Kirk Watson

I rise in support of S. 167, the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005, which strengthens our Nation's intellectual property rights system and further protects and rewards our Nation's artists for their creative products. I…

The public may now know Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., as a high-profile, superbly dressed, superstar attorney with a signature smile that swayed everyone he met, including many of the multi-million dollar clients that he represented. However…

I rise to honor the life of Josie Gray Bain, a brilliant woman who was a dedicated wife, mother, and pioneer educator, who I had the distinct honor to work with closely when I served on the Los Angeles School Board. Josie Gray Bain was…

I rise to pay tribute to a recently deceased great American, Ulysses Bradshaw Kinsey. As a boy, Mr. Kinsey grew up on a large farm where he shared responsibilities with his older siblings. Mr. Kinsey's values of fairness, compassion, and…

I lost $90,000 in the stock market. The privatization program will only make stockbrokers richer. It is the stupidest thing that President Bush has done. Please stop President Bush from privatizing Social Security. I have paid into Social…

I think at the beginning of Negro History Month it is important to report on the Joint Baptist Board Meeting that was held January 24 to 27, 2005, where they jointly, through their presidents, affirmed the following points of agreed action…

The success of the 9/11 bill (S. 2845) is a great victory for America. It will make America safer by establishing a single individual who will be responsible for coordinating our intelligence and who will be accountable to Congress and the…

Today, the House Republican leadership is clearing up a mess they made three weeks ago. On November 20, 2004, House Republicans sent to the floor another unwieldy omnibus spending bill, 2 months late and billions of dollars short for…

We as Americans have been victims of lies, deceptions, and distractions. Today's LA Times reported that Saddam Hussein did not produce or possess any weapons of mass destruction for more than a decade before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq…

Last week, a number of members of the Congressional Black Caucus, myself included, addressed the issue of upcoming elections, with particular attention going to voter intimidation, oppression, and suppression. I congratulate the…

I was appalled and shocked that we are dealing with something that was outlawed, we thought, by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But we always have to be awakened to the facts and realities in which we live, that racism is not dead in this…

In a Nation where children are taught at the earliest age that every citizen has the right to vote, it would be comforting to know that the last vestiges of voter intimidation, oppression and suppression have been swept away by the passage…

I stand to pay tribute to an outstanding and distinguished human being, Joe Kary Westmoreland, from my district who died just recently. Joe began his musical career by singing and playing the piano at a very early age in New Morning Star…

America's roads are coming to a standstill because of ever-increasing congestion. The latest research shows that the average American wastes almost 2 full days a year in traffic. Measured in dollars, the cost of congestion is now $63…

I rise to honor the participants of the 2004 Summer Olympics from California. Last month, 537 American athletes traveled to Athens to compete for what is arguably the most esteemed prize in the sporting world, an Olympic medal. Among them…

I want to read words of reflection about one who believed who just passed away, and read this scripture, ``God had the power to work within her and to accomplish abundantly far more than all she could ask or imagine.'' Aunita T…

On August 23, President Bush's new overtime pay take-away rules will go into effect. These rules will slash wages for over 6 million Americans. Since 2001, this administration has passively stood by while Americans lost their jobs and…

We are now almost 3 months past the deadline for Congress to pass a Federal budget. At this point, it is likely that Congress will not pass one at all. The cause of this breakdown is the ongoing misguided policies of the administration…

I rise to honor and memorialize a great American, Juanita R. Phillips, a retired educator in the St. Louis public schools. She died of natural causes on Thursday, July 1, 2004, 3 months shy of celebrating her 100th birthday. She was born…

We need observing. I observed the election in 2000 from Micronesia. I was ashamed. I was embarrassed because I had to go out and interpret what had happened. I did not find those elections to be free or fair. The spaghetti ballot, the…

Today is a great day for the protection of intellectual property rights in America and around the world. The U.S.- Australia Free Trade Agreement, of which I am a strong supporter, serves as a great testament to our Nation's commitment in…

As we mark the first anniversary of the President's historic tour of Africa, we cannot help but wonder when, if ever, the government of this country will end the ``promise game'' they are so adept at playing with the peoples of Africa. The…

Today is the first good day that Grandma Millie has had in a long time. Disgraced former Enron chairman Ken Lay has surrendered to the authorities. This is an important milestone. Many Americans, including myself, worried that Lay's close…

Mr. Speaker, it brings me a great deal of fulfillment and joy to recognize the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Given the extremely close bilateral relationship between our two…

The Bush administration has demonstrated a complete failure to plan for our operations in Iraq and a complete failure to plan here at home. One has to ask, Are we better off than we were 4 years ago? When President Bush took office, we had…