Floor Statements

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

Mr. Chairman, as a Member of Congress who has actually been on welfare, let me tell Members, I know the pitfalls of H.R. 4. I know the pitfalls of the Republican welfare bill.

I also know what we have learned since we passed welfare reform in 1996. We learned that we have to make changes. We learned that we cannot send people to work and keep them in poverty forevermore. We learned that we have to do a better job in helping the families that need that safety net.

In this economy with fewer jobs and a greater waiting list for child care, we know that we have a lot of work to do because people are returning to welfare in this bad economy. But the most important thing that we learned from 1996 is that it is not so hard to get people off welfare, but it is very hard to get them out of poverty. So if we want to keep individuals off the welfare rolls, particularly in a weaker economy, the economy we have today under President Bush, we have to work very hard; otherwise we have failed because welfare moms, those who have moved from welfare, have moved into permanent poverty.

Today more than one-fifth of the families that have left welfare since 1996 have come back onto the rolls and 39 States have reported a greater caseload increase for the last quarter.

This country needs welfare that gives States the flexibility they need to get families out of poverty and into real work, work that pays a livable wage, work that a mother can sustain her family on.

H.R. 4 will push more low-income parents into low-paying workfare jobs while making it almost impossible for them to get a real education, the kind of education they need to get good jobs, jobs that will keep them off welfare forevermore.

While increasing the hours of work, the Republican bill does not provide the child care support that is necessary to sustain those families. We have a Democratic substitute. Our substitute enables States to give welfare recipients the support, the services they need so that they can go forward, become skilled, educated, and get jobs which will keep them off of welfare forever.

I am the perfect example of what a good education, child care resources, good health, and actually being a little bit assertive did not hurt at all, what a difference that makes to a family. I was on welfare for 3 years even though I was working. We cannot take those services away from moms if we expect them to be able to take care of their families now and into the future.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Tierney).

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

I would like to just make one remark before I yield time to the ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and that is that 20 States right now have a waiting list for child care, not just for welfare moms, but for the working poor and working families in general. We must not forget that.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), the ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), a new member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to just say that a lot of good things came out of the Clinton economy, and we can all be glad for what happened with that, but that economy is not the same.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews).

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee), one of the leaders in education.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa), a valued member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley).

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson).

(Mr. THOMPSON of California asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time and for his good work.

The Cardin-Woolsey-Kind substitute makes poverty reduction a core purpose of welfare reform. It offers bonuses to States that reduce child poverty.

The Democratic substitute gives low-income parents access to real education, such as an AA degree, vocational training, literacy classes, English as a second language or GED studies. Our substitute gives families the support and services they need while they are working and learning, like an additional $11 billion in mandatory funding for child care over 5 years.

We know that States are struggling right now to meet the demand for child care. Twenty States currently have waiting lists for child care; and in my State of California, only 19 percent of the children and families on welfare received any type of child care assistance. This is before the Republican challenge to send welfare moms to work for 40 hours a week. There is no way that their small increase in H.R. 4 for child care funding will be able to meet this expanded need.

Nobody knows more than I do how important child care is when you are struggling and working. I was a mother on welfare 35 years ago. I had college education, I had great job skills, I was in the workforce, and I needed AFDC in order to get the health care, the child care, and the food stamps that I needed. But it was not until my mother moved from Seattle, Washington, to California that I was able to grow in my job and, within 6 months, I was promoted to management because I could think about my job while I was at work and I did not have to worry about my children.

So my story is a good story, and let that be something my colleagues hold in their minds. My colleagues have never been there. I have.

Welfare moms can only succeed if they get the education and the skills they need for a job that will support their family through good economies and bad economies. The Woolsey-Kind-Cardin substitute will break the cycle of poverty, and it will strengthen families. It is welfare reform that meets the needs of this current economy, an economy where jobs are scarce, where child care is scarce, and where an education counts greater than ever before. Vote for our substitute and against H.R. 4.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Ellen Straus of Marshall, California, who died on November 30, 2002, after a lifetime of vision, leadership, and dedication to protecting agriculture and assuring its viability in West Marin.

