Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of JoAnne McKenna, who dedicated her life to serving as a community organizer on behalf of peace and inter-cultural understanding.

JoAnne McKenna was born and raised in Cleveland, where she would stay and dedicate her life to advocating for peace and inter-cultural understanding. Her family had deep roots in the city and owned the Hanna grocery stores in downtown Cleveland. She studied English Literature at Flora Stone Mather College and always had great interest in the Middle East. Mrs. McKenna, of Slovak and Lebanese heritage, served as a leader and social justice organizer in the Greater Cleveland community for decades. The region's history, politics and culture fascinated her, but the Arab-Israeli War and its aftermath propelled her to assert her Arab-American identity and emerge as a leader within the Arab-American community.

Following the political unrest of the Arab-Israeli War, Mrs. McKenna began giving presentations at libraries, schools and churches around the Greater Cleveland Community in a quest to cultivate peace and inter-cultural dialogue. Through her work and continued dedication, she emerged as a leader in the Arab-American community and helped found numerous local and national organizations, focusing on Arab-American political activism and peace. She helped found the Greater Cleveland Association of Arab-Americans, where she served on the board for twelve years and six terms as President, the National Association of Arab- Americans, the Ohio chapter of the Association of Arab-American University Graduates, and the Northeast Ohio Committee on Middle East Understanding.

Mrs. McKenna wrote a book titled ``Great Women of the Middle East'' and traveled throughout the United States and the Arab region meeting with various community and state leaders. On two occasions, her activism took her to the White House, where she met with President Ford and President Carter.

Madam Speaker and colleagues, please join me in remembering and honoring the life of JoAnne McKenna, for her outstanding leadership and advocacy for Arab-American causes, as well as for her extensive and diverse service to many individuals and communities who call the Cleveland area home.

Madam Speaker, and colleagues, I rise today in recognition of the grand opening of the Azerbaijani Cultural Garden on May 12, 2008.

The Azerbaijani Garden is part of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens along Doan Brook in Cleveland's Rockefeller Park. I strongly support the addition of the Azerbaijani Garden as part of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation and all the international communities represented through its gardens.

The Cleveland Cultural Gardens date back to 1916 when the Shakespeare Garden was built. By 1926, the concept of a series of gardens, recognizing various nationalities, was established. The formal group was completed in 1939 with funding to a large degree provided by the federal government. At that time, a series of 18 gardens was dedicated to the City of Cleveland, symbolizing the fusion of distinct nationalities into one American culture.

More importantly, these gardens stood for the brotherhood among all the people of all nations and to this day remain a unique embodiment of that purpose. On July 30, 1939,

soil from 28 nations was deposited by ambassadors of those nations into a marble crypt into the Garden of Nations. Soil from historic shrines of the United States was also deposited into the adjacent Garden of the United States. In both ceremonies, the intermingling of the soils symbolized a united effort by people of all nationalities toward mutual understanding, harmony, peace, and brotherhood throughout the world.

The Gardens are an important part of the city's history and reflects the diverse ethnicities and cultures that have been instrumental in the city's development. The symbolic meaning of the gardens is that people of diverse backgrounds, traditions, and religions can exist side by side in peace and harmony with the freedom to exercise their beliefs and cultures.

With the addition of the Azerbaijani Garden, the Cleveland Cultural Gardens now consists of 27 individual gardens, with new gardens having been recently designated and even more under proposal. Recently, I proudly noted the dedication of the Indian and Latvian gardens. In addition to these and the Azerbaijani Garden, various stages of planning are underway for African-American, Native American, Serbian, Hispanic, Syrian, Croatian, Scottish, Nordic, Philippine, and Vietnamese gardens.

I welcome not only the symbolism of so many great nations represented in these gardens, but the actual joining of the people of these nations in Cleveland. The Cleveland Cultural Gardens is frequently visited diplomatic, educational, or trade delegations when they are visiting Cleveland. I am proud that the people of Azerbaijan now have a place in Cleveland to celebrate their culture.

Madam Speaker and distinguished colleagues, it is my hope that Azerbaijan's participation will help to fulfill our vision of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens as an international park for the people of all nations to come together in cooperation and peace. Please join me in celebrating the dedication of the Azerbaijani Cultural Garden and to welcome the Azerbaijani people to the family of nations represented at the Cleveland Cultural Gardens.

Madam Speaker, $183.7 billion war-funding request in light of more than 4,000 U.S. troops who have died, tens of thousands injured, a million dead or more innocent Iraqis, a cost of $2 to $3 trillion. We're borrowing money from China to fight this war. We're ruining our economy. We're ruining our moral standing in the world. We're ruining our children's future and making the world more dangerous for a war based on lies.

Why do we keep funding it? Support the troops by bringing them home. End the war. End the occupation. Close the

bases. Bring the troops hope. Set in motion an international security and peace-keeping process that can create the circumstances for our troops to come home. Have a program of reconciliation and reconstruction in Iraq. Return all oil assets to Iraqi control. End the war. Stop funding it.

Vote ``no'' on the war appropriations.

