerilla groups historically are thought to have bled empires to the point that they could be defeated by a rival power. Soros was lionized because he had mastered the art of manipulating the currencies of countries around the world, from England to Malaysia to Thailand, thus dramatically weakening those countries. The People's Liberation authors in that book openly stated that, if individuals could accomplish such things, then China, as an emerging power with focused strategic weapons in cyber and deep space, could bring down and defeat a great power such as the United States. The greatest threat to America's future generations may well be the high-tech strategic and exotic weapons China will possess as a result of advances made in recent years. China's strategic economic position should also be noted with alarm. Global competition over scarce natural resources is intensifying. Armed with advanced weapons and flush with money earned from its American trade imbalance, Beijing has been allying with, buying off and bribing the gangster regimes of the underdeveloped nations of the world, and these same regimes, of course, control the rich energy and finite mineral resources in their countries. These are not the actions and maneuvers of a government that wants to be part of the world's trading system, that wants to be part of the Family of Nations. These are the actions and maneuvers of a tyrannical dictatorship that is striving to dominate the world in alliance with other dictatorships. Do you think that such people might sink so low as to bribe the decisionmakers at the World Trade Organization or at the United Nations? When you hear people say that we should solve these issues, that we must always go multilaterally and come at world peace via part of an international effort, just remember it takes American courage to stand up. If we try to go through the World Trade Organization or the United Nations, we are going to find out someday that the Chinese have bribed those people in the World Trade Organization and in the U.N. If they haven't done it already, they will do it in the future to protect their international acquisitions in Asia, Africa, and South America. China's People's Liberation Army is certainly a threat, but the Navy that it is building is also a threat because China is building a lethal surface ship and submarine flotilla. They are making outlandish claims now while at the same time building up their fleet for the right to control large ocean areas, like the entire South China Sea. Their naval forces are beginning to have routine patrols around the world's most vital sea lanes and communication and trade lanes. Indeed, between 1987 and 2009, while the U.S. submarine force was cut in half, China's Navy commissioned 31 new attack submarines. Their new model diesel subs are nearly undetectable by U.S. and allied naval forces, and they are deploying a new missile that can take out a U.S. aircraft carrier 900 miles away. Nevertheless, on February 19, 2009, The New York Times reported that U.S. Pacific Commander Admiral Keating offered the U.S. Navy to assist China in learning how to operate its own aircraft carriers. Boy, that's going to make the world safer. We're going to teach them how to run their aircraft carriers. Worth noting, a senior Chinese military officer proclaimed that once the Chinese get their aircraft carriers that the United States can claim Hawaii east, and China will take Hawaii west and the Indian Ocean. ``Then you will not need to patrol the western Pacific anymore,'' he said. How nice. This while we are reducing our own fleet. They are telling us to stay out of a certain area of the world and to stay out of it while they are bullying Japan over some islands in the middle of nowhere. Tomorrow, they are going to declare that they have the rightful domination of over half of the Pacific. Wake up, America. Don't just look to the ocean for the threat. Look up. Space, the high ground of any future conflict, will soon no longer be our domain, America's domain. It is already now no longer our domain, obviously. China is aggressively moving forward, yes, in the exploration of space but also in space-based and related weapons systems. In 2006, for example, the U.S. Department of Defense reported that China used a ground-based laser to blind certain U.S. satellites. In January 2007, the People's Liberation Army successfully used an antisatellite missile to intercept a weather satellite. They've blown their satellites out of orbit without any care for the fact that they left heavy debris that threatened all other space activity in that area of space. No need to complain, of course, because these guys aren't listening. China's supposed civilian space program has made spectacular gains. Much of it can be traced back to the tech transfer that happened during the Clinton administration, which has now been incorporated into China's rockets and its missiles. Again, if our aerospace is at risk, blame us. Don't blame them. We gave them the technology. But we can blame them for commissioning hundreds of spies who have penetrated U.S. defense companies and agencies to steal the blueprints and charts needed to enhance their weapons systems. They have a monstrous organized effort for attacking and stealing America's technological secrets by breaking into our computer systems. Yes, we can blame them for that, but we just keep inviting them to observe our military exercises and--oh, yes--teaching them how to use aircraft carriers. Today, almost every part of the western and central United States is under the potential threat of the increased capability of China's weapons systems. We have given them our secrets. By agreeing to a trade policy that has been unfair, uneven, and a drain on America's wealth and technology, we have provided them the resources to use this technology, to expand and to modernize their own military. By agreeing to a trade policy that has been unfair, uneven, and a drain on America's wealth and technology we have provided them the resources to use this technology and to expand and modernize their own military. Such stupidity is nothing new. Before World War II, there was an effort by the Brits to invest in Hitler's Germany to build economic ties that would prevent conflict. Boy, did that work. And it wasn't just Britain's deal where they betrayed Czech security that convinced Hitler that the West was gutless. It was also British money invested in his country in the 1930s. We gave the Japanese scrap metal and oil even as they raped China. Eventually the Japanese mayhem in China was too much, even for American capitalists. Not enough, however, to discourage corporate interests from negotiating the sale of, for example, B-17 blueprints to Japan as late as 1940. They never consummated that deal because the attack on Pearl Harbor shortened those negotiations. Today, we're giving the Chinese our genius and the benefit of our R&D worth billions of dollars, and it's deja vu all over again. Foreign and U.S. satellite operators are maneuvering to loosen the security export controls on the launching of advanced communications satellite systems on PLA--that's People's Liberation Army--controlled rockets and then the companies that make those rockets. Oh, yes, China is offering 30 to 50 percent below market price in order to attract those launches. I wonder why. They must just want to do us favor, or maybe they just remember the last time they made such agreements with American companies and ended up with billions of dollars of American technology that they now have to use against us. What a great deal. Our big companies make a couple of hundred billion dollars in profit by cooperating with the Chinese rather than launching with U.S. companies. Certain CEO's add a couple million dollar bonuses to themselves for providing short-term savings, and that savings comes from using Chinese rockets. The Chinese end up with access to defense- related research and development that costs the taxpayers billions of dollars. The Chinese have new technologies