Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, as this session of Congress begins, one of the most important pieces of legislation is the one we have been discussing, and that is increasing the minimum wage. This bill is long overdue.

During the first 100 hours, this Congress will vote to extend economic prosperity to 7.3 million Americans who have been left behind for far too long. It has been almost a decade since the Federal minimum wage has been increased. Today, a minimum wage worker is trying to make due on less than $11,000 a year. This is simply impossible; $5.15 an hour is simply not a fair and livable wage for hardworking Americans. In fact, the minimum wage is at its lowest purchasing level in over 50 years.

It is time Washington stands up for the little guy and gives more than 6 million workers a much-deserved pay raise.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise today to announce the passing of a great American, Quincy Beaver, Sr. Quincy had been a resident of Carson, California, for 38 years. His contributions to his community, the State of California, and the world are legend. He was a passionate advocate for justice and equality and devoted countless hours working in political, civil rights and labor union movements.

Quincy's community and social activism span nearly 7 decades. Upon receiving an honorable discharge from the military in 1945, Quincy returned to Los Angeles where he immediately began to serve his community. Given his passionate commitment to service, he was presented numerous accolades and awards that are too numerous to list.

But a few of Quincy's leadership positions, honors and awards include Chair of the Employment Labor Committee of the Los Angeles chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality, referred to as CORE, board member of the South Central Welfare Planning Council, board member of the Charles R. Drew Community Advisory Council, founding member of the Carson/ Torrance NAACP, and Chair of the chapter's First Executive Board, member of the Compton and Long Beach chapters of the NAACP, and board member of the Campaign for a Citizens' Police Review Board.

Quincy was a major player in the creation of the Southern California Free South Africa movement and a founding member of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Democratic Club, and elected its first president in 1972.

He worked in numerous local, State and national political campaigns; and during the 1972 campaign, Quincy formed the Black Workers for McGovern. In 1984, he founded and served as chairperson of the 31st Congressional District Jesse Jackson for President Campaign.

For the last 44 years, Quincy was a member of the California Democratic Council, CDC, a state-wide organization of Democratic clubs where he held numerous positions in the organization, including immediate past president.

Quincy was married to Geneva Phillips, who was his friend, his confidant, his caregiver, and the love of his life. They shared a passion for community service and grass-roots politics. He was the proud father of four children.

We will sorely miss Quincy's unswerving commitment to community service, quality education, to jobs and to safe working conditions for all people. We will certainly miss his community activism. Dear Quincy, rest in peace.

Mr. Speaker, this week with pride the new Democratic House opens this congressional session by bringing ethics reform measures to the House floor that will sever the unhealthy ties between lawmakers and lobbyists.

We made a promise to the American people that we would drain the swamp of unethical behavior here in Washington, and we begin this Congress by living up to that promise by banning travel and gifts from lobbyists, getting tough on special interest earmarks, and ending the abusive processes that have destroyed democracy.

The American people sent us all a message last November. They want us to work for them and not for the special interests. I would hope that our agenda for reform would garner the support of both Democrats and Republicans. We should all be interested in policies that will ensure that the outrageous abuses of power that have taken place over the last couple of years do not continue.

These important reforms are only the beginning.

Mr. Speaker, an international symposium on democracy and congress will be held in Taipei, Taiwan from December 8 through December 10. The symposium is sponsored by Democratic Pacific Union (DPU). DPU is a Taipei-based non-governmental organization founded in 2005. Its goal is to enhance dialogues and exchanges among members of parliaments from countries around the Pacific Rim.

This year's symposium will include participants from Chile, Republic of the Philippines, El Salvador, Honduras, Tuvalu, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, the United States, and Republic of China. The symposium's agenda will include panel discussions on the legislative process, presidential systems, congressional elections, and other parliamentary issues.

Mr. Speaker, the symposium will also enable U.S. participants to learn more about Taiwan, our unique bilateral relationship, and regional issues of common interest. I strongly urge my colleagues to support the symposium and to attend the symposium, if at all possible.

