Mike Simpson

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 550, passage of H.R. 2546, to designate the ``Charles George Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center'' in Asheville, NC, I was unavoidably detained and unable to vote. Had I been present, I would voted ``yea.''

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 549, passage of H. Res. 189, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a ``Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day'' should be established, I was unavoidably detained and unable to vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. I yield to the gentleman from Washington.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, in accordance with House earmark reforms, I would like to place in the Record a listing of the congressionally- directed projects in my home state of Idaho that are contained the report of the FY08 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. The project provides $500,000 within the Environmental Protection Agency, State and Tribal Assistance Grants to the City of Twin Falls for the Auger Falls Wastewater Treatment Project. Funding such as this is critical to assisting rural Idaho communities in upgrading their water and wastewater treatment facilities. In the case of Twin Falls, this funding is required to comply with unfunded mandates passed down by this Congress and federal agencies. The State of Idaho, under court order, has implemented Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) limits for phosphorus compounds on all significant discharges to the river. The City of Twin Falls Wastewater Treatment Plan, with a daily discharge of approximately 7.1 million gallons of treated wastewater per day, is one of the largest dischargers of phosphorus on the Middle Snake River and periodically exceeds the EPA TMDL limit. The City is planning to meet its TMDL limits through the use of natural treatments on city owned property, in the form of constructed wetlands and habitat creation. This funding will allow the City of Twin Falls to develop the beneficial wildlife habitats that will function as wastewater treatment systems to further reduce nutrients in City wastewater. This will ensure that the wastewater does not exceed the Environmental Protection Agency's Total Maximum Daily Load mandates for the City's wastewater discharged into the Snake River. I am proud to have obtained this funding for Idaho and look forward to working with Idaho's communities in the future to meet their water resource challenges. I appreciate the opportunity to provide a list of Congressionally- directed projects in my district and an explanation of my support for them. (1) $500,000 City of Twin Falls for the Auger Falls Wastewater Treatment.

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word. I wish to enter into a colloquy with the chairman of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased that this legislation increases the funding for loan repayment for health professionals within the Indian Health Service. As a dentist, I am keenly aware that the IHS dental program has the highest vacancy rate at 34 percent. The loan repayment program has proven to be a successful recruiting and retention tool for dentists and others. However, there is a related issue that I would like to discuss. Within the next few years, 65 percent of the IHS dental specialists, including pediatric dentists and oral surgeons, will be eligible for retirement. These dentists are in great demand because Indian people have some of the highest oral disease rates in the world. A 1999 IHS survey found that 79 percent of Indian children 2-4 years old had a history of dental decay; 68 percent of adults had untreated dental decay; and 61 percent of elders had periodontal disease. The dental specialists are a vital component in the IHS dental program. In addition to treating patients, they also train the general dentists for treating complex cases that arise daily in IHS hospitals and clinics. I hope it is possible to provide additional support for the dental residency program so they can fill these vacancies before reaching crisis proportions.

Mr. SIMPSON. I yield to the gentleman from Kansas.

Mr. SIMPSON. I thank the ranking member and the subcommittee.

Mr. SIMPSON. I thank the chairman of the subcommittee.

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 554, H. Amdt. 368 offered by Representative Smith to H.R. 2764, the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008, I was unavoidably detained and unable to vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 553, H. Amdt. 367 offered by Representative Lowey to H.R. 2764, the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008, I was unavoidably detained and unable to vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Once again this year, the bill before us is the result of a bipartisan atmosphere in the Energy and Water Subcommittee that has been fostered by Chairman Visclosky and Ranking Member Hobson. I want to thank both of them for the manner in which they approached the many issues before this committee and for producing a bill that will pass today, I believe, with little opposition. First, the Energy and Water bill enjoyed unanimous support in the subcommittee and near unanimous support in the full committee for the balanced and thoughtful way in which it addresses the complex energy and water challenges facing this Nation. Second, the bill makes tremendous investments in our Nation's critical science and energy-related programs. Third, the bill promotes two areas that I believe are critical to address the energy supply challenges we face, nuclear and alternative fuels, by employing the vast knowledge and expertise of our national labs that includes the Idaho National Laboratory which is in my district. Finally, the bill continues its pressure on DOE to improve project management, contain costs and stick to schedules which are among DOE's most chronic and persistent problems. In closing, I want to again recognize the bipartisan manner in which this bill was written and acknowledge the tremendous work of all the professional staff on this subcommittee. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I thank the chairman and the ranking member for their work on this bill.

