Dana Rohrabacher

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. I yield to the gentleman from Minnesota.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay homage and respect to Corporal Jose Angel Garibay, a 21-year-old Marine killed in action in Iraq a few days ago. Jose Garibay was a proud American of Mexican American descent. He is now an American hero. He was born in Jalisco, Mexico. His family moved to California while he was still a baby. Like almost all Americans, his family came here seeking opportunity and freedom. Corporal Garibay grew up in Costa Mesa, California. He exemplified what anyone would call an all-American kid. He was a source of joy and pride to his family. He was a star football player on the Newport Harbor High School football team; and he joined the Marines 3 years ago, shortly after graduating from high school. He was a loving son to his mother, Simona; and he had hoped to use his military pay to help his mother buy a house. He put his own family first and foremost in his life, and through his sacrifice for our Nation in this war against tyranny and terrorism he proved that love of country and love of family are inseparably linked. Corporal Garibay, his supreme sacrifice will not be forgotten. He will be remembered alongside the many brave American heroes who have gone before him in defending family, freedom, and country. Today we send our greatest sympathy to the Garibay family. May God's love and the gratitude of our Nation comfort them and comfort the families of all of our fallen heroes.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, with St. Patrick's Day only a few days away, it is appropriate for us to recognize and, yes, celebrate the role that Irish Americans have played in our history and in the development of our national character. So many Irish Americans came here seeking refuge from tyranny and hunger in their own homeland. They never forgot that suffering that they left behind, which helped ensure that America has, over the years, sided with the oppressed and cared for the less fortunate. Irish Americans passed on these values, along with a sense of decency and a commitment to justice, as well as a love of song and humor, from generation to generation. One of those proud Americans of Irish descent is Kathleen Casey of Orange County, California, who turns 80 years old today. We wish her a happy birthday, and will join her and other Irish Americans in the celebration of St. Patrick's Day this coming Monday.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Concurrent Resolution 36, which encourages the people of the United States to honor and celebrate the 140th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, and commend President Abraham Lincoln's efforts to end slavery in the United States. 140 years ago a bloody war still raged across our land, a war that cost the lives of more Americans than all other wars in our history combined. This summer will mark the turning point of that war as we celebrate the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Earlier, on September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln took the first step toward establishing as the object of the Civil War the total abolition of slavery. He and his political party, the Republican Party, had made as their first goal the restriction of the expansion of slavery. Now he would make the Nation's goal the abolition of slavery itself. Boldly, Lincoln declared free all those persons held as slaves within the insurgent States as of January 1, 1863. This was a daring political move which was strongly opposed by the Democratic Party of that day. After the end of the Civil War and Lincoln's assassination in 1865, his fellow Republicans in Congress and in State legislatures got passed and ratified the 13th amendment to the Constitution, totally abolishing slavery in the United States. Our Civil War was turned by President Abraham Lincoln, it was turned from just a civil war between States into a moral crusade against the abomination of human slavery. President Lincoln knew that all war brings suffering, and he knew that we had to make sure that the ends of any war must justify the suffering that war entails. As a Republican, I am proud to claim Lincoln's legacy for the Republican Party and the principles of liberty for all Americans, regardless of race and color. Recently, I had the opportunity to appear in the Civil War movie ``Gods and Generals.'' I portrayed an officer in the Union Army staff of Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, and I was proud to wear that blue Union uniform that fought for the noble cause of ending slavery and freeing those held in human bondage. Today our Nation stands on the brink of another war, a war that will also bring suffering, like all wars do, but will, like our Civil War, have noble ends. The liberation of people and destruction of evil are indeed noble ends. In the movie ``Gods and Generals,'' Colonel Joshua Chamberlain understood that principle, and understood that these principles are worth fighting for and dying for. In one scene, he turns to his brother and observes: ``I will admit it, Tom, war is a scourge, but so is slavery. It is the systematic coercion of one group of men over another. It is as old as the Book of Genesis, and has existed in every corner of the globe, but that is no excuse for us to tolerate it here when we find it before our eyes and in our own country.'' The Civil War still has the power to stir modern-day controversy. Nevertheless, I hope that 140 years after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation that all Americans will join us in celebrating President Lincoln's efforts to end slavery; and this legacy, this legacy should unite all Americans as we strive to make this a country, even though we still have faults, though we have many things to overcome, to try our best to correct those faults that we have; but we can be united to try to make this a country with liberty and justice for all.