Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, on June 13, 2005 I missed rollcall votes Nos. 241 and 242. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on S. 643 and H.R. 2326.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) for the time and also for

his leadership on this very important issue.

I rise in strong support of this amendment to repeal section 215 of the PATRIOT Act and to restore the freedom to read, and that is what this is about.

Millions of Americans, including my constituents, are especially incensed with section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. Under this provision the FBI has the power to search for any tangible things, including books, records, papers, documents and other items, in any location after showing minimal justification.

Across this Nation, local governments representing more than 52 million people have denounced the entire PATRIOT Act and the unconstitutional invasion of privacy it represents. The PATRIOT Act was hastily drafted and is far overreaching. It is contrary to the fundamental principles for which we stand, and section 215 is especially chilling.

Families should not be afraid to check out children's books for fear that they may be investigated for collaborating with terrorists. Section 215 is un-American. This is not the way to combat terrorism.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary career and achievements of civil rights attorney John L. Burris of Oakland, California. Throughout his legendary career, John has provided hope and help to people who fall victim to the inequities inherent in our justice system. A leading civil rights advocate for more than 25 years, John has changed the

course of thousands of lives through his work on behalf of individual clients, and through the systemic changes his work has affected.

John was inspired to enter the legal profession after interviewing a number of lawyers in the black community for a research paper he was writing as a student at U.C. Berkeley's Haas School of Business. While working as an accountant and later attending business school in the late 1960s, he was deeply moved by the struggle for civil rights. During these socially and politically volatile years, he was affected most by the use of attack dogs and other brutal tactics by the police against peaceful civil rights activists. After successfully completing his MBA at Haas, where he helped found the National Black MBA Association and served as the president of the local chapter, he entered U.C. Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law in 1970 to study criminal defense and civil rights law.

John first made his mark in the civil rights arena with the publication of the ``Burris Reports I and II,'' which were the culmination of his investigation into the shooting of 15-year-old Melvin Black by Oakland police officers in 1979. Oakland Mayor Lionel Wilson appointed John as an independent investigator of this case, and his findings provided an in-depth evaluation of flaws inherent in the law enforcement system, and of the urgent need for reform. The result for John has been over two and a half decades of work dedicated to redress for individuals and systemic reform that will decrease the number of people who need this kind of assistance. Furthermore, throughout his professional career, he has taken on extensive pro bono work, helping countless individuals and families to get their cases handled with efficiency, efficacy and compassion in a legal system that where these attributes are often lacking.

Though John's service to our community in the area of civil rights is truly unparalleled, his devotion to improving the lives of others extends far beyond the realm of direct legal assistance. In addition to his active membership in the National Bar Association, the American Association of Trial Lawyers and the National Lawyers' Guild, he was a founding member of the California Association of Black Lawyers and has done presentations and advocacy work in areas including sexual harassment, racial profiling, affirmative action, hate crimes and cameras in the courtroom. John has spoken in churches around the Bay Area on topics such as leadership, diversity and black family life, and has sponsored local youth athletic teams for over ten years.

John has also spoken at a number of local institutions of higher education, such as U.C. Berkeley, Golden Gate University, Vista Community College, and the law schools at Berkeley, Hastings, and Stanford University. At each institution he has taken the time to reach out to and mentor students at various stages of their education, providing them with advice and guidance, and often times employing them at his law offices. His legal work and community service have been recognized in a number of different forums throughout his life, and he has received dozens of prestigious awards such as the Clinton White Outstanding Trial Advocacy A ward, the Pueblo Local Hero Award, and the Peace and Justice Award from California State University, Sacramento's Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution.

On June 11, 2005, the friends and family of John Burris will gather to celebrate the seminal achievements and tireless advocacy that have marked his career. In Oakland and across the country, John is known for being the champion of people whose rights, and indeed whose humanity, have been ignored by the law enforcement and criminal justice systems. As a result of John's commitment to helping others, thousands of lives have been changed, and on behalf of the 9th Congressional District, I salute and thank him for his service to Oakland, the Bay Area, the state of California and our entire country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraodinary career and achievements of Judy Goff of Alameda, California. Judy has been a dynamic and innovative leader in the labor community for more than 30 years, and today receives the Central Labor Council (CLC) of Alameda County, AFL-CIO's Lifetime Achievement Award as Unionist of the Year.

