Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, just yesterday our friends across the aisle introduced their version of a jobs and growth package. I have looked into the details of this plan, and it is nothing more than another empty promise to America's workers and entrepreneurs. On a daily basis, we in Congress meet with our constituents, and the message that they are sending should be clear to each and every one of us. Significant tax relief and jobs growth is what our economy needs most. We do not need another do-nothing plan, and American workers will not accept more spending on government programs. They will not accept more spending on government programs. They are sick and tired of tax and spend and tax and spend some more. And they are sick and tired of the old class warfare tactics.

The Democrats have proposed a $152 billion stimulus plan for a Nation with a GDP of over $10 trillion each year. Putting this in perspective, you may as well try and boost nationwide bubble gum sales by buying a single piece of bubble gum. The American people are not dumb. They know that you cannot expect significant economic growth without significant investment, and by ``investment'' I mean tax relief. Tax relief is an investment. It provides the capital that businesses and investors need to fuel expansion and jobs growth. There is no mystery here.

Republicans have a jobs and growth plan that is absolutely necessary. It amounts to much more than a drop-in-the-bucket plan that is proposed by

those across the aisle whose talents lay more in spending taxpayer dollars than trusting hardworking Americans to manage their own paychecks.

I want to speak specifically, Mr. Speaker, to the President's plan and what it means for Tennessee. This is a great plan. It will create new jobs. In Tennessee, it is going to create 11,500 new jobs per year for the next 4 to 5 years. That is about 55,000 new jobs for Tennesseans alone. Nationwide we are talking about 1.2 million new jobs by the end of 2004, and almost 2.9 million new jobs in the next 4 to 5 years. This is a jobs and growth plan. Increasing the child tax credit to $1,000 is good for American families. When we are talking about the child tax credit, that is money back in the hands of 27 million Americans during 2003. Moving the child tax credit from $600 to $1,000 is good for American families. It means less money taken from their paycheck to pay for taxes. Accelerating the individual rate reductions in 2003 is good for millions of taxpayers. Again, that means less money from their paycheck to pay for taxes. Providing marriage penalty relief now is the right thing to do. Marriage penalty relief means less money from their paycheck to pay for taxes.

I would encourage every Member of this body, our friends on both sides of the aisle, to join in making these tax cuts permanent. These are not radical provisions, Mr. Speaker; and they are central to a plan that will not only stimulate the economy, it provides a foundation for long-term job and economic growth. It is a plan for America's future that will produce results.

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the base bill and in opposition to the Sanchez amendment. The language in this amendment would allow lawsuits to be brought against gun manufacturers and dealers for damages that are caused by the criminal misuse of that product by a third party if the firearm transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the recipient is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance or has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution.

Making such a transfer to a drug addict or someone who has been declared mentally incompetent is already illegal under the Gun Control Act and the laws of many States. It is clearly covered by the existing language of this bill.

Those who support H.R. 1036 have no intention of preventing lawsuits against those convicted of criminal acts, and under the language of the bill, we do not need to list every possible violation for them to be held accountable.

What we do want to do is prevent junk lawsuits against the firearms industry. Many of these companies operate on narrow margins, and those who oppose the second amendment hope to use our legal system and the threat of costly lawsuits to bankrupt a legal industry. This is clearly wrong, and I would urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment and support passage of H.R. 1036.

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

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

The claims have been made that the bill's requirement that a knowing violation of the statute occurs is unjust. The claim that it is too burdensome to require that a person knowingly violates the law before they can be said to meet the exceptions to the bill fails to understand the flexible nature of the requirement.

A typical jury instruction regarding what the requirement ``unknowing'' means states as follows: ``Knowledge may be proved by all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the case. You, the jury, may infer knowledge from a combination of suspicion and indifference to the truth. If you find that a person had a strong suspicion that things were not what they seemed or that someone had withheld some important facts, yet shut his eyes for fear of what he would learn, you may conclude that he acted knowingly.''

The knowing standard is clearly flexible enough to produce justice in our courts in all circumstances.

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns).

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns).

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

As we have heard from the discussion, the provisions that have been mentioned are covered. I would encourage my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Hoekstra amendment striking the provision that provides the Federal AmeriCorps program with $64 million in funding. I have been a strong advocate for keeping this legislation clean, preventing the addition of costly, extraneous or unrelated spending.

