the speaker's rooms washington d c december fourth two thousand and seven i hereby appoint the honorable tim holding track to speaker per ten per day signs nancy pelosi speaker of the house of representatives lord of heaven and earth darkness descends upon us as the days grow shorter and the cold chasen's us to withdraw inside before us the light we long for the very promise of change creates expectation by the first hints of your dawn banish all fear and hesitation may those who live on the margins of america's rich blessings have peace and prosperity to strengthen us with your mighty on that this congress may be unified in lifting your people mr speaker i rise today to recognize and think the blue cross blue shield of south carolina foundation for the hard work on behalf of the citizens of south carolina the purpose of the blue cross blue shield foundation is to promote the health and well being of economically disadvantaged south carolinians through expanded access to quality and affordable health care through the warding of grants the foundation provides necessary resources to free clinics health education programs and school nursing programs realizing that it's often children and young adults most adversely affected by adequate health care the foundation focuses on providing grant money to services that will assist children and adolescents who are either uninsured or under insured this year they have embarked on a statewide tour to recognize one point six million dollars in grants they will be rewarding this is part of over seven million dollars in grants have awarded since two thousand and three i want to thank gentleman from virginia writes that objection thank you mr speaker this is day sixty five that sixty five days so far that our veterans have not had the use of the increased funding for their benefits and health care that's eighteen and a half million dollars a day not able to be used this bill has been done for months and the president has already agreed to sign it but instead of moving the bill forward the democratic leadership in congress chose to adjourn early for the thanksgiving holiday i'm calling on the speaker to pass this bill and i call on all americans to contact their representatives and tell the democratic leadership to send a clean that trans appropriation bill to the president now our veterans our heroes we must provide all possible benefits and health care for our veterans now of gentleman from florida ri without objection that you speak i rise today to honor the life and accomplishments of a terrific member former congressman henry hyde he's often recognized for his wisdom and his eloquence of speaking but frankly there were some other sides of him that were very precious he was a man a quick wit and a keen sense of humor to which i was always a willing audience above all he was passionately committed to protecting improving the lives of americans all americans both born and the unborn he was in effect a pro life advocates through prohibiting federal funding of abortions with the hyde amendment and his advocacy for the ban on partial birth abortions conservative estimates indicate that there are about two million americans who are alive today as a direct result of his work henry hyde leaves behind a legacy that inspires and challenges those of us who remain behind today my deepest condolences and sympathy to his family and may god bless henry hyde so many of the vans this time for what purpose of gentleman from ohio writes without objection thank you mr speaker i'd like to take a moment today to recognize him culberson and all of the members of the shabbiest western hills chapter of the military order of the purple heart chapter thirty six twenty the primary mission of the military order of the purple heart is to foster an environment of goodwill and camaraderie among wounded combat veterans to promote patriotism and to provide service to all veterans and their families tim colbert's than a vietnam veteran and purple heart recipient himself has spent decades advocating on behalf of its fellow veterans and his service with the military or the purple heart makes him a great asset to our whole community in two thousand mr coburn was instrumental in the establishment of chapter thirty six twenty and his dedication and patriotism were recognized earlier this year at the annual national purple heart convention where he was named the top american ism officer in the united states and honor he truly deserves the sense of spirit patriotism and generosity exhibited by the members of chapter thirty six twenty reflects the dedication enthusiasm and commitment of their american isam officer tim culver city gives me great pleasure to recognize him for his accomplishments and i congratulate him on receiving this national award and i thank him for his contributions to all the months of drumbeat urging that we take a more aggressive posture toward iran mentioned by the president of a potential world war three the assumptions the assertions by the white house that iran is aggressively pursuing a nuclear weapons program we now find that as with iraq this was not true but differently from what happened with iraq this time those professional courageous civil servants and our national intelligence agencies stood up to and tema dacian from the white house and spoke the truth objectively and detailed it with facts we're very proud of them all the more reason why we should not yield to the president's threats to furlough over two hundred thousand civilian employees and contractors just before christmas unless the congress approves an out of fifty billion dollars and war spending this to speaker we need to stick to our guns we've approved  r fifty nine billion dollars in defense spending that's enough gentleman's time has expired thank you mr speaker the person gentleman from louisiana rice without objection when it comes to national energy policy here we go again in january the democratic leadership promised to work across party lines to come up with a sound comprehensive energy bill that would address americans anxieties about dramatically high gas prices and escalating home heating cost however the democratic energy proposals have lacked any substance to outline a blueprint for increasing our domestic supply make no mistake we must boost our domestic energy supply america the american people want stable prices at the pump and we can begin to address these problems but we can congress must make reasoned in a g policy by promoting a level playing field for for technologies diversifying inner g supplies and increasing our domestic opportunities we can harness our ingenuity and natural resources to return to relieve our current difficulties the american people expect more from congress we must increase our supply without overburdening in or g producers with with with  honorable the speaker house of representatives madam this is to inform you that i have sent a letter to illinois governor rod r baboy a bitch informing him that i am resigning my position as the united states representative for the fourteenth district of illinois effective ten fifty nine p m central standard time november twenty sixth two thousand and seven madam speaker is in a high honor to serve in the house of representatives for almost twenty one years i am grateful to the people of illinois for giving me that honor let me also thank you madam speaker for the many courtesies you have afforded me as a former speaker during the past year and i wish you and all my colleagues god's blessing as you continue in your service for what purposes gentlemen rise ask unanimous consent to address the house for a one minute without objection as a speaker i rise today to pay tribute to the university of hawaii my alma mater and to congratulate as football team for an undefeated season coach june jones and the entire warriors team deserves recognition for all that they have accomplished this season and their perfect record of twelve wins and no losses is the best in the school's history and they are the champions of the western heisman trophy i'm holding football side by coach doing jones and co brennan and i keep them prominently displayed in my office in d c as reminders of the warriors success i joined the rest of the aloha state  of the animal the speaker house of representatives madam pursuant to the permission granted in clause to a job role two of the roles of the u s house of representatives and the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on november sixteenth two thousand and seven at three thirty four p m the senate passed senate sixteen seventy nine senate twenty one sixty eight senate twenty one ten senate twenty to ninety senate twenty one seventy four in senate twenty two seventy two senate agreed to senate concurrent resolution fifty five and senate concurrent resolution fifty six and the senate passed with an amendment h r twenty seven sixty one the senate passed without amendment r fifty h r four sixty five h r thirty five seventy two h r thirty four forty six h r thirty three eighty two h r thirty three twenty five h r thirty three zero eight h r thirty five thirty h r thirty five eighteen h r thirty three zero seven h r thirty two ninety seven h r twenty two seventy six h r twenty eighty nine r for sixty five h r twenty eighty nine h r twenty two seventy six h r thirty two ninety seven h r thirty three zero seven h r three thirty three zero eight h r thirty three twenty five h r thirty three eighty two h r thirty four forty six h r thirty five eighteen h r thirty five thirty h r thirty five seventy two and h r thirty nine sixty three you care lazy for the house t court for the western district of virginia for testimony in a criminal case after consultation with the office of general counsel i have determined that compliance with the subpoena is consistent with the president and privileges of the house signed sincerely laura l lee deputy chief of staff the honorable the speaker house of representatives madam this is to formally notify pursuant to rule eight of the rules of the house of representatives and i've been served with a trial subpoena for testimony issued by the superior court of the district of columbia and her lying case has since been voluntarily dismissed according to the subpoena is now moot and is unnecessary it is unnecessary for me to purpose the gentlewoman from guam arrives mr speaker i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill house concurrent resolution one forty seven the quarter report the title of the concurrent resolution out concurrent resolution one forty seven resolution recognizing two hundred years of research service to the people of the united states and stewardship of the marine environment by the national oceanic and atmospheric administration and its predecessor predecessor agencies and for other purposes five days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration that objection mr speaker i yield myself such time as i may consume house concurrent resolution one forty seven recognizes the contributions that the national oceanic and atmospheric administration and the agencies which preceded it together with their employees have made in improving our understanding of the oceans and the marine environment the resolution also recognizes the vision of thomas jefferson when he recognized that the survey of our nation's coast is critical to our welfare and commercial success this month represents the culmination of ceremonies and commemorative events that occurred across the country during two thousand and seven recognizing two hundred years of the invaluable research service and stewardship of the marine environment provided by noah and his predecessor agencies as the chairwoman of the subcommittee on fisheries wildlife and oceans i too recognize the work of noise dedicated civil servants the noah corps and the new the partners in fulfilling the no one mission the agency benefits from the strong and able leadership of vice admiral conrad looking back or the current no what administrator and lastly i want to thank my colleague and good friend from south carolina the ranking member of the committee mr brown for his work in sponsoring dishrags aleutian i am honored to join him in recognizing noah on this occasion and i have enjoyed working with him this past year and looking forward to our work together on the subcommittee in the next session and i reserve the balance alan reserve the balance for time gentleman from washington thank you mr speaker i rise in support of house current resolution one four seven sponsored by congressman henry brown president thomas jefferson had the foresight in eighteen zero seven to initiate surveys of our nation's coast to promote the state's transport of vessels  surveys house concurrent resolution one four seven acknowledges the vision of president thomas jefferson and recognizes noah and its predecessor agencies for two hundred years of research service to the people of the united states young of the national natural resource committee as well as my colleagues on the house science committee for their support this resolution house current resolution one forty seven recognizes no and its predecessor age service and on both of which are located in charleston these facilities and their work are an important