September 20, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H6157 

paramedics are working to preserve the 

public safety. These men and women 

wake up every morning and head to 

work not knowing what dangers they 

may encounter during their shift. The 

loss of Officer Brad Fox serves as a 

somber reminder of the risks our police 

officers face each and every day. 

Here in our Nation’s capital, just a 

few miles from where I stand at this 

very moment, is the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Etched 

into this memorial are the names of 

countless men and women who gave 

their lives in service to their communities. Sadly, Officer Brad Fox will join 

that roll of honor. 

Also carved on the memorial are 

quotes which capture the spirit of 

those honored there, including one 

from former President George H.W. 

Bush, which reads: 

Carved on these walls is the story of America, of a continuing quest to preserve both 

democracy and decency, and to protect a national treasure that we call the American 

Dream. 

There can be no doubt that Officer 

Bradley Fox did his part in his quest to 

preserve the American Dream. Our 

country owes a debt of gratitude to Officer Fox and to his family for the sacrifice he made and they made to keep 

his community a safe place to work 

and to live and to raise a family. 

f 

b 1030 

A WORLD AT PEACE, FOR OUR 

GRANDCHILDREN AND THEIR 

GRANDCHILDREN 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 

California (Ms. WOOLSEY) for 5 minutes. 

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, in April 

of the year 2004, I rose in this Chamber 

to speak for 5 minutes about my conviction that the war in Iraq was a dangerous, immoral policy, and it was 

hurting America and our national security. 

Since then, I’ve delivered a similar 

message nearly every day that it was 

possible when we were in session, and 

once the Iraq war finally drew to a 

close, I moved on to focus on the ongoing military occupation of Afghanistan, which soon will be in its 11th 

year, costing us more than 2,000 American lives and more than half a trillion 

dollars and counting. 

Today is my 440th 5-minute Special 

Order calling for an end of these wars 

and the safe return of our troops to 

their families right here at home. I’m 

not proud of having reached that number. I would much prefer that the 

speeches were no longer necessary. 

But since I’m retiring from the House 

at the end of this year, my 20th year in 

Congress, one of my biggest disappointments is that we haven’t shown the 

leadership, the courage, and the resolve 

to finally secure peace. 

We are still mired in this Afghanistan conflict, even though the evidence 

is overwhelming that it’s doing more 

harm than good, even though it’s 

emboldening terrorists and insurgents 

rather than defeating them, even 

though it’s breeding resentment of 

America instead of winning hearts and 

minds. We are still mired in this conflict, even though a clear majority of 

the American people no longer want 

any part of it. 

I will not return to the House in 2013, 

so this will be one of my final opportunities to press this point. But as long 

as our troops remain in harm’s way, 

and as long as this dreadful policy continues, I will continue to speak out and 

speak up. 

I know there are many proud and 

fearless opponents of this war on both 

sides of the aisle who will continue to 

lead this effort right here in Congress. 

Time and time again what I have advocated is not just an end to these wars, 

but the beginning of a new approach to 

combating terrorism and keeping 

America safe. 

We need to lead with American cooperation and compassion around the 

world, not American weapons and 

brute force. We need SMART Security, 

a plan that puts the focus on development and diplomacy. We need a strategy that gives people hope and improves their lives instead of invading 

and occupying their lands. 

This is not only the humane approach, Mr. Speaker, it’s also the more 

pragmatic one, the one that will truly 

advance our national security goals, 

and it’s a lot more cost-effective. Helping people costs pennies on the dollar 

compared to waging war. A lot of people have said to me over the years, 

WOOLSEY, your problem is that you 

think we can have a perfect world. 

Well, consider me guilty as charged. 

I don’t believe there is anything 

wrong with idealism and ambitious 

goals because I’m absolutely certain 

that if we don’t strive for a perfect 

world, we won’t ever come close to providing a safe, secure, and peaceful 

world for our grandchildren and their 

grandchildren, and that’s our job here 

in Congress. 

f 

ENERGY CLOSURES AND LAYOFFS 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentleman from 

Pennsylvania (Mr. THOMPSON) for 5 

minutes. 

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Speaker, this week another American energy-producing company announced plant closures and worker layoffs, citing the Obama administration’s 

authoritarian regulatory regime in 

part as a rationale for its decision. 

Yesterday Alpha Natural Resources 

announced closures of eight coal mines 

in three States, one of which is located 

in the Fifth Congressional District of 

Pennsylvania, which I’m proud to represent. Company officials, in announcing the closures, cited ‘‘a regulatory 

environment that’s aggressively aimed 

at constraining the use of coal.’’ 

The decision will result in layoffs of 

1,200 workers and an immediate 400 

jobs lost in Virginia, West Virginia, 

and Pennsylvania. 

The fact that the coal industry is facing tough times isn’t news. They have 

other energy competitors, including 

natural gas, and challenges with coal 

transport costs, energy, and labor 

costs. The issue that’s newsworthy is 

the additional burden being placed on 

American employers during such difficult and tough economic times. 

