Floor Statements

Madam Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I rise today in support of H.R. 4167, the National Uniformity for Food Act. If enacted, this important legislation would set much-needed national standards for food safety and put an end to the confusing and often contradictory standards that exist across many States.

This is important, given that consumers have a right to expect the same scientifically based safety standards everywhere in the United States. By establishing a single national system based on comprehensive, science-based standards, consumers and businesses will be clear about what is safe, what is permissible, and what needs to be labeled. This is an opportunity to bolster consumer confidence.

The legislation would ensure that the FDA incorporates the best safety and warning practices of States, and allows States to continue to carry out sanitation inspections and enforcement. It would also create a process by which States can petition the FDA to adopt their own regulations as the national standard or to seek an exemption from national uniformity. A State's requirements would remain in effect while the FDA considers the State's petition. And where no Federal requirement exists, States could proceed pursuant to their own standards.

H.R. 4167 is good, commonsense legislation. It is greatly needed, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, this President's Day marks the nineteenth annual Black History Observance in Columbus, Georgia, but it also affords us the opportunity to recognize Dr. Henry L. Cook, Jr., who has chaired the event since 1988.

For 35 years Dr. Cook has practiced dentistry in Columbus. A graduate of Tuskegee University and Meharry Medical College, he has defined excellence in his field and continues to serve on the Georgia Board of Dentistry, the Georgia Dental Association and the Georgia Medicaid Advisory Committee, among other boards and organizations.

Yet beyond his chosen profession, Dr. Cook has used his life in service to others and his community. A veteran of the United States Air Force, he has received countless distinguished service awards for his work. He has served as Chairman of the Board of the Minority Assistance Corporation, the Columbus Technical College, the Columbus Technical Foundation, the Columbus Business Development Center and the A.J. McClung YMCA and has served on the Muscogee Board of Education, the Metro Board of Health and the Columbus Chamber of Commerce.

As chairman of the Annual Black History Committee, Dr. Cook has cemented the legacy of African Americans into the history of Columbus, Georgia. Under his guidance, the Annual Black History Observance, which was started by the late former Congressman Richard Ray to improve his relationship with the African-American community, has grown into a celebration of Black history that pays tribute to the individuals, organizations and institutions that have made lasting contributions to the history of Black Americans.

Dr. Cook is married to the former Mamie Richmond and has three children, Dr. Cathy L. Cook, Dr. Henry L. Cook, II and Ms. Rosa Zanders. His extraordinary legacy in dentistry continues through Cathy and Henry II, who continue the family dental practice.

This Monday, I will have the honor of presenting Dr. Henry L. Cook, Sr. with the Legacy Leadership Award and Congressman John Lewis, a true American hero and history maker, will be the featured guest speaker. However, here in this hallowed hall, I rise on behalf of the people of the Second Congressional District and the State of Georgia to honor the extraordinary contributions that Dr. Cook has made to the African- American community, the City of Columbus, the State of Georgia and our great Country. His service is a model for all and we are grateful.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in memory of an extraordinary woman and in recognition of a life that meant so much to so many.

I was honored to know Coretta Scott King. She was a woman of great eloquence and dignity, but also of great faith. She endured hatred, violence and ultimately the loss of her husband, but she never lost her vision for mankind or her determination to stand up for what is right and what is just.

Coretta Scott King was one of the greatest activists in our Nation's history and it is right that we honor her here today. She carried on the legacy of her husband, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, but she had her own legacy--a legacy of putting herself on the line to make the world a better place for all of God's children. And many of us continue to reap the rewards of her work today.

Mrs. King called ``Hate . . . too great a burden to bear.'' Saying, ``It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.'' These are words that not only inspired millions, but that must continue to inspire us today.

As we meet in these hallowed halls, we must remember the legacy of Dr. and Mrs. King and the dream that defined their lives. We mourn her passing, but the best way to celebrate her life and legacy is to recommit ourselves to the ideals of equality and justice for all.

I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to the children and family of Coretta Scott King. Today, we have truly lost an American treasure.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have my name removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 4099.

