Foreign Policy

I congratulate American military forces and intelligence personnel, and the Iraqi security forces who worked with them, in the reported attack on Musab al Zarqawi and his aides. I am also pleased to see that Prime Minister Maliki was finally able to announce the appointment of the cabinet ministers with responsibilities for security. The performance of these ministries will be critical in determining whether Iraqi security forces are able to be successful. Today's developments are certainly positive. I hope they bolster the morale and confidence of the Iraqi security forces who must increasingly take on the security of their nation. The Iraqis and we should capitalize on the momentum this opportunity may afford us. But there is still a long way to go before there is a secure Iraq with a stable, unified government able to fully provide for its own security.

The Refinery Permit Process Schedule Act legislation addresses the basic fact that our nation's demand for refined products outstrips supply by a growing margin due to the lack of domestic refining capacity, which has led to the predictable result of higher and higher prices for all Americans. An uncertain and disorganized system of regulations and approvals has strangled the planning of all new refineries since 1976. A growing shortfall increases our reliance on imported refined products and causes prices to rise accordingly. This legislation will streamline a badly disjointed approval process and assist local, state, and federal officials in untangling the confusing and sometimes contradictory regulations and permitting required by various regulatory agencies. A primary goal of the legislation is also to promote new biofuel and petroleum refineries being constructed outside of the Gulf of Mexico.

Currently, half of all our domestic refinery capacity is concentrated in the Gulf States, a region too vulnerable to natural disasters. That in turn puts the U.S. energy security at risk and causes periodic supply disruptions and price increases. Simply expanding our current refineries fails to address this concentration and indeed makes it worse. Moreover, such expansion only increases our over reliance on crude oil as a feedstock. Constructing new refiners in other regions provides needed geographic distribution and also creates the opportunity to utilize locally available biomass and other renewable fuel feedstocks. Our agricultural and forestry resources are currently sufficient to sustainably displace more than one third of our transportation fuel needs, and we should support domestic supply over protecting the import-dependent status quo.

We need to improve the current system that has led to tight supplies, high prices for consumers, a risky concentration of capacity in the Gulf region, and an over dependence on foreign crude oil.

I was one of the veterans whose information was compromised, initially by the Department of Veterans Affairs. And that was shocking and disturbing. And now I'm even more shocked that there are actually 2.2 million of active duty military personnel, including 80 percent of our active duty soldiers and 430,000 National Guard members and 645,000 Reservists currently on duty with the military forces, whose information has been compromised. Defense officials have already said this loss is unprecedented. It's a major security breach. And it imperils not only the safety of our individual soldiers, the men and women of our armed forces, Marines, Navy, Air Force, National Guards men and women, but it could pose a threat to the overall security of the nation.

The Bush Administration's dangerous incompetence in handling this situation has only compounded the problem. We have got 130,000 troops in Iraq, other troops in Afghanistan. We should be doing all we can to make sure that they are protected and that they are supported. This incompetence has, once again, put a great stress - mental stress, I think -- on the forces that are in the field and their families here at home. It's unacceptable. It's something that not only we are shocked about but, frankly, it leaves us to ask the question: What will happen next? What other area will this administration let us down on?

There's been a lot of discussion about the death tax. It's not the death tax. It's the estate tax. But there is a death tax that is paid by Americans to sustain and support this country, and it's terribly unfair because it falls on a very few.

In Iraq, it has fallen upon 2,480 of our soldiers. And in Afghanistan, it has fallen on others. It also falls upon the police and the fire officers who each day risk their lives and some who give their lives. They truly pay the death tax.

They will never be touched by this estate tax. The average pay of a specialist in the United States Army is $24,000, the base pay. He won't be worrying, nor his family be worrying about the estate tax.

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For more than ten years, I have sought to change the laws that govern the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. I have sought these changes in an effort to stop the well documented and widespread abuse of poor women in the garment and tourism industry there, and to better secure America's borders.

But for more than ten years, my efforts, and the efforts of so many others, have been thwarted. Our efforts have been thwarted by the corrupt partnership of two of Washington's most powerful players - Rep. Tom DeLay and lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and by their allies in Congress.