Judy is currently the Executive Secretary Treasurer Emeritus of the CLC of Alameda County, AFL-CIO, representing 135 unions and over 126,000 working families. She is known not only for her historic policy reforms in favor of immigrants' and workers' rights, but

has also made a tremendous impact within and outside of the labor community as the fIrst woman in California's history to hold many of the executive positions in which she has served held throughout her career.

Judy is a graduate of Holy Names College in Oakland, where she earned a degree in psychology. She is a former Alameda County social worker, and has worked with the General Assistance Program, providing assistance to single adults with substance dependency problems, and also with the Children's Protective Services Program.

Judy's labor career began when she joined the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 535 in 1972. She first ran for union office in 1973, becoming a member of the Alameda County Chapter Executive Board, a Delegate to the statewide Executive Board, and a Delegate to the Central Labor Council of Alameda County.

In 1976, Judy made history by becoming the first woman elected as statewide president of SEIU Local 535. In that capacity she worked tirelessly to defend the rights of those in need, testifying before Congress as well as the California State Legislature on welfare reform, and advocating for increases in funding for programs that served youth, the disabled, and older adults.

In another historic moment, Judy was elected as president of the Central Labor Council of Alameda County, AFL-CIO in 1983, making her the fIrst woman to serve in that position within any major labor council in California history. Under her leadership, the CLC introduced a resolution to the national AFL-CIO calling for major policy reforms on immigration and workers' rights. Additionally, as part of the Labor Immigrant Organizing Network, she worked to bring together union organizers and community groups to advocate for immigrant rights. During her tenure, the Central Labor Council was also successful in working to pass living wage ordinances in the cities of Berkeley, Oakland and Hayward, as well as at the Port of Oakland.

During the past three decades, Judy's leadership on labor issues has also expanded to include a number of academic and community organizations. She is a member of the California State Assembly Speaker's Commission on Labor Education, and serves as a member of various labor-related advisory committees at San Francisco State University, Laney College and U.C. Berkeley. Judy serves on the board of the Bay Area Economic Forum and the steering committee of the Bay Dredging Action Coalition, and is a member of the Coalition on Labor Union Women AFL-CIO.

On June 10, 2005, friends and members of the labor community will gather to honor the contributions that Judy Goff has made to the circumstances of working people in Alameda County and throughout the State of California. Throughout the past three decades, Judy's work has consistently served to support workers' rights, diversity, fairness, and economic and social justice. The result has not only been a consistent improvement in the lives of working people in Alameda County, but an improvement in the quality of life for all people throughout the Easy Bay. On behalf of the 9th Congressional District, I salute Judy Goff for her immeasurable contributions to our community, and thank her for fighting to protect the rights of workers of generations past, present and future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life and achievements of Dr. Wade W. Nobles of Oakland California, and the organization he founded, The Institute for the Advanced Study of Black Family Life and Culture, Inc. This month our community comes together to celebrate the Institute's 25th anniversary, and to recognize the groundbreaking work of its founder.

Dr. Nobles is a prominent theoretical scientist in the field of African Psychology and is one of the leading researchers in the area of Black family life and culture. He holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University, and has a special interest in the social, ethnic and cultural relativity of social science, research and evaluation models.

Dr. Nobles is a full-time, tenured professor in the Department of Black Studies in the School of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University. He is also the founder and director of the Center for Applied Cultural Studies and Educational Achievement (CACSEA), a California State University System educational research center dedicated to studying and developing models of culturally consistent educational methods.

In 1980 Dr. Nobles founded the Institute for the Advanced Study of Black Family Life and Culture, Inc. to address overarching issues of human development and transformation, while simultaneously developing and implementing educational and informational systems. As the Institute's Executive Director, Dr. Nobles has written and conducted over 67 funded, community-based research, training and development projects, including the HAWK Manhood Development and Transformation Rites of Passage Training Centers Program, which has over 15 sites throughout the U.S.

