Frank Wolf

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise on the floor again to raise the awareness of the American people and of the Congress that the safety of the United States could be put at risk should Attorney General Eric Holder approve the release of trained terrorists into our country. I repeat, released into this country, not held in jails, but let free in our neighborhoods and our communities. Eric Holder expects us to take his word that the detainees are not a threat, and that is unacceptable. The Attorney General expects this Congress to sit idly by and the American people to sit idly by until he announces he has released the Uyghurs held at Guantanamo Bay into the United States, into your neighborhood. In fact, he will not allow career FBI and government employees to even brief Members of Congress on this. So much for this administration's promise of transparency and accountability. Let me be clear: These detainees are trained terrorists who were caught in camps affiliated with Al Qaeda. Those who would use terror are terrorists no matter their intended target. There have been published reports that these terrorists were members of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, ETIM, a designated terrorist organization affiliated with Al Qaeda. The detainees held at Guantanamo Bay are trained terrorists. They were trained in facilities affiliated with Al Qaeda and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11 who took pleasure in beheading Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Last month, the U.S. Treasury froze the assets of Abdul Haq, the leader of the ETIM. The Treasury Department targeted Haq as part of their efforts to shut down the Al Qaeda support network. So here Treasury designates Haq as a terrorist, and Eric Holder wants to release the members of the terrorist group to walk the streets. Upon making the designation, the Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence said, ``Abdul Haq commands a terror group that sought to sow violence and fracture international unity at the 2008 Olympic games in China.'' What if our people had not picked up these terrorists and they had gotten their training and had gone back to China and had blown up one of the Olympic facilities when many American citizens were there? What if? How is it that the U.S. Treasury Department can declare that this is a terrorist group that ``sought to sow violence'' while the U.S. Justice Department asserts that members of the same group caught at terrorist training camps and held for 7 years at Guantanamo should be released free and clear into the United States, yet this Congress and the American people are left in the dark about the administration's plans to release the detainees? If the Congress doesn't really care and want to hold oversight hearings, certainly the American people have a right to know who the Attorney General is asking to place in their communities. Last Friday, I called on this administration to declassify and provide the American people with information regarding the capture, the detention, and the threat assessment of each detainee they intend to release inside the United States. Regardless of their intended targets of terror, the American people deserve to know whether they have been further radicalized due to their exposure to Al Qaeda leaders like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. They have been down in Guantanamo with some of the most violent people that have ever walked the Earth. And now, after the radicalization that may have taken place, Eric Holder now wants to release them into our neighborhoods and into our communities. I worry about the impact these released Uyghurs will have on our national security. I have talked with several former members who have worked in our intelligence community, and to a person they all believe that this will be dangerous for the United States. They all said, what message does their release into the United States send to Al Qaeda and other terrorist networks? How can Attorney General Holder guarantee that the released Uyghurs will not stay in contact with Al Qaeda and provide them with intelligence within the U.S.? Has Eric Holder never heard of radicalization in prison? Some people go into prison and come out worse than they go in. If the Attorney General cannot or will not answer these questions, he should not consider releasing them. I ask you, please, the American people need to have all of this information before a decision is made. East Turkistan Islamic Party Appeals for New Recruits in New Video The militant Islamist group East Turkistan Islamic Party (ETIM) released a new propaganda video, in which it appealed to Muslims in Turkistan to join the group's camps in Waziristan, Pakistan. The 43-minute video is entitled ``Persistence and preparation for Jihad'' and was produced by the group's media wing Sawt al Islam. It includes a statement by the group's current leader Sheikh Abul Haq, as well as its late leader Hassan Makhdum, whose alias is Abu Mohammed al Turkistani. Abul Haq said ``jihad'' was a duty that falls on all Muslims just like any other religious duty. He also pledged more attacks against Chinese forces. ``The operations of the Islamic Turkistani Party will make China experience the same taste of shame and defeat that America has experienced in Iraq and Afghanistan,'' Abul Haq said. Footage from the group's training camp showed a group of militants undergoing training under the supervision of military commander identified as Seifullah. Once again, he claimed credit for the bus bombings and the attack on the police station in Shanghai and Yunnan in May and July of 2008. The attacks seem to have been carried out using remotely- detonated explosives devices. Footage shown on the video showed a member of the group placing the explosives in a small suitcase and covering it with some cloths, while having a radio detonator in his hand. Seifullah also made an appeal to Turkistani Muslims to join the group's camps in Waziristan and train on the latest weapons used by the Chinese army's ground forces. He said that the group is currently trying to develop a training program on other weapons used by the army. The East Turkistan Islamic Movement is a militant group that advocates the creation of an independent, Islamic state of East Turkestan, formally part of Afghanistan, in what is currently the Xinjiang region of China. The group is thought to have links with al Qaeda. In its 2005 report on terrorism, the U.S. State Department said that the group was ``linked to al Qaeda and the international jihadist movement'' and that al Qaeda provided the group with ``training and financial assistance''.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, it is my understanding that President Obama's decision regarding the release into the U.S. of a number of Uyghur detainees held at Guantanamo Bay since 2002 could be imminent. The New York Times, ABC News and other news outlets have reported that the President will soon release these terrorists into the United States, yet this Congress has not been briefed on this decision. Let me be clear, these terrorists would not be held in prisons, but they would be released into your neighborhoods. They should not be released into the United States. Do Members realize who these people are? There have been published reports that the Uyghurs were members of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, a designated terrorist organization affiliated with al Qaeda. Releasing the Uyghurs is a matter of grave concern, a matter which prompted me to send a letter to the President last Friday detailing my reservations about any course of action that could pose a threat to the American people. In my letter I called on the President to declassify all information about the capture and detention of the Uyghur detainees, including a threat assessment for each detainee who would be released in the U.S. The American people, Madam Speaker, deserve the facts about these detainees and the risk they potentially pose to our communities. Following the precedent that the administration set in declassifying the Office of Legal Counsel interrogation memos, they have a moral obligation to the American people to declassify all relevant information related to the Uyghur detainees. This administration has already shown that it has no qualms about releasing selected classified documents. The White House cannot just pick and choose what classified information it deems worthy of releasing. It cannot have it both ways. It shouldn't release information that conveniently makes their case without making information with profound national security implications available to the American people. After learning that this decision was imminent, I requested briefings from a number of relevant agencies, but all the agencies have told me that our Department of Justice is now preventing them from speaking to me directly on this issue. So much for being open. So much for disclosure. Is the Attorney General preventing agencies from answering Members' questions? Is this a political decision being made by Eric Holder, the Attorney General? This is not the transparency and accountability the President promised, nor is it the open and constructive relationship they claim they want with Congress. This is, at best, a poor judgment and, at worst, a dangerous hypocrisy. Is the administration intent on keeping Congress and the American people in the dark about critically important national security issues? Madam Speaker, I have criticized both Republican and Democratic administrations for actions that I believe undermine the safety and the security of the American people. I have not received responses to two letters to Attorney General Holder on the transfer of Guantanamo Bay prisoners. The first letter was dated March 13. The second letter was dated April 23. And I will submit them for the Record. They still have not answered the letters. My office has been told by the White House that some of the questions I have asked cannot even be answered. When Attorney General Holder appeared before the Commerce-Justice- Science appropriations subcommittee, he poignantly said he would not play hide and seek with the information. What are they now trying to hide from the American people? The Attorney General is slow-rolling the information as terrorist detainees are potentially going to be released into the United States. According to an L.A. Times article published last week, ``The Homeland Security Department has registered concerns about the plan,'' among other government agencies. Information I have received indicates that the Uyghurs may be more dangerous than the public has been led to believe. Just last night, 60 Minutes had a disturbing segment which touched on the radicalization of the Guantanamo Bay detainees. The story indicated that in Saudi Arabia alone, of 117 men returned from Guantanamo, 11 have shown up again on Saudi Arabia's most wanted terrorist list. Any intelligence assessment of the Uyghurs must take into account not only their previous training at terrorist camps but their potential subsequent exposure to the likes of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11 who took pleasure in the beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. I say to this administration, the American people have a right to know all the facts, and I fear personally that expediency is clouding their judgment, which is inexcusable after we saw what took place on 9/ 11. The stakes are simply too high for this administration to reasonably think that the American people should simply take their word that these men pose no security threats. I call on the Obama administration to declassify and release all the information that they have available so the American people can make a judgment. House of Representatives, Washington, DC, May 1, 2009. Hon. Barack H. Obama, President, the White House, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. President: It is my understanding that your decision regarding whether to release a number of Chinese Uyghur detainees held at Guantanamo Bay into the United States is imminent. I have grave concerns about this action, which I believe could directly threaten the security of the American people. Information I have received indicates that the Uyghurs may be more dangerous than the public has been led to believe. I write today asking that you declassify all intelligence regarding their capture, detention, and your administration's assessment of the threat they may pose to Americans, prior to any decision to release them. The American people deserve to have all the facts about these individuals before they should be expected to tolerate their presence in our communities. I believe your administration also has an obligation to explain to the American people how you will monitor the Uyghurs' activities should they be released in the U.S. Additionally, all state and local law enforcement should immediately be notified of your intended decision, provided a threat assessment of the released Uyghurs, and informed of the federal government's plans to monitor their activities once released. Following the precedent you have set in declassifying the Office of Legal Counsel interrogation memos, you have a moral obligation to declassify this critical information. The American people cannot afford to simply take your word that these detainees, who were captured training in terrorist camps, are not a threat if released into our communities. Best wishes. Sincerely, Frank R. Wolf, Member of Congress.