ms. woolsey: mr. speaker, i rise to pay tribute to a man i loved, a man i respected, a friend for life and a mentor. when i came to congress i couldn't have picked a better mentor. a public school teacher from new jersey. someone kind and smart, dedicated. actually burning in his belly about issues of value and conscience. i served on congressman payne's africa subcommittee. he served on my work force protection subcommittee. on both panels i benefited from his wisdom, advice and expertise. on the africa subcommittee i was always amazed at how much and who he knew. this is a man who knew what public serce was all about. as he describes himself, a mild-mannered man but he was also tenacious, dedicated and stubborn. no one has worked harder to bring peace, democracy and human rights to africa. he almost gave his life for the cause a few years ago when his plane was shot by rebels as he prepared to come home after a somalia mission. actually the state department had warned him against. as change continue

ms. woolsey, for five minutes. ms. woolsey: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, today marks exactly 125 months to the day that we have been at war with afghanistan. that's 125 months that we have been sending brave young men and women to be maimed and killed in a conflict that is not advancing our values but actually degrading them. i never believed more fervently this war is a national security disaster as well as a national tragedy and moral catastrophe. what we need, mr. speaker, is a greater commitment to peace and security. what we need is a more generous humanitarian spirit. what we need is diplomacy and international dialogue, cooperation, and conflict resolution. what we need is to cherish human life and human dignity here in the united states and on every corner of the globe. yesterday we lost one of this body's fierce champions for these values, our colleague, donald payne. he was a peacemaker. a man of conscience. and a man of decency and compassion. he would not tolerate genside and despair. he didn't -- genocide and despair. he didn't turn a

ms. woolsey for her opening remarks tariffs mix before. as we examine the lessons for the upper branch disaster, we can never lose sight that there are 29 families that lost their fathers, their brothers, their husbands and their best friends. almost two years ago the committee travelled to west virginia where we heard chilling testimony from the families and the miners about the unbelievable conditions, most of which you listed in your opening testimony, mr. chairman, so i won't repeat it, but a lifelong monarch and grandfather one of the 29 miners who lost his life testified that day he said i'm asking for you all to please do something for the rest of the coal miners better in the mines. i prefer it every night, every day. if you want to something, something like this is going to happen again. we hear your plea. there is an investigative reports on the tragedy, all found that massey energy caused the explosion by failing to comply with the long established safety standards in mining work places. they failed to prevent a tragedy because

ms. woolsey, for five minutes. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, there was good news on the national security front last week. north korea, one of the most dangerous rogue nations on earth, far more dangerous than iraq, iraq was when we invaded nine years ago, has agreed to suspend nuclear weapons activity. the obama administration has scoured this concession by -- secured this concession by offering aid to the north koreans. the north korean regime has also consented to stop uranium enrichment, impose an montreal moratorium on long-range missile testing and allow u.n. weapons inspectors into the country for the first time in three years. of course, we must remain cautious and we must remain vigilant in our dealings with north korea, but it's clear that peaceful negotiation and diplomacy as opposed to saber rattling that we've seen much too often in the recent past is advancing our national security interests and moving us closer to a future of peace and security. the president and secretary clinton deserve credit for this br

ms. woolsey, for five minutes. ms. woolsey: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the situation in afghanistan is as bleak as i can remember at any point in the last 10 1/2 years that we have been at war. in recent months we have seen the burning of the koran by american troops. a video of soldiers urinating on bodies of dead afghans. spontaneous riots in the afghan streets protesting the continued u.s. occupation. as well as deadly attacks by afghan soldiers on the u.s. and nato forces that are there to help and to train them. and now in the most grotesque tragedy imaginible, two weeks ago a u.s. staff sergeant left his base, walked more than a mile through an afghan village outside kandahar, going door to door and systematically gunning down 17 civilians. "the new york times" reported that one afghan farmer was visiting a nearby town for the day and returned home to find that his wife, four sons, and four daughters had all been murdered in the attack. here's the irony, according to the times count because the taliban still lingered in the area, the farme

ms. woolsey: mr. chairman, it's inconceivable to me that with all the challenges we have that are facing our nation this body is taking up legislation today having to do with a 32-acre parcel of land in virginia. is this really the best we can do? at a moment when our economy is still underperforming, at a moment when we're still sending brave americans to die in an immoral war that's gone on for nearly as long as my grandson, teddy, has been alive, we still have more than 8% unemployment in this country, we still have families and entire communities wondering what happened to the american dream. we have families losing homes through no fault of their own. we have families not knowing how to pay next month's bills and how to send their children to college. we are wondering why the very health care reforms they needed are about to go on trial at the u.s. supreme court. we also have people who more than ever are depending on a safety net, programs like medicare and medicaid, which have a big fat target

ms. woolsey: mr. speaker, i rise to pay tribute to a man i loved, a man i respected, a friend for life and a mentor. when i came to congress i couldn't have picked a better mentor. a public school teacher from new jersey. someone kind and smart, dedicated. actually burning in his belly about issues of value and conscience. i served on congressman payne's africa subcommittee. he served on my work force protection subcommittee. on both panels i benefited from his wisdom, advice and expertise. on the africa subcommittee i was always amazed at how much and who he knew. this is a man who knew what public service was all about. as he describes himself, a mild-mannered man but he was also tenacious, dedicated and stubborn. no one has worked harder to bring peace, democracy and human rights to africa. he almost gave his life for the cause a few years ago when his plane was shot by rebels as he prepared to come home after a somalia mission. actually the state department had warned him against. as change contin

ms. woolsey: thank you. mr. chairman, the budget for all rearranges our national security spending priorities in a way that keeps america safe instead of keeping america bogged down in expensive, immoral wars. by bringing our troops home from afghanistan, we save over $1 trillion over 10 years. we invest -- reinvest that money in the american people. their education, their health care, their infrastructure, their retirement security, their hopes and their dreams. and there's money left over to beef up smart security priorities. development, diplomacy, foreign and humanitarian aid. the tools that will truly combat terrorism and protect our nation in the 21st century. we get rid of ancient, obsolete cold war weapons systems that are doing nothing to address today's security threats as well. we also take care of our veterans and we dramatically reduce our nuclear arsenal. i urge all members, read this budget, embrace it. and -- because it truly reflects the values and priorities of the american people. the congress