Dave Weldon

Mr. WELDON of Florida

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Well, I thank the gentleman for bringing this issue up, because I just had a conversation with our Governor, Jed Bush, about this very issue. The A-Plus plan is a very simple plan. If the school is scored low, parents can take their child and the money that was going to their child and go to a private school. The education bureaucracy, teachers unions, liberals on the left went absolutely berserk. They said it would be the total demise of public education in the State of Florida. It was the end of the world, and the sky was falling. There was only one or two schools that scored really low, and a few kids went off into the private system. But what really happened was that every single school in the State made a tremendous effort, particularly the failing schools, the poorly performing schools, to improve their act. Because no school, no teacher wanted to be at a school that was scored low, no principal wanted to be the principal of that school. What happened is the entire academic performance of the whole State has gone up. The Governor of our State told me that piece of legislation was the single most important piece of legislation to improve the quality of education in the State of Florida in probably 20, 30, or 40 years. It motivated teachers, principals, administrators to work very, very hard because they knew they were being held accountable. In my opinion, I would say this to Governors and school administrators all over the United States: You want to improve education? Establish a program like we did in Florida. Because that is what happened. We were doing annual studies on all these schools, how many kids are failing, and the grades came up. Average grades came up, and schools started performing better. It was absolutely miraculous. I do not know what else to say. We need that. Part of the problem in education in America is there are a lot of systems where there is no accountability. They can turn out kids that just are not learning year after year and nothing happens to anybody. They keep their jobs, they keep their positions. Under the threat of actually being held accountable, it has been absolutely tremendous. Talk to our lieutenant governor, Frank Brogan, who previously was the education commissioner in the State of Florida; and he has been following this issue very, very closely, as well as our current education commissioner. And they will tell you hands down the A-Plus program was a fabulous, fantastic success. Frankly, I was disappointed we were not able to include that in the President's education reform package. I was very disappointed that it was opposed by many people in this body as well as the other body; and ultimately, in the end, we were not successful in including it in the package. I believe we need to fight for that in the years ahead because it makes a difference in the lives of kids. I am glad the gentleman brought it up. I am happy to speak about it anywhere because it is the truth. The A-Plus plan helped kids, and that is really what it is all about.

Mr. WELDON of Florida. I have a chart very similar to the gentleman; and, Mr. Speaker, I first want to commend both the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Schaffer) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra) for their leadership in support of real meaningful education reform for our kids. Our children are the most important heritage we have. We devote so much of what we do in this country to raising up the next generation of children in the hope that they will be able to become responsible citizens and become the leaders of tomorrow. We have a great heritage in the United States. Millions of great Americans have gone before us walking in all kinds of fields of knowledge and expertise, from the sciences to politics, to poetry, to education, the arts; and what we do and how we go about raising up the next generation is, in many ways, the most important thing that we do. In my opinion, we do have in many ways an inefficient system of helping educate our kids. We take a dollar out of a taxpayer's pocket and then what do we do with it? This chart to my left, I think, lays it out very, very clearly. It goes from the taxpayer's back pocket to the Department of the Treasury, then it goes to the Department of Education, then it goes to the State, and then from the State it typically goes to the State Department of Education, after it gets politically manipulated, and then it goes ultimately down to the local school district. In the State of Florida, which I represent, it goes to the county. We have a county system of school districts. So the county I happen to live in, Brevard County, Florida, 500,000 people, they have a very large school district, over a billion dollar budget. They get these Federal dollars that comes through the Department of Education and through the State, through the State Department of Education, finally to the local school district; and ultimately, it ends up at the school level. But here, way down here on my left, here is poor Johnny. And what we are really talking about here is that dollar that came out of the taxpayer's pocket is not a dollar when it arrives down here. I do not know what the figure is, maybe one of these gentlemen here can help me. Is it 50 cents, 60 cents?

Mr. WELDON of Florida. I have it right here in this chart.

