New Partnership for Haiti Act of 2005

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend from Washington (Mr. Hastings) for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. I yield myself 5\1/2\ minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this martial law rule. For weeks and weeks and weeks, this House has wasted valuable time. We have spent short workdays during short workweeks passing meaningless legislation without doing a thing to actually help the American people.

Today, the day before the August recess, this Republican leadership is bringing to the floor legislation that will actually be harmful to America's working families.

The martial law rule before us, passed last night by the Republicans in the Rules Committee, makes three bills in order: first, the pension conference report, which will lead to benefit cuts for millions of workers; second, a tax cut bill mostly for the rich, including an estate tax cut that affects only the very wealthiest in the country; and third, this is my favorite, ``a bill to provide economic security for all Americans, and for other purposes.'' Okay. Can anybody in this House tell me what that means? Of course not.

Apparently, the Republican leadership will be presenting a minimum wage bill that will be loaded down with sweetheart tax deals for the wealthy and the corporate special interests, the same special interests that call the shots in the Republican House.

So here we are voting on a rule to bring up bills that appeared literally just an hour ago which no one has read, 1,200 pages of legislation, Mr. Speaker, that the Members of this House have not had an opportunity to review, 1,200 pages.

This is what passes for the legislative process in the House these days, and it would be laughable if it were not so sad.

The Republican strategy is as apparent as it is cynical. They want to clutter the minimum wage bill with so many giveaways to the wealthiest Americans and to corporations that it will never actually become law. That way, the dozens and dozens of vulnerable Republican incumbents can claim that they voted to increase the minimum wage, while the corporate special interests can claim victory for killing it.

Senate tax writes have already rejected, on a bipartisan basis, proposals that combine the estate tax with a tax extenders package, which is exactly what the House Republican leadership has put forward today as an attachment to the minimum wage.

The losers in this mess are hardworking American families who deserve to make a wage that keeps them out of poverty.

No wonder the American people are so sick and tired of politics as usual in Washington. For months, years even, a clear bipartisan majority has existed in the House to support an increase in the minimum wage with no strings attached. The Republican leadership has been dragged kicking and screaming to this point. It is an amazing thing to watch.

I would ask my Republican colleagues, why is it so impossible for you to do anything good for working families? Why does it cause you such pain and anguish and hand-wringing?

Congress has not raised the minimum wage since 1997. That is 9 years. During that same period, Congress has raised its own salary eight times. Now, that is what I call out of touch.

A Republican House staffer told the Columbus, Ohio, Dispatch, ``Not too many people work at minimum wage anymore. I don't think it gets you anywhere politically.''

Mr. Speaker, maybe I missed it and Columbus, Ohio, is on a different planet these days because nearly 15 million Americans will benefit from a minimum wage increase, 6.6 million directly and 8.3 million indirectly. Almost 60 percent of these workers are women; 40 percent are people of color.

The average corporate CEO, who will benefit, of course, from the estate tax cut, earns more before lunchtime than a minimum wage worker earns all year.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot say it more plainly. The priorities of this Republican leadership are not the priorities of the American people. What the American people want and what they deserve is a clean up-or- down vote on increasing the minimum wage, period. They will not be getting it today.

I am sick and tired of the priorities of this Republican Congress being determined by who has the fattest checkbook, by who contributes the most money to their campaigns.

Low-income workers do not have high-priced lobbyists. They do not contribute huge amounts of money to politicians or political parties, but these are the people who make this country work, Mr. Speaker. These are the people who do the hard labor, each and

every day to keep this country running. They deserve a break. They deserve a raise. They deserve the ability to provide for their families.

For once, just once, I urge my Republican colleagues to do the right thing. Reject this martial law rule.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Let me just respond to the gentleman. What is frustrating to us here tonight is the fact that for months and months and months we have been trying to get a straight up-or-down vote on the minimum wage. We think it is an absolute disgrace that the minimum wage has not been raised since 1997, 9 years, and in those 9 years, Congress has given itself eight pay raises. We think there is something wrong with that, and we want to see passed and enacted into law an increase in the Federal minimum wage.

So we want a straight up-or-down vote because we think that is the best way you can get that.

