Frank Wolf

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to our former colleague, Bill Frenzel of Minnesota, who passed away on November 17 at the age of 86. Bill served in the House for ten terms from 1971 to 1991. During his time on the Hill and upon leaving Congress, he was a strong advocate for trade and economic growth. So many of our colleagues did not have the privilege of serving with Bill. I respectfully submit this Washington Post article from November 19, 2014, on his passing. Bill Frenzel, Minnesota Republican and Fiscal Authority, in U.S. House, Dies at 86 Bill Frenzel, a Minnesota Republican who became a prominent congressional authority on federal budget and international trade issues during 20 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, died Nov. 17 at his home in McLean, Va. He was 86. The cause was cancer, said a daughter, Pam Lindon. Mr. Frenzel was an executive at his family's warehousing operation and served in the Minnesota House of Representatives before winning an open congressional seat in 1970. He represented his district in the Twin Cities suburbs until 1990, when he declined to seek reelection. By then he had become dean of the Minnesota delegation, ranking Republican on the House Budget committee and an influential member of the tax-writing Ways and Means committee. On both sides of the aisle, he was admired for his deeply researched positions on complicated fiscal matters. ``Loud and brainy, partisan and thoughtful, he puts his stamp on every debate in which he participates,'' read his profile in the Almanac of American Politics. Among Mr. Frenzel's principal legislative interests were promoting free trade and balanced budgets. He helped negotiate the major 1990 deficit-reduction deal, a significant achievement at a time when Mr. Frenzel had become increasingly frustrated by what he described as the Republican Party's ``seemingly permanent minority.'' Democrats ``think they were born to be kings,'' Congressional Quarterly quoted him as saying, ``and that there's a servant class, and that's the Republicans.'' In an effort to invigorate his party, Mr. Frenzel nominated Newt Gingrich for party whip, a position that the Georgia Republican won in 1989. Gingrich's fiery style contrasted with Mr. Frenzel's more moderate one, but Mr. Frenzel said he had concluded that the party ``needed to take some risks.'' In 1994--four years after Mr. Frenzel's retirement-- Gingrich led the GOP to recapturing control of the House. Mr. Frenzel remained involved in public affairs, including in the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton. Clinton tapped Mr. Frenzel as an adviser on the North American Free Trade Agreement, a centerpiece of the president's first-term agenda, and tasked him with helping rally GOP support. ``I took a position up in the Rayburn Building and I think I met with every member of the Republican caucus,'' Mr. Frenzel told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. ``The idea was to get the vote nailed down before you bring the bill to the floor. Some of the members were difficult and slippery.'' He continued, ``For instance, some of the members said, `We don't think the Mexicans know anything.' We flew them to Mexico City and had them meet with President [Carlos] Salinas and his cabinet, who, of course, were all University of Chicago PhDs and who bowled them over. That was very effective.'' NAFTA was passed in 1993 and enacted the next year. Mr. Frenzel later served under George W. Bush, a Republican, and Barack Obama, a Democrat, on advisory commissions on Social Security and trade policy. He was a guest scholar with the Brookings Institution think tank for more than two decades and was a co-chairman of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Government, both based in Washington. Years after he left office, he remained sought after for his insider's perspective on politics. ``Republicans used to be interested in not running continual rivers of red ink,'' he told the New York Times in 2012. ``If that meant raising taxes a little bit, we always raised taxes a little bit. But nowadays taxes are like leprosy and they can't be used for anything, and so Republicans have denied themselves any bargaining power.''

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. David M. Abshire, who passed away on October 31st, 2014, in Alexandria, Virginia. I worked with David during my career in Congress and always held him in the highest regard. David was an indispensable public servant. He began his career at West Point, from which he graduated and led a platoon in the Korean War, earning a Bronze Star for bravery. He went on to found the Center for Strategic and International Studies and lead the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress. David also served as assistant secretary of state for congressional relations and chairman of the Board for International Broadcasting under President Nixon and United States ambassador to NATO under President Reagan. He coordinated President Reagan's internal investigation of the Iran-Contra Affair as well. David was a man of moral strength and character. He will be deeply missed by his family, friends and community. David is survived by his wife Carolyn, five children and 11 grandchildren. I respectfully submit David's obituary from The New York Times and ask my colleagues to join me in honoring David's life and accomplishments. [From The New York Times, Nov. 3, 2014] David M. Abshire, Who Helped Reagan Through Iran-Contra Scandal, Dies at 88 (By Douglas Martin) David M. Abshire, who led respected research groups and held high government posts but made his most visible mark by helping President Ronald Reagan navigate the political storms of the Iran-contra scandal, died on Friday in Alexandria, Va. He was 88. His death was announced by the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress, a Washington group he helped lead. Reagan sought out Mr. Abshire in December 1986. He called him in Brussels, where he was the United States ambassador to NATO, and asked him to accept a cabinet-level job as coordinator of the White House's response to multiple investigations of the administration's secret sales of arms to Iran, despite an embargo on such sales. There were allegations that United States officials had hoped the arms sales would secure the release of several hostages being held in Lebanon by a group with ties to Iran, which would have been another violation of policy. Proceeds from the sales were to be used to finance the anti-Communist insurgents in Nicaragua known as contras--aid that Congress had expressly forbidden. Reagan asked Mr. Abshire to handle all requests and obligations stemming from investigations in both the House and the Senate and from an independent commission headed by John Tower, a former senator from Texas. ``What we wanted was someone who would come and could immerse himself in all the details of this Iran controversy-- the dates, when the arms went, who said what on which date,'' Patrick J. Buchanan, then the White House communications director, said in an interview with CNN in 1986. ``It really is a detailed job, and the rest of the White House staff, which was not involved in the controversy, has to get on with the budget, has got to get on with the State of the Union. We simply don't have the expertise.'' In a profile in 1987, The New York Times said the job could leave Mr. Abshire in a ``potentially tricky position'' and raised the possibility that he could turn up an incriminating ``smoking gun.'' Mr. Abshire accepted the post on the condition that the administration would be forthcoming. He told The Times that he regretted suppressing information about military incursions into Laos and Cambodia during the Nixon administration, when he was assistant secretary of state for congressional relations. ``That,'' he said, ``was an example of how not to do it.'' In his first meeting with Reagan, recounted in his 2005 book, ``Saving the Reagan Presidency: Trust Is the Coin of the Realm,'' Mr. Abshire told the president that it was unwise to keep insisting that the United States did not trade arms for hostages. He pointed out that two-thirds of the public believed that the administration had made such a deal. ``Dave, I don't care if I'm the only person in America that does not believe it--I don't believe it was arms for hostages,'' he quoted Reagan as saying. But in a dozen meetings with the president and in others with the first lady, Nancy Reagan, Mr. Abshire pressed his case for admitting what seemed obvious to him and to many others. He also released thousands of unedited documents to investigators, handled press relations and signed off on the president's speeches about the subject. On March 4, 1987, with evidence of the arms deal mounting, Reagan admitted in a speech to the nation that he had learned he was wrong. ``What began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for hostages,'' he said. Mr. Abshire soon resigned, feeling he had finished the job 90 days after taking it. Reagan largely escaped personal blame and saw his approval rating rise from 46 percent to 64 percent in less than two years. The Washington Post in 2006 called Mr. Abshire the ``judicious convener and manager of the A-list powerful.'' In 1962, he joined with Adm. Arleigh Burke to start the Center for Strategic and International Studies, originally as an affiliate of Georgetown University. Distinguished foreign policy figures like Henry A. Kissinger, James R. Schlesinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft have been senior advisers and adjunct fellows there. Mr. Kissinger, at a colloquium in Mr. Abshire's honor in 2006, said that Mr. Abshire had a knack for getting people to do what he wanted, ``making you feel that he's doing you a tremendous favor for giving you that opportunity.'' From 1999 to 2012, Mr. Abshire was president and chief executive of the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress. More recently he was vice chairman. He served on government task forces and policy study groups and wrote seven books. He headed Reagan's foreign affairs transition team after his election in 1980, and was often mentioned as a candidate for national security adviser in Republican administrations. His job as assistant secretary of state under President Richard M. Nixon was to be a liaison to Congress. Nixon then appointed him chairman of the Board for International Broadcasting, overseeing Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. As NATO ambassador, Mr. Abshire helped parlay the deployment of American Pershing II missiles in Europe into a treaty limiting intermediate-range nuclear weapons there. David Manker Abshire was born in Chattanooga, Tenn., on April 11, 1926. An imposing figure at 6-foot-4, he never lost his courtly Tennessee drawl. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1951 and, as a platoon leader in the Korean War, was awarded a Bronze Star and other decorations for bravery. He earned a Ph.D. in history from Georgetown. Mr. Abshire, who died in a nursing home in Alexandria, is survived by his wife of 56 years, the former Carolyn Sample; his son, Lupton; his daughters, Anna Bowman, Mary Lee Jensvold, Phyllis d'Hoop and Carolyn Hall; and 11 grandchildren. Reagan was not the first president to ask for Mr. Abshire's help in dealing with a crisis. In his memoir, Mr. Abshire wrote that Nixon had asked him to join his staff to fight the threat of impeachment during the investigations of the cover- up of the Watergate break-in. He tactfully said no. He recalled that when a relative expressed amazement that he had turned down a president, he replied: ``I don't believe he's telling the truth.''