Mr. WELDON of Florida

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. Enron was a great tragedy; it was a tragedy for the employees, for the investors, and it was a tragedy for the American public. It was a tragedy for our Nation. We clearly need legislation. We need legislation that will give investors better access to information necessary to judge a firm's performance, the financial risk, the condition of that company. We need legislation that will give investors prompt information that is critical to decide whether or not they should make an investment. We also need legislation that will deal with dishonest and unscrupulous CEOs, legislation that will bar them from serving as an officer of a company, that will force them to disclose critical information about what they are doing when they buy or sell stock in that company. This legislation before us addresses all of those issues. It would be a greater tragedy if we were, in this body, to introduce legislation that would create unnecessary and burdensome red tape for American industries, that would nationalize the accounting industry. It would be inappropriate for us to put forward legislation that would create ambiguous and difficult-to-understand standards. This is a good bill. I urge all colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it. I commend the chairman and the subcommittee chairman who worked on this very important legislation.

Mr. WELDON of Florida

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings) for yielding me the time, and I rise in support of making these tax cuts permanent. I just want to talk about the human factor in the death tax. I have a constituent in my congressional district in Kissimmee, Florida. Actually, it is a couple. They owned a florist, Dennis and Nancy Sexton. Their uncle owned a florist in the same town, a much bigger floral operation. He passed away. He had 19 employees, and Dennis inherited that operation; and Dennis had to spend about $253,000 to deal with the death tax. The death tax was $160,000. The lawyer's fee and accountant fees were $60,000. He spent $4,000 on the appraisal of his uncle's floral operation, and he did not have that kind of money. So what did he do? He did the things that a lot of small business owners have to do. He laid off people. He took people that had worked for his uncle for years, brought them in and said I have to lay you off. Others he said I have to cut your salary. He took out a loan. He had to forego repairs on the building. They actually went a summer in Florida in their office, with no air conditioning, just to save some money, and had fans in there. The other thing he had to do, he had traditionally given to the United Way, to various charities in the community, as a lot of businessmen do. A lot of these charities come to the local businesses and ask for a donation. He has had to totally cut all that off. Now, he is going to survive, and I think he is going to make it; and hopefully some day he will be able to grow the business back up to where it was before the IRS stepped in. But I think this death tax is absolutely horrible, and to say in our bill that we want to bring it back in 10 years I just think is obscene, and I thoroughly support all the other provisions. I am only allowed 2 minutes, but my colleagues could put forward similar arguments with the retirement provisions. We can make the exact same arguments. So this is a good piece of legislation, and I commend our leaders for bringing it to the floor, and I would encourage everybody on both sides of the aisle to vote in support of it.

