op and the davidson college wildcats men's basketball team which had one remarkable basketball season davidson college is one of a number of outstanding colleges and universities in my congressional district the wildcats basketball team finished its regular season undefeated in the southern conference won the southern conference tournament and went on to the third consecutive in the double a tournament appearance in the n c a a double a tournament davidson college delivered three stunning upset eliminating the gonzaga bulldogs the georgetown four years and the wisconsin badgers on their way to the elite eight in the midwest regional finals the wildcats gave a tremendous effort before alternately falling to kansas by two points kansas of course went on to win the national championship by any measure davidson college was the cinderella team of this year's in the double a tournament in a fitting tribute to his coaching and leadership coach bob mckillop receive the coach player b award own april seven honoring the n c a a double a division one men's basketball coach who has made the most significant positive contribution to the sport during the year i wish coach mckillop and the cinderella davidson wildcat continued success i am fortunate to represent davidson college and their outstanding scholars an athlete in congress we'll be back next year states of america this is an exciting time for america and the over sixty four million american catholics to celebrate the relationship between our nation and the vatican and our continued work towards peace and humanitarian needs around the world during his trip the pope will visit new york city and washington d c where he will attend mass at nationals park in yankee stadium visit the world trade center site and attend ceremonies and meetings at the white house with president george w bush as an extraordinary sign of respect the president will welcome the pope at andrews air force base in maryland and escort him to the white house pope benedict is just the third pope to visit the united states and this visit marks the twenty fifth meeting between a sitting president and a pope on behalf of the citizens of the second congressional district of south carolina welcome pope benedict to the united states i hope his visit will be a positive reminder of the importance of our relationships in conclusion god bless our troops and will never forget september eleventh welcome michael mccoy wilson who was born on april eleventh two thousand and eight at lexington medical center west columbia south carolina the generally the main reason i thank the speaker very much and i am always pleased to acknowledge the speaker's leadership i'm delighted to rise today to salute homes for hometown heroes many of us my and myself members from as far away as california arizona had the privilege of being in houston texas last evening at the hyatt regency to celebrate a very unique and special program where our hometown heroes injured soldiers were able to receive their own home by the largest and generosity of many heroes in our community men and speaker is a moving experience to see our soldiers coming in injured but yet strong and resilient what a privilege to be able to present to them a key to their own home i look forward to working with this caucus the democratic caucus the republican conference and all of our members to spread this message across america one was said that all of what they've done they deserve to be respected and responded to a home for the injured soldiers brain damage those who cannot walk in wheelchairs to simply say thank you i look forward to announcing a post traumatic stress disorder center in my own eighteenth congressional district last evening reinforce the fact that nothing is too great for those who put their lives on the front line i look forward to celebrating the hometown heroes are you april fourteenth and tuesday april fifteenth as richardson of california for monday april fourteenth and april fifteenth of california for monday april fourteenth and until five thirty p m on tuesday april fifteenth without objection the request for granted extraneous material mr franks today april fifteenth sixteenth and seventeenth mr burton today april fifteenth sixteenth and seventeenth mr mccann read today april fifteenth sixteenth and seventeenth and mr weller today for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california right men speak i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into the following members may be permitted to address the house for five minutes to revise and extend the under the speakers announced the of january eighteenth two thousand and seven and under a previous order of the house the following members are recognized for five minutes each mr poe of texas the gentleman is recognized for five minutes thank you madam speaker this week is national crime victims rights week and in a criminal justice system out of speak we've come a long way to the time that we recognize the importance of victims and honor them for a whole week  before i came to congress i was working in the district attorney's office in houston texas that was even before i was a judge for twenty two years and i often reflect on one crime victim that taught me more about the way the world really is that than maybe any other person many years ago i had the opportunity to prosecute a case and i'm going to change the names because the victim's family still lives in houston area and are concerned about their privacy but this young lady was married had two twin boys and she had a good career she was in her early twenty's and she's going to the university of