Frank Wolf

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I submit the New York Times obituary of William J. Stuntz, an influential legal scholar, who died last week after a 3-year battle with metastatic colon cancer. He was 52. I also submit a piece which Mr. Stuntz authored in 2009 for Christianity Today titled ``Three Gifts for Hard Times.'' Christianity Today re-ran the piece this month in honor of Stuntz's passing. In the face of great personal hardship, including chronic pain which plagued him for more than ten years, Mr. Stuntz found tremendous strength in his Christian faith, and wrote of it in ways both compelling and poetic. I commend it to my colleagues. [From Christianity Today, Aug. 2009] Three Gifts for Hard Times (By William J. Stuntz) Survivors of some horrible plague or battle often find themselves wracked with guilt: Why did I live while so many died? Though I had no battle scars, I used to feel a similar sense of guilt. I married the only woman I've ever loved. We have three terrific children. I have a secure job that I love and that pays well. Sometimes I would ask God: Why have you been so kind to me? Why have I gotten such an easy life? I don't ask those questions anymore. A little over nine years ago, while driving home from a family vacation, my car got a flat tire. When I started to change it, something nasty happened at the base of my back. Ever since, my lower back and the top half of my right leg have hurt. After two operations, dozens of injections, physical therapy, psychotherapy, and thousands of pills, my back and right leg hurt every waking moment, and most of those moments, they hurt a lot. Living with chronic pain is like having an alarm clock taped to your ear with the volume turned up--and you can't turn it down. You can't run from it; the pain goes where you go and stays where you stay. Chronic pain is the unwelcome guest who will not leave when the party is over. A few months after my back turned south, my family and I moved when I accepted a job at Harvard Law School. Our family began to unravel. One of our children suffered a life- threatening disease, and my marriage fell apart. Those crises faded with time but left deep scars. Early last year, in February 2008, another piece of bad news struck me: Doctors found a large tumor in my colon; a month later, films turned up tumors in both of my lungs. In the past year, I've had two cancer surgeries and six months of intensive chemotherapy. I've been off chemo for a few months, but I'm still nauseous much of the time and exhausted most of the time. Cancer kills, but cancer treatment takes a large bite out of one's pre-diseased life, as though one were dying in stages. Some of that stolen life returns when the treatment stops. But only some. Today, my back and especially my right leg hurt as much as they ever have, and the odds are overwhelming that they will hurt for as long as this life lasts. Cancer will very probably kill me within the next two years. I'm 50 years old. Such stories are common, yet widely misunderstood. Two misunderstandings are worth noting here. First, illness does not beget virtue. Cancer and chronic pain make me sick; they don't make me good. I am who I was, only more diseased. Second, though I deserve every bad thing that has ever happened to me, those things didn't happen because I deserve them. Life in a fallen world is more arbitrary than that. Plenty of people deserve better from life than I do, but get much worse. Some deserve worse and get much better. Something important follows: The question we are most prone to ask when hardship strikes--why me?--makes no sense. That question presupposes that pain, disease, and death are distributed according to moral merit. They aren't. We live in a world in which innocent children starve while moral monsters prosper. We may see justice in the next life, but we see little of it in this one. Thankfully, God gives better and more surprising gifts to those living in hard times. Three gifts are especially sweet. Redeeming Curses First, God usually doesn't remove life's curses. Instead, he redeems them. Joseph's story makes this point. Joseph was victimized by two horrible injustices: one at the hands of his brothers who sold him into slavery, the other thanks to Potiphar's wife, who falsely accused him of attempted rape. God did not undo these injustices; they remained real and awful. Instead, God used those wrongs to prevent a much worse one: mass starvation. When Joseph later met with his brothers, he said this about the transaction that started the train rolling: ``You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.'' That doesn't mean that slavery and unjust imprisonment are good; rather, the point is that they produced good, and the good they produced was larger than the wickedness that was visited upon Joseph. Evil was twisted back on itself, like a gun barrel turned so that it aims at the would-be murderer firing the weapon. Joseph's story foreshadows the central story of the Gospels. The worst day in human history was the day of Christ's crucifixion, which saw the worst possible punishment inflicted on the One who, in all history, least deserved it. Two more sunrises and the Son rose: the best day in human history, the day God turned death itself against itself--and because he did so, each one of us has the opportunity to share in death's defeat. That is our God's trademark. Down to go up, life from death, beauty from ugliness: the pattern is everywhere. That familiar pattern is also a great gift to those who suffer disease and loss--the loss may remain, but good will come from it, and the good will be larger than