ms. johnson: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas. ms. johnson: i rise in strong support of h.r. 5282, a bill introduced by the gentleman from georgia, mr. barrow, to provide a five-year authorization for the corps of engineers veterans occuration program. h.r. 5282 is a worthy piece of legislation. it provides job training for our veterans. it helps to record and protect our nation's cultural resources and it assists the corps in fulfilling its obligation to protect our nation's cultural and historical legacy. thousands upon thousands of artifacts rests on catalog in hundreds of museums and federal depositories across the country. these objects represent our past and help to describe who we are today. it is therefore a cultural imperative that we preserve and understand these pieces.

it is also a matter of law and policy that we do so. the program located at labs in georgia, the district of columbia and missouri provides veterans with a skill set to preserve the many cultural and historical artifacts encountered by the corps of engineers. these employees gain valuable work still -- skills in a host of areas, including computer database management, photographic and scanning techniques and software proficiency. the development of these skills provide valuable training and experience for future work at museums or forensic labs, records management entities and government agencies. this legislation authorizes the program for five years, through fiscal year 2015. it also provides a realistic step increase of authorized

funding from $5 million in 2011 toed 9 million in 20 -- to $9 million in 015. this will allow the corps to expand the program in a rational and deliberate manner. the corps has had success with this program. so i ask all of the members to join me in supporting this bill. it len sure the continuation -- it will ensure the continuation of a program that respects the nation's cultural heritage, at the same time providing valuable training to men and women who have valiantly served our nation. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i allow myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: serving our country in uniform is frankly probably the most noble thing that any human being can do.

and it's such an incredible sacrifice that our troops do and their families as well. they're the ones who allow everything that we take for granted on a daily basis to live in freedom, to live in democracy. those are the ones who allow us to do. that today we have the opportunity to help make our soldiers and our veterans, to help transition them into civilian life much easier. h.r. 5282 will help to make opportunities available to the brave men and women who are returning from the fight on the global war on terror and this legislation will continue our commitment to our veterans through education and employment opportunities. and as part of the civil works mission, the corps of engineers, they uncover countless historic artifacts continuously. a lot of these artifacts, which are very important items, are frankly just uncatalogged and are just kind of almost semiabandoned and they need

curation. so, this is such a commonsense bill. it helps preserve our history, preserve our past, while also making sure that we give opportunities to the most noble, to the best and the brightest of our country, to our troops and to our veterans. i urge all members to support our receipt advance and support this -- our veterans and support this real commonsense, noble legislation. i'm not quite sure if the other side has other speakers. at this time, madam speaker, i'd like to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: madam speaker, i recognize the gentleman from georgia, mr. barrow, for such time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. barrow: thank you, madam speaker. and i thank the gentlelady for yielding and her leadership on this issue. madam speaker, on october of 2009, the army corps of engineers used temporary funds from the american recovery and reinvestment act to begin the

veterans curation project. to employ and train wounded iraq and afghanistan veterans in archeological processing. the project gives these veterans an opportunity to learn transferble job skills and earn a fair wage while cataloging artifacts that the corps has discovered and has require -- is required to preserve. the project now employs about 50 veterans in augusta, georgia, st. louis, missouri, and washington, d.c. unfortunately, temporary funding for the veterans curation project is set to run out just when our returning veterans and you our economy need it the most. h.r. 5282 provides long-term authorization for the program and will preserve the program and allow it to grow. the veterans curation project not only helps educate, train and employ veterans, but it allows them to heal through the power of meaningful work. since the army corps of engineers has to catalog these artifacts anyway, there can be

no better qualified or more deserving group than our own veterans to help get the job done. we owe no debt as citizens that is greater than the debt we owe the veterans who fought for our freedoms. we literally owe them everything. that's why i urge my colleagues to support this worthy program to help our wounded veterans heal and get good job skills at the same time. it's not only the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do. with that, madam speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas reserves her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i thank -- i think the issue has been adequately explained. this is something that has to be done. who better to do it, who is more qualified and deserving, who better to do it than our veterans than our troops, than our soldiers? with that, madam speaker, i would yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida yields back his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i have no requests for further statements and i move the passage. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5282 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the speaker pro tempore: for

what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? ms. johnson: madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 5651. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: house calendar number 232, h.r. 5651, a bill to designate the federal building and the united states courthouse located at 515 ninth street in rapid city, south dakota, as the andrew w. bogue federal building and united states courthouse. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from texas, ms. johnson, and the gentleman from florida, mr. diaz-balart, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on h.r. 5651. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentlewoman from texas.

ms. johnson: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas. ms. johnson: i rise in strong support of h.r. 5651 which designates the federally occupied building located at 515 ninth street in rapid city, south dakota, as the andrew w. bogue federal building and the united states courthouse. judge andrew bogue was a world war ii veteran who served in a u.s. army during the war. after serving with the u.s. army, judge bogue graduated from the university of north dakota school of law and went into private practice for several years before another stint in the u.s. army with the jag corps. judge andrew bogue was nominated to the federal bench by president richard nixon in 1970 and served for 15 years as an active district federal judge

before taking senior status in 1985. even after taking senior status, judge bogue continued to hear cases up until a few months before his death on june 10, 2009. given judge andrew bogue's contribution to public service to his country and the great state of south dakota, it is fitting to designate the federal building and the united states courthouse located at 515 ninth street, rapid city, south dakota, as the andrew bogue building and united states courthouse. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the honorable -- i think the honorable gentlelady from texas highlighted it well. i want to say that he obviously had a very distinguished clear -- career. i just want to highlight the

fact that he was also -- he served in the u.s. army during world war ii and later in the jag corps. i just -- i just think it's important to always highlight when somebody does do that, when they've done so much, to highlight that part. with that i would yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i recognize the gentlewoman from south dakota. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from south dakota is recognized. ms. herseth sandlin: thank you, madam speaker. this legislation enjoys bipartisan support of south dakota congressional delegation. judge andrew bogue served this country honorably throughout his lifetime. a native of parker, south dakota, he served in the army's corps during woorled war ii and later in the judge advocate general corps. he served as a state's attorney for his home turner county and he was elected as a judge in the

second judicial district circuit court. in 1970 both south dakota senators at that time, a republican and a democrat, recommended that president nixon appoint judge bogue to the u.s. district court for the state of south dakota. judge bogue served in that position until his passing just last year. he was trying cases and working hard all the way up to his 90th birthday. when judge bogue was confirmed, there were no federal courthouses in rapid city. as the first judge to be based in the western part of south dakota, he served his first year in deadwood. he moved his courtroom to rapid city and worked the next few years in the first federal savings and loan building. judge bogue was present at the very beginning when the general services administration began planning the federal building and courthouse that we are renaming after him today. and he participated in that planning. put simply, judge bogue is a major reason the rapid city

courthouse exists as it does today. judge bogue was an impressive figure on the bench and lawyers who practiced before him knew him as someone who listened and was committed to justice. because of his role and his contributions to the administration of justice throughout his career on the bench, the group tasked with renaming the rapid city courthouse unanimously agreed on judge bogue and i can think of no better tribute to his legacy. thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from texas reserves her time. the gentleman from -- florida yielded back his time? from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. no more requests for time. i urge the passage of this resolution and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5651. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? ms. johnson: madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5706 as amended, to designate the building occupied by the government printing office. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: house calendar number 233, h.r. 5706, a bill to designate the facility of the government printing office located at 31451 east united avenue in pueblo, colorado, as the frank evans government printing office building. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the

gentlewoman from texas, ms. johnson, and the gentleman from florida, mr. diaz-balart, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in strong support of h.r. 5651 as amended which designates the facility of the government printing office located at 31451 east united avenue in pueblo, colorado, as the frank evans government printing office building. congressman evans is a distinguished former member of the house of representatives, born september 6, 1923, in pueblo, colorado. after serving as a u.s. navy pilot during world war ii, congressman evans attended the university of denver, graduating with a bachelor's degree and then received his law degree in 1950. congressman evans went on to the -- to be elected to the colorado state house of representatives in 1960. after serving in the house of

representatives, congressman evans would go on to win seven terms representing colorado's third congressional district in 1964 before retiring in 1978. he is often credited for helping to bring the federal citizens information center to pueblo, colorado, in 1970. unfortunately congressman frank edwards evans died this past summer on june 8, 2010. and given representative evans' exceptional service to the federal government and to the third congressional district of colorado, it is fitting to honor him by naming the government printing office located at 31451 east united avenue in pueblo, colorado, as the frank evans government printing office building. and i urge my colleagues to

support it. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i just want to highlight what the gentlelady from texas already did, but i think it's worth repeating. we know about his career, but i also want to just highlight the fact that he did serve in the united states navy as patrol pilot during world war ii and that's something i think we all need to thank our veterans and for their patriotism. i want to thank the gentleman from colorado for bringing this up. he's someone who i have great admiration and respect for. with that i will reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from colorado, congressman salazar. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is

recognized. mr. salazar: thank you, madam speaker. and i want to thank the gentlelady from texas and also the gentleman from florida, a wonderful friend. but, madam speaker, i rise today in support of my bill, h.r. 5706, to name the government printing office public document distribution center in pueblo, colorado, after former congressman frank evans. from 1964 to 1978, congressman evans rechted colorado's third district in the u.s. house of representatives. that's a seat i currently serve. his impact in our district can be felt today. congressman evans was responsible for bringing the printing office to pueblo. i cannot think of a more appropriate way to dedicate his hard work and commitment to western colorado than to name this building in his honor. from the time that congressman evans gained congressional approval for the building in 1970, it has employed from 125

to 200 colorado workers. the g. pomplet and its employees are more dedicated to serve the public more than ever. unfortunately, congressman evans passed away in june of this year and my condolences go out to his family during this difficult time. i happen to attend his funeral. he will be missed but his memory lives on through the lives he touched and the legacy that he left in western colorado. in honor of congressman evans, i urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 5606, as amended, and i

have no further requests for time. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman's request is recognized. all time has been returned. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5706, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded 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 title is amended. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? ms. johnson: madam speaker, i rise to move to suspend the rules and concur with the senate amendment to h.r. 3562,

to designate the federally occupied building lowated at 220 echelon parkway in jackson, mississippi, as the -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman will suspend and the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3562, an act an act to designate the federally occupied building located at 1220 echelon parkway in jackson, mississippi, as the james chaney, andrew goodman, michael schwerner, and roy k. moore federal building. senate amendment. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from texas, ms. johnson, and the gentleman from florida, mr. diaz-balart, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the senate amendment to h.r. 3562. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentlewoman from texas is

recognized. ms. johnson: thank you. i rise in support of the senate amendment to h.r. 3562, which designates the federal low occupied building located at 1220 echelon parkway in jackson, mississippi, as the james cheney, andrew goodman and michael schwerner and roy moore federal building. the senate amendment to h.r. 3562 adds f.b.i. agent roy k. moore to the naming designation of the federally occupied building that will house the jackson, mississippi, f.b.i. field office. agent roy moore was personally picked by f.b.i. director hoover to investigate the deaths surrounding james

cheney, andrew goodman and michael schwerner. they were civil rights activists who were training in ohio to organize african-americans in mississippi during the freedom summer of 1964. these three men represented a wave of young americans that took time off from other parts of their lives to wait -- to fight for equal rights of all americans. all three activists were murdered. the freedom summer of 1964. and their bodies were buried in an earthened dam outside of philadelphia, mississippi. f.b.i. agent roy moore was tasked with leading the investigation of their disappearance and bringing their captives to justice. the events of that summer were said to be an important milestone in bringing law and order to mississippi with

respect to african-american civil rights. agent moore's efforts resulted in 19 people being indicted in 1967 for violating the civil rights of these three gentlemen and ultimately seven men being tried and convicted. roy moore served 34 years with the federal bureau of investigation and died in october of -- on october 12, 2008, at the age of 94. it is fitting that we honor the memory of these young men and the f.b.i. agents responsible for leading the investigation of their disappearance by designating the federally occupied building located at 1220 echelon parkway in jackson, mississippi, as the james cheney, andrew goodman and michael schwerner and roy k. moore federal building. i urge my colleagues to support this bill, and i reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: madam speaker, you know, we are a very young nation. it's so crucial that we remember our history and that we honor our martyrs and this is one of those examples where we have a great opportunity to do both. these individuals gave their lives for the rights that we frankly take for granted now and that we hold so dear. and special agent moore ensured that the rule of law was enforced and that those murderers were brought to justice. so i think that it is fitting and appropriate to honor these men by naming the f.b.i. building in jackson, mississippi, after them. and i also, madam speaker, support the senate amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. at this time now, madam speaker, i would reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized.

ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i now recognize the gentleman from mississippi, representative thompson, for such time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you very much. madam speaker, i rise to support h.r. 3562, an act to designate the federally occupied building located at 1220 echelon parkway in jackson, mississippi, as the james cheney, andrew goodman, michael schwerner and roy k. moore federal building. madam speaker, 45 years ago three young men lost their lives while attempting to organize and register voters. during that time, known as freedom summer. these men were known as james cheney, a 21-year-old man from meridian, mississippi. andrew goodman, a 23-year-old. and michael schwerner from new

york. madam speaker, on july 21, 1964, the three men were driving from meridian, mississippi, to longdale, mississippi, to investigate the burning of a united methodist church, which had been the meeting place for numerous civil rights group. along their journey, they were stopped by a county deputy who was also known as a member of the ku klux klan. subsequently, the three young men were arrested for speeding and hailed at the county jail without the use of a telephone. hours later they were fined and released. shortly after the trio continued their journey, they were again pulled over by the sheriff's deputy who likely unbenongse to them was followed by a mob of klansmen who were sent to abduct and kill the

men. the three were taken to a remote area of the area to be killed. their bodies were buried in an earthen dam. f.b.i. director j. edgar hoover personally selected agent roy k. moore. he had become renowned for the investigation of the 1963 bombing of the 16th street baptist church in birmingham, alabama, that killed four young girls. as investigations lead agents, moore was charged with commanding hundreds of agents that temporarily flooded the state. many of them reluctant to do their work. after significant investigation by agent moore and the f.b.i., the three individuals' bodies were found on august 4, 1964. due to mississippi's official refusal to prosecute the individuals for murder, the

justice department brought charges against 17 individuals for conspiracy to deprive the workers of their civil rights. seven of the 17 individuals were found guilty but none of them served terms longer than six years in jail. madam speaker, finally on june 21, 2005, a jury convicted edgar ray on three counts of manslaughter and sentenced him to three consecutive terms of 20 years in prison in connection with the death of these young men. the murders of james cheney, who was black, andrew goodman and michael schwerner, who were jewish, showed the reality of the state's racial problem. as a result of their death, there was more pressure on the federal government to pass the voting rights act. madam speaker, i'd like to thank the committee on

transportation and infrastructure and the house for quickly moving this legislation after it was returned from the senate. madam speaker, the struggle for justice and equality eternally bonded james cheney, andrew goodman, michael schwerner and roy k. moore. today congress will act to link their legacy on mississippi's newest symbol of justice and equality. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas reserves the balance of the time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. again, this is an important piece of legislation -- legislation. i would urge its support and with that i would yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i have no more requests for time. i support this legislation, move that it pass and request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: all time has been yielded back.

will the house suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendments to h.r. 3562. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the senate amendments are agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. ms. johnson: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas rise? ms. johnson: i'd like to request the recording of the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? ms. johnson: madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and

pass the bill, h.r. 5773 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: house calendar number 234, h.r. 5773, a bill to designate the federal building located at 6401 security boulevard in baltimore, maryland, as the robert m. ball federal building. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from texas, ms. johnson, -- jackson, and -- excuse me, ms. johnson, the gentlewoman from texas, ms. johnson, and the gentleman from florida, mr. diaz-balart, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on h.r. 5773. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentlewoman from texas.

ms. johnson: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: madam speaker, i rise in strong support of h.r. 5773 as amended, which designates the social security operations building located at 6401 security boulevard in baltimore, maryland, as the robert m. ball federal building. commissioner ball was often described in press accounts as not only the longest-serving social security administrator but also as chief advocate and defender through the years. commissioner ball started with social security administration as a field assistant in 1939 in new jersey of the social security administration, eventually becoming the social security administrator from 1962 to 1973. after commissioner ball left the

social security administration he continued to have an outside role in shaping the program. in 1981 he served as a member of the national commission on social security reform, arguing for a mix of tax increases and benefit cuts to maintain the viability of social security. commissioner ball was an outspoken opponent of any attempts to dismantle social security or to privatize social security. commissioner robert m. ball died january 29, 2008. given commissioner ball's exceptional public service and dedication to the social security administration, it is fitting to honor him by naming the operations facility of the social security administration located at 6401 security boulevard in baltimore, maryland, as the robert m. ball federal building.

and i urge the support of my colleagues, reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you. mr. ball served as commissioner of social security during the johnson and nixon administrations and even in 1981 he served on the greenspan commission that was created by president reagan to examine the social security system. i think it speaks obviously very well for him that his expertise was tapped by both republicans and democratic administrations. it seems fitting, madam speaker, that we name the social security building after him in recognition for his dedication to that agency. so with that i don't have any further speakers and i don't believe that -- oh, yes. i will reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance

of his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i would like to yield such time as he may consume to mr. pomeroy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north dakota is recognized. mr. pomeroy: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. and normally i don't come to the floor to add to a building naming that's flying through. but i want to put into the record my thoughts about bob ball, what a most -- one of the most remarkable people i've ever met and there is no one i have met whose public sector contribution i admire more. naming this building on the campus of social security, a building that has so much of the daily delivery of the social security benefit to the american people, having this building carry his name is just so utterly appropriate. bob ball, through his entire service, had a clear vision of social security.

comes down to simply this, if all of us protected each of us, the lives of tens of millions would be improved and our country would be stronger as a result. he was the most influential proponent of social insurance our country has ever had. he was a leading thinker, a gifted administrator, a skilled political operative, an irresistible advocate, an exceptional teacher and i can tell you personally he was a very wise mentor. of all of his remarkable abilities and traits, perhaps the one we will remember most is his dogged persistence. he stayed on task and made valuable contributions to social security through six decades of service. bob knew what his mission was. he never wavered in pursuit of it. at the time he resigned as

administrator of social security, he had literally worked at the agency for 37 years, longest tenure, serving under three different presidents of two political parties. now, he retired after 37 years, you might think, well, there he goes, riding off into the sunset, job well done. well, bob indicated another inclination. in fact, he wrote in his letter of resignation to president nixon, i'll continue to be available for whatever help i can give in promoting the social development, the sound development and sound administration of this important program. as the preceding speaker had served on the committee that ultimately worked the long-term solvency package for social security in 1983 and he continued to work right until his final days at ripe age of 93 on advancing this notion of social security for the american people. there's nobody i can think of more deserving of the honor,

memorializing his work. i urge member support. with that i yield back. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas reserves her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: madam speaker, i would yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida yields back his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: madam speaker, i have no more requests for time and i simply ask for support for the bill. the speaker pro tempore: all time has been yielded back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5773 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. and without objection the title is amended.

for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? ms. johnson: madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, h.r. 1583 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1583, resolution observing the fifth anniversary of the date on which hurricane rita devastated the coast of louisiana and texas, remembering those lost in the storm and in the process of evacuation, recovery and rebuilding, saluting the dedication of the volunteers who offered assistance and support of those affected by the storm, recognizing the process of efforts to rebuild the affected gulf coast region, commending the persistence of the people of the states of louisiana and texas following the second major hurricane to hit louisiana that season, and reaffirming congress' commitment to restore

and renew the gulf coast region. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from texas, ms. johnson, and the gentleman from florida, mr. diaz-balart, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and add in extraneous materials on h.r. 1583. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentlewoman from texas. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in strong support of h.r. 1577, observing the fifth anniversary of hurricane rita. hurricane rita made landfall as a category three hurricane, just east of texas and the louisiana border. with wind speeds of 10 miles per hour unleashing devastating

destruction. hurricane rita directly led to the deaths of at least seven people, left over one million people without electricity and damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes. in addition to this devastation, the storm caused in texas and louisiana, it also caused flooding and tornadoes in the states of arkansas, mississippi and louisiana. total damages from the storm are estimated to be over $11 billion. hurricane rita also led to one of the largest evacuations in the united states history. prior to making landfall, hurricane rita set a record as the most intense hurricane ever in the gulf of mexico. the storm also set a record for the most rapid intensification for any tropical cyclone and it

strengthened from a category two hurricane to a category five hurricane in less than a day. all of these factors coming less than a month after hurricane katrina prompted three million residents to evacuate their homes. in many instances, those who were evacuating from hurricanery tarp displaced -- hurricane rita were displaced, evacuated from hurricane katrina. the good news today is that the gulf coast is coming back. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting h.r. 1583 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i would at this time yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: this resolution recognizes the fifth anniversary of the devastation caused by rita. madam speaker, as a floridian, i understand the impact that storms like rita have on individuals, on families and on communities. it's so important that we do

remember, that we do not forget. this resolution was introduced by representative boustany of louisiana and he's co-sponsored by the entire louisiana delegation. so i really want to thank mr. boustany for his work on this resolution. frankly, on all issues related to louisiana's recovery from this disaster, he's been a great leader on issues for his state and this is one more example of that. with that, madam speaker, i would reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: madam speaker, at this time i would like to recognize the gentleman from louisiana, the sponsor of this resolution and a leader on these issues, the gentleman from louisiana, mr. boustany. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized. mr. boustany: thank you, madam speaker. and i thank my friend and

colleague from florida for his kind words and we share the same sentiments with regard to hurricanes and we've both dealt with them. so i appreciate his work as well and his leadership for the state of florida. madam speaker, september 24 marks the fifth anniversary of hurricane rita's landfall in my southwest louisiana district. this category three storm came ashore with wind speeds of more than 120 miles per hour and 115 feet of storm surge causing an estimated $11.3 billion in damages. making it the third most expensive natural disaster in u.s. history. hurricane rita had widespread damage to our area, critical damage to our wetlands. on a personal note, i'd like to thank all of my colleagues who traveled to southwest louisiana in the months after the storm to witness firsthand the devastation and to offer assistance.

