Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, 3 years ago this week, Congress formally declared that genocide was taking place in Darfur, and Congressman Don Payne is owed a debt of gratitude for leading this effort.

While much has been done since then to push pressure on Khartoum, the genocide still rages. Our young people and the faith community have tirelessly reminded us of this.

I was in Darfur earlier this year for the third time, and let me tell you, it is getting worse. We passed a number of bills in Congress imposing sanctions urging our allies like China and the League of Arab States to get involved, but we must do more.

Today, with the help of our good friend and great leader, Chairman Barney Frank, the Financial Services Committee Chair, we will take another step toward marking up my bill, H.R. 180, the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act, which authorizes States to divest from Sudan and bans new Federal contracts with companies doing business with the genocidal regime in Khartoum. We must keep the pressure on President Bashir and insist on unfettered access for the United Nations and African Union, and we must save Darfur.

Madam Chairman, I rise this evening to enter into a colloquy with the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Peterson), our distinguished chair of the Agriculture Committee.

And first, let me just thank the gentleman for his hard work on the farm bill reauthorization and his dedication to moving our Nation forward in the area of agriculture, nutrition, conservation and energy.

I want to applaud his efforts to accommodate the various caucuses and coalitions across the country and in Congress, including the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the California delegation and the Hunger Caucus.

Madam Chairman, I come to the floor today to raise the important issue of concern to me and members of the Congressional Black Caucus regarding the lifetime ban of eligibility of food stamps for formerly incarcerated persons who were convicted of drug offenses.

It makes no sense to single out this group. Most recent figures show that nearly 213,000 State inmates were released in 2005 after serving a sentence for a drug crime, and most recent Federal data shows that 24,400 Federal inmates were released in 2002. After they serve their time, they reenter society looking to improve themselves and their lives. The task of finding a job for formerly incarcerated individuals is often difficult and a daunting task. This effort is even more difficult if they want to go back to school, be it for their GED or college degree. In these instances, they are unable to access many of the resources available to others, including food stamps.

The inequity to this group couldn't be clearer. Drug offenses account for more than 50 percent of the crimes committed by Federal prisoners and more than 20 percent of State prisoners, most of whom are nonviolent offenders. With factors such as poverty and lack of access to educational resources, coupled with the lack of sufficient legal resources, this issue disproportionately affects the African American community.

In 1996, the Congress, in an overzealous attempt to appear tough on crime, included in the Welfare Reform bill a provision that excluded formerly incarcerated persons from receiving food stamp benefits for life. This is a lifetime ban if they have ever been convicted of a drug crime.

So Madam Chair, that is why I offered an amendment to the rule to H.R. 2419 to strike this ban. Although the amendment was not made in order, I strongly believe that this is an unfair and unjust policy which must be addressed.

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he said ``An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.''

Madam Chairman, this policy has created a slippery slope, one that can be used to cherry-pick certain segments of the population who can eat, basically, while others must scrape and scramble for the basics.

Once someone has served their debt to society, they should be able to have access to the minimum amount of food vital to their survival while they get their lives together.

So I hope that I can work together with the distinguished Chair of the Ag Committee to ensure that this grave inequity is corrected.

Madam Chairman, let me take this opportunity to thank the gentleman for his attention to this issue, and I look forward to working with him to ensure that it is addressed. And I want to congratulate him on putting together the coalition for this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding and for his leadership. Also, I would like to thank our Speaker, our leadership, Chairman Skelton, Chairman Lantos, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and others for really bringing this critical measure to a vote today.

What this legislation does is really simple. It does what the Iraq Study Group and other experts have recommended that we do. It makes a clear state of policy that the United States does not intend to maintain an open-ended military presence in Iraq and that we will not exercise control over Iraqi oil, and it backs up that policy with the power of the purse.

And the President and his administration to this date, and I mean to this

date, have not made a clear statement of this policy. Putting Congress on record with this clear statement helps take the target off our troops' backs; it supports our goals of handing over responsibility for security and public safety to Iraqi forces.

Mr. Speaker, the perception that the United States plans to maintain a permanent military presence in Iraq strengthens the insurgency and fuels the violence against our troops. That is why experts ranging from former adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority Larry Diamond to the Iraq Study Group have called on the President to make a clear statement of policy that the United States does not intend to maintain permanent military bases or an open-ended military presence in Iraq.

