07/23/12 - Remarks offered on the House floor on H. R. 2362 - I thank Congressman Sablan for yielding and for his hard work in so many areas and his leadership.

I rise to express my opposition to the Indian Tribal Trade and Investment Demonstration Project Act, H.R. 2362.

This bill is unnecessary and seeks to give special consideration to one country--Turkey.

As a country that has shown both negative and aggressive actions toward a number of our allies, Turkey should not be given investment preferences in Indian tribal lands through this bill. And they should not be given preference over 154 allies, members of the World Trade Organization. Nor should they be given preference over American businesses that wish to invest in Indian tribal lands. This bill would reward a country with a record of human rights and religious freedom violations. It has been on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's watch list for 3 consecutive years.

Just this last Friday, many of us marked the 38th anniversary of Turkey's illegal occupation of the northern third of the island Republic of Cyprus. Throughout this occupation, Turkey actively seeks to alter the heritage and demographics of Cyprus. It has systematically destroyed the island's Christian heritage and colonized the area with more than 200,000 settlers and 40,000 troops.

Furthermore, Turkey maintains an economic blockade against Armenia, sealing its borders to all trade , and continues to deny the Armenian genocide, during which over 1.5 million Armenians perished. I have with me the Armenian Assembly and the Armenian National Committee of America's letters in opposition to this legislation.

Also, Turkey has challenged Israel by arguing against Israel's right to develop energy sources. Turkey has also threatened American businesses by saying it would use force to stop a Texas-based company, Noble Energy, from drilling for oil and gas off the shores of Cyprus. Turkey has said it will blacklist any business that assists Cyprus and Israel in their efforts to jointly develop their country's natural resources.

The preferential treatment given to Turkey in H.R. 2362 is unnecessary given the previous passage of the HEARTH Act, which passed this body 400-0, passed the Senate, and is now awaiting the President's signature. That bill allows domestic and foreign companies to engage in leases for housing construction, clean energy, and business development. Unlike the HEARTH Act, the bill before us today does nothing to support these domestic businesses.

Last November, the director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Michael Black, testified before the Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Subcommittee, stating that the HEARTH Act ``fosters the same goals identified in this bill but on a broader, larger scale.'' Through the HEARTH Act, domestic and foreign entities have already been granted an expedited route to invest in Native American lands and help their economic development.

Given the redundancies in the bill and the favored treatment it gives to one country that has shown threatening and discriminatory action toward a number of American allies, I urge my colleagues to join Ranking Member Berman and Ranking Member Markey and vote ``no'' on H.R. 2362.

07/19/12 - Remarks offered on the House floor on Cyprus - Mr. Speaker, I rise as the founder and cochair of the Hellenic Caucus to speak on the 38th anniversary of the 1974 illegal Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus . We must ensure that the passage of time does not allow us to forget that the Cyprus issue is the result of an illegal invasion and ongoing occupation.

It is long overdue for Turkey to withdraw its troops from Cyprus so that the island can move forward as one nation. Turkey continues to forcibly occupy more than one-third of Cyprus with more than 48,000 troops. In addition, to date, Turkey has repeatedly ignored many of the United Nations resolutions pertaining to Cyprus and has continued to occupy the island in complete violation of international law.

The destruction of religious and cultural sites and artifacts continues unabated, in a long list of Turkish actions that flagrantly disrespect the rights and religious freedoms of the Cypriot people. In the last Congress, the Hellenic Caucus passed a resolution in the House calling for the protection of these religious sites and artifacts in Turkish-occupied areas. We have also worked on a resolution that has been introduced by Mr. Bilirakis and Mr. Engel, H. Res. 676, which calls for the halt of the Republic of Turkey's illegal colonization of the Republic of Cyprus with non-Cypriot populations. They are moving people onto the island. It is reported there are 500,000 Cypriot phones in the Turkish area. So the population--no one knows how many more people they're moving in. Cyprus is endeavoring to control all of its territory to end Turkey's occupation and to exploit its energy resources without illegal interference by Turkey.

