Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, next week we will honor our Nation's military veterans for their dedication and service to the Nation, and I take great pride in this day of remembrance. A little more than 30 years ago, I had the privilege of serving in our National Guard of North Carolina, and so it is with distinction today that we remember the veterans: the veterans of the allied engagement in the Persian Gulf War, the brave men of the 7th Cavalry at the battle of Ia Drang, the airmen of MiG Alley in Korea, the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, and so many others deserving of the highest honors. They all are brave men and women who are our United States veterans, and I am proud this morning to stand in honor of our veterans.

Next week we will honor our nation's military veterans for their dedication and service to the nation, and I take great pride in this day of remembrance.

A little more than 30 years ago, I service in the North Carolina Army National Guard, during the conflict in Vietnam. Times were uncertain then, soldiers were leaving the nation in droves, coming back seasoned veterans of a war. We did not honor our veterans in the way they deserved those many decades ago, and we have learned since that time.

And so it is with distinction today that we remember the veteran; the veteran of the allied engagement in the Persian Gulf War, the brave men of the 7th Calvary at the battle of Ia Drang, the airmen of MiG Alley in Korea, the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, and so many others deserving of the highest honors. They all are our brave men and women who are the United States Veteran.

I am of the belief, Mr. Speaker, that the men and women who served our nation should be

honored every day, not merely once a year, and I believe that America should fully honor the debt we owe to our veterans.

Right now, more than 250,000 troops are stationed in Iraq, all of whom will come home as war veterans. America's military veterans are there for us, wherever and whenever duty calls. It is our turn to stand up for them.

Through the ``Salute to Veterans and Armed Forces Act,'' House Democrats are fighting to preserve and protect the health care and financial future of our nation's veterans.

As we speak, disabled veterans are prevented from collecting both their retirement pensions and disability compensation because of the unfair Disabled Veterans Tax.

Five hundred sixty thousand disabled military retirees see their retirement pension reduced one dollar for every dollar of disability pay.

They sacrificed their well-being for the Nation, and should receive their full disability pay. Every dollar.

In the 1st Congressional District which I am proud to represent, which encompasses rural eastern North Carolina, nearly 1,500 veterans lose benefits every year to the Disabled Veterans Tax, costing each veteran approximately $5,664 in lost benefits.

Mr. Speaker, the working families in my district are already hard hit by tough economic times and widespread plant closings. The veterans in eastern North Carolina barely get by as it is.

This unfair tax on their rightfully earned income, translates into a total loss in benefits for the 1st Congressional District of almost $8.5 million for an economically devastated area.

Mr. Speaker, my Democratic colleagues and I are fighting for an additional $1.8 billion in veterans' health benefit that have been recently cut from the budget.

It is nothing less than shameful that military veterans have to wait as long as six months for a doctor's appointment.

Imagine, Mr. Speaker, if your child fell ill, and yet, you had to wait six months to get them help. This unacceptable scenario is a reality for 60,000 American Military Veterans every year in this country.

We are fighting to expand veterans' job training, higher education and housing programs. If we have money to send them to war we must also provide for their full benefits when they come home.

This is the call for true shared sacrifices. We were able to spend $1.3 trillion in tax cuts; we should be able to spend for our veterans.

Mr. Speaker, due to a district commitment, I was not present for rollcall votes Nos. 597 through 601. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no''; on rollcall vote no. 598, I would have voted ``yes''; on rollcall vote no. 599, I would have voted ``yes''; on rollcall vote no. 600, I would have voted ``yes''; on rollcall vote no. 601, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, as many Chinese-Americans and American friends of Taiwan prepare to welcome Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian to New York on October 31, I wish to pay tribute to this impressive Taiwan leader.

