president would support our efforts for what purposes the gentleman from texas right to address asked for one minute without objection the gentleman is recognized thank you madam speaker some of our democratic leaders say they just cannot agree to give immunity to the telecommunication companies for helping after nine eleven perhaps the reluctance comes from massive contributions from law farms suing these patriotic companies back in the days immediately after nine eleven we didn't know who all was involved in the most violent attack on u s soil we didn't know if another attack was coming the next day or where or who would strike next in that context the telecommunications companies were asked to help their country and th responded just as we had men and women respond all over this country to the nation's call to help fight the forces of evil these companies responded by helping and now many in the majority are willing to let them be shot with friendly fire these companies are the cry for help from our nation responded yet some in this body want to hang him out to dry on a firing line as targets for some of their biggest contributors let's pass by cell with immunity from friendly fire  to clause eight of rule twenty the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the azan made our order or on which the vote is objected to under clause six of rule twenty recorded votes on postpone questions will be taken later amended the clerk will report the title of the resolute house resolution nine ninety seven resolution expressing the strong support of the house of representatives for the north atlantic treaty organization to enter into a madam speaker i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks including strenuous material on the resolution under consideration without objection that i am speaker i rise in support strong support of this resolution here myself as much time as i may consume i'm pleased to support this resolution that expresses the house's backing for the north atlantic treaty organization to enter into a membership action plan with ukraine in georgia at the nato summit later this week this resolution was there in aruba originally introduced as senator resolution four thirty nine by senators biden lugar and was passed unanimously on february fourteenth i'm grateful to my distinguished colleagues on the europe subcommittee chairman wexler and ranking member galilee for enabling the house to add its voice to the growing consensus in favor of extending  p to two of our key allies allies and particularly to congress congressman wexler without his prodding this resolution might not have appeared on the floor at this particular time but from april second to april fourth heads post communist countries that became members three years ago are now making significant contributions to the work of the alliance in addition to the crucial discussions about the future future of nato operations in kosovo and afghanistan summit will address further enlargement of the alliance decisions on full membership made about three adriatic countries albania croatia and macedonia judgments a loss to be made about the extension of membership action plans green in georgia this resolution reaffirms that this is the right decision at the right time it is important to note that ukraine and georgia both have taken the initiative of formally asking the nato secretary general for integration into the membership action plan both countries have made considerable political economic legal and defense reforms in the two decades since the collapse of the soviet union ukraine and georgia have also been active participants in international efforts to preserve peace and stability contributing to numerous peacekeeping missions around the world their continued democratic development and military initiative should be supported while it is true that ukraine in georgia experienced domestic political crises last year that raised some doubts about their readiness for m e p it is equally true that both countries firmly maintained their commitment to pursuing a democratic path and strengthening their political institutions we must continue to encourage them in this vitally important journey secondly it's important to recognize that map does not confer nato membership rather it provides a structured reform program that offer support in a broad range of political and technical error areas in order to prepare applicant countries for the responsibilities of membership it is clear that both countries must complete significant reforms before they can be considered for membership they like all countries who have joined the alliance before them must be judged to have met all necessary criteria even then all member countries must unanimously support their accession in closing i'd like to briefly address the concern about the potential reaction of russia to the extension of map to georgian ukraine while nato was originally established as a military alliance to counter potential aggression by the soviet union it now deals with a variety of security threats in kosovo afghanistan and elsewhere the alliance is clearly no longer aimed at russia in one thousand nine hundred seven nato and russia agreed to work together to build a stable secure and undivided continent this partnership was strengthened in two thousand and two with the creation of the nato russia council as a vehicle to facilitate joint action indeed president putin is expected to participate in this week summit while the alliance is right to be cognizant of the geopolitical impact of its actions it should focus its assessment about the extension of map on the merits of the countries concerned the us and our allies should continue to nurture and strengthen their relationships with russia no one gets a veto power over right president putin nor anyone in russia should have opposed the tow power over potential nato applicants madam speaker i reserve the balance of my time the gentleman from florida and let me cry now to your name appropriately roth late and then is recognized thank you man speaker i yield myself such time as i may consume gentlemen i hardly know how to pronounce it myself thank you madam speaker i rise today in support of house resolution nine ninety seven which expresses the strong support of the house of representatives for the nato alliance decision to enter into a membership action plan or map with the countries of georgia and ukraine nato has expanded membership and its partnerships across europe in recent years making the alliance not just stronger but an instrument for spreading democratic values the map process was created in one thousand nine hundred eighty nine to help those countries aspiring to join nato to prepare to become members by providing guidance and practical support the decision to admit a country into the map process is a serious one exceeded only by the decision to admit a country into the alliance countries need to demonstrate that they are sincerely consolidating their democracy that they are willing to take on the requirements of the map process and that they are willing to participate in missions that go beyond their own borders and direct interests looking at georgia and ukraine madam speaker we recognize that these two countries have made important progress in introducing the systems and the institutions that support democracy democratic changes in these two countries have certainly not been easy and at times the progress of democracy has been confused and uncertain under very difficult circumstances and in the midst of wrenching times changing times since they gained their independence both ukraine and georgia have moved ahead with their political reforms with their democratic institutions of governance and the conduct of elections the steps taken by these two countries compare favorably with trends in several nearby states such as russia where true democracy is being steadily and comprehensively sir pressed both georgia and ukraine have also made great strides and the reform of their defense forces and in the commitment of their forces to peacekeeping and multilateral missions in other regions georgia is currently participating nato's partnership for peace program and has successfully graduated from the georgia train and equip program in two thousand and four after achieving its goals of enhancing its military capabilities and implementing military reforms george are currently has two thousand troops in iraq making it the third largest contributor after the united states and britain furthermore georgia has troops in kosovo and has signed a translator agreement with nato which allows the alliance as well as other nations participating in the international security assistance force to send supplies to their forces in afghanistan through georgian territory moreover yesterday a georgian defense ministry source said that georgia is offering to send five hundred troops to join nato operations in afghanistan ukraine is also a member of the partnership for peace program and currently has troops in kosovo additionally ukraine has significantly contributed to multiple un peacekeeping operations including those in liberia and sierra leone as well as bosnia and herzegovina you a stronger relationship with nato should enable ukraine and georgia to move forward with their military reforms prepared to commit to future peacekeeping and stability operations and more importantly madam speaker to consolidate the democracy that they are both seeking we understand that access to nato is membership action plan is not nato is membership if ukraine and georgia become part of map and seek nato membership in the future their candidacy will have to be careful evaluated to make sure that they fully meet nato standards and will benefit the alliance should they become full members nato member ship for these two countries is not an immediate prospect and is a question that will wait for future consideration i know with regret however the recent predictable statements by officials of the russian government alleging that nato is seeking to surround georgia russia rattled the nuclear saber to some degree hoping i suspect to intimidate ukraine in the process i can only contrast such attitudes in statements with the very laudable steps that your train took in  four when it relentless the powerful nuclear arsenal it had inherited from the soviet union for the sake of stability in europe the steps taken by georgia to support the u s and nato again in the face of terrific and unwarranted pressure from russia also deserves our commendation and our gratitude the resolution before us madam speaker makes it clear that the united states should take a leading role in supporting these two countries interest in men in the membership action plan and with that madam speaker i reserve the balance of our time who thinks time the gentleman from california speaker i rise in strong support of a trends nine nine seven urging nato to provide a membership action plan to ukraine and georgia at the nato summer summit in bucharest which begins tomorrow i want to especially thank chairman berman for his extraordinary leadership in moving this resolution forward as well as his very thoughtful remarks in announcing his support for this resolution i also want to thank my colleague and ranking member on the europe subcommittee congressman galilee as well as congresswoman schwartz to join me in introducing joined us in introducing  nine seven madam speaker it is clear that nato is at a crossroads given that important decisions are being made about further enlargement costs of oa and renewed balkans instability and mounting difficulties in democracy freedom in the rule of law throughout europe i believe it is in both america is an europe's interest to further integrate georgia and ukraine into the west t demonstrated their commitment to joining the united states and our allies in addressing security challenges from the balkans to iraq and to rebuilding afghanistan as we debate this resolution it is important to remember that the goal of nato enlargement since the mid one nine hundred ninety s has been to achieve a broader more secure europe providing a membership action plan for ukraine and georgia would further consolidate democracy and stability in the eastern europe and the caucasus region and is essential to fulfilling nato is one nine hundred ninety seven open door policy that ensures that any european nation that meets alliance standards and can contribute to your o atlantic security be considered for membership georgia and ukraine have much to accomplish before they can be offered nato membership since the map process will further require democratic and tbilisi it is crucial for the ukrainian and georgian governments to know that their efforts and aspirations are supported by this congress as well as all nato members madam speaker i was kiev just last month and there was an extraordinary development in kiev with the president prime minister and speaker of their parliament all formally asking for the nato membership action plan it is an extraordinary statement of unity and this is incredibly important that this house go on record in support of those pro democratic politicians and official holders office holders as well as in georgia to that end i urge my colleagues to support a trs nine nine seven and send a strong message to our nato allies on the eve of the bucharest summit and again i want to thank chairman berman for his extraordinary chairman berman for their kind words in their opening statements and i stand here today to rise in strong support of house resolution nine ninety seven which affirm reaffirms the support of the house of representatives for nato enlarge the resolution also specifically calls on the united states to take the lead in supporting closer integration between ukraine and georgia and nato i'd like to commend represent when actual or as i mentioned earlier the chairman of the subcommittee for introducing this measure and for being a strong consistent advocate for strengthening our bilateral ties with ukraine and georgia both of these allies have demonstrated the military capabilities and political reforms required to provide concrete benefits to the alliance and the past several years ukrainian forces have participated with nato with nato troops and peacekeeping operations in the balkans and afghanistan they've also made important contributions to a coalition forces in iraq in two zero four and zero five georgia has also shown that they are ready to take the next step toward nato membership george georgia has undertaken a top to bottom reform of their military forces often closely working with u s forces in this effort as previously mentioned by representative ross slayton and with over two thousand troops in iraq georgia today has the third largest troop contingent and that country after the u s and britain mr speaker both are madam speaker both ukraine and georgia georgia are ready willing and able to integrate more fully with nato again i hope again i would like to recognize representative wexler for his hard work on resolution nine ninety seven on behalf of a stronger nato and i urge the passion of this resolution and madam speaker i yield back the balance of my time the gentleman from california seven which expresses support for extending nato membership action plan status to georgia and ukraine i do thank chairman berman and congress and wexler for their leadership in this bipartisan effort to support georgia and ukraine and their entrance into nato as leading democratic reform are is in eastern europe georgia and ukraine are both worthy of advancing