Madam Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The primary beneficiaries of H.R. 5818 are the neighborhoods and neighbors of high concentrations of houses made vacant by the foreclosure and predatory lending crises. Helping those neighborhoods should be a nonpartisan and noncontroversial act. Such neighborhoods are the totally innocent bystanders of the predatory lending and foreclosure crises. Neighbors and neighborhoods are victims of the meltdown of subprime loans that preceded this wave of foreclosures, and there's no moral hazard in helping the neighbors. The Kucinich amendment ensures that the funds authorized by H.R. 5818 are targeted to help the most needy neighborhoods.

When a foreclosure leads to a vacant and abandoned property, this is what happens to the neighborhood: Crime goes up, as the vacant property can become home to criminal activity, drug places, and fire hazards; local government costs for police, fire and building inspections go up; vacancies go up, abandoned properties initiate a chain of events that begets more abandoned properties; neighbors lose equity in their homes, because vacant properties have a strong negative effect on the value of neighboring properties.

My amendment clarifies that the purpose of this legislation is to help State and local governments ``preserve the equity and ensure the safety of neighbors of homes made vacant'' by the foreclosure and predatory lending crises.

My amendment also ensures that the neediest neighborhoods receive priority in the plans developed by States, metropolitan cities and urban counties. The neediest neighborhoods are defined with ``high concentrations of vacancies,'' ``large increases in the rate of vacancy'' in the last 2 years, and ``significant levels of loans determined to be at risk of foreclosure.'' These vacant property statistics have been gathered by the United States Postal Service and analyzed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and their use will better target the funds authorized by H.R. 5818.

My amendment is the product of a collaborative effort between my subcommittee, the Domestic Policy Subcommittee, and the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity and the Financial Services Committee. The amendment draws upon the academic research and input from practitioners in this area.

My amendment is supported by community development professionals and advocates, such as Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the National Vacant Properties Campaign, and Smart Growth America.

I will place their letters of support in the Record at this point.

May 6, 2008.

Hon. Dennis Kucinich,

Rayburn House Office Building,

Washington, DC.

Dear Congressman Kucinich: We are writing to support your

amendment to the Neighborhood Stabilization Act of 2008 that

recognizes the important role vacant and abandoned properties

play in the foreclosure crisis and the threat they can pose

to communities across the country.

By including the rate of vacancy in the fund distribution

formula, this proposal helps to ensure that neighborhoods

struggling with high rates of vacant and abandoned homes will

receive priority in the plans developed by states,

metropolitan areas, and urban counties. High rates of vacant

properties put communities at a greater risk for crime,

arson, destabilized housing prices, and other neighborhood

problems. For many communities, dealing with the foreclosure

crisis will mean taking steps to recover and secure growing

numbers of vacant homes, as well as figuring out the best

ways to prevent these properties from having negative

community impacts.

Thank you for your leadership on this issue and we look

forward to working with you on this important legislation.

Sincerely,

Geoff Anderson,

President & CEO, Smart Growth America.

Jennifer Leonard,

Director, National Vacant Properties Campaign.

Madam Chairman, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) for a unanimous consent request.

Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of Eleanor Gelfand as she and her family celebrate her 90th birthday.

Eleanor Gelfand, the daughter of immigrants from Hungary, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 2, 1918. She grew up along with her two siblings in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland during the great depression. Her parents, Zigmund and Mary Adler, worked as a union baker and a homemaker and were active in the Glenville community. Their activism and ability to work with fellow community members on social issues during a time of economic strife instilled a strong sense of social consciousness in their young children.

Mrs. Gelfand attended Glenville High School and later went on to earn her degree in cosmetology, becoming a licensed beautician. She continued to work in local salons until World War II. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, she married Ernest Gelfand who was drafted into the Navy after U.S. involvement in the war. Mrs. Gelfand left her career as a beautician and began working at the Fisher Body plant in Cleveland making airplanes for the war. Shortly after her husband returned from serving his country in the war, they started a family and she stayed home to raise their 3 children. In 1969, she returned to her first career in cosmetology, where she would continue to work until her retirement in 1980. She and her husband were active together in the Jewish War Veterans Post 44. She continues to work closely with them by raising money to help other veterans in the community. Just as her parents instilled strong values of social activism in her, she too continues to serve as an example to her 3 children, 6 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.

Madam Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honor of Eleanor Gelfand as she celebrates her 90th birthday party. May her story and continued activism in the Greater Cleveland community serve as an example for all of us to follow.

Madam Chairman, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 5819, the Small Business Innovation Research & Technology Transfer Reauthorization Act. This legislation squanders a unique opportunity to provide stimulus to our country's small business community.

Congress created the Small Business Innovation Research program after acknowledging that small businesses could not compete with their larger, better-funded corporate competitors in the federal grantmaking arena. With the enactment of the SBIR program, Congress made the clear statement that the innovation and ingenuity of the entrepreneurial spirit of small businesses must be encouraged.

Title II of H.R. 5819 would relax the venture capital investment standards for SBIR grant eligibility, allowing venture capital firms and venture capital subsidiaries of large businesses to increase their ownership in and financial stake of small businesses applying for these grants. This would cause the research priorities of these small businesses to be driven by the short-term profit motives of the venture capital firms. Moreover, these changes would effectively kill the spirit of the SBIR and STTR grant programs, granting access to corporations and other entities whose disproportionate competitive advantages these programs were designed to mitigate.

The small business community in this country deserves better. For decades, small business has been the spark that lights our economy and the energy that fuels it. Let us not undermine their contributions to our economy by weakening the very programs that drive their success.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of the Polish American Congress, Ohio Division, as they celebrate Polish Constitution Day--a day where the Polish Community shares their rich culture with the Greater Cleveland Community.

