Mike Rogers

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5534) to establish a grant program whereby moneys collected from violations of the corporate average fuel economy program are used to expand infrastructure necessary to increase the availability of alternative fuels, as amended.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, on the legislative day of July 10, 2006 the House voted on two measures under suspension of the rules. H.R. 5061, the Paint Bank and Wytheville National Fish Hatcheries Conveyance Act and H.R. 2563, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct feasibility studies to address certain water shortages within the Snake, Boise, and Payette River systems in Idaho. On rollcall votes No. 358 and No. 359, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize and thank Lieutenant Colonel David E.A. Johnson for his 22 years of service to the United States, and to commend him on an exemplary career with the United States Army. LTC Johnson entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1980 where he graduated in 1984 in the top 15 percent of his class. He later became one of 23 out of 124 qualified officer candidates to graduate from the Special Forces Detachment Officers Qualification Course. He was immediately assigned to command a Special Forces ``A- Team'' in the 5th Special Forces Group in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In 2000, he served as an Army legislative liaison in the House Liaison Division where he planned, coordinated and escorted Congressional Delegations on fact-finding missions to over 28 countries and seven States. In 2002, LTC Johnson was selected as an Army Strategist to augment Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-- North in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as Chief of Plans and Current Plans. In Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, he has transformed Special Operations Theater Support Element procedures, integrating General Purpose and Special Operations Forces and has been a key leader of logistics transformation. Overall, LTC Johnson has earned over 36 separate combat and peacetime awards as well as nearly every special skill badge authorized. He has shown consistent excellence in leadership, planning, and innovation, while making a permanent impact on Special Operations. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join with me in honoring Lieutenant Colonel David E.A. Johnson and thanking him for the countless sacrifices he has made for this Nation, and the 22 years of remarkable service in the United States Army. May he know that this body and his Nation are proud of him.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5646) to study and promote the use of energy efficient computer servers in the United States, as amended.

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

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo).

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the digital economy is on the move, and we have got some great news for Michigan, a State that is very automotive dominated, with Google announcing 1,000 jobs over the next 5 years this morning to be located right outside my district in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is a great and important, I think, announcement for our State, which has had a little bit of economic trouble, but is now embracing this new wave of digital innovation, the digital economy, the IT economy, as it spreads around this great country. With that come some serious concerns for the IT community, for those who are involved in the digital economy, and for those of us, all of us, who depend on energy use. According to industry analysts, the U.S. server market is expected to grow from 2.8 million units in 2005 to 4.9 million units in 2009, a growth rate, Mr. Speaker, of almost 50 percent. Data center energy costs are expected to soar, as companies deploy greater numbers of servers consuming more power and, in the process, emitting more heat that needs to be dissipated. Data center electricity costs are already in the range of $3.3 billion annually. Improved energy savings in servers will help the United States meet its energy demands to stay competitive in the global economy without having to build new generating facilities. If done right, Mr. Speaker, that is power lines that won't have to be built, it is power plants that won't have to be built just to meet the demands of what is a growing part of our economy, and that is these data centers as applies to the IT or digital economy. Interesting, if you take a small 100,000 square foot, which is not so small, actually, annual utility cost for a data center or a server farm, it is nearly $6 million. If done right, efficient servers can result in as high as an 80 percent reduction in electricity demand. That is $4.8 million in savings if we can reach that goal. That means jobs, innovation, expansion. It means taking the money and investing it in people versus electricity or energy costs. That is a win for everybody. Mr. Speaker, this is a commonsense conservation bill that will work to reduce the need for new power plants and new transmission lines in each of our districts by driving down demand for electricity and allowing the expansion and growth of the digital economy. There are a great number of organizations who have stepped up to support H.R. 5646, and I would like to name just a few: the Alliance to Save Energy, American Electronics Association, American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, Electronic Industries Alliance, Information Technology Industry Council, Semiconductor Industry Association, and TechNet. The legislation is very straightforward. It calls for a study in our ability to get ahead of this very, very important problem looming before us, and that is the expanded use of energy. Finally, I want to thank Ms. Eshoo for her help and support and assistance in this effort, as well as that of her staff, who have worked diligently with my staff to help put this together in a timely fashion to help meet the needs of this new and exciting American economy. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material on the bill.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I appreciate the hard work from Mr. Hobson, Chairman Wolf, and the FBI to address the potentially devastating impact of the FBI's Up and Out Policy on agents in the field who have given decades of public service to protect our Nation. I cannot thank enough Chairman Wolf and Mr. Hobson for the long hours of negotiation that allowed us to stand with the men and women who stand in harm's way in protection of the United States. It is critical that the Federal Government protect the retirement benefits of Supervisory Special Agents who have honorably served their country, and I look forward to working with you to address this issue this year. Further, I am very pleased that the FBI is committed to establishing a housing allowance pilot program here in Washington, D.C., within the funds provided in this bill. We ask a lot of our agents in the field, agents who risk their lives every single day to put mobsters in jail, break up terrorist plots across America, protect the public integrity by Federal, State, and local officials, and so much more. The least we can do is give them the fair compensation that allows them to provide for their family and have a home that is not hours away from their field office. By creating this first-ever housing allowance within the Bureau, agents will be able to reduce their commute time, giving them more time to take a son to a swim meet or a daughter to a dance recital. But perhaps most importantly, Mr. Chairman, this program will be a morale boost and will allow FBI agents to focus on their vital work to protect America and all Americans. I look forward to continuing to work with the FBI, Chairman Wolf, and yourself, Mr. Hobson, on ensuring that FBI agents are compensated fairly; and I thank you for your strong leadership on this important issue.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I am a little bit saddened by the comments of the gentleman from Illinois. You know, our enemies do not have a first Tuesday in November plan. They have a plan for a caliphate. They have well established themselves to murder Christians, Jews, Muslims, women, and children. They will behead you, they will shoot you, they will blow you up. They do not care. To have the talk of rhetoric, because the electricity isn't where it is, let's come home in defeat; because the oil isn't going exactly the way we would like it, let's come home in defeat; that is no standard for victory. What is the standard for victory? Where were we 4 years ago? Let us look at it in the global war, this World War III that Osama bin Laden declared in his own words. Pakistan, 4 years ago, was the only government supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan. They were working against the United States in Afghanistan. They supported, financed, gave as much comfort as they could to the enemy to produce terrorists, to attack Americans and Westerners all over the world. In Iraq, we know that Zarqawi was there a year before the war; that they used that operation to kill an American in Jordan, a diplomat of great service to our country. In Libya, they had a nuclear weapons program and self declared they would share it with anyone. So 4 years later, not because I gave a great speech on the House floor but because very brave men and women put on the uniform and fought the terrorists with a military uniform so our children wouldn't have to fight it in a school uniform here at home, and now what has happened? Pakistan has joined us in the fight against terror. There are our allies just 4 years later in hunting down al Qaeda. Afghanistan is now an ally in the war on terror. Their intelligence services, their military, as a matter of fact just this morning, launched a 10,000 troop crackdown on terrorists. This morning. Last week, Iraq launched a 70,000 security personnel crackdown on terrorists. This week, they are our allies now in the war on terror. Libya. That is the components of the nuclear weapons program of Libya. It is now in the possession of the United States of America. They gave it to us not because we stood here and debated but because we had brave men and women with boots on the ground who showed courage and commitment and said we will take the fight to you. We will not allow you to take the fight to us. Which country would you have go back? Which one would you say, ah, it wasn't important that they became an ally? Four Muslim nations have stood up against the ravages and the terror and the brutality of terror today because of actions our brave soldiers take overseas. So don't get confused in every little problem that happens, and there are a lot of them. Sir, you served in Vietnam. You know this challenge. They are great, they are hard, and sometimes they are disappointing, yes. But at the end of the day, every great victory, every great victory ends with our heads held high and safety and security for the United States. Let us not come home in humiliation. Let us not tell all of those families that their loved ones died in vain because we have a November time frame and not a time frame for victory. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Speaker, Iraq is the central front in the war on terrorism, despite what you hear and, despite the pointing out of problems in a very difficult task, we ought not to be asking politicians here in Washington, we ought to be listening to our enemy. Osama bin Laden, quote, this third world war is raging in Iraq. The whole world is watching this war. It will end in victory and glory, or it will end in misery and humiliation. With what you have talked about earlier, Mr. Chairman, from that letter from Zawahiri to al Zarqawi, he went on to say that prophet in the heart of Islam world, specifically Egypt, neighboring states of the peninsula and Iraq, they have declared war against the United States and all those who seek to find democracy and peaceful solutions. Terrorist Abu Nidal found safe haven in Iraq and was killed in Baghdad in 2002. Zarqawi and his network were operating in Baghdad and the Kurdish-controlled region of Iraq a year at least before the start of the war. As a matter of fact, from that base of operations, they executed the assassination of an American diplomat in Jordan in 2002. Our troops found a suicide vest factory that had 800 suicide vests equipped and ready to go in south Baghdad in April of 2003. Iraq was on the State Department sponsor of terrorism list. Saddam Hussein paid $25,000 cash to the family of suicide bombers in Israel. You know, with every sacrifice made by our great American soldiers, for every girl that now walks in Iraq and Baghdad and goes to school, for every young mother that goes to a medical clinic to get treatment where there was none before, for every dead terrorist in Iraq, we make progress every day. One platoon sergeant in Iraq, and I quote, I have yet to speak to an American here who thinks we are losing. Trust me, no soldier wants to be here. No one wants to cut and run either. Leaving would send the wrong signal to our enemies. There are only two groups of people who want America to leave and withdraw in humiliation, Mr. Speaker, from Iraq. President Bush met with the Shiia, the Sunnis, the Kurds just recently, just this last week. None of them, even the Sunnis, wanted the United States to leave. As a matter of fact, they asked for reassurance that we would stay with them in this difficult and tough struggle for freedom. That would leave only the terrorists who want an early American withdrawal and some politicians in this town. I would listen to what our enemies said when Zarqawi declared, ``We have declared a bitter war against the principle of democracy and all those who seek to enact it.'' They will kill American families at any given opportunity. I would say, Mr. Speaker, that we should stand with our soldiers. We should stand with our families here that helped take the fight to the terrorists overseas. We should stand for victory, and we should stand with the United States of America.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, on the legislative day of May 19, 2006 the House voted on a procedural motion to H.R. 5385, the Fiscal 2007 Military Construction-VA Appropriations Act. On House rollcall vote No. 173, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the eighth graders at KIPP Ujima Village Academy, a top performing middle school in northwest Baltimore. KIPP is an acronym for Knowledge is Power Program and is part of a network of free college-preparatory public schools in under-resourced communities throughout the United States. Established in the summer of 2002 in Baltimore, these eighth graders at KIPP are recognized as the first graduating class at this outstanding school. These students have spent the past 4 years completing a rigorous program. The school day begins at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 5:30 p.m. They also participate in a mandatory 3-week summer program and attend educational activities on Saturdays throughout the school year. Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that these students and their families face challenges, with more than 87 percent qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches. Yet, there are no entrance requirements or selection criteria. The students are chosen through a lottery of all students who live in the zone and want to attend the school. The results, though, are remarkable: Students excel academically, develop confidence and leadership skills, and experience the world through local and out-of-State field lessons. And after 4 years at KIPP, many of these students have earned acceptance to competitive college preparatory high schools throughout Maryland. In fact, KIPP Ujima Village Academy has one of only two Baltimore City public middle schools that achieved Adequate Yearly Progress in 2005. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join with me in recognizing the KIPP Ujima Village Academy eighth graders on their graduation and in wishing them the best of luck in the future.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend and colleague, a former veteran and great servant to his country, Mr. Reyes, for your help and your impetus and your leadership on this particular bill. We could not have done it without you and your leadership. Thank you, sir. To Chairman Buyer, thank you very much for your time and counsel and your hard work and dedicating your staff to making this happen here this evening. To Senators Frist and Craig, thank you very, very much for your quick action, your good work, your wise counsel and actually improving the bill a tad bit as they send it back to this Chamber. The majority leader and the Speaker deserve our thanks as well for understanding the importance of this. We do not do things fast around here, and I think our Founding Fathers thought this was a pretty good idea. But this is one that we came together on a bipartisan effort and realized this we must quickly rise up to stand with the families who are grieving with the loss of great American patriots. I just want to tell quickly, Mr. Speaker, the story of why this happened and why we got here, at least one example of many examples. I visited a young family down at Brook Army Medical Center in Texas. Three great American soldiers who were from Michigan, a National Guard unit, were attacked by an IED and were recovering from some very severe wounds. You go down and you get to meet their families, and they are bonding together to support their loved ones who are literally fighting for their lives every single day. Unfortunately, of course, at that time, SGT Joshua Youmans succumbed to his wounds and died. Prior to that, just a week before, after he had come back, he got to hold in his hands for the first time his daughter before he passed