Unfortunately, the administration has refused to do that. In fact, there are conflicting accounts as to who will decide if we stay in Iraq permanently. When the President was asked that question at a press conference last October he said: ``Any decisions on permanency in Iraq will be made by the Iraqi Government.'' But when Secretary Gates was asked is our presence left up to the Iraqis, or do we make the decision in testimony before the Senate this February, Secretary Gates said, we will make this decision.

More recently the administration has further muddied the waters by saying that they envision a United States military presence in Iraq similar to that we have in South Korea where American troops have been stationed for more than 50 years and won't be leaving anytime soon.

We must soundly reject the vision of an open-ended occupation as bad policy which undermines the safety of our troops, and we must recognize it for what it is: Another recruiting posture for terrorists.

To those who raise objections or want to suggest this is only a symbolic measure, or raise semantic questions about what a permanent base is, let me say this: This is a serious issue, and I think we should all recognize how much is at stake.

The question is simple: Do we support an endless occupation, or do we oppose it? We may disagree on many things about Iraq, but I hope we can agree that an endless occupation is not the answer. Let's make that commitment today. Let's put the so-called Korea model to bed, and let's tell our young men and women that when they come home, they will all come home. Let's pass this legislation, and I want to thank Congresswomen Woolsey and Waters, and Congressmen Price and Allen for their support.

Mr. Chairman, let me thank the gentleman from New York for yielding and also for his leadership and for continuing to beat the drum on this very, very important issue.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment is about allowing State governments to provide relief for a small, very important group of people who are suffering from chronic pain or terminal illness. This amendment does not encourage or make legal the recreational use of marijuana. Eleven States, including my home State of California, have legalized medical marijuana, with clear guidelines for doctors' approval before usage.

For example, a constituent from Oakland, Angel Raich, has been diagnosed with more than 10 serious medical conditions, including an inoperable brain tumor. Ms. Raich and others who use medical marijuana are simply trying to relieve their crushing pain while following the guidelines and laws that their doctors and the States have already established. Taxpayer dollars shouldn't be spent on sending seriously or terminally ill patients to jail. Their doctors, not Congress, should decide which drugs will work best.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment and ensure that patients' rights are upheld. This is the right thing to do. This is the compassionate thing to do. This is about health care.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from New York again for once again offering this amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I want to clarify a statement from my earlier remarks regarding life expectancy in the United States versus other nations. Cuba does not rank ahead of the United States in life expectancy. A person born in the U.S. can expect to live 78 years and those born in Cuba 77.08 years. Cuba's life expectancy rates are comparable to rates for the United States despite the fact that their spending on healthcare, per capita, is less than $50 and the United States' spending per capita is almost $7000.

We also have a comparable ranking on World Health Organization's list for over all health, with the U.S. ranked 37th and Cuba ranked 39th.

We spend more money on healthcare than any other nation in the world and yet the United States ranks 23rd in infant mortality among industrialized nations, behind nations like Germany, Canada and Cuba.

We used to be first in life expectancy in 1945, now, according to the Central Intelligence Agencies World Fact Book, we rank 45th. We must act to reverse this downward slide in the health of our Nation and the most vital step is to revitalize our commitment to universal access to healthcare, primary care and a healthcare home for every single person in America.

Madam Speaker. I would also like to thank Congressman Davis for his leadership on this issue, and for introducing H.R. 1593, The Second Chance Act, which injects a much needed dose of reality into this debate.

The reality is, recidivism rates continue to rise with nearly 70 percent of released offenders returning to prison within 3 years. By releasing ex-offenders back into our communities without arming them with the necessary tools for survival, we are condemning them to repeat their past mistakes. And this does nothing to reduce the crime rate and provide for safe communities.

Today, we can change the landscape of ex-offender re-entry programs in this country. We need to make rehabilitation a reality not just an abstract proposal. By providing all formerly incarcerated individuals with greater access to education, health care, job placement, and drug treatment we will reduce recidivism rates across the board.

Re-entry programs are critical to reintegrating ex-offenders into civil society. Up to 60 percent of ex-offenders are unemployed a year after their release and up to 30 percent go directly to homeless shelters upon their release. The incidence of drug use among ex- offenders is over 80 percent, twice the rate of the United States population. It's more than clear that something needs to be done.