their participation nato what from enhanced dialogue to membership action plan map status during the bucharest summit this is important and timely next step towards a goal of becoming full members of nato both these nations are keenly interested in joining nato and working closely with western allies they have already demonstrated this by actively participating in both u s and nato forces more than two thousand georgian soldiers currently serve alongside u s military personnel in iraq making it the third largest coalition partner and ukraine is the only nonmember state taking an active role in all of nato as peacekeeping and anti terrorist operations as a member of the house democracy assistance commission i had the great pleasure an opportunity to meet both georgian president saakashvili and ukrainian president president yushchenko in their home capitals their commitment to democracy sation in their respective nations is impressive and is an important example for other emerging democracies around the world certainly both nations have work to do to stabilize ensure development of permanent democratic institutions yet as recently established democracies changing a history of totalitarian rule they are making enormous strides there ready to be granted map and be given the opportunity to work towards full nato membership in a world with real threats against us it is critically important that we strengthen relationships with those nations that choose to be our allies georgia and ukraine are key allies and important region of the world we should stand with our friends we should stand with georgia and ukraine and who had passed this balance of my time the question is will the house has been the rules and agree to house resolution nine nine seven as amended those in favor please say on those opposed no in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the resolution is agreed to and without jackson the motion to reconsider is laid on the table on madam speaker i move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution h raz one eighty five as amend the clerk will report the title of the resolution house resolution one eighty five resolution expressing the sense of the house of representatives regarding the certain regarding the creation of refugee populations in the middle east north africa and the prison off region as a result of human rights violations pursuant to the rule of the gentleman from california mr burr farman and the gentlewoman from florida miss rock late and then each will control twenty minutes the cure recognizes the gentleman from california you madam speaker i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five secret first like to come in my distinguished colleague mr nadler of new york for introducing this important resolution when the state of israel was founded in one thousand nine hundred eighty eight more than one hundred fifty thousand jews lived in iraq iraq was truly a cradle of jewish civilization a site of jewish learning from which one of judaism's holiest books the tolman emerged for more than two millennia as history books will attest jews also made vital contributions to wider a rocky society indeed like you throughout the arab world the iraqi jews for most of that long era enjoyed a quality of life far better than that of most jewish communities in scorn and often word fired from their jobs in mass and many places violence ensued against jewish communities can you continuing to use iraq as an example that one hundred fifty thousand strong community by hundred fifty two had shrunk to a mere thirty thousand the rest the other hundred twenty thousand had affectively been forced out overall approximately eight hundred fifty thousand jewish residents of the arab world were expelled or otherwise forced to leave their homes abandoning possessions and patrimony in the years following israel's creation in one nine hundred forty eight vibrant generations old communities withered to near negligible numbers that iraqi community of a hundred fifty thousand jews in forty eight has dwindled to about ten today in egypt a community of seventy five thousand one hundred forty five now numbers fifty to  a morocco which is hailed today as the bastion of jewish arab coexistence in the arab world a thriving community of more than a quarter million jews lived their lives in peace before one thousand nine hundred eight today there are perhaps five thousand jews resident in moscow morocco some left willingly most felt they had no choice for centuries long before the advent of islam and long after it jewish communities live peacefully and often prosper slee and productively in arab lands among arab people their forced relocation and the material value they lost that you they lost when they were compelled to abandon their homes and other property and arab countries has never been reject not one who from the arab world has been compensated for his losses each one had to start over from scratch in his new land compare the jewish refugee experience madam speaker with this palestinian refugee experience neither jewish refugees themselves nor israel which was an underdeveloped country at the time it hosted most of these refugees sought international aid from united nations organizations or other international organizations both refugees and hosts in visioned and sought full integration into the larger society the arab world in contrast demanded the international community to foot the bill for the refugees who were to be kept in camps that to this day breed frustration hatred and dependence the results of these contracting approaches exists while the plight of palestinian refugees is well known throughout the world has been the subject of numerous un resolutions and has been a major element in every arab israeli peace plan the plight of jewish refugees is rarely mentioned nevertheless the rights and redress of jewish refugees deserve recognition in any peace settlement and indeed numerous international agreements pertaining to the arab israeli conflict have been codified with the rights of jewish refugees in mind un security council resolution two forty two calls for a just settlement to the refugee problem without limiting that problem to palestinians presidents carter and clinton each explicitly stated that the issue of jewish refugees must be mandated that jewish people who fled arab countries are indeed refugees the right of jewish refugees from middle eastern lands to see great jess does not in any way conflict with the right of palestinian refugees to seek redress and the resolution before states this explicitly this resolution merely expresses a sense of congress the jewish refugees also should not be denied their legitimate rights we are simply signature that any comprehensive middle east settlement is just and fully just to all the parties that sentiment of basic fairness is one i fully embrace i strongly support this resolution i congratulate again my colleague mr nadler for offering it and i reserve the balance of my time the gentleman from florida thank you madam speaker i yield myself such time as i may consume gentleman is recognized thank you madam speaker i rise today in strong support of house resolution one eighty five regarding the creation of refugee populations in the middle east north africa and the persian gulf region resulting from human rights violations discussions of middle eastern refugees invariably focused exclusively and short sightedly on the plight of those of palestinian descent few are aware of the injustices faced by hundreds of thousands of jews christians and others who fled from arab lands and the ram either as a direct result of the arab israeli conflict or from persecution associated with that conflict perhaps the most telling example madam speaker is the case of the jewish refugees from arab lands many jews saw their communities which had existed vibrantly for centuries even before the advent of islam systematically dismantled their populations throughout the arab world in iran was reduced from over a million to just several thousand they lost their resources their homes and their heritage sites fleeing in the face of persecution pogroms and brutal dictatorships jewish refugees who fled arab countries in iran left behind what today amounts to billions of dollars in assets not only have they received not one then dime of compensation to this day but the plight has not even received recognition by the united nations nor similar international institutions while the countless un resolutions have been adopted focusing on the palestinian refugee issue no conferences have been held on the jewish refugees no u n agencies nor international human rights organizations addressed their fate failure to recognize  madam speaker along with the plight of the christian communities throughout the region only serves to perpetuate their suffering therefore impasse congress says i have sponsored resolutions similar to the one before us today house resolution one eighty five this resolution urges greater recognition of the plight of these often overlooked refugees it emphasizes that any comprehensive middle east peace agreement can only be credible can only be enduring if it resolves all issues related to the rights of all refugees in the arab world and iran including jews christians and others i am proud to be the lead republican co sponsor of this resolution and i thank my good friend and my colleague from new york congressman jerry nadler for having the insight to introduce it i urge the house to dop this very important resolution and with that madam speaker i reserve the balance of our time the gentleman from california matters speaker i yield five minutes to the sponsor of the resolution the gentleman from new york mr never i thank the gentleman f from new york is recognized for five minutes and less than thank you i thank the gentleman for yielding and i rise in strong support of this resolution which i introduced along with representatives ross layton and and i'm proud to stand alongside of them as well as chairman berman and representative ackerman who have been strong leaders on the issue of jewish refugees from arab lands and this is stark moment of recognition of these refugees i would also like to take a moment to commend the leadership our late chairman tom lantos whose leadership on this issue and then all human rights issues has been critical to opening this debate and to recognizing the rights of refugees throughout the world this resolution is not just about a forgotten chapter of history for centuries long before the advent of islam and long after it jewish communities live peacefully and often prosperously unproductively in arab lands among arab people their forced relocation and the material value they lost when they were compelled to abandon their homes and other property in arab countries has never been redressed for example an iraqi community one hundred fifty thousand one hundred forty eight to windows two around ten today in egypt seventy five thousand one hundred forty five became between fift with the arab world a thriving community of more than a quarter million jews live their lives in peace before one hundred forty eight by two thousand and three only fifty five hundred remain some left willingly most did not while the plight of palestinian refugees is well known throughout the world and there's been a major element in every arab israeli peace pact when a negotiation the plight of these jewish refugees is rarely mentioned these days nevertheless numerous international agreements pertaining to the arab israeli conflict have been  in fact the soviet union try to limit that resolution to palestinians and it was rejected president carter and clinton stated explicitly that the issue of jewish refugees must be a part of any comprehensive arab israeli peace agreement unless there be any doubt treaty the treaty states quote the parties agree to establish a claims committee for the mutual settlement of all financial claims and it also states jewish refugees have the same rights as others do these jewish refugees mr speaker systematically under official regime policies which included state fostered anti do is to create programs murders and hangings anti semitic incitement an ethnic cleansing they were done in accordance with an arab league  decree that provided a formula to promote state sanctioned discriminatory measures that will replicate in many arab countries in a deliberate campaign to expel the entire jewish population from their home countries and i'm like the palestinians the jewish refugees having been expelled from the arab countries were absorbed into their host countries mostly by israel that six hundred thousand jewish meant refugees went to israel and the remaining three hundred thousand fled to other countries such as france canada italy and the united states in israel today the majority of the population consists of jews from arab countries and their children and grandchildren the right of jewish refugees from middle east and lands to seek redress does not in any way conflict with the rights of palestinian refugees to seek redress and the resolution states this explicitly this resolution merely expresses the sense of congress that jewish refugees many of whom are so effectively have so about the state of israel should not be denied their legitimate rights and compensation for the property of which they were deprived the resolution further states that a comprehensive middle east peace agreement can be credible and enduring only it with achieves legitimate rights of all refugees quote including jews christians and other populations close quote displaced or middle east countries importantly it also resolves that the president should instruct the u s representative at the un and all u s representative bilateral and multilateral forms to use their voice their vote and the influence of the united states to ensure that any resolutions relating to the issue of release refugees which include a reference to the required resolution of the palestinian refugee issue must also include a similarly explicit reference to the resolution of the issue of jewish refugees from arab countries and to make clear that the united states government supports a position that is an integral part of any comprehensive and much to be desired arab israeli peace the issue of refugees from the middle east north africa the persian gulf must be resolved in a manner that includes recognition of the legitimate rights and ms berkeley the gentleman who directed i thank the gentleman for yielding and for his leadership on this important issue madam speaker when israel declared its independence in may one hundred forty eight seven arab nations immediately attacked the fledgling country and sought to drive israel into the sea simultaneously many of the same arab nations force their own jewish citizens to leave their ancestral homes making refugees out of nearly one million people the issue of jewish refugees from arab lands speaks to one of the fundamental problems of the arab israeli conflict many arab countries have refused to accept the existence of israel why finical exploiting the palestinian refugees and their war against israel arab leaders willingly agree to confine the palestinians to squalid camps where they where terrorism and extremism and hate are bre instead of resettling them in welcoming welcoming their palestinian brothers to their own oil rich lands they claim a right of return for palestinian refugees and the hope that they will flood israel in order to undermine and ultimately destroy the jewish state of israel madam speaker this resolution begins to