mr. cao: i thank the gentleman for yielding me time. mr. speaker, i rise today in strong support of h.r. 1741, the witness security and protection grant program act. crime is the number one concern of my constituents in orleans and jefferson parish's in louisiana. crime is my top concern, too. my district includes the city of new orleans, which as of june 1 has already seen 80 murders. further, according to the f.b.i.'s annual report on crime released last week, new orleans leads the nation in murders. and this says nothing about the incidents of other types of crime from sexual offenses to robberies. i hold in my hand a photo of sergeant manual curry. he was a popular and much loved member of new orleans police department. at 62 years of service he was one of america's longest serving police officers. tragically for new orleans he passed away last week and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, his family, and his nlpd colleagues. and -- nopd colleagues. here is an article from today's newspaper. it reports that within hours of his de

mr. cao: request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cao: madam speaker, although we live in the 21st century, many people today are still deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of love by governments that lack the rule of law. one such government is the socialist republic of vietnam. about 10 years ago the vietnamese ministry of labor and social affairs directly oversaw and operated two state-owned labor companies that were involved in the largest human trafficking case ever prosecuted by the u.s. department of justice. the case thoroughly documented the exploitation and abusive conditions faced by more than 230 workers at the factory in american samoa. these victims were beaten, starved, sexually harassed, and threaten with deo portation. the high court of american samoa subsequently found these state-owned labor agencies libel for the aatrocities and make them pay $3.5 million to the victims. almost 1

mr. cao: mr. speaker, the issues of crime and hurricane recovery are most important for new orleans and jefferson parishes. yesterday i voted for the witness security and protection grant act and it passed. law enforcement officials in my district must have the federal resources needed to protect our citizens. on monday i requested a government review of unresolved fema public assistance projects that will help louisiana move forward with delayed disaster recovery efforts. lastly, i was able to acknowledge that the diverse culture of new orleans by co-sponsoring a resolution to honor black music. it has been a productive week. i yield back my time. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. sires: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. sires: mr. speaker, i rise today to speak for those in cuba who cannot speak for themselves. as the administration is movin

tea 912 build on what mr. caowas asking with questions in your report you say through the efficient implementation of the recovery act project comment that plays a key role creating jobs putting people back to work and keeping families from home 1/4 -- foreclosure produce a the american recovery and reinvestment act has energized working people and companies and a lifeline for americans who work in construction and have been especially hard hit by the recession. on page number four, talk with every new project we obligates it is a signal for states to advertise contracts and contractors to begin projects like steel and asphalt and concrete. i have read all of your presentations and it was a little light providing affirmation in that area. do have any information what new contracts were established, what new people were hired? because that was part of the focus of the recovery not just to the companies that already had major contracts with people working up to now put them on over time it was new people to have the

mr. chairman. >> just so you know where we are, senator corn by next, senator carden, senator cao and a lot of the senators have been going back and forth. discussion with senator kyle is working on health care which a number of us are. on the thing that senator durbin raised on the crack cocaine, powder cocaine, i would like to see us move legislation this year to remove that disparity, make it more realistic. i understand that some of the negotiating room it gives prosecutors but i also have this image of people, wealthy people, well established in society using their powdered cocaine with virtually -- virtual immunity, a lot of young people from a far less affluent area often minorities getting hit on crack cocaine and i think it's a disparity is depe instructive to our whole penal system and our justice system and to our respect for the rule of law. i will work with senators on both sides of the aisle, i've expressed some time of this disparity. i just -- i don't want what appears to many people to be one rule for white america, a different rule for black america. >> mr. chairman, can i just c