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, happy birthday to Ronald Reagan. I am sure Nancy is watching, and she knows how much we care for and love Ronald Reagan; and she has been at his side from the beginning. I met Ronald Reagan when I worked in his campaign for Governor in 1966. I worked on both of his presidential campaigns; and then, after he won his presidential race in 1980, I went with him to the White House for 7 years and worked with him as one of his principal speech writers. Let me note, I had never written a speech for anyone before I wrote a speech for Ronald Reagan as President of the United States. He taught me all about speech-writing. We always used to say, if President Reagan was not a President, he was a good enough writer to be the President's speech writer. But more than that, his skill was his principles that counted. He had principles and ideals. He had a philosophy that included an economic philosophy and a personal philosophy. He brought about a change in the national spirit that saved America. He brought about a change in the economy that saved America. He brought about a change in America's strategic position that saved the world. His tax cuts turned our economy around and gave us the longest period of growth in American history. And yes, there were deficits. But had we not had Ronald Reagan's economic policy in place, those deficits charted out the way it was before Reagan would have been twice as big as what happened under Reagan's period of growth. Bill Clinton could not even change the direction that Ronald Reagan started. That is how strong an influence he was on the American people. Remember, right up here, Bill Clinton declared the era of big growth or big government is over. But what is most important, Ronald Reagan, criticized by people on the other side of the aisle, criticized as a war monger, criticized as someone who had a bad heart, stood firm and strong, supported freedom in the world, and demanded that Gorbachev tear down the Wall. This is what changed the world. It was his strength of character, even when he was being criticized personally and undermined every step of the way for political purposes, he stood strong and the will of the Communist bosses in Moscow crumbled, for the first President they ever had to stand up, who really believed in freedom and democracy and was willing to make that part of America's offensive policy against Communist tyranny. That changed the world. It has made it safer. It gave us the opportunity to spend less money, hundreds of billions of dollars less on a national defense over the years. We would never have had that respite, except that Ronald Reagan stood firm. When people said, let us have a nuclear freeze that leaves the Soviet Union in a dominant position, Reagan said no. If we are going to do anything with nuclear weapons, it has to leave us both on par. We will have a mutual reduction of nuclear weapons, and that is exactly what happened. They said it could never be done, and they called him a war monger for demanding something that could never happen, that the Communist bosses would never agree to. Mr. Speaker, we are all the recipients of Ronald Reagan's wisdom. We all are benefiting from the strength of character of this man who carried us from uncertainty and in retreat and left an America on the rise, an America that was growing economically, but an America that was reinvigorated in its commitment to freedom and justice and to treat the people of the world decently. We captured, we captured the hearts and souls of the people throughout the world, the young people, especially those in the Soviet Union. Today, we should take heed of what Ronald Reagan did and remember, those people in Iraq are our greatest ally. Those people in China are our greatest ally, those people who want democracy and freedom and suffer under their tyranny; and we should be on their side and we too can make this a better and more peaceful world as Ronald Reagan did. We are grateful to Ronald Reagan. Happy birthday, Ronald Reagan. We are grateful to you. We really appreciate it.