part of the coastal south carolina community nor has shown its dedication to the nation's ocean and coastal resources and those management standing until counted a sufficient number having arisen the nature ordered for still the clause eight of rule twenty and the chair is prior announcement further proceedings on this motion will be postpone for the purpose of the gentlewoman from guam arise just because i move to suspend the rules and pass h r three nine nine eight as amended cook a report the title of the bill h r thirty nine ninety eight a bill to authorize the secretary of interior to conduct special resources studies of certainly and and structures to determine the appropriate means for preservation use and management of the resources associated with such lands and structures pursuant to the role of gentleman from extraneous material on the bill under consideration that objection mr speaker h r thirty nine ninety eight was introduced by our colleague from arizona the chairman of the national parks fourth in public land subcommittee represented you this bill america's historical and natural legacy study act would direct the secretary of the interior to study nine sites to determine the best way to preserve and interpret them including an evaluation of whether they merit inclusion in the national park system or the national trails system special resource studies are an important tool in preserving and interpret in the nation's natural and cultural history even if a study concludes that involvement of the federal government is not recommended these studies provide important information and options for the local the state or the private landowners charged with managing these resources mr speaker hearings have been held on eight of the measures included in this legislation over the course of this year than one study passed the house in the last congress these study proposals have been sponsored by or co sponsored by more than fifty of our colleagues both democrats and republicans the studies ranged geographically from california to puerto rico and from president truman's birthplace to losing clark as expedition of discovery mr speaker special resource studies are some of the most common and popular types of legislation that our colleagues asked the natural resources committee to consider so we are happy to recommend these were the study proposals to the house and i urge all of my colleagues to support our thirty nine ninety eight and i reserve the balance of my time gentleman from warm reserve bones of our time gentleman from washington thank mr speaker i yield myself such time as i may consume gentlemen recognizers much time which you may consume while h r three nine nine eight contains titles that are a concern to some it also contains studies that are worthy of special recognition for the effort and diligence that their sponsors put into them in particular i i would like to thank representative bozeman and his staff for their hard work on the butterfield overland trail study act congressman reached out to all members who districts will be a part of this study and make sure that they had no objections he also ensured that all private property rights would be protected his actions are exemplary exam sorry and should be commended i reserve the balance particular bill is one that i hope we do not replicate very often because indeed there are nine separate bills tied together into one package each bill has a separate amount of merits to those particular bills some of them like the bill by mr skelton the gentleman from the chairman from missouri is a very well written bill i particularly like to thank mr bozeman the gentleman from arkansas for writing a bill that i think went above and beyond the call of duty and trying to ensure that the rights of citizens who would be in the study area are protected as well as ensuring that the maximum amount of participation can be given to those people who are living in that particular area there are also some elements in the bill as it came out of committee that i found personally grievous those have been removed from the bill that is here and i think i would like to say and fact i would like to to thank the chairman of the committee and the subcommittees respectively as well as democratic staff for making changes in this particular bill in a way that i find very appealing i appreciate them for entering into discussions and efforts to find some kind of bipartisan cooperation with this and i am very appreciative of the professional manner in which the democrat staff worked with our staff in coming up with a bill that i think is very positive coming out of here with the bill that is now before us i certainly have no objections to this particular bill and i wish to express my appreciation for putting this particular piece of legislation in a form that i think is is commendable and we can command it and represent it and courage our fellow members of the house to vote for it with that i would yield back tell me about the balance of time general from washington thank you mr speaker i'd like to yiel three minutes to the gentleman from arkansas mr bozeman jonathan marcus was recognized for three minutes thank you mr speaker i rise today in support of h r thirty nine ninety eight in particular tattered title ten of the bill the buffalo but i'm sorry the butterfield over overland trail study act this title directs the secretary of the interior to conduct a special resource study of the butterfield overland trail which stretches from missouri to california before the railroad and even the famed pony express the butterfield trail was the only connection between the eastern united states and the rapidly expanding west coast commissioned by congress in one thousand nine hundred fifty seven john butterfield established a trial that could be travelled by stagecoach from the mississippi river to san francisco enter a mark about twenty five days while the original purpose of the trial has long been surpassed by modern technology the trial survives for the potential to be a great link to our nation's past attracting tourist with its educational and historic appeal as well as a tool to educate our children about our country's storied history have worked with the natural resources committee to ensure that extreme caution is given to protecting private property rights and clear language is contained in the bill so that in any future action and he saw that any future action will not compromise private land mr speaker as our country continues to rapidly grow and develop in the spirit of the old american west it is so important that we remember what brought us to this point it is our duty to our children and grandchildren that we take the time to mark the past and just our ancestors took across our country and i respectfully ask my colleagues to vote in favor of h r thirty nine nine yet and i want to thank the committee so much and the committee staff it's really been a pleasure to work with you guys and  most important historical sites and some of our most precious natural resources many of which are vulnerable to development unless we act and act now one of the ten sites in this bill is located in the heart of my district the battle of cam but it has not enjoyed the support and protection offered by being a unit official unit of the national park system the battle of camden was paul on august sixteenth seventeen eighteen was a crushing defeat for american patriot forces ind some regarded as the how war to mark a british a premise in the southern colonies so it's fair to ask if this battle is such a question defeat for the american patriots why should we commemorated it all with a start with this battle was show gage the hero saratoga was a political favorite in the continental congress and that's in the fall of charleston the congress sent him south to command what remained of our forces congress appointed gates without consulting washington who would have sent retreat to charlotte led by gates himself for its part the congress learned from this bitter experience that proper role in assigning general offices and years later that principle was built in the constitution in replacing gates after the major ferguson on the west side of the broad river general cornwallis on the the battle of canada had left new fresh doubts about local militia and how reliable effective they could be other than to harass british troops but it's cornwallis his forces move through the systematically in less than an hour ferguson was dead as were hundreds of his troops dead wounded or taken prisoner kingsmen is widely regarded as the turning point of the revolution in the south you can't fully appreciate it morgan into virginia would eventually cornwallis yorktown and total defeat the revolutionary war was a very near thing which could easily have gone either way that's why the battle of camden is so essential to understanding the revolutionary war further proceedings on this motion will be postpone validate certain companions is made by the union pacific railroad company of lands located in reno nevada that were originally conveyed by the united states to facilitate construction of transcontinental railroads and for other purposes pursuant to the rule  their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration without objection thank you mr speaker the union pacific railroad operates a rail line through downtown reno nevada like similar corridors across line was created on federal land in the one nine hundred century to facilitate development of a transcontinental rail system the grants to the railroad includes a requirement that the land revert back to federal ownership should it ever be abandoned by the railroad the city of reno has undertaken a massive project to move approximately two miles of the rail line into a concrete trench constructed alongside the existing track to improve safety and traffic flow through downtown as part of the project the railroad apparently conveyed portions of the right of the way to the city for construction of the trench is not clear whether union pacific at authority to make such a conveyance given the federal reversionary interest h r twenty two forty six as amended would simply release any federal reverse unary interest in the specific parcels involved in the project so given the city's enormous investment in this project and that the parcels in question will continue to be used for purposes related to the operation of the rail line clearing title to these parcels is appropriate so i urge all of our colleagues to support h r twenty two forty six and i reserve the balance of my mind was reserve the balance of our time gentleman from washington working with us to move this legislation out of committee and through the house i would like to recognize the sponsor of this legislation congressman dean heller from nevada and yield him such time as he ma as recognized thank you mr speaker i rise today in support of h r twenty two forty six which will resolve outdated federal reversionary interest in land important to the city of reno nevada which i represent the reversionary interest concerns a rail line that goes through downtown reno the city or reno in the union pacific southern pacific joined together to submerge a portion of the track below street level as a result of merger between the two railroads as part of the project kno retract the railroad agreed to grant the city of reno title to the lands immediately surrounding the right of way for the project within the city this bill assists and revitalization the economic development in this community title for these lands as originally granted to the eighty six to facilitate facilitate construction of a transcontinental rail system however when the united states granted the right of way to the railroad it retained a reversionary interest in the land to insure that it was in fact used to facilitate the building of the railroad this purpose obviously was satisfied many years ago this version area interest is it obsolete restriction on the title of the land grant of the city of reno and h r twenty two forty six instructs us secretary of interior to release a reversion interest originally created in one thousand nine hundred fifty six i appreciate the chairman of the committee mr speaker and also chairman greg hall the and his staff for the work that they have done on this legislation i also want to thank reid america sell to shell who came out to  speaker i yield back the balance my time and i do want to thank the generally from washington state mrs mcmorris rodgers for co managing our bills today from the resources committee and i yield back the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h r twenty two forty six as amended those in favor say aye those opposed no and you can have a chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the bill is passed and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on  suspend the rules and pass the bill h r two three six at the man that the clerk report the title of the bill h r two thirty six a bill to authorize the secretary of the interior to create a bureau of reclamation partnership with the north bay water reuse authority and other regional partners to achieve objectives relating to water supply water quality and environmental restoration