Chris Smith

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished ranking member from California.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I would like to again thank my good friend and colleague, Mr. Payne, for his sponsorship of this resolution. I think it sends a clear message to Zimbabwe and to Mugabe himself and to all of the enablers that have not done their fair part in trying to mitigate and hopefully end this crisis. And I want to thank Mr. Royce for his very eloquent statement made just a moment ago and for his leadership as well. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Nonproliferation.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. And I, too, rise in strong support of H. Res. 1270 and want to commend our ranking member, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, for authoring this and helping to bring it to the floor. And I thank the majority for its support, including Chairman Payne, of this important resolution. This resolution addresses the courage of those brave souls who took a stand for peace and democracy as they sought to block an arms shipment that was headed for Zimbabwe. I also strongly support this resolution's call for an arms embargo against the Mugabe regime. In these dark days in Zimbabwe, it is encouraging that we recognize something positive, the efforts of those who have tried to stop the violence, the intimidation, and the bloodshed that have become the hallmark of the Mugabe regime. It is no secret to the people of Zimbabwe or to those in the region that this regime has become the poster child for human rights abuses, but in order to bring about change in Zimbabwe those in the region and the wider international community have to take a real stand. That is what dock and freight workers did in the port city of Durban, South Africa, when a Chinese ship reportedly carrying millions of rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades, and thousands of other bombs for the Zimbabwean Defense Force came into port in early April. The dock and freight workers, as my colleagues have already told us, of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union refused to offload the weapons--another reason why I like labor unions. They refused to get the blood of the people of Zimbabwe on their hands. With other civic groups of South Africa supporting the workers, a movement grew for an international boycott of the Chinese ship. Eventually, the governments of South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania denied the ship permission to enter their ports. Now I ask my colleagues to support a move to go a step further and support an international arms embargo against Zimbabwe for as long as Mugabe and his cronies are undermining democracy and using violence in that country. The more weapons that enter Zimbabwe, the more likely that Mugabe's forces will use them against their opponents. H. Res. 1270 will send a message to the international community and to Mugabe himself that civilized nations will not sit by and allow him to run roughshod over his own people. It remains to be seen if China will see fit to place principle over profit and ensure that its weapons stay out of Mugabe's hands. Its track record not just in Zimbabwe, but also in Sudan, has not been a good one, and so, frankly, I would not be that optimistic about China's performance in the future. This is a good resolution, and I urge my colleagues to support it. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1127, and I urge my colleagues to adopt this condemnation of the anti-Semitism that is sadly so widespread in the Arab media and the press. As the resolution of my good friend and colleague, Mr. Ackerman, points out, this anti-Semitism often takes the violent forms of Holocaust denial and incitement to violence. Madam Speaker, when political leaders fail to speak out against anti- Semitic hatred and incitement, the void is not only demoralizing to the victims, but silence actually enables the wrongdoing. Silence by political leaders, in particular, conveys official approval or at least acquiescence and contributes to a climate of fear and a sense of vulnerability. It is tragic that modern Arab leaders have not done a better job of speaking out against anti-Semitism. We here in the U.S. Congress can speak out today. It is very important that we do so. But our words are not as effective as would be the condemnations from Arab leaders. Members of Congress are going to have to carry, as we go forward to Middle Eastern countries or meet with the leaders when they come here, the sentiments contained in this resolution, and again, as we have in the past, explain to them the importance of speaking out. We cannot remain silent any longer. If this fight against anti-Semitism in the Arab world is to succeed, we need officials in the U.S. and Europe and again the Arab world to, without hesitation or delay, denounce anti-Semitic acts whenever and wherever they occur. There can't be any exceptions. The purveyors of hate never take a holiday or grow weary, nor should we. Holocaust remembrance and tolerance education must dramatically expand, especially in the Middle East where it is almost nonexistent, and must find a footing in the Arab world. We have to ensure that our laws and the laws of other countries punish those who incite violence against Jews. And it is not utopian to begin to encourage modern Arab governments to adopt such laws. It is time to push this issue harder, far harder than we have done so in the past. Madam Speaker, on June 16, 2004, the Helsinki Commission held a hearing, and I chaired it, one of several in a series on combating anti-Semitism. Our prime witness at that hearing, as he had been previously, was one of the greatest, finest, most effective and certainly the most courageous human rights leaders the world has ever known, Natan Sharansky. As we all know, Natan Sharansky spent years in the Soviet Gulag. Congressman Frank Wolf and I in the 1980s actually went to Perm Camp-35 where he had spent many of his years in solitary confinement, where he had been tortured, and met with many of the political prisoners who knew him well, and they had nothing but accolades and respect for this man. He pointed out at our hearing that, ``Thirty years ago I was a dissident in the former Soviet Union. The irony is that 30 years later I am in the same job, collecting information about anti-Semitism,'' in that case as a cabinet