tonight. i'd yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. meeks: i recognize myself for the balance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 3 1/2 minutes. mr. meeks: let me just first thank the chairman of the committee, barney frank, ranking member bachus, and again my ranking member on the international monetary policy and trade, mr. miller. we came together because of the hard work and dedication that the gentlelady from california put forward in writing this bill to make sure that we did the right thing for the people of haiti. this is one of those times you're proud of being a member of congress, working together for the good of human beings. and though oftentimes we say that haiti is poor, when i think of haiti, they are rich,

rich in spirit, rich in human capital, flitch hope. these are a people under the most unimaginable tragedy, still have hope and desire of moving forward, who have overcome and survived all of the things that mr. bachus and others have said today, when you think from the very beginning of their independence, indeed, the people of haiti are a rich people and we are doing the right thing today and sending the right message to the people of haiti that we will stand by you, not just for the short haul, but for the hong -- but for the long haul. madam speaker, i'm proud to be a member of congress, i'm proud of my colleagues who have work sod hard to get this bill done and i'm proud we're doing the right thing by the great people of haiti and i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. all time has been expired. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4573. those in favor say aye. -- as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table, without objection, the bill -- the title is amended. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: to the congress of the united states, section 202d of the national emergencies act, 15 2d provides for the

automatic termination of a national emergency unless, prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the president bub lish -- publishes in the federal register and transmits to the congress that the emergency is to continue beyond the anniversary date. in accordance with this provision i have sent the enclosed notice to the federal register stating that the iran emergency declared on march 15, 1995, is to continue in effect beyond march 15, 2010. the crisis between the united states and iran resulting from actions and policies of the government of iran that led to the declaration of a national emergency on march 15, 1995, has not been resolved. the actions and policies of the government of iran are contrary to the interests of the united states and the region and pose a continuing, unusual, and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the united states. for these reasons i have

determined it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared with respect to iran and maintain in force sanctions against iran to respond to this threat. signed, barack obama, the white house, march 10, 2010. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the committee on foreign affairs and ordered printed. are there requests for one-minutes? for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> madam speaker, i rise today in opposition to the motion to cancel the nasa funding for several projects, they comprise our human space flight program and were authorized in 2005 and 2008 by democratic and republican congresses. it's under these programs that nasa is developing a new launch

video capable of traveling to the moob, mars and other destinations. not only does this jeopardize america's leadership role but will have detrimental effects on our economy. the issue is, it will take years for commercial space flight industry to get up to speed to the level of competence in nasa today. our government has invested years and billions of dollars in this program, we should build on these, not abandon them. our country can support the commercial space flight industry but not at the expense of the human space flight program. it is my hope that the congress will continue the national constellation program. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: further requests for one-minutes? for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas rise? >> request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. jackson lee: i rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in co-sponsoring h.con.res.

1150, which establishes nasa and all its assets as a national security interest. we need to work with the president in moving forward on restoring the funds of the constellation program and to re-emphasize and recommit ourselveses to human space exploration. in the current budget of the nasa program, funds have been increased, but funds have been taken away from the constellation program and in essence, it has been can smismed request is we have our task before us and the answer is simple. to reprogram the funds that are in the nasa budget to ensure that this great asset of nasa, nasa johnson, the nasa centers in alabama, mississippi, florida and elsewhere are maintained. the international space station has been built over the last 10 years. it's been built with the genius, intellect and research of the united states that research and genius and that

kind of data requires protection as a national security interest. the funding of that -- that needs to be restored will help create this opportunity and save jobs. let us save jobs and provide for nasa space exploration. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: are there further requests for one minutes? the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. young of florida for yesterday and today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the request is granted. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? >> madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into, the following members may be permitted to address the house, revise and extend their remarks and include therein extraneous materials. mr. poe, march 17 for five minutes, mr. jones, march 17

for five minutes, mr. moran, march 17 for five minutes, mr. barton, today for five minutes, mr. bishop, march 11 for five minutes, mr. conway, today for five minutes, mr. gohmert today for five minutes and mr. mccotter, march 11 and 12, five minutes each. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask unanimous con sent that today following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into, the following members may be permitted to address the house for five minutes to revise and extend their remarks an include therein extraneous materials. ms. woolsey, five minutes, mr. defazio, five minutes, ms. kaptur, five minutes, mr. ortiz, five minutes, mr. gene green, five minutes, mr. chet edwards, five minutes, mr. charlie gonzalez, five minutes,

mr. hendrix five minutes, and ms. eddie bernice johnson for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, and under a previoused orer of the house, the following members are recognized for five minutes each. mr. bright of alabama. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. ortiz: i ask unanimous consent that the time be yielded to us, i don't think the gentleman is here at this time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas is recognized for five minutes. mr. ortiz: today we are here to honor the life and work of my good friend, representative charlie wilson, who i had the pleasure of serving with in the house of representatives for 13 years. charlie was a unique person. one of a kind. and he will be missed dearly by his family, friends, and colleagues in the house.