Instead, what you do, you bring a minimum wage bill to floor to provide some of your more vulnerable Members cover, and you bring it in a package that you know probably is not going to go anywhere in the Senate because the previous combination of the estate tax and the tax extenders package has not gone anywhere in the Senate.

So this is about cover, political cover, and not about giving millions and millions of Americans, hardworking Americans who have been neglected by the Republican Congress for years, the raise that they deserve.

The minimum wage has not been raised since 1997, and adjusted for inflation, the current minimum wage is at its lowest level in more than 50 years. Minimum wage earners working 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, make $10,712. That is nearly $6,000 below the poverty line for a family of three. Thirty-five percent of those workers are their family's sole wage earners; 61 percent are women; and almost one-third of those women are raising children.

The average annual cost of family health insurance is more than a minimum wage worker's income for a whole year, and given the cost of gasoline, it takes a full day's pay for a minimum wage earner to fill just one tank of gas.

What we want is not political cover. What we want is to give these hardworking Americans, millions and millions and millions of Americans, who constantly get neglected by this Congress, who always get a cold shoulder when it comes to trying to provide them some help, what we want to do is give them a raise.

If Members of the House deserve a raise, these low-income wage earners also deserve a raise.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

(Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey).

Mr. Speaker, I want to state for the record, just so there is no question as to where the Republican majority is coming from, let me read to you a quote that appeared in a June 22 story of the Associated Press entitled ``GOP-Run Senate Kills Minimum Wage.'' This is a quotation from our House Majority Leader.

He says, and I quote, ``I have been in this business for 25 years and I have never voted for an increase in the minimum wage. I am opposed to it, and I think a vast majority of our rank and file is opposed to it.''

That is what the other side thinks about the minimum wage, and that is why we need to demand an up-or-down vote.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Maryland, our distinguished whip, Mr. Hoyer.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank).

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio).

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt).

Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott).

(Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman).

(Mr. SHERMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

How much time do I have left, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, let me urge all my colleagues, both Republican and Democrat, to oppose this rule. This is a martial law rule. There are 1,200 pages of legislation that nobody has read. This is not the way this House should be run.

People who are watching this on TV are scratching their heads and wondering how in the world can Members of Congress vote on legislation that they have never seen, that they haven't had a chance to read. But that is exactly what we are being asked to do tonight, and that is wrong.

What is happening right now is a deliberate attempt to, essentially, give people cover on the minimum wage, on a bill that will die.

This is not going to be enacted into law. We know that because the Senate has already made it clear that they are not going to support this legislation. And so this is political cover for Republicans who are afraid that they are going to be criticized for not voting for the minimum wage.

If you want a minimum wage, then vote for it up or down. Don't clutter it up with tax breaks for millionaires and for special corporate interests.

The fact of the matter is that it takes a full day's pay for a minimum-wage earner to fill just one tank of gas. The average CEO earns 821 times more than a minimum-wage worker. The average CEO earns more before lunchtime than a minimum-wage worker earns all year.

Let's not be cynical. Let's defeat this martial law rule. Let's give the Members of this House an opportunity to vote on the minimum wage up or down. That is what the American people deserve. Vote ``no'' on this martial law rule.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to open the CBC Special Order on Haiti.

Haiti should be in the hearts and minds of all who support justice, democracy, and freedom.

Until Haiti knows peace, we who are here tonight, ``the conscious of the Congress'' will remain duty-bound to bring our neighbors struggles to light.

This week commemorates the one-year anniversary of Haiti's 33rd coup d'etat.

As we reflect on the internationally orchestrated ousting of President Jean Bertrand, I am convinced now more than ever that President Bush undercut the potential for a diplomatic solution to last year's violent revolt and overthrow of democratically elected President, Jean Bertrand Aristide.

One year later, the result of the coup has left Haiti a breeding ground of the morally corrupt.

Drug dealers, thugs and brutal militia men who have taken the lives of hundreds of Haitians, raped and tortured women and children, and filled the coffers of the Haitian rich and elite who support and sponsor their terror now rule the country.

The interim Haitian Government has even gone so far as to reward these thugs with positions in government and label them ``freedom fighters''.

Today, Tom Griffin, renowned human rights activist, addressed the CBC Haiti Task Force and gave us a first-hand account of the human rights abuse and climate of destruction in Haiti.

He showed us gruesome pictures and reviewed the abysmal human rights report from his November trip.