i also want to thank chairman oberstar, ranking member micah and the committee staff as well as -- mica and the committee staff who worked with our delegation to help address some of the problems we faced in this storm's aftermath. in the past five years i have worked hard to ensure that rita is not the forgotten storm and to further assist in the renal's recovery and building. i'm proud we have initiated the first-ever hurricane protection plan for southwest louisiana and included provisions in the 2007 wrda bill to help expedite the corps of engineer's work to ensure projects are not delayed. rita exploited our wetlands. they serve as a critical buffer against hurricanes and protect industries and cities located inland. before the 2005 storms, the projected land loss in louisiana was 24 square miles per year.

after katrina and rita, the national wetlands center reported 217 square miles of louisiana coastal lands were transformed to water. protecting and strengthening our coast is not only a la louisiana problem, it's an american -- louisiana problem, it's an american problem. families and businesses rely on the energy we produce in louisiana and transport throughout the country each day. but we were just starting to regain our way of life along the gulf coast and louisianans now face new challenges. the current moratorium on deepwater drilling in the gulf of mexico threatens good-paying jobs and our likelihood. it's hampering south louisiana's recovery. there are also thousands of more support workers affected by this, including welders, electricians, mariners, caterers and engineers that aren't directly employed by the drilling operator.

the ramifications of the deep-water moratorium and the de facto shallow-water moratorium are being felt as layoffs have begun along the gulf coast. the hardworking citizens throughout the state of louisiana to rebuild their homes by their own hands africa treata and rita are now experiencing economic devastation. production can be done safely and we need to work together to quickly implement improved safety standards to put gulf coast residents back to work delivering the energy that this nation relies upon. louisianans are resilient. madam speaker, i want to salute the dedicated first responders, volunteers and professionals who offered assistance to those affected by the storm and recognize the progress southwest louisiana has made in five years of restoring and rebuilding our coastal communities. thank you, madam speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back the balance of his time. does the gentleman from florida reserve his time? mr. diaz-balart: at this moment i'd like to reserve, yes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: madam speaker, i have no further requests for time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. in the subcommittee that i'm ranking member of . i've had the privilege -- member of, i've had the privilege of working with the next gentleman from louisiana, he's responsible for releasing billions of dollars, billions of dollars that were stuck in the federal bureaucracy that should have gone and are now moving, through his efforts, to rebuild parts of louisiana. so at this moment it's a privilege to recognize and give five minutes, allow five minutes to the gentleman from louisiana, mr. cao. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for five minutes. mr. cao: first of all, i want to thank my colleague and mentor from florida for his tremendous support of me in the

last two years, and i hope to continue working with him in the future. madam speaker, i rise today in support of house resolution 1583, offered by my good friend and colleague from louisiana, dr. boustany. h.res. 1583 observes the fifth anniversary of the date of the devastation sustained by hurricane rita. hurricane rita made landfall along the louisiana and texas border as a account gore -- category three hurricane. orleans and jefferson parishes, which i represent, following the historic -- the heroic work of first responders, our armed forces and countless volunteers in the aftermath of hurricane katrina, new orleans was unbelievably scheduled to

reopen on september 19. hurricane rita's approach, however, made that impossible, and instead the city once again was vulnerable. levees surrounding new orleans was damaged extensively by hurricane katrina and were far from repair. thousands of flags flew atop roofs offering temporary protection. on friday, september 23, the day after -- the day before rita made landfall, her outer bands began raising water levels around new orleans. and the patches on the canale and the london canal were not able to help with the water. we were facing the same flooding that reeked havoc the month before. two of the hardest hit wards hit by katrina were again flooded and in some low keagses the waters rose to a depth --

locations the waters rose to a depth of eight feet. to some it was happening again. hurricane rita resulted in the death of seven individuals, forced the evacuation of three million gulf coast residents. it also caused an estimated $11.3 billion in damages. madam speaker, as the gulf coast continues its recovery from the recent devastating oil spill, i wish to remind us that only a city, state and a region of great character and determination can rise from devastation to persevere and recover. and that is what we will do. on this anniversary, i offer my heartfelt sympathy to the families of the victims of hurricane rita, and i offer my deepest thanks to those who assisted in the recovery process. i urge my colleagues to support house resolution 1583.

hoping to renew, restore the gulf coast region, mott only from hurricane rita but also from hurricane katrina. thank you, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida reserve his time? mr. diaz-balart: madam speaker, at this time i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: i have no requests for time. just simply ask for support and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1583 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. without objection, the title is amended.

pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, proceedings will resume on motions to suspend the rules previously postponed. votes will be taken in the following order -- h.r. 2039, h.r. 5873, house resolution 1522, h.r. 5366, and house resolution 1610. in each case by the yeas and nays. proceedings on remaining postponed questions will be resume later in the week. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as a five-minute vote. the unfinished business is on the vote of the motion of the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. brady, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2039 as amended

on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2039, a bill to clarify the applicability of the buy america act to products purchased for the use of the legislative branch to prohibit the application of any of the exceptions to the requirements of such act to products bearing an official congressional insignia and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] smoo

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 371. the nays are 36. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from missouri, mr. clay, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5873, on which the

yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5873, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 218 north milwaukee street in waterford, wisconsin, as the captain red d. schiller post office. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 404. the nays are zero.

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 411. the nays are zero. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from missouri, mr. clay, to suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1522 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. -- resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1522, resolution expressing

support for designation of the last week of september as national hereditary breast and ovarian cancer week and the last wednesday of september as national previvor day. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to the resolution. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 408. the nays are zero. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from missouri, mr. clay, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5366 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 38, h.r. 5366, a bill

to require the proposal for debarment of contracting with the federal government of persons violating the corrupt persons act of 1977. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 408, the nays are -- the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 408. the nays are. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the the speaker: the house will come to order. the chair would ask all members present to rise for the purpose of a moment of silence. the chair asks that the house now observe a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks on september 11, 2001.

the speaker: the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly, to suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 1610, in which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1610, resolution expressing the sense of the house of representatives regarding the terrorist attacks launched against the united states on september 11, 2001. the speaker: without objection, five-minute voting will continue. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to the resolution. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning

institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 410, the nays are zero. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rule is suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule

>> the judge will be with us shortly, let me begin by introducing our second panel. our first panel will be francis haigs, the officer for child

protection services, this position was created in 2008, she is charged with forming and implementing a national strategy to combat child exploitation. she works with national and other agencies on child safety issues. she serves as an assistant u.s. attorney for the northern district of georgia. our second witness, ernie allen is co-founder for the national center for missing and exploited children and has served as the president and c.e.o. of the organization since 1999. more than 155,000 children have been are recovered and the recovery rate has increased from 62% in 1990 to 68% today.

the agency has a 24-hour missing children hotline and training for more than 276,000 law enforcement officers. our third witness is tina frund, who has been raising aware thovepbs commercial exploitation of children since 2000. a high profile speaker on the issue as well as a survivor herself she started her own nonprofit courtney's house to provide help for sex trafficked youth. courtney's house is the first group home for sex trafficked children ages 12 to 18 in the washington, d.c., metropolitan area. our next witness, we wanted to have mr. lungren introduce, but he's been detained. our next witness is nicholas sensley, a who was appointed chief of police in truckkey,

california, in 2008. he's been working to end child trafficking since 2001 when he dwooped methodology known as the care model, custodial response evaluation. he worked with one of the first task forces in the united states formed in new york in 2001. similar task forces are formed in 41 cities and states. in 2009 he offered national guidelines for anti-human trafficking task force operations. susannah depaulo is the director -- is the director of the national district attorney's association national center for prosecution of child abuse where she coordinates and manages activities and operations of the center. she also trains child abuse professionals across the

country on the investigation and prosecution of child maltreatment and exploitation. in 2004 and 2005, she coordinated the development of two advanced trial javo kacy courses ofor prosecution of online crimes against children as part of the national centers child -- child sexual exploitation program. deborah richardson, chief program officer of the women's funding network is responsible for the implementation of the 10-year strategic plan including programming, research, evaluation and project initiatives in this global network of 165 women's funds in six continents. as a nationally recognized javo -- advocate in ending child sexual exploitation, she's develop maryland programs. angela's house, the only safe house in the southeast for sexually exploited girls.

and she's been involved in creating multidisciplinary groups of care. her organization has some shocking recording that she will describe. our next witness is clint fowler, who is craig's list's primary contact person for the law enforcement for the last eight years he works with members of the law enforcement community whose investigations involve craig's list content and personally testifies where testimony is required regarding craig's list methods or procedures. our next witness focuses on internet related dispute and intellectual property litigation. she maintains an active probono practice currently focused on

combating human trafficking. her expertise includes combating the use of services for unlawful activities, combating the use of services for unauthorized purposes, combating misuse of online and offline content and combating unlawful intrusion into clients' services and systems. she also offers proonedvidse pro bono representation to nonprofit organizations on these issues with a particular emphasis on human trafficking strategy efforts and measures. now all of the witnesses' written statements will be entered into the record in its entirety. i would ask each witness to summarize his or her testimony in five minutes or less and help stay within the time limit. there is a lighting device on the table, it will start green, go to yellow when there's one minute remain, and will turn red when the five minutes have expired. we begin with ms. haiks.

i just noticed that mr. lungren is with us. did you want to say a kind word? i announced you weren't coming, i'm sorry. >> we have had seminars in our district on the issue of human trafficking. unfortunately, my area, by the f.b.i. statistics is one of the worst in the united states. a lot of people have a hard time believing that in sacramento but we happen to be at the intersection of north-south interstates and east-west interstates and chief sensley who is from the community of truckey if you've been skiing in lake tahoe, you've been through his district. he is an internationally recognized expert on this issue, lextured on this, set up

programs not only in the united states but in foreign country ares and his sensitivity to this issue is absolutely palpable. i'm so happy he was able to come here and i think you, mr. chairman, for allowing me to put in a couple of words there. thank you. >> i'm sorry, ms. haiks. >> thank you, chairman scott. ranking member boehner is not back in the room together. i'm the national coordinator for child exploitation and -- prevention and i'm attached to the deputy's office at the department of justice. i'm also a federal prosecutor. prior to 2002, i was an assistant district attorney in the state of georgia for six years. my very first trial as an assistant district attorney was a child exploitation case. i have specialized in child exploitation my entire creemple it is an honor for me to appear before the subcommittee to

discuss department of justice efforts around the couldn't arery to prosecute individuals involved in the prostitution of children. while unfortunately children around the world are victimized by various forms of exploitation, my focus today is the commercial exploitation of american children by american citizens that occur solely within the borders of our country. i will describe the efforts being undertaken to combat child exploitation in all its forms. i'm sure you know the department submitted its first ever national strategy for child exploitation prevention to congress on august 2. this national strategy contains three parts. a comprehensive assessment of the threat child exploitation poses to our children, a review of current efforts to prevent and interdict child exploitation across the government and finally a comprehensive approach to interdicting these terrible

