Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise on this day to pay tribute to an extraordinary community leader, Ms. Jane Garcia. I take great pride in honoring Jane for her twenty-five years of tenacious advocacy on behalf of the poor, and for her dedication to organizing and empowering the immigrant community in its struggle for greater access to health care.

The monumental integrity and deep compassion that has come to characterize Jane's legacy of service to her community are deeply rooted in the lessons she learned while growing up in the Chicano Movement. Jane's life-long commitment to insuring that every woman, man and child has access to culturally and linguistically appropriate healthcare, and her belief that healthcare is a fundamental right not an economic privilege were inspired by the civil rights activism of Cesar Chavez, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Dolores Huerta.

Recognizing the importance of organizing and empowering the immigrant community in its efforts to secure the promises of equality and justice made by our nation's founders, Jane has tirelessly worked to improve the quality of life for the most vulnerable members of her community. Among her many public policy victories, Jane courageously and fiercely led the successful battle to preserve prenatal healthcare for low- income immigrants during former Governor Wilson's draconian era of budget cutbacks.

Inspiring and empowering those whose lives she touches, Jane rises to positions of leadership where she effectively challenges the status quo, contributes to policy reform, and advocates for equality and justice for all. She has provided skillful and passionate guidance to a plethora of community service organizations in California, doing so most visibly through her twenty-five years with La Clinica de La Raza-- Fruitvale Health Project.

Under her skillful tutelage and direction, what began as a grassroots health clinic more than thirty-eight years ago has become the premiere Latino community health center in the nation. During her tenure as Chief Executive Officer of La Clinica, the organization's budget has grown from $3 mullion in 1983 to over $28 million today. The combination of Jane Garcia's focused administrative style and limitless compassion has allowed La Clinica to greatly expand the services available to its patients. La Clinica now provides high-quality healthcare services to over 17,000 families annually, making it a critical and irreplaceable component of the healthcare safety net in Alameda County. Soon, La Clinica will be assuming the dental facility at Children's Hospital in Oakland, making La Clinica one of the largest dental providers in Northern California. It is the largest employer in East Oakland and was recently listed as the sixth largest non-profit employer in the East Bay by the East Bay Business Times.

Jane's relentless efforts, her ongoing dedication, and her long-term vision made La Clinica's impressive growth possible. Thus, it is fitting that we honor Jane's twenty-five years of unyielding commitment to public service in the same year that we will be celebrating the grand opening of the historic Fruitvale Transit Village, which will be anchored by La Clinica's newest and largest facility. Jane is truly the personification of Cesar Chavez' famous motto: ``Si Se Puede!''.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to recognize my good and long-time friend, Jane Garcia, and I take pride in joining the people of California's 9th Congressional District in celebrating and honoring her twenty-five years of service to our community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a great community leader and activist, Ms. Arnell Hinkell. Arnell Hinkell, who is tackling the obesity epidemic among teens by supporting efforts in communities throughout California to encourage healthy lifestyles, has earned the nation's highest honor for community health leadership.

Hinkell is among the outstanding individuals from across the country selected this year to receive a Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program (CHLP) award.

Hinkell, executive director of the California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program in Berkeley, CA., founded CANFit in 1993 with funds from the settlement of a lawsuit charging a breakfast cereal manufacturer with deceptive advertising. Her mission is to prevent obesity and chronic disease by helping people adopt healthy habits while young.

Drawing on her experience as a nutritionist, chef and organic farmer, Hinkell created a program that promotes healthy eating and activity to 10-to-14-year-olds from low-income, minority families--groups that historically have poor diets and suffer disproportionately from health problems such as heart disease and diabetes.

CANFit has provided grants to more than 60 youth organizations, scholarships to 90 low-income students studying in health fields, and fitness and nutrition training workshops to more than 500 people across California.

What makes CANFit unique is that its work goes far beyond the dissemination of information, said Hinkell's nominator.