Madam Speaker, this legislation is especially important to me due to large number of formerly incarcerated prisoners in my district. I am currently helping those who qualify to legally clean up their records. Following the lead of my colleague from Illinois, Congressman Danny Davis, I have hosted two Record Remedy summits in my district. These summits are a resource for the nearly 10,000 people who come back to my District every year after having served their time in jail. We have a vested interest in making sure that people reentering our community do so successfully. Help with cleaning their records provides an opportunity for a second chance to read an application, get a job or go back to school.

Madam Speaker, our criminal justice systems are sorely in need of reform. We must provide formerly incarcerated individuals with the required skills to successfully reenter our communities. And, we must end the cycle of injustice that is perpetuated by a system that continues to punish people, long after they have paid their debt to society. H.R. 1593, the Second Chance Act, is a critical step forward. No one condones criminal activity but I tell you once one serves their time, they should be able to feed their family and move on with their lives.

I urge my colleagues and support the Second Chance Act.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize and offer my personal congratulations to Dr. Melissa Barber, Dr. Evelyn Erickson, Dr. Carmen Landau, Dr. Toussaint Reynolds, Dr. Teresa Thomas, Dr. Wing Wu and especially my two constituents, Dr. Jose de Leon and Dr. Kenya Bingham, who will all be graduating on July 24, 2007 from the Latin American School of Medical Sciences. They have all traveled a long road to earn Medical Doctorates in Havana, Cuba.

These dedicated doctors overcame immense hurdles to complete their medical educations. They not only had to face 6 years away from home, but had to pursue their educations in Spanish after attending a 12-week intensive language program. They had to complete their studies cut off from their families and uncertain about their futures due to the draconian Cuban embargo that continues to threaten this excellent program. I was proud to have initiated the scholarship program, along with other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, after a visit to Cuba in 2000. I am also proud to support the students' ability to travel to Cuba and I hope to encourage more students to take advantage of this incredible opportunity to bring access to healthcare back to those who need it most.

These pioneering students of medicine should be recognized for not only the many challenges that they had to overcome, but also for their dedication to service. They had to commit to serve in medically underserved communities, back home in the United States, in order to receive their free medical education in Cuba. The Cuban government offers 250 full scholarships each year for students from the United States to study medicine there. Tuition, dormitory room and board, and textbooks are all provided free of charge and allow students who might otherwise not have the resources to pursue medical degrees in the United States to become doctors and to serve the uninsured and underinsured who too often fall through the cracks of our for-profit healthcare industry.

It is my hope that what these doctors have achieved will not only bring desperately needed health care to the uninsured, but will also serve as an example to the healthcare industry, the American people and the Members of this Congress, that health care is a basic human right, not a privilege.

Let me thank the gentleman for yielding and for your diligence in this debate.

Madam Chairman, I would like to briefly make a couple of points with regard to this whole notion of government excess. When you look at, for example, the military budget, we all support a strong national security, a strong military.

However, a military budget of close to $500 billion, when you look at the waste, fraud and abuse that is in this budget, and also when you look at a measly $60 billion that should be cut in Cold War era weapons systems, I can't, for the life of me, figure out why we shouldn't get the kind of scrutiny and the laser focus on this government excess over at the Pentagon. It makes a lot of sense to me if you really want to put your deeds and your words into some kind of real action as it relates to our Federal budget.

Also, let me just say something about these across-the-board cuts and who they impact. When you look at our future, when you look at our young people, when you look at individuals who deserve a second chance such as ex-offenders who had done their time who now want to pick up with their lives, who need education, job training, vocational training, when you look at our health care system that is in shambles, when you look at our young people and the drop-out rates and the type of after-school programs and drop-out prevention programs that we are talking about, these across-the-board cuts in many ways would decimate these programs. That means that certain segments of our society who need this safety net and need these initiatives would just drop through the safety net, whatever is left of that safety net. For the most part, it has been decimated over the last few years.

Also, many of these people do pay Federal taxes and they deserve some of their Federal taxes back. I hear you all talk about tax cuts, and the American people deserving their tax dollars back to spend more, right? Fine. Many of these programs that you are talking about cutting are programs that are designed to help those who do pay tax, and who do deserve some of their Federal taxes back and who do deserve to live and seek the American dream, just like anybody else who makes $100,000 more or more.