to defeat us in the future. We have short-term profit and big bonuses for our CEO's in the present. What a deal. It's a raw deal for the American aerospace industry and for our children's safety, and it will put us in jeopardy by using our own technology to put us in jeopardy. Let me be clear. Letting the Chinese launch U.S. satellites is wrong. Such launches will put money in the pockets of the People's Liberation Army to facilitate their own aggressive space programs. It will help the People's Liberation Army perfect its missile technology, and it will strangle in the cradle the private launch companies that are now emerging in the United States, which will then leave us totally dependent on China for space transportation. To accomplish this nefarious goal, launching U.S. satellites on Chinese rockets, the U.S. law will have to be changed in order to accomplish that. One way for this to be accomplished is for the Obama administration, like the Clinton administration before, to sign a Presidential waiver of the Tiananmen Square human rights sanctions. Don't miss one crucial fact. The Chinese national space program apparatus is owned and controlled--it's not a private group like in the United States, like Boeing--it is controlled by the People's Liberation Army. Their profits go to the People's Liberation Army. The three main Chinese space entities are all under People's Liberation Army control. All three of these have been repeatedly sanctioned by the U.S. government for proliferation of missile technologies to countries including Iran and Pakistan. Wake up, America. They are planning to play us for suckers like they already have in the past. Well, they are trying to play us that way because we're acting that way. This shouldn't even be an issue except, of course, the Chinese have the best lobbyists in Washington, the best lobbyists money can buy, and they've also got the lobbyists from U.S. corporations who are working with them, doing their bidding. And even better, they can buy off the so-called think tanks. What we've got is money from these corporations doing business in China who are putting that money into think tanks, which then come and testify before Congress about different policies that would, of course, affect whether or not we make decisions like the one I'm talking about. And who's left out, of course? What we're talking about is the American worker who has been put permanently out of work and the American people who are now in jeopardy. So now the Chinese are using their excessive profit to buy influence here at the expense of the American people. Wake up, America. A critical event of the cold war was China's repositioning, which put them in friendly relations with the United States and against the Soviet Union. Later when I worked for President Reagan, it was hoped that direct communication and economic ties would result in a permanent, positive change that would better the lives and freedom of the Chinese people. Unlike his predecessors or those who came later, Reagan understood that peace would only be furthered if freedom was simultaneously expanded as we increased economic activity. Reagan made it clear as he visited China in 1985. I worked with him on those speeches. I actually know very well what the message was of the speeches that Reagan gave in China. If China continued to open up politically and to liberalize, America would keep its markets open and would be investing and trying to uplift the Chinese people. In 1989, the Tiananmen Square massacre of the Chinese democracy movement was the tipping point. President Reagan, who was committed to human rights and democracy, was no longer President. President Reagan's successors have not been so committed to human rights and democracy. The Chinese ruling clique paid no serious price for this brutal, monstrous atrocity against the democracy movement at Tiananmen Square. Neither President Bush nor Clinton did anything even as the Chinese Communist Party retrenched themselves in power with blood and steel and murder. And since Tiananmen Square, the repression in that country has gotten worse and worse and worse, not better, and we've continued acting like buddies. That's our offensive, our buddy offensive. Our policies have not been reformed. Our policies have not reformed the tyrannical system in China. In fact, we have expanded it because they have come to believe they can do anything to their own people, repression, build any kind of military threat, and we will still grant them economic policies that will enable the wealth to flow in their direction, even as it is unfair to our own people. China is a Frankenstein monster of our own making, a monster that now threatens the world peace, economics, and democratic evolution. One would think as this threat becomes ever more clear that there would be some change in our policy, but no, the insanity continues. Not long ago, there was a highly publicized visit to China by Secretary Hillary Clinton, who brought a legion of reporters with her to the Shanghai World Fair. Secretary Clinton proudly showed them an American exhibition hall built with $60 million in contributions from American corporations. How nice--the companies paid to build an exhibition hall. Unfortunately, it was so vapid and uninspiring without a hint of love of democracy and freedom that reflects the core values of the American people. No, the so-called charity's leader of that pavilion, who built that hall in Beijing, Frank Lavin, explained why there wasn't any reference to freedom or democracy, ``We're not trying to be provocative'' or ``insulting'' to the Chinese viewers, he said. What does all that say about us? What does it say about them? Secretary Clinton, being as uninspiring as she is, pointed out that the world's fair was introducing America to the world as a rising power, according to our Secretary of State. This world's fair is a coming out party also for China. Well, it is really of historical significance, she said. Yeah, it is of historical significance. It's basically saying that America doesn't care about freedom and democracy. China is coming out, that's right. A new style of 21st century tyranny is being created with Chinese characteristics that fuses the control mechanisms of Communism with corporate funding and high-tech savvy. The leadership of this potential juggernaut has global ambitions and is ruthless and persistent. We need to undo any optimistically generous policies that have been giving away our industrial base and transferring resources and power to China. Most importantly, however, through our actions we must reaffirm to ourselves and to the world our commitment to the ideals that made this country strong and democratic, a role model for humanity, regardless of culture or language. Advocates of our current China policy promised peace and mutual prosperity and the expansion of freedom as China grew stronger. Yet the stronger China has become, the more repressive it has gotten. We thought we were creating a peaceful new member of the international community. But instead we've shifted power to a government that remains the world's worst human rights abuser, repressing its own people while building its military and making aggressive claims on boundaries and territorial waters that threaten its neighbors, as well as the flow of international commerce through long-established shipping lanes. Exchanges, like the World's Fair exhibits, were supposed to promote U.S. values. Investment in Chinese manufacturing was supposed to have led to liberalization of their society. Where are the reforms? Where are the benevolent liberals who were going to democratize China? You know where they are? They're in jail. They're in prison, or they've been murdered by the regime. They sit in cells right next to uncompromising religious leaders, believers, and the Falun Gong practitioners. Crackdowns on dissent, religious freedom, and free speech have escalated in Tibet; missiles facing Taiwan have grown to more than 1,400 in the past few years; and the cyberdestabilization