minister in the Israeli government. He pointed out that the new wave of anti-Semitism is characterized by two components. The first one is the so- called new anti-Semitism, and the lines between anti-Israeli propaganda and anti-Semitic propaganda are blurred. He said the second is the classical anti-Semitism, the old, deep, primitive prejudice against Jews used over and over again to hurt individuals. He points out that this time, these images and this promotion of anti-Semitism is coming mainly through state-sponsored and state-supported media in the Middle East. He pointed out that if you want to be successful in this struggle, we have to, like any other evil, we must have moral clarity about the issue. It is important to define the line between legitimate criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism. Israel, he said, is a strong democracy and the only democracy in the Middle East, and it is built on criticism from within and from without. Of course, we support all forms of legitimate criticism, he went on, but it is very important to see the difference, draw the line between legitimate criticism and anti-Semitism. He gave us a way of discovering it, or pointing it out and exposing it. He called it the three D's. You know it is anti-Semitism when it is all about demonization, double standard and delegitimization. At our hearing, Madam Speaker, he brought with him a 150 page study entitled ``Anti-Semitism in the Contemporary Middle East.'' The study surveys anti-Semitic reporting, editorials and editorial caricatures in the government-controlled press of Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. In the more than 100 editorial cartoons included in the report, Jews and Israelis are invariably represented as poisonous snakes, murderous Nazis and bloodthirsty crusaders. When I looked at it, I was sickened. It was disgusting. The report found that vicious anti-Semitism expressly calls for massive terrorism and genocide against Jews, Zionists and the State of Israel. He pointed out as well in the report that the overwhelming majority of the propaganda again was from government-controlled media and from supposedly respectable publishing houses closely tied to those regimes. In a brief review of the findings, classic European and anti-Semitic imagery is widespread in the Middle East, as is Holocaust denial and the identification of Israel as a Nazi state. The borders between anti- Semitism and anti-Americanism and anti-Westernism are blurred, almost completely blurred, the report found. Islamic religious themes, quotations and sayings are being widely mobilized to demonize Jews and Israelis and to justify the outright annihilation of the State of Israel and all its Jewish and non-Jewish supporters. The Arab-Israeli conflict is increasingly portrayed as part of an internal confrontation between pan-Islamic nations and the infidels, Jews and Christians alike, who embody all evil. All Israelis, men and women and children, and Jews around the world, the report found, as well as their crusader allies, are held responsible for alleged crimes committed by the Jews. He also showed at that hearing a movie, part of a movie, a 15-hour movie, an anti-Semitic film produced in Syria. That film was all about blood libel. He pointed out to us that that film is not seen just in the Middle East, and it ran for 15 hours every night during the Ramadan season, it is also seen in Europe. We wonder why people are incited to hate Jews. We watched just a few minutes of it, and, again, it was despicable and made it seem as if blood liable was real. Finally, Madam Speaker, Sharansky concluded by telling us that anti- Semitism is not only a threat to Jews. History has shown us that left unchecked, the forces behind anti-Semitism will imperil all the values and freedom that our civilization holds dear. We must not let that happen; to which I say again, and this resolution strongly suggests, we must not let that happen. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Concurrent Resolution 350, which raises congressional concerns about the continued practice of whale hunting. With the 60th annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission set to begin in Santiago, Chile, it is fitting and proper to consider this resolution. Over two decades after this Commission adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling, the hunt continues. The humpback whale, a species designated as endangered under the provisions of the U.S. Endangered Species Act, was included among those whales pursued in the most recent hunting season. The marine life in our oceans, as we all know, including the whale, forms a precious part of these natural resources which we should strive to preserve. Mr. Speaker, I support the resolution and reserve the balance of our time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I submit the following: Requesting Member: Rep. Christopher H. Smith. Bill Number: H.R. 5658. Account: Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Navy Account. Legal Name of Requesting Entity: McGee Industries Incorporated. Address of Requesting Entity: Nine Crozerville Road, PO Box 2425, Aston, PA 19014. Description of Request: The next generation aircraft carriers will be built using new technology that replaces the traditional steam catapults with an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS). The environment around aircraft carrier catapults is among the most corrosive (i.e. seawater spray, heat, deck contaminants) with which the Navy must contend. No reliable corrosion or fracture data exists for the new EMALS materials and configuration operating in a catapult-like environment. A T&E program initiated to develop design-specific corrosion data under simulated catapult conditions needs to be continued in order to permit further design refinement, that will: (1) prevent premature component failures (2) minimize costly fleet maintenance and (3) enhance operational readiness. Corrosion protection is an important element in producing a durable, highly reliable EMALS that will meet or exceed all Navy performance goals. It can be expected that unforeseen corrosion issues will arise as full-scale development, testing, and implementation of the EMALS proceeds. There is a window to generate corrosion data and recommend changes through 2009. Corrosion fatigue and stress corrosion cracking are critical problems that if addressed correctly, would improve