H94 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE January 9, 2009 

side stood here in the dark, with their 

charts and graphs, blaming Democrats 

for high gas prices. 

If only we would allow drilling in the 

Outer Continental Shelf, they said, the 

oil companies would expand exploration and produce oil in record 

amounts. Well, we opened up the OCS 

for the first time in 20 years, and now 

the oil companies are free to explore 

and drill without restriction. 

But the oil companies are reducing 

exploration. That’s right. We opened up 

the OCS to the oil companies and they 

responded by cutting back on exploration. 

Where is the outrage from my colleagues on the other side? 

Congress did its part. So when gas 

prices inevitably go back up, I hope 

they will focus their ‘‘Drill Baby Drill’’ 

chants directly on the oil companies. 

f 

IRAN IS THE WORLD THREAT 

(Mr. POE of Texas asked and was 

given permission to address the House 

for 1 minute.) 

Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, 

Israel and Hamas are at war. But make 

no mistake about it, it’s the little fellow from Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 

and his radical religious cronies of hate 

that are the ones that are behind this 

troubling turmoil in the lands of the 

Middle East. 

For years Iran has supported the 

twin tribes of terror, Hamas and 

Hezbollah, by supplying arms and 

equipment and training. In 2006 Iran 

used the hired guns of Hezbollah in 

Lebanon to war with Israel. 

Hamas has proudly proclaimed that 

it’s had its soldiers of terror trained in 

Iran. Now Hamas is firing long-range 

Iranian missiles from Gaza into civilian areas of Israel. And the bandit 

group, Hezbollah, is getting blamed for 

new missile attacks into northern 

Israel. 

As the nations of the world, especially Egypt, attempt to broker a 

cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, 

they would do well to deal with the 

real culprit in this war, Iran. 

Until the world recognizes that 

President Ahmadinejad is determined 

to destroy Israel by any means necessary, there will never be peace in the 

Middle East. Iran has made its intentions clear to the world. World leaders 

need to make it clear to Iran that murder in the name of hate, will not be tolerated on the world stage. 

And that’s just the way it is. 

f 

OUR ECONOMY IS IN A SHAMBLES 

(Mr. DEFAZIO asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute.) 

Mr. DEFAZIO. After 8 years of disastrous Bush-led trickle-down deregulation, anything-goes economic policies, 

our economy is in a shambles. Unemployment, foreclosures, they’re skyrocketing. 

We need to rebuild the foundations of 

our economy, putting Americans back 

to work and putting our economy on a 

path to recovery. 

I congratulate the President-elect 

with his sense of urgency. Shovel-ready 

infrastructure projects, he’s put that 

on everybody’s mind. That’s excellent, 

tremendous public support. Unfortunately, the package is a little short on 

infrastructure and shovel-ready, and 

very long on tax cuts, the same policies 

that failed us during the Bush years. 

Five times as much for tax cuts. 

Will $8 a pay period additional in 

their take-home put Americans back to 

work? It’s good for Americans. They’re 

suffering. But will that rebuild our 

economy, put people back to work? 

Will a look back for the banks so 

they can get tax benefits, they can reclaim taxes they paid in the past, while 

taking TARP money and not telling us 

what they do with it, will that put 

Americans back to work? 

We need more investment in infrastructure and less emphasis on the tax 

cuts. 

f 

RECOGNIZING SOUTH CAROLINA 

JAG CORPS 

(Mr. WILSON of South Carolina 

asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) 

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. 

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the South Carolina National 

Guard. In 2008 they achieved the highest number of judge advocate generals 

serving in the Nation, according to 

Scott Bell, National Guard historian. 

This significant milestone is a tribute 

to the South Carolina Bar and to the 

professional leadership of Colonel 

Barry Bernstein, state judge advocate 

for the South Carolina National Guard. 

Twenty-four of the State’s 27 JAGs 

have been awarded Global War on Terrorism campaign medals. 

As a former staff judge advocate, I 

understand and appreciate and know 

firsthand the work that our JAG Corps 

has done to provide legal counsel to 

our military leadership and to our 

brave men and women in uniform. 

Theirs is an important part of the defense of American families by defeating 

terrorists overseas. I saw this when I 

visited the 218th Brigade JAG during 

quarterly visits in the last year at 

Camp Phoenix in Afghanistan. 

I commend Colonel Bernstein and Adjutant General Stan Spears for their 

leadership and all the members of the 

South Carolina JAG Corps on this 

achievement. 

In conclusion, God bless our troops, 

and we will never forget September 

11th. 

f 

ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN WILL 

INVEST IN AMERICA’S FUTURE 

AND CREATE JOBS 

(Mr. PALLONE asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute.) 

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, the 

deepening effects of the economic crisis 

have made their way to the kitchen 

table of every American home, leaving 

families worried about their financial 

future. That’s why we need immediate 

passage of an economic recovery plan 

to avoid a deeper economic downturn 

and restore jobs. In addition to giving 

the economy a short-term boost, we 

must spur economic growth and competitiveness for the long-term stability 

of this country. 

This economic recovery package is 

an opportunity to invest in tomorrow 

by making major changes to our Nation’s approach to energy, health care, 

education and infrastructure. Addressing our Nation’s infrastructure challenge will create jobs in the troubled 

construction and manufacturing sectors, while helping to spur long-term 

economic growth. Highway projects 

could create 630,000 jobs, while green 

school construction and maintenance 

and repair initiatives for schools could 

create 250,000 jobs. 

Madam Speaker, we must work 

quickly and in strong bipartisan fashion to create and save 3 million jobs. 

f 

CONSUMER AUTO RELIEF ACT 

(Mr. ROGERS of Alabama asked and 

was given permission to address the 

House for 1 minute and to revise and 

extend his remarks.) 

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Madam 

Speaker, I rise today to discuss the 

Consumer Auto Relief Act, or CAR Act, 

a bill that I plan to introduce later 

today. This bill will provide a variety 

of incentives to the purchasers of new 

cars, and will incentivize lenders to 

loan the money to finance these new 

automobile purchases. 

This legislation is about giving 

American consumers much needed tax 

relief. It’s about stimulating consumer 

credit markets. It’s about restoring 

consumer confidence. It’s about jumpstarting our stalled economy, and it 

should be a part of the new economic 

stimulus package. 

I ask the House to support this bill. 

f 

LILLY LEDBETTER FAIR PAY ACT 

AND THE PAYCHECK FAIRNESS 

ACT 

(Ms. TSONGAS asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute.) 

Ms. TSONGAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to 

express my strong support for two important bills that we will consider later 

today. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay 

Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act 

both advance the fight to ensure equal 

pay for women in the workforce 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 

women make 78 cents for every dollar 

earned for similar work by their male 

counterparts. This form of discrimination is unacceptable, and it not just a 

women’s issue, it is a family issue. The 

Institute of Women’s Policy Research 

found that this wage disparity will cost 

an individual woman anywhere from 

$400,000 to $2 million over a lifetime in 


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