the suffering it redeems. Our pain is not empty; we do not suffer in vain. When life strikes hard blows, what we do has value. Our God sees it. A change in suffering's character The second gift is often missed, because it lives in salvation's shadow. Amazing as the greatest of all gifts is, God the Son does more than save sinners. Jesus' life and death also change the character of suffering, give it dignity and weight and even, sometimes, a measure of beauty. Cancer and chronic pain remain ugly things, but the enterprise of living with them is not an ugly thing. God's Son so decreed it when he gave himself up to torture and death. Two facts give rise to that conclusion. First, Jesus is beautiful as well as good. Second, suffering is ugly as well as painful. Talk to those who suffer medical conditions like mine and you'll hear this refrain: Even the best-hidden forms of pain and disease have a reality that is almost tactile, as though one could touch or taste them. And those conditions are foul, like the sound of fingernails on a blackboard or the smell of a cornered skunk. Some days, I feel as if I were wearing clothes soaked in sewage. Some days--but not most days, thanks to the manner of Jesus' life and death. Imagine Barack Obama putting on a bad suit or Angelina Jolie wearing an ugly dress. The suit wouldn't look bad, and that dress wouldn't be ugly. These are incredibly attractive people whose attractiveness spills over onto their clothing, changing its meaning and the way other people respond to it. If Obama or Jolie wear it, it's a good- looking outfit. If they wear it often enough, it becomes a good-looking outfit even when you or I wear it. God's Son did something similar by taking physical pain on his divine yet still-human person. He did not render pain itself beautiful. But his suffering made the enterprise of living with pain and illness larger and better than it had been before. He elevates all he touches. Just as his years of carpentry in Joseph's shop lend dignity and value to all honest work, so too the pain he bore lends dignity and value to every pain- filled day human beings live. The Shawshank Redemption is about a prisoner convicted of a murder he didn't commit. That prisoner escapes by crawling through a sewer line until he's outside the prison's walls. The narrator describes the transaction this way: ``He crawled through a river of [dung] and came out clean on the other side.'' God the Son did that, and he did it for the likes of me--so that I, too, and many more like me, might come out clean on the other side. That truth doesn't just change my life after after I die. It changes my life here, now. The God Who Remembers The third gift is the most remarkable. Our God remembers even his most forgettable children. But that memory is not the dry, lifeless thing we feel when one or another old friend comes to mind. More like the passion one feels at the sight of a lover. When Jesus was dying, one of the two convicts crucified with him said this: ``Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom'' (Luke 23:42). Jesus responded by telling him that he would be in paradise that very day. As we use the word remember, that story sounds off, as though the thief on the cross and the Son of God were talking past each other. The story sounds off because to us, remembrance merely means ``recall''--I remember when I connect a student's name to her face, or when I can summon up some fact or the image of some past event. That kind of remembrance is a sterile enterprise, lacking both action and commitment. In the Bible, remembrance usually combines two meanings: first, holding the one who is remembered close in the heart, and second, acting on the memory. When God repeatedly tells the people of Israel to remember that he brought them out of Egypt, he is saying much more than ``get your history right.'' A better paraphrase would go like this: ``Remember that I have loved you passionately. Remember that I have acted on that love. Hold tight to that memory, and act on it too.'' Job understood the concept. Speaking with God about what would follow his own death, Job utters these words: ``You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made. Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin'' (14:15-16). Notice how memory and longing are fused. Job longs to be free of his many pains, which occupy his mind like a sea of unwanted memories. God longs for a relationship with Job, and Job knows it: hence, his belief that the Lord of the universe remembers each of his steps. He is the Lover who will not rest until his arms enfold the beloved. To Job, the curses Satan has sent his way are a mighty mountain that cannot be climbed, an enemy army that cannot be beaten. In the shadow of God's love, those curses are at once puny and powerless. Philosophers and scientists and law professors (my line of work) are not in the best position to understand the Christian story. Musicians and painters and writers of fiction are much better situated--because the Christian story is a story, not a theory or an argument, and definitely not a moral or legal code. Our faith is, to use C.S. Lewis's apt words, the myth that became fact. Our faith is a painting so captivating that you cannot take your eyes off it. Our faith is a love song so achingly beautiful that you weep each time you hear it. At the center of that true myth, that painting, that song stands a God who does vastly more than remember his image in us. He pursues us as lovers pursue one another. It sounds too good to be true, and yet it is true. So I have found, in the midst of pain and heartache and cancer.