Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 366 as it reauthorizes the Perkins Act, which provides critical funding for occupational preparation and vocational and technical education at secondary and post-secondary education levels. It is the largest Federal investment in secondary education.

Although I am concerned about some provisions of this bill, like the merger of tech prep into the basic State grants, on balance, H.R. 366 makes many improvements to current law, and I will vote to pass it. But let me say, we started the tech prep in North Carolina, and I share with my colleagues that merging raises some real concerns.

More flexibility without more funding is not necessarily what we need. Talk to any educator, and what they need is resources to get the job done. The American people need to understand what this charade is about. Although H.R. 366 reauthorizes critically important education programs under the Perkins Act, Republicans in Congress last week passed a budget that eliminates those very same initiatives. Only in Washington, D.C. could Congress eliminate a program one week and reauthorize it the next week.

In North Carolina, we have one of the strongest community college systems in this country. Our community colleges work in partnership with our universities and the public schools to provide career training and critical technical skills. My State has suffered hundreds of thousands of layoffs in recent years in agriculture, furniture and in the textile industry. To a mill worker laid off from the only job he or she has ever known, the services provided through the Perkins Act literally are a lifeline. These services are the difference between hope of gainful employment and the despondency of unemployment and dependence on others.

Brown University has conducted a study that demonstrates that obtaining a high school equivalency makes a clear difference between moving into a new job after a layoff and not. These are real people that we are talking about. We ought not to be cutting out the only real hope that they have for a better life for themselves and their families.

In conclusion, I encourage and urge my colleagues to pass H.R. 366. But more importantly, I urge my Republican colleagues and leadership and the administration to restore these devastating education budget cuts. That is where we will make a huge difference.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this misguided resolution that represents a missed opportunity to address some of America's most pressing problems in a fair and equitable manner.

The budget is much more than just a government document; it is a statement of our nation's priorities and values. This budget fails the test of moral leadership by increasing the burdens on the poor, the middle class and those families struggling to get into the middle class. The American people deserve better.

I am tremendously proud that in my first term as the Second District's Representative, Congress and the President balanced the budget for the first time in a generation. Until just a few years ago, the budget remained balanced and the surpluses we produced were being used to pay down the national debt and strengthen the solvency of Social Security. But this Administration and its allies the Republican Congressional Leadership have squandered the budget surpluses on wasteful tax policies and are running record budget deficits as far as the eye can see. That's just plain wrong.

This budget resolution contains deep cuts in services to the most vulnerable in our society, including Medicaid, which provides medical care to 870,000 poor children in North Carolina. This budget resolution continues to shortchange the No Child Left Behind education reform law, which is now $39 billion below budget. This budget spends more than three times in taxpayer funds on interest on the national debt as we are investing in education on the federal level. Folks, cutting our investments in education is like eating our seedcorn. This budget resolution eliminates proven programs and cuts essential services like law enforcement and Border Patrol. And this budget resolution makes the deficit bigger not smaller while automatically raising the limit on the national debt which is increasingly held by foreign countries.

Instead of this wrongheaded budget resolution, Congress and the White House should work together to balance the budget with real PAYGO enforcement rules, provide middle class families tax relief and make real investments in our nation's future through science, technology, agriculture and health care.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in rejecting this budget resolution.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 6, the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

For the third time in 5 years, the House Republican leadership has passed up an historic opportunity to craft an energy policy for the 21st Century. With oil prices hitting record levels and repeated predictions that the cost of a barrel of oil could hit over $100 in the coming years, we should be focusing our efforts on alleviating our nation's dependence on fossil fuels.

Instead, H.R. 6 is stuck in the past. Modeled after the energy plan developed by Vice President Cheney's secret energy committee 4 years ago, H.R. 6 reflects the philosophy that the only solution to the high price of oil is more oil. However, analyses by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration indicate that even if the provisions of H.R. 6 becomes law, America's imports of foreign oil will still increase by as much as 85 percent during the next 20 years, thereby increasing our dependency.

H.R. 6 should have been an honest, bipartisan effort to halt America's growing dependence on fossil fuels for energy. It could have been focused on developing new technologies, improving energy efficiency, promoting renewable energy, and conducting the research and development that could produce the breakthroughs that would power the world of tomorrow.