on a global scale is often traced back to the Chinese military facilities. These things should be alarm bells for all people who want peace and believe in freedom. This is an enemy who has no shame and, perhaps, as we show weakness, has no fear. It is an enemy that hates religion and sees freedom and human rights as an anarchistic evil that needs to be obliterated. This is the threat over the horizon, a dragon which has been made stronger, more aggressive, and more hungry as a result of misguided American policies. Those policies must be changed. We must have the resolve to meet this evermore and present challenge. China is not the only society that honors its ancestors and forefathers. We must respect the sacrifices and legacies for all those brave Americans who worked, struggled, fought, and often perished for our freedom, for liberty, for justice, for the rights of every person. These principles are what not only bind us together as a people but bond us with people of every land, especially those people in China and others who are oppressed by dictators, those people who long for freedom. It is their success in reforming and transforming their country, in throwing off their chains of oppression, and in doing so, they will free us from the threat of a powerful dragon country as they create a peaceful and a democratic and prosperous country with which we can trade and have equal and positive relations. If we have courage and stand tall, the next century will not be the century of China. It will be the century of free people, technologically united throughout the globe, united in respect for the rights of people everywhere and committed to respecting each other and the building of a more peaceful, prosperous, and free world.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. I rise in support of S. 3729. The NASA authorization before us is a step in the right direction. It provides for an initial shift in human spaceflight from being an exclusive endeavor run by and controlled by bureaucrats or other government employees and moves us toward entrepreneurial, cost-effective, and commercial-based alternatives. This legislation stimulates efforts within the private sector to develop and demonstrate safe, reliable, less costly, and more capable space transportation to and from low-Earth orbit. At the same time, it enables NASA to focus on Discovery and sending humans to explore the far reaches of the space frontier, and this bill increases NASA research and technology development. It should be viewed as enabling legislation because it will enable America in the decades ahead to be the world's leading space faring nation. To achieve this, NASA must not just be a government program but also a catalyst for scientific research, technological development, and the exploration of the solar system and the universe beyond. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation and, of course, my admiration for Ranking Member Ralph Hall and, yes, for the great leadership that we have seen in this endeavor by Chairman Bart Gordon. This bill is a workable compromise for those of us in the committee who had different views on what direction America's space program should go. This compromise does justice to the various opinions from people who are involved in this policy debate. Of course this is the type of fairness that Chairman Gordon is known for, and thus we have been able to get together and to put forth a piece of legislation that is the best possible legislation that we could have actually enacted. That is due to the leadership of Chairman Gordon, and we thank him for his long career of leadership of this kind.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. I rise in support of the resolution. I think that the Chinese clique that dominates that country has not only mistreated its own people, because they are the worst kind of tyrants one can imagine, but they have also been treating the American people in a malicious way as well. The fact is that we have adopted policies that are very positive toward the Chinese and the Chinese Government that have been to the detriment of the people of the United States. We have permitted a one- way free trade policy. We have permitted a lack of access to their markets while they have total access to our markets. We have put up with the wholesale theft of American technology. And, yes, we have put up with the fact that they have manipulated their currency in a way that ensures the flow of wealth into their society as opposed to an equal relationship that would benefit both countries. What we have to do is decide are we going to permit the clique that runs China to continue to do great damage to the people of the United States of America, or are we going to provide some sort of action that we can take if they are manipulating the currency in a way that shifts the wealth from our society and the jobs from our society and transports them to China? And let me note this. In a dictatorship like China, we are not talking about wealth that is raising the standard of living of their people. We are talking about wealth that, in the end, is manipulated and controlled by a clique of gangsters who are the worst human rights abusers in the world. And what are they doing with this profit that they make from this unfair trade relationship and manipulation of currency? They are building a military, a modern military based on technology that they have stolen from us and an unfair trade relationship that we have acquiesced to over the years. It is about time we have legislation that will at least prevent them from manipulating the currency and give us an alternative action that we can take to try to prevent the manipulation of currency on the part of the Chinese. So I rise in support of this resolution.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, the Vietnamese government is nothing but a gaggle of thugs and gangsters who exploit, control and profit from the labor of the Vietnamese people and the theft of that nation's natural resources. The Hanoi dictatorship regularly imprisons, tortures and executes Vietnamese citizens who challenge the government/mafia's rule. As in all countries ruled by a communist party religious believers are persecuted most severely because those who align themselves with a higher authority than the mob in the capitol are its greatest threat. More than two years ago, I placed a list of the political prisoners then being held by the government of Vietnam in the Congressional Record. I am sorry to say that the list of political prisoners now being held in Vietnam has actually grown over the last twenty-four months. Vietnam has benefited immensely from growing US-Vietnam ties in the 15 years since relations were resumed, but the relationship has not in any way, shape, or form been a two-way street. Vietnam remains a one-party state that restricts freedom of association and assembly, controls religious and labor organizations, bars independent media, obstructs free speech and harshly prosecutes its most prominent public critics. In advance of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long, Ha Noi on October 1st, I call on the Vietnamese ruling elite to release all political and religious prisoners immediately and unconditionally. And I urge the State Department to re-designate Vietnam a ``Country of Particular Concern'' for its gross violations of human rights and religious freedom. I have attached a new List of Political and Religious Prisoners Who are Still Detained. The List of Political and Religious Prisoners Who Are Still Detained 1. Truong Van Duy, life sentenced, then reduced to 20 years, has been in prison for 14 years, the Campaign the Red Jacaranda of Hoang Viet Cuong, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 2. Le Van Tinh, over 70 years old, member of People Action Party of Vietnam (PAP), Advisory Board member to Unified Buddhist Church, arrested 25/01/1995, sentenced to 20 years, has been in prison for 14 years in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 