crimes. the commercial sexual exploitation of american children is a form of human trafficking. it is often prosecuted under the sex trafficking provision of 18 united states code section 1591. those who sexually exploit children, whether foreign or domestic, for commercial gain, exploit the vulnerabilities of their victims. american children are recruited by pimps and madam -- madams from all sose yo economic classes and from all races. they become victims because of abandonment, abuse or unhappyness. these children targeted by pimps and madams are typically run aways, throw aways or victims of sexual abuse. they are promised stability, love, attention and a home. but instead they find themselves forced into prostitution. american pimps and madams can recruit children for nearly nothing and can easily are replace one child with another. they seem to have little fear of law enforcement, confident

in their ability to keep their victims from cooperating against them. and sadly, the pimps and madams are are confident they have customers who are willing to pay to sexually assault these children. the department of justice is heavily involved in combating this grave and growing problem. while it is difficult to imagine children as young as 11 are targeted for commercial exploitation. in june of 2003, as this committee has already heard, in order to address this growing problem, the department, with the f.b.i. and the department of child exploitation obscenity section, in conjunction with the national center for missing and exploited children, launched the innocence lost initiative. each of the innocence lost 38 task fosks cork in tandem with federal agents, state and local agencies and u.s. attorneys'

offices. they bring together federal, state, and local law enforcement and social service providers to engage in training at the center for missing and exploited children. today this innocence lost initialtive has resulted in nearly 600 convictions at the state and federal level and the location and recovery of more than 1,100 children. investigative efforts have increasingly resulted in substantial sentences for those convicted, including four life sentences and many others ranging between 45 and -- between 35 and 45 years. recognizing that it's difficult to gain a victim's cooperation in these circumstances, the victims of crime group is holding three programs to hopefully provide services to these victims and we look

forward to report from these projects. as i noted at the beginning of my remarks, the department recently submitted its national strategy for child exploitation to congress and i brought a copy with me today for those who haven't seen it. we have also already begun implementing the goals and priorities contained therein. when we submit our next report, i expect we'll be able to tell you of the strong progress we've made in the fight against all forms of child exploitation. as we note in the national strategy, we are committed to a multifaceted attack on child exploitation on three fronts, prevention, deterrence, and interdiction. each of these three is critical to our success in this fight. we are engaged with all of our law enforcement partners on interdiction efforts, with our community and agency partners at the department of education and others in our prevention efforts and with the u.s. marshals and others on our deterrence efforts. the message we are sending with

our national strategy is clear, the department of justice is fully engaged in preventing, deterring, and interdicting these heinous crimes. our goal is to prevent exploitation where we can and aggressively pursue those who prey on our children with strong enforcement, vigorous prosecution and serious jail time for those who believe they can harm our children with impunity. thank you. >> thank you. chief? >> thank you. mr. lungren, thank you for the support you continue to show us in california. i am going to jump to the end, as i speak to the issues that have been spoken to on many representations here today. part of my concern is in the

use of the term slavery. my concern rest there is because from the street level, we can attest that what is going on in this domestic minor sex trafficking is, in fact, an act of slavery. where the problem exists is that there isn't the emphasis in responding to this problem of slavery that we saw some 200 years ago and if perhaps truly a shift were to occur, we would see the needed response. for our children, particularly on the street. i go back to mr. gohmert's earlier statement, when he spoke, saying that this is a problem that's difficult to comprehend. it is in fact a problem that is difficult to comprehend even among the law enforcement circles and that is a part of the problem, in that it causes

often an inappropriate are response to a very significant problem and quite an atrocity that's being perpetrated against our children. when, in the initial years following particularly the first year following the passage of pt -- of tpva, we were conservatively estimating that 90% of law enforcement was unaware of the problem as it man tests itself here in this couldn't arery, let alone how it man tests in other parts of the world. the other parts of the world side of this issue is part of the problem in that it is largely perceived as something that goes on somewhere else and that it's not happening here at home to our own children. that in itself leads to another level of victimization for tremendous problem -- for a tremendous problem that's going on in every major city, even in small cities, around the world

and we need to recognize that for what it is. the city of dallas, the statistics they have brugget from their work, one of the statistics they point out is that there's an 85% chance that by the second time a teenage girl runs away, she'll be sexually ex-ploit. the third time she runs away, she'll be commercially sexually exploited, she'll be a victim of human trafficking. there are great efforts going on at the local level, great cooperation between federal, state, and local enforcement officers and among the n.g.o. partners responding to this problem but from what i'm seeing, it's happening in prockets around our country and with various -- varying levels of success that's largely dependent on issues relating to education and training, resources, particularly resources in terms of facilities. it's a difficult matter for a

young patrol officer when through some diligence he's managed to identify what truly may be a victim of human trafficking and the best that he has is to maintain that person in the back of a patrol car until they can bag or make some -- beg or make some sort of appeal to place this child, who if not properly placed will end up back on the streets and in the system and in the hands of the traffickers. with that child seized that is the system's response to the tragedy that she has lived, then there's no reason to have confidence in a justice system to find resolution to this problem. another matter that has -- that i'd like to speak to quickly with regard to the bill itself, i appreciate the statement and concern about a program that

pays for the education of the perpetrators on the demand side. if they had the money to pay for the services to exploit the children, they should have the money it takes for -- to pay for being caught in the perpetration of this crime. i encourage us in this time of considering this issue that this only be the beginning of a major movement toward combating this problem. if we truly regard it as an issue of slavery, then we should give it the response that slavery deserves on a wide scale and monumental level. thank you very much. >> thank you. mr. allen. >> thank you, mr. chairman. judge gohmert. members of the committee, it's been said several times but most americans believe that child trafficking only happens somewhere else. today, i can report to you that

it is happening to at least 100,000 u.s. children each year. you've heard the numbers from the members already. the primary basis for our estimate is a study by the university of pennsylvania funded by the national institute of justice. the researchers estimated that 293,000 u.s. children are at risk each year and that 250,000 10 to 17-year-olds are involved in commercial sexual exploitation with at least 60% being runway way, throwaway, or homeless kids. of that number, we believe at least 100,000 are trafficking victims. 1/3 of street level prostitutes are less than 18. one half of offstreet prostitutes are less than 18. since the loss -- since the launch of the innocence lost

initiative ms. hakes mentioned, we have learned several important things. one is that much of this is organized crime. there is a network, these kids are moved from city to city. while most of it is not traditional mafia type organized crime in april, a federal grand jury in york indicted members of the gambino crime family for selling kids for sex via the internet. organized crime is involved for two reasons -- low risk, high profit. we have learned, as has been mentioned by the chief and others, that these kids are victims. this truly is 21st century slavery. they lack the ability to walk away. the pimps who use them are the criminals, as are the customers who purchase them. these kids need to be rescued, not arrested. and we have learned that the offenders don't just parade these kids on city streets anymore. we've learned, we've seen over

the past seven years that there has been gradual movement to the internet. the customers shop online from the privacy of their own homes and hotel rooms and that's why in 2008, the national center joined with connecticut attorney general richard blumen that will and 40 other -- blumen thall and 40 other -- blumen thaul and 40 other a.g.'s to prosecute sites like craigs list. if we are going to end child trafficking which is the goal, we need a multipronged attack that includes engaging the companies at the epicenter of the problem. why was the nonprofit national center a party to such an agreement? first, it's what we do. secondly, congress has given the center 20 specific mandates including operating the cybertip line, the national reporting mechanism for child sexual exploitation, working to

prevent child sexual exploitation and specifically, working with law enforcement internet service providers, electronic payment provide arers and others to reduce the distribution on the internet of images of sexually exploited children. so it is absolutely necessary and appropriate for us to be party to the agreement, and let me add we have not received a dime from craigs list, nor will we. craigs list agreed require credit card verification, working phone numbers and aid law enforcement investigations. yet after several months, it was clear that the agreement was not having the intended effect. so in 2009, craigs list agreed to take additional steps, including shutting down erotic services, replacing it with a new category in which all ads would be manually screened with suspicious ads being reported to the national center, nude or

graphic pornography photos were banned. again, while there was some impact, we concluded it was not eliminating the problem. so we pressed for additional steps. it now appears that craigs list has shut down adult services altogether. if indeed this has occurred, we think it's a prozztive and constructive step. however, we must broaden the focus beyond craigs list and urge every online classified site to take action, including flagging and reporting suspicious ads to the national center cybertipline. let me illustrate briefly. in july a maryland mother found a photo of her daughter in a sex ad on multiple sites. including craigs list and backpage. she contacted us. we worked with the maryland state police and the f.b.i., the juvenile was recovered, the pimp was arrested, the child in the ad looked young, yet no company reported it.

there are many other examples. we received over the past 16 months 137 reports from craigs list. they removed 725,000 ads. our message to these companies and the public is simple -- if you see it if you suspect it, if you know ability it, report it. -- about it, report it. that's the way law enforcement learns about these cases. now we recognize that if we crack down in one area, some of this problem will migrate to other areas. but frankly, that's proare gress. we follow the money. the goal is to destroy the business model of those who sell children for sex on the internet. let me mention a few other priorities. first, many of these kids are missing children. our analysts are doing image matching, searching databases, trying to identify children who have been reported miss big

their parents and are finding a bunch of them. yet some law enforcement agencies still do not enter them promptly into ncic, as is required by federal law. and some not at all. there must be comprehensive law enforcement training in how to recognize high risk victims and respond effectively. this is a complex problem that crosses political boundaries and jurisdictions. there needs to be strong cooperation between federal and state governments. in july, the national conference of state legislatures adopted a strong policy on human trafficking, calling for more services for victims, enhancement of ncic and greater federal state dialogue and collaboration. we think that's important. there needs to be far more attention to prevention. increasingly, our society is sexualizing children at younger and younger ages. leading some kids to view sexual exploitation is normal.

we must keep them from becoming compliant victims. as you've heard, we need to attack demand and we need to create greater understanding as to why there's such a large market in this country for sex with kids. finally, we have got to provide more service ares for the victims. today, there's some extraordinary programs doing heroic work but there are enough of them and the ones that -- there aren't enough of them and the ones that exist receive insufficient funding. i can report that we are making progress but there is much more to do and we believe this bill is a great step forward. >> ms. frund. >> i am a survivor of child sex trafficking. i was 13 when i fell in love for the first time. he turned out to be a pimp.

