Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, today we will vote on the energy bill, written by and for the energy industry in secret meetings with Vice President Cheney.

Tomorrow is Earth Day, and the theme this year is ``Protect our children and our future.'' Is this how the Republican Congress envisions celebrating Earth Day and protecting our children and the future?

This bill will pollute our air at a time when childhood asthma rates are growing. It exempts MBTE producers from poisoning our water and keeps us dependent on foreign oil. This environmentally irresponsible bill offers over $37 billion in tax breaks and subsidies to oil, coal, and nuclear power industries.

The energy industry does not need this money. In 2004 the profits of the top 10 oil and gas companies jumped by more than 30 percent.

The Republican Congress and the administration continue to prioritize short-term corporate profits over long-term health and safety of our children and our earth. We should be protecting our children, our future, and this planet. This energy bill destroys our environment. It is a danger to public health. It forces consumers to pay more for gas and keeps us dependent on foreign oil.

Madam Chairman, first, let me just say, I want to thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) for yielding me the time, for his leadership and the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson) for her leadership in making sure that this is a bipartisan amendment. Opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling is not the answer to our long-term energy or security needs.

The fact is, we are addicted to oil. The proponents of this bill would have you believe that the only way to cure an addict is to feed the addiction at whatever cost, regardless of the effect on the environment, on our wildlife, and on our public health.

As a psychiatric social worker by profession, I can tell you this does not work. We should be working to reduce our dependency by promoting energy efficiency and energy conservation, and funding research to develop and utilize clean and renewable sources of energy. By allowing drilling in the Arctic refuge, we are spoiling a pristine natural environment, we are furthering our dependence on oil, and we are contributing to high levels of asthma, such as in my own district in west Oakland and throughout the country.

Reducing dependencies on alcohol and on drugs leads to individuals leading clean and sober lives. Our country needs to reduce its dependency on oil, for a clean and sober and independent future is what our children deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and work of former Berkeley City Councilmember Margaret Breland of Berkeley, California. Serving the people of West Berkeley first as a private citizen and then as a public servant, Margaret devoted most of her adult life to improving conditions in a community she saw to be underrepresented and often overlooked. Margaret retired from the Berkeley City Council in November of 2004, and after a long battle with breast cancer, passed away on April 7, 2005.

Though Margaret was originally from Beaumont, Texas, she spent the majority of her life in Berkeley after moving there as a child with her family. The oldest of four children, she was counted on by her mother to help run the household. After graduating from Berkeley High School, Margaret became a licensed vocational nurse, an occupation in which she served for 27 years.

Margaret retired early from her work as a nurse to care for her mother in the late 1980s, but became increasingly involved in community and public service activities at Liberty Hill Missionary Baptist Church, where she was a member. As chairperson of Liberty Hill's scholarship committee, she raised thousands of dollars every year to ensure that every church member attending college received at least $1,000 in financial assistance.

Margaret also made sure that members of her church remained informed through her work and that of others who served on the congregation's Christian Social Concern Committee. One of the ways in which Margaret first became known to the public in Berkeley was through spearheading the ultimately successful campaign to install a traffic light at Ninth Street and University Avenue, an effort aimed at protecting children crossing the street on their way to and from the church. Margaret continued to advocate for the safety of children and others in her neighborhood not only through her work at Liberty Hill, but also as the chair of both the Human Welfare Action Committee and the West Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation, and through her involvement with the West Berkeley Area Plan Committee, the West Berkeley Community Cares Services Bank and the Community Advisory Board.

After several years of advocating on behalf of the residents of West Berkeley, in the mid-1990s Margaret decided to seek public office, and was elected as the District 2 representative to the Berkeley City Council in 1996. In her first term, she secured over one and a half million dollars in funding for projects and facilities located in her district, working to make up for funding gaps that she felt had long been ignored. Regardless of the challenges she faced, Margaret worked tirelessly to provide affordable housing, access to healthcare, police and fire protection resources and support for youth in her district. Though she struggled with her illness for much of the second half of her time in office, she remained steadfastly committed to serving her constituents, demanding daily briefings and making efforts to go to City Hall even as her condition and treatments diminished her physical strength. Margaret's devotion to serving her constituents earned her a reputation as a candid and straightforward representative of the people, someone who was truly dedicated to serving as a voice for those without the means to advocate for themselves.