The supplemental funding bill was meant to support our troops. It was meant to ensure that the men and women in uniform, like those from Fort Campbell in my home district, have every bit of support they need.

Funding for AmeriCorps simply does not belong in the legislation by any stretch of the imagination. Furthermore, there is a long history of financial mismanagement at the Corporation for National and Community Services, which includes the AmeriCorps program. The corporation has not been able to account for expenditures in recent years. It has had repeated difficulties with audits and a troubling tradition of not matching its funding commitments against the moneys appropriated by Congress. The AmeriCorps program has attempted to clean up its act, but the problem still persists.

AmeriCorps does not merit additional funding of $64 million at a time when we are asking agencies to make across-the-board spending reductions. This supplemental package should not be a funding rescue for AmeriCorps.

The supplemental was intended to provide for our men and women in uniform, to give them the equipment and supplies they need to bring freedom and democracy to Iraq. Let us keep this legislation focused on the troops.

Mr. Speaker, each day in the United States more than three children die from abuse at the hands of a family member. Most are under the age of 6. However, there is hope. Childhelp USA is an organization that is working hard to assist victims of neglect and abuse.

Childhelp USA has many centers across the country, one of which is in Tennessee. And in November, Childhelp USA Tennessee assembled the country's first Mobile Children's Advocacy Center. For the first time it allows professional Childhelp staff to reach out to abused children in the rural parts of our State. The 40-foot mobile center is outfitted with medical exam and play therapy rooms as well as professional staff.

In conjunction with National Child Abuse Prevention Month, Childhelp has initiated the National Day of Hope to be held on Wednesday, April 2. On this day Childhelp requests that each person take 3 minutes to pause and remember that three children die each day from abuse.

Mr. Chairman, as we debate H.R. 1104, the Child Abduction Prevention Act of 2003, it is important to talk about not only the AMBER Alert provision in the bill, but to also praise additional measures of the legislation that serve and protect our Nation's children. Certainly the AMBER Alert system has helped to find missing children throughout the nation and in my home state of Tennessee, but this bill has a wider scope by working to stop abductions before they occur.

H.R. 1104 gives us the ability to provide stronger penalties against kidnappers, sex offenders and child abductors. It aids law enforcement by giving them the ability to prosecute the criminals responsible for these crimes. For example, it requires a minimum 20-year sentence for criminals that kidnap or abduct a child under the age of 18.

Of great importance, it denies pretrial release for child kidnappers or child rapists and eliminates the statute of limitations for child kidnapping or sex crimes.

Further, it gives a judge the discretion to rule that a released sex offender's supervision be extended up to a maximum of life. It also requires a mandatory life in prison sentence to twice convicted child sex offenders. These two provisions may give parents a small sense of relief that a sex offender will not move into their neighborhood and prey on their children.

Each of these measures will work to enhance the good work being done at the local level by our child advocacy centers and organizations.

In addition, the Child Abduction and Prevention Act of 2003 provides extra money for the Missing and Exploited Youth Program--an essential element to both finding missing children and preventing child abductions. It reauthorizes the annual grant to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Youth and doubles the funding level to $20 million each year through 2005.

Unquestionably, the AMBER Alert provision in this bill is an essential one. But it is also imperative that we act to stop abductions before they happen. The Child Prevention Act of 2003 does just that.

Mr. Speaker, the President has said that bringing freedom to Iraq would not be easy and that it would not be fast. I think it is important that Americans know that we are indeed making incredible progress, but it is unrealistic to expect that after 12 weeks of digging himself in that we will be able to remove Saddam in a week.

Just yesterday, critics were questioning whether Iraqis really wanted freedom because there had been no popular uprisings against Saddam Hussein's henchmen. Well, today we have reports from our allies that in Basra, Iraqi civilians have challenged Saddam's soldiers. Clearly, the President and his advisers have a plan and it is working.

The second point I would like to make this evening is that we must remember the unsung heroes of this conflict, the military families. For every American soldier, there is a family, there is a community and an entire Nation who is praying that all will go well.

It is imperative that we keep them in our prayers, for too often the challenges that they face go unnoticed.