The administration’s announced intentions to eliminate coal, our most 

abundant natural resource, from our 

fuel mix, with no clear plan to replace 

it with any effective alternative, has 

taken a significant toll on employers 

and individuals across my home State. 

Here are several news headlines of 

closures and layoffs in my home district from the past several months: 

September 18 headline: ‘‘Alpha Natural Resources closing eight coal 

mines.’’ Twelve hundred companywide 

layoffs and an immediate 400 jobs cut 

in Virginia, West Virginia, and my 

home State of Pennsylvania. 

August 30 headline: ‘‘Another round 

of Joy workers laid off,’’ The Derrick: 

In August, Joy Mining Manufacturing in 

Franklin, Venango County, Pennsylvania, 

posted another round of employee layoffs, 

and 43 employees were notified they had been 

furloughed from their jobs. The week before 

that, 19 others were laid out. Joy Mining is 

the largest private-sector employer in 

Venango County. 

February 9 headline: ‘‘Local Officials 

Respond to Shawville Power Plant Closure’’: 

GenOn Energy has about 80 employees at 

its plant in Shawville, Clearfield County, 

and contributes roughly $225,000 dollars annually in local taxes. GenOn offers jobs not 

only through its plant but through Amphfire 

coal and trucking firms, which means a loss 

of 100 to 200 workers in it is next several 

years. 

January 26 headline: ‘‘FirstEnergy 

Shutting Down 6 Sites in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland’’: 

In January, FirstEnergy announced that 

the new environmental regulations led to a 

decision to shut down six older coal-fired 

power plants in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and 

Maryland, affecting more than 500 employees. 

Coal operations are closing, forcing 

more workers into unemployment as 

countless indirect coal jobs have been 

put at risk because of the President’s 

unwavering commitment to end coal. 

Our most abundant natural resource is 

a source of domestic energy. 

In the aftermath of all these closures 

and job losses in my district, along 

with numerous across my State and 

the country, it is becoming increasingly clear that this administration expects the consumers of Pennsylvania to 

bear the costs of a poorly thought out, 

poorly defined, and poorly explained 

environmental agenda. 

But it’s not just a war on coal, it’s a 

war on electricity and jobs. The shuttering of a record number of coal-fired 

power plants threatens thousands of 


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H6158 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 20, 2012 

the 555,270 direct and indirect coal-related jobs that help supply America 

with nearly half of its generated electricity and pay $36 billion in wages. 

The nonpartisan U.S. Energy Information Administration has all but confirmed the President’s aggressive push 

against coal development with a report 

detailing a record number of coal-fired 

power plants to be closed this year, 

largely because of the burdensome regulations and other compliance costs. 

That’s why this week the U.S. House 

will pass H.R. 3049, to push back on the 

President’s commitment to end coal as 

a source of domestic energy and protect the countless jobs that have been 

lost or put at risk as a result of his politics. 

H.R. 3049 includes the following package of bills: The Coal Miner Employment and Domestic Energy Infrastructure Protection Act, which bars the 

Environmental Protection Agency 

from issuing any regulation before December 31, 2013, that would adversely 

affect coal mining employment. 

The Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act, which establishes Statelevel permitting programs for the storage of coal combustion residuals under 

the Solid Waste Disposal Act, which is 

now primarily used to regulate the 

management of municipal solid waste 

landfills and sewage landed fills. 

b 1040 

The Energy Tax Prevention Act, 

which prevents the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases and any effort 

to address climate change. 

The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act, which prohibits the EPA 

from issuing a new or revised water 

quality standard when a State standard has already been approved by the 

EPA. 

The Transparency in Regulatory 

Analysis of Impacts on the Nation Act, 

or the TRAIN Act, which creates an 

interagency committee to examine the 

effects of current and proposed Federal 

regulations on U.S. energy and manufacturing industries, U.S. global competitiveness, U.S. and energy prices. 

Again, it’s not just a war on coal; it’s 

a war on the use of carbon-based 

fuels—coal, oil, natural gas—which 

supply over 80 percent of our energy. 

f 

CONDEMNING VIOLENCE AGAINST 

SIKH COMMUNITY 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 

California (Ms. CHU) for 5 minutes. 

Ms. CHU. I rise today as a proud cosponsor of House Resolution 785, condemning the hate crimes, bullying, and 

brutal violence perpetrated against 

Sikh Americans and all acts of violence against Sikh Gurdwaras in the 

United States. In the face of unrelenting and unprovoked violence, it is clear 

that action must be taken. 

The Sikh community has a long history of contributing to this Nation. 