3. Do Van Thai, sentenced to 17 years, has been in prison for 11 years, has HIV/AIDS, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 4. Nguyen Huu Cau, life sentenced, has been in prison for 34 years, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 5. Nguyen Van Hoa, nearly 70 years old, sentenced to 20 years, has been in prison for 18 years, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 6. Nguyen Van Trai, sentenced to 16 years, has been in prison for 14 years, has stomach bleeding, weakness, cerebrovascular disease, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 7. Nguyen Long Hoi, nearly 70 years old, life sentenced, then reduced to 20 years, had been in prison for 13 years, then escaped and was arrested in 2010, now has to be in prison for 7 years, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 8. Nguyen Tuan Nam, member of People Action Party of Vietnam (PAP), sentenced to 19 years, has been in prison for 14 years, has cerebrovascular disease, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 9. Tran Van Duc, member of the Free Vietnam Organization (FVO), near 60 years old, sentenced to 11 years and has been in prison for nearly 11 years, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 10. Nguyen Xuan No, sentenced to 8 years, has been in prison for 4 years, political prisoner in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 11. Tran Van Thieng, 75 years old, sentenced to 20 years, has been in prison for 19 years and 6 months, has chronic kidney stage 3 and prostatic disease, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 12. Bui Dang Thuy, nearly 60 years old, member of People Action Party of Vietnam (PAP), sentenced to 18 years, has been in prison for 13 years, has severe lung disease, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 13. Nguyen Van Canh, nearly 60 years old, sentenced to 13 years, has been in prison for 5 years, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 14. Do Thanh Nhan, 84 years old, sentenced to 20 years, has been in prison for 18 years, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 15. To Van Hong, nearly 60 years old, sentenced to 13 years, has been in prison for 11 years, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 16. Danh Huong, Cambodian-Vietnamese prisoner, sentenced to 17 years, has been in prison for 11 years, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 17. Pham Xuan Than, life sentenced, has been in prison for 14 years, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 18. Nguyen Hoang Son, sentenced to 12 years, has been in prison for 11 years, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 19. Huynh Anh Tu, member of the Free Vietnam Organization (FVO), 42 years old, sentenced to 13 years, has been in prison for 10 years, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 20. Huynh Anh Tri, member of the Free Vietnam Organization (FVO), 38 years old, sentenced to 13 years, has been in prison for 10 years, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 21. Nguyen Ngoc Phuong, member of the Free Vietnam Organization (FVO), 45 years old, a Vietnamese living in Cambodia, sentenced to 13 years, has been in prison for 10 years, in Camp 1, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 22. Nguyen Van Trung, over 60 years old, sentenced to 20 years, has been in prison for 18 years, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 23. Huynh Anh, sentenced to 8 years, has been in prison for 6 years, in Camp 2, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 24. Au, was arrested in recent day and was in court at Lam Dong, Dong Nai province. 25. Kim, was arrested in recent day and was in court at Lam Dong, Dong Nai province. 26. Huyen, was arrested in recent day and was in court at Lam Dong, Dong Nai province. 27. Phuong, was arrested in recent day and was in court at Lam Dong, Dong Nai province. 28. Vu Hung, sentenced to 20 years, had been in prison for 11 years, escaped and was arrested. 29. Do Thanh Van, sentenced to 20 years, has been in the prison for 12 years. 30. Pham Ba Hai, sentenced to 5 years, has been in the prison for 4 years. 31. Huynh Buu Chau, about 58 years old, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province was arrested in 1999 in Cambodia, sentenced to 11 years, and will be released on 9/9/10, in Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 32. Ho Long Duc, member of the Free Vietnam Organization (FVO), sentenced to 20 years, has been in the prison for 12 years, in Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 33. Van Ngoc Hieu, sentenced to 20 years, has been in the prison for 12 years, hasn't had anyone who visits, escaped from the Camp B34 but was arrested. 34. Le Kim Hung, member of the Free Vietnam Organization (FVO), sentenced 20 years, has been in the prison for 12 years, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 35. Truong Quoc Huy, 29 years old, sentenced to 6 years, has been in the prison for 4 years. 36. Tran Quoc Hien, lawyer, the spokesman to The United Workers and Famers Association (UWFA), sentenced to 5 years, has been in the prison for 3 years, in Bo La prison camp, Binh Duong province. 37. Son Nguyen Thanh Dien, member of the Free Vietnam Organization (FVO), has USA Green Card, returned to Vietnam, was arrested and sentenced to 17 years, has been in the prison for 12 years, in Xuan Loc prison camp, Dong Nai province. 38. Nguyen Van Phuong, sentenced to 17 years, has been in the prison for 12 years, in Xuan Loc prison camp, Dong Nai province. 39. Tran Hoang Giang, sentenced to 16 years, has been in the prison for 12 years, in Xuan Loc prison camp, Dong Nai province. 40. Truong Minh Duc, journalist, camp 4. 41. Tran Tu, life sentenced, has been in the prison for 17 years, has USA Green Card, in Nam Ha prison camp. 42. V. Van Thanh Liem, 60 years old, Hoa Hao religious prisoner, sentenced to 6 years and 6 months. 43. V. Van Dien, 71 years old, Hoa Hao religious prisoner, sentenced to 7 years, has been in the prison for 5 years. 44. Nguyen Thanh Phong, Hoa Hao religious prisoner, sentenced to 6 years. 45. V. Van Buu, Hoa Hao religious prisoner, sentenced to 7 years. 46. Mai Thi Dung, Vo Van Buu's wife, sentenced to 11 years, is severe sickness, Hoa Hao religious prisoner, Camp 4, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 47. Nguyen Van Tho, 72 years old, sentenced to 7 years, Hoa Hao religious prisoner, Camp 4, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 48. Duong Thi Tron, Nguyen Van Tho's wife, 72 years old, Hoa Hao religious prisoner, Camp 4, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 49. Le Van Soc, sentenced to 6 years, was arrested in 2006, Hoa Hao religious prisoner, Camp 4, Xuan Loc prison, Dong Nai province. 50. To Van Manh, sentenced to 6 years, was arrested in 2006, Hoa Hao religious prisoner. 51. Nguyen Van Thuy, sentenced to 5 years, was arrested in 2006, Hoa Hao religious prisoner. 52. Doan Van Duyen, member of The United Workers and Famers Association (UWFA), arrested 12/04/07, sentenced to 4 years, in camp prison B5, Bien Hoa, Dong Nai province. 53. Tran Van Thiep, arrested in 2007, lived in An Giang province. 54. Nguyen Van Hai, nick name ``Blogger Dieu Cay'', sentenced to 2 years and 6 months, political prisoner (but was arrested with the reason announced by court: ``did not pay tax'') 55. Nguyen Van Ngoc, 51 years old, arrested in 2007, sentenced to 5 years. 56. Nguyen Van Phong, born in 1975, member of Progressive Party, arrested in 03/29/07, sentenced to 6 years, has been in the prison for 3 years and 5 months, in K3, Camp 5, Yen Dinh, Thanh Hoa province. 57. Nguyen Binh Thanh, born in 1955, member of Progressive Party, arrested on 3/30/07, sentenced to 5 years, has been in the prison for 3 years and 5 months. in Z30A, K4, Xuan Truong, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai province. 58. Tran Khai Thanh Thuy. 59. Pham Thanh Nghien. 60. Le Cong Dinh, the President of Dremocratic Party of Vietnam. 61. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc. 62. Le Thanh Long. 63. Tran Anh Kim, member of Dremocratic Party of Vietnam. 