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to acknowledge the hard work and determination that Habitat for Humanity has provided for a deserving family in my district. Habitat for Humanity of Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park purchased a three-bedroom townhouse in Manassas using funds from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The organizations began extensive renovations on the townhouse on October 9, 2010. The deserving recipient is a single mother who offers support and care for her disabled mother, along with working full-time and caring for her son. With the high cost of living in northern Virginia, the mother believed that she would never be able to purchase a home. She learned about the Habitat for Humanity home ownership program and applied in November 2009. After 1,100 hours of volunteer labor by nearly 100 volunteers, the house was dedicated on April 2 to the woman and her family. The family will purchase the home from Habitat at cost and finally be able to have a place to call home. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to recognize Habitat for Humanity for its continuing work to help make the American dream of home ownership come true and salute its volunteers and donors for their hard work. This deserving family looks forward to living in a safe and pleasant community.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 1363, the Department of Defense and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011. I am voting today for H.R. 1363 because I do not support a government shutdown. H.R. 1363 will keep the government open. I am voting to ensure that federal employees are not pawns in a game of ``shut-down chicken.'' I am voting to ensure that FBI agents continue on the job. I am voting to ensure that DEA agents, ATF agents, U.S. Marshals, Border Patrol Agents, and CIA agents, are on the job. I am voting to ensure that tax returns filed by mail and loans to small businesses continue to be processed. I am voting to ensure that NIH research and clinical trials continue. I am voting to ensure that veterans will be able to receive walk-in services at clinics. I am voting to ensure that the government honors signed contracts. I am voting to ensure that federal employees, who are all essential, are able to continue to do the work they do, day in and day out, to keep our nation running. I am also voting for H.R. 1363 because it funds the Department of Defense for the rest of the fiscal year. This bill provides economic certainty to our troops and their families at a time when they are sacrificing so much to support our military operations around the world. We also need to provide that economic certainty to the entire federal workforce and the American people who expect us to be on the job working for them. We need to reach an agreement on a spending plan for the remaining five and a half months of this fiscal year and get on with the business of producing a budget for FY 2012 with a resolve to continue to take steps to reverse our nation's mounting debt and deficit spending. I am voting for H.R. 1363 because it cuts $12 billion in discretionary spending in one week. Twelve billion dollars. This may well be the largest one week discretionary spending cut ever passed through the House. The measure before us today is another responsible step in the right direction until a long term agreement is reached. The House has acted. Again and again, House Republicans have voted to keep the government open by supporting continuing resolutions until a long-term solution for the rest of the fiscal year is reached. We are continuing to work to find a solution to the unfinished business left by the leadership of the previous Congress. Passing H.R. 1363 will enable us to move forward on the fiscal oversight needed to ensure long term, fiscal solvency. I am voting ``yes'' today because this measure continues our efforts to tackle the debt while keeping the government open.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call to my colleagues' attention recent action in the Virginia General Assembly to designate February 4, 2011, and in each succeeding year, as ``Cancer Prevention Day'' in Virginia. The Virginia Senate joint resolution introduced by Senator Jill Holtzman Vogel, who represents many constituents from the 10th congressional district, reads: ``Whereas, cancer is the leading cause of death around the world; and ``Whereas, during the 10-year period from 1995 to 2004, the rate of new cancer cases in Virginia increased by 10 percent; and ``Whereas, the most common cancers in Virginia--prostate, lung, and colorectal for men and breast, lung, and colorectal for women--are also among the most preventable; and ``Whereas, the 2008-2012 Virginia Cancer Plan developed by the Virginia Cancer Plan Action Coalition contains specific goals and strategies related to prevention in the hopes of reducing the rates of cancer in Virginians; Now, therefore, be it ``Resolved by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, that the General Assembly designate February 4, in 2011 and in each succeeding year, as Cancer Prevention Day in Virginia.'' I applaud Senator Vogel for her efforts to raise awareness in the Commonwealth on the fight against cancer, and also salute our mutual constituent Bill Couzens of Middleburg, founder and president of the nonprofit Next Generation Choices Foundation and the Less Cancer Campaign, who worked with Senator Vogel in the effort to secure passage of the resolution in the state legislature. As she noted, ``The more energy and resources that we direct toward awareness, education and prevention, the more lives we save.''