At the age of 49, Mr. Chen Shui-bian was elected the tenth president of the Republic of China on Taiwan in March 2000. Mr. Speaker, I have learned that his political success came only after a series of personal tragedies. As active political opponents of the government in the 1970's and 1980's, Mr. Chen and his wife were often targets of attack by the government. In November 1985, Mr. Chen's wife was hit by a tractor-truck speeding out of a narrow lane. Although Mrs. Chen's life was spared, the lower half of her body was paralyzed. Mr. Speaker, In 1986, Mr. Chen was sentenced to eight months in prison for libel for criticizing the government. At the end of 1986, campaigning in her wheelchair Mrs. Chen was elected to the Legislative Yuan (Parliament). After Mr. Chen was released from prison in 1987, he served as Mrs. Chen's assistant and joined the Democratic Progressive Party, the opposition party.

Subsequently, Mr. Chen became a member of the Legislative Yuan, chairman of the Formosa Foundation and Mayor of Taipei, prior to his election as president in 2000. President Chen undoubtedly is a fighter for his people and his country. He has instilled confidence in his people, making them feel that they are important, that they matter in the world, and that they must choose their own future, without interference from outside sources. Mr. Speaker, there are many who believe that President Chen speaks for his people; the world should listen carefully to what he has to say; and only he and his people can help maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Mr. Speaker, President Chen needs our help to make the right decisions that are good for Taiwan.

I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting President Chen's efforts.

Mr. Speaker, I inadvertently did not vote on the Democratic Motion to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 3289, Supplemental Appropriations Act for FY04. This motion directs conferees to keep the Senate-adopted language to: convert half of the Iraq rebuilding funds into a loan provided 90 percent of Iraq's bilateral debts are forgiven; provide quality of life improvements for our troops; and provide $1.3 billion in emergency funds for veterans' health care.

Had I been present, on rollcall Vote No. 567, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge), my colleague, for organizing this special order tonight. And we thank our other colleagues who are going to join us, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price) and others.

I represent the First Congressional District of North Carolina, all or part of 23 counties. Most of these 23 counties were sort of in the eye of the storm, but there were about seven or eight who were actually hard hit and power was knocked out for more than a week.

We are here tonight because we want to talk about this storm and its impact on the communities, the cleanup and recovery process that has gone on and is going on. Tragedies such as these kinds of storms bring out the best in our people, and we want to talk a little bit about that and congratulate all of the volunteers and those who worked so hard. People find that in these kinds of tragedies they can lean on one another and they can lean on their faith and they can have hope for a brighter future, even while they are sitting in the dark, maybe with a candle flickering as the only light in their household.

As my colleague has pointed out, Hurricane Isabel made land 2 weeks ago, hitting North Carolina's coast and coming right across Greenville and Roanoke Rapids and Hoskey and on into Virginia and on up the coast and right across the District of Columbia. The resulting impact left entire communities in the dark for the better part of an entire week. As we learned today, the last out customer in Hartford County was to have their lights by dark tonight, and one customer in Washington County hopefully by midnight tonight.

There may still be a few isolated power outages where the storm has damaged the home itself or the meter box, and the power companies are not able to turn the power on until those areas are fixed. But people were left without lights, without water, without the necessities. And I know that there are some people who depend on their telephone as a lifeline. At some point, after a day or two, in most of these areas, telephones were out, roads were out and impassable.

I wanted to say a hearty thank-you to the thousands and thousands of volunteers, first responders who comprised about 95 percent of the relief operations early on in all of these communities. They, the firemen, were out there almost in the middle of the storm, the police officers, the sheriffs' departments. And then just individuals who knew that there were problems with trees across the highways and they went out with their chain saws, and they removed those trees so that people could get home; or if there was an emergency, they could get to the emergency relief.

And as the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) has pointed out, we are pleased that almost all of the power in these communities is now back on.

I want to talk about a few of the communities that I visited. My staff and I tried to go to every one of these 23 counties. It was a little difficult for me to get to all of them, but I got to maybe about eight or nine. But over in Northampton County, which was hard hit and out of power, we went to Jackson and to the emergency relief operation. They had just completed their building with help from the USDA rural development grant and loan and that building, they told me, was right on time. They had a generator there and they had power there, and they had some space for people to sleep. After about 24 hours, they needed about an hour's sleep and they could go in and get a little relief.

