Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2231 because to do anything else would be irresponsible. We must continue assistance to those who need help getting back on their feet, and we must continue that assistance through the TANF program. But, Madam Speaker, we can do much better.

I speak from whence I came. I know about welfare. I lived it. Over 30 years ago as a young mother with three children, they were aged 1, 3, and 5 years old, my husband left us. I immediately went to work full time; but to keep it all together, I went on welfare, aid for dependent children, while I continued my full-time work so that my children could have the health care and the child care that they needed.

Because I was educated, because I had good job skills and good job experience, because I was healthy and my

children were healthy, lucky me, and the Members know I was assertive, eventually, I worked my way out of poverty. But it would have been almost impossible without the help of the Federal Government; and, believe me, I think that others should have the same opportunities that I did.

I know that we need to make education and training count as work activity for welfare recipients so mothers will have access to educational opportunities and job training to give them the skills they need so that they can get jobs that pay a livable wage, so that they can actually take care of their families. I know that quality child care, child care that actually includes infant and weekend and evening work, helps parents keep their jobs so that they can become self- sufficient and that these programs are essential to any welfare plan to give support to families in need.

Madam Speaker, as Congress continues to debate welfare reauthorization, we have to remember that the goal of welfare is to move women and their families from welfare to self-sufficiency, not from welfare to poverty as it is now. Therefore, we in this body must do a lot more to make this a true bipartisan bill so that families can get the real help that they need. In the meantime, I urge my colleagues to join me in continuing under S. 2231 what is going on now, so that we can improve the safety net for families in need.

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

I am pleased to join my colleagues in urging passage of S. 2241 to extend the authority for important child nutrition programs. I was pleased to stand on this floor last week with the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Boehner) and the gentleman from Delaware (Chairman Castle), the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), ranking member, and our entire committee to pass H.R. 3873, the Child Nutrition Improvement and Integrity Act, the House bill which both authorizes and makes some important improvements to the Federal child nutrition program.

H.R. 3873 improves accuracy in the school meals program without dropping eligible children. It makes it easier for eligible students to get free and reduced meals by making the application process easier.

H.R. 3873 makes homeless and migrant youth and children whose families receive food stamps automatically eligible for free meals. It allows youth up to age 18 to participate in meals programs if they are living in domestic violence or homeless shelters. It increases startup and expansion grants for the School Breakfast Program and includes a study of the best ways to overcome common barriers to offering breakfasts at all schools for all students.

H.R. 3873 helps students make better food choices and fight obesity with team nutrition which provides nutrition education to students and training and support to improve the nutrition of food sold in schools. It requires school districts to develop a local wellness policy which addresses both what students eat at school and the role that physical activity plays in good health. It creates greater opportunities for schools.

It includes fresh and dried fruits and fresh vegetables in school meals, gets our very youngest children off to a healthy start with the new WIC Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program that will study the benefits of including fruit and vegetables in the WIC food package.

When we passed H.R. 3873 last week, Mr. Speaker, we proved that child nutrition truly is a bipartisan priority here in the House of Representatives. I urge my colleagues in the other body to make it a priority as well so that we can get child nutrition reauthorization and the improvements we need into law.

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

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

The primary goal of all of the Federal child nutrition programs is to increase opportunities for low-income infants and children so that they will eat nutritious food. Anytime the economy takes a turn for the worse, as it has done for a while now, we can see it first in the number of low-income children who do not have enough to eat.

The 2003 Key National Indicators of Children's Well-Being reports that nearly 46 percent of American children who live in poverty were in ``food insecure'' households, households that reported difficulty in obtaining enough food and increased use of emergency food sources, resulting in reduced food intake and resulting in hunger.

WIC and the School Lunch and Breakfast Programs and the Child and Adult Care Food Program are our very best weapons in the fight against childhood hunger. These programs ensure that every eligible infant and child in this Nation has access to nutritious food: at home, through the WIC Program; in child care, through the Child

and Adult Food Program; in school, through the School Breakfast and Lunch Programs; during out-of-school time, through After School and Summer Programs; and in homeless and domestic violence shelters.