Mr. Speaker, Fort Campbell sits in my congressional district. I would like to take this time to honor the families of the soldiers from Fort Campbell, the Special Operations forces, the 101st forces. We appreciate so much these families and the sacrifice that they are making to see freedom and liberty preserved not only in our country but also for the Iraqi people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Burton Grant and the Hope Clinic for Women. In March 1983, a group of concerned citizens in middle Tennessee sought to give the growing number of women who sought abortions another option to an unplanned pregnancy.

Dr. Burton Grant, a well-respected radiation oncologist, led the group in providing a compassionate and viable alternative for women facing one of the most important decisions of their lives.

Today the clinic has helped more than 19,000 women. In the past 2 years, Dr. Grant has enabled this haven of empathy and safety to become a licensed medical facility offering services such as obstetrical ultrasound and pregnancy and STD testing.

The Hope Clinic is a fully fledged alternative to the abortion clinics. Without Dr. Grant's endorsement, his integrity and his impeccable reputation, this clinic would never have reached its full potential as a beacon of hope in the middle Tennessee community.

As the Hope Clinic for Women celebrates its 20th anniversary, it is with deep appreciation that I honor Dr. Grant and his service to the Nation.

Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) mentioned Jesus Christ in this budget, and I kind of think Jesus Christ would have liked it. In our house we always had a saying, if 10 percent was good enough for God, 10 percent ought to be good enough for the budget; and this budget is going to save millions of Americans billions of dollars over the next 10 years because it puts in place a new, lower 10 percent rate, and that is a good thing when we leave money in the pockets of American taxpayers.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to support this budget and am pleased that it includes funding for tax relief by the President. Implementation of the President's economic growth package would create thousands of jobs and reduce taxes for 1.7 million Tennessee taxpayers, many of who are family and small business owners. Indeed, it is important to note without enacting this package, an additional 1.4 million taxpayers will have to pay the alternative minimum tax. This tax was originally enacted in the 1960s to preserve fairness in the code; but over the last 10 years, this tax has started to affect many middle-class families. Over the next 10 years, these families would have to pay more than $37 billion in extra taxes. I am sure they will not think that is fair, and I am sure they will not be happy with the other side of the aisle who are blocking reform because they do not think we can save even a penny on a dollar of waste, fraud, and abuse in this budget.

The President's growth package raises the exemption level of the AMT to save these taxpayers from these additional costs. Mr. Chairman, I know this House wants to provide tax relief to the families of America, especially in this time of economic uncertainty.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 975 the Bankruptcy Reform legislation being considered.

I have heard from credit unions and banks in Tennessee and their message is clear: bankruptcy is all too often used as a first resort, rather than as a last resort. This makes it increasing difficult for them to operate.

In 1998, bankruptcy filings exceeded one million for the first time in our Nation's history. And in 2002 that number increased by 150 percent to 1.5 million. And the upward trend is expected to continue.

H.R. 975 is a compassionate bill: People who seek bankruptcy because of job loss, medical problems, divorce or other personal problems--will be unaffected by this legislation. Those who have the means to repay their debts should do so.

I'd like to thank the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee for his hard work in bringing this to the floor today and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor a true Tennessee legend and a national treasure. Eddy Arnold is the most successful country music singer of the 20th century. His body of work, including 28 number one singles, spent more weeks at the top of the country music charts than any other artist in the field.

This March, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville honored the Ambassador of Country Music for donating his personal effects and memorabilia. This selfless donation constituted the largest collection dedicated to a single individual ever received by the museum. The ``Tennessee Plowboy'' generously offered more than 2,000 photographs, 5,000 radio recordings, tuxedos, guitars, and his coveted Entertainer of the Year Award from 1967.

In a brilliant career that spans 7 decades as a guitarist, songwriter and singer, Eddy Arnold has made immeasurable contributions to the popularity of country music with such hits as ``I Hold You in My Heart'' and, my favorite, ``Make the World Go Away.'' Now he has made an immeasurable contribution to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. For that, Tennesseans and, no doubt, country music fans across the country, are deeply grateful.

Eddy Arnold, a living country music legend and my constituent, has enhanced his genre and the culture of America. I want to thank him for his dedication to the arts and for his invaluable gifts to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the HEALTH Act of 2003, because I know what runaway health costs and a broken health care system look like.

In Tennessee we are battling to fix our own system, a statewide, nearly-universal health care service run by the government called Tenncare.