I have no objection to supporting some new or additional oil and gas exploration or production because, until we develop the energy alternatives of the future, we must continue to

meet our oil and gas needs. Unfortunately, the majority of the bill's eight billion dollars in energy tax incentives are for oil and gas production. That's billions in tax breaks, paid for by our children and grandchildren, going to energy companies that have been earning record profits. Even President Bush admitted recently ``. . . with $55 oil, we don't need incentives for oil and gas companies to explore.'' His fiscal year 2006 budget called for $6.7 billion in tax breaks for energy with 72 percent going toward renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency. In contrast, H.R. 6 only provides six percent of the tax benefits for renewable energy and energy efficiency.

In addition, H.R. 6 irresponsibly sacrifices environmental protection for petroleum production. Exposing our great natural treasures, especially the North Carolina coastline, to exploitation and possible degradation is not responsible. For example the bill shuts states out from the appeals process for offshore mineral development, thereby limiting coastal states' ability to protect their coastlines from unwanted energy development.

I am also dismayed that H.R. 6 continues to provide liability protection for methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) manufacturers for past contamination of water supplies. So Republicans believe when somebody gets sick from MTBE, these companies should not be held accountable. That's just plain wrong. If it becomes law, the provision will force local governments to foot the bill for removing MTBE from water supplies. It was this single issue that scuttled the energy bill last year. Despite this, the Republican leadership's arrogance demands that this provision remain in the bill.

Gas prices in America continue to reach record heights. Natural gas prices have increased raising the cost not only of the gas itself but of derivative products like fertilizer. Gas prices and energy costs affect every American. This problem is particularly acute in farm country. Unfortunately, the Republican congressional leadership wasted an opportunity to develop a prudent energy policy that directly addresses these issues and instead developed a bill that serves as a tremendous handout to oil companies. As a result, I oppose H.R. 6.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my opposition to H.R. 8. As a part-time farmer and former small business owner, I have long supported responsible legislation to provide estate tax relief for family-owned businesses. Unfortunately, this bill will not accomplish that goal.

Throughout my service in the U.S. House, I have been a strong supporter of estate tax relief for family farmers and small business owners. The first bill I introduced as a Member of Congress was a bill to raise the inheritance tax exemption from $600,000 to $1.5 million and for the first time indexed it to inflation. But H.R. 8 is an extremely irresponsible bill that will add billions to our national debt for our children and grandchildren to pay and will harm more taxpayers than it helps.

The unfortunate reality of our situation is that we have witnessed the most dramatic fiscal reversal in our Nation's history. Our budget surpluses have been frittered away, and our Nation is now drowning in red ink with ever- growing budget deficits and increasing Federal debt. The primary culprits for our increasing debt are the risky, irresponsible tax schemes the Republican Congress has enacted the last 4 years.

Instead of adopting a bill that would increase the burden on our children and grandchildren, we need a common-sense solution that would exempt the vast majority of Americans from an estate tax while maintaining a degree of fiscal integrity.

That is why I am supporting the Democratic substitute authored by Representative Earl Pomeroy. This substitute provides an estate tax exemption of $3 million for individuals and $6 million for couples beginning in 2006, and the exemption would increase to $3.5 million and $7 million respectively in 2009. Furthermore, this plan would instantly repeal the estate tax on a vast majority of farms and small businesses, as well as shield heirs from dramatic capital gains tax liabilities that are part of the Republican plan. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has estimated that more farm estates would have an increased tax liability from the Republican plan's carry-over basis rules than would ever benefit from the repeal of the estate tax.

I support estate tax relief, but not at the expense of our senior citizens who benefit from Social Security and Medicare. The only way to pay for the Republican bill is by taking more money out of the Social Security an Medicare Trust Funds and replacing it with IOUs. H.R. 8 will compound the fiscal mistakes Congress has made the last 2 years with its policy of tax cuts at any cost, including our children's education and our Nation's future.

The people of North Carolina's Second District elected me to help chart a common-sense, fiscally prudent course for the country. I pledged to represent my constituents by paying down the national debt; saving Social Security and Medicare funds for older Americans, and investing our country's resources into education, health care and other initiatives that enable people to improve their lives. H.R. 8 is inconsistent with these goals; therefore, I oppose the bill.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in commemoration of Coats, North Carolina. On March 5, 2005 Coats will celebrate its l00th Birthday. Coats is located in the Eastern part of my home county, Harnett County in the 2nd Congressional District of North Carolina. Coat's humble beginning is especially personal to me as my great, great Uncle James T. Coats bought the first acres of farmland that would grow to become this warm and hospitable Southern community.