Another way to get more food to hungry kids, particularly kids in working poor families, would be to pass the bill of the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays), of which I am a cosponsor, to phase out the reduced price category in school lunch and breakfast.

The 40 cents fee for reduced school price lunch is a major barrier for children of the working poor. While 40 cents may not seem like much money to us, if your income is between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty line and you have more than one child, it is often more than you can afford to spend.

Eliminating the reduced price category would save schools immeasurable time and money, because it would reduce their paperwork burdens and greatly simplify the eligibility program in the process.

Eliminating reduced prices works for schools, it works for hungry kids, and it should be something we start immediately.

Another change for the better would be to improve the nutrition quality of all of the food sold in our schools. Today, one out of every six children is overweight; and childhood obesity raises special concerns. It places children at high risk for disease and conditions previously only associated with adults. Nearly two-thirds of obese 5- to 10-year-olds have at least one additional risk factor for cardiovascular disease. There has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of children with Type II diabetes, the form of the disease directly linked to overweight adults.

In addition, childhood obesity is a strong predictor of adult obesity. A recent study found that 77 percent of children with a body mass index greater than the 95th percentile remained obese as adults.

A study just released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that, if current trends continue, obesity will become the leading cause of preventible death by next year; not in the future, next year.

Over-consumption of low nutrition soft drinks and snacks plays a key role in childhood obesity. Yet 43 percent of elementary schools, 74 percent of middle schools, and 98 percent of high schools have vending machines, school stores or snack bars that sell soft drinks, candy, salty snacks and baked goods that are at high risk and high in fat, while, at the same time, not providing healthy snacks as a balance.

We need a good, scientifically-based study on what is a healthy school environment; and then we need to help schools create that environment for their students. The child nutrition bill that we passed last week takes some good first steps with the local wellness policy and team nutrition, but we need to be doing much, much more.

In addition to that, we should be trying to help all children make healthy eating choices. I certainly do not mean that we or should anyone else should become food policemen or policewomen, but schools can be offered incentives to make healthy foods available, and children can be educated to choose those healthy foods.

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

Mr. Speaker, today we are debating a bill which at first appears to be fairly straightforward. H.R. 3966 would seem to provide the military recruiters the same access to college and university campuses that other government agencies and private companies are receiving, but the reality is that this bill is not about equal access. It is about discrimination, pure and simple.

If H.R. 3966 passes, then colleges and universities that otherwise adhere to strict antidiscrimination policies will be forced to allow organizations like ROTC to openly discriminate against gays, lesbian and bisexual men and women. The flawed ``Don't ask, Don't tell'' policy that the military has adopted allows the military to discharge any serviceman or servicewoman who is determined not to be straight. In no other field can someone be fired simply for being gay.

H.R. 3966 is nothing short of an open and codified policy of intolerance, intolerance against homosexuals, for the reason of their sexual orientation. Until the incredibly unjust ``Don't ask, Don't tell'' policy is drastically altered, bills like H.R. 3966 will continue to allow for the open discrimination against one group of Americans.

The truth is that H.R. 3966 would unfairly punish those universities who are bold enough to apply the same rules to military recruiters as they do to all other employers, employers who are recruiting on their campuses.

I will vote against H.R. 3966.

Mr. Chairman, I support the CBC substitute because it steps up to the needs of key education programs.

The Republican budget includes meager increases for important programs like No Child Left Behind; the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA; and Pell grant funding. Without the additional funding provided by the CBC budget, these programs cannot serve eligible students who are relying on them, relying on them for the education they need, the education they deserve to become self- sufficient adults who contribute to America.

