Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to raise a question. Is it proper, is it appropriate, is it a violation of House rules for Members of this body to attack Members of the other body by name?

Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding this person is not even the nominee of his party yet.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the ranking member for yielding me this time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, the Republican budget before us fails the American people. It ignores the very real problems of working families. It will force deeper and deeper cuts to nearly every domestic program that supports our citizens and our way of life.

This Republican budget fails to create jobs. It shortchanges education. It robs Social Security. It cheats seniors out of secure, affordable health benefits at a time in their lives when they need it most. It fails to provide adequate health benefits for the wounded and disabled veterans who have fought so hard to protect our freedom.

This budget is without compassion. In my estimation, this budget is cruel and inhumane. It fails to meet the basic human needs of our citizens. It would slash nearly every domestic program in order to cut the taxes of a few wealthy Americans.

Mr. Chairman, this budget would dig our economy into a deeper, ever- expanding hole that our children and our children's children will have to work long and hard to pay for. This is not fair, it is not right, and it is not just.

As a Nation and as a people, we could do much better. We should be using our wealth to benefit the whole Nation, all of our citizens, all of the people, not just a few.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal), my colleague on the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on the Budget.

(Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin), a member of the Committee on the Budget.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cooper), a member of the Committee on the Budget.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Davis), a member of the Committee on the Budget.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Davis) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cooper) and all of the Members for participating.

Mr. Chairman, I have no other speaker at that time, and therefore, I yield back my time to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt), the ranking member.

Mr. Speaker, this Friday marks the 1-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Over 10,000 Iraqi soldiers are dead. Thousands of Iraqi civilians are dead. Nearly 600 Americans, 600 of our sons and daughters, are dead. Thousands more have been wounded. Physically and emotionally, their lives changed forever.

But the dead and the wounded are not the only casualties of President Bush's decision to invade Iraq. Something else has died in those desert sands. Something else has been lost. Truth, nothing but the truth, honesty.

For over a year, the American people have been deceived by the words of the President and his administration. Officials at every level have misled the people that they were elected to serve. They have also misled the community of nations.

We asked for truth, and President Bush told us that ``Iraq sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.'' We asked for truth, and Vice President Cheney repeatedly warned us of close ties between al Qaeda and Iraq. We asked for truth, and Secretary of State Colin Powell told the United Nations that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Where are those weapons, Mr. Speaker? We asked for truth, and President Bush warned us that Iraq had planes that could fly weapons of mass destruction to our shores. We asked for truth, and they told us that our troops would be greeted as liberators, that Iraqi oil would pay to rebuild Iraq.

The falsehoods go on and on. I do not know whether this administration cannot stop or will not stop. I only know that they do not stop.

Just last Sunday National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice told the American people that ``Iraq was the most dangerous regime in the world.'' Where is the truth?

Mr. Speaker, this administration would never be able to justify the war on Iraq because we cannot believe a word they say. They have never been honest about why we went to war. Just ask the former Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Neill. He told the Nation this administration was hell bent to go to war from day one, even before the President took oath of office.

And it is not just Iraq. It is almost on every issue, every comment, every deed. We cannot believe a word they say.

The Bush administration proposed a $550 billion Medicare prescription drug bill and told us it will only cost $400 billion. They cut down trees on public land and call it ``Healthy Forests.'' They let industry pollute our air and call it ``Clear Skies.''

The President himself, President Bush, proudly told the American people that his budget would cut the deficit in 5 years, but his budget does not pay for Iraq. It does not pay for Afghanistan. It does not pay for his tax cuts for the rich.

Mr. Speaker, instead of searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, we should be searching for the truth right here at home. The Bible tells us, ``The truth will set you free.'' And we will not find it at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. The British novelist John Le Carre once said, ``I think the single greatest enemy is the misuse of information, the perversion of the truth in the hands of terribly skillful people.''

On the eve of the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, we must reflect on these words. President Bush and his administration have misused information. They have perverted the truth, and now 600 Americans are dead, 10,000 civilians are dead in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of our sons and daughters, brave men and women, young people, 18, 19, 21, 23 years old, have been torn from their homes, from their families, and sent thousands of miles from home.

I would ask the President, what are they fighting for? I would ask him why so many of our young people are dead and wounded, but I do not want his answer. I do not want the answer from the Vice President or Secretary Powell or Secretary Rumsfeld. The American people do not want more of what we have been hearing for the past year. What we want, Mr. Speaker, and what we need more than anything else, is the truth.