Over in Martin County I was pleased to go by and ride with a county commissioner, Mr. Lilly, and he took me into areas of that county where trees had blown across the highways. And he told me how the fire departments, even in the dark of night and early into the next morning, were out there with their chain saws. I said, well, how did they decide whose jurisdiction they were in? He said, Well, they did not worry about that. They just decided they would get together and work and solve the problem.

We went down to Bertie County, and the one thing that they were concerned

about, the county manager and the emergency personnel and the elected officials were all there at the center, and they said, We need generators because we are worried, they have a county-wide water system, we are worried about the water system. We have got some water, but we need generators to pump water into the holding tanks so we will not lose our water system, and they get contaminated.

In Hartford County we had similar situations and one of the churches just opened its doors. The National Guard brought a generator down to Mount Nebo, and they fed for 5 days; and the church just picked up the tab itself until they got some other people who gave food and allowed them to feed people who had no way of preparing their own food and many of whom had run out of money.

Mr. Speaker, this spirit of volunteerism, that was what impressed me most as I toured around these counties. And people who had trees to fall literally on top of their houses, well, I am thankful that it was not any worse than it was.

That kind of buoyed my spirits because when you go in and see the people and look at the devastation, it just touches you, and you have a feeling of, what can I do to help?

I am here because I want to let you know that those of us who represent you in Washington and those who represent you in the State of North Carolina and the Federal and the State and the local governments are all coming together to try to fix this problem.

We went to Gates County, and over in Gates it is amazing. It was one of the hardest hit counties. They lost all of on their electric power. They lost their telephone power, and they even lost their radio power. The only way they could communicate for a while was by cell phone, and then they lost their cell phone power. It was amazing. The way they figured out to do it was they got some signs, and as people would ride by, they would have on the signs where they could go to get ice and water and food and help.

I talked to the sheriff over there and he was telling me that he was so proud of not only his employees but every last person that came out and volunteered their time and said, What can I do to help?

He did tell me, and I hope I am not stepping over the line to say this, at one point he saw some power trucks coming through his community to head down to the coast. He started to pick up the next phone to say that the next one that comes through, I am going to hijack them and make them help. But he did not do that. He said he knew they were directed where to go and they had an obligation.

But for several days the community was cut off from the rest of the world, and they were left to their own devices of how they were to communicate. They were able to do it and they were successful. And after first striking out with DOT, they were able to get some of those battery-powered signs that they could put up and to help them with their communication.

Over in Washington County, another county that was hard hit and the power knocked out, the story is told of residents who could not travel down the main highways, but they had to use, instead, dirt roads on the farmers' farms, and the farmers were on standby with their tractors just in case someone got stuck and could not get through. That is the kind of spirit that this hurricane brought out.

But it was so devastating and there are still people who, even though they have their power, they have damage in their yards, to their homes, and it is going to be a long time before they can recover and get back to a normal life.

But yet I want to say that the emergency management, FEMA people, everybody that I saw as I traveled through was working just as hard as they could. And the private insurance companies, I am told, I did not see them, but I am told they came in and tried to set up stations and do what they could.

We have already talked about the agricultural loss, $168 million loss of prospects. We grow a lot of peanuts, a lot of cotton and corn. We do not know yet all of that damage that has taken place, but yet we are hopeful that we are going to come through. And we had eight counties in this district that were initially not declared, Greene, Lenoir, Vance, Warren, Nash, Granville and Wilson; and I understand they have been and are being added to the list and they can get some relief. That will take some of the pressure off of the local government.

Mr. Speaker, I want to come back later and talk about one little community in Bertie County, Colerain, and the fishery that was destroyed down there, but I will yield to the gentleman at this time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding to me, and I too want to thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price). He mentioned the SBA. We know that 75 to 80 percent of all of our businesses in this country are small businesses.

One of the problems that we are going to have in this devastated area is that a lot of these small businesses are wiped out and they are going to have difficulty cranking back up. Some of them did not have insurance. I want to just mention one. This is not necessarily a small business, Perry-Wynns Fish Company, out on the Chowan River, in a little town called Colerain, not far from Edenton. They had seven buildings there on the river, and every last one of them was blown down.

