C. Young

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I would like to assure the gentleman from Arizona that I understand the importance of this issue. At a time when we are spending nearly $90 billion to support the mission of our Nation and our troops, we should be willing to ease the strain on our soldiers and their families. The gentleman from Arizona is a cosponsor of a bill, H.R. 2998, that I introduced to help ease the financial burden on returning troops and, in this case, troops who are charged a subsistence fee for their stay in military hospitals. So I am supportive of the gentleman's goal. I would also like to mention that the Department of Defense has plans to expand the R&R program to include airports beyond BWI, which should help some. Airports in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Dallas-Fort Worth should become part of the program before the end of the year. I want to thank the gentleman from Arizona for bringing this matter to the attention of the House. I agree that it is an issue of great importance, and I can give the gentleman assurance that the Senate provision will be given every consideration by this chairman.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays).

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 2 minutes, once again, to briefly explain that when we have concluded this phase of the debate, then the Committee will rise, and we will officially then take up the bill. We will go through the regular process of calling up the bill under the rule. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham), a member of the Committee on Appropriations. (Mr. LATHAM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence). (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 15 seconds. I announce to the gentleman who just spoke that the United Nations has now voted unanimously to agree to the resolution offered by the United States of America on the issue of Iraq. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul). (Mr. PAUL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle).

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson), a member of the Committee on Armed Services.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. English).

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola).

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Weldon), who is a member of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the very distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham), a member of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, in view of the fact that the gentleman from Wisconsin has substantially more time, I wonder if he would be willing to go ahead with additional speakers.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, at this time my next speaker is detained, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. What I was going to do was just announce the time remaining. In addition, I would announce that once we have completed this time of general debate under the unanimous consent agreement of yesterday, we would then rise and reconvene under the rule for an additional 1 hour of general debate as provided by the rule on the bill. At this point then, I will begin the debate. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon). (Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the remaining time. I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) for giving me the additional minute, and I am very happy that the gentlewoman who made a very persuasive speech ended up talking about freedom of mankind, and she is exactly right. But what does an Iraq or any other nation controlled by a dictator, a tyrannical dictator like Saddam Hussein, contribute to the freedom of mankind? I do not think it contributes anything. I said earlier we did not start this war. This war started on February 26, 1993, when the World Trade Center was bombed by terrorists, six lives lost. This was further exacerbated on June 25, 1996, when the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia was bombed. Nineteen American airmen living in the towers lost their lives. August 7, 1998, American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed. Two hundred and fifty-nine lives were lost, bombed by terrorists. October 12, 2000, the USS Cole, an American destroyer off the coast of Yemen, bombed, 17 sailors killed and many others injured. Our responses were rather tepid, some investigations, some strong words and threats, but not much action. Then, on September 11, 2002, hijacked airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center, 3,000 lives were lost. A hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon, 189 lives lost. A hijacked plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania, 45 lives lost. After September 11, the United States of America moved strongly and aggressively with the strong leadership of President George W. Bush to do something about it, more than just talk, more than just words, but action, to eliminate the threat of terrorism so that the freedom of mankind can be enjoyed by everybody, not just of those who live here in America. I would say, Mr. Chairman, what we do today is an investment in our future, a future free from the threat of terrorism, from the fear of terrorists. We are making an investment in a future for our kids and our grandkids and our great grandkids and future generations for time to come, as we eliminate that terrible scourge of terrorism throughout the world.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe), the distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute. I do so to point out that we have debated this bill for a long time now, 6 hours on the general debate, 1 hour under the rule; and now we will have another hour's debate plus the amending process. The largest amount of dollars in this bill will go for our troops, for our national defense, for our soldiers and all of our military forces who are involved in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. The second largest portion of the bill has to do with construction in Iraq, the development of creating a constitutional system where the Iraqis can control their own destiny and our troops can come home. And I want our troops to come home, and that is why I want to get this money appropriated so that we stabilize the country of Iraq to the point that our troops can come home. Madam Chairman, I yield 10 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), who is the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations' Defense Subcommittee, who has led a large delegation to Iraq and has covered the country very well, has returned with just a tremendous report on what is actually happening there without regard to any spin control by the media. He has done a really good job as chairman of this subcommittee. He did an outstanding job in leading his delegation to Iraq.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, this unanimous consent that we have propounded at this point, like the one earlier today, would have no prejudice on any other amendment that may be offered following these 11 amendments. So this does not affect anyone's right to offer their amendment that they intend to offer. It is just a matter of trying to get some cohesive organization of how we are going to proceed to conclude this bill.

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

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and that I may include tabular and extraneous material on H.R. 3289.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I do.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my point of order on this amendment.