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to salute the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce and the fine people being recognized at its annual awards gala, So Proudly We Hail--Celebrating Our Local Heroes. The Dulles Regional Chamber is located in one of the top technology corridors in the nation and is the largest chamber in Fairfax County. Each year it recognizes first responders in the region who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. This year's honorees are Capt. Kathleen Stanley with Fairfax County's International Urban Search and Rescue and the late Sgt. Phillip Farley with the Herndon Police Department. Capt. Stanley has served the citizens of Fairfax County for nearly 20 years, most recently in Battalion 401 which serves the Reston/Herndon area of Fairfax County. In 2010, she deployed with the county's Urban Search and Rescue team to Haiti, where she served for the entire deployment as a medical specialist, often administering care to patients critically injured in the earthquake. Sgt. Farley is being recognized for his contributions from 2001 to 2010 to the Herndon Police Department. Because of his efforts, the Herndon Police Department is one of the first law enforcement agencies in northern Virginia to implement a seamless transition in its electronic records management, computer aided dispatch and mobile computer terminals to enable effective communication and records management solutions. Sgt. Farley also was instrumental in the research and testing of the department's transition from revolvers to automatic weapons. In addition, he introduced scenario-based training to coincide with annual range training. In addition to recognizing local first responders, the chamber invited and saluted seven service men for their contributions to our country. They are: Chief Warrant Officer 5 Bradley Garfield, U.S. Marine Corps; 1st Sgt Michael Barrett, U.S. Marine Corps; Gunnery Sgt. Alain Frederique, U.S. Marine Corps; Gunnery Sgt. Josue Magana, U.S. Marine Corps; Staff Sgt. Hugh Davis, U.S. Army Reserve, retired; Technical Sgt. Christopher Frost, U.S. Air Force, and Sgt. John Eubanks, U.S. Marine Corps. Mr. Speaker, please join me in recognizing the accomplishments of these honorees. We owe them all our thanks.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because of a tragic event--the March 2 assassination of Pakistan's Federal Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, a heroic man of faith whose courageous and outspoken leadership against his nation's draconian blasphemy law made him a prime target of extremist Islamist elements in his country. Bhatti was the only Christian member of the Pakistani cabinet. We have lost a friend and an ally and our prayers are with Bhatti's family and those in Pakistan who mourn his loss and who stood with him in his fight against injustice and intolerance. Bhatti devoted his life to defending the most vulnerable--he is literally a modern day martyr. Among those whose causes he championed were Asia Bibi, a young Christian mother of five, who was sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy law. Only after international intervention was her execution delayed. Her fate, however, remains unclear. Pakistan's blasphemy laws are often used to victimize both religious minorities and Muslims. In fact, Punjab's influential governor, Salman Taseer was shot and killed by his own bodyguard who reportedly told police, ``that he killed Mr. Taseer because of the governor's opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy law.'' With Bhatti's life tragically cut short, a critical moderating voice in Pakistan has been lost. And I fear others will be silenced if justice is not brought to bear in Pakistan. Bhatti spoke of the importance of these voices during a recent Washington Post editorial board meeting. I submit for the Record a piece by Post editorial page editor, Fred Hiatt, who recalled Bhatti's message, ``that millions of Pakistanis remain committed to a vision of a Muslim country living in peace with its neighbors and with non-Muslims within its borders.'' Hiatt continued, ``As it became increasingly dangerous for such people to speak up, they were becoming decreasingly visible. But they are still there, Bhatti told us, and he urged Americans not to forsake or forget them.'' This must be our clarion call in the days to come. I urge the Government of Pakistan to seek justice in this case and to give Bhatti a state funeral, reflective of the import of his life and legacy. Similarly, I urge our own government to send a high-ranking delegation to attend the funeral and to carry Bhatti's torch in continuing to press for the repeal of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan. I also submit an Associated Press story which references the fact that Bhatti was ``aware of the danger he faced, saying in a videotaped message that he had received death threats from al-Qaida and the Taliban.'' The video was recorded several months before his ultimate assassination and can be viewed at: http://www.guardian.co.ukworld/ 2011/mar/02/pakistan-minister-shot-dead-islamabad. Bhatti pointedly says he will continue to speak out for persecuted Christians and other religious minorities. In a chilling allusion to future events, he says, ``I will die to defend their rights.'' Indeed Bhatti's convictions cost him his life. He must not have died in vain. Another Moderate in Pakistan