houston at night to get a second degree and one evening she's driving home and she had car trouble the lights came on on her dash of her vehicle and so she pulled over to a service station that she thought was open but the service station was not open it was closed she gets out of the car she starts talking to who she thought was a service station attendant about the individual luke johnson was not a service station attendant he was just hanging around he pulls out a pistol he kidnaps this young lady lisa takes her to remote area in the piney woods of these texas he pistol whips her the sexual assault sexually assaulted her and he left her for dead in fact when he was later arrested he was mad that he hadn't killed her but she was a remarkable young lady she survived that brutal attack three or four days later she was found in the woods by one hundred that was out there medical needs were met for her she recovered those that brutal attack luke johnson was later captured and charged with aggravated sexual assault i was fortunate to prosecute that case lisa came and testified before a jury of twelve citizens of houston texas luke johnson was convicted he received the maximum sentence of ninety nine years in the texas state penitentiary and madam speaker we would hope that all would be well with victims after that that the world would go on and things would work out well but that's not the world that we have ever lived in lisa couldn't quite cope with being  victim of a crime she never went back to that campus of the university of houston you can understand why she couldn't hold a job in fact she was fired from her job she couldn't focus she started abusing drugs first alcohol and then probably everything else that she could get her hands on her husband the kind of guy that he was no longer wanted her sued her for divorce and was able to can that's a judge in houston that he should obtain both of the twin boys and he left the state of texas for good claiming that she was not mentally capable to raise those two children and soon after that of occurrence occurred i received a phone call from lisa's mother telling me that she had received a note from her daughter saying that she was going to take her life and she did and i have that note with me today i've always had that ever since this crime occurred all the years i was a judge and i have it in my office here in congress saying that she was tired of runnin from luke johnson in her nightmares she paid the ultimate price for being a crime victim madam speaker and because of the fact in those days there was no victim advocate there was no one that she could turn to she felt alone she was alone madam speaker but the criminal justice system in this country has come a long way we have victims advocates who take care of the needs of victims all the way from the time the crime was committed through the trial and after the trial and we have people in the medical profession that donate their time to help in the recovery of crime victims and now we have in the united states congress a victims rights caucus i'm proud to be the founder of that but it's a bipartisan caucus jim costa from california a democrat is a is the cochairman of this caucus we have over forty four members of members of both parties who seek and advocate rights of crime victims here in the united states house of representatives been a speaker we have come a long way but we have a long way to go because crime victims are real people crime doesn't discriminate based on race age sex or economic status crime affects so many people through this terry and we as good neighbors need to make sure that we keep up with people who have had that unfortunate experience of being a crime victim especially of a violent crime because the same constitution that protects the rights of criminal defendants protects the rights of crime victims and we should always seek justice because justice is what we do in this country and that means that we must always have justice for victims as well and that's just the way it is  wilson of california and madam speaker the gentlewoman is recognized for five minutes thank you men and seeker men and speaker as we enter the six year of the seemingly endless occupation of iraq the international committee of the red cross published a worrying report about the state of the humanitarian crisis in iraq in its in title iraq no letup in the humanitarian crisis the publication shows just how far we need to go to meet the most basic needs of the iraqi people despite the rosy picture being painted by some in the administration too many iraqis are still without health care clean water and or education and many families have been torn apart by the civil war wrecking the country family members have gone missing or have been killed some of been shipped off to detention centers estimates range on how many people mostly men who have been locked up according to the red cross tens of thousands of iraqis almost all of them men are currently in detention often far from their homes one camp situated in the southern part of the country nearby near basra and managed by the united states led multinational forces in iraq at the same time this is the largest detention facility in the country and there are more than twenty thousand inmates in that detention camp this situation means that many families have lost their breadwinner the new heads of household many women and then the children have to cope in a world that seems to be without a home or promise for the future and their day to day life is just as bleak instead of improving the supply of electricity has become even more unreliable because