Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I would be pleased to yield to Mr. Rush.

I thank you, Mr. Rush, for calling this Special Order this evening to put a different kind of light on the whole question and the whole issue of violence in Chicago, which is really the center point of America.

Those of us who live in Chicago say that: So goes Chicago, so goes America.

When I came to Chicago, it was known as the jobs capital of America. Everyplace that you looked, there were help wanted signs. You could find a job. As a matter of fact, the word was that if you couldn't find a job in Chicago, there were basically no jobs for you.

And so I agree with you, Representative Rush, that the absence of hope is a part of the formula for violence. And if you never ask the right questions, of course, you never get the right answers.

There are those who talk about law enforcement, more police officers. I have even heard people talk about bringing in the National Guard and bringing in paramilitary outfits. Those are not really the solutions. The solutions are to provide people with hope because, if they have hope, then they don't find or feel the necessity for certain kinds of action.

There used to be so many businesses in the district that I represent. Over the last 50 or more years, we have lost more than 100,000 good- paying manufacturing jobs. When Representative Rush talks about disinvestment, when business and industry decided to leave--Sears, Roebuck; Hotpoint, Motorola, General Electric--what is now Navistar-- International Harvester, Allied Radio, Spiegel, Montgomery Ward--all of those entities were in the neighborhood where I lived and worked. I could just walk down the streets and see them. Western Electric was not far from where I lived. You could see hundreds of people going to and from work every morning when you woke up. Of course, things split off, and all of that changed.

Chicago used to just beckon people and jobs to come to Chicago. As a matter of fact, blues singers would have songs of going to Chicago. ``Sorry, but I can't take you.'' They were like the pied piper--people were coming. Then, as so many people came and as communities and neighborhoods began to change and as some people began to leave and others would come, there were levels of deterioration. I remember the riots that occurred after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Many of those areas that suffered the aftermath of the riots have never been rebuilt. They are the same today as they were in the 1960s when the riots occurred. Nobody has been willing to invest in the redevelopment of those communities. Not only did housing deteriorate, but the social service structure that existed also left.

When Bobby talked about disinvestment, there was every kind that one could imagine. In some of those communities, it is hard to find a Boy Scout troop. It is difficult to find the resources for a Girl Scout program or for activities that individuals can be engaged in after school. Yes, there is a level of violence, but there is an even deeper level of hopelessness. Without hope, it is like people being pressed up against the wall--pressed up against nowhere--trying to figure out how they get out.

I can tell you that, wherever darkness exists, there is light that comes, so I think that there are, indeed, solutions. What are the solutions? Job creation. Job creation. Job creation.

If we look at history, when times were difficult during the 1930s, there was the utilization of the Federal Government as a resource to create work opportunities, with the understanding that, if people are working, they are reinvesting because they are paying taxes, they are spending money, they are exchanging services and goods with each other. That also gives a boost to the economy. I never take the position that wherever we are that that is where we have to be.

Gun control legislation. Let me tell you that the people shooting don't necessarily make the guns. People who are shooting don't necessarily sell the guns. The people who are shooting actually acquire the guns from someplace and somebody else. If we could take away some of the opportunities for the guns to exist--I remember a song I used to listen to about a place called Black Mountain, and part of the lyrics said: ``I am going to Black Mountain with my razor and my gun. I am going to find that man of mine, shoot him if he stands still and cut him if he runs.'' If you have got to run after somebody, that is a little more difficult than being able to have an Uzi with which you drive by and mow him down. I don't know when we are going to get really serious in this country about diminishing the number of guns that people have access to.

I was disappointed when the Supreme Court said that people could actually carry weapons. That is one thing in some communities, in some places, but I can tell you that is another thing in other communities and other places. I would hate to go into a situation where I felt that everybody there who wanted to was carrying a weapon because he had the right to carry a concealed weapon.