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, the Members of this institution ought to know that this administration and the Justice Department may be very close to releasing terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, the Uyghurs, out into the public, out around the country. And we are calling on the Justice Department to release any of the memos with regard to who these people are on individual cases. If they were members of a terrorist group, I believe the American people need to know. This administration and Justice selectively released memos but will not tell the full story. So I urge all Members, unless you want them, these Uyghurs, terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, to move to your neighborhood, ask Attorney General Eric Holder, release all this classified information so the American people can know what we are about ready to face.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, last week marked the 94th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. I have long been a cosponsor of a resolution introduced in multiple sessions of Congress which reaffirms the United States Record on the Armenian genocide. The Armenian genocide, in which 1.5 million perished, is widely recognized as the 20th century's first genocide. Raphael Lemkin, the Jewish legal scholar who coined the word genocide and tirelessly advocated for international law defining it and preventing it, was driven largely by what happened to the Armenians. Since that time the world has witnessed unfathomable horrors during the Nazi-perpetrated Holocaust and subsequent genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda and still today Darfur. And too often, the world has been silent in the face of such brutality. Adolph Hitler, in describing his murderous plans and seeking to silence those with reservations, famously said, ``Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?'' There is power in speaking the truth, even about atrocities that occurred nearly a century ago, so that other men with evil aims might not be empowered by our silence.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican guidelines on earmarks, I submit the following statement for the record regarding H.R. 1105, the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act. Requesting Member: The Hon. Frank R. Wolf Bill Number: H.R. 1105 Provision: State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance, Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force Address of Requesting Entity: One Park Center Court, Manassas Park, VA, 20111 Description of Request: In response to increasing gang activity in northern Virginia, a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement task force was established in 2003 to more effectively respond to gang activity. As a result of the task force's efforts, criminal gang activity has declined by more than 50 percent. In order to sustain and maintain these impressive results, the task force requested $2.5 million in funding, which is included in H.R. 1105. Requesting Member: The Hon. Frank R. Wolf Bill Number: H.R. 1105 Provision: State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance, Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Northwest Virginia Regional Gang Task Force Address of Requesting Entity: P.O. Box 49, Berryville, VA, 22611 Description of Request: In response to increasing gang activity in the Shenandoah Valley, this task force was established to coordinate and share information with their counterparts at the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the entire northern Virginia region is a hotbed of gang activity. In order to better fight gang activity in this area, the task force requested $750,000 in funding, which is included in H.R. 1105. Requesting Member: The Hon. Frank R. Wolf Bill Number: H.R. 1105 Provision: Capital Investment Grants Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project Address of Requesting Entity: 1 Aviation Circle, Washington, D.C. 20001 Description of Request: H.R. 1105 provides $29.1 million to be used for extending the Metrorail system through Tysons Corner to Washington Dulles International Airport. Northern Virginia continues to be one of the country's fastest growing areas, but with that has come the distinction of being the second worse traffic congested region in America. Congressional funding to bring a much needed mass transit system linking the West Falls Church Metro station to Washington Dulles International Airport was first approved in FY 1999. Additional Request: I also requested language in this bill that would prohibit the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) from reallocating previously appropriated funding for the Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project. Specifically, I requested that the funding from FY 2002, FY 2003, FY 2004, FY 2005, FY 2006 and FY 2008 be protected.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I would like to share with our colleagues a recent announcement from USAID indicating that Virginia's George Mason University was one of 40 paired winners of the highly competitive Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative Planning Grant Competition. George Mason will partner with the University of Sierra Leone to develop a four-campus community college system for the nation. The development of this sort of higher education is critical to Africa's future development, particularly in nations like Sierra Leone, which not too many years ago had been ravaged by civil war. George Mason University Awarded USAID-Funded Grant in Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative Grant Competition Washington, DC--The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Higher Education for Development (HED) announced today that George Mason University is one of 40 paired winners of the Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative Planning Grant Competition. Nearly 300 applications were submitted for capacity-building partnerships between U.S. colleges and universities and higher education institutions in Sub-Saharan African nations. George Mason University and other paired winners will receive planning grants from USAID of $50,000 each (a complete list of winners may be found at www.hedprogram.orq). ``This competition is an important opportunity to build the kind of higher education capacity critical to the development of Africa,'' said Joseph Carney, director of USAID's Office of Education. ``This initiative was proposed during the Higher Education Summit for Global Development and subsequent regional summit held in Rwanda last year. We are delighted to see this effort moving forward and expect great results from these planning grants.'' These paired institutions will use the grants to develop plans to address regional and national economic development priorities such as engineering, health, agriculture, environment and natural resources, science and technology, education and teacher training/preparation, and business, management and economics. George Mason University will partner with the University of Sierra Leone to develop a four-campus community college system for the nation, under the sponsorship of Ernest Bai Koroma, President of Sierra Leone, and under the direction of the Sierra Leone Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. HED manages the competition which grew out of the Africa- U.S. Higher Education Initiative (www.aplu.orq), a collaborative effort between a number of higher education associations and other organizations, led by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (A.P.L.U), formerly the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC). ``We were elated by the astounding number of highly qualified applications received, and even more pleased by how many applications demonstrated a strong understanding of higher education needs in Africa,'' said Dr. Tully Cornick, executive director of HED. ``The top 40 paired winning institutions represent the best of these applications, and plans that are developed as a result of the grants will address a variety of critical development needs. It is our belief that if funding is found to implement these plans, we will see tangible, measurable and sustainable impact made in these African countries.'' ``This important initiative continues to illustrate the enormous unmet need for higher education partnerships in Africa,'' added Peter McPherson, president of A.P.L.U. ``We see this as just the beginning--this is an ongoing campaign to accomplish much more in engaging higher education institutions in Africa.'' HED, funded by a cooperative agreement with USAID, was founded by the six major U.S. higher education associations to engage U.S. colleges and universities in international development. For more information about HED and to view details about the planning grants corn petition, visit www.HEDprodram.orcl. The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 50 years. For more information on USAID, visit www.USAID.gov.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of Fauquier County, Virginia, on May 1, 2009. I am honored to represent a portion of this county as part of the 10th District of Virginia. Fauquier County has a rich and venerable history. The land known as Fauquier County dates back to the early days of our nation, originally described in 1608 as part of the Northern Neck proprietary. It was formed from part of Prince William County in 1759, and named for the Lieutenant Governor Francis Fauquier, who served the Commonwealth from 1758 to 1768. Militiamen fought in the French and Indian Wars in defense of the British Colony, and later participated in the creation of a new nation during the American Revolution. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, the father of judicial review and America's most esteemed judge, was a native son of Fauquier County. It was the scene of many important military engagements during the Civil War and served as the base of operations for Colonel John S. Mosby. The county contributed hundreds of soldiers, including five generals, to the Confederate Army during that conflict. Sons and daughters of Fauquier have served with distinction in every armed conflict of the 20th century. Fauquier County is renowned for its pastoral scenery, agriculture and equine industries, and its open space. Visitors from other states and countries around the world come to enjoy its rich history, warm hospitality and recreational offerings. Madam Speaker, please join me in recognizing and celebrating the rich history of Fauquier County, Virginia, and in congratulating its citizens upon its 250th anniversary.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I would like to bring to the attention of my colleagues the following article which appeared in the March 19 edition of The Washington Times. Li Fengzhi, a former intelligence officer at the Ministry of State Security, revealed that the agency is tasked with repressing religious and political dissent among the Chinese civilian population and bolstering the rule of the Chinese Communist Party in addition to gathering secrets from overseas. I urge my colleagues to carefully read Mr. Li's chilling account of the Communist Party's systematic repression of religious and political dissidents. [From the Washington Times, Mar. 19, 2009] Chinese Spy Who Defected Tells All (By Bill Gertz Contact) A veteran Chinese intelligence officer who defected to the United States says that his country's civilian spy service spends most of its time trying to steal secrets overseas but also works to bolster Beijing's Communist Party rule by repressing religious and political dissent internally. ``In some sense you can say that intelligence work between two countries is just like war but without the fire,'' Li Fengzhi told The Washington Times in an interview aided by an interpreter. Mr. Li worked for years as an Ministry of State Security intelligence officer inside China before defecting to the United States, where is he awaiting a response to his request for political asylum. He gave a rare, detailed interview to The Times on Sunday regarding the activities of the MSS, China's Communist- controlled civilian spy agency. His prior work as a Chinese spy was confirmed to The Times by a Western government source familiar with his defection. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of Mr. Li's case. Mr. Li told The Times that the MSS focuses on both counterintelligence--working against foreign intelligence agencies--and the collection of secrets and technology. The MSS, however, is unique from other nations' intelligence services in that it is patterned after the former Soviet Union's KGB political police. Its most important mission is ``to control the Chinese people to maintain the rule of the Communist Party,'' he added. Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, did not address Mr. Li's comments directly but repeated past Chinese government statements regarding its intelligence activities. ``Allegations of China conducting spying activities against the United States are groundless and unwarranted,'' he said Wednesday. ``China never engages itself in activities that will harm other countries' national interests.'' Mr. Wang said communist rule in China produced historic economic and social progress and that China has contributed to a more secure world. ``This is a fact no one can deny,'' Mr. Wang said. On those who leave the party, Mr. Wang said ``there are also a handful of people who betray their faith and leave the party, whose acts as well as some people's political lies will never shadow the great feats of the party.'' Mr. Li said he left China's intelligence services to protest the agency's role in government repression of political dissidents and religious groups that are outside of the ruling communist system. The MSS, mainly a foreign intelligence service, is ``deeply'' involved in domestic repression of nonofficial Christian churches and the outlawed Falun Gong religious group, Mr. Li said. ``The Ministry of State Security is actually not doing things for the security of the country, but rather they spend a lot of effort to control the people, the dissidents, the lower-class Chinese people, and make these people suffer and also make their life miserable,'' he said. In the interview, he also said: China's spy agency is focused on sending spies to infiltrate the U.S. intelligence community, and also on collecting secrets and technology from the United States. ``China spends a tremendous effort to send out spies to important countries like the U.S. to collect information,'' Mr. Li said. China is censoring the Internet to prevent the population from knowing about what occurs outside the country. An internal MSS manual that is kept secret from most officers outlines the primary role of the service as the promotion of Communist Party's interests. Ongoing cooperation between the CIA and FBI and the MSS in countering international terrorism can be constructive, but U.S. agencies need to be cautious because the MSS is mainly an organ of the Chinese Communist Party, and does not directly serve the interests of the Chinese nation or people, he said. Mr. Li said he worked in the MSS department in charge of gathering economic, political and technical information in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Some of the work involved targeting and recruiting foreign nationals who visit China. He was born in 1968 in northern China and was first recruited into a provincial Chinese intelligence service before being promoted to the MSS in Beijing after several years. Two groups in China that are a main focus of the MSS are unofficial Christian churches and the outlawed Falun Gong religious group, he said. The MSS also has targeted pro-democracy activists, like those who were involved in the mass demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, he said. The MSS is China's main civilian spy service that is viewed by U.S. intelligence officials as one of the world's most active in stealing secrets and running foreign spies. The military counterpart, the Second Department of the People's Liberation Army, or 2PLA, is focused on stealing foreign technology, much of it for weapons and military systems. Together, the Chinese services are estimated to have several thousand trained operatives working around the world, most posing as diplomats, journalists, business representatives and academics. Thousands of other Chinese nationals also function as semiprofessional information gatherers. Former FBI Special Agent I.C. Smith, a specialist in Chinese counterintelligence, confirmed that the MSS focuses its activities on penetrating U.S. intelligence and government agencies. ``The goal of every intelligence agency is to get someone inside, and in the case of Chinese, they use not just intelligence people but academics and everybody else,'' Mr. Smith said in an interview. Mr. Li said his access to information that was banned for the general public helped him to turn against the system, including internal reports on party ideology and information on American values of freedom and democracy. Mr. Li said that as a doctoral candidate, the MSS sent him to study at an American university, an experience that influenced in his decision to defect. In 2004, after he defected, he was declared an enemy of the state by the MSS in at least two notices sent to security offices in China. According to U.S. counterintelligence officials, China, unlike the Soviet Union, has had only a small number of defections of intelligence officers like Mr. Li over the past 30 years. Another spy who defected was a Chinese intelligence officer known publicly by the code-name ``Planesman,'' who gave the FBI data that led to 1985 arrest of CIA interpreter Larry Wu- Tai Chin. Another intelligence defector was Sr. Col. Yu Jungping, a military intelligence officer once posted to the Chinese Embassy in Washington who came over in the 1990s. Mr. Li was in Washington to participate in a conference sponsored by the Falun Gong, a Buddhist-oriented group that advocates the replacement of the Chinese communist government. Mr. Li said he announced his formal withdrawal from the Communist Party at the conference, along with that of his father, who is also in the United States. Mr. Li said he is neither a Christian nor Falun Gong member, but that his interest in religion and fear of being persecuted by the MSS contributed to his decision to defect. Mr. Li said he thinks there are significant numbers of pro- democracy MSS officers inside the service, including those at high levels, who do not support the party and are ``even anti-Communsit Party'' but fear taking any action. ``But I sincerely hope these people can play a special role in getting rid of the Communist Party,'' Mr. Li said. The former intelligence officer, whose family left China with him, said it took him several years to change his views. ``After a few years of my personal experience inside the system, I really knew that the Communist Party is very bad,'' he said. ``My true ideal, actually, in this Chinese security department is really to do something for the Chinese people and the nation. But I really hated doing things just for the interest of the Communist Party and a lot of times those things that are in the interest of the Communist Party are doing harm to the Chinese people.''

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I would like to call the attention of my colleagues to the following letter written by Liu Xia, the wife of imprisoned Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo. Liu Xiaobo is the leader of the Charter '08 movement which calls on the Chinese government to implement democratic reforms. His courageous leadership caused the Chinese security forces to take Mr. Liu from his home in Beijing on December 8, 2008. I call on my colleagues in the Congress and the Administration to advocate for the immediate and unconditional release of Liu Xiaobo. April 1, 2009. Hon. Frank Wolf, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Congressman Wolf, Please forgive me for writing to you directly, but it is only out of the most desperate of circumstances that I do so. As you may already know, my husband, Liu Xiaobo, was taken from our home by Chinese police on December 8th, 2008 after he and more than three hundred other Chinese citizens signed Charter 08, a manifesto modeled after the Czechoslovakian Charter 77 that appeals for comprehensive democracy and human rights in China. Xiaobo is a writer who cares for nothing more than his duty as an intellectual to speak out for the disadvantaged in society. Now, however, he cannot even protect his own rights. One hundred fourteen days have now passed since my husband's disappearance. On two occasions (01/01/2009 and 03/ 20/2009) police took me to an undisclosed location where I was permitted to meet with him and share a meal together. During our conversations, which were closely monitored, my husband told me that he has been kept in solitary confinement in a closed room measuring approximately ten square meters in size. A single light bulb is his only source of light. And of the more than 60 books I had brought him, he received only a few, the rest having been confiscated by the prison officials. In the three to four months that have passed since his abduction (I can find no other suitable words to describe his situation, as no arrest warrant or other official documents were presented to justify his detention), nearly all of the other 300 signatories have been summoned and investigated by the police. It is obvious to me that the authorities are attempting to gather evidence of my husband's ``crime,'' which will most likely be designated as ``inciting the subversion of state power.'' I fear that the government wants to carry out a sham trial and hand down a severe sentence to my husband. This is the fourth time that my husband has been dragged away from our home in front of my eyes. When my husband was released from prison in 1990, after serving half a year in prison for his participation in the 1989, pro-democracy demonstrations at Tiananmen Square, he apologized to me because he had decided during that time that he never wants to have children. As he explained, ``I want to continue working as a writer. You may lose me again, but I do not want see a child lose its father.'' Nor do I. His words came true in 1996 when he disappeared behind bars for three more years, owing to writings of his that promoted freedom and democracy. Now, I am alone once again. I continue writing letters to him, knowing that he will never receive them, just as the letters he has sent me in the past hundred or so days have never reached my hands. I plead with you to help my husband in regaining his freedom. He has done nothing but to give voice to the thoughts and wishes that are shared by many in my country. I will be forever in your debt if you can provide him with any assistance. Sincerely yours, Liu Xia.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the service of Maud F. Robinson to the town of Vienna, Virginia. Maud will be retiring from the Vienna Town Council in June, after serving on the council since 2000. Maud and her husband, Charles A. Robinson, Jr., moved to Vienna in 1951. Since that time, Mrs. Robinson has been involved in every aspect of life in the town. She has served as president of various local organizations, including the Vienna Women's Club, the Ayr Hill Garden Club, and Historic Vienna, Inc. She was a founding member and president of the town's library. She served as a member of Vienna's first Architectural Review Board and on the town's Business Liaison Committee. Among other honors, Mrs. Robinson was selected as Citizen of the Year in Vienna in 1993 and 2000. Mrs. Robinson was appointed to the Vienna Town Council in 2000, to fill the term of Jane Seeman, who was elected town mayor following the death of Charles Robinson. Mr. Robinson served as town mayor for 27 years. Mrs. Robinson was reelected four times to her seat on the council, for a total of nine years. Mrs. Robinson is a graduate of Smith College and attended the University of Virginia Law School. She served as a WAVE lieutenant, junior grade, in the United States Navy. Maud Robinson's commitment to Vienna's citizens and business community is unparalleled. She is a woman of the highest moral integrity and is a true role model for all of Vienna's citizens. I ask my colleagues to join with me today in honoring Maud Robinson.