Dr. Nobles' work is widely known and respected, and in recognition of this he has been invited to serve on a number of advisory groups for the California state and federal governments. He has served as a delegate to the White House Conference on Families, and was also a member of the President's Commission on Mental Health. Furthermore, Dr. Nobles was appointed to serve on the California State Commission on the Status of African-American Males, a commission I created and presided over as a member of the California State Assembly in the mid-1990s.

Also contributing to the success and innovations of the Institute are Dr. Nobles' various professional and international affiliations. He was a founding member of the Association of Black Psychologists, an organization in which he has served as President and received numerous awards, such as Distinguished Psychologist of the Year. Furthermore, in the course of his research he has traveled widely, particularly in Africa. In 1996 he received the high honor of being enstooled as the Nkwasohene of Akwasiho-Kwahu Region of Ghana in West Africa, where he works very closely with the Akwasiho people on development issues.

On June 3, 4 & 5, 2005, we join together to celebrate the life and accomplishments of Dr. Nobles, as well as the impact his work and the work of the Institute have had on our society and institutions of higher learning. Structuring our education and socialization systems in a way that acknowledges the cultural background of the students that are to benefit from them is crucial to the intellectual and social development of our young people. Dr. Nobles' research, teachings and programs have truly revolutionized the way that education and development are now approached, and have made productive and happy lives possible for countless students who would not otherwise have had that opportunity. On behalf of the 9th Congressional District, I salute and thank Dr. Wade W. Nobles for his service to the Bay Area, the State of California, our country and the world.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and work of Arabella Martinez, a legendary figure in Oakland and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. For almost four decades, Arabella has been a tireless advocate for community and economic development within Oakland and beyond, and the scope of her exemplary work on behalf of her community is truly unparalleled. I take pride in adding my voice to those of my constituents in honoring Arabella today on the occasion of her retirement.

A student of social welfare, Arabella received both her BA and MA from the University of California at Berkeley. After receiving her degrees she became involved with the Community Service Organization, a Latino civil rights group.

In 1967, Arabella became the first executive director to the Spanish Speaking Unity Council. She is best known for her position as CEO of this council and for developing programs to build responsibility and economic preparedness in the Latino community. During this time, she helped build this organization into a strong economic development and community organization with considerable assets.

In 1974, Arabella took an absence from her work at the Unity Council and joined the Carter administration as assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. After her term in 1980, she returned to Oakland and worked for almost a decade as the President of the Center for Policy Development.

In 1992, Arabella returned to the Spanish Speaking Unity Council and helped the organization through complex financial problems. During her second term she spearheaded the Fruitvale BART project and sponsored the Fruitvale Community Collaborative. Both of these projects were formed to bring together residents, community groups, churches, schools, merchants, and agencies to improve the quality of life for children and families in the Oakland area.

Arabella is also involved with many organizations such as the National Council of La Raza, the Drug Abuse Council, The Women's Initiative for Self-Employment, the Oakland Business Development Corporation, the Bank of America's Police Advisory Committee, the Oakland Housing Authority, the Oakland Parks and Recreation Commission and the University/Oakland Metropolitan Forum. She has received numerous awards for her work, such as the Hank Rosso Outstanding Fundraising Professional A ward, the 1993 MTC Award, the David C. Lizarraga Community Development A ward, and the Oakland Citizen of the Year Award.

It is clearly evident through Arabella's activism that she is an extraordinary leader, friend and advocate for her community. Her exemplary humanism is an inspiration to us all, and it with great pride that I join the Oakland community in celebrating her accomplishments. On behalf of the 9th Congressional District, I salute and thank Arabella Martinez for the truly invaluable contributions and she has made to our community, and for the example she leaves for future generations to follow.

Mr. Speaker, there are many Caribbean Americans who have helped to shape American government, politics, business, arts, education, science and culture: Sidney Poitier, Tito Puente, Colin Powell, Edwidge Danticat, Harry Belafonte, Julia Alvarez, Kelsey Grammer, Wyclef Jean, Celia Cruz, Mervyn Dymally, Raul Julia, Jesus Colon, Gloria Estafan, Shirley Chisholm, Alex Rodriguez, and John Point du Sable. These are just a few Caribbean Americans who have contributed so much to the United States.

