Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the resolution. I honor and support the troops in Iraq and ask that we have an honest, open debate on the Iraq war on the House floor.

I rise in opposition to this resolution H. Res. 612. I share in the celebration for the successful parliamentary elections that took place in Iraq yesterday. It is my sincere hope that the event marks an important step toward establishing the long-term political stability in the country and the political legitimacy of its government.

However, this resolution goes beyond congratulating the Iraqi people for their bravery and success in yesterday's election. It pays more homage to the Bush Administration's prosecution of the war in Iraq than it devotes to the bravery of the Iraqi voters. Frankly, I have opposed this Administration's decision to go to war from the beginning and voted against extending the President the authorization to use military force against Iraq. I did so because the war aims of this administration seemed confused and I thought we should allow the U.N. weapons inspection team to complete its mission before embarking on a war footing.

What I resent most about this resolution is that there was no attempt by the majority to work with Members on this side of the aisle to arrive at a consensus resolution that we can all support. I can only conclude that it is interested only in gaining political one upmanship than it is in reaching bipartisan agreement on congratulating the Iraqi people for their progress toward democracy.

Additionally, this resolution sends the message that anyone advocating a draw down of U.S. forces 6 days or 6 hours earlier than the president does is imposing an ``artificial deadline'' and proposing a cut-and-run strategy. I reject that characterization. What I want to see from this administration is a timetable for training a viable Iraqi security force that would allow for an orderly draw down of our troops. After reading this resolution and listening to series of statements by the President on our Iraq strategy, I am truly concerned that we have no orderly way out of our predicament. It is my conclusion that our current course only continues our open-ended obligation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in reluctant support of the Pension Protection Act of 2005, H.R. 2830. I commend the authors of this bill who worked with elements of the union movement to craft legislation designed to address some of the issues affecting the employer-provided pension system. Key stakeholders in Michigan's 13th Congressional District support the bill that we will consider today. Organizations like General Motors, Ford Motor Company, the United Auto Workers Union, building trade unions, Northwest Airlines, airline pilots, flight attendants, and more have contacted my office to express their support for the bill.

The leadership of my party has pointed out that the bill has several major shortcomings. My leadership argues that H.R. 2830 does very little over the long-term to strengthen traditional, defined benefit plans. Had the majority permitted Members on my side of the aisle to amend the bill, I am sure that our suggestions would go a long way to improving the legislative product before us. We, however, are being denied that opportunity, and I must decide what best represents the interests of the income security needs of my Southeast Michigan constituents. After careful examination, I have decided to support the passage of H.R. 2830, but with the hope that it will be improved when a compromised is reached with the other body.

My district is the center of the world automotive industry. As my colleagues know, the economic condition of the GM, Ford Motor and Daimler-Chrysler is under stress. The workers employed in local plant sites throughout the Nation feel their future income security is threatened because their pensions are dependent on the financial health of company-sponsored plans.

All in all, this bill strengthens funding for employer pension plans and includes reforms advocated by companies and unions who participate in multi-employer pension plans. Therefore, I vote for this bill with hope that it will move the process forward to address the pension concerns of the airline industry and airline employees and the concerns of our steelworkers, who take exception with shutdown provisions of the bill to address the pension needs of companies in total ``shutdown'' status.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the conference report on H.R. 3010, Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2006. Like the version rejected by the House last month, the revised version still slashes health, education and jobs programs by $1.6 billion below the FY 2005 enacted level.

Mr. Speaker, this is the second time the House has considered the LHHS conference report. Sadly, a second look at the conference report is not better. On November 17, the conference report was rejected because the bill showed that the Republican-led Congress was out of touch with the priorities and needs of the American people.

The bill before us today does not change the core principles rejected in the first conference report. The second conference report still underfunds key programs because of the Republican-led Congress and the Administration's fiscally irresponsible budget priorities, continued insistence on large additional tax cuts for the super rich, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although appropriators must make tough choices because of these extraordinarily tight budget constraints, programs that help millions of Americans should not be on the chopping block.

With a record 55 million children in public schools and state budgets stretched thin, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) funding is cut by $779 million. Title I, which is the core of NCLB's efforts to improve reading and math skills, receives the smallest increase for Title I in 8 years--only $100 million--which means 3.1 million low-income children will be left behind.