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the conquests of the frontier and the development of new technology is how we have defined ourselves as Americans from the clipper ships to the railroads to heavier-than-air flight, which was, by the way, established only 100 years ago this year by two American bicycle shop owners. One hundred years of heavier-than-air flight, and now we are engaged in the conquest of outerspace. As man ascended into the air after the Wright Brothers successfully accomplished the first flight, many lives were lost in the historic task of creating the technology that now enables us to circumvent the world and has brought every person in the world together. Now, as in the early stages of the engineering and development of technology that provided us with this conquest of the air, we are engaged in the development of engineering and technology that will move us into the heavens, into space. But there is a price to pay as America moves forward with technology and as America moves forward in the conquest of this last frontier. Space pioneers, as those on the shuttles Challenger and Columbia, are those who take the greatest risk and have paid the heaviest price. That is why they are heroes. They risk their lives to lift all of humankind. It was over 20 years ago in 1981 when I first worked with President Ronald Reagan on his remarks when he met the first astronauts off of a space shuttle to return from that very first shuttle flight back in 1981. There he was in the Mojave Desert waiting to welcome our astronauts from the first shuttle flight. The shuttle had proved itself to be a historic accomplishment, an inspiration to the American people; and in those days we needed inspiration. It helped lift our spirits as we saw it ascend to space and then land in California. The first shuttle, of course, that shuttle that landed was the Space Shuttle Columbia. Over the years it did a tremendous service for our country and for the world, as did all those astronauts that used and were on the Space Shuttle Columbia and the other shuttles. As we mourn the loss of our astronaut heroes today, let us pledge to keep moving forward in their memory. Let us pledge to move forward with confidence that some day just as there was a Good Ship Columbia, which was the Columbia, the gem of the ocean that gave us such pride, just as there was the Space Shuttle Columbia that lifted our spirits and has given us such pride over these last 20 years, there will again be a transportation system named after Columbia, perhaps after this Columbia. And it will inspire Americans and the whole world in the future as it will lift us to new heights and new accomplishments in the area of science and in the conquests of those frontiers that lie ahead. As we move forward today, we mourn this loss. We ask that the families understand that the sacrifice that their family members, that these astronauts have made is deeply appreciated by all of us here in Congress, by all of the American people, and by all of the people throughout the world. They have done well by America. We are grateful that they have lived and given their lives for us, and now we will move forward as is the task of all generations of Americans.

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, we have no more speakers. I will be closing the discussion.

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary and former chairman of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics and chairman of the full Committee on Science.

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite), a freshman from Tampa who specializes in seniors issues, but is very concerned and very supportive of America's space program.

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Nethercutt), who has been an active member of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics and very involved over the years in technology development for the United States.

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) who has been deeply involved in technology issues during his long tenure here in Congress and a strong supporter of the space program. (Mr. BARTON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Weldon), who has spent so much time and effort since he has been in Congress on issues of space and has diligently worked as a member of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics of the Committee on Science.

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 11 minutes. Mr. Speaker, today we mourn the life of seven heroes, the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia: Rick Husband, William McCool, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon. These heroes are now departed from us, and they find their place in the memory and the hearts of all Americans who are grateful to them and grateful to the others who have given their lives to make sure that our country and all humankind advances into this next frontier and conquers the next frontier of space. There are casualties in the conquest of every frontier, and this is no exception. Just as our heroes of the past frontiers are remembered and honored by this country, we will, once the space frontier is conquered, look back on these pioneers, and we will remember them on the honor roll of heroes. The Columbia reminds me a bit of another vessel, another American vessel from 200 years ago, the good ship Columbia. Americans were always known as the leaders in transportation, whether it was railroad transportation or, before that, ship transportation; and we had some of the mightiest and most impressive ships on the oceans and one of those ships was the good ship Columbia. Americans were so proud of the good ship Columbia that one of our first patriotic songs dealt with our pride in that ship, and that song went as follows, and every American knew these words and sang this song 150 years ago: ``O, Columbia, the gem of the ocean, the home of the brave and the free, the shrine of each patriot's