H.R. 5 means doctors in your neighborhood, not 50, 100, or 500 miles away in a metropolitan area. H.R. 5 means lower insurance premiums for working families and for small businesses.

This bill will not take away anyone's right to compensation. What it will do is prevent our community doctors, our community doctors from being targeted by profiteering lawyers.

I encourage all of my colleagues to join in supporting the HEALTH Act of 2003.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support a pro-growth, pro-jobs plan. The President's tax proposal is critical to our Nation's economic health. Critics describe tax relief for working families, small businesses, and investors as a ``cost'' we cannot afford. Viewing this as a cost is shortsighted and simply bad economic theory.

If we look at the reality of the President's proposal, the reality of what tax relief will do, we know that this plan will generate enough jobs and tax revenues to reduce the so-called costs by 56.8 percent.

A key component of the President's plan for growth is dividend tax relief. If

anyone doubts the need or wisdom of such a cut, I would refer them to a recent Washington Post commentary by Charles Schwab, who said he ``can't think of any other tax policy that would, at one stroke, be more beneficial to ordinary investors.'' He predicted immediate benefits, with a stock market rise of 10 to 15 percent. Debates about cost are simply missing the point.

Mr. Speaker, it is clear this plan will assist in jump-starting our economy. I encourage all my colleagues to join in passing this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, February is American Heart Month, which attempts to educate people on the dangers of heart disease and other heart related medical problems. It is in recognition of this important issue and the way in which it affects women that I come to the floor to speak today.

One in two American women will eventually die of heart disease or stroke. One in Two! This is compared with one in twenty-seven who will die of breast cancer. This is a stark and alarming fact that most women have not heard. For my state, that means that every year around 11,500 women in Tennessee die from causes brought on by Heart Disease.

But there are things that women can do to decrease their risk. The first of these is to stop smoking, which is the single greatest risk factor for a heart attack in women. Check your cholesterol level and blood pressure, High blood pressure makes the heart work harder, causing it to enlarge and weaken over time. High blood pressure also increases the risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney failure and congestive heart failure.

In addition, try to get out and exercise. Even modest levels of low- intensity physical activity are beneficial if done regularly and long term. Making exercise a priority is hard for today's busy women, but the rewards are great.

Obesity also puts women at risk for heart disease, even if other risk factors do not exist. This is because excess weight strains the heart and raises blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Even losing ten or more pounds will help lower your risk for heart disease as well as many other health problems.

I urge women to get regularly scheduled check ups and to recognize the signs of heart disease. Take advantage of American Heart Month and visit a health fair in your community. These fairs provide an opportunity to have your cholesterol, glucose and blood pressure checked. In addition, you can get information from specialists on various health related issues such as fitness, heart healthy diets and much more.

Whatever you do, please take the time to visit a health care specialist and find out how you can keep yourself and your family healthy and safe from heart disease.

I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the good doctor from Florida's legislation, H.R. 534, and against the Greenwood substitute. I also want to thank my chairman on the Committee on the Judiciary for moving the legislation through our committee and bringing it here today.

I am very concerned by the language of the substitute and its ramifications. Leon Kass, the distinguished bioethicist, notes that under the Greenwood language, embryo production is explicitly licensed and treated like drug manufacturing. Furthermore, it would establish an unworkable system of embryos in labs all over the country and puts Federal law enforcement in charge of making sure that no egg is ever implanted in a woman's body. Our law enforcement officials simply cannot carry out the directive.

The language of the base bill is narrowly tailored. Simply, the language ensures that women are not exploited so their eggs cannot be mass harvested as commodities for research purposes. And the language prohibits the creation of cloned human embryos for experimental research or productive purposes. I urge my colleagues to oppose the substitute and to support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the President's jobs and economic growth package because of the immediate benefits that it will provide for our small business owners.

Under current law, businesses can only deduct a fraction of new investment expenses and are forced to wait years to deduct the full cost. The President's jobs and economic growth package will help reduce this anti-investment bias by immediately increasing the amount of investment that can be deducted from $25,000 to $75,000 per year. Increasing by 300 percent the amount that small businesses can invest in their company will have an immediate and positive impact on our Nation's economy. This package is projected to return an average of $2,042 to over 23 million small business owners this year.

This legislation will help increase the bottom line, and I hope my colleagues will support it when it comes before the House.