Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to 67 of my colleagues who have cosponsored my bill, the American Parity Act. They join me in supporting a funding boost for health care, education, and public safety by the same amount we have pledged to rebuild Iraq.

We are in the process now of beginning to spend down the $1.7 billion we have dedicated to the housing, the education, the health care, and the infrastructure of rebuilding Iraq; and yet here at home our schools are closing, athletic programs are shut down, summer school activities are being shut down, hospitals are not being able to provide the health care they need, projects for economic growth and economic investment in local communities are being delayed. Yet we are in the process of being about to rebuild Iraq.

Let me give an example. The other day I pulled an RFP from USAID. Two million dollars has already been designated for Iraq and another $70 million will be spent next year for desks, computers and supplies. Schools in Basra and Umm Qasr have already been given kits containing enough supplies for every student for the next year.

Yet here in America 59,000 kids will be eliminated from Head Start. Our teachers in our schools must buy books and supplies out of their own wages and then eventually maybe get a tax credit or be reimbursed later on. Up to $94 million is now today being spent to give 13 million Iraqis, half the population, universal health care and maternity care for 100 percent of the population in Iraq. Yet Medicaid will be cut; 14 million Americans will be denied access to health care in this country. Up to $680 million will now be spent over the next year and a half repairing six airports in Iraq, 100 hospitals, and 6,000 schools. Another $5 million is pledged to complete the only deep water port in Umm Qasr, Iraq. Yet we are cutting housing here in America. We are cutting our ability to invest in local infrastructure. In fact, the Corps of Engineers is facing a cut of 10 percent in its budget. Chicago will be directly affected in the projects there.

I will support the reconstruction in Iraq, as others in this Chamber have. Yet I will not support the deinvestment in America. When President Kennedy said we will bear any burden, pay any price, he did not mean it would come at the expense of the American Dream here at home. We can only be strong overseas as long as we come together and are strong here at home.

In the last 2 years, 2.5 million Americans have lost their jobs. Five million Americans have lost their health care. Nearly $1 trillion worth of corporate assets have been foreclosed on, and 2 million Americans have walked out of the middle class into poverty. Those are the economic facts that our country faces.

I do not think when the American people said that they were willing to do what they needed to do in Iraq that it would come at the expense of their unity, their dreams, and their security here at home. The children of Iraq should not be provided a safer, more secure and more generous future than the one we are welcoming our GIs home to. The GIs who fought there, the people here that support the reconstruction in Iraq, who are paying for the reconstruction of Iraq, deserve the type of education, health care, and housing and economic investment that we envision for Iraq's future.

I believe that we are on the wrong road when it comes to balancing our priorities. The American people have proven over the last 50 years that they will be a very generous people, willing to help others on their path to a more democratic and more healthy and more economically promising future. But they will not do it and pay that price when they think their dreams for their children, the security of their communities, are less than what they are providing for other people. Nor should they.

Again, I will support, as others will, the reconstruction of Iraq but not the deconstruction of America. So I am pleased I have the support of my colleagues, 67 of them, for the American Parity Act. I will continually come down to the floor to talk about what we are doing in Iraq as it compares to what we are doing here at home, because the American people I think expect us to not only have our commitment to Iraq but to fulfill our commitment to them here at home.

They cannot have 59,000 American children kicked out of Head Start, yet the children of Basra be supported by the American people for a full year of great education. We cannot have 14 million Americans kicked out without healthcare from Medicaid, yet have 13 million Iraqis get universal health care. Those are the not the choices we should be providing, and we should not have it be an either/or, and that is the choices the American people are facing today.

Mr. Chairman, last week the House of Representatives passed the Workforce Investment Act, a reauthorization bill short- changing job training programs in America. A current beneficiary of WIA funds is the Youth Community Technology Program administered by Korean American Community Services on the northwest side of Chicago. I am very proud to represent this organization in Congress because it has a proven record of success by helping hundreds of young people in my district learn how to build and maintain computers, gain valuable experience through internships in area non-profit organizations, and benefit from the experience and companionship of professionals working in the information technology industry.