i was gang raped, psychologically manipulated and beaten. i had a broken arm, broken finger and broken spirit when the police found me at the age of 15, thrown away. they arrested me and i spent one year in juvenile detention. torture. this is the typical experience of a child sex trafficking victim. arrest rescued me from my pimp but gave me the label of delinquent. detention gave me a year away from the daily rapes and beatings i was enduring but did not provide me with the counseling or treatment for the trauma. i spent one year locked up and came out at the end with no referrals for services, nothing to help me go back to have a normal childhood. i took those experiences and made it my mission, as many, many survivors do, to be part of the solution. a decade ago, i committed to developing and proid -- providing the specialized

service is did not receive when i was a victim. soon i will provide a specialized shelter so desperately needed to help hundreds and thousands of children used for prostitution in our country every year. courtney's house will provide specialized services to treat the victims of sex trafficking. next i'll develop shay's place a shelter for girls 12 to 18 in virginia. we expect to open this year. however one gap we have is the absence of safe housing. appropriate shelter, specifically for boys and girls who are victims of domestic sex trafficking. shay's place is designated to be a long-term home for six residents with a maximum stay of three years with a two-year aftercare program. it can take years for a victim to recover. each victim requires tailored

therapy. this can only be effective in a place of safety and trauma-centered treatment. a shelter like shay's place is not inexpensive to operate. our annual budget is projected to be $600,000. while this provides housing, homeschooling, therapy, activities, food, everything they need, it's supplemented through gifts right now, drastically reduced rent, in kind gifts of furniture and necessities and volunteers. cooperation with law enforcement has been critical on the rescue front and aftercare programs and shelter programs. as the most frequent first responders in a case of domestic minor sex trafficking it is critical they are connected to courtney's house so we can accompany them on raids to stabilize and javo kate for any victims identified

at the scene. we also follow through with case management after a rescue which gives the victims confidence to work with law enforcement in building cases. after the case is over, they'll still continue to work with us and receive the proper treatment that they deserve. there are group homes and shelters all over the country where children are placed and some may even have specialized shelters for different types of various sexual abuse. however, the special trauma suffered by a victim of domestic minor sex trafficking requires a specialized environment. this population suffers from intense embarrassment and shame, having been conditioned by their traffickers to blame themselves. the internet has played a big part. not only craigs list, every child we have has been sold on craigs list, average ages of 11

to 17. but what we really need to take a look at is the other resources as well. every pimp has a myspace page. every pimp has a myspace page. they're also using backpage.com. also, every pedophile who buys sex from children has john boards where they go online and post information on where to buy children. this is not only inside our united states but also worldwide. this has been going on for many, many, many years. we must do something about our children being sold on the internet. honorable chairman, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to share my experiences. as the voice of a survivor and now a lead for the providing services and soon specialized shelters to victims of minor sex trafficking i must tell you what we see for the average age for boys and girls is 11 to 12

years old. i implore you to pass h.r. 5575, which will enable six locations around the country to set up comprehensive responses to the child sex trafficking occurring in their cities. one of these six grants may not be used in washington, d.c. or northern virginia, but the benefit of six shelters somewhere in the nation likely doubling the number of beds currently allocated to domestic minor sex trafficking victims cannot be underestimated and we need this yesterday. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> chairman scott, members of the subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to speak on behalf of the national district attorney'sing orny, the oldest and largest organization representing over 39,000 district attorneys, states attorneys, attorneys general, and county, city, and tribal

prosecutors with responsibility for prosecuting 95% of the criminal violations in every state and territory of the united states. protecting our children from those who commercially sexually exploit them remains one of the most important challenges facing america's criminal justice system today. commercial sexual exploitation of children is particularly problematic since many criminal justice systems have only recently begun to address the victimization of our adolescents and children that occurs in the guise of sex trafficking and prostitution. emerging research on the adolescent brain, trauma bond, the intimate partner violence dynamics of pimp-child relationships is reshaping our criminal justice responses to more appropriately address the needs of these children while bringing justice to those who would commercially sexually exploit them. as program director of the national center for prosecution

of child abuse a program of the national district attorney's -- i provide technical assistance and training support for the 39,000 prosecutors charged with protecting boys and girls in this country from sexual exploitation. i am a former prosecutor. i have served as a state and local prosecutor in multiple jurisdictions, handling a range of intimate partner violence and child abuse cases many of which involved victims of human trafficking. it's through these experiences that i applaud and thank you for appreciating the need to improve systems responses to bring justice to these victims and to end human trafficking and slavery in this country. the leadership demonstrate by each of you who serve on this subcommittee in hosting this briefing suggests that the coordination of federal, tribal, state, and local efforts in this area is now widely recognized as an

increasing priority in america's criminal justice system. there are countless cases where juvenile justice responses, civil child protection and criminal prosscuse cushion of child abuse do not reflect common ski ma or coordination. the statutory framework which criminalize adolescent victimization through prosecution stand in stark contrast to human trafficking statutes, specifically designed and outline protections for victims of trafficking. many jurisdictions, too many jurisdictions have conflicting statutory framework for addressing the victimization of our children. as long as we are arresting the child victims, we are facilitating the sex industry in this country. statutory frameworks which provide limited opportunitiers in underage trafficking victim to cooperate with prosecution and make healthier choices fly in the face of our underlying

laws. the post-traumatic stress issues which are related to a history of repeated sexual assault, an the inability of our child protection systems to respond appropriately to the needs of sexually exploited children and the children in our foster care system. we have invited medical partners, including the american academy of pediatrics to develop a public health model for addressing the medical needs of these children. a criminal justice framework is absolutely appropriate for responding to those who are commercially sexually exploiting our children. other frameworks might provide insights for better meeting the needs of the child victims in these cases. the need for adequate victim services is critical for improving criminal justice responses with victim centered investigation and prosecution practices. another concern that's been

largely overlooked is that many of the underage female victims in these cases have children or are pregnant at the time of the investigation, often by their trafficker or pimp. child protection needs to be involved to consider carefully the needs of the second generation victims in these cases. also, we too often find the very inappropriately named john schools included in victims' service allocations. i believe that was raised earlier. from a linguistic and victim's perspective, john is a book in the bible, the name of my brother, and many excellent individuals, the criminals who commercially sexually exploit our children should not have their criminal behavior minimized by this language. chairman scott, ranking member gohmert, members of the subcommittee, i appreciate the opportunity to testify before you on this important topic and thank you for appreciating the need to improve systems

responses for the domestic victims of sex trafficing in this country. i'm more than happy to answer any questions you may have. >> thank you. ms. richardson. >> good afternoon, chairman scott, ranking member gohmert, members of the subcommittee. i have worked for more than a decade to protect girls from domestic sex trafficking. i have seen girls as young as 10 years old handcuffed, hauled off to juvenile detention by their predators who pay for sex with them -- while their predators who paid for sex with them went free. >> i would like to stop and say thank you, tina, for speaking for so many girls who can't speak for themselves. an independent study released today shows that over the past six month the number of underage girls trafficked online has risen exponentially in three diverse states. michigan, a 39.2% increase. new york a 30.7% increase. and minnesota, a staggering

64.7% increase. what you see on the projected slide documents which you've already heard, the internet is the predominant source for trafficing of domestic underage girls. the internet makes the crime practically risk free for traffickers and the men who buy sex with young girls. laws protecting these young girls have not kept up with technology. to demonstrate my point, i brought some ups today which i'm not able to -- some audiotapes which i'm not able to hear but i ask to submit them as part of my written testimony. >> without objection. >> what you would have heard are men calling online, ordering sex from young girls. the young girl said, i'm just turning 16, is that ok. the man responded, that's ok, actually, i wish you were 12. another man in talking about

the location with this young girl was able to meet up, the young girl says, yes, i know where that is, it's next to my school. those voices are shocking. but what they demonstrate is that every day, in every community, calls are being made by men who are our neighbors and colleagues. mr. allen said a few minutes ago, you must follow the money. in a report released today by the aim group, it says where the money is, that demonstrates in 12 online sites they will account for 63 -- doctor $63 million in sex for sale ad revenue in 2010. until craigs list took down its site earlier this month, they were accounting for $30 million of these sales. the next competitor's, backpage, was $17.5 million. in the 2010 independent study,

men who buy sex with girls, more than half the men responding to this ad seek young girls wanting to continue the transaction despite multiple warnings that the girl they were about to buy was underage. as a matter of fact, according to our study, ads on craigs list receive three times as many responses compared to backpage. when we released this study, craigs list' initial response was a cease and desist demand. the women's funding network asked to sit down and talk to them about solutions, they declined. backpage's response, nothing at all. while we acknowledge craigs list for its recent action, we are interested in what you will present today in terms of solutions. we hope the committee will ask crailings list how it will make sure that no girl is sold on its site. not -- notwithstanding the significant role of the

internet, we believe there are public policy and grass roots efforts that can be deployed to address this issue. the women's funding network is one of the largest philanthropic networks in the world, representing women's funds on six continents. we have accelerated our efforts in the united states to end domestic sex trafficing. we are making an initial investment of $1 million to support the work of our member funds than investment would go toward replicating the model of future -- of a campaign that has amazing results in georgia. the michigan women's foundation, the women's foundation of minnesota, the new york women's foundation and the dallas women's foundation are the first four of 10 states that are mounting statewide effort thesms georgia model, as ms. hakes is aware, gines independent research, law enforcement, a statewide system for care and grass roots and we are seeing the numbers on the number of girls being sexually

exploited is trending downward. the him's funding network will stand side-by-side with congress, law enforcement and fellow advocacy organizations to use the collective voices and the power of our 142 member funds and 42 states in this country representing hundreds of thousands of women and men to end domestic trafficking of underage girls. finally, we ask that the exploitation of girls we all know is against federal law. to ultimately address this, we ask the department of justice to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who break federal law. we cannot completely prostitute couth our way out of this issue and this is why we must address demand. craigs list, backpage and others, what is your solution and the role you play in perpetuating this crime? together as a nation that holds the highest value on human

rights welcome we must come together now and create a no tolerance for buying and selling our children for sex. thank you. >> thank you. mr. powell. >> thank you, chairman scott, ranking member gohmert and subcommittee members. my name is william clinton powell and i am craigs list's director of customer service and law enforcement director. i've served as their primary law enforcement liaison since i joined the company in 1984. i know that jim buckmaster and craig brewmaster were initially invited. jim was not available and craig is focused primarily on his role as a member of my customer service team and has not been involved in the day-to-day management of the company for about 10 years. i also wanted to echo the

sentiments of speakers that have proceeded me with respect to the horror and revulsion that we all feel about this issue. i have to agree with congresswoman spears' characterization of the issue as a human tragedy, because it is. as background, i'd like to say a few words about the service that craigs list provides. we offer local online classified ad listings and discussion forums used by over 60 million americans each month. craigs list users post and respond to ads to help them find basic necessities in their everyday live, such as jobs, housing, second hand items, local services, personal relationships and event listings. today, craigs list is far and away the leading classified advertising service in the united states. until recently, craigslist included an adult services category. it was created in 2001 at the

request of craigslist users tired of seeing adult services ads mixed into the personals categories. they wanted a separate category for such ads, similar to what yellow pages, newspapers and other advertising venues have done for a number of decades. working collaboratively with attorneys general, law enforcement, prominent n.g.o.'s and other concerned parties, craigslist developed industry-leading best practices for adult services ads, including the following. educating and encouraging users to report suspected trafficking and exploitation. prominently featuring law enforcement contacts and hotlines for reporting illegal activity. creating specialized victims search implementation, implementing a wide variety of screening measures and manually

reviewing every adult service ad prior to posting. to our knowledge, no other venue has adopts these best practice and very few have adopted more than one of the measures. indeed, craigslist, we feel, has been bun of the -- one of the bright spots and success stories in the fight against child trafficking and exploitation. we have been told as much by experts on the frontlines, many of whom we have met with in person and from whom we have gathered information which we incorporated into our approach. craiglist has been alone in vigorously combating exploitation and trafficking. regarding cooperation with law enforcement and other partners, craigslist facilitates billions of human interactions each monthmark of them face-to-face. among tens of millions of u.s. users, nearly all of whom are well-intentioned law-abiding citizens seeking legitimate ends.