Madam Speaker, a rose by any other name smells just as sweet. And dung by any other name stinks just as much. A stinking bill that cuts spending for Medicaid, food stamps, student loans, foster care, child support, school lunches, and senior care by $54 billion and then cuts revenue taxes for folks earning $300,000 or more by $70 billion still leaves a stinking deficit of $16 billion. Add $7.1 billion for the cost of the President's flu initiative and $200 billion for gulf coast reconstruction and that grows to $223 billion.

This Republican reconciliation package is misnamed. It is actually a sham. Republicans have rejected the Blue Dog 12-point plan to cut deficit spending and now want to fool the American people. Madam Speaker, you can dress up a pig and call it a lady, but it is still a stinking pig. You can dress up a sham and call it deficit reduction; but it still says oink, oink, still stinks and is still a lie.

Mr. Speaker, I regret that I was unavoidably detained yesterday, October 26, 2005, due to a death in my family. As a result I missed rollcall votes Nos. 539 through 547. Had I been present I would have No. 541 ``no''; rollcall No. 542 ``no''; rollcall No. 543 ``no''; rollcall No. 544 ``no''; rollcall No. 545 ``no''; rollcall No. 546 ``aye''; rollcall No. 547 ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, this Saturday, October 8, 2005, the Golden and Maroon Tigers will face each other on the field at McClung Stadium in Columbus, Georgia for the 70th Annual Tuskegee- Morehouse Football Classic.

The historic clash of these two titans of college football, is more than just a ball game between two rivals, the event itself, themed a ``salute to our military troops'' is an opportunity for us to pause and celebrate the tremendous role that we as African Americans and as former, current and future leaders of men and women play in the success of our great nation.

As many of you know, African-Americans have a proud and rich tradition of service to our nation. From Crispus Attucks, born a slave, who was the first casualty of the Revolutionary War to the oldest Buffalo Soldier and Calveryman, Sergeant Mark Matthews, who fought under General Pershing in the Spanish American War and recently died at age 111; from the Black Union Soldiers who volunteered and fought in America's Civil War, to July 19, 1941, when during World War II, a program began in Alabama to train black Americans as military pilots, a squadron of fighter pilots that we now know as the Tuskegee Airmen.

We honor and recognize those African-American servicemen and women who have served in the Korean War, Vietnam, and Operation Desert Storm, as well as the brave soldiers, sailors and marines who continue to serve in our Nation's global war on terror. Officers and soldiers trained by institutions such as Morehouse College and Tuskegee University have and continue to fight for freedom. We pay tribute to them today, as we honor the courageous men and women, here at Fort Benning and around the world who dedicate their lives for their country.

Therefore, I invite my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as those present at this year's 70th Annual Tuskegee-Morehouse Football Classic to join me in saluting our military troops. We pause in celebration and in recognition of their service and sacrifice on our behalf.

Mr. Speaker, let me say at the outset that my thoughts, prayers, and condolences continue to go out to all of the victims and citizens whose lives have been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

And I must also commend the efforts of communities across this great Nation, for opening their hearts and homes to the victims of this tragedy.

In my district, the Beattie Road Church of Christ, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, the Albany Marine Corps Logistics Base, Fort Benning, Norman Park Assembly, the Southwest Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross and the many others who are too numerous to mention, but who have opened their hearts, homes and wallets to help the nearly 800 victims of Katrina who are now foster residents of the Second Congressional District of Georgia, should be recognized as well.

Two weeks ago, I do not think any of us could have imagined using the word ``diaspora'' to describe the lives of American citizens. But that is the situation that we are now faced with.

We are all too familiar with the horrific images coming from the Gulf Coast: images of our own people suffering, images that I know will always haunt me as I am sure that they will haunt you.

I also know that we are all too familiar with the accusations and mistakes that have been made at FEMA and at other levels of government. These are legitimate accusations that deserve an investigation.

in the end, however, it is what we do now that matters. That is why I am standing here today because I believe that we are still mismanaging this crisis, particularly the resources and assistance being provided evacuees as they disperse throughout the United States.

Just yesterday, my staff received several calls from the families of evacuees who have been relocated to the State of Georgia, whose needs are not being fully addressed by FEMA.

