House Proceeding on Feb 12th, 2007 :: 0:00:00 to 0:20:00
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though there might come betrayals of false pretenses the war had put some manner of seal on human rights and dignity in contrast to property rights for even the very definition of property.

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Albio Sires: out of the smoke and stench, out of the music and violet dreams of the war, lincoln stood perhaps taller than any other of the many great heroes. none threw a longer shadow than he. to him

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Speech By: Albio Sires

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Albio Sires: the great hero was the people he could not say too often that he was merely their instrument. lord, god, in our own day, take us beyond the hate and mocking fantasies, hammer out renewed

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Albio Sires: commitments for healing, for rebuilding and for new growth. make today's government an instrument of your people, that we may take our rightful place among the nations as a worrell power

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Albio Sires: and to witness human rights and dignity for all your people. amen. the speaker pro tempore: amen. the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings pursuant to clause 1

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Albio Sires: of rule 1, the journal stands approved. the pledge of the allegiance will be led wi the gentleman from, texas mr. poe. mr. poe: join me in the pledge, please. i pledge allegiance to the flag of

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Ted Poe: the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain requests

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Speech By: Ted Poe

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Ted Poe: for one-minute speeches. for what purpose the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe:

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Ted Poe: mr. speaker, this is america. when ordering, please speak english. this sign is located in the sign of geno's restaurant, tourist landmark for philly cheese steak. human relations has been ordered

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Ted Poe: to take down the sign. they suggested he hire spanish speaking employees. he says genos will serve and his staff will help customers who will not speak english, but the sign is staying. he is from

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Ted Poe: italian asent. the commission on human relations has taken legal action against him, charging him with discrimination by asking his customers to speak english. no owner should have to hire a

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Ted Poe: gauntlet of foreign speakers. individuals who come here need to understand this country is not mexico, france, or the middle east. this is america and english is spoken here. that's just

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Ted Poe: the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose the gentleman from south carolina rise. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, sadly, many people try to separate the

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Joe Wilson: current conflict of the attacks on september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the attacks on september 11 were not isolated events. al qaeda has stated that iraq is a central front on the

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Speech By: Joe Wilson

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Joe Wilson: war on terror. or enemy is highly intelligent, well financed and committed to the destruction of freedoms. the retreat in iraq will embolden the enemy and make us more vulnerable in attacks.

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Joe Wilson: withdrawals from beirut and mogilny deesh you led to the -- mogadeshu attack led to september 11. osama bin laden has characterized the struggle in iraq as the third world war. we ignore this claim

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Joe Wilson: at our peril, which threatens american families. in conclusion, god bless bless. -- god bless the american troops and we will never forget september 11. the speaker pro tempore: for what

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Joe Wilson: purpose the gentleman from south carolina rise? >> scoorment to address the house for one minute. >> the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, this week we will debate

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J. Gresham Barrett: a nonbinding resolution that will do nothing more than undermine the mission in iraq, weaken the morale in our troops and embolden our enemy. no doubt mistakes have been made. with every war mistakes

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Speech By: J. Gresham Barrett

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J. Gresham Barrett: are made. the question is are we going to learn from mistakes and correct them and move forward with plan of success or retreat in defeat? the terrorists themselves believe iraq is a central

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J. Gresham Barrett: front in the war on terror. al is a wahiry repeated -- al sawahiri repeatedly has said that it would result in pervasive instability, and rogue regimes to expand new areas in the region. mr. speaker,

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J. Gresham Barrett: the stakes are real and they are high and the american people deserve leadership not partisan politics. i will continue to support our troops by continuing to support their mission. the

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J. Gresham Barrett: speaker pro tempore: for what reason does the gentlelady from tennessee rise. mrs. blackburn: to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without

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Marsha Blackburn: objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. as a member of the victory in iraq caucus i continue to stand and support our troops. i feel it is imperative we continue to strongly speak

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Speech By: Marsha Blackburn

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Marsha Blackburn: out in favor of the efforts that our troopings are carrying out against terrorism, not only in iraq but in 30 different countries around the globe. the terrorists tell us, just as

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Marsha Blackburn: my colleague said, that iraq is the central battle in the war terror. war is not quick and it is not painless. it is up to us here in the people's house to continue to support the troops

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Marsha Blackburn: and to be behind their efforts, funding them 100% of the way. in order to win, mr. speaker, we must not only succeed on the battlefield, we must win in the battle of ideas. we must win the