Mr. SIMPSON. In the place of the ranking member, absolutely. Amendment No. 26 Offered by Mr. Westmoreland

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 385, to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 1425, the Staff Sergeant Marvin ``Rex'' Young Post Office Building, I was unavoidably detained and unable to vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 384, to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 689, the Industrial Bank Holding Company Act, I was unavoidably detained and unable to vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. I appreciate the gentleman yielding time, and I appreciate the leadership of the ranking member from California on this committee. Mr. Speaker, one of the difficulties we often have is you are tasked if you are a member of the party of the administration to sometimes defend the administration. But sometimes the administration, quite frankly, does things that are undefendable. If you read the statement of administration policy and what they would do and why they would veto this bill, I have got to tell you, I believe it is undefendable. I want to thank Chairman Obey for recognizing that even in a time of war, not all emergencies are war-related, that unanticipated circumstances occur that require our attention. Unanticipated floods and droughts and hurricanes occur that require our attention. Unanticipated wildfires occur that require our attention. Unanticipated actions that are taken that would impact our county schools and road budgets need to be taken into account. If you read the administration's statement of administration policy, I want to read from it, if I could. The Office of Management and Budget, Statement of Administration Policy. The administration strongly supports efforts to increase opportunities for America's farmers and ranchers in rural communities. However, H.R. 2207 would allow almost $7 billion in unrequested spending that is unjustified and not appropriate for an emergency spending bill. Mr. Speaker, I will tell you that if you look at the funding in this bill, it is exactly what emergency spending is for. As an example, if you look at what we have done in the agricultural section of this bill; we have had droughts, we have had problems in the agricultural community. And while the administration talks about how good the ag economy is and how good the 2001 farm bill worked, and that the ag economy is up like $16 billion in income this year, the fact is that, in isolated cases and in isolated situations, you have disasters, you have floods, you have droughts. We have a responsibility to help those people. That's what an emergency is. I don't think the administration recognizes that. When you have wildfires that occur throughout this country that are more than we anticipate, and if you will look at the news any given night, wildfires are occurring now in California and other places, we have to put out those wildfires. If we don't, the costs grow and become enormous. If you look at the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self- Determination Act, I don't know if most people understand what that is. Counties used to get a part of the timber sales to help fund their roads and their schools. Timber sales were being reduced so much that those funds were drying up and it was affecting those counties that were predominantly rural counties and had many public lands in them. Mr. Thompson said he has one that is 80 percent Federal land. I've got one that is 96 percent Federal land. What we did was we put this into place 10 years ago. The problem was it said that we will wean the schools off of this and find a way to replace those funds. How do you replace those funds if you are a county that is 96 percent Federal land? You have no private land for taxes. How are they going to find the resources to replace that funding? So we did it in the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self- Determination Act. Now, the administration says they have come up with a perfectly reasonable alternative to fund this, an offset, if you will. They want to sell public lands. They proposed that last year, selling nearly 250,000 acres in Idaho. The people of this country stood up and rejected that idea. The people of this country do not want to willy-nilly sell public lands. We have a responsibility, when the Federal Government owns an overwhelmingly majority of public lands in a lot of the western States, 64 percent in Idaho, we have a responsibility to help those counties with some of the funds where they don't have the tax base to address these needs themselves. Otherwise, you are going to have schools that, quite frankly, don't have a budget next year. Is it an emergency? Can we wait until 2008? I don't think so. They start school before that, and we have to address it. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the fact that the administration is trying to address the deficit, but to suggest that these needs are nonemergency, that we should be able to anticipate them, I think is just wrong. I hope my colleagues will vote for this bill. And again, I thank the chairman of the committee. I thank the ranking member of the committee for the work that they do. It is always difficult when you are trying to address both the deficit and the needs of this country, and they do a very, very good job of it.

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 285 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Ms. Paige E. McManus, former staff director for the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, who recently concluded 13 years of honorable service in this body. During my tenure as chairman of the Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Benefits in the 107th Congress, my colleagues and I were direct beneficiaries of Ms. McManus's counsel on legislative, policy, budgetary, and oversight matters. Ms. McManus's considerable expertise served the subcommittee in many thematic areas. She oversaw the $24 billion per year Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation and pension entitlement program, including herbicide-related disabilities, cold weather-related disabilities, Persian Gulf undiagnosed illnesses, disabilities common to ex-POWs, adapted housing and automobile benefits for seriously disabled veterans, Medal of Honor special pension benefits, and Merchant Mariner benefits; the surviving spouse programs, including dependency and indemnity compensation, Survivor Benefit Plan, and CHAMPVA; burial benefits and services under VA's National Cemetery Administration and the State Cemetery Grants Program, as well as policy matters associated with Arlington National Cemetery and the American Battle Monuments Commission; and national insurance programs, such as Veterans' Group life Insurance and Servicemembers' Group life Insurance. Ms. McManus's longstanding work at the direction of Veterans' Affairs Committee leadership on the creation of the World War II Memorial and VA's National Shrines initiative, enactment of special combat pay, or concurrent receipt, and dependency and indemnity compensation for remarried spouses proved especially meritorious. The legislative road traveled by each of these measures was long and exceptionally arduous. Ms. McManus's advice and perseverance added great value. The depth and breadth of her policy expertise and advice indeed proved hard to match. Madam Speaker, Paige McManus has exemplified the highest ideals of public service serving the Committee with honor, integrity, and energy. Thank you, Paige, for your many years of dedicated service to the United States Congress and to our Nation.