Projects CANFit has supported include a Cambodian recipe book, nutrition and fitness curriculum for Korean-language schools, a fast food survival guidebook, an American Indian surf camp, and a hip hop video promoting healthy eating and physical activity.

From the beginning, Hinkell has emphasized community ownership of CANFit projects and insisted that youth be involved in planning and evaluating each one. She has grown CANFit from a small endowment that many thought would not survive into one of the most innovative and uncompromising nutrition education and community capacity-building programs in the country, said her nominator.

Hinkell is working with the Washington, D.C.-based policy group Forum for Youth Investment to make youth nutrition and fitness part of the national youth development agenda. She also coordinated development of a national model, adopted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for improving nutrition and physical activity for the adolescent poor.

Community by community, these leaders are showing us the face of America's new safety net, said Catherine Dunham, director of the Boston-based Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program. While larger, better endowed institutions must restrict or close services under the weight of severe budget cuts, these leaders' programs--that provide health services where the need is great--remain strong because they are woven from and into the very fabric of the community.

The program awards $1.2 million each year to individuals who have overcome significant challenges to expand access to health care and social services to underserved members of their communities. Hinkell and this year's other winners will be honored at a June 10 event in Washington, D.C. She will receive $105,000 to enhance her program and $15,000 as a personal award.

Hinkell was chosen from among 274 candidates for this year's honor. Since 1992, the program has given 110 awards to community leaders in 43 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. This year's award winners represent urban and rural areas of California, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Texas and Virginia. They were nominated by community leaders, health professionals, government officials and others inspired by their work in providing essential health services to their communities.

The Community Health Leadership Program is a program of the Princeton, N.J.-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the largest private philanthropic organization dedicated to improving health and health care for Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a wonderful woman, Ms. Judy Marron. The beloved wife of Owen Marron, Judy passed on May 12, 2003 after a hard-fought battle against cancer.

A third generation Sacramentan, Judy was born February 8, 1940. She completed high school and two years of college in Sacramento before beginning her career with the State of California. In 1980, while parenting and working for the Department of Transportation, Judy returned to school to earn her bachelors degree. She received a B.A. in Business Administration in 1985.

Judy married Owen Marron in 1974 and from 1975 to 1978 she devoted her energies to raising their four youngest children. In 1978, Judy returned to employment as a clerk with the California Department of Transportation, rising through the ranks to become executive secretary to the director of the department.

In 1984, she served as a national recruiter of engineers for the Department of Transportation. In 1987, Judy moved to the California Department of Health, where she held various positions before retiring as building manager for the department headquarters in Berkeley.

Mrs. Marron worked tirelessly to integrate women into the building trades and increased the access of disabled individuals to employment at the Berkeley facility. Following retirement she was retained as a consultant for various special projects, including the new health facility under development in Richmond.

She was an ardent advocate for the rights of working people, women and disabled individuals, and contributed much to the labor movement. She assisted husband Owen as executive secretary-treasurer of the Central Labor Council of Alameda County by coordinating records and minutes of meetings, assisting with the logistics of marches and rallies, and electoral activities such as phone banks and precinct walks, Labor Day picnics, the 1995 visit of President Bill Clinton, and Unionist of the Year events, until Owen's retirement in 1999. She is survived by devoted husband Owen; children Denise Cheely, Mike Proaps, Barney, Dorie, Rick, and Mike Marron, grand children Billy, Kayla, Austin, Cody, Isabella, Corinna, Josh and Shelly, brothers William Hack and Jim Hack, and loving pets Chester and Fraidy.

Finally, as we honor Mrs. Marron today, I want to thank her for being an exemplary role model, administrator, and hero. I take great pride in joining Judy's family, friends and colleagues to recognize and salute the accomplishments and contributions of Judy Celeste Hack Marron.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 220 and to pay tribute to the life and works of Medgar Wiley Evers.

Medgar Evers was a true pioneer in the fight for racial justice in Mississippi.