We have been told of several cases where evacuees, who are lucky enough to get a FEMA debit card, quickly learn that it has yet to be activated or simply doesn't work.

We continue to hear that it is very difficult and almost impossible to reach FEMA by phone, despite FEMA's ongoing and specific request that evacuees contact the agency by phone or e-mail. I question where these evacuees are going to get computer access, just as I know their access to telephones is limited.

But even more horrific are the stories of evacuees, panhandling, without clothes, without shoes, without any place to turn.

Mr. Speaker, this is not the America I know. FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security must be held accountable and, they must be held accountable today, not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, but today and each and every day in the future, until the victims of the Katrina Diaspora are allowed to return home or are appropriately resettled in a community of their choosing.

Just as all persons of Jewish decent have a right to return to their homeland in Israel, we must ensure that all victims of the Katrina Diaspora be given the right and opportunity to return to their homes.

Finally, I applaud the leadership on both sides of the aisle for taking this matter up today.

I do not care about sound bites or political advantage here. Those concerns do not help the millions of Americans who have been robbed of everything.

What I am concerned with and what all of us across the Nation should be concerned with, is how we move forward in an effective and responsive fashion.

Are we correcting our administrative mistakes and missteps on a daily basis?

Are we taking care of our citizens?

This is the time to pull together, not apart. This is the time to work together, to share ideas and to use our collective wisdom and energy to get the job done. Even if this means admitting that we have made mistakes.

We must be clear that this is just a down payment on meeting the costs of this disaster. There is a long road ahead. And it is my hope that what we are doing here today provides the short term relief that is so desperately needed by the victims of Katrina.

Only time will tell if we are adequately meeting the needs of the victims of this awful tragedy.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman very much for yielding me this time. I would like to congratulate the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) for a fine job, with limited resources, in producing, I think, a very good work product.

I know that the gentleman from New York shares my concern for our service men and women who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with the adverse psychological effects of combat. Many of the difficulties experienced by these brave men and women can be classified as post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. As you are aware, the GAO report on VA and defense health care dated September 2004 has highlighted the lack of services at the Department of Defense military treatment facilities and VA hospitals to address the needs of these former and active duty personnel. The report language and various initiatives that you have included in our bill address this problem, and I want to thank you for your leadership.

However, the lack of services available demands that we take immediate steps to increase psychological screening and treatment for our returning troops. PTSD cannot be just a Veterans' Administration problem. The needs of our active duty men and women have to be at the forefront of our agenda, meaning that it is wrong simply to discharge service men and women because we do not have the capacity to treat them while they are on active duty.

Since most of our military hospitals lack the expertise to deal with a large influx of such patients, I would like to urge the chairman, as the bill goes to conference, to consider allowing the creation of regional centers across our country located at private hospitals or available military clinics to help meet these increasing needs.

I yield to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I thank the chairman for his consideration and for his leadership, and I thank him for yielding me the time.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.

I rise today in support of the en bloc amendment to H.R. 1815 and in support of my ``Healthy Troops'' amendment contained therein.

Mr. Chairman, I first introduced the Healthy Troops Act when it was brought to my attention that many of our men and women serving in harm's way are not receiving hands-on medical examinations before or after they are deployed in combat. A 1997 congressional mandate requires both pre- and post-deployment medical exams, but this requirement is currently being met by the DOD by having our troops fill out self-administered questionnaires.

This concerns me, as I believe it should concern all Americans, first, because the health of our servicemembers should not rely on their ability to self-diagnose; and secondly, because these brave men and women deserve an accurate documentation of their health status in combat so that, if necessary, they can claim veterans' health benefits when they come home.

My original amendment required that DOD provide full hands-on and pre- and post-deployment exams for all deployed troops as opposed to the self-administered questionnaires. It also mandated a study of the effectiveness of the self-administered exams.

The revised amendment, which reflects a bipartisan compromise struck with the chairman and the committee, provides only for the study into the effectiveness of the questionnaires and that the study be performed within 120 days of enactment.