I offer my best wishes and congratulations to Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu who has been the driving force behind this international symposium on democracy and congress.

Mr. Speaker, last Tuesday, Americans voted for a new direction in America. Among those voting were 10 million young Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 who were no doubt upset by the soaring costs of college tuition and the rise in student loan interest rates put into effect by Republicans in this body.

This year alone Republicans raised student loan interest rates by 7 percent and cut $12 billion out of the higher

education budget to pay for the massive tax cuts for the wealthy. These 10 million young voters, along with their parents and grandparents who share the growing financial burden of higher education, elected a Democratic majority in Congress because they know our party has continually stood for making a college education an affordable goal for all American students.

Mr. Speaker, these families will soon see results. Within the first 100 hours of taking office next January, Democrats will broaden college opportunities for all students.

Madam Speaker, since the beginning of the war in Iraq, congressional Republicans have refused to provide any oversight of the Bush administration in its handling of the war.

When no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq, House Republicans refused to investigate how the intelligence could have been so bad.

When the administration sent our troops into combat without the proper body armor, House Republicans refused to hold anyone in the administration accountable.

When milestone after milestone passed without things getting better in Iraq, congressional Republicans refused to hold oversight hearings and allowed the Bush administration to continue with the status quo when a change was clearly needed.

Today, our Nation desperately needs for Congress to do its job and provide real oversight of the administration. When Democrats take control of Congress in January, we vow to provide proper oversight of the actions of this administration. It is something that is required of us all by the U.S. Constitution

Mr. Speaker, I rise with great sadness to announce the untimely passing of my good friend Melanie Lomax.

The City of Los Angeles, California, and our Nation have lost one of the strongest advocates for civil rights. Attorney Melanie Lomax was a dedicated leader and committed fighter for the rights of the poor and voiceless.

When Melanie witnessed injustice towards others she spoke out vociferously regardless of who was involved. She was especially determined to hold the LAPD accountable for acts of excessive force and brutality while serving as President of the Los Angeles Police Commission.

Bright, articulate and focused, Melanie, goddaughter to former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, never wavered in her mission to help others. She felt deeply and emotionally about defenseless people and often found herself isolated while fighting unpopular causes. But she would always forge ahead in the cause of justice.

Melanie's untimely death is a substantial loss to all of us. It is hard to imagine anyone else stepping into the void she leaves with the same gusto, vigor, and fervor. She will be sorely missed.

Mr. Speaker, it is with much sadness that I rise today to announce the passing of my very good friend and colleague, Perry Conrade Parks, Jr.

Perry Parks was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1908, to Professors Perry C. Parks, Sr. and Sophia Parker Parks on the campus of Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia. The family moved to East Chicago, Indiana, where Perry attended school.

Perry Parks later attended Tennessee State College and transferred to Wiley College in Marshall, Texas where he lettered in four sports (football, basketball, track, and tennis) and graduated in 1934.

After graduation he joined his family in Los Angeles and took a job as a social worker for the California State Relief Administration. Soon after establishing himself in California, he married his college sweetheart, Artemisia Stilwell.

Perry Parks later worked for the Federal Postal Service, from 1936 to 1971. He was a founding member of the United Public Workers CIO, as well as an organizer of the National Alliance of Postal Workers. He was in the forefront of the struggle to implement a merit system in employee evaluations and promotions. He was also a champion of equal opportunity for women.

He filed the first successful anti-discrimination claim against the Los Angles Post Master for failure to promote him to Supervisor. His discrimination claim paved the way for equal employment opportunities for people of color, leading to the appointment of the first African- American Post Master in Los Angeles.

Perry was an ardent warrior in the pursuit of fairness, inclusion, and representation in the civic process. He stood on the front line of the civil rights movement in the 1960s as an early organizer of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Southern California. Mr. Parks served as Vice President of the Barrio Defense Committee, President of the South Central Welfare Planning Council, and a board member of the Los Angeles Urban League and United Civil Rights Committee. He was a founding member of the Brotherhood Crusade.

After his retirement, Perry Parks continued to serve his community as Field Representative for Congresswoman Yvonne B. Burke and Assemblywoman Teresa Hughes.

