Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3127, The Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006. As the entire world already knows and our Government has already recognized, genocide is today occurring in the Sudanese region of Darfur. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have died and almost 1.5 million displaced by Sudanese government backed militias. It is a shame that much of the world has stood idly by while the slaughter continues and Sudan's vulnerable neighbors are left to cope with the tragedy. Additionally, the perpetrators have not been held to account.

I commend my 162 bi-partisan colleagues who have co-sponsored this important bill. It includes additional targeted economic and diplomatic sanctions against the Sudanese regime and increases support for the African Union Mission in Sudan, AMIS, by offering assistance from NATO.

As privileged citizens of the free world we must be ever vigilant toward those who commit barbaric acts in our world. Unfortunately, our country has a poor record in this respect. Therefore, we must work to ensure that the future generations will not bear this same guilt by acting decisively now. As a cosponsor of The Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, I will continue to work with my colleagues to see that the genocide in Darfur is finally halted and urge the House to pass this important legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I just want to take this time to highlight a proprietary school in my home county of Bronx, New York. I am delighted that proprietary schools are mentioned in the district and I just want to highlight this degree-granting proprietary school called Monroe College, Bronx, New York, my district, Mr. Serrano's district. Last June, they graduated 2,000 students, and I have seen firsthand the wonderful job that they do. And these students are particularly minority students, people who want to go back to school and want to have the opportunity to move forward. So with all the other discussions about what is going on with the bill, I just want to say that I am delighted that proprietary schools, particularly degree-granting proprietary schools like Monroe College, are finally getting the recognition that they deserve, and I think that they do deserve recognition because they do good work, again, particularly Monroe College in Bronx, New York.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from American Samoa for recognizing me. I also want to call attention on our side of the aisle to my colleagues, Congresswoman Waters, Congresswoman Lee and my good friend, Congressman Delahunt, who have always been carrying the ball on the

issue of Haiti and the U.S. response to Haiti and the U.S. friendship with Haiti. I really take my hat off to all of them.

I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 353, which praises the people of Haiti for their recent elections and congratulates Rene Preval on his victory. I commend my friend and colleague, as I mentioned, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, for introducing this resolution, and I am pleased to be an original cosponsor. I am pleased that my district, the 17th District in New York, has a very large Haitian community in Spring Valley, New York; and I know they are all eagerly anticipating better things for Haiti and U.S.-Haiti relationships.

After a history of instability, poverty and democratic setbacks, Haitians poured onto the streets last month to cast their votes, demonstrating their desire for a better future. And after a contested vote counting period, the front runner in the presidential election, Rene Preval, was declared the winner with nearly 52 percent of the official vote, compared to less than 12 percent for his closest contender. Now, such a large margin of victory gives Mr. Preval a strong mandate and legitimacy to reform and rebuild Haiti's institutions and fractured society.

Yet the challenges are vast. The same massive underlying problems still plague Haiti, and a second round of elections looms in the coming weeks.

While the Haitian people and government have the ultimate responsibility for ensuring their future, we in the United States have a duty to assist in every aspect of Haiti's political, economic and social state-building. Moreover, given Haiti's proximity to our borders, we have an overwhelming interest in doing so.

Now is the time for the United States to tangibly demonstrate that it stands with the Haitian people in their quest for democracy and stability. Therefore, together with Chairman Burton and a bipartisan group of subcommittee colleagues, I recently called for us to seize this limited window of opportunity by providing $50 million extra money in fiscal year 2006 supplemental assistance for our neighbors to the south.

Elections signal the beginning of a transition, not an end. It is thus my hope that the Appropriations Committee will ensure that Haiti's enormous needs are met. This is the least we can do to help the Haitian people at this critical time.

I also call on the administration to work with the citizens of Haiti, their newly elected government and the international community to help Haiti advance on its path of freedom and prosperity. And I urge Secretary of State Rice to attend Preval's upcoming inauguration.

And finally, I reiterate my congratulations to the people of Haiti for their successful elections and to Rene Preval for his victory. I would like to highlight that President-Elect Preval is visiting Washington today, as the gentleman from Florida mentioned. And I look forward to meeting him and offering my full support for Haiti's quest for national reconciliation, democracy and development. I am proud to be the ranking Democrat of the International Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, and I look forward to working with my colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from American Samoa. I will not take the full 2 minutes.

I just want to say that I am very excited that since I have become the ranking Democrat on the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the International Relations Committee, this is actually the first bill that has come to the floor.

It is a very, very important bill, because as was mentioned by all of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, the relationship between the United States and Haiti is a very important one and a very special one.