On April 15, 2005, Margaret Breland's life and legacy will be honored at her own Liberty Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Berkeley, California. It is with great sorrow but also with great pride that I add my voice to all those that have joined together today to pay tribute to Margaret and the spirit of selflessness that she embodied. Margaret's commitment to and concern for others set her apart as an elected official and as a human being. The generosity that led her to serve others throughout her life is an inspiration to all of us to follow her example in giving back to our communities, our country and our world.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and work of former Berkeley City Councilmember Margaret Breland of Berkeley, California. Serving the people of West Berkeley first as a private citizen and then as a public servant, Margaret devoted most of her adult life to improving conditions in a community she saw to be underrepresented and often overlooked. Margaret retired from the Berkeley City Council in November of 2004, and after a long battle with breast cancer, passed away on April 7, 2005.

Though Margaret was originally from Beaumont, Texas, she spent the majority of her life in Berkeley after moving there as a child with her family. The oldest of four children, she was counted on by her mother to help run the household. After graduating from Berkeley High School, Margaret became a licensed vocational nurse, an occupation in which she served for 27 years.

Margaret retired early from her work as a nurse to care for her mother in the late 1980s, but became increasingly involved in community and public service activities at Liberty Hill

Missionary Baptist Church, where she was a member. As chairperson of Liberty Hill's scholarship committee, she raised thousands of dollars every year to ensure that every church member attending college received at least $1000 in financial assistance.

Margaret also made sure that members of her church remained informed through her work and that of others who served on the congregation's Christian Social Concern Committee. One of the ways in which Margaret first became known to the public in Berkeley was through spearheading the ultimately successful campaign to install a traffic light at Ninth Street and University Avenue, an effort aimed at protecting children crossing the street on their way to and from the church. Margaret continued to advocate for the safety of children and others in her neighborhood not only through her work at Liberty Hill, but also as the chair of both the Human Welfare Action Committee and the West Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation and through here involvement with the West Berkeley Area Plan Committee, the West Berkeley Community Cares Services Bank and the Community Advisory Board.

After several years of advocating on behalf of the residents of West Berkeley, in the mid-1990s Margaret decided to seek public office, and was elected as the District 2 representative to the Berkeley City Council in 1996. In her first term, she secured over one and a half million dollars in funding for projects and facilities located in her district, working to make up for funding gaps that she felt had long been ignored. Regardless of the challenges she faced, Margaret worked tirelessly to provide affordable housing, access to healthcare, police and fire protection resources and support for youth in her district. Though she struggled with her illness for much of the second half of her time in office, she remained steadfastly committed to serving her constituents, demanding daily briefings and making efforts to go to City Hall even as her condition and treatments diminished her physical strength. Margaret's devotion to serving her constituents earned her a reputation as a candid and straightforward representative of the people, someone who was truly dedicated to serving as a voice for those without the means to advocate for themselves.

On April 15, 2005, Margaret Breland's life and legacy will be honored at her own Liberty Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Berkeley, California. It is with great sorrow but also with great pride that I add my voice to all those that have joined together today to pay tribute to Margaret and the spirit of selflessness that she embodied. Margaret's commitment to and concern for others set her apart as an elected official and as a human being. The generosity that led her to serve others throughout her life is an inspiration to all of us to follow her example in giving back to our communities, our country and our world.

Mr. Speaker, the President's very cynical attempt to sell his Social Security privatization scheme to African Americans, quite frankly, is very painful. Thank goodness African Americans are not buying it.

President Bush said that his privatization plan would benefit African Americans because we have a shorter life expectancy. It is truly remarkable that the President would rather exploit African Americans' shorter life expectancy to sell his privatization plan than actually do something to help African Americans live longer.

If the President is truly concerned about African Americans, he should support legislation and funding to address the health disparities that contribute to shorter life expectancy. Sadly, this is just the sort of cynical, divisive move we have come to expect from an administration that is bent on cutting the guaranteed benefit of Social Security and entrusting our seniors' retirement security to Wall Street and a roll of the dice.

Mr. Speaker, Julian Bond, President of the NAACP, and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) were correct to call the President on this earlier this week.

I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time and for his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this rule and to this morally bankrupt bill that puts corporate greed over fairness for ordinary folks. This bill takes the phrase ``kick them when they are down'' to a whole new level. What about the fact that half of the people who file for bankruptcy protection are forced to do so because of high medical costs, loss of a job, or scam loan sharks? This bill would say to these people, the answer is, of course, too bad.

Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, this bill is a big-time corporate payoff that was drafted with one overriding goal in mind, that is, profits, profits, profits.

I am all for curbing abuses in bankruptcy and would suggest that we start by closing bankruptcy loopholes for millionaires and taking steps to address predatory lending and payday loans rather than a one-sided, harsh industry payoff. This bill should include real solutions to address the really hard problems fueling the financial difficulties so many in this Nation are facing. We should focus on the true abusers and not the working families that have played by the rules.