I used to be on the Chicago City Council, and many of the people there were former police officers. Plus, you could carry a gun anyway because you were considered law enforcement. Sometimes, when you would go to lunch, you would see a number of people who might take their jackets off, and you would see a number of guns and weapons. You almost might be too afraid to eat. It would kind of take away lunch because all of these weapons were around.

I would urge our country to be willing to make the kind of investments that you must make. They are not spending. There is a difference between spending and investing. If you just spend, you don't necessarily get a return, but when you invest wisely, you expect a return. We need to invest in education. We need to invest in more social development activity, and we need to reinvest in urban communities like those on the southwest side and near-north sides and suburban areas of Chicago.

Congressman Rush, I thank you again and commend you for calling for this Special Order, but I have got a feeling that, where there is life, there is hope, and I have a feeling that we will arrest the violence problem, not

only in Chicago, but in other places throughout America. I am pleased to join with you this evening and share a few moments in talking about the issue.

They are part of the economy.

There is no doubt about it. I took 31 children to see their fathers in prison on the Saturday before Father's Day, and I can tell you that it was one of the most emotional gatherings that I have ever participated in.

We have got to put a stop to it, and we have got to start counting individuals not in the places they are imprisoned but in the communities that they come from so that the resources go back to those communities and not to the places where they are imprisoned.

Again, I thank you for shedding light this evening and for my being able to join you. We will just have to keep working on the issue, and I think we will get to the bottom of it.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the courtesy of giving me the opportunity to acquire time that had not been acquired before, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 7 o'clock and 12 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, July 17, 2014, at 9 a.m.

I thank the gentleman from Oregon for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I had hoped that we would be here passing a long-term transportation plan. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

However, I support H.R. 5021 as an initial step in strengthening the American infrastructure. This bill obviously provides immediate help to prevent default of the highway trust fund and prevents impending delays in transportation. Mr. Speaker, 30,000 people will continue to work in my State as a result of this bill and its passage.

So I commend us for at least reaching this agreement, keeping things moving, and I urge its passage.

Mr. Speaker, about ten years ago I had the pleasure of going to the floor of the House of Representatives to congratulate and wish my good friend Mr. Eugene Dibble a happy 75th birthday.

Today, I am pleased to be here at Howard University Law School with you, his family, friends and associates to say farewell as he transitions on to another world of which we know so little.

But what we do know is that Mr. Eugene Dibble is a member of one of America's most distinguished families. Big Gene or Gentle man Gene as he was fondly called by some of those who knew him, was indeed a man about the town. Pedigreed, intelligent, astute, wise civically socially and politically involved, and some would even say charmingly so!

Gene Dibble was a pioneer, one of the first African American stock brokers in Chicago. He told me that he owned five businesses at one time and had five children who worked in these businesses. Yes, he was advisor to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Muhammad Ali and to countless others. One evening after dinner at one of his favorite eating places, ``the Jockey Club'', he said to me that the most important aspects of his life were his family and heritage. He talked about you all whenever he was talking and that was practically all of the time. Gene was keenly aware of his world and always seeking, probing and analyzing and trying to figure out, always wanting to be in charge of his thoughts and actions.

It seems to me that the poet William Ernest Henley had Gene on his mind when he penned these words: ``Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever Gods may be, for my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud, Under the bludgeoning of chance, my head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms the horrors of the shade, and yet the menace of the years, finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how straight the gate, how charged with punishment the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul!

And may the soul of Eugene H. Dibble rest in peace.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member for yielding.

The longer I listen to this discussion and debate, it reminds me of a game that children play: around and around and around we go, around the mulberry bush, because we keep going around and around and around.

I strongly oppose the bill that is before us that would make bonus depreciation permanent. Yes, I support bonus depreciation on a short- term basis to boost the economy if there is a letdown and to provide some incentives to do things that we might not be doing. But I cannot support adding $287 billion to our deficit for a permanent corporate giveaway while tens of thousands of my constituents and tens of millions of Americans experience deep poverty, unemployment, and economic distress.