Organizing for the NAACP meant defying the political establishment, founded on white supremacy. It was an act of supreme courage and frankly of patriotism: Medger Evers fought to make this country live up to its own ideals. He became the first known African-American person to apply for admission to the University of Mississippi Law School, and was denied admission.

As a result of that denial, Medgar Evers contacted the NAACP to take legal action, and found himself centered in a movement that he felt compelled to advance. As a result of this new commitment, Medgar Evers was offered a position as the Mississippi Field Secretary for the

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a great community leader, educator, and real estate practitioner, Ms. Noble Fields, for her years of service and commitment to the community. Noble Fields is the founder and director of the Noble Fields Realty & Investment Company and School of Real Estate. She is also a woman of many talents.

Noble Fields was born in Fresno and enlisted in the Army after high school. She was originally trained as a teletype operator, but after a career counseling course, she became an Army recruiter and then an instructor for recruiters.

While still in the service, Noble Fields entered and won an Army talent contest which resulted in her performing as a singer and dancer in many NCO clubs around the world and with the All Army Entertainment show. She became an accomplished actress, and has since appeared on the San Francisco stage and has had small parts in major movie productions. She also holds an FCC broadcasting license that she earned while in the Army and was a radio broadcaster and cable television show host in the Bay Area and Indianapolis.

After 20 years, this Army veteran retired as a Staff Sergeant with a full brass band ceremony. She has a service-connected disability and is the Commander of Disabled American Veterans Chapter No. 144, the first woman ever to serve in that position.

After leaving the military, Noble worked for the National Alliance of Businessmen, a partnership of private businesses, labor, and government. As the Jobs for Veterans Manager, she was instrumental in securing jobs and job training for Vietnam veterans.

In 1985, Ms. Fields started the Noble Fields School of Real Estate and Appraisal. The school offers approved home study license qualification classes and continuing education courses for real estate and appraiser licensees. As we honor Ms. Fields today, I want to thank her for her work in promoting the participation of minorities in the real estate industry. I take great pride in joining Ms. Fields' family, friends and colleagues to recognize and salute the accomplishments and contributions of Noble Fields.

Mr. Speaker, The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision to allow for monopolies in media markets represents a grave day for free speech. It also represents the defeat of the belief that the American people will benefit from a variety of viewpoints on issues, not the few that will be ushered in by the huge media conglomerates.

The Bush Administration and FCC Chairman Michael Powell have bowed to the demands of giant media companies. These companies, in effect, claimed that they needed another government handout to remain ``viable,'' even though they have already been absorbing television stations and newspapers.

With this ruling, the Administration has also indicated that it is not interested in preserving multiple media voices and opinions in the electronic and print media industries. The old FCC rules protected the participation of minority-owned media outlets. In fact, with minorities owning only 3.8 percent of United States commercial radio and television stations, including 1.9 percent of the country's commercial television licenses, we need more protection, not less. Yet under the new rules, these minority-owned media outlets will be squeezed out by media conglomerates.

Mr. Powell also argued that new modes of communication, like the Internet and digital TV, reduce the need for these rules. Yet, television and newspapers remain the public's main sources of information. And while the Internet has certainly revolutionized our society, a look at the 20 most visited websites reveals that they are run by the same companies that own the most popular TV networks and newspapers. So Mr. Powell's argument holds no water.

Media ownership rules are actually more important now than they were 50 years ago because the power and resources of large media companies have grown exponentially over the last fifteen to twenty years. As a result, smaller, independent companies do not have the resources to compete with Viacom or Newscorp. These rules are needed to ensure that we don't lose what's left of our locally owned media and that we do have access to diverse sources of information.

By lifting these rules, we will lose our independent media watchdog. Americans don't want a handful of companies controlling their access to information.

We must now redouble our efforts to pass legislation that will ensure a democratic media. We must not only mobilize members of Congress but grassroots organizations to send a message that the exclusion of all other voices except those provided by the media giants is not acceptable for our society.