you know, charlie had a very special and unique side to him. he knew when to be tough, he knew when to laugh, he knew when to stick to his thoughts, but above all, he knew how to serve the people of this great country and his district. at the age of 23 after graduating with a bachelor of science degree from the u.s. naval academy, charlie joined the united states navy where oh he attained the rank of lieutenant. after serving as a fleet officer for four year, he was asind to the pentagon as part of an intelligence unit that started the soviet -- that studied the soviet union's nuclear forces. at the age of 47 he was elected to the texas legislature and in 1961, he was sworn into office in austin.

he was known as the top dog in the state capitol and he was also often tchailed liberal from lufkin, texas. he fought for medicaid, tax extensions for the elderly, and a minimum wage bill. in 1970, when i was -- when i was an elected county commissioner texas, charlie was elected to the house of representatives from the second district of texas, near houston. he served in congress for 11 terms and did not seek re-election to the 105th congress and resigned on october 8, 1996. he was known in the halls of congress as a good-time charlie. but he was -- but it was an appropriate name for him. he was very funny, joyful, and full of life and very humorous. after he retired from congress, he settled down, got married and he was at peace with

himself and looked -- and looked more comfortable and at ease. charlie truly enjoyed life. in 2006, we asked him to come and visit with us in corpus christi, this is when his book came out, "charlie wilson's war," he gave time to the people in the district and signed and autographed every book. i remember one of the stories, you know, some of the stuff that i knew about charlie probably wouldn't be able to say here in the house. but he enjoyed life, he brought a beautiful young lady from russia to visit the united states and they asked charlie are you going to give her your credits? he said the only thing i'm going to give her are victoria's secrets. he was a great guy and i would like to include the rest of my testimony for the record and i

yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? mr. jones: madam speaker, i.d. like to claim my time at this time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. jones: madam speaker, thank you. today, during the debate about afghanistan, i joined mr. kucinich and several others in our concerns about afghanistan and i wanted to further read to the house, i had used a marine times article that has a photograph of a marine who is retired now and his son joshua who was killed in afghanistan and the article says, caution killed my son, marine families

blast suicidal tactics in afghanistan. in addition to this article, of his son and the tighter rules of engagement, families voice outrage over new restrictions in afghanistan, they also have a article about four marines who were killed that asked the army to give them cover but the army said, no, they didn't say no, they just didn't even respond. the rules of engagement are so different for our troops that i think it's -- at some point in time, i think we in the congress, particularly on the armed services committee, i'm going to ask for a hearing about the rules of engagement. i want to explain and then read a couple of comments from the father, which was in this article. sergeant bernard, retired marine, whose son josh was killed, what had happened, the marines had been in a fire fight and then there was an afghan that came to the marines and said, listen, there are

other -- taliban enemy down the road. if you'll follow me i'll show you where they are located. well, this is where i want to pick up the story, by the father's writing. he said, when he -- when the ambush began the tipster could not be found and the interpreter took cover, raising questions about whether they led marines into a trap. there's no question they did. and i further quote the -- quote sergeant bernard, call me cynical if you want, but some rogue element led them there, bernard said. the bottom line is both of these guys were gone. it's just another indication of how this counterinsurgency strategy cannot work. i further want to read, in october 13 letter to senator collins, mullen addressed -- admiral mullen addressed bernard ears concern by saying the new tactical derivative did

not change the r.o.e. in afghanistan but rather provide more clarification and guidelines regarding this e-- regarding the use of force. we have refind our procedure in order to reduce civilian casualties but at no time have the r.o.e. been modified to place our troops at greater risk he wrote. our troops still operate under a celt of r.o.e. that allows them to protect themselves against enemy action in battles while protecting the afghan population. sergeant bernard, a retire mad rein, said the letter is smoke and mirrors and overlooks his consistent concern that a counterinsurgency strategy won't work as long as afghanistan is filled with warring tribes, about 126 of them but they have no empathy for the united states and its way of life, i further want to read down in his response in the marine times, i already