is Assassinated (By Fred Hiatt) Shahbaz Bhatti, who was assassinated outside his home in Pakistan today, came to visit a few of us at The Post one month ago. He was soft-spoken and matter-of-fact about the dangers he faced--and about his refusal, almost his inability, to trim his sails to lessen those dangers. The risks he faced, as a voice for tolerance in an increasingly intolerant country, were risks that Pakistan faced--and if he and like-minded figures stopped speaking up, what future would the country have? Bhatti was a Christian in an overwhelmingly Muslim country, a minister in the government in charge of minority affairs, and most of all an unimaginably courageous voice of moderation. He opposed the nation's anti-blasphemy law, which increasingly is being used to silence and oppress. When another moderate leader, Punjab governor Salman Taseer, was killed two months ago, his assassin frighteningly became a hero for many in Pakistan. Bhatti was one of the few public figures willing to forthrightly condemn the murder. Now Bhatti, too, is gone. There will be investigations, I suppose, into why his police guard was absent when gunmen surrounded his Toyota sedan this morning, despite calls from many (including Americans like Virginia Republican Rep. Frank Wolf) for increased security. There will be tributes and mourning, but they will be muted. Hopefully there will be deep thinking inside the U.S. government about what it can do to better support the forces of moderation. On that subject, I remember two essential messages from Bhatti's visit. He said Americans maintained too little contact with the part of Pakistani civil society that believes in interfaith tolerance, that sees Islam as a peaceful religion willing to live alongside others. Bhatti himself had organized a network of such people, he told us, but U.S. officials were too busy dealing with the government, army and intelligence agencies to show support or even establish much contact. His second message was that millions of Pakistanis remain committed to a vision of a Muslim country living in peace with its neighbors and with non-Muslims within its borders. As it became increasingly dangerous for such people to speak up, they were becoming decreasingly visible. But they are still there, Bhatti told us, and he urged Americans not to forsake or forget them. Militants Kill Christian Minister in Pakistan (By Nahal Toosi and Chris Brummitt) Islamabad.--Militants gunned down the only Christian in Pakistan's government outside his widowed mother's home Wednesday, the second assassination in two months of a high- profile opponent of laws that impose the death penalty for insulting Islam. Shahbaz Bhatti was aware of the danger he faced, saying in a videotaped message that he had received death threats from al-Qaida and the Taliban. In it, the 42-year-old Roman Catholic said he was ``ready to die'' for the country's often persecuted Christian and other non-Muslim minorities. The slaying in Islamabad followed the killing of Salman Taseer, a liberal politician who was gunned down in the capital by one of his guards. Both men had campaigned to change blasphemy laws in Pakistan that impose the death penalty for insulting Islam and have been loudly defended by Islamist political parties. The Taseer slaying triggered fears the country was buckling under the weight of extremism, especially since the government, fearful of militants and the political parties that champion their causes, did not loudly condemn the killing or those who publicly celebrated it. Wednesday's slaying will only reinforce those concerns and further undermine confidence in the government, which appears paralyzed by political rivalries and unable to fix a stagnant economy or provide basic services for the country's 180 million mostly poor people. The turmoil comes despite attempts by the Obama administration to support Pakistan, which it sees as key to ending the war in neighboring Afghanistan and defeating al- Qaida, whose leadership is believed to reside in the mountainous northwestern regions. Pakistani government ministers usually travel with police escorts, but Bhatti was without such protection when he was killed as he and a driver left his mother's home. Bhatti, who was minister for religious minorities, had been given police and paramilitary guards but had asked them not to accompany him while he stayed with his mother, said Wajid Durrani, a senior police official. A friend of the politician, Wasif Ali Khan, said Bhatti was nervous about using guards after the Taseer killing and had requested a bulletproof car, but had not received one. Bhatti had just pulled out of the driveway when three men opened fire, said Gulam Rahim, a witness. Two opened the door of the car and tried to pull Bhatti out, Rahim said, while a third fired a Kalashnikov rifle repeatedly into the dark- colored Toyota, shattering the windows. The gunmen then sped away in a white car, said Rahim, who took shelter behind a tree. Bhatti was hit with at least eight bullets and was dead on arrival at hospital. In leaflets left at the scene, al-Qaida and the Pakistani Taliban Movement in Punjab province claimed responsibility. They blamed the government for putting Bhatti, an ``infidel Christian,'' in charge of an unspecified committee, apparently in reference to his support for changing the blasphemy laws. ``With the blessing of Allah, the mujahedeen will send each of you to hell,'' said the