I would hope that some type of rational thinking would prevail out of this debate today and rethink some of these notions of cutting initiatives and cutting the safety net out of those that really need it the most, those that the American dream is still a nightmare for and those that, if we listened and did all that you want us to do, we would have more homeless on the streets. We would have more people just hanging on in the twilight of their lives. I think that we need to know that this budget that the chairman has crafted today really will help enhance the quality of life for millions of Americans.

Mr. Chairman, let me thank you, first of all, for your support of Historically Black Colleges and Universities over the years. In subcommittee I know we did increase this a significant amount.

The gentleman's amendment which he has presented today is worthy of consideration. I just want to say why, as a person from California, Historically Black Colleges and Universities are important.

Several years ago, the Governor of the State of California ended affirmative action. Very few African American and Latino students now are able to attend the University of California, and that is a tragedy. What we have found is that the majority of African American students now are going from California to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. They have saved the day for our young people in California. So I am very clear on what may or may not happen. I look forward to working with you and the chairman as we go to conference on this.

But I just want to say on behalf of those African American students in California, that they need as many opportunities as they can get because of what happened in terms of the decimation of equal opportunity programs and initiatives that would allow them into the University of California.

Mr. Chairman, first let me thank our chairman for yielding and just say to him once again thank you for a bill which really does make the forward-thinking investments in our Nation that we so critically need.

The values of a country are really demonstrated through its funding priorities, and I think when you look at this subcommittee and the priorities of it, we can really determine what our great Nation values as being a priority. So let me, even though I talked for a few minutes yesterday, I want to make a few general remarks about some additional issues that this bill addresses.

First, let me just briefly discuss how this bill addresses the dropout crisis that this Nation is facing.

Forty years ago the United States was number one in the world in terms of high school graduation rates. Today it ranks seventh. About one-third of the students who enter ninth grade each fall will not graduate from high school within 4 years, if at all. High school students living in low-income families drop out of school at six times the rate of their peers from high-income families.

Dropout rates are especially high in communities of color. Only about 55 percent of African American students and 52 percent of Hispanic students graduate on time from high school with a regular diploma, compared with 78 percent of white students.

Now, in my district in Oakland, California, which is not unlike other districts in urban communities, the graduation rate for African American males is 26 percent, mind you, 26 percent. That is about a 75 percent dropout rate, compared to 57 percent of the graduation rate for white males, which still is deplorable.

We must do better by our children. Nothing less than the future of this country is at stake. Yes, black and Latino and low-income children deserve a piece of the American Dream also. That is why I am so pleased that this bill recognizes that and invests in dropout prevention.

It includes millions of dollars to increase elementary and secondary counseling, a $40 million increase in TRIO, $20 million in GEAR UP. Also we add $125 million in 21st Century Community Learning Centers for before and after-school programs.

And let me just mention and highlight the 77 percent increase in comprehensive school counseling, which involves making sure that our teachers are freed up to do what they do best, and that is teach. This increase allows for counselors, psychologists, social workers, and psychiatrists to really help in our schools in terms of making sure that young people who are demonstrating the need for intervention early on receive the type of assistance

before the situation gets out of control. This is so critical in terms of school safety because, of course, many of the issues that we have witnessed around the country in terms of violence on campuses, if we had just intervened earlier with the proper support staff, counselors, social workers, those situations may not have occurred. So I am very pleased that we have an increase for our counseling program.

Another critical issue facing many of our communities is the issue of re-entry and ex-offender programs, which this bill recognizes and makes a modest increase with a little bit over $26 million in reintegration and ex-offender programs and real focuses on youthful offenders. We must do everything to prevent, I mean prevent, the vicious cycle of recidivism in this Nation, and that means working to ensure that re- entry programs are available. So this bill recognizes that employment and mentoring and transitional services do reduce recidivism and help individuals stay out of jail. So this provision is an excellent crime prevention measure which also helps formerly incarcerated individuals get their lives together.

On the issue of HIV/AIDS, of course, this bill provides important increases in funding for our domestic HIV/AIDS programs. Specifically, the addition of $100 million for the Ryan White CARE Act and the additional $3.5 million is especially welcomed given the largely flat funding we have had for this important program.