Even as the cost of a 4-year public college education has increased by 34 percent since 2001, the maximum Pell Grant is frozen for the fourth straight year at $4,050, and no new funding for all other student financial aid and support programs is provided in this conference report.

This conference report will actually cut the federal share of special education costs from 18.6 percent in FY 2005 to 18.0 percent by providing the smallest increase for the Individuals with Disabilities Act in a decade. The bill provides $4 billion less than what was promised for IDEA.

With 7.6 million Americans out of work, Republicans cut the Community College Initiative's, which trains workers for high skill, high paying jobs by $125 million-rescinding funds provided last year and denying this assistance to 100,000 Americans.

Republicans also cut job search assistance through the Employment Service by 11 percent and cut State Unemployment Insurance

and Employment Service Offices by 7 percent, eliminating help for 1.9 million people.

Consumers are expected to pay 52 percent more for natural gas, 11 percent more for electricity, and 24 percent more for home heating oil this winter, yet this conference report failed to increase funding for LIHEAP home heating assistance, which helps keep the heat on for low- income seniors and families with children.

Nearly 46 million Americans are without health insurance yet this conference report provides almost no funding for new Community Health Centers beyond those approved last year and eliminates the Healthy Communities Access Program and state planning grants to improve health care coverage.

Preventive Health Block Grants to state health departments help address critical public health problems. The bill provides less for responding to disease outbreaks, immunizing children, and improving care for people with chronic diseases, when it cuts these grants by $31 million.

This conference report reflects the priorities of this Republican-led Congress and not those of Democrats and most Americans. The country's priorities should be based on the shared sacrifice of all Americans, not just sacrifices for the poor, working class, students and seniors.

The Labor-HHS-Education bill should fund significant health, education, job assistance, training and research programs that impact every American. This conference report is way short in meeting the needs of Americans. Congress is walking away from our commitment to equal opportunity and a better quality of life for all Americans. Greater access to employment training, jobs, affordable healthcare, quality education, and ending disparities should be our goal.

This bill falls short of achieving those goals.

Mr. Speaker, despite the addition of modest funding increases for certain rural health programs, this bill still dramatically cuts the core principles and programs that are important to Americans.

I oppose this LHHS conference report and urge all of my colleagues to reject this bill full of misguided priorities.

Mr. Speaker, some of the cuts proposed in this ``Deficit Reduction Act'' include Medicaid, student loans, child support enforcement, child foster care, supplemental security income, farm conservation, and many more.

Republicans have offered over $50 billion in cuts to much needed programs for America's families. The pretext of the these program cuts is to bring down the deficit, but all they do is offset the cost of a $56.6 billion tax cut package that will come to the floor of the House soon. Do not be misled into believing that the budget cuts being contemplated are to cover the cost of rebuilding the Gulf Coast states. They are being used to offset the raid that is taking place on the Treasury.

The Republicans are employing a two-pronged strategy for this fiscal charade. Today they want us to vote on $50 billion in spending cuts and later they will ask us to vote on a $50 billion tax cut for the wealthiest top one-tenth of one percent of Americans. It is their hope that the American people will not see the connection between the two actions. Show the people that you are cutting spending on one hand; then cut taxes for your supporters with the other. That is their game. I am appalled the Republicans will cut programs for children, the hungry, the sick and the vulnerable for tax cuts to the healthiest and wealthiest Americans.

Since 2001, the Republicans have done an excellent job of spinning their tax cut packages. They said we could have it all: Medicare prescription drug coverage, the War on Terrorism, huge tax cuts, and still produce budget surpluses as far as the eye can see. It is a great pitch, but there is only one hitch to their argument: it did not happen that way. Now Republicans are doing all they can to dodge the responsibility for the fiscal situation in which the country now finds itself. In fact, the President and my Republican colleagues take pride that last year's budget deficit was $320 billion, the third largest deficit in history. They take it as a record of accomplishment that the deficit was not higher. Now that is spin. Last year's deficit may be lower than the $412 billion deficit reached in fiscal year 2004, but that hardly entitles the Republicans to bragging rights over their fiscal stewardship. Under their leadership, a Republican president and Republican Congress have produced a string of record setting budget deficits.

