that every marine could see that picture would last for a movie to last for three of those heroes including harlem block admiral chester nimitz among the men who fought on uncommon valor was a common virtue harlem block desire to fight for freedom was a common trait for those warriors who thought the flag was worth dying for this memorial day we remember a man like harlem block the other four hundred thousand of the greatest generation who died in the world war two and all those who died in america and for america's service we shall never fully never fully never because we will never forget the americans and that's just the way it is for what purpose was gentleman from kentucky ri acted on behalf of our miners and it's critical that the house take immediate action and pass h r five three eight nine a comprehensive mining bill that will not only crack down on negligence operators but save lives this body shouldn't risk another miners life but failing that i call on all of my colleagues to reach across party speaker hastert publicans are committed to your securing our nation's borders in order to secure that our citizens remain safe and secure one of my republican colleagues from virginia recently introduced an amendment to the national defense author members of our armed forces to assist with border protection under certain circumstances the democrats like to say they're working to keep our country secure but they voted no on this commonsense amendment and this is not the first time they've voted against important border security and national security measures republicans voted to pass a major border security bill this past december but democrats voted no on the bill republicans voted to pass the real i d act to make sure that people who receive driver's licenses are here gentleman from arkansas r war heroes community leaders continued working to improve the economic conditions in july at nineteen forty six of the one room schools in the area moved to that gillette district sixty six and the town held its first claim southward to its money for the local screw and youth activities this event evolved over the years into one of the arkansas most popular political events and now receives nice gentle and worldwide attention the town continued to grow during the on our history and a price a time capsule and from city hall to preserve our story for generations to come i asked my colleagues to join me in congratulating my hometown of gillette arkansas on this league and they've got milestone scientists were the first to derive and culture human embryonic stem cells in a lab embryonic stem cells open up the possibility of dramatic new medical treatments transplantation therapies  on august two thousand and one the hope and promise of this research was greatly curtailed by this administration to severe restrictions on federal research and research dollars last year i was proud to fight for we can no longer tie the hands of our scientists we need to unlock the promise that this research holds thank you mr speaker i yield back for what purposes john from south carolina ross without object which is bigger in two thousand the u s and russia agreed to dispose of thirty four metric tons of surplus weapons grade plutonium but turning it into a mixed oxide fuel for existing commercial nuclear reactors recently the future of this program which is vital to our national security has been in doubt knowledge surely been delays but i'm confident the language previously agreed to by the house will allow the us march programme to move forward regardless of the pace of the russian program willing forward in this unilateral fashion makes good sense i'm proudest of in riverside in my district has been selected for this important project eliminating the march program in the energy and water appropriations act of two thousand and seven is wrong not only for my state but the nation and the world humans made quality thoughts clear but i respectfully disagree with his conclusions and will not be able to support any legislation that effectively turn south carolina into a dumping ground that's while i'm out be able to support h r fifty four twenty seven when it comes to a million veterans and their families have sacrificed for this country yet the majority continues to underfund vital mental health and bereavement counseling the growing numbers of minorities in the military and their families is especially important to no canceled in the u s army and one in seven marines are of latino extraction seven percent of the u s navy is asian asian pacific islander three percent of the navy marine corps is native american but only forty three percent of the v a staff is trained to implement culturally linguistically appropriate programs and only twenty four the facilities have translated materials and languages that are used by our servicemen and their families i urge my colleagues to support a bill i introduced h r five thousand and seven to ensure that veterans and their forces earlier this year last patient in iraq answered god's call and gave to a grateful nation his most treasured daft his life colleagues not like the many not unlike the many brave men and women have might finally be willing to talk about ending their nuclear weapons programs this opportunity raises many questions can we depend on iran to negotiate in good faith is iran truly ready to announce terrorism and what will be the do we have the courage the foresight the strength of will to seize this opportunity will we be brave enough to talk with iran and risk a diplomatic failure or will we be so afraid to talk that we would risk war for what purposes the gentleman from florida gentleman direct the national one minute thank you mr speaker mr speaker ninety four percent of the felons arrested for illegally smuggling aliens across the mexico border near san diego are never prosecuted by the u s attorney this is according to a shocking internal border patrol report just revealed by the associated press are you surprised i told the attorney general about this problem on april sixth and i spoke on the house floor about it