talked to the office and said, don't let him spin this crap, bernard said. there's no indication afghanistan has changed anywhere. our mission should be simple, chase and kill the enemy. madam speaker, that's exactly what they should be doing instead of this other type of strategy. collins, i'll skip that, bernard said he is frustrated that the senator's office, one of his home state senators and a member of the senate armed services committee, handled his complaint as that of a single constituent, i'm not getting into whether they did or didn't, rather than seeing him as a representative of the hundreds of people who say -- have said that -- that have contacted him about this whole rules of engagement. and i want to quote, and this will be the close, you cannot turn this into one lone idiot in the back woods of maine mourning his son he said, this is bigger than that. madam speaker, i intend to ask the armed services committee,

chaired by a wonderful man from missouri and a ranking member from california we need to have this debate on maff of the families as well as the marines and the army, what are the rules of engagement what can they do and cannot do. when i read these articles about the number of -- who died because we could not give them cover in certain situations, if that's the way we're supposed to fight a war that's a poor way to fight a war. madam speakering with that, i'm going to close as i always do, i know the gentleman from texas has a tribute to pay to a former member who i happened to serve one term with and thought well of him my daddy knew him and thought clear wilson was a great die, by -- great depie guy, my close is this, i ask fwod to please bless our men and women in uniform and the families of our men and women in uniform and i ask god to bless this country and bless the president that he will do what's right for this country and i ask god to bless america, i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. ms. woolsey from california. for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> i ask to speak out of order for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas is recognized for five minutes. >> i'm proud to follow my colleague from north carolina and we share his support and his prayers for our men and women serving our country. and that's why it's so important tonight to be here to honor the late member of congress, charlie wilson, from east texas. i first met charlie wilson in 1972 as a young state representative and he had just been elected to congress and there was a fundraiser for him at intercontinental airport in houston. and i was 25 years old and went out there and the state senator, he was just elected in congress, and heard charlie tell the folks stories, and this is 1972, long before afghanistan, long before charlie wilson became known as good time charlie. in fact, in texas he was known

as temper charlie because he -- timber charlie because he represented the timber trees of east texas. but a great member. he was elected in the 1972, like i said, u.s. house of representatives from second district, and he was elected 11 times. he did not run for re-election in 1996. in fact, resigned in october of 1996. charles wilson was born in trinity, texas, where his father was an accountant for a lumber company and june 1 of 1933 he -- his -- he attended the naval academy and grad in 1956. he served four years in the navy from 1956 to 1960 and came back to texas where he was elected the state house and state senate. charlie wilson died on february 10, 2010, at a hospital in texas where he had been taken after

collapsing earlier in the day and suffered from a cardiopulmonary arrest. he was pronounced dead at 1:16 p.m. central time. congressman wilson received a grave-side service of military honors at the arlington national cemetery. now, for some of the stories about charlie with wilson as a friend -- charlie wilson as a friend and i'm glad my colleague from texas, joe barton, here, and sheila jackson lee, because charlie had some stories that we couldn't tell on the floor of the house, but i'm going to tell you some of the good ones. he survived by his wife, barbara, and his sister sharon alison. charlie told me many times, like he told other members, he credited his wife, barbara, with saving his life. because it got him off a lot of things that he shouldn't have been on to begin with.

in having seen him many times after he left congress, charlie was still charlie. charlie entered politics as a teenager. he began by running a campaign against his nextdoor neighbor, a city council member in trinity, texas. his dog entered that neighbor's yard, he was also a city council member and the council member retaliated by mixing glass in the dog's food and causing fatal internal bleeding. and being a farmer's son, charlie was able to get a driver's permit at age 13 and so he was going to pay that council member back, so he drove 96 people to the polls on the next election at age 13, mainly black citizens, african-american citizens, from the poor side of town, and -- to make sure they knew what happened to his dog. and that incumbent lost by 16 votes. so charlie wilson entered politics at 13 years old by

