August 2, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H5695 

Iran’s nuclear facilities before the November elections to protect itself politically, even if it is done in concert 

with Israel to make it appear less politically motivated. 

While I believe the American people 

will see such an action for what it is, if 

a Presidential campaign will finally 

motivate this administration to get serious about our national security and 

Iran’s nuclear program, then so be it, 

Mr. Speaker. It would still be far better 

for the administration to do that than 

to stand idly by and force the tiny 

state of Israel, our closest friend and 

ally on this Earth, to undertake such a 

monumental task alone, with all the 

odds against them and facing such 

crushing consequences whether they 

succeed or fail. 

But it didn’t have to be this way. 

There was a time when Iran’s nuclear 

weapons ambitions could have been arrested with far less cost. 

b 1850 

The President has waited too long. 

Mr. Speaker, President Ronald 

Reagan gave an address in 1983 when 

the world faced a similar threat in the 

growing strength and nuclear ambition 

of the Soviet Union. Mr. Reagan said: 

I urge you to beware the temptation to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive 

impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the 

arms race a giant misunderstanding and 

thereby remove yourself from the struggle 

between right and wrong, good and evil. 

Mr. Speaker, there were those in 1938 

who deemed the ambitions of Adolf 

Hitler and the Third Reich a giant misunderstanding. The free nations of the 

world once had opportunity to address 

the insidious rise of the Nazi ideology 

in its formative years when it could 

have been dispatched without great 

cost, but they delayed, and the result 

was atomic bombs falling on cities, 50 

million people dead worldwide, and the 

swastika shadow nearly plunging the 

planet into Cimmerian night. 

Mr. Speaker, let the world’s free people resolve once and for all, for the 

sake of our children and for future generations, that we of this generation 

will not stand by and watch a similar 

dark chapter of history be repeated on 

our watch. 

God help this administration to wake 

up, and God help us all as Americans to 

be awake in this destiny year for our 

beloved country. 

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance 

of my time. 

f 

THE FISCAL PATH FORWARD 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under 

the Speaker’s announced policy of January 5, 2011, the gentleman from North 

Carolina (Mr. PRICE) is recognized for 

60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. 

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. 

Speaker, in recent weeks, every Member of Congress has heard from a broad 

range of interests: education leaders, 

State and local officials, defense contractors, small businesses, people concerned about the devastating impact of 

the looming sequestration spending 

cuts. Each of these groups, indeed, all 

of our constituents, deserve an honest 

accounting. How did we get in this predicament, and how can we get out of it 

in a way that accelerates our economic 

recovery and restores our fiscal health? 

Our situation results from the failure 

of the so-called ‘‘supercommittee’’ established in the wake of the debt ceiling crisis manufactured by Republicans 

last summer to come up with a deficit 

reduction plan. Instead, we’re faced 

with across-the-board cuts that would 

indiscriminately slash more than 8 percent from every national security and 

domestic account. Cutting with a meat 

axe instead of a scalpel is the most 

dangerous way imaginable to set fiscal 

policy. These cuts would come on top 

of the more targeted, but nonetheless 

significant, $917 billion in cuts and 

spending caps that the administration 

and Congress have already locked in. 

In the case of defense spending, these 

earlier cuts were a result of a careful, 

strategic review by the administration, 

and they’ll save nearly half a trillion 

dollars over the next 10 years. As for 

domestic investments in education, infrastructure, research, and innovation, 

these cuts have already gone too far, 

slowing the recovery, and putting at 

risk our ability to compete in the global marketplace. 

The House Republicans’ first order of 

business in the 112th Congress was to 

precipitate an unnecessary, confidenceshaking, government shutdown crisis 

to extract domestic spending cuts. 

From there, they moved to the needless months-long debt ceiling crisis, 

during much of which consumer confidence plummeted, and the economy 

posted 2011’s four slowest months of job 

growth. 

By undermining confidence in the 

economy and withholding countercyclical investments that would boost 

the recovery and prompt future 

growth, Republicans have provided a 

case study in how not to make macroeconomic policy. Yet they want to do 

more of the same. According to the 

Economic Policy Institute, House Republicans approved a 2013 budget that 

would put 4.1 million people out of 

work by cutting investments in our future. 

At root, Republicans are proposing a 

brand of European-style austerity, the 

same policy that has tipped many 

economies back into recession. Interestingly, with sequestration now looming and pressure from defense contractors mounting, a substantial portion of 

the Republican caucus on both sides of 

the Capitol has belatedly become 

aware of the concept of macroeconomics. All of the sudden, they’re 

talking macroeconomics. You might 

call it ‘‘defense Keynesianism,’’ the belief that only defense spending creates 

jobs, and that cutting it would result 

in job losses. In fact, the same argument applies equally to domestic investments in education and research 

and infrastructure, a truth Republicans 

have found it convenient to ignore. 