I am very disappointed that Mr. Powell and his allies on the FCC did not heed the American public's deep concerns and leave our media ownership rules intact.

Mr. Speaker, first, I want to thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) for her leadership and really for her guidance based upon her remarkable experience with Head Start and for her passion and for her commitment to children who really otherwise would have very few opportunities to succeed.

I also want to thank the gentleman from Maryland, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, who once again is demonstrating his enormous leadership by sounding the alarm in terms of this administration's assault on children.

We have come together tonight to talk about an issue really that is about our future. It is about the future of our children. So what else could really be more important? Head Start has been an enormously successful program since its inception in 1965 because it continues to offer comprehensive programs for children and families. Head Start has enabled these children to enter kindergarten on an equal footing with students who were really born into wealthier socioeconomic circumstances. Over the last four decades, Head Start nationwide has reached an unbelievable number of students. Since 1965, over 20 million children across the country have participated in Head Start programs. Last year alone, Head Start and Early Head Start programs worked with more than 900,000 children in 2,590 local programs. In my own hometown of Oakland, California, over 1,600 children are part of our area Head Start programs. But we are still not really reaching enough kids. On any particular day, 300 to 400 children are on a waiting list for the Oakland Head Start centers. In fact, all 30 centers have children on a waiting list, meaning that all areas are being affected; 300 to 400 children, as I said, are far too many to have to begin school already behind. In fact, one child on a waiting list is really one too many, one too many in terms of a young person not afforded access to early participation in such an enormously successful program.

Yet again the Bush administration is dismantling another excellent domestic program by trying to reduce the effectiveness, and that is what this is going to do, reduce the effectiveness of Head Start. They are trying to radically change what has really been a radically effective program. President Bush's plan to reform Head Start would systematically, basically, and probably will really gut Head Start. For instance, the President has called for moving Head Start from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of Education. The administration wants to move Head Start from HHS because they believe preschoolers should be judged solely by academic standards. President Bush wants to begin a national reporting system of literacy testing, mind you, literacy testing for our 4-year-olds. How ridiculous and how sinister this is.

Administrators in the city of Oakland's Head Start program tell me that moving Head Start to the Department of Education will mean the end of all of the support services and the component services that make Head Start so successful. When parents and children in Oakland and throughout my own congressional district heard of this proposal a couple of months ago, several hundred people participated. These were men, women and children, families, participated in a rally, all of them saying in no uncertain terms, ``If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'' This will be, and I heard this over and over again, the end of health services; and in a country where our health care system is totally broken, to eliminate health services for young people which they receive through the Head Start program is really, really wrong. It is wrong because, again, the President and the administration's view is that it should be only a literacy program.

By turning Head Start into a block grant program, the President claims that Head Start will be more flexible while ignoring the fact that one of Head Start's virtues is that it already has a great deal of flexibility on a local level. Yet Head Start is, and should continue to be, a national program. We really do not need 50 different administrations in 50 different States. We do not need these bureaucracies that will take money from children to go to State budgets and overhead costs. Block granting Head Start funds is really a particularly bad idea this year because our States are experiencing such huge budget deficits. It will be especially tempting for Governors and State governments to really try to tap into this money. That is not to say that State governments will misappropriate money, it is just a real acknowledgment that State officials will be tempted to use this money to offset their deficits. How do we know that this money would be used for Head Start? This really puts our children's future at risk at the whim of State budgets. This is just downright wrong.

With these proposals, the Bush administration is demonstrating once again their disregard for our children and our families, those that do not have a lot of money. They are demonstrating their real contempt for working families struggling just to make it on wages that are not enough to raise them up above the poverty level. While the administration devastates Head Start, they simultaneously sign a tax cut primarily for the wealthiest in this country. They spend billions of dollars on war, at the same time not fully funding education, cutting child care, health care, job training programs and housing. We cannot let the President and this administration dilute what has been one of the most successful programs over the last four decades. We must stop the President's assault on Head Start. We must stop this Congress' assault on Head Start.