By bringing this bill to the floor, the folk on the other side of the aisle have the temerity to say that the program cuts being recommended will offset the cost of added spending for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That argument is not even close to the truth. That is budgeteering by Merlin the Magician. I hope the American people will be able to look behind the curtain of their arguments and see them for what they are: simply a means to hide from their record of fiscal irresponsibility.

The President and the Republican majority are adept. Record deficits? Not the fault of the party in power. Blame 9/11, or blame the economy, or blame Katrina, or blame Saddam Hussein and Iraq, or blame the terrorists, or blame whatever. Just do not blame the Republicans or the Republican tax cuts for the horrible financial situation our country is in. That is the gist of the Republican message we hear today.

For a President and a party that is artful in avoiding blame for the country's fiscal state, for the failure to execute a successful war strategy in Iraq, the failure to respond rapidly during Hurricane Katrina, the failure to catch Osama bin Laden, the failure to find weapons of mass destruction, the failure to provide affordable energy, the failure to hire competent people to handle crises, the failure to prepare for a possible bird flu pandemic, for all the failures that have occurred on the watch of this President and this Republican Congress, can there be little reason why they want to avoid the ``blame game?''

We can do better. There is no reason why we freely spend to rebuild Baghdad but struggle to rebuild Biloxi. When it comes to taking care of our own, where is the parity? Why are we applying a tougher standard on our own than we are in Afghanistan and Iraq? The budget cuts that will be triggered under this bill violates the principle of parity, it puts the welfare of others ahead of our own American people. This budget is symbolic of the spending priorities of this administration: It puts America and Americans last. That is a shame and that is why this bill does not deserve our support. I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in voting down this unfortunate bill.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my ranking member for yielding. Thank you very much.

I say to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg), I am so very proud of his leadership, as he has taken this bill, a very difficult bill with many agencies and multimillions of dollars, and am very proud of the gentleman as a Congressman, and certainly for our State, for his leadership.

I thank Ranking Member Olver for, as well, working to see that we got through this and did our best to fund the roads, the bridges, the transit agencies and all that goes with that. I appreciate how the gentlemen work together and how you allow all of us, the subcommittee members, to participate. I think we were unique in that, and I want to thank the gentlemen.

I want to give special thanks to the staffs on both sides of the aisle. We know how important staff is, and I tell you, from Mike Malone, and I am going to mess up if I start naming names, but I want to name a couple of them. Just thank you very much for all the work that you do. Our staffs, we could not do half the work we do as efficiently if it were not for the staffs on both sides of the aisle, so I thank you for that as well.

I am a little concerned that in the HUD budget we did not assess and continue to work to change what was changed a few years ago, for the snapshot for receiving section 8 vouchers from the 3-month look to a 12-month look. At a time when housing needs are most pressing, I do believe that still we need to be able to take a 12-month snapshot of the housing authorities and then determine what their funding ought to be.

In my own State of Michigan, and my district particularly, we are losing 1,500 slots because we use a 3-month snapshot of expenses rather than a full 12 months. So, as a result, some housing authorities will get more money. Others, like mine, will get less and we will find many, many people out in the cold literally because they do not have adequate housing.

Metro Airport, at our Detroit Metro Airport, it is a brand new airport. FAA is finding, and we had in our report language last year and it did not happen, and we tried to do it again this year, to make it a little stronger. Black mold is in there with the air traffic controllers; we need to alleviate that so that they can be healthy and do their jobs as well, and I hope the FAA will take another look at that. It is most important; a new facility, air traffic controllers are working in black mold, and we all know how toxic black mold can be.

Overall, I love the bill. It is a good bill. I urge my colleagues to support it, with two exceptions. With HUD, I want us to work more on that and I look forward to working with both the chairman and ranking member on better HUD funding and a better snapshot of the expenses so that all the housing authorities can get their equal share of that.

Again, I thank the chairman and the ranking member and your staffs for bringing forth a wonderful transportation bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill, and I want to commend Chairman Knollenberg, Ranking Member Olver and the staff of the Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the District of Columbia and Independent Agencies Subcommittee for their hard work in getting this bill to the House floor.