The state of emergency in my district is a state of emergency as it relates to the African American community and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We need really to declare a state of emergency nationally. We need a Federal state of emergency as it relates to HIV/AIDS.

Finally, let me just say thank you, Mr. Chairman, for recognizing the fact that there is a disparity in the rates of unemployment in the black community and in the Latino community and in the Native American community and for directing the Secretary of Labor to develop a specific plan to develop these disparities.

Thank you very much for a great bill, Chairman Obey.

Amendment Offered by Mr. Davis of Kentucky

I want thank the gentlewoman from Wisconsin for her leadership on this issue.

Madam Chairman, when we took this up in the full committee, I raised this with the chairman. At the time, he committed to working with us on this issue. I am glad we have the opportunity to do that this evening.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus communicated our concern to Chairman Obey, who understood its importance.

In closing, let me just say that Congress has actually rebuffed attempts to eliminate or replace Upward Bound programs in the past. So the administration did administer these absolute priority initiatives which really does include a very unethical and immoral study at the expense of our young people.

I want to once again thank the gentlelady from Wisconsin for raising this and for making sure that we were aware of all the issues and the facts around this. I want to thank the chairman very much for accepting this tonight.

Madam Chairman, let me thank the chairman and our ranking member and our staff for their very diligent and brilliant work, really, in crafting this bipartisan bill. As a new member of the committee and the subcommittee, it has been a true honor to work with the chairman and our staff and our ranking member on this bill.

I must tell you, we had our work cut out for us because of the deep draconian cuts that the President proposed and because of the President's priorities of tax cuts for the rich and the invasion and occupation of Iraq. I am pleased that this bill rejects most of those cuts and makes the kinds of investments that recognize that an educated and skilled workforce and a healthy population are the backbone of our national security.

Let me highlight a few of these investments.

First, in the area of education, this bill invests in strengthening our minority-serving institutions by providing a $249.5 million for our Historically Black Colleges and Universities, which is an $11.4 million increase over FY 2007 levels, and also we increased by $4.5 million above FY 2007 the President's request for our Hispanic-serving institutions.

With regard to helping our low-income students go to college, we have increased TRIO and GEAR UP, which really do provide first generation college students the resources to enter and complete college.

With several universities in my district, we have increased the maximum Pell Grant, which will benefit millions of students which I know my district truly will benefit from.

On the issue of economic opportunity and a trained, skilled workforce, this bill reverses deep cuts in workforce training and requires the Secretary of Labor to provide a plan to address the huge dramatic disparities in unemployment in the African American and other communities of color.

We have increased, actually, by $100 million the Ryan White CARE Act, which, of course, is our HIV and AIDS funding.

Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Madam Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to the Barton amendment. This issue of HIV and AIDS, first of all, is a matter of life and death, and I don't want to see us tamper around with the language which we have in this bill.

Despite the inclusion of language in the Ryan White Reauthorization Act to protect against these drastic cuts that would destabilize existing systems of HIV and AIDS, one jurisdiction's award was cut by 31 percent, or $8.6 million. Several other jurisdictions also received larger than anticipated cuts. So the language that we have creates just really a stop loss effort that doesn't prevent further cuts but just reduces losses to a level that a jurisdiction can absorb in one fiscal year, which still to me is just not acceptable, but it is the best we can do in this bill. For instance, as we said earlier, the San Francisco EMA will still receive a $2.3 million cut.

The language also caps losses for eligible metropolitan areas like San Francisco at 8.4 percent, which represents the 5 percent hold harmless loss that was agreed to in last year's reauthorization plus the average loss for all title I jurisdictions, which was 3.4 percent. Also, the losses for transitional grant areas which were not protected by the hold harmless in the reauthorization will be capped at 13.4 percent.

We heard earlier some of the jurisdictions that were included in the chairman's mark, but in addition there is Jersey City, New Jersey; Dutchess County, New York; and others.

My colleague from California just mentioned over 20,000 people have died from AIDS in the San Francisco EMA, and AIDS continues to be the second leading cause of premature death in the city and county of San Francisco. Also, nearly 23,000 people are currently living with HIV and AIDS, more than at any point in the history of the epidemic. San Francisco also has the third largest cumulative number of AIDS cases in the country. In fiscal 2006, San Francisco's EMA received about $27 million. In fiscal year 2007, it is only $18 million. This represents again, what I said earlier, a 31.4 percent reduction.