Ellen was born in Amsterdam in 1927 to a Jewish family. In February, 1940, fearful of the Nazi threat, they immigrated to New York where her father was able to continue his work as a diamond broker. Ellen, a bright 13-year-old who knew no English, began attending school right away and in 1948 graduated from Bard College with a major in Natural Sciences and Mathematics. When she applied for research jobs, she was asked if she knew typing and shorthand, so, in order to find work, she enrolled in Katherine Gibbs School in New York City to obtain a Business Degree.

In 1949 in New York Ellen met William Straus, a rancher from Marin County, California, who, like herself, came from a European Jewish family that had immigrated to the U.S. Bill had received a degree from UC Berkeley in animal husbandry and bought a dairy ranch near Marshall in 1941. Bill and Ellen were married in New York and moved to their ranch on Tomales Bay.

Although the work was hard, Ellen loved the ranch and the beautiful Tomales Bay area. She raised four children and taught them what she had learned by observing Hitler's rise to power--the importance of individuals becoming politically involved to create and preserve what is valued in life. Ellen was active in politics, including 14 years on the Democratic Central Committee of Marin.

During the 1960's she was a key supporter of the effort to create Point Reyes National Seashore, establishing herself as a visionary who understood that ranchers and conservationists need to work together to preserve open spaces for both agriculture and recreation. She worked hard to develop cooperation between the two groups, and her husband Bill became the first rancher to join the Marin Conservation League.

This vision continued to motivate Ellen and Bill as they fought for a new general plan for Marin County in the 1960s to prevent rural West Marin from being carved up for subdivisions and freeways. Realizing that even this successful effort was not enough, Ellen co-founded Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) with Phyllis Faber in 1980.

MALT was the first land trust in the country focused on the protection of agriculture. Under MALT, ranchers are paid for the development rights to their land which they continue to own. Under the agreement, they can live on the property and farm or sell to other farmers, always keeping the land in agriculture. Ellen's energy and commitment were key in MALT's success. She served for many years as a Board Member and Chair, and today the agency, with 32,000 acres preserved, is a national model for developing partnerships to protect agricultural land.

Ellen also understood the importance of educating the public in the value of agriculture. In the early 1970s she began hosting school groups at the ranch. Soon she was welcoming adults, from politicians to budding environmentalists, including visitors from abroad. Along with a good education and a up-close look at cows, Ellen served homemade apple pie. Today visitor programs to West Marin ranches continue to play a key role in informing the public about the role of agriculture in the community.

Ellen cared not only about preserving agriculture but also improving it. Concerned about the quality of food people eat and chemical and hormone additives, Ellen was a leader in developing organic products. She worked with her son Albert, who currently operates the family dairy, to produce the first organic milk west of the Mississippi. The Straus Family Creamery is now well-known for its high quality dairy products and environmental practices.

Numerous awards are a testament to Ellen's leadership. These include the Marin Women's Hall of Fame, the White House ``Points of Light,'' and America's highest honor from the American Farmland Trust, the 1998 Steward of the Land award.

Ellen was also active in the the Greenbelt Alliance, the Eastshore Planning, Group, the Marin Conservation League, the Marin Community Foundation Neighborhood Achievements program, the Environmental Action Committee, the Tomales Bay Advisory Committee, the Environmental Forum, and West Marin Growers.

Ellen was a dedicated wife, mother and grandmother. She is survived by Bill, her husband of 52 years; sister Anneke Prins Simons; her four children: Albert and his wife Jeanne Smithfield; Vivien; Miriam and her husband Alan Berkowitz; and Michael; her four grandsons Isaac, Jonah, Reuben and Eli . . . and 270 milking cows.

Mr. Speaker, Ellen Straus will be missed by so many who shared in her work and her dreams. It is fitting to recognize her visionary efforts in preserving open space in West Marin and helping to create Point Reyes National Seashore that have left a legacy that all can enjoy. Her pioneering work in organic dairying is creating a new future in agriculture. I will always remember Ellen Straus as a wonderful, warm friend and committed steward of the land.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Thomas R. Golden who died at home in Freestone, CA, on November 3, at the age of 81. Mr. Golden and his partner Jim Kidder had lived in Freestone since 1970, turning the old Freestone Hotel into a center for culture and politics in Western Sonoma County.