This bill provides a total of $137 billion in total budgetary resources and $65.9 billion in discretionary spending for the Departments of Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies. This is $5.2 billion above the request and $2.7 billion more than the previous year.

surface transportation

Under the bill, highways and transit receive healthy increases under the conference report. The bill follows the guidelines under SAFETEA-LU for surface transportation projects. It provides a $36.0 billion highway obligation limitation, which is a $1.6 billion increase over FY05 and a $1.3 billion increase over the President's request.

Like SAFETEA-LU, the bill provides significant increases in the transit accounts, and funds New Starts programs $1.5 billion.

The increases in transportation will help cities like Detroit to invest in and maintain their transportation infrastructure and enhance the mobility of the traveling public to move to their jobs and make our communities more livable.

SC Amtrak

Amtrak is funded at $1.313 billion, which will enable the national passenger rail system to maintain current operational requirements. The bill contains a number of mandates on the system: find savings in food and beverage service, first class service, and commuter rail fees. Amtrak also would be barred from marketing ticket discounts of more than 50 percent in peak hours: includes a new discretionary account, the Efficiency Incentive Fund, which the Secretary of Transportation can parse out as grants to fund priority capital improvements that are directly tied to short-term operating savings.

The bill funds the Federal Aviation Administration at $13.8 billion-- $276 million above the fiscal year 2005 level and $1.105 billion above the President's request. This includes $3.55 billion for the Airport Improvement Program. The bill includes $25 million to hire and train 595 new air traffic controllers, and an additional $12 million above the request to hire and train safety inspectors in the office of aircraft certification and flight standards.

The House report contained language that requires the FAA to provide the Committee with a report on its effort to remediate a Black Mold problem in the control tower at the Detroit Metropolitan and Wayne County Airport. My colleagues in Southeast Michigan have received complaints from the people who work in the tower that this problem is causing workers to become ill and unfit for work. I am looking forward to receiving FAA's response.

Housing and Urban Development

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is funded at $34.0 billion; $2.1 billion above last year's level and $4.9 billion above the President's request.

I am disappointed that the conference failed to address the problem of the unfair distribution of renewal funding for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.

The trend of the past few years has been to base budget allocations on a 3-month ``snap-shot.'' This arbitrary snap-shot creates a disparity where some housing agencies wind up with more money than they need and others have to turn families out into the cold because their under-estimated budgets could no longer support the same number of vouchers.

At a time when rising energy costs are driving utility costs up, and job markets are fluctuating, particularly in areas like Michigan, we cannot ignore the impact of yearly market changes on subsidy needs.

Treasury

Department of Treasury is funded at $11.7 billion, $400 million above FY05 and $50 million above the President's request.

The Internal Revenue Service is funded at request level of $10.7 billion, $434 million above FY05.

The bulk of the increase is for the tax enforcement activities of the

Mr. Speaker, personal reasons require my absence from legislative business scheduled for today, Tuesday, November 8, 2005. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on tabling the motion to instruct offered by Representative David Obey on H.R. 3010, (Roll Call No. 573); ``yea'' on H. Res. 38, a resolution expressing support on Israel's accession to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (Roll Call No. 574); ``yea'' on H. Res. 302, recognizing and commending employers of the members of the National Guard and other reserve components (Roll Call No. 575); and ``yea'' on H.R. 3770, the Grant W. Green Post Office Building Designation Act (Roll Call No. 576).

Mr. Speaker, personal reasons require my absence from legislative business scheduled for today, Monday, November 7, 2005. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on H. Con. Res. 260, a resolution recognizing the 40th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non- Christian Religions, etc. (rollcall No. 570); ``yea'' on H.R. 1973, Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (rollcall No. 571); and ``yea'' on H. Res. 444, the Gynecological Resolution for Advancement of Ovarian Cancer Education (rollcall No. 572).

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3057, the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act for 2006. I want to commend Chairman Kolbe and Ranking Member Lowey for their tireless efforts. As a conferee on this bill, and as a member of the Subcommittee, I wanted to ensure that H.R. 3057 addressed global needs that often go unheeded or are under-funded.

I am particularly pleased with funding levels for HIV/AIDS, which include $2.8 billion in funding. The bill provides $350 million for bilateral HIV/AIDS and $243 million for Malaria and Tuberculosis programs. I am also pleased that I was able to work with Chairman Kolbe and Ranking Member Lowey to insert language that supports funding through USAID to provide medical and programmatic initiatives related to HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.