Mike Perry was searching through the debris looking for his whistle he blew at the end of every workday, and he could not find it. Hopefully, by now, he has found that whistle. He said he had $2 million worth of property that was not insured, but he said he is going to rebuild. He is going to back up a little bit from the river and rebuild and start again.

I think that is the spirit that we are going to see in a lot of our small businesses, whether they had insurance or whether they did not have it. The attitude that I saw is that we are not going to let this defeat us. We are going to get right back in the game. We are going to start our business back. We are going to serve this community as we have done in the past.

One of the other items I want to mention is, as the gentleman has said, we were able to predict this storm with great accuracy. One of the things I think we are going to have to do in the future is to stockpile, at least in certain strategic areas, generators. Somebody mentioned to me that maybe firemen ought to have as part of their issuance in rural North Carolina a chainsaw, so that they can put it on their fire truck and have it as part of their standard equipment, because we have a lot of trees, a lot of pine trees and other trees in this area, and they need to remove those.

But I want to close on the point of again saying how much I admire and still admire all of our citizens and all of our people in the community and all of our first responders and all of our FEMA people for the spirit that was displayed in the face of all of this devastation. Everybody was upbeat and ready to go and ready to help.

Mr. Speaker, I join my colleague in those sentiments. Many times we do not even say thank you collectively to this group of people. They do not ask any questions. They are sort of like soldiers. When they see a problem, they just grab their equipment and go; and the community depends on them. We depend on them, and they save the government a lot of money. We hope that in some way we can figure out how to make available to them at least some types of equipment.

I heard, as I mentioned earlier, I heard the word ``generator'' mentioned over and over again. Hopefully, we can figure out a way to make some funding available to these small towns, rural areas, to have generators available to them when these crises come into the community. They can at least keep the water system and the sewer system going until we can get the power back on.

Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman again for organizing this Special Order tonight and thank him for that bill. I am very proud to be a part of it and am hopeful that it will come to fruition.

Mr. Speaker, I could not be here to vote on Tuesday, September 23, 2003, as I was touring the 1st Congressional District, meeting with Federal, State, and local officials and my constituents as they recover from Hurricane Isabel. Had I been present, on rollcall vote No. 509, I would have voted ``aye''; on rollcall vote No. 510, I would have voted `` aye''; on rollcall vote No. 511, I would have voted ``aye''; and on rollcall vote No. 512, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, it is my high honor and privilege to stand and speak today on H. Res. 303, sponsored by my esteemed colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis), which is honoring the late, great Mayor Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr.

It is said that time, like an ever-flowing stream, bears all its sons and daughters away. I suppose I am unique among the speakers today, in that I had the great pleasure of meeting and studying with Maynard Jackson beginning in 1963 at North Carolina Central University Law School, where I was and he had transferred from Boston. There in Durham, North Carolina, during a pivotal chapter in the civil rights struggle, Maynard transferred to be where his mother, Dr. Irene Dobbs Jackson, was a professor at North Carolina Central University.

We established a close friendship which spanned a period of almost 40 years, through his three terms as mayor of Atlanta and his entering back into the business world, where he was serving at the time of his untimely death.

Maynard's contributions to his adopted city of Atlanta and to America are unparalleled in our times, and he will be remembered as a giant in not only the political world but in the social and economic world as well, and his legacy will extend for all times.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the floor leaders of this bill on both sides. I appreciate this opportunity on behalf of myself and my colleagues, the gentleman from California (Mr. Baca) and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson).

Mr. Chairman, I am deeply concerned about the state of minority affairs at USDA. We know that on April 1 of last year, Mr. Vernon Parker, the first USDA Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, was sworn in and given the enormous task of improving how minorities are currently treated at USDA, preempting future civil rights problems at USDA and righting past wrongs.

I applaud the President for his efforts in creating this Office of Civil Rights, but I urge my colleagues, and the reason I am standing with this amendment, is to not let this office be only window dressing for this very serious matter.