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Virginia Delegate Vincent F. Callahan, Jr., who passed away on September 20th, 2014, at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Virginia. Vince represented Virginia's 34th District in the Virginia General Assembly for nearly four decades. During his tenure on the Appropriations Committee, he worked tirelessly on important regional projects for his constituents in McLean and Arlington. He was always willing to work across the aisle to find compromise and get things done. Vince's many legislative accomplishments include supporting the growth of George Mason University and the Dulles Corridor, as well as securing state funds for public spaces, like Wolf Trap. The northern Virginia we know today would not exist if it were not for Vince and his outstanding statesmanship in the Virginia General Assembly. The region owes him a debt of gratitude for his faithful and effective service. Vince was a man of strong convictions and the highest moral character. He was a true Virginia gentleman, family man and a loyal friend; he will be sorely missed by his family, friends and community. Vince is survived by his wife Yvonne, eight children, 22 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. I respectfully submit Vince's obituary from The Fairfax Times and ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Vince's life and achievements. [From FairfaxTimes.com, Sept. 26, 2014] Callahan's Legacy Burns Bright Fairfax County lost one of its true statesmen--and untold amounts of institutional knowledge--when longtime state legislator Vince Callahan died last Saturday from complications related to West Nile virus. Callahan, who represented McLean in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1967 to 2008, will best be remembered as someone who cared deeply about Northern Virginia and spent more than half his life fighting for his district, his constituents and for Virginia. It's hard to travel through Fairfax County today and not see Callahan's fingerprints on many key institutions and roadways. He was critical in drumming up dollars and support for George Mason University and Northern Virginia Community College; many Fairfax residents could locate either school on a map. He championed Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts when many others viewed the project as a waste of money and land. He was instrumental in establishing Georgetown Pike as a scenic byway, fending off intense pressure to four-lane the road through Great Falls and parts of McLean. He also played a lead role in establishing the Dulles Toll Road, erecting sound walls along Interstate 495 and sparking commercial development on the Dulles corridor. Callahan's list of accomplishments goes on and on, fueled mostly by a calm, inclusive leadership style rarely seen in today's General Assembly. In an era of partisan bickering and political gamesmanship, Callahan built his career on putting people ahead of party and solving old problems rather than creating new ones. He was keenly aware that he worked at the behest of those in the 34th House district--not the other way around. A lifelong Republican, he went to Richmond each winter focused on improving the lives of his constituents in McLean, Arlington and other parts of Virginia. That often meant crossing the aisle and working with Democrats to pass critical legislation. It also meant standing up to lawmakers in his own party when they were pushing policy harmful to his district. In the midst of yet another expensive, attack-oriented election cycle, Vince Callahan's passing should serve as a reminder that there's always going to be a place for people with firm spines, positive ideas and good intentions.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Jim Rees, who passed away on September 9, 2014, at his home in Markham, Virginia. Jim served as president of George Washington's Mount Vernon estate for two decades, from 1994 to 2013. I had the privilege of working closely with Jim over the years on many important issues, especially working to improve historical literacy among young Americans. Jim was a tireless advocate of George Washington's legacy, his estate at Mount Vernon and the leadership virtues of our nation's indispensable founding father. Because of his work building Mount Vernon's endowment and revitalizing interest in the estate, Jim was called ``an indispensable man to Mount Vernon in his time'' by Barbara Lucas, regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, who spoke to the Washington Post about Rees' legacy. Jim was beloved not only by the board of the Ladies' Association, staff and volunteers but also by all those who share his commitment to preserving the legacy of the Father of our Country. His passing is a loss to the Mount Vernon community and indeed the nation. I respectfully submit Jim Rees' obituary from The Washington Post and ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Jim's life and achievements. [Sept. 13, 2014] James C. Rees, 62, Longtime President of George Washington's Mount Vernon, Dies (By Emily Langer) James C. Rees, who endeavored to keep George Washington first in the hearts of his countrymen, and particularly in the hearts of his country's tourists, as president for nearly two decades of the founding father's Mount Vernon estate, died Sept. 9 at his home in Markham, Va. He was 62. The cause was multiple system atrophy, a neurological disorder, said his husband, Kirk Blandford. Mr. Rees spent nearly his entire career at Mount Vernon, the stately home 15 miles outside the District in Virginia, where George Washington lived for decades and where he was buried after his death in 1799. After working in the development office and as the estate's associate director, Mr. Rees became in 1994 Mount Vernon's executive director, a title later changed to president. He moved into a home on the grounds overlooking the Potomac River and became, he said, the public relations agent for the nation's first president. The nonprofit Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, which has independently owned and maintained the property since 1860, credited Mr. Rees with leading fundraising initiatives that brought more than $250 million to the estate. During his nearly three decades with the institution, its endowment grew from $4 million to more than $100 million, according to the group. ``It has been said that George Washington was the `indispensable man,' '' observed Barbara B. Lucas, the regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, adding that Mr. Rees ``likewise was an indispensable man to Mount Vernon in his time.'' Mr. Rees's tenure as president coincided with what he and other George Washington enthusiasts feared was a growing ignorance about American history, particularly among the young. Once, Mr. Rees encountered a group of students and began joking with them--``you know, playing off some of the Washington myths,'' he told the Weekly Standard. ``I said, `Well, it's a good thing this isn't a cherry tree, or it might be in danger--you never know who might come chop it down.' And there was no reaction. Nothing. So I said, `But I guess we could always use the wood to make some teeth.' Nothing. Blank stares.'' Mr. Rees led a years-long mission to enliven the visitor experience at Mount Vernon and to invigorate the image of the president who lived there. Washington, Mr. Rees remarked, seemed to be locked in the national imagination as the rather dour-looking gentlemen on the $1 bill. ``Washington was athletic, adventurous and risk-taking, known to be one of the finest horsemen of his day and willing to meet challenges head-on,'' Mr. Rees once told the New York Times. ``Some have called him the nation's first action hero.'' At the Ford Orientation Center, a building opened in 2006 with sponsorship from the Ford Motor Co., visitors watch a film described as an ``action-adventure'' movie about Washington's military exploits and personal life. The Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center, which also opened at Mount Vernon in 2006, includes theaters, interactive displays and galleries with artifacts from Washington's life, including the bedstead he used during the Revolutionary War, his sword and, perhaps best known, his dentures. The teeth in particular represented a departure from what had previously been the organization's conservative presentation of the former president. ``We used to be so discreet that we didn't want to display Washington's dentures,'' Mr. Rees told the Times. ``When we finally broke down and showed them, they turned out to be a sensation. That taught us something.'' Mr. Rees also oversaw the restoration and reconstruction of Mount Vernon's whiskey distillery and gristmill. One of his last undertakings was fundraising for the $106 million Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, which opened in 2013, the year after Mr. Rees retired. James Conway Rees IV was born May 5, 1952, in Richmond. The history textbooks he used as a youngster, he often said with chagrin, devoted significantly more space to Washington than can be found in books used today. He was a 1974 English graduate of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg and received a master's degree in public administration from George Washington University in 1978. Before joining Mount Vernon in 1983, he did development work for William & Mary and for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Mr. Rees often reflected on the challenges of promoting Washington in the modern age. ``I suppose it has to do with lots of things,'' he once told the Weekly Standard. ``The rise of social history-- filling up history with all kinds of people who'd been ignored before means there's less room for old heroes. And I suppose it has to do with the end of the great man theory of history, too.'' ``But there's something else that worries me,'' he continued. ``The qualities Washington possessed just aren't as appreciated as they were. Honesty. Good judgment. Modesty--my God, who in late-20th-century America gets credit for being modest anymore?'' In 2007, Mr. Rees published a book, ``George Washington's Leadership Lessons: What the Father of Our Country Can Teach Us About Effective Leadership and Character.'' Survivors include Kirk Blandford, his partner of 29 years, whom he married last year, of Markham; and a brother. On one occasion, Mr. Rees was called upon to correct an oversight by Washington, who had borrowed from the New York Society Library ``The Law of Nations,'' Emer de Vattel's 18th-century political treatise, and failed to return it. By the time the matter came to Mr. Rees's attention, the item was more than two centuries overdue. He returned a copy to its rightful owner.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize Mr. James W. Lintott, a constituent who recently stepped down as chairman of the board for the Children's National Medical Center. Mr. Lintott has held this post since 2010 and has been a passionate advocate for access to quality health care for all children. Jim's leadership has helped to advance pediatric health in our community and beyond. He has been actively involved with Children's National for more than 12 years and has served as a member of a number of governance committees and boards. He began his involvement as a member of Children's Hospital Foundation Board of Directors in 2002 and later served as chairman of that board. Jim has been a champion for children by leading philanthropic giving initiatives and building awareness in the community of the importance of supporting the mission and goals of Children's National. Under his leadership, Children's National secured a gift to establish an institute for pediatric surgical innovation. This institute is advancing pediatric medicine by discovering new treatments and devices and implementing innovative approaches to improving children's health. Lintott's efforts have helped to advance pediatric medicine and research. He is truly a passionate advocate for children's health. I would ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating and thanking Jim Lintott for his leadership as chairman of the board of Children's National Medical Center.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I have long been opposed to any expansion of legalized gambling and have continually sought to raise awareness of the dangerous economic and social costs of gambling. That is why I want to submit for the Record a statement I received from one of the foremost experts on the dangers of gambling, Tom Grey, and the director of Stop Predatory Gambling, Les Bernal. Statement by Les Bernal, National Director, Stop Predatory Gambling and Tom Grey, Senior Advisor to Stop Predatory Gambling Today, we would seek to speak for the ``losers.'' The ``losers'' are those citizens sacrificed by our government in its failed experiment of sponsoring and promoting gambling to extract as much money as possible from the public. ``Losers'' isn't a term we coined. That's the word used by a slot machine designer at America's biggest maker of electronic slot machines, International Gaming Technology (IGT), to describe the citizens who use the machines he makes, many of whom are your constituents. ``When I asked one I.G.T. artist if he ever plays, he acted as if I had insulted him,'' wrote New York Times reporter Gary Rivlin in his cover story on slot machines for The Times Sunday Magazine. ``Slots are for losers,'' he spat, and then, coming to his senses, begged me to consider that an off-the-record comment.'' Scott Stevens of Steubenville, Ohio was one of these ``losers'' who we speak for today. Yet Scott Stevens was a success by nearly every measure we use in America. Through hard work and sacrifice, Scott became a very successful business executive, earning an upper-middle class income. He was happily married with three daughters and actively served his community in a variety of different volunteer leadership roles. But the lives of Scott Stevens and his family changed forever when they intersected with a government program unlike any other. It is a government program that exists to extract as much money as possible from citizens to fund government itself. This program has been called ``government- sponsored gambling'' but a growing number of Americans in the public square today call it more accurately as ``predatory gambling.'' Predatory gambling is when government uses gambling in the form of casinos and lotteries to cheat and exploit citizens. For-profit gambling is illegal unless the government gives its full support, and in nearly every instance operates in partnership with gambling interests whether in the form of state lotteries, commercial casinos or tribal casinos. Scott Stevens knew firsthand about predatory gambling. Today, the electronic gambling machine has become government's preferred method of extracting money from citizens. Slots make up to 80% of gambling profits. These gambling machines are literally designed so citizens cannot stop using them, exploiting aspects of human psychology and inducing irrational and irresponsible behavior. Every feature of a slot machine--its mathematical structure, visual graphics, sound dynamics, seating and screen ergonomics--is designed to increase a player's ``time on device''--which means how long a person plays. Gambling operators found that their profits were not about the size of the gamblers' stakes but rather the volume of their play. ``If you provide them with the right time-on- device, they will stay and play,'' one slot designer said to MIT Professor Dr. Natasha Schull in her recent book on slot machine technology titled Addiction By Design. ``If you take it too quickly and they lose, they're going to leave.'' In the actual language of the casino business, the goal is to get every user ``to play to extinction''--until all their money is gone, Dr. Schull quotes a slot marketing expert. ``I want to keep you there as long as humanly possible,'' another slot operator told her. ``That's the whole trick, that's what makes you lose.'' The slot machine is designed to be so effective at extracting money from people, wrote Dr. Schull, that it is ``a product that, for all intents and purposes, approaches every player as a potential addict--in other words, someone who won't stop playing until his or her means are depleted.'' Scott Stevens was one of the ``losers'' who