Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, in this age of electronic transactions, we are all highly vulnerable to having our identity stolen and our credit ruined. Americans deserve every tool available to help protect their identities and their credit.

And yet a data protection bill that passed out of the Committee on Financial Services and that is moving to this floor for a vote strips away the ability that consumers in 18 States have to control access to their credit reports at all times. It would allow consumers to freeze their files only after they are victims of identity theft, and that would absolutely do no good.

File freeze works because it stops the granting of new credit without the consumers' expressed permission. I urge my colleagues to help protect consumers' credit and identities. I urge them to cosponsor H.R. 5482 and join me in fighting for consumers to have the ability to freeze their own credit information.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.J. Res. 88.

Instead of spending time working on the issues that really matter to the American people, we are here debating a proposed amendment that would write discrimination into the Constitution.

We do this even after the Senate failed to pass a similar amendment.

So let's be clear, regardless of what the vote is today, this amendment is going nowhere.

This makes our time on this even more pointless.

What this debate really is about is dividing our country and riling up the base for a Republican party increasingly concerned about their election prospects this November.

And the Republican leadership is willing to trample on our Constitution in order to do so and no issue is worth paying such a price.

Instead of debating discrimination and dividing our country, why don't we spend our time working to make health care more affordable, work to lower gas prices and achieve energy independence, raise the minimum wage, cut the cost of college or work to ensure our hardworking constituents a dignified retirement?

Why is it that my Republican colleagues who talk so much about family values refuse to allow our families to earn a livable wage, refuse to fix the prescription drug program and turn their backs on our children by raising the interest rate on all student loans?

We must resist this divisive use of this House to score a few political points. We must reject this effort.

We need real leadership that will bring our country towards a new direction.

There is a new direction that our country must go in that will help American families and address the issues that impact them every single day.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 784, which commends and supports Radio Al Mahaba, Iraq's first and only radio station for women.

In the midst of all the bad news coming out of Iraq, it is important that we recognize one of the positive developments there. Radio Al Mahaba provides a unique service to the citizens of Iraq, particularly the women. It allows Iraqi women to express their opinions about issues important to them, including women's rights.

For Iraq to have any kind of future, there must be full participation and equal treatment under the law for women in Iraq. The voices of Iraqi women must be heard in all levels of government, the private sector, in schools, and in the media. I am pleased that today this body officially goes on the record in support of these efforts.

However, we should not stop here. We must continue to encourage the leadership in Iraq to protect the rights of women, particularly in the amendment process for the constitution. Iraqi women and men should be guaranteed equality in the constitution to ensure that women

will never become second-class citizens. Both women and men should have the right to vote, access to equal opportunities, and equal treatment under the law. I am particularly concerned that final language in the constitution could limit women's rights, including in matters such as divorce, child custody, and inheritance.

I have introduced legislation, H.R. 5548, the ``Empowerment of Iraqi Women Act of 2006,'' which would establish an Iraqi Women's Fund to help Iraqi women and girls in the areas of political, legal, and human rights, health care, education, training, security, and shelter, and it would authorize $22,500,000 in each fiscal year 2007, 2008, and 2009 for this fund. I have met with several delegations of Iraqi women during my trips to Iraq and here in Washington. I am always inspired by their strength and courage to speak out in support of equality, even in the face of danger. While these women have hope, they understand that the future is very uncertain.

I know my colleagues join me in expressing our strong support and solidarity with the women of Iraq as they fight for the rights to which they are entitled. I urge a ``yes'' vote on this important resolution.

Mr. Speaker, on July 10, 2006 I missed rollcall votes Nos. 358 and 359.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes Nos. 358 and 359.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding and

for his leadership, and I rise in opposition of the underlying bill, H.R. 2990, and in support of the Kanjorski substitute.

I believe that all of us in this body support the promotion of healthy competition and improved transparency and accountability and independence in the rating agency industry. I certainly am concerned about the transparency and accountability of the industry. However, I believe that this particular bill will do more harm than good.

While the bill has been somewhat improved through various manager's amendments, I still have serious concerns regarding the bill that is before us. The bill contains a free-for-all in the ratings market without the usual market protections against abuse. For example, the bill allows almost anyone to register as a rating agency and issue ratings, but insulates rating agencies from lawsuits.