In 2011, they discovered gas in the Cypriot area. The Noble Energy Company, a private energy company from Texas, discovered that a field off the coast of Cyprus may hold as much as 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the first discovery off the divided island nation. This is tremendously important for energy independence and for an ally to be able to support America and our energy needs. The beginning of drilling by Noble prompted Turkey in September to send a vessel accompanied by warships and fighter jets to the area.

Cyprus is divided after Turkey invaded the northern third of the island in 1974. Turkey does not recognize the Greek Cypriot Government. So this is yet another development that the Turkish country has brought to the island of Cyprus .

There have been some successes for Cyprus . In May of 2004, Cyprus , with the support of the United States, joined the European Union. And during the second half of this year, Cyprus took over the very important and prestigious position of presidency of the Council of the European Union. This is the first time Cyprus presided over the Council of the EU since it became a member of it in 2004.

Yesterday, a group of Hellenic Caucus members met with a group of leaders from the district that I am honored to represent. They included Phil Christopher, Peter Papanicolaou and other national leaders of the Cypriot American community and other Greek American leaders. They came to participate in the hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the confirmation hearing of Mr. Koeing. John Koeing was nominated by President Obama to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus , and we are hopeful that the confirmation will move forward.

We are also very concerned about a bill that has been put forward that gives preferential treatment to Turkey over other countries on contracts and activities that take place on American Indian areas. This has caused a great deal of concern with the members of the caucus.

I now want to express my opposition to the Indian Tribal Trade and Investment Demonstration Project Act. This bill would give preferential treatment to Turkish businesses to engage in investment activities on Indian tribal lands. And I question why they are being singled out for this consideration, given the illegal occupation that continues.

I express my strong support for Cyprus and the vital role it is playing in European affairs and the strong ally they have been to the United States.

07/22/11 - Statement submitted for the Congressional Record on Cyprus - Mr. Speaker, this week, once again, we commemorate the tragic anniversary of the 1974 illegal Turkish invasion of Cyprus . Thirty-seven years later, Turkey continues forcibly to occupy more than one-third of Cyprus with more than 43,000 troops. This amounts to almost one Turkish soldier for every two Turkish Cypriots. It is time for Turkey to withdraw its troops from Cyprus so that the island can move forward as one nation.

As co-chair and co-founder of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus, I have worked diligently with my colleagues in the Caucus out of our mutual concern for the continued division and occupation of Cyprus . We have 137 members today, making us one of the largest caucuses in Congress.

My Caucus co-chair, Rep. Bilirakis, and I passed a resolution in the House in the last Congress calling for the protection of religious sites and artifacts from and in Turkish-occupied areas of northern Cyprus as well as for general respect for religious freedom. And we continue to work, with the Caucus, to raise awareness of the Cyprus problem and the role the U.S. can play to support the negotiations.

Cyprus is playing a vital role in European affairs while also strengthening relations with the United States. It has joined with us on issues important to our own security, including the fight against terrorism and other international crimes. Ending the island's tragic division will pave the way to prosperity and peace throughout the entire region.

To date, Turkey has repeatedly ignored all U.N. Resolutions pertaining to Cyprus and has continued to occupy the island in complete violation of international law. Turkey has continued to do so despite the fact that it has been a member of the U.N. Security Council since January 2009. Turkey has also refused to abide by the Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in numerous cases, thereby continuing to violate the basic human rights of the Cypriot people. This is an outrage.

The current negotiations aim at reaching a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as defined in the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, with a single sovereignty, single citizenship and single international personality. The solution must reunite the island, its people, its institutions and its economy and safeguard the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Cypriots and the withdrawal of Turkish occupation forces from Cyprus .

The United States and the international community must continue to provide support to this process. The people of Cyprus deserve a unified and democratic country, and I remain hopeful that a peaceful settlement will be found so that the division of Cyprus will come to an end.

As Secretary Clinton remarked last year: ``The reunification of the island is in the best interests of not only the people of Cyprus , but the region, and it could set an example for the international community as well.''