And we have had lots of successes in the relationship, and also lots of failures through the years. I think that we want to, on a bipartisan basis, build on successes, and as everyone has mentioned before, the people of Haiti have spoken. They have had a democratic election. We talk a lot about democratic elections. We have it right here in Haiti in the Western Hemisphere, and overwhelmingly the people of Haiti have chosen Mr. Preval as their leader.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is incumbent upon those of us in the United States Congress and the administration and all of us working together to make sure that Mr. Preval succeeds and that more importantly the Haitian people succeed, and that democracy succeeds in Haiti, because it is not simply a matter of another country and what do we care whether it is a success or a failure. We do care and we should care, because Haiti is so close to the United States in terms of geography, because Haiti is right in our hemisphere, because Haiti is an important country, because there are many Haitian Americans in the United States with ties to the old country.

And that is why it is really just so important that we in the United States, and we talk about protecting democracy all over the world, and well we should. But I think right in our own back yard we have a lot to do.

So I want to thank Mr. Faleomavaega and all of the others who have spoken; Ms. Waters, whose resolution this is; Congresswoman Ros- Lehtinen, with whom I have collaborated on so many important things, for all of their hard work and for all of us speaking of one mind here on both sides of the aisle that we want the U.S.-Haitian relationship to improve and to be successful.

Mr. Speaker, I support this resolution, I urge a unanimous vote of all our colleagues.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to have the amendment considered at this point.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment speaks to the immediate needs of our southern neighbor, Haiti. This amendment would increase economic support funds by $40 million, development assistance by $5 million, and child survival and health funds by $5 million, totaling an additional $50 million for Haiti. It is my intention to offer and withdraw this amendment.

After a history of instability, poverty and democratic setbacks, Haitians

poured onto the streets of their country last month to cast their votes, demonstrating a desire for a better future. After a contested vote-counting period, the front-runner in the presidential election, Rene Preval, was declared the winner with nearly 52 percent of the official vote, compared to less than 12 percent to his closest contender.

Such a large mandate and a large margin of victory gives Preval a strong mandate and legitimacy to reform and rebuild Haiti's institutions and fractured society. Yet the challenges are vast. The same massive underlying problems still plague Haiti, and a second round of elections looms in the coming weeks.

Now is the time, I very strongly believe, for the United States to tangibly demonstrate that it stands with the Haitian people in their quest for democracy and stability. We have long had a special relationship and a special obligation to the people of Haiti. I believe that there exists a limited window of opportunity to help Haiti, which was opened by the recent successful elections.

We should seize this opportunity by expanding our assistance to Haiti and the Haitian people in the immediate future. My amendment does just that. My amendment provides $50 million in emergency FY 06 supplemental assistance for our impoverished neighbor in the south. Haiti, of course, is the poorest country in the Americas.

Specifically, the amendment increases economic support funds by $40 million, developmental assistance by $5 million and child survival and health by $5 million. This supplemental funding directly addresses the profound social needs in Haiti, while providing support for future elections, reconciliation and efforts to jump-start local economies.

Mr. Chairman, I would like you to know that members of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, where I am the ranking member, recently wrote a bipartisan letter supporting $50 million of additional assistance for Haiti in this supplemental legislation.

I would like to thank Chairman Barton and the other members of the subcommittee for their support. I will include this letter in the Record.

Elections signal the beginning of a transition, not an end. Thus we believe that this additional assistance is the least we can do at this critical time to help Haiti. We obviously have a stake in their democracy-taking route, having Haiti so close to our shores. Of course, there is a large Haitian-American community in this country which has ties to Haiti that further bind our two countries together as well.

Mr. Chairman, as this legislation moves forward, I ask that the House work with the Senate to include emergency aid for Haiti. It is my hope that, in the end, Congress will heed the bipartisan call of the subcommittee and provide important additional aid to Haiti.

As I said, I am going to withdraw my amendment at the end because I believe that this is the best way to move this amendment forward, by working with the Senate, and hopefully we get it there and it comes here. So I urge my colleagues to listen to our pleas.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Congresswoman Lee and Congresswoman Lowey for their support and Congressman Kolbe for his explanation.

Mr. Chairman, in the hope that this will move the process along so that Haiti will get all of the money it needs, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor an organization that has been more than a guiding force but, in fact, a leader in advancing civil rights for nearly a century. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People continues its mission to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights for all people. As the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the nation, the men and women working for the NAACP have sought to remove all barriers of racial discrimination through their use of legal and moral persuasion.

The NAACP won one of the nation's greatest legal victories; that was the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education. The NAACP was also a prominent power that lobbied for the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act were also achievements of this longstanding organization. In 2005, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People launched the Disaster Relief Fund to help Hurricane Katrina survivors in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Alabama rebuild their lives.