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Chair, I am deeply disappointed that the FY 2010 budget resolution considering today represents another missed opportunity for both sides of the aisle to come together for the future of our country. Frankly, it continues down a very dangerous path that has been business as usual in the House for far too long. For our children and grandchildren we must come to grips with the financial crisis looming on the horizon. We all know that we face enormous fiscal challenges in terms of the deficit, the debt, and solvency of entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Addressing these issues in a meaningful and bipartisan way will take strong bipartisan commitment-- the kind of commitment that is sorely lacking in the budget resolution that will be voted on in the House. The statistics accompanying the nation's long-term fiscal health are astounding. The national debt has topped $11 trillion for the first time in history. While the White House claims that the president's budget proposal would increase the deficit by $6.9 trillion over ten years, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that this figure will be closer to $9.3 trillion, more than a third higher than the administration's projection. By 2019 the government could be paying over $800 billion annually just in interest on this amount. China is one of our biggest bankers and now holds the paper on about one out of every 10 American dollars. Standard and Poor's Investment Service predicts loss of our triple-A bond rating as early as 2012. Moody's predicts 2018. The American people are hurting. The U.S. unemployment rate hit 8.1 percent in February, the highest in more than 25 years. If that isn't troubling enough, leading economists are predicting the jobless rate could hit double digits by year's end. Many of those lost jobs are coming from the U.S. manufacturing base, or what's left of it. The decay in U.S. manufacturing is real. Drive across the cast iron bridge linking Trenton, New Jersey, with Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and read the outdated sign: ``Trenton Makes, the World Takes.'' There was a time when Trenton made the steel used for the world's longest suspension bridges, its cars, and farm tools. The sign today could be: ``The World Makes and America Takes.'' This Congress must face the reality of America's long-term financial future and start a process that will reverse the downward slide we're facing. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Congress acting alone will not make the hard choices necessary to right our ship of state. The partisan divisions are too deep. We need a process outside of Congress to come to grips with the burden of debt we are piling on our children and grandchildren. The American people--our constituents--understand that we are in serious trouble and that regular order in the House offers no way forward. The American people have no confidence in this Congress's ability to think outside of the box and come up with bipartisan solutions to the country's most pressing issues. A recent Peter Hart/ Public Opinion Strategies survey confirmed that 56 percent of registered voters say a bipartisan commission rather than the regular congressional process is the best means to begin tackling our growing budget deficit and national debt. There is a plan on the table right now that this House could act on to set up such a national commission. Jim Cooper and I--a Democrat and a Republican--have been working together on legislation--the SAFE Commission Act--that would establish a bipartisan commission to address entitlement spending, other spending and tax policy. When we reintroduced the bill last month, there were exactly 26 Republicans and 26 Democrats joining the effort as original cosponsors. Everything is on the table, because to reverse the current financial path, we must look at the big picture. And when the commission makes its legislative recommendations to Congress after extensive public hearings around the country, Congress is required to vote up or down, like the base-closing process, on the plan. The Cooper-Wolf SAFE Commission Act has garnered support from the Heritage Foundation, Brookings Institution, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Concord Coalition, National Federation of Independent Business, Business Roundtable, The Peterson Foundation and former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker. Newspapers across the country, including the Washington Times, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Winchester Star, Dallas Morning News and the Tennessean, have editorialized about SAFE being the only way forward. National syndicated columnists, including David Broder, Robert Samuelson and David Brooks have all written favorably about this proposal. I submit for the record David Broder's piece ``Hiding a Mountain of Debt'' from last Sunday's Washington Post which speaks to the inability of Congress to tackle entitlement reform through regular order and suggests the Cooper-Wolf SAFE Commission as a bipartisan process that could help lawmakers face reality. If there are other ideas about how to come to grips with the mountains of debt under which we are burying our children and grandchildren--that can pass--I implore our colleagues to offer them. We just can't continue with the same old tired process, drawing lines in the sand while the tsunami of debt comes crashing toward America's shore. That process is on full display today with the business as usual tone on this year's budget resolution. The current process is broken. The SAFE Commission offers an opportunity to make a difference for the country's future, rather than just continuing to score political points as we see in the debate today. The SAFE Commission process could be the foundation for a renaissance in America. It can renew Americans' confidence in the ability of our elected leaders to act and provide the opportunity to order priorities, create jobs and provide a quality of life unsurpassed in America. It can ensure that we have the funding for education, cutting edge technology, medical research, infrastructure improvements and other programs critical to providing a bright future for the next generation of Americans. Why is every budget plan today from both sides of the aisle missing this critical component? For our country's future, this Congress and this administration must come together and work to set up a bipartisan panel to deal with America's long-term financial future to give hope to our children and grandchildren. The time bomb of debt is ticking and it's on our watch to act before the explosion buries our country. [From the Washington Post, March 29, 2009] Hiding a Mountain of Debt (By David S. Broder) With a bit of bookkeeping legerdemain borrowed from the Bush administration, the Democratic Congress is about to perform a cover-up on the most serious threat to America's economic future. That threat is not the severe recession, tough as that is for the families and businesses struggling to make ends meet. In time, the recession will end, and last week's stock market performance hinted that we may not have to wait years for the recovery to begin. The real threat is the monstrous debt resulting from the slump in revenue and the staggering sums being committed by Washington to rescuing embattled banks and homeowners--and the absence of any serious-strategy for paying it all back. The Congressional Budget Office sketched the dimensions of the problem on March 20, and Congress reacted with shock. The CBO said that over the next 10 years, current policies would add a staggering $93 trillion to the national debt--one-third more than President Obama had estimated by using much more optimistic assumptions about future economic growth. As far as the eye could see, the CBO said, the debt would continue to grow by about $1 trillion a year because of a structural deficit between the spending rate, averaging 23 percent of gross domestic product, and federal revenue at 19 percent. The ever-growing national debt will require ever-larger annual interest payments, with much of that money going overseas to China, Japan and other countries that have been buying our bonds. Reacting to this scary prospect, the House and Senate budget committees took the paring knife to some of Obama's spending proposals and tax cuts last week. But many of the proposed savings look more like bookkeeping gimmicks than realistic cutbacks. The budget resolutions assume, for example, that no more money will be needed this year to bail out foundering businesses or pump up consumer demand, even though estimates of those needs start at $250 billion and go up by giant steps. Republicans on the budget committees offered cuts that were larger and, in some but not all instances, more realistic. But the main device the Democratic budgeteers employed was simply to shrink the budget ``window'' from 10 years to five. Instantly, $5 trillion in debt disappeared from view, along with the worry that long after the recession is past, the structural deficit would continue to blight the future of young, working families. The Democrats did not invent this gimmick. They borrowed it from George W. Bush, who turned to it as soon as his inherited budget surpluses withered with the tax cuts and recession of 2001-02. But Obama had promised a more honest budget and said that this meant looking at the long-term consequences of today's tax and spending decisions. There are plenty of people in Congress for whom the CBO report was no surprise, and some of them have proposed a solution that would confront this reality. Kent Conrad, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and Judd Gregg, its ranking Republican, have offered a bill to create a bipartisan commission to examine every aspect of the budget-- taxes, defense and domestic spending, and, especially, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Congress would be required to vote promptly, up or down, on its recommendations, or come up with an alternative that would achieve at least as much in savings. In the House, Democrat Jim Cooper of Tennessee and Republican Frank Wolf of Virginia have been pressing a similar proposal but have been regularly thwarted. The roadblock in chief is Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House. She has made it clear that her main goal is to protect Social Security and Medicare from any significant reforms. Pelosi has not forgotten how Democrats benefited from the 2005-06 fight against Bush's effort to change Social Security. Her party, which had lost elections in 2000, 2002 and 2004, found its voice and its rallying cry to ``Save Social Security,'' and Pelosi is not about to allow any bipartisan commission to take that issue away from her control. The price for her obduracy is being paid in the rigging of the budget process. The larger price will be paid by your children and grandchildren, who will inherit a future- blighting mountain of debt.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Thomas J. Welsh, the founding bishop of the Catholic Dioceses of Arlington, Virginia. He passed away on February 19 at the age of 87, from pulmonary fibrosis. Bishop Welsh served as Arlington's bishop from 1974 to 1983. He established six additional area parishes: St. Stephen the Martyr in Middleburg; St. Catherine of Siena in Great Falls; St. John Neumann in Reston; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Lake Ridge; Our Lady of the Blue Ridge in Madison; and Holy Martyrs of Vietnam in Arlington County. Bishop Welsh dedicated 11 new churches during his years with the Catholic Dioceses of Arlington. Other notable achievements in his career as Arlington's bishop include helping to establish Christendom College in Front Royal and Catholic Distance University in Hamilton, both of which are in Virginia's 10th District. He also approved the purchase of the building for Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax. Bishop Welsh believed in the importance of Catholic education, both at school and at home. He founded the Arlington Catholic Herald newspaper in 1975 and established the Family Life Bureau in 1977. The Family Life Bureau worked to organize various pro-life activities within the Arlington diocese. After leaving Arlington in 1983, Bishop Welsh became the second bishop of the diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania. He retired from Allentown in 1997. His dedication and ministry will be missed by all who knew and worked with him. In the homily given at his funeral Mass, Msgr. Anthony D. Muntone, pastor of St. Elizabeth Parish in Whitehall, Pennsylvania, quoted one of Bishop Welsh's favorite saints, St. Thomas More, who said: ``Pray for me and I will pray for thee that one day we will meet merrily in heaven.'' I believe Bishop Welsh, as a dedicated believer and servant to the Catholic Church, will indeed be met merrily in heaven. His memory will live on through all the lives he touched and the legacy he left in both Arlington and Allentown.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, the right to worship according to the dictates of your conscience is among the most precious freedoms. Tragically this basic freedom has not been realized for millions around the globe. On January 16, the State Department designated the annual ``Countries of Particular Concern.'' This notorious distinction is given to countries deemed particularly severe violators of religious freedom. This year the list included Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan. Oftentimes the most powerful testimony of the repressive nature of these governments is found in the accounts of their own people. Take the words of a 23-year-old Burmese monk: ``We did not expect that the junta would crush down a peaceful demonstration but when they raided the monasteries, shot and arrested the monks. I was so surprised and unbelievable that I could not express how my feelings were. All my beliefs were also destroyed.'' Or the reflections of a Chinese house church leader: ``First, when they arrest you, they try to convince you to give up your faith. And when you surrender to them they will offer you an office in a position such as community member or a position in the Three Self church. If you do not deny your faith and surrender to them, then they will attack you. First they put you into a small place, isolate you, and they let you starve to convince you.'' Or these insights from North Korea: ``North Korea is a prison without bars. The reason why the North Korean system still exists is because of the strict surveillance system. When we provide the information like `this family believes in a religion from their grandfather's generation,' the National Security Agency will arrest each family member. That is why entire families are scared of one another. Everyone is supposed to be watching one another like this . . .''