Regrettably, the Youth Community Technology Program recently lost all WIA support to serve students, and funding to serve youth not in school was severely reduced. The consequences of diminished federal investment in youth workforce development are easily observed at the local level: Eight of 29 local WIA youth programs for in-school youth, including the Youth Community Technology Program, were eliminated in response to a 20 percent cut in federal WIA Youth Program appropriations in fiscal year 2003. As a result of these cuts, more than 150 youth were enrolled in these programs. These young people will not have the opportunities provided to Mario Argueta, one of my constituents and a participant in the Youth Community Technology Program. Without these important programs, young people like Mario could join the ranks of the more than 80,000 Chicago youth ages 16 to 24 who have dropped out of school and remain out of work or are at risk to violence, delinquency, early pregnancy, and dependency.

The bill passed by the House last week cuts WIA Youth Program formula funds, and this could have a direct impact young Americans like Mario and the community organizations that serve them. Young people deserve increased federal investment in education and training, not another funding cut. Additionally, diverting one quarter of WIA Youth Program formula funds to create discretionary ``Challenge Grants'' would result in yet another round of severe cuts for local providers who depend on this money to serve youth like Mario. Any new grant created through reauthorization of the WIA Youth Program must be created with additional funds, not by diverting formula funds, in order to allow providers who are already meeting the challenge to continue their critical work.

The United States is currently experiencing a jobs recession in which 2.5 million Americans have lost their jobs in the last two years, including two million in the manufacturing sector. Unemployment in Illinois has reached 6.6 percent with 17,400 jobs lost in the last month alone. It is important now more than ever to ensure that the unemployed and those workers who want to improve their skills and participate in the new economy can look forward,to a future in which they can achieve the American dream for themselves and their families.

Mr. Chairman, Mario Argueta is a young man pursuing that dream. He wrote the following letter about how the Youth Community Technology Program has changed his life for the better and which I now submit for the Record.

The Way My Life Is Going Now Is Just Perfect

(By Mario Argueta, participant in the Youth Community Technology

Program)

My name is Mario Argueta. I was born in the city of Chicago

during the summer of 1985. When I was 2 and a half months old

my mother sent me to live with my grandmom in Guatemala. I

grew up over there and did pretty well in school. I completed

eighth grade, then my mom decided to bring me back to the

United States.

I came back to the Chicago to live with my mom, when I was

13 years old. Because of language problems, I had to repeat

the 8th grade. I attended Irving Park Middle School for 4

months. I graduated from eighth grade, then I started going

to Edwin G Foreman H.S. It was difficult for me, because I

did not speak English and could hardly understand. I was

doing really badly, my grades were very low, and I had a lot

of problems at home. I dropped out of high school because 1

got desperate and felt that I could not improve. But I knew I

was a good kid with no bad habits. I was smart and also

respectful to people. I realized that I needed some help.

Someone told me about Antonia Pantoja Alternative High

School. I applied, passed the entrance test, and started

attending that school. My grades started to improve because

of all the help I was getting. There were a lot of people

helping me in class, after school, during lunch, and

sometimes on Saturdays. I accepted the help because I wanted

a good future. My social worker at Antonia Pantoja told me

about Youth Community Technology Program (YCTP). When I got

in touch with them, I found out that my old English teacher

at Antonia Pantoja was working as the education coordinator

at YCTP.

After being accepted into the program, I went to YCTP after

school, four days a week, for about three months. I had a

good time, and learned a lot about computers. After teaching

me how to build computers and maintain operating systems,

YCTP matched me with an internship. Right now, I am working

on the internship at a non-profit agency called ``Computers

For Schools''. So far, everything is going great. While

working there I have gained a lot of skills in different

areas, especially in hardware. Sometimes we work on machines

that need network cards, sound cards, or video cards.