Coat's history is rich with individuals like my uncle, who envisioned a town where future generations could work, live, and raise their families in the bright light of America's promises. I think of Ed Williams and John Talton who were among the first entrepreneurs to establish stores in Coats. I think of John McKay Byrd, a former sheriff of Harnett County, who contributed greatly to the industrial life of the community. And I think of the first mayor, J.K. Stewart who when elected installed the first electric lights in the town.

Coats has never strived to be an urban hub, more comfortable with its small town population of only 1,900. Yet, its residents are proud of their community. As a former Harnett County Commissioner, I have always enjoyed a special connection to the people of Coats, NC. It is a place rooted in appreciation for one's family, faith, and country. The Town of Coats and its residents exemplify the common-sense values of North Carolina that I am so proud to represent in Congress.

Mr. Speaker in closing I would like to send my best wishes and gratitude to the people of Coats, North Carolina in wishing them a Very Happy Birthday. I know that in the future this town will continue to be ``a good place to live and make a living.''

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 418.

Although I support the goals of this legislation, H.R. 418 unfortunately contains too many misguided provisions. Last year, I voted to pass the 9/11 Commission's bipartisan recommendations to reform identification standards and beef up security on our nation's border. This legislation would repeal that new law before it has a chance to work. Had the provisions of H.R. 418 been in place prior to September 11, 2001, they would not have stopped

a single one of the 19 terrorists. H.R. 418 would force virtually every adult in the United States to go to the DMV to get a new driver's license, and with 14,000 local jurisdictions in this country currently issuing identification, it would be impossible to impose a single standard within in the three-year limit in the bill. I will also vote to remove provisions in the bill allowing the DHS Secretary to waive laws currently on the books. Finally, many of my constituents have expressed concerns to me that H.R. 418 would create a national ID system that would lead to intrusive government action like a gun registry and gun control on targeted groups. For these reasons, I will vote ``no'' on H.R. 418.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a joyful heart to announce the birth of my very first grandchild. On January 19, my wife Faye and I welcomed into this world William Etheridge Otto, the new son of our daughter Catherine Etheridge Otto and her husband Tim. William arrived at 9:03 a.m. in Raleigh, North Carolina. He weighs seven pounds and seven ounces and measures 21 inches.

Faye and I are proud as can be of our very first grandchild and his parents. Looking into the face of a newborn baby reaffirms your hope for mankind, your faith in God and your commitment to family. I want my grandson to grow up in a peaceful and prosperous nation, where he can achieve his dreams and is limited only by his willingness to work hard. I want William Etheridge Otto and all children to have good schools, safe neighborhoods and the best medical care. And I hope our national leadership can return to the values of balanced budgets and opportunity for all so that my grandson's generation can reach for the American Dream. Those are North Carolina values. I look forward to teaching William those values throughout his precious life.

A new child in the family is a gift from God. The Etheridge family today is very blessed to welcome our newest addition. I look forward to introducing him to my friends and neighbors.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the service of my colleague, Congressman Cal Dooley.

Cal has been a good friend to me personally throughout my time here in the people's house. And on the professional level, I have always been impressed by Cal's intelligence, foresight and just plain hard work.

Cal's service in this body has probably been most influential through the moderate group of Members in the New Democrats Caucus. As co-chair of that pivotal group, Cal worked effectively to build bridges between the two parties to get real results. He championed balanced budgets, job-creating exports and policies to encourage the technology sector. In the process, Cal helped the Democratic party to reach out beyond our core base of supporters to bring people together to get the job done.

I also have enjoyed working with Cal Dooley on our joint service on the Committee on Agriculture. Cal has had the honor of representing one of the largest agricultural regions in the nation, a region that grows on the order of 200 different types of commodities. Representing so many varied agricultural interests with conflicting needs would present a challenge to any member, but Cal made it look easy. In addition to fighting for commodities that often receive little to no support from the federal government, Cal has been a tireless crusader for greater funding for agricultural research. As I represent the great agricultural university at NC State, I have deeply enjoyed working with Cal to bring greater resources for AG research. Cal understands that if we don't invest in the future of agriculture, we will quickly lose our competitive advantage in food production to other nations.

So, Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my friend and colleague Cal Dooley on the occasion of his retirement from Congress, and I look forward to many more great things from him in the years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the final version of this bill to renew the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

As the only former State schools chief serving in Congress. I know firsthand the tremendous challenges facing our schools, teachers, parents and students when it comes to educating disabled children. This legislation includes a number of positive provisions that will help students with disabilities and the educators who serve them. Specifically, I am pleased that this final version of the bill will enhance the focus on professional development, early intervention, and paperwork reduction.