This year, I reintroduced a resolution which we introduced last year, H. Con. Res. 71. It is a bipartisan and long-overdue effort to create a national Caribbean American Heritage Month. I ask all of my colleagues to join me, the 72 cosponsors, and numerous Caribbean American voices from across the country who have supported this measure.

When we return from the Memorial Day recess, I hope the House will consider this bipartisan goodwill resolution that honors the legacy and the diversity of the Caribbean American community. It is long overdue.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life and achievements of Dr. James L. Rorie, M.D. of Oakland California. James was a passionate and widely respected physician, a leader in our community and a wonderful friend. After decades of service to his patients throughout Oakland and the East Bay, James passed away on May 15, 2005.

James L. Rorie was born on May 15, 1945 in Albemarle, North Carolina to James W. Rorie and Raddie Ewing Rorie. He graduated second in his class from the High School of Albemarle, and went on to earn his B.S. degree from North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina. After earning his college degree, James became a teacher at Kittrell Grade School in North Carolina, and later at St. Rita's Parochial School in New York. He then went on to teach physical science at Washington Irving Jr. High School in New York City, and also worked with his students as an assistant track coach.

During this time, James was also in the process of completing Summer Studies at North Carolina University, and later Post Graduate Studies at Columbia University in New York. In 1971, he entered medical school at the S.U.N.Y. Downstate Medical Center in New York, where he received his M.D. in 1976. James then did his four-year residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Metropolitan Hospital in New York, which he completed in 1980. Following his residency, he became a member of the National Medical Association, and in 1985, became board-certified by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

During the early 1980s, James remained in New York, working at the Woman Infant Care and P.A.A.M. Medical Clinics, and later as a clinical instructor at Metropolitan Hospital. In 1982, he relocated to Oakland, where he opened his own general Ob/Gyn practice, with an emphasis on infertility and laparoscopic surgery. James ran his practice from that time until the present, while simultaneously working as an on-call physician providing emergency room coverage in obstetrics and gynecology at the Alta Bates Summit Medical Centers in Oakland and Berkeley and for East Bay Medical Associates. For a number of years, he also served on the Board of Directors of the East Bay Surgery Center, and as the chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Oakhill Medical Group.

Though James' commitment to others was evident through his devotion to his patients, his concern for others extended beyond the medical field. He was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and also served on the board of directors of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and the Boys and Girls Club of Oakland. James was a devoted brother, father and friend, and is survived by his daughter Raina, his son James, his brothers Glen and Bobby, his sisters Eleanor and Shirley, his foster sister Vangie, and numerous other relatives, friends and colleagues.

On a very personal note, James Rorie, with great skill and compassion, brought my youngest granddaughter Simone Lee into the world on August 30, 2004. For this, I am deeply grateful and I will always remember Dr. Rorie as a competent physician, a good friend and a community leader.

On Sunday, May 22, 2005, we join together to celebrate the life of James L. Rorie, and everything he contributed to those around him during his lifetime. The impact he had on the lives of his patients and students is truly immeasurable, as was the effect he had on those of us who had the privilege of knowing him as relatives and as friends. The role played in our community by individuals as committed to serving others as James is of paramount importance in ensuring the health of our community and the well-being of our families and young people. On behalf of the 9th Congressional District, I salute James L. Rorie for a lifetime of service to others, and for his devotion to making our community a better place.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the Davis- Harman-Sanchez Amendment.

There are over 200,000 women serving on active duty in the United States military, and over 150,000 serving with the Guard or Reserve.

This common sense amendment allows these military women stationed overseas and their dependents to exercise the same rights as women in this country: The right to comprehensive family planning, including access to a safe, legal abortion.

This amendment does not allow one cent of taxpayer money to fund these procedures. It simply allows women to use their own money to pay for this procedure in an overseas military facility.