64. Nguyen Tien Trung, member of Dremocratic Party of Vietnam. 65. Pham Van Viem, translated the book ``Che Do Phat Xit'', arrested many times and escaped, living in Bulgaria for 7 years and was arrested back to Vietnam in 12/97, in camp 615, Kim Giang, Thanh Xuan, Ha Noi (link: http://www.daiviet.com/ archive/findex .php/t-92220.html.) 66. Le Id Tue, politically refugeed in Campodia, missing since 5/7/07 (according to Nguyen Thu Tram, Le Tri Tue was arrested by the police of Phuong 3, Phu Nhuan district, Hochiminh city.) 67. Pham Van Troi, 41 years old. 68. Vu Hung, teacher, 44 years old. 69. Tran Duc Thach. 70. Nguyen Xuan Nghia, the writer, 61 years old. 71. Ngo Quynh, university student, 26 years old. 72. Nguyen Manh Son, 67 years old. 73. Nguyen Van Tinh, 68 years old. 74. Nguyen Van Tuc, 46 years old. 75. Nguyen Kim Nhan, 61 years old. 76. Duong Kim Khai, arrested on 8/10/10 at Chuong Bo Church, 37/6 Cau Ong Ngu, Binh Thoi St, phuong 28, Binh Thanh district, Hochiminh city. 77. Nguyen Van Dal, lawyer. 78. 140 prisoners of ``Tay Nguyen'' and ``Dega'' in K1, K2, K3, Nam Ha Camp, Ba Sao, Kim Bang, Nam Ha province.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 1219, expressing support for the designation of September as National Child Awareness Month. As schools across America reopen their doors this autumn, we pay special recognition to the charities and support groups who have made immeasurable contributions to America's children in the areas of education, health, social services, sports, arts and character development. As a father of triplets, I know firsthand the challenges associated with childhood development and the importance of having a strong support system to help guide our children into the 21st century. This September, National Child Awareness Month will serve as a reminder that all individuals, regardless of their status as an educator or parent, can play an important role in the development of our youth. The growth of our children does not stop at the school house gates. In my district, the Festival of Children Foundation has been a leading advocate for improving the lives of children through social development. Through the efforts of organizations like the Festival of Children Foundation, an increasing number of our youth are reaching their potential, and achieving the possible dream. Sandy Segerstrom Daniels, a leading business professional and children's advocate founded the Festival of Children in 2002 as a center for charities to come together and collaborate. The Segerstrom family is a well- respected family in Orange County. The story of the Segerstrom family is the quintessential American Dream. The family emigrated from Sweden near the turn of the last century and began a lima bean farm in Costa Mesa. Their success was no mistake--their hard work and dedication eventually led to a successful business that allowed them to give back to the same community that made their success possible. And they did so with incredible generosity. Among the Segerstroms' many contributions to Orange County are the Orange County Performing Arts Center, South Coast Plaza, and Segerstrom High School. The Festival of Children Foundation exemplifies the best of not only the Segerstrom family, but of Orange County--a county they helped build. Orange County, California is identified by many as a conservative county. As such, Orange County is a family-based community where individuals believe in helping one another--where people reach into their own pockets to invest in the wellbeing of its youth and others who are at-need. For these selfless acts, we all owe a debt of gratitude for the immeasurable achievements made by the Festival of Children Foundation, Nancy Segerstom Daniels, and all charitable organizations that positively impact the lives of America's youth. I am hopeful the goals and ideals National Child Awareness Month will not only be recognized this September, but every month of the year, as the fate of our nation relies on each succeeding generation.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Yes, there are snowballs in hell. I rise in support of amendments 4 and 5. I do so with a heavy heart, as I deeply appreciate the Americans whose lives are in danger in Afghanistan. They are there to protect us against the radical forces of Islam, which used Afghanistan as a base of operations that led to the slaughter of 3,000 Americans on 9/11, which is almost 9 years ago. After that vicious attack on our civilian population, yes, we cannot let down our guard. However, that does not mean rubberstamping any military operation, even if it does not have a chance of success. I have been engaged in Afghanistan since the 1980s, and I can state emphatically that if we continue our present strategy in Afghanistan, we will not succeed, and America will eventually be weakened by loss of lives and the expenditures of hundreds of billions of dollars. What works in Afghanistan is what has worked in Afghanistan: Let the Afghans pay the price. Let them do their fighting. Putting American boys in their place is contrary to our national interests, and will not lead to success. Trying to foist upon the Afghan people a corrupt centralized government in Kabul will not work. We need to change strategy instead of putting our people into a meat grinder in the place of Afghans themselves. I rise in support of Amendments Nos. 4 and 5. I do this with a heavy heart, as I deeply appreciate the brave Americans whose lives are in danger in Afghanistan. They are there to protect us against the forces of radical Islam, which used Afghanistan as a base of operations. And that is what led directly to the slaughter of 3,000 Americans on 9-11 almost nine years ago. After that vicious attack on our civilian population, we must never let down our guard, or show signs of weakness before this evil fanatic enemy. However, that doesn't mean rubber stamping any military operation even if it does not appear to have a chance of success. I have been engaged in Afghanistan since the 1980s and I can state emphatically that if we continue our present strategy in Afghanistan we will not succeed and America will eventually be weakened by loss of lives and the expenditure of hundreds of billions of dollars. Putting our courageous defenders in a no-win situation will sap the will of our people and the capabilities of our military, as it did in Iraq. And while going into Iraq was neither illegal nor immoral, it was a mistake, because there was no way to succeed and withdraw before being stuck in a bloody and costly war of attrition, from which we are only presently extricating ourselves. Continuing the war in Afghanistan as we are now engaged will lead nowhere but to a similar meat grinder, dragging us down and at a horrendous cost. None of this means that I believe we should cede control of Afghanistan to radical anti-American Muslims. It instead means we must be realistic, so the sacrifice of our brave defenders will not be in vain. We could have and should have eliminated Saddam Hussein through an alliance with those forces in Iraq that despised that bloody tyrant-- the Kurds, the Shiites, the professional soldiers and bureaucracy. A similar strategy already worked in Afghanistan after 9-11, the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces were not defeated by an invasion of U.S. military troops. Only 200 American military personnel were on the ground when this terrorist army was driven out. It was the Afghans themselves--the Northern Alliance--who won the day. They had American air support but they were the ones on the ground. I'd say it was not ours, but their boots on the ground that did the job. However, most of them didn't have boots. This ``let the locals do their own fighting'' principle is the formula for success. In Afghanistan, let those forces who despise the radical Taliban fight them and defeat them with our help, but not in their place. Instead, our young people are doing the fighting, and the dying. Why? Because we are trying to foist onto all Afghans a structure of government that is totally inconsistent with their culture and tradition--a centralized all-powerful government in Kabul. That has never worked in Afghan history, especially when that central government is corrupt and backed by a foreign army. America needs to rethink our approach in Afghanistan. We owe it to those who are risking their lives to not keep them engaged in an impossible mission. Nonetheless, I firmly believe radical Islam can be defeated in Afghanistan. I would suggest that it is time for America to open and honestly discuss the various approaches available, and then to move toward a plan that will work. As for me, I say, let the Afghans who expelled the Taliban in the past do the fighting for themselves now. Let them do their own fighting--it is a strategy that works. Spending more to keep the current situation from deteriorating in the long run will be a waste of treasure and a waste of lives. I ask my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' on Amendments 4 and 5.