Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 93, HR. 3905-- Community Recognition Act of 2003, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I request the honor of distinguishing Sergeant First Class Gregory Hicks. I pay tribute to this exceptional soldier, husband, and father, who tragically died near Fajullah, Iraq on board a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.

Sergeant Hicks was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, based in Fort Hood, Texas. A recipient of the Purple Heart and Army Achievement Medal, among others, Sergeant Hicks had distinguished himself as a man of honor and integrity.

Campbell County and the Fourth Congressional District of Tennessee lost a great individual. It was with great personal joy when I heard the small community of Duff, Tennessee, where Sergeant Hicks was raised, rallied around the family in their time of need.

Accordingly, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to his wife, Melinda, his children, Chris and Jennifer, his mother and father, Clayton and Flora, and his siblings, Sandra, Stephen and Minnie on their tremendous loss. We honor his memory here today so that they will know that we all share their loss. Sergeant Hicks was a man devoted to his family, his country, and his community.

Mr. Speaker, I am deeply honored to pay tribute to the life and memory of First Sergeant Gregory Hicks. Never withholding their services in the face of war, Tennessee's citizens have always been celebrated for their wartime valor. Sergeant Hicks fought to keep his family and country safe and for that we are forever indebted. My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Sergeant Hicks. It is with much respect that as a member of Congress I may honor his service.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute and honor Turk Baz. I have known Turk for many years, and he is a testament to the service, dedication, and diligence to his listeners on the local radio by providing daily weather updates.

Turk, a veteran radio broadcaster and owner of WDEB FM/AM, has been a fixture in Fentress County, Tennessee, for many years. He was recently honored by the National Weather Service for his more than 20 years of service by presenting him with its John Campanius Holm Award. The annual award goes to 25 individuals among the agency's 11,000 plus volunteer weather observers: The award has been given since 1959.

One of his greatest qualities is his modesty. During the acceptance ceremony, he said he was accepting the award on behalf of his radio station's staff and the many volunteers who are part of the Fentress County Emergency Service Organization. Fentress Countians are blessed to have someone like Turk looking out for them.

Mr. Speaker, teaching is one of the noblest professions I can think of. I rise today to honor one of those teachers. Her name is Chana Lymon. Chana is the Director for Sylvan Career Starters in Columbia, Tennessee. She recently received the Educator Excellence Award from Sylvan Education Solutions. This award is presented to individuals who meet and exceed all of the standards of Excellence and Program Management. Award winners have developed well trained motivated teams and ensure that all service activities meet Sylvan standards.

The Career Center serves youth ages 18-21 who have dropped out of school or have not been able to complete traditional high school due to a barrier such as teen-parenting, truancy, delinquency, debilitating illness, or an academic deficiency. The centers help students prepare for the GED and State TCAP or Gateway tests. They also offer employability and work assistance as well as computer literacy training.

It has become evident through their work that Ms. Lymon and her staff strongly believe in promoting the importance of self-worth. Self-esteem is the most important factor that will go hand in hand with success. I congratulate Ms. Lymon and her staff for promoting education as the key to a better future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of the 4th Congressional District's finest citizens. On Saturday, November 29, 2003, Wayne T. Palmer, of Sparta, Tennessee, passed away at his home.

Wayne Palmer was not a master of business or of politics. Mr. Palmer was a man of meager means but overwhelmingly generous spirit. He was a man who cut a giant figure in his community through the devotion of his time and energy to the causes he loved.

Wayne Palmer served as a volunteer leader in the Boy Scouts of America for more than 35 years. During that long tenure, he served variously as Assistant Scoutmaster and Scoutmaster of Troop 175 in Sparta, as the camping chairman of both the Upper Cumberland and Black Fox Districts, and as a leader of the camping committee of the Middle Tennessee Council. Significantly, these are just a few of the roles he fulfilled during his many years of service to Scouting.