on april twenty seventh on my recent trip to the mexico border border patrol agents in california told me that they have arrested the same coyote twenty times but they're not prosecuted the pathetic failure of the u attorney in san diego to prosecute alien smugglers who've been arrested many times is a demoralizing slap in the face to border patrol agents who risk their lives every day this us attorney has however recently prosecuted someone for selling a mar our baseball card with a forged signature here's a tip stop worrying about baseball cards and start worrying about enforcing our immigration laws mr speaker i yield back the balance of my time for what purpose was gentleman from michigan r vote late last wednesday democrats united against this budget republicans were forcing major cuts in education veterans health and environment programs all told they could continue to shower millionaires with tax breaks  never left the republican budget passed two days later they saw the implications of that vote when the small group of house republicans stripped fifty million dollars out of the military construction and veterans appropriations bill because the funding did not fit into the budget that they passed two days before house republicans have nobody to blame but themselves the other ones who continue to put the needs of the wealthiest few above the needs of our veterans our military personnel our children and our environment the sad fact is that what america witnessed last friday afternoon will be repeated over and over again here on the house floor and tell republicans finally realize that their fiscal policies are out of sync with this nation mr speaker back what purpose was a gentle from new hampshire rushing towards the house one minute without objection thank you very much mr speaker mr speaker today i rise to pay tribute to pam coker of new hampshire the recipient of the two thousand and six congressman joseph moakley award for templer a public service pam coker service extends over three decades and includes serving in elected office at the local level and working for elected officials at the federal level for many years of service coupled with her strong working relationships came in very handy last summer when the maine and new hampshire congressional delegations were faced with the daunting task of convincing the brac commission to keep the portsmouth naval shipyard open pam's leadership in bringing together a broad community based coalition was one of the driving factors in our success pam credits are driving forces wanting to make government work for people she stands for hard work is a problem solver knows how to bring people together to work to a common goal i congratulate and thank pamelor years of hard work and dedication to new hampshire new england and our great nation thank you mr speaker america had a problem with illegal immigration it said we had about three million illegals here in the country and in that debate many people said that we needed to provide amnesty to those who were working here because we couldn't deport all of them and our country needed the labor and in exchange for granting amnesty congress and the american people were promised that the federal government would begin with weigh in for our border the a legal aliens they got amnesty all right and many became citizens even though they violated the law to get here but the federal government did not secure our border and the result of that action and asked to made it twelve million more illegal aliens in our country today and some are again calling for amnesty with the problem or promise for stronger border control but the american people are not buying it and neither is the majority of that's how the american people in a majority of this house are demanding border security first and as the who said we w again no amnesty i yield back for what purpose was a gentleman from south carolina r savannah river site two weeks ago we were grateful when three hundred ninety six members of congress voted for the defense authorization bill and approved a measure which funds in dealings the us russia marks programs after celebrating this tremendous victory we were extremely disappointed to learn that there was an effort to eliminate all funding for the mox program while i respect my colleagues i strongly disagree with their decision and will continue to fight for this critical funding to be restored in the coming weeks i believe the mox program is the most viable way for america to reduce its excess plutonium supply and we must move forward with our nonproliferation commitments this weekend future storage in south carolina in conclusion god bless our troops and we'll never forget september eleventh for what purposes the gentleman from tennessee r stringent controls be placed on the management of personal data we also want to help those a better and to monitor their credit to be started that no one has stolen their identity a government has an obligation to these men and war in iraq no doubt be nonstop media coverage questioning president bush's motives for going to war have contributed greatly to these poll numbers but where is the coverage of the progress being made in iraq a recent two hundred  thirty page pentagon report analyzing thousands of iraqi documents and interviews with officials from saddam hussein hussein's regime is extremely in lightning the report shows saddam well established support of terror activity dating back to nine hundred ninety four this includes the establishment of terror training camps within iraq's borders and one document shows saddam's son uday coordinating a martyrdom operation called bless the july targets in the west russian president putin has publicly stated that russian special services had received information that saddam's officials were preparing attacks on the u s and he reported this to the u s mr speaker it's time the american people hear more about the facts that supported our decision to go to war we must maintain our resolve to fight extremist terrorists and we must manage the job in iraq i yield back for what purposes