Tom Golden was well-known as a patron of the arts, and in this capacity was the friend and collaborator of artists Christo and Jean- Claude whose Running Fence snaked through Sonoma and Marin Counties in 1976, a 24-mile curtain that ran from Cotati to the Pacific Ocean. Tom met the artists during one of the county hearings on the controversial project and immediately became an advocate and supporter. He continued his association for the next 28 years, traveling around the world to help on other Christo projects. During this time, Tom collected works by the couple that became the largest private collection in the world and have now been donated to the Sonoma County Museum.

Tom was born in Indiana and moved to California in the 1930s. He spent time as a Trappist monk, in the Merchant Marine, and as a buyer for a grocery store chain before becoming a real estate broker. He and Jim renovated San Francisco properties before moving to Sonoma County where Tom pressured officials to adopt strict historic preservation laws and served on the Sonoma County Historic Landmark Commission.

He is survived by Kidder, his partner of over 50 years, as well as by his sister Joan Sonsini, his brother Jim Golden, and several nieces and nephews.

Mr. Speaker, Thomas Golden was known for the warmth and liveliness he brought to his friendships, his commitment to the culture of his community, and his world-wide collaborations with Christo and Jean- Claude. Many considered him the unofficial mayor of Freestone. It is fitting to honor him today for a life that meant so much to the art world in general and to Sonoma County in particular.

Mr. Speaker, I want to join my colleagues in congratulating the women of the University of Portland Soccer Team for winning the NCAA Division I National Championship. But let us not forget that we must also congratulate Patsy Mink's Title IX program, because if there were no Title IX, there would not be a soccer championship for women.

Before Title IX, fewer than 30,000 girls participated in intercollegiate athletics. Today, more than 100,000 women compete. In high school, fewer than 7 percent of the young women played varsity sports prior to Title IX. Today, over 40 percent of young women do.

Do these games mean that the work of Title IX is finished when it comes to sports, that it is time for the supporters of the Title IX to take their ball and go home? Absolutely not. Is contrary to the scare tactics being used by opponents of Patsy Mink's Title IX program, those who say that women's sports are eating up all the athletic funding. The facts show that women's sports continue to receive far less funding than men's sports.

In the community of Duquesne, Pennsylvania, girls' sports receive one dime, one thin dime, for every dollar spent on boys' sports.

In my own State of California, where women make up over 56 percent of the full-time students at our 108 State colleges, women's sports receive 35 percent of the athletic budget.

In Georgia, more than 86 percent of the legislative grants for stadiums, lighting and equipment at public schools went to boys' sports programs. That would be 86 percent.

So while Title IX is transforming the playing field for women's sports, and that is because of our late colleague, Patsy Mink, we are not close to being even between men's sports and women's sports. We must be strong and we must continue to support Title IX; otherwise the dream of an NCAA championship will not be alive for girls in their future.

Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Speaker, that is what I believe I said.

Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would yield, I do not think I said Federal funding. I am sure I said funding in general.

That is too bad because investment in girls' sports is an investment in their future.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for including me in this, my friend from Oregon, and I would like to remind Americans that one way that we as Americans define ourselves as a Nation is through the Federal budget, and right now, we have to make decisions about our values and our priorities, and we have choices: on the one hand, an unjustified war with Iraq that could cost more than $200 billion, and I am sure it will, on top of an additional $670 billion tax cut that primarily benefits the wealthiest Americans, or an investment in our children, an investment in their future.

We have to make these decisions. We cannot do it all because there is not enough money to cover both agendas without plunging the United States and those very same children deep into debt.

As President Bush puts forward his plans in the State of the Union address tomorrow night, I urge him, I urge him to remember that our country's future depends on today's children. Of course, since September 11 we have had to reevaluate some of our spending priorities, but without investing in our children, we risk ills far worse than those from terrorists.

That is why the wisest investment we can make in our Nation's security is strengthening our children's lives and those of their families, and we can do this. We can do this by preventing war, first off. We must provide for real international security that has alternatives to war as its cornerstone, and we can invest in renewable energies. This will not only make for a cleaner environment. It will also help us achieve independence from fossil fuels, particularly from foreign oil.