used a slot machine. He became someone who used the slot machine the way its maker and promoter intended: he could not stop using it. Aggressively marketed to the public as ``fun'' and actively promoted by public officials, why would Scott ever possess any concerns about using a modern slot machine? Citizens like Scott Stevens who use slot machines as intended are the most lucrative ``losers'' of all for government and the gambling operators it partners with. Over the last decade there are 11 different independent studies-- studies not funded by gambling interests--that show 40 percent-60 percent of slot machine profits are taken from citizens like Scott Stevens. Citizens who have been turned into gambling addicts. In America today, at least 10 million citizens are gambling addicts; citizens who have become addicted to what is, literally, a government program. We call these millions of citizens who have ruined their lives and painfully wounded their families so our government can extract more money, ``The Expendable Americans.'' Scott Stevens was an Expendable American. He lost his job because he took company money and poured it into slot machines sponsored by the government. He maxed out his credit cards to tens of thousands of dollars. He emptied his daughters' college savings accounts and his 401k retirement funds. He owed huge debts to the IRS for not paying taxes on what government labeled his ``winnings,'' despite losing far greater money than he won. On August 13, 2012, even though he had already given almost everything he had to this public policy, Scott Stevens made one last sacrifice. He drove to a children's soccer park in his town that he raised money to build. He sat down on a park bench. He called 911 on his cell phone and told them what he was planning to do. When the police and ambulance arrived at the park he said, ``You're not here to stop me, you're here to take me home'' and then shot himself in front of them. In the days afterward, a letter arrived in the mail addressed to his wife Stacy. Scott mailed it before taking his own life. It said, in part: ``I know you don't believe it but I love you so much! I have hurt you so much. Our family only has a chance if I'm not around to bring us down any further. You're such an unbelievable wife and mother. I know you will hold the family together . . .'' While millions of men and women like Scott Stevens and their families have sacrificed and hurt so much to provide needed revenues to American government, no one has ever thanked them for their ``service.'' There are no parades with fluttering American flags in the breeze. No yellow ribbons. Our country simply renders them failures. Failure is the right description but it is directed toward the wrong participant. Government's experiment with gambling is the definition of failure, representing one of the biggest public policy busts of the modern era. Over the past four decades, government's partnership with gambling has failed in a multitude of ways. It has transformed gambling from a private and local activity into the public voice of American government, such that ever-increasing appeals to gamble, and ever-expanding opportunities to gamble, now constitute the main ways that our government communicates with us on a daily basis. It has broken its promise to remain a small component of our government and a small part of our society. In the brave new world envisioned by this power structure--where every cell phone is a ``casino in your pocket'' and every bar, gas station, convenience store, computer, and home in the nation is a place to place a bet--the essential driving message from the American government to the American people is ``All gambling, all good, all the time.'' It has fueled irresponsibility and non-accountability in government by imposing a giant excise tax on the citizenry that politicians never have to call a ``tax.'' It has failed to deliver on its over-hyped promises to fund education, lower taxes, or pay for needed public services. It has taken political power away from the people and handed it over to gambling lobbyists. It has perpetrated a phony model of economic development--a model with a jobs multiplier effect of approximately zero, since, in this model, nothing of value is produced. It has promulgated the very economic attitudes and practices--short-term is more important than sustainable, wealth can come from ever-growing debt, something can come from nothing, slickness trumps honesty--that led us into the debt bubble and the Great Recession of 2008 and beyond. It has caused neighboring states to compete against each other in a race to the bottom. It has taken dollars from the poor to fund programs for the better-off. It has spread addiction into our population, using the new science of machine design to produce out-of-control behavior that, according to scientists, closely resembles addictive behavior from cocaine. It has spread debt and bankruptcy into our population. It has led to serious gambling-related problems among young people. It has contributed to broken families and child neglect and other social messes everywhere it goes, and has taken little or no responsibility to clean them up. It has turned many law-abiding citizens into criminals who cheat, steal, and embezzle in order to continue to gamble. It has arrogantly exempted itself from truth-in-advertising laws so that it can use taxpayer money to create and spread deceptive advertising. It has corrupted our sense of community and undermined our faith that we're all in this together. It has deliberately changed the word ``gambling'' to ``gaming'' in order to make this often destructive activity sound as innocent as child's play. It has fueled cynicism about the motives of our government. It has repudiated the value of thrift by creating mass incentives to turn potential savers into habitual bettors. It has repudiated the virtue of ``love your neighbor'' and replaced it with a government endorsement of predatory practices, or preying on human weakness for gain. It has withered our capacity as a people to confront forthrightly our reluctance to pay taxes for the public services we desire. It has trampled on the ideal of ``justice for all.'' It has broken faith with the wisdom and leaders of earlier generations who, seeing the failure of gambling in the past, amended state constitutions to ban gambling activities. It has lied to us about how the government actually uses the money it gets from gambling. It has lied to us by repeating again and again that luck-- rather than work--is the key to the American dream. This is a critical moment. How our generation responds to the reach and arrogance of the government-gambling power complex will largely determine the legacy we pass on to the next generation. Politically, economically, ethically, and spiritually, the stakes are extraordinarily high. Politically: Government's partnership with gambling fundamentally changes the compact between government and the governed. It pits government's interests against the best interests of its people. For government to win, its citizens must lose. Economically: No great nation has ever built prosperity on the foundations of personal debt, addiction, and the steady expansion of ``businesses'' that produce no new wealth. Relying on gambling as an economic development strategy is a sign of surrender and defeat on the part of leaders who have failed to lead. Ethically: A decent government does not finance its activities by playing its most vulnerable citizens for suckers, thus rendering the lives of millions expendable, exploitable, and unworthy of protection. Spiritually: We mock the higher values that any good society depends on--honesty, mutual trust, self-discipline, sacrifice, concern for others, and a belief in a work ethic that connects effort and reward--when government tells its citizens every day that it is committed to providing ``fun'' instead of opportunity; that a rigged bet is the way to achieve the American dream; and that spending one's hard- earned dollars on scratch tickets is a form of good citizenship. This is America. Surely we can do better than this. Surely we must. The choice is not--it has never been--between tying our future to gambling and accepting economic decline. Government-sponsored gambling is itself a form of economic decline. The alternative is to muster the courage to chart a path to true prosperity. An America freed from the yoke of government-sponsored gambling would be an America once again on the move--an America with broader and more sustainable economic growth, more honesty in government, more social trust, and the rekindling of the optimism that has long been our defining national strength. While many leaders on both sides of the political aisle loudly proclaim they are committed to fighting unfairness and inequality of opportunity in America, their support of sponsoring and promoting gambling is actually intensifying the very unfairness and inequality that they decry. Many forces currently contributing to the rise of inequality, such as globalization and technological change, cannot be directly controlled by public policy. But government-sponsored gambling is a public policy--and it exists only because policy makers want it to exist. A mounting pile of independent evidence further confirms this reality. Government-sponsored gambling is harming health, draining wealth from people in the lower ranks of the income distribution, and contributing to economic inequality. These are among the findings of Why Casinos Matter: Thirty- One Evidence-Based Propositions from the Health and Social Sciences, a report released from the Council on Casinos in September 2013, an independent group of scholars and public policy leaders convened by the Institute for American Values, a nonpartisan New York City-based think tank. After four decades of unfulfilled promises, corrupt deals and broken dreams, it is time for our government to end its partnership with organized gambling interests and to embrace a fundamentally different and higher vision of the path to American prosperity. In short, after four decades of consistent failure, it is time for our government to get out of gambling and for gambling to get out of our government. Stop Predatory Gambling is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit, transpartisan network of individuals and organizations from diverse backgrounds, political convictions and religious faiths dedicated to this fundamental national reform. We are committed to end the unfairness and inequality of opportunity created by government-sponsored casinos and lotteries. We are part of the most diverse movement in the nation, an affirmation that most Americans share basic principles and values regardless of their position along the political spectrum. Today, we also provide a voice to all of these citizens from coast-to-coast who have bravely and selflessly fought in recent decades on behalf of our core belief that no taxpayer dollar should be used by government to lure citizens into gambling away their money and becoming slaves to debt; no agency or entity of government should depend on gambling to fund its activities; and no legislature, whether in the name of economic development or raising revenue, should pass laws to promote or sponsor gambling. Some of you may ask what if government stopped sponsoring and promoting gambling? A better question that leads to a more revealing answer would be how did our nation educate children prior to introducing the lottery? Did not our parents as stakeholders fund government to provide the educational pathways to citizenship and potential prosperity? After World War II, how did America pivot from waging battle to creating jobs for a prosperous peacetime and enabling its citizens to become economic winners? Did not our government invest in not only roads and our infrastructure but more important, in breadwinners and families? Already underway is a reclaiming of America from the devastation and heartbreak of government-sponsored casinos and lotteries. It began in earnest with the establishment of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission by Congress in 1996 and its subsequent report in 1999 provided citizens with clear cut recommendations. The bipartisan commitment and courage by Congressman Frank Wolf, Congressman John LaFalce, Senator Richard Lugar and the late Senator Paul Simon to determine the truth about government-sponsored gambling, sustained and nourished the bottom-up growth of a national citizen movement opposing this dishonest and harmful public policy. What began as a diverse national coalition of groups and individuals, ultimately led to the organization of Stop Predatory Gambling, where today empowered citizens are challenging the gambling promoters with ever increasing intensity at the local, state and now, with the push for internet gambling, the federal level. Perhaps the most visible challenge in 2014 is happening at the ballot box, that sacred public place where citizens can vote out of their best hopes or their worst fears for a common future. Citizens in Massachusetts have inspiringly waged a relentless fight against government-sponsored casinos for almost four years running. These citizens succeeded against overwhelming odds to achieve the first ever ballot question in a major state attempting to repeal state gambling laws in modern American history. Regardless of the outcome, the repeal drive signifies the unavoidable rising tide bringing a surge of major national reform on this issue. Over the long-term, the most profound and lasting change may happen in our justice system. The family of Scott Stevens is ensuring he is no longer voiceless by bringing the facts of their story to federal court. Such litigation is bolstered by the rapidly-growing awareness of gambling addiction as a major public health issue, evidenced by the national story published last week by The Columbia University School of Public Health about the massive public health impacts of government-sponsored casinos and lotteries. It spotlights how predatory gambling is harming millions of Americans and the communities they live in. It's inevitable that government-sponsored gambling will be phased out in most places across the United States. It is not a question of if but when. It's inevitable because we are a people who believe government should promote fairness and equality of opportunity for all. The speed of reform is up to all of us because it is we who will decide how many more ``losers'' like Scott Stevens we are willing to sacrifice from our own families and communities. Please join us in this good fight. Thank you.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the following law enforcement personnel who have recently been honored by the Horseshoe Curve Benevolent Association for their tireless service and continued willingness to put their lives on the line to protect our communities. This year's honorees are Sergeant Jonathan E. Smith, Clarke County Director of Emergency Communications Pam Hess, Deputy Bryan Smith, Corporal Bradley W. Davidson, Officer Terry W. Fritts, Sergeant Frank Myrtle, Officer Brock Justice, Officer Tommy Gardner, Lieutenant Wally Stotlemeyer, K-9 Officer Kota and his partner Corporal Brittney Kotynski-Neer. Sergeant Jonathan E. Smith has played a pivotal role in the implementation of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP-2), a joint federal, state and local jurisdiction effort to better train first responders as well as traffic incident and management support staff. As the lead instructor for Northwestern Virginia, Region 2, Sgt. Smith has conducted more than 30 sessions of the program, instructing more than 900 people, in addition to continuing his supervisory responsibilities as a Virginia State Police officer. His efforts have brought nationwide praise to the quality of Virginia law enforcement. Director of Emergency Communications Pam Hess has been with the Clarke County Sheriff's office since 1986. Today, she plays a crucial role as supervisor of the county's 911 center and de facto project manager for monitoring and upgrading the county's sophisticated communications equipment. In addition to these responsibilities, Director Hess still works shifts as an emergency operator and is on- call every hour of every day. Deputy Bryan Smith has been a real asset to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office. Earlier this year, Deputy Smith played a critical role in resuscitating a motorist who was thought to have died in order to transport him to the Winchester Medical Center. Although the crash victim was beyond medical help, Deputy Smith's efforts gave him the chance to live. Corporal Bradley W. Davidson has served in the Winchester Sheriffs Office since 2006 and was recently promoted to Corporal in January. Bradley has trained many of his colleagues on responding to active shooter situations. He also manages the Sheriffs office's external functions. He is known around town as a family man as well as a man of integrity. Officer Terry Fritts has filled many roles in the Berryville Police Department, including providing technology expertise to investigating a bank robbery earlier this year, organizing Berryville's National Night Out and voluntarily handling difficult situations with citizens experiencing emotional crises. Throughout all this, he has been a great resource to Berryville and his colleagues in the police department. Sergeant Frank Myrtle of the Winchester Police Department has played a critical role in investigating and seeking successful indictments for two recent felony murder cases involving child victims. He has also taken the lead in the effort to address prostitution in Winchester by leading countless sting operations. Office Brock Justice has been an indispensable part of the Mount Weather Police Department. Officer Justice was trained in active shooter response tactics at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and has extensively studied past incidents, such as the Navy Yard shooting last year. He has designed and implemented active shooter practice scenarios for Mount Weather police, fire and EMS services to hone their skills and identify areas for improvement. Officer Tommy Gardner serves the Northwestern Regional Jail. On the night of April 24, Officer Gardner, while off-duty, stepped above and beyond his call to duty and successfully negotiated the de-escalation of a dangerous domestic dispute in his neighborhood involving a firearm. He did his community a great service by his heroic actions. Lieutenant Wally Stotlemeyer serves with the Winchester Police Department and has been working with the Northwestern Virginia Regional Drug and Gang Task Force. He has exhibited tremendous leadership in overseeing the North End team as it manages the recent spike in regional Heroin overdoses--part of the drug epidemic that threatens communities across the United States. Finally, K-9 Officer Kota was injured during the brave pursuit of two suspects in an attic. I join his partner, Winchester Police Department Corporal Brittney Kotynski-Neer in honoring Kota for his good work and welcome him back to duty at the Winchester Police Department. I am proud to join with the Horseshoe Benevolent Association-which has been honoring local law enforcement since 2004--to recognize these officers for their bravery, dedication and strength. We owe them a sincere debt of gratitude for their service to the 10th District and the Commonwealth of Virginia. I respectfully submit a speech given by Mr. Jim Wink at the Horseshoe Curve Benevolent Association's September 13th Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner. Law Enforcement Appreciation, Dinner 13 September 2014 Good evening: My name is Jim Wink. On behalf of the Horse Shoe Curve Benevolent Association--I want to welcome everybody and thank you for coming out to recognize those who put their lives on the line to protect us. Before we begin to serve dinner, please stand for a short prayer by Rev. Canon Dwight L. Brown, Grace Episcopal Church, Berryville. Please join me in the Pledge of Alligence to our Flag. The purpose of tonight's gathering is to enjoy the company, the food, the music, and--most important--to recognize local police and secuirty officers who's dedication to serve their community--that's us--has been outstanding. First: Let us recognize our guests. With us tonight are: Each of the officers recognized tonight will get not only our respect and thanks, but also a plaque from the HSC Benevolent Association, a certificate of appreciation from the VA House of Delegates--compliments of Del. Randy Minchew, and U.S. Congressional Recognition--compliments of Congressman Frank Wolf. They will also get outstanding photos of tonights activities compliments of Matt Baker.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, it has been said that anti-Semitism is the longest hatred in the world. And some have likened the freedom and safety of the Jewish people to ``the canary in the coal mine'' of a nation's religious freedom and tolerance, meaning if the Jewish population comes under attack, so too will others in time. Speaking last December at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission's annual Leland Award Lecture on Religious Liberty, award recipient and religious liberty champion Dr. Robert George noted ``the persistence of anti-Semitism worldwide, including in the nations of Western Europe, where it again appears to be on the rise.'' Dr. George cited the observations of Britain's former Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, that one of the ways that hatred of the Jewish people has persisted through the ages is by ``expressing and justifying itself in terms of the dominant discourses of time and place.'' In the Medieval period it was justified in warped theological terms-- much to my regret as a follower of Jesus. At the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century it was expressed in nationalist terms, culminating in the horror that was the Nazi-perpetrated Holocaust. And today, Dr. George observed, ``when the dominant mode of discourse is the language of human rights, anti-Semitism is expressed by accusing Jews of violating human rights in the name of national aspirations embodied in Zionism . . .'' In recent years, particularly in the months since Israel's operations in Gaza responding to Hamas' rockets, we have seen a disturbing rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the Middle East, Europe and even, I regret to say, here in the United States, particularly on college campuses. This trend has left many Jewish students feeling intimidated and threatened, as evidenced by the recent findings of the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) annual ``Audit of anti-Semitic Incidents'' for 2013 which notes that ``the ADL continues to receive complaints about anti- Semitic behavior on our campuses. These incidents include threats as well as verbal and written taunts promoting anti-Semitic stereotypes or evoking disturbing Holocaust themes.'' Consider the following: in a nationwide anti-Israel campaign, some pro-Palestinian student groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) have distributed ``mock eviction notices'' in college dormitories timed to coincide with so-called Israeli Apartheid Week. Still others have set up mock ``check points.'' According to Fox News, Boston's Northeastern University suspended SJP in March, 2014, ``after years of alleged anti-Semitism that included repeated calls for the destruction of Israel, a 2011 disruption at a Holocaust Awareness Week event and the defacing of a statue of a Jewish donor and trustee of the university.'' In some cases Jewish students who openly express their support for Israel are subjected to an increasingly hostile and intimidating environment where professors seek to promote their personal anti-Israel agenda. The local CBS affiliate in Boston reported last year that a Jewish student at Northeastern University wrote a paper arguing that Hamas was not a legitimate organization in direct response to one professor's lecture praising the terrorist organization. According to the news account, the professor instructed her to rewrite the paper. In November 2012, two students vandalized a menorah on display in Northeastern's Krentzman Quad in Boston. On the same day, at Harvard College, fliers were distributed with phrases such as ``Jews need not apply.'' In 2006, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights released its report on Campus Anti-Semitism. A number of recommendations were included in the report, including that the Office of Civil Rights ``conduct a public education campaign to inform college students of the rights and protections afforded to them under federal civil rights laws, including the right of Jewish students to be free from anti-Semitic harassment.'' Seeing as how anti-Semitism seems to be worse today, one has to wonder if the 2006 recommendations fell on deaf ears. That is why today I am asking the Civil Rights Commission to update its 2006 report. Not only should it look at incidents since 2006 but also examine which of recommendations were implemented and, if not, why? Perhaps we should not be surprised at the increasingly hostile campus environment given the actions taken by certain academic associations. For example, at the end of last year, the American Studies Association voted to boycott Israel's higher education institutions as part of the International Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Bear in mind this is not simply individual professors expressing their political views; rather it is the country's largest organization for the study of American culture and history that is doing so. Notably, discussion of boycotts, divestment and sanctions is largely limited to Israel, but not the world's most egregious state abusers of human rights and religious freedom, like China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Vietnam and Pakistan, to name a few. To the contrary, many American universities are actually pursuing deeper relationships and funding from these countries--especially with China and the Gulf States. As Jeffrey Goldberg observed, writing in the New York Daily News last December, ``The American Studies Association has never before voted to boycott the academic institutions of another country. The organization's president, Curtis Marez, an associate professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, San Diego, told The New York Times, when its reporter asked him why his group was singling out Israel, that `one has to start somewhere.' '' Looking beyond academia we have seen other institutions and entities, including my own denomination, the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA), singling out Israel in troubling ways. In June, I took to the House floor to express my disappointment at the PCUSA's action on Israel, namely its decision to divest the denomination's stock from three American companies that do business with Israel in the West Bank. The Wall Street Journal ran a piece following the PCUSA decision that noted that the denomination's ``Middle East Issues Committee sees only one Middle East issue. All 14 of the matters before it this year concerned Israel and Palestine. No Syria. No Iraq.'' The obsession with Israel's alleged abuses seems almost farcical given the barbarism that has unfolded in recent months in Syria and Iraq and which threatens the very existence of ancient Christian communities. The same year PCUSA adopted its divestment policy of companies that do business with Israel, it refused to join other prominent Christian churches in signing a pledge to stand with the persecuted church in the Middle East, for fear that speaking out for oppressed religious minorities might somehow be perceived as ``anti- Muslim.'' How the church can take such an extreme position against Israel but not join others in the Christian community in speaking out against religious persecution in the Middle East is hard to reconcile. The situation in Europe is decidedly more troubling. While anti- Semitism has been on the rise for some time now, it has been most acutely experienced by Europe's Jewish population during this summer of protests surrounding the escalation of the war in Gaza. In recent months, we have witnessed a degree of open and, at times, violent anti- Semitism in Europe that hasn't been seen since World War II. An August 9 USA Today article described the phenomenon this way: ``Four weeks of fighting between Hamas militants and Israel fueled a rise in anti-Semitism outbursts across Europe, ranging from violent attacks to chants of `Death to the Jews' at anti-Israel demonstrations.'' The article continued, ``In Germany and other European countries--especially France, which has a large Jewish and Muslim population--Jews have been attacked on the streets, synagogues have been bombed, Jewish groups have received hate mail and anti- Semitic slogans have been sprayed on buildings.'' In short, what should have started and ended as a free speech exercise--as is expected and encouraged in any healthy democracy--in many cases morphed into violent and destructive demonstrations aimed at harming or intimidating local Jewish populations. Commenting on the recent spate of violence and the incendiary language of the protests, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany Dieter Graumann aptly stated, ``When calls for Jews to be gassed, burned and murdered are bawled on the streets of Germany, which no longer has anything to do with Israel's politics and Gaza. It is the most abhorrent form of anti-Semitism.'' The demonstrations and protests are certainly not the whole story. Consider this: On the afternoon of May 24, 2014, a young man casually approached the entrance of a Jewish museum in Brussels, Belgium. Pulling a Kalashnikov rifle from his bag he began to shoot. Within seconds, three people lay dead: a couple visiting from Israel and a museum volunteer. A fourth person, severely wounded, would die later. Weeks after the attack a suspect, who claimed responsibility for the deadly rampage, was arrested. The gunman reportedly spent over a year in Syria and, according to the BBC, ``had links with radical Islamists.'' On July 25, CNN reported that what was to be a friendly preseason soccer match in Austria between two teams from Israel and Germany, respectively, had to ``be abandoned after pro-Palestinian protesters invaded the pitch and started attacking the players'' from the Israeli team. On August 1, The New York Times reported that police in the German city of Wuppertal ``detained two young men on suspicion of throwing firebombs at the city's new synagogue . . .'' The article continued, pointing to an incident of vandalism at the home of a prominent critic of anti-Semitism as well as a threatening anonymous phone call to a local rabbi who was told that 30 Frankfurt Jews would be killed if the caller's family in Gaza was harmed. The Times piece also reported on several troubling incidents in Rome where Jewish shop windows in multiple neighborhoods were defaced with swastikas and abhorrent threats including, ``Jews your end is near.'' The British anti-Semitism watchdog, Community Security Trust reported 240 anti-Semitic incidents in Britain in July alone compared with 304 incidents in the first six months of the year combined. The current chief Rabbi of Britain, Ephraim Mirvis, recently wrote in the Telegraph that the Jewish people can be viewed as the ``canaries in the coal mine for Western civilization'' and pointed to the recent wave of attacks as indications of a ``new anti-Semitism'' in which passion about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is used to justify ``something more sinister.'' Taking a step back from current events, it is important to view the phenomenon of anti-Semitism through the lens of history. From the Roman Empire's persecution of the Jews, to the burning of Jews during the Middle Ages, from the second-class codification of Jewish populations during the Inquisition, to the violent pogroms carried out against Jewish communities in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries and finally through the worst genocide in human history, the Jewish people have experienced more persecution than any other minority group in the world. Jews have been the favored scapegoats of tyrants who knew that by persecuting Jews, they could silence the messengers of the great truth of the Jewish faith--a potent teaching which inspires fear in the hearts of dictators--the equality of all created in the image of God. Indeed, there is ample evidence that Jews truly are the canaries in the coal mine--not just in the West, but globally. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle East. In January, 2013, I sent a strongly worded letter to roughly 300 prominent Christian leaders in the United States urging them to utilize their spheres of influence to speak out on behalf of the persecuted church around the world, specifically in the Middle East. Even then, ancient Christian communities in countries like Iraq, Syria and Egypt were increasingly under siege. These troubling realities, of course, predated ISIS's murderous advance across large swaths of Iraq and Syria and the ensuing carnage it has left in its wake, particularly targeting religious minorities like Christians, and the previously little-known Yazidis, now a household name. A phrase not often heard outside the majority Muslim world is ``First the Saturday People, then the Sunday People.'' The ``Saturday people'' are, of course, the Jews. Their once-vibrant communities in countries throughout the region are now decimated. In 1948 there were roughly 150,000 Jews in Iraq; today, fewer than 10 remain. In Egypt, there were once as many as 80,000 Jews; now, fewer than 50 remain. Of those, all are older than 60. It increasingly appears that a similar fate awaits the ancient Christian community in these same lands. Iraq's Christian population has fallen from as many as 1.5 million in 2003 to 300,000 today. And the remaining population is being further squeezed from its ancestral homeland in Nineveh and the surrounding areas. A July 18 New York Times article reporting on ISIS' edict that the remaining Christians must leave soberly noted, ``While a few scattered souls may find a way to stay in secret, the community will be gone.'' In Egypt, Coptic Christians, numbering roughly 8 million are leaving in droves. In Homs, Syria, almost the entire Christian population has reportedly fled. Over the span of a few decades, the Middle East, with the exception of Israel, was virtually emptied of Jews. The world was largely silent. The same thing will happen to the Christian community if the current trajectory holds true. Incredibly, this reality has been met with a stunning silence on the part of many Western policymakers and even Church leaders. There are notable exceptions, including the nearly 300 American Christian leaders and prominent lay people who signed a Pledge of Solidarity with their suffering brothers and sister in the region, launched at a press conference on Capitol Hill in May. Washington, D.C.'s Cardinal Donald Wuerl was among the distinguished participants in the Capitol Hill event. Just recently, at a Mass marking the start of the academic year at Catholic University, he spoke of the current crisis facing these imperiled communities and wondered aloud at the silence in face of murderous efforts to ``eliminate'' these brothers and sisters in faith. He urgently concluded that what is happening to them is ``something that we really are not free to ignore . . .'' I mention the horrific assault on Christians in Iraq, and other parts of the region, to put the rise of anti-Semitism in other parts of the world in context. We see here a region where anti-Semitism has long been tolerated and in some cases glorified. From Iranian mullahs, to Saudi textbooks, to the Hamas charter, hatred of the Saturday People has found fertile soil and taken root. In societies where one minority religion is demonized, is it any surprise that pluralism itself and religious freedom more specifically are in jeopardy? Is it any wonder that respect for ``the other'' is trumped by ``death to the infidel?'' As Jews were driven from much of the Middle East, so too Christians-- the Sunday People--are finding an environment that is not simply inhospitable to the practice of their faith, but downright deadly. I was heartened by a recent New York Times op-ed penned by Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, titled ``Who Will Stand Up for the Christians?'' Mr. Lauder wonders at the seeming indifference of much of the world to what is currently happening in Iraq. He writes, ``Historians may look back at this period and wonder if people had lost their bearings. Few reporters have traveled to Iraq to bear witness to the Nazi-like wave of terror that is rolling across that country. The United Nations has been mostly mum. World leaders seem to be consumed with other matters in this strange summer of 2014. There are no flotillas traveling to Syria or Iraq. And the beautiful celebrities and aging rock stars--why doesn't the slaughter of Christians seem to activate their social antennas?'' Mr. Lauder recalls a speech he gave in Budapest in June during which he ``made a solemn promise that just as I will not be silent in the face of the growing threat of anti-Semitism in Europe and in the Middle East, I will not be indifferent to Christian suffering.'' In talking of the historic Judeo-Christian commonalities, he notes that sadly now these two great Abrahamic traditions share ``a kind of suffering: Christians are dying because of their beliefs, because they are defenseless and because the world is indifferent to their suffering.'' Lauder concluded: ``I will not be indifferent to Christian suffering.'' Would that his conviction might be shared by faith leaders, the political elite and regular citizens the world over. Whether it is the expansion of an insidious anti-Semitism in Europe or the reality of deadly ethnic cleansing of Christians in Iraq, these expressions of hatred, these manifestations of evil, these violations of religious liberty must not go unaddressed and unanswered. I am reminded of the haunting words of German Pastor Martin Niemoller, which are etched in the walls of the Holocaust Museum just blocks from here. Speaking of the Nazis, he said, ``First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--because I was not a Socialist . . . Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.'' In order for the Nazi machinery of extermination to have been as ruthlessly successful as it was, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Germans had to simply turn a blind eye to what was happening around them. In the book ``When a Nation Forgets God,'' there is this unnerving account: ``I lived in Germany during the Nazi Holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. We heard stories of what was happening to the Jews, but we tried to distance ourselves from it, because, what could anyone do to stop it? ``A railroad track ran behind our small church and each Sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance and then the wheels coming over the tracks. We became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by. We realized that it was carrying Jews like cattle in the cars! ``Week after week the whistle would blow. We dreaded to hear the sound of those wheels because we knew that we would hear the cries of the Jews en route to a death camp. Their screams tormented us. ``We knew the time the train was coming and when we heard the whistle blow we began singing hymns. By the time the train came past our church we were singing at the top of our voices. If we heard the screams, we sang more loudly and soon we heard them no more. ``Years have passed and no one talks about it anymore. But I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. God forgive me; forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians and yet did nothing to intervene.'' Haunting words. Without question, today, once again, the canary is struggling. In far too many places the air is poisoned with hate. What remains to be seen is whether we, who recognize this to be true, will be silent in the face of it.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise to submit for the Record a statement on my concerns about the troubling increase in anti-Semitism in the Middle East, Europe, and, I regret to say, here in the United States, particularly on college campuses in recent years. Some have likened the freedom and safety of the Jewish people to ``the canary in the coal mine'' of a nation's religious freedom and tolerance, meaning, if the Jewish population is threatened, so too will others in time. For the religious freedom and safety of all people, we must speak out against these disturbing trends and anti-Semitic acts around the world. I am also calling for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to update the 2006 report on anti-Semitism on college campuses to review recent trends and look at what recommendations, if any, have been implemented.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, according to a new poll released by CNN last evening, ``Americans are increasingly concerned that ISIS represents a direct terror threat'' and that they are ``fearful that ISIS agents are living in the United States.'' A Washington Post poll released this morning shows that 90 percent of the American people believe that ISIS poses a ``serious'' threat to the U.S. This threat is growing, largely due to the fact that an increasing number radicalized westerners, including more than 140 Americans, are freely traveling to Syria to link up with ISIS and al Qaeda-affiliated groups. Consider that over the last month, while this Congress was out on recess, the number of Americans killed fighting with terrorist organizations in Syria quickly grew, signaling a trend that should be troubling to all Americans. Earlier this summer, Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, a 22-year-old from Florida, became the first American suicide bomber fighting in Syria for the al Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra. Equally concerning as his deadly act was the fact that he traveled from Syria to Florida and back again in the months before his deadly terrorist act. In August, two more Americans were reportedly killed fighting with ISIS--Douglas McArthur McCain and Abdirahmaan Muhumed, both originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota. We must take proactive steps to discourage Americans from traveling to Syria to link up with these groups. Unfortunately, current law does not prevent Americans from traveling freely to Syria and back, which creates loopholes would-be jihadists can exploit. Currently, unless the U.S. has solid evidence that they have joined one of these terrorist groups, the FBI cannot arrest suspects upon their return. Unfortunately, it can be very hard to prove that suspects fought with a terrorist group in Syria, due to limited U.S. intelligence about their activities in the region. I am concerned that the absence of laws preventing unrestricted travel to Syria means the U.S. is not taking any substantial steps to discourage Americans from going over to fight. This is an untenable situation that puts our country at greater risk of attack from a radicalized American who trains and fights with these groups and later returns home. That is why I have introduced legislation in March, aimed at curbing this threat. Over the last 6 months, since its introduction, the dramatic gains by ISIS and a growing number of foreign fighters has only reaffirmed the need for legislation to address this issue. My bill, H.R. 4223, the International Conflicts of Concern Act, will give the President authority to temporarily restrict travel and material support to countries like Syria, and the President could add additional countries of concern when conflicts spill over into other countries, as we have seen in Iraq. The bill would also contain important protections, allowing legitimate travel by licensed humanitarian aid workers, journalists, and other groups cleared by the U.S. Government. I want to add that this bill was developed with the input of the FBI and has been supported by Director Comey of the FBI. I believe it is a commonsense solution to an increasingly urgent threat, and the House should bring up this bill and pass it before it recesses. Should we fail to do so, I believe that one day we will regret not doing all that we can to protect our homeland from the radicalized fighting with ISIS in Syria. Mr. Speaker, I also want to close by encouraging the President to call on the expertise of two men who know more about fighting terrorists and insurgent threats in Iraq than anyone, General David Petraeus and General Stanley McChrystal. Although both have retired and neither work for this administration anymore, our country would benefit greatly from their expertise as the military and intelligence community address the growing threat in Iraq. I hope the President and his team will ask for their assistance.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize George Mason University President Emeritus Dr. Alan Merten and his wife, Sally. In June, I had the pleasure of attending a dedication naming the university's new senior administration building ``Alan and Sally Merten Hall.'' Dr. Merten served as George Mason University's president for 16 years, stepping down in 2012. This dedication is a fitting tribute to the Mertens, a pair who worked tirelessly for the better part of two decades promoting, growing and improving George Mason University. As a result of Alan and Sally's efforts, the university has become one of Virginia's greatest schools, as well as a nationally and internationally recognized center of academic and research excellence. Current George Mason President Angel Cabrera honored the Mertens' service to the George Mason community at the June 23 ceremony. President Cabrera and former Board of Visitors rector, Edwin Meese III, lauded the Mertens' contributions to the school and to the community, and I was allowed to offer a few words as well. I always enjoyed working with Dr. Merten and was grateful for the opportunity to speak on my relationship with Alan and Sally, as well as my appreciation for their commitment to the school and leadership in the community. As stated in the resolution used to enact the dedication, the Mertens' legacy includes four endowed scholarships and numerous gifts to university building and program funds. There is no doubt that George Mason is a better institution for the Mertens' efforts. I hope they will remain active in the George Mason community for many years to come. I respectfully submit George Mason University's ``Resolution to Rename University Hall'' and the following news article from George Mason University on the ceremony. Resolution To Rename University Hall in Honor of Alan and Sally Merten Whereas, George Mason University President Emeritus Dr. Alan G. Merten led the university with distinction for 16 years, during which time he launched an ambitious and successful program to build the school into a major teaching and research university; and Whereas, under Alan Merten's leadership, George Mason University became the largest research university in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with increasingly nationally and internationally highly ranked programs; and Whereas, Mrs. Sally Merten, the former first lady of George Mason University, was instrumental in bringing the community and the university closer together, serving on several community nonprofit boards during her husband's tenure as president, including Fall for the Book, as well as several university advisory boards; and Whereas, Sally Merten actively participated in university life, especially employee recognition events; and Whereas, together Alan and Sally Merten have been generous donors to the university, establishing four endowed scholarships: the G. Louise and Anthony J. Otto Endowed Scholarship in Creative Writing; the Eric G. and Melissa H. Merten Endowed Scholarship; the Ruth A. and Gilbert E. Merten Endowed Scholarship; and the Kathleen A. Lieder and Lloyd C. Fell Student Scholarship Endowment in Music Performance/Vocal Studies; and Whereas, the Mertens have made significant gifts to a number of other university funds, including the Patriot Club, the Long and Kimmy Nguyen Engineering Building, and Mason arts programs; and Whereas, the Mertens remain active and engaged members of the surrounding community, thus continuing to serve as ``ambassadors'' of the university; Now, be it therefore Resolved that the building on the Fairfax Campus now known as University Hall be named Alan and Sally Merten Hall in recognition of the Mertens' many contributions to George Mason University; be it further Resolved that this resolution be entered into the minutes of the George Mason University Board of Visitors this day, May 7, 2014. (SEAL) C. Daniel Clemente, Rector, George Mason University Board of Visitors.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, today, I will be introducing two bills to address the most pressing national security threat since 9/11, the rapid advances made in ISIS in Iraq and Syria, as well as territorial gains made by al Qaeda-affiliated groups in Libya, Nigeria, and Somalia. We are seeing perhaps the largest ever territorial gains by terrorist groups in the Middle East and north Africa. If we learned any lesson from 9/11, it is that wherever terrorist groups find safe haven to train and plot, the United States and our allies will inevitably be targeted. The purpose of this authorization is to end any ambiguity about the President's authority or the Congress' support for a U.S.-led international coalition to take action against this threat. Passage of this bill also would send a strong message to our allies that the U.S. intends to confront and defeat this threat. The Congress has a responsibility and a constitutional obligation to take an up-or- down vote on this.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, it has been my honor and privilege to serve in this body for 34 years. I have come to the floor countless times over the years to speak out and help give a voice to the voiceless for humanitarian causes, to raise national and international policy issues, such as getting our nation's spending under control, bringing attention to national security threats, like terrorism and cyberattacks, and focusing on ways to protect children and families from the scourge of legalized gambling. I also have raised issues important to the people of the 10th District of Virginia, such as improving transportation, preserving historic sites and educating the public about health threats from Lyme disease. Today, though, I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the dozens of men and women who have been on my staff over the years. As every Member knows, our jobs in the people's House would be next to impossible without the staff that works with us. I certainly would not have been able to accomplish so many of the projects and public policy initiatives I have been able to do without them by my side. And in all honesty, if it were not for some loyal and dedicated staffers who stuck with me during my first term--when the growing pains of a new congressional office are the toughest--I am not sure I would have been re-elected early in my career. I want to single out my first press secretary, Stephanie Bolick, who later became my chief of staff, or as we called it back then, my ``AA'' or administrative assistant. She may have been among the first women in a Hill office in the early 1980s to break that glass ceiling. I was blessed to find Stephanie, who helped me focus my work and build a foundation of public service. She was wise beyond her years and I am forever grateful to her for her counsel and for being there from the start. I have been fortunate to have two long-tenured chiefs of staff. Charlie White was my top aide for 14 years, until cancer took his life in the summer of 2000. A retired Navy captain and submariner, Charlie had a heart of service and not only helped manage my office, but became a dear friend. A humble man, he had a way of putting everyone around him at ease. Even in the pain of illness, he inspired us by his grace. Charlie was a ``Johnny Appleseed'' kind of a guy. He was a mentor to young staffers and sowed seeds of goodness and kindness to scatter to all those we meet in our lives. I believe it was providential when Dan Scandling followed Charlie as my chief of staff. Dan had been the top aide to my Virginia colleague Herb Bateman, who died suddenly just four months before he was to retire from the House. Dan was just the right person at the right time. A trusted and loyal adviser and friend, he has been with me since late 2000. When I would tell Dan that we needed to jump on a plane and get to a place in the world where people were suffering or war was imminent, he made it happen. He was there with me to document the trip in photos and write the report that I would share with House colleagues, leadership and the administration to help get the ball rolling to focus attention on a humanitarian cause. A superb journalist, Dan also has served as my press spokesman. He is indefatigable and a true professional and I cannot thank him enough for his counsel and public service. I was a former staffer, both on Capitol Hill and in the executive branch. I know the daily grind--writing mail, stuffing envelopes, and answering phone calls from disgruntled constituents. Staffers are consumed by long hours with modest pay. Yet I also know how rewarding this job can be. So many of my staff over the years have told me that being in a position to help make people's lives better was really what counted the most. I always said I wanted a staff that was on par with the late Senator Ted Kennedy's top-notch staff. There is no doubt in my mind that my staff was. I have no hesitation in saying I have had the best staff on Capitol Hill. I have tried to treat my staff as family, whether they worked for me for only a year before heading off to law school or graduate school, or stayed with me for many years. I actually had two staffers who worked for me for more than 25 years. Judy McCary and Janet Shaffron served as the backbone of my office. Judy was my longtime District director and worked more cases, particularly immigration cases, than you can count. Through the years I could rarely go anywhere in my District without someone thanking me for something Judy or someone else on my District staff did to solve a problem. Judy, and all my District staff, were tireless--and continue to be tireless--advocates for the people of the 10th District, regardless of political strife. When you called my District staff with a problem, it didn't matter if you were a Democrat, an Independent or a Republican. You were a constituent and they were there to help. Janet Shaffron was my legislative director for 28 years. She had an encyclopedic knowledge of every issue and every vote and was responsible for compiling my complete annual voting record, which I published for constituents. She was a whiz at parliamentary procedure and an extremely gifted writer and editor. Nothing rattled Janet. I don't think she ever had a bad day--even when she wore two hats and filled in as chief of staff, helping hold the staff together when Charlie became ill. My Washington staff adored Janet. She always was willing to help with a letter or speech. She was a mentor and always knew when to give a young staffer an encouraging word. And she was always willing to tell me when she thought I was going in the wrong direction. Judy and Janet stood with me through thick and thin. They were there in the early years during the fits and starts of a new office and in the years that followed helping celebrate legislative or district successes. Both beat me to retirement. I cannot thank them enough. I also want to talk about what is perhaps the hardest job in any congressional office--that of scheduler. I have had some great ones. Fortunately, they were blessed with patience and great attitudes because managing my schedule--and, of course, me--was never easy. I know I probably never told them enough how much I appreciated them and their loyalty. So today I say thank you to those incredible staffers. As I approach retirement, I have reflected on the many issues with which I have become involved, and perhaps the one with the greatest visibility--especially on the international level--has been my work in the area of human rights. When I came to Congress, human rights, religious freedom and speaking out for the voiceless were not on my radar. But a trip to famine-riddled Ethiopia in 1984 when I held an emaciated child dying of hunger brought me new perspective. And while I was not happy with Charlie when he infamously told The Washington Post: ``He does [local] transportation so he can do [international] human rights,'' he was probably on to something. Working on human rights and religious freedom issues has been some of my most rewarding work in Congress and right there with me were probably a dozen staffers who handled my human rights and foreign affairs portfolio over the years. I believe I have made a difference, but I couldn't have done it without the help of those staffers, who, to a person, shared my passion for humanitarian causes. They spent hours upon hours upon hours writing letters, preparing speeches, planning hearings, making phone calls, advising on strategy, meeting with dissidents and the oppressed and listening to tragic stories. I am proud of their work to help change lives for the better and to give a voice to the voiceless and I express my deep appreciation to each one. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Lucy Norment, who took over for Judy, and Tom Culligan, who replaced Janet, for the work they have done since assuming new roles in the office. Thank you. I tried to build camaraderie among my staff and believe our successes can be attributed to teamwork and the Harry Truman adage that it's amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit. Everyone who has worked for me--whether answering phones, doing data entry, tracking legislation, formulating policy, working cases or managing my offices--has made a difference. They also made my job easier, and for that, I am eternally grateful. I want to take this opportunity to submit the names of all my staff through the years for history to see: Tom Alexander, Jennifer Allen, Elyse Bauer Anderson, Julia Angelotti, Anne McClure Babson, Torrey Babson, Evan Baehr, Laurie Battle, John Beed, Andrew Bender, Nancy Suzich Bennett, Pat Bennett, Abby Berg, Debbie Blinn, Stephanie Bolick, Johnathan Bolls, Lisa Boothe, Jim Boyle, Kellie Malloy Boyle, Shelly Bressler. Tom Brooke, Matthew Brown, Karen Burke, Teresa Burney, Jim Burroughs, Bridget Bustillos, Mary Ann Cannon, Jane Cantus, Dan Caprio, Mike Carlin, Jessica Carlton, Ted Cartwright, Stacey Chuma, Bob Clark, John Cole, Barbara Comstock, Melinda Bohn Conner, Mary Ann Cook, Evan Corcoran. Pat Cox, Judy Hammond Craun, Donna Crowley, Tom Culligan, John Cusey, Jack Czerwinski, Chris Darling, Bryan Deoms, Dave Dettoni, Karen Foster Dick, Jeffrey Dingman, Brett Dody, Bennett Donovan, James Dornan III, Philip Draper, Ben Dutton, David Farajollahi, James Farel, Amy Farrel. Susan Feaster, Karen Feaver, Larry Fineran, Marna Fisher, Dot Fleshman, Scott Flipse, Lee Kerr Fonvielle, Karen Foster, James Freik, Johnathon Friel, Tom Fulcher, James Gallagher, James Gallahan, Fernande Gebs, Jill DiPuccio Giles, Geoff Gleason, Shannon Green, JT Griffin, Kristin Erb Griffin. Suzanne Grimsley, Steve Hall, Andrew Hart, Susan Bullard Harmon, Buzz Hawley, Diana Haynes, Nancy Bennett Haynes, Bob Healey, Nancy Bruce Herbolsheimer, Tom Herrity, Heather Hixson Hershberger, Elise Ho Phuong, Sewell Hoff, Elizabeth Hoffman, Lynne Holden, Mike Holtz, Deborah Horness, Robert Houston, Lori-Beth Feld Hua. Wayne Huggins, Carol Hughes, Peyton Hughes, Rosanne Dupras Hughes, Anne Campbell Huiskes, Wes Irvin, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Jacobsen, Jessica Jelgerhuis, Kevin James, Laurie Jenkins, James Jennings III, Fay Johnson, Gail Hoskins Johnson, William Troy Jones, Virginia Jones, Andrew Kauders, Cindy Rockholt Klapmust, Ramona Kledzik. Heather Kolasch, Stephen Korfonta, Jill Kriser, Patrick Larkin, Mira Lezell, Caitlin Lietzan, Michael Linster, Marge Lynch, Tom Lynch, Charlie Lyons, Anne MacKenzie, Elizabeth Maier, Kellie Mallory, Christina Mangano, Will Marlow, Jeff Mascott, Robert McAdam, Judy McCary, Cheryl McCullough. Mark McElwee, Barbara McGuire, Meghan Wedd McGuire, Joe McNulty, Justin Mentzer, Becky Earle Middleton, Molly Jurmu Miller, Bill Mims, Janet Minkler, Kenneth Minnick, Jen Foth Moody, Donald Morrissey, Tom Morr, Roger Morse, Will Moschella, Stacy Neal, Gracie Nelson, Debra Nesbitt, Ed Newberry. Lucy Norment, William Palmer, Hae Park, Keith Pavlick, Angela Pecario, Kristin Peck, Anne Peters, Brendan Pevarski, Jillian Pevo, Rita Pfeiffer, Mark Planning, Ivan Plis, Ann Potacnak, Jan Powell, Brianna Puccini, Sara Boney Ratcliff, Elizabeth Becker Reiter, Denise Richardson, Ralph Rinaldi, Pat Russell. Melinda Sadler, Colin Samples, Tom Santaniello, Chris Santora, Dan Scandling, Courtney Haller Schlieter, Meredith Schultz, Steve Schwartz, Janet Shaffron, Jill Shatzen, Neil Siefring, Sharon Snyder, Tim Starr, Dave Stegmaier, Kalinda Stephenson, Mike Stevens, Samantha Stockman, Katy Summerlin, Julie Sussman, Laura Swett, Melissa Temeles. Susan Thompson, Randy Tift, Clark Unger, Sharon Vasky- Smith, Chris Walker, Linda Rollins Wallace, Jeff Walton, Elizabeth Ward, Brinton Warren, George Webb, Charlie White, Laura White, David Whitestone, Stiles Wilkins, Melinda Wilson, Craig Whitham, Sean Woo, Ralph Wunder, John Zemaitis.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, in yesterday's USA Today, columnist Kirsten Powers raised an important question, QUOTE: ``Iraq's Christians are begging the world for help. Is anybody listening?'' UNQUOTE. Mr. Speaker, this is the seventh consecutive legislative day that I have come to House floor to ask that same question: Is anybody listening? Less than two weeks ago, on July 19, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, more commonly referred to as ISIS, ordered Christians to convert to Islam, pay taxes levied upon non-Muslims, or be killed. In the region around Mosul--what we know as Nineveh in the Bible-- there is not a single Christian left. Think about that. There is not one Christian left in the ancient heart of Iraqi Christianity. A 2,000-year presence wiped away before our eyes in just a matter of weeks. Yet President Obama has said nothing. And Secretary of State Kerry has said nothing. ISIS has driven people from their homes, taken their cars as they attempted to leave and stripped them of all their money and possessions. We have heard accounts of ISIS terrorists cutting the fingers of people to steal their wedding rings. Yet President Obama has said nothing. And Secretary of State Kerry has said nothing. Gruesome videos produced by ISIS are appearing on Internet showing beheadings and public displays of dismembered Christians. I couldn't even watch the video to the end; it was that grotesque. Yet President Obama has said nothing. And Secretary of State Kerry has said nothing. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power--who made a name for herself denouncing the U.S. and other governments' failure to act in the face of genocide--also has been silent on these genocidal acts. What Power famously labeled ``A Problem from Hell'' is now taking place in Iraq on her watch. Yet she says nothing in her post at the UN in New York. Perhaps this lack of action should not be surprising given that her boss, President Obama, has said nothing. President Obama has had multiple opportunities to use his ``bully pulpit'' to raise global attention to this genocide. But we have heard NOT ONE WORD on the situation of the Christians being driven out of Iraq. Let me lay out what has happened in Iraq just in the last six weeks: All of Christians in Mosul have fled to the north, to Alqosh, Dohuk and other Assyrian villages. In nearby Qaraqosh, 50,000 Assyrian Christian residents have fled from fighting between ISIS and Kurds. All Christian institutions in Mosul--all 45 churches monasteries and cemeteries--have been looted, destroyed, occupied, converted to mosques or shuttered. All non-Sunni Muslim groups in Mosul--Shabaks, Yazidis and Turkmen-- have been targeted by ISIS. Most have fled. Water and electricity have been cut off by ISIS. The water shortage in the areas surrounding Mosul is now a full-blown crisis. Mosul is now governed under Sharia law. Congress is about to adjourn until after Labor Day. If the events of the last two months are any indication, one can only imagine the horrors that await over the next five weeks. Absent urgent action what more will be on this list? We cannot continue to sit back and watch these atrocities unfold. President Obama, Secretary Kerry, Ambassador Power--before you take your summer vacations, you have a moral obligation to speak up. Martin Luther King said QUOTE: ``In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.'' UNQUOTE President Obama, in your lifetime, books will be written on the end of Christianity in the Middle East. History will acknowledge you and your administration's lack of will to do something--anything. You have the power and the pulpit to do something before it is too late. If you continue to do nothing, your silence will remain heavy on your conscious long after you leave office. Mr. President, there are a number steps you can take right now that would make a difference--steps that don't require new funds or additional congressional action: ONE. You can sign the bipartisan legislation approved by the House and Senate to create a special envoy to promote religious freedom in the Middle East that has been sitting on your desk this week. It is just waiting for your signature. You can name someone to fill this post who can immediately deploy to the region to work with the Kurdish and Iraqi governments. TWO. You can appoint someone in your administration to be the lead person coordinating all of the U.S. government resources necessary to stop this genocide. THREE. You can publicly thank the Kurdish authorities for protecting the Christians and other religious minorities who have fled ISIS and found refuge in the Kurdish region; FOUR. You can work with trusted NGO's--like Catholic Relief, Save the Children, UNICEF and others--who are already on the ground trying to help, but need U.S. assistance and leadership to help more people. You can make sure they have the food, water, housing and medical resources to help the victims of this genocide; and FIVE: You can direct the Secretary of State and USAID administrator to reprogram existing funds to provide these resources to trusted NGO's on the ground. Mr. President, those are five simple steps you can do now and over the next five weeks that would make a difference. All it takes is your interest and your leadership. This April marked the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. One need only look at President Clinton's continued regret for his failure to act to stop the Rwandan genocide to see how President Obama and his administration will feel years from now for their failure to act. Last year, Clinton said ``If we'd gone in sooner, I believe we could have saved at least a third of the lives that were lost . . . it had an enduring impact on me.'' They would do well to recall the words of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who said: QUOTE: ``We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.'' Mr. Speaker, I close with the words of German Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who stood up to the tyranny and horror of Nazism, and said, QUOTE: ``Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.'' It's time to act, while there are still people left to save. Listen to the words of Psalm 82:3-4: Defend the weak and the fatherless; Uphold the cause of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; Deliver them from the hand of the wicked.'' Also, in the Old Testament in Ecclesiastes 4:1 it says, ``Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed--and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors--and they have no comforter.'' Mr. President, I call on you to be on the side of the oppressed Christians.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember and honor my former colleague, Rep. Caldwell Butler of Roanoke, who passed away on July 29, 2014 at the age of 89. I will always remember Caldwell as a true Virginia gentleman. Representing Virginia's Sixth District from 1972 until 1983, I had the pleasure of serving with him during my first term in Congress. I appreciated Caldwell's golden character and the lasting impact he had on this body. He was a good, decent and honorable man--qualities that we should all aspire to emulate; qualities that are especially important for those in public service. Rep. Butler had a great sense of humor and sharp wit. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, he demonstrated these qualities each and every day. He served his country and his district with distinction. Prior to serving in Congress, Caldwell joined the Navy during World War II and later attended the University of Richmond and the University of Virginia School of Law. In 1962, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he served until his election to Congress. Caldwell and his wife, June, were always a team. Sadly, June passed away just last month. Together, they raised four sons--Manley, Henry, James and Marshall--and have seven grandchildren and two step- grandchildren I submit the following article from The Roanoke Times on Caldwell's life and accomplishments. I respectfully ask that my colleagues join me in extending our deepest condolences to his family and in honoring his great service to our country. [From the Roanoke Times, July 29, 2014] Caldwell Butler, Former Roanoke Congressman Who Cast Key Vote During Watergate, Dies Caldwell Butler, a former congressman from Roanoke who was thrust into the national spotlight when he became one of the few Republicans to favor Richard Nixon's impeachment during the Watergate scandal, has died. He was 89. Richard Cullen, a close family friend and former Virginia attorney general, confirmed Butler's death this morning. Cullen said he expects funeral services to be held Friday at St. John's Church in Roanoke. Butler's wife, June, died last month. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County, who holds the 6th District seat today, remembered Butler in comments before the Judiciary Committee today. Longtime Rep. John Conyers, D- Mich., also recalled serving with Butler. Watch the comments here. Butler was first elected to Congress representing Virginia's 6th District in 1972, running as a member of ``the Nixon team'' in a district where Nixon amassed 72 percent of the vote. But less than two years later, in a dramatic reversal, Butler voted for Nixon's impeachment. As a freshman member of the House Judiciary Committee, Butler was thrown by circumstance into the Watergate scandal, which grew out of Nixon's cover-up of a break-in at the Democratic headquarters in 1972. Through the spring and summer of 1974, as the committee investigated the actions of the president and his advisers, Butler's role became more important. Butler had supported Nixon's legislative efforts. And some said he owed his own congressional career to the GOP landslide sparked by Nixon. Butler was viewed as one of the half-dozen crucial swing votes on the Judiciary Committee, though. During most of the committee hearings, he had not joined the president's attackers. But neither had he joined the defenders. Butler and the other pivotal committee members were considered bellwethers of support for impeachment. When Butler announced, in July 1974, that he backed two impeachment charges, the president's defense withered.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Dr. Cora Marrett's career of service to our country--both in government and education. Since 2011, Dr. Marrett has served as deputy director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), and I have had the pleasure of working with her as chairman of the House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations subcommittee. I recently learned that she will be retiring next month after an exceptional career in academia and with NSF. Dr. Marrett has helped lead NSF as its acting director, deputy director, acting deputy director and as the assistant director for Education and Human Resources, where she led efforts on STEM education research and outreach--a key priority for the CJS subcommittee in recent years. I particularly appreciate her leadership on efforts included in appropriations bills at my request to better understand gaps in K-12 STEM education research and to bolster American competitiveness in those fields. Cora has a long history of service at NSF. She previously served as the first assistant director for the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences directorate from 1992-1996. During that time she earned NSF's ``Distinguished Service Award'' for her leadership. She subsequently served as senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and later the senior vice president for academic affairs for the University of Wisconsin system, as well as a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Dr. Marrett for her outstanding leadership and service at NSF and wish her and her family all the best for her upcoming retirement.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I want to share two pictures showing the tomb of the prophet Jonah in Mosul, Iraq. The first shows Jonah's tomb as it looked for centuries prior to last week. The second shows the site after it was destroyed by ISIS last week. Thousands of years of Biblical cultural history were erased in a matter of moments by Islamist terrorists. This ancient site had once been the location of a church and then a mosque famous for its architectural beauty which stood there since the 14th century. The mosque of the prophet Yunus--built around Jonah's tomb--honored a figure who is sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Jonah, who was sent by God to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh, is the subject of a book in the Hebrew Tanakh--the Old Testament--and multiple passages in the Koran. While ISIS has targeted Christians for elimination in its destructive rampage through Syria and Iraq, this atrocity is an offense not just to Christians, but to all humanity. This is more than fundamentalism or extremism. It is nihilism. It is genocide. It is genocide of an entire people of faith in this region. The world should be outraged at the crime against our shared cultural heritage, including the Islam that ISIS claims to represent. ISIS has destroyed millennia of history by detonating an explosive charge and turning this ancient site of pilgrimage to rubble. However, it is not just Biblical sites and Christian churches that are targeted by ISIS extermination. It is exterminating the Christian people of this region. The Christian people of this region are being exterminated. I want to share another picture. Do you see this spray-painted symbol on the wall to the right of the gate? That is the Arabic word ``nun'' which stands for nasara, a pejorative name for Christians. They are singling out Christians. ISIS has been marking the homes of Christians to symbolize their ultimatum: convert to Islam or die. Similarly, ISIS has used the letter ``raa'' for rawafidh, a slur against Shiites that they also expelled from Mosul. This is the sixth time in a week that I have appeared on this floor to call attention to the genocide that is taking place right before our eyes. The media is starting to pay more attention, but where is the Obama administration? It has to make protecting this ancient community a priority. It needs to encourage the Kurds to do more of what they can to protect those fleeing ISIS and provide safe refuge. It needs to ensure that of the resources going to the region, that a portion should be guaranteed to help the Christian community. It needs to have the same courage as President Bush and former Secretary of State Colin Powell had when they called it genocide in Darfur because this is genocide. For the sake of these communities and for the sake of the ancient, tangible heritage that is being destroyed daily by ISIS and Iraq, President Obama must speak. President Reagan consistently made human rights and religious freedom a hallmark of American diplomacy. He famously described the U.S. Constitution as ``a covenant we have made not only with ourselves, but with all of mankind.'' He understood that the promises enshrined in that document transcended time and place. There is no more urgent time and place to speak out than now, given what is happening to Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq. We are seeing, during this Congress where everyone here is serving and during this administration, we are seeing the end of Christianity in Iraq, and soon, we will see the end of Christianity in the Middle East, where it all began.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I want to read the following piece that was posted on nbcnews.com yesterday. The headline was: ``Has Last Christian Left Iraqi City of Mosul After 2,000 Years?'' Samer Kamil Yacub was alone when four Islamist militants carrying AK-47s arrived at his front door and ordered him to leave the city. The 70-year-old Christian had failed to comply with a decree issued by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS. Yacub's hometown of Mosul had boasted a Christian community for almost 2,000 years. But then the al Qaeda-inspired fighters who overran the city last month gave Christians an ultimatum. They could stay and pay a tax or convert to Islam--or be killed. Yacub, 70, was one of the few Christians remaining beyond last Saturday's noon deadline. He may have even been the last to leave alive. ``A fighter said, `I have orders to kill you now,''' Yacub said just hours after the Sunni extremists tried to force their way into his home at 11 a.m. on Monday. ``All of the people in my neighborhood were Muslim. They came to help me--about 20 people--at the door in front of my house. They tried to convince ISIS not to kill me.'' The rebels spared Yacub but threw him out of the city where he had spent his entire life. They also took his Iraqi ID card before informing him that elderly women would be given his house. Mr. Speaker, this is but one example of what is unfolding in Iraq right before our eyes. The end of Christianity, as we now know it, is taking place in Iraq. This is the fifth time I have come to the floor over the last week to try to raise awareness of what is happening, to talk about the genocide. It is genocide that is taking place. Yes, genocide: the systematic extermination of a people of faith by violent extremists seizing power in a region. Churches and monasteries have been seized. Many of them have been burned down. Last week, it was widely reported that ISIS had blown up the tomb of the prophet Jonah. Christians, threatened with their lives if they do not leave the region, are being robbed as they leave a land they have lived on for more than 2,000 years. With the exception of Israel, the Bible contains more references to the cities, regions, and nations of ancient Iraq than any other country. The patriarch Abraham lived in the city of Ur. Isaac's bride, Rebekah, came from northwest Iraq. Jacob spent 20 years in Iraq, and his sons--the 12 tribes of Israel--were born in northwest Iraq. The events of the book of Esther took place in Iraq, as did the account of Daniel in the lion's den. Many of Iraqi's Christians still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus. The Pope has spoken out. His Beatitude Ignatius Ephrem Joseph III Younan, the overseer of Syriac Catholics around the globe, has spoken out. His Grace Bishop Angaelos, general bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom, has spoken out. Archbishop Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the world's 80 million Anglicans, has spoken out. Russell Moore, a key leader in the Southern Baptist Convention, has spoken out. Despite these Christian leaders speaking out about the systematic extermination of Christians in Iraq, the silence in this town, in Washington, is deafening. Does Washington even care? Where is the Obama administration? The President has failed. Where is the Congress? The Congress has failed. Time is running out. The Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq are being targeted for extinction. They need our help. Literally, during our time, we will see the end of Christianity in the place it began.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following list of Christian churches and institutions in Mosul, Iraq, that have been destroyed by ``Islamic State of Iraq and Syria'' (ISIS) since the Islamist terrorist group captured the city on June 10. According to the Assyrian International News Agency, all of the 45 Christian sites in Mosul have been destroyed, occupied, converted to mosques, converted to ISIS headquarters or otherwise shuttered. The following is the full list of destroyed Christian sites compiled by the Assyrian International News Agency, grouped by denomination: Syriac Catholic Church 1. Syrian Catholic Diocese--Maidan Neighborhood, Mosul 2. The Old Church of the Immaculate--Maidan Neighborhood, Mosul (The church goes back to the eighth century AD) 3. The New Church of the Immaculate--Maidan Neighborhood 4. Church of Mar (Saint) Toma--Khazraj Neighborhood 5. Museum of Mar (Saint) Toma--Khazraj Neighborhood 6. Church of Our Lady of the Annunciation--Muhandiseen Neighborhood 7. Church of the Virgin of Fatima--Faisaliah Neighborhood 8. Our Lady of Deliverance Chapel--Shifaa Neighborhood 9. The House of the Young Sisters of Jesus--Ras Al-Kour Neighborhood 10. Archbishop's Palace Chapel--Dawasa Neighborhood Syriac Orthodox Church 1. Syrian Orthodox Archdiocese--Shurta Neighborhood 2. The Antiquarian Church of Saint Ahodeeni--Bab AlJadeed Neighborhood 3. Mar (Saint) Toma Church and cemetery, (the old Bishopric)--Khazraj Neighborhood 4. Church of The Immaculate (Castle)--Maidan Neighborhood 5. Church of The Immaculate--Shifaa Neighborhood 6. Mar (Saint) Aprim Church--Shurta Neighborhood 7. St. Joseph Church--The New Mosul Neighborhood Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East 1. Diocese of the Assyrian Church of the East--Noor Neighborhood 2. Assyrian Church of the East, Dawasa Neighborhood 3. Church of the Virgin Mary (old rite)--Wihda Neighborhood Chaldean Church of Babylon 1. Chaldean Diocese--Shurta Neighborhood 2. Miskinta Church--Mayassa Neighborhood 3. The Antiquarian Church of Shimon alSafa--Mayassa Neighborhood 4. Church of Mar (Saint) Buthyoon--Shahar AlSouq Neighborhood 5. Church of St. Ephrem, Wady AlAin Neighborhood 6. Church of St. Paul--Majmooaa AlThaqafiya District 7. The Old Church of the Immaculate (with the bombed archdiocese)--Shifaa Neighborhood 8. Church of the Holy Spirit--Bakir Neighborhood 9. Church of the Virgin Mary--Drakziliya Neighborhood 10. Ancient Church of Saint Isaiah and Cemetery--Ras AlKour Neighborhood 11. Mother of Aid Church--Dawasa Neighborhood 12. The Antiquarian Church of St. George--Khazraj Neighborhood 13. St. George Monastery with Cemetery--Arab Neighborhood 14. Monastery of AlNasir (Victory)--Arab Neighborhood 15. Convent of the Chaldean Nuns--Mayassa Neighborhood 16. Monastery of St. Michael--Hawi Church Neighborhood 17. The Antiquarian Monastery of St. Elijah--Ghazlany Neighborhood Armenian Orthodox Church 1. Armenian Church--Maidan Neighborhood 2. The New Armenian Church--Wihda Neighborhood Evangelical Presbyterian Church 1. Evangelical Presbyterian Church--Mayassa Neighborhood Latin Church 1. Latin Church and Monastery of the Dominican Fathers and Convent of Katrina Siena Nuns--Sa'a Neighborhood 2. Convent of the Dominican Sisters--Mosul AlJadeed Neighborhood 3. Convent of the Dominican Sisters (AlKilma Monastery)-- Majmooaa AlThaqafiya District 4. House of Qasada AlRasouliya (Apostolic Aim) (Institute of St John the Beloved) Cemeteries 1. Christian Cemetery in the Ekab Valley which contains a small chapel.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, the picture on the front page of this morning's New York Times is about the latest deadly outbreak of Ebola in Africa. This horrible disease knows no borders and has already claimed the lives of 660 people in four countries since it was first detected in March. The White House needs to pull together the CDC, NIH, State Department, USAID, the World Health Organization, and other Western governments to stave off this outbreak before it spreads further. I am concerned that there is not a sufficient plan in place, either in Africa or in the event that it spreads to the U.S. We live in a global world. We need a clear plan and strong leadership now. We cannot wait until a case shows up in the United States.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, another Sunday has come and gone without mass being said in Mosul. There is no doubt about it; religious cleansing is continuing to occur in Iraq. The churches have been seized and some turned into mosques. Every trace of Christianity is being eradicated in Iraq. The Christians' property has been seized, looted, and given to others. Canon Andrew White, the vicar of the only Anglican church in Baghdad, Iraq, recently stated, ``Things are so desperate, our people are disappearing. We have had our people massacred, their heads chopped off. Are we seeing the end of Christianity? We are committed,'' he said, ``come what may, we will keep going to the end, but it looks as though the end could be near.'' Vicar White, continuing, said, ``The Christians are in grave danger. They are literally living in the desert and on the street. They have nowhere to go.'' The question remains: What should the world be doing to help the Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq? The administration has taken a small step, although it needs to do much more. The President of the United States needs to speak out on this issue. This morning, after a 9-month vacancy, the White House announced the nomination of Rabbi David Saperstein to be the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. Rabbi Saperstein is well-respected on these matters and has been engaged on this issue for a long time. I welcome this nomination. It is a good nomination, and I ask the Senate to confirm Rabbi Saperstein quickly. On Friday, the House passed legislation that creates the position of Special Envoy for Religious Minorities in the Middle East and South Central Asia. This was bipartisan legislation that was introduced by Congresswoman Anna Eshoo and myself. Our office worked closely with our former colleague, Senator Roy Blunt. I call on the President to sign this bill quickly and to fill this position as quickly as possible. Time is of the essence. We cannot afford to wait any longer. Christianity, as we now know it, is being wiped out before our very eyes in Iraq.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, Pope Francis has spoken about the conditions in Iraq for Christians. Now His Grace Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom, said the following today: As the widespread violence and aggression facing Christians and minority groups in Mosul, Iraq, intensifies, it is increasingly evident that the fundamental right and freedom to practice one's faith and belief is--and continues to be-- grossly violated. We are currently witnessing an unacceptable widespread implementation of extremist religious ideology that threatens the lives of all Iraqis who do not fit within its ever- narrowing perspective. While this situation stands to eradicate centuries of coexistence and culture in the region, it also threatens to significantly and negatively impact these communities for generations to come. If left unchallenged, it is not Iraq alone that is at risk, but the potential is intensified for the replication of this ideology as a viable and legitimate model for others across the Middle East. He then thanked the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies and its chairman, His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, for expressing his concern about the current situation in Mosul. Everyone--the President, the Congress, religious leaders--should speak out on the eradication of Christianity in the Middle East.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, ``Imagine if a fundamentalist Christian sect captured the French city of Lyon and began a systematic purge of Muslims. Their mosques were destroyed, their crescents defaced, the Koran burned, and then all Muslims forced to flee or face execution. Such an event would be unthinkable today, and if it did occur, Pope Francis and all other Christian leaders would denounce it and support efforts by governments to stop it. Yet that is essentially what is happening in reverse now in Mosul, as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham drives all signs of Christianity from the ancient city. Christians have lived in Mosul for nearly 2,000 years, and today they are reliving the Muslim religious wars of the Middle Ages.'' These are not my words. These are the words of the first two paragraphs of an editorial from The Wall Street Journal earlier this week. Now, I want to read parts of an email I received yesterday from someone on the ground in Iraq: All Mosul churches and monasteries are being seized by ISIS. There are around 30. The cross is being removed from all of them. Many of them are burned or destroyed and looted. Many of them are used as ISIS centers. The religious Sunni, Shiite, and Christian tombs are being destroyed in Mosul. This destruction is endangering the very ancient sites, including Jonah's tomb. It has been widely reported that the ISIS soldiers have painted ``N'' on the doors of Christians to signify that they are ``Nasara,'' the word for Christians. Shiite homes were painted with the letter ``R'' for ``Rawafidh,'' meaning rejecters or protestants. Christianity, as we now know it, is being wiped out. With the exception of Israel, the Bible contains more references to the cities and regions and nations of ancient Iraq than any other country. I believe what is happening to the Christian community in Iraq is genocide. I also believe it is a crime against humanity. Where is the West? Where is the Obama administration? Where is this Congress? The silence is deafening. The West, particularly the church, needs to speak out. The Obama administration needs to make protecting this ancient community a priority. President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry need to have the same courage that President Bush and former Secretary of State Colin Powell had when they said genocide was taking place in Darfur. The United Nations has a role. It should immediately initiate proceedings in the International Criminal Court against ISIS for crimes against humanity. The Congress needs to hold the administration accountable for the failure to act. I will close today by reading the final two paragraphs of The Wall Street Journal editorial. It said: Today's religious extremism is almost entirely Islamic. While ISIS' purge may be the most brutal, Islamists in Egypt have driven thousands of Coptic Christians from homes they have occupied for centuries. The same is true across Muslim parts of Africa. This does not mean that all Muslims are extremists, but it does mean that all Muslims have an obligation to denounce and resist the extremists who murder or subjugate in the name of Allah. Too few imams living in the tolerant West will speak up. The Wall Street Journal went on to say: ``As for the post-Christian West, most elites may now be nonbelievers. But a culture that fails to protect believers may eventually find that it lacks the self-belief to protect itself.'' William Wilberforce, the British parliamentarian and abolitionist who abolished slavery, famously told his colleagues, as I tell this House and this administration: ``Having heard all of this, you may choose to look the other way, but you can never again say you did not know.''

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), which helps provide civil legal aid to low-income Americans who otherwise would be unable to afford legal representation. LSC was created in 1974 through a bipartisan effort by Republicans and Democrats in Congress and was signed into law by President Nixon. Today, LSC provides funding to 134 local legal aid programs, which operate nearly 800 offices in every congressional district around the country. Funding provided through LSC supports low-income Americans, including women seeking protection from abuse, mothers trying to obtain child support, families facing unlawful evictions or foreclosures that could leave them homeless, veterans seeking benefits duly earned and seniors defending against consumer scams, among other cases. LSC-funded attorneys help parents obtain and keep custody of their children, assist parents in enforcing child support payments and help women who are victims of domestic violence. In fact, three out of four legal aid clients are women, and legal aid programs identify domestic violence as one of their top priorities. As chairman of the House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations subcommittee from 2001-2006 and again since 2011, I have worked closely with the LSC leadership to support these programs and ensure that funding is spent efficiently and appropriately. I have also worked with my colleagues in Congress and LSC leadership to mitigate partisan issues that undermine support for this program. Through these efforts, we have been able to ensure that LSC funding is focused on supporting legitimate civil legal aid needs by those Americans who need it most. Over the past several years, I have encouraged LSC to do more to engage law firms and bar associations to expand pro bono services in coordination with the corporation. In response, the LSC board created a Pro Bono Task Force in 2011 and produced a comprehensive report with innovative ideas to bolster national pro bono efforts. I want to credit LSC Board Chairman John Levi and LSC President Jim Sandman for their leadership on this project, which has the potential to further extend LSC's support for low-income Americans. Forty years after its creation, the LSC fills a critical gap by providing low-income Americans with legal assistance they wouldn't otherwise have access to. I want to commend the Legal Services Corporation and the attorneys working in our communities for the work they do every day on behalf of Americans who need qualified counsel.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. With the exception of Israel, the Bible contains more references to the cities, regions, and nations of ancient Iraq than any other country. The patriarch Abraham came from a city in Iraq called Ur. Isaac's bride, Rebekah, came from northwest Iraq. Jacob spent 20 years in Iraq, and his sons--the 12 tribes of Israel--were born in northwest Iraq. A remarkable spiritual revival as told in the Book of Jonah occurred in Nineveh. The events of the Book of Esther took place in Iraq, as did the account of Daniel in the Lions' Den. Monday's New York Times' piece also quotes a Muslim woman at a prayer service on Sunday at a church in Baghdad, whispering to a Christian woman sitting in the pew next to her: ``You are the true original people here. We are so sorry for what has been done to you in the name of Islam.'' On June 16, for the first time in 1,600 years, there was no mass said in Mosul. Pope Francis on Sunday expressed concern about what was unfolding in Mosul and in other parts of the Middle East, noting that these communities since the beginning of Christianity have ``coexisted there alongside their fellow citizens, making a significant contribution to the good of society. Today, they are persecuted,'' the Pope said. ``Our brothers are persecuted. They are cast out. They are forced to leave their homes without having the chance to take anything with them.'' The United Nations released a statement attributed to Ban Ki-moon that, in part, said: ``The Secretary General reiterates that any systematic attack on the civilian population or segments of the civilian population because of their ethnic background, religious beliefs or faith may constitute a crime against humanity, for which those responsible must be held accountable.'' Where is the Obama administration? In June, 55 Members of Congress--Republicans and Democrats--urged the Obama administration to actively engage with the Iraqi central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government to prioritize additional security support for especially vulnerable populations, notably Iraq's ancient Christian community, and provide emergency humanitarian assistance to these communities. I want to read the last lines of our letter: ``Absent immediate action, we will most certainly witness the annihilation of an ancient faith community from the lands they have inhabited for centuries.'' It is happening, Mr. Speaker. They are almost all gone, just as we predicted. The Obama administration has to make protecting this ancient community a priority. It needs to encourage the Kurds to do what they can to protect those fleeing ISIS and provide safe refuge. It needs to ensure that, of the resources going to the region, a portion be guaranteed to help the Christian community. It needs to have the same courage as President Bush and former Secretary of State Colin Powell when they said genocide was taking place in Darfur. The United Nations has a role too. It should immediately initiate proceedings in the International Criminal Court against ISIS for crimes against humanity. The time to act is now.