The NAACP was built and grew from the collective courage of thousands of people and continues to inspire the high standard of full equality to ever younger generations. As grandfather of all civil rights organizations, it has been persistent in its commitment to nonviolence, even in the face of overt and violent racial hostility. Today, on the 9th anniversary of the NAACP, it is important to celebrate how these men and women advanced their mission through reliance upon the press, the petition, the ballot, and the courts. Their premise has been that people of all races, nationalities and faiths, men and women, are created equal. All Americans must continue to uphold these standards of morality and justice.

I congratulate the NAACP and look forward to celebrating their centennial in 3 years.

Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate Black History month, it saddens me that our nation has lost one our foremost civil rights activists--Coretta Scott King.

Though best known as the wife of the great Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta had a distinguished career herself. She was an activist not only for racial equality but for economic justice, women's and children's rights, gay and lesbian dignity, religious freedom, the needs of the poor and homeless, health care, educational opportunities, nuclear disarmament and ecological sanity. She was also a powerful voice in bringing an end to the scourge of apartheid in South Africa.

During the civil rights movement, she was at the forefront of the movement alongside her husband. Coretta was a music student and she brought her talent to the civil rights movement by performing in ``Freedom Concerts,'' singing and reading poetry to raise money for the cause. Planning marches and sit-ins, she never relented even after her family members were targets of beatings and stabbings. She never relented, even after the jailing of her husband. She never relented, even after their family home was bombed.

Long after Martin's assassination, Coretta continued her work and concentrated her energies on fulfilling her husband's work by building The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change as a living memorial to her husband's life and dream.

I had the pleasure of meeting her. For me, meeting her was meeting an icon. The civil rights movement began when I was about 8 or 9. Years later, to meet her in person was awe inspiring. It was, frankly, astonishing. Coretta Scott King was not a witness to history, she was an active participant and a leader in making history. Speaking to her one on one was a humbling experience and one that I will never forget.

Coretta Scott King will be sorely missed by people not only in the United States but those throughout the world who looked to her as a strong woman and a leader in the non-violent resistance movement.

Mr. Speaker, on December 19, 2005, I voted against the Department of Defense Appropriations Conference Report as it was considered by the House of Representatives. While I voted for the Defense Authorization Act and normally would support a Defense Appropriations bill--especially with our troops in harm's way--this year I regrettably had to vote against the legislation.

I did so largely because the Republican majority inserted a provision allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). This controversial measure was repeatedly rejected through the democratic process, but the Republican leadership preferred to hold the Defense Appropriations bill--and our troops in the field--hostage to the effort to drill in this pristine wildlife refuge. Moreover this legislation contained a 1 percent across the board cut in non-defense discretionary spending.

Mr. Speaker, America cannot drill its way to independence from foreign oil. Tapping ANWR would produce barely a drop in the bucket of the amount of oil we consume in this Nation.

Even if we started drilling in ANWR today, we would not see any of that oil until 2012.

Rather than drilling in the Arctic wilderness and extending our reliance on oil, we must increase fuel efficiency, diversify our sources of energy, and promote clean alternatives. We need to invest and focus on ways to reduce our consumption of oil. This is why Congressman Jack Kingston (R-NY) and I have introduced The Fuel Choices for American Security Act, which sets meaningful and achievable goals, all of which can be accomplished using new technologies that are already proven, effective and efficient.

I, therefore, am very pleased to learn that the Senate has struck the ANWR drilling provision from the Defense Appropriations Conference Report. It is my understanding that this bill will now pass the House by unanimous consent, and will be sent to the President for signature.

Mr. Speaker, Harold Bott is a lifelong resident of the Bronx, the son of immigrant parents, who has worked to make his home borough a better place for all. He followed his father into the plumbing business, eventually establishing a successful contracting company. But he never forgot his community and his efforts to help were continual and tireless. He moved to Woodlawn in 1972 with his wife Loretta and their two children and he brought that same sense of community to his new neighborhood. He organized the annual 239th Street Block Party, which was a success every year. He worked with the Boys Club, organized and assisted with the June walk, the placement of flags on Katonah Avenue, the Christmas display, and also served as president of the Woodlawn Taxpayers Association. He also organized a 9/11 Memorial Tribute, the annual Veterans Day celebration, and free tennis lessons for children. He has given selflessly of himself and has served as a role model for how to improve a community. Tonight he is being honored for his contributions to the Woodlawn community and I stand with the residents of that neighborhood in thanking him for his many contributions.

Mr. Speaker, Jerry and Lillian Friedman are celebrating their 50th anniversary, two wonderful people who have worked as much for their community as for themselves.

Jerry was a Brooklyn boy who saw the light and moved to the Bronx. There he met Lillian and in 1955 they married. They have two children, Evelyn and Stuart, a son-in-law, Mark, and two grandchildren, Sophie and Benjamin.