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Marsha Blackburn: civic and economic battles with the iraqi people. they are as critical as any firefighter that they face every day. the idea of freedom and prosperity is a powerful idea. our coalition is

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Marsha Blackburn: breathing life into that idea. the speaker pro tempore: time has expired. mrs. blackburn: we need to stand firm and' support our men and women in harm's way. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield

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Marsha Blackburn: back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose the gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. >> without objection. >> mr. speaker, it's

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Darrell E. Issa: not good to talk process in the house of representatives. i keep hearing that. but when the process that you are talking about is the execution of our right in a democratic society to speak and

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Speech By: Darrell E. Issa

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Darrell E. Issa: make a difference, then it is necessary to speak on process. mr. speaker, this week we will spend four days on the iraq resolution. i say the iraq resolution because it has already been crafted

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Darrell E. Issa: by speaker pelosi. it already is a final product. the only thing left to do is, in fact, to vote on it. because we will not be allowed to amend it, the rule will be a closed rule, democracy

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Darrell E. Issa: and speech and debate will not nfl change anything. the final vote will be exactly at the end of the week where it was at the beginning. that is wrong. republicans never did that when we held

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Darrell E. Issa: the speaker's gavel. democrats should not do that as they hold the speaker's gavel. the right to amend and debate that leads to a better bill is the right to this democracy. this body has been

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Darrell E. Issa: reduced by the taking of that right. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the

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Albio Sires: rules on which reports or the yeas and nays are ordered. or on which the vote is objected to under clause 6 of rule 20. recorded vote on postponed questions will be taken at 6:30 p.m. today.

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Albio Sires: for what purpose the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass house resolution 134. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title

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Chris Carney: of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 134, resolution recognizing and honoring the employees of the department of homeland security for their efforts and contributions to protect and

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Speech By: Chris Carney

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Chris Carney: secure the nation. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. carney, and the gentleman from florida u mr. bilirakis, each will control 20 minutes. the

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Chris Carney: chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. carney: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their

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Chris Carney: remarks on this legislation and insert extraneous material on the bill into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. carney: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume.

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Chris Carney: just over five years ago, september 11, redefined our national security needs. with the loss of thousands of innocent lives at the world trade center, the pentagon and in my home state of

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Chris Carney: pennsylvania national leaders realized the federal government needed the ability to better protect the united states from all threats, foreign or domestic, natural or manmade. while emergency

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Chris Carney: management agencies displayed resilience in the aftermath of 9/11, it was clear we needed an organization that could contribute to their efforts and coordinate their efforts. we needed a single

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Chris Carney: agency with the ability to prevent another 9/11 and to respond if need be to natural or manmaid disasters. to answer this call congress passed the homeland security of 2002 creating the department

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Chris Carney: of homeland security. . the department of homeland security was tasked with the herk leann responsibility of -- herculian responsibility to prevent future terrorist attacks, to secure our borders

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Chris Carney: to prepare and respond to events of national significance. comprised of 2 different federal agencies and employing over 208,000 of our federal employees, d.h.s. has become the largest agent. seven

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Chris Carney: days a week, 365 days a year, employees of the department of homeland security are working to prevent and prepare any threat to our country. they're patrolling our skies, securing our borders,

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Chris Carney: sailing our coastal waters and screening people and cargo entering our country. they are working with state and local governments and first responders in all 50 states and our territories to ensure

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Chris Carney: we can respond to any future large-scale events, either man made or natural. these dead caded homeland security employees are doing a job -- these dedicated homeland security employees are

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Chris Carney: doing the job they can. the office of personnel management released the results of the federal human capital survey, a review of how federal employees feel about their work. many americans

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Chris Carney: may not know about this survey or the findings but they're significant. d.h.s. employees expressed frustration over a number of issues, most notably the running of the agency. they feel

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Chris Carney: like they're not being managed in the most effective way possible. this disconnect between management and the line officers of the department is very disturbing to a number of us here in congress.

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Chris Carney: we must work to resolve these issues. the last thing we need is for the morale problems of the department of homeland security to hamper the duties of those frontline employees. as a former

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Chris Carney: first responder myself, i know how important it is to have trust and faith in your management. while there was certainly shocking failures at the management levels of the federal management

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Chris Carney: agency in the hurricane katrina response, there is a good example. that is the united states coast guard which is part of the d.h.s. it covered itself in glory by providing the most vital and successful

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Chris Carney: missions since its creation. over 20,000 gulf coast residents were rescued. many have been doing a thankless job for the last four years as well. we must act against threats of terrorism

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Chris Carney: and natural disasters. the department of homeland security is willing to respond should catastrophe strike. they work long hours to prevent acts of terrorism against the homeland. they can be

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Chris Carney: sure that during this congress and beyond, my colleagues and i will maintain oversight of the management of homeland security, but i cannot stress how we truly appreciate the work -- i cannot

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Chris Carney: stress enough how we truly appreciate the work of the d.h.s. employees who are working tirelessly to ensure the safety of all americans. on the 24th of january, they had an anniversary.