The Republican budget proposal shortchanges No Child Left Behind by $9.4 billion. It does not come close to meeting the Federal promise to fund 40 percent of the costs of IDEA, and it shortchanges the 5.3 million low-income college students who rely on Pell grants to access their higher education training. The CBC budget improves funding for all of these programs without increasing the Federal deficit like the Republican budget would.

The CBC budget adds up for all Americans, and I urge my colleagues to adopt it.

The Republican budget includes only meager increases for important programs like No Child Left Behind, the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and Pell grant funding.

Without the additional funding provided in the CBC budget, these programs cannot serve eligible students who are relying on them for the education they need and deserve to become self-sufficient adults who contribute to America.

The Republican budget proposal shortchanges No Child Left Behind by $9.4 billion; it doesn't come close to meeting the Federal promise to fund 40 percent of the cost of IDEA; and it shortchanges the 5.3 million low-income college students who rely on Pell grants to access higher education.

The CBC budget improves funding for these programs without increasing the Federal deficit like the Republican budget does.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), the ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3873, the Child Nutrition Improvement and Integrity Act, which reauthorizes the Federal Child Nutrition programs. This is a bipartisan bill. It was unanimously reported out of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and I thank the chairman of the full committee and the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle), chairman of the Subcommittee on Education Reform, for working in good faith with the ranking member, the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) and myself in getting to this point.

But I want to say that we would not be here without the great staffs on both sides of the aisle. I thank the staffs so much.

While there is more that I would have liked to do in this reauthorization such as a full expansion of the free breakfast program for all kids, no matter their economic status, and tighter restrictions on the junk food that is sold in schools, the Child Nutrition and Improvement and Integrity Act does improve the Federal Child Nutrition programs in many important ways.

H.R. 3873 improves accuracy in school meals programs without dropping eligible children; makes it easier for eligible students to get free and reduced-price meals by making the application process easier; makes homeless and migrant youth and children, whose families receive food stamps, automatically eligible for free meals; allows youth up to age 18 to participate in meal programs if they are living in domestic violence or homeless shelters; increases start-up and expansion grants for school breakfast programs; and includes a study for the best ways to overcome common barriers to offering breakfast at schools; helps students make better food choices, and fight obesity with Team Nutrition which provides nutrition education to students and training and support to improve the nutrition of foods sold in school; requires school districts to develop a local ``wellness policy'' which addresses both what students eat at school and the role that physical activity plays in good health.

This bill creates greater opportunities for schools to include fresh and dried fruits and fresh vegetables in school meals, gets our very youngest children off to a healthy start with the new WIC Fruit and Vegetable pilot program that will study the benefits of including fruits and vegetables in the WIC food package.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, the Child Nutrition Improvement and Integrity Act improves the nutritional well-being of low-income children by improving the Federal child nutrition programs. H.R. 3873 proves that child nutrition truly is bipartisan and it is a priority of this Congress. I urge my colleagues to support it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), who has very effectively added the irradiation part of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, how much time remains on both sides?

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), a member of the committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews), a very important member of the committee.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson).

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

Again, I thank the staff for a bipartisan bill that was unanimously reported out of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

I also thank ASFSA, FRAC, NEA, AFT, the Hispanic Education Coalition, the Food Policy Working Group, the National Association of State WIC Directors, who all played a major role. And to name the staff, Kate Houston, Stephanie Milburn, Krisann Pearce, Julian Baer and Sara Rittling on our side of the aisle; Lynda Theil, Denise Forte and Joe Novotny, on the other side of the aisle. They worked really hard to represent us well, and I thank them so very much.

There is something missing in this bill. We all know that if a child enters the classroom having had a nourishing breakfast, that child learns better, has better attendance and better discipline and tests better. But we have not ensured in this bill that every child will enter the classroom having had a nutritious breakfast. We have expanded the breakfast program by making it easier for those who are eligible or who want to participate in the program, making it easier for them to do that.

But, Mr. Speaker, some day this country's going to have to step up to the plate, understand children are 25 percent of our population. They are 100 percent of the future of this country, and unless they learn to the best of their ability, we are not going to have the country we want in the future.