The Republicans, by the way, can 

only thank themselves for the deep defense cuts in sequestration. One can 

easily imagine an alternative sequestration approach, triggering a tax surcharge, in addition to less severe cuts 

to defense and domestic spending. But 

as was the case during these repeated 

unnecessary crises, Republican dogmatism kept revenue off the table. 

It’s clear sequestration would devastate our defense, education, infrastructure, and research sectors, undermining our economy over the near and 

long term. It would also hobble critical 

functions from air traffic control to 

meat inspection and Social Security 

claims processing. It can’t be resolved 

in isolation or through half measures. 

Yet Republicans are now proposing 

staving off the impact of sequestration 

on defense alone, and they pay for it by 

again targeting health care for low-income women and children, food and nutrition assistance, and other safety net 

programs for the poorest Americans, in 

addition to locking in a 2 percent Medicare cut. Their plan would victimize 

the most vulnerable, it would hinder 

job creation, and jeopardize our ability 

to compete. 

Mr. Speaker, there’s a better way. 

The impending fiscal cliff, which includes both sequestration and the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, offers an 

opportunity for all Members of Congress to set the talking points aside 

and act in our country’s best interest. 

I know we can chart a course to fiscal 

balance because we’ve done it before. 

In the budget agreements of 1990 and 

1993, which set the stage for 4 years of 

budget surpluses, the formula was fiscal discipline on all fronts. 

No area of spending can be sacrosanct. We should focus our limited 

dollars on boosting the recovery and 

making critical investments in our future because the most effective means 

of deficit reduction is a growing economy. As in the 1990s, revenue must be 

part of the solution. The President has 

already proposed a sensible plan allowing the Bush-era tax breaks to expire 

on income over $250,000 a year. Extravagant tax breaks for various special interests must be ended. The revenue raised could be used to pay down 

the deficit and to help fund the investments in education, research, infrastructure, and innovation that are critical to economic growth. 

Most Americans agree with this comprehensive approach, but most Republicans still hide behind their anti-tax 

pledges. Their insistence that no additional revenue ever be raised, for example, by ending tax loopholes for oil 

companies or asking millionaires to return to their Clinton-era tax rates, is 

still the largest obstacle to a sensible 

budget compromise in Washington. As 

we approach the fiscal cliff, that fever 

has got to break. We must find our way 


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H5696 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE August 2, 2012 

to the comprehensive balanced approach that will enable our country 

and all of our people to prosper. 

I yield back the balance of my time. 

f 

b 1900 

UNITED STATES-AFRICA TRADE 

RELATIONS 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under 

the Speaker’s announced policy of January 5, 2011, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. RUSH) is recognized for the 

remainder of the hour as the designee 

of the minority leader. 

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today 

to commend my fellow colleagues in 

the House for their leadership, for their 

vision, and for their votes today to 

strengthen the U.S.-Africa economic 

and trade relations. Passage of H.R. 

5986 will also solidify the U.S. longterm investment in Africa. 

I want to commend my colleagues for 

voting to extend AGOA, the African 

Growth and Opportunity Act. And I 

would also like to applaud all of those 

advocates who worked tirelessly to 

pass H.R. 5986, the long overdue extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, AGOA, including the thirdcountry fabric provision as a part of 

AGOA. 

This third-country fabric provision 

will enable eligible countries in sub-Saharan Africa to ship thousands of goods 

to the United States without paying 

import duties. This provision, which 

has been set to expire this September, 

on September 30, waives the duties on 

clothing from most AGOA countries, 

even if the yarn or fabric is made in a 

‘‘third country,’’ such as China, South 

Korea, or Vietnam. With passage of 

this important legislation, sewing jobs 

for hundreds of thousands of African 

workers will be protected and also created. 

The first beneficiaries for this bill 

will be the women of Africa, because 

about 70 to 80 percent of the workers in 

these burgeoning apparel and textile 

industries are women. Mr. Speaker, 

when women are working, families are 

fed and stability is a result. 

I am so pleased, Mr. Speaker, that 

once again AGOA will become the law 

and that the President will sign this 

law in the near future. 

THE DEATH OF GHANAIAN PRESIDENT JOHN ATTA

MILLS

Next, Mr. Speaker, I stand in the 

House well today to send my deepest 

sympathies, the sympathies of the people of the First Congressional District 

of Illinois, and to send our prayers to 

the Ghanaian people and to the family 

of the recently departed President 

John Atta Mills, the late president of 

Ghana. His death is a terrible loss not 

only for Ghana and its people, but for 

the entire world. 

Mr. Speaker, President Atta Mills 

was a tremendous leader. He solidified 

the foundation for peace and prosperity 

in the nation of Ghana, creating confidence in the Ghanaian political, socioeconomic system that led to massive foreign direct investments in 

Ghana, which resulted in the creation 

of millions of jobs for the Ghanaian 

people. He will be greatly missed. 