I encourage our colleagues to join all of us, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), the Congressional Black Caucus, all of us in this resistance. Our children deserve us to stand up for them at least this one time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in light of today's news reports to really thank Republicans for finally agreeing with us that all children and families of America are important, whether or not they are wealthy.

Two weeks ago, these same Republicans did not understand that lesson. Two weeks ago, they sacrificed the well-being of 6.5 million families, including 12 million children, so that they could pass tax breaks and dividend tax cuts for their wealthiest friends. Republicans thought that their

actions really would have gone unnoticed, but how wrong they were.

In California, for example, without this new legislation, almost 1.3 million California families would receive no child tax credit, including 2.4 million children. The Republicans would have especially hurt minority families because one-third of all Latino families would miss out on the tax break, while half of all African American families would not receive the credit.

Thankfully now, the majority is really beginning to listen and beginning to understand that those families who do not make any more than $26,000 should also receive the same benefit that every family that earns up to $110,000 and over would receive.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 2030, a resolution designating the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 120 Baldwin Avenue in Paia, Maui, Hawaii, as the ``Patsy Takemoto Mink Post Office Building''.

Patsy was an outstanding leader, woman, mother, and friend, and I believe that naming a post office after her is a great tribute to a people's champion.

I believe Patsy spoke not only for the forgotten, the disenfranchised, and the poor, but also to the conscience of all Americans. She was my colleague and dear friend who helped lead the charge on providing real reforms that helped all people across the country.

Patsy stood as the standard for all legislators to rise to. Over the span of her career, she was particularly proud of the leading role she played in 1972 during the passage of Title IX of the Federal Education Act. She helped open many opportunities for women, which reflected a long-standing concern for equality, liberty and justice for people.

I also shared her passion for peace and mediation. She once said, ``America is not a country which needs to demand conformity of all its people, for its strength lies in all our diversities converging in one common belief, that of the importance of freedom as the essence of our country.''

I loved and respected Patsy for her courage and fortitude.

A great woman in Congress, Patsy Mink was brilliant, full of compassion, and passion; always working tirelessly for equal justice, liberty, and the value of a diverse legislative body.

I'm proud to have served beside Congresswoman Patsy Mink and miss her tremendously. I ask that all of my colleagues support passage of H.R. 2030.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Stark and I rise today to honor Shiloh Baptist Church of Hayward, California and its pastor, Reverend Jesse L. Davis, Sr. on the 35th Anniversary of its founding.

On September 5, 1968, a small group of Christians met at the home of Emmett & Bernice Mason to organize a church. The Reverend Jesse L. Davis accepted the charge and was installed as Pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church by Adolph Kelly, Pastor of Macedonian Baptist Church in Milpitas, California.

Shiloh Baptist's first facility was shared with Indian Baptist Church on Arthur Street in Oakland. In its second year, Shiloh Baptist bought that building as well as the one adjacent. Additionally, an Assistant Pastor was ordained and appointed, the Reverend Porter Clewis. The old building was demolished in 1976 and a new one was dedicated in June of 1978, along with the Jesse L. Davis Educational building. The congregation outgrew its facility once more, and moved to its present location in Hayward in October, 1992.

Shiloh Baptist has been honored by the Southern Baptist Convention of California. Also, the Mass Choir has received the ``Church Choir of the Year Award'' at the 24th Annual Gospel Academy Awards. Sister Doria Cummins-Lewis was awarded ``Director of the Year.''

Among the ministries Shiloh Baptist has organized are Angel Tree (part of Prison Ministry), Street Witnessing, Feeding Program, Tutorial Program, Singles Ministry, Sisters of Excellence Women's Ministry, Alpha & Omega Drama and Dance Troupe. Together they have changed the lives of many people for the better.

