Date: 2012-03-08
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I look forward to addressing these very important issues to you. and certainly we want to make sure that we address questions. In the coming weeks. we will be discussing the attributes of the Affordable Care Act. and I will look forward to coming to the floor of the House and again acknowledging how much money the Affordable Care Act. the health care act. has in fact saved this Nation: how it has preserved Medicare. how we focus on medical education. medical school education. medical providers education. how we have talked about issues dealing with health care disparities. and in particular how we have expanded the community health clinics that have saved lives. how we have worked on issues dealing with childrens health care. how we have provided access to health care for many. many people. That allows me. or calls upon me. to again follow up to again distinguish the Georgetown law student who spoke before Members of Congress who got in the crosshairs of a commentary that was not very flattering. I just want to distinguish the commentary that came against the Georgetown law student from comments that will be made by entertainers and others across the Nation in the course of their comedic work. The question about the Georgetown law student. Madam Speaker. was that she was called before Members of Congress to speak. She was not speaking on a television program or an interview. She was actually called by Members of Congress to testify to the question of access of health care to women. And I will tell you that right now documentation shows that women who are 24 years old and above. their health plans today cost 84 percent more than a male similarly situated. So we know without health insurance how devastating it would be for women not to have health insurance. Many of the Planned Parenthood family clinics and others are focused on health care. We want to have a firewall. as Planned Parenthood has. and that is that the firewall is that access to health care is a distinguishable factor of their service. and thats what this young woman was speaking about. the importance of access to health care. It was in the course of that testimony that made her a victim of public ridicule. Thats why I believe President Obama appropriately acknowledged the right of a citizen to petition his or her government and that if they do so. they should not be subject to public ridicule. There lies the basis of the President of the United States calling this Georgetown law school student. And I applaud that because no matter how high you are. the highest office in the land. the Commander in Chief. isnt it appropriate. isnt it befitting of an individual who represents all of the people of the United States to have the humanity to be able to call people. citizens. families. when they are at their lowest ebb. when they have been in the course of public service or they have been in a position of presenting their public case to the United States Congress or even to the President of the United States of America. I hope that we. no matter what our position and station in life. particularly those of us who hold roles in the most powerful lawmaking body of the world. the United States Congressthe highest office is considered the Commander in Chief. also the leader of the free worldthat we would have the capacity to offer an apology to someone who has felt offended. I want to move into an apology that I want to offer. and that is to the families in my district whose loved ones have been buried in our veterans cemetery in Houston. off of Veterans Memorial. who have now faced this tragic circumstance of having headstones misplaced or moved. I dont think there should be any tolerance for that. I believe that when an individual takes an oath to serve in the United States military. for those who. through Gods grace. are able to return from battlefields. who are able to retire out of the military as veterans. that we owe them a great deal of respect for their benefits. And then to those families who experience a fallen loved one. either in battle or that they ultimately die as a veteran of the United States military. they should expect that the sacredness of their burial be respected. I will be visiting our cemetery in Houston. Texas. and asking. Can we not get it right? Can we not fix the problem that moves headstones. that has misplaced headstones and mislabeled headstones? I frankly believe that our men and women in the United States military deserve better. and Im going to ask for better and insist on that. I have been working over the last couple of weeks meeting with a very prominent Syrian American in my district. having met with him and others in months past on this whole question of Syria. Just last week. I presented a letter to the representative of the Syrian Embassy demanding that President Assad resign and step down from office. demanding that the Red Cross be allowed. at that time. to come in and provide humanitarian relief. demanding that women and children be protected and taken to safe places so they could receive health care and food. and. at that time. asking for the respectful removal of the deceased. the bodies of the two fallen Western reporters and the others that have been wounded. Some progress has been made. In the immediate hours of that visit. we saw that the Red Cross and the Red Crescent were able to come in. or the International Red Cross. Then shortly thereafter we saw that Syrian forces were bombing the humanitarian relief efforts. And we heard an interview from one of the Western reporters that clearly indicated that the two reporters that died were actually murdered. because the Syrian forces actually targeted the location where they were. where journalists were. Everyone knows that there is an effort to maintain a firewall or respect for journalists no matter where they are. on a battlefield or in the area. Its known where they are allegedly trying to be in a safe place. and then you directly bomb that area. then you know that theres certainly basis for someone. an interview that took place on CNN that indicated that they thought it was direct murder. However we define it. we know that there is enormous loss of life. I want to just say that having had the privilege of serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee. now a ranking member on the Subcommittee on Homeland Security. having served on that committee for a number of years since 9/11. the tragedy of 9/11. having gone to a number of war zones. from Bosnia to Kosovo. Afghanistan. Iraq. having gone to Mumbai right after the horrific terrorist bombing. and knowing what conflicts around the world mean in terms of either sending our military personnel. or even after we engage. If you look at the NATO engagement. which included the United States and Libya. there are many who will say right now. look at the confusion. But I think its important to understand that the intent of the NATO allies was to stop the brutality. The aftermath we would want to be better. We would want there to not be the conflict that is going on. the tribal conflict. the instability of the Libyan Government as we speak. To be very truthful with you. of course we dont want that to be happening. But no one took to the NATO alliance or took to the air to bomb Libya in agreement in a coalition to create confusion afterward. The call and the response was to stop what was the apparent slaughter and the killing of Libyan citizens en masse. We know it is not perfect now. Iraq is not perfect. frankly. and we made it worse by going into Iraq because at that time there was not that kind of immediate conflict. But that was the basis for Libya. Now we have a situation where the argument is that