set the record straight while setting out a balanced approach to address the refugee issue all refugees s plan must look at both sides of the refugee issue in an equal way we must acknowledge the general jewish refugees from arab lands be aware of the hidden agenda behind the palestinian right of return and expose the obstructive rol played by both the arab nations and the united nations in the red u g issue we must find just solutions for all refugees in this conflict redressing the grievances of all sides while retaining israel's integrity as a jewish state i want to thank the gentleman once again and yield back the balance of light time the gentlewoman from florida thank you madam speaker i have no further requests for time so i yield back the balance of our count gentlemen yells back our time the gentleman from california time the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution one eighty five as amended those in favor please say i does a post in the opinion of  chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table for what purposes and gentleman from california ross as speaker i move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution atrazine sixty five is amended amended thank you the clerk will report the title of the concurrent resolution house concurrent resolution one to the four concurrent resolution expressing the sense of congress that the fatal radiation poisoning of russian descent and writer alexander raises significant concerns about the potential involvement of elements of the russian government and mr litvinenko death and about the security and proliferation of radioactive materials pursuant to the role the gentleman from california mr berman and the gentlewoman from florida miss ross layton each will control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from california then speaker i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration without you ma'am speaker i rise in strong support of this resolution and you myself such much time as i ma ma'am speaker i'm pleased to support this resolution that notes the tragic poisoning of alexander litvinenko expresses concern about the potential involvement of elements of the russian government in his death and highlights the need to ensure the security of radioactive materials and i'd like to thank my good friend in the ranking member of the foreign affairs committee there leon ross slayton of florida for enter to sing this important measure and late november two thousand and six americans joined with many around the world and watching with horror as a youthful energetic russian dissident and british citizen dramatically changed appearances within days who can forget the piercing blue eyes of the balding gaunt man staring intently at the camera from a london hospital bed after the completion of an autopsy british health officials concluded that alexander litvinenko had died on november twenty third two thousand six of radiation poisoning caused by ingesting the radioactive element polonium two ten british law enforcement officials classified his death as murder alexander litvinenko was an agent in the federal security service of the russian federation at the time when vladimir putin ran the agency mr liddy unco was fired from the service in one thousand nine hundred eight then was arrested and briefly held without conviction after accusing senior security service officials of assassination plots mr litvinenko successfully sought asylum in brit and wary from wary continue to accuse the security service of involvement in legal illegal activities the night before falling ill mr litvinenko reportedly dined with three russian citizens including former federal security service agent andre on may twenty second two thousand and seven british authorities announced their intent to prosecute mr look for the murder of mr litvinenko after russia refused to extradite mr lug of a to britain a political dispute ensued between the two countries stay resulted in the mutual expulsion of diplomats the murder of alexander litvinenko clearly raises disturbing questions about how elements of the russian government appear to deal with their enemies and perceived threats it also raises worrying questions about the security and pull for ration of radioactive material ninety seven percent of the world's legal production of polonium two ten occurs at the vanguard nuclear facility in russia the country that is also the world's leading export of this substance for commercial purposes if the russian government is not responsible for living in close death as president putin has stated then it should be urgently investigating the security of the production storage distribution export of polonium two tend to prevent grave threats to international security the resolution calls on president bush and secretary rice towards president putin and president elect met via you have to cooperate with british authorities in finding answers to ensure the safety and security of all our citizens i house concurrent resolution one fifty four which i introduced the purpose of this measure their very straightforward first it is to put this congress on record as being skeptical to say the least about the russian government's views and positions regarding the murder of the russian dissonant and writer alexander litvinenko in november of two thousand and six we must keep in mind that  litvinenko as a former agent of the russian security service was in a position position to speak with credibility when he charged high level officials of the russian government with involvement in assassinations and organized crime and the use of state sponsored terrorism for political purposes in the one nine hundred ninety nine bombings of several russian apartment buildings we note that mr  with the radioactive material known as polonium two ten raises some interesting general facts polonium two ten is not produced nor commercially exported to britain where m investigators were able to track traces of the material to passenger aircraft surveying the london to moscow route furthermore the british investigation into the murder has found that lit ko had met with three visitors from russia prior to the detection of the radioactive poison in his body the british authorities are now in fact seeking to profit to a russian citizen who currently in russia for his involvement in the murder the second purpose of this measure madam speaker is the point out that polonium two ten would prove to be a dangerous weapon that islamic radicals could use seeking to inflict large numbers of civilian casualties not just to murder an individual therefore as the dominant producer of this material it is incumbent upon the russian government to ensure before our foreign affairs committee last october and said the following when asked about this case and i quote many of the people running russia today come from security services the secret police there has been a long and unbroken tradition of the use of murder as a means of controlling russian society and i can tell you that our british colleagues believe that they have at least a prosecut that goes very very close to the seat of power in moscow and quote madam speaker the perpetrators of the one nine hundred ninety nine apartment building bombings in russia probably hope that the passage of time would cover their tracks and that people would forget and move on that appears to be the case in moscow with this case as well unfortunately so the question before our president and this congress is the following will that be allowed to happen in the let's in the ankles case as well i urge my colleagues to support this resolution to keep in mind that the people of russia live with this kind of threat every day their government is aggressively working to take back control over the economy over their livelihoods their access to uncensored news and their personal freedoms so madam speaker i hope that the house passes this resolution and with that i reserve the balance of my time the gentleman from california and speaker i reserve i mean i yield back the balance of my time the gentlewoman from florida i have no further requests for time and i affirmative the rules are suspended the concurrent resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table hundred sixty four pursuant to the rule the gentleman from georgia mr scott and the gentleman from nevada mr heller each will control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia madam speaker i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material there on without object madam speaker i yield myself just a couple of minutes here at the beginning this is a very very important and timely piece of legislation h r twenty forty is the civil rights act of one thousand nine hundred sixty four commemorative coin act as a steadfast proponent of this most important legislation it is indeed my honor and privilege first and foremost i wish to commend my good friend and my own personal hero and mentor from the great state of georgia my colleague mr john lewis on the extraordinary work that he has done throughout his entire life and certainly on the work to bring this commemorative coin bill recognizing the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the civil rights act of  to the floor with the mentoring of a one dollar coin i applaud the bill for honoring not only the importance of this legislation but also the many contributions  so many americans from all walks of life from all different backgrounds that have come together to make this country great and certainly have made outstanding contributions during the civil rights era i further want to acknowledge the vital role of the u nine at nigro college fun you in the f that they have played in ensuring access to an opportunities for higher education for so many deserving students who if it had not ben for the us they would not have received a college education during  impressive two hundred and twenty million dollars in scholarships to help some sixty five thousand students realize their dreams of receiving a college education so it's important for us to know that this is more than just a piece of legislation for it's important to note that the proceeds from the sale of this coing will go towards advancing what the civil rights act nationally made possible opportunity for education and empowerment by benefiting the united negro college fund in those member schools which played such a vital role madam speaker in the sit ins they started on black college campuses on the marches of civil rights marches started by students black college campuses demonstrations in the deep south and throughout this country energize by those black college campuses these united negro college fund students graduates faculty and institutions played a significant part in the civil rights movement and i as a young activist at that time as many of my colleagues am a graduate myself of a historical black university florida a and m university and i might add had it not been for florida a and m university madam speaker i would not be standing in the congress of the united states today now granted we have come a long way however there is still much much work to do i am living proof that minorities are able to elect the candidate of their choice as i was elected to the georgia house of representatives thirty four years ago becoming the youngest legislator to serve in the state house of representatives at that time i owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to those who came before me and the civil rights act of one thousand nine hundred sixty four has been instrumental in achieving all of these excess the gentleman from the bass thank you thank you madam speaker i yield myself such time as i may consume gentleman is recognized madam speakers of great honor to rise today to support the passage of legislation honoring the fiftieth anniversary of the civil rights act of one thousand nine hundred sixty four was a mentoring of a commemorative one dollar coin that is particularly honored to be working on a bill sponsored by one of the heroes of the civil rights movement congressman john lewis and my colleague deborah price madam speaker the civil rights act is widely recognized as one of the most effective influential pieces of legislation putte passed by the united states congress in the last century the status helped dismantle system of legalized discrimination in voting in public accommodations in america and served as a model for subsequent civil rights laws equally important civil rights act help americans belated we reach the promise put forth by our founding fathers that all men are indeed created equal the act is the bedrock for america we know today a nation that recognizes the equal rights of the disabled women the elderly minority citizens and other groups as invaluable contributors to our society and all inherently equally deserving of the protections afforded by our constitution the bill before us today provides for the minting of civil rights commemorative coin with the proceeds expected to raise up to two point five million dollars for the united negro college fund providing scholarships and internships for minority students and assisting our nation's historical externally black colleges and universities as a bill honors our nation's past it helps us tells to fund our nature nation's future mr madam speaker it is a great honor for me to be joining in this legislative effort by congressman john lewis mr lewis the principal sponsor is a man whose courage thoughtful advocacy and leadership in the struggle for civil civil rights speaks for itself his brave leadership in the first selma to montgomery march and his support for nonviolent revolution in the face of brutal attacks of this fateful sunday are the very acts of courage that this coin seeks to honor for future generations it is especially especially so we are taking up this bill this week because friday marks the tragic fortieth anniversary of the assassination of dr martin luther king junior today we can help honor his legacy and his indelible and in alterable imprint on america by authorizing a tribute to his historic works in the form of a commemorative coin while this but small tribute to a man who gave his life for our betterment it is a permanent statement of gratitude from our from a nation forever thankful for his vision compassion and determination madam speaker pick up any newspaper in the country and you will see that the topic of race relations continues to be important part of our american dialogue but we should not be a nation that hides from its past we cannot sweep our mistakes past mistakes under the rug and refrain from debate on topics that we might find uncomfortable rather we must know that the fight for equality for all it's never ending and that recognizing and understanding our nation's past is critical if we are to ensure a just america for all in the future the fight for civil rights continues the civil rights comerford of coin honors both our nation's historic struggles and the promise for justice and equality for all the generations of follow us i urge immediate passage of this bill madam speaker and i reserve the balance of my time the gentleman from georgia to recognize thank you very much and let me just extend my deep appreciation to the gentleman from nevada mr heller for his kind words they were very touching and very meaningful thank you very much and  the author of the bill my friend and a man and a man who put has put his life on the line repeatedly for civil rights for human rights and for making this country and the world the beloved place that we all seek