Fossil fuels must become a source of the past. We must invest in sources of energy that will provide for the prosperity of our children, the protection of their environment and the security of their future. We must change our national energy policy by supporting conservation and renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, biomass and fuel cells.

We can invest in our future by increasing the child care option, and we must do that by ensuring that working families have access to quality child care.

Children must not be the first to suffer when budgets tighten. If children were our number one priority in this country, then programs to provide for their welfare would be the last programs to be slashed. Instead, we would be clamoring to help working parents by expanding child care and after-school programs. We would be creating a world- class public education system.

We can provide quality education. We can make sure that teachers are adequately compensated for their important role in our children's lives, because we have a responsibility to do that. And we have a responsibility to fully fund programs for disadvantaged children. We can invest in our future by making health care universally available. The United States is the only industrialized country in this world in which all citizens do not have access to medical coverage. Until we have universal coverage, more than 40 million Americans, nearly 15 percent of the population, will go without. If we choose to make health care a priority, we will provide children, their parents, and America's seniors with universal coverage, including affordable prescription drugs.

While putting a universal health care plan together, we can do something immediately, and that is to increase the number of children in the Medicaid and State Children's Insurance Program, to expand SCHIPs also to include parents of eligible children and low-income pregnant families. We must also seek to provide a prescription drug benefit under Medicare. But these priorities and others that help fulfill our commitment to our families, our seniors, our veterans will only happen when we demand that they take precedence.

Excessive military spending in the past has not made us more secure. American political leaders must acknowledge the truth, that peace and security cannot be achieved through violence. We must never lose sight that real security is an educated, healthy society where everyone benefits from our Nation's abundant resources. And that is what I will remind President Bush as he outlines his agenda Tuesday night. The future of our Nation belongs to our children.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman again for including me in this Special Order.

I thank the gentleman.

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

I rise in support of H. Res. 10, congratulating Ohio State University for winning the NCAA Division I football championship.

Last Friday, Ohio State captured its fifth national football championship, winning one of the most closely fought college football games in recent memory. College football fans, student athletes and the general public were treated to an exciting Fiesta Bowl and end to this college football season.

I want to extend my hearty congratulations to head coach Jim Tressel, Ohio State University president Karen Holbrook, and Ohio State's student athletes for a job very well done.

I also want to extend my congratulations to the University of Miami and their student athletes for a great season. The University of Miami won all of their games during the regular season and produced two leading Heisman trophy contenders in Ken Dorsey and William McGahee. I know that I speak for all of this Congress as we wish Mr. McGahee a speedy and thorough recovery from the knee injury he sustained during the game.

Winning a championship has brought national acclaim to Ohio State University, and I hope the fans at the university and the university community treasures this moment for many, many years to come.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise in support of H. Res. 13, congratulating the Grand Valley State University Lakers for winning the NCAA Division II National Football Championship. This national championship is a special moment for Grand Valley State's fans and its university community. It is the school's first national championship in any varsity sport.

This is an outstanding achievement, especially when we consider that Division II football athletes do not have the benefit and publicity garnered by Division I schools. I know that as a fact because one of my sons was an All American Tackle for a Division II school and it was exciting, but they did not get any of the recognition that the Division I schools garnered.

I want to extend my hearty congratulations to Head Coach Brian Kelly, the Grand Valley State community, all of their fans, and most importantly their student athletes. Grand Valley's athletes have certainly performed admirably, and they deserve all the praise that we can give them.

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

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 17 congratulating the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky for winning the 2002 Division I-AA national football championship. It is quite an achievement to win a national championship at any college level, and this championship is even more noteworthy due to the fact that it is Western Kentucky's first national championship since 1913.

Student athletes split their time between their athletic and academic pursuits. The student athletes that make up this year's national championship Hilltoppers' team must be commended because they did such a good job for their dual pursuit. I want to especially congratulate them for all their hard work, and also extend my hardy congratulations to head coach Jack Harbaugh for a great season and great win.

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

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