Lillian was a Girl Scout, and when their daughter was old enough to join the Scouts, Lillian became a Girl Scout Leader. Jerry was a Boy Scout in Brooklyn, and later a Scoutmaster as part of a 65-year relationship with the Scouts.

They were both involved in their communities. They organized tenant- help groups, leading to lower rents and improved upkeep of the apartments. In Co-Op City in the Bronx they helped to form a building association with Jerry eventually becoming a member of the Board of Directors and First Vice President.

Both were also active in local Democratic politics.

Jerry and Lillian are the kind of people who make a community more of a community. I ask all who believe in love to join me in celebrating their 50 years together.

Mr. Speaker, last week, on December 1, communities across the world joined to commemorate the 18th annual World AIDS Day.

World AIDS Day gives us a chance to evaluate what needs to be done to make substantial progress combating HIV/AIDS, both at home and abroad. Globally, 25 million people have already lost their lives to this disease, with another 40 million people currently living with HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death (age 15-59) and threatens the political, social and economic stability of nations worldwide.

We must answer the call to action to fight the AIDS pandemic on the global, national and local levels. Globally, we must continue to fund programs that not only directly address the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, but also those programs that promote the overall health, economic and social prosperity of developing nations.

On the national level, we can start by reauthorizing the Ryan White CARE Act. This landmark program, which provides federal support to metropolitan areas and states to provide lifesaving health care and support services for individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS, expired on September 30, 2005. I strongly urge the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee to commence with hearings on the reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act when Congress reconvenes in the new year.

In my state of New York, significant time and money has been invested into HIV/AIDS care. No state spends more than New York to care for its residents with HIV/AIDS--over $3 billion last year. Sadly, New York's efforts still are not enough to sufficiently address the need. New York City comprises three percent of the nation's population, but more than 16 percent of the nation's AIDS cases.

Mr. Speaker, we must do better by CARE Act funding. This program has been virtually flat funded for years, and its AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP) only received a ten million dollar increase in this year's House Labor-HHS bill. Many very low-income people continue to be shut-out from ADAP programs due to states' varying income eligibility levels, which can range from 125 percent to 500 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. Without early, aggressive treatment people living with HIV/AIDS can experience rapid and often irreversible disease progression. Additionally, if care is interrupted drug resistance can develop, which compromises their ability to properly control their health.

The President's Principles for Ryan White CARE Act Authorization, released this past summer, include some troubling provisions which could have devastating results for communities' ability to provide consistent, appropriate care for persons living with HIV/AIDs. The proposed Severity of Need for Core Services Index will change funding formulas to take into account the availability of other resources, like state and local funding streams. This is bad public policy as it punishes states that have taken responsibility for their local HIV care and creates a powerful disincentive for other states to prioritize funding for HIV funding in future years, if they think the federal government will just cover the gap. No state spends more than New York does to care for its residents with HIV and AIDS--over $3 billion last year. New York has always viewed this funding as a partnership between the state, cities and federal government and should not lose out on future federal funding for being at the forefront of providing progressive services and treatment.

Secondly the President's proposal for a minimum of 75 percent of Ryan White CARE Act funding to be spent on core medical services should be seriously revisited. While there is no question that appropriate funding should be directed towards medical care, localities that benefit from comprehensive state funding for medical care, might better serve patients with using the funding for transportation to medical visits, emergency housing assistance for homeless patients, and other key services. This hard number fails to reflect the different resources that cities like New York utilize to care for their patients, and the changing needs of the HIV/AIDs patient population.

New York City has always had a special respect for the opportunities the Ryan White CARE Act affords the city in serving the needs of our HIV/AIDs population. As of December 31, 2003, there were 142,085 cumulative AIDS cases in NYC, and 88,479 City residents diagnosed as Persons Living With HIV/AIDs. Although Ryan White CARE Act is widely considered the payer of last resort for people with HIV/AIDs, it fills much of the void in providing treatment and support services for those who either are uninsured or underinsured, without the necessary resources to access desperately needed care.

Mr. Speaker, it is shameful that Congress recently passed legislation with billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, all in the name of reform. Real reform would be to permit early treatment for those living with HIV in the Medicaid program. Under current Medicaid rules, most HIV positive people must meet both an income standard and be disabled-- by AIDS--before they can receive access to Medicaid provided care and treatment that could have prevented them from becoming ill so quickly. This policy runs counter to current Federal HIV treatment guidelines which call for early access to medical care and treatment including the use of combination antiretroviral therapy. Medical costs for those with advanced AIDS are significantly higher than costs for caring for HIV positive people, and this is a burden on the States' Medicaid budgets.