Since its inception, Shiloh Baptist's rise has mirrored that of its leader, Reverend, Jesse L. Davis, Sr. Reverend Davis was born in Louisiana in 1937 and will celebrate his 66th birthday on June 11. He attained an Associate of Arts Degree at Merritt College before graduating the Bay Cities Bible Institute, both in Oakland. He later attended the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley and had an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree conferred upon him by the University of Biblical Studies at Burbank, California.

In addition to his guidance of Shiloh Baptist for the past 35 years, Jesse has been a Lay Evangelism School Teacher with the Southern Baptist General Convention of California, Vice-President and past President of the Baptist Pastor's and Minister's Conference of Oakland, Director of Christian Education for the Mt. Zion District Association, and Treasurer for the California Baptist State Convention.

Finally as we honor Shiloh Baptist Church and the esteemed Reverend Dr. Jesse L. Davis, Sr., we want to thank them on behalf of the entire 9th and 13th Congressional District for serving the greater Bay Area for 35 years. Reverend Davis and his wife, Sister Alma Davis, have shared their wisdom and been great community leaders. Due to their positive influence, their sons, Rev. Jesse L. Davis, II and Rev. Andrew Paul Davis have followed in their father's footsteps. Most of all, we thank them for their friendship and for their prayers.

I take great pride in joining friends, family, and the congregation to salute Shiloh Baptist Church and its leader, the extraordinary Pastor Jesse L. Davis, Sr.

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to address the way that the Republicans have devastated the child tax credit for low-income families.

When the child tax credit was created in 1975, it was for the purpose of helping families, not hurting them; and it was not meant to create divisions within parents and families, it was intended to include and benefit all families.

Initially, it seemed that the Republicans and President Bush's $400 per child increase in the child tax credit was meant for all families. At least, that is what we were told. According to the Bush plan, families would receive the checks for this credit in either July or August as a way to jumpstart the economy that, of course, this administration has crippled, losing more than $2.7 million jobs since the beginning of the Bush presidency.

Somehow, though, the attempt to help families did not extend to low- income families. The same people who were already left out of the President's tax cut on dividends, which President Bush, of course, offered the wealthiest of Americans, are the same individuals, the same families that the budget cuts are hitting the hardest.

When Republican negotiators went behind closed doors without any Democratic conferees, suddenly the families of approximately 12 million children were excluded from the child tax credit. Nationwide, this means that one out of every six American children were excluded.

What the Republicans did here is really revealing on two different levels. First, it says that their credibility really is an issue. Second, even worse, it says that they think that the priorities of the country should focus on fattening the wallets of the wealthy, not helping those who need help the most.

The Republicans' actions clearly represent a credibility gap, also. When the tax plan first came through the House and Senate it included the child tax credit, but apparently that credit did not fit with the numbers that they needed. It did not fit with their effort to provide tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. They needed $3.5 billion more for the cuts for the wealthiest Americans, so they eliminated credit for all families making between $10,500 and $26,625. What a terrible thing to do.

The Republicans, with the blessing of the White House, clearly recognized

the possibility of a backlash, I assume. Otherwise, why did they hide their actions from public view? President Bush said that all Americans would receive tax relief, but that was not the case. This sort of double-talk is not the way to run a country, not the way to run this country.

This double-talk also reflects the misplaced priorities that the Republicans and their leadership have for this country. What they are telling us is that it is important to have a dividend tax break for people who live well, extremely well. What they are also telling us is that it is not important to help those people who are struggling to find adequate housing, enough food, or a decent job.

Of course, children, unfortunately, are hit the hardest. These children come from families where the parents work hard and play by the rules. They deserve the same tax credit that other parents will receive, and they, of course, need much more. Their families do not have the advantages that others have.

In a jobs depression like President Bush has put us in, the loss of the $400 tax credit is really rubbing salt into their wounds. 8.1 million taxpayers will receive no relief under the Republican tax cuts, and 1.6 million of these taxpayers are Hispanic. 8.1 million represents 44 times the number of taxpayers who have incomes exceeding $1 million, yet the President and the Republicans have gone out of their way to help the wealthy.