Syria is too complicated. in the region that its in. the impact of a direct hit is too complicated. Today. I am calling upon the very body that was established at the very end of the 1940s after we ended World War II. another horrific and heinous world conflict which we did not expect. based upon historical perspectives when many argued that World War I was the "War to End All Wars." and. of course. that did not happen. and weve had conflicts and wars since. But right now. the brutality of violence against the Syrian people. the desperation of killing children in the streets. of slaughtering babies and of not allowing the wounded to get health care. calls upon the world to respond. And I think it is very clear that it is complex enough that a direct attack by the United States. as the administration has acknowledged. would not be appropriate. A direct attack. a direct hit by the United States may not get the results that we would like. But there is no doubt that we cannot leave in good conscience this Congress without someone calling for an immediate response and relief from the United Nations. which was organized to draw together world support. Whether it is appropriate for U.N. peacekeepers. whether it is appropriate for the U.N.. working with some of the Arab States out of the Arab League. it is absolutely ludicrous. tragic. disastrous. and heinous for us to watch night after night the violence that is going on against the Syrian people. One may argue that there is violence everywhere. But it is a call upon our humanitarian position in the world to be able to call out for assistance. So. today. I am calling for actions by the United Nations in establishing or reaching out for a coalition that would provide military response. What does that mean? Providing weapons. if you will. so that those individuals who are defending themselves against slaughterlets be very clear. These individuals are trying to defend themselves against slaughter. one city after another is under direct attack by the Syrian national forces. ordered by President Assad. who refuses to leave. and no one has been able to make him leave. The violence and the bloodshed continues on and on and on and on. So I dont think that we can stand and do nothing. I have already indicated I fully understand that a direct hit by the United States would not be the appropriate direction to take. But that does not leave us helpless. and it does not leave the United Nations helpless. And as a Member of Congress who has supported the United Nations over and over again for the value of its presence in terms of a world force. to insist upon some coming together of nations to the SecretaryGeneraldont shame yourself with inaction. Dont shame the United Nations with inaction by not calling upon those who have resources in the region to be able to prevent those rebels. or those who are defending themselves. or those men and young boys who are defending themselves. who are picking up sticks and whatever they are using. from being slaughtered in the streets. from having amputated legs. from having no ability to be able to attend to the wounded. Today. March 8. it is imperative that you begin to assess the violent situation and you stop this slaughter now. As we leave to work in the districts. I will be pushing back on this issue. continuing to push back to the United Nations. asking the Arab League for their help through different states to provide this care. How do I put a backdrop on this? This happens to be the week in which we commemorate what we call. in this Nation. Bloody Sunday. For many who dont understand that date. it was yesterday. It was the day that those individuals who were pleading for the right to vote in this countrysimilar to the concept of democracy and freedom. in a different way. in a different era. the Syrians are saying that they are oppressed by this regime. But in the day that we were in the midst of civil rights. there were regions and places and people that could not vote in this country. and so citizens from all backgrounds took to Selma. Alabama. and proceeded nonviolently after being violently pushed back and. in essence. bloodied. came back and walked peaceably over that bridge in Selma. Alabama. which was commemorated last Sunday. but the actual date was this Wednesday. I will be commemorating it Houston. Texas. on this Sunday. But the concept simply was. when people felt that they were oppressed. in this Nation they found a way to find relief through a nonviolent approach. Ultimately. as those who are historians will know. we passed. in a bipartisan way. with the signature of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. both the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. which I maintain today is a protector of every citizens right to vote no matter what your racial background. where you live. The Voting Rights Act simply says: One person. one vote. We protect you. We protect America. We believe in voting. We have since tried to expand that to ensure that there are election laws that dont stop people or oppress people from voting. and any number of things. like voter IDs. when there is no fraud. Where people have a registration card and have lived in the community. we should be allowing citizens to vote. But I put that in the context. because now this is 2012. and I think Americans feel with some. if you willhow shall I call it?-some mishaps and laws that probably dont work. that we can vote. Well. just think of a society that feels that they cant speak. that they cannot act upon a free government. Just think of that kind of society. And then you want to petition your government. and what happens? What happens. youre slaughtered. Youre slaughtered. There is no peaceable marching. because if you studied Syria. you will know that they started peaceably marching. What happened? The Syrian forces came and attacked them with weaponry and with violence. They killed them. plain and simple. when they were marching for freedom. So I would ask that we. again. not allow this to happen. I will proceed with my petitioning to the United Nations. I will be prayerful as well. because as we stand here today. I will assure you that there are those in Syria that are dying as I am on this floor today. that there are those that are losing their lives. that they are being attacked by the Syrian national forces who are killing people in the street. I dont think that we can allow that to occur anymore in this month when we celebrate Womens History Month and the fact that weve celebrated some of the women peacemakers. Right now. today. women are being wounded. women are being hurt. their children are being hurt in Syria. I want to thank the Speaker for yielding this time and allowing me to call upon the good graces of the international family to be able to lift up the souls and the spirits and the lives of the Syrian people. As you reflect on this. let me just say. when you thought there was no hopeand you can look at the Arab Spring. although governments are not perfect and we are struggling for these governments. such as Egypt and others. to establish themselves. who would have ever thought that individuals could have brought about a change in Egypt and Tunisia and Libya? Who would have ever thought that democracy would be raising its head? As difficult as it is. dont give up on the Syrian people. Dont give up on those children. those babies. those young men. those men and those families. Dont give up on Syria. and dont stand by idly while bloodshed continues and Syrians are slaughtered in the street. I look forward to a final relief and a lifting of our humanitarian spirit as we. as a Nation. celebrate the democracy and the freedom in which we are able to live. I yield back the balance of my time.