Additionally, H.R. 3057 doubles funding to support aid to the Palestinians for development programs. The bill provides funding for debt restructuring for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, HIPC, and provides $110 million for the Middle East Partnership Initiative, MEPI, and $390 million for humanitarian efforts supported by non-governmental organization, NGOs, in Sudan.

Finally, this bill provides essential funding to two of our staunchest allies in the ongoing war against terrorism, Egypt and Jordan, both of which are countries involved in promoting economic and political reform that will lead to freer and more transparent democratic societies.

Clearly, H.R. 3057 is the best bill we could fashion within very tight budget constraints. I am pleased to offer my support to H.R. 3057 and urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and let me thank the Speaker for the time.

I want to praise and give God honor for all that has happened over the last

week and certainly for the life of Mrs. Rosa Parks.

I want to thank the Senate that had the courage yesterday, its leadership along with the House leadership, for making it possible for Mrs. Parks to lie in honor in the Federal building of the United States, our own Capitol, which will be on Sunday and Monday.

As a young woman 19 years old, I met Mrs. Parks when she sat down on December 1, 1955, that all of us might stand up. I was 10 years old, but we were at the time writing papers about our history, and she was my project, and from then until this day, she has always been a part of my life.

When she moved to Detroit almost 50 years ago, she moved to the then- 15th congressional district, now 13th congressional district, which has gone through five different apportionments, but her homes, three of them, have always been in my congressional district.

She was my heroine. She was my mentor. She invited me to speak at her church on women's day on two different occasions. I am an African Methodist Episcopalian, an AME as we call ourselves.

So I am honored that America will have her in the Halls of this Congress, in the Halls of our government to pay homage so that other people can attest to her greatness as she has done not just for our country but for our entire world.

I was honored in 2000 as a member of the Committee on Appropriations that I was able to bring $1 million which was concurred in by the House and Senate to the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Civil Development, which works with young people to build character, to build academic preparedness, so that they understand what the civil rights movement is and was today.

Rosa Parks helped more young people in America, even today as we go forward when our city of Detroit, and I am sure around this country, when a young person sees, hears, or mentions her name, they are filled with life, spirit. The self-respect that Mrs. Parks showed in her life, we as Americans must have. When you respect yourself, you walk a little different. You do not stand for injustice. You speak out and build a better family, a better community and, yes, a better country. That is what Mrs. Parks did.

We will celebrate her again on December 1, 2005, 50 years of an ordinary woman doing extraordinary things. We love you, Mother Parks. Thank you, highest government in the world, for paying homage to our mother, our leader. May she rest in peace and may we as an American people rise up and build.

Mr. Chairman, it is with some reluctance I rise now in

opposition to H.R. 1461, the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act. In its amended form, the legislation no longer puts the best interest of our Nation at heart, but instead holds a precious resource hostage for the sake of partisan politics.

The provision restricting non-profit organizations, and their affiliates, from using their own funds to engage in non-partisan voter registration or get-out-the-vote activities if they want to apply for the much-needed affordable housing funds is entirely inappropriate. The inaptness is compounded by the fact that the language still allows for- profit institutions to engage in voter advocacy, even conducted in a partisan, biased manner. If the threat of misuse of these funds is so apparent as to warrant this amendment, why would we only restrict charitable organizations and not those whose fundamental goal is to swell business profits?

It is extremely apparent that the leadership's priorities are backwards. Congress should be encouraging election activities promoting good citizenship conducted by unbiased, non-profit organizations, not restricting the types of aid these groups are allowed to provide. To add insult to injury, the new provision imposes a new burden of requiring these groups to list housing assistance as their ``primary purpose'' if they want to apply for funds. The effect of this constraint will be to reduce the diversity of assistance that will be available.

With such a growing need for affordable housing, and for competent groups capable of connecting people with the already scarce resources, I cannot imagine why my colleagues would want to handicap these organizations from providing assistance to our Nation's most vulnerable populations. It is for these reasons I cannot support this otherwise sound and reasonable measure to improve the regulation of our Nation's largest source of mortgages. I urge my colleagues to vote no on H.R. 1461.

