Harry Truman once said, ``America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.'' I rise today in recognition of Operation Hometown Gratitude. Operation Hometown Gratitude is an effort started…

I am going to close up here. If you have any closing thoughts, Chairman Hoekstra, go ahead. Then I am going to close up and yield it back here in just a few minutes.

They have been up performing surgery since 2 o'clock in the morning. I mentioned that Dr. Mike Yaszmenski from Mayo Clinic, he did not take the credit for it, but the story that we were all standing there when they pinned the Purple Heart…

The concussion of it and what it did to those heavy vehicles, it is amazing that they have only had one KIA. Again, let me join you in sharing our sympathies to that family and that unit, because they were obviously a very close knit unit…

Exactly. And not only are you a potential target, your family is a potential target. Most of us at one time in our political lives have had some goofball who has issued some kind of a death threat against us. Usually we don't even take it…

Let me say, and I talked to the speaker today and I know you are working on this as well, one of the things we would like to do is invite at least a dozen of them to the United States. We may smile about our meetings with the…

it is my pleasure to be here on the House floor tonight to report to my colleagues and those who may be watching what I learned over the last long weekend. I was privileged to go with Chairman Pete Hoekstra of the House Intelligence…

No. I was very impressed with the character of the parliamentarians. Hopefully, with the help of our Speaker, we can get some of them over here so that more Members of Congress can actually get a chance to visit with them, to learn from…

Sarajevo. I was in Sarajevo 10 years ago, and at that time the city was essentially in, the center city, essentially rubble. Many buildings had large pockmarks. Some of them are still there. Many, though, have been fixed; and it now is a…

I think we should share the story that the general told us about the man who worked at the military facility there. Every day, when he would come to work, he would stop, and this is a Bosnian individual, he would stop and salute the…

I mentioned earlier, we also need to say thank you and kudos to the families. You cannot help but think about what the families in North Dakota must feel every day. I am sure they do not know all that that group does in terms of going out…

That is exactly what Melvin Laird said about Vietnam. That is why it was important to turn Vietnam, as soon as possible, back to the Vietnamese people. He said the greatest mistake was the Americanization of the Vietnam War. I think that…

I think the real progress that we are all looking for is for the Iraqis. Now that Prime Minister Maliki has got a government, and I think he needs to know that America is going to be there to support him. You know, I was misquoted that I…

I was talking about the Kurds, and I think every part of the trip, in my opinion, was a highlight. I hate to say one was more important than the other. But what I had said before you came in, Congressman Hoekstra, was that I was so…

We will always remember the North Dakota boys. Especially one young man, I think his name was Lynch. He had been involved in four of these explosions. And, yes, it is true the equipment they have is specially designed to sort of take the…

I think you said it exactly right. When I left, there was progress. I was looking for progress. I think it is a three-legged stool. I think you have to have military or security progress.

Exactly. That is where I really was disappointed. I thought Baghdad would be much more secure than what we saw or learned about it. But you have to have military security progress, and you have to have economic progress, and you have to…

I yield 1 minute to my cochair of the Telecommunications Task Force of the Rural Caucus, Mr. Stupak of Michigan.

I rise in support of H.R. 5441, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2007. This bill will provide valuable homeland security dollars to communities and infrastructure in our country. I'm particularly…

it is a very simple amendment, but I think it is very important and one that an awful lot of groups are paying attention to. There is a program we have had in the farm bill for a very long time, the Wetland Reserve Program, that has become…

I don't know if I would be happier if Americans are watching this debate, or if they are not watching the debate. I am an auctioneer and it sounds almost like an auction: no matter how much we spend it is not enough. But here is something…

I rise in support of H.R. 4200, the Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act. We have heard so far this morning some people say that this bill is about somehow suspending the laws of science. But I would argue this bill is really about…

I rise on the House floor tonight to talk about something that I think is one of the big solutions that we need to pursue here in the United States. And I would like to, first of all, talk about this first chart; and hopefully, Members can…

there are a lot of issues we talk about here on the House floor where Members don't know much about the issue they are talking about. This may be one for me. But I did serve on the Pension Commission of the State of Minnesota and I know…