Sometimes we have to ``ghost hard drives,'' which means copy

an operating system to them, or sometimes wipe the hard-

drives. I have fixed more than 25 machines. I work with a

variety of systems. Now, I can understand a lot of things

that I wouldn't have even imagined before. I have work

experience to put on my resume, and am also giving something

back to the community.

My long-term goal is to get a degree from a college and

make the rest of my life comfortable. I still attend Antonia

Pantoja right now and will graduate in two more semesters,

but I'm close enough to feel like a winner already. Even

though I am still learning a lot of things, the way my life

is going now is just perfect.

Mr. Speaker, today many of us will join law enforcement officers from across the country on the west lawn of the Capitol to honor police officers killed in the line of duty. I have a special affinity for our men and women in blue, especially the members of the Chicago Police Department, including my Uncle Les who has been on the force for as long as I can remember.

This year 337 names will be added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. I find it ironic that as we remember these lost heroes, the Republican leadership refuses to renew the Assault Weapons Ban. Even worse, they will not even allow the bill to be called for a vote in the House. Is this the best way we could choose to honor our fallen officers? Is this how we should remember Donald Marquez, a 20 year veteran of the Chicago Police Department who was gunned down while trying to serve a summons?

Year after year gunshot wounds are the leading killers of police officers on duty. Keeping guns out of the hand of criminals would be an even better tribute, and as a member of Congress I will work hard to make our streets safer. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in this endeavor.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Democratic substitute to H.R. 1000, the Pension Security Act.

The Republican bill just does not do enough to take care of retirement security for American families. In particular, I support the substitute's fight against cash balance conversion, which pulls the rug out from under employees midcareer.

I worked on the moratorium that my colleague talked about when I was in the White House. Today 500 companies have converted to cash balance. There have been more than 1,000 age discrimination claims filed with the EEOC over these plans. Three hundred fifty companies are on the sidelines waiting to convert, which affects thousands upon thousands of employees.

Cash balance conversion can be done right. They are a good financial instrument if done effectively, but if we create winners and losers, that is the wrong approach.

The right approach is to include a grandfather clause to ensure workers who are 55 or older have a choice, that can work both for the employees and the employers. There is a right way and a wrong way to go about this.

I want to also speak about another situation in the bill. Even worse than the cash balance, the bill fails to require companies to notify employees when executives dump company stock or provide adequate notice to employees of excessive stock holdings. This bill treats the CEO retirement one way and treats employees' retirement another way: Two sets of books, two sets of standards and two sets of values.

Mr. Speaker, in contrast, the Democratic substitute does two important things. It protects workers when their pensions are converted to cash balance plans, and it ensures that workers' and executives' pension plans are treated equally.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding time.

The American people find themselves in the middle of a job recession. This tax bill does nothing to kick-start the economy. In Illinois, in Chicago, we have lost 56,000 jobs, one of the greatest losses. Fifteen months ago, we passed one of the largest tax cuts in history. The net result? 2.5 million Americans have lost their jobs, 5 million Americans have lost their health care, $1 trillion worth of corporate assets have been foreclosed on and 2 million Americans who were at one time in the middle class are now in poverty. That has been the net result of a tax plan that was passed 14 months ago. That is how it has affected the American people.

This tax cut only does exactly what the first tax cut did. It puts its foot on the accelerator and does nothing to focus its benefits on the economy and the job recession the American people find themselves in today. If we would focus on jobs and job creation, we would have a tax plan that would get bipartisan support. That is the goal of what our plan does, which is to produce jobs and kick-start the economy today so we can get economic growth. Less than 10 percent of this tax plan is designed on the economy today. That is why it will continue the sluggishness that our U.S. Treasury Secretary acknowledged the economy is in and continue the jobless recession that has been produced by the first tax cut of 2001.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee) for yielding me time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1261, the Workforce Reinvestment and Adult Education Act.