away. His wife was the most courageous woman I have ever met during that whole time. So we gather up to go to the celebration of the life of SGT Joshua Youmans, a time to celebrate his service, his sacrifice, the family's grieving, a community's thanks and appreciation for service given to their country. When you pull up, you see this pretty hateful stuff. On the outside of the church were protestors who were taunting and harassing the family, this young widow, her young daughter McKenzie, their family, trying to walk in and give some dignity and respect and celebration to a life of a great American who signed up on his own to defend this Nation because he believed and a family's celebration of their love for him and the joys that they experienced in his short time on this Earth. What a contrast it was. When she got up to give the eulogy for her husband, protesters outside yelling hateful chants, harassing, saying, ``Thank God for the death of SGT Joshua Youmans,'' flags wrapped around their feet as they paraded and shouted. Through all of that, this very courageous woman who had just lost the love of her life gets up to eulogize her husband. One side of the church is packed with the National Guard unit, some of the toughest, greatest Americans you will ever have the privilege to meet. Without a dry eye in the house, she proceeded to tell of her love for her husband and how proud she was that she was an Army wife and how she could not wait to look in the eyes of her daughter and tell her about the great patriot, a great American, a great hero, her father, the one she would never get to know. We knew that day that we must do better by those families. They deserve the right to bury their loved ones in peace and with dignity. This is really America's time to stand up and say to every member of the United States military, to every family who worries every single day, this is America's time to put their arms around those families and protect them and give them the right that they deserve to peacefully and with dignity pay their last respects to great American heroes. I want to thank all of the folks who have worked so hard on this, even my staff member Andy Keiser, who dedicated an immense amount of time to make this happen. This happens shortly before Monday. What Monday is, is that day where we stand up and say, we remember and we are thankful for all the sacrifices for all of those who came before us to make this country great and have given their lives in defense of our Nation. This bill is important for so many reasons. It protects the families here. It certainly protects the first amendment here as well. But it also sends a very clear signal to the men and women risking their lives today that we will not forsake you. We will stand by you. And we will give you your last rights, God forbid it should happen. And we will stand with the families of America who have lost so much and deserve our love, our respect and America's dignity. Thank you all for participating in this. And again, I just want to thank you, Mr. Reyes, for your hard work, your dedication and your passion for this issue and your passion for America's soldiers. Thanks for doing it.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Buyer for his counsel and his leadership working through this bill. I greatly appreciate it. I know certainly the families do as well. To my good friend and colleague, Silvestre Reyes, thank you for lending your leadership and your voice and assistance and counsel on this very important piece of legislation. Thank you for your service, not only for the military but the Border Patrol and now to the people of your district back home. I certainly appreciate it. Mr. Chairman, this started for me when I attended the funeral of Sergeant Joshua Youmans, a very brave and great American who gave his life defending freedom in Iraq; and as I arrived to the funeral to the chants and the taunting and some of the most vile things I had ever heard, it was almost staggering to me that someone would take the time and energy to show up and preach that kind of hateful speech upon some very vulnerable individuals as they went into the church to mourn the loss of a great American patriot. What struck me that day is this very young widow who got before a very packed church service to lay her honored husband to rest and told the story about how this soldier, before he passed away, had the privilege of holding his daughter for the first and only time. She talked about how proud she was of her husband and what he had done for his country, how proud she was to be an Army wife and how she could not wait to tell her young daughter, McKenzie, the courage and sacrifice of a great American, her husband, Joshua Youmans. You juxtapose that with what they had to go through, this gauntlet of terror, people taunting and jeering and saying the most hateful things you possibly can imagine, and I walked out of that church that day knowing that we as Americans can and must do better by these families. This is their chance to stand up and mourn the loss of a family member. A father once told me that at a service of his son he knew that this was the moment between sanity and insanity for him, and you can imagine that when people stop by and grieve and support and love and comfort these families, when America steps up to put their arms around these families to say that we love you, we support you and we respect you and we appreciate your sacrifice, it means the difference in that father returning to sanity after the burial of his son or, in this case, the burial of the husband. It is so important that we stand by the men and women who sacrifice so much, and this bill does that. It protects the first amendment. They can still preach their vile hatred, if they want to do that an hour before and an hour after; but, again, it also creates a bubble. It creates a hub of American people around these families to give them the right, which they so richly deserve, to grieve in peace and have the dignity and