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Chris Carney: it is fitting and appropriate for the hupes to take a moment to honor the employees. -- hupes -- house of representatives to take a moment to honor the employees. i would like to thank

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Chris Carney: the ranking member. he's currently out of town but he stands with me in honoring the employees of the department of homeland security. i encourage my colleagues to unanimously adopt house

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Chris Carney: resolution 134 in honoring the employees of the department of homeland security. i yield back the remainder. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman

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Chris Carney: from florida. mr. bilirakis: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise today in support of house resolution 134 which honors and recognizes the contributions

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Gus Bilirakis: the employees of the department of homeland security made to our country's safety and security. i am pleased to be an original co-sponsor of this resolution with my homeland security committee

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Speech By: Gus Bilirakis

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Gus Bilirakis: colleague christopher carney. i also want to acknowledge other original co-sponsors including mike rogers, full committee chairman benny thompson and full committee ranking member peter king,

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Gus Bilirakis: a man who's worked on homeland security issues, and i greatly admire his work. i'm pleased to help bring this resolution to the floor today because i think that d.h.s. employees are too

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Gus Bilirakis: often overlooked and underappreciated. and unfairly criticized in most cases, despite their most dedicated and earnest efforts to do their job which they do very well. i believe that they have

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Gus Bilirakis: been tasked with an almost impossible job, i think you'll agree, and i'm confident that d.h.s. employees are doing their best they can under some extraordinary, difficult circumstances.

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Gus Bilirakis: i was, however, particularly disappointed to learn and the recent survey shows that the morale of the department is low and that d.h.s. employees have less job satisfaction than any other group

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Gus Bilirakis: of federal employees. that's not good to see. i have heard that the department's employees are concerned that they do not have the resources to do their jobs effectively, that they are not

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Gus Bilirakis: promoted based on merit, that creativity and innovation are not properly rewarded, and perhaps most troubling, most of them do not believe that they have access to adequate information about

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Gus Bilirakis: what is happening in their departments. this needs to change, as far as i'm concerned. i'm hardened that deputy secretary michael jackson has told d.h.s. employees, and i quote, starting at the

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Gus Bilirakis: top, the leadership team across d.h.s. is committed to address the underlying reasons for d.h.s. employee dissatisfaction and suggestions for improvement. i also commend d.h.s. secretary

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Gus Bilirakis: michael chertoff in comments before our committee last week for acknowledging the problem and promising to fix it. i believe it is imperative to the security of our homeland that the dedicated

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Gus Bilirakis: men and women who carry out the directives and policies that congress puts forward feel good about themselves and the jobs that they are doing so they can best achieve the very noble goals

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Gus Bilirakis: toward which they are working. and they should be proud of the work. the mover than 200,000 -- the more than 200,000 employees at d.h.s. work and respond to acts of terrorism, natural disasters

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Gus Bilirakis: and other emergencies. i think secretary chertoff's directive to the homeland security advisory council to establish a culture task force to respond on ways to empower, energize and create

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Gus Bilirakis: a more mission-focused culture among d.h.s. was a good first step. i would say, however, that the answers lie not in creating more bureaucracy but in streamlining and better defining the mission

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Gus Bilirakis: of d.h.s. headquarters and allowing its component organizations to use their particular talents and experties to accomplish their individual missions, and as efficient, creative and in an

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Gus Bilirakis: innovative manner as possible. we need to acknowledge the role that congress has played and will continue to play in the ultimate success or failure of the department in accomplishing its mission

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Gus Bilirakis: of defending america and saving lives. we in this body must be sensitive to the demands and mandates that we place on d.h.s. employees and the conduct of their work. i think we can all agree

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Gus Bilirakis: that an overwhelming majority of d.h.s. employees are hard working, as i said. they're dedicated and talented individuals who are personally committed to keeping us, our families, our country

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Gus Bilirakis: secure from terrorist attacks and other disasters that could befall this great nation. we must remember, however, that decentralized congressional jurisdiction over homeland security issues and