Perry Parks was a proud army veteran of World War II and a devoted member of Holman United Methodist Church. He is survived by his two sons, Perry C. Parks III and Henry Stilwell Parks; his two sisters, Lucy Hamilton and Carrie Jones, all of Los Angeles; his grandsons, Perry C. Parks IV of Atlanta, Georgia, and Oren Callan Jeffries of Los Angeles; nieces Patricia Parks White, Frances Jones Taylor, Muriel Jones Parker of Los Angeles and a host of other devoted relatives and friends.

Mr. Speaker, we have all heard about the do-nothing Congress of 1948 that met only 101 days. Well, Mr. Speaker, I am sad to report that this Republican-led Congress will go down in history as the do-less-than-nothing Congress.

Today is only the 78th day that we have met for legislative business. And

yet the Republican leadership insists on recessing at the end of this week to allow extra time for campaigning. Democrats believe we should not adjourn this body until we address this needs of all Americans, not just major corporations and the wealthy few.

To do that, we must deal with the issue of the skyrocketing college tuition costs that are plaguing so many students and their families. Democrats are fighting to restore the $12 million in student aid recently cut by the Republican Congress, and to finally expand the size of available Pell Grants that those on the other side of the aisle have been blocking for so many years.

Mr. Speaker, since Republicans in this body have no plans to address college affordability, before they head back to campaign, I ask for unanimous consent to bring up a revised Labor, Health and Human Services budget bill that ends the Republican raid on student aid.

Mr. Speaker, it is nice to see that we really and finally are hearing the truth from the Bush administration about the Iraq war and its impact on the overall global war on terror. The problem is we didn't hear it from the President himself. No. It comes from a top secret intelligence document that I am sure the President hoped never saw the light of day.

For the better part of a month now, President Bush has been trying to persuade the American people that we are safer today than we were before 9/11. This national intelligence report contradicts the President's statements and says that the war in Iraq has actually made our fight against terrorism even more difficult.

So the question is, why would the President go out and say we are safer if his intelligence agencies refute these claims? Either President Bush has not personally read the top secret report or he is not leveling with the American people about the real worldwide threat we continue to face and how Iraq has made those threats even worse.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 5092. This bill does not protect small businesses. In fact, it victimizes them, and the general public, because it would make it more difficult for the Federal government to shut down the rogue gun dealers who are arming the gangs that plague our neighborhoods.

Mr. Speaker, the vast majority of American gun dealers are legitimate businesspeople. They play by the rules, and deserve to have their government support them rather than harass them. The problem is that H.R. 5092 doesn't protect legitimate gun dealers. In fact, there is absolutely no evidence that legitimate gun dealers are falling victim to an overzealous Federal government.

In reality, H.R. 5092 is a giveaway to those few gun dealers who just can't be bothered to comply with the law. As such, H.R. 5092 doesn't help average, law-abiding gun dealers. Instead, it puts them at a disadvantage to the few bad actors who see dollar signs in the carnage that plagues our neighborhoods.

Most gun dealers know that they have a unique responsibility to make sure their products do not fall into the wrong hands. And so,

they put in the extra effort to make sure they keep track of the guns in their inventory. But why should any small businessperson put in the effort to comply with their responsibilities if the Federal government cannot shut down the guy across the street who acts irresponsibly? Why would anyone take the time and expense to do the right thing if they are going to be run out of business by the few bad apples doing the wrong thing?

This is the danger we face if H.R. 5092 becomes law. This law will not protect law-abiding gun dealers. In fact, it will make them victims of the lawbreakers, by tying the hands of the hard-working Federal agents who work to keep illegal guns off our streets. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H.R. 5092, and protect small businesspeople and the general public from those few gun dealers who are too irresponsible to comply with the law.

Mr. Speaker, Republicans support the Bush promise to

stay the course in Iraq with an open-ended commitment and no questions asked. This stay-the-course strategy has strained our military, compromised our readiness, cost nearly 2,700 American lives and almost $400 billion, and diverted attention and resources away from the real war on terror.