We are in the middle of a jobs recession where 2\1/2\ million Americans have lost their jobs in the last 2 years, 2 million in the manufacturing sector alone. It is more important now than ever that we ensure that those workers who want to train up and participate in the new economy get a chance to participate in the new economy, and this job training bill and a job training program is so essential.

I want to pick up on what my colleague from California said because in 1998 we did work together in a bipartisan fashion. We put aside politics. We zoned off the area of job training and ensured that we put people first and not politics first, and that is why we got a bipartisan agreement. We should not roll back on the principle that we did in 1998. We should press forward in doing what we did in 1998 by coming together, putting people first and not exactly politics.

My view here is that tomorrow we are going to be voting on a tax cut. This bill focuses on the job market. We should not focus on the stock market at the exclusion of a job market. It needs the same attention, the same interests and the same investment that we are about to do in just the stock market alone. The job market has as much priority as the stock market.

On the budget that we passed 2, 3 weeks ago, there were about $700 million in cuts over 2 years in the President's budget in the job training area. That is not the type of investment, that is not the type of values that both parties share. People are hurting out there. My colleagues have seen them when they have gone in the one-stop shop and talked them, as I have, in this time of recession and unemployment where 2 million Americans in the manufacturing sector have lost their jobs. It is a time that we in both parties need to come together and ensure that they have the opportunity to participate in the new economy, to participate and have a future whether they are unemployed or they want to ensure they have a chance at the American dream for them and their family.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 175, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Offered By: Mr. Emanuel

Amendment No. 1. Insert at the end of the bill the

following (and amend the table of contents accordingly):

Mr. Speaker, we recognize older Americans each May. This May we must address the unpleasant fact that too many of our elders are beaten, neglected, and extorted. Like other family crimes such as child abuse and domestic abuse, elder abuse has existed for too long in the dark shadows of our society. Elder abuse remains underreported, underresearched, and underenforced. As high as 5 million elderly cases of abuse occur in nursing homes, nursing institutions, and private homes each year; but 80 percent never get reported.

In my home State of Illinois, 186 nursing home residents actually died of starvation, dehydration, or infected wounds in 1999 alone.

In response, with the gentleman from New York (Mr. King), I will introduce the Elder Justice Act which makes elderly abuse a Federal crime, helps law enforcement work hand in hand with our health and social service agencies that have always fought alone against this type of neglect. It is a bipartisan bill. We have a number of Republicans here in the House, and 12 Republicans and 11 Democrats who are also introducing a bill in the Senate.

Mr. Speaker, the most meaningful way to honor our elder Americans this month is to pass the Elder Justice Act.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 164, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in celebration of Polish Constitution Day, Saturday, May 3rd. More than 111,000 people of Polish descent live in the Fifth Congressional District of Illinois. Amazingly, Chicago has more people of Polish descent than any other city except Warsaw, and I know they will all be reflecting on their proud heritage this Saturday.

Members of this body may not be aware of the Third of May Constitution, but passed on May 3, 1791, it was the second constitution in the world--second only to the Constitution of the United States. It was the first in Europe. This important event in the history of Poland, indeed the history of the world, is too often overlooked. Recently, however, there has been a movement to resurrect the memory of this important event, and today I stand before you in honor of its significance.

Slavic in origin, Poland has a tremendous history of more than a thousand years. During that time it has been invaded, occupied and liberated on numerous occasions. Yet, throughout a tumultuous history, Poland has remained uniquely Polish. Today Poland plays a vital role in Eastern Europe and is a friend to the United States.

Like most of Europe, Poland began life as a feudal state. But it also has a rich democratic history. In 1346 Casimir the Great established the first Polish legal code and in 1364 laid the foundation of Krakow University, providing two vital ingredients for democracy--rule of law and an educated populace. In 1430, Poland established the ``Nieminem Captivabimus,'' similar to our Habeas Corpus. By 1493, Poland established a Parliament with two houses, a Senate of dignitaries, and the Sejm which consisted of elected representatives. Following 1505, Parliament's consent was required for all new laws. The Third of May Constitution represents the culmination of these democratic reforms.

On May 3rd, 1791, the Sejm passed the Government Act, or what is today known as the Third of May Constitution. Embracing Enlightenment ideals like Rousseau's doctrine of national sovereignty and Montesquieu's concepts of a tripartite government, the Third of May Constitution demonstrates Poland's important role in helping to establish the modern world. While the Government Act still retained some resemblances of Poland's feudal heritage, it extended rights to citizens who previously had little or no rights. Peasants, for example, were officially placed under the protection of the ``law and government of the country.'' Unfortunately, soon after enactment Russia invaded Poland and the country was partitioned by Germany and Russia, abolishing the Constitution. Still, Poland can proudly look back on 1791 as a time when Poland helped establish modern democracy.

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday I look forward to joining the people of my district, as well as those of Polish descent around the world, in celebrating the common bond of democracy. I hope the members of this body will join me in saluting this important day.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize The Friendship Club of St. Genevieve's church. On April 23, 2003, the Friendship Club celebrated 31 years of service to Chicago's Northwest side. Led by Jean Juske, the group's president of the past 17 years, the club of 550 active members has worked to educate seniors on issues important to them. Throughout the years, the Friendship Club has held bi-monthly meetings on issues such as personal finance, public safety and politics. The group also helps seniors find safe and affordable housing. My friends at St. Gens, however, say that some of their most popular activities are the social ones such as dinner theatre trips. Whatever the activity, I salute the Friendship Club for their service to Chicago. Neighborhood organizations like this one form the backbone of communities, and Chicago is a much stronger place because of

the Friendship Club. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Friendship Club for all they have done in service to our community and wish them the best of luck for their next three decades and beyond.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize one of Chicago's most venerable and longstanding institutions, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, on its 30th anniversary. The CBOE began as a spin-off of the Chicago Board of Trade in 1973, and in short order revolutionized options trading by creating standardized, listed options and an exchange-based market. Individual investors the world over quickly adopted the concept of listed options, and the CBOE soon became the world's largest options exchange. As a result of superior management and cutting-edge product offerings, the CBOE has never looked back. Today, the CBOE is responsible for more than 51 percent of all options trading as well as 91 percent of all index options trading in the United States.

The CBOE has maintained its leadership position because of the dedicated efforts of all of those who work in its state-of-the-art 45,000 square foot facility, led by Chairman and CEO William J. Brodsky and Vice Chairman Mark F. Duffy. CBOE management has led the industry on issues ranging from corporate governance to investor education. In fact, Mr. Brodsky was recently commended by the Securities and Exchange Commission for his efforts at maintaining market integrity in the face of several recent corporate scandals. The CBOE is also a key employer in the Chicago region and an important driver of the local economy.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the Chicago Board Options Exchange on reaching the important milestone of its 30th anniversary, and I look forward to continuing to work together in the months and years ahead to ensure that the CBOE maintains its competitive superiority and remains a pillar of Chicago's business community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to echo what other speakers on both sides of the aisle have talked about, talking about jobs, creating new jobs, saving jobs now in jeopardy as our economy continues to deteriorate.

I am privileged to represent one of the most ethnically diverse districts in the Nation. Jobs in my district prove that the American dream is alive and well and that anything is possible through hard work.

On February 20, the FCC had an opportunity to create and save jobs while boosting the economy. Since 2000, we have lost 2\1/2\ million jobs in this country. Instead, this decision means job losses in the long term, for the Nation's telecom sector and for my home State of Illinois.

The FCC's decision also means companies will not be able to make critical investments in the area of broadband deployment. It means an entire segment of the U.S. economy faces a future of uncertainty for its employers and customers. The job-loss message was heard loud and clear. One analyst of the industry wrote, and I quote, ``Usually a decision of this magnitude would bring with it greater certainty and clarity. Yet, in this instance, we believe the issue is as confused and as uncertain as ever.''