Mr. Speaker, we need to have a bankruptcy bill that addresses the real abusers. This is a morally bankrupt bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to S.256 because it is morally bankrupt and puts credit card companies ahead of children.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Berkeley Police Department of Berkeley, California on the occasion of its 100th year of service.

At the time of its founding over a century ago, the Berkeley Police Department was a pioneering institution. Led by August Vollmer, who was elected Town Marshall in 1905 and appointed as Berkeley's first Chief of Police in 1909, the Berkeley Police Department become known for its innovative management and law enforcement methods, and its practices were adopted by other departments nationwide.

Chief Vollmer is considered by many to be the father of modem law enforcement. He was one of the first officials to institute the use of a basic records system, scientific investigation, and motorcycle patrols as law enforcement methods. He sought police officers with good educations, worked with U.C. Berkeley to establish a police school, and also established the department's Law Enforcement Code of Ethics, which prohibited officers from receiving gratuities and from smoking on duty, and also required them to use as little force as possible in making arrests.

In addition to these innovations, Chief Vollmer was also one of the most progressive figures in law enforcement during his time. He recruited the first female and African American officers to the force in Berkeley, and also became a prominent opponent of the death penalty.

In the years since its remarkable founding, the Berkeley Police Department has continued to serve the public with courage and compassion, working to protect the residents of Berkeley and also to become involved in the community. In addition to its establishment of the charitable Christmas in April program in 1991 and other community service projects, the Department has also made a sustained effort to establish an effective model for community-involved policing.

Furthermore, the Berkeley Police Department has devoted considerable resources to the development of other programs of dire importance, such as the Domestic Violence Unit, Youth-Police Workshops with Beat Officers, the Citizens' Academy and Toys 4 Tots with Marines. In recent years, the department has received grants from the Department of Justice, the Office of Traffic Safety and others to institute innovative public safety reforms, and in 2003 reported the city's lowest violent crime rates since 1974.

On April 7, 2005, the Berkeley Police Department will be holding its centennial celebration. I would like to take this opportunity to commend and thank those who have given of themselves to serve the public through their work with the police force. I congratulate the Berkeley Police Department for 100 years of invaluable service, and salute its officers for their tireless efforts to make our community a safer, better place.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Stark and I rise today to honor the extraordinary contributions of Undersheriff Curtis L. Watson to the Alameda County Sheriff's Department over the past 34 years. Curtis joined the department in 1970 and steadily climbed its ranks to become the undersheriff in 1993, providing excellent service throughout his tenure.

In 1970, Curtis had just completed a tour in the United States Air Force. On the advice of his brother, he applied for the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, where he was hired as a sheriff's deputy and assigned to work at Santa Rita Jail.

Curtis had worked his way up to the position of lieutenant at Santa Rita when he first made the acquaintance of Charles Plummer, the Alameda County Sheriff, in 1987. Curtis's competence and confidence made a positive impression on the sheriff, who would remember him when their paths crossed again a few years later.

After advancing to captain and becoming the commanding officer of the North County Jail in Oakland, Curtis took the commander's examination in April 1992, finishing with the highest score of any candidate and again catching the attention of Sheriff Plummer. By that time, Curtis had made such an impression that when the undersheriff position came open in 1993, Sheriff Plummer tapped him to fill it.

With his promotion to undersheriff, Curtis became not only the highest-ranking African American in the Alameda County Sheriff Department's 152-year history but also the highest-ranking black sheriff's official in the state of California.

Curtis served as undersheriff from 1993 until his retirement on March 24, 2005. Only one other undersheriff in the entire history of the Alameda County Sheriff's Department served longer than Curtis's 12 years in the position.

On the occasion of Curtis Watson's retirement, we would like to honor his contributions to law and order in Alameda County over the past 34 years. He has served with distinction and dedication, breaking down barriers and forging new paths. We salute him for his commitment to justice and equality in our society, and we are certain that others will draw inspiration from his accomplishments for generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, I voted in favor of H. Con. Res. 18 and H. Con. Res. 32.

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the sentiments that these resolutions advance. There is no doubt that there must be an end to brutal human rights violations against the Syrian people and that a Syrian-occupied Lebanon poses a threat to the stability of the Middle East.

However, Mr. Speaker, I am firm in my belief that we must find a peaceful, nonmilitary solution to foster peace in the Middle East.

These resolutions, while overwhelmingly approved by the House, must not be cited as tacit approval for any future preemptive military action against Syria.

Mr. Speaker, on March 20, 2005 I missed rollcall vote no. 90. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on S. 686, a bill regarding Ms. Terri Schiavo.

Mr. Speaker, I am outraged that the Republicans continue to lead the charge in legislating their personal beliefs on the American people.