pursuant to the rule the gentleman from california mrs no not the tunnel and the gentlewoman from washington  yield myself such time as i may consume i introduced h r six hundred sixty two to address the question of how we the federal government should pay for increased security mandated and required of the bureau reclamation facilities after the attacks of september eleventh two thousand and one and amended by the committee on natural resources h r six hundred sixty to set a firm cap of eighteen point nine million dollars annually indexed to inflation on cost that can be passed on to water and  customer to pay for gart patrol expenses and other things like that the bill as amended also includes reporting requirements that are reasonable and appropriate to keep the congress and project beneficiaries advised o reclamation site security activities i commend our ranking member cathy mcmorris rodgers for her bipartisan support of this bill and mr speaker strongly support in ekman of this non controversial bill as my colleagues support h r six hundred sixty two as bipartisan bill protects much of our critical water and power infrastructure in the west and gives consumers cost certainty in how these facilities are protected many of the dams in the west are multi purpose in nature for example the grand coulee dam in eastern washington provides irrigation water and renewable hydro power benefit but also plays a major role in preventing floods allowing millions to enjoy our public lands and water right ways and helping the environment water and power beneficiary beneficiaries of grand coulee will pay for the major portion of the post nine eleven security costs under this legislation but this bill also reflects the reality that these dams are national treasures that provide national benefits by capping the cost to local water and power customers this bill also requires our government to be more transparent and how it does business by requiring commonsense report and how it spends its site security dollars this bill is truly been a bipartisan effort that has spanned the past three congresses through every step of the process republicans and democrats have worked together to draft this legislation and bring about a much needed way for the bureau of reclamation to carry out this pro graham i applaud the chairwoman of the water and power committee grayson pollack onil for taking the lead to get this legislation passed through this congress and urge my colleagues to support this important 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 bill is passed and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table without objection the title is amended four h r twenty eighty five bills was the rice the secretary of the interior to convey to the magee creek authority certain facilities of the magee creek project oklahoma and for other purposes pursuant to the rule the gentlewoman from california on the bill under consideration that objection thank you sir myself such time as i may consume gentleman is recognized for as much time as you may consume h r twenty five as introduced by our colleague congresswoman mary fallin vocal homa authorizes the transfer certain facilities mcgee creek project currently hailed by the united states through the bureau of reclamation ownership of these facilities will be transferred to the magee creek authority which has repaid the cost of building this water supply project of reclamation testified in support of this bill at our water and power subcommittee hearing on september the eighteenth two thousand and seven moved out as a committee and received bipartisan support we have no objection to passage of twenty five i reserve the balance of water and power subcommittee chairwoman politan and ranking member cathy mcmorris rodgers for their continued support of this legislation and finally like to thank congressman dan boren from oklahoma for his hard work in assistance on this piece of  legislation two and short h r twenty eighty five is a straight for it land transfer prepaid bill that is supported by all parties involved the miggy creek pipeline and associates a syllabus and conveyance act would formally and legally transfer ownership to twenty three point eight acres of land surrounding mcgee creek reservoir as well as facilities like water pipelines storage space and a pumping plant ownerships of these facilities would be transferred from the federal bureau of reclamation to the miggy creek authority this bill does not transfer ownership of either the reservoir or the dam itself at addition the cost of the land the buildings the facilities to be transferred have already been paid by the maybe creek authority to the bureau of rec emotion this title transfer protects the financial interest of the federal government by reducing administrate burdens on reclamation including periodic facility reviews and the processing of paperwork that consents and if it can sap time it will also ensure that the long term responsibility for the operation the maintenance of management and the regulation as well as a liability for the transferred lands of sylvie's will rest with the authority again this bill is supported by both the federal bureau reclamation and the locally run miggy cricket's already as well as the oklahoma city residence and in two thousand and six the authority and the bureau of reclamation signed a memorandum encouraging congressional authorization of the title transfer and h r twenty  five those in favor say aye those opposed known in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the bill is passed and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table proceedings and its motion will be postpone authorize appropriations for fiscal years two thousand and three two thousand and eleven for the trafficking victims protection act two thousand to one hand measures to combat forced labor and for other purposes pursuant to the rule of gentlewoman from texas took control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas speaker i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and includ its material on the resolution under consideration that objection miss speaker i ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from michigan miss the conyers control ten minutes of the time allocated for h r thirty eight eighty seven the will william wilberforce trafficking victims much time as you may consume it is all too common these days as the headlines in media around and about the rise of our day slavery the stories are enough to turn anyone stomach cambodian mother is driven by intense poverty selling their daughters into prostitution children as young as five shipped to nigeria to slave away in underground granite mines hundreds of african boys and girls smuggled to britain forced to work as domestic servants brutish uniform soldiers dry bagging burmese men and women from their homes to labor on government construction projects and even though it is not directly related women in saudi arabia victimized by getting the lashon being convicted even though they have been a victim of rape and being utilized as sex tools or toys and sometimes being utilized as slaves these nightmares unfolding thousands of miles from our shores are deeply tragic but too many they seem profile only disconnected from our comfortable lives here in america they are not human trafficking happens here at home right under our noses let me of course thank chairman lantos and ranking member ileana ros like them for working with congressman conyers and many of us on this important legislation let me think congressman conyers for his constant and consistent leadership on this important legislation and as well his continued work as the chairman of the house  in washington she was denied medical care and when this frail young woman complained that her feet were infected she was forced outside without shoes to shovel snow while we would all like to view this heartrending case as an isolated incident it is sadly part of a growing international trend in which millions of men women and children are forced into sexual slavery labor or indentured servitude each year i think for a mouse if each of these individuals had a little camera on their back or their shoulder and we could truly see this woman with infected feet in icy snow shoveling snow or someone who was never able to leave their house and never have any time off even here in the united states or some of the other examples that we've already highlighted we had a camera to see the harshness of it the shame of it the sadness of it the cruelty of it trafficking is the world's fastest growing international organized crime and one of the most profitable yielding up to seventeen billion dollars each year every year traffickers move between seven hundred thousand and two million women and children across international borders for the purpose of serving in the sex trade or in forced labor congress has worked for nearly a decade to ramp up our country's efforts to prevent trafficking protect victims and prosecute perpetrators with approval of the bill before the house today we can redouble these efforts and dramatically increase the ability the united states has to work  scourge of marne day slavery h r thirty eight eighty seven requires the administration to compile data from every u s agency international organizations and private sources so that the executive branch can prepare a comprehensive analysis of trafficking patterns this will help us better understand where victims are actually going and how to free them it also provides help for countries to prevent trafficking by registering vulnerable populations that that currently go unrecognized so that potential victims can be identified and educated and it provides assistance to increase inspections abroad where forced labor occurs to help trafficking victims from slave like conditions the legislation also prevents new visas for domestic servants for diplomats in the united states who belong to any embassy or abuse of such work as occurs this will encourage self policing of such embassies by their ambassadors the bipartisan bill before the house will not end trafficking overnight but it will dramatically increase america's ability to stop trafficking here at home and to work with other countries to battle this rapidly growing international crime the legislation shows that it is still possible for republicans and democrats to work together to get something big and important done and to save lives let me thank my good friend and colleague the ranking member of the sun committee on africa and global health crisis world health chris smith for his extraordinary leadership on the trafficking issue for many years and for as many contributions to as important legislation let me also thank chairman painful working with him on this issue and working together with the full committee two centuries ago william wilberforce move mountains to convince the british parliament to ban slavery in the united kingdom in fact there is a historically black college named after him wilberforce university more than one hundred forty years ago our nation adopted the thirteenth amendment banning slavery right here at old but slavery in many forms still stubbornly persist in our country in britain and in nations around the world this is speaker enough is enough martin day slavery must in our country already plays a leadership role in bringing about the supreme the moral objective but we simply must do more mr speaker i urge all members to support this legislation and i at this time reserve the balance of my time gentleman from texas reserve the balance of her time gentleman from florida thank you mr speaker i yield myself such time as i may consume the gentlewoman from florida to recognize her as much time as she may consume thank you mr speaker as an original co sponsor i rise in favor of the bill before s h r thirty eight eighty seven the william wilberforce trafficking victim protection reauthorization act this was introduced by the chairman of our committee the committee on foreign  lantos and it remains one of the premier issues facing us today mr speaker human trafficking is modern day slavery it's a major source of revenue for international criminal syndicates and it is a grave abuse against human dignity hundreds of thousands of people are trafficked across international borders every year it is estimated that eighty percent of those are women and half  children millions more are trafficked into sexual servitude food and forced labor within their own countries in iran children are trafficked into sexual slavery and forced into involuntary servitude as beggars and day laborers in syria women trafficked from south and southeast asia are forced to work as the mess that servants and women from eastern europe and iraq are forced into prostitution in china up to ninety percent of north korean refugee women fall prey to traffickers who sell them into sexual slavery slavery in our in our own hemisphere mr speaker cuba has been shamefully promoted as  destination for sex tourism that exploits large numbers of cuban children the dehumanization and the brutality suffered by trafficking victims are nearly in comprehensible i am proud that the congress has helped turn this former non issue into a priority for