the incidents of crime representing to use of craigslist is extremely low but despite our best efforts, it is not and cannot be zero. when craigslist is misused for illegal activity, we assist law enforcement in their investigations. the company has a long history of close cooperation with law enforcement. for example work respect to the subject matter for today's hearing, we pride ourselves on our responsiveness to law enforcement. our goal is to turn around inquiries within one business day, rather than the typically much longer intervals at other companies. i've been told many times by law enforcement agents that craigslist is by far the most responsive internet company they deal. with we participate actively in the cybertipline program administered by the national center for missing and exploited children and reporting guidelines are reported immediately. we have been advised by nicmic

that we are the only one making such reports among countless venues with adult services ad. we have assisted sweeps by the f.b.i. and been credited by agents with helping make the sweeps successful. we have engineered special tools to help the work of nicni -- mic and law enforcement, including specialized search interfaces to facilitate the search for missing children across craigs list tites -- sites. i would like to reate -- reiterate two items, first, craigs list discon tune -- discon tin -- discontinued its adult services category. those who formerly posted ads in the adult services category will have to post everywhere. second, craigslist has taken pride in assisting law enforcement and we will

continue to do so in the future. once again, thank you for extending the invitation to meet with the committee. >> ms. mcdougall. >> thank you chairman scott and committee, thank you for having me. i'm with the law firm of perkins-cooey, i'm here today because i'm counsel to craigslist on online safety and security issues. i've been counsel to them in that regard for over two years. there is substantial common ground we share with everybody on this panel today. we believe, as they do, that human trafficking and child exploitation is a heinous and insidious problem. we also agree, as mr. allen said, it's an extremely complex problem. it's a problem that involves the leuering and seduction of victims, it involves the social conditions that make victims susceptible, it involves the culture and profitability of

pimps and organized crime. and it involves demand. it involves finding a way to stop the demand. the men, predominantly men who create this market. because of the complexity of the problem, it comes as no surprise that there's a significant diversion and even clash sometimes of views as to how to solve this problem. this is where i think we and some of the groups at the table today diverge. a number of the groups that have spoken, they have an approach toward solving the child sexual exploitation problem by the arrest -- the idealistic approach that if you eradicate prostitution and adult services in any venue, you'll eradicate victims. there will be no more victims if there can be no more service. craigslist' approach, after getting input from interested parties including n.g.o.'s,

advocacy groups, law enforcement, politicians and victims, craigslist adopted a practical approach. craigslist' approach has been to contain, control, educate, and support and assist law enforcement. with respect to containment, craigslist create first erotic services the adult services category so that adult content which includes legal adult services could be put in one location that serves the purpose of making sure that people who don't want to see such content don't have to view that content. it also gives a single location for law enforcement, rescue groups, families looking for children, one location to go to. with respect -- it's like in a city that has zoned a particular area for adult entertainment, adult activities. it's confined to a particular zoned area, the police know where it is, and they can look

for illegal activity in that region. with respect to control,, craigslist implemented flagging that was commended as one way to help control this problem on the internet. craigslist also engages in active reporting, they have numerous technical measures to filter out ads that could involve trafficing, child exploitation or child pornography. they implemented in conjunction with the attorneyings -- attorneys general and the national center for missing and exploited children a telephone verification system, a credit card fee and verification system and enforcement actions to stop some of the tools being sold that facilitated the abuse on craigslist website. there's one point i'd like to be clear about. i just said that the attorneys general and nicmic were part of the request. it was their idea that craiglist charge a fee for adult services because it

facilitates trafficing the -- tracking the perp freight trathors. to that time, craigslist had never charged for adult service and never intended to charge for the adult services. with respect to the education, craigslist implemented, and this was years ago, long before craigslist became engaged with attorneys general, a help page for the exploitation of minors including reference to the national trafficking hotline. that page developed over time to include references to the recording, the cybertipline as well as numerous local resources. furthermore, on the entry pages to the adult services section, there were warnings and again references to nicmic cybertipline and requests for users to also report if they suspected illegal activity. finally, with respect to referrals and assistance and support for law enforcement, in addition to making referrals to

nicmic, as mr. powell described, craigslist has been foremost in responding rapidly, cooperatively to law enforcement, created specific tools and continued regular meetings and inviding -- continued regular meetings with the attorneys general and invite ared meetings with anybody willing to listen. indeed, the georgia juvenile justice contacted craigslist with respect to the possibility for improving the ability to identify minors in photographs online. we responded to the call the very same day. followed up, we were engaged in a dialogue about it. unfortunately, the woman at georgia juvenile justice suffered a death in the family and although we followed up and hoped to continue that dialogue, they never responded. i would also like to point out in terms of voluntary action by craigs list, when craiglist implemented measures such as credit card verification and

others, it migrated to therapeutic section of craigslist. so we implemented these measures in that section. craigslist has more than fulfilled the obligations under the joint statement and now craigslist has also removed the adult services category. with respect to a couple of comments made, i do want to point out, there's been reference to a study by the shapiro group and there's been numbers quoted and relied on by that to indicate that craigslist is somehow the worst offender out there rather than the most active, aggressive, online service combating trafficking. there was submitted to this committee, i believe, a report today by the urban institute that addresses a report issued

by the shah peer pee roe report. i ask you to look at that and consider the comments if you indeed choose to consider information that has been derived from that report. i'd like to address mr. allen's report regarding reports to nicmic, he pointed out correctly that craigslist blocked over 700,000 ads from posting on its adult services category and only approximately 137 of those resulted in referrals to nicmic. if you look at the chart that was provided this morning to the committee, it's a chart from alexia, which charts online activity, activity on backpage spiked both in may, in may 2009, when craigslist implemented the credit card payment procedure, and it spiked because the perpetrators knew it was much easier for them to be caught on craigslist

and they moved their traffic. you also see a significant spike occurring at the end of the graph which indicates september 3, when craigslist took down the adult services section and the traffic moved again to backpage. my point is we identified only 137 referrals to nicmic because the people trafficking children were smart enough to move their children off our site because we have never been, never been a friendly place for criminal activity. in fact, when we used the guidelines to determine who may be a child in an image online, we apply a guideline of 21 years old, rather than 18 years old, just to err on the safe side. finally, i would just like to say that if craigslist, if i could eliminate human trafficking and child sexual exploitation on the internet or in the world, we would do it. we would do it in a heartbeat,

who wouldn't do it. with adult services like manual review, the ads migrated to other site the evidence of that is clear, the group report i submitted with my testimony demonstrates that this alexa chart demonstrates that. consequently, craigslist fears its utility to help combat child exploitation has been diminished, however, we remain willing and able to work with the committee to do whatever we can to continue to fight in this -- fight this absolutely horrific problem. >> do you have to leave shortly? >> i made other arrangements. thank you. >> thank you. then i'll recognize myself for five minutes and begin with mr. powell. you made a promise to monitor postings.

is it logistically possible with the number of postings to actually review on an individual basis postings on your site? >> you're referring to the content that appears after we removed the adult category? >> either way. >> we have a number of technological measures that are used along with some manual review that we feel does a good job at ensuring that the content that had previously appeared in the manually reviewed adult services category does not migrate to the other categories that appear on our site, the personals category, other services categories, and in addition to review by our staff of those categories in the past 10 days, the chart that ms. mcdugele referred to on increased traffic on the back

page seems to support that. >> you can continue to watch this hearing on child sex trafficking on c-span.org. the house is coming back in. mens recessed for a ceremony marking the ninth anniversary of 9/11. still to come today, marking the fifth anniversary of hurricane katrina live on c-span. ms. hirono: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution house res. 1473, as amended, supporting backcountry airstrips and recreational aeration. -- aviation. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 235, house resolution 1473, resolution supporting backcountry airstrips and recreational aviation. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from hawaii, ms. hirono, and the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. petri, each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the

gentlewoman from hawaii. ms. hi roe nee: i ask unanimous consent that all members have -- ms. hirono: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include ex-troin -- extraneous material on h.r. 1473. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of h.r. 1473 as amended, introduced by the gentleman from montana, mr. rayburn, which expresses support for back country airstrips and aviation. a back country airstrip is an unattended landing area that provides access to remote, undeveloped areas by aircraft. they provide benefits to the general public, including performing research and rescue operations, management, research and aerial mapping and disaster relief. these airstrips allow tourists

to access remote federal lands and in term help support local economies and small businesses. also, in the event of mechanical problems or inclement weather, back cubtry airstrips serve as emergency landing sites when airports are out of reach. h. -- h.r. 1427 recognizes the value of aviation and back country airstrips on our nation's public lands. in addition, it commends aviators and the various private organizations that maintain these airstrips for public use. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. petri: i yield such time as he may consume to the author of the resolution currently before us, our colleague from the state of montana, representative dennis rehberg.

mr. rehberg: thank you, mr. petri. i want to voice my support for house resolution 1473, supporting back country airstrips on america's public lands. this is the result of a bipartisan effort. i could not have drafted this legislation without the support of my colleagues mr. and the co-chairs of the aviation caucus. 100 years ago this may have been about supporting horses. aviation has become as important to the modern west as horses were to the early explorers, trappers and prospectors. that's because the vas majority of montana's 147,000 miles aren't easily reached by roads. we've got a lot of dirt between light bulbs. like the horse opened new lands in 1910, aviation is critical to access today. that's why back country airstrips are such an important part of our way of life. there are too many benefits to list them all.

they enable search and rescue, fire management, research, disaster relief and wild life management. in the event of mechanical problems or inclement weather they serve as emergency landing sites when larger airports are out of thrisme allow public access to some of the most beautiful remote federal lands in america, regardless of one's physical ability. and they serve as efficient access points for tourist, who in turn contribute to local economies and small businesses that means jobs. too often, however, these airstrips are targeted for closure by the federal government or well-funded special interest groups or simply ignored by bureaucrats in washington, d.c. please join the bipartisan support for this mesh and both for house resolution 1473. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from wisconsin is

recognized. mr. petri: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i support the resolution before us, recognizing the value of back country airstrips. aviation provides access to the most remote and scenic areas of our landscape, not just for recreational users. they also provide access for those who don't have the physical ability to get to these areas in any other away. the airstrips also serve an important safety function as emergency landing sites in the event of severe weather or another emergency. sustaining these airstrips is critical to preserving safe flight and access to the american wilderness. it's important to promote and maintain the public use of back country airstrips for future generations. additionally, we should be proud of the individuals and private organizations that don't donate their time and resources in order to sustain their airstrips for public use

and benefits. mr. speaker, i support this resolution, urge its passage by the house today and having no further requests for speakers, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from hawaii is recognized. ms. hirono: for all the reasons articulated, i encourage my sleegs to support this resolution and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1473 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having been in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i move to suspend the rules and pass house resolution 1375 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1375, resolution recognizing the 90th anniversary of the 19th amendment. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen, and the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. blackburn, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: thank you. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and add extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cohen: and i yield myself