performance, extend their life cycle and lower Operation and Maintenance costs for the carriers and their test facilities. Fracture mechanics testing of various corrosion control alternatives in a realistically simulated environment is required to resolve these concerns. Detailed Finance Plan--McGee Industries: The total cost of this program has been valued at $3,000,000. We will need to design and develop load frames that will replicate the harsh catapult trough environment. Test equipment will need to be built that simulates the heat extremes, vibration effects, various deck contaminate and their effects on corrosion. All of these parameters will need to be monitored on a periodic basis to assure that we are simulating the EMALS operating conditions. At present we plan to evaluate more than 20 different chemicals and coatings. The research program planned will follow the direction of the testing results and the direction of appropriate NAVAIR personnel. We estimate that we will need man hours for chemists, engineers, technicians and laboratory services as well as clerical and administrative support. Breakdown of the Requested Funding: $1,250,000 for Design and Test Equipment; $500,000 for Laboratory Supplies and Equipment; $750,000 for Man Hours for Chemists, Engineers, Technicians; $250,000 Administrative, Travel; $250,000 Technical Assistance from Research Institutes. Though this program is specifically directed at the EMALS system controlled by NAVAIR, McGee Industries plans to include updates pertinent to NAVSEA. Corrosion issues and improved corrosion protection are a problem throughout all military branches due to the age of existing equipment and the harsh environments which they must operate in successfully. Thus, this program offers conditioned maintenance improvements for the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines and the Coast Guard.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my good friend for yielding. Madam Speaker, in December of 2006 and then again in March of 2007, my Human Rights Subcommittee's computers were attacked by a virus that, in HIR's words, ``intended to take control of the computers.'' At that time, the IT professionals cleaned the computers and informed my staff that the attacks seemed to come from the People's Republic of China. They said it came through or from a Chinese IP address. The attackers hacked into files related to China. These contained legislative proposals directly related to Beijing, including the Global Online Freedom Act, e-mails with human rights groups regarding strategy, information on hearings on China--I chaired more than 25 hearings on human rights abuses in China--and the names of Chinese dissidents. While this absolutely doesn't prove that Beijing was behind the attack, it raises very serious concern that it was. Like Mr. Wolf, I too speak out often against the systematic abuse of human rights by the Chinese Communist government, whether it be religious persecution, the systematic use of torture, the total absence of labor rights, press freedom or free speech, and since 1979, the pervasive use of forced abortion to implement the barbaric one-child- per-couple policy, the gravest violation of women's and children's rights ever. So I was deeply concerned that the perpetrators of these crimes searched the China files on my computers. It is now coming to light, Madam Speaker, that some other Members may as well have been attacked, and more needs to be done to combat this danger. So I thank my friend for offering this very important resolution. Madam Speaker, cyber attacks on Congress are only a small, but not insignificant, part of a much larger pattern of attacks to which the executive branch, the Pentagon, and American business is the chief target. I want to recommend, as my colleague Mr. Wolf did a moment ago, ``The Chinese Cyber-Invasion,'' an eye-opening feature article that recently appeared in the National Journal. There we learn that some of our top cyber security experts believe that Chinese hackers have already shown that they can hack down our power grid. The experts believe that the Chinese hackers have caused power blackouts in the U.S. One blackout in 2003 was the largest in U.S. history and affected some 50 million people. Chinese hackers and cyber warriors are mapping U.S. government and commercial networks at a rate that in the last 18 months has increased exponentially. A high-level ODNI official has referred to ``a kind of cyber militia . . . coming in volumes that are just staggering,'' he said. The same official said that what makes the Chinese hackers stand out ``is the pervasive and relentless nature of the attacks.'' Madam Speaker, with enormous aid, comfort and scads of one-of-a-kind technological assistance from U.S. companies, including Microsoft, Cisco, Google and Yahoo, the Chinese Government has achieved a huge qualitative capability to suppress freedom of speech on the Internet at home and to wage cyber warfare abroad. Two years ago, I chaired the first congressional hearing on this unseemly, dangerous partnership, an alliance that enables the Chinese secret police to find, arrest, incarcerate, and torture religious believers and pro-democracy activists in China. Google, for its part, has become the de facto center for China's ubiquitous anti-American, anti-Tibetan, anti-religious propaganda machine, while Cisco has made the dreaded Chinese secret police among the most effective in the world. I have introduced the Global Online Freedom Act, which has cleared all three committees of jurisdiction and is ready for floor action, and I, again, respectfully ask the leadership to bring it to the floor to combat this ever-worsening threat. For the Chinese people, it will make the prospect of freedom and democracy more achievable. For Chinese dissidents, it's a matter of survival, and for us, it may inhibit the transfer of technologies that we must prevent from falling into the hands of the enemies of fundamental human rights. Mr. Wolf's resolution is a wake-up call, and it alerts us to take more effective action and thwart disruption and the theft of sensitive data. I strongly support the resolution.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I appreciate my friend for yielding. One of the concerns is, while they may be terrorists or homegrown, we're talking about and we are very concerned about is that this is the Government of the People's Republic of China and their enablers, people who are part of a network, that is very much focused on trying to wreak havoc and to glean information about dissidents, about legislative strategy, and about what we know about what's going on----