Mr. WELDON of Florida

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the important issue of energy independence for the United States. We have seen very clearly since the developments of 9/11 that we have significant foreign policy complications emerging from the development of Muslim fundamentalists, extremist violence in the Middle East, and of course, we have seen the tremendous tensions that have been raised in recent months within the area of Israel and Palestine and the tremendous conflicts, and in particular, the very, very difficult situation of the suicide bombers who are blowing themselves up in cafes and restaurants and killing innocent men, women and children, in many instances, leaving often dozens of people severely maimed and deformed. What is particularly disturbing is to read news reports that one of our supposed allies in the region, Saudi Arabia, has actually been paying the families of these suicide bombers, essentially aiding and abetting the commission of these horrific acts of violence against innocent civilians by these suicide bombers. Mr. Speaker, the situation that exists today is that the United States is dependent on foreign oil for about 50 percent of our energy requirements. I believe for us as a Nation that is an intolerable situation and that we need to take stock of this. The President put forward a very positive proposal to open up for drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and pursue a host of additional reforms that we passed out of this House and the other body is taking up, and I applaud the other body for finally getting to the issue. I believe we need a more aggressive proposal to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, specifically Middle Eastern oil over the next 10 to 15 years. What I put forward is that we begin an aggressive program using every tool that we have available in our research and development budgets, in our Tax Code, to do things to make electric vehicles more attractive for people to purchase, to develop alternative energy sources. We have a tremendous potential with wind energy, with solar energy. Indeed, I sit on the Committee on Science and Technology, and we have held hearings on the concept of space-based solar power, energy that can be collected by satellites from space and beamed to the Earth, energy that can be collected from the surface of the Moon and beamed to the Earth. The potential for fusion energy is another great area where we should be investing more. We in the United States need to embark in the months, weeks, years ahead on an aggressive proposal to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and specifically Middle Eastern oil. I believe many of our so-called allies in the Middle East are not allies at all. They are working directly contrary to the interests of the United States and, really, democratic nations all over the world. We should be about the business of moving any dependence we may have on those nations; and the best way to secure that for our future and the future of our children is to develop these alternative energy sources so that we as a culture and society can deal with those countries on a more even basis. It is very obvious to me when we look at what is going on in Europe that the European community is collectively too dependent on Middle Eastern crude. I believe we in the United States could end up in the same way in the next 10 to 20 years; and, therefore, I believe we need to develop these alternative energy sources, and we need more conservation. This should be a long-term project over the next 5 to 10 years where we employ every tool available to us so we are no longer importing oil. Not only do I believe this would be good for our foreign policy positions, I believe it would be good for peace throughout the world. I think it would be good for peace in the Middle East; and certainly it would be good for our domestic economy, our balance of payments. I implore the House of Representatives, particularly those who serve on the Committee on Science and Technology, those who serve on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Appropriations, to collectively come together in the weeks and months ahead and develop a cogent solution to deal with this pressing problem.

Mr. WELDON of Florida

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I commend him for his leadership on this. He is newly elected to the House, and he is doing an outstanding job of bringing attention to this very important issue. I first came to this body in 1994. At that time what I had heard from the constituents in my district and people all throughout the State of Florida was what a terrible disaster the welfare system was, locking millions of Americans in a cycle of poverty that they were literally unable to escape from. In the county that I live in, we had chronically 2,500 people on welfare. With the passage of welfare reform, that number has been reduced to 400 people, an 80 percent reduction. These kinds of reductions were seen all over the country. Millions of Americans have been able to move successfully from welfare to work. Surprisingly, now that we are in the place where we need to reauthorize this legislation, there are some Members who want to turn the clock back and look at the tremendous success of welfare reform and say it was a failure and we need to go back to the old ways. I want to talk about a couple of people. The gentleman's point about making this personal is important, so I want to talk about two Floridians who made the transition. Sha-Tee Bonner entered the welfare transition program in October 1999, and was immediately assigned to Job Search, something that would not happen before. She would be locked in welfare. Now under the program, the reform program, she is immediately assigned to Job Search. In November 1999, she became employed at Hollywood Video and began earning enough money to end her cash assistance. Sha-Tee continued to work until she received employment at the Dunes Hotel in March 2001 as a guest service representative. Since working at the Dunes Hotel, she has received pay raises and much praise from her supervisor. In August of 2001, Sha-Tee began the criminal justice technology program at Pensacola Junior College. Her employer at the Dunes Hotel is willing to work around her school schedule because of her outstanding employment at the Dunes. Mr. Speaker, here is a person who previously had been locked in welfare dependency. People are saying she is an outstanding worker. Sha-Tee believes that the responsibility of raising two daughters as a single parent has made her even more determined to make it through the tough times. She believes that self-sufficiency is an ongoing process. I agree. During the rough times, Sha-Tee and her two daughters lived with her grandmother. Recently, Sha-Tee has moved out to her own apartment and has purchased her own transportation. Pensacola's local Society for Human Resources Management recently honored Sha-Tee for being one of the welfare participants of the year. The award is presented to former welfare participants who have been successful in transitioning to the work environment. Stephanie Paige entered the welfare transition program in April of 2001 with several barriers to self-sufficiency. She was a 20-year-old single mother of one child. She had already earned her GED, but had no vocational or college education. She was fortunate enough to have a car, but no insurance. In addition, she had several medical problems, one of which required her to undergo surgery in July 2000. Also in that same month, her 4-year-old son had surgery. The Jobs Plus One-Stop staff in Crestview assisted Stephanie in developing a career plan that would allow her to achieve self- sufficiency for herself and her child. With guidance and support, the One-Stop staff were able to offer her financial assistance through supportive service funds to get the initial insurance set up for her car, after which she has been able to maintain the monthly premium. They were also able to help her purchase appropriate clothing for job placement. Stephanie was initially placed in a community service work site so she could gain job skills. She worked at the Salvation Army in Crestview, Florida, from June through December of 2001. Her work site supervisor was very pleased with her and reported she was a hard worker. Here we go again. Someone who had previously been locked in poverty is now being described as a hard worker. It has been in those people over the years; we just never had a system that unlocked it. In November, while voluntarily continuing to put in hours at the work site, she also enrolled in a CNA class at Crestview Nursing Home. Between August and September 2001, Stephanie earned a total of $225 in incentive payments for her performance and progress. On December 1, Stephanie passed her CNA exam, and 4 days later she obtained employment with Parthenon Healthcare of Crestview, earning $6.25 per hour. Her temporary cash assistance was closed on January 1, 2002, because her income was high enough that she no longer needed cash assistance. She receives transitional services in the form of subsidized child care and transportation assistance that allows her to maintain her employment. Stephanie continues to enjoy her work and has plans to pursue a nursing career. Mr. Speaker, these are two human beings that have been converted over from being dependent on a failed and broken system to being self- sufficient. Most importantly, more important than anything else, more important than the tax money that is saved is these women are setting an example for their children that there is a value to work, there is a dignity and pride that comes with it. For those reasons, I strongly support reauthorizing our welfare reform package with no watering down amendments that would turn the clock back. I again applaud the gentleman from South Carolina for his leadership on this very important issue.