I commend my colleagues for working in a bipartisan manner, an all- too-infrequent-occurrence in this Congress, to achieve a consensus bill. No legislation is perfect, and this bill is no exception. Specifically, this falls short on making good on the promise of the Federal Government to fund 40 percent of the costs of educating disabled children. I will continue to make this effort a high priority in the next Congress.

Last year, I voted against the House version of H.R. 1350 because of its failure to improve current law regarding the education of disabled children. I again commend the conferees on this legislation for producing a final product worthy of support.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting ``no.'' Congress and this administration simply must end the reckless and irresponsible budget path we are currently on.

Early next year, my wife Faye and I expect to become grandparents for the first time. While this is an exciting time for our family, I shudder to think that our Nation's legacy to that child is going to be the largest national debt ever bequeathed to a generation in this country's history. That is wrong. It is immoral. It violates to the core our most basic values of responsibility to one another.

The current administration and the Republican leadership has run up a massive national debt of $7.4 trillion and growing with no end in sight. Each newborn child now inherits $85,000 in debt. This so-called ``baby tax'' is wrong and is building inflation into our economy that poses catastrophic danger to our Nation's economic prosperity.

America must return to the values of balanced budgets and put our fiscal house in order. As someone who hails from a conservative state, I fail to see what at all is conservative about refusing to pay one's bills.

Mr. Speaker, Congress must reject this legislation and return to policies of budget sanity and economic growth so that every individual willing to work hard can make the most of his or her God-given abilities and live the American dream.

I thank my friend from South Carolina for yielding.

Let me thank the gentleman from South Carolina for his leadership on this issue because, as the gentleman from Virginia has just shared with us, this is an issue that deserves more than just an hour Special Order in the evenings. This is an issue that deserves the attention of every Member of this Congress, and it deserves the attention of the administration.

We had a wedding this weekend in our family. Our last child got married. Come January, we are expecting to be grandparents. I am looking forward to that with a great deal of anticipation. But after what we have heard tonight, I am sorry to say that when that child is born he will inherit the largest debt and his generation of any group of young people in the history of this country. That is wrong, and this Congress and this administration has an obligation to do something about it. That is wrong.

I heard today on the radio, I do not have it in writing, that the inflation increase that we are just facing, and they announced it today, is the largest we have seen in 14 years. That means we have to go back to 1990 to see the inflation increases now being built in the economy. If this is correct, what this is going to mean is the cost of that debt is going up, because interest rates will go up with inflation and it will start to squeeze everything. Sure, it has something to do with the price of oil, but the price of oil is going to keep going up if we keep devaluing the dollar. And the dollar gets devalued because we have a huge debt, and the cycle gets worse and worse.

That is basic economics. You do not need to know a lot. You just need to understand that we have got to get our house in order to pay our bills and turn that red back to green. It can be done, but it cannot be done under current policies.

Let me ask my friend from South Carolina a question, because he knows an awful lot about this when we are talking about budgets. When we are spending the dollars for the debt, and we have seen the numbers this evening, of how that is continuing to expand with no solution in sight, share with me what this does for our squeeze on the need to invest in education and in research and development, to grow our economy to get out of this problem.

Let me ask this question as if I am sitting at my kitchen table and I get my credit card. In effect, I am paying only the interest on that credit card month after month. That is what we are doing. We are not paying any on the principal. I keep building that principal larger and larger, so it goes on my credit card from $1,000 to $5,000, to $10,000. It stands to reason my interest is going up.

Here is my question. If I keep building this big enough, pretty soon the bankers are going say to me, ``Mr. Etheridge, if you can't pay some of the principal, we're going to have to sit down and work out a plan for you.'' Normally, people do not do that with a country, but I think earlier the gentleman from New York touched on this when he was talking about the challenge we face with our international friends owning our debt. How do we deal with them diplomatically when we owe them so much money?

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to praise a great North Carolinian and teacher in the Chatham County public schools, Mr. Julian Smith.

Mr. Smith received a B.S. degree in Agriculture Education from the University of North Carolina in 1965. In July of 1965 he began teaching in the Chatham County Schools where he remains to this day. He augmented his education with a Masters degree in Agriculture Education from North Carolina State University in 1971. This is truly a man who gathers knowledge in order to impart more to his students.

Mr. Smith has taught and continues to teach horticulture and floriculture to Chatham county students. He is well-liked, admired and respected by the students, parents and faculty of Chatham Central High School and throughout the county's schools because he has tremendous knowledge about his field of teaching. He began winning first place awards for Horticulture and Floriculture in 1975 and is still winning. I will submit his list of awards so that Congress can see his many, many awards!