The first written European constitution, the Governmental Statute of Poland, was instated on May 3, 1971. Poland's Constitution was the result of nearly five centuries of struggle and perseverance by the people of Poland to diminish the power of the King and to create facets and institutions of government vital to the foundation of a constitutional government. Formed in 1949, the Polish American Congress is a national umbrella organization representing over ten million Americans of Polish descent and origin, and serves as a unifying force for both Polish Americans and Polish citizens living in America. Cleveland's Polish American community is deeply rooted and prides itself on their commitment to the values of family, faith, democracy, hard work and fulfillment of the American dream.

The Polish American Congress strives to make Americans of Polish heritage more successful and involved U.S. citizens by encouraging them to assume the responsibilities of leadership. Since its foundation over sixty years ago, the group has created programs to successfully integrate people of Polish decent in the U.S. and enrich Cleveland's social fabric. These programs include the Displaced Persons Program, which allowed almost 150,000 Polish immigrants to enter the U.S. after World War Two. The group also won American veterans benefits for Polish Veterans of both World War One and World War Two.

The Polish American Congress has played a crucial role in the Polish Community, and in its many years of support and service has been an invaluable contribution to the City of Cleveland and this nation. This year, the Greater Cleveland Community can celebrate Poland's rich history and culture by joining Cleveland's Polish community in attending events such as the Polonia Ball, the Grand Parade and the Photographic Exhibition.

Madam Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honor and celebration of the leaders and members of the Polish American Congress, as they celebrate Polish Constitution Day and as they continue to promote and share their heritage, history and culture with the Greater Cleveland community.

Madam Speaker, my colleagues, yes, we're looking at an anniversary of Iraq here. But let's talk about things that the American people can relate to immediately. Cost of eggs going up 35 percent in the last year, cost of milk going up about 23 percent, bread going up about 16 percent.

Now we know that Americans going to the gas pump are paying near $4 a gallon in many areas.

What does this all have to do with Iraq?

Well, we're in Iraq for oil. The oil companies are running our domestic energy policy. It's having an impact on the price of food. It's causing a great transfer of wealth upwards away from the working people and the middle class of this country into the hands of a few wealthy oil company owners.

We need to get out of Iraq. We need to end the occupation, close the bases, bring the troops home. We need to set in motion an international security and peacekeeping force that can stabilize Iraq as our troops leave.

We need to start taking care of things here at home. Americans are losing their homes, they're losing their jobs, they're losing their health care, they're losing their retirement security. It's time we started to take care of things here at home and get out of Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to work with Mr. Conyers on this important bill. Years ago, when we were having those meetings where the legislation was being crafted, we both knew what an important moment it would be for the people of the United States to be able to have a health care system they could call their own. So I want to take this opportunity, as I begin my remarks, to salute the work of you, Chairman Conyers, and all that you have done and your dedication in working to make sure that the American people have a national health care system, a not-for-profit system. That's been your dedication. It has been an honor to work alongside of you in this endeavor.

As we speak today about covering the uninsured, we speak to the American people who are worried about whether loved ones are going to be able to get the care that they need. There is nothing that is more troubling to a family than to have a family member who is ill and yet cannot get the medical care that would be necessary to bring them back to health. There are 50 million Americans who are uninsured. This means that when they see others able to get the care they need, they recognize in their own families that they cannot sustain the health of loved ones or themselves.

Why is it that people are uninsured? Well, there are many reasons, but the principal reason is they simply cannot afford health insurance.

You know and I know, Mr. Chairman, that there are so many families that are called upon to spend $1,000 or more a month for health insurance. The price of gasoline going up to more than $4 a gallon, the cost of bread going up, milk, eggs, meat, all basic staples of an American diet, costs going up, up, up. People are finding that the costs of health insurance is becoming prohibitive. And so they simply can't afford it. So they remain uninsured, thereby leaving their entire family health open to a challenge.

How many of us would be able to survive financially being uninsured? Very few, because what happens is that if you're uninsured and you have health care bills, you're going to have to pay those bills. And you know that the greatest cause of bankruptcy in the United States relates to people not being able to pay their hospital or their doctor bills. That's a fact of life. There is no other issue which touches the American family and touches all of us so uniquely as this issue of health insurance. People can't afford it.

This is a tragic problem, and it's getting worse. About 22,000 people die every year because they're not insured; this, according to the updated Institute of Medicine Statistic. But we cannot talk about the uninsured without talking about the underinsured as well.

There are another 50 million Americans who are underinsured. Now think about it. 50 million uninsured, 50 million underinsured. 100 million Americans. One out of every three Americans is touched by this dilemma, and that means virtually every American family is either uninsured or underinsured. If you're underinsured, premiums are expensive, you may not be able to pay the premium to get the coverage you need, Co-pays and deductibles go higher and higher and higher. The American family is owned by the health insurance companies.

What kind of a country are we becoming where the people of this country can't get the care they need because almost $1 out of every $3 is taken off the top by the for-profit insurance companies for advertising, marketing, the cost of paperwork, corporate profits, stock options, executive salaries, all of those necessary things that Mr. Conyers has talked about in the past. $700 billion a year goes for expenses that are totally unrelated to the cost of health care. $700 billion a year. Meanwhile, you have 50 million uninsured and another 50 million underinsured. The insurance companies own us. We don't own our own health care system.