It makes no sense that we have asked these soldiers to serve our country and yet we cannot serve them with basic comprehensive health care.

Let us reject this administration's ongoing, politically and ideologically motivated war on women. Let's adopt this important common sense amendment. I urge a ``yes'' vote.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank my friend and cochair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey), for her leadership in offering this amendment.

I stand here today as the proud daughter of a veteran of two wars. Let me just say, this amendment says what we have been saying all along, and it is time to make it real in terms of supporting our troops. The way we support our troops is by developing a plan to get them out of harm's way and to bring them home.

To date, more than 1,600 American troops have given their lives, over 11,000 American troops have been injured, and over 17,000 innocent Iraqi civilians, including women and children, have died in a war that should never have started in the first place.

I distinctly remember the day in May 2003 when the President stood on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln and proclaimed, ``Mission Accomplished.'' Of course, the administration has

called off the search for weapons of mass destruction because there simply were not any. But the occupation still continues.

We have seen a war that has created a haven for terrorists in Iraq. We have seen troops become targets of the insurgency when they were supposed to be liberators.

Mr. Chairman, the President needs to be honest with the American people and tell us what his plan is, and that is what this amendment says. Give us a plan to bring our troops home. It is very important. We need an exit strategy.

The taxpayers have spent over $200 billion, soon to be $300 billion, and we have little or no accountability for where this money has gone.

I congratulate the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) for this amendment. We should adopt this amendment. We should send the signal that we support our troops, we love our troops, we value our troops, and we want them home.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this bill.

I would first like to thank the Chairman of the Subcommittee, Mr. Hobson, and the Ranking Member, Mr. Visclosky, for their work in putting together the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill.

I also want to thank both of them for including $48 million in the bill to continue funding the Port of Oakland's 50-foot dredging project in my district in California.

As the fourth largest container port in the country, the Port of Oakland serves as one of our premier international trade gateways to Asia and the Pacific.

The 50-foot dredging project will underpin an $800 million expansion project funded by the Port that will improve infrastructure, expand capacity and increase efficiencies throughout the distribution chain.

Once this project is finished, an additional 8,800 jobs will be added, business revenue will increase by $1.9 billion, and local tax revenues will go up by $55.5 million. Best of all, 100 percent of the dredged materials will be reused for wetlands restoration, habitat enhancement, and upland use within the San Francisco Bay Area.

I appreciate the Subcommittee's support for this project and I look forward to continuing to work with the Chairman and Ranking Member to complete it.

Mr. Speaker, as an original co-sponsor of H.R. 810, I rise in support of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act.

I want to applaud my colleagues Rep. Castle and Rep. DeGette for working together to introduce this common sense bi-partisan measure.

Mr. Speaker, we know that our population is aging. Debilitating chronic diseases like cancer, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and diabetes are becoming far more common.

Diabetes in particular is a huge problem, and like many other diseases, minority communities are disproportionately affected by it.

In my district in Alameda County, approximately 13.4 percent of African Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes compared to 4.5 percent of Whites. And the diabetes death rates of Latinos and African Americans are as high as 2-2.5 times those of Whites.

Expanding the number of embryonic stem cell lines available for research will assist scientists to develop therapeutic treatments and

cures for diabetes and a range of other diseases.

By passing this bill we will not only help to improve the health and well being of the public, but we will also help to eliminate future chronic health care costs and improve the health of our economy as a whole.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise truly disappointed at the decision of my colleagues in the other body to negotiate this lose-lose situation for minority and civil rights.

While I appreciate and understand my Senate colleagues and their desire to preserve the Senate tradition and to avoid the nuclear option which their leadership unfortunately threatened to use, I join with Senator Feingold, Chairman Watt and members of the Congressional Black Caucus in saying tonight that the deal that was brokered was a bad one for the American people. In the words of the Congressional Black Caucus today, we said that, one, we strongly oppose the deal that trades judges who oppose our civil rights for a temporary filibuster cease- fire.

This deal is more of a capitulation than a compromise. In fact, one of our Republican friends in the other body stated that she thinks that this deal really does help advance the goal of their majority leader.