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, let us note that this catastrophe could well have been avoided in a number of ways. What we are talking about now is the fact that standards that already are in place were not followed, and we had best practices that, of course, are required of the industry that were not being followed. And I think we're going to find that out. So the last thing we want to do is cripple the United States' production of domestic energy in order to find out and hold a certain group of people accountable for the fact that they did not follow the practices or the standards. But let's put it this way: Congress has not done its job as well. We have spent billions of dollars on research and development for the Department of Energy. That money has been channeled into nonsense, like proving global warming rather than spending some money--which we have-- spending money on research and development to make the technology that we need to have safe oil and gas production, which our country currently depends upon for our standard of living. So we haven't done our job here. We haven't set our priorities here. And on top of that, we did not develop the technology necessary to deal with a spill of this magnitude. Kevin Costner came to our office and testified at a hearing. He's put his own money into this. So we need to set our own priorities. We need to deal with this crisis.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, recently, Israeli military personnel intercepted a flotilla of ships headed towards Gaza. The world outcry has been deafening. It has also been misplaced. The Israelis have been portrayed as committing violence in order to prevent food and humanitarian supplies from reaching women and children in the crowded Palestinian community of Gaza. Yes, that would certainly be an outrage if that is what was going on. But the actions taken by Israel are aimed only at preventing rockets from being shot into Israel, not denying food or medicine to the Palestinians. The image in the public's mind is totally distorted. And what the world needs to do is take a closer look at what is being presented to them. Even Al Jazeera, the most prominent Arabic TV news station, could not block out the reality of so-called activists, peace activists, who were really thugs, attacking Israeli soldiers with lead pipes and clubs. The soldiers are seen refraining from using their weapons as they watch fellow troopers being beaten into a bloody pulp and lying on the ground, their lives in danger. Well, who first initiated violence, the violence that we are talking about, is not in question. Even Al Jazeera could not hide that fact. Yet, photos of the wounded and dead who ended up--and these were wounded and dead activists, after they had started beating to death the Israeli soldiers and, thus, force was being used in order to protect these soldiers' lives--well, only these pictures of wounded and dead so-called peace activists were highlighted in reports of this incident. This distortion is intended to deceive the people of the world. The so-called activists created the violence that erupted when the flotilla was intercepted for inspection. Now, apologists will simply say that those pipe-wielding thugs were justified because the Israelis should never have stopped and interdicted those ships aimed at giving humanitarian supplies to the people of Gaza. Well, why was that inspection necessary? Never stop asking that basic question. Why was it necessary for that inspection? They weren't stopping the supplies; they were simply inspecting the cargo. Why are the Israelis insisting on inspecting the ships going to Gaza? Because Palestinian territory is being used to launch thousands of rockets and artillery at civilian communities in Israel from Gaza. Now, the purpose of the flotilla was not to put food and humanitarian aid in the hands of the Palestinian women and children. That would have happened anyway because the Israelis, they just wanted to inspect this and then let that food and humanitarian supplies go forward. No, that wasn't the purpose. The purpose of the flotilla was to prevent Israel from stopping the missile attacks on Israeli women and children by preventing Israel from interdicting weapons shipments into Gaza with the humanitarian aid as a cover. No. These missile attacks from Gaza are, by anybody's definition, a terrorist attack. If the Palestinians want food and humanitarian supplies, end the rocket attacks. Israel would be very happy if that happened, to let any food and humanitarian aid go into Gaza. And this is not an unreasonable demand on the part of the Israelis to at least inspect the cargoes in order to ensure that they are not being used to cover up the shipment of weapons that are being used to kill Israeli citizens. If you are launching explosive projectiles into Israel, Israel has a right to look at what you are shipping into your country to make sure you are not shipping in those items that are necessary to shoot these things into Israel and kill women and children. So in reality, the so-called peace activists were not victims at all. They were belligerent, they were hostile, they were seeking more killing in the form of not only just killing these Israeli soldiers trying to inspect their ships, but killing more Israeli civilians through rocket attacks. They also, of course, are not just killing innocent people; they are undermining any chance for peace and reconciliation between the Palestinian people and the Israeli people. No, those so-called peace activists were the villains in this situation, and those Israeli troopers who tried to at least inspect it to see that rockets were not being smuggled in, they were the heroes of the day. The world needs to seek truth in this issue and ignore the distorted picture they are being presented.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to praise the courageous and responsible stand taken by the city of Costa Mesa. In stark contrast to the municipalities that have declared themselves sanctuary cities, Costa Mesa, under the leadership of Mayor Allen Mansour, has declared itself a ``rule of law'' city, a city where citizens and law enforcement will support, rather than undermine, our efforts to deter and enforce our immigration laws. I am proud to represent Costa Mesa and, yes, to reside in that city. It follows Arizona in its efforts to protect the interests of the American people from the municipality up. This isn't just a job for the United States Government. Today the citizens of the United States see their well-being threatened, whether it's their education, their health care, or the criminal justice systems on which they depend undermined by this massive, out-of-control flow of illegals into our country. I praise those people who are taking a stand there locally, whether it's Costa Mesa or Arizona, and I think we should be taking a cue from them to do our job in Washington to watch out for the interests of the American people.