of this water sanitation plants are breaking down and hospitals find they cannot provide adequate care even if they had the medical supplies to meet the demand which they very seldom do parents in the world over madam speaker american iraqi or anywhere else only want the best for their children they want their kids to be happy they want them to be healthy they want their kids go to school to grow up and to have a chance to achieve their dreams that's why ongoing occupation is about more than statistics or numbers the red cross reports helps to put a human face on the administration's so called foreign policy one such story actually highlights the struggle faced by too many here's ruben's story she says my children and i left my home in anbar province almost two years ago my husband had been killed right in front of us she continues i had to protect my children so we fled the same night with nothing but some money for me to day there is no past there is no future only a horrible present i only wish i had some photos of my husband photos of my family i can see it all in my mind but i don't know for how long i will remember there's a time when we always sat down together for lunch and la today we are living with my cousins family she goes on to say there are twelve of us in one room i don't want my own life again because i know it is impossible without my husband all i want is for my children to go to school and lead a normal life the story of this mother man a speaker a woman just thirty eight years old is heartbreaking we have a solemn obligation to help the iraqi people achieve a future that is both secure and stable in the five minutes we stand here deliver our special order speeches the administration spends over one million dollars to prolong the endless occupation i think the people of america could find a better way to show our commitment to the iraqi people the american people's generosity and commitment to humanitarian assistance is boundless but our patience with this administration's foreign policy follows follies is actually not boundless this congress must stand up to the administration we must say no to a blank check let us redirect our resources to where they are really needed towards aid not ammunition i  thank you very much today is day four hundred fifty three of a terrible injustice in america two u s border agents agents copy on and ramos have been languishing in federal prison since january seventeenth of two thousand and seven these men did their job to protect our nation from an illegal alien mexican drug smuggler who brought one million dollars worth of marijuana across our borders into texas yet through a questionable prosecution these two men were convicted for defending themselves and defending our border it is they said today that such a travesty of justice could happen to t hispanic americans who loved america so much that they were willing to become law enforcement offices and in this case border patrol agents in order to protect america despite the efforts of the american people and members of congress who have brought this to the attention of the white house nothing and i say nothing has been done to reverse this injustice fall outside groups and members of congress to file court briefs to support these agents we still actually asli await a decision in their appeal the more time these men spend in prison and the longer it takes a decision on their appeal the more frustrated the american people become the american people have not forgotten a just ramos and copy on from time to time i still hear from stitcher aunts who are frustrated that these men are still in prison they only get hope for these agents and their families rests with the fifth circuit court of appeals and you're all ins during an all argument on december third of two thousand and seven one of the judges considering the case judge said and i quote madam speaker and this is his quote it does seem to me that the government overreacted here for some reason this one got out of hand that is a federal judge that made that comment a ruling on their appeal is now expected any day and millions of americans are hopeful that the court of appeals will reverse this terrible injustice madam speaker still call on chairman john conyers to hold a hearing to review this unjust prosecution sometime before the end of the year chairman conyers is a fair minded person for whom i have great respect justice is crying out for his help and m our close i want the ramos and copy and family to know that there are those in both parties in this house of representatives that are not going to sit back and wait until this injustice is corrected because the days to board agents deserve nothing but praise for what they have done for this great nation and madam speaker with that i knew about the balance of my time and the material in the record without objection the generated from ohio is recognized for five minutes thank you madam speaker the papers back home tells the story twenty five firefighter job advertised thousands of applicants bass pro sporting goods building a new store three hundred jobs thirteen thousand applicants and the applications keep coming in yet the bush administration last week sent congress another job killing nafta like trade pact this time for the south american nation of colombia but why colombia and why now the answer to both questions in a word is always well rather than paying attention to what's happening in this country again the bush administration is focused to a new set of global oil deposits why colombia in the big picture of global trade colombia is relatively insignificant to the united states