devotion, a world offers homage to thee.'' And, yes, today our thoughts go to the crew of the Columbia, another magnificent vessel that charted unknown waters, carried Americans and, yes, carried the admiration of the entire world. I think one of the things that I have gleaned from this tragedy is just how much the American people associated themselves and identified with America's space program. Yesterday, as we went to Texas, it was not so much the ceremony that I remember as it was the people of Texas and how they took this tragedy personally. As we rode in our congressional buses to and fro to that ceremony of remembrance and dedication at which the President spoke, the people of Texas lined the roads and the streets. Little children were waving American flags. People would rush out of their houses as we drove by with their flags and little signs of support and encouragement. I believe that if there is anything we can be grateful for when Columbia went down, it went down over friendly territory. It went down over Texas, where the people of that State feel so strongly about the space program and about their country. I am proud to say that my constituents and others in California have had a long association with the space program as well, and we are just as proud of the achievements. But, yesterday, it touched my heart that the people of Texas were reaching out to us and to the families. The Columbia tragedy has not diminished the commitment of the people of Texas nor the commitment of the people of the United States towards space exploration and space utilization. Our space program must and will go forward because the American people remain as committed today as they were last week, and today we have seven heroes to give us inspiration. The American people over the last few years have been lulled into a false sense of security about space travel. We always considered the astronauts our heroes. Children would come out to see astronauts, but most Americans felt that manned flight into space was far less risky than it really is. They have been lulled into this false sense of security because NASA has been doing one terrific job and our astronauts have been doing one terrific job and our aerospace industry has been doing one terrific job. But it is still the riskiest of propositions. I was in the White House in 1986 when the Challenger blew up, and I will never forget that day. We did what? We regrouped, we found what was wrong, we found the flaws, and we moved forward after correcting those flaws. Since then, once again, the American people came to believe space travel was routine. Well, pioneering a new frontier is never routine. The Space Shuttle Columbia's crew understood that. They knew the risks that they were taking. Today we mourn; this week we mourn; but in the future we move on and up. Although we hope that the shuttle will fly again, this country is now committed to a space program, yes, that will remember the shuttle system and be grateful for how efficient and what a magnificent system it was, but we now know we must invest in the technology that will move us beyond our dependency on this now old system that should not be allowed to become even older and us rely on it even longer. But does that mean we will in some way diminish our commitment to space? I do not think so. When we look back over the years of what the space program has meant to our lives, the benefits are beyond imagination. I remember as a young boy that I was able to talk to my grandparents perhaps once a month. I did not come from a wealthy family. Those telephone calls were scratchy, and they were expensive. Young people did not have the same contact then as they do with their grandparents today. I think it was $5 a minute back in those days when $5 was enormous. Today, thanks to our investment in space, thanks to the space program, people can talk to their families who are in the far reaches of the world every day, and it is affordable, and it has increased the quality of life in our country dramatically in this level of caring between people because space has permitted us better communication between each other. What about entertainment and television? We have now before us a plethora of options in which to take up our time because we have assets in space that are offering us communication skills that are not only used for entertainment but are used in the medical field to educate people in far-off countries how to conduct operations and also provide communications with schools throughout the world. The GPS system is a navigational system, and it would be unthinkable for us to not use our space-based assets for navigation purposes, something that has saved countless lives in giving us precise navigation that has saved hundreds, if not thousands, of those seeking transportation. And what about the weather and the fact that today we know when storms are coming? Again, thousands of lives have been saved because of our investment in space assets. We can predict where a hurricane will go or a tornado will strike, and we can prepare for it and save those lives, not to mention the billions of dollars saved by predicting weather trends in the industry of agriculture. Mr. Speaker, what about our national security? It was our lead in space, indeed the space shuttle itself created the impression for the communists who led the Soviet