little three hundred ninety six sixteen two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended as the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table house will be in order a gentleman from it from new york mr r curie thank you mr speaker mr speaker i sent to the desk a privilege report from the committee on rules for filing under the rule the clerk will report the title reform the process by which such investments are examined for any effect they may have on national security to establish the committee on foreign investment in the united states and for other purposes referred to the house calendar and ordered printed recognize one minute for what purpose does the gentleman from new york without objection the house of please be an order gentleman is recognized for one minute mr speaker i rise to salute a very special constituent of mine on the occasion of his eighty fifth birthday which is today he has been an outstanding son husband father grandfather and great grandfather and he has also been an outstanding public servant had been first and elected to public office in the year one nine hundred forty nine and having been elected to office in seven different decades he served as a town supervisor and mayor a sheriff a member of the new york state commission of correction the more than six hundred forested galaxies and forty four hundred school districts across america including jefferson county in oregon where more than fifty percent of the land is in federal ownership which means the county's community work service program for primarily juvenile offenders will be eliminated under the program juvenile community service work crews remove trash from public lands rehabilitate hiking trails revegetate denuded areas and repair resource damage due to vandalism two thousand and four alone these young people are moved more than one hundred  fifty tons of garbage and more than two miles of old barbed wire fence from b l m lands in fact the bureau of land management named this program the national volunteer award for making a difference on the public lands in two thousand and five it's been very successful in and introducing a new generation to because for us former madras mayor rick allen said loss of these funds will cripple community services my colleagues congress must keep the federal government's promise to timbered communities pass h seventeen time is running out for what purpose does a gentleman from south carolina rise without objection mr speaker is understood overall america's health care facilities face a decline in the quality of their staff but south carolina is graciously blessed with dr james l coleman jr whose mission it is to improve the ways we provide the best and assessable primary preventive health care to folks in our state that lack the means for quality medical care currently serving as chief executive officer of the margaret j weston medical center dr coleman is known for providing a message of diversity in health care he and his staff at the medical center understand that in order to have healthy citizens it is essential to provide affordable health care services with degrees from winthrop central arkansas and a doctorate of education from the university of tennessee knoxville dr coleman is a teacher  crusader crusader for the improvement of lives by the improvement of health services during february's black history month i would like to recognize dr coleman his efforts to provide better health care to underprivileged south carolina citizens has not gone unnoticed for what purpose does the gentleman from california arise without objection gentleman is recognized for one minute mr speaker today community celebrates the birthday of john steinbeck one of the our famous native sons more than silliness raised in and around monterey bay at home in my district this month the national steinbeck center will get the whole community to read one book together the grapes of wrath one of the most best well known to home as of by steinbeck the book is being read across the country as part of any a's big read program designed to bring reading for pleasure back into our lives and since i'm the citizen of monterey county myself i'd like to offer my own participation in this celebration by reading the following passage from the grapes of wrath the people come out of their houses and smell the hot stinging air and cover their noses from it men stood by their fences and looked at the ruined corn drying fast now only a little green showing through the film of dust the men were silent and they did not move the women came out of their houses to stand beside their men to feel the weather this time when men would break the woman study the men's faces secretly for that corn could grow as long as something else remained the children sent exploring senses out to see whether men and women could would break after while the faces of watching men lost their very muse perplexity and became hard and angry and resistant then the women knew that they were safe and there was no break then they asked what will we do in the room men replied i do not know but all was all right the women knew it was all right and watching the children and the watching children knew it was all right the men sat still thinking figuring this is steinbeck at his best are there other one minute if not the chair for the house the following personal requests leaves of absence requested for mr ross of arkansas for today and mr space of ohio for today and tomorrow without objection the requests are granted for what purpose does a gentleman from texas rise mr speaker i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders here too for entered into the following members may be permitted to address the house revise and extend the remarks and include their in extraneous material mr bishop for today for five minutes mr garrett for today for five minutes mr pope for today february twenty eighth march first for five minutes each mr dreier for today and february twenty eighth for five minutes each mr jones today february twenty eighth and march first for five minutes each mr burton today february twenty eighth and march first for five minutes each mr moran for february twenty eighth for five minutes mr burgess today and february twenty eighth for five minutes each without objection gentlemen to new jersey this is speaker i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business in any special orders here too for entered into the following members may be permitted to address the house for five minutes to revise and extend their remarks and include their in extraneous material that is myself is to pull loan for five minutes m under the