the honor to lay their loved ones to rest in peace. I can say it no better, Mr. Speaker, than so many people who e-mailed me, almost 30,000 people from Baghdad Iraq to Brighton, Michigan, my hometown and told stories of why this was so important, some of them very moving. I will read you one now: ``Over the last 6 months my unit has taken over 30 casualties in some of the most vicious areas south of Baghdad. The thought of their families having to face protestors after their memorials incites a rage I have never known before. These protestors mock all that we have accomplished here, the lives that have been forever changed, and the lives that have been lost, using our most valued doctrines of faith and freedom as their defense. I cannot thank you, and Congress, enough for your dedication to this effort. I can only hope that your colleagues will join you in this battle. Mr. Speaker, so many have. Signed, Sergeant Ashley A. Voss, Baghdad, Iraq.'' I will share another letter from a grieving mother. ``Thank you for creating and seeking to help grieving families of our American heroes. My husband and I support this act 100 percent. Our son, Sergeant Trevor Blumberg, was killed in action in Iraq on September 14, 2003. We know the pain and horror in losing a heroic son; no less than to have to face cruel, inhumane people who cannot dignify your time of grief. Please continue to place these families in America's hearts and minds. Nothing less is deserved.'' That was from Janet M. Blumberg, a proud parent of an American hero. Thanks to all who support the act.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the efforts of Caledonia Township and the American Red Cross to save the life of Sheriff's Deputy Keith Hansen, who was severely injured while serving in the line of duty. Deputy Keith Hansen was critically injured when a suspect crashed his vehicle into Hansen's patrol car during a high speed chase in Caledonia Township. He received multiple severe injuries in the crash. To survive, Deputy Hansen required more units of blood than the hospital could provide. The American Red Cross and the citizens of the Caledonia Township responded with an immediate blood drive and fund- raiser. Within one day, the community donated more than fifty units of blood and collected a significant amount of money to help save the life of Deputy Keith Hansen. The efforts to save Deputy Hansen's life reflect the best of the American spirit; neighbors uniting to save the life of an injured officer who is sworn to protect them. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Deputy Keith Hansen for his service, and the citizens of Caledonia Township and the American Red Cross for helping to save his life. They are truly deserving of our respect and admiration.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to compliment you, your staff, and that of both the ranking member and the majority on a job well done on this bill. The challenges that we face came from the 1990s, and many of the problems the ranking member even pointed out were a different direction set, a different policy set from where they wanted our intelligence services to go. They went so far as to say back then that we don't even want you to talk to somebody who is a bad character or may be an embarrassment to the United States. So they did the honorable thing; they shut down their human operations. They followed the law and the policies of the United States. If you would have asked an intelligence official back then, they would have told you it was a bad idea. We shouldn't have done it. Today, through the leadership of this committee and this chairman, and the folks who are out in the field today trying to rebuild our human intelligence, it is nothing short of miraculous. These people are incredibly talented, and I think we miss that sometimes. We miss it in the halls here and in the debates in committee. And by the way, we have debated ad nauseam many of the issues brought up today on these things, as we should in that context. But these are great people who could do a myriad of other things: make more money. A lot of them came to the CIA, and they took pay cuts because they believe in what they are doing. And they are risking their lives today for this country and for our safety. I had the great privilege to reenlist a young soldier in a very remote part of the world in a small, dinky little room with all the windows taped up and with a small American flag hanging behind us because that is all we could find, because he believed. He said, yeah, this is hardship, but I believe in my country more than I believe in anything. So when we talk about the problems of intelligence and the policies of the past, let us not forget one thing: when you bump into somebody whose morale is low, it isn't because of the work that they are doing. They are off the charts excited about making a difference for their country. It is because policymakers back here use words like ``illegal wiretap,'' even though they have never been briefed into the program at all and have no concept of what it is; because they say ``Abu Ghraib'' like it paints everybody who has ever been involved in an interrogation as doing something wrong and breaking the law. Shame on us if we allow this to continue to happen and affect the morale of people who are risking their lives on work that is so precious to our safety, security and liberty. We ought to applaud them today, and this bill, I think, does that. Mr. Chairman, again I want to applaud you and thank you for your work. And I want to caution all the Members of this Chamber: we shouldn't be more worried about winning in November than we should be about winning the war on terror. We should stand with these people, tell them we are proud of them, tell them we are proud of the work they are doing, and thank you for signing up to defend the greatest Nation on the face of the Earth. Let this squabbling go by. We know that the folks who have come down on this floor, and it has shocked me today, Mr. Chairman, that some would even come out here after getting the full brief and describe a program in terms that they didn't describe it in the privacy and the security and with the confidence of previous briefings. This is the wrong time to do that. Let us continue to work together. We have done it so well in those committees. I look forward to working with you, Mr. Chairman, and I look forward to standing up for the very people who risk their lives today defending this great country and going after probably the toughest enemy we have ever seen.