Union that they could not compete with us and broke down their will and eventually caused a disintegration of their power base in Russia, which has left the world a much safer place. We have invested also in a defense system in space, a missile defense system that even today will permit us not to be so terrorized by a possibility of a government in North Korea that is developing nuclear weapons because we have assets in space that will permit us perhaps to defend ourselves against that potential threat. So we have invested in space, and also it has saved us billions and billions of dollars and thousands and thousands of lives. It was the space pioneers like those on the Challenger and on the shuttle that have already given us these tremendous benefits, but we have only scratched the surface of what space can do to uplift the condition of humankind. No, we will not be deterred by this tragedy. We will instead correct the flaws where they have been found and move on. We will move on and we will move upward. Will we continue? Will we Americans continue to move forward? Will there be another ``Good Ship Columbia'' someday charting the unknown waters or the unknown skies? You bet there will be. We remember and we will be grateful in those days to the crew of this ship Columbia as we were to the pioneers of generations past. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence), a young and vibrant Member of the House who has been very active in the last few years on technology issues. (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, the despotic regime in Kazakhstan has imprisoned one of that country's best known journalists and human rights activists, Mr. Sergei Duvanov. I have joined a number of Members of the House International Relations Committee in writing a letter to President Bush urging the Administration to strongly speak to President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his regime to release Mr. Duvanov. The campaign for the release of Mr. Duvanov, who has previously testified before our International Relations Committee on the need for human rights in Kazakhstan, has been joined by international human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as well as by numerous Members of the European Parliament. I am including for the Record a copy of an article titled, ``Central Asia Resists Pressure From West To Improve Human Rights,'' that appeared in the November 11, 2002 Wall Street Journal. I join the many voices of advocates of democracy and human rights from around the world who strongly urge the immediate freedom of Sergei Duvanov. Central Asia Resists Pressure From West To Improve Human Rights (By Steve Le Vine) Almaty, Kazakhstan--Several recent steps taken by Central Asian republics suggest an increasing boldness against Western pressure by the region's autocratic leaders, most of whom are key U.S. allies in its war against terrorism, Western officials say. Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. began using Central Asia as a jumping-off point for its war to dislodge the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan. The U.S. established military bases in three of the countries, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and obtained Air Force landing rights in Kazakhstan. U.S. aid to the region more than doubled. In recent months, however, the U.S. and Europe have been increasingly outspoken about the region's poor human-rights record, and in response, the region's leaders have begun to publicly resist those pressures. The Kazakh government says it officially charged a well- known opposition journalist with raping a 14-year-old girl, an accusation Western officials suggest may be politically motivated. The journalist, 49-year-old Sergei Duvanov, had been planning a trip to the U.S. for speaking engagements on Kazakhstan's human-rights record. He says the charges against him are fabricated. It is the third time Mr. Duvanov has accused the government of harassment since he wrote a story earlier this year for an Internet site about Swiss bank accounts allegedly belonging to President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The accounts are part of separate money-laundering investigations by the U.S. and Switzerland. In July, the Kazkah government charged Mr. Duvanov with criminal libel for the story, and in August--two weeks before he was to attend a human-rights conference in Warsaw--he was beaten and a cross carved into his chest by unidentified men. In a statement last week, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said, ``The pattern of incidents involving Mr. Duvanov, their coincidence with his planned trips abroad to discuss publicly the situation in Kazakhstan, and the disputed circumstances of the latest case trigger concerns that these incidents may be politically motivated.'' The U.S. and Europe are increasingly critical of President Nazarbayev, particularly regarding a series of attacks on journalists. Mr. Duvanov's beating was the eighth unexplained assault on a local reporter in the country this year. The government has denied any role in the attacks, and last week Mr. Nazarbayev admonished diplomats in a yearly meeting that he ``categorically rejects recommendations and advice aimed at unnaturally speeding up democratic processes.'' Mr. Nazarbayev's neighbors also appear increasingly brash, some analysts say. In Kyrgyzstan, President Askar Akayev has faced a drawn-out test of wills with his political opposition since police shot dead six demonstrators last March. More recently, Mr. Akayev said it is time for deeper democratic changes, yet critics complain that a Kyrgyz judge recently overturned an election victory by an opposition figure, saying his papers weren't in order, and gave the triumph to a challenger who received just 19% of the vote. Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov recently used a news conference with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to assail critics of his human-rights record. And in Turkmenistan, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has blocked new loans for public projects because of President Saparmurat Niyazov's poor record on political and economic change. ``The key question is whether Washington's new relationship with these countries has increased its leverage with them. The tenor of the leaders in the region seems to indicate it hasn't,'' said Anthony Richter, director of the Central Eurasia Project at the New York-based Open Society Institute.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this amendment. Let us remember those words, and as I hear this debate they come back to me: ``Gentlemen may cry `peace,' `peace,' but there is no peace. The war has actually begun.'' Those are the words, of course, of Patrick Henry, who spurred on our people to fight for their liberty and fight for our country's security. And when all is said and done, America's security and our freedom is in the hands of our people. We do not choose to put the future of this country and the security of this country into the hands of the United Nations. As we debate this amendment, which again puts even more responsibility in the hands of the United Nations, let us take a brutal look at that organization and what this amendment accomplishes. This amendment requires the United States to have the permission of the Communist Chinese and gangsters of other regimes to do what is necessary for our own security. That is ridiculous. Quit idealizing the United Nations for what it is not. It is not an international body that is run by saints. Instead, it is run by ordinary democratic countries, but also by despicable regimes which terrorize their own population. Requiring the President, our President to get permission from the United Nations means we are requiring our President to make deals with governments like the Communist Chinese before doing what is necessary for our own security. No wonder the repressed people of China, like the Falun Gong, who had their demonstration here yesterday, like the people of Tibet, like the people of East Turkistan are afraid that our President may well make an agreement with the bosses in Beijing who terrorize them at the expense of those people who long for freedom. We should not be relying on the United Nations. No, we should be relying on our strength and our commitment to those ideals that our Founding Fathers set forth so many years ago and have been fought for so many times by Americans. Let us remember what George Washington told us: ``Put only Americans on guard tonight.''

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution. I would like to remind everyone that we are not really talking about a resolution. We keep hearing this ``war on Iraq,'' ``war on Iraq.'' We are not talking about a war on Iraq. That is totally misleading. We are talking about helping the people of Iraq liberate themselves from this monster and, in doing so, alleviating a major threat to the security and well-being of the people of the United States of America. There is nothing for us to apologize about in terms of helping those people free themselves from a tyrant who is renowned in the world among all tyrants. We are talking about helping them, liberating them. They will be dancing in the streets, waving American flags, just as people of Afghanistan still are grateful to us for freeing them and helping them free themselves from the horror of the Taliban and bin Laden, who held them in their tyrannical grip for years. And let me remind those people who are so concerned, and, by the way, there will always be the hand-wringers among us, believe me. There would be no action that we could possibly take that is going to get the support of people who will always find an excuse for doing nothing. It takes courage to step forward. This job in Iraq will be easier than what happened in Afghanistan. I spent a long time familiarizing myself with Afghanistan, as my colleagues know. Afghanistan, perhaps 10 percent of the people supported the Taliban. Perhaps that many. Nobody supports Saddam Hussein in Iraq. He has almost zero support among the people. They are frightened to death. Even his Republican Guard has been purged, and they now are not reliable for him. They are waiting for us to help them free themselves. They are, and will be, friends of the United States. We are not declaring war on Iraq. We are declaring that Saddam Hussein must go. And Saddam Hussein must go for the sake of the people of Iraq and for the sake of the safety of our own people. And let me note this. Rebuilding Iraq will be much easier than building Afghanistan. Iraq has enormous resources that have been channeled away by Saddam Hussein to develop chemical and biological