john from texas we passed last week provides for a twenty seven billion dollar increase in non emergency discretionary spending over physical year two thousand and six when we spent more than we did in physical year two thousand and five status quo is made or what a novel idea for the government decide what it's actually mean thank you to clause side of rule twenty the chair will postpone further proceedings today on the motion to suspend the rules on placement of children across state lines and for other purposes to the rule the gentleman from california mr harper and the gentleman from california mr starr will control twenty minutes the chair recognizes been an outstanding advocate for children in foster care as chairman of the human resources subcommittee as a longtime colleague in this body and is someone who shares his passion for helping children i would like took the lead in providing one hundred million dollars in new funds over the next five years to better equip courts and ensure collaboration among judges and social workers we also added an additional two hundred million dollars over the next five years for improve services for families including preventive services the protect children and keep them from having to enter foster care and the first place importantly we paid for this new funding by ensuring state comply with federal law and don't miss and other federal funds i believe these new resources will go a long way towards better protecting children while these are important steps we also must do more to ensure children are not needlessly linger bring in foster care or the legislation before us today would require states to expedite the state placement of foster and adoptive children in the homes across state lines currently these place mistake an average of one year a home is appropriate for a child the legislation authorizes up to ten million dollars per year for incentive payments to states to complete home studies in a timely manner ask my associates to vote for this legislation as the gentleman from california mr herder is so eloquently described this will help foster children across the country but i think an easier way to look at it is here in the district of columbia area where we're a subway ride from three states maryland  virginia d c we'll find that juvenile judge in one area may have a place with for a child with a relative or an acceptable foster family in another area as they move from maryland and virginia  durable a lot of technical details in terms of speeding up the process so that approval could be done across the state lines and it calls on states to update their  their requirements for approving the transfer route children across state lines into foster care probably will help older children less than twenty percent chance of placement and we need to do better in this bill will help but we've got one hundred thousand children ready for adoption in this congress  congress with speaker to pass that bill and at this point mr speaker i would reserve the balance of my time the gentleman from california mr harper child or a parent's life and filling it with love and laughter is one of the most wonderful gifts in the world as to why some adoptive mother i never gave you a first hand and i also believe that it is our duty as legislators to work with adoption and foster care advocates to break down barriers to bring more children and families together today we have the opportunity to knock down a barrier to improve their lives right here in america right now children are waiting as long as a year for paperwork to go through the system before they can be placed with a family mr speaker paperwork standing in the way of a permanent loving home four hundred thousand lingering at risk there is no excuse and we can change it this legislation will expedite the state's placement of children into homes even across state lines by instituting a sixty day deadline and giving financial incentives for states to process the paperwork quickly i commend the gentleman from texas mr darrow for his leadership on this american portman issue about advocate for foster kids has never brought us together as any issue does the gentle lady from ohio with whom i have often disagreed on other political issues and i note the presence of mr de lay of texas with who district committee when there used to be one but with mr holmes norton of the district of columbia and he was instrumental in creating a family court in the district of columbia which put as most others states or done some other things with legislation in texas with which i have a little trouble but other than that he has created a court here that helps children and i want to remark on one other thing that in close proximity and share with babysitting and treat and when i talk about sharing teaching i'm also aware that in this area of real bad in texas the distinguished gentleman from texas children in this country and i hope that we can continue to on a bipartisan way unify our efforts here in the house to make every day for every child in this country more healthy with better education and a better opportunity to develop into citizens of which we could all be proud and at that point i'd like to three minutes to the gentleman from california mr cardoza the gentleman from california is recognized for three minutes thank you mr speaker  house for his tireless work on behalf of foster children and disadvantaged youth and and i very much appreciate knowing him and the work we've done together this is not our first effort to work together on a bill and and i appreciate mr de work in this house thank you sir as members from opposing side of the political spectrum we are coming together today to do fabulous work as an adoptive parent myself of foster children i have seen firsthand the glaring problems of the system currently facing this nation at any time there are roughly five hundred thousand children in foster care in the united states moving from placement to placement often living out of a suitcase or even worse the symbol of foster children which is a black garbage bag hoping that one