I offered an amendment in the Energy and Commerce Committee markup for Medicaid reform to give States the OPTION of amending their Medicaid eligibility requirements to included uninsured, pre-disabled low-income people living with HIV. ETHA, which has been introduced by Leader Pelosi in prior Congresses and Senator Smith and Senator Clinton in the Senate, is modeled after the successful Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act, BCCA, that allows states to provide early access to Medicaid to women with cancer. Forty-nine States have implemented the BCCA, designed to preserve health and prevent unnecessary and high-cost medical interventions. As with the BCCA, ETHA includes an enhanced Federal match rate of 65 percent to 83 percent to encourage States to participate in offering the services.

Although my amendment failed, a demonstration project for ETHA, was successfully offered by Senator Clinton and Senator Smith in the Senate consideration of the reconciliation bill. Mr. Speaker, I strongly encourage the preservation of this important policy in the formal reconciliation bill.

World AIDS Day is an opportunity to examine what progress we have made and to seriously consider what we must do to address this overwhelming problem. Working together, we can address both prevention and early treatment options, attacking HIV/AIDS head on.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the distinguished gentleman from California, for the time.

I rise in strong support of H. Res. 438, which urges the U.N. member states to cease unfairly castigating Israel and adopt a balanced approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I would also like to commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Rothman) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kirk) for their diligent effort on this issue, as well as the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).

Mr. Speaker, this resolution concerns one simple issue: equality of all U.N. member states. It is shameful, absolutely shameful, that Israel, a state established by U.N. consensus in the ashes of the Holocaust, has been unjustly maligned for decades. More than 30 years since the infamous Zionism of Racism resolution, an established precedent of Israel-bashing still thrives at the United Nations.

Within the context of U.N. reform, eradicating the various mechanisms of bias is crucial to its success. Examples include the plethora of resolutions condemning Israel while the world's worst human rights abusers escape attention or are even appointed to key U.N. panels.

I am particularly concerned with the three annual U.N. resolutions which reauthorize the so-called Division on Palestinian Rights, the Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and the Special Committee to Investigate so-called Israeli Human Rights Abuses. These bodies serve no other purpose than to bash Israel and endorse the cause of one side in the long-standing conflict. Such discriminatory treatment of Israel discredits the entire United Nations organization and should be immediately eliminated.

Mr. Speaker, I recently returned from meetings in the European Union. I and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Ackerman) and other colleagues urged European Union officials to switch their vote in the U.N. General Assembly from ``abstention'' to ``no'' on those resolutions which fund anti-Israel entities. I say to our friends in the European Union, an abstention is the equivalent of voting ``yes'' and continuing the bias against Israel. By voting ``no,'' the EU can join the United States in dissolving these inherently discriminatory panels, transfer the funds to a real humanitarian purpose, and move unequivocally to the realm of honest broker. If the EU states were to vote ``no,'' funding would stop because there would not be the necessary two-thirds to perpetuate the funding.

Mr. Speaker, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not be solved by constantly berating one side, Israel. By tolerating such action, the organization responsible for maintaining world peace is actually exacerbating the conflict by discriminating against a member state.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 438.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I rise in strong support of H. Res. 535, which honors Yitzhak Rabin on the 10th anniversary of his assassination. I am honored to be the sponsor of this resolution, and I would like to thank my colleagues on the International Relations Committee for their assistance and support of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, as was mentioned by my colleagues, November 4th marked the 10th anniversary of the brutal assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, a warrior turned peacemaker. In a recent national poll, Israelis ranked Rabin's assassination as the third most formative event in the Nation's history, after the 1967 and 1973 wars. Rabin's impact in life was tremendous and his loss to the world is incalculable.

I remember attending his funeral in Israel with many Members of this body and the other body as well, and many leaders, international leaders, and leaders of other nations. Who can forget the moving eulogy by then President Bill Clinton, who, among other things, said about Mr. Rabin, ``shalom chaver,'' which means ``goodbye friend.''

Mr. Speaker, my legislation highlights the legacy of the man. The Hebrew word for the anniversary of a death is Yizkor, which simply means remember. While mourning his loss, we must also celebrate his life.

Yitzhak Rabin dedicated his life to the cause of peace and security for the State of Israel by defending his nation against all threats, including terrorism, and undertaking courageous risks in the pursuit of peace. By adopting this resolution, Congress will honor the life, legacy, and example of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

This resolution expresses our admiration for Mr. Rabin's legacy and recognizes his historic service to the Israeli people, while extending our deepest sympathy and condolences to his family and the people of Israel. It also reiterates our continued support for the close ties and special relationship between the United States and Israel and the building of a just and lasting peace between Israel and all of its neighbors.