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my good friend, the ranking member, for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and didn't get here in time to speak on the resolution lauding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is among the most durable, enduring, inspiring and historic set of fundamental principles ever enunciated by anyone ever in history. It ranks right up there with the Magna Carta. It ranks right up there with the U.S. Bill of Rights, which obviously enumerated a number of our fundamental freedoms that we love and enjoy as Americans. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 60 years after its adoption, continues to serve as a backdrop to judge government policies and behaviors toward its citizens. And that is especially important as to how a government treats the weak, its most vulnerable and those who might otherwise be disenfranchised. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a promissory note. It's a paper promise that must be backed by deeds. It has only, however, been realized in part over the last 60 years. It is a work in progress. The Declaration inspires people to realize that they, as human beings, endowed by God, by our Creator, with certain inalienable rights, ought to fight for those rights. And this gives them a very useful tool in that endeavor, a means to that end. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has emphasized a number of important and hallowed rights, including religious freedom, the right to life, freedom from torture, equal protection, due process, labor nights and freedom of assembly. Under it, no one should ever be left behind. And that means that regardless of race, ethnicity, age, disability, or condition of dependency, no one should be left behind. We know in many countries of the world, sadly that is not the case. In places like the People's Republic of China, human rights are systematically and pervasively violated by Beijing, whether it be religious freedom or the outrages we recently saw in Tibet, where the government crackdown crushed dissent with an iron fist. China persecutes the Uighurs in the autonomous region and families, especally women as part of their draconian one-child-per-couple policy which has made brothers and sisters illegal throughout China. That's right. Brothers and sisters are illegal in the People's Republic of China. A couple is required to get government permission to have a child. And forced abortion and huge fines are imposed on women and men who do not submit to the plan. In Burma and North Korea, human rights are also violated with grave impunity. And the U.N. Human Rights Council and other bodies of the U.N. need to do more to implement the intent of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Sadly, they have largely failed. We have seen a very disturbing rise in anti-Semitism throughout Europe, certainly in the Middle East, and even in the United States and Canada. That too has to be combated. We see a rise in modern-day slavery, human trafficking--sex trafficking or labor trafficking. That needs to be combated and eradicated and victims assisted. Everyone should be free of that kind of terrible and despicable mistreatment. The Sudan, Zimbabwe, the genocide occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan is also a grave violation of human rights, completely antithetical to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Like the last, this is a century of victims. And let me say before the West gets too smug about how well we are doing, we, too, have our problems. We see them every day. We have fallen short of the standard. I respectfully submit to my colleagues that we have failed to treat the defenseless unborn child with compassion and justice. We know now more than we have ever known before about the magnificent world of an unborn child. Ultrasound, 4-D ultrasound, the ability to do intrauterine blood transfusions and microsurgery have shattered the myth that an unborn child is somehow not human or alive. Of course they are. We know that these babies are society's littlest patients, in need of care and love, increasingly surviving at earlier, earlier times if born prematurely. Abortion needs to be looked at, in my opinion, Mr. Speaker, as a serious violation of human rights. Abortion is violence against children. The dismemberment or chemical poisoning of a baby is antithetical to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All abuse is contrary to the Declaration and that holds true no matter how old you are, and that includes unborn children. We also know abortion hurts women psychologically and physically. And that evidence grows by the day. So I would hope that we would look at human rights as being for everyone, at all times, regardless of age, condition of dependency, regardless of race, no matter where you live. The universal declaration is for you. We need to speak out more boldly with better, more focused appeals employing all the tools at our disposal, linking sanctions and withholding of certain aid if a country doesn't live up to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Again, the Declaration is a backdrop. And I hope that we do even better than we have in the past. The past has been checkered. Certainly we have moved the ball down the court. Much more needs to be done however to respect everyone's fundamental human rights. I thank my colleagues.