The pictures show the battered-bloody bodies left in the street. A morgue full of hundreds of nameless, silenced voices that died at the hands of Haitian National police.

Babies who have no chance at life--because there is no food, no clean water, and no hope for the future--were placed in cardboard boxes.

Where were the U.N. troops?

Mr. Griffin's report was based on only 10 days in Haiti show but a glimpse of what the conditions are in Haiti. What about Haitians who have had to live in this corrupt-police state since Aristide's departure?

Who will Haitians call on for safety and protection? For basic electricity, health care, food and water?

They can't call on their elected officials, because they weren't elected--they were installed.

And who is to blame for the removal of democracy and Haiti's transformation toward hopelessness?

Mr. Speaker, the current state of affairs in Haiti is the product of this Administration's doing.

By refusing to work bilaterally with the Government of Haiti and President Aristide, by embargoing aid and humanitarian assistance to the government, by funding and encouraging opposition groups, thugs, rebels and the like, not to work with Aristide toward a political settlement, and by bullying the CARICOM countries to turn a blind eye to their fellow member state; the Bush Administration contributed to the current political instability and provided the environment for a coup d'etat to occur.

Mr. Speaker, I believe the issue of Haiti is simply an issue of democracy, and the Bush Administration has been instrumental in toppling a democratically-elected government. Step by step they have worked to undermine President Aristide, for example:

1. First, the Administration propped up Haitian opposition leaders; allowing political obstructionists to refuse and reject any plan for peace and democratic elections since the passage of OAS Resolution 822, and ultimately stonewall the elections process by rejecting the Catholic Bishops Plan, the CARICOM Plan, and finally the International Peace Plan.

2. Second, the Administration funded civil society and political opposition parties with USAID funding and arming paramilitary and military factions in the Dominican Republic where Guy Phillipe and other insurgents began their recent assault on democracy.

3. Lastly, the Administration hindered the instant support of peacekeepers and bullied the international community into blocking peacekeeping support that would have secured Haiti and protected ``then'' President Aristide.

The Bush Administration must never again pre-empt democracy but instead allow the Haitian people, and the Caribbean community to set the course for Haiti.

When the Administration was questioned regarding their involvement in Haiti, they justified their actions by critiquing President Aristide's effectiveness as a President.

Mr. Speaker, I myself have had many issues with the policies of President Bush. And I have always questioned the flaws of the 2000 elections that brought this Administration to office, but I refuse to believe any AMERICAN who believes in democracy would allow another country to help overthrow our government.

We do not teach people to violently overthrow our U.S. government, and we must not teach other people in the international community, particularly Haiti, to participate in activities that taint the hope for democracy by use of violence.

Mr. Speaker, this is a sad week for Haiti, the United States, and moreover democracy.

It is our moral obligation to find out the truth about this coup d'etat and cast light on the alleged covert activities of the Bush Administration.

It is time to stop the political pillaging of the country and begin saving Haitian lives for the future stability of the country.

Members of this Congress must condemn the continued violence and murders of Haitians, and call on the Bush Administration, OAS, and the U.N. to fully support democracy, the release of political prisoners like Yvonne Neptune, and disarm the thugs and rebels who continue to stifle democracy and create an environment of fear, intimidation, and anarchy.

We must press the transitional government, the OAS and the international community to respect the regional leadership of CARICOM.

And finally, we must push the United Nations to develop a special court in Haiti to try those who are most responsible for crimes against humanity instead of rewarding them with offices in the new government.

I call on the Bush Administration to do what is right for the Haitian people. I have introduced The TRUTH Act, or H.R. 945, which would commit President Bush and his administration to tell the truth about Haiti, and the Administration's involvement in President Aristide's ousting.

It is TRUE, that the Administration has, in essence, carried out a form of `regime change,' a different form than it took in Iraq, but still regime change, and we must bring their actions to light.

Shame on President Bush and the international community that is silent as thousands of young Haitian poor men, women and children are murdered in the streets and stripped of their chance for democracy, peace, and a basic decent life.

Mr. Speaker, Haiti boils down to democracy, fairness, and freedom, concepts that the Bush Administration must learn to respect and uphold.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 958 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purposes of debate only.

(Mr. HASTINGS of Washington asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I reserve my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.