Mr. Palmer was honored for his guidance to young men and leadership in scouting repeatedly. He was awarded the Long Rifle Award for his leadership in both the districts he served. Mr. Palmer was honored with the Silver Beaver Award--the highest honor accorded adult leaders by the Middle Tennessee Council--for his service to the council. In addition, he was a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow-- Scouting's Honor Society--and was repeatedly honored for his service to the Wa-HiNasa Lodge, including receipt of the Founders' Award and Josh Sain Memorial Award.

Mr. Speaker, if we're lucky, we encounter few people in life who have the kind of positive influence over the lives and maturation of young men that Wayne Palmer had. He was a man utterly devoid of self-interest and focused almost entirely on the education and improvement of the lives of those boys and young men who had the tremendous good fortune to be guided by his wisdom--be they Boy Scouts (his first and lifelong love), Little League baseball players or otherwise. It is rare--very rare indeed--to find a person who acts altruistically, who places the interests of others consistently ahead of his own, and who is truly selfless. Wayne Palmer was just such a person, and the lives of many Tennesseans are far richer for having known him.

Wayne Palmer was a great teacher and a great man. The lessons he taught were lessons for life. Of that, I have no doubt. Wayne Palmer taught as much or more by example, as he did through more common instruction. Mr. Palmer walked the talk. He never asked anyone to do anything he was not himself willing to do. He was, in the eyes of so many, the very embodiment of that pole star of principles, the Scout Oath and Law. Mr. Speaker, Wayne Palmer was for many Tennesseans the Great Scoutmaster of legend and myth.

White County and the Fourth Congressional District of Tennessee lost one of those rare bright lights on November 29 when Wayne T. Palmer passed from this mortal coil. Accordingly, I rise today to express my deepest sympathy to his wife, Jan, and his son, Garrett, on

their tremendous loss. We honor his memory here today so that they will know that we all share their loss. Wayne T. Palmer was a great Tennessean, a man devoted to his family and to the education of young people, and an exemplary American citizen.

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege as a Member of the People's House to honor his lifetime of service to others.

Mr. Speaker, on October 10, 2003, one of our largest trading partners, the Republic of China on Taiwan, will be celebrating the 92nd anniversary of its National Day. I wish to join my colleagues in the U.S. Congress in sending best wishes to the 22 million residents of this lovely island. I also commend President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu as they continue to lead Taiwan to greater economic prosperity at home and greater participation in international activities abroad.

Just like our 4th of July, October 10th marks the beginning of a fantastic story of economic, social and political success that has culminated in Taiwan becoming a vibrant democracy in the Pacific Region. These are exciting times in the history of relations between the United States and Taiwan.

Mr. Speaker, on this 92nd occasion of the Republic of China's National Day, it is important to remember that Taiwan has a strong relationship with the United States, and we hope this relationship will continue to flourish and grow in the years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and pay tribute to Mr. Chaser Choate, who recently passed away following an extended illness. He will be sorely missed by his family, friends, and community.

Mr. Choate, born January 18, 1931, was the first of nine children of Edison and Eva Choate. Following high school graduation and after one quarter at Tennessee Tech, Mr. Choate was called to duty for service in the Korean war. In his third year of service, he was diagnosed with cancer and was forced to retire from the military. After having 85 percent of his stomach removed, due to the cancer, Mr. Choate returned to Tennessee Tech where he graduated with a degree in business.

Upon receiving his undergraduate degree he embarked for Florida. While in Florida and after a brief stint as an insurance adjuster, he found his calling as an educator. He returned to Tennessee and obtained a master's degree. He took a position with York Institute, his old high school, as a guidance counselor. Mr. Choate spent the rest of his career at York serving as a teacher of general business, economics, and English.

While at York, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Community Education Program. He helped establish the Adult Education Program and served as administrator of the GED Program. Mr. Choate was active in the Fentress County Literacy Council, Fentress County Foster Care Review Board, Fentress County Retired Teachers Association, Jamestown Rotary Club, and was a dedicated member of the Jamestown United Methodist Church.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to Mr. Choate today. His dedication and selflessness to his community are examples to all who wish to lead.

Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct conferees.