The fact that the bill does not provide adequate rating quality assurance is of grave concern to me for safety and soundness. Taking away the SEC's seal of approval for rating agencies will cause investors to possibly lose confidence in the markets because they are rightly concerned about ratings shopping or simply inaccurate ratings. We spent the last several years working to overcome the crisis in investor confidence caused by corporate governance scandals, and this is absolutely not the time for taking risks in this area.

Mr. Chairman, I also have procedural concerns regarding how this bill was advanced through the committee on which I serve. As you know, the SEC was not asked to participate in either of the two hearings that this committee held on this legislation. And given the role that the SEC plays now in effectively overseeing rating agencies and the role it will play in administering this legislation, I think we should receive testimony from them before taking legislative action.

This is a very complicated issue that could have a tremendous effect on the capital markets both here and abroad. I note that other international regulators have recently taken a very different approach than the one advocated by this bill.

While I am not prepared today to say which approach is better, I think it would be prudent for us to learn more from the SEC and other international regulators on credit rating agencies, and to determine whether we want to move towards greater international harmonization of standards, as opposed to going forward with this new change.

Simply put, before rushing to judgment, we need to better understand all of the impacts that could result from our actions here today. Rushing this bill to the floor is not the way to reach sound public policy. We need to understand all of the consequences of this change and the effect it will have on the quality of our rating agencies.

So I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 2990 and to support the Kanjorski amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to acknowledge the achievements of NOW-NYC and the recipients of the 2006 Susan B. Anthony Awards and the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Award. Whether it's fighting against the appointment of Judge Alito, demanding an increase in the availability of emergency contraception or working to end the statute of limitations for rape in New York State, the members of NOW-NYC have been leaders in standing up for women's rights.

The Elizabeth Cady Stanton Award is presented to a woman of outstanding achievement who has made important contributions toward creating a more equal society and has served as a role model for other women. The Susan B. Anthony Awards honor women who have accomplished something remarkable. Each of this year's recipients has, in her own way, spoken up, spoken out, gotten involved and made a difference. They are our role models and heroines.

Councilwoman Gale Brewer, recipient of this year's Elizabeth Cady Stanton Award, is an outstanding member of the New York City Council, representing Manhattan's Upper West Side. She is a strong ally, a good friend and a champion of women's rights and human rights. Brewer has been instrumental in passing numerous laws, the most recent being the Human Rights Bill, which protects domestic partnerships from discrimination and retaliation in the workplace. In 2000, the Daily News hailed her as ``One of 50 New Yorkers to Watch.''

When the crime rate in their North Brooklyn neighborhood began to rise, Oraia Reid and Consuelo Ruybal started helping women take back the night by offering them a safe way home. In 2004 they founded RightRides, a not-for-profit organization that offers free late-night rides home to women in several Brooklyn neighborhoods and parts of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Their creative response to improving women's safety so impressed Mayor Michael Bloomberg, that December 12, 2005, was named ``RightRides for Women's Safety Day.''

Nancy Lublin has proved that one person really can change the world. Recognizing that what you wear can make the difference between getting the job and getting shown the door, she created Dress for Success, which provides business attire for low income women who are seeking jobs. For many women, that would have been enough. But Nancy saw another need--the need to encourage kids to get involved in their communities and to recognize their achievements when they do. So she agreed to become CEO of Do Something, an organization, founded in 1993 by Andrew Shue (of Melrose Place) and Michael Sanchez, childhood friends who wanted to make community service as cool as sports. Do Something has distributed over 1 million dollars through its Brick Awards to young people who are making a difference in their communities. In 1998, CNN dubbed the BRICK Awards ``The Oscars for young people in service''.

Former NOW-NYC President and current Chair of the Board, Jane Manning has taken her activism to the courts as well as to the streets. A graduate of Yale College and NYU Law School, Jane served as Assistant District Attorney for six years and currently defends women's rights as a human rights attorney for the non-profit organization Equality Now. A dedicated advocate for victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, and trafficking, Jane launched NOW-NYC's campaign to repeal New York's statute of limitations on rape cases and works closely with human rights groups to bring an end to the human rights epidemic of trafficking in women. Recently she represented a coalition of feminist organizations before New York State's highest court, arguing as amici curiae to reverse an appellate court decision that would have made the defense of extreme emotional disturbance almost universally available to men who kill their wives or girlfriends. In a unanimous decision, the court reversed the lower court's decision and ruled in favor of the feminist groups.