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my support for Taiwan's efforts to participate in the World Health Organization. Taiwan's participation in the WHO is a health issue rather than a political issue. Taiwan has been directly impacted by many of the new, global health threats that have swept Asia since 2002. During the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, Taiwan saw one of the highest incident rates of infection. More recently, Taiwan has reported incidences of avian flu outbreak, a disease which presents a global threat. For many years, in my district, Idaho State University hosted a unique program providing a language and cultural education program for junior diplomatic officers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I spent time discussing the American political system and current events in Taiwan with the junior diplomats, and they taught me a great deal about Taiwan's political system and the challenges it faces. As Taiwan deals with new arising health threats, the lessons that I learned from the young diplomats reminded me of the importance of ensuring that all people throughout the world can access resources to fight potential pandemics. Madam Speaker, global health pandemics recognize no borders. Taiwan has been seeking observer status at the WHO since 1997. Other non- sovereign entities, such as the Holy See, maintain observer status. Protecting people's health is not a political issue, and gaining access to global health organizations should not be a political issue either. Safeguarding world health requires the participation of everyone in the international community. Madam Speaker, I urge the international community to accept Taiwan into the WHO community this year.

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to express my concern with certain provisions of the Republican Budget Substitute Amendment offered by Representative Ryan. I strongly support the tax provisions included in the Ryan Amendment. Republican tax relief has led to unprecedented economic growth and dropped the unemployment rate. More importantly, tax relief gives back to Americans their own money. The robust economic growth in this Nation over the past few years is proof that individual Americans use and invest their dollars much more wisely than the Federal Government does. I am pleased that the Ryan Amendment makes the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 permanent and recognizes the reality of our Nation's fiscal situation by addressing the out-of- control growth of entitlement spending. However, I want to make clear my views regarding certain budget process reforms included in the Ryan amendment. I am strongly opposed to giving any U.S. President the power to use a line item veto. Our Founding Fathers wisely attempted to curtail the power of each branch of the Federal Government by instituting a system of checks and balances. Granting the President additional power to veto specific portions of a bill instead of the bill as a whole cedes too much authority to the executive branch and could lead to unfair and unilateral power. I am very disappointed that the Ryan Amendment includes a provision granting the President this unconstitutional power. While I strongly oppose the line-item veto provision and other attempts to reduce Congress's constitutional power of the purse included in the Ryan Amendment, it is clear to me that this proposal is preferable to an alternative that raises taxes by an average of $2,597 for each of my constituents.

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 178, passage of H.R. 740-- Preventing Harassment through Outbound Number Enforcement (PHONE) Act of 2007, I was unavoidably detained and unable to vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 177, passage of H.R. 1130--Judicial Disclosure Responsibility Act, I was unavoidably detained and unable to vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 176, passage of H.R. 1284--Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2007, I was unavoidably detained and unable to vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea''.