And the insurance industry is the reason for the underinsurance problem and all that goes with it. Half of all bankruptcies are tied to medical bills. And of those medical bankruptcies, listen to this, three-quarters of those had insurance before they got sick. So even with insurance, people are going bankrupt because they can't handle the co-pays and the deductibles.

Of all of the medical bankruptcies in the United States, three of every four people had some kind of insurance before they got sick. They fell victim to insurance companies whose only way to make money is to deny care. How do these insurance companies make so much money? They make money by not providing health care. They make money telling people, We're not going to pay that claim. You're not going to be covered. The more people they can exclude, the more money they will make. It is a racket. Health care is a racket. Health insurance, rather, is a racket.

It is time we took America in a new direction, which is what the Conyers' bill, that I am proud to be a co-author of, is all about. H.R. 676 is to provide for a universal, single payer, not-for-profit health care system. It finally puts health care back in the hands of the doctors and the patients. It eliminates the insurance companies as middle persons, middlemen, who are able to skim almost $1 out of $3 off the top while 50 million Americans are uninsured and another 50 are underinsured.

We need to make a clear distinction between ``health care'' and ``health insurance.'' The two are very different.

Doctors and nurses are not the same as health insurance CEOs. Doctors and nurses provide care. Insurance companies' CEOs, they deny it. There's a difference between health care and health insurance. If you have insurance, it doesn't mean you have health care. There are increasingly creative and complex ways to deny health care: co-pays, deductibles, premiums, limits on daily coverage, caps on annual amount spent, failing to cover certain medical conditions, failing to cover certain accidents, failing to cover certain drugs, failing to cover certain total spending amounts, like the privatized Medicare Part D donut hole, failing to cover hospital stays, or minimizing the coverage.

What has this hunt for profitability in health insurance cost us? Well, it's cost us a lot of money. It's driving up health care costs beyond the reach of most Americans. Listen to this statistic: between 1970 and 1998, the number of doctors and other clinical personnel increased by 2.5-fold. During the same time, the number of health administrators increased more than 24-fold. There's an explosion of the number of people in the health care system who do not provide care. They instead are told to deny care.

It boils down to this: The insurance industry is the problem. It is not the solution. The only way to truly cover everyone is to guarantee access, not to force working men and women to subsidize the insurance industry whose very presence forces people to pay out of pocket to keep the industry alive. We need health care run by doctors and their patients, not insurance companies. Health care is a basic human right.

So Mr. Conyers, I just want to express to you my appreciation for the work that you have done to bring this issue before the American people. To have had the opportunity over many of the last few Congresses to work with you on this has really been an honor.

And when we remember when we go back home, you to Detroit and me to Cleveland, and we see people who need care, our hearts break when we realize that they can't get it because insurance has just ended up being a big business and they don't care about people anymore. It's all about making money. All about profit.

So Mr. Conyers and I know that H.R. 676 stands alone in an increasingly crowded field of ideas that are going to provide health care for people. And this proposal addresses the accessibility problem.

Employer-based insurance requires people to continue to work in order to keep their insurance even if it worsens their health. Now, I know Mr. Conyers worked with the UAW for years and years before coming into Congress. What happens if you lose your job? People end up, after their COBRA benefits are gone, they lose their health insurance. Our proposal says if you lose your job, you're still insured. If you don't have money, you're still insured. If you have a pre-existing condition, you're still insured. This covers dental care, vision care, mental health, long-term care, prescription drugs. It's all covered.

Mr. Conyers, thank you. Thank you for your dedication to the American people. Thank you for your willingness to lead the way, and I'm just so grateful that I have the opportunity to work with you.

Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, you mentioned, Mr. Conyers, that many doctors support this. When I first ran for Congress in 1972, doctors generally opposed this idea. But there is a new survey that just came out published in the Annals of Internal Medicine that states that of the physicians that were contacted in this survey, thousands of them, 59 percent of the physicians now support a national health care plan, which is why I believe when you have the physicians supporting it, the patients support it, all we need is to keep adding to the numbers in the House of Representatives; and with Mr. Conyers' leadership, we're on our way to creating a national health care system.

Once again, I want to thank the gentleman for the opportunity to share some time with you here. And again, the people of the United States owe you a debt of gratitude for your relentlessness and your dedication on this, and I intend to keep working at your side as we move forward to create a universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health care system. H.R. 676, the Conyers bill, is the way to go.

Thank you.

As the Chairman is always able to do, you bring up another point that I think would be helpful to amplify, and that is that people will say, Well, how are you going to pay for this? Well, guess what? We're already paying for a universal standard of care; we're just not getting it. $2.3 trillion a year goes for health care in the United States. $2.3 trillion.

And when you consider the fact that the for-profit insurance companies take almost $1 out of every $3 or almost $700 billion a year, you take that $700 billion--am I right, Mr. Chairman--you put that money into care and you suddenly have enough money to cover all Americans, the underinsured and the uninsured are covered. So how we pay for it is using the money that's already in the system, and that's how much profit is in health care insurance or health insurance these days.

Mr. Speaker, once again, thank you for bringing out that point about the fact that it is able to be covered without any current change in our system, although we have a funding formula that you've helped to develop that will guarantee that all Americans will be covered far into the future.