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

Mr. Speaker, sometimes we ask ourselves, why would I introduce this motion to instruct the conference committee? Seventeen other times this motion has been here on the floor. And you think, really, would it make a difference? Maybe it will not. But there are a lot of people who live in my district that hope that this one will be successful.

A few months ago, I voted for the $80 billion bill that included families in my district that have children that really would hope that they too would get the same treatment as those who make 10 or $15,000 more than them, that make above the $26,000 level that basically were allowed the tax credit of $400 each. So you wonder if it has been here 17 times, what is going to be magic about the 18th time? If it takes a thousand times, it is important to people who live in the district I represent.

Recent surveys by different groups analyzed different congressional districts. The one that I represent in rural Tennessee is the fourth most rural district in America, which means when you take the folks who live inside an incorporated area and those outside, of the 435, mine is the fourth most rural district in America. I traveled that district through the August recess. I attended 92 different meetings. A lot of the folks that I met with, a lot of folks who came to open meetings that I set aside for constituents to come and visit with their Congressman, this was one of the issues that really was of great concern to them.

But when you talk about being rural, then you look at the folks who work in the district that I represent. We have the third largest base of blue collar workers of any congressional district in America working in the fourth district, somewhat over 40 percent. Generally, you would assume blue collar would be the auto industry or some other industry that would pay higher wages. Yes, we have that in the district as well, but most of the ones I am talking about are individuals who fall in the criteria of the 10 to $26,000 bracket. They are the lower-wage income earners. They are the ones who get laid off first. They are the ones generally that their employer are not able to provide a health care policy for them.

Many of those had high hopes as they saw us go through this process. There were times that I would be back in the district and they would say, why don't Democrats support a tax cut? What's the problem? Then when I explained to

them what happened, they are saying, you left us out. You left us out of at least that opportunity to share in a tax cut that went to other folks. Some folks will say, you don't get a tax cut. This is a tax credit for people who work every day, every day, that earns a check, that owns a home, has an automobile, pays almost 40 cents a gallon on gasoline when they drive to work.

I have a nephew who works at a factory in Crossville, Tennessee, in the district that I represent. He married my niece. They have two little boys. This past weekend, those two little boys along with my niece, my brother, his other daughter and the nephew that works at that factory helped hauling tobacco all weekend. Those two little boys are saying, Uncle Lincoln, it's good to see you. But I talked to Marty Brown about his earnings. He earned above the $26,000 last year because he worked overtime. He checked at his factory on the 180 folks who work on that assembly line where he does, 40 of those were extremely disappointed that they were not included in the $400 tax credit, the child tax credit that he received. On the particular assembly line where he works, there were only two that received it, his supervisor and him. He got the $800 for his two children. But there were folks who worked with him that did not receive anything. They do not understand. They are hurt. They are disappointed. They are concerned.

The question that I ask is why would I introduce this legislation to instruct the conferees in the House to meet with the Senate to resolve this issue? As a Democrat who voted for the initial $80 billion child tax credit, I am here appealing to the other side not to leave out those individuals that we included in the $80 billion tax cost over the 10-year program. Let us at least work with the Senate for this year to make it possible, at least through 2004, to make it possible. That is what the Senate bill does. That is what the initial bill did, was only made it through 2004. The $350 billion tax cut that was given that had the inclusion of those who would get a child tax credit only goes through 2004. It does not go through 2010 as the tax cut did in 2001.

Let us include, as the President asked us to and as the Senate has passed, a child tax credit for those individuals I am talking about, the 40 of that 180 who work in that one factory in my district, that are disappointed not only in just Lincoln Davis but on the other side as well that they were excluded from the fairness that I think this Chamber has about it and I think this Chamber will and I hope this Chamber will correct it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek). His mother served here in this Chamber for many years, and we are fortunate to have a young man like him that is here today that will be speaking on the child tax credit.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Case).

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the question I asked is why would I come here for the 18th time. There is a reason. The $500 or whatever it cost today or whatever it cost for those 18 times, I guarantee the folks sitting back home expect me and expect those of us in this Chamber to be fair with them as well.