Mr. WELDON of Florida

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give my support to H.R. 476, the Child Custody Protection Act, of which I am a cosponsor. This important legislation protects our daughters from being transported across state lines to be subjected to abortion, an invasive medical procedures, without the consent of their parents. Thirty-six states have parental consent laws in place to ensure that young teenaged girls do not undergo an abortion without their parent's consent. As a medical doctor I understand the physical and emotional ramifications of abortion. If parental consent is required for a child to receive an aspirin in school or to take a field trip, how much more critical is parental consent for an abortion? Moms and Dads should play a critical role in these kinds of decisions. It is simply not acceptable for third parties with their own agenda and interests to circumvent the role of parents, particularly when the state of residence has reinforced these rights for parents. All to often third parties such as sexual predators and abortion providers take advantage of these girls for their own purposes, and the parents are left to deal with the consequences. When the long-term repercussions such as medical complications and depression set in, old boyfriends and abortion companies are not there for the child, instead the parents are left to suffer as they watch their daughters suffer. Last September Eileen Roberts whose daughter was a victim of a non- parent assisted abortion, testified before the House Judiciary Committee about the horrors of this practice. She stated: I am horrified that our daughters are being dumped on our driveways after they are seized from our care, made to skip school, lie and deceive their parents to be transported across State lines whether that distance be two miles or 100 miles. Where are these strangers when the emotional and physical repercussions occur? They are kidnapping another young adolescent girl and transporting her for another secret abortion, and thus the malicious activity occurs over and over. When will this activity stop? When will those responsible for these secret abortions be held accountable for the financial costs of emotional and physical follow-up care from a disastrous legal abortion? I am reminded of the many young adolescent teens, especially Dawn from New York, whose parents were notified in time to make funeral arrangements after their daughter's legal abortion. Mrs. Ruth Ravenell and her husband were awarded $1.3 million dollars by the State of New York for the wrongful death of their 13-year-old daughter. Mrs. Ravenell, shared with me and the Senate Education and Health Committee in Richmond, VA that she sat in the hospital before her daughter died, with her hand over her mouth to help keep herself from screaming. Eileen Roberts, whose daughter was encouraged by her boyfriend, with the assistance of an adult friend, to obtain a secret abortion without telling her parents. Eileen's daughter suffered from depression, medical complications, and sever pelvic inflammatory disease which caused the family terrible pain and suffering and cost $27,000 in medical bills. Mr. Speaker, we must take action to protect our children from these attacks on the family. We must protect girls from being coerced to have an abortion without even their parents' knowledge. Children should not be transported across state lines for major medical procedures with the express intent to circumvent the laws and parental involvement. H.R. 476 will preserve the right of parents and will protect our children.