But now, a window of opportunity is opening. Rep. DeLay is resigning from Congress this Friday, and Jack Abramoff will be in prison beginning on June 29th. I believe that finally there just might be an opening for Congress to properly consider this issue that has been callously pushed aside for so long.

Today, my colleagues and I are re-introducing legislation to apply U.S. immigration and labor laws in the Mariana Islands. I also delivered letters to Speaker Hastert, Majority Leader Boehner, and Resources Committee Chairman Pombo asking for quick consideration of this issue right away.

As instability spreads throughout Iraq and Americans struggle to pay their health care and energy bills, President Bush and Congressional Republicans have engaged in a last-ditch attempt to shore up their base support by doing the bidding of the radical right. This amendment is a political ploy that would divide Americans instead of addressing the problems they share.

The economic and foreign policies of the Bush Administration, not gay marriage, are threatening American families. Republicans should stop invading the personal lives of the American people and should focus instead on the real concerns discussed around kitchen tables across the country. This shameful politicking will not divert attention from the Republicans' record of failure. It does underscore the depths to which they will sink in their attempt to shift the national dialogue away from the issues facing Americans.

Bills Recently on the House Floor...

[HR:5385], the FY07 Military Construction-VA Appropriations bill. This bill would provide $136.1 billion for the VA, military construction and military housing, including $21 billion for the Defense Health Program and$13.5 billion for the basic military housing allowances. It would provide $77.9 billion for the VA, including $32.7 billion for the Veterans health Administration; $.1 billion for military construction; $4 billion for military family housing and $5.3 billion for the latest round of base closures. This bill passed the House unanimously.

[S:1235], the Veterans' Housing Opportunity and Benefits Improvement Act of 2006. This bill would indefinitely pass the bill that would indefinitely increase, to $400,00, the federally subsidized life insurance payment for servicemembers killed in the line of duty. It would temporarily extend post-separation group life insurance coverage for disabled veterans to two years. This bill passed the House unanimously.

[HR:4681], the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006. This bill would restrict most aid to the Palestinian Authority as long as it is controlled by the organizations that have ties to terrorism and fail to recognize Israel's right to exist. I was a cosponsor of this bill, and it passed the House 361-37.

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Americans must ask themselves today if they believe we are safer now than we were five years ago. The Republican Rubber Stamp Congress has cut homeland security grant funding, and the Bush Administration has compounded that mistake by failing to spend the money available on the areas most likely to be targeted by terrorists.

The bipartisan, independent 9/11 Commission concluded that homeland security assistance should be allocated based on risks and vulnerabilities. Instead, the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress have reduced vital anti-terror funding for cities such as New York and Washington, D.C. It is unacceptable that homeland security policies are so at odds with the threats facing the American people.

I am pleased that the Administration has decided to embark on a new and more concerted effort to engage with Iran over its nuclear program. Secretary Rice's offer can only be seen as an acknowledgment by the President that diplomacy is the only way to solve this crisis. Today's announcement that the U.S., the EU-3, Russia and China have crafted a package of incentives and consequences for Iran is further evidence that the Administration has decided that direct US involvement in the negotiations is the surest path to a peaceful resolution to the standoff.

The recent letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President Bush was clearly an attempt to open a dialogue with Washington - as well as relieve the pressure of possible U.N. action - and the knee-jerk rejection by the Iranian foreign ministry of yesterday's offer is almost certain to be modified in coming days. As we move forward in this process we need to remain mindful that Iran's government is not monolithic and that it is broadly unpopular with its own people. We should be prepared to leverage the regime's unpopularity to build support for a negotiated end to Iran's nuclear weapons aspiration.

It is absolutely necessary for the U.S. to engage in a direct dialogue with Iran. Secretary Rice's willingness to move forward with talks with Iran is a move in the right direction at the right time. I hope that the Bush Administration, along with our European allies and Iran's leadership, can agree on a formula for talks to end the current impasse. Now is the time to use preventive diplomacy to ensure that Iran develops nuclear technologies for peaceful purposes and not for weapons of war.