We also condemn any and all acts of terrorism, including one that happened just the other day in Netanya, and reaffirm unequivocally the sacred principle that democratic leaders and governments must be changed only by the democratically expressed will of the people.

Rabin was the first Sabra, a native-born Israeli, to become prime minister. He was born in Jerusalem and later volunteered for the Palmach, the elite unit of the Haganah, the predecessor of the Israeli Defense Forces. He served for 27 years, including during the 1948 War of Independence, the 1956 Suez War, and as Chief of Staff in the June 1967 Six-Day War. In 1975, Prime Minister Rabin signed the Interim Agreement with Egypt, which lay the groundwork for the 1979 Camp David Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt. He also served as ambassador here in Washington, ambassador to the U.S., from 1968 to 1973, Minister of Defense from 1984 to 1990, and Prime Minister from 1974 to 1977 and from 1992 until his assassination in 1995.

On September 13, 1993, in Washington, D.C., Yitzhak Rabin signed the Declaration of Principles framework agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. I remember it well. I attended with my wife, who was then 7 months pregnant, and it had to be 95 degrees in Washington, but we sat on the White House lawn and watched the historic ceremony because we wanted to be a part of it. Upon signing, Rabin said to the Palestinian people, ``We say to you today in a loud and clear voice, enough of blood and tears. Enough. We harbor no hatred toward you. We have no desire for revenge. We, like you, are people who want to build a home, plant a tree, love, live side-by-side with you, in dignity, empathy, as humans beings, as free men.''

He received the 1994 Nobel Prize For Peace for his vision and bravery as a peacemaker. The following year, as was pointed out, Rabin and King Hussein of Jordan signed a peace treaty between their countries, and we know about the tragic assassination. And as was stated before, his last words were, ``I have always believed that the majority of the people want peace, are prepared to take risks for peace, peace is what the Jewish people aspire to.''

Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago, Israel and the world lost a leader of vision and strength. Former Prime Minister Rabin epitomized the essence of the State of Israel, fierce in his defense of his homeland, but always willing to go the extra mile for peace. As we remember him on the tenth anniversary of his death, let us express the hope that Israel and its neighbors will someday experience this peace that he worked so hard to achieve. I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 535.

Mr. Speaker, the majority should be absolutely ashamed of the bill before us today. It is simply unconscionable that the majority is not only moving forward with reconciliation but that they are increasing cuts all under the guise of paying for Hurricane Katrina relief. Under their rules, they won't even allow amendments to this monstrosity--shutting down any meaningful opportunity of offering even slight improvements to this bill. The fact of the matter is that the irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthy have run our country's fiscal order into the red with over $8 trillion in debt. Even before Hurricane Katrina, the budget resolution called for $35 billion in cuts to programs for the poor to partially offset the $106 billion in tax cuts in the same budget resolution. The math simply doesn't add up.

It is interesting that the majority continues to use terms like personal responsibility when justifying the draconian cuts to services, cruel penalties and cost sharing for the poor that will essentially block access to care while failing to exercise the same responsibility in their own fiscal disorder. The general fund of the Government of the United States is paid for with borrowed money, over $1 billion a day. To make ends meet while continuing to pass tax cuts, we borrow heavily from China, Japan and other foreign nations, knowing full well our children and grandchildren will one day be saddled with our debt. In the meantime, they pretend we can shore up our economy with a few simple reforms that will have devastating consequences for the most vulnerable children, seniors and other impoverished people, which won't really affect the trillions of dollars of debt created by the majority's fiscal irresponsibility.

What is irresponsible are the billions of dollars in cuts the majority is making to the Medicaid program. We already have 45 million uninsured Americans. Without Medicaid and SCHIP, the percentage of uninsured Americans, including children, would be a lot higher. As we all know, health care coverage isn't meaningful unless it is accessible and comprehensive. The proposals included in this bill will undoubtedly prove to be a barrier to care as it permits States to significantly increase the amounts Medicaid beneficiaries payout of pocket for premiums and copayments for healthcare services, again, all in the name of personal responsibility.

Mr. Speaker, but what about the low-income mother trying to care for her family by stretching her budget to cover housing, electricity, clothing and now increased cost-sharing and copayments for medical care? Why are we setting her up for failure when she has to make choices between her medical care and her children and her utility bills, all important to the wellbeing of her and her family? How have we fulfilled our professional responsibility if we put her in the position of making these impossible choices? I can assure you, these mothers are as familiar with personal responsibility and strapped budgets as any Member of Congress in this room.