let me yield as much time as he may need to my good friend john lewis of georgia the gentleman from georgia to we will not be standing here today we're just bill being considered on the floor with three hundred thirteen co sponsors without the help of my good friend and colleague representative representative snyder was a champion of this bill i appreciate his support of this bill and the ideas behind it i would also like to acknowledge congressman woman congresswoman deborah pr also pushed to answer geisha in our nation's school it is only right that we are working with the united negro college fund to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary  made it possible there is still much work to be done and we must continue to fight today tomorrow and in the future i watch all of my colleagues to vote for this bill is recognized as big as big or first of all i want to thank representative scott from georgia for yield in time and i also want to commend the sponsor of this legislation and recognize his tremendous leadership in the struggle for human rights since his team you use when he was a mere lad we heard him mention the age of fifteen and that's about the time that he became actively engage and involved in the struggle for human rights this legislation provided the kind of protections that were necessary to make sure that those rights were not taken away that those rights were not denied i also want to commend representative lewis for his creative way of helping to raise money for the united negro college fund i've been getting phone calls from my brother john all week and i know why he's calling me because every year he in friend of his jackie caisson put on an event to raise money for the united negro college fund and so he's been called in to solicit me to buy my tickets and so the more money that we can generate through this legislation the less money i might have to give you so i commend you so much thank you so much and you know back the balance of my time the six time gentleman from georgia thank you very much speaker this has been an extraordinary occasion it is very important to remember where we have been so that we will have a good guide to determine where we need to do go and we have done that this afternoon and not only memorializing the support and civil rights act but using this memorial inverse fiftieth anniversary of the passing of the civil rights act to make a difference where it counts the most and that is in helping with the education of our young people we have indeed made a difference here today i recommend this bill and we feel very strongly that we will get a unanimous vote on this bill and with that madam speaker i yield back the balance of my time the question is will the house suspended the bill is passed and what the objection the most interest in sitter is laid on the table for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise will they will tubman the clerk will report the title house concurrent resolution three ten concurrent resolution expressing support for a national day of remembrance for harriet ross tubman's pursuant to the rule of as a member of the house committee on oversight and government reform i am pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of h conrad's three ten which seeks to honor the life of harriet tubman and acknowledge the minutes sacrifices she made on behalf of freedom and the enabling the ball rights of all men and women she it was a steadfast warrior for the values which we cherish today freedom justice equality for all without her these values would not have been enjoyed by the dozens of african americans that she rescued from slavery in addition to the many more that she helped her unwavering oversight committee on march thirteenth two thousand and eight by voice vote the measure has the support of over sixty members of congress and provides our body a collective opportunity to recognize and paid tribute to a woman who dedicated her life to ensuring the quality and freedom which stand at the foundation of our country were forwarded to all of its citizens including those in slaves in the south harriet tubman was born araminta ross in eighteen twenty to harriet rich greene and been ross a slave couple from dorchester county maryland from an early age it was evident that harriet tubman was willing to put our life on the line to assist african americans in escape in their peculiar institution we know as slavery at twelve years old she suffered a dramatic blow to the head from her overseer when she refused to help restrain a slave who was escapin due to the head injury she sustained harriet was plagued for the rest of her life with violence seizures and spells of unconsciousness yet despite the ailments harriet tubman continued to press on in eighteen forty nine harriet tubman managed to escape from the plantation she worked down located in the eastern part of maryland on her first trip up north tubman made great use out of the underground railroad and crash crossed over ninety miles to reach her final destination of pennsylvania because of the dangers that lined every step of her journey she had to travel at night use in the north star for guidance when she reached philadelphia she recalled that it felt like she was in heaven yet the memory of her family still in bondage cause harriet to leave heaven and voluntarily return to the land of her own slave mitt after the decision to save her family she spent the majority of her life bringing individual out of slavery by way of the underground railroad in fact her been became known as moses because of her relentless efforts to a more and more african american slaves out of captivity for eleven years harriet tubman risked her life to free over seventy slaves and their families she also served as a union spy during the civil war and assisted abolitionist john brown in recruiting a letter to honor her memory frederick douglass wrote and i quote except in john brown of sacred memory i know of no one who has willingly encountered more pearls and hardships to serve  our in slave people than she has in the quote madam speaker let us honor those true patriots the courage and tenacity that she has shown in the face of great danger and great down thank you madam speaker i yield myself such time as i may consume man speak dr rice today in support of this resolution honoring harriet tubman a better speaker harriet tubman is an american icon she exemplified the ideals of courage loyalty and commitment in the face of adversity after escaping from slavery one hundred forty nine she immediately returned to maryland at great personal risk to rescue her family members and others still bound in slavery some of the houses she used to stow escaped slaves are but a few miles from this very chamber over the course of her years is the self described conductor of the underground railroad to but that thirteen missions into maryland and rescued more than seventy slaves she didn't stop with leaving states to freedom she also helped them find jobs founded a community in canada where freed slaves could be safe from fugitive slave laws and later opened a home for elderly african americans to have been played an integral role in the eight hundred fifty nine raid on harper's ferry west virginia she helped john brown contact freed slaves and guard support from other and sympathizers in pennsylvania maryland and delaware as a member of the union army during the civil war tub and became the first woman in american history to lead an armed x addition when slavery finally ended in the united states she turned her considerable talents and energies towards the woman suffrage movement she represented all that is great about america the ability the well and the wherewithal to do that which was right and more importantly to do it for precisely that reason thank you madam speaker and i want to thank mr cummings for introducing this resolution thank mr davis for helping us shepherd all of this through the committee and i are just adoption concurrent resolution three one zero those in favor say i felt opposed say no in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the concurrent resolution is agreed to and without a without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table madam speaker borderline personality awareness by the court will report the title of the resolution house resolution ten zero five resolution supporting the goals and ideals of borderline personality awareness month their remarks without objection let us begin now i would feel myself such time as i might consume the gentleman is recognized as a member of the house committee on oversight and government reform i'm pleased to join five was introduced by representative tom davis of virginia a long standing member and leader on the oversight and government reform committee on feb twenty seventh two thousand and eight and has the support and co sponsorship of over fifty members of congress the measure was considered by the oversight panel on march thirteenth two thousand and eight and was passed by voice vote at that time apt to be in the men did for technical purposes matters bigger while many people may not be aware of borderline personality awareness this or that it isn't mental illness that is more common than bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and has been found to affect a little over two percent of adults particularly lee young women b p d as it is commonly referred to  a serious mental illness characterized by a pervasive instability in moods interpersonal relationships self image and behavior the instability caused by this illness often leads to disruptions in one's family and work life long term planning and ultimately a person's sense of self identity each and every one of us has a personality however for those individuals is an absolute must and that is why i rise in support of a thread as ten of five passage of this measure will help to raise the profile and the general public's understanding of borderline colors religions and income levels it doesn't wait for a convenient time to surface it strikes only without regard to the challenges pain and anguish visits upon the families and friends of the victims it's important we recognize the struggle people with these afflictions endure as they strive for a normal life it is week equally important we recognize the struggle visitor upon those friends and family members who have to cope with the disease and often the victim his or herself today this house will take an important step in raising awareness of a little known and often misunderstood mental illness i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the designation of may is borderline personality awareness month borderline personality disorder is a devastating psychiatric disorder caused by the inability of the afflicted individual to manage emotions effectively symptoms of this disorder include impulsivity mood swings episodes of rage bodily self harm chaotic relationships and fear of abandonment some people with disorder can't hold a job others are high functioning but in any case their private lives are often in turmoil more than three million american adults have borderline personality disorder twenty percent of patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals have borderline personality disorder their victims have a suicide rate four hundred times treatment options and family education compared to other psychiatric disorders of similar prevalence with passage of h resident one thousand five this house will take an important step in spreading awareness of this is order  speaker the national alliance on mental illness maintains a helpline it one eight hundred nine five zero six two six four general information on mental illness this hotline can help those in need of assistance i'm proud to have sponsor this resolution and i'm greatly encouraged by or consider a shot of it today passage of this will go a long way to increase awareness of its existence and the heavy toll this disorder takes on our society i applaud the  national alliance on mental illness and the national education alliance on borderline personality disorder have been throughout our nation in this vital area i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution and i reserve the balance of my time in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table madam speaker spanish speaker gentlemen from that i would ask for the  motion will be postpone expresses support for the ideas and history of national women's history month the clerk will report the title of the resolution house resolution ten twenty line resolution supporting the goals ideals and history of national women's history month for soar to the rule of the gentleman from illinois mr davis and the gentleman from virginia mr davis will control twenty minutes each the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois synonymous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks has recognized mr speaker march was the twentieth annual national women's history month that's why i am so pleased to introduce a trail ten twenty one a resolution to recognize and honor this national women's history celebration in america women were once considered second class citizens whose rights were restricted from voting from restriction from voting to property ownership actually but here we are today one woman is a major candidate for president of our nation and another woman is speaker of the house of representatives sadly until the late hundred seventy s women's history wasn't taught many of our schools and was almost completely absent in media coverage and cultural celebrations that's why the education task force of the  commission on the status of women of which i chaired initiated a women's history week celebration in one thousand nine hundred seventy eight this celebration centered around international women's history day the national women's history project located in my district was founded in one thousand nine hundred eighty by many dedicated women who poured their hearts and their ideas into promoting and expanding the week long celebration with the help of several dedicated women including mary reuss daughter molly mcgregor molly murphy mcgregor maria quit this poll i ham it and betty morgan thousands of schools and communities joined in the commemorations a women's history week by bringing specific lessons on women's achievements in the classroom by staging parades to engage neighborhoods in the celebration their hard work their dedication paid off the celebration started a national movement and in one thousand nine hundred eighty one congress responded to the growing popularity of women's history week by making it a national observance and eventually expanding the week to a month in one thousand nine hundred eighty seven imagine what american history lessons would be today with the outing without the inclusion of harriet tubman's underground railroad operation or the mary catherine goddard first who was the first person to print the declaration of independence with the names of all the signers included mr speaker today i asked my colleagues join me in reaffirming our commitment to the celebration of women's history by supporting a trails ten twenty one that will ensure that our grandchildren our great grandchildren learn and care about women like amelia error hart and eventually of course the first woman president mr speaker i want to thank chairman waxman i want to thank ranking member davis and chairman davis for supporting this resolution as they have continually supported all the efforts of all women and supporting this resolution when i