Finally, I want to congratulate Kathleen Ham, a symbol of courage to rape victims around the country. She is one of the reasons I fought so hard to pass the Debbie Smith Act. In June of 1973, Kathleen Ham was brutally attacked and raped in her New York apartment. Although the suspect was immediately apprehended while fleeing the scene, the trial resulted in a hung jury. In 2005, DNA technology linked the man charged in her rape definitively not only to her rape but also to at least 23 other rapes in Maryland and New Jersey over the past 32 years. Knowing that this serial rapist must be put behind bars, Ms. Ham courageously decided to take the stand once again, and to go public with her identity and story. When she came forward, nine other women also came forward to say that this man had raped them. Their stories are being used to illustrate the absurdity of New York's five-year statute of limitations for rape.

Mr. Speaker, I request that my colleagues join me in paying tribute to the 2006 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Award winners.

Mr. Speaker, today, along with my friend and colleague from New York, Representative Nita Lowey, I am introducing a resolution to recognize President Clinton's 60th birthday which will occur this August 19th. President Clinton has had a long and distinguished career in public service including serving as Governor of Arkansas and President of the United States. During Clinton's two terms in the White House, this country experienced unprecedented economic expansion including the creation of 22 million jobs. He worked with our NATO allies to end the ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, and he played a major role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland. Since leaving office in 2001, President Clinton has continued to devote himself to helping people around the world through the Clinton Foundation. It is because of his commitment to not only the American people, but to the people of the world that I am honored today to recognize President Clinton's birthday and I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, today, along with Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), I introduce legislation to force the Department of Defense (DoD) to implement fully the Defense Incident-Based Reporting System (DIBRS). I firmly believe that the best way to effectively tackle a problem such as sexual assault in the military is to have accurate data. The DoD has made several promises that DIBRS, which collects statistics about crimes committed within the military services, would be up and running by now. Congress first mandated that the Pentagon collect crime statistics in 1988. I repeat--Congress told the DoD to do this in 1988. Yet eighteen years later, DIBRS is not slated for completion until June 2007, if we can believe the DoD. This legislation will direct the Secretary of Defense to ensure that DIBRS is fully implemented by January 1, 2007. If DIBRS is not fully implemented by that date, the Secretary's salary will be deducted by $1,000 each day starting January 1, 2007. I believe that if the DoD will not take it upon itself to make this a priority, we in Congress have a responsibility to see that our mandates are met.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today to express my support for H.R. 5672, the Science-State-Justice Commerce Appropriations bill.

This legislation includes approximately $176,000,000 for a DNA analysis and capacity enhancement program and other local, State, and Federal forensic activities. Of this funding, not less than $151,000,000 is directed toward the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program which help to reduce and eliminate the backlog of DNA samples and increase State and local DNA laboratory capacity.

I met Debbie Smith five years ago when she came to Washington to testify at a hearing about the importance of DNA evidence. The evidence collected from her rape sat on a shelf for years waiting to be analyzed. After hearing her story, I resolved to do something about the hundreds of thousands of rape kits that were sitting on shelves, unanalyzed, because of a lack of funding. ``The Debbie Smith Act'' became law in 2004, and with the critical funding provided by Congress, DNA evidence will be analyzed and rapists put behind bars. I commend Chairman Wolf and Ranking Member Mollohan for their steadfast support for this issue.

I also am pleased that this legislation contains $21,488,000 to enhance State and local efforts to combat trafficking of persons, as authorized by legislation that I sponsored with Representative Deborah Pryce (R-OH), the ``End Demand for Sex Trafficking Act.'' This funding will also go toward conducting comprehensive research and statistical review of sex trafficking and unlawful commercial sex acts in the United States.

Approximately 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year. However, trafficking is not just a problem in other countries. Each year, men, women, and children from all over the world are brought into the United States for the sole purpose of being bought and sold by American citizens for commercial sex. And the victims are often Americans.