so why would the bush administration can make it a top priority in the final year of his presidency because oil represents more than half of colombia's exports to the united states and nothing drives bush administration policy more than oil ten years ago colombia wasn't even exporting oil it was an oil importing country but with the middle east in turmoil the bush administration like the clinton administration before it is doing everything it can to make colombia safe for all exports to us at a time when u s relations with venezuela south america's leading oil producer have dropped to an all time low colombia has emerged as the continent's fourth leading supplier a decade ago as i mentioned colombia was an oil importing nation now multinational oil companies have made huge investments because of tax favor ability in the area of a giant crescent shaped under ocean or oil field that stretches from colombia to peruse this trade agreement is not about cocoa it is not about coal it is not about cut flowers this is an agreement about oil buying oil from colombia piles more oil trade deficit on top of the eight hundred billion dollar overall trade deficit our nation is racked up with nations all over the world we continue to export jobs and an accelerating rate and import more and more and more from abroad with oil leading the way by far the number one category in the red as in the middle east the united states government is pouring billions of dollars into colombia in the form of military and foreign aid in order to protect the oil companies investments why now because the united states is being forced by political realities to relocate its sole defense base in latin america out of ecuador whose president wants it removed from there and by contrast aree big government in colombia has welcomed u s military involvement seeing an opportunity to court favor with the bush administration and the military protection that aid provides for oil exports only israel and egypt receive more military assistance from the united states according to amnesty international which opposes military aid to colombia until human rights concerns are addressed the u s contributes approximately seven hundred and fifty million dollars a quarter of a billion dollars each year it is estimated that our country has sent to colombia more than five billion dollars under the guise of plan colombia with most of the assistance going to the military and police these parallels with the middle east are troubling in both regions the united states risk reputation with the people on the street by mixing economic designs and resources not belonging to us and then moving defense assets to protect that interest yes average americans are justifiably upset over rising prices at the pump a gallon of gasoline now costs as much or more than a gallon of milk think about that but surely the answer to this predicament is not to increase our oil dependence on colombia if our citizens saw how america has dedicated its military assets to back up that oil flow owned by private interests they would be really enraged in latin america the united states is viewed as anything but the sweet land of liberty as in the middle east public opinion throughout latin america has turned strongly negative toward the united states people to our south view the bush administration policies is concerned only with the wealthiest segments of society or their american investment partners and essentially apathetic about democracy or the average person to achieve a real alliance for progress in vision by john kennedy our policy should promote democracy and cooperation not resource exploitation while our government tether it has tolerated the murder of thousands of labor leaders more than the rest of the countries of the world combined already this year seventeen more labor leaders have been assassinated in colombia the bush administration's failure to cure america's oil addiction is no reason to overlook the crimes of impunity that are being committed regularly against organized labor in colombia once again however our foreign policy is being held hostage to the demands of an oil based economy haven't we moved beyond the twentieth century the issue is not the u s trade relationship with colombia but the failure of the bush administration to make our economy more stable at home by pursuing the important goal of energy independence our national leaders should wake up and move us to freedom from imported petroleum this is a national imperative as serious as our nation has ever faced we don't need colombian oil now we need energy the majority of this house this past week you know when the question is often asked who is america's best friend in latin america no matter where you are in latin america they always say the democratically elected government of colombia is america's best friend and this last week the house of representatives voted to turn its back on america's best friend and at a time when the autocrats threaten democracy when democracy is at risk in latin america by those who threaten it such as the president of venezuela this congress this house voted to turn its back on latin america's oldest democracy america's best friend in latin america you think about it who else has colombia colombia is also america's most reliable and strongest partner when it comes to addressing terrorism and  colombia has been there and president uribe the president of of colombia today is the most popular elected president and the entire hemisphere this congress has fifteen percent approval ratings of the american people fifteen one five percent present your e bay has eighty percent approval