Mr. Speaker, in the last days of Black History Month, I want to be sure this Congress honors the memory of Orah Belle Sherman, a woman who served our democracy well. In the eyes of some, her labor may have seemed humble, but her spirit was great. For 41 years, Orah Belle Sherman served the citizens of Atlanta as the hostess of Paschal's restaurant, and the comfort and hospitality of Paschal's reached the very soul of the Civil Rights Movement.

The role of the capable hostess is fully acknowledged in politics today. Sometimes decisions that impact the history of mankind may be made in the relaxation of social environments. A hostess is the architect of that relaxation, creating a seamless atmosphere of comfort where minds can meet undistracted and strike an agreement. Her grace eases the tension of division, and the ambience she offers invites opposing sides to sit down together. Orah Belle Sherman was a master hostess among hostesses because her grace not only cooled the tensions of ideological differences but momentarily silenced the ravages of racism.

In a segregated Atlanta, where a cacophony of signs declared ``White Only,'' ``Colored Only,'' ``Colored Waiting,'' ``White Waiting,'' in the heart of a hostile America, in the recesses of the Jim Crow South where a wilderness of racism threatened the future of this nation, Paschal's became an oasis of friendship, brotherhood and peace. There African Americans were always welcomed by Orah Belle Sherman.

She created a safe space where men and women who were outcasts of mainstream America could socialize in dignity and peace. In her haven of comfort and acceptance, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ambassador Andrew Young, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Dr. Benjamin Mays and many other soon-to-be great men of the Civil Rights Movement were welcomed, fed, and given the room to deliberate. In the loving glow of Orah Belle Sherman, they strategized the actions that would become the Movement we know today. Many of the great civil rights speeches, the plans for marches and sit-ins, the boycotts and sermons were discussed in the ambience of Paschals restaurant.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that, ``Love is the most durable power in the world. This creative force is the most potent instrument available in mankind's quest for security and peace.'' The love of Orah Belle Sherman has an enduring place in the history of the Civil Rights Movement. She is a gem of the South that reminds us of a culture of hospitality that is slipping away. Her graciousness and charm consoled the builders of a new day for America. She will long be remembered in the hearts of all the lives she touched.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to enter the comments of some Georgia residents into the Congressional Record. For Black History Month, the Democratic National Committee queried African Americans asking them to write in and describe how the policies of President George W. Bush's administration are affecting them. The following are the words of Georgia residents who responded:

John A. Olagoke, Dallas, Ga: ``Dear Mr. President, For the

very first time in American History, I have never seen such a

mess up in the American Economy. So many of us African

Americans have lost their jobs, their homes, their assets and

everything they have worked hard for. I am talking about

well-educated people, Mr. President. Most of our

telecommunication jobs are being moved overseas for cheaper

labor. Last week, again, over 500 co-workers were laid-off at

my company. I and others can no longer wait until the

November election. I intend to take two of my family members

who have not voted for eight years with me to the polling

station to express our feelings.''

Arnitta Lawson, College Park, Ga.: ``In spite of the fact

that I have a job, I am very worried that the job I do have

will not last. I was laid off once because of 9/11, as well

as other family members. [I was] forced to take menial jobs

and worry about how to get food for the children, pay bills

and try to get a job. I am very distrusting of Republicans

such as George W. Bush.''

Ginny Albert, Atlanta, Ga.: ``Mr. President, because your

administration has been so lax and deliberately cruel to the

middle class, the corporations who have filled your coffer,

thanks to the tax cuts and special initiatives that favor

businesses over people, these same corporations now feel that

they can be negligent and indifferent toward their customers

and employees. They demand more and pay less in every sector.

They have cut back on benefits, and in some cases have

eliminated benefits altogether. Yes, your lack of true caring

toward the non-rich has engendered a sense that cruelty

toward people is okay and acceptable, and that employers no

longer have to promise their workers anything. And another

thing, why have you not initiated a program that will assist

the unemployed in keeping their homes. Legislate something

that will make it impossible for companies to foreclose on

unemployed Americans. The homeless rolls are growing under

your administration. If you care, put a stop to it.''

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Pearlie S. Reed, a native of Heth, Arkansas, attended the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Animal Husbandry in 1970. He then attended graduate school at American University in Washington, D.C., where he earned a degree in Public Administration-Finance in 1980.