. With the 1998 passage of the International Religious Freedom Act, legislation which I authored, the promotion of religious freedom became official U.S. foreign policy. Sadly, 10 years later, the fight for this ``first freedom'' has never been more necessary. We must commit ourselves anew to standing with persecuted people of faith around the world who against all odds, in the face of fear, intimidation, imprisonment, torture and worse gather secretly to worship as their conscience demands.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I want to share with our colleagues today the recent passing of Frank Raflo of Leesburg, Virginia. He died on March 15, 2009, at the age of 89. A long-time resident of Leesburg, Frank was a giant in his community who made public service a priority. He was a member of the town council for several years, as well as serving as mayor for two years. During his tenure as mayor, Frank oversaw the effort to build an airport in Leesburg. He was also a member of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors for 14 years, including a year as chairman in 1985. Frank served his community in unelected positions as well. He was one of the charter members of the Leesburg Kiwanis Club in 1957. The club holds the annual Kiwanis Halloween Parade that local children look forward to year after year. With his wife Frances, Frank championed parks and outdoor spaces in Loudoun County. They were influential in the creation of the W&OD Trail in Leesburg, and a park along the trail was subsequently dedicated for them. In more recent years, Frank wrote a column in the local paper, the Leesburg Today. The town of Leesburg and the Commonwealth of Virginia will greatly miss the service of their friend, Frank Raflo. His legacy will not soon be forgotten. I would like to share an in memoriam of Frank Raflo that ran in the Leesburg Today on March 18, 2009: [From the Leesburg Today, Mar. 18, 2009] Frank Raflo: In Memoriam, 1919-2009 (By Margaret Morton) Small in physical stature, but towering in intelligence, integrity and love of community, Frank Raflo, who died Sunday at age 89, was one of the pantheon of legendary Loudoun leaders during the second half of the 20th century. All this week, tributes poured in for a man whose breadth of interests was phenomenal. A generous dispenser of advice for others making their way in the world, Raflo retained all his long life a curiosity into what made people and institutions tick. Blessed with a sharp brain, with a penetrating eye for fiscal detail and a consuming interest in all that went on around him, Raflo lived an extraordinary life in which he had a number of careers-businessman, journalist and columnist, author, radio commentator and local elected government representative. In his later years, Raflo's column, Just Being Frank, in Leesburg Today, in which he dispensed his particular brand of down-home wisdom, had a loyal following. Readers were drawn to his often whimsical but always knowledgeable observations on a variety of subjects, ranging from the quirks of human beings, government malfeasance, the price of coffee, hemlines going up or down, how to find good tomatoes or a good shovel, whether a sale price was a true sale or not, and so on. In addition, Raflo wrote a number of books detailing Leesburg's and Loudoun's history, among the best known being Within The Iron Gate. Serving on both the Leesburg Town Council and the Board of Supervisors, Raflo's love of both was remarkable. Director of the Loudoun Office of Transportation Services Terrie Laycock, who started work with county government in 1977 as an aide to board members, worked closely with Raflo, who served on the county board from 1972 to 1986, including as chairman in 1985. ``You never questioned that his motives were anything other than for the good of Loudoun County: No politics, no personal advancement, it was always from his perspective for what he felt was best for the county,'' she said. He was a dedicated Democrat and an equally dedicated Kiwanian, a charter member of the Leesburg Kiwanis Club, and founder of the Kiwanis Halloween Parade in Leesburg. Growing up in Leesburg, Raflo attended Leesburg High School where he always was at, or near, the top of his class. That keen intellect led to his being accepted into the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, from which he graduated as a Phi Beta Kappa student. As a businessman, Raflo and his wife, Frances, operated a women's dress shop on South King Street, a characteristic partnership in all his endeavors that that lasted until Raflo's death. Loudoun Museum Executive Director Karen Quanbeck remembered her days on The Fashion Board at Loudoun County High School. Raflo created the group, comprised of junior and senior girls who would model fashions from his store at charity fashion shows, typically on weekends, Quanbeck recalled. ``It takes a lot to get teenage girls out of bed at 6 a.m. on weekends, and make it fun.'' She recalled Raflo as ``very jolly and very supportive of the girls on the board. He was always interested in us and what we were going to do with our lives.'' A strong believer that local government was the most effective form of public service to be found, Raflo served two terms on the Leesburg Town Council from 1949-1951 and 1953-1955, as well as serving as mayor from 1961-1963. Whether or not people agreed with him, ``they always knew where he stood,'' his son Alan said this week, recalling the tales of many battles that came home with his father during his years of public service. Raflo enjoyed a long working partnership with the late B. Powell Harrison, who, while never an elected official, shared many similar ideas about the future of Leesburg and the county. Harrison's widow, Agnes Harrison, recalled the long partnership between the two men, who worked together on many projects to better both the town and the county. Their offices were next door to each other, and, both being notable talkers, ``they would meet on the street on the corner and discuss many, many things,'' she said. ``If everyone who lived in Leesburg were as public minded as Frank Raflo it would be an even better place than it is,'' she said. Alan Raflo similarly recalled his father talking to everybody he met on the street in his retirement. When once he asked him whom he was waving to, his father replied, ``Oh, I wave to everybody.'' Both Agnes Harrison and longtime friend Mac Brownell recalled the courage shown by both Raflos in the face of family tragedy, having lost two of their children in car accidents. ``They suffered serious sadness and disappointment, but they kept going. They were a brave couple,'' Harrison said. ``I always had great respect for Frank. I saw a side of him that so touching, that people didn't often see, particularly the way he spoke about children. He had a very tender heart,'' Brownell said. Laycock also spoke of Raflo's interest in those who were less fortunate, whether from a financial standpoint, or if they had physical or mental disabilities. ``He was always looking out for those who often don't have opportunity.'' Raflo felt that whenever possible patient should be brought out of mental institutions, ``deinstitutionalizing'' them and returning them to their communities. ``He felt strongly that if people could stay near their families or where they'd grown up, they would have a better quality of life,'' Laycock recalled. Among the many awards and honors Raflo received in his lifetime was one he received in 2003 and treasured highly-the highest award granted by the Kiwanis Club. Neatly suited during his government days, Raflo would always wear his Kiwanis button on his lapel. The lifelong public service of Frank and Frances Raflo also was recognized by the Town of Leesburg in the naming of the park along Harrison Street at the W&OD Trail in their honor. Former Farmwell Middle School principal Rocky Fera called him ``Mr. Kiwanian.'' Fera accompanied Raflo on a 1992 Kiwanis trip to Lithuania, from whence Raflo's family originated. Describing Raflo as ``a bit of gadfly, with his fingers in everything and as smart as can be,'' Fera joined the Kiwanis in the 1970s and got to know Raflo well. When Lithuania broke away from the Soviet Union, ``Frank pitched to the club: `We need to take the notion of service clubs to this new nation.' '' Fera's responsibility on the trip was to ``take care of Frank, keep him out of trouble, and not let him go off on some tangent.'' It was a great trip, Fera said, saying he thought of Raflo as a father figure. ``He was just a fine man. I looked up to him.'' Raflo's love of his hometown was deep. A scrappy fighter, he was ``such a fierce defender of Leesburg on all levels, pulling no punches to make sure the town's position got protected,'' Loudoun attorney Liz Whiting recalled. Leesburg Realtor Tom Jewell, owner of Carter Braxton Real Estate Company and a longtime admirer, said Raflo ``brought Leesburg out of the Dark Ages'' and was the most important county leader during the second half of the last century. ``He always had his facts together. He never went into a meeting unprepared.'' One of Raflo's signal victories was construction of Leesburg Airport at Godfrey Field. As mayor, Raflo presided over the controversial effort to build the airport, in partnership with council members George Hammerly and Stanley Caulkins. Although the faction supporting the airport was defeated by future Mayor Kenny Rollins and his supporters in May 1963, the airport did get built-just. ``Leesburg got within one day of not having an airport,'' Caulkins recalled with a chuckle. ``We signed the contract with Earthwork Construction and the FAA, and the next day we were voted out of office.'' It was after that ousting, and before the new council took office, that ``we decided the town had to have a manager and could not elect a whole new slate at once,'' Caulkins said. The new structure, in place today, consisted of electing mayors every two years and council members for four, staggered, terms. Caulkins praised Raflo as being ``very, very dedicated, and community spirited,'' noting he was responsible for getting $50,000 for the new wing of Loudoun Memorial Hospital, introduced the first two-way radios in Loudoun, and the first ambulance in Loudoun--``a big old Cadillac.'' In addition, Raflo was the first town businessman to permit the use of credit cards in his store, Caulkins said, recalling the almost universal derision then greeting the innovation. After serving on the Leesburg Town Council, Raflo ran for the Board of Supervisors, where he served from 1972 to 1986. He also served on the Virginia Commission for Local Government for many years, having been appointed by both Democratic and Republican governors to that post, where his experience in local government planning and budgets aided other communities around the commonwealth. Raflo's son recalled his father was a firm believer in ``planning for growth,'' and his earlier work in Leesburg would ``culminate in his years serving on the Board of Supervisors in the 1970s and 1980s. He was an early advocate of capital improvements and adequate public facilities planning to service growth, particularly water and sewer, as well as ensuring quality and sufficiency of water. ``He worried about approving houses if the infrastructure were not there,'' according to his son. Several colleagues agreed, citing his frequent comments on community planning that ``you will grow to the capacity of your toilets'' and ``if you can't flush, you can't build it''--highlighting the essential role in utility service in community development. His interest in being prepared to manage growth responsibly led him to join other county leaders on a trip to England to look at planning progress there in 1972. The trip was organized by Powell Harrison, founder of the Piedmont Environmental Council. Raflo's interest in tying adequate infrastructure to housing approvals presaged repeated efforts by county boards into the 1990s to seek state enabling legislation to adopt the local growth controls, each meeting without success. Among the champions of that effort was Supervisor Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge). ``We had many good conversations about it,'' Burton said. ``I had a lot of respect for him.'' Burton recalled the deliberations of the Leesburg Restaurant lunch group, of which Raflo was a member, as the town's political, judicial and business leaders met each day at the diner's large table, ``solving the problems of the world.'' In her years providing