Mr. Speaker, in the bill that we will be considering later on that has the minimum wage provisions as my friend from Texas was talking about, it also has some very important tax, what we call tax extenders bills, that would otherwise expire.

One of those extenders is something I know is very important to the citizens of Texas in that it allows sales tax deductibility for those States that do not have a State income tax. The Speaker pro tempore is one of those, my State is one of those, and my friend from Texas also has that.

So I would hope that while we have the minimum wage in the same bill as the sales tax, it seems to me to be a pretty attractive package.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve my time.

Mr. Speaker, I feel a great deal of respect for my friend that just spoke, and I want to go on record as saying that I am one of those that is not in favor of raising the minimum wage. I have never voted for that. And my State, by the way, has, if not the highest, one of the highest minimum wages in the country.

But I am going to vote for this bill. And I am going to vote for this bill not because I embrace the minimum wage, I am going to vote for this bill because it has the estate tax provision in there. I am going to vote for this bill because it has the sales tax deduction for Washington State and other States that don't have sales tax deductibility. And my expectation is, my expectation is that the other body will vote accordingly and pass the bill, therefore, we will have the minimum wage increase that my friend from Massachusetts talked about.

It seems to me it is the best of all worlds in the give and take of the legislative process as we near a recess.

I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Well, reclaiming my time, I am glad the gentleman told me that.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, how much time remains on both sides?

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers, if the gentleman is prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of time.

Mr. Speaker, this rule allows for consideration of two very important bills, bills that have been worked on extremely hard on both sides of the aisle and on both sides of the rotunda. One of them is the pension reform bill that has been worked on by the respective committees for 5 or 6 years on a bipartisan basis. The bill that we will take up later on pension reform is the conference report. But because of the timing and some logistics, this is the best way to address this issue is to take the bill up and pass it so that the Senate can act on it next week.

The other bill is a minimum-wage increase bill. I don't know how many times this body, in the last several months, has had procedural motions regarding the minimum wage. So we are going to have a minimum-wage bill before us later on tonight. And with that bill, with the expectation that the other body will talk about it and will pass it favorably, will be something that this body has addressed several times.

The estate tax, or the death tax, has been addressed by this Congress on two occasions. The first occasion was to totally eliminate it. And it passed this body on a bipartisan basis. The second time was a cap that we will take up, very similar to what we will take up later on. It also passed on a bipartisan basis. So the issues that we are taking up and allowing to take up with this rule aren't new to this body.

So I urge my colleagues to vote for this same-day rule and to vote, later on, for the rule that will allow consideration of these two measures that I just talked about. They are important to our constituents; and the sooner we do it, the better off we will be.

And I must say too, Mr. Speaker, the expectation is that both of these measures that we will take up later on tonight will be passed by the other body next week and they will become law. And amongst that is the minimum-wage increase that my friends on the other side of the aisle have been talking about.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

The previous question was ordered.

Mr. Speaker, Haiti not only needs immediate democracy but it also needs an immediate health intervention.

Today in Haiti less than 45 percent of Haitians have access to safe water and access to sanitation.

Seventy-six percent of Haiti's children under the age of five are underweight, or suffer from stunted growth and 63 percent of Haitians are undernourished.

Eighty percent of the population lives in abject poverty and the unemployment rate is estimated to be nearly 90 percent.

Ninety percent of all HIV/AIDS cases in the Caribbean.

As we combat global HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, maternal and child mortality, and many other life threatening diseases, we must address the long-term effect of dilapidated physical and health infrastructure and abject poverty throughout the world, including in Haiti.

If the United States believes in helping families across the globe be healthy, happy and free--then now is the time to step up in our own backyard and support a comprehensive health approach to positively impact our neighbors in Haiti.

One way of attacking the varied diseases that leave thousands devastated in Haiti is working with a democratic Haitian government to rebuild the health infrastructure.

I recently introduced the New Partnership for Haiti Act of 2005, or H.R. 945 would offer a comprehensive plan for future engagement between the U.S. and Haitian Government.

This legislation partners Haitians and Americans together to produce environmentally sound strategies for rebuilding Haiti.

Its major provisions are aimed at developing basic sanitation, water, and other health infrastructures in Haiti.