In the 1994 report commissioned by USDA, it was pointed out that minority participation in Farm Service Agency programs is particularly low; and minorities receive less than their

fair share of USDA funding for crop payments, disaster payments and loans. The report found gross deficiencies in USDA data collection and handling that helped these minority farmers.

Mr. Chairman, there are currently 11 class action lawsuits pending against USDA, all of which allege discrimination by USDA. There is a Latino farmer lawsuit, a Native American farm lawsuit and others, and the famous case of Pickford versus Glickman was settled in 1999. Since then we have spent over $800 million, but there are still 2,000 cases sitting around at USDA gathering dust waiting to be reviewed in connection with the Pickford case.

We are hemorrhaging money. We have an Office of Civil rights. It is underfunded. We met with Mr. Parker. He has a 90-day plan where he wants to attack this issue, but he has two staffers in addition to himself, and he has no money.

This amendment would allow that office to be properly funded. It would also allow about $2 million to go into the Office of Civil Rights so that they can review these old cases, and it would allow some funding to go for the benefit of Latino population education.

We think that this $8 million we are seeking here is meaningful to address all of these civil rights issues. We think it would not only serve the Department but it would serve this Congress and would serve this country. So I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Offered By: Mr. Ballance

Amendment No. 4: Under the heading ``common computing

environment'', insert after the dollar amount on page 3, line

9, the following: ``(reduced by $8,656,000)''.

Under the heading ``Office of the Assistant Secretary for

Civil Rights'', insert after the dollar amount on page 4,

line 6, the following: ``(increased by $411,000)''.

Under the heading ``Departmental Administration'', insert

after the dollar amount on page 6, line 3, the following:

``(increased by $2,005,000)''.

Under the heading ``CSREES-research and education

activities'', insert after the dollar amounts on page 11,

line 13, and page 12, line 16, the following: ``(increased by

$600,000)''.

Under the heading ``outreach for socially disadvantaged

farmers'', insert after the dollar amount on page 16, line

12, the following: ``(increased by $5,000,000)''.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say at the outset that it is an honor for me to be standing in these hallowed halls as we address issues of such great import to the people of this country.

A little more than a year ago, I campaigned in rural eastern North Carolina. I spoke to citizens at AARP meetings, at senior centers, at residences and elsewhere; and like most of my colleagues in this 108th Congress, I made a solemn promise that I would support and vote for a prescription drug benefit program. Each of us, I believe, most of us I know, made that promise to our constituents; and I, and I hope most of my colleagues, will keep that promise. I know that I will keep mine, and I will not vote for a plan that simply has the label on it.

The plan that the Republican leadership of this Chamber has proposed would not benefit our seniors in the way that they need and deserve. It is not a real prescription drug plan. It is what I would call an empty promise.

Mexico, Canada, Germany, England and France, what do all these countries have in common? Their seniors all pay lower prices for the exact same prescription drug medication that American seniors today cannot afford. One month's supply of Zocor, a prescription commonly taken by seniors to lower their cholesterol, costs $124 in the United States. In Europe, the same medication costs $28. The antidepressant Prozac, also widely prescribed throughout America, costs nearly $100 for just 20 pills. In Canada, those same 20 pills cost $20.

Throughout America, seniors have for years been forced to choose between food on the table and medication, stories that we have heard about cutting pills in half or going without. Hardest hit are seniors and disabled of rural America, such as those in Arkansas and in North Carolina, the area that I represent.

We have three plans before this Congress: the House Republican measure that focuses on nothing less than the absolute dismantling of Medicare as we know it; a Senate bipartisan measure that is somewhat better, although still falls far short; and we have a Democratic plan that is affordable, it is available, guaranteed and will maintain Medicare. Our plan has no gap in coverage, no doughnut hole, does not depend on the whims of HMOs or private insurance companies. However, we all know full well that, because it is a real plan, it probably will never see the light of day.