Mr. Reed began his career with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Soil Conservation Service in a temporary appointment in June 1968 as a Soil Conservationist Student Trainee. Thirty years later, in March 1998, he became the chief executive officer for USDA's Private Lands Conservation agency, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), formerly the Soil Conservation Service. He served NRCS in various positions and locations including District Conservationist, Budget and Accounting Officer, Administrative Officer for NRCS National Headquarters, Deputy State Conservationist in Wisconsin, State Conservationist in Maryland and California, Regional Conservationist, and the Associate Chief for the agency. Under the Clinton administration, Mr. Reed served as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Administration that led the most powerful USDA Civil Rights Action Team that developed the most comprehensive report ever written to document the status of Civil Rights in USDA.

As the Acting Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Administration, Mr. Reed provided leadership for USDA-wide offices and functions, such as the Office of Civil Rights, the Office of Human Resources Management, procurement, contracting, and facilities and property management, the Office of Small Business Utilization, the National Office of Outreach, the Board of Contract Appeals, the Office of Administrative Law Judges, and the Office of the Judicial Officer.

As the Team Leader for the Secretary's Civil Rights Action Team, Mr. Reed provided the leadership for recommendations to address civil rights problems in programs delivery and employment, and actions to ensure accountability and follow-through. The Secretary accepted the findings from that project, and committed to act on all 92 recommendations. The work of the Civil Rights Action Team is recognized as setting the direction for civil rights policy at USDA that semantically reformed a movement within USDA.

As the Chief of NRCS, Mr. Reed served as the executive officer for USDA's private lands conservation agency serving communities in all 50 states, the Pacific Basin, and the Caribbean area. He led a conservation partnership consisting of over 12,000 federal employees, 15,000 conservation district officials, 7,000 conservation district employees, 20,000 Earth Team volunteers, and 350 Resource Conservation and Development Councils. Mr. Reed served as a leader of several USDA- wide activities, such as the chair of the USDA/1990 Task Force, chair of the USDA Agricultural Air Quality Task Force, chair of the USDA National Food and Agriculture Council, and the USDA representative on the United States Migratory Bird Conservation Commission.

As Associate Chief, Mr. Reed served as the chief operating official for NRCS. Under his leadership, NRCS initiated a workforce planning process that was recognized by the National Academy of Public Administration as a model for other agencies. He led the development and implementation of the most comprehensive reorganization of the agency in its 60-year history. With a strong commitment to customer service and conservation partnerships, he initiated the American Indian outreach effort for NRCS to work directly with tribes. He also provided leadership in the development and implementation of the Conservation Title of the 1996 Farm Bill.

Mark Rey, USDA Under Secretary for the Natural Resources and Environment said of Mr. Reed, ``I believe that if you look up the term `public service' in the dictionary, you'd likely see a picture of Pearlie Reed there next to it.''

Mr. Reed has had a distinguished career, with 35 years of service which also included international conservation experience and service outside the continental United States. His contributions in South Africa, Australia, and with the International Soil Conservation Organization, exemplify his span of influence as a strong leader, visionary, and unquestionable natural resources conservation ethic.

Mr. Reed received numerous awards for outstanding sustained performance, including the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award--the highest award that can be bestowed upon a Career Senior Executive Service member. Another significant award included is the USDA Secretary's Honor Award for equal opportunity and civil rights that recognizes his vision and leadership in the most comprehensive reorganization in the history of NRCS.

Other recognitions he has received includes the Professional Service Award from the National Association of Conservation Districts, the Soil and Water Conservation Society Award, the George Washington Carver Public Service Hall of Fame Award, and the Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff. Another tribute to Mr. Reed was the naming of several campus buildings, including the Pearlie S. Reed/ Robert Cole Smith Farm Outreach-Wetland Water Management Center by the University of Arkansas System's Board of Trustees.

Mr. Reed is a soft spoken man of few words; a visionary who is marked by foresight, and a person who has distinguished himself by making contributions to conservation in America that will never be forgotten. He is a dedicated man that has never wavered from his work ethic: ``Each day I come to work, I think about what is important and how the NRCS can get more conservation on the ground.''

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleagues of the many barriers people with disabilities face. They confront barriers to employment, transportation and mobility issues, environmental obstacles, as well as fears, prejudices and misconceptions about their ability to offer valuable service to business, to our communities, and to our nation.

People with disabilities battle a 50 percent nationwide unemployment rate, and those with severe disabilities struggle with a debilitating 70 percent rate of unemployment. I regret that ten years after this Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is still necessary to affirm that people with disabilities can work and want to work. They can enrich the workplace with meaningful skills and talents. And they, like any other Americans, want to contribute their talents to our society.