note, which did not name any other targets. Government officials and political party workers condemned the killing, but made no reference to the blasphemy law controversy. Muslim clerics contacted by The Associated Press or interviewed on Pakistani TV either offered a tepid condemnation or claimed the assassination was part of an American-led conspiracy to drive a wedge between Muslims and Christians. Bhatti, a soft-spoken minister who rose to prominence defending a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, often spoke of the threats against him from extremists. Very few Pakistani politicians were willing to talk about changing the blasphemy law because of the danger. ``They (the Taliban) want to impose their radical philosophy in Pakistan. And whoever stands against their radical philosophy, they threaten them,'' he said in the video message, which was posted on the website of the First Step Forum, a Finland-based group that promotes religious harmony, rule of law and democracy. ``These threats and these warnings cannot change my opinions and principles. I'm living for my community and suffering people,'' said Bhatti, who was an adviser to the group and had asked that his message be released in the event of his death. The slaying robbed Pakistani Christians of their most prominent advocate. ``We have been orphaned today!'' wailed Rehman Masih, a Christian resident of Islamabad. ``Now who will fight for our rights? Who will raise a voice for us? Who will help us?'' Christians are the largest religious minority in Pakistan, whose population is 95 percent Muslim. They have very little political power and tend to work in lower-level jobs, such as street sweeping. As Christians took to the streets Wednesday to protest in several cities, relatives and friends went to Bhatti's home to pay their respects. ``Tell the mullahs that the man who was the voice of the Christians is silent. Where are they now?'' Samuel David, one of the visitors, shouted to a television crew. The assassination drew condemnation from Christian and government leaders. A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, called the slaying a ``new episode of violence of terrible gravity,'' saying it ``demonstrates just how justified are the insistent statements by the pope regarding violence against Christians and religious freedom.'' Lombardi noted that Pope Benedict XVI had met with Bhatti in September. President Barack Obama condemned the slaying, saying Bhatti ``fought for and sacrificed his life for the universal values that Pakistanis, Americans and people around the world hold dear''--including rights to free speech and religious freedom. In Britain, leaders of the Anglican Church expressed shock and sorrow and urged Pakistan's government to do more to protect Christians. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the attack was ``not only on one man but on the values of tolerance and respect of all faiths and backgrounds.'' The blasphemy laws were originally framed by the Asian subcontinent's British colonial rulers but were toughened in the 1980s during the military rule of Gen. Mohammad Zia ul- Haq, who pushed a politicized, austere brand of Islam. Human rights groups have long warned that the laws are vaguely worded and open to abuse because people often use them to settle rivalries or persecute religious minorities. Right-wing Islamist parties, looking for an issue to rally their supporters, have campaigned against any change to the laws, accusing those who seek to amend them of blasphemy--and creating an environment that led to the latest killings. ``Bhatti's murder is the bitter fruit of appeasement of extremist and militant groups both prior to and after the killing of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer,'' said Human Right Watch. ``An urgent and meaningful policy shift on the appeasement of extremists that is supported by the military, the judiciary and the political class needs to replace the political cowardice and institutional myopia that encourages such continued appeasement despite its unrelenting bloody consequences.'' Another prominent opponent of the blasphemy laws, ruling party member Sherry Rehman, recently dropped her bid to get them changed. Rehman, who has said she had to abide by party leaders' decisions, faces death threats and has been living with heavy security.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I bring to the attention of the House the recent passing of an outstanding public servant, civic leader, and local business owner in Front Royal, Virginia. Frederick P. ``Fred'' Foster died February 7 at age 74. I had the pleasure of working with Fred on the redevelopment of the Avtex Superfund site in Front Royal. He was a tireless and passionate advocate for his hometown and county and will be greatly missed. Mr. Speaker, I submit an article from the Northern Virginia Daily about the life of Fred Foster. [From the nvdaily.com, Feb. 10, 2011] Foster Active Part of Society (By Ben Orcutt) Front Royal.