I have worked on the trafficking issue for many years including working to stop sex tour operators like Big Apple Oriental Tours, which is based in New York City, from sexually exploiting impoverished women and girls in developing countries.

It is important that we protect the victims of the sex trade industry, and punish the predators that exploit them. This funding is an important step in preventing the many human rights abuses inflicted on men, women, and children around the world.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. WOLF Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise and report the bill back to the House with sundry amendments, with the recommendation that the amendments be agreed to and that the bill, as amended, do pass.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Frank resolution that we are not permitted to vote on. All of us support legal efforts to track terrorist financing. But what we have before us is a nonbinding resolution that is more about stirring the Republican political base and silencing the press than protecting our country.

The resolution makes declarations about actions that have yet to be confirmed without conducting any oversight and without all the facts. The Republican Party has become masters of cut and run, cutting from the issues so that they can run for reelection in November.

This resolution is a diversion. If it was really about condemning leaks of classified information, it would also mention Valerie Plame, Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. And as the Member of Congress representing the district that suffered the greatest loss of life on 9/11, I believe that combating terrorism is a serious, bipartisan issue, not a one- sided, last-minute, take-it-or-leave-it, Republican-only, political campaign stunt.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to read the statement of Kimberly Flynn, a member of 9/11 Environmental Action, a community group in New York City focused on environmental and health impacts of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Ms. Flynn gave this statement at a rally in New York City that I attended to bring attention to the health problems that continue to exist from 9/11.

Good afternoon. I'm Kimberly Flynn and I represent 9/11

Environmental Action. We're community activists. For nearly 5

years, we've been fighting for the comprehensive EPA cleanup

that never happened. And we're also fighting for the health

needs of all those harmed by 9/11 pollution to be met.

In the days after 9/11, like many people, my mother in New

Orleans was glued to CNN. Now, my mother has no expertise in

occupational health and safety, but she called me with

concern in her voice: Kim, why are some people digging

through all that rubble wearing respirators, but most people

are not? Isn't that going to cause serious problems down the

line?

How is it that our government, whose job it is to protect

human health from the unprecendented and obvious hazards

never asked that question?

After 9/11, when two of tallest buildings buildings in the

world were reduced to rubble, and the air was thick with dust

and smoke . . . when toxic dust penetrated into buildings

throughout the area, they told all of us it was safe.

At a time when your heroism and patriotism were the

admiration of the entire world, they told the people of Lower

Manhattan it was their patriotic duty to go about their

business.

Well, I have a question for President Bush and Governor

Pataki: It has been nearly 5 years, when are you going to do

your patriotic duty?

To Governor Pataki: Your Ground Zero legacy is at stake.

You must act to fix the unconscionable workers comp fiasco .

. . NOW.

To President Bush: We will not let you leave office without

acknowledging to the American people that so many of those

workers, volunteers and cleanup workers who came to the

rescue on and after 9/11 are sick . . . as are many others

who live, work and go to school in Lower Manhattan. And that

they need and deserve our government's help . . . NOW.

We will not let you leave office without making a full

commitment to provide for the long-term 9/11 health needs of

everyone harmed by these obvious and unprecedented hazards.

These are days of desperation for many of you, and our

hearts go out to you and all those suffering from their

Ground Zero exposures. But more than that, we are with you!

We are yours in the struggle for justice, for the duration.

Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I would like to add my support to what has already been said about the importance of developing a joint program initiative by the Greek and Turkish language services at the Voice of America to promote an end to the division of Cyprus and to help engage the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities in a revived process aimed at their reunification.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, way too long, and we all want this division to come to an end. I believe that this type of initiative would go a long way in making that happen by keeping the lines of communication between the two communities open.

I am especially pleased to join my fellow cochair and cofounder of the Hellenic Caucus, Representative Bilirakis, as well as the cochairs of the Turkish Caucus, Representatives Wexler and Whitfield, in showing our collective support for this effort.