ratings with his own people why because he was elected to reduce violence he was elected to bring security to his country and today seventy three percent of the colombian people have said in a recent opinion poll that they feel more secure in colombia seventy two percent in that same poll said they believe present a rebate is making progress and at the same time a protecting human rights so president uribe a is made tremendous progress and today violence has been reduced kidnapping is down murder rates are down fact it's safer to walk the streets of bogota colombia or midday in once known as the most dangerous city in all the world than it is to walk the streets of washington d c present re  colombia and the support of his own people as made tremendous progress they're reliable partners are reliable friends and last week this house voted to turn its back on the democratically elected government of colombia and think what message that sends to latin america about how the united states house of representatives respects and treats our friends in latin america we ha before us free trade agreement our trade promotion agreement with colombia to get agreement my friend and colleague from ohio says it's all about oil we don't need a trade agreement to buy a oil from colombia in fact right now colombian products manufactured goods and foreign products enter the united states duty free no taxes on their imports but u s products such as the construction equipment the bulldozers that could be used in mining in various other economic projects  colombia face fifteen percent tariffs are corn and soybeans and light stock products face terrace of up to forty percent colombian agricultural products and of the united states duty free we need a trade promotion agreement colombia the even the playing field we often hear from folks back home you know we need trade agreements that are fair and we treat each other equally so if they get access to our market we get access to the well under the status quo they have that we need this agreement so we get access to their market some say clum is not very important well it's forty two million people it's the second largest spanish speaking nation in the world so america's best friend but we have a good agreement before us some have said we need to oppose this agreement because there's been violence against union activists and the rebate government has acknowledged that in fact they've done some so incredible things they've increased the budget for prosecution of violent acts by seventy two percent they've added almost twenty two hundred prosecutors and and and lawyers and others for the prosecutor general to go after those who commit violent crimes and when it comes to specifically to labor leaders in colombia as the washington post is pointed out the murder rate for labor leaders and club is actually lower than the national murder rate and any murder is unacceptable whether it's here in thank you madam speaker recognize for a fine thank you madam thank you madam speaker i rise in the well today to talk about an event that occurred in connecticut last weekend and saturday in tolland connecticut which is a suburban town about twenty miles east of hartford the catechize state dental society held a open free clinic it was under a program called mission of mercy which is a group of dentists around the country that organize opera tori's and equipment to go into the communities and basically open the doors and say anybody who needs dental care come in we'll take care of you the advertising for this event in connecticut was modest there was some t v public service announcements there was some small notices in the press  prior evening friday evening and by four o'clock in the morning when the dentist actually arrived to start setting up the operation there were already three hundred fifty people waiting in line to get their care by five o'clock in the morning the crowd had grown to the point where the connecticut state police had to come out and actually turn people away and about five thirty in the morning the heavens opened up there was thunder lightning and it rained it was pouring rain hard rain on the crowd and none would leave because they were terrified of losing their place in line and being deprived of the opportunity to get an extraction to get a filling to get their teeth cleaned because they were so desperate to get dental care looking at the pictures  in the press the following day of people literally huddled in the rain waiting to try and get an opportunity to get their teeth taken care of it really made you wonder what country are we living in tolland connecticut where this is being held is suburban connecticut this is  distressed area this is not an urban area with large pockets of chronic poverty it is a suburban area with working families and working individuals who definitely earn a paycheck and provide a standard of living that would be described as middle class for themselves and their families but when i joined the dental clinic later in the day around one o'clock in the afternoon eight hundred people were at that point lined up to be served they had turned away hundreds of others people waiting in the stands of a gymnasium waiting for an opportunity to get their teeth taken care of now why am i talking about this on the floor of the united states congress the reason is because there is legislation that has been sitting on the president's desk the s chip bill the children's health insurance extension which there's been a lot of fighting and debating going on in this chamber over the last few months or so one of the overlooked parts of that legislation