defeating a city council member in his neighborhood. charlie had so many things i could tell you, wrapping his arm around us and giving us that counsel, but i think he's best known outside of texas for being the leader in congress during the 1980's and known for supporting operation cyclone, the largest ever central intelligence agency covert operation under the president reagan's administration by supplying military equipment, including anti-aircraft weapons such as stinger anti-aircraft missiles and officers from their special activities in division to the afghanistan mujaheddin during the soviet war in afghanistan. from a few million dollars in the 1980's he supported the resistance which grew to $750 million million by the end of the decade. i remember charlie wilson telling us in 1996 when he was leaving and earlier that we made a mistake by abandoning afghanistan. and literally after 9/11 he came

and talked to the delegation and said, we made a mistake and we're paying the price for it right now. because we left afghanistan in turmoil and ended up the taliban. we don't need to make that mistake again and that's why tonight i'm proud to honor charlie wilson in his service to our country. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. moran of kansas. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to claim the time of mr. moran who is not here. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, madam speaker. i rise in support and honor the late congressman charlie wilson of the second congressional district of texas. i didn't know congressman wilson in his salad days. i didn't get elected until 1984. by that time he had calmed down. apparently quite a bit. but i can now state it, since

the statute of limitations has expired, i voted for congressman wilson six times. i lived in east texas in crockett, texas, in houston county, in the second congressional district, and we didn't have a republican primary and i don't recall that we had a republican opponent against congressman wilson in the time that i lived in crockett, so my choice was to vote for him or not vote at all. and i chose to vote for him. i never went to one of his town hall meetings down at the courthouse on the square because i felt like he was doing a very good job for those constituents in east texas, including myself. he was a strong defender of the military, just, you know, very strong on what we call texas values. he worked quite a bit on the big picket in east texas. he was an environmentalist ahead of his time. when i got elected in 1984 i

made it a point to get to know congressman wilson or charlie wilson, because i had been his constituent and i knew of his reputation and i just felt like he'd be a good guy to get to know. and he was. he was a really, really good person. when his mother died i felt as a courtesy that i should attend the funeral so that there would be some texas congressmen at his mother's funeral in trinity, texas, and as it turned out i was the only congressman that attended. and i went up to him and we didn't really know each other that well, but i said, charlie, i'm here if you need he mood -- me to do anything, i didn't really know your mother well but i know that she must have been a good woman if you were her son. and he never forget that -- forgot that. from then on anything i needed from congressman wilson, if he could do it, he did it.

but he also asked you things. i'll never forget out on the steps of the capitol one time he came up to me and said, joe, i need a favor. i said, what is it charlie? he said, i need a republican sponsor for an amendment in the appropriations committee. i said, ok, what is it? he said, i can't tell you. i said, well, how much money is it? he said, i can't tell you. i said, well, how many years is it? he said, i can't tell you. i said, well, what you can tell me? he said, if you do this for me, i'll do almost anything you want in the appropriation committee for you. so i didn't know, to this day i don't know what that amendment was, but after reading some of the history of that time and that era, my assumption is that i was the republican sponsor of an amendment that got funding for the black box programs in afghanistan for the stinger missiles. now i don't know that, madam speaker, but that's kind of the way he operated.

another story i can tell you is that i was standing here back behind the rail one afternoon and we had a series of votes going on and charlie came up to me and he said, what are you doing in a month or? i said, i don't know. he said, i'm going to take a little trip. i said, where you are you going? he said, we'll go anywhere you want to go. and i said, where do you want to go? he said, i have to go to afghanistan and i have to go to morocco and if you'll come with me after that, we'll go anywhere you want to go. i said, well, i'll think about it. i asked my chief of staff and she said, no, and i asked my wife and she said, no, so then i had to tell congressman wilson that i couldn't go. but that's the trip that he took where he ended up going to afghanistan. another story that i can tell you is that a couple of us congressmen were walking down the street one day and we saw congressman wilson walking over to the capitol and he had this

very strikingly beautiful young woman that he was walking with and congressman dan burton said, charlie, that woman is as pretty as ms. universe. and he says, it is ms. universe. and it was. he also loved cats, i mean, the four-legged cats. and they ran all over his office and all over the rayburn building on the floor and as far as i know the house administration's never -- administration never chas ticed him. when you walk in his office, right above it, right after afghanistan he had a live stinger missile and he was very proud of that. i see my time is about to expire. for all of those of his family member and his constituents, there were a lot of republicans that loved charlie wilson and he will be missed, he was a