Mr. WELDON of Florida

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained during House rollcall votes 84 and 85. I was at the White House for a meeting with the President regarding congressional consideration of the Human Cloning Ban.

Mr. WELDON of Florida

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to the issue of the terrible violence that has been wracking the Middle East over the recent weeks, and I rise to speak in support of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. I believe very strongly that the primary purpose of government, above and beyond all other issues, is to protect the safety and the security of the people that they represent. This is very, very clear to us here in the United States, where following the attack on the World Trade Center, on the Twin Towers, our government has focused on the need to strengthen our national defenses, to strengthen our border security, to give the FBI and the CIA the tools they need to defend our Nation. It is irrelevant to talk about so many of these other important issues that we wrestle with, like education, like reducing taxes on the American families; it is irrelevant to talk about these things if our people are dying in the streets. But yet, this is exactly what has been going on in Israel in recent weeks. During the holy week time period, Christiandom was celebrating Easter and the Hebrew people were celebrating the Jewish holiday of Passover, and people all over the world were shocked to see over and over and over again, day after day, another suicide bomber blowing himself up, blowing herself up, and, in many cases, killing dozens of people around them; the most horrific acts of violence, killing innocent men, women, children, leaving those who survived these explosions frequently with grotesque and horrible injuries that will take years and maybe be impossible to fully recover from. This is the situation that the leadership in Israel, Prime Minister Sharon, the Knesset, the Government of Israel were wrestling with, and by occupying the West Bank, they have done the right thing. They have moved the conflict away from the Israeli people, away from the citizenry, and into the Palestinian areas, which is where these suicide bombers were coming from. I believe that it would be wrong for the Israeli Government, it would be wrong for Ariel Sharon to withdraw from the West Bank until, and only until, they can be certain that they can maintain the safety and the security of the Israeli people in this kind of environment. I would like to just say in closing that the process, the peace process that has led ultimately to the creation of the beginnings of a Palestinian state in the West Bank was always predicated on the belief, at least on the part of the American people, that the PLO was striving, was working towards having peaceful coexistence with the Israeli people. But I must say, I do not believe that was ever the agenda. Indeed, I was shocked, I was amazed to recently read an interview that Yasar Arafat, the leader of the PLO, recently gave to the Arab television network, with Al-Jazeera. He is quoted as saying, ``We defend not only Palestine, the Arab Nation, and not only the holy Islamic and Christian places, but also men of freedom and honor all over the world. This is our destiny. This is a divine decree. Let those far and near understand, none among the Palestinian people or Arab nation will be willing to bow and surrender, but we will ask Allah to grant martyrdom, to grant martyrdom.'' He repeated it twice. He then went on to say, ``To Jerusalem we march, martyrs by the millions. To Jerusalem we march, martyrs by the millions, to Jerusalem we march, martyrs by the millions,'' and he went on to say it again. Through the course of what was a 5, 10 minute interview on this Arabic television station, he went on to call for martyrs by the millions. Now, this is not news to many people who have been following the career of Yasar Arafat. Indeed, he goes on radio every day in the Palestinian territories calling for the destruction of the Israeli state, calling on more people to come forward to martyr themselves for the cause of destroying the Israeli state, to push, as he likes to say, the Jewish people into the sea. We will never have peace in the Middle East until Yasar Arafat, the Palestinian people, agree to give up the type of horrific, unspeakable violence that they have been inflicting upon the citizens of Israel. The Israeli defense forces need to continue this effort to root out the fundamentalist Islamic terrorists that are occupying the West Bank, and they should not withdraw.

