To date, nearly 100,000 Hispanics have died with AIDS. Since Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the United States, our challenge is even greater.

As a father and grandfather, I have witnessed firsthand the joy of new life entering the world. I know the pain and apprehension that goes along with premature births and birth defects.

In fact, in 2002, the Secretary of Defense authorized such support on a reimbursable basis to organizations formerly components of the Department of Justice and Department of the Treasury and currently components of the Department of Homeland Security.

While I believe our Constitution allows for State and local governments to execute the power of eminent domain for those purposes that specifically serve the public good, condemning property solely to implement economic development plans is not serving the public good.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Peace Corps as it reached its 45th anniversary on March 1, 2006.

Teachers are our greatest public servants; they spend their lives educating our young people and shaping our Nation for tomorrow.

Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students.

It matters not what your individual position is on either war we are currently prosecuting -- in Iraq or Afghanistan -- certainly we can all agree protesting at military funerals is a cruel and unnecessary hardship on our military families during their most difficult hour.

Small businesses drive this economy and it is unacceptable that the President's budget proposal does not give them the tools they need to be successful.

Supporting the troops has got to mean more than bumper stickers on pickup trucks, my friends. We need to give them what they need.

This nation's 23 million small businesses need a budget that reflects their value to the economy.

Education makes children less dependent upon others and opens doors to better jobs and career possibilities.

In South Texas, we understand how vital port security is and we fear the day a weapon of mass destruction could be brought into a U.S. port in a container and cause hundreds of thousands of casualties.

In addition to serving overseas, the Peace Corps' Crisis Corps Volunteers have helped their fellow Americans.

As a former veteran, I understand the needs of veterans, and have been clear -- we will work together, stand together with the Administration, but we will also question their policies when they shortchange veterans and military retirees.

Education is the silver bullet to improve this Nation's standing worldwide... and our teachers know that.

Education should be one of our top funding priorities; talking about it does not help the teachers and students who desperately need promises fulfilled.

For my constituents, owning a home is the culmination of many years of hard work and the realization of the American Dream. At no time should a local entity take those years of hard work solely to increase their tax revenue.

I worked with the March of Dimes to enact legislation for a national birth defects prevention program to provide surveillance, research and preventive services aimed at reducing the rate of birth defects.

The Peace Corps is an outstanding organization that promotes peace through helping countless individuals who want to help build a better life for the community in which they serve.