The key to changing these shocking labor statistics is to encourage employers to focus on the abilities of an individual, rather than an individual's disabilities. Hiring a deserving, qualified individual with a disability is a win-win situation for business and the community. When a person with a disability is employed, the positive benefits reverberate in the community reducing welfare dependency and generating self-sufficiency, independence, stable families, and an increased tax base. Employing people with disabilities helps businesses as well. They have extremely high retention rates, higher than most employees, and there can be tax advantages for businesses that hire employees with disabilities.

The Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Program is to be commended and should be supported for providing employment opportunities to Americans with disabilities. The JWOD Program uses the purchasing power of the Federal Government to buy products and services from participating, community- based nonprofit agencies dedicated to training and employing individuals with disabilities. JWOD completes the cycle of support by enabling persons with disabilities to acquire job skills and training, receive good wages and benefits, and gain greater independence.

The program serves 40,000 people with disabilities nationwide. Last year, it generated approximately $280 million in wages earned and nearly $1.5 billion in products sold. In Georgia alone, some 972 people with disabilities earned nearly $3 million in wages last year as a result of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day program.

The Bobby Dodd Institute (BDI), a community rehabilitation facility in my district, has found particular success with JWOD contracts. Bobby Dodd Institute trainees operate the Veterans Administration Hospital switchboard, the U.S. Attorney Office mailroom, the Decatur Army Reserve Base janitorial service, and even have an expanded regional presence at the Veterans Administration Hospital switchboard in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

As a result of these JWOD contracts, the Bobby Dodd Institute has been able to provide employment opportunities to numerous individuals with disabilities and has helped them to become independent, self- sufficient citizens. I am pleased that these JWOD contracts have had such a positive impact and hope that this is only the beginning. With support from my esteemed colleagues, Javits-Wagner-O'Day contracts can increase, and our whole society will benefit.

This is a program that truly makes a difference in the nation, and in Georgia. I am proud to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to address the House for the purpose of inquiring of the majority leader the schedule for next week.

I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I thank the leader for that information.

Mr. Majority Leader, when the Congress adjourned for the year last year, it failed to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program, leaving 90,000 American workers and their families every week, roughly one-half million workers by the end of this month, in the lurch. We have 200 Democrats who have signed a discharge petition that would bring to the floor legislation to extend this much-needed help to those workers.

Can the majority leader tell the House, tell all of us when he will schedule debate on this important matter?

I continue to yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. Speaker, is the majority leader telling us there is not a need to bring this legislation to the floor of the House for a vote when more than 200 Democratic Members have signed a discharge petition?

I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. Speaker, I stand in strong opposition to H.R. 1. I believe in Medicare, I believe that Medicare is a sacred trust between the Federal Government and the American people. I believe with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my being that Medicare must have a dependable, affordable, and strong prescription drug benefit. And that is why I cannot support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, 38 years ago the Republicans did not like Medicare and they do not like it now. Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich gleefully stated that he wanted to see Medicare wither on the vine. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, Newt Gingrich is back, and his fingerprints are all over this bill.

If this bill is passed, it would be a dagger in the heart of Medicare as we know it. This bill is an attempt by the Republican party to privatize Medicare. I stand against privatizing Medicare, and I stand against this bill.

Medicare is a sacred trust. It is a covenant with our seniors. Let us not breach this trust. Let us not violate this covenant. We must do what is right.

I urge my colleagues to vote against this unreliable bill, vote for the seniors, vote for those that are in need. Vote against this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson), the ranking member, for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight in support of H.R. 3491, the National African American Museum History and Culture Act. First I would like to thank all of my colleagues who have labored long days, weeks, months, and even years to help realize a dream deferred for nearly 100 years, the establishment of a national museum that documents the significant contributions of African Americans.

It has been my honor and pleasure to work with the gentleman from the State of Georgia (Mr. Kingston), my dear friend, but tonight in addition to thanking the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston), I also want to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Ney) for not giving up, for not giving in, for not giving out. And I thank the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson), ranking member, for his commitment to making the National African American Museum a reality. I want to commend the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman LaTourette) and the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), ranking member, for all of their help. It is important to thank Senator Brownback and Senator Dodd for championing this legislation in the other body. Tonight I also want to thank our former colleague, Congressman J.C. Watts for his effort on this bill.