As we talk about the 6.5 million lower-income families, this is a comment made today in one of the publications, If it ain't dead, it is doing a pretty good impression, said one Senate GOP aid about the bill which caught fire in June when the media reported that about 6.5 million lower-income individual families had been left out of President Bush's $350 billion tax cut.

The reference was made that we have not had a conference committee nor a call. On the Senate side the chairman said, ``I suppose I could call a conference meeting, but I am not going to do that unless it is going to be productive. And right now it does not look like it would be.'' We have not gotten a response from them to our letter about the conference that we sent this summer.

As I said earlier, I voted for the $80 billion tax package on June 12. That included the families I mentioned a moment ago that I personally know and that each of us knows.

Now, when we talk about those folks, we are not talking about Democrats and Republicans; my colleagues have not heard me make reference today to either political party. My hope and my request is that all of us will realize that this is not a Democrat or Republican issue, that really what it is is an issue about people back home who really feel they have been left out. And do my colleagues know something? I agree with them; they have been left out. And I think those of us in this Chamber, when we talk about we have passed the bill, we have done what we should do, we did not do what the President asked us to do. That does not necessarily mean we have to. But he asked that these families be covered with the child tax credit, and the Senate passed a $3.5 billion bill that did just exactly that. They went above the $350 billion agreement that they had agreed on, but they still passed that shortly after the $350 billion tax cut was passed in this Chamber, which reduced dividend earnings to 15 percent and capital gains to 15 percent, I believe. These individuals who work every day, we did not give them anything. We have left them out.

So as we talk about why are we back, in number five of this motion to instruct, ``The House conferees shall, as soon as practicable, after the adoption of this motion, meet in open session,'' and it says please, basically, meet in open session with the Senate conferees and the House conferees shall file a conference report consistent with the provisions of this instruction not later than the second legislative day after adoption of this motion.

In essence, what we are trying to do is get within a short period of time, perhaps no more than 2 days after passage, a gathering of those folks in the House and the Senate who will compose a conference committee that will reach out, as the Senate has done, to those lower wage-earners who live in our districts. Who do they vote for? Someone voted for me. Someone voted for my opponent. Who did they vote for in anybody else's district? Some voted for Republicans, and some voted for Democrats. This is not an issue about who we are helping, it is who we are hurting; and the ones we are hurting are the low-income families who have children at home and who go to work every day.

My request is that we pass this instruction to the conferees and that we get on with business.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, subject to rule XX, clause 7(c), I hereby announce my intention to offer a motion to instruct conferees on H.R. 1308, Tax Relief, Simplification, and Equity Act. The form of the motion is as follows:

Mr. Davis of Tennessee moves that the managers on the part

of the House in the conference on the disagreeing votes of

the two Houses on the House amendment to the Senate amendment

to H.R. 1308 be instructed as follows:

1. The House conferees shall be instructed to include in

the conference report the provision of the Senate amendment

(not included in the House amendment) that provides immediate

payments to taxpayers receiving an additional credit by

reason of the bill in the same manner as other taxpayers were

entitled to immediate payments under the Jobs and Growth Tax

Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003.

2. The House conferees shall be instructed to include in

the conference report the provision of the Senate amendment

(not included in the House amendment) that provides families

of military personnel serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other

combat zones a child credit based on the earnings of the

individuals serving in the combat zone.

3. The House conferees shall be instructed to include in

the conference report all of the other provisions of the

Senate amendment and shall not report back a conference

report that includes additional tax benefits not offset by

other provisions.

4. To the maximum extent possible within the scope of

conference, the House conferees shall be instructed to

include in the conference report other tax benefits for

military personnel and the families of the astronauts who

died in the Columbia disaster.

5. The House conferees shall, as soon as practicable after

the adoption of this motion, meet in open session with the

Senate conferees and the House conferees shall file a

conference report consistent with the preceeding provisions

of this instruction, not later than the second legislative

day after adoption of this motion.