This deal allows the right to filibuster only in extraordinary circumstances. There is no question in my mind that the judicial extremism of Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William Pryor constitute extraordinary circumstances. Nonetheless, the right to filibuster their nominations has been given away. I know that when it comes time to vote on their confirmation, Americans are going to be looking to Senators in both parties to reject them based on their extremist views.

The question I have about this deal is, who will really define what constitutes ``extraordinary circumstances''? I believe this deal weakens the filibuster and the principles of dissent and minority rights that it was designed to safeguard. As a minority, as a woman, as a Californian and as an American, the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is nothing short of an extraordinary circumstance.

The American public needs to understand that we are not bickering here about peanuts. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is widely regarded as the second most important court in America, second only to the United States Supreme Court. The court is a stepping stone to the United States Supreme Court. The D.C. Circuit has produced more justices to the Supreme Court than any other circuit court. For the rest of their lives, these judges have the potential to implement policies that affect all of us, not 52 percent or 48 percent, but 100 percent of the American public.

Let us look for a minute at Judge Brown's record. First, she authored an opinion that effectively ended meaningful affirmative action in California. Her opinion was severely criticized both on and off the court for its harsh rhetoric and its suggestion that affirmative action resembled racist and segregationist laws that predated landmark civil rights laws.

She has praised turn-of-the-century U.S. Supreme Court cases declaring maximum hour laws to be unconstitutional and called the decision reversing course and protecting workers the ``triumph of our own socialist revolution.'' I could go on and on about her judicial record, and I hope people take a good look at her record. If this does not constitute extraordinary circumstances, I do not know what will.

Let us look at Justice Pryor's record for just a minute whose nomination was given away in terms of the right to filibuster. Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, nominated for the 11th Circuit, has sought repeal of a critical section of the Voting Rights Act that has proved highly successful in overcoming the historical denial of the right to vote for African Americans.

He also believes that some rights now protected by the Constitution should be regarded as ``social disputes'' that would reduce rights that protect minority views to majority votes in the States. As an African American, again,

I believe that his nomination constitutes an extreme circumstance, an extraordinarily extreme circumstance; yet there can be no filibuster based upon this deal that was negotiated. His view that the eighth amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment does not bar certain inhumane treatment of prison inmates, and this was repudiated by the United States Supreme Court. Again, I believe this is an extraordinary circumstance which again was negotiated away.

The same thing, I hope people look at Justice Owen once again. She was nominated for the fifth circuit. She is known for her dissents opposing women's rights and reproductive rights and favoring corporate interests against consumers and workers.

Mr. Speaker, we are not talking about nominees with a record of impartiality and informed reflection when making decisions. These are administration choices who were nominated, nominated under the threat of a filibuster. Heaven knows whom the administration will nominate now that that threat is gone.

The American public needs to understand that this entire process, the entire process, just threatening the nuclear option, is an abuse of power. It was designed to water down our constitutional systems of checks and balances and to turn the Congress into a rubber stamp for the President.

So I appeal to my colleagues in the other body to uphold our constitutional system of checks and balances and to at least vote against these extreme nominees that are coming forward. Extraordinary circumstance, I ask the Members, what constitutes an extraordinary circumstance when we look at nominees who affect the decisions that affect our daily lives, our children's lives?

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the arts amendment, however, in strong opposition to this bill's environmental shortcomings.

First, I want to applaud the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter) and the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays), who are the co-chairs of our Arts Caucus, and their staffs for their leadership on this issue.

Providing for adequate resources to the National Endowment for the Humanities, which is the largest single funder of humanities programs in our country, and to the National Endowment for the Arts, the infrastructure for private nonprofit and federal arts initiatives, this should really be a very high priority for this body.

Mr. Chairman, my district, the Ninth Congressional District of California, ranks 24th in the country in the number of arts businesses and 46th in the country in the number of arts employees. Since we debated this amendment last year, there are 113 more arts-related businesses in my district, and that translates into more jobs for my constituents. Across the country there are more than 578,000 arts- centered businesses. This is really not a marginal group. The arts and humanities do constitute the pulse of our Nation.