So again, Mr. Chairman, I'm grateful the people of Detroit are fortunate to have you representing them in the United States Congress.

Madam Speaker, approximately 11 percent of our Nation's households are ``food insecure,'' meaning hungry or at risk of hunger. This includes over twelve million children. According to a recent study from the Center for Community Solutions, portions of my district, including Lakewood, Fairview Park and Parma, have experienced a 74 percent increase in participation in the Food Stamp Program between 2002 and 2007.

In March 2008, the World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations issued an emergency appeal to member nations asking for $500 million to help close the funding gap created by increasing food and fuel prices. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) echoed a similar plea in March saying that an additional $200 million was needed to meet emergency food aid needs.

Unrest has broken out around the globe due to rising food costs. In Cameroon, where food costs have increased by 50 percent over the last year, 4 days of rioting ended with a death toll of at least 40 people. Violent demonstrations have broken out in Senegal, a country that imports the majority of its food, over the rising prices of rice and milk. In Yemen, multiple days of rioting, spurred by a doubling of wheat prices over a 2 month period, culminated in one hundred arrests.

A new study released by the international NGO, GRAIN, states that ``[f]armers across the world produced a record 2.3 billion tons of grain in 2007, up 4% on the previous year . . . the bottom line is that there is enough food produced in the world to feed the population.''

The following article by Anuradha Mittal raises valid questions that we must address in our fight against global hunger:

[From the Oakland Institute Reporter]

Dangerous Liaisons: A Battle Plan From the United Nations and the

International Financial Institutions To Fight Global Hunger

(By Anuradha Mittal)

UN agencies are meeting in Berne to tackle the world food

price crisis. Heads of International Financial Institutions

(IFIs), including Robert Zoellick, President of the World

Bank (former U.S. trade representative) and Pascal Lamy,

WTO's Director General, are among the attendees. Will the

``battle plan'' emerging from the Swiss capital, a charming

city with splendid sandstone buildings and far removed from

the grinding poverty and hunger which has reduced people to

eating mud cakes in Haiti and scavenging garbage heaps, be

more of the same--promote free trade to deal with the food

crisis.

The growing social unrest against food prices has forced

governments to take policy measures such as export bans, to

fulfill domestic needs. This has created uproar among policy

circles as fear of trade being undermined sets in. ``The food

crisis of 2008 may become it challenge to globalization,''

exclaims The Economist in its April 17. 2008 issue. Not

surprisingly then, the ``Doha Development Round'' which has

been in a stalemate since the collapse of the 2003 WTO

Ministerial in Cancun, largely due to the hypocrisy of

agricultural polices of the rich nations, is being

resuscitated as a solution to rising food prices.

Speaking at the Center for Global Development, Zoellick

passionately argued that the time was ``now or never'' for

breaking the Doha Round impasse and reaching a global trade

deal. Pascal Lamy has argued, ``At a time when the world

economy is in rough waters, concluding the Doha Round can

provide strong anchor.'' Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing

Director of the IMF, has claimed, ``No one should forget that

all countries rely on open trade to feed their populations.

Completing the Doha round would play a critically helpful

role in this regard, as it would reduce trade barriers and

distortions and encourage agricultural trade.''

Preaching at the altar of free market to deal with the

current crisis requires a degree of official amnesia. It was

through the removal of tariff barriers, through the

international trade agreements, that allowed rich nations

such as the U.S. to dump heavily subsidized farm surplus in

developing countries while destroying their agricultural base

and undermining local food production. Reduction of rice

tariffs from 100 to 20 percent in Ghana under structural

adjustment policies enforced by the World Bank, rice imports

increased from 250,000 tons in 1998 to 415,150 tons in 2003,

with 66 percent of rice producers recording negative returns

leading to loss of employment. In Cameroon, poultry imports

increased by about six-fold with the lowering of tariff

protection to 25 percent while import increases wiped out 70

percent of Senegal's poultry industry.

Developing countries had an overall agricultural trade

surplus of almost US $7 billion per year in the 1960s.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO),

gross imports of food by developing countries grew with trade

liberalization, turning into a food trade deficit of more

than US $11 billion by 2001 with cereal import bill for Low

Income Food Deficit Countries reaching over $38 billion in

2007/2008.

Erosion of agricultural base of the developing countries

has increased hunger among their farmers while destroying

their ability to meet their food needs. The 1996 World Food

Summit's commitment to reduce the number of hungry--815

million then--by half by 2015 had already become a far-

fetched idea by its 10th anniversary. U.N. Special Rapporteur

on the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler, reported last June that

nearly 854 million people in the world--one in every six

human beings--are gravely undernourished.

So on who's behalf are the heads of the IFIs promoting the

conclusion of the Doha Round and further liberalization of

agriculture. While Investors Chronicle in its April 2008

feature story, ``Crop Boom Winners'' explores how investors

can gain exposure to the dramatic turnaround in food and

farmland prices, a new report from GRAIN, Making a Killing,

from the Food Crisis, shows Cargill, the world's biggest

grain trader, achieved an 86 percent increase in profits from

commodity trading in the first quarter of 2008: Bunge had a

77 percent increase in profits during the last quarter of

2007; ADM, the second largest grain trader in the world,

registered a 67 percent increase in profits in 2007. Behind

the chieftains of the capitalist system are powerful

transnational corporations, traders, and speculators who

trade food worldwide, determine commodity prices, create and

then manipulate shortages and surpluses to their advantage,

and are the real beneficiaries of international trade

agreements.