Sikh farmers shaped California’s agriculture industry, farming a third of the 

land and providing nature’s bounty for 

others to enjoy. The very first Asian 

American to be elected to the U.S. Congress was a Sikh American, Dalip 

Singh Saund, elected in California in 

1957. And Sikh temples all across the 

country have shown their beautiful 

spirit by giving free food, called langar, 

to everybody in the neighborhood who 

is hungry. And yet time and time again 

we see the good deeds of Sikh Americans met with undue violence from 

others. And in the wake of 9/11, this behavior spiked sharply. Just days after 

the attacks took place—as the soot 

still lingered over Manhattan and 

smoke still smoldered from a field in 

Pennsylvania—Balbir Singh Sodhi became the first victim of misplaced retaliation. He was in the gas station he 

had worked his entire life to own when 

a gunman shot at him and took his life. 

Through the years the violence has 

not abated. Last year, in northern California, Surinder Singh and Gurmej 

Atwal, two elderly Sikh Americans, 

were doing what they always did every 

afternoon, taking a walk in the neighborhood, when suddenly they were 

shot. They were murdered in cold 

blood, but not for money or jealousy or 

revenge. They were murdered because 

of their turbans. And then there were 

the overwhelmingly shocking events of 

August 5 of this year in Oak Creek, 

Wisconsin. The Sikh community was 

peacefully preparing meals for Sunday 

prayer inside their gurdwara. But that 

peace was shattered without warning 

at the hands of a gunman filled with 

hate and rage. He fired indiscriminately and without cause, and when 

the smoke cleared, six innocent people 

lay dead. Although it has been more 

than a decade since 9/11, hysteria and 

stereotyping are still far too common. 

We must combat the growing wave of 

violence and intolerance that threatens 

the safety and civil liberties of the 

Sikh American community. 

Today, while the FBI tracks the 

overall number of hate crimes taking 

place, it doesn’t even record attacks 

specifically on Sikhs, despite the fact 

that we’ve seen over and over again 

that Sikhs are singled out over and 

over again because of their appearance 

and faith. That’s why this resolution 

not only denounces the violence 

befalling this community; we’re calling 

on the Department of Justice to finally 

begin documenting and quantifying 

hate crimes committed against Sikh 

Americans. As many as three out of 

four Sikh boys endure torment and bullying from their peers. And so we’re 

urging educators across the Nation to 

help end the epidemic of bullying 

against Sikh youths. We’re urging law 

enforcement officers in every locality 

to do all they can to prevent violence 

against this and all communities. 

America was founded on the principles of religious freedom, acceptance, 

and tolerance. Let’s make sure that 

every American can live safely and in 

peace. Let’s make sure that every 

American is protected. 

TIME TO RETHINK OUR FOREIGN 

AID 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentleman from 

Texas (Mr. POE) for 5 minutes. 

Mr. POE of Texas. Over the last 

week, we have watched as anti-American groups throughout the world have 

killed Americans, attacked our embassies, had protests, burned the American 

flag, and destroyed our property in 

many parts of the world. These events 

and events that have preceded them 

bring up that question again that these 

countries that we give aid to seem to 

be countries where there is violence 

against America. So I want to spend a 

few minutes talking about the aid 

Americans, when they write that check 

to the government, our government, 

spend all over the world. 

This is a map of countries in the 

world that the United States of America taxpayers give assistance to worldwide. You’ll see there are three colors. 

The red are colors that the United 

States gives foreign aid to. And you 

can see that’s most of the countries in 

the world—and it is most of the countries. There are 191 countries in the 

world. Sometimes there are 193, depending on whether those last two are 

really countries or not. And American 

taxpayers give money to 158 of them. 

So you see those that are in the red. 

The green represents countries that we 

give military aid to. And the few little 

blue countries—a couple in Europe, a 

couple in Africa—those are countries 

we don’t give any money to. By far, the 

minority. So you see the massive world 

as we know it, American money goes to 

most of it. 

Now you notice over here there’s a 

red block in this part of the world. And 

I’m sure, Mr. Speaker, you would recognize this massive country here. 

That’s Russia. Yes, American aid goes 

to Russia. And did you know even 

though China controls so much of our 

debt, American money, yes, goes to 

China as well. 

So maybe we need to rethink how we 

do this. With all the problems we’ve 

got in the United States, the taxpayers 

are writing checks for countries 

throughout the world. And here’s how 

we vote on foreign aid. And I suspect 

the Senate does it the same way. We 

put all the countries in a list and in a 

bill and the State Department usually 

submits an amount of money they 

would like us to give to this country. 

And then this House votes ‘‘up’’ or 

‘‘down’’ on all 158 countries. 

Now maybe we ought to do business a 

little better. Maybe we should vote 

country by country. Some say, Oh, it’ll 

take too long. Hey, we’re talking about 

American money here. It wouldn’t take 

very long at all. I think that if we 

voted ‘‘up’’ or ‘‘down’’ country per 

country, most of these countries are 

not going to get any aid from the 

United States in a bipartisan way. Of 

course, probably Israel would. And 80 

percent of the money given to Israel is 

spent back in the United States. I 


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