is that in addition  to standardizing a three hundred percent poverty threshold so that working families would have an opportunity to have their children covered by health insurance it would also strengthened the dental coverage under the s chip program which if you talk to any dentist or any health care provider in this country will tell you that under the existing s chip program the dental coverage is inadequate and that is why in those stands and that high school gymnasium where families with children who had never had their teeth cleaned  o needed in some instances to have their teeth extracted because of the fact that they have no other type of decent coverage for their dental care unfortunately president bush has twice vetoed this this legislation legislation that's been endorsed by the march of dimes by the catholic hospital association by the american medical association by the pharmaceutical association of america a broad consensus of stakeholders in the health care system that have come together and said if there's one area of dispute that we ought to agree on upon a mirror as americans is that children should have their health insurance covered in particular we should make sure that oral and dental health care is done in a fashion that make sure that they are going to have a lifetime of decent dental care because if you talk to anyone who is in pediatrics they will tell you that dental dental care dentistry care is essential to making sure that a young person will grow and thrive well what we saw in connecticut on saturday is i think a perfect example of how broken the system is and what is frustrating to me and i think so many others is that we have an opportunity with a piece of legislation to make a real difference in the lives of young children in america to make sure that they will not be stuck in the pouring rain and thunder and lightning so they can get access to what i think almost any read nable person would describe as basic fundamental decent health care man speaker i have a copy of the hartford current coverage of this extraordinary event that took place in connecticut from the sunday harper current edition which i'm going to ask to be made part of the record but i like to just read the final passage of the article which describes a sixty seven year old stafford springs woman which again is a suburb of connecticut as she walked back to her parking lot with no umbrella soaking wet from the rain struggling to catch  breath from the walk the woman said that she had come to get her tooth pulled but already knew that she would never get in like the others she can't afford dental insurance when she was asked what she was going to do she said just going to pray i guess she should be able to to ask for more than that compassion and concern but i will tell you that if we don't get a handle on these energy costs people are going to have money to do the things that they want to do with their families on a day to day basis so we had this time tonight to talk about energy and our energy status in the world today we started doing this last week on a a bill that came to the floor that we're going to finish this week the beach quality sa bill whenever something like that and it was we took that opportunity to talk about we ought to be taught we ought to be addressing some of the pressing concerns of this country today and we hear the term that america and rural america is better it's big phrase today and over the weekend they are better they're bitter about high energy costs and they're bitter but the fact that this congress is not doing anything to address to address the supply part of this debate more supply means lower cost basic economics one hundred one that anyone who's gone to have a bachelor's degree and even some good high school programs taught teaches economics that's the simple supply and demand equation so we're going to talk about energy and i my focus is going to be on supply how we need more supply we also hear a lot this year about change we want change and everybody wants change you know change is not change is not always good here's an example of change since the democrats got in the majority when they first got sworn in the price of a barrel of crude oil was fifty eight dollars and thirty one cents today the price of a barrel of crude all is one hundred and eleven dollars and fifteen cents i would say that is bad change that is not good change the change is not always good this is negative jane and it flies in the face of promises from my friends on the other side of the aisle speaker of the house nancy pelosi said democrats this was in april twenty fourth two thousand and six about two years ago democrats a commonsense plan to help bring down the skyrocketing gas prices well that was almost sixty dollars a barrel less and a dollar in change per gallon of gas less majority leader standing hornier said in october for two thousand  democrats believe that we can do more for the american people who are struggling to deal with high gas prices well they did they did what today do they raise their gas prices you want to talk about not being able to pay for dental care people are using their money to get to work in rural america we drive long distances room america doesn't have the access the buses rule america doesn't have the opportunity to take the metro or light rail so those who are driving distances to get to work are harmed exponentially greater democrats probert lower gas prices what do we have we have higher gas prices all we're asking to do is keep their promises help us lower the price of gasoline but they won't do it why won't they won't do it they won't