The vultures of greed are circling the carcasses of growing

hunger and poverty as another 100 million join the ranks of

the world's poorest--nearly 3 billion people who live on less

than $2 a day. Agriculture is fundamental to the well-being

of all people, both in terms of access to safe and nutritious

food and as the foundation of healthy communities, cultures,

and environment. The answer to the current crisis will not

come from the WTO or the World Bank, but lies in the

principles of food sovereignty that can ensure food self-

sufficiency for each nation. It is time for the developing

countries to uphold the rights of their people to safe and

nutritious food and break with decades of ill-advised

policies that have failed to benefit their people.

Madam Speaker, since late January 2008, the 1.5 million person population in Gaza has been enduring an Israeli-imposed blockade. The blockade effectively restricts the entry of food, clean water, fuel, and medical supplies. The lack of basic goods has severely deteriorated Gaza's health, economy, and social fabric.

The World Bank reports that since Hamas ousted Fatah from Gaza last June, 90 percent of businesses have shut down costing workers more than 100,000 jobs. Due to the closure of Gaza's borders and its inability to import raw materials, farmers and businesses are unable to produce and export their goods leaving nearly half a million people without an income.

According to Oxfam, today 80 percent of Gaza's population is dependent on food aid. On April 24th, the United Nations, UN, announced the suspension of their food aid program to 650,000 Gazans, 56 percent of whom are children, due to a lack of fuel for their trucks. These restrictions exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis in which 17.5 percent of children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition.

Water and wastewater systems have also become a casualty of the blockade. Gaza's water and wastewater system is heavily reliant on diesel-powered generators. Due to the restrictions on the entry of diesel into Gaza, many water pumps do not have the power to provide running water. Additionally, the sewage system dates back to 1967 and was meant to provide for a population one-third the size of Gaza's Population. The lack of clean water and an adequate sewage system has led to a sanitary water crisis in Gaza.

According to a recent UN publication, seventy-five percent of Gaza's drinking water is polluted. The lack of clean water and a proper sewage system has caused infestations of small organisms such as amoeba that have led to several ailments including abdominal colic, diarrhea, and constipation. The sewage crisis has also led to overflow. On March 27, 2007, a wall of human waste overflowed into Gaza's residential areas and caused the death of children and elderly people.

According to the United Relief Works Agency, UNRWA, ``Gaza is on the threshold of becoming the first territory to be intentionally reduced to a state of abject destitution, with the knowledge, acquiescence and, some would say, encouragement of the international community.''

Israel must protect its citizens and ensure their security, but pursuant to the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel also has a legal duty to provide Gazans with food, clean water, electricity, and medical care. I urge the U.S. Administration to help end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and ensure the health, safety, and security for Palestinians and Israelis.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the resolution (H. Res. 578) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that there should be established a National Watermelon Month, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her expression of support for the resolution. I am also going to support the resolution. I just want to add one note of observation so that all those who are enjoying watermelons in this country also keep in mind the people who do the work, who pick those watermelons. It is hard work.

Today we have other bills under suspension that will give us a chance to celebrate the work of laborers. I think that it is important that we are grateful for those who pick the watermelons, and we have to recognize in this market where there are increasing restrictions on migrant workers, making it very difficult for farmers to get the kind of labor that they used to get. We are also seeing that many farmers are beginning to turn to prison labor. This should be a concern to us, all of us who want to make sure that all of those people out of jobs right now in this country who would like to work on farms would have the chance to get that work.

There is an article from the Christian Science Monitor that refers to this problem. I would like to include that in the Record. There also is an article about a settlement that was reached with workers regarding the attempt by a major agricultural company to circumvent Department of Labor rules and also circumvent the H-2A program that resulted actually in a settlement of a very prominent lawsuit about a month ago. I would like to include that article from the Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid.

[From the Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 22, 2007]

U.S. Farmers Using Prison Labor

With tightening restrictions on migrant workers, some

farmers are turning to the incarcerated.

For labor-rights activists, federal immigration reform is

the only viable solution to worker shortages.

Marc Grossman, spokesman for the United Farm Workers of

America, says inmate labor undermines what unionized farm

workers have wanted for years: to be paid based on skill and

experience. ``It's rather insulting that the state [Arizona]

would look so poorly on farm workers that they would attempt

to use inmates,'' Grossman says. There is also the food-

safety aspect, he says: Experienced workers understand

sanitary harvesting.

``Agriculture does not have a reliable workforce, and the

answer does not lie with prison labor,'' says Paul Simonds of

the Western Growers Association, a trade association

representing California and Arizona. ``This just underscores

the need for legislation to be passed to provide a legal,

stable workforce.'' A prison lockdown would be disastrous, he

points out, with perishable crops awaiting harvest. Other

crops, like asparagus and broccoli, require skilled workers.

Although the ADC is considering innovative solutions--

including satellite prisons--to fulfill companies' requests

for inmate labor, prison officials agree that, in the end,

the demand is too high. ``To go into a state where

agriculture is worth $9.2 billion and expect to meet a

workforce need is impossible,'' says Katie Decker,

spokeswoman for ADC. At any given time only about 3,300

prisoners statewide (out of a prison population of about

37,000) are cleared to work outside.