assistance to board members, Laycock recalled Raflo's frustration with constant comments by staff members that the board had to have studies and analyses before they could decide on various topics. Raflo's response was to ``come into the board meeting, pulling a kid's wagon behind him, with a stack of studies in it. He loved to do theatrics to prove his point.'' Jim Brownell, who served on the county board for 30 years called Raflo ``such an interesting fellow'' and ``the hardest working member of the board in my time.'' ``He was always real good with figures, and very intense with it. He always wanted to be right,'' Brownell laughed as he recalled Raflo's constant visits to then Director of Finance Kirby M. Bowers for information. Bowers, who will retire as county administrator April 1, Tuesday recalled Raflo as a tough budget reviewer. ``Men I was budget manager he was in my office almost every day.'' ``Frank would go to see him and find out what was going on, so often, that Kirby finally had to go to [then] County Administrator Phil Bolen and say, `Mr. Raflo's always here. I can't get my work done!' That led to a resolution that no one supervisor should go to see a department head ``about anything,'' Brownell said. Former Loudoun Supervisor and, later, State Senator Charles Waddell recalled Raflo used to do the same with Bolen, constantly going to him with ``big ideas'' on policy change. ``Phil's standard reply was, `Frank, do you have five votes?' '' He rarely did, Waddell said. ``He was as honest as the day was long. He had no hidden agendas. He was very hard working and if anyone was `government,' he was it,'' Brownell recalled. ``I always thought of him as my best friend,'' Brownell said, laughing, as he recalled a common description of the two colleagues as ``Frank as the bantam rooster and me as the old setting hen.'' Hard working as he was, Raflo always had time to help others. Waddell first met Raflo in 1963 several years after coming to live in the county. That year, he became chairman of the Loudoun County Democratic Committee. In 1967, Waddell ran successfully for the Board of Supervisors, joining Brownell as freshmen members. ``He was a great help to me in my campaign as Democratic chairman and also as a member of the board.'' Raflo's assistance did not stop there, as Waddell recalled he helped him in his initial campaign for the state senate and afterward. Waddell said he recalled to Raflo years later going to the dress shop on King Street for help on speeches or statements, and Raflo would say, ``Charlie, come on downstairs to my office,'' then proceed to translate Waddell's ideas into correct prose on his trusty Underwood typewriter. ``He was a detail man on the budget, which was his specialty. He always said, `It must be necessities, not niceties,' '' Waddell remembered. Describing Raft as a ``brilliant man,'' who could be a little abrasive and controversial at times, ``there was a lot of substance in what he did,'' Waddell said. A favorite saying of Raflo's was ``hold on to your tax bills, they'll never get any smaller.'' ``He cut out a niche for himself, he made a difference in the last half of the 20th century.'' It's not widely known that Raflo was instrumental in the creation of the W&OD Trail and securing parks for Loudoun County, including Algonkian Park. Purcellville Councilman and longtime member of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority Board of Directors Jim Wiley recalled he and Raflo were the first two appointed members from Loudoun to that board. ``He was the father of regional parks in Loudoun,'' Wiley said, noting that Raflo and Brownell were responsible in 1972 for NVRPA coming to the county. Wiley was then chairman of the county's advisory board for parks and recreation. ``The supervisors kept promising us $100,000 per year for parks, but it never came through,'' Wiley said. Then, the park authority offered to do regional parks for the county. To Wiley's frustration, the supervisors turn down that offer, too. ``So, in a huge fury I publicly resigned,'' Wiley recalled. The next day, he got a call from Brownell. ``I met with him and with Frank. They had decided it was a good idea after all, and we both got appointed to the [NVRPA] board.'' That was in 1973. Raflo became a ``great park advocate,'' Wiley said, and the governmental spokesman for Loudoun until his resignation in 1986. Raflo was very much involved with both land purchases--for the W&OD and Algonkian Park. ``We had some great conversations, we rode back and forth together to NVRPA meetings,'' Wiley said. ``He was extremely effective, a great communicator, who got along with everyone, and always meant what he said.'' As dear to his heart as parks became, Democratic politics was a true avocation. Longtime Democratic activist and former member of the Loudoun Electoral Board Til Bennie termed Raflo ``a true Democrat, who stuck by his principles, never bent, even when under pressure to do so.'' She recalled that the Young Turks of the party sometimes would ``poo poo his ideas,'' and showed irritation with Raflo's tendency to tell stories. ``They'd strum their hands on the table and dismiss him because it was all so whimsical, but he was so often proved true.'' Raflo would say that the Democratic Party was sliding down the tube in Virginia, ``and it did,'' Bennie said, recalling that Raflo kept telling the party it would have to do things differently if it were to succeed. ``He was always looking into the future, and had enormous experience. And he was often right.'' Raflo was the son of Joseph Raflo and Fannie Bulitsky Raflo. He was predeceased also by his daughter Joe Raflo; son Philip Raflo; and brother Harry Raflo. He is survived by his wife Frances Atwell Raflo; sons Paul Raflo of Stevensville, MD, and Alan Raflo of Blacksburg; grandson John-Paul Raflo; and great-grandchildren Josephine, Luke, and Delaney. Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Congregation Sha'are Shalom in Leesburg, followed by interment at Union Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to be sent to Leesburg Kiwanis, PO Box 445, Leesburg, VA 20178, Attention Bob Wright; Leesburg Volunteer Fire Company, PO Box 70, Leesburg, VA 20178; or Capital Hospice, 209 Gibson St. NW, Suite 202, Leesburg, VA 20176.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week, the national debt topped $11 trillion for the first time in history. On Friday, the Congressional Budget Office reported that the Federal deficit will soar past $1.8 trillion this year, which would be the highest recorded since World War II, deficits for as far as the eye can see. By 2019 the government will be paying over $800 billion annually just in interest on the debt, borrowing money from China and other countries. Congressman Cooper of Tennessee and I have introduced the bipartisan SAFE Commission Act to create a national commission aimed at addressing entitlement spending and our national tax policy with everything on the table. It's bipartisan, with exactly 26 Republicans and 26 Democrats joining as original cosponsors. A similar proposal in the Senate has the support of Senator Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and ranking member Senator Judd Gregg. The commission would force Congress to act on the mountains of debt under which we are burying our children and our grandchildren. Without it, we will have the same old tired process, drawing lines in the sand while the tsunami of debt comes crashing over our shores. According to a recent Peter Hart/Public Opinion Strategies survey, 56 percent of registered voters prefer a bipartisan commission to the regular congressional process as the best means of tackling our growing budget deficit and national debt. The current process isn't working. In other words, the American people understand we are in trouble, yet Congress continues to fiddle while Rome burns. Congress is made up of parents and grandparents, yet we seem to be prepared to push all of the debt we are creating off to our children and grandchildren. The American people are experiencing a crisis in confidence and they are worried about our country. When we gain control of reckless spending, we will be able to rebuild the economy and see a brighter and stronger America, stronger for us and stronger for our children and our grandchildren, to bring about a renaissance. How will history judge the 111th Congress if it doesn't deal with this issue? Cosponsoring the Cooper-Wolf SAFE Commission is supporting the bipartisan way forward. If any Member has a better idea that can honestly pass this place, then they ought to put it forward. If they can't, we should pass the Cooper-Wolf bill.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I would like to share with our colleagues an editorial from yesterday's Washington Post highlighting Secretary of State Clinton's disappointing start on human rights. In referencing some of her recent comments, the editorial rightly notes, ``Ms. Clinton is doing a disservice to her own department--and sending a message to rulers around the world that their abuses won't be taken seriously by this U.S. administration.'' Secretary Clinton is sending the wrong message on human rights. [From the Washington Post, Mar. 10, 2009] Some Friends Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton continues to devalue and undermine the U.S. diplomatic tradition of human rights advocacy. On her first foreign trip, to Asia, she was dismissive about raising human rights concerns with China's communist government, saying ``those issues can't interfere'' with economic, security or environmental matters. In last week's visit to the Middle East and Europe, she undercut the State Department's own reporting regarding two problematic American allies: Egypt and Turkey. According to State's latest report on Egypt, issued Feb. 25, ``the government's respect for human rights remained poor'' during 2008 ``and serious abuses continued in many areas.'' It cited torture by security forces and a decline in freedom of the press, association and religion. Ms. Clinton was asked about those conclusions during an interview she gave to the al-Arabiya satellite network in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Her reply contained no expression of concern about the deteriorating situation. ``We issue these reports on every country,'' she said. ``We hope that it will be taken in the spirit in which it is offered, that we all have room for improvement.'' Ms. Clinton was then asked whether there would be any connection between the report and a prospective invitation to President Hosni Mubarak to visit Washington. ``It is not in any way connected,'' she replied, adding: ``I really consider President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family. So I hope to see him often here in Egypt and in the United States.'' Ms. Clinton's words will be treasured by al-Qaeda recruiters and anti-American propagandists throughout the Middle East. She appears oblivious to how offensive such statements are to the millions of Egyptians who loathe Mr. Mubarak's oppressive government and blame the United States for propping it up. The new secretary of state delivered a similar shock in Turkey to liberal supporters of press freedom, now under siege by the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to the State Department report, ``senior government officials, including Prime Minister Erdogan, made statements during the year strongly criticizing the press and media business figures, particularly following the publishing of reports on alleged corruption . . . connected to the ruling party.'' That was an understatement: In fact, Mr. Erdogan's government has mounted an ugly campaign against one of Turkey's largest media conglomerates, presenting it with a $500 million tax bill in a maneuver that has been compared to Russia's treatment of independent media. Ms. Clinton was asked by a Turkish journalist what she told Mr. Erdogan when he complained about the State Department report. She answered: ``Well, my reaction was that we put out this report every year, and I fully understand . . . no politician ever likes the press criticizing them.'' ``Overall,'' she concluded, ``we think that Turkey has made tremendous progress in freedom of speech and freedom of religion and human rights, and we're proud of that.'' In fact, as the State Department has documented, Turkey is retreating on freedom of speech. In Egypt, the human rights situation also is getting worse rather than better. By minimizing those facts, Ms. Clinton is doing a disservice to her own department--and sending a message to rulers around the world that their abuses won't be taken seriously by this U.S. administration.