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my good friend for yielding, Madam Speaker, and I especially want to thank Mr. Wu, the gentleman from Oregon, for offering this very important resolution, and I'm very proud to be one of the cosponsors. Madam Speaker, when a friend is struck by a tragedy, perhaps the death of a family member, we all know what to do. We call them up, we visit with them, we reach out to them. And that's what they need at that moment, to know that they are not alone, that they are accompanied by friends. I think that is with nations as well. When tragedy strikes a nation, other nations have to reach out and remind them that they are part of a great human family and that other nations grieve with them. So it is right that our country should make this gesture after the tragedy that struck the great Chinese people. Madam Speaker, lest anyone doubt the importance of this gesture, let me remind them of the outpouring of support that came from every corner of the globe after the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. That meant so much to us. Madam Speaker, many of us in this House number Chinese human rights activists among our friends, and among the list of people we admire most are people like Harry Wu, Joseph Kung, Wei Jingsheng, Bob Fu, and so many others come to mind. Over the past 10 days, I have been reminded of them as I have seen their mixture of practical earnestness and great generosity in the Chinese people's response to this tragedy, the outpouring of help from everywhere throughout China. The Chinese people continually amaze me for their willingness to stand by the unfortunate and the oppressed, and that sentiment is very strong among the people. So, Madam Speaker, let us ask God to comfort all of those who have lost family members and friends in this terrible earthquake. I hope we can remember particularly the parents. Several days ago, I read an article in the Los Angeles Times, which I will enter into the Record, which reminds us, as the headline says, ``One-Child Policy Adds to the Grief of China Quake.'' This is in the L.A. Times. In Chinese culture, parents shower an extraordinary love on their children, investing their time and hope in them. The Chinese Government has cruelly and forcibly prevented most mothers and fathers from having more than one child, making brothers and sisters literally illegal. Now these parents have lost that one child. So we need to keep them in our prayers as well. China's 1-Child Policy Causes Extra Pain (By Christopher Bodeen) After their daughter was born, Bi Kaiwei and his wife, Meilin, decided to adhere to China's one-child policy and its slogan, ``Have fewer kids, live better lives.'' For them and other couples who lost an only child in this week's massive earthquake, the tragedy has been doubly cruel. Robbed of their sole progeny and a hope for the future, they find it even harder to restart their shattered lives, haunted by added guilt, regret and gnawing loss. ``She died before becoming even a young adult,'' said Bi, an intense, wiry chemical plant worker, standing beside the grave of 13-year-old Yuexing--one of dozens sprinkled amid fields of ripened spring wheat and newly planted rice. ``She never really knew what life was like.'' Yuexing, a bright sixth-grader, was in school when Monday's quake struck, bringing the Fuxin No. 2 Primary School crashing down, killing her and 200 other students. Teachers had locked all but one of the school's doors during break time, parents said, leaving only a single door to escape through. Many among the more than 22,000 people killed across central China were students in school. Nearly 6,900 classrooms collapsed, government officials said Friday, in an admission that highlighted a chronically underfunded education system especially in small towns and compounded the anger of many Chinese over the quake. In Wufu, a farming village two hours north of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, most of the dead students were a couple's only child--born under a policy launched in the late 1970s to limit many families to one offspring. The policy was meant to rein in China's exploding population and ensure better education and health care. The ``one-child policy'' has been contentious inside China as well as out. The government says it has prevented an additional 400 million births. But critics say it has also led to forced abortions, sterilizations and a dangerously imbalanced sex ratio as local authorities pursue sometimes severe birth quotas set by Beijing and families abort girls out of a traditional preference for male heirs. The policy is law but there are exceptions. Farther down the lane from where Yuexing is buried, 10 more graves were laid out, some accompanied by favorite items-- textbooks for English and music, a pencil box, a Chinese chess set. At one, grandmother threw herself to the dirt and wailed as her husband lit a handful of ``spirit paper'' believed to comfort the dead in the afterlife. Another bereaved parent, Sang Jun, stood where his daughter, Rui, is buried, a simple mound of dirt beside his quake-shattered farmhouse. The house is surrounded by burned bushes--a traditional disinfectant. ``The house is gone and the child is dead,'' said Sang, who wore a T-shirt and plastic sandals. His parents, both in their 70s, looked on with tears in their eyes. Resistance by ordinary Chinese has forced Beijing to relax the policies, allowing many rural families to have a second child if the first was a girl. But in Wufu, the family planning committee seems to have prevailed on most families to stop at one child. Slogans daubed on boundary walls and houses all along the rutted country road leading to Wufu call on families to ``stabilize family planning and create a brighter future.'' Standing in the rubble of the school holding his daughter's ID and a posed shot taken at a local salon, Bi--pronounced ``Bee''--said starting a new family, either by having another child or adoption, is simply imponderable. ``I'm 37 years old and my child was 13. If we were to do it again, I'd be 50 when this stage comes along,'' Bi said. Parents who lose children in disasters often feel intense guilt for what they see as a failure to protect them, said psychology professor Shi Zhanbiao. Parents, he said, may also recall their past relationships with their children with regret, thinking they were too stern, did not show them sufficient love or did not interact with them enough. ``They'll think that if they just hadn't sent their children to school that day, they would have been saved,'' said Shi, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Science in Beijing. The loss is intensified for those with no other offspring to lavish with care and affection, Shi said. And in China, other, more practical concerns may also come into play because children are generally expected to care for their aging parents. ``They'll be worried about the future, because for the later part of their lives, they'll have no one to depend on,'' Shi said. Bi said Yuexing was polite and smart. She had won a coveted place at the county's best high school on the recommendation of a teacher. She was a top student who got better after the family moved closer to school to reduce her commuting time, said Bi, who completed high school but failed the national university entrance exam. In her pictures, Yuexing, whose name combined the Chinese characters for moon and star, is smiling and demure. The studio shot shows her wearing a bright yellow sweater and looking playfully over her shoulder. Parents in Wufu said they plan to bring a formal complaint over what they say was corruption and malfeasance in construction of the school. They say officials moved the students from a group of one-story classrooms--all of which survived the quake--into a modern-looking, but unsafe building. ``We have nothing else, no other wish but to win justice for our children,'' said Sang's wife, Zhao Jing. ``We put all our hopes on these kids, and this is the return we get.''