will be able to make it impossible to study american history without remembering the contributions of women as well so i thank you all and i yield back the balance of my time along the years that gentleman from virginia thanking the twenty one recognizing and celebrating women's history month each march we express appreciation for the brilliance bravery and determination women have demonstrated throughout u s history women in the united states often found themselves second class citizens in their own country they've had to fight for many of the rights men always have enjoyed to vote own property even some cases to obtain an education from the iron will of abigail adams wife of john adams and mother of john quincy adams who wrote that women quote will not ourselves bound by any laws which we have no voice unquote to their forms advanced by the creature my a little catty stanton and susan b anthony women have stood for their country by standing up for themselves the contributions made by women to our nation can't be overlooked clara barton a civil war nurse founded the american red cross millionaire heart was a pioneer in aviation harriet tubman who we honored earlier today and escaped african americans they've risked everything to bring others to freedom is the conductor of the underground railroad the woman suffrage movement finally made america whole today american women enjoyed many of the fruits of these early labors they serve at or near the highest levels of government business and other positions of power and influence the doors to careers education achievement seem is open to them as to men but that doesn't mean the struggle is over or the heroines of the past representative woolsey for her introduction of this legislation i also want to thank the two hundred women who attended a town hall meeting which i held in my district on sunday  in recognition of women's history month i want to think rev and helen cooper pastor of the westside center of truth church for being the host as a member of the house committee oversight and government reform i'm pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of h r s ten twenty one as amended which is designed to provide recognition and support for national women's history month which just ended yesterday with the conclusion of the month of march age rares ten twenty one was first introduced by representative lynn woolsey of california on march third two thousand and eight and has the support and co sponsorship of eighty plus members of congress both men and women from both sides of the aisle the measure was considered by the oversight panel on march thirteenth two thousand and eight and was passed by voice vote after being amended for technical purposes mr speaker i guess it's only accurate to say that history whether american international would not have been written as it is without the role of women but all too often the women's history collin and women's history week in one nine hundred eighty seven congress expanded the celebration to a month and march was declared women's history month since the one nine hundred seventy s w america have seen notable growth in the study and expansion of women's history in fact today almost every college offers women history courses and most major graduate programs offer doctoral  degrees in this important field even today we continue to witness history makers from our very own speaker of the house to the top presidential contenders business wom scientists and apple eats women are clearly making key country beauticians to our communities our country and our world as we celebrate female artists and their contributions to around cultural heritage as this year's theme of national women's history month let us as a body once again elevate and support the goals ideas and history of women's history month and pass the measure at hand i thank you  my pleasure to use such time as she might consume to representative sunders of massachusetts and woman is recognized mr speaker i arrived today to commemorate national women's history month and particularly this year's focus on female artists i commend the organizations and communities across the country that celebrated women's history month by educating people about the many contributions women in the arts have made my hometown of lowell massachusetts is a great example the hard work of members of the low community made low women's week two thousand and eight it great success by bringing together diverse organizations that held our displays and workshops all around women's art and history in lowell women's commitment to the arts coincided with the city's founding as a country's first planned industrial city at the time of its founding in the late hundred century the young women working the textile mills also published illiterati magazine of essays and poetry entitled the law offering without commemorative miles like this one some of our most interesting women's history would be forgotten this resolution rightly honors female artists of the past but i also salute the many women who throughout our communities tirelessly support the arts through philanthropic means or with their time and effort i hope the passage of this resolution today does not mark the end of a month of remembrance but as a catalyst for renewed interest in learning what great women of the past had given us thank you and i yield back my time although many years back joan from illinois suspend the rules and agree to house resolution ten twenty one those in favor as amended those in favor say aye those opposed no in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table the speaker further proceedings on this motion will be postpone know myself such time isn't my consumed gentleman is recognized as a member of the house committee on oversight and government reform i'm pleased to join my colleagues particularly the gentle lady from the sunshine state of florida and the consideration of h r fifty one sixty eight which named the postal facility in brooksville florida after a fallen hero army specialist cody grader introduced on january twenty ninth two thousand eighty eight fifty one sixty eight is authored by congresswoman jenny brown waite representative florida's fifth congressional district and its cause sponsored by the state's entire congressional delegation congresswoman brown weights measure h r fifty one sixty eight was reported from the oversight committee on feb twenty sixth two thousand and eight by voice vote this morning's post the name and honor in specialist graner brings to light the tragic yet heroic story of another american soldier who gave his life in service to this great country of ours a native of spring hill florida specialist cody grader was tragically killed on july twenty ninth two thousand and seven when his guard position was struck by a rocket propelled grenade near baghdad and iraq specialist graner was only twenty years old when he lost his life in the line of duty as a member of the four hundred seventh brigade support the talian second brigade combat team eighty second airborne division out of fort bragg north carolina the son of a needle  reported the doing his burial service at florida national cemetery in bushnell florida the streets were lined for miles with well wishes and people waving flags saluted and crying  tribute to a true american hero mr speaker let us also join in that host of well wishes loved ones and friends of specialist cody greater and pass a job fifty one sixty eight and designate the cortez boulevard post office building in brooksville florida in his honor and mr speaker i would reserve the balance of my time kelman reserves gentleman from virginia speaker i rise jane support of my bill h r fifty one sixty eight which will remain the post office on cortez boulevard in brooksville florida after private first class cody greyer cody was a resident from my district who lived in spring hill he gave the ultimate sacrifice his life for his country while serving in iraq cody greater joined the army in two thousand and six when he was only nineteen years old actually my grandson went to high school with him so this tragedy certainly did hit home with our family cody was quite proud to be serving his country and hope to make a career out of his service in the army by the time of his death in july two thousand and seven cody had received the purple heart bronze star medal the combat action badge and many other earners while serving on guard duty in baghdad the rooftop where cody stood guard was struck by a rocket propelled propelled grenade grenade just two weeks earlier grady had been on leave in florida with his family where he was telling people about his previous experiences in iraq share it with his friends family and former high school mates even though he was just at the halfway point of his tour of if cody expressed plans to rian list after his initial service in the army was completed i hope that this act of renaming the post office will memorialize brave and selfless life cody greater ipanema has the courage and patriotism of our volunteer military and we will must never forget his great sacrifice to our nation i urge my colleagues to support this bill which rightfully honors cody greater and i will yield back the balance of my time gentleman from florida in honor of private first class cody greater private first class graders love for his country can't be disputed of course he joined the us army as soon as he finished spring stead high school in florida then made the ultimate sacrifice laying down his life for the country he held dear growing up in hernando county florida cody enjoyed working with cars and reading military themed books this of course led him to join the army in april two thousand and six where he was assigned to the four hundred sevent battalion second brigade command team and then reassigned to the eighty second airborne division on july twenty ninth two thousand and seven private first class grader was standing post on a rooftop of an outpost in baghdad when he and a fellow comrade were struck by a rocket propelled grenade tragically twenty year old p f c greater was killed among his many awards and decorations for his remarkable achievements of the bronze star purple heart national defense service medal iraq campaign medal global war on terrorism medal army service ribbon and the combat action badge p f c greater love serving his country and firmly believe he was making a difference with gratitude for his bravery and sacrifice to our country i davis for their insistence on moving this before today and i would at this point yield back the balance of my time telling  affirmative the rules us suspended the bill is agreed to as pat and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table a bill to a man title of and district of columbia official code to implement the increase provided under the district of columbia appropriations act two thousand and eight and the amount of time made available for the compensation of attorneys representing indigent defendants and the district up columbia court and for other purposes pursuant to the rule the gentleman from illinois mr davis and the gentleman from virginia mr davis it will control twenty minutes chair recognizes gentleman from no cost bill indeed the appropriations for increase in the amounts paid to these charities have been appropriated this is another of those district of columbia anomalies the courts of the district of columbia operate through payments from the appropriations of the congress of the united states and the judges are title one attorneys therefore district district judges or columbia judges may not use the fans that have been appropriated to raise the hourly rate of these attorneys who are essential to the functioning particularly of the criminal justice system but also the civil justice system in the in the district of columbia they supplement the fender service of the district of columbia the public defender service of the district of columbia forgive me these attorneys have not had their hourly rates raised sense in one thousand since two thousand and two where when they were set at sixty five dollars per hour they requested eighty dollars per hour they have been raised sorry when when they were fifty dollars an hour they have requested eighty dollars an hour they are being granted sixty five dollars an hour this in spite of the fact that the rate of inflation has been between three and four percent a year indeed they requested eighty dollars per hour but is now with them we have set them below that they of course had in mind that they were in some new years where their rates did not keep up with the rates of all other federal serve federal courts and of course they recognize that we're not going to raise them every year but this is what the congress is willing to do at this time it does seem to me that the last thing we want to do is to slow down particularly criminal justice processing in the district of columbia particularly where there is already funds from the appropriation committee available when the failure to spend them only comes from a jurisdictional technicality that we and we alone can indeed authorize the spending of these funds and what this so quickly through the committee and is being considered by the house today when i was chairman of the d c subcommittee congress and acted legislation i sponsored known as the national capital revitalization and self government improvement act of  this law in part granted congress authority over the district court system in matters relating to public defender services the law also amended the d c home rule act to the same effect h r fifty five fifty one authored by ms norton would authorize a provision of the d c appropriations act of two thousand and eight which increased from sixty five dollars per hour to eighty dollars per hour the amount of compensation for attorneys representing indigent clients in the for the district of columbia spiri court the current compensation rate of sixty five dollars per hour was established in fiscal year two thousand and two an increase from the previous rate of fifty dollars per hour attorneys representing indigenous in similar cases before u s district courts are compensated a rate of one hundred dollars an hour no opposition to this bill was raised either during the committee hearing or at committee markup i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and again i thank ms norton for bringing this forward and  on oversight and government reform stand with my colleague congresswoman eleanor holmes norton from our nation's capital the district of columbia in consideration of h r fifty five fifty one which will provide for a much needed increase in the compensation paid to attorneys assigned to represent indigent clients in the d c court system congress on the norton and i introduced this measure on march sixth two thousand and eight on march eleventh two thousand and eight we the subcommittee on federal workforce postal service in the district of columbia held a hearing to examine aspects of the legislation l march thirteenth two thousand and eight the committee on oversight and government reform considered and passed the bill out of committed by voice vote h r fifty five fifty one calls for increase in the hourly pay rate from sixty five dollars to eighty dollars for criminal justice act c g a attorneys representing indigent defendants in the d c courts the measure would also increase the caps on the toll compensation paid to these attorneys case type to be equal to the total compensation paid to attorneys representing similar clients in federal court they increased