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I will vote today for S. 22 because I have been an advocate of initiatives like many that are authorized in this package that protect our nation's historical, cultural, and scenic heritage. Several provisions in this bill will specifically help to preserve areas in my district and throughout the state of Virginia. I have cosponsored and voted for the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act, which is included in this package and provides grants to assist with the purchase of important Civil War sites that have not yet been protected. This program has helped preserve many sites in my district, rich in Civil War heritage. Most recently, the purchase of the site of the Battle of Third Winchester is contingent on receiving grant funding from this program. Other initiatives that will preserve important sites in Virginia that are included in this package are the Virginia Ridge and Valley Act, the Northern Neck National Heritage Area Study Act and the Washington- Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail Designation Act. While I agree in general with the intent of programs included in this package, I also have concerns regarding some of its provisions. There is language included in the bill that would prohibit natural resource development on about 1.2 million acres in Wyoming. According to the Bureau of Land Management, this provision would permanently take 8.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 300 million barrels of oil out of production. I believe that it is irresponsible to put restrictions on domestic energy production. Environmentally friendly domestic energy production should be considered as part of a comprehensive energy plan to help stabilize the cost of gasoline and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. I also maintain that long-term, permanent energy policy must be developed through clean, alternative and renewable energy resources to fuel our cars and light our homes and businesses. Solar power, wind power, clean coal technology, nuclear power, the hydrogen economy, new energy transmission technology, hybrid vehicle development, biofuels-- every option must be on the table for investment and development to secure our nation's energy needs for the 21st century. But we cannot close the door to domestic energy production.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. I want to thank the ranking member and also the chairman for their leadership on this issue, and also thank Speaker Pelosi for her comments here today and also for the comments that she made yesterday. In August of 1997, I traveled to Tibet, making it known to no one that I was a Member of Congress. I spoke to Buddhist monks and nuns on the street and in monasteries who have been brutally tortured in the infamous Drapchi prison. We drove by the Drapchi prison and they told us of the torture of pulling out fingernails and everything else, just simply for professing allegiance to the Dalai Lama. The Chinese government sends Tibetan children to China for education to learn Chinese ways. The Chinese government forbids faithful Buddhists from displaying pictures of the Dalai Lama. There was one person in a Buddhist monastery who showed me the picture and then put it away quickly. What the Chinese government is doing to Tibet is cultural genocide-- and I hope the foreign minister, who's in town today, hears it. It is cultural genocide--systematically destroying the fabric of the Tibetan society. Last March, the Tibetan people took to the streets to protest the iron-fisted rule of the Chinese government over Tibet; a harsh crackdown, violent repression, and a year later, 1,200 Tibetans remain unaccounted for. Where are they? Let's ask the foreign minister when he goes to the State Department, Where are they? For over a decade, the United States has asked China for a consulate in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and China has refused. Yet we continue to allow the Chinese government to build new consulates across the United States. We should not allow China to build any new consulates in the United States until China allows the U.S. to build a consulate in Lhasa, period, end of story. It is with a heavy heart that we commemorate the Dalai Lama's flight to Dharmasala. I believe one day we will stand here--and, if this debate had taken place before, Tom Lantos would be here, whereby people would give Tom Lantos the credit for leading the effort whereby Tibet will be, basically--not basically, but Tibet will be free.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I would like to bring to my colleagues' attention the following letter I recently sent to President Obama regarding the appointment of former Ambassador Charles W. Freeman to serve as chair of the National Intelligence council. Congress of the United States, House of Representatives, March 6, 2009. Hon. Barack H. Obama, The President, The White House, Washington DC. Dear Mr. President: I write today to share my deep concern regarding the appointment of Chas W. Freeman Jr. as chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Particularly disturbing is Mr. Freeman's position on the international advisory board of the China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), which he has held since March 2004. The communist government of China, along with other state-owned companies, are majority stakeholders in CNOOC. This connection would require Mr. Freeman to recuse himself from certain matters involving China. The 2007 United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission's Classified Report to the Congress addresses Chinese activities in the areas of espionage, cyber warfare, and arms proliferation. In 2006 four of the computers in my Capitol Hill office were hacked. It was confirmed by the FBI that these attacks originated in the People's Republic of China. The economic stimulus plan recently rolled out by Chinese Premier Wen Jiaobao includes a 14.9 percent increase in military spending. It is evident that China poses an increasing national, security threat to the United States. How is national security policy enhanced by having a chairman of the NIC who must recuse himself from matters involving a regime which poses one of the most serious national security risks to the United States? In an April 25 speech given by Mr. Freeman at the National War College Alumni Association, he described the March 2008 protests in Tibet as ``a race riot.'' The Tibetan people have suffered for decades at the hands of the authoritarian Chinese government, and such a characterization of the March uprising is deeply insulting. I traveled to Tibet in 1997 where I heard endless accounts of violent oppression by the Chinese government. I spoke to Buddhist monks and nuns who recounted their experiences of torture and imprisonment in Tibet's notorious Drapchi Prison. Just last week, the Associated Press reported that a Tibetan monk was shot three times by Chinese security forces after he set himself on fire. Additionally, CNOOC's substantial investment in Sudan's oil sector has served as the lifeline to the regime of President Omar al Bashir, recently indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Senator Sam Brownback and I traveled to Darfur in 2004, where we saw first hand the suffering and destruction that has taken place under the Bashir regime. We heard first hand accounts of women who were brutally abused at the hands of the janjaweed forces. During our visit we captured the haunting images of the terror and destruction, and we will share those photographs with your administration at your request. Mr. Freeman's appointment to this high level post undermines the policy of U.S. divestment from the genocidal regime of Sudan. Most recently, Mr. Freeman served as president of the Middle East Policy Council, a think-tank funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On September 20, 2006, in an interview with the Saudi-US Relations Information Service, Mr. Freeman said that ``thanks to the generosity of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia we have managed to accumulate an endowment'' for the Middle East Policy Council. According to filings with the Internal Revenue Service, Mr. Freeman drew an annual salary from the Middle East Policy Council. However, the foundation has never publicly released its list of contributors. In his Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright states on page 170 that ``Saudi Arabia, which constitutes only 1 percent of the world's Muslim population . . . supports 90 percent of the expenses of the entire faith,'' including ``thousands of religious schools around the globe, staffed with Wahhabi imams and teachers.'' I have enclosed a copy of this book and strongly encourage you to read it. Wahhabi teachings exported by the Saudis have inspired a generation of young radicals that have proven themselves ready to take up arms in the name of faith. Many experts believe that the notorious Taliban leader Mullah Omar was educated in a Saudi-funded radical madrassah. How can Mr. Freeman possibly be expected to confront this challenge head on after taking home years of paychecks from the Saudis? The reprehensible regimes with which CNOOC does business does not end there. The company rebuffed public calls to withdraw from Burma in October 2007 after the ruling military junta opened fire on peaceful protestors in a movement known as the Saffron Revolution. CNOOC also has invested in Iran, a country which is actively seeking to build nuclear weapons and has vowed to ``wipe Israel off the map.'' Such activities starkly contrast with the national security interests of the United States. The evidence strongly suggests that Mr. Freeman is not the right person for this job and for the good of our country I urge you to reconsider your choice. Best wishes. Sincerely, Frank R. Wolf, Member of Congress.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the School Food Recovery Act of 2009. The purpose of this legislation is simple: to keep excess school food out of the garbage and get it into our food banks. Our Nation's food banks and food pantries are struggling to keep up with demand. On average, client visits are up more than 30 percent over the past year. Families in northern Virginia and all around the Nation are going hungry. Our food banks and food pantries are their last resort. Consider that for a family earning $45,000 a year, it costs an extra $1,000 today to maintain the same food, gas, and basic good purchases compared to 2006--a 9.6% increase. That reality has led some families in my district who had been donating food in the past to now turn to the same pantries for food assistance. Unfortunately, we are not doing enough to prevent the waste of perfectly good food as these families go hungry. According to a USDA report on waste in the National School Lunch Program, it was reported that an estimated ``30 million Americans were in danger of going hungry and 96 billion pounds of food were being wasted at the retail and food services level.'' To address this, former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman awarded twelve $10,000 grants to school districts during the 1998-1999 school year to develop models to donate unused food to local food banks and food pantries and the results were published in a ``best practices'' manual in 1999. However, since the conclusion of the one-year grants, little has been done at the Federal level to encourage school districts to donate surplus food to food banks. In 1993, Congress passed the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act, which protects donors who give to food banks in good faith from all liability. This law has helped encourage many businesses and civic organizations to donate more and to build connections with food agencies. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about our school cafeterias. Far too few school districts have been willing to donate excess food, primarily due to administrative resistance and a misperception that Federal regulation doesn't allow it. The School Food Recovery Act will clarify--once and for all--that schools are covered from liability under the Good Samaritan Act and will allow each school to authorize an employee who has the discretion to release excess school food to local food banks on a regular basis. I believe this legislation will cut through the red tape and ensure that excess school food is used to feed the hungry, not to fill a school's dumpster. It only requires schools to identify local food banks and pantries, identify the employee authorized to release food to those agencies, and create a database of these contacts at each school that food banks can use to connect with these individuals. Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this straightforward legislation to help feed the hungry.