The New Partnership for Haiti Act would bring the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to train and educate Haitians on how to rebuild, pave, and maintain roads to provide access to rural and urban areas to health clinics. It will commission environmental impact studies for these projects, focusing on long term, environmentally sound solutions--not short term remedies.

Haiti needs assistance in addressing its long-term health infrastructure development.

The most basic of these needed development challenges is water. How can Haiti begin to combat its enormous health problems without basic clean and safe water?

Well Mr. Speaker, Haiti's water quality is life-threatening. In a study released in May of 2003, Haiti ranked last in the world for water quality.

The New Partnership for Haiti Act will provide funds and expertise through USAID to partner with Haiti on rebuilding of sanitation, water purification projects, and education for Haitians on how to maintain these systems themselves in the future.

This bill will help Haitians build and maintain safer, quality sewage systems and safe water delivery for both urban and rural communities.

The New Partnership for Haiti Act will start a pilot program for American Health Professionals and also Engineers who are interested in going to Haiti and helping with the development process.

It is my hope that a transfer of knowledge from U.S. professionals in the fields of health and engineering to Haitians will ensure long term development and guarantee the success of the programs similar to the success of the Global Fund and other international initiatives.

By widening the knowledge base of non-governmental organizations and professionals in Haiti, the U.S. will take advantage of a unique opportunity and obligation towards Haiti's future.

We worked together to get the humanitarian loans, which had been held up by the InterAmerican Development Bank officially released on May 9, 2003.

We will continue to push for the full release of these loans and the potential for future humanitarian grants through the IDB.

I also believe we must move forward on establishing a health infrastructure for efficient delivery of these health and social sector funds.

Haiti has numerous health and social issues that are difficult to approach because of the undemocratically, installed Interim Government of Haiti; however, we must be forward thinking and prepare for Haiti's democratic future.

Preparing now will open the doors to safe, healthy clinics, reducing child and maternal mortality, combating HIV/AIDS with drugs and comprehensive treatment and nationwide sewage, sanitation, and clean water.

I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts. I agree with what the gentleman has just said. The Republican leadership is opposed to raising the minimum wage, opposed to lifting 6.6 million people out of poverty. No Member of the House should harbor any illusions about what the Republican leadership is doing, therefore.

Today, the Republican leadership is engaging in a political stunt, in my opinion; a cynical sham, a cruel ploy to undermine a long overdue increase in the Federal minimum wage, an increase that would benefit literally millions of American workers and their families. Democrats have continually fought for a clean up-or-down vote on increasing the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour over 2 years, the first increase in 10 years.

Hear me: Groceries have not been frozen in price. Gasoline hasn't been frozen in price. Rents haven't been frozen in price. But wages of minimum-wage workers have been frozen for 10 years, and we continue to fight today about this.

The fact is, I believe a majority of the Members of this body support an increase in the minimum wage, even if the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and the majority of the House Republicans do not. But the will of the House will be thwarted today if this rule passes.

On June 12, the Appropriations Committee adopted on a bipartisan vote an amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriation bill that would increase the minimum wage by $2.10 per hour over 2 years. That bill has been languishing unconsidered for the last 2 months. In response, the Republican leadership has refused to bring that appropriation bill up for a vote.

On July 13, 64 Republicans joined all Democrats in indicating their support for an increase in the minimum wage by voting for a Democratic motion to instruct on the vocational education bill. But instead of providing for a fair up-and-down vote on the minimum wage, the Republican leadership today has combined an increase in the hourly rate with an estate tax cut that will benefit the heirs of the wealthiest estates in America and drive our Nation hundreds of billions, approximately $800 billion further into debt.

If nothing else, Mr. Speaker, this bill certainly tells the American people precisely where the Republican priorities lie. Their priorities lie with Paris Hilton and other heirs of the super wealthy, not the hard-working Americans who work 40 hours a week earning a minimum wage and are living in poverty in the richest Nation on the face of the earth.

Mr. Speaker, this Republican bill wreaks of cynicism. It is a political stunt designed to give vulnerable Republicans in tough elections the opportunity to say they voted to raise the minimum wage, even though they know this bill is a shell game. We will give with one hand and take with the other.

The estate tax will not pass. It has not passed. We have already passed it. We don't need to pass it again. But it is put on this bill as a poison pill to kill it because the Republican leadership opposes raising the minimum wage. What a shame.