Mr. Chairman, it is with some reluctance I rise now in opposition to H.R. 1461, the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act. In its amended form, the legislation no longer puts the best interest of our Nation at heart, but instead holds a precious resource hostage for the sake of partisan politics.

The provision restricting non-profit organizations, and their affiliates, from using their own funds to engage in non-partisan voter registration or get-out-the-vote activities if they want

to apply for the much-needed affordable housing funds is entirely inappropriate. Election activities promoting good citizenship conducted by unbiased, non-profit organizations should be encouraged, not restricted. To add insult to injury, the new provision imposes a new burden of requiring these groups to list housing assistance as their ``primary purpose'' if they want to apply for funds. The effect of this constraint will be to reduce the diversity of assistance that will be available.

With such a growing need for affordable housing, and for competent groups capable of connecting people with the already scarce resources, I cannot imagine why my colleagues would want to handicap these organizations from providing assistance to our Nation's most vulnerable populations.

It is for these reasons I cannot support this otherwise sound and reasonable measure to improve the regulation of our Nation's largest source of mortgages. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H.R. 1461.

Thank you, America, for believing in a greater country. I want to thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), ranking member of our committee, and certainly Chairman Young. I want to thank the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), as well as the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) and the entire House of Representatives for bringing this bill to the floor at this time.

Rosa Parks lived in my district for almost 50 years. I met her as a young women of 19 years old, after leaving Montgomery, Alabama and coming to Detroit. She lived in my district even two nights ago when she passed, and I was honored when the family called me and asked me to come with them the night of her death.

The building that we are naming in honor of Mrs. Rosa Parks is the Federal building in Detroit that houses our Immigration and Homeland Security Department. It will soon be called the Rosa Parks Federal Building. What a tribute to a young woman who dedicated her life, her very soul, her self-respect to building a better, stronger America for all of its people.

Mrs. Parks was one who did not like a lot of fanfare. She did what she had to do, and she spent her life working with the youth of America, letting them know that they can be and do what they want to be and do, that with the spirit of God they can be that power that we must have in our country. It was young people that she dedicated her life to.

As we name this building the Rosa Parks Federal Building on a very busy thoroughfare in the city of Detroit that goes east and west through many communities, it is with honor that I stand here as a sponsor. I want to thank our entire Michigan delegation, both all the Republicans and all the Democrats, who signed on as cosponsors. It is a glorious occasion.

Before I take my seat, I want to talk about the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, her foundation that she has had over 20 years that again encourages young people, teaches young people, educates them about the civil rights movement, about math, science and all that goes with that, as well as the struggle for justice and all that goes with that.

I thank the Members of the House of Representatives as we pass this tonight. The Senate has also acted today. On December 1, 1955, 50 years ago this December 1, Mrs. Rosa Parks sat down so that we might stand up. Our country is better for it, and the world is better for Mrs. Rosa Parks. The Rosa Parks Federal Building in Detroit will stand as a witness to her sacrifice, her self-respect, and her courage.

I would ask all my colleagues to support Mrs. Rosa Parks as we soon lay her to rest in the country that she helped to make great.

H.R. 2967 seeks to honor Mrs. Rosa Parks, an iconic figure of the civil rights movement by naming the Federal Building at 333 Mt. Elliott Street at E. Jefferson in Detroit, MI, after Rosa Louise Parks.

H.R. 2967 currently has 22 cosponsors including the entire Michigan delegation.

Rosa Parks was a seamstress and the secretary of the local NAACP. Mrs. Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Al. bus in December 1955. She was arrested and fined for violating a city ordinance. Her defiance began a movement that ended legal segregation in America and made her an inspiration to people everywhere.

The bus incident led to the formation of the Montgomery Improvement Association. The association called for a boycott against the city- owned bus company. Black people citywide boycotted the bus system for more than a year. As a result of the boycott and the actions of Rosa Parks, the Supreme Court eventually outlawed racial segregation on public transportation.

December 1, 2005 marks the 50th anniversary of Mrs. Rosa Parks's arrest for refusing to give up her seat on the bus in Montgomery, Al.

It is the courage, dignity, and determination that Mrs. Parks exemplified that allow most historians to credit her with beginning the modern day civil rights movement.

In 1957, Mrs. Parks and her husband Raymond moved to Detroit.

She continued her seamstress career and later served on the staff of Congressman John Conyers in various administrative jobs for 23 years and retired in 1988 at the age of 75.

After the death of her husband, she founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development. The Institute sponsors leadership programs for youth, including an annual summer program for teenagers called Pathways to Freedom.

The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development offers educational programs for young people including two signature programs: first, Pathways to Freedom, a 21-day program that introduces students to the Underground Railroad and the civil rights movement with a freedom ride across the United States and Canada, tracing the underground railroad into civil rights; and second, Learning Centers and Senior Citizens, a program that partners young people with senior citizens where the young help the senior citizens develop their computer skills and senior citizens mentor the young;

Honors

Rosa Parks has been honored for her dedication and work with such recognitions as: the NAACP's Spingarn Medal in 1979; The Martin Luther King, Jr., Nonviolent Peace Prize in 1980; The Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996; and The Congressional Gold Medal in 1999. Time magazine also named Rosa Louise Parks as one of the ``100 most influential people of the 20th century.'' The Henry Ford Museum in Michigan bought and exhibited the bus on which she was arrested, and the Rosa Parks Library and Museum opened in Montgomery in 2000.

legacy

Mrs. Parks passed away on Monday at the age of 92 in Detroit. Rosa Parks' legacy is a symbol of hope and inspiration for all. We can all proudly stand on the shoulders of this great giant.

Rosa Parks' work helped change history. Her contributions to the civil rights movement brought this country a step closer to equality. Her devotion to the civil rights movement and the city of Detroit will always be remembered.

People who make meaningful contributions to society should be recognized and honored. Naming the Federal Building at 333 Mt. Elliott Street at E. Jefferson after Mrs. Rosa Parks will remind everyone who drives by or visits the building of the contribution she made for civil rights.

The life of Rosa Parks shows that one person can make a difference.

Quotes from Rosa Parks

Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others

I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.

Mr. Speaker, this week we were to take up the Republican leadership budget bill that would have cut student loans, rural and agricultural programs, LIHEAP low energy assistance programs, and other major programs in our Federal budget that the American people depend on. I am happy to report at this moment they have postponed that legislation just for today.

We want Americans all over to speak up and to contact your Congresspeople. This is not the time to cut vital human family programs like student aid, like rural and agricultural development, like food stamps, and like low energy assistance programs. Do we have problems in America? Yes, we do. But we hope our Republican leadership will not bring a budget resolution forward that will further decimate and hurt families. At a time when many manufacturing jobs have been lost in America, in my own State of Michigan, the highest unemployment State in the country, this is not the time to cut vital programs. It is time, though, not to have a $1.7 trillion cost for a tax cut for the wealthiest of Americans.

Speak up, America. Let your voice be heard.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to S. 397, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. My opposition to the measure is based on my belief that it is overly expansive and overarching. This bill prohibits civil liability lawsuits against gun manufacturers from being brought in Federal or State court.

My congressional district is beset by gun violence. I believe that gun owners, manufacturers and dealers must assume responsibility for the wanton gun violence that is being perpetrated as result of the willful neglect of gun dealers who cast blind eyes to illegal and irresponsible gun sales to minors, felons and potential terrorists. It appears to me that we are unwisely and gratuitously insulating gun manufacturers from bona fide civil lawsuits.

This bill protects gun manufacturers but does absolutely nothing to protect innocent victims of gun violence. I am also concerned that we have prohibited suits from being brought in both Federal and State courts and that police officers shot in the line of duty are barred from filing lawsuits. For the families of fallen offices, their only recourse to obtain compensation for the loss of their loved one is through the civil lawsuit process.

I contend that it is vital to preserve the right of citizens to seek redress through civil lawsuits for any harm they experience by virtue of the neglect and irresponsibility of gun manufacturers and dealers. I urge my colleagues to vote, ``no'' on S. 397, and to support the rights of potential victims of gun violence.

Mr. Speaker, personal reasons require my absence from legislative business today, Monday, October 17, 2005. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on approving the Journal (rollcall No. 521); ``yea'' on H. Res. 457, recognizing the importance and positive contributions of chemistry (rollcall No. 522); ``yea'' on H. Res. 491, expressing the sense of Congress with respect to raising awareness and enhancing the state of computer security in the U.S. (rollcall No. 523).