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, earlier this week the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, founded by former Commerce Secretary Pete Peterson, whose president is former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker, released the results of a survey conducted by Peter Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies which looked specifically at public attitude toward America's fiscal policies. According to this survey, by a significant margin, 56 to 30 percent, registered voters prefer a bipartisan commission to the regular congressional process as the best means to begin tackling our growing budget deficit and national debt. The fact is there really isn't even a congressional process that is dealing with this issue. The bipartisan commission Congressman Cooper and I have proposed with every spending program on the table with tax policy is the approach that will lead to a solution. Congress would be forced to vote on the commission's recommendations. Over 111 Members of this House pledged their support last session, bipartisan, and Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad and Ranking Member Judd Gregg have offered similar legislation in the Senate. Just look around. Main Street is suffering. Everyone knows the country is in trouble. The American people are experiencing a crisis of confidence. The Dow is falling through the floor, below 7,000 yesterday. Unemployment, the latest figure came out today, 8.1 percent unemployment in the Nation with 650,000 jobless claims for just last month. The American people need their confidence restored, and this bipartisan commission would restore it, would restore the confidence. The American people believe that elected officials will work together to solve the Nation's most pressing problems, but this confidence is dwindling with every piece of bad news that factors into the country's economic narrative. As evidenced by the Peter Hart Research/Public Opinion data, a majority of the American people understand that this Congress is broken. It has become a partisan political place. And if it takes a commission with teeth for Congress to deliver on its responsibilities, then so be it. If other Members, and there may very well be better ideas, if other Members have a better idea, then they ought to put it forward and we ought to pass it. But if we don't address entitlement spending in the over $56 trillion in unfunded obligations through Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, our children and their grandchildren will pay the price. In closing, Madam Speaker, I believe that a bipartisan commission would renew America's confidence in the economy and in the ability of our elected leaders to come together. I was the author of what they call the Baker-Hamilton Commission, the Iraq Study Group, where we brought both sides together, five Republicans and five Democrats, and we saw the good that came out of that. This would provide a brighter future. This would provide a renaissance in this Nation. This would provide a bright future whereby we could then put more money into math and science and physics and chemistry, more money into autism research and more money into cancer research and more money into research for Alzheimer's, and really electrify America whereby we are creating jobs for the sake of the country. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, this Congress and this administration should do this. And let me just say, this is a bipartisan criticism, the Bush administration, Secretary Paulson did not do a very good job on this and missed that opportunity. Now this administration has an opportunity. So hopefully this Congress and this administration, and if this administration doesn't do it, this Congress will do it, will vote to set up a bipartisan panel to deal with America's financial future to give hope to our children and our grandchildren and create a renaissance in America so we can honestly say America's best days are yet ahead.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I would like to share with our colleagues a letter I sent to the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) following the successful rollout of the 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. These sweeping reports reflect the hard work of hundreds of human rights officers in Washington and abroad. I would like to thank, by name, the DRL staff people without whom this report would not have been possible. Specifically the editorial staff of the Country Reports Team consisting of: Editor in Chief Stephen Eisenbraun; Office Directors: Bruce Connuck, Kay Mayfield, and Michael Orona; Senior Editors: Jonathan Bemis, Douglas B. Dearborn, Daniel Dolan, Jerome L. Hoganson, Patricia Meeks Schnell, Julie Turner, and Rachel Waldstein; Editors: Naim Ahmed, Sabrina Bahir, Joseph S. Barghout, Katherine Berglund, Sarah Beringer, Alisha Bhagat, Sarah Buckley, Laura Carey, Elise Carlson-Rainer, Ebenezer Concepcion, Sharon C. Cooke, Susan Corke, Stuart Crampton, Frank B. Crump, Mollie Davis, Cortney Dell, Morton Dworken, Jennifer Evans, Verinda Fike, Joan Garner, Karen Gilbride, Jeffrey Glassman, Edward Grulich, Cheryl Harris, Patrick Harvey, Matthew Hickey, Alexandra Hoey, Victor Huser, Stan Ifshin, Sami Jiries, Simone Joseph, Jennifer King, Jane Kim, Sidney Kwiram, Lawrence Lesser, Jessica Lieberman, Katie McLain, John McKane, Michael McKenna, Gregory Maggio, Jessica Megill, Nicole Morales, David Mikosz, Leonel Miranda, Stephen E. Moody, Jennie Munoz, Sandra Murphy, Daniel L. Nadel, Catherine Newling, Susan O'Sullivan, Meredith Pierce, Drue Preissman, Peter Sawchyn, Amy Schmisseur, Wendy Silverman, Erin Spitzer, Rachel Spring, Brian Stout, James Todd, Rachel Waldstein, Nicole Wilett, Mikel Wood, and Isabelle Zsoldos; Contributing Editor: Lynne Davidson; Editorial Assistants: Adrienne Bory, Karen Chen, Carol Finerty, Elizabeth Mokaba, and Kimberly Jorgensen; and Technical Assistant Eunice Johnson. House of Representatives, Washington, DC, March 2, 2009. Ms. Karen Stewart, Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Washington DC. Dear Ms. Stewart: I write following the successful rollout of the 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. I know that this exhaustive report which catalogues human rights abuses globally is the result of countless hours of hard work on the part of human rights officers in DRL and in American embassies abroad. I also know that the final product often comes after hard fought battles within the building. I ask that you share with your staff and with human rights officers the world over my profound appreciation for their efforts. At times I know it can seem a thankless task. But the efforts of your bureau to speak truth to power and to be a voice for the voiceless brings hope and makes a difference to millions. You have my profound thanks. Best wishes. Sincerely, Frank R. Wolf, Member of Congress.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I bring to the attention of the House an interview conducted by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Human Rights in China. Upon her release from prison, Shaung Shuying, the 77- year old mother of house church pastor Hua Huiqi, recounted that she endured beatings and electric shock at the hands of her captors. She was the oldest inmate at Beijing Women's Prison where she served a two- year sentence. This severe treatment of an elderly woman is evidence that the Chinese government is indiscriminate in its human rights abuses. Chinese officials truly know no limits. [Feb. 13, 2009] Case Update: Elderly Activist Shuang Shuying Released; Reports Abuses in Prison Shuang Shuying, 77, evictions activist and mother of house church pastor Hua Huiqi, was released from the Beijing Women's Prison on Sunday morning, February 8, 2009. In an interview with HRIC on the day of her release, Shuang recounted the abuses she suffered in prison. Shuang served a full two-year term on conviction of ``intentional damage of public and private property'' for striking an on-coming police car with a cane during a 2007 visit to a local government office to protest her son's detention. On the afternoon of her release, Shuang went to visit her ailing husband, Hua Zaichen, 89, hospitalized at the Beijing Electricity Hospital since February 5. Hua passed away at 7:50 am the following morning, February 9, 2009. Shuang and her family are longtime rights activists. She and her husband have spoken out against Reeducation-Through- Labor (RTL) and religious persecution. Their son, Hua Huiqi, has suffered numerous detentions, beatings, and threats for his activities as a house church pastor. In 2002, Shuang saw her Beijing home demolished to make way for Olympics redevelopment. Subsequently, the family had to relocate eight times. At Beijing Women's Prison, Shuang was the oldest inmate, and endured beatings and electric shock. She suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure, cataracts, heart disease, and arthritis, but prison authorities denied her request for medical parole. According to her husband in 2008, Shuang was almost completely blind in both eyes due to the abuses inflicted upon her. The following is Shuang's account of the abuses she suffered in prison.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, today the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's President Bashir, charging him with seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. This is the first time the court has accused a sitting head of state of war crimes. The world knows what's happening in Sudan and Darfur, and yet the Obama administration has failed to appoint a special envoy. I have asked him to appoint a former Senator, Bill Frist from Tennessee, who can start today. The tribunal spokesman said the crimes included, and I quote, ``murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians and the pillaging of their property.'' According to the U.N., an estimated 300,000 have been killed since the Darfur conflict began and 2.7 million displaced. And yet the Obama administration has failed to appoint a special envoy. As recently as just yesterday, the AP reported that in recent weeks 26,000 people have fled their homes in Darfur and flooded Zamzam refugee camps, already at 50,000. I close by saying time is short. The killing and the devastation goes on. The administration must act. This cannot wait.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, America is facing a crisis. The budget request projects a $1.8 trillion deficit this year and a $533 billion deficit in fiscal year 2013, and red ink is as far as the eye can see. We have over $56 trillion in unfunded obligations for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The national debt is nearing $11 trillion and growing every day. Standard & Poor's investment service predicts the loss of America's AAA bond rating as early as 2012, and that will be devastating. Every day seems to bring more bad news. The stock market continues to plummet, dropping below 7,000 this morning, and Americans everywhere understand that our Nation is in trouble. When I left my office today, the stock market was down over 200 points. Most Americans realize that Congress is broken, and it will take a special process to address this runaway spending. The action that will lead to a solution is the bipartisan commission that Congressman Cooper of Tennessee and I have proposed, with every spending program on the table along with tax policy. Congress, under this process, would be forced to vote on the commission's recommendations, and over 111 Members of the House pledged their support to this last year, and it would be bipartisan. This process, which also would have outside experts, would help establish confidence. In the Webster Dictionary it says in the definition of confidence, ``the faith or belief that one will act in a right, or effective, way.'' And boy, do we need that now. Congress is paralyzed by partisan bickering, and so far, this Congress has chosen to hide behind the mantra of ``regular order.'' But this problem will not fix itself. There is a bridge linking Trenton, New Jersey, with Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and there's a sign on the bridge that said, ``Trenton Makes, the World Takes.'' Well, Trenton doesn't make anything anymore, and the sign ought to say, ``The World Makes, Trenton Takes.'' And all you have to do is get on the train from Washington going up to New York, and all the factories are closed and in decay, and the windows are broken. A bipartisan commission would renew America's confidence in the economy. It would create a renaissance in the ability of our elected leaders to act. It would provide a bigger and brighter future for the next generation of America's young people and ensure that we have discretionary dollars for math and science and physics and chemistry and biology and cancer research, research for autism, research for Alzheimer's. It would also help create manufacturing. For the sake of this country, this Congress and this administration should act to set up a bipartisan panel to help us give some hope to our children and our grandchildren. In closing, Madam Speaker, I would also say to the leaders of this Congress, this is also a moral issue. This is also a moral issue. Is it appropriate for one generation to be living so well, knowing that their children and grandchildren will have to pay? And to close, I read a quote by Deitrich Bonhoeffer, who was a Lutheran pastor who stood up to the Nazis and was killed, hung, by the Nazis in Flossenberg Prison just before the end of the war. Deitrich Bonhoeffer said, ``The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.'' This Congress, as of now, is failing that moral test.