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in strong support of House Resolution 1106, acknowledging the month of April as National Autism Awareness Month and supporting research efforts for the causes and treatment of autism, as well as the very special and enormous challenges faced by the parents of autistic children. As founder and cochair of the Congressional Autism Caucus that I formed along with my good friend and colleague Mike Doyle back in 2001, I am very pleased to be here in strong support of this resolution. I would note parenthetically that we have 165 members in our caucus from both sides another aisle. I think with that kind of strength, we have been able to push a lot of new funding, both at NIH and CDC, which is I think appreciated by the community. Awareness, Mr. Speaker, is in fact a crucial part of our fight, again making this resolution important. The more we inform and educate the general public about autism spectrum disorders, the earlier the medical community can effectively diagnose children with autism and get them the help that they need, and that is important news for the 1.5 million children and adults who currently suffer from autism spectrum disorders and their families. I would like to first and foremost recognize and commend the parents and the families of individuals with autism for their sacrifice and dedication in providing for the special needs of their children and brothers and sisters with autism. They are heroic. I also want to extend heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the teachers, physicians, therapists, and all other advocates who work with such diligence and compassion to support individuals with autism and their families. Mr. Speaker, when I was first elected back in 1980, the prevalence of autism was estimated to be one out of every 10,000. Just 10 years ago, that number had been changed or updated to be one child in every 500. Today, it is estimated that one in 150 children in the United States will have autism spectrum disorder; and, once diagnosed, early intervention is key to significantly improving the outcome of individuals with this developmental disorder. Autism, as we know, robs individuals of their ability to communicate and interact with others in society, but early intervention can help those individuals live a more satisfying life. I recognize the success of the worker training programs tailored for Americans with autism. With proper support, training, and early intervention, people with autism can be more productive members of our workforce. I would like to thank the author of the resolution, Mr. David Reichert of Washington, for his leadership in raising autism awareness and commending the efforts of those who care for individuals with autism. It is important that, in addition to this important awareness resolution, that we move forward in Congress with other important legislation to help those with autism and their families, such as the bill that I have introduced, along with Mike Doyle, called the Global Autism Assistance Act. This bill would establish a $10 million program to fund projects to address autism in the developing world over a period of 3 years. Grants would aim to raise awareness and understanding of autism and to aid service providers in less developed countries. The idea actually came when I was in Lagos in Nigeria and met with some individuals who are caring for autistic children who are absolutely without funds, and yet through love and through expertise they were helping children. But only a small number of kids were getting help in Nigeria, and that is where the idea was formed. Another critical initiative is a bill that I joined Mike Doyle in introducing, called the Expanding the Promise for Individuals with Autism Act, H.R. 1881, which would authorize $350 million over 5 years to improve access to comprehensive treatment, intervention, and services for individuals with autism and their families, including adults with autism. Among its important provisions, it would create a task force of experts to evaluate current therapies and services, establish several grant programs to assist States to provide services for children and adults with autism, and call for a study of public and private financing of treatments and services. You hear a lot about the lack of bipartisanship in Washington, DC, these days, Mr. Speaker. In the fight to combat autism, nothing could be further from the truth. Members on both sides of the aisle are united and committed to providing care and services for individuals with autism and the families. I urge strong support for this resolution. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let me begin by thanking my good friend and colleague, Mr. Wynn, for authoring this very important resolution. I rise today in strong support of it, recognizing May as the Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Health Awareness Month. Bebe Moore Campbell will be remembered as a celebrated writer and journalist whose New York Times best selling novel, ``72 Hour Hold,'' challenged minority communities to be open with their mental health and lower the stigma associated with receiving therapy. Her ability to assess the mental health delivery system from a minority vantage point has helped raise awareness and remove barriers. Mental illness, Mr. Speaker, can be crippling, not only to the individuals suffering from this disease, but obviously also the family and friends of that person. In some cases, therapy is declined or refused because mental health care is seen as the treatment of last resort. But we must improve public awareness and erase the stigma that is so often associated with mental illness. Again, I would like to thank my friend and colleague, the author of the resolution, Mr. Wynn of Maryland, for raising public awareness of mental illness in minority communities and the importance of getting proper mental health treatment to those and for those who have been diagnosed. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote in favor of the resolution. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of H. Res. 1124, acknowledging the month of May as an appropriate month to celebrate National Brain Tumor Awareness Month. I'd like to commend the North American Brain Tumor Coalition for its work and efforts in establishing Brain Tumor Action Week in the beginning of May each year. In the United States, Mr. Speaker, more than 190,000 people are diagnosed with brain tumors each year. Of those 190,000 Americans diagnosed, 40,000 cases are primary tumors, and the remaining 150,000 cases are secondary tumors, where cancer has spread from another part of the body. My mother suffered and passed away 11 years ago from a secondary brain tumor that began as lung cancer. The pain and the anguish she suffered, the convulsions, despite a major surgical procedure and anticonvulsant drugs like dilantin, were absolutely heartbreaking. Anything and everything we can do to mitigate brain tumors must be done. Thus, I'd like to applaud the efforts and advocacy for brain tumor awareness by the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation, the American Brain Tumor Association, the Brain Tumor Society and the National Brain Tumor Foundation, the Brain Tumor Action Network and the many other groups valuable contributions to combating these brain tumors. I would especially like to thank the author of the resolution, Ms. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, for her leadership in raising brain tumor awareness and commending the efforts of those groups who have helped educate Americans about the symptoms and the warning signs. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this resolution. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 1022, as amended and presented to the House today. Mr. Speaker, reducing maternal and child mortality and providing quality health care and nutrition to ensure the well-being of both mother and baby here and abroad, has been a top legislative priority for me throughout my 28 years as a Member of Congress. All loss of life is tragic, especially when it is preventable. When a mother dies, the loss, the heartache is compounded by the deleterious impact on her children, on families and on the community. As H. Res. 1022 points out, each year, more than a million children are left motherless and, as a consequence, are vulnerable. In many places, young girls are pulled from school and required to fill their lost mother's role in the home, cutting short their abilities to pursue an education. And the evidence suggests that newborns whose mothers die of any cause are 3 times to 10 times more likely to die within the first 2 years than those whose mothers survive. What is most unfortunate and thereby, should be unacceptable, is the fact that most maternal deaths are avoidable. With proper prenatal care and maternal health care, sanitary conditions for delivery, and available lifesaving emergency interventions, essential obstetrical services, these lives need not be lost. Even in our own country maternal mortality, although rarer than in the developing world, occurs. No loss of life is acceptable. Mr. Speaker, hemorrhaging and blood loss are the top cause of maternal mortality and are of grave concern. During an African subcommittee hearing that I chaired during the previous Congress which concerned itself with safe blood, we heard from Dr. Neelam Dhingra, of the World Health Organization. Dr. Dhingra informed us that the most common cause of maternal death in sub-Saharan Africa is severe bleeding, which can take the life of even a healthy woman within 2 hours, if not properly and immediately treated. She gave us the astounding statistic that in Africa, severe bleeding during delivery, or after childbirth, contributes to up to 44 percent of maternal deaths, many of which could be prevented simply through access to safe blood. Sufficient quantity and quality of immediately available and usable blood must become the norm and not the exception. And I want to applaud the efforts of Chaka Fattah who has pushed very hard over the years to try to grow the amount, the quality and the quantity of blood in Africa. And USAID is addressing this in a number of programs, including the PEPFAR program. Women should not die from blood loss, simply due to lack of access to basic interventions like safe blood. Support of this resolution today puts us on record as focusing on these kinds of interventions. Mr. Speaker, one severe disfiguring disability that occurs in childbirth is obstetric fistula. Fistula can be treated and repaired through a relatively minor surgical procedure that costs, on average, $150 per surgery. I saw that firsthand, Mr. Speaker, on a trip several years back to Addis Ababa, where there is this famous hospital which has now grown and has satellites, and obviously has inspired other similar hospitals that treat the women who make it to them, and they're the lucky ones. I saw many of the women who were waiting in lines, who were incontinent, who were very sorrowful about their conditions but very hope-filled, knowing it was a matter of when and not if they would get this great surgery. Still, large numbers of women, an estimated 2 million, endure the tremendous pain and numbing isolation that comes from being the walking wounded, incontinent and ostracized, and not able to get to hospitals like that which is in Addis. With just a small investment of health care dollars, the lives of these women could be dramatically changed. In 2005, I would just point out, I sponsored an amendment that passed on this floor to allocate $12.5 million dollars to establish 12 centers to provide treatment and surgery that would have allowed thousands of women to be physically cured and emotionally healed from fistula, preventing disease, death, and allowing them to return to normal life. The amendment authorized funding for preventive measures as well, such as providing skilled birth attendants who can identify an obstructed delivery early and prevent an obstetric fistula from occurring in the fist place. Unfortunately, the underlying legislation