Part of the problem that I have with these proposals are that the ``reforms'' are budget driven in that the solutions offered are far less important than the anticipated savings associated with them. I urge this committee to scrap these massive changes to Medicaid. While there are certainly ways to modernize, improve, and reform this program, it must be done with the compassion and thoughtful consideration it deserves.

A sensible improvement to this bill would be to permit early treatment under Medicaid to those with HIV. Under current Medicaid rules, most HIV positive people must meet both an income standard and be disabled--by AIDS--before they can receive access to Medicaid provided care and treatment that could have prevented them from becoming ill so quickly. This policy runs counter to current Federal HIV treatment guidelines which call for early access to medical care and treatment including the use of combination antiretroviral therapy. Medical costs for those with advanced AIDS are significantly higher than costs for caring for HIV positive people, and this is a burden on the States' Medicaid budgets.

I offered an amendment in the Energy and Commerce Committee markup for Medicaid reform to give States the OPTION of amending their Medicaid eligibility requirements to included uninsured, pre-disabled low-income people living with HIV. ETHA, which has been introduced by Leader Pelosi in prior Congresses and Senator Smith and Senator Clinton in the Senate, is modeled after the successful Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act, BCCA, that allows States to provide early access to Medicaid to women with cancer. Forty nine States have implemented the BCCA, designed to preserve health and prevent unnecessary and high-cost medical interventions. As with the BCCA, ETHA includes an enhanced Federal match rate of 65 percent to 83 percent to encourage States to participate in offering the services.

Although my amendment failed in committee, Senators Clinton and Smith successfully offered a demonstration version of the Early Treatment for HIV Act on the Senate floor. I tried to offer that amendment on the House floor but the Republican leadership would not permit any amendments. It is my fervent hope that this provision survives conference.

Outside of the jurisdiction of the Energy and Commerce Committee, on which I serve, are even more cruel cuts to working families and vulnerable populations. Billions in cuts to student aid programs, child support enforcement, foster care and SSI disability payments. They cut food stamps, eliminated nutritional school lunch and breakfast programs for hundreds of thousands of families and children--the list goes on.

Mr. Speaker, you should be ashamed to allow our Congress to even consider such proposals, let alone vote on them, while continuing to promote tax cuts for the wealthy. I vote ``no'' on this monstrosity and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands for yielding time to me, and I thank the gentlewoman from Colorado as well and I want to thank the Speaker for the opportunity to talk about H.R. 323, which is what was mentioned before, a bill which will name the third-floor library at Ellis Island in New York Harbor as the Bob Hope Memorial Library.

I would also like to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Gallegly) for his assistance and support of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, most Americans remember Bob Hope for his work in the entertainment business, as a comedian, actor, dancer, singer, as well as his work with American troops abroad; but what few know or remember about Bob Hope is that he was an immigrant from England.

The gentlewoman mentioned he came to the United States when he was only

4 years old, and certainly he is referred to as America's most famous immigrant whose life epitomizes the American Dream.

I would like to also take this opportunity to vent my frustration a little bit with the National Park Service and its handling of this legislation.

We need to pass this bill. I read in Congressional Quarterly that the National Park Service does not support the bill on the grounds that Bob Hope's journey through Ellis Island and his life's accomplishments may not be enough to warrant renaming the island's library in his honor.

I want to say that they presented that same sort of testimony before the committee; and the committee had the good sense, in a bipartisan fashion, to reject that kind of thinking, because this is something that is very deserving for Bob Hope because, after all, it is Bob Hope. Everyone knows Bob Hope and everyone knows what he stood for. Bob Hope embodies the American Dream, and the Ellis Island Restoration Commission even called naming the library a fitting tribute.

After a long period of restoration, Ellis Island was turned into a museum in 1990 for people to come and remember the 16 million immigrants who passed through Ellis Island from 1892 to 1954 to pursue the American Dream.

When I talk about Ellis Island and the immigrants who came through Ellis Island, it is very personal because all four of my grandparents came through Ellis Island, and so many Americans had family coming through Ellis Island. It is estimated that some 40 percent of the current United States population has roots in Ellis Island. So this is a very fitting thing that we do today in memory of Bob Hope.

Like many of the other 16 million immigrants who passed through Ellis Island, Bob Hope arrived in America with little. Bob Hope described himself upon arrival as ``a 4-year-old boy in knickers who had no idea of the opportunities that lay ahead.'' He went on to become a household name in the United States and around the world as well.

After arriving in the United States, the Hope family moved to Ohio, and he later started his career in radio. He moved on to appear in numerous movies and Broadway plays. He is perhaps best known, however, for his unwavering commitment to entertaining our Nation's military overseas. Who can ever forget all the various Bob Hope shows at Christmas and Thanksgiving and all throughout the year entertaining our troops in harm's way?