I do not believe that this is enough, but it does represent a victory for our servicemembers, men and women because, one, it continues an important, ongoing dialogue on the health and safety of our servicemen and -women, and two, because it requires further analysis of the effectiveness of the actual hands-on health screens.

I think that we can all agree that the health of servicemembers must be at the top of our agenda. This amendment puts the focus where it belongs.

I urge my colleagues to support the en bloc amendment.

Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise in recognition of a true leader,

scholar and public servant, Dr. Portia Holmes Shields. While we cannot claim her as a native of our State her extraordinary service as the seventh President of Albany State University has proven that she not only made Georgia her home these past nine years, she made it better.

When Dr. Shields first became President of Albany State University in 1996, she not only faced the challenge of being the first woman in that role, she confronted a campus ravaged by floodwaters. She met the challenge head-on and spearheaded a $153 million flood-recovery program that brought new life to the Southwest Georgia institution. Yet beyond improvements to the university's face and physical structure, under the direction of Dr. Shields, Albany State University has become an institution to be proud of.

Today, enrollment is up nearly 20 percent as Albany State maintains the third-highest retention rate among the University System of Georgia's 34 colleges and universities. Since the fall of 1996, the average SAT scores of incoming freshmen also jumped by more than 120 points. By following her own personal mission of putting students first, Dr. Shields has helped recruit the best and brightest and has added three new undergraduate programs at the institution including the state of Georgia's only forensic science program. In addition, her prowess as a fundraiser has been instrumental in making her vision for the University possible today and into the future.

This Friday, May 6, 2005, I will join Albany State University in honoring Dr. Portia Holmes Shields and wishing her continued future success in whatever path she might choose. However, here in this hallowed hall, I rise on behalf of the city of Albany, the Second Congressional District and the State of Georgia to honor the extraordinary contribution that Dr. Shields has made to our community and to the many students whose lives she has touched. She will be truly missed.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor for me to rise in recognition of an outstanding athlete and a beloved Georgian, Mr. Deion Branch, Super Bowl XXXIX's Most Valuable Player. Earlier this year we recognized the New England Patriots when they won Super Bowl XXXIX, their third Super Bowl victory in four years. Only one other team has ever won the Lombardi Trophy so many times in so few years, yet no other receiver in history has put together back-to-back performances like Deion Branch.

In Super Bowl XXXVIII, which the Patriots won 32-29 over the Carolina Panthers, Deion Branch caught 10 passes for 143 yards, including the game's first touchdown and the catch that set up the Patriot's winning field goal. He should have won MVP then, but this year he bested even himself, tying the Super Bowl record with 11 catches for a total of 133 yards.

From the days when he was deemed too small for middle school football, to his years on the Monroe High School team, to the University of Louisville, to his historic career in professional football, Deion Branch has made up for what he lacks in size with a spirit and a talent that defines him as one of the best to ever play the game.

This Saturday, April 23, 2005, we will be observing ``Deion Branch Day'' in the City of Albany, with all of the pomp and circumstance due our hometown hero. But here in these hallowed walls, I rise on behalf of the city of Albany, Georgia, the 2nd Congressional District and football fans everywhere to recognize his outstanding achievement and to wish him continued success in his already remarkable career.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the hard-working people of America who play by the rules and have paid their fair share. Decent, law-abiding, tax-paying Americans are the backbone of this country, and they are the salt of the Earth. They are the farmers of southwest Georgia and the family business owners who provide the jobs that keep small rural communities alive and flourishing.

All across this land are Americans who have paid their taxes all their lives, only to face a final taxing event at death. They paid their taxes during

their lifetimes and should not be charged again when they die.

The death tax represents all that is unfair and unjust about the tax structure in America because it undermines the life work and the life savings of Americans who want only to pass on to their children and grandchildren the fruits of their labor and the realization of their American Dream.

In my State of Georgia, farmers, many of whom are widow women, are faced with losing their family farms because of this death tax. Employees of family businesses, many of whom are minorities, are at risk of losing their jobs because their employers are forced to pay the unfair and exorbitant death taxes levied on them. Funeral homes, weekly newspaper publishers, radio station owners, local dry cleaners, all are affected all across the demographic spectrum.

