mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman for yielding me this time . 
i am pleased to speak before the house and also for the record on the rule . 
mr. speaker , i intend to support the rule , but i think it is very important that at this juncture in proceeding with this important homeland security authorization that some things are said and also some items for the record are noted . 
the gentleman from new york ( mr. israel ) xz4001950 , who i have had the pleasure to work with from the other side of the aisle , crafted legislation which was incorporated into the intelligence reform bills . 
one of the titles of that bill that the president signed , dealing with the threat and the direction of congress towards trying to deal with the problem of manpads , and that is shoulder-launch missiles , and the threat that they posed . 
one of the things that we did was to try to move that project forward . 
sometimes in homeland security we spend a lot of money and we do not get a great deal of results . 
i view , as chairman of the house subcommittee on aviation , one of the greatest threats that we face other than a suicide bomber or several of them getting on planes , which they can easily do in our flawed system today , i view the second greatest threat as shoulder-launch missiles . 
with the conflict in the world , particularly in the middle east , thousands of these shoulder-launched missiles have gone on the market . 
so we worked to , one , curtail the number of shoulder-launched missiles ; two , encourage international treaties , develop ground-based systems , and this bill does something towards that . 
we started a program several years ago when we saw this threat and we tried to do our best to move forward development of a commercial shoulder-launched missile . 
this bill unfortunately limits the amount of money that can be spent on moving that program forward . 
the gentleman from new york ( mr. israel ) xz4001950 had an amendment that was not included here that would relieve that restriction . 
yesterday we were wise in appropriating what the administration requested for funding the program , but this authorization is lacking . 
i would have preferred to have his amendment in here . 
my purpose for being here on may 18 , 2005 is to remind us that they missed in kenya an israeli plane in november 2002 with many passengers . 
they missed in iraq in 2003 a dhl plane that also could have been taken down by shoulder-launched missiles . 
ladies and gentlemen of the house , we have been very fortunate so far and we can not be remiss in making available the best technology to protect the traveling public . 
not that we have to hang one of these on every commercial aircraft , but we will be remiss if we do not carry this program that has already started forward . 
if we miss a lick here , it will be much to our regret . 
i regret that the gentleman from new york 's amendment was not included in this . 
i will support this . 
i look forward to working with the gentleman from california ( mr. cox ) xz4000830 and others as they take on the responsibility of protecting not only the homeland but the flying public . 