Mr. Speaker, I encourage the administration to remember that uncertainty leads to job loss, both on Main Street and on Wall Street.

Mr. Speaker, Ronald Reagan once said: Facts are stubborn things. Since the economic management in the last 2 years, 2\1/2\ million Americans have lost their jobs; 5 million Americans are without health care who had health care before; $1 trillion worth of corporate assets, small and large, have been foreclosed on; and 2 million Americans have walked out of the middle class to poverty. Those are the facts of the economic performance of the Republican administration and the Republican Congress.

Tomorrow, we are going to be asked to vote for reconstruction for Iraq. They will be provided funds for 20,000 units of housing in Iraq. Yet in this budget, in this economic plan for America's, there are only enough dollars for 5,000 units of housing.

There will be 13 million Iraqis who will get universal health care in tomorrow's vote. In this, not a single dollar for the working uninsured in America. Twenty-five thousand schools in Iraq will be rebuilt; not a single dollar to modernize a single American school will be provided for in this budget.

There are 12,500 schools in Iraq that will get basic books and supplies. In this budget, we are asking teachers to take it out of their wages here in America. Four million Iraqi children will be given early childhood education; yet this budget, this economic plan, calls for 28,000 children to be cut from Head Start.

There will be 3,000 roads paved, enough to reach from New York to California, in the budget for Iraq. This budget cuts $6 billion from America's infrastructure.

A port in Iraq, the only deep port, will be rebuilt from beginning to end; yet this budget cuts 10 percent from our Corps of Engineers. Reconstruction for Iraq, rebuilding Iraq, we are asking our troops to come home to a diminished American dream, a smaller American dream.

We are providing for Iraq an economic plan that envisions a future. The future envisioned here in America is one with less education, one with less health care, one with less infrastructure, one with a less promising future.

When the fog of war is lifted, the facts on the ground will be 2\1/2\ million Americans without work, 5 million Americans without health care, $1 trillion worth of foreclosed corporate assets, and 2 million more Americans who walked out of the middle class into poverty. Those are the facts of this economic performance and economic mismanagement.

We can do better. Our troops expect more. They are coming home to a smaller American dream, a diminished American future. We are talking about reconstruction for Iraq, yet this deconstructs America's future. We can do better.

This budget, this economic plan, has resulted in a diminished future for our children; yet, we are asking our people to finance a bigger, stronger, and a fairer future for Iraq.

There should not be that disconnect between Iraq's future and the one here in America.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 1036, the Gun Manufacturer's Liability Reform Act. Shielding gun makers, dealers and distributors from liability and dismissing all pending lawsuits is the most egregious form of corporate welfare I have yet to see. This is special treatment for a special interest. The gun industry would become the envy of every industry. It is a back-handed insult to tens of thousands of victims of gun violence each year.

Let us apply the Firestone tire test. We should all agree that those who have been in accidents caused by Firestone tires have the right to their day in court. If Firestone had provisions similar to H.R. 1036, Americans whose families were either killed or injured would lose their right and there would be no recourse.

On July 3, 1999, 43-year-old Ricky Byrdsong, basketball coach for Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, was out walking with his children. During his walk, he was shot and killed with a gun which was illegally purchased from a dealer who probably should have known better than to sell the weapon.

The family of Ricky Byrdsong, the coach, is currently suing. This bill on this floor today would automatically dismiss that suit without so much as a trial. I do not know if the dealer is liable in this case, but that is not my decision to decide, nor is it the people of this body's decision to decide.

Mr. Chairman, this bill denies Americans one of their most basic rights. I understand that the issue of gun violence is a contentious one, but I think we can all agree that this body should work to protect our citizens, not the Washington gun lobby. This is special protection for a very special interest.

This is a bad bill, which sets a dangerous precedent, and I strongly urge my colleagues on both sides, people of good values and good principles, to vote against this legislation.