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate an exceptional high school choir in my district, the Madison High School Bel Canto Choir of Rexburg, Idaho, which has been chosen to perform at New York City's legendary Carnegie Hall on March 19, 2007. The Bel Canto choir was selected out of dozens of high school choirs across the country for this performance. The concert will feature 200 students from three states, and it is the capstone of Carnegie Hall's yearlong National High School Choral Festival. The concert will be conducted by Dr. Craig Jessop, esteemed Music Director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, who has been working with the choirs and their conductors throughout the year. Apart from their world-renowned performances, Carnegie Hall brings innovative music education programs to students across the nation. I am delighted that these young constituents have been given this opportunity. Led by David Hinck, the Madison High School Bel Canto Choir had its beginnings in the 1960s. The choir consistently receives high ratings at regional choral festivals and has been a featured ensemble at the Idaho Music Educators Conference, Northwest Music Educators Conference, and the Idaho ACDA Retreat. In 2005, the choir received top honors at the FAME festival in Branson, Missouri. The ensemble regularly joins with the MHS Orchestra and has performed several works with the orchestra and other choirs from the Eastern Idaho Area. I am honored to have one of the four schools in the nation chosen for the Carnegie Hall National High School Choral Festival residing in my Idaho district. They should be proud not only of their musical achievement, but their embodiment of the quality musical education the State of Idaho provides. I commend these students and their leaders for their success, and wish them the best of luck on March 19 when they perform at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, I rise today not because I want to take part in this debate, but because I am ashamed that this Congress is engaging in it at all. I've heard a lot of posturing so far this week. I've heard a lot of hyperbole and a lot of revisionist history. I've also heard some things that just don't mesh with reality. I don't think that everything my colleagues say is completely honest. So for a moment, let's be honest-- because that is the least we owe to our constituents and to the men and women who are fighting this war. I am willing to admit that if Congress knew in 2002 what it knows today it might not have voted to authorize the war. Knowing that Saddam Hussein apparently did not have weapons of mass destruction, Congress might have preferred to contain him, perhaps bomb him, strengthen international sanctions, and work with our allies in the region to undermine his regime. But we can't go back to 2002 and redo that vote. We have to deal with the situation that is currently before us. And what is before us right now is a Congressional resolution that undermines our troops while they are in the middle of fighting a war that Congress sent them to fight. I do not understand why my colleagues on the other side of the aisle don't see that. For just a moment, I want to ask my colleagues to put themselves in the positions of the thousands of soldiers on the ground in Iraq. What would you think if you learned that the very people who sent you to fight this war are now saying that they don't support what you are doing? On the ground in Iraq, there are two things that keep you going: the thought of returning home to your family and the knowledge that you are doing something to protect your nation from terrorism. But if Congressional Democrats have their way today, they will take away from our soldiers the support of their Congress and of their country. What a terrible message to send to these brave soldiers. For just a moment, put yourself in the shoes of the terrorists. What would you think when you heard the U.S. Congress is voting against the war? You would think you were winning. You would be encouraged by the news. You would think that everything Osama Bin Laden had said about Americans had been true all along. You would think that Americans cannot stand bloodshed and will cower from the fight. You would think that they don't have the stomach for a long-term battle and if the terrorists just hold on, the United States will eventually leave with its tails between its legs. What a terrible message to send at the exact moment that we are preparing to send more troops into battle. At some point, my colleagues across the aisle have to let go of the fact that their newfound opposition to the War in Iraq is popular in their districts and act in the best interests for the future of our Nation. This resolution isn't a diversion, a side-show, or even a shot across the bow. It is a dangerous message to send. I don't say any of this lightly and I don't say it for political reasons. I say it because I mean it. In 2006, I was the only Republican to vote against the rule when my party tried to embarrass Mr. Murtha. Then, I thought that my party was playing games with the war and I refused to support that effort. Today, I think that the other party is playing games with the war and I refuse to have any part of this. I would rather we consider a motion to pull all of our troops out of Iraq immediately than vote on this Democrat resolution that undermines our troops while at the same time puts them in harm's way. This resolution is the worst of all worlds. My final thought today is that it is clear to many of us that this resolution is simply a Democratic attempt to embarrass President Bush. My friends across the aisle know they can not impeach him. They know they can not change the fact that many of them voted for the War in Iraq. And most of them recognize the dangers of voting to defund the war. So instead, they are trying to embarrass the President. I say fine, embarrass the President. Send him a message that you are now in charge. Remind him that voters demanded change last November. Do whatever you need to do, but don't undermine our troops in the process. Leave them out of your plans for payback because they did nothing to attract your anger or frustration. Madam Speaker, what we are doing today is wrong. We're better than this. We're smarter than this. We're above using the war, and our troops, for political gain. What the Democrats are doing with this resolution is not just intellectually dishonest, it is morally bankrupt.

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, it is an honor to rise and show my appreciation for Karen Haas, the outgoing Clerk of the House. Karen is truly deserving of recognition for a job very well done. It is a pleasure to know Karen, as she is one of the most thoughtful and considerate people on Capitol Hill. She has done an exceptional job running the Clerk's office, and knowing that Karen was in charge meant other members and I knew that things were getting done right. I can even say that I have had the privilege to ``work'' for Karen. When Karen ran the House floor operations, I would get calls at all times of the day asking if I could preside. I never hesitated to preside when Karen asked, nor did my colleagues. Some people might have been surprised when Speaker Hastert tapped Karen to fill the Clerk's position. I wasn't surprised; I knew he made a very good choice. Karen has done a magnificent job as Clerk and we will truly miss having her in the Capitol. Karen, thank you for a job well done.