So, in the future, and my colleagues can count on me, I am going to continue to talk about a universal school breakfast program for every single child in this Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back my time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise against the Republican budget because it cuts women's education programs.

Mr. Speaker, exactly 1 year ago the first bombs blasted in Baghdad and the United States christened a shameful new military doctrine, the preemptive war, against a regime that for all its vicious cruelty had not provoked the United States or our allies.

We were told by the President that Iraq posed an imminent threat to our national security with a link to al Qaeda, which is fiction. And our own weapons inspector concluded that weapons of mass destruction did not exist. Where was our intelligence? What were we working on?

After September 11, countries throughout the world clamored to give the United States support in the global fight against terrorism. But after bombing Iraq without multinational support, the United States lost the moral authority we once enjoyed around the rest of the world.

Today, 1 year later, Iraq remains mired in chaos. It is becoming a breeding ground for terrorists, nowhere near ready to assume the responsibility of a democracy.

For this we have sacrificed nearly 600 American lives with thousands more wounded; 27 today have already been killed in Baghdad with hundreds injured. If this Congress wants to support the troops, we should work to equip every soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan with the best equipment and supplies available, including hydration water systems. We would ensure them the benefits they have been promised and they deserve when they return home. But we do not talk about that in this resolution.

Tomorrow I will introduce a resolution called Smart Security. Smart Security is about prevention, not preemption. It sees war as a last resort to be considered only after every diplomatic solution has been exhausted.

It calls for more robust multilateral institutions to prevent terrorism, manages international conflicts and promotes global stability, since smart security is tough, pragmatic, and patriotic. It is smart and it would keep America safe and it supports our troops.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 373, the resolution of the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) which supports and promotes Kids Love a Mystery Program throughout the United States.

Under the sponsorship of the Mystery Writers of America organization, this program brings together authors who write for juvenile and young adult readers with children, parents, teachers, and librarians in a nationwide series of events each October to celebrate mystery writing.

This year, First Lady Laura Bush will serve as the honorary chair of the Kids Love a Mystery program. H. Con. Res. 373 expresses the sense of Congress that Kids Love a Mystery is a good program that promotes literacy through the creative process and should be encouraged. It underscores our belief that learning to read is the greatest gift one generation can bestow on the next.

With this resolution, we encourage the President to issue a proclamation in support of the Kids Love a Mystery Program. This annual program has proven to be a valuable method to encourage literacy, foster deductive reasoning, and enhance critical-thinking skills for our young readers. The Kids Love a Mystery Program was developed by the Mystery Writers of America, a nonprofit entity that serves as the premier organization for mystery writers and other professionals in the mystery field. Through its chapters in all 50 States, the organization has utilized the month of October each year to orchestrate the Kids Love a Mystery Program with particular emphasis on fostering both reading and writing initiatives.

Since its inception in 1998, the Kids Love a Mystery Program has involved more than 15,000 young readers in 31 States plus the District of Columbia. Two of the most popular initiatives within the Kids Love a Mystery Program are the presentation of Eddie Awards, certificates that are given to every child who registers with a local participating library, school, bookstore or even on the Internet and reads at least one mystery book in the month of October.

In addition, young readers are encouraged to write their own mystery stories in October to earn an Eddie Award.

Mr. Speaker, we know that reading is the basis for all learning, and mystery stories have proven to be particularly attractive to young readers. I urge my colleagues to pass this resolution to encourage more young people to read.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate National Peace Corps Week, which runs from March lst through the 7th.

In our currently expanding global community, it is important to recognize the integral role that the Peace Corps has played in our past, as well the vital role it will continue to play in our future. As our interaction and interdependence on many foreign countries continues to show its relevance to our own welfare, it is important that the United States have a network of ambassadors like the Peace Corps Volunteers to connect on a local level with citizens of other nations.