weapons and to develop nuclear weapons. Those billions of dollars can be put to use to build a better Iraq, and the people will applaud us for helping them to that end. No, this is much easier than the job in Afghanistan, yet we have the naysayers among us who would lead us in the other direction. Twelve years ago, we heard similar naysayers. It was this urge to be overly cautious that led to, I would say, the devastatingly wrong decision not to finish the job we started. Twelve years ago, and this is not going to be partisan, because I will have something to say about Republicans in a minute, the majority of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle voted to keep our people out in the desert without the ability to go on the offensive and, thus, it would have destroyed our ability to win that conflict. What would it have been like if they had been stuck out there and able to just absorb attacks? That is what the majority of people on the other side of the aisle voted for, and their entire leadership voted for that. It was wrong. It was wrong and almost did a major disservice to our country. Let me note what also did a major disservice to our country. When we moved forward, a Republican president decided not to finish the job. A Republican president, once we had achieved victory, stepped back from that victory; and now we are stuck with finishing the job today. Now we are stuck with an enemy that could get his hands on nuclear weapons, chemical and biological weapons, and murder millions of our own people because that dictator now has a blood grudge against the United States of America. It is long past the time that we should have finished the job. But it was not until 9/11 that the American public would support the military commitment necessary to rid the people of Iraq and to rid the United States of this monstrous threat to both our peoples. This is not just a dictator. There are many dictators in the world. This is a dictator who holds a blood grudge against us, who has now the ability, or he is trying to achieve the ability, to obtain those weapons that would permit him to murder millions of Americans. This is not just any dictator. This is a dictator with billions of dollars of oil wealth that he is using to obtain these weapons of mass destruction. Over the last few weeks, we have witnessed what I consider to be unconstructive nitpicking on our President. Let us face it. First, he was told to go to the U.N.; and that is where he went. Then he was told he should go to Congress. So here we are. Now what we are hearing from the other side is, we cannot support this resolution because it will permit us to have some sort of preemptive strike. What that means is we have to wait until we are attacked before we can act. That is what that means. Do we really want to wait in this world to be attacked by the likes of Saddam Hussein once he gets his hands on weapons of mass destruction? Instead of having 3,000 people, as on 9/11, we would have millions, or at least hundreds of thousands, of Americans slaughtered. This makes no sense whatsoever. We must step forward today. If we back down today, we are sending a message of cowardice to the despots, to the tyrants and the terrorists around the world. We must back up our President, who has gone the extra mile to reach the compromises with us, to make the democratic system work, and to make sure that the American people have the protection that they deserve. We want to join with the people of Iraq, helping them liberate themselves from this problem. We should be supporting the President of the United States in this effort to protect us and to expand democracy.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise to welcome the visit of a great friend of our country and our sacred principles of liberty and democracy, Her Majesty, Queen Sirikit of Thailand. Queen Sirikit will arrive in Washington on October 4 to begin a two week visit. Her Majesty will also travel to New York to further her charitable activities. And in Houston, Her Majesty will be presented with the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Award for Humanitarian Service, recognizing her lifelong dedication, not only for improving the health and well being of the people of Thailand, but for her international leadership in health and the environment. I have long admired the Queen and her distinguished husband, His Majesty, King Bhumibol, who has led Thailand to a half century of peace and prosperity. Our long, constructive relationship with the government and people of Thailand dates back to the Presidency of Andrew Jackson whose administration, in 1833, negotiated and signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. This treaty was the first of its kind that our young Republic had signed with any Asian nation. It ushered in a 169 year period of mutually beneficial economic, cultural and security relations. Thailand is one of only five Asian countries with whom we have finalized a bilateral security agreement. Each year the armed forces of Thailand join with our own military to stage “Cobra Gold” maneuvers, the largest such operations involving U.S. forces in the Asian continent. And, economically, United States, remains the primary destiny for Thailand's exports, while Thailand itself ranks as high as 22nd largest market for U.S. exports. On all levels, led by the