day a loving family will welcome them into their home h r fifty four zero three the safe  placement of foster children act addresses one specific extremely important aspect of the system of adoption across state lines often an impediment to foster children's placement in a permanent home occurs when a child from one state is adopted by a family from another the state where the family resides must complete a home study in order to verify that the placement is safe secure and ready for the new child often these types of home studies are a low priority for the state where the adoptive family resides fifty four zero three would authorize a monetary incentive for the completed study to be used for the adoption related expense of the children this bill seeks to help our already needy neglected children without a voice who desperately want a permanent home something that most of all of us have always taken for granted they want to go to school the same school with the same friends for more than a few months they want to someone to talk to a man at night and help them with their homework they want to stop living out of a back black garbage bag that doubles as a suitcase and have a real home with a bad they can call their own over the years i have met numerous children from all over the country who are in various stages of foster care i have heard great stories where children are reunited with their biological parents were placed in loving adoptive homes but i've also heard of other stories that just sickened me one boy i met at a i met this young boy and he had been placed in foster care at an early age had been moved in and out of seven different foster homes up and down the state of california as you can imagine he grew resentful from the harsh life he was forced to live he was also separated from brothers and sisters who love love very much finally he was placed in a family that saw him through saw through his rough exterior and wanted to adopt him this young boy was convinced that he had finally found a real home with devoted  always dreamed of however soon after he was placed with his family the father in the foster family was transferred to north carolina and the family was forced to move unfortunately they couldn't get the paperwork processed between california and north carolina in order to facilitate the adoption so this young boy was left behind in california and is now residing in a group home it is our job as members of congress to be a voice for these children and make sure their dreams are recognized we owe it to them to streamline the adoption and so many others that we heard from twelve kerry and the tragedies that we see that take place in these foster care children not only being transferred seven times as the gentleman from california mentioned but maybe fifty or sixty in in the united states house of representatives and i am incredibly honored to do this piece of legislation particularly at this time it shows that there is strong justice piece of legislation but for foster kids and abuse and exact black i'm used abused and neglected children around the united states mr cardoza thank you for those words and your words show your deep feelings and understanding for the plight of foster children in this country and how we are trying to make their life just just a little bit better and i appreciate mr macdermot support for this legislation too and everybody's work on it i particularly appreciate dr cassie bevan who's been on my staff for a long time who has been the leading force in a lot of the work that we've been able to do in the good work that we've been able to do in this house of representatives i prayed particular tribute to my wife who has a deep deep abiding love for these children and what their future holds this bill the safe and timely in permanent homes across state lines the current system is an insult to any notion of compassion or justice that animates our national commitment to child welfare children are moved from home to home home they're looking for some strong and safe and permanent homes we have one child and as in real band that was mentioned by mr spock mr start that is seventeen years old got our broken debasing foster care system they have foster and adoptive families out of state that are more than willing to provide them a permanent safe and loving home and yet this system as inefficient and backward as any government program typically holds abused or neglected children in the perdition of government foster care for a school year longer than i placed in state an extra year do you realize what a year manged to a child is for ever just because a second government bureaucracy that operates without deadlines or neglect and violence and uncertainty and fear there is no justification or excuse for such monstrous inequality the child welfare system exists for these children and must be organized around fourteen days to approve that home it also creates a financial incentive of fifteen hundred dollars for states that complete their home study in thirty days or less for our society has a moral obligation to provide are abused and neglected by their parents or others and despite the best intentions our society is too often failing to do so this bill will not instantly make the life good for abused and neglected children in our society but it can help make it better and that mr speaker is worth the vote of every member of this body so i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and just take one small step toward alleviating the burden of our on behalf of foster children and on behalf of adoption everyone in this body understands that long term commitment that the gentleman from texas has made on this issues i suspect that few outside this body along long part part of the life that you've lived the average now for children who are going into foster or adoptive families across state lines is an extra year this legislation tries to eliminate that year this legislation tries to make it more possible for children to be placed with families as soon as possible rather than longer than absolutely necessary  this