Mr. Speaker, it has been 846 days since President Bush and the Republican Party embarked on their economic plan for our country. Do the Members realize that during that time the national debt has increased by $1,152,231,363,445 and some few odd cents and according to the Web site for the Bureau of the Public Debt at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, at 4:30 p.m. yesterday, eastern daylight time, the Nation's debt was $6,792,556,749,803 and some few odd cents?

Now, you study that for a moment. Furthermore, in fiscal year 2003, interest on our national debt, a debt tax, is $288,803,184,023 and some few odd cents through July 31 of this year.

Mr. Speaker, child tax credit. What is it? It is not a refund because you paid income tax. That is a misnomer we are talking about.

This bill passed in the House and was excluded, there were certain numbers of people excluded as a result of tax cuts that were passed. And this body, Members of this Chamber, the majority side decided that we ought to cut folks out who make between 12 and $25,000 a year. We are not talking about something new. This has already passed for everyone else except for those who earn between 12 and $25,000 a year. You excluded those individuals. You said if you have children and you are working, it does not matter.

I walked this past Monday in a Labor Day parade; and as I was walking down in Whitwell, Tennessee, the gentleman knows what I am talking about, as I walked down that Labor Day parade route, probably 5 or 6,000 people on the sides of the road, somebody came out and hollered at me, Tell the President, and I will not repeat what she said, what he can do with his tax cut.

I think we can redeem ourselves. Mr. President, what I am calling on you tonight to do is just what you did to the Senate. I talked to the Republican-controlled Senate and said pass a child tax credit that includes those folks who earn between 12 and $25,000 a year. They did. He said we have left them out when we passed the income tax proposal. He called the House. I am sure he called the majority leader or maybe the Speaker and said, Pass the bill because those folks deserve it. He said he was a compassionate conservative. I believe him.

Let us redeem ourselves to this lady who is saying, you left me out. I work every day. I am a single mom and you left me out, Mr. President. Do not do that to us, Mr. President. We are not talking about whether they pay income tax or not. We are not talking about giving a tax refund because they paid in. We are talking about stimulating the economy and giving someone $400 per child who works every day and pays the gasoline tax when they drive to that factory where they work or the shopping center where they work selling hamburgers.

So do not tell me they have not earned this. They have. And it is a shame that this House has not done what the President asked them to do. Mr. President, let us redeem ourselves with those folks who work every day harder than any of us and earn between $12,000 and $25,000 a year. It is time that America stood up for what is right, Republicans and Democrats. I am tired of it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to explain my absence on Friday, July 18, 2003 and Tuesday, July 22, 2003. I attended the funerals of Sgt. Roger Rowe, a Tennessee National Guardsman killed in Iraq, and Rose Barker, a longtime friend. I wanted to pay my respects to Sgt. Rowe and thank his family for his dedicated service to our country. I also wanted to say farewell to a very good friend in Rose.

Mr. Speaker, it is with a solemn heart that I honor the dedicated and honorable Tennessee National Guardsman and Bon Aqua Resident Sergeant Roger D. Rowe. Sergeant Rowe served the Army National Guard for 17 years and was deployed to Iraq with the 1174th Transportation Company. I pay tribute to this outstanding soldier, husband, father, and grandfather who on July 9th was tragically killed in action near the city of Mahmudiyah.

Sergeant Rowe was one of 1,000 Army and Air National Guardsmen selflessly protecting our country. As a soldier, Rowe courageously endured 130 degree heat, relentless sniper attacks, and separation from his loving family. This was not the first time Sergeant Rowe unflinchingly protected the people of the United States. He also served in a medic unit in Vietnam for two years. Working as a shipping clerk with Shiloh Industries in Dickson, Tennessee, his experience driving trucks made Rowe an invaluable asset to his military convoy overseas.

Mr. Speaker, I am deeply honored to pay tribute to the life and memory of Sergeant Roger D. Rowe. Never withholding their services in the face of war, Tennessee's citizens have always been celebrated for their wartime valor. Sergeant Rowe more than upholds that reputation. He fought to keep his family and

country safe and for that gift we are forever indebted. My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Sergeant Roger Rowe.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 410, had I been present, I would have voted ``nay''.

Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 418, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Announcement by the Chairman