--Frederick P. ``Fred'' Foster was remembered on Wednesday as a man who got things done. Foster, 74, died on Monday at Winchester Medical Center. A jewelry store owner, former town councilman and civic leader, Foster was noted for his ability to tackle issues and see them through. ``Just his determination and vision,'' said his son, Philip T. ``Phil'' Foster. ``When he saw something that he needed to do or that thought that needed to be done or identified a problem, he had the tenaciousness to see it through.'' Phil Foster, 51, said his father had been ill for the past four years and was on dialysis daily. Foster said his father had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and most likely died of a heart-related ailment. ``We haven't seen a death certificate or anything,'' Phil Foster said. Fred Foster opened Fosters Jewelers at 130 E. Main St. in Front Royal in 1984. Phil Foster said he and his father were partners and they opened a second store in Winchester in 1987. ``We're going to miss him,'' Phil Foster said. Others said Wednesday they will miss him as well. Marvin ``Cotton'' Owens, 72, graduated from Warren County High School in 1956 with Fred Foster. Owens said the two were like brothers for a time and that Fred Foster gave him his first job as a teenager. ``He was one of the leaders in retail in Front Royal for many a year,'' Owens said of Foster. ``There's so many memories. I guess his personality, his good humor. He thought a lot of this town. I don't know how many people knew it. He really thought a lot of Front Royal and wanted to do everything he could to promote Front Royal and make it a better place, especially for businesses.'' William P. ``Bill'' Barnett will second that. Barnett said Foster was an integral part of the Citizens Economic Development Action Committee that tried to help turn around the economy of Warren County years ago. Foster also was one of the main catalysts behind the redevelopment of the Avtex Superfund site, now known as Royal Phoenix, Barnett said. ``Fred was passionate about Front Royal and Warren County,'' Barnett said. ``His passion was very [infectious]. His enthusiasm and his persistence were very instrumental in making an impact on the community, whether it was while he served on the Town Council or the redevelopment committee. When he decided to get involved in something, he got involved in it 100 percent and just gave everything he had. . . . We're going to miss Fred.'' Craig Laird, owner of Royal Oak Computers on Main Street in Front Royal, agreed. ``Fred was a mainstay of Main Street,'' Laird said. ``During the reconstruction of downtown in the mid 1980s, he was affectionately called the mayor of Main Street. He was a dear, dear friend and he will be greatly missed.'' As president of Save Our Gateway, Laird also recalled when Foster was a member of the council in 2003 and deliberately missed meetings to help prevent the panel from having a quorum on a vote on Wal-Mart's commercial rezoning request on Strasburg Road. ``His bravery at standing up for his principles will also be remembered,'' Laird said. Even though they were on opposite sides of the Wal-Mart issue, Councilman Hollis L. Tharpe, who served on the panel with Foster for two years, spoke highly of him. ``He was for the citizens,'' Tharpe said. ``I don't think personally he ever had anything on his agenda, but every vote that he took, he took it the way he thought that the citizens would be best served. He was always available to talk to, whether it was town business or personal. He always had that big smile on his face even when he didn't like voting for something that he did.'' Jean Plauger, owner of Jean's Jewelers on Main Street, also agreed about Foster's contributions, especially downtown. ``A lot of things got done down here definitely because of Fred,'' she said. ``They call him the godfather of Main, the mayor of Main Street,'' she said. ``Fred had a presence down here.''

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. I thank the gentleman. I rise in opposition to the amendments. If we really want to deal with getting deficits under control, we have got to deal with entitlements. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, that's where we have to go. Secondly, this really will result in the layoffs of several hundred FBI agents at the FBI. We met with Director Mueller on Friday. Can you see the message when Osama bin Laden in a cave in Pakistan hears that the FBI has had a layoff of FBI agents? Thirdly, it would require layoffs at the DEA. Lastly, for anybody interested in NASA--and so many Members came up to say, Please, help NASA--this would result in a $1 billion cut of NASA and the losses of thousands of jobs not only of NASA employees but also NASA contractors in Alabama, in Florida, in Texas, in California, and around the country. I urge defeat of the amendment.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. I rise in opposition to this amendment. Timothy McCarthy, who was the Secret Service agent who stopped the bullet that would have killed one of the greatest Presidents we've ever had, Ronald Reagan, would have deserved a step increase. Dr. Collins, who has mapped the human genome system to be able to deal with pancreatic cancer and breast cancer and who could go outside and get a job anywhere, would deserve a step increase. The FBI agent who is tracking down and working to find al Qaeda and terrorism and radicalization would deserve a step increase. Lastly--lastly--some Members of this Congress have employees who have done such a good job--many of them are perhaps on the Appropriations Committee--they would deserve a step increase. If you vote for this, you can never give any of your employees a step increase for the rest of this year. This is a bad amendment. I urge its defeat.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words.