In addition, Mr. Smith has been recognized county-wide by Chatham County public schools as their Teacher of the Year for the school years, 1980-1981, 1981-1982 and 1986-1987. He has been named Chatham County Central High School Teacher of the Year for the school years 1980-1981, 1981-1982, 1986-1987 and 1993-1994. In 1995 he was one of only 6 teachers to be recognized as a National Regional Teacher of the Year.

His principal at Bear Creek Central High School had this high praise for him, ``Mr. Smith is one of the educators that will come along once in a lifetime. He is a mentor, and an innovator. He is humble, yet driven to succeed. His students will fondly remember the impact that he made for several years after they leave Chatham Central High School. They will realize that they weren't simply taught the subjects of horticulture and floriculture; they were trained for the real world application of both.''

Mr. Speaker, North Carolina is truly blessed to have the abilities and talents of a teacher like Julian Smith teaching and shaping its young minds. I am pleased that Chatham County recognizes the talents of this wonderful teacher, and I am pleased to be able to recognize him in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate John Bryan and Rebekah Sparrow Chiavetta on the birth of their first child, Charlotte Sparrow Chiavetta. Charlotte was born on Thursday, October 7, 2004, and weighed 6 pounds and 13 ounces. Faye joins me in wishing John and Rebekah great happiness during this very special time in their lives.

As a father, I know the joy, pride, and excitement that parents experience upon the entrance of their child into the world. Representing hope, goodness, and innocence, a newborn allows those around her to see the world through her eyes... as a new, fresh place with unending possibilities for the future. Through a child, one is able to recognize and appreciate the full potential of the human race. I know the Chiavettas look forward to the changes and challenges that their new daughter will bring to their lives while taking pleasure in the many rewards they are sure to receive as they watch her grow.

I welcome young Charlotte into the world and wish John and Rebekah all the best as they raise her.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for being kind enough, our distinguished ranking member, for yielding me the time.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of North Carolina farm families and really a lot of farm families who grow tobacco across the southeast, I rise this evening to offer my support for this conference report on H.R. 4520.

The $9.6 billion buyout this bill provides to tobacco growers and quota holders will stave off the economic disaster that my tobacco farm families currently face in my district.

Since 1997, North Carolina farm families and really other tobacco families throughout the southeast have seen their income cut roughly in half. This December they faced the prospect of another 30 percent cut in quota, and that will mean a resulting income loss.

But this evening, a new day dawns for the American tobacco farmer. Eliminating the current quota system will make American tobacco leaf, the finest in the world, more competitive on the world market.

In addition, the buyout will give many debt-ridden tobacco growers a chance to either retire with some dignity, invest in production of a different crop or restructure their current tobacco production.

Almost $4 billion will flow into rural North Carolina during the next 10 years. Three-quarters of that billion will flow into my congressional district. This will have a tremendous transformative impact upon my mostly rural people.

While North Carolina's tobacco growers and quota holders are grateful to get this level of assistance, we wish the conference committee would have accepted either of the two amendments offered that would have increased the funding for the buyout.

I want to thank the Ways and Means chairman for honoring his pledge to keep the tobacco buyout in the bill. Four months ago, I told him, ``Come back with your shield, or on it.'' He did bring his shield back. It is pretty beaten and battered, has a few holes, and has lost some of its original shine since it was given to him, but he brought it back, and North Carolina farmers are better off this evening.

I will support the adoption of the conference report.

Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to congratulate my friend, Senator John Edwards, for his outstanding performance in last night's debate. Once again, he has done us proud.

John Edwards grew up the son of a mill worker in rural North Carolina. He understands the challenges that ordinary people face in these tough economic times. Simply put, he gets it when it comes to the problems, challenges, aspirations and dreams of hard-working families. That is why he will make an outstanding Vice President.

During last night's debate, John Edwards clearly stated why the Bush- Cheney administration's stubborn refusal to admit mistakes is so wrong for America. The Bush-Cheney record of failed policies, broken promises, and tired excuses is a strong change in our national leadership. John Edwards articulated that case very strongly last night.

Mr. Speaker, John Edwards and John Kerry have a better plan to strengthen middle-class families, to create good jobs, provide targeted tax relief for middle-class families and invest in jobs for tomorrow for the broader future of America. We need new leadership in America. John Edwards demonstrated last night that he and John Kerry are ready to take our country in a new and better direction.