Jon L. Christensen: “the war that our country is waging in response to the attacks of September 11 and to eliminate the terrorists who are…”

“the war that our country is waging in response to the attacks of September 11 and to eliminate the terrorists who are responsible for it is, without question, necessary and important. But so are our homeland security needs. The U.S. Customs Service, Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Coast Guard and regional defense forces need more staff, assets and funding. Our public health infrastructure, which will be our frontline biological and chemical defense, is full of holes and needs to be strengthened, especially in poor communities. Our children, who must be prepared to carry out the long-term security mission, are being undereducated in rundown schools and need a major investment of our time and capital. The biggest obstacles to meeting our obligations for security for our communities, including access to quality health care and a sound education for our children, is the tax cut. The insistence that we move forward and, worse, move it up at this time is putting our country and every citizen at risk. Mr. Speaker, we need to roll back the tax cut so that we can properly prepare this country to meet our critical health, education and security needs.”