H.R. 4718 is a corporate giveaway that even the Republican tax reform bill repealed.

There is a tremendous need to incentivize economically distressed communities like many parts of Chicago, other urban as well as rural areas, and those incentives have lapsed. They are threatened. We are not sure that they are going to be coming.

This bill continues the Republican legislative focus on the wrong issues, ignoring the key programs that create jobs, strengthen our citizens, and grow our economy.

Just imagine what unemployment insurance does. It allows the person who does not have a job--the knowledge that something is going to be coming--to go to the grocery store and buy milk or bread.

Or what happens when there is employment opportunities, if roads and bridges are being repaired? A person gets a sense of confidence that there might be work for them to do.

I remember a song several years ago about ``Get a Job''; and the guy said that every day, when he reads the paper, he reads it through and through, trying to find out if there is any work for me to do, but his wife says, ``Get a job.''

Individuals who have become totally upset because, no matter what they seem to do, there is no relief. So how could I vote for this bill when there are still 3.3 million long-term unemployed individuals who have not been aided?

I can't go to church on Sunday or walk down the street without somebody asking me: When is Congress going to do something about our unemployment checks? Are they going to come?

Or they ask: When are the repairs going to be made on our roads and bridges? When are we going to get some new sidewalks? How do you fix the potholes that are erupting all over our community?

When are we going to really take care of the Medicare physician or doctors fix?

When are we going to stop irrational budget cuts that strangle education, research, and innovation?

When are we going to provide confidence and hope?

When are we going to stop the process where the rich continue to get rich and the poor continue to get poor, and the middle class gets squeezed in to where we almost create two groups and two categories of people: those who have much and those who have little?

So I would urge that we vote ``no'' on this bill and give confidence to the American people that their needs will be taken care of.

I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for addressing this important matter. The purpose of this colloquy is to clarify the intent of section 225 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

As we know, correctional education and job training are greatly needed. They foster successful reentry through increased employment and decreased criminal behavior and save taxpayer money.

I am pleased that the bill before us broadens the use of funds for correctional education to include a range of education and job training activities needed by incarcerated individuals for educational and career advancement.

I want to make clear the congressional intent of section 225 to include activities that support transitions to postsecondary education, workforce training offered alongside adult education, or concurrent enrollment for the purpose of educational and career advancement, also attaining a recognized postsecondary credential, which may include an associate or baccalaureate degree.

I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for clarifying the congressional intent of section 225. I urge passage of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I offer my strong support for the Autism CARES Act of 2014, a bill that continues the much-needed research and educational activities related to autism. I strongly support our nation's autistic community; this bill helps to promote and facilitate the good work being done related to autism by federal entities, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee. Autism is a disorder that has a tremendous effect on the lives of the people with it and their families, including challenges with education, communication, and employment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies autism as one of our nation's leading public health crises. An autism-related diagnosis is more common today than the diagnosis of pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. More research on this complex neurobiological disorder is still needed because we do not fully understand the cause or course of this disorder.

The Autism CARES Act of 2014 will facilitate autism research by reauthorizing $190 million annually through 2019. In addition, it focuses attention on the important issue of transitioning autistic youth from school to adulthood. I have heard from constituents with autism about the need to improve the transition of services to consider life after high school graduation to ensure that students are supported as they move to work or higher education. I am well aware of the benefits of services and research dedicated to autism. I am proud that Chicago is home to the Therapeutic School and Center for Autism Research run by the Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago. The Center provides care and advances research on autism. It provides multiple services--research, training, early intervention, school-to-work transition training, and independent living training--all under one roof. It is an amazing resource for Chicago, Illinois, and

the nation. I strongly support this program and any federal efforts to support and expand these services. Therefore, I strongly urge my colleagues to support the Autism CARES Act of 2014.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize one of my constituents from Oak Park, Illinois, Essie Pough, as she retires from the Illinois Department of Human Services after 46 years of public service to the state of Illinois and its citizens. On behalf of the 7th District of Illinois, I congratulate and commend Mrs. Pough for almost five decades of outstanding dedication to the state.

Mrs. Pough began her career when the agency was known as the Illinois Department of Public Aid. She has worked at multiple locations for the agency, providing the customers with professional assistance at each-- whether she was in the Walcott office, the Madison office, or in Humboldt Park. As an example of her commitment to the public, Mrs. Pough started taking Spanish classes after moving to her Humboldt Park office which serves a large number of Illinoisans who speak Spanish. She worked at the Humboldt Park office for 30 years.

Although small in stature, Mrs. Pough has a dynamic and impressive personality that amazes her friends, family and co-workers. I also understand that she has a fondness for high heels, even starting her work day by walking up the stairs to her second floor office every day in 4-inch heels, which no doubt helps explain her health and fitness to this day. Mrs. Pough is a caring friend and co-worker. Her propensity to routinely feed her colleagues makes me disappointed that I never had the opportunity to work with her. In addition, she regularly supported her coworkers' accomplishments with parties to recognize birthdays and promotions as well as led the annual Black History celebration.

Outside of work, Mrs. Pough is an avid bowler with an average of 133. Impressively, she has already bowled 200 twice this year alone. These scores are especially notable given her distinctive bowling stance, bowling while down on one knee. She is an active member of Living Word Christian Center where she adds her beautiful voice to the choir and shares her bowling talents with the bowling team.

In closing, I join with the friends of Essie Pough and her 8 children, 19 grandchildren, 25 great grandchildren, and 6 great great grandchildren in celebrating her retirement on April 30, 2014, after 46 years of public service. I recognize Mrs. Pough's dedication to her community and state as well as convey my deep appreciation for her service. I am honored to celebrate the achievements of Mrs. Pough and am hopeful for a prosperous and active retirement.

Madam Speaker, I am a longstanding supporter of S corporations, pass-throughs, and small businesses. In my State, as well as around the country, S corporations are a cornerstone of the business community. These corporations span a broad range of industries and employ a large percentage of our country's workforce. In my State alone, there are more than 235,000 S corporations providing more than 1.5 million jobs and bolstering the Illinois economy through their taxes paid.

In the name of fiscal responsibility, the Republican leadership has justified refusing to help 3 million Americans, including 116,000 Illinoisans, who were unemployed through no fault of their own.

Yet the Republican leadership abandoned its fiscal responsibility to balloon our deficit to $614 billion for permanent tax breaks for corporations while refusing to aid hardworking struggling Americans in the name of fiscal responsibility.

My track record is very clear on my strong support of small businesses. My track record is also very clear that I cannot and will not prioritize over half a trillion dollars in deficit spending for business tax breaks and tell struggling Americans that they are not worth the expense. I very much want the small businesses in my State to benefit from the tax benefits contained in H.R. 4457 and H.R. 4453. However, I cannot support the Republican approach of unpaid for, permanent cuts for businesses while the needs of our unemployed and working poor go ignored.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to pay tribute on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to Mrs. Albivory Hester Corley, who is known as Bib to many and will be 100 years of age on May 23rd. Bib was born in Mississippi at a time when situations and circumstances were quite different in this country. Armed with a great desire to acquire higher education, she left the family farm and attended Jackson College, (currently known as Jackson State University) and Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee. After college she returned to her roots in Mississippi and taught at the Pilgrim Rest School. After teaching for a number of years, Bib decided that it was time to pursue greater opportunities and moved to Chicago, like many other African Americans who were born in Mississippi. In 1952, she began working at the Cook County Probate Court and eventually became the first African American to become Probate Clerk, and worked for the Probate Court for thirty-seven years during the tenure of nine governors and six mayors. Chicago brought Bib not only success in her career, but also success in finding her soul- mate. It was in Chicago that Bib met her husband Jimmy Corley, whom she married in 1956.

Bib and Jimmy shared a strong faith in God and joined the outstanding Grant Memorial AME Church where they were both active members until Jimmy's passing in 1982. Bib remains active in the church and considers herself truly blessed for all the years of life that God has given her.

Even in retirement, Mrs. Corley is not slowing down. She remains very active, traveling all over the world sharing her story and inspiring others. As a Member of the US House of Representatives, I take delight in recognizing a truly remarkable woman and thank her for all the contributions she has made to human-kind.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this legislation.

H.R. 4438 would add $156 billion to the deficit to provide permanent tax breaks for businesses while doing nothing for the 2.6 million Americans living the constant nightmare of long-term unemployment.

H.R. 4438 does nothing to help low-income working families by permanently extending the earned income tax credit or the child tax credit used by over 100,000 of my constituents and credits that keep millions of Americans out of poverty.

Further, H.R. 4438 does nothing to incentivize businesses to hire hard-to-employ workers via the work opportunity tax credit, to help revitalize distressed communities via the new markets tax credit, to help the elderly donate to charities via the IRA charitable rollover, to create affordable housing via the low-income housing tax credit, to reimburse the 3.7 million teachers the hundreds of dollars a year that they pay out of their own pockets.

In the name of fiscal responsibility, the Republican leadership has justified refusing to help the unemployed and slashing food stamps for poor families, cutting health care and services for seniors and limiting services for foster use.

Even worse, the Republican leadership understands that, as a law, H.R. 4438's failure to pay for its $156 billion price tag will cause automatic cuts to Medicare, to student loans, and to other mandatory safety net programs because the bill violates PAYGO.

I strongly urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this business giveaway.

Mr. Speaker, I raise a point of order against H. Res. 569 because the resolution violates section 426(a) of the Congressional Budget Act. The resolution contains a waiver of all points of order against consideration of the bill, which includes a waiver of section 425 of the Congressional Budget Act, which causes a violation of section 426(a).

Mr. Speaker, I raise this point of order not only out of concern for unfunded mandates, but to highlight the failure of Republican House leadership to protect the long-term unemployed, low-income citizens, and others who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

I raise this point of order because the bill before us would add $156 billion to the deficit to provide permanent tax breaks for businesses while doing nothing for the 2.6 million Americans living with the constant nightmare of having no job, no food, no money, no lights, no gas, no college tuition money, and no unemployment check.

H.R. 4438 is 15 times the cost of helping the 2.6 million Americans who are looking for jobs that have been shipped overseas, jobs that have been downsized or outsourced, or jobs that simply do not exist. Please tell me, Mr. Speaker: What are they supposed to do?

H.R. 4438 would give $156 billion in tax breaks for businesses but do nothing for the 72,000 additional Americans who lose benefits each and every week. An estimated 74,000 Illinoisans lost benefits on December 28, 2013, with 38,000 of these citizens living in Cook County alone. Forty-two thousand Illinoisans exhausted their benefits in the first 3 months of 2014. H.R. 4438 completely fails these Americans, many of whom stood on the Capitol steps yesterday pleading with Republican leadership to do the right thing. But the heartless response has been and continues to be refusal to help hardworking Americans struggling to provide food, shelter, clothing, and medical care for their families.

Now is not the time to cut, deny, or delay unemployment benefits. Failure to continue emergency unemployment benefits threatens the continuation of our economic recovery, costing over 200,000 greatly- needed jobs. The expiration has already drained almost $5 billion from our national economy in the first quarter of this year. In Illinois alone, this loss of Federal aid means the loss in purchasing power of $23 million each week--money that could be used to support local businesses, buy gasoline, pay utility bills, provide copayments at doctors' offices, clinics, hospitals; purchase groceries, and pay children's graduation fees. Every $1 in unemployment insurance generates $1.63 in economic activity. I say let us practice good economy, let's be reasonable, and let's have a heart. In my State of Illinois, the unemployment rate remains 8.6 percent, and in much of my district it is more than 20 percent. Finding a job is not easy, but people are still trying.

Government leaders have a responsibility to protect our citizens and our country, especially during times of national crisis. Instead of helping Americans who already are hardest hit by the economic crisis-- including older Americans, low-income Americans, veterans, and members of minority groups--Republicans prioritize $156 billion in unpaid-for business tax breaks and tell the American people that it is all about fiscal responsibility and deficit reduction.

Mr. Speaker, extending unemployment assistance is a true demonstration of leadership and our national commitment to all Americans, not just the most secure. Refusal to help these citizens is an unacceptable, abject, and mean-spirited approach to leadership.

I urge that we reject this rule and the underlying bill by voting ``no'' on this motion until the Republican leadership puts people first and provides unemployment insurance to the 2.6 million Americans struggling to keep their lights on and gas in their automobiles, to pay rent and mortgages, and to feed their families. I urge that we vote ``no'' on this rule and to the bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I think all of us agree that one of the responsibilities of our committee is to investigate and try to make sure that the laws are carried out the way we intended and to try and make sure that the money is being spent the way we intended for it to be spent.

It seems to me that we have spent $14 million, up to this point, investigating this one issue; and while I think the investigations are designed to tell us something we don't know, we have not learned anything new. We have not learned of any kind of conspiracy. We have not learned of any kind of underhandedness.

The only thing that we know is that we have said to a United States citizen that you cannot invoke the Fifth and say: I have a right not to answer questions if I think it is going to damage me.

I would much rather see us spend the $14 million creating jobs, providing educational opportunities for those who need it, doing something that will change the direction and the flavor of the economics of our country, rather than wasting $14 million more on continuous investigations. I vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, today marks a holiday that I hope to see stricken from the calendar. Today is Equal Pay Day, a day which marks the number of days into 2014 that it takes for the average woman to make as much as her male counterpart did in 2013. It is truly staggering that a woman does not earn the same annual amount as her male counterpart until four months into the following year. The fact that women earn only 77 percent of what men are paid has a staggering effect on society as a whole, our economy and our future.

Closing the wage gap would likely have an immensely positive effect on our economy. The additional $400,000 that each woman would earn in her lifetime if paid the same as her male counterpart would be just the economic boost that our country needs as we recover from the recession. Economists estimate that closing the wage gap would have twice the stimulative effect as President Obama's $800 billion Stimulus Bill. We simply cannot afford Congressional inaction on this issue.

Not only does wage inequality diminish a woman's spending power, it also has a devastating effect on women's retirement savings. Diminished earnings means that women are less equipped to contribute to retirement savings, but it also means that their Social Security and pensions, both of which are based on income, are diminished. The resulting effect is that retired women are more likely than retired men to live in poverty. The fact that we can let our mothers and grandmothers live in poverty during the final years of their lives is truly a travesty.

The wage gap is even more dramatic for women of color: African American women on average earn only 64 cents for every dollar earned by white, non-Hispanic men. Latinas fare even worse, earning only 55 cents on the dollar. According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, that adds up to an average of $18,817 and $23,298, respectively, in annual lost wages. Put another way, the lost wages are the equivalent to 118 weeks' worth of food and 4,549 gallons of gasoline for African American women and 154 weeks' worth of food and 5,743 gallons of gasoline for Latina women. This inequity is intolerable.

The Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963 to address the issue of wage inequality, but progress has been slow. Since the Act's passage, the wage gap has closed by just 18 cents. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, at the current pace, the wage gap will not be closed until 2058. This is simply unacceptable. Congress cannot sit by idly while women's economic security, including their retirement savings, are threatened by gender inequity.

As the Senate prepares yet again to vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act, it is my hope that my colleagues in the Senate will recall the devastating effects that wage inequity has on women, particularly minority and elderly women, and vote in favor of S. 2199.

Paycheck inequity also means women are more economically vulnerable during breaks in employment. Women, earning less than their male counterparts, have less money to place into savings as a safeguard to protect themselves and their families from unexpected unemployment.