made it over to the Senate, but died. However, I did ask the Bush administration, namely Dr. Kent Hill, USAID Assistant Administrator for Global Health, to initiate administratively a robust fistula program, which I'm happy to say he did wholeheartedly with a great deal of skill and compassion. I am happy to report that from 2004 to 2007, USAID has allocated more than $20 million for fistula prevention and treatment. In 2008 that amount will jump to $30 million, a great start but still not enough. Nevertheless, more than 3,500 women have had life-changing fistula repair through this program, not to mention the cases prevented through proper obstetric care. Helping mothers and helping their babies, Mr. Speaker, goes hand in hand. There is no dichotomy. When women receive proper prenatal care they are less likely to die in childbirth, and when unborn babies are healthy in the womb they emerge as healthier, stronger newborns. I am pleased that the resolution before us today does not endorse in any way whatsoever the cruel ideology that pits women against their babies by suggesting abortion as a means of combating maternal mortality. Women and their babies deserve better than abortion, and their health and well-being is intrinsically linked. Unfortunately, some abortion activists in recent years have attempted to exploit the tragedy of maternal mortality as a vehicle for their promotion of abortion. On one trip to Uganda, Mr. Speaker, I met with the head of the Minister of Gender, and we talked about this problem of maternal mortality. And she said, what African women want is essential obstetrical services, not the demise of their unborn babies. And so I am pleased that the resolution before us does not embrace abortion and, instead, properly links maternal health care and child survival to survival of all children, including the fragile and the vulnerable unborn baby. Birth is not the beginning of life, Mr. Speaker. It is merely an event in the baby's life that began at the precise moment of fertilization. Life is a continuum with many, many stages. Human rights should be respected from womb to tomb. We need to recognize this biological fact in policy, funding and programming, and treat both mother and baby, unborn baby as well, as two patients in need of respect, love and tangible assistance. We need to affirm them both. Mr. Speaker, in 1985, I sponsored the Child Survival Fund Amendment that doubled funding to $50 million, and it was adopted into law. The legislation financed global vaccinations, oral rehydration therapy. I think many Members will be a little bit shocked to learn that a leading cause of child death is from diarrheal dehydration and the problems that result from that, while oral rehydration therapy can prevent it simply by getting fluids into that young child. It also focuses on growth monitoring and breast feeding. So I'm happy to say that the resolution also speaks to that issue very, very soundly. UNICEF recognizes that unborn children and newborn children require care and nurturing, stating, and I quote, ``significant improvement in early neonatal period will depend on essential interventions for the mother and babies before, during and immediately after birth. According to the latest estimates for 2000 to 2006, at present in the developing world, one-quarter of pregnant women do not receive even a single visit from a skilled health professional, doctor, nurse, or midwife, and only 59 percent of births take place with the assistance of a skilled attendant, and just over half take place in a health facility. That has to be addressed. And yet the care for the mother and unborn child cannot be restricted to medical conditions and consultations, I should say, as important as they are. For example, in its child survival series, the Lancet identified fetal malnutrition and lower maternal body mass index as likely factors in neo-natal mortality rates and fetal-growth retardation. Just as undernutrition is the underlying cause of a substantial percentage of all child deaths, the mother's nutritional status has a direct bearing on the unborn child's development and the ability to survive, and of course, on her life as well. While visiting refugee camps in Sudan in the Darfur region, Mr. Speaker, I asked a group of women what is it that they required most, and I asked this at each and every camp, from the Muchar-Kama camp, all of the camps that I visited, they were unanimous. They wanted access to nutritious food so that these nursing mothers could continue to meet the needs of their infants. It was all about the two working together. If we are to address child and maternal deaths and go even further to ensure the healthy development of the baby through adolescence and the long-term health of the mother, the baby and the mother must be provided adequate nutrition and health care from the earliest stages of life prior to birth. In sum, the lack of prenatal care, the lack of adequate nutrition during pregnancy, the lack of sterile birthing environments, the lack of clean blood, and the lack of access to essential obstetrical services all contribute to the deaths of women and children. We must do more to save the lives of both, and the Child Survival and Maternal Mortality Initiatives must recognize, embrace, protect, and assist both women and their children, both born and unborn, from all threats including disease, hunger, trauma, and violence.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 369, recognizing May as National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month. Osteoporosis is often thought of as an older person's disease, but building strong bones during childhood and adolescence can be the best defense. A healthy lifestyle can lower the chances of having osteoporosis by maintaining a balanced diet rich in calcium and vitamin D. It is important that Americans monitor their bone health to ensure that they are not one of the 1.5 million victims of fractures that occur annually. Given its influence on the risk of fragility, fracture, osteoporosis may significantly affect the quality of life for those who do not know about early prevention, assessment, diagnoses, and treatment. I would especially like to thank the author of the resolution, Ms. Shelley Berkley of Nevada, for raising public awareness of osteoporosis. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote in favor of the resolution. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.