Mr. WOLF. I had an amendment, which has now been ruled out of order, to create an Afghanistan-Pakistan study group. The war in Afghanistan has been going on for 10 years. The first person killed in Afghanistan was from my congressional district, Michael Spann. I was the author of the Iraq Study Group, where we got Baker and Hamilton in a bipartisan way to come together to look at the war. I have asked the administration to do something, and quite frankly, when I read Woodward's book, ``Obama's War,'' it was depressing because it almost looks like they're approaching this on basically political ways, political means. The war has now been going on for 10 years, and quite frankly, I think not only has the administration failed, but Congress has failed. So what I hope to do is to, at an appropriate time, offer an amendment to create an Afghanistan-Pakistan study group, modeled after the Iraq Study Group, and put on people like Sam Nunn; former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Duncan Hunter; Ryan Crocker, who was our former ambassador to Iraq and who supports the concept; General Jack Keane, who was author of the surge; General Charles Krulak, who was the Commandant of the Marine Corps; General Zinni, who was Commandant of the Marine Corps; and Ike Skelton, former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, to see are we fighting this war the right way, are we doing the right thing. And I believe we need fresh eyes on the target, and when you look at and read ``Obama's War'' by Woodward, you can see there are no fresh eyes on the target, and we owe it, we owe it to the men and women that are fighting in Afghanistan and dealing with this issue to make sure that we are doing everything possible--and I don't know what the answer is--everything possible to make sure that we're doing what we should do as a Nation. And with that, I hope when there's an opportunity I can offer this amendment--because I don't think the administration is going to do this by Executive order--that we can adopt because we owe it to our fighting men.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. WOLF. As the gentleman from New York knows, Congress is considering temporary extension of the same Patriot Act authorities that are targeted in this amendment. The reauthorization process, not in this CR, is the proper venue to consider any changes to existing intelligence-gathering laws. Applications for FISA orders seeking library circulation records and book sales records may only be approved by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Deputy Bureau of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the Executive Assistant Director for National Security. This authority cannot be further delegated. There is absolutely no evidence that this authority has been abused or misused to unlawfully acquire library or business records. This prohibition could create a safe haven for terrorists to utilize America's libraries and bookstores to conduct research or communicate with each other. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.'' I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order against the gentlewoman's amendment.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, the amendment proposed a net increase in budget authority. Before I comment on it; one, this does not cut the Voting Rights Act. So that's not accurate. This does not, this does not, this does not cut the Voting Rights Act.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, the amendment is not in order under section 3(j)(3) of House Resolution 5 of the 112th Congress, which states, ``It shall not be in order to consider an amendment to a general appropriations bill proposing a net increase in budget authority in the bill unless considered en bloc with another amendment or amendments proposing an equal or greater decrease in such budget authority pursuant to clause 2(f) of rule XXI. The amendment proposes a net increase in budget authority in the bill in violation of such section.

Mr. WOLF. This account has been hit very, very hard already. Each reduction in the bill was carefully determined. The funding level provided for NIST construction in the bill is $89 million below FY 2010. NIST has played a key role in enabling innovative ideas with regard to strengthening infrastructure for advance manufacturing, service and science. NIST works with the private sector, other government agencies and universities to develop and apply the technology, measurements and standards needed for new and improved products. We have already reduced the funding in this account quite dramatically, and this would really, I think, hurt the jobs effort and hurt manufacturing.

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

Mr. WOLF. Reclaiming my time, again, we want science, jobs, math, science, physics, chemistry, biology to create opportunities for manufacturing. I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment.

Mr. WOLF. The Appropriations Committee will be requiring the Department of Justice to come back to the committee with a spending plan outlining how it intends to use the funds provided for State and local law enforcement. We accept the amendment.

Mr. WOLF. I continue to reserve my point of order.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1. This Congress must step up to reverse our Nation's mounting deficit and debt, and this measure before us today takes an important step. This is an important effort, and we need to cut wasteful and duplicative spending. But the reality is these kinds of cuts will never get us to a balanced budget. Let's be honest. Only 16 percent of our Nation's spending is in non- security discretionary accounts. Today, we are cutting over $100 billion from just 1/6 of the Federal spending. The infamous bank robber Willie Sutton once said that he robbed banks because that's where the money is. In our government, the money is in entitlements. For those who are concerned about funding for the sciences and education and medical research and infrastructure, as I am, the way to ensure that our Nation can pay for the programs so many people care about is to deal with the mandatory spending entitlements. The President's State of the Union address was disappointing. He had a national forum to step up and embrace the recommendations of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility. The Bowles-Simpson Commission clearly recognized the looming fiscal crisis and offered a framework for a serious national conversation to begin on entitlement issues, and do it in a bipartisan way. I didn't agree with every recommendation and would have tried to change some. But had I been appointed to the commission, I would have voted with Senator Coburn and Senator Durbin for the report. If those Senators, from far opposite sides, could come together for the good of the country, then where is the President? As important as it is to tighten the Federal discretionary spending bill, we will only continue to tilt at windmills with a budget ledger if we don't deal with the entitlements--Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. I believe the opportunity is to come together in a bipartisan way to put everything on the table to deal with it. Also, we need the President to step up to the plate and to be an honest broker on this issue and to lead the Nation.