The effort to create a National African American Museum has not been easy. It has been a long, hard, and tedious journey. We are here today because Members, staff, and many supporters really never gave up. They did not give out. They did not give in. I want to thank my staff, Tammy Boyd and others, who worked so hard.

When we began this journey, we often said that we must pace ourselves for the long haul and we must keep the faith. We paced ourselves for the journey. We diligently planted our seeds and tilled a sometimes hardened soil. And now the many supporters of the African American Museum can and will finally see the fruit of their labor.

The passage of this legislation will send a powerful message to supporters of the museum that we must organize and mobilize our effort to raise the necessary money to build a National African American Museum.

During every session of the Congress for the past 15 years, I have introduced legislation to establish a National African American Museum. This bill was passed in the Senate but not in the House in 1992, and another bill was passed in the House but not in the Senate in 1994. Today the bill will pass both Houses of Congress. This bill will be signed by the President of the United States into law, and we will build the National African American Museum.

The African American story must be told, and a National African American Museum in Washington, D.C. is critical to telling that story. African American history is the story of hundreds, thousands, and millions of ordinary men, women, and children struggling to survive in a land where they were denied the fundamental rights, dignity, and respect that belong to all human beings. This is the story that we must tell.

We have come a long way in our quest to become one Nation and one people. We have made such tremendous strides that the young people today cannot imagine living in a country where they could not eat where they wanted to eat or sit where they wanted to sit.

They cannot imagine a country where they could be beaten, shot, or even lynched because of the color of

their skin. Yet, this was the country that I grew up in, and this is the history that we must tell.

The time is long overdue to recognize the contribution of one of the members of our American family. Mr. Speaker, the time is always right to reright, the cause is just, and the time is now. Let it be done on our watch. Let us create a National Museum of African American history and Culture. Again, I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney), the chairman, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson), the ranking member, and all of the staff for bringing us to this point.

I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 3491, a National African American Museum.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands for those kind remarks and also for yielding to me time to speak about H.R. 1616, the Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site Land Exchange Act. I also want to thank my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Saxton), for bringing this legislation before us.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 1616 is a good bill. It authorizes the exchange of land owned by the National Park Service for land of equal or greater value from the City of Atlanta. The National Park Service and the City of Atlanta have already agreed to the land swapping. However, this cannot be done without authorization from Congress, and H.R. 1616 completes the deal.

This legislation is so important because the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site Visitor Center and Museum is landlocked and has no emergency access, making it virtually impossible for firefighting equipment to reach the facility. In fact, if there were a fire at the visitor center, the Atlanta Fire Department would have to walk at least 150 to 200 yards in order to reach the center.

Luckily, we have not been faced with such an outcome. However, we must be prepared. Furthermore, Madam Speaker, with heightened security concerns at our Nation's monuments and parks, emergency access is critical.

Passage of H.R. 1616 will allow the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site to create an emergency access road to and from the site.

As the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands already stated, this bill is a win-win for all parties. The acquisition of city-owned property would enable the National Park Service to establish easy street access to the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site Visitor Center and Museum and would benefit the City of Atlanta by exchanging a piece of property that the city could develop into a viable commercial center.

Madam Speaker, Atlanta is the heart of the South and home to progressive residential and business communities. The Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site is adjacent to one of Atlanta's most preserved districts. It is a gathering place where people from all over the world travel to and from to learn our Nation's history. Furthermore the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site is central to the growth and prosperity of the surrounding community.

Madam Speaker, we must do all that we can to preserve this important tale of history. H.R. 1616 plays a small, but important, role in achieving this responsibility.

Again, I would like to thank the Committee on Resources for supporting this bill, and I urge its immediate passage.

Mr. Chairman, in good conscience I cannot and will not support President Bush's misled, failed policy.

I did not vote for going to war, I did not vote to put our young people in harm's way, and I will not be a party to financing this war. This administration has been hell bent from day one to have a war with Iraq, and they have stopped at nothing to get it. Their record on Iraq is one of secrecy, deceit, and fear-mongering.

They deceived Members of Congress, the American people, and the community of nations. They told us that Saddam had ties to al Qaeda, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, that oil from Iraq would pay to rebuild Iraq. I am sick and tired of lies, and I am sick and tired of war and killing and hatred and violence.

People are dying. For what? And while our troops and their families sacrifice, corporate America is getting rich. These war profiteers are making

money off the blood and toil of our soldiers and the people of Iraq. Halliburton. Bechtel Jacobs.