legislation is on the floor today as many before and have banned because of mr de lay's commitment and his family's commitment to the lives of children the lives of children are dramatically changed when someone gets an opportunity to care about them fortunately for the laws of the country tom de lay has always cared about children for the individual children that will be impacted by this bill  their opportunity comes quicker the loving attention comes quicker i appreciate the comments that mr stark is made i appreciate the work that mr delay is not i'm sure our colleagues today the legislation a lot of have a lot of life experience that we bring to congress i know sometimes the general public doesn't believe that we do many of us are lawyers and sometimes that's looked upon disparagingly by the general public but in my practice i dealt with the foster system and i wasn't very pleased unfortunately it didn't work out as well as it should have for the children when i was a state senator we had debate about our foster system in adoption law and how we were treating children as chattel the legal term for a possession this bill helped move us away from that attitude and help us move toward treating children as the human beings that they are and the valued human beings who are in need of love and nurturing that they are i rise in support of this bill the safe and timely interstate placement of foster children act it will expedite the state the placement of foster adoptive children into homes across state line currently these type of placements take an additional year on top of all the years that the poor child has already spent in foster care the result of delaying safe placement the place safe placement have terrible implications for children the laser  really long we should not exist and psychologists have stressed the importance of placing children in safe and loving environments in a timely manner the sooner child is part of a safe and secure family the sooner that's how it will thrive whether it be a with a family  another loving family that best interests of that child dictate permanency among other things this bill will require courts to notify any foster parents productive parents relative caregivers of the child and any court proceeding to be held a lack of security that they get that security that they get that security center and its safe and secure a loving home will be back generally these times expire in the chair with advice and gentleness california has three and three quarters minutes is speaker we can improve the lives of abused and neglected children in this nation one of the powers that we have the federal well child welfare program is a lifeline we don't often use in my view ano we know is legislators and the system needs reform we saw around katrina very much youngsters were spread across the country and fell between the cracks in a whole variety of situations that we know as parents the vulnerable want vulnerable want and need only what our own children want and need to be loved cherished and protected today we have an opportunity to extend our hand a take hold of vulnerable children and we should take it h r fifty four zero three proposal mr de lay of texas takes a step in the right direction it's been here before i've supported it before and i'm proud to do that again today  as a ranking member of the human resources subcommittee i believe children come first and there is no such thing as a political divide if we can better protect and nurture vulnerable children in america i stand or to support m lay and urge the house to unanimously passed this legislation specifically this bill strives to safely speed the placement of children in foster care or adoptive homes across state lines when there is considered this is considered an appropriate thing to do this is very important because today there are a number of barriers that prevent the timely placement of children in homes across state lines we're a very mobile population and laws that used to be seem to make sense really do not today and with that's why we need this bill they include an overly long time to conduct home studies to ensure the safety of children obtaining criminal background checks on perspective foster care and adoptive parents and adequate state resources and often a low priority assigned to interstate placement of foster and adoptive children it's that latter that's really the problem this bill creates meaningful incentives for states to address these barriers and i urge my colleagues to support this initiative it is meaningful legislation that is not symbolic it has some real power to change things but it's more than that by passing this bill we recognize the heroic efforts of countless americans across this country foster parents and the caseworkers who deal with them and the many others who strive to help kids who are in need by passing this legislation and we also rightly honor the leadership in fighting for vulnerable children by mr tom de lay has made a difference and it is no surprise that he keeps fighting to protect and defend children all too often people come together and build a complete home for a family one week now why can't we find a good safe loving home for children in two months it's important we do the latest in our family's been through two home studies in our is an important step out that will ensure a timely and save homes for children this bill would help speed up the interstate adoption process so that children can be placed in permanent loving homes more quickly i thank my colleagues across the aisle gentleman from california mr stark and others for their work on this bipartisan legislation and i thank the distinguished gentleman from texas mr present having voted in the affirmative the rules are suspended the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table going to cause a to rule twenty proceedings that will resume of the questions previously postponed votes will be taken the following order ordering the previous question on the house resolution eight thirty two by the n h s adopting house resolution eight thirty two