our united states government and an issue indeed of international concern the enactment of the original trafficking victims protection act seven years ago a watershed event i want to commend the author of that act and the gentleman from new jersey mr chris smith whose leadership on these issues has been central to the progress that we have made so far and while there have been some signs of improvement such as a larger number of conked countries that have enacted anti trafficking legislation other problems remain widespread the number of countries for example listed in tier three that is the most problematic category in the state department's annual trafficking in persons report has actually increased from twelve countries to sixteen since last year some of the governments with the worst records such as burma cuba iran north korea sudan and venezuela continued to resume this making even basic efforts to protect vulnerable children and women a number of problem countries like russia and china sit on the two year to watch list year after year after year without further consequences even though that category was originally created as a warning that countries are about to slip into tears three category the bill be forced today mr speaker will not only reauthorize key aspects of prior trafficking legislation but it will also enhance our international anti trafficking efforts our domestic law enforcement and victim assistance activities and efforts to fight the use of child soldiers worldwide it will improve our nation's victim centered approach to fight human trafficking by strengthening each of the so called three p s prevention protection prosecution i want to commend the author of this bill again mr speaker and that is chairman lantos and my fellow co sponsors for the perseverance and the compromise that they have invested in ensuring that this bill received wide bipartisan support throughout consideration by the three committees of jurisdiction foreign affairs judiciary and energy and commerce the revised dex force today also has been endorsed by an impressively broad array of organizations and experts from across the political spectrum the william wilberforce trafficking victims protection reauthorization act of two thousand and seven is a vital weapon in our fight against the heartbreaking scourge of human trafficking and it deserves our full support with that mr speaker i reserve the balance of our gentleman from florida reserve the balance of her time  as chairman of the committee i rise to you myself as much time as i make and soon jim from michigan is recognized her as much time as you may consume ladies and gentlemen of the house of representatives although we passed the constitutional amendment against slavery an eight hundred sixty five slavery still exists not just in the world but in the united states of america and so we began an examination of h r thirty eight eighty seven  commending the committee on foreign affairs republicans and democrats and commending those members of the house judiciary committee republicans and democrats that have come together today to pass under suspension h r three eight eight seven so they very is a social ugly circumstance that still controls and guides the destiny of so many people in this country it's important that the thirteenth amendment guarantee of freedom operates whether it involves force prostitution whether it operates in farms or sweat shops or in domestic service if you could have heard the powerful testimony that was given by our witnesses on this bill it shocked me me people who were forced to live and work under conditions of fear and tear that was extended to their parents as one young woman who had couldn't even use her real name in the committee about the trafficking of human beings and side of america in the city of detroit where this club was using her to to commit all kinds of acts and raise huge amounts of money at the same time as one of the television shows yesterday morning showed  number two to put to prostitution and involuntary servitude and this is what brings all of us to the floor today i'm very proud of these two committees in the house that are dealing with in new inforce meant to combat modern day slavery whether the exploitation is by unscrupulous labor recruiters by diplomats who abuse their services or bribe brutal street temps who coerce and keep under their domain  these women and young women at that and so i want to just take a moment here to respond to concerns of a few that an aspect of this bill will somehow federalize prostitution that is not the case that is not what we're trying to do the sex slavery of fence renamed aggravated sex traffic being still captures cases of coercion that implicate the thirteenth amendment and the new sex trafficking of tenses improves the man to allow prosecution of temps who fact commerce but don't actually crossed state lines and this new to two should not diminish other anti slavery efforts or the fight against child exploitation we're expected to be used consistently with the principles of federal prosecution that defer to local authority as appropriate we want the states to control the prosecution of this offense and so i would reserve the balance of my time mr speaker at this point for michigan to reserve the balance of this time a gentlewoman from florida who very much our country or anywhere else in the world while the slavery that exists today looks different from the slavery of our country's past it is still a widespread horrific reality human trafficking is modern day slavery it manifests itself in many forms forced and bonded labor sex slavery and even militant activities as has been seen with child soldiers i am outraged that such an offense against humanity and against the ideals of our country is allowed to flourish on our soil and abroad as the co chair of the congressional caucus on human trafficking i am proud to be an original co sponsor to h three eight seven this reauthorization brings renewed attention to the fight against human trafficking trafficking is a shared global problem which will require a global response congress has rightly taken the lead in putting this issue on the international agenda human trafficking is an issue that transcends political ideology and every face we have a moral imperative to put an end to this modern day slavery for this reason i support h r three eight seven because i believe it will put us on the right path to finally abolishing slavery in our country and around the world mr speaker only through increasing public awareness to this global problem and demanding action will we bring an end to slavery i commend the sponsor of this bill and the many members of congress with join together to bring great pleasure to yield two and a half minutes to the gentle lady from new york miss maloney the co chair of the trafficking caucus the human trafficking caucus general and many work is recognize for two and one half minutes sponsor i am pleased that this bill will provide strong new innovative flexible tools to combat modern day slavery whether labor exploiters diplomats who abuse their servants or brutal pimps i want to commend the extraordinary leadership of chairman lantos chairman conyers as well as lamar smith and randy forbes and their staff for bringing this important bill to the floor i truly do believe that  books will be written about this effort a major one too in this terrible abuse of human people i asked my colleagues to look at this picture and i want them to see that the lives of track trafficking victims are haro if you look at the first line each girl looks different but after one or two years they all look the same shells of people in the in the end they they have been abused psychologically captured broken and devastated at the hands of their pimps the fight against human trafficking has brought together democrats and republicans liberals and conservatives religious leaders and secular leaders and i ask unanimous consent to place in the record a list of the very large bipartisan coalition that was been sent to the department of justice in our colleagues and find by many advocates including glori trafficking mr speaker i became interested in this when big apple oriental tours in my district was advertising sex tourists sex trafficking come to the philippines come here come there and we'll give you a young girl many young girls we could not close them down with this congress and i bipartisan way we have strengthened the bill and the laws to crack down on this terrible human abuse this bill before us gives law enforcement even greater tools to go after the predatory and i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my rig remarks and place in the record an from california an esteemed member of the judiciary committee mr langley jump california's recognize for two minutes thanks very much mr speaker when brought to northern california from china with false promises of life in far off land only to be trapped in prostitution mexican women forced to serve up to fifty men each day ending dingy brothels in new york african teenagers held in servitude as nannies in washington d c american women and girls lurd under the streets with promises of love and glamour only to be held in prostitution through course of force the issue of human trafficking is a moral tragedy perpetrated against the most vulnerable of our fellow human beings whether it be the sexual exploitation of children or the forced labor of young men in the drug trade recently chronicled in the london a kon amiss it is a transnational stain which evoke the singular emotion abolitionists and played a crucial role in the passage of both the slave trade act of eighteen zero zero seven and the slave abolition act of eight hundred thirty three shortly before his death the promise of freedom and the prohibition against involuntary servitude  ed in the thirteenth amendment to our constitution is a clear statement of the opprobrium which we hold for the notion that some human being should be used as chattel for exploitation by others in fact our commitment to this first principle predates the constitution for it was thomas jefferson who penned those immortal words in the preamble of our nation's foundational statement of political philosophy that there are certain inalienable rights with which we are in doubt as human beings where a creator and it is this source of our rights which render them in volleyball inviolable it is this was affirmed that by that other book and of human freedom the gettysburg address where president lincoln visualize the fulfillment of the version of slavery cuts against our national aspirations as people the wilberforce act is thus an appropriate expression of our collective outrage over this more recent transgression of basic human rights and although i might have crafted the response to some of the issues address in this legislation differently we must not allow the perfect to overcome or be the enemy of the good h r thirty eight eighty seven provides resources so that non governmental organizations federal and local law enforcement and faith based entities can work together towards a common aim of justice the bill holds forth the promise of a new birth of freedom for those coerced into sexual slavery and child exploitation finally i would be remiss were i to fail to that the wilberforce act exemplifies what is possible when members of this body are willing to cross the aisle in order to address real life problems which compel a response from all of us i would ask a unanimous vote in support of the wilberforce act is bobby scott of virginia who's worked with us in a highly cooperated way and i'm happy to yield him at this time two minutes gentleman from virginia is recognized for two minutes thank you to speak and i thank the gentleman for yielding i rise in support of  wilberforce vatican victims protection act reauthorization of two thousand and seven human trafficking for explosive labor sex or other exploitive reasons is equivalent to modern day slavery in many instances and requires a concerted effort and effort among the nations of the world not only to control it but eventually to end it i'm pleased that the united states is leading an effort to root out this dreadful foremost of misery and suffering and i'm proud to be part of that effort of course we need to make sure that we do  can to stop and prevent it here in the united states but this regard i'm particularly pleased with the provisions in the bill would strengthen the ability of the department of justice to deal with abusive commercial sex traffickers who have been able to victimize women and children with relative  nity because of the difficulty of getting victims to testify as to force fraud or course of tactics or to show so they were trafficked across state lines the bill also strengthens the ability of this government of justice to address domestic sex trafficking that transferring the responsibility of prosecuting domestic sex trafficking cases from the civil rights division at the department of justice to the criminal division both when it is commercial sex trafficking where force fraud and coersion can be proved and when it cases in and of itself does not constitute the conditions of slavery which to depart which the civil rights division