Provisions were included in last year's reauthorization to prevent drastic cuts of this sort, and we don't believe HRSA properly interpreted these provisions.

I hope that we oppose the Barton amendment. We do not need any more destabilizing initiatives that would affect people's lives. This is a matter of life and death. We need to look at how we can begin to move forward to make sure that all of those that need the HIV/AIDS services receive those services in terms of care, treatment, and prevention, and start looking at how to do that rather than do the things that the Barton amendment does. So I urge us to oppose this amendment.

Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Madam Chairman, I rise to strongly oppose the amendment proposed by the gentlewoman from Colorado.

First of all, as one who wrote the initial legislation that established the framework for the Global Fund, I want the gentlewoman to know that the Global Fund is the only international organization multilateral that is providing for care, prevention and treatment of those living with HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. It is a very successful effort. We have major international partners. We are the largest contributor to the fund. And I believe, and she can correct me if I am wrong, that the cut that she is talking about references a prior director of the fund who is no longer there. And, in fact, the fund has reorganized, is moving forward, and is doing quite well. And we discussed this in the subcommittee and we had testimony. We met with the officers and directors, the new executive director of the funds, and I would hate to see us cut a nickel from the Global Fund because we need every dime we can get to make sure that we address this global pandemic that is killing so many, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean.

Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise to address the continuing tragedy of racial and ethnic disparities in America. I want to commend my colleague, the gentlelady from Ohio, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, and my colleague, our great Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congresswoman Carolyn Kilpatrick, for tonight calling us all together later in a Special Order.

I would like to talk just very briefly in support of the efforts of my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus to highlight health care as a central and important policy issue in the 110th Congress and to call for an end to racial and ethnic health disparities.

We must no longer turn a blind eye to the continuing pattern of racial bias in the delivery of health care in America. The fact is that if you are a person of color, are poor or speak a different language and walk into a hospital in need of care, you are less likely to be diagnosed correctly, less likely to receive the accepted standard of care and less likely to walk out. It is a death sentence for millions of Americans.

It is appalling that our Nation cannot commit the resources necessary to eliminate once and for all the devastating impact of unequal health care delivery in America. We must root out the causes of the continuing discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities in our health care system.

We must increase the diversity in the professional health care provider workforce. Health care must be delivered in a culturally and linguistically appropriate way without having to turn to intermediaries or family members to relay private information, health information. Funding research into the reasons for the different rates of disease incidence and minority populations must be a national priority.

While Latinos and African Americans make up over 25 percent of the U.S. population, they account for more than 67 percent of newly reported AIDS cases. Diseases that primarily impact communities of color continue to be neglected. We must commit to providing access to comprehensive preventive care, educational outreach, health screenings and follow-up consultation for at-risk populations.

Our health care system is broken. Health care should be a right, not a privilege. We spend more money on health care than any other Nation in the world; yet the United States ranks 23rd, 23rd in infant mortality among industrialized nations. We ranked 67th in immunization rates overall, right behind Botswana. We were first in life expectancy in 1945, and now we rank 20th behind nations like Canada, Britain, France and Cuba.

In the 1960s, I lived in Great Britain, and I was exposed to the assurance that the British public had in their access to quality health care with the British national health service. We in America can do better. We must do better. We can ensure that every person in America be treated equally, given a fair and thorough diagnosis and be treated with the most up-to-date treatments that are available. We must remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

In any hospital on any given day or night, in communities with large numbers of people of color and African Americans, the poor, you will witness this terrible health care crisis firsthand. Just go to an emergency room and see who needs medical attention, emergency or not.

It's about time that we invest resources to close these deadly, and that's what they are, they are deadly disparities. We need to enact universal health care for all.

America is the wealthiest industrialized country in the world. It is a shame and disgrace that over 47 million have no health insurance and that such a large percentage are African Americans, Latinos and Asian Pacific Americans.

What is wrong with this picture? I just want to commend, again, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones and the Congressional Black Caucus; and also our Tri-Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Asian Pacific American Caucus for insisting, and I mean insisting, that this House of Representatives begin to focus on closing these deadly health care disparities among communities of color.

