Recently, Reps. Bob Inglis, Spencer Bachus, Rich Boucher and I sent a letter calling for a Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the Commerce Department's pending review of a proposed agreement between VeriSign and ICANN. Valid concerns have been raised that the ".com" domain name registry could become an unregulated monopoly.  In addition, the proposal guarantees VeriSign the opportunity to unilaterally increase prices in most years of the new contract.

It just makes sense that the Committee that has oversight of this issue take a close look. This matter will directly affect Internet operation and cost.

In February of this year, as part of a settlement of litigation between VeriSign and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) relating to VeriSign's operation of the .com top level domain (TLD) registry, ICANN's Board of Directors narrowly approved changes to the .com registry agreement and submitted them to the Commerce Department for required review and approval. Concerns have been raised about potentially anticompetitive elements of this proposed agreement and its potential for creating a perpetual and unregulated monopoly over the single most valuable asset on the Internet - the .com domain name registry.  These anti-competitive concerns are all the more alarming because .com makes up about 75 percent of domain name registrations in the United States and a significant percentage globally.  Under the terms of the proposed agreement, control of the .com registry would be handed to one company, VeriSign, without any reasonable opportunity for rebidding the contract in the future and without effective limits on the maximum prices charged for .com registrations.  It appears that these provisions would foreclose competition and lead to higher prices for consumers.

Last week I joined with Congressmen Cannon, Bachus and Inglis in calling on House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property Chairman Smith to hold hearings on this matter.  Hearings would allow Members of the Subcommittee to examine the implications and timing of the proposal and ensure that the goals  of competition, consumer choice and innovation that both the Commerce Department and ICANN are obligated to promote are not thwarted.

I was dismayed by John Tierney’s column in today’s New York Times attacking the merits of Title IX (“Let The Guys Win One,

Although Russia is currently hosting the G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg (July 15-17), there are questions about its eligibility to be a member of the exclusive G-8 club.


Through its plentiful energy resources, large landmass, educated population, permanent membership on the UN Security Council, and extensive civilian and military nuclear infrastructure, Russia plays a key role in world affairs.  These factors influenced the Group of  7 (G-7) major industrial democracies (the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany,  Japan,  Italy, and  Canada), to invite Russia to participate in its meetings.  After participating as an observer in four summits, in 1998 Russia became a full member of the group, now renamed the Group of 8(G-8), despite its still-developing economy and the uncertainty regarding the momentum of its democratic reforms.


Since then, however, President Putin has steered Russia away from democracy and toward authoritarianism.  He has increased pressure on opposition political parties and civil society, strengthened state control over national broadcast media, and pursued politically-driven prosecutions of independent business leaders, academics and others voicing criticism of the government.  Regional governors, once directly elected, are now appointed by the Kremlin, and the government has taken a number of steps to reduce electoral competitiveness.  In recognition of this deterioration in democracy, the human rights organization Freedom House has downgraded Russia’s status from “Partly Free

It's certainly prudent for the U.S. to begin to think about how we will interact with a post-Castro Cuba.  However, it would be imprudent to keep in place policies that have made Castro the longest-reigning dictator in the world.

Simply put, more of the same won't hasten democratic reforms in Cuba.

The interests of democracy, both in Cuba and here in the U.S., would be better served by a more honest examination of our current Cuba policy.

Although no document is ever perfect, this Report once again demonstrates the strong commitment of President Bush to help the Cuban people free themselves from the shackles of their brutal oppressor. Other countries and their leaders may wine and dine with the dictator Castro, but President Bush does all he can to continue to marginalize and isolate the dictator to portray him as the desperate, evil and pathetic political dinosaur that he is. We will also remain committed to working to trash the “Wet Foot Policy

To some people, banking at Wal-Mart seems like a good idea.  It is the world's largest retailer and more than 100 million people shop at their 3,400 American stores every week.  That is why I support letting Wal-Mart have banks in their stores- just not its own bank.  Companies like Wal-Mart, Home Depot and others are trying to take advantage of a loophole in our laws to charter industrial loan companies (ILCs) which act like banks but have no ownership restrictions and less regulation by the federal government.  ILCs are a hot topic these days and now with 14 applications pending, Congress needs to act.



The 61 ILCs in existence have $98 billion in deposits today.  This may be a small figure compared to our whole system but the entire FDIC insurance fund only stands at $49.2 billion.  After the GAO found that the deposits of commercially-owned ILCs may be of higher risk to the insurance fund we must ask, what happens if a commercial firm buys a bank and something goes wrong?  The answer- American taxpayers get to pick up the tab.  This is not how our system was intended to work and that is why today, Rep. Barney Frank and I introduced H.R. 5746, the Industrial Banking Holding Company Act of 2006, to seal up this loophole until Congress chooses an appropriate balance.

Levee and flood control is a life or death situation for the people of coastal Louisiana, and so, it is very disappointing that this report fails to do what Congress mandated: Give us all the facts and show us what it will take to protect coastal Louisiana.

There are numerous differences between the final text and the report reviewed by the Corps/State Project Delivery Team, the Corps’ Independent Technical Review team, and the Independent Peer Review.  Of particular cause for concern is the appearance that the report may have been altered to eliminate important technical information and proposals.  As a result, the modified report omits many recommendations that could have helped protect the people of Louisiana and the nation they serve.

Clearly, the will of Congress has been ignored.  To get the facts, I have today asked the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee on which I sit to hold investigative hearings into the matter.  We need the facts and our people need protection.

I applaud the free, fair and transparent democratic election in Mexico. With over 41 million votes cast the Mexican people have spoken, and Felipe Calderon of the National Action Party (PAN) is their choice to lead Mexico down the road of unity, peace and prosperity.

I expect President-elect Calderon to continue the successful policies of his predecessor, President Vincente Fox, who sought a positive and constructive relationship with the United States, and in that vein, I extend my hand in friendship to President-elect Calderon and the Mexican people.

I applaud the work of Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), which conducted an unbiased and objective district-by-district vote count under the strictest scrutiny, and I thank them for upholding Mexico's commitment to democracy and the rule of law. I urge the IFE to fully address claims of electoral irregularity and resolve lingering disputes in a fair and prompt manner.

Now is the time for Mexico to move past this heated and controversial campaign and work towards forming a unity coalition government, where all the people and parties of Mexico can unite as one and prosper under the strong leadership of President-elect Felipe Calderon.

Once again, I congratulate President-elect Calderon and I look forward to working with him and his administration.