Supporting this amendment is critical and should be noncontroversial. We already know that the economic downturn and our budget crisis are crippling arts initiatives all over this country. Many who are eager to restrict funding for the NEA and NEH forget that organizations which receive grants for these institutions include the museums, performing and visual arts, film, radio, television, design, publishing, and educational facilities in all of our districts.

In Oakland, one of the cities in my district, most arts education programs continue to face extinction, and the students in these communities are the ones who stand to benefit the most from arts education initiatives.

Performance and visual arts offer people of all ages, ethnic and social and economic backgrounds opportunities for new experiences and constructive retreats. For example, the Berkeley-based California Shakespeare Theater, an arts education grants recipient, will offer student matinees and Arts Integration programs this year, which support student achievement and creativity and teacher professional development for some of the most underserved communities in my district.

Clearly, a vote against this amendment, which is endorsed by our bipartisan Arts Caucus, is really a vote against the vital thread which sustains the pulse of our country. The long-term economic and social impact of a minute $10 million increase for the NEA and a $5 million increase for the NEH will be felt for generations. It is the very least we can do to promote and preserve American culture and heritage. It should not be controversial. The facts speak for themselves. If we cut arts funding, we cut jobs and opportunities for all. We all need to support the Arts Caucus bipartisan amendment.

I am appalled, however, by what this bill proposes to do to America's environment. Once more we are forced to vote on an Interior appropriations bill that is nothing less than an environmental disaster. This bill cuts funding for the EPA by $318 million. This bill cuts $241 million for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which is a 37 percent reduction for California. This bill eliminates $190 million for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. And this bill fails to make critical infrastructure investments in our National Parks System.

Overall, this bill represents a 3 percent cut in funding for our environmental programs and once again points to the misplaced priorities of this administration.

We need a bill that makes a strong commitment to protect the environment, our children's health, and our future. Unfortunately, this bill does not make that commitment.

Amendment Offered by Mrs. Cubin

Mr. Speaker, Senate Republicans, at the prodding of the White House, will soon attempt to abolish the use of the filibuster when it comes to judicial appointments. It is clear that the White House is encouraging this action so it can have more control over the United States Senate. For over 200 years the right to filibuster, or the right to unlimited debate, has been a Senate tool that encourages compromise and moderation. Compromise and moderation, not two words that you equate with either this House or the White House unfortunately.

President Bush does not like to compromise. That is why he is unhappy with having 95 percent of his judicial appointees approved by the Senate. Despite the fact that he has had more judges approved than any President since Reagan, Bush encouraged Senate Republicans to take the nuclear option by reappointing judges that could not receive bipartisan consensus during his first term.

The President is also not a moderate. He said that conservative judges Scalia and Thomas are his favorites on the Supreme Court.

The President is encouraging this extreme action so that he can eventually have Senate Republicans rubber stamp conservative justices to the Supreme Court, without any attempt to find common ground. This democracy should not tolerate this abuse of power.

Mr. Chairman, let me thank the gentleman from Minnesota for yielding me time, for his leadership, and also to the gentleman from Kentucky (Chairman Rogers) for his diligence, hard work, and leadership in bringing this bill to the floor.

Mr. Chairman, last month the port of Oakland in my district in California became the very first port in the Nation to fully install radiation portal monitors at every one of its international marine terminals. That means that every single container exiting the port of Oakland will be screened for nuclear weapons. As the fourth largest port in the Nation, that is almost 700,000 screened containers a year.

While Oakland can detect and prevent the entry of nuclear weapons into our country now, other ports around the Nation, unfortunately, cannot. We know that terrorist organizations are actively seeking nuclear weapons; but under this bill, our Nation's ports would not be fully equipped with radiation portal monitors until 2009. That is unacceptable.

The fact is this administration has consistently underfunded port security for years. The Coast Guard estimated in 2002 that we needed $7 billion for port security. In the last 4 years, Congress has only provided about $737 million, and this bill would add a meager $150 million.

So, Mr. Chairman, we cannot wait until a real attack occurs, and we need more money for port security now. So I hope that we make this commitment today as this bill moves forward.