In fact, those people with incomes over $1 million will receive an average tax cut of $93,500 in 2003. In terms of the child tax credit, one-half of all African-American families will not get the full tax credit and one-quarter will receive no tax credit.

For Hispanic families, 40 percent will not get the full tax credit, while one-fifth of Hispanic families will receive no child tax credit at all.

What message does this send to minorities? Of course, the Republicans have a checkered history of offending minorities, so perhaps this behavior is to be expected. But interestingly enough, the Republicans' actions on the child tax credit also offend military families. According to the Washington Post, as many as 200,000 military families were excluded from the increased child tax credit by the actions of the last few weeks.

This is just downright wrong. We should move immediately to pass legislation to restore the child tax credit and we should do it now.

Mr. Speaker, today members of the Congressional Black Caucus rise to expose the truth about minority health disparities in our health care system.

Many of my colleagues will outline the ongoing racial divide when it come to minorities' reliance on emergency and ambulatory services, the issue of access to health care and how minorities are disproportionately uninsured. Others will talk about the leading illnesses and health conditions that kill more Blacks and Latinos than Whites because of social and economic community distrust of the health care system.

However, tonight I want to bring attention to the increasing minority health disparities connected to environmental racism. The simple fact is the environment affects your health, and Blacks, Latinos and other people of color are suffering and dying because of toxins in the environment.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. laid the groundwork when he declared that ``we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.'' The metaphors of nature are the metaphors of life, and that is fundamentally where environmental justice begins and ends.

Unfortunately, the waters themselves in much of the world are tainted, and the toxic streams flow all too often through neighborhoods at the economic margins of society, particularly minority neighborhoods.

Far too often, the issue of minority health and the environment is ignored. Now, the Administration continues to roll back all of the environmental protections that Democrats have fought for, minorities will pay the highest price of all, trapped in homes near brown fields, power lines and sanitation plants. Democrats must stand against the Administration and the deceptive conservatism that continues to sweep our policy debates and our nation.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus see the forces of environmental injustice playing themselves out in terms of minority health disparities.

These disparities follow a cradle to grave cycle: beginning with infant mortality, continuing with workplace hazards and increased exposure to pollution, and ending with disparate access to healthcare, diagnoses, and medical treatment.

We see these forces clearly in diseases that strike most deeply into our cities and affect children most severely.

Asthma rates among the urban poor are reaching alarming proportions. Death rates from asthma, and a host of other treatable diseases, are significantly higher among African Americans than any other ethnic group.

In my own district, asthma rates are among the highest in the country, and children in West Oakland are seven times more likely to be hospitalized for asthma than children in the rest of California.

Over twenty-eight percent of low-income African American children suffer from lead poisoning, more than twice the level of exposure among low income white children, and far higher than among children of the middle class or wealthy.

Toxins concentrate along the color lines that have historically divided American society. Children of color are much more likely to suffer from lead poisoning, resulting in devastating effects on mental development. We are also finding that public housing communities have been secretly dealing with mold for years, another place where minorities are disproportionately located. These are minority health injustices that we cannot accept.

Environmental minority health disparities grow not only out of poverty, but racism. We must address the ravages of the past while we forge sounder policies for tomorrow. Our environment may be defined as our surroundings. Inner city neighborhoods that have liquor stores but no grocery stores speak to years of less than benign neglect and to the need for meaningful social and economic investment. That is a form of racism. Superfund sites that are under-funded; factories and plants that emit carcinogens under the protections of grandfather clauses; healthcare that is inadequate and racially biased; all demand our attention and financial resources. They are all forms of environmental racism.

We must demand environment health justice for our communities. The gap between minorities and whites in health care continues to grow, but I stand here today in support of universal health care, more resources for minority health initiatives, and a re-evaluation of the national agenda for health and justice. We must consider the environmental health agenda because it affects our homes, our communities, and the overall health of America.