With a history dating back to 1961, and a portfolio serving 137 countries, the Peace Corps can boast over 170,000 Peace Corps Volunteers Alumni, who have worked around the globe promoting world peace and friendship. There are currently over 7,500 Volunteers serving in 71 countries, which represents the highest number of Volunteers in the past 28 years.

I am proud to say that the 6th Congressional District of California currently has 39 of its own as Peace Corps Volunteers. They are, in alphabetical order and followed by the countries in which they serve: Emily A. Alden, Tanzania; Nicole M. Arnone, Madagascar; Marion Basel, Ghana; Laura Brinkoetter, Bangladesh; Christine Callinan, Micronesia; Jenifer Clover, Uzbekistan; Ryan E. Crew, Swaziland; Janice M. Crowe, Bulgaria; Lindsay C. Culp, Philippines; Kathryn E. Davis, Namibia; Katie M. Delahunty, Nicaragua; Charles S. Dietrich, Paraguay; Keith B. Ebright, Zambia; Jacob E. Fleming, Kyrgyzstan; Jennifer C. Galvin, Samoa; Alexandra, Geary-Stock, Swaziland; Tamara M. Gelvin, Morocco; Marcus A. Hawkins, Ukraine; Andrew B. Huston, Nepal; Joy Jacobs, Dominican Republic; Michael Y. Lee, Samoa; Laura J. Leones, Eastern Caribbean; Nickolette D. Patrick, Ukraine; Andrea R. Rask, Eastern Caribbean; Sara B. Riese, Burkina Faso; Leslie A. Schafer, Kenya; Sarah E. Schumacher, Macedonia; Mairead J. Schwab, Ghana; Jeremy B. Smith, Paraguay; Suzanne D. Smith, Philippines; Visalia T. Stanley, Haiti; Jill M. Talmage, Bulgaria; Eric J. Tawney, Vanuatu; Jenny K. Tegelvik, Honduras; Brian C. Vaughn, Nicaragua; Sarah F. Wiens, Kyrgyzstan; Tami M. Williams, Nicaragua; Heather J. Windom, Macedonia; Kenji A. Wright, Panama.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in commemorating National Peace Corps Week and honoring the men and women who have committed years of their lives to make our world a better place. It is with this sustained dedication, that lives will be changed, terminal diseases defeated, and poverty eradicated for citizens in every corner of the globe. I commend these brave and unselfish Volunteers and the spirit with which they are affecting change.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Reverend Glenda Hope who is receiving the TenderChamp Award from the Central City Hospitality House in San Francisco. Rev. Hope has been a tireless advocate for the poor and homeless and is deservedly being recognized for her unwavering leadership, inspiration, vision and energy.

Central City Hospitality House is an organization that serves the homeless community in San Francisco's Tenderloin district. The TenderChamp award has been given out to organizations and individuals for their work in the Tenderloin community since 1986.

Glenda is the Executive Director of San Francisco Network Ministries. She, with seven others, founded Network Ministries in 1972 and under her leadership the organization reaches thousands of poor and homeless people through programs that address a wide array of issues related to poverty. San Francisco Network Ministries received the TenderChamp award in 1989 for ``nourishing the spirit of the poor and being their advocate of change.'' It is fitting that Glenda is being individually recognized for the depth and longevity of her work.

Rev. Hope attended San Francisco Theological Seminary and after graduating in 1969 she was ordained at Old First Presbyterian Church in San Francisco. She served as their Assistant Pastor from 1969-1972, then as Pastor to Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church from 1978-1989.

Glenda has had a long career in community service, working with Northern California Committee Against More Prisons, Tenderloin AIDS Network, the San Francisco Homeless Task Force and as the Chairperson to the General Assembly's Task Force to Persons in the Armed Forces.