Hopefully, however, the Democratic plan will force the Republican leadership to reconsider their devastating proposal and treat our seniors fair. So tonight we focus on the reality of how House Republican leadership efforts hurt seniors in rural America, disenfranchise, dismantle and ultimately devastate.

That is what we can expect in eastern North Carolina if the House GOP has its way with this prescription drug coverage. That plan will privatize the prescription drug benefits by relying heavily on HMOs to facilitate these programs.

Anyone who lives in rural America, such as eastern North Carolina, already knows the health crisis facing families and seniors, as big HMOs have abandoned them and consider them unprofitable.

I am going to close because I think we know what we are facing. We know what we must do. We must fight to ensure that even hard-to-reach rural communities are included equally and with real results in a much- needed drug coverage plan; and we, Mr. Speaker, must keep our solemn promise.

Mr. Speaker, we have had wonderful debate in these halls, both this evening and during the week, on issues of great significance to the people of this country. I am here today to speak to the determination and grace of women in transcending the hurdles they face on a daily basis as they lead others along the paths they have carved out for future generations.

While it is true, Mr. Speaker, that we stand here tonight highlighting the many obstacles faced by women on a daily basis, I would like to take these next few minutes to focus on the strength and dedication exemplified by so many women in my rural district in eastern North Carolina, the First Congressional District.

The First District transcends hurdles and lead others along the paths they carved out, these women, for our future generation. The women of eastern North Carolina are many things. They are mothers and wives and sisters and daughters. They are doctors and lawyers, teachers, cooks, business owners and preachers. Most of all, these women are leaders.

Tonight, I am proud to share with my colleagues stories of women who lead with distinction every day in areas of education, the political arena, housing, and economic development among others.

I can think of no better example to begin with regarding the success for women in leadership than my predecessor in these halls, the honorable Eva Clayton, the first woman to be elected from North Carolina and one of only three to ever join the North Carolina congressional delegation.

For 10 years, the First Congressional District made history with the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton) at the helm, leading the way on so many issues, among them minority farming, agriculture, housing, education and community and economic development, and her passion, hunger.

Congresswoman Clayton carved out a path upon which I am proud to follow.

Women in eastern North Carolina are leading the way in areas of housing, but while the ownership rates are increasing, women still lag considerably behind the general population in homeownership.

One woman in Wilson, North Carolina, is helping entire communities realize the dream of homeownership. Her name is Fannie Corbett. She served for more than 31 years with the Wilson Community Improvement Association, being a founding member in 1968. Ms. Corbett and her colleagues have spent the last 3 decades moving from improving existing housing to initiating the building of more than 200 houses for families in the Wilson community, including playgrounds, arts, crafts, computer classes, Bible studies and exercise programs.

Women around the country are building quality, affordable housing as they try to help their neighbors, friends and themselves improve their lives. For 31 years, Ms. Corbett, who will retire at the end of this month, led the way.

Helping ensure the children of North Carolina receive quality education they deserve is Dr. Shirley Carraway, from Kinston, North Carolina. A lifelong education professional, Dr. Carraway served for many years in the Pitt County school system, one of the largest systems in my district.

As assistant school superintendent for Pitt County, Dr. Carraway's dedication to educating the young minds of our district saw her recently voted as head school superintendent for another North Carolina county.

On a national level, women lag behind men in earning doctoral professional degrees and are underrepresented in math and science. Dr. Carraway is leading the way to break down these barriers and open the doors of education for all children.

North Carolina ranks number 31 in the Nation for women in managerial and professional occupations and 32 in women-owned businesses.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me.

Mr. Speaker, all of these women share one great quality, whether they are helping educate our youth, building houses for our families, creating jobs for our workers, or representing the people in the public arena. They all lead. These women are but a few women leaders from the congressional district that I represent.

I want to close by saying that there are so many other women that I could call on and mention in my remarks, but I know my time is short.