Mr. Speaker, I will not vote for any constitutional amendment that undermines the First Amendment, which, as the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed, protects even unpopular forms of dissent. Our founding fathers well know the importance of free speech and expression, and carrying on that tradition, we should do everything possible to ensure that this fundamental cornerstone of our democracy remains intact.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the African American Education Task Force for its clear record of success in encouraging and acknowledging academic achievement by African American youth in Oakland.

This June, the African American Education Task Force will hold its Second Annual Academic Awards Celebration at the ACTS Full Gospel Church in Oakland. At this celebration, more than 1200 African American students from 8th through 12th grades in the Oakland Unified School District will be honored for attaining grade point averages of 3.00 or above for the 2002-2003 school year.

These outstanding young people's accomplishments are especially remarkable in light of the dismal budgetary climate that now grips the State of California. I want to commend each of them for having an understanding of the importance of staying in school and the responsibility each individual has to take advantage of the educational opportunities available to him or her. By continuing to be the best students you can be and completing your education, you will have more opportunity to achieve your personal goals and our shared goal of world peace.

Your accomplishments represent your dedication and commitment to achieving your goals, and I am proud of you. The skills you have learned and the discipline you have developed will benefit you greatly.

I am honored to represent you in the United States House of Representatives. I hope you will continue your record of service and success. My best wishes for a bright future!

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the ranking member, for those very kind remarks and also for his leadership. I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde) for his leadership and commitment; and, to them together, I think this is the best in terms of how we work together and can work together in a bipartisan fashion. I thank the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach) for his years of dedication and years of hard work as we negotiated this bill.

Also to our staff, we would not be here today without them. I would like express my appreciation to Christos Tsentas in my office and to Pearl Marsh and to Peter Yeo and to my former staff, Michael Riggs, and all of the minority and majority staff for their commitment and technical expertise but, most of all, their clear understanding of the reason why we are doing this today.

This bill we have before us, as we have all said, has been shaped for the most part by a very long and bipartisan and bicameral compromise that has largely focused on the needs of those most affected by the AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria pandemics.

I applaud the other body for adding an amendment to strengthen the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, but I am disappointed that they did not vote to include other amendments that were put forth by our colleagues, particularly the amendment offered by my colleague from California, to balance our HIV and AIDS prevention spending among all viable approaches by striking the 33 percent designation for abstinence-until-marriage programs. The balanced approach, the ABC approach, is what is working in Uganda; and I hope as we move forward we understand that strategy very clearly.

Although I do believe that the debt relief provisions should be strengthened to say instruct the Secretary of Treasury to enter into negotiations to expand HIPC, rather than just advising him to do so, I think it is critical for us to address the issue of debt cancellation whenever we discuss the global AIDS pandemic, particularly in the Africa context.

I am delighted that this amendment is in. It did not go far enough, but it is a beginning.

The passage, of course, of this legislation is historic. But, again, we should not be too quick I do not think to pat ourselves on the back, because we must urge our President and our colleagues on the Committee on Appropriations to fully fund the $3 billion authorization beginning this year. AIDS will not wait, and neither can we.

As part of our commitment to fight AIDS, we must also work to ensure that other donor nations contribute to the global effort. We would urge the President, along with Secretary Powell and Secretary Thompson to encourage the international community to provide a substantial and consistent contribution to fight TB, AIDS and malaria on a consistent basis beginning next week in France at the G8 summit that they will attend.

I would just like to close by saying, as we pass this very historic bill today, we cannot forget our own domestic AIDS crisis. Just under a million people are estimated to be infected in the United States, and a quarter of those do not even know they are infected. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 40,000 are newly infected each year in our own country. We must attack this disease on a domestic and international basis. This is a major step in the right direction.

I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) for their leadership and for ensuring that the people of Africa now have some hope as a result of the United States policy.