compensation rate for c g attorneys practice and in b c courts would only democracy is the right and requirement that every citizen regardless of income or socioeconomic class be afforded adequate counsel representation when confronting judicial proceedings in competent counsel the measure we have before spur they reiterate this fundamental concept by helping to ensure that the d c court system is in a competitive position to attract the best and to reconsider is laid upon the table gentleman from illinois the speaker of the house has been the rules agreed to by the clerk will report the title of the bill senate five are existing judgeships on the superior court as a district of columbia pursuant to the rule of the gentleman from illinois mr davis and a gentleman from virginia mr davis each will control twenty minutes  chair recognizes gentleman from illinois matters affecting criminal and civil justice in the district of columbia cannot be more important to us please appreciate the expertise of usenet moving this well forward like the prior bill mr chairman this is not a ho all matter because the courts involved are federal courts article one courts indeed this matter started with the senate of the united states which approves the judges of the d c superior court confirms them as it confirms court judges of other federal courts this bill again it may be difficult to understand but it is equally without cost to the additional cost to the federal government this house was vigilant to see to it that the district of columbia  has a reformed family court as a part of the security see the superior court system and and may i thank the prior i think he was then majority leader mr de lay who worked so a state of the art family court however the congress in its concern that children and families have adequate processing through this court mandated that there be add least fifteen of these judges who would be family court committee judges only the purpose was to repair the prior circumstance where these matters were distributed to the full fifty eight judges in the ordinary course of business by segregating these matters out these matters involving families and children we sought to see to it that they were handled quickly and efficiency that congress never intended however to reduce the number of judges of vailable to important criminal and civil matters but in fact the cap has had that effect so we've had and a anomalous situation where the president the united states seeing a vacancy in the area court unrelated to the family court simply goes ahead and does what he's supposed to do he nominate somebody to in fact fill that vacancy but because of the cap which says got to have at least fifteen of the judges to be family court judges and with no entries in the number of judges that person is sitting out there or standing out there as as you may waiting for a vacancy to occur in the sapir ear general part of the court as opposed to the family court what this bill does is to recognize what congress intended in the first place and that is to leave both to do no harm to either section so that be a full qadri of family court judges but certainly to do no harm to the processing of civil and and criminal court judges and they have four to retain the kind of balance we had before we'd have to raise the number of judges available to the superior court and that would mean instead of fifty eight as the act now raising reads you have sixty one importantly mr speaker you will know that there is no cost to the federal government and both the chairman and i went to great lengths to make sure that we were not talking about increased  appropriations the court has assured us and we have done our homework to assure ourselves and that the amount is already available in the appropriations that come to this a period court all that is needed is us for us to free up if i may say so the president united states is his nominees can in fact take their seats when in fact they are nominated i reserve the balance of my time eight to sixty one in response to reports of abuse and neglect in child and family services cases pending in the d c superior court in two thousand and one congress created a family court in the district and assigned a dedicated cadre of judges to handle child and family cases the legislation before us today is essentially a technical correction to the family court act we enacted in two thousand and one increasing the cap on the number of judges in the d c superior court to accommodate the creation of this new family court i want to of the district of columbia by increasing the cap on the number of judges that can serve on the court senate bill five fifty will increase the number of associate judges permitted to serve on the d c superior court from fifty eight to sixty one and accordance with the terms of the national capital revitalization in self government act of one thousand nine hundred seven congress now wheels legislative and found in a over the district of columbia court system under the terms of this arrangement section eleven dash nine all three of the district of columbia official code established an overall limit of fifty eight o number of judges that may be seated on the superior court the current limit of fifty eight is in addition to a chief judge however in two thousand and one congress passed the d c family court act and included in the act a new provision that allowed the previously established limit on the number of judges to be exceeded only to a point additional family court judges as a result of this provision the current number of associate the period court judges combined with the fifteen judges now seated on the d c family court the camp of fifty eight has now been exit this means that judgeship vacancies in the supreme court cannot be field unless additional retirements occur which is lead to delays in proceedings increased costs from prolonging litigation and case backlogs s five fifty with address this is by crease in the number of associate judges from fifty eight sixty one postal service in the district of columbia held the hearing to examine aspects of the legislation the bill was then considered by the committee on oversight and government reform where it passed by voice vote and all the time has expired the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass then a fight fifty those in favor say aye those opposed say no in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the roads are suspended the bell is tat and without objection a motion to reconsider it is laid upon the table for what purpose is the gentleman from michigan rise mr speaker moved to suspend the rules and pass age resolution ninety four by the clock will report the title of the res house resolution nine forty five resolution raising awareness and promoting education on the criminal justice system by establishing march two thousand and eight as national criminal justice mind pursuant to the rules the gentleman from michigan m remarks without objection so i include extraneous material myself such time as i may consume gentleman is recognized as speaker members of the house the measure before us called attention to a critically important issue the state of our nation's criminal justice system and we do this by designating march as a national criminal justice month because it will serve to raise awareness of the causes and consequences of the of crime as well as our crime prevention efforts it's a subject in an area that for too long we've not paid close attention to and it's our feeling that this designation will have a great impact upon our work millions of americans have been victimized by crime and many millions more pass through our criminal justice system we have more than two million americans behind bars i'm sad to say this means that almost one out of every one hundred americans is incarcerated among african american men between the ages of twenty and thirty four one in nine  behind bars what a tragedy what a waste of human life and potential the new york times observed we've become a prison nation and i ask you unanimous consent to put that editorial into the congressional record edition proceed that objection each year we on all of our criminal justice system spend more than two hundred billion dollars the pew center report states that connecticut delaware my own state of michigan oregon and vermont spend as much or more money on corrections as they do on higher education i think this is a disgraceful circumstance and the policies of simply incarcerating increasing of americans without real opportunities for rehabilitation fail those who go through the criminal justice system but more than that it hurts and diminishes every my chairman mr conyers chairman of the judiciary committee for whom i have great respect this bill was on the calendar did take up in weeks past but it was pulled a number of times resulting it being taken up at this time and we're grateful that it's been allowed to come to the floor but i rise in support of house resolution nine forty five and i want to commend my good friend and fellow texan also fellow recovering judge ted poe the original co sponsor of the original sponsor of this legislation for his dedication and commitment to the issue of criminal justice now the goal of this resolution is to raise awareness and promote education of the criminal justice system by stablish ing march is national criminal justice month it is important that congress encourages americans to learn more about the criminal justice system and the approximately thirty three million americans who work within the system as a former prosecutor judge and chief justice i've been honored to be involved with some of our nation's best who work in the criminal justice system for some time throughout that experience i've been consistently impressed with the professionalism and the ability of the public servants who work in the field of criminal justice these brave and dedicated americans work every day to make our country safe for ourselves and for our families further it is important to recognize the gains that have been made in combat in crime across the nation crime rates began dropping within the last twenty years as more tools were given to law enforcement and the more dangerous criminals have been locked up for longer periods of time though there are some who are working to reverse that decade long trend i have great respect as i said for the judiciary chairman you mentioned the reference to this being called a prison nation and it is tragic that we have so many people who are locked up and i must say one of the things that concern me and drove me from the bench where having an increasing number of people who were ended up in the criminal justice system before me as a district judge having allegedly committed felonies and in the cases i'm talking about where they admitted them told about their background and testimony about it in court but it began to break my heart back in the sixty's we had legislation called the great society legislation that was well intentioned that were single mothers that were saying to me trying to survive without a deadbeat father to help and the federal government looked saw the need and said let's help these people and i began giving checks to women for each child born out of wedlock and i began having more and more young mothers some older mothers who would have a child out of wedlock many times encouraged to do those do so by people they respected and loved and they found out rather quickly that check will not allow the individual to live a decent living in take care of the child so they have another child thinking well two checks will help and then three and it broke my heart that our federal government had lured people into a rut and not giving them a way out so it is important that we big careful in considering legislation that we pass course everyone has to be responsible for their own actions but it is important the legislation we pass and i think it's wonderful that my friend mr poe has sponsored this legislation that our chairman mr conyers allowed as encourage this and supported it and  march as the national criminal justice month congress will provide an opportunity now to educate americans through this designation about the criminal justice system and will make americans more aware of the causes and consequences of crime as well as how to prevent crime and how to respond to crime this resolution will also recognize and applaud the efforts of law enforcement officials judges court staff and the many probation and parole officers who work with offenders to help them re integrate in the community those are all important positions and we appreciate them all my colleagues to support this resolution in reserve the balance much time tell me weezer alan from michigan thank you this this measure is as a good win even though it comes a little late somebody may have noticed that this is for celebration in march and this is april and the reason is that we couldn't get it on the schedule before now but there were many celebrations in connection with this matter that occurred i want to commend the judge and distinguished member of the judiciary committee from texas who is managing the bill for his personal comments that he's brought to this matter  today i can imagine the kinds of things that not only him but members of the judiciary across this country are seeing heartbreaking  incidents circumstances and experience there are so many people that are incarcerated there and prison because of nonviolent offenses of sentencing procedures that are really out of the hands of the court people think of the unlimited powers of the judiciary many times they're restricted in terms of what it is they can do and how they can handle the matters that come before their courts and i'm i'm impressed that  that that he was driven from the judiciary to the congress because that's like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire but i'm so happy that he serves on the committee with great distinction and we always are pleased to be able to work together on these kinds of matters so in that spirit i urge the support of house resolution nine four five recognized thank you i want to thank the gentleman for yielding and i also want to thank the chairman for moving this piece of legislation i entered as this legislation to declare march as national criminal justice month and the purpose is to educate americans on how important our justice system is and encourage discussion on how to prevent and respond to criminal conduct our criminal justice system employs over three million americans in the local state and federal levels of the government and the word and the emphasis should be a on the phrase justice system because it involves the cooperation of law enforcement prosecutors courts correctional officers and many other persons and my former life i spent eight years as a prosecutor in the houston area and then i spent twenty two years on the criminal court bench and houston here and over twenty five thousand felony cases when i came to expect members of congress to be their advocates each year millions of americans become victims of criminal conduct everything from stealing to home aside and these individuals do not choose to become victims they are thrown into the criminal justice system without ever having a say the devastating consequences of crime remain with the victims long after the crime is over with and the purpose of the criminal justice system is to provide closure for victims and punish people who commit crimes against the rule of law which is society's rules of law hope this resolution encourages communities to discuss the causes and the consequences and long term effects of criminal conduct when a crime occurs the community must respond by apprehending the at and a vigil and ensuring appropriate punishment if that person is found convicted or is found guilty and of course helping the victim that is in need according to the bureau of justice statistics thirty five percent of americans have little or no confidence in our criminal justice system that is unfortunate that one third of the people in this country feel that way if you turn on our local news each not first thing that most local newscasts have is some new latest crime that has been committed in a neighborhood that's mostly bad news and much of that bad news is about criminal conduct america should have more confidence in our criminal justice system i am convinced that our system our criminal justice system is the best system in the world i had the opportunity to visit the former soviet union they don't have a criminal justice system they just have a system the same is true with china when i visited their system and how they had minutes are there laws there is no justice in that system it is just a system and here in the united states we do have the most the best system criminal justice system in the world on determining the guilt of an individual and giving defendants and victims of crime certain rights in the court and maintaining the worth of the individual every year individuals communities and businesses and all levels of government spend millions and billions of dollars administering our justice system the crime cost of crime is not cheap and the aftermath of crime is not cheap either yet the price is worth it because the process we pay to ensure our order safety an appropriate punishment for those who fail to follow our laws as my fellow texan and former judge judge gohmert has mentioned time and time again there are numerous cases where we both have seen individuals who have come to the criminal justice system that have been victims of criminal conduct and long after that trial is over with even if the offender is convicted and sent to the texas penitentiary for the maximum period of time they suffer the repercussions of criminal conduct many of them are never able to cope with that conduct and spend the rest of their lives in desperate hope and wishing that that crime had not occurred against them we as americans need to be sensitive to those individuals we need to be sensitive to the people who live among us who have crime committed against him so i hope this resolution gets more communities talking about the best way to prevent respond to crime and i want to urge adoption with that i yield back telling you a fact gentleman from texas mr speaker gentleman from michigan mr speaker i move to suspend the rules and pass the house resolution one three one two as amended the clerk will report the title of the bill h r thirteen twelve employer petition for aliens of extraordinary artistic ability pursuant to the rule the gentleman from michigan mr conyers and the gentleman from texas mr smith each will control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan mr speaker i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and i knew myself as such time as i may consume without objection saw the gentleman is recognized mr speaker members of the house h r one three one two is a bipartisan measure intended to address the extended delays in these the processing faced by nonprofit arts organizations when they invite foreign artists to perform in the united states hosting a performance by foreign artists or arts group requires obviously a great deal of planning and the host organization has the calendar the event advertise it and sell tickets for an advance and these efforts are made with the expectation that the visa petitions filed by the guests performers will be adjudicated in time for their arrival in the united states if the adjudication is delayed it causes a tremendous the so option and and that led to some arts organizations in the world to stop engaging foreign artists altogether because they can't risk the expense of canceling a performance performances by foreign artists give american audiences the opportunity to experience a variety of ar traditions and when they're called off it's not just the host organization and the audience that bears the cost the canceled show impacts the local economy as well current law requires the department of homeland security to preserve process petitions for all and p this is within two weeks of receipt of a completed petition and the department has implemented a premium fifteen day processing for a one thousand dollars fee but when a visa is required to be processed in fourteen days it seems particularly unreasonable to ask a  nonprofit entity to pay one thousand dollars for a fifteen day service so what we do in this measure is strike a balance by giving the department thirty days more than twice the current processing time  if the vision is not processed in thirty days and the petition is a nonprofit organization the bill requires the department to provide premium processing for no additional fee i'm happy to say that my colleagues the former judiciary committee chair james sensenbrenner and the current ranking member lamar smith of texas have tried well performing arts organizations use o and t v shows to bring many talented foreign artist to our country to form before american audiences despite the fact that the immigration nationality act provides the department of homeland security visas within fourteen days adjudication of up to one hundred eighty days has been reported these long delays create the risk that performances involving international artists must be canceled creating high economic risk to arts institutions and the local economies they support henry fogel president of the american symphony orchestra league has stated that quote nonprofit arch organizations confront long waits and uncertainty in gaining approval for the foreign guest artist this degree of uncertainty can prove too risky for many performing arts organizations and is having a direct impact on their ability to present foreign guest artist orchestras must sell tickets in advance creating a financial obligation to their audiences performances are date time and location specific and the nature of scheduling booking and confirming highly sought after guest soloist and performing groups requires that the timing of these a process be efficient and reliable and quote the i in a does provide that the department of homeland security can charge a fee of one thousand dollars to provide premium processing for employment based visa petitions adjudication within fifteen days however many nonprofit arch organizations cannot afford to pay this extra amount needed because they are small cash strapped and institution well because they sponsor many foreign artists over a years time the ar require timely service arts act provides that if a nonprofit organizations petition for no visa or for a p v cell is not adjudicated within thirty days it will receive premium processing free of charge i support this bill and i want to thank the chairman and mr berman for their bipartisan amendment in committee that clarified that only arch organizations that are qualified as tax exempt under section five hundred one c of the internal revenue code can receive the fee waiver and it organizations petition for athletes to not qualify for this waiver mr king the gentleman from iowa a member of the immigration subcommittee ranking member of the immigration subcommittee of the judiciary committee offer number of amendments in the judiciary committee mark about this bill for example one provided that only small nonprofit arts organizations should be eligible for the the waiver these amendments would have in fact improved the bill unfortunately they were not adopted judiciary committee and chairman for his graciousness appreciate the a privilege to address this issue under these circumstances and i make no pledge about taking advantage of the situation but i will stay with the attitude of the comedy that chairman demonstrates always and that is that i come to the floor here to rise in opposition to this bill and it's first i want to explain previous property and processing is in the event that the the normal application for the for the visa isn't processed in time then the performing arts organization who which is a five hundred one c not profit organization can then apply if they want to pay a thousand dollar premium to turn that around quickly they can do that today for so i'm looking at this thing from the perspective of this is a fee based system that we have we fund us c i s through fee based and we had hearings in the committee and we brought that forward and it's clear so it becomes a zero sum game if you decide that you're going to provide a premium processing service for one organization that means the burden of the cost of that gets distributed across all of the other all the other applicants and so i'm i'm stuck with this image of let me just say the metropolitan museum of art i'm very convinced and i've not been there that people arrive there in limousines wearing tuxedoes informal gallons and at the same time  know that they have a foundation that is quite significant for example assets of two billion four hundred twenty four million dollars in the foundation an annual revenue stream of three hundred twenty six million dollars now out of three hundred twenty six million dollars in annual revenue or two point four billion dollars in the foundation it seems to me that those kind very wealthy not for profit wealthy organizations could come up with the extra thousand dollars particularly because people are arriving in texas and getting out of limousines at the expense of the poor person who is in blue jeans and sneakers and that's my argument here and i recognize a deal to the chairman the gentleman steve king for using to me  come over and they have considerably less than two billion dollars and i can relate to that since well in in reclaim my time i would submit that the wealthy foundations have the revenue to be able to pry it to provide for their premium processing in the event that they didn't plan far enough ahead to get their application in on time i would think those with the highest well should be the ones that have the most ability to plan ahead you appreciate his remarks in there and there's probably some basis for him to make that argument i just just to close this argument i'll argue first that i offered a series of amendments which mr smith addressed and i exempted those foundations with less than a million dollars in annual revenues that i want the line to ten million then fifty million was trying to find a place by which it would get to somebodies conscience on the judiciary committee or in this congress that we should that we should say you have enough money to manage this yourself we never found that plateau i actually wrote one there would have been a google plex kind of an unlimited number but i'm confident it would have been rejected as well so i would just a method that one organization and i have singled out here metropolitan museum of art w revenue in the five minutes we've discussed this to be able to pay for the premium processing of a single artist and accumulates in an hour about enough for fourteen artist so i think we should have drawn the line taking care of our small foundations and now for that reason i am opposing this subcommittee and he will be our last speaker john is right next to three men i think the gentleman for the time and i rise in support of this bill i was with my ninety year old mother on sunday back in sacramento and  i remember when my mom used to drag me and my six brothers and sisters off to the long beach symphony orchestra and i remember when she worked with the leaders of the orchestra to bring other performers over to perform it's not an easy thing when you have an organization like that and i know the gentleman from iowa was talking about some of the more expensive organizations but we're talking in this bill about all of these nonprofits being able to have the flexibility to bring for an artist over here interestingly the congress a number of years ago asked the agency involved to have a flexible system which would allow them to make the request up to one year before and what happened was the agency turned it around and said well you couldn't do it unless it was at least six months or a year before so it sort of defeated the very flexibility members of congress asked for to allow this to happen we should understand that what we've been trying to do is get the agency to deal with these applications in a timely fashion and the idea that you would get premium service is really kind of an interesting idea to ask the government to do what it should do but to do it on time we now charge you for it well we do that in some circumstance because we do have difficulty with budgets but here we're talking about only nonprofit art organizations so many times on this floor it seems to me we do more than we should we go out and we solve problems that aren't there we often pass legislation in search of a problem this is not that case this is a problem that does exist these organizations the alabama symphony organization the florida west coast symphony the fort wayne philharmonic the hubbard street dance in chicago the louisville orchestra the new mexico symp orchestra opera cleveland paul taylor dance company pittsburgh opera sarasota opera florida grand opera i mean you can go down and down and down and you see this is all over the country a request of community organizations that are not profit that are just asking for the flexibility bre be able to bring foreign artists here which also creates an environment for us artists to go overseas and i am old enough to recall during the cold war that was one of the things we thought was a good thing we were able to in fact if you think about it the soviets at one that's one thing that and what they didn't want american artists over there and they didn't want their artists over here why because it really began to open the eyes of many people as to some of the greatness that we had in the freedom that we have and the artistic merit that exists in a country such as ours so i would just hope that we would support this it should not be affirmative the rules are suspended the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table carol from michigan mr speaker i move just spend the rules and pass house resolution one zero six the clerk will report the titles of the solution house resolution ten sixty one resolution commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of dr martin luther king jr and encouraging people of the united states to pause and remember the life and legacy of dr martin luther king jr and for other purposes pursuant to the rule the gentleman from michigan sixty eight i note that once again our distinguished colleague from georgia john lewis has introduced a bipartisan house resolution calling upon all americans on this anniversary to pause and remember the life and legacy of dr martin luther king jr and i'd like to acknowledge the many members of the judiciary committee  dr king was not only our greatest civil rights leader but he was also the person that personally has given me the political understanding full employment an economic system an end to war in this country and in this world he addressed on the night of his as a before his assassination the sanitation workers in memphis at the mason