Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today we solemnly commemorate the 92nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide where, over the course of eight years, from 1915 to 1923, the Ottoman Empire launched a systematic campaign to exterminate its Armenian community. During that time, more than 1.5 million Armenians suffered through mass killings, deportations, forced slavery and torture.

Once the genocide ended, many survivors rose above their anguish and terrible experiences to rebuild their lives. Armenian communities began to flourish as numerous immigrants found a new home here in the United States, as well as in my home state of California. Even though their communities discovered solace and success in America, the scars of genocide remain deeply embedded in their history and in our conscience.

If we are to pro actively engage the international community, we must realize the significance of commemorating the Armenian Genocide. Equipped with information and education, we can ensure that the legacy of the genocide endures and that atrocities such as those that befell the Armenian people never happen again.

Together we can educate, commemorate, remember, and stand united in promoting a clear message that the United States does not condone, nor does it tolerate acts of genocide.

Today we mourn the victims, pay tribute to the survivors, and stand together with all who are committed to promoting awareness about the atrocities of genocide. Today we remember to never forget.

Madam Speaker, During rollcall vote No. 263, the Small Business Lending Improvements Act, on April 25, 2007. I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Los Angeles, Congresswoman Watson, for holding this special event here for us to talk about one of our colleagues.

You know, I haven't been here very long in the Congress; but when I came in 2001, I knew that I had a friend here. Juanita Millender- McDonald at that time served as caucus Chair for the Women's Caucus and led the fight in so many ways for justice for women. And particularly, as a woman of color, she knew how deeply important it was to set herself up as a role model for all of us.

I remember her coming back and talking to me about events she did in her district. Every year annually she would raise funds and give grants out to domestic violence shelters and programs, and how she would have a big event with her community, and she kept inviting me. Hilda, you have got to see what we are doing out in our area; and it is something that you should take a look at.

She was there. She fought so hard for us during the Women's Caucus as she served her tenure, helping to promote women in the military. And she was very adamantly strongly, strongly supportive of women in the military.

And I know that her family, right now, needs our prayers and thoughts, and we send those from our community and from my family, from my husband and myself, and want to thank her for all that she did to fight for us, for our transportation funding in Southern California, for the ACE project, which affects so many of the L.A. delegation members, and for her strong work and advocacy for people of color affected by HIV and AIDS.

So I want to thank her. And it is fitting to say that this evening, because this evening, after we finish our discussions here, we are going to talk about the uninsured. And Lord knows that our communities of color share a heavy burden, disparate treatment, disparities that exist with chronic illnesses, and one of those being cancer, particularly African-American women who many, many times go undiagnosed. We need to do more in this area. And so we think of her today. We honor her, and we thank her family for the time that she served with us here on Earth.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the subject of my special order.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Speaker for the opportunity to serve as moderator for this special designated time for recognition under Special Orders for celebration of health care, and, in particular, the uninsured.

Tonight I have several colleagues who will be joining me to speak on different topics with respect to health care issues affecting minority communities. Just to give you a brief summary of some of the topics we will touch on, obviously reauthorization of SCHIP, language access, obesity, diabetes, cancer, tobacco, HIV and AIDS, health professions, community health workers, environmental health and Medicaid citizenship.

Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise to recognize National Minority Health Month. This week is Covering the Uninsured Week. Tonight you are going to hear from some of my colleagues representing the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific Islander Caucus and their efforts to improve health care in our communities.

Did you know that life expectancy and overall health have improved in recent years for large numbers of Americans due to an increase in and focus on preventive medicine and new advances in medical technology? However, not all Americans are faring that well, particularly communities of color, which continue to suffer from significant disparities in overall rate of disease incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality and survival rates in the population, as compared to the health status of the general population.

The National Minority Health Month was launched in an effort to eliminate health disparities and to improve health status of minority populations across the country. This month was created in response to Healthy People 2010, a set of comprehensive health objectives established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Disparities continue to persist, and we must eliminate health disparities by identifying significant opportunities to improve health care.

There are disparities in the burden of illness and death experienced by African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and American Indian and Alaskan Natives as compared to the U.S. population as a whole.

I am pleased to once again be working with my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus, the Hispanic Caucus, and the Congressional Asian Pacific Islander Caucus to develop a comprehensive tri-caucus health disparities bill. Our bill will address the importance of language access, health professions, training, data collection and health coverage for immigrants. Our colleagues in the Senate are also working on a disparities bill, and I hope that they too will pass legislation that will truly save the lives of millions of minorities. We must do more to better the health of our population, which includes all communities of color.

With that, I want to just briefly touch on this issue of the uninsured. Today marks the start of the fifth year of Covering the Uninsured Week. Although the United States has one of the best health care systems in the world, not everyone has the means to access our health care system. The number of uninsured people affects us all and is a national problem that needs a national solution.

We all know that lack of health insurance results in reduced access to care. Access can be defined as the ability to get to health services, receive service at the right time, and obtain the appropriate services necessary to promote the best health outcomes possible.

Reduced access could mean that someone is less likely to have regular sources of care, less likely to receive preventive services and more likely to use emergency departments as primary sources of care. The long-term consequences of reduced access to care include lower quality of life, higher mortality rates and the decline of the population's overall health.

Despite the growth of our economy, the number of uninsured persons continues to increase. In 2005, more than 44 million people were uninsured, and of that number, 14 million were Latinos.

The cost of private health insurance continues to rise astronomically, and we hear that every single day when we go back home to our districts. Health insurance premiums continue to rise by double- digit rates each year, and over 80 percent of the uninsured come from working families, people who are working and getting a paycheck. While two-thirds of uninsured children are eligible for public programs such as Medicaid and the SCHIP program, most are still uninsured.

These adults also are low-income populations who are not eligible for public programs but have incomes below 200 percent of the Federal poverty level. This group is composed predominantly of parents and childless adults who work but may have difficulty in obtaining and affording coverage. Due to the low Medicaid eligibility level for parents, many uninsured parents have children who qualify for public coverage but do not qualify, themselves, as parents. What an irony.

Members of racial and ethnic minority groups make up a large number, a disproportionate share, of the uninsured population. The uninsured rate for Latinos was 33 percent in 2005, 20 percent for African Americans and 18 percent for Asians and 30 percent for Native Americans. They lack health care coverage.

In addition to impacting health and the finances of the uninsured themselves, the lack of health care coverage has had repercussions for all of us in America. Many hospitals, as you know, are currently struggling under the strain of providing uncompensated emergency care to uninsured individuals.

In my own district in California, community health centers bear the brunt of responsibility for treating the uninsured. These community health centers are often the first place that the uninsured turn to when seeking health care services. These community health centers are a vital part of our health care safety net.

Poor health leads to poor financial status, and a never-ending cycle of low socioeconomic status often leads to poor health. The core values for a strong and secure America should include the right to universal access to affordable, high-quality health care for all.

In a country that prides itself on equality, it is evident that our health

care system is broken when people suffer from a lack of access to health insurance and to quality care. We must make health care services affordable and provide quality through linguistically and culturally competent services for all Americans. That must be our national priority.

I want to refer myself to the State Children's Health Insurance program, known by many as SCHIP, which covers currently 6 million children, building on Medicaid's coverage of 28 million children. However, statistically speaking, 9 million children remain uninsured.

Over the past decade, SCHIP and Medicaid together have reduced the uninsured rate among low-income children by one-third. We know that uninsured children are more likely to receive cost-effective preventive services and are healthier, which leads to greater success in school and life. Although programs such as SCHIP and Medicaid have decreased the number of uninsured children, the lack of funding and outreach efforts have left millions of those children ineligible without any coverage. Reducing disparities in children's access to health care is extremely important and should be one of our biggest priorities here in Congress.

For example, uninsured African American and Latino children are less likely to have a personal doctor and are more likely to forego needed medical care than any other group of uninsured children. More than half of insured African American children, 51 percent, and insured Latino children, 50 percent, are covered by Medicaid and SCHIP. Nearly 95 percent of eligible but uninsured children live in families with incomes below 200 percent of the Federal poverty level, which is $33,200 for a family of three, and over 40 percent of this population is Latino.

Enrollment in SCHIP has proven to reduce disparities in access to health care services as well as reducing the coverage gap for minority children. More than 80 percent of African American children and 70 percent of uninsured Latino children appear to be eligible for this public coverage, but currently are not enrolled.

Additional funding for SCHIP, as you know, is necessary for the coverage of all uninsured. SCHIP plays a critical role for children of color. After SCHIP was created back in 1997, the percent of uninsured children steadily declined from a high of 15.4 percent in 1998 to a low of 10 percent in 2004, and for racial and ethnic minorities the decline was remarkable. In 1998, roughly 30 percent of Latino children, 20 percent of African American, and 18 percent of Asian Pacific Islander children were uninsured. In 2004, those numbers had dropped to about 21 percent, 12 percent and 8 percent respectively.

In addition to reducing the coverage gap for minority children, SCHIP enrollment has helped to reduce disparities in access to health care services. For example, a study of children enrolled in New York's SCHIP program for one year found an almost complete elimination of these disparities and the number of children with unmet health care needs decreased. A study from California's SCHIP population confirmed those results as well. Across racial and ethnic groups, SCHIP enrollment was associated with a significant reduction in disparities and access to needed care.

We need adequate SCHIP reauthorization. Currently there is insufficient Federal funding for SCHIP to cover the children currently enrolled. We need additional money to cover them and to expand coverage to uninsured children who are eligible.

In order to expand health coverage for minority children, we also need to address the underlying barriers to enrollment in Medicaid and SCHIP that minorities are more likely to face; as an example, the distrust of government and a health care system where language may not be spoken adequately to the different groups that are affected. And misinformation about eligibility rules is often complicating the process for many who don't understand the paperwork.

Enrollment strategies targeted to minority communities, including the use of community health workers, known as promotoras, could help guide families through the enrollment process and have been proven to increase enrollment and reduce disparities. We must improve outreach efforts and simplify enrollment in order to reach the millions of unenrolled children from communities of color who are eligible for Medicaid and the SCHIP program. This year, with the reauthorization of SCHIP, this is an opportunity for us to address racial and ethnic disparities in children's access to health care. I hope that we can work together with our colleagues across the aisle to begin the debate and see that we reauthorize these programs that are so vitally needed.

I am very pleased this evening to have one of my colleagues, the gentlewoman from Guam, who has chaired the Congressional Asian Pacific Islander Caucus Task Force on Health who has joined me this evening. She has been a pioneer on health care access and will give us, I am sure, very informative data regarding the problems that are faced currently in the Asian Pacific Islander community. I welcome her this evening.

I gladly yield to the gentlewoman.

I thank the gentlewoman from Guam, and I would like to at this time thank her for her hard work and deliberations in the past few years as a strong member of the tri-caucus working on health care issues. I know she is going to continue to lead and be a voice for those underrepresented communities.

I would like to now recognize a very special individual who is Chair of our Subcommittee on Health on Energy and Commerce, but also plays a very important role in representing the Native Americans in our great country and that is the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).

I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for his kind words and knowledge and always helping Members to better organize their messages, particularly when it comes to health care and the need to improve access for all people in our great country.

As the gentleman says, the fact is that we are undergoing a change where our populations are exploding, our minority populations have increased, and we don't see more services provided, one of which is the Native American population. I have a significant Native American population in L.A. County and there is one center available for them. It is just horrifying to think that people have to travel so many counties just to get there. Lord help them if they have an episode of some sort, that they get there in time to receive the necessary care. To know that this is not a priority with the administration is very alarming. We need to prioritize this issue.

I again want to recognize my colleague from Guam to talk about some other very pressing health care issues that affect not just Asian Pacific Islanders but these other minority populations. So I would yield to her.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for joining us this evening and representing the caucus so well, the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus, and demonstrating a willingness to work across the aisle and in a coalition so that we can better improve access to health care for all underrepresented groups.

I want to talk very briefly before I recognize one of our other colleagues who has joined us here from the Congressional Black Caucus, Sheila Jackson-Lee.

I want to talk about diabetes because diabetes, in my opinion, is one of the major chronic illnesses. It does not just affect ethnic minority or underrepresented groups, but many, many people in our country.

One of the goals that I mentioned earlier of the Healthy People 2010 program, a campaign underway, by the way, by the Department of Health and Human Services, is to reduce the disease and economic burden of diabetes and to improve the quality of life for all people who have or are at risk of getting diabetes.

Diabetes, as you know, is a chronic disease affecting both children, Type I, and adults, Type II. The number of people with diabetes has increased steadily in the past decade, and the increase has occurred within certain racial and ethnic groups.

Today, approximately 20.8 million Americans have diabetes, and of these people, an estimated 6.2 million individuals have not even been diagnosed. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, another 54 million people have pre-diabetes.

Complications of diabetes include heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney

failure, dental disease, pregnancy complications and amputations. These are very serious illnesses, and diabetes is now the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and costs the Nation over $132 billion per year in direct and indirect costs.

Diabetes, as you know, is the leading cause of nontraumatic amputations, and about 150 amputations per day are due to diabetes.

Two million Latinos have been diagnosed with diabetes, and Latinos are 1.5 times more likely to have diabetes than whites, on the average, and many children with Type II diabetes are Latino or African American.

Reducing the incidence of diabetes and thus reducing racial and ethnic disparities involves diet and lifestyle changes. However, strategies to manage the disease and prevent the disease also need to be culturally sensitive and targeted to specific populations.

The number of overweight minority children has increased in recent years, and more of them are being diagnosed with adult-type diabetes. It is estimated that now at least 40,000 children now have Type II diabetes, which is the type of diabetes associated with adult obesity.

Regular diets of low-cost, high-calorie fast food and sodas, in addition to inadequate daily physical activity, have contributed to the prevalence of diabetes. Health education, as you know, is extremely important, and we need to teach people how to prevent diabetes because it is preventable. For people who already have diabetes, we need to teach them how to manage that disease.

In order to prevent or delay complications and early death from diabetes, patients need to understand the disease, take charge of blood glucose management, comfortably talk to their provider about diabetes care, and have access to equipment, supplies and prescriptions. Cultural competence and access to health care play a very large role in preventing deaths due to diabetes.

Sixty percent of my district, as you know, is Latino, and I have seen firsthand the community clinics that have helped my constituents who are diagnosed with this deadly but preventable disease. A large proportion of the people who visit these clinics in my district are uninsured. When I see the packed waiting rooms, I understand how hard it is to manage this chronic illness. Even with appointments, people can have waiting times of several hours, resulting in loss of work.

A 2005 Commonwealth Fund study of public hospitals also found that African American and Latino patients were less likely than their white counterparts to have well-controlled diabetes, and uninsured patients received even less care. Public hospitals serve a high number of patients at high risk for not receiving access to needed health care. In the study, about two out of five patients with diabetes were uninsured, and two-thirds were members of racial and ethnic minority groups, and up to two-thirds of patients primarily spoke a language other than English.

Insurance status and race influences health care use and outcomes for diabetes patients. Uninsured patients have the worst diabetes control, and 33 percent do not have their condition under control now, which is almost double the rate for Medicare patients.

The routine costs for managing diabetes, to test and control glucose levels, can reach hundreds of dollars per month. Uninsured patients have difficulties paying for equipment to effectively manage their treatment. Consequently, the higher prevalence of diabetes and the inability to manage diabetes leads to more diabetes-related deaths in communities of color.

This is just one example of how social determinants impact our health care status, and I wanted to draw your attention to that.

This evening we have been joined by two members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and I would first like to recognize the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). Thank you for joining us this evening.

I thank the gentlewoman from Texas for joining us this evening.

Before I conclude with our discussion on the uninsured and celebrating, actually, a call to action, a call to action

for all people of color and all Americans, that we have a balanced health care system that serves all of us, one last item I would like to bring up, before I recognize the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands for the last 5 minutes is to talk a little bit about one of the biggest killers in our community, and it is about tobacco. Each year tobacco use kills more than 400,000 Americans and costs our country more than $96 billion in health care costs.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tobacco use by pregnant women alone costs at least $400 million per year due to complications such as low birth weight, premature birth and sudden infant death syndrome. Every day, 1,000 kids become regular smokers, one-third of whom will die prematurely as a result. Smoking is responsible for 87 percent of lung cancer deaths in the U.S.

Tobacco-related cancers are disproportionately higher among low- income and ethnic-minority communities. Because these groups have been repeatedly targeted by the tobacco industry, they unfairly carry a greater weight of the health and economic burden tobacco has in our country. For communities of color, tobacco addiction brings a disproportionate amount of death and disease to communities with low rates of health insurance coverage. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer among Latino men and second leading cause of death among Latinas.

Approximately 25,000 Latinos will die from smoking-related illnesses this year, surpassing all other causes of cancer. Each year, approximately 45,000 African Americans die from smoking-caused illness.

Native American adults have the highest tobacco use rates for all major ethnic groups. The prevalence of smoking is 37.5 percent among Native American, 26.7 among African American, and 24 percent among white men. This year it is expected that the rate of lung and cancer deaths for white males will be 73.8 per 100,000, while for African Americans it will be 98.4 per 100,000. Tobacco use is an important risk factor for coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death among Latinos.

Unfortunately, tobacco companies have increased their marketing to our minority communities, and I have seen advertisements in magazines popular with Latino youth. RJ Reynolds is running ads for Kool cigarettes with images that appeal to Latinos.

I recently learned that the Kool Mixx campaign focused its marketing images around music and hip-hop, which appeals to African American and Latino youth. The Kool Mixx campaign included 14 music concerts around the country and a DJ competition, as well as a special theme park with cartons displayed on them.

In addition, the tobacco company placed advertisements in publications popular with Latino youth, like this one here, including ``Latina'' and ``Cosmopolitan en Espanol.'' The ads include slogans like: ``It's about pursuing your ambitions and staying connected to your roots.'' To reach everybody in our community, they not only use attractive Latino models, but they also make sure ads are in English and Spanish.

The cigarette companies have focused on African American populations as well. One company created a line of cigarette flavors like Caribbean Chill and Mocha Taboo and used images of African Americans to promote their cigarettes. This targeted marketing is having an impact on the rates that we are seeing, higher number of people smoking. In 2005, 22 percent of Latino high school students smoked, a 19 percent increase over 2003, when the smoking rate was down to 18 percent.

Smoking continues to be a huge public health risk for us, and we must not tolerate it in our communities. We have to stand up to these big corporations and say, enough advertising, let's speak the truth, let's talk about prevention, let's talk about awareness, let's talk about alternative lifestyles so we can have healthier communities.

I am pleased that we were able to entertain this discussion on the uninsured, the celebration of Uninsured Week and to talk about the disparities that exist in our communities and communities of color.

I am pleased to give the remainder of my time to the distinguished woman from the Virgin Islands, who is chairperson of the task force for the Black Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus.

I thank the gentlewoman from California and my colleagues of the Progressive Caucus.

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of this budget resolution. And as you know, Members, this budget marks a new direction for our country. It reflects the values of millions of hardworking people across the country. And I am proud that this budget rejects the President's cuts to core public health and environmental programs. These core programs include Superfund programs, land and water conservation funds, drinking water State revolving funds, State and tribal assistance grants, Leaking Underground Storage Tank programs, environmental justice programs, and brownfield programs.

Under the misguided priorities of the Bush administration, funding for these programs at the EPA, if you didn't know this, have been dramatically cut back by 22 percent, and our communities continue to suffer. Under the President's fiscal year 2008 budget, States will have lost over $1 billion in Federal funds since 2004 and may be forced to lay off numerous staff, leave vacancies unfilled, shut down existing air monitors, or otherwise curtail monitoring programs. Regional or contract personnel are making judgments about water safety systems despite not even being qualified. And environmental justice, those programs are on the chopping block right now. Two-thirds of already overburdened cities that are working to create economic opportunities by revitalizing formerly blighted communities in our country known as the brownfields programs have not received sufficient funding.

Our budget, this budget, rejects these cuts by appropriating $31.4 billion for these programs, $2.6 billion over the President's budget. This is a down payment so that we can begin to reinvest in our neighborhoods and communities, and we are doing it without raising taxes for the middle class. I am proud that this budget will help improve health care for all our families, secure education, address global warming issues, and keep our promise to our Nation's veterans. I strongly urge my colleagues to support the health, well-being, and economic security of all working families in our country, and I support this budget.

Mr. Speaker, a budget is a blueprint of a party's values. This week, Democrats will bring a budget to the House floor that cares for our children and our families without raising taxes.

For the first time in 6 years, we have an opportunity to pass a budget that actually finds balance in the next 5 years, something that Republicans never did while they controlled the House and something the President continues to refuse to do. We want to get our fiscal house in order so that our children are not forced to pay off our debts decades from now. At the same time we are paying down our debt, we also invest in our children, making sure they have access to quality health care and to quality education.

The Democratic budget substantially increases the S-CHIP program, which will allow our States to insure millions of children who are now uninsured. In California, it is known as the Healthy Families program. We also provide $7.9 billion over the President's budget for education funding, which includes No Child Left Behind, special education and helping students better afford college.

Mr. Speaker, the Democratic budget values our children and puts them first while investing in our country.

Mr. Speaker, just a few weeks ago I visited our servicemen and women in Iraq. My visit confirmed my belief that we must support our troops and redeploy them. That is why I will vote for the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act.

When I met with the troops in Iraq, they told me that they lacked the basic equipment needed to do their job, like body armor, light bulbs for vehicles, and scissors for bandages and gauzes. In some cases, they told me that the equipment they use is unreliable due to excess use. Our troops are also concerned with the lengths of their tours in Iraq; they told me that they are not only demanding, but exhausting. Our troops are being overextended. For many of them, it is not their first tour, but their second or third. Many of them have missed the birth of their children or the death of their parents.

It is time for a new direction in Iraq. The U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act does that--it gives the American people the first step in a new direction to what our troops properly deserve. A new direction, with benchmarks for success in Iraq, with benchmarks that ensure our troops have the equipment and training they need, and a benchmark that guarantees a fully funded deployment out of Iraq. This bill makes it clear, and sends the message that the majority of Americans want--an end to the war.

In the last 4 years, we have spent close to $400 billion on the war in Iraq. The war on Iraq has claimed the lives of nearly 3,200 and more than 24,000 servicemen and women have been injured or permanently disabled. More than half of those will not be able to lead a normal life because of the severity of their injuries, impacting not only them but also their families. In the 32nd Congressional District of California which I represent, we have lost 13 sons to combat. Despite all this, the Administration has failed to outline concrete steps to end the war and has left our servicemen and women without adequate equipment and our veterans without proper care.

The U.S. Troops Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act will provide our troops with the equipment they need, require Iraqis to take control of their own country, help fight the real war on terror in Afghanistan, and establish a strategy for the redeployment of U.S. troops no later than March 1, 2008. This bill provides $1.7 billion more for military health care, including Walter Reed, and includes $1.7 billion more for our veterans, so those who served before and those recently serving have access to adequate care. It includes $2.5 billion to improve troop readiness and helps servicemen and women afford housing. This bill also represents help for those at home, including uninsured children and farmers whose emergent needs were ignored under the Republican leadership.

I don't support this war. I voted against authorization of force in 2002 and have repeatedly called for the redeployment of troops out of Iraq. The Bush Administration's failed policies in Iraq and Afghanistan have gone unchecked--until now. I'm voting for this bill because it will--for the first time--set a date for the war to end--a date when U.S. combat troops must be out of Iraq. The bill isn't perfect, but it draws a clear line between those who want to stay indefinitely in Iraq, and those like me who, along with the majority of Americans, want to end it. Passage of this bill is the beginning of the end for our soldiers not being prepared and not knowing when they will come home.

Let us not forget that these last 4 years so many of our sons and daughters and their families have given the greatest sacrifice. I remain supportive of our troops and know that they will continue to do a great job and we in Congress must do ours this week. I support the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act because I know it is the first real step to the redeployment and safe return home of all of our servicemen and women.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Accountability Act H.R. 1591. Four years ago, I voted against the resolution giving the President the authority to go to war with Iraq because I had serious doubts about the need to rush into military action. U.N. inspectors were still doing their work examining Iraq's nuclear weapons program and had not found weapons of mass destruction. Our allies who supported President George Bush, Sr. for Desert Storm were not supporting us! All diplomatic efforts had not been exhausted and there seemed to be no clear goals or strategy. There was no exit strategy to bring back our troops. There was no evidence that taking action in Iraq was urgent when the fight in Afghanistan was still underway. A proposed budget for the war was never presented to Congress.

Now we are entering our 5th year of this conflict and my concerns have been proven correct. Most important, there were no weapons of mass destruction. The Taliban is resurging in Afghanistan because we diluted our efforts.

We still have no goals or strategy in Iraq and our reputation around the world has been seriously undermined. Thousands of young Americans have been killed, disabled or wounded. we will have spent half a trillion dollars on this war and there is no end in sight.

It's time to heed the recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group and take a new direction in Iraq. The legislation before us sets definite benchmarks and timelines that put the Iraqi government on reasonable notice that they must assume responsibility for their own destiny.

This Supplemental Appropriations Bill lets the American people know when our troops will begin coming home.

Many of my colleagues oppose setting a deadline because they believe the insurgents will just outwait us. But unless we are prepared to be in Iraq forever, this fear will always be a concern. History has shown that insurgents and terrorists are very, very patient.

The religious and secretarian hatred in the Middle East has been present for centuries and our presence in Iraq for a few more years is not going to change that. Our presence in Iraq will just get thousands more of our servicemen and women, caught in the middle of their civil war, killed and wounded.

My Republican colleagues had no qualms about mandating to President Clinton when our forces had to come out of Kosovo. It seems to me that this is not any different.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation that will bring an orderly, responsible end to the war in Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, good evening.

Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago I had the privilege to visit our service men and women serving in Iraq, and I saw for myself what is really happening on the ground.

I met with several service men and women from cities that I represent, the city of Azusa, East Los Angeles and West Covina in California. I spoke with troop commanders, Iraqi women representing NGOs, and two parliamentarian women.

My trip to Iraq confirmed my belief that we must supply better support for our troops, including redeployment out of Iraq. But supporting our troops means securing our troops and making sure we minimize the risks they really face. Our troops, as you know, are overextended. The length of time they are spending in Iraq is not only demanding, but exhausting. For many of them, it is not their first tour either, this is their second, third and maybe even fourth.

While our troops remain committed to their work, they are concerned about the impact their duty is having on them and their families. The time they spend with their families is shorter with each tour of duty.

Our troops are concerned about the lack of adequate equipment. Some troops lack the basic equipment needed to do their job, like body armor. In fact, one soldier told me they don't have light bulbs. I said light bulbs for what? They said well, Congresswoman, for our vehicles. When we are asked to go into the communities, if we don't have light bulbs on our vehicles we can't see. Another one mentioned they didn't have scissors, and I said, Why do you need scissors? And he said because if one of my men gets hit, I need to have scissors to be able to bandage and provide whatever help that person needs.

In some cases they told me that the equipment they use is unreliable due to overexcessive use. And I was appalled to learn that some service members are forced to share their equipment with recent arrivals. The new members of the service that we are sending in in this surge or escalation are actually taking equipment away from those who are being currently deployed there. Without the proper equipment, our troops face significant and unnecessary risk to their lives.

Supporting our troops also means redeployment and an Iraqi nation that will govern itself and its people. Unfortunately, the best plan President Bush offers is another blank check request for his already failed policies.

In California, the 32nd Congressional District that I represent, as you can see, 13 of our sons have already given their lives, the ultimate sacrifice. U.S. casualties, as you know, are close to 3,200, and more than 24,000 service men and women have been injured or permanently disabled, and more than half of those will not be able to lead normal lives.

This blank check that President Bush provides must end. By deploying additional service men and women into combat, the President shows just how out of touch he is with the real needs of our troops and the reality of the situation. The increase of troops will do nothing to improve the long-term security situation.

The President's escalation plan ignores the very needs of these veterans. The crisis, as you know, at Walter Reed highlights the fact that this administration has not prioritized the health care needs of our returning veterans. And as Members of Congress, it is our responsibility to protect our troops and veterans when our Commander in Chief will not. We need a plan that will ensure that there will not be permanent bases in Iraq. And we need to ensure that all troops are provided with adequate equipment and training needed to do their job safely.

Our plan must require the Iraqis to take control of Iraq and bring other Arab states together to help solve this problem. Our plan must refocus also on Afghanistan. And our plan must ensure that our service men and women and veterans receive the best care available when they return home.

This includes traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, culturally competent health care, housing, and education.

The troops and their families have kept their promise to us. We must now keep our promise to them, and I am proud that we have made such a plan available. The U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health & Iraq Accountability Act, in my opinion, is key to this success. It supports our troops. It holds the administration accountable. It establishes a plan for redeployment, and provides for our veterans.

My trip to Iraq strengthened my belief that the right course of action is to redeploy our troops out of Iraq. Our men and women in uniform are doing their job, and we in Congress must do ours so that our troops will come home and receive the care that they deserve. We must not continue to turn our backs on those who proudly have served our Nation, and I will continue to fight and support our troops.

I look forward to their redeployment and their safe return to their families, to their friends, and to their loved ones, and I look forward to a resolution, and an Iraq governed by Iraqis, and a world safer and more secure for all of us. And I know our leadership will help to take us there.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Dialogue on Diversity on the occasion of its 13th Annual Public Policy Forum and to thank them for their work toward the advancement of all people, in particular racial and ethnic minorities. I am proud to recognize the Dialogue's efforts to inform the public and stimulate dialogue on issues such as immigration reform, education and health-care disparities.

Dialogue on Diversity is a membership based organization of professional men and women from the Americas who work together to promote the intercultural exchange of ideas and work to foster constructive dialogue among diverse people. Founded in 1989, it is committed to improving the economic and social condition of women in the United States and around the world.

I am pleased that Dialogue for Diversity has chosen to address our broken health care and immigration systems during its 13th Annual Public Policy Forum. Both of these issues are important challenges facing all walks of life in our nation and forums like the Dialogue on Diversity are needed to help to address these important issues.

Again, I commend the Dialogue on Diversity on the occasion of its 13th Annual Public Policy Forum and wish them the best of luck in the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor my good friend and fellow Californian, Esther Renteria, who passed away January 8, 2007, at her Montebello, California home at the age of 67. Esther was a skilled journalist who was committed to increasing the presence of Latinos in broadcast media.

For decades, Esther advocated to increase the numbers of Latinos in the news and other television programs. She understood the importance of Latino children watching people on television who looked like them and could relate to them. Esther's endless advocacy and enthusiasm helped increase and positively modify the presence of Latinos in the media.

In 1969, Esther was the first Latina to appear in a nightly newscast with the premiere of ``Ahora!'' on KCET-TV, and in 1970 she

worked as an associate producer on ``The Siesta Is Over,'' a series based on issues relevant to the daily lives of Latinos in the U.S. In 1986, she cofounded the National Hispanic Media Coalition, an organization that monitors Federal Communications Commission regulations on broadcast media. The organization successfully petitioned the FCC to revoke broadcast licenses of those television stations who neglected to hire a sufficient number of Latinos.

Esther's work did not end with her behind-the-scenes efforts to make Latinos more visible on national TV. She also founded the Hispanic Americans for Fairness in Media to award scholarships to young students who aspire to future careers in media. Esther's advocacy on behalf of the Latino community has been instrumental to the changes that have taken effect since. Esther is survived by her husband, Martin Renteria, former chief of police for the Montebello Unified District's police department, four sons, and a sister.

I extend my sympathy to Esther's husband, children, and family. She will be missed dearly.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support as a family member from a strong union background. My father was a shop steward for the Teamsters and my mother was a proud worker for the United Rubber Workers, who worked tireless for 20 and 25 years. Without the health protection we received and the retirement benefits, I know myself and my seven siblings wouldn't be where we are today.

It is important for people to have the ability, especially in this day than a time, when new women, new immigrants, are coming about, and want to be part of the American fabric. One of the ways they can do that is by joining the union, being part of that, to have those protections in place.

When union people get paid good wages, that money stays in the community, it helps to provide a vibrant economy, it helps to also even send their children, like me, who is a child of immigrants and of a union household, to be able to come to college and to eventually even run for office. Wow. Outstanding.

The unions always get a bad name by certain people in this area, but I will tell you one thing: I am very proud to stand with many of our union members to see how they have revitalized many of our communities, especially in Los Angeles.

I ask for you to support H.R. 800.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor my good friend and fellow Californian, Leo T. McCarthy, who passed away February 5, 2007. A devoted public servant, Mr. McCarthy dedicated his life to serving his country and the people of the State of California.

During his long career of service to our Nation, Mr. McCarthy distinguished himself as a fierce advocate for economic justice, social equality, and freedom for all. Joining the United States Air Force in 1951, he served with distinction and honor during the Korean War. From there, Mr. McCarthy entered into public life and was elected as the youngest member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in city history. Soon after, he was elected to the California State Assembly, and quickly rose to become Speaker of the Assembly. As Speaker, he championed the causes of human rights, education, and environmentalism, securing major legislative victories while bringing more openness and transparency to the process.

Mr. McCarthy's tremendous record in the Assembly catapulted him to prominence and he was elected Lieutenant Governor of California in 1982. A brilliant executive, he expertly coordinated the relief effort for the devastating Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. Recognizing his service, the people of California returned him to office for a record breaking three terms until he retired from politics in 1994. Even in retirement, he remained engaged in the lives of Californians, raising over one million dollars to endow the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good at the University of California of San Francisco.

In addition to his dedicated public service, he was devoted to his family. Even while serving in Sacramento at the very top of California politics, he drove home almost every night to be with his wife, Jacqueline, and his children, Sharon, Conna, Adam, and Niall.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the very best that the State of California has to offer in Leo T. McCarthy. He was a leader, a statesman, and he will be sorely missed.

Mr. Speaker, for 6 years, Americans have felt left behind by this administration and a Republican Congress that did not prioritize issues important to many Americans. With the November elections, we had hoped that President Bush would get the message that Americans wanted change. Unfortunately, the President's budget, in my opinion, is no different than many of the budgets of his last 6 years; it leaves too many people behind.

Six years ago, the President vowed to leave no child left behind, but his budget underfunds our schools by $15 billion. How can the President hold schools accountable when he refuses to give them the funding necessary to make those improvements?

The President's budget will also force States to eliminate health care coverage for children because he refuses to provide enough money to the SCHIP program to cover more than 9 million kids now enrolled in the program. At a time when 1 million more Americans are joining the ranks of the uninsured every year, do we really want to take health care coverage away from the most vulnerable populations, the children and low-income parents?

Mr. Speaker, the President's priorities are different than ours, and our budget will look significantly different.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time.

I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 63.

I am a strong supporter of our service men and women and strongly committed to finding a reasonable and responsible resolution which includes a redeployment of our troops. However, a responsible resolution does not include the deployment of more of our brave service men and women to Iraq. Sixty-six percent of Americans oppose the President's escalation plan to send additional troops to Iraq. They believe, as I do, without a new policy to secure the peace and stabilize Iraq, further escalation will do nothing but unnecessarily risk the lives of more U.S. service men and women.

There are currently 135,000 U.S. troops courageously serving in Iraq. At the direction of our government, they left their fathers, mothers, brothers, children, and wives. This war is having, as you know, a significant impact on their families and our communities.

In the district that I represent, the 32nd Congressional District of California, we have lost 13 sons to combat. Note the photograph that I have here on display. This includes Lance Corporal Francisco Martinez from the city of Duarte in the San Gabriel Valley, who bravely served our country despite not even being a U.S. citizen. I was able to meet his parents. They were very humble individuals who spoke only Spanish and proudly stated that their son served their country with honor. It breaks my heart to think that this was only one servicemember, only one of the more than 3,000 families that have been through this since the war started almost 4 years ago.

The past 3 months, as you know, have been the deadliest months in the war in over 2 years. While Latinos make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, they make up 17 percent of the service men and women in combat in Iraq, and 11 percent of those have already been killed. U.S. casualties are now more than 3,100 and more than 23,400 service men and women have been wounded in action, and nearly half of those wounded will not be able to lead a normal life because of severe injuries, permanent disabilities, and post-traumatic stress syndrome. Yet many of these service men and women will return to Iraq for a second, third, and maybe even a fourth tour.

The President's proposal to escalate ignores the real needs of our troops and the grave reality of this situation. Three times in the past 2 years the number of U.S. troop levels have increased in Iraq. Three times this approach has failed. And during Operation Together Forward, additional troops were sent into Baghdad because of an increase in sectarian violence. U.S. military spokesman General William Caldwell stated that the increase was a failure and had ``not met our overall expectations of sustaining a reduction in the levels of violence.'' Even the commander of the U.S. Central Command in Iraq has testified that top military commanders in Iraq do not believe that increasing the number of troops is the right approach. He stated, ``I do not believe that more American troops right now is the solution to this problem. I believe that the troop levels need to stay where they are.''

Increasing the number of U.S. troops is not a solution. The increase does nothing to improve long-term security and end sectarian violence. Our country needs a policy to secure and stabilize Iraq and one that constructively engages in diplomacy and partners with our neighboring countries and the region to create a stable and peaceful nation, not a blank check to send more men and women into harm's way. We need a policy and a plan to put the welfare of our service men and women first so they can come home, rejoin their families, and receive the care they deserve. They should include adequate services for returning service men and women, including culturally competent care, mental health care for veterans, housing and education.

We need a plan to ensure that U.S. tax dollars are not going to war profiteering and fraud, such as the $1.4 billion that has been somehow charged by Halliburton. I strongly believe that this is possible, but it will require courage, cooperation, and leadership on the part of all my colleagues. Let me say to my colleagues that I support our troops and the war on terror. Unfortunately, the war in Iraq is not the war on terror.

Mr. Speaker, I will continue to support and protect our sons and daughters who are serving, as these young people have served us so well. I will do so by voting for this resolution and by supporting their redeployment.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to discuss the need to make access to health insurance for everyone a priority in our country.

As you know, 46 million Americans are uninsured, including more than 9 million children in the U.S. One in three people in the San Gabriel Valley, which I represent, is uninsured; and across the State of California, 6.5 million adults and 750,000 children lack health care insurance. Nationwide, 83 percent of the uninsured are from working families. Of uninsured Californians, more than two-thirds of those families have full-time jobs. Fourteen million uninsured are Latinos, including one in five children.

In the past 5 years, the number of Latinos without health insurance, as you know, has increased. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, uninsured children are five times less likely to have visited a doctor or dentist in the past 2 years compared to those children who are insured. Fewer doctor visits can lead to serious illness and health problems, as well as avoidable costly emergency room visits. The Institute of Medicine estimates that each year at least 18,000 people die prematurely due to lack of health insurance.

But President Bush's proposal will not help the 46 million uninsured men, women, and children in our country. Instead of finding real solutions, President Bush wants to provide tax deductions to wealthy Americans who can already afford their health care insurance. Tax deductions, as you know, will not solve the real problem of skyrocketing health care costs. Tax deductions will not make it easier for low-income families and middle-class working families to purchase health care insurance. In fact, as you know, our families may be better off without the President's so-called help.

According to Families USA, President Bush's plan is ``like throwing a 50-foot rope to someone in a 40-foot hole.'' And for the majority of uninsured people, his plan is like throwing them nothing at all.

People without employer-sponsored coverage, such as people who work in small businesses, who make up the majority of those individuals in some of our districts, will not benefit from Bush's tax breaks. Even White House officials admit that only 3 to 5 million uninsured people would actually become insured under Bush's proposal. The President's plan, as you know, fails to relieve the problems that most uninsured adults and children face.

We have to do better for the American people. And we must ensure that everyone has access to affordable and quality health care insurance and that programs are easily accessible by all. Programs such as the State Children's Health Insurance Programs, as you know, are very important. We call them the SCHIP program, and in the State of California they are known as the Healthy Families Program. Across the Nation, Medicaid and SCHIP provide coverage for more than 34 million children. These programs must be adequately funded and include needed tools to reach all eligible populations.

However, as you know, millions more children are eligible for these programs but are not enrolled. In fact, 74 percent of the uninsured children are eligible but are not somehow showing up on these enrollment applications. Many are low income. They come from families that are poor and unaware of the fact that they are eligible even for these services. And recent research shows that the SCHIP program may be failing to reach the hardest to reach subpopulations of the uninsured children like Latinos. And according to Families USA, distrust of the health care system, language, culture, these are all barriers that are confusing to our families, and those eligibility rules are high obstacles for families to enroll.

Community health care workers, such as the promotoras, play key roles in overcoming these barriers to enrollment for public programs. Promotoras, as you know, exist in the State of California and along the frontera, along the border on the U.S. side. They are qualified people who could help patients access and navigate the complex and confusing health care system. They can reach racial and ethnic minorities that would otherwise remain locked out of our system.

A recent report by the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics compared the effectiveness of community workers with traditional Medicaid and SCHIP outreach enrollment. The report found that families who interacted with community health workers such as the promotoras were eight times more likely to obtain health insurance.

Almost 96 percent of children who work with promotoras in the study obtained health insurance. Seventy-eight percent were insured continuously. The study provides that community health workers can reduce the number of uninsured children, and we should move forward asking for the SCHIP program to also provide for assistance through the promotoras program.

I know that the gentlewoman from California understands what I am talking about, because those promotoras also exist in her district as well.

We need to make sure that President Bush plans for a significant funds for those children that are uninsured, and I would ask that our colleagues please continue to provide funding for the SCHIP program and to expand that in those needed areas.