There is no legal or moral justification for Congress to be meddling in the personal lives of any American. Further, it sets a terrible precedent. The Florida courts have repeatedly ruled that any action on the part of the legislature or governor is a violation of the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution. Yet under the cover of darkness, the majority has made a national example out of a local, individual, and very personal issue.

It is my hope that, when the time arrives, these same ``civil rights'' advocates will fight with the same zeal for the rights to equality, education, health care and housing that all Americans deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the Republican budget. This budget is fiscally reckless, morally irresponsible and represents a failure of leadership.

The budget slashes funding that provides a vital lifeline to our most vulnerable communities. It cuts funding for support of housing for the disabled by 50 percent. Where is the morality in turning our back on the disabled?

This budget will dramatically cut housing opportunities for people living with AIDS. Where is the morality in forcing people living with AIDS to choose between medication and housing?

At the same time, this budget seeks to extend tax cuts to the most wealthy. Where is the morality in turning people out into the streets in order to pay for these tax cuts?

As a person of deep religious conviction, I know that there is nothing moral about balancing the budget on the backs of those who can least afford it. A moral budget does not seek to punish the least of these.

Mr. Speaker, this is an example, a gross example of the moral irresponsibility of the Republican budget.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank again the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) and the gentleman from North Carolina, chairman of our Congressional Black Caucus, for their stellar leadership in spearheading this responsible budget. It should not be an alternative. This is the budget we should be voting on.

The Republican budget is fiscally reckless and morally irresponsible. The CBC budget, if we think about it, really is a faith-based budget. The CBC budget is not only fiscally responsible, but it is also morally responsible.

The Republican budget fails to live up to any standard of morality that speaks to the least of these. On the other hand, the Congressional Black Caucus budget acknowledges that in order to have a strong America, we must have all Americans who are not vulnerable. Our people cannot be desperate if, in fact, we want a strong America.

The Republican budget cuts housing, housing for the disabled by 50 percent. Where is the morality in that? That is turning our backs on the disabled. The CBC budget not only restores these cuts but adds $120 million for housing the disabled.

The Republican budget is an immoral budget, if one asks me. Vote for the CBC budget because it is a faith-based budget that takes care of the least of these.

Mr. Chairman, first, let me just thank the gentleman for yielding me the time and for his leadership; also to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt), the Chairman of our Congressional Black Caucus, and to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) for their leadership in spearheading this very responsible alternative budget.

The CBC budget is not only fiscally responsible but it also reduces our Federal deficit by $167 billion. It rescinds the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for individuals making more than $200,000. It closes tax loopholes and it drastically reduces funding for the Ballistic Missile Defense Program by about $7.8 billion.

The Republican budget, quite frankly, fails to live up to any standard of morality that requires us to care for the least of these. From port security to health care, the Republican budget falls short on every count. On the other hand, the Congressional Black Caucus budget shows how national security priorities must include the economic security of all Americans. A strong America cannot have desperate, vulnerable people.

As a Member representing one of the largest ports in the country, it is clear to me that there needs to be significant increases in port security funding. The CBC budget provides $500 million more for port and container security. At a time when our ports remain one of our most vulnerable targets, allocating funds for container security is essential. Unfortunately, the Republican budget fails to adequately support homeland security priorities.

Our budget strengthens economic security priorities by easing disparities in housing and health care for example.

The President's budget eliminated the Community Development Block Grant program which provides financial assistance towards improving housing and economic conditions in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. That is why I am very proud to support the CBC budget that provides $1.12 billion more than the Republican budget to the CDBG initiative. The President's budget also eliminated the Brownfields Redevelopment Program, but our budget adds $24 billion. The Brownfields Redevelopment Initiative provides important incentives for hazardous site cleanup and redevelopment. It is crucial to the health and safety of our communities, especially our children.

The CBC budget also provides an additional $880 million for Section 8 housing and $500 million more for HOPE VI. All of these programs are crucial to ensuring the economic security of the most vulnerable Americans. The CBC budget also restores approximately $50 million in funding to the Public Housing Drug Elimination Program. It allocates $490 million to the Minority Health Initiative and $500 million for Community Health Centers. These programs are vital to providing primary health care for our minority communities.

Mr. Chairman, the Republican budget punishes people. It punishes them by making them choose between their health or their housing. The CBC budget allows people to have access to both.

The Republican budget erodes our economic security. It weakens our community. It leaves our infrastructure crumbling. The Republican support of outdated weapons systems, wasteful defense programs, reckless tax cuts, and irresponsible deficit spending relegates economic security priorities to the back burner.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Congressional Black Caucus budget.