temple and i don't know about you but it seemed to me that he had a premonition that he was bending the last days of his life on earth in this cause he seemed to have projected his understanding king and their children and of course the unbelievable courage is mrs rosa parks who later came to detroit and honored my office by working there for many many years and so i'm very pleased to join in with this reexamination and remember it's of our great leader to meet the one of the greatest leaders of the twentieth century and so i'm proud to stand before you as the chairman of the judiciary to bring this resolution forward and i reserve the balance  king was the leader of an historic nonviolent revolution in the u s over the course of his life he fought for equal justice and led the nation towards racial harmony why dancing this great movement dr king's home was bombed and he was subjected to we let less personal and physical abuse despite this violence dr king responded in peace with strong conviction and sound reason and as a preacher dr king's religious beliefs were essential to the success of his nonviolent efforts it is doubtful that such a long and enduring movement of peace could have survived in the face of such violence without the power of religious inspiration behind it hundred fifty seven to one hundred sixty eight dr king traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty five hundred times about justice and equal freedom under the law on august twenty eight sixty three dr king led a peaceful march of two hundred fifty thousand people through the streets of washington d c and it is here in this city where he delivered a speech that spoke for all americans regardless of the color of their skin in his i have a dream speech dr king called the march the greatest demonstration for freedom and the history of our nation and he was right i have a dream he said that my four little children will one day l nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character dr k not only live the american dream but he opened that same door of opportunity for millions of americans he lived for the causes of justice and equality on the evening of april fourth one thousand nine hundred eighty a while standing on the balcony of his hotel room in memphis tennessee dr king was assassinated but a single vicious act could not extinguish dr king's legacy which endures to this day and america is a better freer nation because of his legacy mr speaker i'll yield the balance reserve the balance of my time from michigan mr speaker improve the two years as much time as he may consume to the one person in the house of representatives and the united states  eight he had emerged as a leader not just for a people but for a nation his leadership and commitment to a truly interracial democracy played a key role in in  legal segregation in america he led the first major nonviolent campaign in more than america when he emerged as the leader of the mongomery bus boycott that lasted three hundred and eighty one register to vote dr king created a climate created an environment that the power look what's the power of congress and the president of the united states couldn't look the other way they couldn't stand no in his short life he led the american people on a journey that is only going even today mr speaker i will never forget coming to washington with him hundred sixty three we met with president kennedy and other leaders and his administration dr king informed the president that i will the crisis in our country and that he had  later dr king came back to washington to speak at the march on washington this time he was able to bring two hundred and fifty thousand americans black and white and people of faith and background on that i have a dream today a dream deeply rooted in american dream mr speaker today we encourage or citizens especially our young people to take time to reflect general meals his time i'm seventeen and a half minutes the gentleman from michigan the things i think the gentleman i think the gentleman from texas when i can remember mr smith i'd like to recognize steve cohen our distinguished colleague from memphis tennessee for two minutes thank you mr chairman mr speaker this friday our nation will recognize the fortieth anniversary of the most infamous day in our country's history the assassination of the great reverend martin luther king junior it's impossible to speak about d king without remembering his eloquence and powerful retore dr king brought his brilliant mind and godgiven speech to bear against mighty forces forces which were entrenched in are woven so powerfully in the very fabric of our country that the task to overcome seem nearly impossible but he was not deterred and even from the distance of forty years what martin luther king jr accomplished in a short number of years on this earth is on spiraling he started a march to justice that he still inspires and which moves toward fulfillment and a sessions shot rang out in memphis silencing a most beautiful and eloquent man but it didn't silence his dream he was a man who worked with to take gandhi's principles of nonviolence and change a country through different forms of civil disobedience had not been seen in this country successfully he brought a march to washington the still the greatest march known to this day  collection of individuals demanding a change of course for this country and he changed this country and changed his for made this congress and the president as states at that time lyndon johnson change its course and bring about great civil rights legislation a man whose life and death continues to define our country and our world his dream survives his death will continue to survive as long as we know is what is good and just about our nation the man could be killed but not the dream the dream lives in each of us though the fires of progress sometimes seem to dwindle embers each time we declare that all people are equal each time we fight against discrimination and intolerance and each time we speak truth to power each time we do those things we fanned the flame of martin luther king's dream his purpose and his passion lives on in us martin luther king spoke truth to power and that is a great i was excited thank you mr speaker tell us what your input is now to recognize the distinguished gentleman from georgia mr davis scott and i recognize him for three minutes gentleman from georgia is recognized with three minutes thank you very much mr speaker and thank you chairman conyers is so good to be here with my good play him and then we shall see what will become of his dream i think that is the most fitting way to enter my remarks this afternoon about dr king for his was truly a dream but that dream was built on three strong pillars one was public accommodations the other was voting rights but the other and perhaps the tougher was economic right how do we get the lever to make the dream a reality that the king knew full well it didn't matter we could sit in it where on the bus if we don't have money to get on the bus or it doesn't matter w could live anywhere we wanted if we didn't have money to buy the house and to keep the house so as we reflect today on that economic right it is so fitting that so much is still to be done for as we look at the front page of the new york times yesterday we find that there are more people who are on food stamps percentage wise in this country than forty years ago when dr king died what has happened to his dream at the he line itself fitting that if we talk start to think for a moment what dr king was doing in those moments in hours before his death he was grappling with the economic question moving back and forward from washington d c to atlanta georgia to memphis dealing with the poor people's campaign the war on poverty and most significantly dealing with the most basic of economic rights a livable wage for jobs for the sanitation workers in memphis tennessee and so he knew that the work had not been done his prophetic words as chairman conyers referred was almost as if he was preaching his own funeral when he said he'd reached the mountaintop and he looked over and seen the promised land i may not get there with you but i want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land and all the threats that were on his life as if he knew that the bullet in twenty four hours was out there waiting for him and he said and is it more towards i fear no man for mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord so as we gather here let us understand that that dream is still not the reality all dolled the pillars that he planted part of them are  the tough bucket of the economic issues that we are grappling with on the floor of this house of representatives as we speak keeping people in their homes getting people so they can work and have employment and jobs opening up the economic system so that people will have businesses and participate in a lovable way so as we reflect let us remember those words from genesis lo here come at the dreamer let us slay him and then we shall see what will become of his dream we in this house of representatives can make that dream a reality by finishing that final plank the economic deep religious persuasion he's a leader in the church has we're continually in the area of civil rights voter activity and not help but think about the first chapter of back a fifth verse and in that version says that god says that he will do miracles and he will do it during our time and if he were to tell us what those miracles would be we would not believe him here i rise in support of this resolution sponsored by the distinguished gentleman from georgia commemorating the legacy of dr martin luther king on the fortieth anniversary of his assassination mr young americans of this time are the third generation to come of age sense representative john lewis and other brave young americans work with dr king to lead america from an equity towards justice and from violence towa more peace feel world we've been inspired and heartened to witness to young people of our time engaged in the democratic process this year like no other they are renewing dr king's messag crying out to us in dr king's voice to the often harsh realities of their lives fire must submit to you mr speaker that whatever their ethnic backgrounds may be far too many of these idealistic young americans are being subjected to the most crippling segregation of all the segregation from opportunity that is the inevitable result of poverty i've often said that our children are the living messages we send to a future we will never see images begin this new energizing determined generation is also challenging the foreign policies of this great nation even as dr king challenged american foreign policy four decades ago in this spirit madam speaker mr speaker i join representative lewis a true american hero who put his own life and safety on the line for these american principles and i and to my colleagues join me in supporting this resolution and doing so we honor dr king and his legacy to america through our actions as well as through our words and as it was said in the baka miracles will happen the question is whether we will believe in them and do as dr king did that the king looked up looked out and he was not blinded by what he saw but he saw things that others did not see but more significantly he took his vision and put it in a distinguished leader of the civil rights movement whose leadership and commitment and tenacity and steadfastness led to the declaration of a holiday a holy day in many respects a day of recommitment when we remember the life and legacy and teaching of martin luther king junior  did not know dr king i met him i didn't know him but i have known john conyers and i have known john lewis and i know them both and they are giants themselves john lewis of course the sponsor of this resolution who represents atlanta who came from alabama who marched across the edmund pettus bridge confronted by troops  who wanted to stop him from doing what is basic to the united states of america the right of every citizen to express their view on how their government ought to be people giants on understand with mr smith ranking member of the committee that helped bring this bill to the floor i'm of that generation that remembers the dark day in april  eight followed too closely by another dark day on june sixth just two and some odd days months later but mr speaker forty years ago this friday martin luther king jr was murdered he was an american prophet he called us to love justice to love our brothers and sisters of every color bre race of every nationality of every religion gender he spoke the truth but on april fourth one nine hundred sixty eight he was taken from us but his lesson was not taken from us nor his example flawed and fallen world hate and rage and violence will have their day but if we can find even a sliver of good in that crime it must be this dr king died on a balcony an open place a public place dr king so does he prove with his own body that a just cause is worth dying for as our founding fathers had done as frankly in my religion jesus did it is worth living for to he showed us this resolution even though i'll vote for it wholeheartedly even though i trust it will result of our lives that is what dr king wanted us to do our conduct our actions are the only honest we have worth giving these words on paper take on value when and only when they spur us toward what dr king called a committed life after the autopsy which showed that his thirty nine year old body held the strained and tired heart of an elderly man after two brown mules pulled his casket in a wooden cart through the streets of atlanta after tens of thousands assembled to put him  dr king spoke at his own funeral the loudest speaker the loud speaker played a tape of one of his old sermons and these were the words that echoed through the ebenezer baptist church i don't want a long feeling to like somebody to mention that day that martin luther king jr tried to give his life serving on this i'd like somebody to mention that day said dr king i'd like for somebody just say that that day that martin luther king jr tried to love somebody i want you to say that day that i tried to be right on the war question i want you to be able to say that day that i did try to feed the hungry and i want you to be able to say that day that i did try in my life to close those who  naked we can say all of it with truth about martin luther king jr a great american a great leader a great man and yes a citizen revered respected and honored by the world for he so i'm self not just as an american proud the way was of this nation's promise but also he so i'm self as a part of all mankind may we do our best to live by his example as we remember the said day when his body was taken from us expired the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolutions ten sixty one those in favor say aye those opposed say no in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules to suspend pursuant to close aide of rule twenty proceedings will resume a motion to suspend the rules previously postpone both will be taken on the four in the following order h current resolution three ten by the a's and they h resolution ten or five by the a's and they h resolution ten twenty one by the name of the first other tronic vote will be conducted as a fifteen minute vote remaining electronic vote will be conducted as a five minute vote the unfinished business is is a vote on the motion of the gentleman from illinois mr davis to suspend the rules and agree to h can rest return