It is time to stop the madness. It is time to hold President Bush accountable for his words and his deeds. I cannot and will not be a party to this war. I will not vote for $87 billion for more violence, for more killing, for more war.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to inquire of the majority regarding the schedule for next week.

I yield to the gentleman from Virginia.

Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia for those comments, and I will continue to yield to the majority for a response, but I noticed the gentleman mentioned several conference reports coming up next week and that the military construction and interior appropriation bills are the most likely. Would those be the business for next Friday; since the gentleman indicated that he does expect to be in on Friday, possibly late Friday night?

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman indicated that he intends to begin debate on the Iraq supplemental bill on Thursday. Our side would like to know if it would be possible for us to begin that debate, since we are going to be here, on Wednesday, so that every Member, every Member of the Congress will have an opportunity to participate in this debate?

I take particular notice of the fact that when we debated the force resolution that every Member of the Congress, all of us, had an opportunity to participate in that debate.

Mr. Speaker, continuing to yield to my friend from Virginia with regard to the process for floor debate next week, we were told that an open rule is anticipated. However, as the gentleman knows, that does not guarantee that we will have the full debate this serious matter demands. The American people deserve to have a full, serious, open and candid discussion. Therefore, we expect that the rule would grant whatever waivers are necessary so that Members would be allowed to have a full debate and the ability to offer substantial amendments.

What assurance, what guarantee can the gentleman provide in this regard?

Mr. Speaker, I must say to my colleague that I think the Members on this side, and all Members, want to be supportive of our men and women in uniform in Iraq. At the same time, I think all of us need to know very soon whether we are going to have an opportunity to engage in a full, candid, and open discussion when we speak of $87 billion.

I yield to my colleague and friend, the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, on that note, let me thank the gentleman from Virginia.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) for yielding the time.

I also, Mr. Speaker, want to thank my good friend and colleague from the State of Georgia (Mr. Bishop) for bringing this resolution to the floor. I think it is so fitting and appropriate to pause and take note of the march on Washington 40 years later.

250,000 Americans gathered on the Mall and listened to Martin Luther King, Jr. say, I have a dream, a dream today that is deeply rooted in the American dream. This speech, this march, created the climate to make our Nation a better place. We have come a great distance since that time.

Forty years ago, in much of the American South, racial segregation was alive and well. Blacks could not attend the same schools as whites. We could not eat at the same restaurants. We could see the signs that divide our Nation: White men, Colored men. White women, Colored women. White waiting, Colored waiting.

In the spring and summer of 1963, as the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop) said, people were being beaten, jailed and even killed for participating in nonviolent protest. Millions of Americans could not register to vote because of the color of their skin. In Birmingham, Alabama, the commissioner of police, Eugene Bull Connor, used attacks dogs and fire hoses on peaceful, nonviolent protestors. In the State of Mississippi, NAACP leader Medgar Evers was assassinated.

We had come to Washington to say to the President and Members of Congress that America must change. We had to do something to dramatize the sense of urgency. Mr. Speaker, I can never, and I will never, forget that day as I stood and looked out on the Mall and saw a sea of humanity. It was a feeling that America was going to change and change forever.

Back in 1963 we did not have a fax machine, a Web site, a cellular telephone. We did not even have a computer. We stood on the Constitution, on the Bill of Rights. We used our feet, and we put our bodies on the line. We live in a different country, in a much better country because of the march on Washington.

I say today, 40 years later, we must recall the passion and spirit of that march. We must recapture the spirit as a Nation and a people. We must make this spirit part of our thoughts, our action and our lives. If we do this, we can make Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream come true. We can build what we call the Beloved Community, a true interracial community, a community at peace with itself.

All of us, 40 years later, black and white, Hispanic, Asian and Native American, must pull together for the common good. This was our mission then. This is our mission, and this is our calling now.

If we reach the Beloved Community, where we are one Nation, one people, one house and one family, we would come to the end of a march that our Nation started some 40 years ago.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, there was so much hope, there was so much optimism when we left Washington 40 years ago, but 18 days after the march on Washington some of that hope, some of that optimism was shattered. Forty years ago yesterday, September 15, 1963, was a terrible bombing of a church in Birmingham where four little girls were killed while attending Sunday school on Sunday morning.

We did not give up. We did not give in. We did not give out. We did not become bitter. We did not get lost in a sea of despair. We kept fighting, we kept pushing, and we kept pulling to make our democracy better, to open up our democracy and let all of our people come in.

I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me.