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, I rise to discuss an omission of a co-sponsor from my resolution, H. Res. 873, which passed the House by voice vote yesterday. The resolution calls for the Department of State to establish a U.S. Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in order to normalize United States-Iraq relations at the diplomatic, commercial, and cultural levels as the U.S. Armed Forces redeploys from Iraq. The Honorable Tom Latham, from Iowa's 5th District, requested to be a co-sponsor on the aforementioned resolution. However, by an error on our part his name was omitted on the list we submitted. To this end, I request that the Record reflect he should have also been listed as a co-sponsor.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, on rollcall vote 279, passage of H. Res. 1362, I inadvertently voted ``no'' and meant to cast a ``yea'' vote.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of my resolution, H. Res. 873, and ask my colleagues to join me in this both moral and practical resolution. A strong relationship with the Kurdish people serves the cause of peace, stability and democratic government in a region that needs a lot of bolstering when it comes to peace, stability and democratic government. It is a strong relationship with the Kurds that will keep radical Islamic forces in other parts of Iraq in check. It is a strong relationship with the Kurds that will offset the support that is going to these radical elements in the rest of Iraq and the region. As we know, the Kurds over the years have a history of being an oppressed people. Thus, they are natural allies of the United States, a country, our country, whose tradition is supporting oppressed peoples and struggling with them to promote democracy, opportunity and prosperity. If we can count on the Kurds, we will know that there's an opportunity for peace and stability in that area that wouldn't exist otherwise. And if they can count on us, the Kurds, we can count on them. This legislation will codify that relationship and that friendship by establishing an American consulate in Erbil, which is in the Kurdish part of Iraq. Let me note that 20 other countries, including European nations and other world powers, have diplomatic and consulate representation in Erbil, which is the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The Kurds have been willing partners of the United States since that democratic transition in Iraq began in 2003, and the Kurdish part of the country has served as a model for Iraq's democratization ever since Operation Iraqi Freedom. We should move forward with this. Actually, it really is a sorry comment that we have to have congressional legislation to force the State Department to have a consulate in Kurdistan or in the Kurdish region of Iraq. This makes all the sense in the world. It's good for them. It's good for us. It's good for the people of Iraq. It creates an area of stability in which we are officially recognizing that concept of a peaceful relationship with the Kurds in order to have peace in Iraq. So I ask my fellow colleagues to join me today in officially recognizing this great friendship that serves us all so well by enabling the State Department to open a consulate in Erbil, Kurdistan, and, again, underscoring the great friendship between the Kurds and the American people, a friendship that serves both our countries well.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 1362, which celebrates the life and achievements of Lena Mary Calhoun Horne, and honors her for her triumphs against racial discrimination and her steadfast commitment to the civil rights of all people. Lena Horne was a trail-blazing performing artist whose life exemplified her commitment to social justice, peace, and civil rights. During World War II, she paid her own way to travel and entertain the troops at Army camps for the USO, and became an outspoken critic of the treatment of African-American servicemen, many of whom had to sit behind German Prisoners of War during her performances. Ms. Horne went on to participate in numerous civil rights rallies and demonstrations, and used her poise, grace, and courage to pave the way for generations of women and African-Americans. Our nation is better because of Lena Horne and those like her, and it is right and fitting that we honor her on the House floor today.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 5116, but let me begin by congratulating Chairman Gordon for the great leadership that he's provided while he's been chairman of the committee, as well as the great cooperation and leadership that Ranking Member Hall has provided us. These two gentlemen have exemplified the very best of our democratic system. Back now to this piece of legislation, however. The theoretical purpose of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act is to enhance the Nation's long-term economic competitiveness through investments in science and technology. I support this laudable goal, as I have for more than 21 years as a member of the Committee on Science and Technology, including 10 years in which I was a subcommittee chairman. But I cannot support this legislation which, simply put, authorizes too much funding in too many wrongheaded ways. While I'm certain this bill was drafted with the best of intentions and motivations, I strongly disagree that this is in our Nation's best interests. American investments in science and technology cannot operate in a vacuum. We need a broader strategy that prioritizes spending, reduces debt, eliminates deficits, and provides clarity, stability, and the appropriate regulatory environment. Only this combined policy, with all of the difficult analysis and hard choices that it entails, will allow America to maintain our technological edge. But this legislation makes no choices. It simply authorizes more and more spending. We cannot enhance our long-term competitiveness by mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren. That is precisely what this legislation does. The Congressional Budget Office says that implementing this legislation will cost $85 billion, a 32 percent increase over the FY 2010 baseline. This will clearly elevate the level of deficit spending for our country. We're talking about borrowing money from China and other foreign nations to meet the goals of this legislation. It's new spending on top of old, creating towering debt. Like a game of Jenga, we're eroding the base by piling even greater burdens on an increasingly unstable system, hoping that the whole thing won't just fall apart while we're holding the ball. Well, instead, if we manage to get through this without a total collapse, the way our country is going, we will be burying our children in debt. And that is not an option we should be advocating. We should go at the debt legislation by legislation, as we are today. At the same time, in this legislation there is no prioritization of programs and spending, no attempt at increasing efficiencies or at restructuring programs that would be expected to be reauthorized in a bill of this size and complexity. There aren't even any commonsense safeguards to make sure that these funds won't promote foreign competitors. If we finance foreign researchers who then return home with their new capabilities, it certainly won't help America compete. Perhaps, if the money will go to train foreigners and subsidize companies not owned by Americans, we should name this the America DEPLETES Act. Creating new Federal programs or expanding existing programs should always be done with caution and oversight. Establishing new programs, especially in times of economic downturn, means increasing deficit spending, which in itself is something that will drag down productivity and economic activity. Along with some good things, this legislation creates new programs which are unnecessary and wasteful and which, as some of my fellow colleagues have already pointed out, are redundant to existing programs. All of this while increasing the level of deficit spending. This is not a roadmap to progress for a better future. It's just another well-intentioned spending program, financed by borrowing, that will propel America over the economic cliff to which we are headed. Over this last year, spending more, borrowing more, taxing more, subsidizing more, and running up the level of Federal deficit spending at such a record pace has not spurred our economy. It has not caused economic growth or reversed the economic crisis and challenge which we find ourselves confronting today. I believe those pushing this legislation are well-intentioned, but they're not diligent. Diligence would require prioritization, program restructuring, regulatory relief, and tearing down the roadblocks to using the technologies that we already have, rather than just spending more and more. So, with that, I suggest that there are good parts to this bill, but I would have to rise in opposition.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, I rise to express my concern over two critical national security issues: Iran and the ongoing Israeli- Palestinian conflict. As far as Iran, the extremist mullah leaders in that country continue to oppress and murder their own people. They, by providing armor- piercing weapons to terrorists, are also responsible for the death of hundreds, if not thousands, of American soldiers in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet the Iranian regime is being treated as a legitimate, if not democratic, government. Well, they are not legitimate nor are they democratic. They are a radical Islamic anti-Western dictatorship. We have long since passed the time when America should have been backing, verbally and otherwise, the Iranian people's struggle to overthrow their radical Islamic oppressors. Let the Iranian people, with our blessings, rid themselves of this pariah regime. That would be the best option. But when it comes to the mullah regime obtaining nuclear weapons, doing nothing to prevent it is not an option. If we won't do what is necessary ourselves, we should not get in the way of Israel doing it. Obviously, Israel will be the first nation threatened with devastation and destruction by a nuclear-armed Iranian mullah dictatorship. Thus, if Israel is willing to act and does so, it should not be viewed as an outrage but it should be viewed with understanding and perhaps with a sense of relief. If other options fail, intelligence, logistical and political support for an Israeli operation aimed at preventing the construction of a mullah A-bomb is in our interest, is in the interest of peace and safety in that region, and it is in the interest of all of the people of the world. Then there is, of course, the Palestinian-Iranian quagmire. But let us recognize when we are looking at that issue, there has been major progress over the last decade. Israel has demonstrably reached out to offer an olive branch to the Palestinian people. They have embraced a two-state solution, which they didn't do over 10 years ago. They have, in fact, withdrew their troops from Lebanon. And importantly, Israel has actually given up control of Gaza and substantial territory in the West Bank. And what did they get for it? Thousands of missiles launched into Israel itself. And when retaliating, they, of course, were condemned for a fight that they didn't even start. It's time for the Palestinian missile attacks to stop and for the Palestinians to reciprocate for Israel's tangible concessions in Gaza and on the West Bank. They should step up to the plate with a meaningful change of position. The Palestinians need to recognize Israel's right to exist. And to make it real, the Palestinians must renounce what they call the right of return. The Israelis have taken major steps. Now it's time for the Palestinians to move. And until the Palestinians make recognizable steps forward, as Israel has done, as I just pointed out, our government should not be urging Israel to give up even more territory or condemning them for prodding the Palestinians. For example, if the Israeli renovation of apartment complexes in Jerusalem gets the Palestinians to realize that they can't wait forever because Israel is just going to move on unless the Palestinians come out and try to reach an agreement, well, if it's got the Palestinians to understand that, and that they're going to have to act and step forward, then the widely condemned renovation of those apartment complexes in Jerusalem was actually something that furthered the cause of peace. To conclude, I urge the Obama administration to change course before it's too late, to stand up to the Iranian Islamic dictatorship, and to be realistic about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Peace can't come by trying to prove how sincere we are or by holding hands with thugs hoping they will be impressed with our sincerity, or by condemning a nation that is attacked for retaliating. It's time, as we say in California, to get real. Unfortunately, when it comes to these two important foreign policy challenges, it seems that wishful thinking and irrational optimism are what's guiding America's foreign policy.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, I rise to commend Mr. Iwao Matsuda for his diligence and many years of hard work in bringing about closer United States-Japanese-Korean relations. We can all thank him for the development of very close ties between the legislatures of Japan and the United States. The legislative exchange program he created evolved into semiannual meetings between Members of the Diet and the U.S. Congress. The personal and professional relationships that have developed are key to the long and solid alliance between our two democratic nations. He also played a key role in expanding these exchanges to include South Korea once it became a strong and vibrant democracy. I note Mr. Matsuda was selected by Prime Minister Koizumi to serve in the very prestigious position as Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy, Food Safety and Information Technology. Madam Speaker, it is therefore appropriate for us to commend and thank Mr. Matsuda for helping to foster peace and democracy in Asia and I wish him well in his future endeavors.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule and to the underlying bill, but it could have been otherwise, I might add. The major flaw in H.R. 2499 is that it never allows an up-and-down vote, a yes-or-no vote on statehood or on any of the other status options presented to the people of Puerto Rico. It is a skewed process. It is designed to have a poll that will have a predetermined outcome. I submitted an amendment to the Rules Committee that would have fixed this fundamental flaw. Unfortunately, the rule now before us does not make my amendment in order. So now, if this bill becomes law, it will not find out whether the people of Puerto Rico support statehood. All the plebiscite will tell us is whether the people of Puerto Rico prefer statehood to independence. I can save us all a lot of trouble to that point. I concede--and most of my friends will concede, pretty much everyone involved in this issue will concede--that the Puerto Rican people would prefer statehood to independence or free association. So if everyone is willing to concede the only point that will be established in this bill, then why bother passing this bill and having two separate plebiscites just so we can find out what we already know? We also know that when people have had a chance just to vote on statehood, they voted against it. Well, the answer is that the proponents want to get the results of this system that's been set up this way so they can paint the people's opinion of Puerto Rico in a different way. They want to try to convince Congress and the American people the vote will really mean that the Puerto Rican people want statehood, but they're not being given the chance to vote up and down on statehood. It's only statehood in relationship to the other options, the other options that are offered on the ballot, I might add.