For nearly six decades, often during holidays, from World War II all the way through the Persian Gulf War, Bob Hope traveled the globe, bringing a little bit of America to U.S. troops during times of war and peace. Troops abroad even called him ``G.I. Bob,'' and in 1997 Congress even named him as an honorary veteran for all the work he did with veterans serving overseas.

Bob Hope has been honored in many ways for his work. In fact, the family tells us he has been honored with over 1,500 awards. Some notable awards include several Academy Awards, obviously; a Congressional Gold Medal in 1962; an Emmy; and a Golden Globe.

Despite all the awards Bob Hope received, he had a special place in his heart for Ellis Island, and in 1990 when the Ellis Island Restoration Commission suggested naming the third floor library of the museum in his honor, he stated that it would be ``one of the single most important highpoints in my career.''

Sadly, Bob Hope passed away in 2003 at the age of 100 and did not see this project finished. So the Bob Hope Memorial Library will serve as a daily reminder to Ellis Island's visitors of Bob Hope's great contributions to the American people, American culture, and the American dream.

Mr. Speaker, I have a letter from Bob Hope expressing his support of the museum as well as a letter from the Ellis Island Restoration Commission expressing their support for this project which I will include for the Record.

In conclusion, I want to just say I know that everyone supports this and I trust this will pass unanimously because, after all, this is Bob Hope.

May 3, 1991.

Mr. Philip Lax, President,

Mr. Norman Liss, Chairman of Development,

Ellis Island Restoration Commission,

New York, NY 10005.

Dear Phil and Norman: As you well know, I am very honored

to be part of the Family Heritage Center at Ellis Island.

However, with my trip to Saudi Arabia at Christmas, two

television specials and a hectic schedule, I have not been

able to fully express my enthusiasm for the project.

Enthusiasm, by the way, which is greater than ever.

Is it possible that I can meet with you and Ann Belkov of

Ellis Island along with Alan Prigge and his associate

Friedman to discuss details of the campaign and/or a news

conference?

I'll be in New York from June 12-16 and hope we can all

meet during that period at my Garden City Hotel suite to go

over the important details. Or, would you like to set a press

conference date hosted by Secretary Lujan?

Once again, the Ellis Island recognition is very special to

me and my family and I really appreciate this great honor.

Warm regards,

Bob Hope.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Illinois for yielding me time, and I thank my friend from Minnesota for being so helpful in passing this bill today.

Mr. Speaker, my colleagues have said it all, but I want to add it is with honor that I stand here today to pay tribute to this brave American, an exemplary New Yorker, Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr.

Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr., grew up in my district in Pearl River, New York, which is in Rockland County, a suburb of New York City. He was a popular high school athlete. He played football and baseball at Pearl River High School. His classmates remember him as a happy-go-lucky guy.

After attending Rockland Community College, Ahlmeyer went on to graduate from the State University of New York in New Paltz. Immediately after college, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at just 23 years old in 1967.

As a second lieutenant, he and three other Marines came under heavy fire from all sides, tragically, on just his first day in Vietnam. Because of the heavy fire surrounding the incident, the four Marines were presumed dead, but, sadly, Ahlmeyer's remains were never recovered, leaving his family and friends without any real closure or sense of peace.

I must say that in Pearl River and Rockland County, it is a wonderful community, and people never forgot about Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr., and wore tributes to him, wore wristbands and other things to show that the community has never forgotten him.

So for almost 38 years, friends and family wondered if they would ever know exactly what happened to Heinz. Then, finally, in January of this year, they were unexpectedly notified by military officials that, through DNA samples, his remains were found, giving his family and friends and the community much-needed closure. This past May, Ahlmeyer's life was celebrated during his burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

It is important that America, Mr. Speaker, honors their heroes of war, not just for their grieving family and friends but for future generations who might enter into combat. My deepest sympathy goes out to the Ahlmeyer family who I hope may take small comfort in knowing that Heinz has a burial place closer to home. The Heinz Ahlmeyer Post Office in Pearl River

will be a daily reminder to the community of his great sacrifice to his country.

I might also add that, at all the parades on Memorial Day and Veterans' Day, the community has made it very clear that this is so important to everyone concerned, so important that we do the right thing, that I really must say I am touched and grateful to my colleagues for the promptness by which this bill has passed out of committee and has come to the floor. So I want to thank everyone on both sides of the aisle who has been involved with this.

We can never bring Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr., back, but we do always remember him personally, because he was such an exemplary young man and for what he stood for.

When I check and see, he was only 3 years older than I am right now, but, unfortunately, cut down as a very, very young man. Three years older, if he had lived, he would now be entering his late fifties or early sixties.

So we remember him. We show that we are a caring community, that we are a caring country, and this Congress is doing right by Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr.