Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2535, legislation to reauthorize the Economic Development Agency for an additional 5 years.

Since its inception in 1965, the EDA has been successful. Positive changes have occurred in every State of this Nation. More than $18 billion in Federal money has been invested in rural and urban communities, which has leveraged more than $74 billion in private sector investments. More than 2.8 million jobs have been created. In my congressional district, the EDA has provided assistance for a variety of economic development projects--ranging from ports to business parts--to improve the region's economy.

The bill we have before us today will continue the success of the EDA by providing the agency with $2.25 billion over a 5-year period for economic development assistance. These resources will result in the creation of almost 625,000 jobs and leverage $46.4 billion in private sector investments.

Mr. Speaker, the bill we have before us today is a good bill. It builds on the success of the EDA, and will improve the responsiveness and flexibility of the EDA, while improving coordination with other Federal agencies.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong opposition to the process being used by the Republican Leadership to bring the Supplemental Appropriations bill before the House.

This process denies members from having the opportunity to consider or vote on the Obey substitute or to have two separate votes: one to provide the funds for our troops and the other to fund the reconstruction of Iraq.

Each Member of this body strongly supports our troops and will provide the necessary money, supplies, and equipment to ensure their safety. However, the President and the Republican Leadership has tied funding for our troops to funding for Iraq reconstruction. They know that tying the reconstruction money with the money for our troops makes it very difficult to vote no on this $87 billion package. This puts me and other members in a position to either vote for the entire package, which includes giving the President a blank check with little accountability for spending or risk having them accuse those who vote against the package as being unpatriotic or not supporting our troops. Both charges are not only false but also outrageous.

I voted against the resolution to give the President the authority to send our troops to war in Iraq. I did so because I believed that allowing the weapons inspectors to continue to do their job in Iraq would cost us nothing and would give us more time to attempt to bring the United Nations on board. The President should have assembled an international coalition similar to the coalition that his father put together to undertake Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-1991. However, this President instead decided to go it alone and told the United Nations and other countries that they were either with us or against us. Unfortunately, when one country decides to go it alone as the President did with Iraq, American soldiers fight alone, die alone and the American taxpayers pay for it alone.

There was a great deal of national support at the start of the war with Iraq because the American public was told the operation would be short and that reconstruction would be financed with revenue generated from the oil in Iraq. In fact, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told congressional committees that American soldiers could be out of Iraq within 30-60 days and the vast revenue from the oil in Iraq could pay for the entire reconstruction of Iraq. The administration is now estimating that we could be in Iraq for the next five years and with this supplemental today, the American taxpayers will have already spent between $150-$200 billion.

Congress has already provided $103 billion in defense funding, over and above regular defense appropriations, for military operations in Afghanistan, for homeland defense, and, most recently in April's Emergency Wartime Supplemental appropriations bill for the war in Iraq. The deficit is growing to new highs and the government cannot keep spending at this rate.

Since coming to Congress, I have consistently and strongly supported our troops and national defense spending. I am extremely proud of our servicemen and woman that have sacrificed so much in Iraq and elsewhere around the world. I am very concerned about the safety of our troops, who are serving long tours in tough conditions. Our men and women in uniform and their families are going well beyond the call of duty.

It is disgraceful that the Bush Administration and my Republican colleagues would tie funding for our military with controversial and unaccounted reconstruction funding. It is important to note that the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service contradicts the administration's position that the $67 billion for the military is needed immediately. According to the study, the Army could finance operations through next April or May with the money already appropriated.

Mr. Chairman, I cannot in good conscience support giving this President or any president a blank check with little or no accountability. Therefore, I ask my colleagues to join me and reject the $86.9 billion Supplemental Appropriations bill and send it back to the committee with instructions to immediately bring the bill back to the floor as two separate bills today: one that provides funding for our troops, which would pass unanimously, and one that would provide for reconstruction. We should let the decision concerning money for reconstruction and who will profit from it stand on its own merits.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 2557, the Water Resources Development Act of 2003. This bill addresses what Congress failed to do last year, enact a Water Resources Development Act for 2002.

Mr. Chairman, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure strongly supports this legislation for the corps' water resource program. It is critical to maintain this 2-year cycle to provide continuity to the program and certainty to the non-Federal local sponsors who support the corps' program. This 2-year cycle also affords Congress the opportunity to monitor and, if necessary, amend the workings of the corps' program, often in response to changing circumstances.

H.R. 2557 authorizes projects for the entirety of the corps' civil works program. It includes flood control, navigation, environmental restoration, and authorizations for several important projects to restore and enhance the Nation's environmental infrastructure. In developing this legislation over the past 3 years, the committee received over 300 individual requests from Members for projects of importance to the various regions of this country. The committee tried to accommodate as many requests as feasible within the jurisdiction and authority of the Corps of Engineers.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to take this opportunity now to acknowledge and thank the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the ranking member of the full committee, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), and in particular my colleague, friend, and chairman of the subcommittee for all of their hard work and their leadership. Without their leadership, support, and work we would not be here today. The gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) in particular, let me say, showed a willingness to work with individual Members on both sides; and we were able to put together what I believe is a good bipartisan bill.

The tough issue of independent review, which yielded a bipartisan solution to a very complex issue of great importance to the members of the committee and the entire House and to the improved operation of the corps' civil works program was accomplished because of this bipartisan support and their leadership.

The independent review language that is included in H.R. 2557 creates a firm, yet flexible, standard for the independent review of corps project studies. It is firm in that it establishes a $50 million threshold for projects to be reviewed. It is flexible in that the chief of engineers has the opportunity to exempt certain projects from review and retains the authority to time the reviews to a particular circumstance of an individual project study. This approach is the key to this bipartisan proposal.

Including this language in the bill will ultimately improve the corps' program. It will result in better recommendations for the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to consider when developing future water resource legislation. I believe also that it will save the taxpayers money and it will enhance the quality of investment in water resource projects.

I urge all of my colleagues to support the legislation.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), the ranking member of the full committee.

(Mr. OBERSTAR asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Matsui).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), a member of the subcommittee.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Indiana (Ms. Carson).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin).

(Mr. CARDIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Chairman I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), former ranking member of this subcommittee.

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

I would urge passage of this legislation. I again thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan), my friend, the chairman of the subcommittee, for all of his hard work on this legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, I am not rising actually in opposition to the amendment, but I am claiming the time. I actually am rising in support of the manager's amendment that is offered by the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young).

The amendment offered by the gentleman from Alaska (Chairman Young) is a bipartisan amendment addressing various needs and issues that have come to the committee's attention since the bill was considered at markup in July. The amendment contains modifications to provisions in the bill and a few new items. Each were considered by the leadership of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and they are consistent with the policies of the committee for inclusion in the Water Resources Development Act.

The Young amendment contains nine new authorizations or modifications based upon completed reports of the Chief of Engineers. It includes authorization of 5 small projects and modification to 10 existing projects. There are two new project deauthorizations and authority for the Corps to conduct four new project studies.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment, like the underlying bill itself, was developed in a bipartisan process that ensured that Members on both sides of the aisle were treated fairly and openly.

Mr. Chairman, I congratulate the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), and the subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan), for their cooperation in developing not only the bill, but this amendment, and I urge the adoption and approval of the manager's amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Chairman, let me assure the gentleman that, number one, we have an agreement to strike the language, we agree to that, and we will work with the gentleman and with the chairman of the subcommittee and the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) further. But we are not willing to go any further today than to strike the language.

Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will yield further, if the subcommittee chairman would make a motion to strike the language without any reference to legislative intent, just take the language out, we would agree to that.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.

I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment. I can understand the gentleman's interest in supporting the additional investment in infrastructure and security, but I believe that the Rohrabacher amendment is not the best way to pursue that goal.

In the brief time that we have had to review the proposal, the committee has heard only objections to the proposal. Port interests, those that one would expect would be supporting this proposal, have indicated that they are either in opposition or that they have no position. We have been contacted by the California Marine Affairs and Navigation Conference who are opposed to the amendment; the California Association of Port Authority is opposed; the American Association of Port Authorities, they defer action and recommend that we take no position on this issue, at least they take no position. The Port of Long Beach is opposed, and the Port of Stockton is opposed. Those are just some of the port interests that have contacted us just today, since the amendment was given to us.

Let me also say that a proposal similar to the Rohrabacher proposal, but a little more narrow than the Rohrabacher amendment, was considered in the last Congress during the committee's work on the Maritime Transportation and Security Act of 2002. That proposal was not adopted, in large part due to the strong objections from the Office of Management and Budget within the Bush administration.

The fees contemplated in the Rohrabacher amendment would be available for ports or States to use for any infrastructure project, including infrastructure outside the boundaries of the harbor, if the project is for transportation to, from, or through the harbor. This could be any road, rail, or even any airport project associated with the harbor. It could include the locks and dams on the inland waterway system.

The committee has long supported transportation trust fund financing of transportation modes. Highway users support highways, inland waterway users support inland waterways, airport users support airports, and port users support ports. It is inappropriate to establish a fee system where the containerized cargo industry could be supporting other transportation modes.

This amendment could encourage ports or States to view containerized cargo as a simple source of revenue, in effect, a hidden tax to finance any and all transportation modes.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment simply does not have broad-based support, and we should reject the amendment. There have been no hearings on the proposal. I would suggest that we have the opportunity to learn more about the proposal in the appropriate forum in the subcommittee of this Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. While I will say that my friend from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Science, whom I serve with on the Committee on Science, that his amendment is well intentioned, and I would like to work with him to achieve what he is attempting to achieve, I believe that this amendment, in its current form, is more harmful than beneficial. Let us, on the appropriate authorizing committee, have the opportunity to consider and debate it. But I stand in opposition to the amendment as it is presented before us today.

Mr. Speaker I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the achievements and honoring the service of Ruth Barber.

Ruth has devoted much of her life in the service of others. Much of that time was service to the United States Postal Service. Most recently, Ruth served as the National PAC Chair with the National Association of Postmasters of the United States (NAPUS) until she retired.

Ruth grew up in New Athens, Illinois, ``on the wrong side of the tracks'' as she puts it. Her father was a coal miner and her mother was a housewife. Ruth married Raymond Barber on August 30, 1941 and he passed away in 1982. Ruth and Ray had two children, a son Richard who passed away in 1995 and the ``joy of her life,'' her daughter Barbara.

Ruth worked as a drill press operator at the Bostich Wire Staple plant during World War II. While at Bostich, Ruth was responsible for drilling the barrels on Garrand rifles and inspected the 30 and 50 caliber shells at the small arms plant in St. Louis, Missouri.

Her service with the United States Postal Service began in 1967, as a clerk in the U.S. Post Office in Freeburg, Illinois. The local Postmaster at the time, Mr. Herbert Baltz, hired Ruth and she then worked in every position available at the Post Office in Freeburg. She started as a clerk, and also worked as a window clerk, Supervisor, finance office, Assistant Postmaster and the Officer in Charge (OIC). She was appointed the U.S. Postmaster of Freeburg in October 1979.

Her involvement with NAPUS started in 1975, when she was a Supervisor. Her active involvement in NAPUS activities allowed her to be appointed as the State Chair in 1990. Ruth has attended every state convention of NAPUS since 1982 and has attended all the national conventions as well. Ruth also has attended every Leadership Conference in Washington, DC since 1982. She retired from the active service with the United States Post Office on August 30, 1990 but remained active in the community having served with the Freeburg Chamber of Commerce.

Ruth works tirelessly in the service of the USPS and NAPUS. I have visited with Ruth on more than one occasion where she has strongly advocated the issues and concerns of the working men and women of the United States Postal Service. She has a genuine, personal interest in helping to improve the working conditions at the Postal Service. Ruth performs all of her duties with a tremendous gusto and enthusiasm, unique to her. I am proud to honor the service of Ruth Barber and wish her all the best in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the service and the achievements of Ruth Barber and wish her and her family all the best.

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight in strong support of H.R. 2427, a bill that will help lower the cost of prescription drugs for our seniors. I applaud the efforts of Representatives Emerson, Gutknecht and Emanuel to get this bill to the floor for a vote.

For many years now, I have supported adding a prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program. While I have strong concerns about the bill that passed the House last month on this subject, I am hopeful a good final product can be worked out with the Senate that will indeed give prescription drug relief for our seniors. This bill tonight is an important part of that effort. While helping seniors with the costs of their drugs is critical, we must also take steps to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

It is no secret that U.S. seniors pay far more for the same drugs than seniors in Canada, Europe and other parts of the world. For example, the same prescription for Prilosec costs $112 in the U.S., but only $59.00 in Canada and $49.25 in Europe. H.R. 2427 would allow the reimportation of U.S.-produced drugs into the U.S. to take advantage of these lower prices.

However, the pharmaceutical industry is desperate to maintain its ability to force seniors to pay the highest possible prices for prescription drugs. Seniors in the U.S. should not have to supply the profit margin for the prescription drug industry. Too many people have to make the choice between eating dinner and buying their medicine. Too many people are cutting their pills in half to make their prescriptions last longer. We can do something about that by passing this bill tonight.

Mr. Speaker, the Senate prescription drug legislation contains a reimportation provision. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation so it can be included in the final version of the Medicare prescription drug bill. By conservative estimates, we can save our seniors $630 billion over the next decade by passing this legislation. Our seniors deserve equity with seniors elsewhere in the world. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 2427.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 2210 the School Readiness Act. This is a bad bill that will bring significant changes to one of our nation's greatest success stories: the Head Start program.

The Head Start program was established in 1965 as part of the War on Poverty. The program was created to give low-income youth an opportunity to receive quality preschool education, so that they would not enter kindergarten at a disadvantage. In addition to preschool classes, Head Start also emphasizes medical, dental, and mental health; nutrition; and parent involvement.

Since its inception, the program has grown and undergone some modifications, but has remained a federal program, with federal standards, and with funds provided to the local Head Start programs.

This bill proposes to change that. It will end Head Start as we know it by weakening educational standards and threatening to dismantle the effective and high-quality Head Start program that has helped more than 20 million children and their families.

While the bill would make quality improvements to Head Start that I support, virtually all of these improvements, as well as the existing quality requirements, would be undone by turning Head Start over to the States in the form of a block grant.

Under the block grant, states are not required to follow the Head Start performance standards. I fear that this will weaken educational standards, by increasing class size, increasing child-teacher ratio, shortening program duration, cutting off three-year-olds from services, and using unproven curricula. In addition, there is no guarantee that the pilot programs will maintain the comprehensive services, including elimination of parent classroom involvement, health and mental health screenings and services, adult literacy services, vision and dental services, and health and nutrition education, that have made Head Start so successful.

Mr. Chairman, I support Head Start, but I cannot support this bill. It takes a giant step backwards in providing vital services to our Nation's most precious assets, our children. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting no on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the distinguished career and retirement of Gene Verdu, Executive Director of the Southwestern Illinois College Programs and Services for Older Persons (PSOP).

August 31, 2003, will mark the end of an era of dedicated service as Eugene ``Gene'' Verdu retires from his position as the Executive Director of PSOP. Gene has dedicated his life to helping others. Throughout his 30-year career, he has touched the lives of thousands of people as he built and developed one of the finest social service agencies in the State of Illinois. From Belleville to Belize, Gene's generosity, passion and spirit have had a positive impact on family, friends, colleagues and constituents. His visionary leadership and tireless efforts to constantly improve the lives of others will be missed.

Throughout his career, Gene has served people, first as a teacher from 1963-1968. Moving from teaching young people to serving the needs of the elderly, Gene became the Director of the local Foster Grandparent Program in 1968 and served in that position until 1973. In 1973, Gene became the Director of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program and served in that position until he was named the Director of the PSOP in 1975.

While serving our area's senior citizen population, Gene developed one of the first comprehensive ``Preparation for Retirement'' courses and educational materials. He organized and administered local Foster Grandparent programs, the Senior Companion Program, Senior Nutrition and Development programs, as well as Senior Transportation programs. Gene also developed, organized and taught several statewide training seminars related to the subject of aging and established one of the first electronic telephone reassurance programs for the homebound elderly.

Gene served as a delegate to the 1971, 1981, and 1995 White House Conferences on Aging and served on national committees for the American Association of Retired Persons, the National Council on Aging and the National Council of Senior Citizens. He assisted the State of Illinois by organizing the Illinois State Council of Senior Citizens and lobbying the state to create the Department on Aging. Gene also helped establish the Illinois Gerontology Consortium.

Gene has been the recipient of many community awards, among them the Medal of Merit by the Belleville Rotary Club, the Studs Terkel Humanitarian Award, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award and the Outstanding Administrator Award from Belleville Area College. He has also received the Distinguished Community Service Award from St. Clair County and the Liberty Bell Award from the St. Clair County Bar Association.

Through Gene's work as the Director of PSOP, the elderly of the community are treated with respect and dignity. Their needs are met by the services PSOP offers: congregate meals, meals delivered to homebound elderly, transportation, employment, companionship, workshops and activities, travel opportunities, wellness clinic, volunteer opportunities, advocacy, counseling, outreach programs, and more. Recently, I was happy to work with Gene to secure more than $900,000 to help finance the construction of an addition to the PSOP building at 201 North Church Street.

In addition to his work with the elderly, Gene still has a place in his heart for children. He continues to touch the lives of young handicapped children through the Belize Crippled Children's Program. He spends much of his spare time promoting this program, recruiting host families for the children who receive medical treatment at Shriner's Hospital in St. Louis, arranging travel to and from Belize for the children, and often escorting them himself, and traveling to Belize to assist with the medical clinics which are held to select the children for the program.

As a result of his many years of dedication to the Belize Crippled Children's Program, he was appointed Honorary Consul of Belize for the Greater St. Louis/Southern Illinois Area and serves as Secretary- Treasurer to the St. Louis Consular Corps.

If a person, no matter what age, race, or religion, is in need, Gene will lend a helping hand. If there is a situation that needs correcting to benefit others, he will fight to correct it.

The PSOP program helps approximately 12,000 seniors every year and he has helped hundreds of children through the Belize Crippled Children's Program. His life has made a definite impact on thousands of people, thus making the world a better place. Gene Verdu is a true humanitarian.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the contributions of Gene Verdu and wish him the best in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the 50th Anniversary of the Hollywood Heights Fire Department.

In December, 1952, a group of local men decided that the area needed a Fire Department. The first charter members, Jack Frost, John Hurt, Roy Reynolds, Neal Butler, W. Gebbard, John Sharp, Jack Caldwell, Bob Williams, Oma Rust, Walter Leicht and Guy Anderson went door-to-door and business-to-business asking for donations to start a new Fire Department to serve the Hollywood Heights community.

On August 26, 1953, the Hollywood Heights Volunteer Fire Department was officially formed. Several of the Department's charter members put their own homes up for collateral to purchase the first fire truck for the department, which was a 1953 International. While this new truck was being built, Towers Fire Apparatus let the department borrow a 1937 Studebaker Fire Truck, which contained a 300-gallon water holding tank.

Hollywood Heights' first Fire House was located at the Community Center next to Hollywood Heights School from 1953 until 1955. The Department held picnics and bake sales to purchase the present property and a two bay building. A larger two bay building was built in 1963 to allow for additional space, which provided a meeting room, offices and expanded bay areas for the rescue and brush fire truck.

In 1976, the department started holding a bingo on Monday nights at the Madison County Fireman's Hall. The department had to borrow the money to start the bingo from a local businessman. This fund raising program has grown into the department's biggest source of income and has paid for another addition to the Fire House in 1976 and the purchase of trucks and additional equipment that are in use today.

The department has continued to remain an active part of the Hollywood Heights community. The department sponsors a free Easter egg hunt, holiday pictures with Santa Claus, various fire fighting demonstrations and donations to the Hollywood Heights Elementary School, the Shriners Hospital and the Caseyville Food Pantry.

Today, the department has over 25 members with a ladder truck, two front line pumpers, one rescue truck, one Brush/Mini pumper and an in- house cascade system to meet the department's needs. They continue to add modern state-of-the-art fire fighting equipment to the department and play a major part in their community and the area.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the 50th Anniversary of the Hollywood Heights Volunteer Fire Department and recognize the great work that it does in the community to benefit the health, safety and welfare of its citizens.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 1, the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003. I recently informed over 70,000 seniors in my district that I would not support legislation that would fundamentally change the nature of Medicare and provide a prescription drug benefit that relies solely on insurance companies. I am opposing the bill because it does just that.

Medicare has been a success because it provides guaranteed coverage for all elderly and disabled Americans. H.R. 1 would end Medicare as we know it and may particularly harm rural areas that depend on the traditional Medicare program. Beginning in 2010, H.R. 1 would force the Medicare fee-for-service program for doctors and hospitals visits to compete with private insurance plans. People who wanted to remain in traditional Medicare would find their premiums going up as other beneficiaries opted for bargain private insurance coverage. Seniors and the disabled would essentially be forced out of the traditional fee- for-service program and into some form of managed care.

In addition, the Republican approach does not guarantee the same benefits for all seniors. Seniors who live where hospitals and doctors negotiate lucrative contracts with managed care plans would have to pay more; seniors with higher incomes would have to pay more; seniors in rural areas would have fewer choices of doctors and pharmacies; and seniors with low incomes but with assets such as a savings account might get nothing at all. These provisions violate the central promise of Medicare: to provide a consistent, guaranteed benefit that allows everyone, no matter where they live, how much they have, or how sick they are, access to quality medical care.

Finally, H.R. 1 is flawed because it offers seniors an inadequate prescription drug benefit. I support a voluntary prescription drug benefit paid for by Medicare. I am committee to providing a comprehensive benefit that is affordable and dependable for all beneficiaries with no gaps or gimmicks in its coverage. The Senate is currently working on a prescription drug bill that provides a government fallback provision, providing Americans with more of a reliable, consistent benefit. The Senate is moving in the right direction and I am hopeful, progress will continue to be made when this legislation goes to conference.

H.R. 1 relies too heavily on the insurance industry to bring drug costs down and does not guarantee seniors access to the medicine prescribed by their doctor or that they can get prescriptions filled at their local pharmacy. Seniors deserve fair drug prices and a real, affordable prescription drug plan.

Mr. Speaker, for these reasons, I oppose H.R. 1. I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Katherine Dunham on the occasion of her 94th birthday.

Born in Joliet, Illinois, on June 22, 1910, Katherine Dunham became interested in dance at an early age. While a student at the University of Chicago, she formed a dance group that performed in concert at the Chicago World's Fair in 1934 and with the Chicago Civic Opera in 1935- 36.

With a bachelor's degree in anthropology, she soon undertook field studies in the Caribbean and in Brazil. By the time she received her M.A. from the University of Chicago, she had acquired a vast knowledge of the dances and rituals of the black peoples of tropical America. (She later took a Ph.D. in anthropology.)

In 1938, she joined the Federal Theatre Project in Chicago and composed a ballet, L'Ag'Ya, based on Caribbean dance. In 1940, she formed an all-black company, which began touring extensively by 1943. Tropics (choreographed 1937) and Le Jazz Hot (1938) were among the earliest of many works based on her research.

Katherine Dunham is noted for her innovative interpretations of primitive, ritualistic, and ethnic dances and her tracing the roots of black culture. Many of her students, trained in her studios in Chicago and New York City, have become prominent in the field of modern dance. She also choreographed for Broadway

stage productions and opera--including Aida (1963) for the New York Metropolitan Opera. She also choreographed and starred in dance sequences in such films as Carnival of Rhythm (1942), Stormy Weather (1943), and Casbah (1947).

Dunham also conducted special projects for Chicago black high school students. She served as the artistic and technical director (1966-67) to the president of Senegal and artist-in-residence, and later professor, at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and director of Southern Illinois' Performing Arts Training Centre and Dynamic Museum in East St. Louis, Ill.

Dunham's writings, sometimes published under the pseudonym Kaye Dunn, include Katherine Dunham's Journey to Accompong (1946), an account of her anthropological studies in Jamaica; A Touch of Innocence (1959), an autobiography; and Island Possessed (1969), as well as several articles for popular and scholarly journals.

Except for a brief appearance in 1965, Dunham has not performed regularly since 1962 and has concentrated on her choreography. One of her major works was the choreographing and directing of Scott Joplin's opera Treemonisha in 1972. When she dissolved her company in 1965 to become advisor to the cultural ministry of Senegal she returned to the United States in 1967.

She left the conventional dance world of New York that year to live and work in East St. Louis at an inner-city branch of the Southern Illinois University, running a school attached to the University and working with neighborhood and youth groups.

The living Dunham tradition has persisted. She is considered a woman far ahead of her time. She considers her technique ``a way of life.'' The classes at her Manhattan school--attended by many artists, including Marlon Brando and Eartha Kitt, during the 1940s and the 1950s, were noted for their liberating influence.

Her master of body movement was considered ``phenomenal.'' She was hailed for her smooth and fluent choreography and dominated a stage with what has been described as ``an unmitigating radiant force providing beauty with a feminine touch full of variety and nuance.'' Otherwise known as the Dunham Technique, which is still practiced today.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Katherine Dunham on the occasion of her 94th birthday. Katherine's lifetime of experiences and her contribution to the world of dance is an invaluable resource to not only the people of East St. Louis but to the world.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 2115, Flight 100, the Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act. This is a good bill and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.

When this Congress passed AIR-21 in 2000, we significantly increased funding for aviation programs, especially the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), in order to increase capacity to help cope with record high aviation traffic and unprecedented delays.

While air traffic has declined in the last three years due to a variety of factors, including the attacks of September 11th, the slumping economy and the SARS outbreak, no one expects these declines to be permanent, and the FAA is forecasting a return to record levels in 2006. Our Nation's aviation infrastructure needs to be prepared for this growth in traffic, and this bill keeps us on track to do so.

Flight 100 authorizes $58.9 billion over four years for the programs and activities of the FAA, including $14.3 billion for FY04. It continues the budgetary protections that allowed us to increase funding in AIR-21, and continues to provide slightly increased annual funding for the AIP program.

In addition, the bill increases the entitlement for cargo airports, prohibits the privatization of air traffic controllers, allows airports to use some of their AIP money to modify terminals to install explosive detection systems, extends the government's ability to offer war-risk insurance until 2007 for domestic flights and increases the amount that airports in the military airport program may use for terminal development, parking lots, fuel farms or hanger construction.

Mr. Chairman, which this bill does not do everything that I would like it to do, overall it continues good aviation policies and will serve to strengthen our aviation infrastructure over the next four years. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting yes for this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the distinguished career and retirement of Jo Ann Pisel, Executive Director of Call for Help Incorporated from 1976 to 2003.

Jo Ann Pisel has been with Call for Help for the past 27 years, 26 of which as the Executive Director. Call For Help is a not-for-profit multiple social service agency in St. Clair County, Illinois. Under her guidance, the organization, which started in the basements of volunteers, has grown and continued to offer critical services to the communities in Illinois that they have served for the past 33 years.

Starting with a Suicide and Crisis Hotline, the Call for Help agency includes a Victim Sexual Assault Care Unit, now with three satellite offices (Mt. Vernon, East St. Louis and Madison County). It also includes an Information and Referral Program, giving links to resources in the community and assisting with rental, utility and prescription assistance when available. Also, there is a domestic violence program that has evolved and has become an entity on its own now celebrating 25 years of service. Furthermore, Call for Help has an Adult Residential Program serving those who find themselves in a mental crisis, Crisis and MISA Counseling Services and a Transitional Living Center, housing homeless young women and their dependent children.

Serving people of all ages has been Jo Ann's stock in trade. In addition to her duties at Call for Help, Jo Ann also serves as a Home Health Social Worker for a variety of Home Health Agencies, currently BJC and Nurses and Company. From 1980-1992, Jo Ann was the Social Service and Activity consultant for Dammert Geriatrics, Parkview Manor and the St. Paul's Home for the Aged. She was a Medical Psychiatric Social Worker at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Granite City and also served as a private consultant. She served as a caseworker for female ex-prisoners in the late 60's and was a caseworker for foster families from 1968-1969. From 1966-1969, she served as a childcare worker at Villa Maria Maternity home in St. Louis, working with single, young pregnant women. From 1959-1966, Jo Ann taught the elementary grades first through sixth.

Jo Ann was recognized in 2001 as one of the Top Ladies of Distinction and in 1997 she received the St. Louis University-School of Social Service, Alumni Distinguished Service Award. That same year she was named a Hardees Hometown Hero and in 1995, was honored as being recognized as both the State of Illinois and Metro East Social Worker of the Year.

Jo Ann has worked tirelessly all of her life in the service of people and has given much of herself to filling the needs of the community, both the young and old.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the contributions of Jo Ann Pisel and wish her the best in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to all the true heroes--our law enforcement officers--who last year made the supreme sacrifice of their tomorrows so that we might live in peace and safety today.

President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15th as National Peace Officers' Memorial Day in 1962. However, it was not until May 15, 1982 that the first National Peace Officers' Memorial Day Service was held in Washington, DC. It is important that all citizens know and understand the duties, responsibilities, hazards, and sacrifices of their law enforcement agencies. The memorial that was created in Washington, DC stands as a daily reminder of these dangers facing our law enforcement officers and of how these brave men and women died facing them.

In honor of the law enforcement officers who, through their courageous deeds, have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their community or have become disabled in the performance of duty, Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing and paying respect to our fallen heroes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the 50th Anniversary of St. Clair County, Illinois Sheriff Mearl Justus' law enforcement career.

When Mearl Justus began as a part-time Cahokia police officer in 1953, he didn't even have a radio in his car. Now, exactly 50 years later, he's in charge of the St. Clair County Sheriff's department and every car has a computer in the dash. A lot of changes have come and gone in these past 50 years.

At first, Justus didn't even plan to become a police officer. Mearl says he was raised poor by his grandparents. Cahokia Mayor Bill Miskell back in 1953 told Justus he would make a good cop. The next thing he knew, he got a gun and a badge. At the time he was a twenty-one year old high school dropout. Since Cahokia did not have a high school, he attended school in nearby Dupo, but never finished. However, it didn't take long for Justus to learn about being a cop. So began a career in law enforcement that would span half a century, touch the lives of thousands of people and bring a new approach to law enforcement in our area.

Mearl soon returned to school, realizing that if he wanted to continue working as a cop, he needed an education in law enforcement. He soon received his GED and began looking for training opportunities. In 1959, he took a class at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. It was a weeklong course, so Justus took a week long vacation and took the class. In 1976, he received his Associates Degree from Southwestern Illinois Community College (SWIC) and in 1978 he received his BS in the Administration of Criminal Justice from Western Illinois University. In 1983, Justus received a second Associates Degree from SWIC in Security Administration. He now possesses a master's degree in the Administration of Justice from the Metropolitan Collegiate Institute in London. Today, Mearl continues his education by teaching a law enforcement course at SWIC and has established a scholarship program to help other students with GED's to continue their education.

In his police career, Justus was appointed Police Chief in Cahokia in 1962 after serving on the force for a decade. According to Mearl, Cahokia had changed a lot since 1953. Cahokia grew from a small rural community, where the cops didn't even have two-way radios. If you needed a cop, Mearl says, you walked around until you found one. Cahokia, like other growing towns, became a place where crime grew as the population grew. He started seeing more burglaries, thefts and armed robberies. It wasn't until 1972 that he investigated his first murder, a case that haunts him today.

During that summer in 1972, 14-year old Robbie Watson turned up missing. Eight weeks later his body was found east of Dupo, Illinois. Mearl conducted an investigation with very few leads. Just one-year ago however, Justus received a letter from an inmate serving time in prison in another state on an unrelated crime who confessed to that murder. Justus still thinks everyday of this crime, which has yet to be closed.

In 1982, Justus decided to pursue a political career--something he said he always wanted. He was elected St. Clair County Sheriff in 1982 and was re-elected for four more terms. After that first election, Justus and his wife, Audrey, moved out of their Cahokia home and into an apartment above the jail. Audrey Justus has said living above the jail took some getting used to, though it is probably the most secure living quarters in the county. All the windows are locked and all the doors are security doors. Both Mearl and Audrey have lived there for 20 years.

Mearl enjoys being a politician, his wife has said, but not as much as being a cop. Mearl never stops campaigning. He treats everyday as if the election is tomorrow, Audrey has said. Of all his accomplishments, Mearl has been his happiest when he is helping the poor and the elderly. Mearl enjoys being accountable to the voters, instead of other politicians.

Mearl certainly believes in doing his job creatively. He is well known for his outspoken attitude about traditional police policy. In 1988, the Sheriff held a benefit for the Women's Crisis Center by holding a Slumber in the Slammer, where people paid $100 to spend the night in the new jail addition.

In 1990, he sent out more than 1,000 notices to fugitives in the county, telling them they had won free sneakers. When they turned up to claim their prizes, they got a trip to jail.

In 1992, Justus swapped 500 guns confiscated by his department for bulletproof vests for his deputies. He has sold ads on patrol cars to raise money. He pushes youth programs, educating kids about the perils of drugs and about the rewards of careers in law enforcement. His humble beginnings also taught Justus compassion. In 1988, he arranged a cataract surgery for a woman who had lost $6,000 in savings, including the $1,400 needed for the surgery, during a robbery. He also established a nutrition ministry at Cahokia Park United Methodist Church 35 years ago. Mearl also features a crack house of the month to spotlight crime areas throughout the County.

Justus rarely carries a gun, although he usually has one within reach. Justus has said he doesn't even like guns. He tells the students at the class he teaches at SWIC that too much emphasis is put on guns. He says more crimes are solved with a pen than with a gun. Good law enforcement is not always about guns.

Justus has a unique collection in his office. He has quite a collection of pigs; wooden pigs, plastic pigs, stuffed pigs, even pictures of pigs. The pig became Justus's mascot in the 60's when students across the nation were protesting the war in Vietnam. Justus says Pig stands for Pride, Integrity and Justice.

In his last campaign, rumors were running rampant that he was ready to retire. Mearl says there is no truth to that. He intends to complete the job he started some 50 years ago. But besides being Sheriff of St. Clair County and keeping up with all the Boards and Commissions on which he serves, Mearl still finds time to fish.

I have known Mearl for much of his career in law enforcement. I have always said he is the second best Sheriff in St. Clair County. My father Dan being the first, who served from 1966-1970. This year, as he has every year as Sheriff, Mearl assists the inmates of the jail to tend their own vegetable garden. The vegetables grown there feed the inmates and what's left is distributed to local nursing homes.

Mearl Justice is a unique individual. He never forgot where he came from and what it means to struggle in life and to work hard. He instills this attribute everyday, to everyone he meets and works with. Mearl says it best when he says that ``there isn't anything he would do different. I am satisfied with my life.''

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Sheriff Mearl Justus on the occasion of his 50th Anniversary in the field of law enforcement and wish him many more years of service to the people of St. Clair County.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 2, the Republican Jobs and Growth Tax Reconciliation Act.

This bill will not put unemployed Americans back to work. The tax cuts that were enacted in 2001 have done little to stimulate the economy over the last two years. Instead, unemployment is up, and governments on every level--from local to federal--are facing severe deficits.

I am extremely disappointed that the Republicans adopted a rule that prohibited the Democrats from offering a substitute. The Republican bill will cost the U.S. taxpayer $549.5 billion over the life of the bill while the Democratic bill is fully paid for over that same time period.

The Democratic alternative would have provided immediate stimulus and jobs creation by extending benefits for the long-term unemployed and expanding the work opportunity jobs credit. It targets tax relief to those who needed it most, by increasing the child tax credit and providing this credit to more Americans, accelerating the widening of the 10 percent tax-bracket and accelerating marriage penalty relief.

It also provides funds immediately to the states to meet their critical needs by including funding for Medicaid, homeland security, and transportation infrastructure.

The Democratic alternative would also provide for long-term job creation and growth by expanding the amount of new investments that a small business can deduct and by allowing all companies an accelerated depreciation of 50 percent for 12 months. It also reduces corporate tax rates by 3.5 percent.

In addition, the Democratic alternative would have prevented companies from expatriating to tax-shelter countries like Bermuda and stopped top corporate executives from protecting their own retirement benefits at the expense of their workers.

I am deeply disappointed that we will not have an opportunity to fully debate this bill's impact on the economy, and that we were unable to offer any amendments to the Republican bill. The Republican bill is flawed and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting no on this bill, which will not help our hard-working and unemployed Americans.