ACI provides inmates to nine private agriculture companies

in Arizona, ranging from a hydroponics greenhouse tomato

plant to a green chile cannery. Unlike other sectors where

federal regulations require that inmate workers be paid a

prevailing wage and receive worker compensation, agriculture

companies can hire state inmates on a contract basis. They

must be paid a minimum of $2 per hour. Thirty percent of

their wages go to room and board in prison. The rest goes to

court-ordered restitution for victims, any child support, and

a mandatory savings account. Private companies are required

to pay for transportation from the prison to the worksite and

for prison guards.

For Reyna, his work on farms over the past couple of years

has added $9,000 in his savings account and given him a

renewed respect for his Mexican father's lifetime of stoop

labor.

At Dixon's farm, it's 103 degrees F. The inmate crews,

wearing orange jumpsuits, work in a rhythmic line, calling

out the number of the watermelons, and alongside the trailer.

Just a few yards away, Mexican workers also work in a line.

The inmates will quit at 4 p.m., while the immigrant laborers

may work 13-hour days. ``We go back, they stay out there,''

Reyna says. ``It really isn't the same.''

In the farm's office, watermelons line the counter, and

photos of migrant workers hang in dusty frames. When asked

why he doesn't sell the farm, Dixon says, ``the inmates, the

migrants, these people are part of the family--that's why I

keep this darn place.''

Dixon says he supports the idea of a reformed, guest-worker

program that would employ migrant workers during the harvest

and return them to Mexico in the winter. But until that

happens, he's willing to fight for the workers he's shared

the land with for most of his life.

``People are crossing the border because they are starving

to death,'' Dixon says, ``I don't care what their status is.

If they are hungry and thirsty, I am going to feed them.

``I could sell this and quit,'' he continues, ``But I

believe in supporting the American farming industry.''

[From the Texas RioGrande Legal Aid Press Center, Mar. 26, 2008]

Farmworkers Reach Settlement in Lawsuit Against Watermelon Grower

Eagle Pass, TX.--Twenty two Texas farmworkers have reached

a settlement with three Rio Grande Valley companies over a

lawsuit regarding the importation of more than 400 foreign

guestworkers into the United States between 2001 and 2007.

Represented by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA), the

leading provider of legal aid in Texas, the workers claimed

that Nowell Borders, L.P., Hargill Harvesting & Packing,

Inc., Mata Trucking Company, and Martinez Packing Company,

upon advice of counsel, misused the U.S. visa program to hire

foreign labor and avoid providing housing, transportation,

and meals to workers. The companies applied for guestworker

visas using the H-2B program instead of the H-2A program

which would have required the recruitment of domestic workers

at higher wages.

``This settlement signifies a commitment on behalf of all

four companies to engage in fair employment practices and

respect the rights of American farmworkers,'' said TRLA

attorney Javier Riojas. The settlement also creates a

mechanism for resolving future disputes without resorting to

litigation.

John Flanigan, Executive Vice President for Hargill

Harvesting and Packing, Inc., states he was pleased with the

agreement that was reached and enjoyed working with TRLA to

resolve the dispute.

The companies compensated the workers for more than $60,000

in wages and agreed to modify their employment practices so

that U.S. workers are hired first and receive equal pay and

benefits compared to foreign workers. The companies also

agreed to use the H-2A guestworker program that provides more

benefits and protections for workers than the H-2B program.

Originally filed in October 2007, the lawsuit also targeted

the Department of Labor (DOL) for its failure to enforce the

regulations on the guestworker program. The case against DOL

is not part of the settlement and is still ongoing. See

Riojas, et al v. Chao, DR-07-CA-058, W.D. Tex., filed Oct. 9,

2007.

``The law guarantees that U.S. workers have certain

protections over foreign labor. The Department of Labor

looked the other way in this situation and the federal

government, of all entities, should be looking out for U.S.

workers the most,'' added TRLA attorney and Equal Justice

Works Fellow Jake Wedemeyer.

Established in 1970, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Inc. (TRLA)

is a nonprofit organization that provides free civil legal

services to low-income and disadvantaged clients in a 68-

country service area. TRLA's mission is to promote the

dignity, self-sufficiency, safety and stability of low-income

Texas residents by providing high-quality legal assistance

and related educational services.

If we keep in mind there are 4.2 billion pounds of watermelons grown in this country annually, we understand that this is a very important business. It is also, as my friend Representative Foxx points out, a matter that relates to nutrition and health; and let's face it, enjoyment. People love watermelon. While enjoying it, we need to keep in mind the people who are doing the work raising this tremendous fruit. Let's remember those workers and make sure that they have basic rights. Let's make sure that they can make a living and support their families. Let's

make sure that they live in conditions that are humane. In that way we can truly celebrate National Watermelon Month, not only for those consuming watermelons, but also those helping to grow and harvest those watermelons.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady and congratulate her on her service in the Congress and say how much I enjoy working with her.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 892) expressing support for designation of March 11, 2008, as ``National Funeral Director and Mortician Recognition Day,'' as amended.

Mr. Speaker, in recognition of the fact that one of our colleagues, Representative Wilson who I am proud to say is from the State of Ohio, has a family-owned business and is a funeral director, I yield him such time as he may consume.