Mr. Speaker, first let me thank Chairman Skelton for yielding, but also for his commitment to our Armed Forces, as the daughter, Mr. Skelton, of a 25-year Army veteran who loves you dearly and thanks you for supporting our troops.

As a cofounder of the Out of Iraq Caucus, I rise in support of this bill. The President has dug us deep into a hole in Iraq. By setting a clear timeline for the redeployment of United States troops, we are standing with the American people to stop the digging. If we are to climb out of this deep hole, we are going to have to make sure that when our troops come home that they all come home. That means no permanent bases. It means ending our blind commitment to arming and training Iraqi security forces. It also means that come September, we must use the power of our purse, and we must begin to fully fund the safe redeployment of our young men and women and our contractors out of Iraq.

The civil war in Iraq is raging within the very security forces we are arming and training. Our weapons and expertise are being used for sectarian violence and for killing Americans and Iraqi civilians. This policy only further endangers our troops and fuels a civil war.

We must end the Bush administration's failed policy in Iraq. It has failed. We must reconsider this blind commitment to arming and training Iraqi security forces.

Let us support our troops, and I mean support our troops in a real way, by bringing them home. This is the will of the American people. That is the goal of the Out of Iraq Caucus. That is in the national security interests of our country.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman, once again, for his leadership and for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, first let me thank the gentlelady for yielding, and also for your leadership, and for bringing together today a very fair rule.

I rise in strong support of this rule and in strong support of this bill, the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2007. And I want to commend, first of all, our committee chairman, Mr. Frank, and our subcommittee chairwoman, Congresswoman Waters, for their leadership and for their hard work in crafting this bill.

As a former member of the Financial Services Committee, actually a member of Congresswoman Waters' Subcommittee on Housing, I had the opportunity to work with my colleagues on earlier versions of this bill, and this end product contains many important updated provisions. For example, this bill permits families to use housing vouchers as a down payment on a first-time home purchase. The goal of home ownership is necessary to help stabilize family units, promote gainful employment, and restore pride and dignity to many low-income families. It is the primary path to wealth accumulation in America for ordinary folks who don't have stock accounts and who can't play in the stock market and on Wall Street. It's the way to achieve the American Dream for most folks in America. And so home ownership is extremely important, and this bill offers that opportunity.

It also offers a number of changes that protect and benefit tenants. Examples include the portability provisions that preserve voucher families' ability to move to other areas as they determine. They deserve that right and should be able to do that. It provides for more accurate and fair market rent calculation. And it also protects voucher holders in units that are in need of repairs.

Section 8 housing vouchers provide the security of affordable housing to many low-income families, the elderly, people with disabilities, and others who need this type of rental assistance. This leads to stronger families and safer communities, and it does prevent homelessness.

There is a housing crisis in America. This bill is a major step forward in addressing it.

Madam Speaker, let me first thank the gentlelady for yielding and for her leadership on this issue and on so many issues that affect those who have no voice in our own country and throughout the world.

I rise in strong support of this resolution, which calls on the United States, the United Nations and the government of Colombia to recognize 2007 as the Year of the Rights of the Internally Displaced Persons in Colombia.

And let me thank my colleague, Mr. McGovern of Massachusetts, for being such a leader on this issue and on his tireless work to end human rights abuses around the world, particularly in Latin America, now as a Member of Congress but also in his prior life as a staff member. He is truly committed to ending human rights abuses, and his life's work is about that. So I thank him, and congratulations on this resolution.

Madam Speaker, after Sudan, Colombia has the largest number of internally displaced persons. Estimates range from 2 million to 3.6 million persons. Less than one-third of IDPs receive emergency assistance, and many have to wait months to receive that emergency aid.

Of those IDPs, traditionally marginalized, and I mean marginalized, Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities have been disproportionately affected.

In 1993, the National Development Plan for the Afro-Colombian population awarded land titles to protect ancestral property rights. Madam Speaker, in recent years Afro-Colombians have been forcibly displaced from more than half of their land. The April 2001 massacre of Afro-Colombians in the Naya region brought international attention to the plight of these communities. This resolution takes a very important step towards ending the violence and terror that Colombia's internally displaced persons have faced.

I hope all of us support this resolution. I am very delighted that this is a bipartisan resolution. I want to commend again Mr. McGovern for this. We must end this grave injustice.