Mr. Speaker, Rev. Glenda Hope has been an active and outspoken community leader for her entire life. Her efforts on behalf of the community's less fortunate reflect the heartfelt compassion that infuses her life and her work. I am proud of her and I am honored to be her friend.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor William McGee of Santa Rosa, California, who died Sunday at the age of 79 of injuries suffered in a bicycle accident. Bill was an experienced and avid bicyclist as well as long-distance runner, bread baker, counselor, poet, photographer, philosopher, and retired junior college instructor.

This list does not begin to describe the warm, wise, and caring person that Bill was to

his wife, Alice Waco, and to all of us who knew him. Friends will long remember the twinkle in his eye and the special comfort brought by the delivery of his own home-baked bread and a few lines of poetry in time of need.

Born in Marquette, Michigan, in 1925, Bill, whose father died when he was four, took a bakery job six years later to help support his family. His interest in spiritual matters drew him to attend a Catholic seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1956, and spent most of his priesthood at the University of Michigan in Houghton. There he founded the Newman Center to serve Catholic students.

Later Bill attended UC Berkeley on a Fulbright theology fellowship, eventually joining St. Benedict's Deaf Center in San Francisco. Bill's life changed dramatically when he met Alice Waco, then a nun at the center. They soon discovered that they were soulmates and both seeking answers outside the church. They married in 1974. That same year, Bill began teaching Latin at Santa Rosa Junior College where he was known for singing Latin chants to his classes. He also earned a master's degree in alcohol studies and coordinated a DUI counseling program at the school until his retirement in 1992.

Bill also worked as a substance abuse counselor at the Orenda Center in Santa Rosa, and with his wife Alice, was active in the Sonoma County Peace and Justice Center.

Bill used his photography, and especially his poetry, to express his feelings about life. Cards to his friends combined both arts with his own unique humor and spiritual philosophy. One of Bill's poems, To Be An American, exemplifies his view that love and hope help us meet the complexities and challenges of life. It reads in part:

To be an American is a place beyond boundaries beyond vision,

but a dream a possible dream:

when boundaries are dissolved

where perfect is growth

where imperfection is ours sometimes in a most perfect way.

To be an American is a place where everything and everyone is

not yet, yet even though our brightest victories

applaud sciences of war and peace in the echoes of

machinery still making bombs and guns.

We are peoples mixed, melted and split with differences that

make pork in government, doves and hawks outside of it,

and truth come late.

To be an American is to grow in confusion of a world inside

part of a world called these United States . . . in a

milieu of men, women and children.

Where differences are different and similarities are never

different; that each and everyone needs very little in

life; a place to eat, a place to sleep, a place to die,

and a lot of loving in between.

Bill is survived by his wife Alice Waco, brothers Jim and Chuck McGee, and sisters Alice Tyler and Pat Ley.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to honor William McGee. He was a man whose spirituality was matched by his compassion. He was a unique individual whose life brimmed with kindness and creativity. I join with Bill's family and many friends in grief over his loss and happiness in having known him.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor European Air Transport (EAT) Captain Eric Gennotte, a civilian volunteer pilot, for his remarkable heroism while flying in Iraq. Captain Gennotte demonstrated incredible valor on Saturday, November 22, 2003, when he landed his Airbus 300 after it was hit by multiple surface-to-air rockets upon take off from Baghdad Airport.

At the time of the incident, Captain Gennotte was returning to a DHL Global Delivery mail distribution center in Europe after delivering mail to U.S. soldiers in Baghdad. Shortly after taking off on November 22, Captain Gennotte's cargo and crew were struck by hostile rocket fire causing the complete loss of hydraulic power to the aircraft. Losing ``stick control'' rendered the aircraft non-navigable under normal circumstances. In a display of immense skill and bravery, Captain Gennotte regained control of the aircraft using the plane's engines as rudders to stabilize and turn the weakened vessel. In order to turn right, Captain Gennotte fired the left engine; to turn left he fired the right engine. After dodging continued missile attacks with failed equipment, Captain Gennotte successfully landed the burning plane with nothing but the two engines, completing a feat that had never before been accomplished in EAT piloting history. Captain Gennotte is already in line to receive a safety award from the Secretary General of the Belgian Cockpit Association.