The House can act immediately to provide women and their families with economic safeguards by passing the Senate's 5-month extension of long-term jobless benefits. Not only do tens of thousands of women rely on long-

term unemployment insurance to satisfy their most basic needs, they also use these benefits to provide for the needs of their children. Many women, despite earning significantly less than their male counterparts, are the primary providers for their families. Congress should reward women for their hard work and extend long-term jobless benefits, a critical safety net for women and their families.

I thank the gentleman very much.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend from New York, Representative Gregory Meeks not only for yielding, not only for being engaged in this discussion, but for the tremendous amount of time, energy, and effort that he spends dealing with international issues, recognizing that every day, as we see the increases in technology and our ability to communicate more effectively with other people across the world, how small and how much smaller our world is becoming, so things that may have been considered far away are now much closer to our everyday existence. So I thank the gentleman for his leadership.

I also want to commend Representative Emanuel Cleaver and our whip for convening this session. As I listened to Representative Cleaver give a bit of the history of Rwanda, I was actually glued to the television set and felt immobilized that I couldn't or didn't want to move. And to think that during the last two decades we would experience, in our modern-day world, such horrific actions as that which we are

commemorating and remembering here today some 20 years later, to think that the international community sat by, watched, discussed, but didn't move, wouldn't move, couldn't move, and watched 800,000 people, and perhaps even more, be annihilated, wiped out, to see them experience some of the most horrific actions that could be taken against a people. I guess the whole lot of us share in the blame because we saw it, didn't move on it, couldn't find a way to bring world interest, world concerns together to stop it or prevent it before all of these people had lost their lives. And so, yes, it is shame on our world, and all of us must take some of the responsibility and share in the blame.

When a tragedy is occurring to some of us, it really affects, in a way, all of us. When a government is unable or unwilling to protect its people, then it becomes a world issue, and the rest of us have the responsibility to step in. And as much as some of us abhor war and as much as we know that it is not the best utilization to get involved in warlike activity that is unnecessary, I think that there are some things that you just can't let go without doing whatever it is that you can do.

So I hope that our world is saying that never, ever again will we stand by and let such as this take place, that never, ever again will we be immobilized and wondering about what to do or can we do or should we do. We know that something must be done.

So, Greg, again, I thank you for not only yielding, but I thank you for your leadership on international affairs which helps us to know that, yes, we can be our brothers' keepers. And our brothers don't have to be just across the street--they can be across the ocean; they can be across the continent; they can be in other lands--because all of us are joined together as a part of the mutual elements of our world. So I thank you for your leadership.

Mr. Speaker, according to the Outreach Programmee on the Rwanda Genocide and the United Nations reported that between April and June of 1994, as the international community watched, more than 800,000 Rwandans, mostly ethnic Tutsi, were massacred by Hutu militia and government forces over a period of just 100 days. The killings began the day after a plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down as it prepared to land in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. The presidents were returning from peace talks aimed at shoring up a fragile peace agreement and ending the conflict between the largely ethnic Hutu-dominated government and the largely Tutsi rebel army. The crash re-ignited the war. Retreating government forces joined ethnic Hutu militia in inciting civilians to kill ethnic Tutsis. They alleged that civilians were helping the Tutsi rebels and used this to justify the mass targeting of innocent peoples. A small peacekeeping force which had been sent by the United Nations to monitor the peace accord was not authorized to intervene. A warning that genocide was planned was not acted upon. Today, the effects of the genocide in Rwanda are still felt in many different ways both inside the country and in neighboring states, including in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where large areas of South Kivu province are still controlled by Hutu militia from Rwanda and their local allies. Alongside other fighters in the Congo war, they continue to commit serious human rights violations, including abductions, killings and rape. Sexual violence, particularly against women and children, is widespread.

This week marks the 20th year anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide. Since this genocide, certain concepts and initiatives have come forward by the international community that when a nation fails to protect its citizens or people the responsibility relies upon the international community to step in to stop the killing of people.