Mr. WELDON of Florida

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3991, as amended.

Mr. WELDON of Florida

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2175, the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act and I am a proud cosponsor of this bill. This legislation is long overdue. For too long the youngest and most vulnerable of children have not been protected. This bill corrects this and brings protection to these children. It ensures that all children who are born alive are to be considered a human being. This bill would grant protection from being killed to all babies that show signs of life such as a heartbeat, breathing or muscle movement once they are outside the mother's womb. I commend the Chairman for bringing this bill to the floor today, and I urge all of my colleagues to support its passage. It is critical that we value all human life and this bill moves us in that direction.

Mr. WELDON of Florida

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) for yielding me the time; and notwithstanding some of the good features in this bill, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1885 due to the inclusion of provisions to extend amnesty to those who have broken our immigration laws, the so-called 245(i). We are, on one hand, deporting some who have violated the term of their visas; and with the other hand, with this legislation, we are rewarding those who have flaunted our laws. We should be pursuing vigorous enforcement of our borders and increased diligence in scrutinizing individuals from foreign countries. This provision does not do that. The objective of our policy should be to control the flow of illegal immigrants and ensure our national security, not rewarding those who have violated the law. Section 245(i) empowers visa holders to flout the law and game the system. They will know that the terms of their visa are irrelevant because they can pay a $1,000 fine to convert from illegal status to legal status. It also sends a mistaken message to thousands of people who are following the legal immigration channels to the United States Government, and it sends a signal that the United States Government does not take its immigration laws seriously. This can only foster more illegal immigration by adding an incentive to stay in the U.S. illegally. Under current law, those who overstay their visas are penalized. Overstaying by 180 days carries a penalty of being barred from reentering the United States for 3 years, and those who overstay for more than a year are barred from reentering the United States for 10 years. These penalties are not arbitrary. They are there to send a signal that we will enforce our visa laws. This extension of 245(i) provisions sends the opposite signal. I want to also add, and this is an issue that concerns me about this legislation, and it relates to the way things have changed since September 11. There were, as I understand it, 114,000 illegal immigrants from the Middle East according to the Census Bureau after the time of September 11. The Justice Department recently detailed an effort to apprehend and interrogate more than 6,000 immigrants from countries identified as al Qaeda strongholds. Security officials have indicated there are sleeper cells of terrorists already residing in the United States awaiting terrorist assignments. I ask the question, will this bill allow some of those sleepers to slip through the cracks by paying $1,000 and readjusting their status? I believe we simply do not know. Despite the best intention of officials with the administration and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, I feel that the risk to the United States is too high and that we should not be relaxing our laws. Finally, I would like to say that I object to the manner in which this subject is being considered today. Mr. Speaker, I am opposed to H.R. 1885 due to the inclusion of provisions to extend amnesty to those who have broken our immigration laws--commonly referred to as an extension of 245(i). This provision is at conflict with everything we are trying to do to enhance our border security and ensure compliance with U.S. immigration laws. With one hand we are deporting some who have violated the terms of their visa and with the other hand we are rewarding those who have flaunted our laws. We should be pursuing vigorous enforcement of our borders and increased diligence in scrutinizing individuals from foreign countries. This provision does not do that. The objective of our policy should be to control the flow of illegal immigrants and ensure our national security, not rewarding those who violate the law. The extension of 245(i) does not strengthen our immigration policy. Instead, it weakens it. 245(i) empowers visa holders to flout the law and ``game'' the system. They will know that the terms of their visa are irrelevant because they can pay a $1,000 fine to convert from illegal status to legal