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the accomplishments of Viola Van Dorin, who served in the armed forces as a nurse during the Second World War. Viola Van Dorin, as well as her late husband, Forrest Van Dorin, both valued their patriotic obligation to enlist in our nation's military shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. After her exemplary service in the Army Nurse Corps, Viola devoted herself to preserving the memory of World War II by donating more than 240 items to the Michigan Historical Museum in Lansing. She currently lives in Jackson, Michigan. Violet began her career as a nurse, graduating from the Sparrow Hospital School of Nursing in 1935. She worked at the Michigan State College Hospital, and then moved on to private practice with Dr. Kenneth Hodges and Dr. Kenneth Johnson. She excelled as both an office receptionist and an assistant to the physicians. Vi had the opportunity to even star in a film during the prewar period, a documentary called The Case History of Lucy X, which was the first to educate the public and medical professionals on the contagious disease tuberculosis. In 1942, Vi was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps and assigned to Torney General Hospital in Palm Springs, California. There she met her future husband, then a dashing young Sergeant in the Army. They married on June 7, 1943, and their marriage lasted until Forrest's death in 2003. In 1944, Vi was assigned to the 82nd General Hospital unit and transported to Wales where the unit helped rehabilitate wounded soldiers. Before the end of the War, Vi was promoted to First Lieutenant and received several citations: the American Theater Ribbon, three Overseas Service Bars and a Victory Medal. She and her husband were reunited in 1946, and they settled down in the Lansing area. She and Forrest had a son, Ken Van Dorin, as well as three grandchildren: Rebecca Louise, Natalie Ann and Robert Kenneth. Violet's service in both the military and the medical field has demonstrated her commitment to serving our nation, caring for others, and preserving historical treasures. She should also be commended for her tireless devotion to preserving the memory of World War II and honoring the sacrifices of our veterans. Across Michigan's counties and communities, her legacy will be realized long into the future. I am pleased to know her remarkable story, and to share it with my Congressional colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Violet Van Dorin, a citizen and a veteran truly deserving of our respect and admiration.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to make clear, there has been a lot of misinformation on that bill. I was a former FBI agent. One thing I learned, we used to call it the brick agent, the guy that is out on the street. You don't want to have to ask permission to take an exigent circumstance under control. You don't want to do have to do that. This bill protects State, local and Federal Government action in cases of bioterrorism. We would have not have drafted a bill that would have done otherwise. I think what you are misinterpreting is the fact that once they take an action, they have to tell the FDA. Why that is a good idea is because if they find there is an area where there is adulteration or poisoning, let us say, in Oregon or someplace else, there might be another place that they can go and short-circuit that problem somewhere else in the country. It is good policy to have that notification that there was food that was adulterated or poisoned or a victim of bioterrorism that needs to be addressed at that national level. Take the action, tell the Feds so they can get that information across the rest of the country. This is the right thing to do. I would urge the rejection of the Waxman amendment, which I think makes it more confusing, not less.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Brown).

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Chairman, I rise to support the Cardoza amendment and thank the Member for working with us. This does improve the bill and makes very, very clear that we are going to have an expedited review for cancer-causing agents or reproductive effects or birth defects. The reason we have an expedited review here, as we have said many times, those State laws in effect remain in effect until they get an affirmative ruling from the FDA, so those would remain in place until they get a scientific ruling from the FDA, and then we would have the benefit of that information shared with all 50 States, all 50 States' children, all 50 States' men and women who call America home. I thank the gentleman for working with us and in supporting this fine bill.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentlewoman's intention here. But, again, the facts of the case are this: The toxicity level of those fish, if it is higher or lower in any particular place, the threshold that makes it toxic is the same. It is the same for people in California. It is the same for people in Texas. It is the same for people in Michigan. So what we are saying is, yes, this is a very important issue, and we need to make sure that we understand what that toxicity level is. And if there are unique challenges to any particular State, that State can apply through the FDA for that particular area. We have even built provisions into the bill to take into consideration.

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida.