Frank Wolf

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, yesterday was a great day for peace and justice in West Africa. Former president of Liberia, Charles Taylor, was arrested and sent to face trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Charles Taylor will face 17 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international humanitarian law for crimes committed against the people of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Charles Taylor committed horrific crimes during his presidency and his arrest will no doubt send shockwaves through Africa and a strong message that tyranny will not be accepted by the people and that you cannot escape justice. I would like to commend Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for her courage in calling on Nigeria to hand over Charles Taylor. She did this with no small risk to herself and her fragile country. It is my hope that the international community will come to Liberia's aid and help her as she rebuilds her war torn country. This is a new dawn for West Africa. The United States and the international community stand with the people of Liberia and Sierra Leone and honor them for their courage to seek justice.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor for me to remember Mr. Harry Parrish, member of the Virginia General Assembly and decorated World War II pilot from Manassas, VA, who passed away on March 28 at the age of 84. Harry Parrish served over 50 years in elected office, including 13 terms in the House of Delegates and chairman of the Finance Committee since 2000, Manassas council member, and mayor. At the time of his passing, he was the oldest serving member of the House of Delegates. During his 12 years as town councilman and 18 years as mayor, Harry helped guide the transformation of Manassas from a small Virginia town to a thriving, lively suburb. As a member of the House of Delegates, he was known for conducting himself in a bipartisan manner, putting Virginia first. I was proud to call Harry my friend. He was a true Virginia gentleman. Harry was also a decorated World War II pilot. As part of the British Royal Air Force he flew C-47s over the Himalayas delivering supplies, weapons and other cargo, from India to China. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal for his valiant efforts. He served as a reservist in the Korean and Vietnam wars before retiring as a colonel. I insert for the Record the Potomac News obituary from March 28. A northern Virginia native, Harry will be deeply missed by the people of Manassas, and at home by his family and wife, Mattie, of 62 years. [From the Potomac News, Mar. 28, 2006] Harry Parrish Dies at 84 (By Bob Lewis) Richmond, VA--Harry Parrish, who defied death as a decorated World War II pilot and headed the state's most powerful tax-writing panel in the General Assembly, died Tuesday. He was 84. Parrish had been in intensive care at Prince William Hospital for about three weeks, suffering from pneumonia. His death was announced by Sen. John Chichester during a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Square. Parrish had been in declining health for at least two years but continued a full legislative schedule, including acting as chairman of the House Finance Committee, one of the most powerful leadership positions in the General Assembly. Last year, Parrish warded off a Republican primary challenge for his House seat--payback from his party's own conservative wing for defying its anti-tax orthodoxy during the 2004 tax battle. Parrish, the House of Delegates' oldest member, was in his 13th term from Manassas. He was born Feb. 19, 1922, in Fairfax County and moved as a child with his family to Manassas, then a small, rural town. He graduated from Osbourn High School in 1940 and later from Virginia Tech. He joined the Army Air Force in 1942 and began pilot training in Alabama, but was assigned to the British Royal Air Force, where he completed his training. He was part of an allied mission to fly lumbering transport planes laden with heavy supplies, weapons and ammunition from India into China over the world's highest mountain range, the Himalayas. The C-47s like the one Parrish flew took off from crude, sometimes muddy airfields in the Indian jungles and struggled to heft their cargo over icy peaks that doomed many flights. Because Japan controlled land routes through Burma, the airlifts over what pilots called ``the Hump'' were the only way to supply the legendary Flying Tigers, which bombed Japan from bases in China. Parrish received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters. He left active duty in 1946 but flew as an Air Force reservist in wars with Korea and Vietnam before retiring as a colonel and command pilot. In 2002, as one of few remaining World War II veterans in the General Assembly, Parrish helped secure Virginia's $334,000 contribution to the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. ``I kind of regret us being the last state, but I'm glad we finally came around,'' Parrish said in an interview, pained that Virginia was the last state to contribute to the memorial. Parrish was elected to the House in 1981 as part of an insignificant Republican minority. Before that, he served for 12 years on the Manassas Town Council and for 18 years as mayor. During his mayoral term, Manassas transformed from a town into a thriving, affluent city. Through a total of 53 years in elected office, Parrish won abiding respect as a listener and problem solver from Republicans and Democrats. In 2000, when the GOP ended a century of Democratic dominance in the House, Parrish became co-chairman and later chairman of the Finance Committee, where his evenhandedness endeared him delegates and senators of both parties. ``He's my best friend,'' Democratic Sen. Charles J. Colgan of Prince William said in a 2004 interview. ``He and I are the only Democrat and Republican in the General Assembly ever known to have held a fund raiser together.'' Parrish was willing to exert his independence at times, even at the risk of his own party's wrath and his prized House leadership post. By two votes, Parrish's committee in 2004 advanced a bill to increase taxes by about $1.4 billion. When the bill came before the full House for a decisive vote that April, Parrish was among 17 Republicans who sided with House Democrats to pass it. The vote was critical to ending a 115-day session that divided GOP legislators. In addition to his public duties, Parrish also is chairman of the board of his family's business, the Manassas Ice and Fuel Co.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 609, the College Access and Opportunity Act. This bill recognizes the unprecedented challenges that America is facing from countries like China and India and targets resources to increase the number of math, science and engineering professionals. As chairman of the House Science-State-Justice-Commerce Appropriations subcommittee, which controls the budget of NASA, the National Science Foundation, the White House Office of Science and Technology policy and NOAA, I have spoken with groups of leading Americans who represent a cross section of our nation. Over the past few months, groups that advocate for business, education, and research and development have all told me that America is at the very least in a stall, and many believe in a decline, when it comes to global competition in science and technology. Three key measuring sticks are down: patents awarded to American scientists; papers published by American scientists; and Nobel prizes won by American scientists. There is a critical shortage of math, science and engineering students in the United States. Unfortunately, there has been little public awareness of this downward trend and its implications for jobs, industry or national security in America's future. With the president's American Competitiveness Initiative announced at the State of the Union earlier this year, public awareness is increasing, but we still need to do everything we can to help attract more students to these fields. Last April, I introduced legislation with Representative Vern Ehlers, MI, and Representative Sherry Boehlert, NY, aimed at attracting more students to math, science, engineering and related fields. H.R. 1547, the Math and Science Incentive Act, would forgive interest on undergraduate student loans for math, science and engineering majors who agree to work 5 years in their field upon graduation. I appreciate Chairman McKeon and former Chairman Boehner's recognition of the value of using loan forgiveness as an incentive to attract and retain more students, particularly undergraduates, into these critical fields and the inclusion of this provision of this legislation as a provision in H.R. 609. Authorizing the Secretary of Education to pay up to $5,000 of the interest accrued on student loans for math, science and engineering majors who agree to work for 5 years in their field of study may make all the difference in the world for a student considering whether or not to stick with an engineering degree program. These are certainly challenging subjects. Recognizing how critical the competitiveness issue is today, the Education and Workforce Committee also included in H.R. 609 a provision for Honors Scholarships for students pursuing a baccalaureate, master's, or doctoral degree in science, math, or engineering as well as a provision for grants to better coordinate and implement reforms that improve math and science education, as well as better teacher recruitment and training. H.R. 609 augments the recently approved National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grants, National SMART Grants. National SMART Grants provide grants of up to $4,000 to Pell Grant- eligible students in their third and fourth academic year of undergraduate education at a 4-year, degree-granting institution of higher education. The student must be pursuing a major in the physical, life, or computer sciences, math, technology, or engineering, or a foreign language. The student must also have a grade-point average of at least 3.0. America is poised to mobilize again to ensure that our country remains the world leader in innovation. This bill helps our country face the challenge before us all. I believe our future as the solid world leader in innovation is again looking bright, particularly in light of the resources we're targeting at the higher education level. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 609 and thank the committee for its good work on this legislation.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. I yield to the gentlewoman from New York.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. We would like to work with your staff and have our staff sit down so we can ask NAPA questions that you think are important, issues like this and other issues. What we want to do is work with you, get the National Academy of Public Administration to answer these questions and so we can find out one way or the other. Would that be appropriate?

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment. This amendment has absolutely, positively, categorically nothing to do with an emergency supplemental bill that we are considering today. It is an attempt to stop a legislative proposal related to the fiscal year 2007 budget, which, as an authorizer, you will get to have that opportunity. And it will come out on the floor one way or the other, and the Congress will have the opportunity to vote on it. The proposal will have to be considered by the committee. SBA cannot unilaterally make the changes. So the Congress should know that the authorizers in the Congress set the rate. It is not the administration. So we are going to have that opportunity when Mr. Manzullo and the members, minority and majority, make it. Lastly, it is not necessary and it will have no effect, because it is just simply an attempt to prejudge a proposal by the administration for next fiscal year, and that is not something that you would do in a supplemental. If you would do that in a supplemental bill, we should just abolish every other bill and put everything in a supplemental bill, because then everything is a supplemental. So it is a bad amendment, and I urge you to vote ``no.'' Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF. The administration has extended this several times. Secondly, the gentlewoman seems to constantly be criticizing SBA at every turn. We are going to ask the National Academy for Public Administration, somebody, to find truth out here and then begin. If you constantly browbeat and it is not accurate, you should be careful when you say things, because words mean things. The chairman was before our committee yesterday. And so what we are going to do is, we are going to ask the National Academy of Public Administration to take a look at all these charges that go back and forth, because if we are constantly attacking Federal employees in program after program after program, I mean words matter. We just can't use this institution to attack people. This place has turned into a partisan pit and it is time to bring some objectivity. So what we are going to do, we are going to take all of your charges, all of your comments, all of your complaints, all of your criticisms, all your condemnations and ask the National Academy of Public Administration to look at it to find out some truth. This is a bad amendment. You are on the authorizing committee. You could do it. If we are going to do everything here, why do we even need an authorizing committee? Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, do I have the right to close?

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The chairman of the Small Business Committee opposes this amendment, the chairman of the authorizing committee. This amendment keeps the application period for SBA disaster loans open indefinitely. This could expose the disaster loan program to waste, fraud, and abuse that would virtually be impossible for the SBA to accurately verify losses as more time elapses from when the hurricanes struck the gulf coast. This amendment is also unnecessary because the administration has already had the ability to extend the application deadline, and has done so three times. So if they have the ability to do it, and they have done it, and they have done it three times, and your authorizing chairman would oppose it, why would you want to do it? In fact, the deadline was just extended for another 30 days, to April 10, for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. So, if there was a need, the administration would do it again. If the gentlewoman wants to change the parameters of the disaster loans, she should work within her position and with the ranking member and come up with something that everyone could agree on. In the interest of time, I would just say that I oppose the amendment. It can lead to a lot of problems. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF. Then I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF. How much time do I have, Mr. Chairman?

Mr. WOLF. But if there is something wrong with regard to the SBA, I think it is important to find that out and identify that with Mr. Manzullo and ask any questions you want to have NAPA answer so we can put it together and finally get to the bottom. I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF. Several years ago, you said if we abolished the loan guarantees, the world would come to an end. We abolished them, and now the number of loans are up. They are at a record number. So what we are going to do, and I think the body should know, we want the SBA to work well, we want them to make the loans, but if we are constantly hammering and criticizing and condemning and governing by press release we don't get very far. So what we are going to do is we are going to ask the National Academy of Public Administration, a nonpartisan group, to come in and look at the gentlewoman's charges and all these things and come back and give us an honest report so we will know. But if we are just harassing Federal employees and criticizing them at every step of the way, we really don't accomplish very much. And I would say that you did say, and I will submit for the record what you said about abolishing the loan guarantees, but by doing that, we saved the taxpayer about $170 million. The loans are up. That was basically a subsidy for the bankers. The banking lobby wanted that and we took it away and now we saved the taxpayers money. This is a bad amendment. Vote it down. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF

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

Mr. WOLF. In the interest of time, if this is the one with regard to the election, we accept the amendment.

Mr. WOLF. We have no objection and support the amendment.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment. It strikes all the radio and television broadcasting. I think I made the point on the last amendment, the Garrett amendment, that this is important to the administration. If the President didn't do this, frankly, he would be subject to criticism by this Congress. This Congress would get up and say, why are you not doing more to change the government? It is just not a good amendment. I urge overwhelming defeat of the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I said it before, but I will say it again: it is an emergency. My goodness, this country is putting together a nuclear weapon. The Bush administration, if you read the paper the last several days, has been meeting every day with experts around the world on the issue of Iran. To cut this money back pulls the rug out from the administration. Iran is a threat. Iran is developing a nuclear bomb. Iran is the one that funded Hezbollah. Iran blew up the American embassy once. They blew up the American Embassy in Beirut a second time. Iran blew up the Marine Corps barracks killing 241 Marines. It is an emergency. My God, the Iranians will be laughing at us if we were to reduce this amount of money. This is an emergency. So I just urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment. I am kind of surprised the amendment came up, to a certain extent. The gentleman from Texas, not this gentleman, but the gentleman he referred to, just came into town, and I have not had an opportunity to talk to him. I thought I was going to get to talk to him, and we felt that we were going out of our way to help. The President has been requesting funding for the Lower Rio Grande Flood Control project for years and has again requested funding in the President's budget for 2007. There are other areas of the country that have this problem, and so to do it here and not there, and there are gang problems around the Nation. Let us forget the full bills and put everything into the supplemental and so we can just have one big supplemental and not have to pass any other bills. But to go through the normal process, the gentleman from Texas brought the issue of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Flood Control project to my attention last year. As a result, we included language in the IBWC account directing more funds be provided above the President's request for this project. A week ago, the gentleman talked to me about additional moneys for the project in the fiscal year 2007 process. Funding for the International Boundary Water Commission should be addressed in the regular bill. This request does not belong in an emergency supplemental, and I urge a ``no'' vote on the Doggett amendment.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I would tell the body, this really is not foreign aid. You cannot pick up the newspaper without seeing the threat that Iran is to the Nation. This is a priority of the administration, but a priority of everyone who cares with regard to changing the government that we have in Iran. I do not know how you put it, but it is not aid. Iran is a threat to the United States. Is that a fact? I think you would have a very hard time finding anybody who says, no, it is not a fact. It is. Iran is developing a nuclear bomb. I have seen some reports that say it may be within 18 months to 2 years of having an nuclear bomb. The Iranian government is intent on destroying Israel. The Iranian government is the one who funded the bombing of the Marines barracks in 1993 where 241 marines died. They fund Hezbollah. They are the ones creating the problem in Lebanon. They are the ones involved in the funding and the blowing up of the American embassy in Beirut, the first embassy and the second embassy. We need to do everything we can to change the government and get information to the people. So what the administration is trying to do is to have some public diplomacy, to basically do what Democrat administrations and Republican administrations have done during the Cold War: public diplomacy, exchange programs, change their government through peaceful means. This is not foreign aid. I would say on behalf of anyone who thinks that Iran is a danger, please, I would urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. WOLF. I do agree. Texans stepped up and helped out in a tremendous way. I hope the Attorney General will work quickly to deliver a plan that meets the gentleman's concerns.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. WOLF. The committee accepts the amendment and congratulates the Member for doing this to help DEA. I think he makes a very powerful point.