Royal Family, Thailand can clearly be considered our friend. Queen Sirikit has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of those disadvantaged in society, be they in Thailand or elsewhere. For the past 46 years, Queen Sirikit has served as the President of the Thai Red Cross Society. In this role, her Majesty has been the leading protector of thousands of refugees who have fled turmoil and tragedy in neighboring countries. Her Majesty has paid similar close attention to her own people. To increase the income of the country's rural families, Her Majesty has initiated many projects, such as the Foundation for the Promotion of Supplementary Occupations and Techniques, better known as the SUPPORT Foundation. This should serve as an outstanding example for other developing countries. Queen Sirikit understands that, if Thailand is to enjoy long-term prosperity, rural people must have hope for their future. A multitude of distinguished organizations have honored her work. The Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations has awarded her the distinguished Ceres medal. Her work for the rural poor of Thailand led Tufts University to award her an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters. Similarly, her solicitude for the health of both Thais and Cambodian refugees prompted Great Britain's Royal College of Physicians to award her an Honorary Fellowship. I ask all members of the House to join me in welcoming Queen Sirikit to the United States. I know that many of us have been invited to attend an event which Her Majesty will be presiding over at the Library of Congress in the evening of Wednesday, October 9, which will feature an exhibition of the work and activities of the SUPPORT Foundation. I look forward to seeing many of my colleagues there to extend our admiration and best wishes to this great friend of the United States.

Mr. ROHRABACHER

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, I would just say that this bill accomplishes a number of things that we have gone over today. I think perhaps the most important element of this legislation is that it is designed to try to enlist young people in America's space program in a very meaningful way. This bill will encourage young people, boys and girls in grade school and in scouting units and perhaps junior high schools and high schools and colleges, to actually go out and to look into the heavens and get to know about the intricacies and the stories and the forces at work in this vast area around this planet and around this universe and around our solar system. It will, I believe, go a long way to encouraging young people who, let us say if we inspire them with this bill, they might make a lifetime of contributions. We may be encouraging a young lady or a young man who later on would become the Pete Conrad of the next generation, because he or she would be so excited in understanding that they had seen something in space that perhaps no one else had seen, and strive towards that type of accomplishment. I think that that is one element of this legislation that we should not overlook. It is very futuristic-oriented, but there are some real positive benefits today, as well. One last note about George Brown, who was the chairman of the Committee on Science while I was a junior member of the Committee on Science. Let me say that for George Brown, this was an area of his interest. I forgot about that until I was just reminded by my friend, the gentleman from Colorado. George Brown took a personal interest in this. I will have the Members know that George Brown was one of the most admired men here in Congress. He was such a fine person, and his memory to this day, I am glad the gentleman brought it up here in remembering Pete, these were the kinds of Americans that really made this country. George Brown was really kind of a real liberal guy compared to my political area in the spectrum, and Pete, I guess, was a little more conservative, on the conservative side of the spectrum, although he was nonpolitical. He was just a real professional in that business. But I would say that what we are talking about when we talk about developing technologies and taking America into the future and creating this type of a vision, it is something that can unite a country and a people and has served to unite us in the past. I believe that America's space program has not gotten the attention it deserves in these last, I would say, 15 years. That was something that George Brown was fighting for when he was alive. That is what he really wanted to do, and I am sorry that he was not able to fully succeed in reenergizing America's space program; and I do not think we have, either. We are all working on it. Perhaps if we can attract the younger generation by offering them a chance like this to actually participate and to find some things in space, we should go out of our way to make sure that we do that. That is what this bill does. I am sorry, maybe I should have named it the Pete Conrad and the George Brown bill, but we remember George tonight as we debate this, because I am sure he would be more than happy to be here tonight helping out, if he was alive and with us. I remember his passing, and I miss him very much. So, Madam Speaker, I ask my fellow colleagues to support this legislation and to remember Pete Conrad and keep looking up, as we do.