such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. house resolution 1375, introduced by the honorable jim cooper of tennessee, middle district, nashville, recognizes the 90th anniversary of the 19th amendment. the 19th amendment, of course, is the amendment that gave women the right to vote in this united states. it was not until 1920 that women got that right to vote. we didn't start off as a perfect union. it's the taken a lot of time and we are still working towards becoming that perfect union. the 19th amendment was ratified with the perfect 36 states which happened to be tennessee, the last state that could make it by 3/4 of the states needed. there were 48 at the time. 35 had done it. the rest said they wouldn't. tennessee was on the spot and became the perfect 36 and gave women the right to vote. it was an historic vote that took place in the tennessee state capitol, probably the most historic vote that ever occurred in that capitol, one in which on the wall

commemorates that event when the vote took place. there was one of my relatives, mr. johanover, who managed the bill in the house. and -- joe hanover, who managed the bill in the house. congresswoman blackburn -- it was in the house where sometimes they have problems, unlike what we experience here in washington, where they had difficulty getting the votes together. and it was about an even vote until the last minute and a republican from upper east tennessee named harry byrne, got a message from his mother saying, h.r.y, do the right thing, and harry did the right thing and it passed by one vote. so women have the right to vote because the perfect 36, the state of tennessee in 1920, august of that year, and it was by one vote. so it was an important story, not only how far this country's come because our constitution

and our -- as great as it was, didn't give women the right to vote. it permitted slavery. didn't give women the right to vote and a lot of other problems and it took a lot of efforts and civil rights and women's rights and human rights and all to bring us to where we're getting today. we still have a ways to go. it also -- there's one vote that made that difference. prior to the ratification of the 19th amendment, only a handful of states allowed women to vote at all. and that was in certain elections. but even those modest gains were the product of decades of struggles. there was the women's right convention that convened in seneca falls, new york, in 1848, and it helped encourage women suffrage supporters. and during the late 19th century, thousands of suffrage supporters marched, lobbied and engaged in peaceful civil disobedience. extending the right of suffrage to women was first introduced

in congress in 1878. but it was not until 1916 that almost all major women's suffrage rights were united behind a constitutional amendment. yes, it was 42 years, even longer than it took to get a tennessee lottery to get this vote. in 1917, president woodrow wilson announced his support in 1918, this was a nationwide effort. on june 14 -- june 4, 1919, the 66th congress of the united states proposed to the legislature of the several states the 19th amendment to the constitution. a year later on august 20, 1920, tennessee became that perfect 36th state to pass and ratify that amendment, thus fulfilling the 3/4 requirements. today, house resolution 1375 honors the generation of women's suffrage activists to persevere through adversity and doubt to secure the rightful place women are in our democracy. this legislation serves to

reaffirm this body's commitment to achieve true political equality for women. there is, of course, a -- in the rotunda in is a staff wear of -- staff wear of some of the great leaders in this movement. and i think it took years to get that placed in the capitol in the second floor of the rotunda to honor their work. i urge my colleagues to support this important resolution, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields -- without objection, the gentleman from texas will manage the time or -- is recognized. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. i do rise to blame the minority time. and also yield myself such time as i may consume. i thank the gentleman from tennessee for his kind remarks about the 19th amendment. and as the only woman in our

tennessee delegation and on behalf of the women from tennessee who have preceded me in service it to this body, luis, irene and marilyn, i treasure the role that our state played in ratfying the 19th amendment. i will note that we still in tennessee have not had a woman from our state serve in the senate. in that body, nor have we had a female member or a female to take the office of governor in our state. we have all heard the story about that wonderful day in august, 1920, and indeed, as mr. cohen was saying, it was a thrilling day in our state's history. this chamber knows well the story of tennessee representative harry byrne and how he received that message, how he changed the rose on his lapel to a yellow rose and then how he changed his vote. and that was a swing vote that did indeed change history.

i want to tell you about another swing vote that helped to set the stage in the suffrage story. and it is one that is important to our state of tennessee and it is one that transpired right here in this chamber 91 years ago. representative symms lived in wayne county, tennessee. he practiced law over in perry county, tennessee. he later represented all of those counties and some others that are today represented by mr. davis and mr. tanner and mr. gordon as well as the portions of the district i represent. now, mr. symms was the first member of this chamber to occupy 217 cannon, which is the office i now occupy in the cannon house office building. 91 years ago, before the 19th amendment could go to the states for ratification, it had to be discharged from this

chamber. the first attempt to do that was in 1915 and it failed. they us -- theedus symms voted against the 19th amendment at that point in time. well, he had the opportunity to vote again on the 19th amendment in 1918. and it was a very dramatic day right here in this chamber. it was perhaps one of the most important days that had transpired in this chamber. supporters of the amendment were unsure they had the votes to discharge the amendment. the galleries around us were packed with suffrageettes. they were packed with journalists. everyone was watching. on that day symms surprised the nation. between 1915 and 1918, the suffrage movement had heated up. not only here in d.c. but all across the nation. riots had broken out here in d.c. and women were jailed for wanting the right to vote. the d.c. commissioner, who put

them behind bars, was a gentleman named louis brownlow. he was symms' son-in-law. with such influence it's hard to see how symms could vote yes on this amendment. but louis brownlow wasn't the only one talking to him at the family dinner table. congressman symms also had daughters, and in washington the symms daughters were known as consummate hostesses. in tennessee they were known for being crack shots with their rifles. well, here in d.c., elizabeth was known as a suffragest leader and it beat out those of her husband, louis brownlow. on his way to vote, sims took a

very bad fall and broke his collarbone. he refused to have it set or take painkillers for fear he would miss the vote. so he came to the floor and he flipped his vote. he voted aye, and he became the hero of the day. well, needless to say, i am very proud of theedous that day. i am very pleased that he listened to his iron-jawed angel daughter and that he voted for women. i am honored to represent much of that district now and i am honored to open his office, 217 cannon. i reserve the balance of my time. >> the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you. it is senator -- congresswoman blackburn brings us some

history. brownlow was related to another broken bonelow, the governor. there was things said about brownlow. it is a secondary reprisal that the relative of brownlow jailed the women who wanted the vote. senator henry talked to that on many occasions on the floor, i am sure you'll remember. i will recognize for as much time as he may consume, the gentleman from rhode island, mr. kennedy. mr. kennedy: i thank the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from rhode island is recognized. mr. kennedy: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i want to ack nothing the gentlelady from tennessee, ms. -- i want to acknowledge the gentlelady from tennessee, mrs. blackburn, for her comments. you know, history is so important because it teaches us about the future. and we might think this is a 90-year-old piece of history dug up out of the past, that

we're just reflecting on. but we all know right now that it wasn't until this last two cycles, three cycles that we had the election of the first woman speaker of the house in the history of this great democracy, arguably one of the most powerful offices in the constitution leading the house of representatives, speaker nancy pelosi, and that one of the first items she had to take on as speaker was the passage of the lilly ledbetter equal pay act. we are talking about 90 years ago, and yet up until this day we are still fighting whether women ought to get equal pay for equal work. this was not in a bill that would have been passed but it just shows you we think we live in times where all of the great battles for history of civil rights are behind us. because they happened back in

the 1960's or they happened back in the early 1920's or happened way back then. well, you know what, they're happening now. we had an historic election in 2008, the election of the first african-american president of the united states. when i go to my schools around my district, majority, minority, they finally say, we belong in america because just as it was empowering for women to finally know they had a legal seat at the table, it wasn't just the legal ease that mattered, it was the spirit of the law. and what matters is the message that it sends to all of our people that this is a country that is in constant dynamic motion in terms of always trying to improve itself,, expand the circle of opportunity for people who have been previously shunted aside in our country. and i think that it's a wonderful opportunity today to celebrate what makes us the

greatest country on the face of the earth. that we may not always get it right but we're going to get it right because we're a country that moves forward, that has progress, that's constantly striving to make it better. people put us down all over the world. they put us down even in our own country. we're the greatest country in the world. we're the model. we're where people want to come here because, you know what, for most people in the world, the notion of a political right is a foreign notion, the notion of equal rights is a foreign notion, human dignity, human rights is a foreign notion. we may not always get it right but we ultimately will get it if we stick to it and we remember things like this as guideposts to how we need to continue the constant fight to move our country ever forward and the promise that dr. king laid out in his "i have a dream" speech, that we could

all be treated that we ourselves would want to be treated someday, you know, each and every one of us as a human dignity issue. what are the false things that keep us behind in life? perceptions. those are irrelevant when we talk about things like this because we finally recognize what makes our country great is we're not going to segregate, we're not going to discriminate, we're going to elevate every human being, no matter their gender, their color, their creed, their disability or ability, for that matter. this is a country that's about everybody. as this president said last week, it's not us versus them. in this country it's all us. barack obama, president of the united states. and, boy, is he right. girl, is he right. thank god in america it doesn't matter if you're shut out

because someday, because of our constitution, we may be able to get a way in for everybody if they have something going against them. and the women fought the fight. african-americans, minorities, people with physical disabilities through the a.d.a., it's a constant fight. and everybody owes a debt of gratitude to everyone else for making our couldn't arery a freer, more equal place for everyone to live. i thank the gentleman for yielding the time. mr. mcgovern: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: i yield to the gentleman far unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: i ask that my statement be made a part of the record at this point. mrs. blackburn: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from tennessee. mr. mcgovern: i would now like to recognize -- mr. cohen: i would like to recognize the honorable jim cooper. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> i want -- mr. cooper: i want to point out that the state of tennessee played a pivotal role, i think it's very appropriate that the house commemorate the 90th anniversary so i thank my colleagues for supporting this measure. i yield back the balance of my time. mr. cohen: i continue to reserve, i don't believe i have any additional people to testify. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from tennessee is recognized. mrs. blackburn: i want to thank the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cooper, for his leadership

on this issue and for bringing forward this memorializing resolution to remind -- it's a great way for us to continue to remember the importance our state played in passing the 19th amendment. i thank him for his leadership on that i thank mr. cohen for his leadership in managing the time and the prep rage for presenting this amendment today. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: i too would like to thank mr. cooper for bringing this resolution, i would like to thank mr. smith a distinguished leader, we like to think of texas as southwest tennessee because we did so much to create. you're like a cousin, part of this great celebration and congressman blackburn who served with me in the senate, she brought up the singular votes, i thought she'd bring up

the lottery where she was my 22nd vote. i would ask that we all vote in favor of this resolution and pass the resolution as presented here. resolution 1375. i urge an aye vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1375 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 resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise?

mr. cohen: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4862 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: h.r. 4862 a bill to prevent members of congress to -- to permit members of congress to administer the oath of allegiance to citizens for naturalization. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen, and the gentleman, mr. smith, each will control 10 minutes. mr. cohen: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: h.r. 4862, introduced by mr. sew se raw noah of new york, will allow members of congress to administer the oath of office for potential u.s. citizens.