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

Mr. Speaker, I support this resolution. I am from Cleveland, Ohio, and all of us know in any community we are from, we come into contact with funeral directors and morticians. Funeral directors make it possible for families to be able to find a way to come to grips with a passing. Those transitions in life are very important moments for the survivors because we need help in being able to deal with a situation when we lose a loved one, and funeral directors perform a very valuable service.

I know as someone who represents the people of Cleveland that when I go to pay my respects to someone who has passed, I have the opportunity not only to meet the families that are grieving and comfort them, but also to see the work that is being done by those who are directing the funeral. It is something that is easy to lose sight of when you are moving into territory that is laden with grief. But it is also something that is appropriate for us at this

moment to pay tribute to because everyone who is involved in that work really has to achieve a level of sensitivity and compassion and caring so that they can help families deal with what for many is one of the most serious moments of their lives involving the passing of a loved one.

I want to thank Representative Wilson for his choice of career and his family's commitment to providing that kind of compassionate service to people, and also my colleague, Representative Foxx, for supporting this bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1073) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that public servants should be commended for their dedication and continued service to the Nation during Public Service Recognition Week, May 5 through 11, 2008.

Mr. Speaker, all those of us who chose to be in elected office realize that we can't do our jobs unless there is a vast array of people who are in every category of employment, doing their jobs. And those workers in many cases, are people who are public employees.

Public employees may be people who are working in the streets. They may be people who pick up the garbage; they may be people who are working desk jobs. There are people who perform so many different functions.

At a Federal level, public employees are involved in providing direct service to people, whether it's making sure that people get their Social Security checks, their Medicare benefits, making sure that people have the opportunity to be able to have access to important government services.

Public service is a worthy profession. It's one that we ought to be encouraging young people to be involved in. It's one that needs to achieve more appreciation, not less. In this era where people try to attack government, they're actually attacking the people who do the work of government. We need to lift up the position of government workers. This resolution of Public Service Recognition Week is certainly one way to do it. And it allows us to demonstrate the involvement of public employees in the daily life surrounding our communities and, in turn, we're reminded that we live in the United States of America, relying on each other to ensure the stability and greatness of our country.

This is an important moment when we can recognize, through this resolution, everyone who serves. Each person who serves is worthy of respect. There is no level of service which is not worthy of respect. Dr. King pointed that out in some of his speeches when he talked about the street sweeper, how that street sweeper should sweep streets in a way that would reflect a great virtuoso performance.

We need to have that kind of awareness that those who perform the daily work of government, at a local, county, State and Federal level, and also at regional levels, are people who love their country, love their community and ought to be honored.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I would like to take this opportunity, before we close the debate, to thank those who are involved in public service in my own community, in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

Having served in municipal government for many years, I understand how important the daily work of a city is. And I know that its people who repair the streets, who pick up the garbage, who make sure that the lights are repaired, who make sure the traffic signals work, who answer calls for fire or police protection, I know that all of those individuals love their community and they deserve to be appreciated.

Also, on a county level, in Cuyahoga County, you have many workers who are unsung for their service as clerks, people who work in recording deeds, people who work in collecting taxes, people who work in seeing that welfare services are given, case workers and others, they're all public servants and all public employees. This resolution is a fitting way to honor those individuals.

And I just wanted to cite specifically Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, because, having been involved with that constituency for so long, I understand the workers who make possible the work of those various governmental jurisdictions.

At this time I would reserve the balance of my time.

I yield back.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 49) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that there should be established a National Letter Carriers Appreciation Day.

Mr. Speaker, we're honoring workers today, and it's appropriate, among those workers, that we single out letter carriers.

As a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I'm pleased to join my colleagues in support of H. Res. 49, which seeks to commemorate our Nation's postal carriers for their dedication and hard work.

By consistently delivering the mail in a timely and congenial fashion for over hundreds of years, mail carriers have become an irreplaceable component, not only to the economy of America, but to the culture and livelihood of our country.

I believe we have a tendency to forget how important the every day service is. Yet, if we were to go 1 day without the United States Postal Service, over 2,300 pieces of mail per carrier would go undelivered.

It is our mail carriers who help preserve the concept of universal service that is so integral to the work of the United States Postal Service.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I'm hopeful that when this resolution passes, as I'm sure it will, that the United States Postal Service will post a copy of it in every post office in the country so that our letter carriers will be able to see that Members of Congress appreciate the work that they do.

Day in and day out our letter carriers are there. We rely on them to move the commerce of the country. Many of us are aware that the United States Postal Service is the third largest employer in America; that they employ over 700,000 career letter carriers, and 98,000 noncareer employees; that they move about 44 percent of the world's mail volume. They have an extraordinarily important work to do in providing for communication in this country, in making sure that people here from one another in carrying messages that are so important to our commerce.

The United States Postal Service employees, these letter carriers that we're honoring today, deserve our constant appreciation for the work that they do. I'm so glad that this House is involved in paying attention to the people that do the everyday work of our Nation that aren't often recognized.

We who are in these exalted positions always need to remember that the work of the government is done in so many ways, and when somebody, step by step, moves through his or her appointed rounds, every day, out there delivering the mail, they deserve just as much respect as those of us who are holding high public office. And so it's with a great deal of appreciation for the letter carriers that I stand in support of the bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.