Mr. Speaker, although reasonable minds may differ on this issue, I believe that the death tax is politically misguided, morally unjustifiable, and downright un-American. Let us vote today to finally eliminate the death tax and return to the American people and their progeny the hard-earned fruits of their labor.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the CBC Budget, a common-sense framework that embraces our values, that focuses on fiscal discipline and that invests in our nation's future.

To be frank, the budget that President Bush presented us with is a betrayal of the trust that is placed in us as legislators. It violates the commitments that we have made to our children, to our veterans, and to our farmers and it does so while amassing mountains of debt, that we have no means of repaying.

I stand in support of the CBC Budget because it is a fiscally responsible alternative that targets the disparities that plague our communities and puts our priorities where they belong. It lowers the astronomical budget deficit, by eliminating corporate tax loopholes and abusive tax shelters at the same time that it lowers tax cuts for individuals making more than $200,000 a year.

This adjustment would restore an estimated $36.3 billion in FY 2006, including nearly $4 billion for deficit reduction. We will fully fund No Child Left Behind; build and repair schools; increase investment in job training and job creation programs. We will not slash community and regional development programs, rather we will continue to invest in housing for those who need assistance. We provide funding for child nutrition programs, community health centers, NASA research and development, Amtrak, Hope VI and Section 8 housing programs, and housing for the disabled and the elderly. And we keep our commitments to our nation's farmers who are depending on us to keep the promises that we made in the 2002 Farm Bill.

Additionally, the CBC Budget allocates funding for Veterans and Defense above the president's requested level, to support our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, bolster our homeland security needs, and fully fund our veterans programs and benefits.

Mr. Chairman, I believe in fiscal responsibility. I believe that in times of national and fiscal crisis, sacrifices need to be made. But, I also believe that they need to be made by all Americans. It is unfair to scale back government programs that benefit hard working families in order to fund tax cuts that most benefit the wealthiest of Americans. We all need to make sacrifices, but we must also keep our priorities straight.

I believe that the CBC Budget does just that.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, it is with deep sadness that we accept the loss of our good friend Tillie Kidd Fowler. Shakespeare wrote: ``All the world's a stage and all the men and women are merely players. Each has an entrance and an exit. One in her time may play many parts.''

So it was with Tillie. Tillie was the daughter of Senator and Mrs. Culver Kidd. She was, of course, sister to Rusty. She had another sibling who now lives in Macon, Georgia. Tillie grew up in Milledgeville, and she had politics in her DNA. Her father, Culver Kidd, a Yellow Dog Democrat, served under the gold dome in Atlanta for more than 3 decades. I had the good fortune of calling Culver friend and mentor; and when I was elected to Congress in 1992, Culver called to congratulate me, but he said, ``I want you to meet my daughter. She was elected, also.'' As soon as I got here, I had the good fortune to meet Tillie, and we became friends. Although we were on different sides of the aisle, when I had a difficult election, Tillie came over and said, how can I help? And she did help. She was very, very, very savvy, just as her father and her brother were; and she has been a true public servant.

Tillie and I shared the fact that both of us attended Emory University Law School. Both of us were selected to be among that distinguished group called the Distinguished Alumni. She and I join others who are blessed to have had our portraits hanging in the law school. Each year, about this time, we cohosted a reception for the newly elected students from the Washington, D.C. area to the Emory Law School. That reception is coming up soon.

But most importantly, Tillie was a friend to me and that friendship was because of my friendship with her father and her brother. Just a couple of weeks ago when I was in Atlanta, I ran into her brother and I inquired about Tillie, and he told me she was doing fine. Little did we know that we would be coming here tonight to say these wonderful things about Tillie because she had gone.

All the world is a stage and all the men and women are players. Tillie served in so many capacities. She was wife to Buck and mother to Tillie and Elizabeth. But through all of that, she touched our lives in so many ways. We are sad and only one who has worn the garment of bereavement can truly understand the pain that comes when one has been taken from the midst. Yet as we reflect prayerfully, our pain must turn into joy because truly all of us have been blessed to know, love and to have shared this life with such a wonderful woman as Tillie Kidd Fowler.