mr. mckeon, mr. mckeon, when i ended my debate when we passed this in may, you will recall, you mentioned general colin powell. i did not respond but as you know, general colin powell over these 17 years has changed his perspective. i didn't respond at that time of that fact but he has done so because he has come to the conclusion that now is the time to act. for our country, for our principles and for our men and women in service. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. we've had a number of questions asked. one question that we did not just hear that was expressed is important, is a person impediment to the good order and discipline of the military, of the military's mission, that is important. and i heard the speaker say earlier in essence, we need to allo

mr. mckeon: mr. speaker, i'd like to echo the words of mr. smith in honing all of those men that he just mentioned that served for so many years on this committee. at this time i yield two minutes to the gentleman from arizona, mr. franks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona is recognized for two minutes. mr. franks: well, thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i wanted to echo the comments that have been made here regarding ike skelton. you know, it is fairly rare when someone so nobly transcends political party and even persuasions to try to do what he or she believes is right for the cotry, for the future of humanity, and i congratulate him and wish him the best god can give him everywhere he goes from this point forward. thank you, sir. mr. chairman, they say that the crux of leadership is being able to differentiate between the critical and the preferencial. and i believe more than anything else today that the challenge before us in this process is that we allowed the per riffial to overcome the critical, and this process

mr. mckeon: mr. speaker, i'd like to echo the words of mr. smith in honoring all of those men that he just mentioned that served for so many years on this committee. at this time i yield two minutes to the gentleman from arizona, mr. franks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona is recognized for two minutes. mr. franks: well, thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i wanted to echo the comments that have been made here regarding ike skelton. you know, it is fairly rare when someone so nobly transcends political party and even persuasions to try to do what he or she believes is right for the country, for the future of humanity, and i congratulate him and wish him the best god can give him everywhere he goes from this point forward. thank you, sir. mr. chairman, they say that the crux of leadership is being able to differentiate between the critical and the preferencial. and i believe more than anything else today that the challenge before us in this process is that we allowed the per riffial to overcome the critical, and this pro

mr. mckeon, mr. mckeon, when i ended my debate when we passed this in may, you will recall, you mentioned general colin powell. i did not respond but as you know, general colin powell over these 17 years has changed his perspective. i didn't respond at that time of that fact but he has done so because he has come to the conclusion that now is the time to act. for our country, for our principles and for our men and women in service. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minute mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. spker. we've had a number of questions asked. one question that we did not just hear that was expressed is important, is a person impediment to the good order and discipline of the military, of the military's mission, that is important. and i heard the speaker say earlier in essence, we need to allow or

mr. mckeon: mr. speaker, i'd like to echo the words of mr. smith in honoring all of those men that he just mentioned that served for so many years on this committee. at this time i yield two minutes to the gentleman from arizona, mr. franks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona is recognized for two minutes. mr. franks: well, thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i wanted to echo the comments that have been made here regarding ike skelton. you know, it is fairly rare when someone so nobly transcends political party and even persuasions to try to do what he or she believes is right for the country, for the future of humanity, and i congratulate him and wish him the best god can give him everywhere he goes from this point forward. thank you, sir. mr. chairman, they say that the crux of leadership is being able to differentiate between the critical and the preferencial. and i believe more than anything else today that the challenge before us in this process is that we allowed the per riffial to overcome the critical, and this pro

mr. mckeon of california, for their strong support of this provision. the unresolved nature of the guam war claims has serious implications for the military buildup on guam. and i appreciate the administration's strong support for this provision. the administration recognizes the connection between resolving this issue and successfully im-- implementing the military buildup on guam. we will continue our work to bring closure to this matter of justice for the people of guam and to act on the legislative recommendations of the federal guam war claims review commission that reported to congress pursuant to public law 107-333. it was not for a lack of effort from this body and we will continue to build on the progress we have made. the underlying bill is important for our national defense and for our men and women in uniform and their families and therefore this body is left no other choice but then to concur with the senate amendments at this time. and again i want to thank everyone who has assisted me, both the leaders and to the multiple staff members wh