A bill to extend the effective period of the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) for 10 years.

Mr. President, 40 years ago, the famous and inspirational civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer rallied the Nation with her statement ``I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.'' Her words still resonate with millions of Americans today. Whether we are talking about African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans or American Indians, the fact is that minorities continue to live sicker and die younger in America. We know that African Americans are one-third more likely than all other Americans to die from cancer. They have the highest rate of hypertension in the world. Latinos have the least insurance, with one in three having no coverage at all. American Indian tribes struggle with what can only be called epidemics of diabetes, with rates near 50 percent in certain tribes. The tremendous gains that we have witnessed in science and medicine have benefited millions of our citizens, but too often they are out of reach for minorities.

It is a privilege to join my colleagues to introduce the Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act. Our goal is to produce major improvements in all aspects of minority health care. It expands health insurance coverage. It supports better access to services that are culturally and linguistically appropriate. It strengthens the safety- net. It promotes the development of new and better ways to treat diseases that disproportionately affect minorities.

It also increases the diversity of the health care workforce. Many studies show that minority health professionals dramatically increase access to care and the delivery of good care to

minority patients. Despite their importance, however, the percentage of minority health professionals is shockingly low. African Americans, Latinos and American Indians account for almost 25 percent of the Nation's population--but they account for less than 10 percent of the Nation's doctors, less than 5 percent of dentists, and only 12 percent of nurses.

Our bill will increase the number of minority health professionals by expanding existing pipeline programs and developing new ones. It also provides additional scholarship support to enable more minority and low-income students to make their careers in health care.

Another critical need addressed by this bill is accountability. It holds health care agencies and institutions, public and private, accountable for the care delivered to their minority populations as well as their health outcomes. It reauthorizes the Office of Minority Health, increases the effectiveness of the Office for Civil Rights and establishes a new Office for Health Disparities within the Office for Civil Rights. It also establishes compliance offices in each of the Federal agencies, to ensure that the policies, programs and practices of each agency are in compliance with title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, ethnicity or national origin.

We can't just talk about racial and ethnic health disparities. We have to do more to eliminate them. All Americans deserve fair and equitable treatment in health care. The administration has said time and time again that it is committed to improving minority health. But, the President's own budget eliminated all funds for workforce diversity training programs, and all funds for the Community Access Program, despite the overwhelming evidence that minority health providers and community health centers dramatically improve access to care and quality of care for minority populations. The President's budget also reduced funds for the Office of Minority Health, and it has made the Office for Civil Rights virtually powerless to carry out its mission.

Vast numbers of minority Americans are needlessly suffering because of administration's neglect. We cannot turn our back on the needs of nearly one-third of the Nation's population. Whether we are talking about health insurance, language access, disease prevention, or public hospitals and community health centers, the need is great and the time is now. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, so that we do what is so clearly needed to improve the health and health care for millions of minority Americans.

Mr. President, rebuilding Iraq is critical to peace and stability in the Mideast and to help win the war on terrorism. Today, American families and American cities are also hurting and I believe they deserve the same assistance we are providing for families and cities in Iraq. While keeping our commitments abroad, we must not neglect our homeland.

Today, President Bush signed into law an $87 billion supplemental appropriations bill that includes $20.3 billion for reconstructing Iraq and to assist Iraqi families. I opposed this legislation because I do not believe this plan is the most effective way to protect American soldiers and to advance our interests. Providing assistance to help rebuild Iraq is the right thing to do; however, we must also provide equal consideration and equal funding to resolve America's domestic problems. That is why I am introducing the American Parity Act to ensure that any additional spending for Iraq's postwar reconstruction plan is balanced dollar-for-dollar with new investments in education, health care, transportation, housing, social services and public safety needs across the United States.

President Bush's economic approach has left State and city governments facing billions in budget deficits forced lay offs, education cuts, Medicaid cuts, reductions in critical social service programs and tax increases.

State and city governments need our help to protect their public services, rebuild America's roads and bridges, and ensure resources are available to help unemployed and impoverished Americans. My legislation will authorize payments to States and cities to assist them with their social service and infrastructure needs in the same amount as provided for relief and reconstruction in Iraq. Local governments will receive at least one-third of the total funds authorized.

These funds will be used to help America's children, seniors, and struggling families who depend upon affordable health care, quality education and public transportation programs that are facing massive cuts in order to balance state and local budgets across the Nation. These funds will assist in the development of our economy and create jobs.

Health insurance has become too expensive. Double-digit increases in health care premiums make it hard for Americans and businesses alike to afford health care. Today, more than 44 million Americans have no health insurance. More than ever, these Americans need access to Medicaid and other health care programs that help with the high cost of prescription drugs. However, many of these programs are endangered by state and local budget cuts. The American Parity Act will help State and local governments continue to provide health care assistance.

In our changing global economy, every American needs access to quality schools and advanced skills to succeed in our rapidly changing economy. In order for our American business to grow, we need workers to be more innovative and more productive than those of our competitors. My legislation will help cities provide additional resources to improve educational programs, modernize and rebuild crumbling schools, reduce class size, improve special education and help pay teachers.

Our Nation is facing an affordable housing crisis. Recent changes in the housing market have limited the availability of affordable rental housing across the country and have dramatically increased the cost of those that remain. In 2001, more than 14 million families spent over half of their income on housing. This bill will provide funding so that states and cities produce housing for working families.

We must show the same commitment to rebuilding Main Street as we have shown in rebuilding Iraq. American citizens deserve access to the same benefits and services we are so nobly providing to the people of Iraq. The American Parity Act will help States and cities cope with their current fiscal crisis and help ease potential cuts in programs critical to the most vulnerable in our Nation.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of a bill that I am introducing today, the Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act of 2003.

Money laundering is a significant threat to our country because it undermines our national security, promotes corruption and funds terrorism. Money laundering operations as a whole include such mechanisms as structured transactions, wire fraud, over- and under- invoicing, and other activities designed to defraud and hide profits from illegal activities. All of these transactions undermine legitimate financial institutions by promoting corruption, funding criminal and terrorist operations, and by providing a method of profiting from illegal transactions such as drug trafficking and weapons sales.

We know that money laundering is the functional equivalent of a war industry for terrorist groups. Terrorist groups do not function in a bubble but will use whatever means available to obtain funding for their cause. Our attention and rhetoric are focused on identifying and halting those mechanisms used specifically by terrorist organizations such as charitable organizations, money service businesses and alternative remittance systems which are often referred to as hawalas. Frankly, the tools used to launder and disguise funds for terrorist organizations are similar, and quite often identical to, those used by many drug traffickers and criminal organizations to clean their own dirty money.

No matter how the funds are obtained and ultimately used, they are still dirty, and if we are ever going to get ahead of the curve, we must design a better way to identify and halt this flow of illegal funds. The bill I am introducing today includes several provisions that will strengthen our current money laundering and terrorist financing laws to enhance our ability to identify and eliminate various avenues used to launder money, whether it be for drug traffickers, criminal organizations or terrorists.

This bill adds several provisions to the list of specified unlawful activities within the RICO statute that serve as predicates for the money laundering statute including: burglary and embezzlement, illegal money transmitting businesses, alien smuggling, child exploitation and obscenity. It would close a loophole on securities fraud by including the purchase of securities with the sale of securities as a money laundering offense, and adds the unlawful use of Social Security numbers to the list of money laundering offenses.

It adds a provision to the civil forfeiture statute to include the forfeiture of property outside the U.S. territorial boundaries if it was used in the planning of the terrorist act that occurred within the jurisdiction of the United States and includes a parallel transaction provision which provides that all parts of a parallel or dependent financial transaction are considered a money laundering offense if one part of that transaction involves the proceeds of an unlawful activity.

Our best response to money laundering and terrorist financing threats is a comprehensive and coordinated response which must be laid out in an effective strategy. This bill also reauthorizes the National Money Laundering and Financial Crimes Strategy Act through 2006. This yearly strategy must identify the risks and threats we face. Without a comprehensive strategy, we cannot begin to implement laws and regulations that will effectively combat money laundering sources and shut down the system as a whole. Only when we have a systematic approach to money laundering will we be able to avoid the duplication and inconsistencies that currently plague our efforts.

This legislation is important to identifying particular money laundering operations and putting them out of business. I encourage you to pass this legislation to ensure our national security against the continued threat posed by terrorist financing and financial crimes.

Mr. President, I am pleased to join with Senator Hatch to

introduce legislation to extend the Undetectable Firearms Act for ten years. I appreciate working with the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and thank him for his leadership on this legislation.

The Undetectable Firearms Act became law in 1988, long before the tragic attacks on our country on September 11, 2001. The Undetectable Firearms Act also known as the ``plastic gun law'' made it illegal to manufacture, import, possess, or transfer a firearm that is not detectable by walk-through metal detectors or airport x-ray machines. This law has been extended once, and is due to expire on December 10, 2003.

It is critical that this bill does not expire at the end of this year. Over the past two years, Congress has done tremendous work to make America a safer place and prevent any more terrorist attacks. We need to act today to ensure that Americans are not needlessly vulnerable to attacks at airports, schools, and other public buildings.

I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation to extend the Undetectable Firearms Act for the next ten years.

Mr. President, I am pleased to join with Senator Hatch to

introduce legislation to extend the Undetectable Firearms Act for ten years. I appreciate working with the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and thank him for his leadership on this legislation.

The Undetectable Firearms Act became law in 1988, long before the tragic attacks on our country on September 11, 2001. The Undetectable Firearms Act also known as the ``plastic gun law'' made it illegal to manufacture, import, possess, or transfer a firearm that is not detectable by walk-through metal detectors or airport x-ray machines. This law has been extended once, and is due to expire on December 10, 2003.

It is critical that this bill does not expire at the end of this year. Over the past two years, Congress has done tremendous work to make America a safer place and prevent any more terrorist attacks. We need to act today to ensure that Americans are not needlessly vulnerable to attacks at airports, schools, and other public buildings.

I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation to extend the Undetectable Firearms Act for the next ten years.