I would also like to thank Chairman Wolf and Ranking Member Mollohan for restoring the cuts to valuable programs at the Voice of America, including the Greek and Turkey services, and I look forward to working with them on this new and exciting project for Cyprus.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in strong support of H.R. 5341, the Seasoned Customer CTR Exemption Act of 2006. This bill is similar to an amendment I authored with Congressman Renzi at the committee markup of H.R. 3505, the regulatory relief bill that the House passed overwhelmingly in March. Because the Senate version of regulatory relief does not include this provision, we are passing it as a separate bill.

I am delighted to be a cosponsor of this bill along with my colleagues, Congressman Bachus and Ranking Member Frank. With 22 bipartisan cosponsors, it is a good example of the cooperative work of the Financial Services Committee.

This bill is intended to relieve financial institutions from unnecessary filings of currency transactions. This provision would reduce CTR filings by 70 to 90 percent for most financial institutions, saving many, many hours each year. By freeing financial institutions from filing useless CTRs, this bill enables them to concentrate on the more useful suspicious activity reports, which are those reports that financial institutions file when they believe a particular transaction of any sort or size warrants further review by law enforcement. More important, this also enables the regulators to concentrate on the important SAR filings, rather than CTRs from repeat trusted customers.

The bill would require banks to provide a one-time notice to FinCEN, the lead money laundering agency, of a proposed exemption for a particular well-known customer, and to describe the customer's relationship with the bank as the grounds for such exemption if FinCEN feels that the customer should not be in the reports or CTRs.

At present, a CTR must be filed for every single transaction of over $10,000, which results in more than 13 million CTRs being filed annually. Many of these CTRs, particularly those from business customers well known to the banks, are of absolutely no use to law enforcement. It is a waste of the bank's time and of law enforcement's time to file and to review them.

The CTR filings that distract both the banks and regulators from using their resources to find terrorists and money launderers are counterproductive. To relieve this problem, this bill instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations that exempt a depository institution from filing a CTR if the transaction is with a seasoned customer, that is, a business which has kept a deposit account at the bank for a year and is engaged in multiple currency transactions subject to the CTR requirements.

The idea was first proposed by the Internal Revenue Department, and also in the GAO report that my colleague has cited in his remarks; and it was also proposed by the Treasury Department and law enforcement for exactly

this reason. FinCEN Director Bill Fox strongly endorsed this seasoned customer exemption saying, and I quote, ``This change will make the exemption more effective, while still ensuring that currency transaction reporting identification, critical to identifying criminal financial activity, is made available to law enforcement.''

The banking regulators also expressed strong support for this proposal. OCC and OTS both agreed with FinCEN that the CTR filing process had become counterproductive in terms of national security because so many CTRs are filed that important data is lost in the haystack.

In the new Bank Secrecy Act provisions, we asked our financial institutions to take a front-line position in the war on money laundering and terrorist financing and we need to give them the ability to use their resources to their best advantage.

As a Representative of New York City, which is both an important financial center of the United States and a city that is very concerned about terrorism, I am concerned not only about giving the regulators the proper tools which they need, but I am also concerned that burdens are not placed on financial institutions that are redundant, particularly for midsized and smaller banks.

I know the vast majority of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle share this concern, and we worked hard together to pass carefully balanced legislation addressing it, so I urge my colleagues to continue that effort and vote for this underlying bill.

I rise in support of H.R. 5341, the Seasoned Customer CTR Exemption Act of 2006.

This bill is a reiteration of the amendment I offered with Congressman Renzi at the Committee markup of H.R. 3505, the reg relief bill that the House passed by a 415 to 2 vote in March. Because the Senate version of reg relief does not include this provision, we are passing it as a separate bill. I am delighted to cosponsor this bill with my colleague Congressman Bachus. With 22 bipartisan cosponsors, it is a good example of the bipartisan work of the Financial Services Committee.

This bill is intended to relieve banks from unnecessary filings of Currency Transaction reports, or CTRs. At present, a CTR must be filed for every single transaction over $10,000, which results in more than 13 million CTRs being filed annually. Many of these CTRs, particularly those from business customers well known to their banks, are of no use to law enforcement. It is a waste of the banks' time to file them and a waste of law enforcement time to review them. CTR filings that distract both the banks and regulators from using their resources to find terrorists and money launderers are counterproductive.