I do want to mention Joyce Dickens, president and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Edgecombe Community Development Commission and Andrea Harris, of Vance County, president of the Institute for Minority Economic Development. These and so many other women are blazing trails all over North Carolina and showing that women are great leaders, not only in North Carolina, but more particularly, in the First Congressional District.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Mrs. Fannie Petway, a native of Pinetop, North Carolina, who passed on to her reward Sunday, April 27, 2003 at the age of 97. Mrs. Petway was a devoted parishioner of Bethlehem Baptist Church of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. She is survived by her loving son Columbus Petway, and a host of other relatives.

Mrs. Petway's doors were always open to discuss family issues and she helped raise many children and grandchildren. She would keep them in awe with the many stories she told about her experiences on the farm where many of the children in her life spent their summers. The men in her family reflect fondly when they would get a call from Fannie asking them to stop by and get something to eat--and they would never say no, especially when wooed with her memorable peach cobbler and coconut cake, in spite of the fact that their wives had another meal waiting for them at home. Mrs. Petway is preceded in death by her daughter Annie Elizabeth Knight, her son Edward Petway, and daughters-in-law Eunice Irene Petway and Madie Moore Petway. She was the loving and proud grandmother to seven granddaughters and seven grandsons.

Mrs. Petway's gracious and warm smile will be deeply missed along with the many wonderful memories and recipes she has left behind. The blessing of her warmth and love have left a mark on those close to her and will be remembered vividly and fondly. My thoughts and prayers are with her loved ones.

Mr. Speaker, today as we stand in these halls, we are experiencing an unprecedented crisis in our

community, our cities, and our towns all across America, as dedicated hardworking citizens find themselves receiving pink slips, they are laid off. And the big problem is that they are unable to find jobs.

This economic crisis is at its worst. In the district that I represent in rural eastern North Carolina, an area that once thrived on agriculture and textiles, both of which have been hard hit, it appears that as far as the textile industry, there is little or no hope for recovery. More than half a million jobs have been lost nationwide in the last 5 months alone. At this moment there are fewer jobs in the labor market than at any other time since the current recession began.

Since January of 2001, the Nation has lost 2.7 million private sector jobs, and the unemployment rate has risen from 4.5 in 2001 to 6 percent 2 years later. In North Carolina we have lost 130,000 jobs since the Bush administration took office; 80,000 of these jobs have been lost in the manufacturing sector; 5,328 textiles/apparel jobs have been lost in the first district alone since 1999; 32,640 textile/apparel jobs have been lost in North Carolina since 1999; 12,669 manufacturing jobs lost in the first district since 2001.

In addition to plant closings all across the State, they are leaving thousands of families in financial peril. In the Halifax County town of Roanoke Rapids, in my district, the closure of the West Point Stevens textile plant, and many of you may remember the plant immortalized as the foundation for workers' rights in the movie ``Norma Rae,'' will put 350 families out of work next month. There will not be one yard of textile production in Halifax County once this West Point Stevens facility closes, abandoning a city on the Roanoke River founded on textiles.

Unless some long-term remedies are found, North Carolinians and, most specifically, workers in northeastern North Carolina, will face a crisis of chronic unemployment with shrinking safety nets to combat this crisis.

The percentage of workers nearly receiving regular unemployment benefits who subsequently exhausted those benefits without finding work was at its highest level ever just a few months ago in February.

The tax plan forced through this House last week included no provision whatsoever for extending unemployment insurance benefits, which are due to expire in just 17 days.

We have got to do something about this problem. It is time that we pass the bill that extended this deadline and provided jobs for our people. I urge us to take this step.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) for yielding me this time.

As a new Member of this 108th Congress, I recently traveled throughout the rural areas of North Carolina. I find that the people who sent me down to Washington, D.C. are hurting. We are losing manufacturing jobs. When I go into the farm community, our farmers are suffering. They have huge tractors that they do not need and they cannot pay for. They have built barns that cost $15,000 that they do not have any tobacco to put in them. I find that many of these same farmers have hired workers to take care of their crops. They no longer have an opportunity to pay these people who can then support their families.

We are hurting in rural America. We need an opportunity to put some money in the pockets of people who will spend it and spur this economy, not this plan that is being sent by the majority.