prosecutes as a civil rights violation for these reasons with the speaker i support the bill and i urge my colleagues to support it you know back to balance my own time has ranking member of the house foreign affairs committee for the time as well mr speaker as we approach the end of the year with much serious legislative business remaining before us we have a note worthy opportunity today to pass a measure in which each and every american c justifiably take great pride the wm will before wilberforce trafficking victims protection reauthorization act represents the culmination of extensive work and exemplary bipartisan cooperation it illustrates w in this house can achieve when we unite in recognition of shared and enduring truths in an effort to defeat one of the most of the world's most glaring injustices human trafficking is singularly  degrading criminal activity it is deeply tarnished every nation including our own its ruthless perpetrators br literally exploit and devastate the lives of innocent persons including children often turning bastions of freedom and civil society into nightmarish realms seemingly beyond the reach of sanctuary mr speaker i want to also commend my distinguished colleagues mr smith of new jersey mr lantos of california for were for raising awareness about this cruel enterprise and for leading the house foreign affairs committee in taking substantive credible actions to bring hope and healing to victims of this person issues global global trade in human beings i also want to thank them for working to incorporate the child soldier prevention act of two thousand and seven into this bill bringing years of hard work to fruition and recognizing our nation's commitment to ending the forced conscript conscription recruitment or use of children in combat yet another grave affront to human dignity i also wish to commend many individuals throughout our government and the many non governmental organizations whose tireless efforts have made this moment possible i urge my colleagues to join me in passing the w wilberforce trafficking victims protection reauthorization act together let us in the nightmare of human trafficking and lead the world to see in the poignant words of alexis de tocqueville that america is great because america is good don't you time has expired gentleman from texas my distinguished pleasure to yield one and a half minutes to the distinguished gentlemen of the genuineness moran a member of the appropriations committee and in a committed and dedicated fighter against human trafficking gentleman from virginia and i for one and one half minutes i can the speaker i thank my very good from from texas human trafficking is one of the greatest human rights tragedies of our time the passage of this legislation will bring thousands of victims of slavery out of the shadows and prosecute those that would take advantage of voiceless souls for a general profit one of the key provisions in this legislation is the prevention and punishment of diplomats who abuse their servants as many as fifty thousand women and children according to department of state are trafficked into the united states annually and are trapped in slavery like situations including forced prostitution currently no government agency tracks instances of forced domestic labor at the hands of diplomats last year the state department issued about two thousand domestic worker visas and the plush residencies of diplomats servants passports can be withheld many are paid as little as a dollar a day and suffer emotional and physical abuse while the department of state has indicated that some diplomats are asked to leave because of domestic abuse it's unclear how many are prosecuted we are redefining of policies on human trafficking and i would hope that with these new provisions we're able to crack down on this loophole that makes it too easy for diplomats to abuse that domestic servants diplomats currently hide behind the map diplomatic immunity there should not be the case when it comes to serious crimes such as human trafficking they abuse domestic servants and it's increasingly hard to prosecute them this has to change this legislation will help prevent future instances of domestic servant abuse and diplomatic residencies so i look forward to mr speaker at this time i'd like the yield seven and a half minutes to the gentleman from new jersey the author of the original trafficking victims protection act and the ranking member on the subcommittee on africa and global health mr chris smith and that's like to yield to mr conyers the rest of our time for seven and a half minutes that mr smith for her leadership and for that of the chairman of the committee tom lantos he's been extraordinarily effective in this fight against modern day slavery and i thank him for his leadership as well mr speaker the trafficking victims protection act of two thousand public law one of six three eighty six has made we believe an enormous positive difference in our efforts to end modern day slavery a nefarious enterprise that nets the exploiters billions of dollars each year the seven year old landmark law and its numerous mutually reinforcing provisions to prevent trafficking to protect victims and to prosecute to the max those who traffic has been a model statute worldwide indeed many of its provisions have been adopted into law in or in part by governments around the world mr speaker the t p t v p a of two thousand does not pull any punches by naming the names of countries out of compliance with what we call minimum standards and by imposing smart sanctions that are prescribed in the act the withholding of non humanitarian aid for example we have signaled to the world that ending this agree just practice is among the highest priorities of the united states by protecting the victims we are not sending them back to their home country where they're often exploited in a cycle of exploitation we say to the victims we will make every effort to make you safe and secure by prosecuting the traffickers and imposing serious jail time where telling these exporters that we are coming after you and they are not and you are going to pay for your crimes since the enactment of the t v p a the traffickers here and abroad are increasingly likely to face prosecution and conviction in the six year period before it's an act in the o j prosecuted eighty nine suspected traffickers in the last six years justice department is prosecuted three hundred sixty representing more than three hundred percent increase the department has secured two hundred third the eight convictions and guilty pleas compare with sixty seven in the same period prior to the act and it has opened importantly six hundred thirty nine new investigations and almost four fold increase over the hundred twenty eight prior to implementation of the law worldwide nearly six thousand traffickers were prosecuted last year alone and more than three thousand were convicted notwithstanding the successes it is clear that even more has to be done to destroy this mob infested criminal enterprise known as human trafficking according to research sponsored by the us government and completed in two thousand and six approximately eight hundred thousand people are trafficked internationally and millions more are trafficked within their country according to the same research the vast majority of transnational victims almost eighty percent are women and girls and almost half of those eight hundred thousand are minors these figures are low compared to those posted by the international labor organization which estimates twelve point three million people are subjected to forced labor bonded labor forced child labor and sexual servitude the bill before us today mr speaker is a good one is a great one and i thank the gentleman for california mr lantos for his extraordinary leadership on this we are working in a partnership and it is really making a difference this legislation that is before us aims to update expand and improve our law there been lessons learned since the first law was enacted seven years ago and subsequently reauthorized in zero three and zero five there are incorporated into this legislation as we try to do an even better job in mitigating the suffering of the victims while simultaneously going after those who traffic and the countries that harbor traffickers or who are also part of the problem themselves the bill is appropriately named after w wilberforce who was twenty one in years old when he was elected to the house of commons in seventeen eighty john newton the former slave captain turned convert to christ encourage wilberforce as well as others to fight the battle against slavery wilberforce agreed and then poured his heart into that battle well before us one said never never will we desist until we extinguish every trace of this bloody traffic to which our posterity looking back to the history of these delighting times will scarce believe that has been suffered to exist so long to disgrace and to dishonor this country he said so enormous so dreadful so remedial did the trades wicked quickly appear in my own mind was completely made up for its abolition we need to fight with that kind of to destiny against this modern day slave trade that mr speaker let me just say that one of the most prominent provisions of the original t was the establishment of the tier ranking system that indicates how well or poorly a country is conforming to the minimum standards we found when we created the watchlist that some of the countries began to realize that they could be parked their department of state common aided and unfortunately they found there was no penalty even though they did not make any improvements that is change two years and then you're off that that watch list and hopefully off to two improvements and if not you're put on the tier three subject to penalties finally let me just say mr speaker that effective cooperation and especially the bipartisan cooperation we see here today and partnership with other countries is essential if we are to win this winnable war without it we are doomed to either meager results or outright failure with so many lives hang in the balance failure simply is not an option none of us alone can stop human trafficking too much evil is involved here and the prospect of making billions has enticed some of the most unsavory and cruel individuals on earth including and especially organized crime too much demand and abled by crass indifference on bridled hedonism and massage it is a get it suze has turned people especially women into objects only that you'd for their utility in the brothel or in the sweat shop and the relative lack of visibility makes the task of combating trafficking all the more difficult trafficking like german faction and disease thrives in the shadowy and murky places but the contagion flows and even dies when exposed to the light this legislation brings more light bright light to this problem and it acts as a powerful disinfectant so the challenge to us today is to bring this to light the bright light of sustained scrutiny and they acting good laws like this one and  then implementing them aggressively we need to employ best practices and well honed strategies in order to win the freedom of the slaves and the spare others unspeakable agony together we need to make the pimps and the exploiters pay and pay serious by doing serious jail time as well as the forfeiture of their assets their boats their villas and their fat bank accounts we can end this barbaric and utterly cruel modern day slavery make no mistake about it thousand it was it went back to nine hundred ninety nine but it is the present chairman of the constitution committee in judiciary gerrymander new york who has brought this incredibly important constitutional amendment and acted in a two hundred sixty five into real live use and i'm proud to recognize the chairman of that committee for two minutes and fifteen seconds gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes second i thank the gentleman for yielding mr speaker i ris support of the william wilberforce trafficking victims protection reauthorization act of two thousand and seven this bill delivers on the promise of the thirteenth amendment by creating tough new and forstmann tools to punish exploitation whether by unscrupulous lavery cruisers diplomats who abuse their servants or brutal pimps it provides resources so that non governmental organizations federal and local law enforcement and the faith community can work together to liberate victims and bring the traffickers to justice it will protect victims of modern slavery the united states and provide foreign aid and diplomatic tools to combat modern slavery overseas as well in many ways the fight against violence slavery began a new york city in the mid one nine hundred ninety s there was the infamous barry bravo case in which tie women were hel prostitution and literally chained to their beds and they were the so called death mexican trinket peddlers who were in slaves on their own eyes unable to ask for help as they were forced to beg on the subways since then criminal civil rights investigators have uncovered examples of a slave across the country including many in the new york city area recently we have seen the liberation of hundred women who were forced to drink and dance with clients and dance was a new jersey proving families freedom and slaving by a labor recruiter on long island and the rescue of young american women from a street in connecticut all of their traffickers have been convicted and imprisoned because they violated the constitutional prohibition against involuntary servitude and slavery more than a century after the abolition of slavery we would expect slavery to be a closed chapter the nation's history but unfortunately it is not the constitution promises to end the suffering of all those who have been held in bondage as a country we owe to the victims of mind and they slavery never to stop fighting for their freedom this bill that william wil berforce trafficking protection reauthorization act renews our commitment to fulfilling the promise of the thirteenth amendment by providing new tools new and forstmann tools and more resources to remove the stain of modern day slavery for my nation i  thirty seconds remaining and gentleman from michigan has one minute remaining gentleman from texas reserving the bounds of my time reserving the balance gentlewoman reserved about her time gentleman from michigan mr speaker i know myself the balance of our time this bill the wilberforce bill tracks the definitions in the trafficking victims protection of the year two thousand builds upon the good work of the civil rights division within the department of justice and it's an a trafficking task force forces around the country which vigorously confront modern slavery which does exist in forced prostitution and forced labor allied we expect these efforts to continue and we will monitor them with great scrutiny in the eighteen hundred to scape slaves such as frederick douglass and so journey or truth who came out of this brutal experience in america spoke out against chattel slavery their voices and the voices and efforts of many others led to a constitutional commitment that everyone in this country with the forever more free from bondage the young lady who testified with an assumed name before the judiciary committee the not allow her suffering to silence her and neither will our voices has the only time remaining in debate speaker i urge the complete passage of this legislation and i thank my colleagues for their convictions and their message on the floor today might i add from my colleagues information that there are about seventeen thousand five hundred individuals traffic in the united states and we believe fifty percent of those may be children in this legislation we have language to combat the trafficking of our children along with the other tragic stories that we've heard today we must be able to support and prevent support out children and prevent the traffic and our children let me thank congresswoman zoe lofgren for efforts in this area and ask unanimous consent for the san jose mercury news to be submitted into the wreckage i asked my colleagues to support this legislate without objection protect those young women from time has expired the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h r thirty eight eighty seven as amended those in favor say  announcement further proceedings on this motion will be postpone the victims of tragic events at the junior polytechnic a list to the state university as amended the kooker report the title of the bill h r forty one a bill to exclude from gross income payments from the hokie spirit memorial fun of the tragic event loss of life and land at virginia polytechnic polytechnic institute and state university pursuant to the rule of the gentleman from washington mr mcdermott and the gentleman from virginia mr goodlatte each will control twenty minutes the chair recognizes gentleman from washington the speaker i yield myself so much time as i may consume today we stand united in this house as americans without regard to political party so that we may honor the memory of the thirty two people who lost their lives last year in the tragedy at virginia tech the nation mourned the loss of these innocent young people and people across america responded generously in every way they could including sending financial donations in a time of need you can always count on the american people to open their hearts and their wallets and to show the world what it means to practice the common good the hokie spirit but morial fund was established at the american people collected and sent over seven million dollars to aid the families of stablished scholarships and help the virginia tech community through this tragedy today our role in the people's house legislative one we can make a difference by passing h r forty one eighteen which will ensure that all the money received from the hokie spirit warrior fund is not subject to federal income taxes i urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this bill and in so doing we dedicate themselves to strengthening our collective will to create a more just and civil nation i reserve the balance of my time gentleman washington reserve the balance of his time a gentleman from virginia feel myself such time as it may consume gentleman from virginia is recognized as much time as you may consume the speaker earlier this year the tranquil campus of virginia tech and the town of blacksburg was shattered by the actions of a lone gunman the horror that the virginia tech community has experienced is something that every parent every american hopes never to learn has affected their families and friends although this horrendous and unspeakable violence showed the worst of mankind it also showed what those of us who have been a part of the g tech community for years have always known the student the instructors the administered leaders and the citizens of blacksburg care deeply for one another and take great pride in their community even in the worst circumstances the virginia tech community showed great compassion for their fellow man and did what they could to help each other liviu librescu a survivor of the holocaust blocked the doorway of his classroom so that his students could climb out of the windows to safety ryan clark a resident advisor in west ambler johnston hall rushed into the hallway to help his fellow students when the first attack came and became the second victim and i was deeply saddened to learn that one of my constituents henry lee a graduate of living william fleming high school in roanoke was among those who died in the attack on norris hall in the days and months following this tragedy the virginia tech community and hokie nation saw an outpouring of love and support from people around the country the university saw donations coming excess of seven million dollars as people sought to give aid to those affected as time went on the university had to decide how to use the money donated as a result of this horrific act and the university made a wise and selfless choice they decided that the best way to disburse this money was to put it in the hands of those who experienced and lost the most as a result of this unspeakable violence so recently virginia tech distributed the money to seventy nine families or individuals these are the families that have lost the most and experienced emotional trauma that no one should ever have to experience this money given by the people across our nation is a small way to help those directly affected by this horrendous act these families can determine the best uses for these contributions some already have decided to endow memorial scholarships at virginia tech or elsewhere some simply have bills to pay while the university has acted graciously to help the families we have discovered that there is a new problem the families are facing this time by the federal government has become apparent that the funds these families received will become significantly reduced because of taxes these are fund some families desperately need to pay medical bills funeral costs and to simply rebuild their lives the last thing these families need to worry about is an additional tax burden and i guarantee that those who gave so generously want their money going to help those directly affected not paying taxes i do not believe that these funds should be taxed or that it is congress intent that they should be taxed in two thousand and one congress passed public law one o seven one forty three in this law there is a provision that makes qualified disaster payments exempt from taxes there is no doubt that the virginia tech tragedy was in fact a disaster ask any member of the virginia tech community hokie nation or citizen of the commonwealth of virginia and to them it unequivocally was in fact the governor of virginia declared so that day despite this well intentioned law that congress passed to make tax exempt payments from qualified disasters the families in the university have all been told it is likely these funds will be taxed it was not the intention of the congress that disaster payments should be taxed and so i am proud to join with my neighbor from the one congressional district congressman rick boucher who actually represents blacksburg and virginia tech in introducing this legislation that seeks to have these funds like those resulting from any other disaster made tax exempt i ask members of this house to join us in passing this bill and help the virginia tech families rebuild their lives the tragedy at virginia tech will never leave our minds but we in congress have an opportunity to help rebuild this community i ask all members of congress to join us in supporting this legislation let us help the families and those so personally affected as they seek to rebuild their lives and i wish to engage the gentleman from washington state in a colloquy the bill provides that certain payments transferred from the hokie spirit memorial fund be excluded from the gross income of the recipients of those payments it's my understanding that in providing for the exclusion it's intended by that both the transfer of the amounts by the hokie spirit memorial fund and the making of the payments by virginia polytechnic institute and state university are considered to be consistent with the exempt purpose of these respective energies and that donors who made contributions to the fund are in principle allowed a charitable contribution deduction and i would ask the gentleman if this is also his understanding of the intent of the bill yes it is to mr speaker i yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from virginia mr boucher to yield myself such time as i may consume germans recognize me as much time as you may consume as my friend and colleague neighbor from virginia congressman goodlatte mentioned in his remarks i have the privilege of representing virginia's ninth congressional district in which virginia tech is situated on april sixteenth of this year a tragedy of a scale and senselessness that defies explanation befell that university and it came to a campus that is known across our nation for its friendliness for its peacefulness and for the normally close association that is found there among faculty and students in the wake of the tragedy virginia tech president charles steger and the professional staff of the university reacted with poise with dignity and with strength under the most difficult and challenging circumstances imaginable the skilled first responders of the town of blacksburg of the university's own security staff and of montgomery county virginia provided an outstanding service that saved lives and that prevented the loss from being even greater in the intervening time much healing has occurred virginia tech has a proud tradition of teaching learning and research that tradition and doers following a violent and senseless act campus wide and community wide determination and cohesion emerged the result since of south of us virginians and the spirit of the region in which we live that has helped to make virginia tech a great institution is assuring for the university a strong recovery and an even stronger future in the days following the try the university established a fund for the benefit of the tragedies victims it's called the hokie spirit memorial fund an outpouring of sympathy and generous support from virginia tech alumni and friends across our nation more than twenty one thousand financial contributions totally and eight point five million dollars were made to the fund last month virginia tech distributed these funds to the victims of the shooting in varian amounts based on the severity of the injuries that were sustained approximately seven billion dollars in direct cash payments were made an additional one point five million dollars in the form of scholarships and tuition assistance were just burst just as congress acted in the wake of the oklahoma and nine eleven tragedies to declared donations to the victims of those tragedies to be tax exempt to the recipients the bill before the house this afternoon would declare that payments from the hokie spirit memorial fund not be taxable income to the victims and their families who receive these payments the colloquy in which i previously engaged with mr mcdermott clarifies that it is our intent both that in principle contributions to the for a charitable deduction and that payments from the fund not be taxed to the payments recipients i want to thank the gentleman from new york mr wrangle the chairman of the house ways and means committee and his able and very helpful staff for the outstanding assistance they have provided to me and to my partner mr goodlatte in the process of bringing this measure to the house floor today i want to thank subcommittee chairman mcdermott for his assistance and for his gracious allotment of time to me this afternoon and i thank my friend and colleague a neighbor in south west virginia bob goodlatte the principal co author of this bipartisan measure mr good consulted over the past several months in the shaping of this legislation and i thank him for the partnership that we have on this measure and on many other initiatives to improve the quality of life in the region that we both represent it's truly a pleasure working with him the bill before the house is also coauthored by our virginia colleagues mr katter mr scott mrs drake mr wallace and mr davis and i want to thank them for their sponsorship mr speaker i urge the adoption of h r forty one eighteen and i reserve the balance of my time generally there is a balance of this time gentleman from virginia gentleman from virginia with speaker at this time it's my pleasure to yield such time as you may consume to the gentlewoman from virginia a congresswoman drake gentleman from virginia is recognized as much time as you may consume thank you mr speaker mr speaker we all were deeply affected by the tragic events of this past april at virginia tech our hearts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those who lost loved ones and to those who are struggling to recover from their injuries the days weeks and months since that dark day have been a time of healing for the virginia tech community the commonwealth of virginia and the nation i am moved by the outpouring of compassion and generosity that has been displayed since this tragedy for ginia tech university established the hokie spirit memorial fund in order to aid in the healing process and generate financial support for those affected thousands of individuals gave just graciously in the hope of assisting the victims families and the time of need in fact virginia tech has just tributed millions from the fund to the families of the thirty two deceased victims and forty seven injured students the least that this congress can do in assisting these families is to exempting ments made from the hokie spirit memorial fund from federal taxes and i would like to thank congressman boucher for he's the leadership  inquire of the gentleman from virginia if he has other speakers on the measure this is speaker i only have a few closing remarks myself we were hoping that the gentleman from virginia mr cantor who is a member of the ways means committee and was going to be managing the legislation on our side would get here but i don't see him so i'm prepared to say a few more words and then we will put his remarks in the in the record gemma from virginia is recognized thank you misspeak or i want to thank the gentleman from the ninth congressional district ever ginia mr boucher a good friend and colleague for his leadership in introducing this legislation it's been a pleasure to work with him and  is i think fair to say on behalf of not only all the members of the virginia delegation but all members of congress our heart goes out to the families of the victims and to the virginia tech community who suffered this horrendous tragedy this is just a small way that we can make right a part of that by ensuring that the generosity of thousands of americans across the country to the virginia tech hokie spirit fund will  see that money in its entirety go to the benefit intended by those who donated and for the purposes designated by the family members of the victims of this tragedy so again thank congressman boucher i want to thank  congressman cantor for his leadership on the ways and means committee as well as the effort that congressman mcqueary our ranking member and chairman wrangle made in bringing this legislation to the floor as promptly as possible and i want to also thank the staff of the ways and means committee and the staff of congress and boucher and myself for the hard work that they put into making sure that this was done and done in a way that would benefit the families make payments to the victims of the tragedy that occurred in april of this year at virginia tech tax exempt to the recipient of those payments congress responded in a similar way following the oklahoma city nine eleven tragedy and we ask that the house accord similar tax status to the payments that were recently made from the hokie spirit memorial fund i want to thank all who have assisted in the construction of this measure particular thanks to my colleague mr goodlatte for his leadership and hard work in bringing this measure to the floor today and thanks again to the chair and the subcommittee chair of the ways and means committee and they're very capable those oppose no in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table  believe that i was correct the first time madam speaker he was wrecked the first time thank you very much from washington was correct the free local report the title of the resolution house resolution eight thirty seven resolution providing for the concurrence on the house in the senate amendment to h r seventy and with the amendment recent to the rule the gentleman from washington miss inslee and the gentleman from georgia miss the deal each will control twenty minutes the chair now recognize the gentleman from washington essentially a master i ask unanimous consent that all members of five legislative days devising stand their remarks and include extraneous material in the resolution or under consideration on the resolution without objection  myself such time as i may consume that action to have a speaker here today to pass the charlie w norwood living kidney donation clarification act and like many my colleagues i was pleased when this bill finally or first passed the house in march and i'm happy to report now that we have an agreement with both chambers of a provision that can pass and be signed by the president into law we suffered all a great loss with d norwood's loss and then we know he was a recipient of a lung transplant himself and i was a committed champion of these causes while serving in congress so in addition to helping thousands of americans today in a way to enhance the prospects of living donations and this bill will be a fitting tribute to dr norwood and his and his efforts i also want to think the energy and commerce committee staff who've worked diligently on this for months jessica mcne pete goodloe catherine martin and ryan long they've done a great job getting this bill in a condition where it can be signed into law as many my colleagues know this legislation will clarify the procedure commonly known as paired organ donation to make clear that it is legal and in doing so will provide hope to thousands of americans who are now are waiting for transplants particularly kids kidney transplants across the united states paired organ donation will make it possible for thousands of people who wish to donate a kidney to a spouse family member or a friend but find that they're not medically compatible a but still allows and become living kidney donors as of this afternoon there are fully ninety seven thousand candidates for organ the donations waiting on the national waiting list but there are only twenty thousand one hundred thirty one transplants performed all in the total of two thousand and six and only six thousand seven hundred thirty were from living donors clearly we've got work to do of this resolution will take a resolution will take a significant step towards reducing the number of patients on the waiting list and give much more hope for others to hope that they're and know that their wait will not be endless it's imperative we make absolutely clear that there is no intent by congress to bar this procedure simply  we want this legislation to save lives immediately and it will do so when enacted by also in take a moment to salute and think dr connie davis who's a constituent and a friend and a very knowledgeable transplant physician from the university of washington seattle in addition to her years of caring for local transplant donors and recipients she's advise me and others on transplant issues as chairwoman of the american society of transplant n the largest organization in the world representing professionals engaged in the field of solid organ transplantation and her health has been invaluable in putting this legislation together and make sure that those ninety thousand patients get access so for those thousands of patients waiting today who spend costly and often arduous time on dialysis treatment their time in the waiting list can be significantly shortened with passage of this bill and i want to think my colleagues across the  organ donation act as a lung transplant recipient charly believed in organ donation this good piece of legislation will help facilitate life getting organ donation box clarifying the intent of the national organ transplant act to protect the common sense practice up pay or to organ donation a pay or donation occurs when a donor who is willing to give an organ to a family member or  is biologically incompatible donates to another patient who also has an incompatible donor backcross matching two or more incompatible done or recipient payers more patients can receive organs and more donors can give them the changes we're making this afternoon help conform the bill to an amendment that was offered in the senate during consideration the amendment helps to ensure this bill can adapt to advance in science should organs other than kidneys be eligible for payer donation as we pass this bill today and later send it to the president for his signature we honor a great member of this house and as a physician i maybe i should be but over ninety thousand people who are on a waiting list and a fourth of them each year get transplants and only a very small number get a transplant naming a v a medical center in augusta georgia the heart of his congressional district in honor of the great work that he did on behalf of our veterans and i think my colleagues madam speaker know that charlie norwood served  as a dental officer in vietnam in combat got two bronze stars at thank a medical all the combat award he was a great spokesperson on behalf of our veterans but also in regard to health care before i was even thinking about running for this great office that i hold now madam speaker charlie norwood had that patient bill of rights i think a lot of my colleagues would remember that madam speaker you and they probably were here at that time and so this is just another opportunity for us not just to honor dr norwood but to realize that he worked so diligently on behalf of veterans issues and health care issues so it's a great honor to be here today and i'll tell you all a personal note not colleagues madam speaker i have a senior legislative assistant josh while our whose dad jerry last year dad while on a waiting list for a liver transplant that was awfully painful for me to watch that happen to to the dad of one of my great staff members so this is a a wonderful opportunity for us to do something really good kidneys or indeed dr norwood himself well as representative inslee pointed out was the recipient of a lung transplant well unfortunately did not work for him but god bless him and i'm proud to be here today to support this bill i urge know 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 rescind reconsider is laid on the table madam speaker on that i w chairs prior announcement for the proceedings on this motion will be suspended will be postpone without objection the title of h r four one one eight is amended members are taking a break now following debate on ten bills they'll return around five thirty eastern to take up the foreign intelligence bill before casting votes at six thirty p m eastern general speeches will follow more live house coverage when the ga come down here on c span at a news conference earlier today president bush talked about the congressional agenda and discussed a range of issues including a newly released intelligence report that concluded iran suspended work on its nuclear weapons program in two thousand and three the president answered reporters questions for about forty five minutes  morning appreciate the fact that the united states senate is going to take up the free trade agreement with through today is agreement will level the playing field for american goods and services that would create new opportunities for investment it was strengthen our friendship with a fellow democracy the house of representatives has passed this bill grassley the house leadership and i certainly hope the senate will pass it as well so be a very positive the congress is still has a lot to do i don't have very much time to do it three weeks from today americans will celebrate christmas and three groups of americans are waiting on congress to act first group or the troops our troops are waiting on congress to fund them in their operations overseas every ten months ago i submitted a detail funding request congress has not acted our men