status. It also sends the mistaken message to thousands of people who are following legal immigration channels that the U.S. Government does not take seriously our immigration laws. This will only foster increased illegal immigration by adding an incentive to stay in the United States illegally. Under current law, those who overstay their visa are penalized. Overstaying by 180 days carries a penalty of being barred from reentering the United States for 3 years and those who overstay legal permission to be in the United States by a year or more are prohibited from reentering the country for 10 years. These penalties aren't arbitrary. They are designed to let visa holders know we are law- abiding nation. They are designed to compel nonimmigrants to respect the terms of their visa. A 10-year prohibition is supposed to signal how serious we are about enforcing our laws. Law-abiding nonimmigrants understand this. They are waiting for their family members and loved ones to join them as soon as they are granted legal permission. But 245(i) gives unlawful nonimmigrants a leg-up from those that are patiently waiting for the system to work. I think we should give a higher priority for citizenship to those who have demonstrated their willingness to live by our laws. 245(i) does just the opposite. In addition to my concerns about the duplicitous nature of extending 245(i), this bill poses a significant national security risk. This bill does not take into account how our world has changed since September 11, 2001. It makes no provision to exclude individuals who are here illegally from countries that sponsor or host terrorism. Earlier this year the Census Bureau reported 114,000 illegal immigrants from the Middle East were present in the United States. The Justice Department recently detailed an effort to apprehend and interrogate more than 6,000 immigrants from countries identified as al Qaeda strongholds. Security officials have indicated that there are ``sleeper cells'' of terrorist already residing in the United States awaiting their terrorism assignments. Will this bill allow some of these sleepers to slip through the cracks and readjust their status? We simply do not know. The threat to America still exists. We are still on heightened alert overseas and here at home. Let us not be naive in our diplomatic efforts which may have the unintended consequence of threatening all of the good work that has been accomplished regarding homeland security. I also object to the manner in which this subject is being considered today. As a Member of Congress, I would like the opportunity to amend this bill to have a straight up or down vote on whether or not we should extend 245(i). My guess is that if we had a straight up or down vote on this matter today, caution would prevail and the extension of amnesty for illegal immigrants would fail. We should at least be permitted to vote to restrict granting amnesty to those that may pose a security risk. I have introduced, H.R. 3286, which would place a temporary moratorium on all immigration from 13 countries known to house and train terrorists until the Attorney General certifies that the technological and security enhancing measures Congress has approved have been fully implemented. This is prudent policy because it takes into account the real terrorism threat from countries like Afghanistan, Algeria, Syria, Lybia, and the United Arab Emirates as we work to improve our immigration system. The bill before us today simply asks Congress to ``rubber stamp'' amnesty for illegal immigrants across the board. As I represent my constituents, I cannot in good conscience go along with this. It is for these reasons that I plan on voting against this bill and I encourage my colleagues who are concerned about our national security to vote against this bill as well.

Mr. WELDON of Florida

Mr. WELDON of Florida. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, S. 1026, introduced by the distinguished Senator from New Jersey Robert Torricelli, designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 60 Third Avenue in Long Branch, New Jersey, as the Pat King Post Office Building. A bill for the same purpose was introduced by my distinguished colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Frank Pallone). Mr. Speaker, Detective Sergeant Pat King was the most decorated police officer in Long Branch, New Jersey's history. Tragically, he was killed in the line of duty by a career criminal from out of State in November of 1997. Pat King is survived by his wife Maureen and two sons. I urge adoption of S. 1026, and I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Government Reform be discharged from further consideration of the Senate bill (S. 1026) to designate the United States Post Office located at 60 Third Avenue in Long Branch, New Jersey, as the ``Pat King Post Office Building,'' and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. WELDON of Florida