Because of Captain Gennotte's deft skill, his cargo and the crew, which included a British flight engineer and another Belgian pilot, lived through the assault. As peacekeepers continue to come under attack, it is particularly uplifting to hear tales of bravery like that of Captain Gennotte. Heroic stories like this one are prime examples that the best way to combat cowardly acts of terror is to share our own heroic responses to it.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying special tribute to EAT Captain Eric Gennotte. Honorable and gallant allies like him risk their lives to help others. I wish him and his family all the best as we pay tribute to one of our Nation's fearless friends.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this bill, and I question how this body could even consider a proposal as dishonest as this one. This bill is a wolf in sheep's clothing, a proposal to undermine reproductive rights dressed up as a bill to punish violent crimes against women.

We have really important issues that we should be considering, Mr. Speaker, rather than legislation that will undermine a woman's right to choose. We should be focusing this time today on policies that ensure every woman has a healthy pregnancy. We should promote solutions to the tragedy of domestic violence and the many other heinous offenses against women.

If antichoice forces would like to debate whether or not a woman has the right to make her own medical decisions, I am ready for that debate. Our constituents deserve a frank discussion about a woman's right to choose. It is unfair and it is misleading to characterize this bill as anything other than an assault on reproductive freedom in this country.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in the opposition of this misleading base legislation and in favor of the Lofgren substitute that protects the pregnant woman without reducing her own rights.

Mr. Speaker, I stand here today strongly supporting the Lofgren substitute. The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) is right, my colleagues and I have considered an unbelievable number of antichoice proposals over the last few years, including 200 since the Republicans took over the House of Representatives.

These proposals have troubled me; but this bill, the bill that we are considering today, is perhaps the most disconcerting of them all. Instead of openly admitting what they are attempting to do to a woman's reproductive freedoms, proponents of this bill are exploiting a senseless and tragic crime to make their true intentions hidden. Let me be clear. We all oppose violence against women, and we all understand that a violent attack on a pregnant woman is an especially heinous act that deserves a uniquely harsh punishment. But that is not what the underlying legislation is about.

Our constituents deserve an honest debate about this proposal and some very honest information. I am sure that many people assume that this legislation if it were approved would have an impact on the tragic case in California after which this case is named. People also probably assume it would create an effective new tool to prosecute many domestic abusers who harm their pregnant wives or girlfriends. That is simply not true. Women are the victims of violence across the country every day, but rarely does this violence fall in the jurisdiction of Federal courts. Unless a fetus is harmed in the commission of a violent Federal crime, this bill will not apply.

Considering that this new law would rarely be applied, you may wonder, then, why are we here today talking about it? We are here to undermine the fundamental protections of Roe v. Wade with platitudes about violence against women thrown on as window dressing. If this bill passes, a 2-hour-old fertilized egg will have the same rights as the woman bearing it. Antichoice forces have been very open and honest about their strategy for turning back the clock on reproductive freedom in this country. In fact, we have heard many of the underlying bill's proponents tell you that the egg is a human. By declaring that even a fertilized egg is a person, proponents are laying the groundwork for undermining women's ability to make their own medical choices and decisions.

Thankfully, we have an opportunity to address horrific acts of violence against pregnant women without undermining the woman's ability to control her own body. This ability is through the Lofgren substitute, which establishes appropriately harsh penalties for those who violently harm pregnant women without reducing her rights to that of a fertilized egg. We should not be debating this today. We should be debating and approving policies that will help keep every woman safe in her own home and ensure that every pregnancy is a healthy one. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Lofgren substitute and opposing the underlying bill. This bill is nothing but an exploitive attempt to end reproductive freedom.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Helen Rudee who, on February 20, 2004, will celebrate her eighty-sixth birthday. For all of her adult life, Ms. Rudee has been an outspoken advocate for women, children, health and environmental issues.