and women should have to wait longer second our intelligence professionals are waiting for congress to act the legislation congress approved earlier  to make sure our intelligence professionals can continue to effectively monitor terrorist communications is set to expire in february allowing this law to lapse would open gaps in our intelligence and increase the danger to our country intelligence professionals need these tools to keep our people safe and they need congress to ensure that these tools are not taken away third american taxpayers are waiting on congress to act congress has failed to pass legislation that will protect middle class families from the burden of the alternative minimum tax the congress doesn't act millions of americans will be hit with an unexpected tax bill and even if congress doesn't act by the end of the year this action could delay the delivery of about seventy five billion dollars worth of tax refund checks congress expects americans to pay their taxes on time and the least a congress can do is make sure americans get their refunds on time markets also expect their tax dollars to be spent wisely yet today eleven of the twelve annual spending bills that fund the day to day operations of the federal government remain unfinished and now congressional leaders are talking about piling these bills into one monstrous piece of legislation which they will load up with billions of dollars in earmarks and wasteful spending taxpayers deserve better and if the congress passes in iraq's possible spending bill i'm going to  alla days are approaching the clock is ticking for the united states congress based on the record so far americans could be forgiven for thinking that santa will have slipped down their chimney on christmas eve before congress finishes its work know that they're still trying to learn how to enrich uranium we know that enriching uranium is an important step start was to develop a weapon we know they had a program we know the program was halted i think it is very important for the international community to recognize the fact that if iran were to develop the knowledge that they could transfer to a clandestine program it would create a danger for the world and so i  this report as a as a warning signal that they had the program they halted the program and the reason why it's a warning signal is is that they could restart it and i think that would make a restarted program effective and dangerous is the ability to enrich uranium the knowledge of which could be passed on to a hidden program and so it's  to me the n i s provides an opportunity for us to rally the international community to continue to rally the community to pressure the iranian regime to suspend its program you know the and i also said that such pressure was effective and that's what what our government has been explaining to your other partners in keeping the international pressure on iran the best diplomacy effective would give us confidence and your ears that i think a very important product that is a result of the reforms we put in place as a matter of fact the american people should have confidence that the reforms are working and that this work on the intel community is important work is that was how people said well why is it that you can't get exact knowledge quicker when the answer is because we're dealing with a regime that is not very transparent and frankly we haven't had a very good presence in iran since thank you seventy nine and that's why i instructed the intel community to beef up its intelligence on iran so we could have a better sense for what what they're thinking and what they're doing and this product is is a result of intelligence reform and more importantly this is a good hard work of our intelligence community one of reasons why this is out in the public arena is because i want to and our ministration belie that one that it was import people know the facts as we see them secondly that you know members of my administration have been very clear about the weapons program earlier this year and therefore it's important for the american people to see that there's been a you know a reevaluation of the of the arraign issue and they've spread a fake i like to follow on that when you talked about iraq you and others in the ministration talked about a mushroom cloud then there were no w m d in iraq when it came to iran you said in october on october seventeenth you warned about the prospect of world war three when months before you made that statement this intelligence about the suspending their weapons program back in zero three had already come to light to this administration so can't you be accused of hyping this threat and don't you worry about undermines u s credibility david  we have some new information he didn't tell me what the information was he did tell me it was going to take a while to analyze why would you take time to analyze new information when you want to make sure it's not dissin information if you want to make sure the piece of intelligence you have real and secondly they want to make sure they understand the intelligence they gathered if they think it's real then what does it mean and it wasn't until the last week that i was briefed on the end i either it is now public and the second part of your question has to do with islam iran was dangerous iran is dangerous and iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nucular weapon the and i says that iran had a hidden a covert nuclear weapons program that's what it said questions say they couldn't start a nother covert nuclear weapons program and the best way to ensure  that that there are that the world is peaceful in the future is for the international community to continue to work together to say to the iranians you know we're going to isolate you however there is a better way forward for the iranians now in two thousand and three the iranian government began to come to the table in discussions with the e u three facilitated by the united states and we said to the e u three we'll support your efforts to say to the iranians you have a choice to make you can continue to do policy that will isolate you or there's a better way forward and that was the sticks and carrots approach you might remember the united states said at that point time we'll put the w the table for consideration or we'll help you with a spare parts for your please was all in all an attempt to take advantage of what we thought was a a more open mind in the reigning regime at the time  been a a moment during my presidency in which diplomacy provided a way forward for the iranians and you know our hope is we can get back on advance again but what is certain is that if iran ever had the knowledge develop a nuclear weapon and they passed that knowledge on to a covert program which at one time in the history has existed the world would be more dangerous and now it's a time for the international community to work together the follow stop worrying about it quite the contrary i think the and i makes it clear that iran needs to be taken seriously as a threat to peace not my opinion hasn't changed and my i just explained that if you want to avoid a really problematic situation in the middle east now's the time to continue to work together that's our message to our allies and it's an important message for them to hear and here's the reason why in order for a nation to develop a nuclear weapons program they must have the materials from which to make a bomb the know how on how to take that material and make it explode and a delivery system now the iranians did with the most difficult aspect of the developing you know i weapons program or as some would say the long pole in the tent is enriching uranium this is a nation around as a nation that is testing ballistic missiles  and it is a nation that is trying to enrich uranium there and i says this is a country that had a  covert nuclear weapons program which by the way they have failed to disclose even today they have never admitted the program existed in the first place the danger is  that they can enrich play like they got a civilian program or have a civilian program or claim it's a civilian program and pass the knowledge to a covert military program and then the danger is that some point in the future they show up with a weapon and my comments are now is the time to work together to prevent that scenario from taking three right when you first saw this war you didn't know about syria in two thousand and five or had the same assessment with high confidence that iran currently is a terrorist to develop nuclear weapons and now the opposite house possibly think the rest of the world is going to continue to the degree of it's a rally around you and you're right because many in the world understand that if you run develop a nuclear weapon the world would be a very dangerous place secondly many of the world are going to take heart in noting that it's diplomatic pressure that caused them to change their mind and plenty of people understand that if they learn how to enrich that knowledge can be transferred to a weapons program i working the phones all of us are calling our partners and i appreciate many of the comments that have come out of the capitals one thing is for certain the and i talked about how a carrot and stick approach  work and this is heartening news to people who believe that on the one hand we should exert pressure and on the other hand we should provide the iranians a way forward and it was working until until until t anymore well you know i i'm without getting into sources and methods i believe that the intelligence community has made a great international attention what goes through your mind when you hear about a nineteen year old saudi woman getting gang raped by seven man and basically a saudi for it blames the victim and set her to two hundred lashes you spoke to king abdullah by telephone the i have been very emotional of course i have been angry at those who committed the crime and i would be angry at the state that didn't support the victim three and there's a lot of indications that people are increasingly concerned about the state of the economy and the outlook for the next couple of years you during this race is considering a plan to help people with lenders service industry people and investors to come up with a plan that would make it easier for qualified homebuyers to stay in their homes and i appreciate their effort and that's an important part of  what i'm about to say and that is this first of all the account of the even basics in the economy are good places low job creations good interest rates are low productivity it's a part of why many people are saying that the economy is slowing down and thirdly secretary paulson has worked with the private sector on a on a a credit reassurance fund signal john that if you keep opening up markets it'll help the psychology of the country if i can be an immediate impact on peru means not going to happen next month but nevertheless one with the countries confident we're continue to open up markets and services it should say that this is an ministrations aggressively pursuing program policies and main thing we want to do is make it clear that congress is not going to raise taxes during a time when a slow when this economy is  could be slowing down so i'm a i'm optimistic i recognize there are some serious issues at the credit crunch as well as the you know the home building industry i'm concerned about people who may we've been working on this since august ad and ours is a belief that one we shouldn't bail out lenders and so it was a we shouldn't be using taxpayers money and say ok you made a lousy loan  get your home mortgage and if you had a problem you go back to the bank or the loan you the money and renegotiate a possible now what has happened as you know people have taken those mortgages and bundle them up as as securities and somebody else owns the mortgages not the originating bank it's somebody else owns the mortgage and so secretary paulson is working with the a more complex industry than we've had in the past and that's why it's taken a while ed because not only do you have the lender you now have a whole service industry that has arisen that will hopefully help people stay in their homes as their job but you've also got people all around the world who now own u s mortgages signed contemplated full transparency and openness they didn't contemplate a regime that would have a covert nuclear weapons program all the more reason for the international community to continue to work together again and most the world understands that iran with a nuclear weapon would be a serious danger to peace and therefore now is a time to work together to convince them to suspend their program people said would you ever talk to iran for you veterans here are those who have been following that this administration for a while you might remember that i have consistently said that we will be at the table with the e u three if iran would verifiably suspend their program and the offer still stands what changed was a change of leadership in iran and we had a diplomatic track going and running the show it came along and took a different tone and the iranian people must understand that the tone and actions of their government are that which is