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the House consider House Resolution 340. I commend my distinguished colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sweeney), for introducing it. This resolution recognizes the enduring contributions, heroic achievements, and dedicated work of Jack Shea. Mr. Shea died on Tuesday, January 22, 2002 at the age of 91 from injuries in a car accident a few blocks from his home. The driver of the car that hit Jack Shea's car was charged with driving while intoxicated and other counts. Mr. Speaker, Jack Shea devoted his life to living the Olympic ideal and passing his inspiration and knowledge to younger generations. At 22, Jack Shea won gold medals in speed skating in both the 500 meter and the 1,500 meter events in front of his hometown crowd at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. With this accomplishment, he became the first double gold medalist in Winter Olympic history. Later Jack Shea recalled, ``When I stood on the dais to get the gold medal and I heard the national anthem of the United States, how proud I was to represent my country, my community, my father, and mother.'' Jack Shea not only promoted the Olympic ideal of peace, he lived that ideal. He had a chance to win more Olympic medals at the 1936 winter games in Germany, but Lake Placid had a large Jewish community whose rabbi asked him not to take part in an event linked with Hitler's Germany. Jack Shea honored that request. Back troubles kept Mr. Shea from skating much after the 1950s. However, he continued to serve the Olympics and the Lake Placid area. He served as the town justice of North Elba, New York, from 1958 to 1974. He then became the town's supervisor and remained in that position until his retirement in 1983. Jack Shea also served on the executive committee of the 1980 Lake Placid Organizing Committee. He realized his personal quest to bring the Winter Olympic games back to Lake Placid. When speaking about the winter games held in 1980 at Lake Placid, Mr. Shea said, ``I felt I would like to accomplish one more medal, to bring the Olympics back to Lake Placid.'' He accomplished that goal. Jack Shea was a member of the first family with three generations of Olympians and, at 91, was the winter games' oldest living gold medalist. Mr. Shea and his wife of 67 years Elizabeth had four sons and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His son, Jim Shea, Sr., was a Nordic skier in the 1964 winter games. His grandson, Jim Shea, Jr., will continue this tradition by competing in the skeleton event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The Olympic games were obviously an important part of Jack Shea's life. When the Olympic torch relay came through his village on its way to Salt Lake City, Mr. Shea carried the flame into the Olympic speed skating oval where he won his gold medals and ignited the cauldron. Three weeks later at his funeral, his grandson carried that same torch. As Father J. Michael Gaffney said about Jack Shea, ``Jack took life and made something of it. He had an impact. People knew that he lived. That kind of stuff you can't kill. It lives forever.'' Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate that the House recognize the dedicated work and outstanding accomplishments of Mr. Jack Shea today and extend condolences to his family. He improved the lives of many by not just speaking about ideals, but by living those ideals that he promoted. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H. Res. 340.

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 340) recognizing and honoring Jack Shea, Olympic gold medalist in speed skating, for his many contributions to the Nation and to his community throughout his life.

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Sweeney), the author of this piece of legislation.

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I again congratulate the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Sweeney) for introducing this resolution and working so hard to bring it to the floor. I also want to thank the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), chairman of the Committee on Government Reform, and the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), the ranking member, for expediting its consideration. I ask all Members to support this resolution to express our condolences on Jack Shea's death and honor his life and achievements. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WELDON of Florida

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on House Joint Resolution 82.

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege for me to yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from coastal Georgia (Mr. Kingston).

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds just to say that the period during which Ronald Reagan was President during the 1980s, the Congress engaged in a dramatic increase in social spending. It is not totally correct to attribute the deficits of the 1980s purely to the defense buildup, but indeed can equally be attributed to the actions of the Democratic Congress at the time which engaged in a dramatic increase in social spending. The Reagan defense buildup was essential for our winning the Gulf War, it was the right thing to do, and the tax cut was instrumental in lifting us out of a recession. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier), the very distinguished chairman of the Committee on Rules. (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)