Stay the course is not a strategy, and it is not working. Republicans refuse to face the fact that the reality on the ground is that we are not winning. We have no end game plan.

Today, we are bogged down in the middle of a civil war, one where 100 people are killed every day. From May 20 through August 11, the average number of attacks per week against Americans and Iraqis was 792, the highest number since the war began.

Meanwhile, the war in Iraq is distracting us from the overall global threat of terror. Over the past 3 years while we have been fighting in Iraq, the number of worldwide terrorist attacks have grown dramatically and the Taliban is growing in strength in Afghanistan.

The President has to stop looking and face the facts.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I announce the passing my dear friend and colleague, Linda Butler Costigan.

Linda Butler Costigan passed away peacefully on Sept. 6, 2006 at Sutter Roseville Medical Center after a long battle with metastatic breast cancer. She was born on Dec. 20, 1946 in White Plains, NY to the late George and Faye Butler. She is survived by her beloved husband of 42 years, Richard S. Costigan, Jr. (Dick) of Granite Bay, CA and sons, Richard, III and wife Gloria of Granite Bay, CA and Chris and wife Gabby, who now live in Hong Kong.

She was the devoted ``Gram'' to her three grandchildren, Eric Samuel, Emma Laraine and Andrew Butler, of Granite Bay, CA. She is also survived by her sister, Mary Catherine Butler-Adkins and husband, Frank of Virginia Beach, VA.

Linda spent the first half of her life in Norfolk, VA., but she lived in many places, including Miami, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Sydney Australia, and Danville, CA, before settling in Granite Bay over 16 years ago.

Though Linda would want to be remembered as a loving wife, mother and grandmother, she made many contributions to the communities in which she lived. In Norfolk, VA she was President of the local Catholic Youth Organization. In Danville, she was president of the St. Isidore's PTA and started a fund raising auction at De La Salle in Concord that is still going on; she replicated that program for La Salle College High school when the family moved to Philadelphia.

During those years, she was very active in Marriage Encounter and served on various boards. She loved college football, becoming a devoted follower of the University of Georgia where Richard and Gloria attended and the University of Alabama where Chris was a wide receiver on the 1989 SEC Championship team. She and Dick would often travel to both schools from California. She was involved in California politics for years, including serving as the State Private Sector Chair of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) for the state of California for a number of years and as the national Private Sector Chair in the early 1990s. For her service, she received the Thomas Jefferson Award.

She ran an event planning company that helped to bring policy makers together with advocates and those impacted by policy decisions. Her clients included Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson. She was also the secretary of the Granite Bay Municipal Advisory Council for a number of years when Dick served as the Chair. She also served on Board of the Arthritis Foundation of Northern California.

In 2001, after her husband became sick, they moved to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina where they thought they would spend the rest of their lives. When she was rediagnosed with cancer in 2004, they moved back to Granite Bay. She was greatly admired by many and continued to positively touch many lives even in her last days fighting this disease. Her legacy as a devoted daughter, sister, wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, and dear friend will be remembered and cherished by all she touched.

Very quickly, I want to thank you, Mr. Larson, for having us come to herald the fact that we are indulging in an unwinnable battle, because the war against terrorism is a war against an ideology, and the only way you are going to change an ideology is to change people's hearts and minds. You will never do that at the end of a barrel.

Thank you so much for gathering us.

Mr. Speaker, what a fraud, what a sham. I am embarrassed to be part of a House where they spring on us a bill that neither the American people nor few of my colleagues have had a chance to review.

American workers and their families have been waiting 9 long years for an increase in the minimum wage. I represent those people. Maybe you don't. The real inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage is at its lowest point in 50 years.

Democrats have been desperately trying for years to bring an increase in the minimum wage to the floor, but the Republican leadership has sought to block it at every turn. While working families have seen their wages fall, the U.S. Congress has received nine wage raises.

Mr. Speaker, as a result, this bill will not become law and, hence, we will not help any of the almost 15 million minimum-wage earners in the United States. What a fraud. Shame on us.