in applying to become u.s. citizens they have made the choice to become full participants in our country. currently only judges and members of the department of homeland security can administrate the -- administer the oath of office. this will allow members of congress to administer the oath of allegiance at naturalization ceremonies. i have been -- attended many, and i think the oath being given by a member of congress would mean much to the people that are becoming american citizens. the bill as amended clarifies the role of a member of congress in the naturalization process, it will be limited to administering the oath of allegiance and prohibited them from administering it within 90 days of any election in which he or she is a candidate. i commend our colleague, jose serrano, for introducing this

bill. i also thank zoe lofgren and others for their work on this. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: i want to compliment congressman serrano for his creative idea to allow members of congress to administer the oath of aliege. h.r. 4862 gives members of congress the tabblet to play a significant role in the naturalization ceremony which can be and should be an inspiring experience for those becoming u.s. citizens. citizenship is the highest honor our nation can bestow. natch value asian -- natural sigs sew -- naturalization ceremonies are an important

part of that the oath of allegiance is to protect the united states from all threats foreign and domestic. it is a solemn and joyful and patriot experience. i appreciate congressman serrano making improvements to the initial bill. it clarifies that members, whether representatives or senators can only jdmr -- administer the oath to those from their congressional district or in the case of senators, from their own state. in order to prevent it from being used for political purposes, no member can administer the olte of allegiance in 90 days prior to any lech in which that member is a candidate. the 90 tai period parallels the house rules that prevent house-funded mailings 90 days before an election. finally irk requested that language be added that members can only administer the oath at a naturalization ceremony set up, conducted, and overseen by

the department of homeland security. this shows the importance of having dialogues to allow all house members to work on ledge. -- legislation. it is important for members of congress who wrote our naturalization laws, to play an expanded role in helping individuals become part of the freest and most prosperous country in the world. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: i yield as much time as he may consume to mr. serrano, from the great state of new york, the home of the yankees, frank sinatra across the river. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

mr. serrano: thank you so much. i thank the gentleman for the time. i thank mr. smith for your kind words and your support of the bill and your suggestions to change the bill. any member of congress, any american, for that matter who has ever gone one of these ceremonies, knows there is no greater joy seeing -- seen anywhere than when folks dress up and come with their american flags to become american citizens. it is really a wonderful event. i've had the opportunity to attend a few. and the joy you see, the pride you see, usually one person is becoming a citizen, but they bring 25 members of the family. whether they're citizens or not. because it is that kind of an occasion. it's also an occasion where they, for the first time, really get to see government up close in that the people

invited there are from the community, but they're government officials and so on. so up to now, if this becomes law, the only people allowed to administer the oath, as has been said, are judges or members of the administration. this bill would allow members of congress and senators to administer that oath. now, while the bill does not speak directly to this issue, i'll tell you how this idea came about. a member of my community came to me and said, guess what? i'm going to become a citizen. and i want you to swear me in. i want you to administer the oath. i was touched. i said, that you would want me to help you become an american, something that i and so many of us have by birth, since birth, it's a great honor for me. then it dawned on me, i should check with staff and see if i'm allowed to do this. i found out i'm not allowed to do that. it won't take care of that

situation of one individual asking for it, but as has been said, we will not -- these are the changes mr. smith was so good at including, we will be invited to ceremonies as we are now, the ceremonies will be set up by homeland security. we will not pick the date, the place, or who is going to get sworn in. but when we're invited now, the possibility is open for the administer -- administration officials to say, why don't you join us in administering the oath or why don't you administer the oath? i'll tell you again that i don't know that there's a greater honor for someone to become a citizen and a greater honor for us on some occasions to be able to administer the oath. so the changes that are made because there will be some questions about it, i think are strong changes. they comply with rules that say that money of -- none of these ceremonies should be politicized. but i really think that as

people are being sworn in, to have present a senator, a member of congress, and every so often, to have their -- to have them administer the oath, only strengthens the bond between these new americans and their government a fuller understanding. after all, we are a question on the immigration test. a lot of people don't know one of the questions is, who is your congressman? and do you know who your congressman is? and some don't pass that question, others do pass it. but it's a great honor. there's not much more to say. it's a simple thought that should have been taken care of a long time ago. i'm looking forward to the day when i'm invited to a ceremony and i can administer the oath to someone. i thank all the members and i hope that this bill can pass and become law. thank you. mr. smith: would the gentleman yield? i i want to take the opportunity to thank you for your work on making sure that those who are american citizens, over 4.5 million americans, who are americans

but don't enjoy the full rights of americans -- mr. kennedy: because of where they live, on an island called puerto rico, where people think you need a passport to get there, it's an american territory and by virtue of being a territory, people on puerto rico don't have full voting rights, power, and your work not just on this, what may be considered ceremonial thing, but your work to ensure our country fulfills our obligation to treat all americans with full liberty and their enfranchisement granted under the constitution is so much something i think that needs to be acknowledged. because it's great to swear people in, but let's make sure we also guarantee those rights that we already guaranteed americans, like the four million americans in puerto rico or those who live here in the district of columbia or in any of the territories around the world that are american domain. mr. serrano: the gentleman brings up an interesting point.

i must say, i neglected to mention that the bill includes delegates and the resident commissioner to be able to administer the oath of office. interestingly enough, in the territories, you sit -- new citizens, new americans will become citizens on that day with the participation of the resident commissioner or the delegate. again, thank you and all this is is an extension of the celebration of, as you have said, mr. smith, probably the greatest honor this clint gives anyone which is to become an american citizen. thank you so much. mr. cohen: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from tennessee reserves his time, for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield to myself a minute. i want to compliment congressman serrano and congressman kennedy as well. they so beautifully described

why these nationalization ceremonies are so important and why they're so meaningful to our newest citizens. because i have no further speakers, i'll yield back the balance of my time. oh, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: i yield back the balance of my time and ask that we pass the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4862, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek

recognition? mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i ask to suspend the rules and pass house resolution 1614. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1614, resolution expressing the sense of the house of representatives that law enforcement service dogs and their handlers perform a vital role in providing for our nation's security and to be recognized for their service. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen, and the gentleman from north carolina, mr. coble, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: thank you, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cohen: and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: mr. speaker, house reuss united states 1614 expressing the sense of the house of representatives that law enforcement dogs deserve to be recognize for their service. federal, state, local and military law enforcement agencies work with service dogs to perform a variety of tasks

to prevent and solve crimes and keep the public safe. they search for victims in avalanches, collapsed buildings and people missing in the wilderness. service dogs are used to capture escaped defenders from crime scenes. they search for items anduality lies the evidence thrown away by suspects. they're trained to search through cars, buildings and learn more than unone kind of -- than one kind of drugs. due to the dangerous situation that these dogs and handlers are put in, many dogs have given their lives in performance of their duty. today, this resolution recognizes the extraordinary efforts and dedication of these service dogs and handlers. mr. speaker, my first bill i had as a state senator in 1983 was one to make it a crime to shoot a police service dog and

to make it such because to shoot the dog was really to shoot at law enforcement personnel to try to stop that policeman from having that dog in the pursuit of its duties and the next bullet would be for the officer. of course, they're valuable and important. and i commend mr. coble for bringing this bill. it's the right bill to do and to recognize the contribution that these dogs make to our society and the practices. i ask my colleagues to support the resolution. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. coble: i thank the speaker. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. coble: some recent years ago, mr. speaker, i rode with a k-9 handler and his dog, and during -- in my district during a regular routine run. and he told me that his children regarded that dog as

their sibling. it lived in the home of the handler. some days after i rode with him i read in the paper where the dog had been struck by an automobile and killed. i called my friend and he made it clear to me that they had lost a family member. so i appreciate the gentleman's comments from tennessee. mr. speaker, law enforcement officers face extraordinary danger each and every day as we all know in their service to our country, in their quest to keep us all safe. and for that i'm sure we are all eternally grateful. we should also be reminded of the very special service, the tremendous work and the dedication to duty rendered by very special partner in the protection of our safety and freedoms, the law enforcement service dog. these k-9's and their handlers risk their lives to make our communities and our country

safe. protecting us from crime and from terrorism. using their heightened sensory abilities, these dogs oftentimes are able to detect narcotics, bombs and our contraband that are not visible to humans. law enforcement dogs participate in dangerous operations, sparing their human partners the danger of entering a dark and unsearched -- unsecured building. others are trained for and have proven to be very successful in missing persons or detecting human remains. these very special k-9's are becoming more and more visible at major transportation hubs and can be seen right here daily on capitol grounds examining vehicles as they enter secured parking areas. the role of a k-9's handler

should not go unmentioned as well. while a police officer may work a particular shift and then go home, the job of a k-9 handler is a 24-hour-a-day commitment. the handler often cares for his or her dog even when the dog has retired from active service. many k-9's have died while valiantly protecting their handlers in the performance of their duties. not like the case i mentioned at the out-- not unlike the case i mentioned at the outset. the bond between the dog and the handler is great and a sense of loss when a dog expires is even greater. there are at least 80 organizations at the local, regional and national and international level devoted to law enforcement service dogs. the connecticut police work dog association lists over 1,500 police and military service

dogs that have died while, quote, in service, closed quote. many of these were, quote, in the line of duty, closed quote, deaths. the individual stories of these dogs are inspiring and range from the very public event of the world trade center collapses of 9/11/01 when a bomb-sniffing dog perished when the building collapsed. the inscription on sirius' steel bowl "i gave my life so that you may save others." it sums up the loyalty and the dedication that is typical of these dogs to their handlers. i urge my colleagues to join me and the gentleman from tennessee in supporting this resolution, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina

yields back. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield to the gentleman from rhode island to speak on behalf of man's best friend as much time as he may consume and need. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from rhode island is recognized. mr. kennedy: i thank the gentleman. i commend mr. coble for his bill. service dogs, you know, they do perform certain functions, one of which is to provide service support for our veterans. we just expanded last year the definition of those eligible for service dogs to those serving -- suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder, because these animals know when these veterans are in crisis and they can help them get out of the house, they can help them only see when they can't see, as we commonly associate service dogs to be sight for the blind, but now these service dogs are doing a lot of things in addition to helping in our law enforcement. i love the term to detect, to

search and rescue. i only wish our country had that attitude when it came to our nation's heroes who are suffering from these neurological disorders, of blindness, of t.b.i., of posttraumatic stress. we need them helped. the constant i.e.d. attacks and concussions on the brain that are going to cause a permanent, permanent, unless we step in and save them, disability for these veterans. we have an opportunity. we talked about civil rights, voting rights. this is the biggest civil rights fight for our day in generation is for those with neurological disorders suffering in their minds. we don't see it so we don't take it seriously. and the fact is they need

someone to come in there and set them free from being prisoners of their war injuries . we need to be the first responders in the next couple of years, dedicate ourselves to say, while combat operations are over in iraq, the war hasn't ended for these veterans. it's just beginning as they face the disabilities that they have incurred, suffering by their sacrifice to our country. so we tell you about how great service dogs are in so many respects. let's put those service dogs out of business. let's restore the eyesight of our veterans, traumatic brain injury, lost eyesight. biggest t.b.i., confusion, loss of memory, loss of the ability to go outside. these dogs are bringing them out into the real world. let's not allow us to be having to rely on others to support these veterans.

let's restore their brain capacities by investing in stem cell research. let's restore their functions by making sure we invest in all the genetic trip wire identification so they don't have to get alzheimer's 20 years prior to the average american, which is what they -- all neuroscientists say they will be facing if we don't step in soon. they don't have to get parkinson's disease because we're not doing anything. let's get in there and in the words of my uncle president kennedy when he talked about civil rights. he said, who amongst us would be willing to abide by the council counsels of patients and delay and trade the color of their skin for someone else's and abide by those laws back in the 1960's? well, now who amongst us would trade places with these suffering t.b.i. victims, these veterans and say we can do