I also want to congratulate His Excellency, Mr. John Dramani Mahama, 

the new leader of Ghana. 

Mr. Speaker, the peaceful transition 

of power in Ghana clearly demonstrates that Ghana has embarked 

into an unwavering path and process 

for democracy and the democratic 

principles we all hold near and dear. 

Within hours of the passing away of 

the President, late President John 

Atta Mills, the Vice President was 

sworn in as the new President. 

The political violence that we witnessed after the passing of President 

Umaru Yar’Adua of Nigeria and President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi 

simply did not occur. This, Mr. Speaker, is evidence, sheer evidence that 

Ghana’s democratic institutions are 

viable and are getting much stronger 

day by day. 

This just did not happen. It took 

strong leadership from previous Presidents of Ghana in order to lay the right 

foundation for this smooth transition 

of power in Ghana over the last week. 

People like former President Jerry 

Rawlings, who was elected in 1996. And 

lest we not forget Mr. Rawlings’ party 

lost with a narrow margin, but he 

didn’t try to fight and hold back the 

willful decision of the Ghanaian people. 

He conceded the election without any 

controversy. 

I also commend former President 

John Kufuor for his strong stance in 

support of the Ghanaian democratic 

march, the principles, and the democratic values that we cherish here in 

the United States. 

It is for these reasons that I stand 

here today to commend the Ghanaian 

people, the Ghanaian leadership, and 

the Ghanaian institutions for their stable, forward-thinking, and mature leadership. I commend them all this 

evening. 

NIGER DELTA CRISIS

Mr. Speaker, on my final note before 

this body, I rise today to also urge this 

Congress to pass H. Con. Res. 121, a resolution to save the Niger Delta region, 

which is located in Nigeria. Over the 

last few years and months, a lot has 

been said and a lot has been written 

about the Niger Delta crisis that is occurring right now in Nigeria as we 

speak. 

b 1910 

Just about a year ago, the United Nations Environment Program released a 

report, a startling report, a report calling for an urgent response to reverse 

the environmental destruction and devastation in the Ogoniland region of the 

Niger Delta wetlands. That report 

again was startling, intense, and accurate. It also called for the establishment of a $1 billion cleanup fund to finance the restoration and the cleanup 

of the Niger Delta region. 

Mr. Speaker, to give you some perspective on the scope of the destruction 

and on the devastation, it is estimated 

that the cleanup of the Niger Delta 

could take as many as 30 years to complete. Of course, Mr. Speaker, strong 

voices have begun to emerge and 

strong actions have taken place to do 

more to publicize these environmental 

atrocities. 

Just recently, I watched a movie directed by a brilliant Nigerian-born 

filmmaker whose name is Jeta Amata. 

It was a movie titled ‘‘Black November: Struggle for the Niger Delta.’’ This 

movie raises the awareness of the tragedy of the Niger Delta and the Niger 

region. ‘‘Black November,’’ the movie, 

is based upon the true story of the people of the Niger Delta, the communities in the Niger Delta that suffer extreme environmental degradation and 

extreme poverty in this oil-rich Niger 

Delta region. 

Mr. Speaker, the people of this Nation, we cannot, the American people 

cannot remain indifferent to the struggle of the people of the Niger region, 

the Niger Delta, as they struggle to 

clean up the pollution created by mostly American and other Western oil and 

petroleum companies. Most of the 

Niger Delta’s 31 million people live on 

less than $1 a day, although this region 

is the very backbone of Nigeria’s economy, with oil and gas extraction accounting for over 97 percent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange revenues. 

The Niger Delta region, which consists of nine states, makes up about 12 

percent of Nigeria’s total land mass, 

and it is one of the world’s 10 most important wetlands and coastal marine 

ecosystems. 

Mr. Speaker, the social unrest, the 

criminality, illegal oil trade, the bunkering, and the general corruption 

have hindered oil and gas investment 

and production, as well as the Niger 

Delta region’s development. 

Mr. Speaker, these numbers are 

alarming. The World Conservation 

Union and the representatives from the 

Nigerian federal government and the 

Nigerian Conservation Foundation calculated in 2006 that up to 1.5 million 

tons of oil had been spilled in the Niger 

Delta over the last 50 years—1.5 million 

tons. That is 50 times, that’s right, 50 

times, Mr. Speaker, the pollution released in the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster in Alaska a few years ago. 

This pollution, this oil spill, this devastation has severely limited the local 

inhabitants’ access to clean water and 

has largely destroyed the fishing stock 

that the majority of the delta inhabitants depended on to make their daily 

living. A result also has been that illegal oil and gas refineries have become 

a source of income for these poor people who have unfortunately diverted 

their activities from fisheries destroyed by the oil spills. Illicit oil 

trade and illegal refineries are booming, and they are consequently threatening the economy, the security, and 

the environment of this very vital region in the world. 


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