Helen was raised in North Dakota and moved to California to attend San Francisco Junior College and Stanford University Nursing School. After marrying and having four children, her husband died leaving her to care for them. As a mother, Helen's first priority was raising her children. She was very active with their schools and served as a member of the PTA before serving on the Santa Rosa Board of Education for 10 years. In recognition of all her work, she received the Honorary Service and Continuing Service Awards from the California Congress of Parents and Teachers, Inc.

In 1976, Helen was the first woman elected to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. As a member of the Board of Supervisors for 12 years, she had a reputation for being accessible and for gathering the opinions of as many of her constituents as possible before making a final decision on matters of importance.

Throughout her career, Ms. Rudee has been dedicated to bringing more women into political offices. Women often go to her for guidance when considering running for office and she is always generous with her time, knowledge and advice. Despite retiring at age 70, she has remained as active in her retirement as when she was on the Board.

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Women's History Month, I was proud to honor Helen at the National Women's History Project event, ``Honoring 20th Century Women,'' on March 22, 2000 in Statuary Hall in the Capitol. Throughout my career, Helen has been an inspiration to me and many other women who are in politics and other male-dominated fields.

Mr. Speaker, Helen Rudee has been an active and outspoken community leader for many years. She is a trailblazer who has made it better for all women.

Mr. Speaker, I introduced legislation last week that addresses one of the most urgent challenges facing American families. I call it the Balancing Act because it helps to strike the delicate balance between work and family.

The Balancing Act, H.R. 3780, acknowledges that many Americans have two full-time jobs, one as employee, the other as parent; and it provides the tools to be both a reliable employee and a responsible parent.

Over the last several decades, a socioeconomic revolution has fundamentally altered the American family, Mr. Speaker. When I grew up, we were a Nation of predominantly nuclear families with one breadwinner and one full-time parent. Today, more than two-thirds of all families have two parents or one unmarried parent working outside the home, but our government has

not been responsive to these changes. The Balancing Act brings public policy out of the Ozzie and Harriet era and into line with the realities and pressures of modern life.

Specifically, the Balancing Act will provide paid family leave after the birth or adoption of a baby or young child; make major investments in child care, training and benefits for providers, construction and renovation of facilities, and expanded child care for infants and disabled children.

It will establish voluntary, universal preschool. It will expand the school breakfast program and provide dinners for children in afterschool programs whose parents are working late and make part-time employees eligible for job benefits while encouraging businesses to let more employees telecommute.

The Bush administration could not be more hostile to families trying to perform the balancing act. Their tax cuts benefit wealthy Americans, whose lives are already balanced. They think we can afford to rebuild the Iraqi society, but we have to cut vocational education and family literacy right here at home. They even think we can afford a manned mission to Mars, but for life back here on earth, we have to lop $408 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The administration does, however, want to help the poor acquire interpersonal skills so that they can promote and strengthen marriage, at a mere cost of $1.5 billion. But, Mr. Speaker, the people I talk to do not want the government to be their family therapist. They want a government that helps create good jobs, flexible workplaces, universal health insurance, affordable child care and safe after-school programs.

No amount of counseling, Mr. Speaker, would have saved my marriage to a man who left me alone and destitute with three young children to raise. I was 29 years old. What I needed at that desperate moment in my life was not right wing moralizing but a compassionate safety net, the very social safety net conservatives seem determined to tear down. Although I had a job, I needed public assistance to provide my family with food, health insurance and child care. Only truly compassionate government policies helped me turn my life around.

If one is a Republican, however, pro-family means that heterosexual marriage is so indispensable that we must spend $1.5 billion to promote it, but gay and lesbian marriage is so depraved that we ought to consider writing discrimination into our Constitution to prevent it.

The Balancing Act offers a real pro-family agenda for all families. It addresses the issues families struggle with at the kitchen table, not the things they do in their bedrooms.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting my legislation.