To relieve this problem, this bill instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations that exempt a depository institution from filing a CTR if the transaction is with a ``seasoned'' customer, that is, a business which has kept a deposit account at the bank for a year and has engaged in multiple currency transactions subject to the CTR requirements.

This provision would reduce CTR filings by 70 to 90 percent for most banks, saving banks many hours each year.

By freeing banks from filing useless CTRs, this bill enables them to concentrate on the more useful Suspicious Activity Reports, which are those reports bank file when they believe a particular transaction of any sort or size warrants further review by law enforcement.

More important, this also enables the regulators to concentrate on the important SAR filings rather than CTRs from repeat customers.

The bill would require banks to provide a one-time notice to FinCEN, the lead money laundering agency, of a proposed exemption for a particular well-known customer, and to describe the customer's relationship with the bank as the grounds for such exemption. If FinCEN feels that the customer should not be exempted, then it can reject the proposed exemption. And the exemption can be revoked by FinCEN at any time. The government remains in complete control of the exemption process.

Indeed, this measure was proposed by the Treasury Department and law enforcement for exactly this reason. FinCEN Director Bill Fox strongly endorsed this seasoned customer exemption, stating that: ``This change will make the exemption more effective while still ensuring that currency transaction reporting information critical to identifying criminal financial activity is made available to law enforcement.''

The banking regulators also expressed strong support for this proposal. OCC and OTS both agreed with FinCEN that the CTR filing process had become counterproductive in terms of national security because so many CTRs are filed that important data is lost in the haystack.

In the new Bank Secrecy Act provisions, we asked our financial institutions to take a frontline position in the war on money laundering and terrorist financing. We need to give them the ability to use their resources to best advantage.

As a representative of New York City, the financial center of the United States, I am particularly concerned about the burdens the Bank Secrecy Act puts on our financial institutions, particularly those that are not megainstitutions but are mid-size and smaller.

I know the vast majority of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle share this concern and we worked hard together to pass carefully balanced legislation addressing it.

I urge my colleagues to continue that effort and vote for this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, there are no further speakers on our side of the aisle, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, later today, some of our colleagues plan to offer amendments to this bill that would divert money from the 2010 Census. Many of them have good intentions and would send the money to other worthwhile programs. However, I would like to strongly urge those colleagues to consider the damage that would be done--not just to this Nation, but perhaps even to the very district they represent--should the Census be depleted. It a program with an enormous impact and should never be carved up and handed out like a Thanksgiving turkey.

Five years from now, if Members begin complaining about problems with Census and the count in their States, we will only have ourselves to blame. If members want to take money from Census, perhaps they should volunteer their States for inaccurate counts.

Just because the actual survey takes place in 2010 doesn't mean that cutting the Census in 2006 is irrelevant. Initial planning is ongoing and the Census Bureau is gearing up for the largest peace-time mobilization in American history. The Census doesn't just appear in an instant and then disappear every ten years, it is a constant, massive effort that never stops.

Some might try to divert money from the Census to other programs in this bill in the name of law enforcement. But they should keep in mind that the Census is a critical tool for fighting crime. Crime mapping, after all, relies on accurate demographic and housing data to help police determine where to deploy manpower, equipment and other resources.

Furthermore, imagine the impact of an inaccurate Census on the Byrne Memorial Justice

Assistance Grant Program. The distribution of this money is based on population and crime statistics, both of which are based on Census statistics.

Mr. Chairman, I hope our colleagues understand that the Census affects much of what we do, from billions upon billions in federal dollars that could assist our districts to our States' representation in Congress. It is especially important for areas that are undercounted and underserved. It is not a throwaway program--in many ways it is the lifeblood of this government.

Point of Order

Mr. Speaker, the Bush economy continues to be unfriendly to America's workers. Earlier this month, we learned that employers added only 75,000 jobs to their payrolls in May, about half of what we need just to keep up with normal growth in the labor market. Wage growth was disappointing again in May, continuing a pattern in which workers cannot get ahead of rising costs in gasoline, housing, health care, and on education for their children, even though their productivity keeps growing.

The benefits of economic growth under President Bush are showing up in the bottom lines of companies and in the pockets of shareholders, but not in the paychecks of America's workers. Mr. Speaker, this country needs a new direction.