108th Congress

108TH CONGRESS -- (House of Representatives - November 20, 2004)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. PENCE) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, the 108th Congress is coming to a close. The Congress has essentially finished its work, although we may reconvene, hope springs eternal, and move an intelligence reform bill before Christmas arrives. But, in essence, we are done with much of what we have come to do.

Before we adjourn for rest and reflection with family and friends on Thanksgiving, I thought it would be helpful to reflect on what we have to be thankful for in the 108th Congress, and it is much.

I begin my remarks with two ancient references, one from the sacred texts of the Bible where one generation spoke to another, words of admonition in leadership with these words, "be strong and courageous and do the work." The Founders of this country in 1787 in that summer in Philadelphia crafted these words that are essentially a mission statement for the government of the United States, stating that we the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves in our prosperity, do ordain and establish this Constitution.

Mr. Speaker, I would argue, against both of those timeless standards, the 108th Congress has excelled. We have been strong and courageous and done the work. We have provided for the common defense. We have promoted the general welfare, and we have secured the blessings of the liberty for ourselves in our posterity.

In the area of providing for the common defense, it scarcely seems that it was just 2 years ago, but in this Congress, following on the heels of having given the President the authority to confront the menacing dictatorship in Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom was launched, and Congress was there to support our troops, provide the resources they needed to get the job done in a stunning victory in the spring of last year, but also financing reconstruction in the War Supplemental Appropriations Act and providing our troops the resources that they need to finish the hard work of liberty in the streets of Baghdad and Fallujah.

We have also seen freedom come to other countries like Afghanistan, that elected its first national leader in its 5,000 year history of the region.

We saw daylight come to the regime of Mohammar Khadafi, who responded to U.S. and coalition action in other theaters in the Middle East to give up his weapons of mass destruction program, and in a multilateral way we supported the administration efforts to confront North Korea's head-long effort to expand its own weapons of mass destruction program.

We have stood by our ally Israel, defending her right of self-defense in construction of the security fence, and we condemned the United Nations' World Court for similarly condemning Israel.

In short, we have in so many ways provided for the common defense and stood by our allies. We have been not only a beacon of freedom but we have been the arsenal of democracy that America calls us to be. This Congress did that.

We have also promoted the general welfare by cutting taxes on working families, small businesses and family farms and extending the tax relief previously effected in the 107th Congress. The 108th Congress pursued economic policies, both in tax relief and in trade, that caused the creation of nearly 2 million jobs in the last year.

Our economy is expanding. Our economy in the world is expanding with new trade agreements in Morocco and in Australia. And even just today, we managed to complete our work on a budget. Beyond spending on national defense and homeland security, even the omnibus spending bill we passed today represents a freeze in nondefense discretionary spending. It is a small return to fiscal discipline on Capitol Hill, but it is a beginning and I applaud it.

We have also secured the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity. And what are the blessings of the liberty, but the faith and family values that make this Nation great. We have stood by the right of Americans to refer to the Creator God in our Pledge of Allegiance. We have passed legislation banning the moral abomination known as partial birth abortion. We have passed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, reaffirming our belief in the sanctity of unborn human life.

Mr. Speaker, the list goes on, most notably passing on this floor by a majority a constitutional amendment to defend marriage. We have done our work, and we have been strong and courageous, and I rise to commend the 108th Congress of which it has been my privilege to be a part.