speaker's announced policy of january eighteenth two thousand and seven and under a previous order of the house the following members are recognized for five minutes each mr pallone of new jersey thank you mr speaker i come to the floor this evening to discuss more recent developments regarding the u s involvement in afghanistan and pakistan the talbot the taliban and al qaida seem to be growing in strength and the evidence shows that they are in the planning stages for a spring offensive this is speaker i have spoken on the floor many times about the forgotten war in afghanistan it was promising to see the bush admin stray ssion finally wake up and bring the issue to the forefront this weekend with vice president dick cheney making a trip to afghanistan and pakistan i was relieved to hear the vice president cheney was not hurt after a deadly suicide bombing took place near the u s military base he was visiting in afghanistan a few hours after the attack a taliban official took credit for the tragic bombing and claimed that it was an attack on the vice president and this incident only underscores the recent resurgence that taliban and al qaida have seen in afghanistan and pakistan the details of vice president cheney's trip to afghanistan and pakistan were kept extremely classified this is in contrast with last year when president bush and secretary of state condi leesa rice both visited pakistan with far less secrecy the increase level of confidentiality for vice president cheney's trip illustrates the growing strength of al qaida in afghanistan and pakistan and shows that the administration is obviously aware of the increased dangers that al qaeda poses in the region during his trip to pakistan the vice president parent lee delivered a stiff message as he said to pakistani president musharraf's the administration will not provide details of the encounter between the two leaders but reports claim that the vice president warned president mush american aid to pakistan could be in jeopardy the vice president is obviously referencing provisions in h r one a bill crafted by democrats in congress that implements the recommendations of the bipartisan nine eleven commission these provisions will end u s military assistance and arms sales licensing to pakistan and less pakistani president certifies that the islam about government makes all possible efforts to end taliban activities in pakistan now president mush responded to these comments from vice president cheney by claiming and i quote that pakistan does not accept dictation from any side or any source it's unacceptable though in my opinion mr speaker for the pakistani president to completely disregard the numerous accounts that show al qaeda training camps flourishing in the western region of his country the pakistani president seems to forget that the us has sent over ten billion dollars in aid to pakistan over the last five years alone it is my opinion that unless president mush s takes necessary steps to eradicate al qaida training camps in pakistan this age should be put to an end it's encouraging to see the bush administration increase the focus on afghanistan and pakistan but more needs to be done to ensure the taliban doesn't reach the levels of power it achieved prior to the us invasion in two thousand and one taliban commanders are already claiming that they have ten thousand fighters and thousands of suicide bombers at their disposal the us and nato must also work to support local elders in towns such as move to colorado where a failed peace deal between town leaders the nato troops has allowed the taliban regime to regain control of the town it's clear that the taliban has regrouped and that peace deal such as the one in moosic how are dangerous and cannot be relied upon without proper support from u s and nato troops furthermore our country must focus the humanitarian assistance we're sending to afghanistan and rural development efforts that give afghan farmers an alternative to the illicit opium trade this is speaker president bush wrongly continues the war in iraq at the expense of the largely forgotten war in afghanistan i urge my colleagues to keep the attention where the real war on terror is happening and that is in afghanistan i yield back this opportunity to emphasize for our colleagues and for the nation as well the necessity of ensuring that our government is operating according to the intent of our founding fathers as a to and then it affirms the authority over most of us to give shoes belong to the states and local governments and the people themselves but before i begin let me express my sincere gratitude to my friend from utah who has led this important education ever in the past and this year as well he has faithfully champeen the notion of a limited effect efficient federal government and continues to fight for the authority granted to his home state and the other forty nine states as well when each was admitted into this most cherished nation i look forward to working with other like minded members of the congress who share the sentiment that our federal government has seized control programs that state governments have traditionally been much more effective in administering i invite my colleagues to consider joining this important effort regularly as well this congressional caucus i strongly believe that this body must begin to focus on the principles delineated in the tenth amendment our founders were precise when they establish our system of government they intended to set up a republic of sovereign self governing states with a small central government operating under clearly defined limited powers dividing sovereignty between the federal government and those the states prevents an unhealthy concentration of powers at any one level of government as james madison in the federalist number fifty one said this arrangement is a double security and protecting the rights of the people throughout the last few generations in particular in the intent of the tenth amendment that of a limited and efficient central government has been fading away there's are those  support a bigger more centralized government they believe a central government run blocker see can make the best decisions for the american people they believe in the public good of higher taxes but on that i strongly disagree as a member of the house on the budget i very much aware of where such faulty reasoning reasoning leads our nation it leads to our current situation a bloated federal government consumed by deficit upwards of forty four hundred billion dollars which in turn delivers power public services now and to be fair much of the spending that recently causes deficit to increase is temporary relief on the gulf coast region and the global war on terror may not show up and bottom line and while this eases the short term picture the bigger problem is still one that must be addressed and if we do not curb this foolish federal spending having now our children will have to pay the price congress you see on almost a daily basis allows our government to grow pushing it further into deficit and we're strictly drifting away from the limits set by our founding fathers know each time a member slides his card to cast a vote he needs to ask himself this one question does the bill that i'm voting for violate the constitution does it take away rights promise to our constituents and put them in the hands of your bureaucracy in washington and said i remind this body that the constitution does not only protect the rights of the people though it also protects the rights of the states and federal is number forty five james madison wrote the powers delegated by the proposed constitution to the federal government are few and defined those which will remain in the state governments are numerous and definite see i've long served in this house long enough to know that it makes our lives easier to home when we come to d c and support increased funding for every conceivable type of program that james madison his colleagues were less concerned about their ability to write glittering press releases than they were in developing and efficient system of government one that would operate at the lowest cost to the people paying it to people at home that is what this caucus is all about and what these weekly information systems are about as well we must turn a critical eye on the federal government this is how we will lower the deficit grow the economy and assure that america remains that beacon on a hill aside from being informational this caucus also seeks to make some specific legislative gains in the name of governmental efficiency and constitutional in here and so we will support legislation that seeks to return power and authority back where it belongs to the states local governments and to the people and so tonight i specifically ask all members to consider supporting the reaffirmation of american independence resolution that will soon be be made in pursuance thereof shall be the supreme law of the land and the judges that every state shut down thereby any things in the constitution or laws of any state for the country notwithstanding this legislation goes in the direction to ensure that all such laws speak out of order without objection thank you mr speaker mr speaker last week british prime minister tony blair announced that more than sixteen hundred british soldiers would be sent home from iraq by recalling troops from iraq the british government has sent a very clear message that increasing the number of troops is not the right strategy in fact the british government has come to the same  many americans have reached almost four years ago we should be ending the military occupation of iraq not expanding it we should be supporting them in women who have served bravely in iraq by sending them home not sending them back for their fourth or their fifth tour of duty after only a very few months of spending time with their families the british government's decision to scale back its military commitment in iraq should have been another important wake up call to president bush however the president has continued his course to go it alone regardless of the staggering cost to our nation president bush has drained america's reservoir of goodwill by ignoring the facts on the ground the advice of his generals and the will of the american public by stubbornly pursuing the same misguided policies over and over again he has left it to congress to stop him two weeks ago the house took an important first step by overwhelmingly passing a bipartisan resolution condemning the president's decision to send more than twenty thousand additional american soldiers to the front lines i commend the democratic leadership and i commend my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for having the courage to stand up to the president and t opposes escalation this vote however is only the first step now that the house has stood up to disagree with the president we must use this consensus to take on the urgent job of bringing our troops safely home as a member of the foreign affairs committee and a co founder of the out of iraq caucus i've introduced a comprehensive and detailed plan to end the occupation while ensuring that we achieve security and stability in iraq my bill h r five oh wait the bring the troops home and iraq's sovereignty restoration act is now now has forty seven co sponsors eight will provide for a fully funded withdrawal of u s troops and contractors from iraq within a six month period during the time of that six month passage our troops will return home to receive the full health care benefits they deserve because we owe them we owe them no less for their sacrifices and while they're there coming home we will be putting that those laws into place ensuring they get their benefits also during that six months or thrall period our government will accelerate the training and equipment equipping of iraqi security forces and if requested by the iraqi government we will work with the international community to provide a stabilization force to and hacked in hand iraq security additionally my bill would prohibit the establishment of permanent u s bases in iraq would return control of iraq's oil resources to the iraqi people the only way to restore stability to iraq is to return the country to the iraqis and we must work with our allies to achieve this but when the bush administration in spite of all the advice to the contrary decides to escalate the occupation and the british government takes the sensible path of a crawl they both can be right mr speaker we cannot afford to wait for the president to realize his mistake too many brave men and brave women have died and suffered to continue this occupation we must stand up we must demand we must bring our troops home that is how we can protect our troops i yield back the remainder of my time say well billy billy's mom lets him go and my mom would then say i know but i'm not billy's mom and i don't care what billy's mom lets billy do well that was an important lesson that i learned unfortunately some of our courts have failed to learn that specific lesson and that is why i feel honored to be able to stand here and talk about the reaffirmation of american independence resolution which my good friend the single gentleman from new jersey briefly introduced in his in his in his remarks this bill states that judicial determinations regarding the meaning of the laws of the united states should not be based in whole or in part on judgments laws or pronunciations of foreign institutions unless those foreign judgment laws and pronounce and pronounce pronouncements inform an understanding of the original meaning of the constitution and states now why would be do this is only sounds logical we're doing it simply because one supreme court majority admitted that they refer to the laws of other countries and international stories as instructive for its interpretation of our eighth amendment another case the court once again took into account the european court of human rights in establishing the belief systems that they came up with that you may ask once again the so what does that mean justice scalia made a good answer on what that means it lends itself as he said to manipulation in fact it invites manipulation if i am a judge who wants and some are some way to overturn a decision i need some reason for i have to sound in some way like an attorney i need to sound cite something you can't cite something that is american because what i'm trying to do is overturn two centuries of american precedent so you find some intelligent man living in zimbabwe or poland or somewhere else in the world and cite his examples and it looks very lawyerly it is of itself i mean if precedent is extremely important in our in our system of justice having a standard that does not change is important for the judge so that he realizes the standard he uses in case a and case b will always be the same it is even more important for citizens for individuals so they know whether they go before judge one or judge two it will once again be the same standard that will be used in that situation when we break those presidents when we allow foreign precedents to take over what we are simply doing is opened up the process for arbitrary and capricious decisions to be made we are not in the process as one one witness once said of evolving our standards of decency as a mark of the progress of a maturing society because as justice scalia again said sometimes society does not mature it simply rots and the purpose of the bill of rights was to prevent change not to encourage it so that you leave people guessing as to what is appropriate what is politically correct and what is indeed legal satchel paige used to talk to young pitchers when they were trying to learn how to pitch and being too cute at the plate by hitting the corners and were walking people and he simply said throw strikes home page home plate don't  allow the court system to base their decisions on foreign opinions as opposed to american precedent that home plate moves and home plate moves in a way that hurts citizens of the united states now there are some lawyers maybe supreme court justices and others who would say that my comparison of my mom's reasoning to foreign law used in american court would be inaccurate or over simplistic perhaps so because after all they say didn't our founding fathers look to foreign law when they were forming the constitution if you read the federalist papers you'll see a lots of references to the swiss system and the germans this summit full of it but the issue at hand is once the constitution is assemblages then our job is to try and understand what it meant when it was adopted search for some hook to find an alternate opinion for personal reasons or personal pique so now that is the key we shouldn't care what billy's mom or foreign courts let billy do because our court is not billy's mom without objection gentlewoman is recognized for five minutes thank you mr speaker i am deeply saddened to stand before our house today to announce the tragic death of detective keith address all of the toledo police department and offer deepest condolences on behalf of our entire community to his wife danielle and their children detective dress all who is only thirty five years old was fatally shot on the morning of wednesday february twenty first while  routine patrol in north toledo the first toledo police officer to lose his life in service to our community since one nine hundred seventy in reality though there is nothing routine or common about detective dre extraordinary service or that of the men and women with whom he served every day detective dress all sacrificed his safety so that he might protect all of ours as a member of the vice squad detective dressed all in gage  dangerous work that frequently placed him in high risk environments he did this not for glory or praise but to serve and protect residents from all walks of life charlotte bronte poem life teaches us that what though death at times steps in and calls our best away what those ferals seems to win or hope a heavy sway yet hope again elastic springs on conquered though she fell still buoyant are her golden wings still strong to bear us well the day of trial bare for gloriously victoriously can courage quell despair and the fateful day when lives were changed forever the painful call went out attention all units detective keith dress all has answered his final call the toledo blade newspaper reports today the final radio call to the slain toledo police vice detective a taped broadcast played at the conclusion of his funeral service mass yesterday broke somber faces into tears the impact of this terrible tragedy has touched every corner of our community and beyond we have all been moved by keith tressel sacrifice commitment and courage as well as that of his family on behalf of the citizens of toledo ohio and all of the lives detective dress feel has touched i offer our deepest sympathy to detective dresses loved ones colleagues and friends made their faith sustain them through the difficult journey ahead as they remember the words of song forty six verses one and two god is our refuge and our strength a very present help in trouble therefore we will not fear though the earth be removed and though the mountains speak eriq into the midst of the sea made their strength as a family and their memories of their husband father brother nephew uncle grandson son and friend sustain them as they mourn his loss and celebrate his selfless legacy of patriotism purpose and service to his fellow citizens his children should be comforted by the knowledge that life is not measured in years but in deeds detective keith dressed the lived as a man for other despite the danger and sacrifice to his own may he rest in peace in god's house is an commerce later this week in our subcommittee on health we'll be having a hearing called covering the uninsured through the eyes of a child part two now having sat through part one of this hearing a hearing dealing with the reauthorization of chip funding this year i really think the puddle of the hearing should be covering the uninsured through the guise of a child because some deception is implied in that title indeed i believe some deception is taking place within the s chip program now most of my colleagues in this body having heard from medical professionals and hospital groups this past month up here on the hill are aware of the made for reauthorizing the children's health insurance program this year it's a good program it's provided needed health insurance to millions of needy children across our country and both the house and the senate are discussing funding options and we're concerned about the rising cost of health care the rising costs of health care in general and in particular specifically the rising cost for the s chip program forty states are going to expect budgetary shortfalls in their s chip program for some of those states they're their own worst enemy they're the reason for their own problem they are using children's funding to cover adults in fiscal year zero five the s chip program the adult role money in the s chip program exceeded the number of children enrolled in the program in four states in arizona we had over one hundred thirteen thousand adults in the program and just over eighty eight thousand children in the state of michigan over one hundred one thousand adults and under ninety thousand children in minnesota thirty five thousand adults just over five thousand children in wisconsin one hundred  eight thousand adults just over fifty seven thousand children now why does this matter if you look at what it costs to cover a child versus what it costs to cover an adult for every dollar you spend on the adult you only need to spend about sixty cents on the child that generally healthier a dollar spent on children's health insurance goes a lot farther because children tend to be a healthier population  and if you provide them a modicum of preventive care they are going to be healthier still after all if we can attenuate a disease in its early stages in childhood will avoid the larger expenditures of allowing that disease to go on unchecked over years and think of a number of diseases that would fall into this category obesity childhood obesity immediately comes to mind an area where we need to devote significant time energy and resources but if we're spending the money elsewhere we're not going to be able to spend it on the children and the real deception in my mind is that this is a method of expanding a single payer government run health care system through the s chip program and again that's the vert but the entire concept of why this program was created in the first place almost ten years ago i would ask my colleagues to remember a dollar spent on a non pregnant adult is a dollar that is not spent on a needy child  should prioritize spending on needy children and live within their annual allocations instead of looking to other states from which to take their monies when their programs run a shortfall to ensure that states are not using children specific funding for non pregnant adults i've introduced h r ten thirteen the s chip equity act for principals to the bill it prohibits future h approval of any state waiver submitted by a state for s chip coverage of non pregnant adults the bill terminates portions of state waivers and a chance says has approved that extend coverage to non pregnant adults states must eliminate coverage of non pregnant adults by january one two thousand and eight and if the coverage of a non pregnant adult was part of a multipurpose waiver those components not dealing with the coverage of the non pregnant adult will remain in effect for the duration of the waiver s chip has been a success story for so many states for so many children i'm asking you consider supporting my bill h r ten thirteen i want to remind all members of warmest thanks to my dear friend and colleague the gentle lady from illinois who let the debate on the floor today in my absence on my bill that is recognizing this month as american heart month i was told that she did a great job and i am very grateful to her for that and traveling from california to washington sometimes quite a task and we appreciate our friends in standing and for us mrs baker i like to speak briefly  support of this resolution as heart disease as an issue of great importance to our nation's health expression or women who many have felt for years that breast cancer was the number one killer for women for over forty years the federal government has recognized february as american heart month and during this time we have made great strides in fighting heart disease in this country new medical innovations have improved the treatment of heart disease and public education campaigns have made americans more aware of the importance of prevention not the least heart disease is still the number one killer of americans both men and women one and three americans has some form of heart disease whether it be high blood pressure coronary heart disease heart failure stroke or congenital cardiovascular defects and while men are more likely to suffer from heart disease in their lives women are not far behind while women may have a lower incidence of heart disease than men women with heart disease are less likely to receive the proper preventative diagnostic and treatment interventions this could be due to the fact that medical professionals consider heart disease to be primarily an affliction of m and are therefore slower to recognise that in women additionally women suffer from a heart attack or angina are more likely to have a typical symptoms in fact women with a typical heart attack symptoms who are sent home on diagnosis from the hospital are about twice as likely to die from a heart attack as individuals who are at mit another problem with managing heart disease in women is that most of the research on coronary heart disease has been exclusively or primarily done on men as a result test and treatments developed from these studies may be less effective in women this is why there is an urge to test more women and do more research on coronary heart disease with women mr speaker american heart month is a time to remember how far we've come although as well as how far we need to go heart disease is not just a man's disease and one of the next big front tears and battling heart disease and bobs improving its management and women additionally men and women alike need to remember that preventing heart disease early is preferable to treating it later a healthy diet