Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, this month of September 2005 has seen our Nation suffer the ravages of the largest natural disaster in our history and a second hurricane of remarkable power, Katrina and Rita. All Americans extend their hearts and their hands and their hopes to those whose lives have been so drastically disrupted.

In Congress, our responsibility must be to ensure that the money that we have provided for the relief efforts is spent only on relief and recovery efforts. That is why Congress will send a special team of investigators to the Gulf region to monitor disaster expenditures.

That is why Congress will convene oversight hearings to learn from high administration officials, State officials and local folks on the status of the relief efforts and where the funds are being expended. That is why weekly reports on expenditures are mandated by Congress and why ongoing audits and investigations on disaster assistance are being conducted.

Mr. Speaker, recovery efforts will take time and the Federal Government will be there to support the local and State leaders, but anything we do we must do so in a fiscally responsible way.

Mr. Speaker, as a third generation physician, I have seen health care in our Nation change in the most dynamic of ways. Advances in medicine and technology have improved the lives of millions of people. Today, however, the doctor-patient relationship that is so critical in providing quality health care is being exploited. It is no wonder that four out of every five Americans are wary of frivolous lawsuits in health care. Insurance companies, personal injury trial lawyers and even the potential of a lawsuit are leading hospitals to close their doors and doctors to stop practicing faster than ever before.

Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week begins on October 3, not a moment too soon. Health care decisions must and should be made in the clinic and the operating room, not the courtroom. Decisions should be in the best interests of patients, not in the best interests of the pocketbooks of personal injury lawyers. I have seen it happen myself, with doctors making medical decisions out of fear of lawsuits, not from what they learned in medical school. That is not why they devoted their lives to medicine. Their only desire is to help heal people, not worry about whether their diagnosis would be put on trial.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for yielding me

this time and allowing me to participate in this discussion.

We know that children who begin kindergarten and first grade prepared both socially and mentally to learn have a much greater opportunity of success, not just in school but in life. Improving the quality of Head Start should be a priority for all of us.

One of the greatest challenges of any Federal program is to ensure that hard-earned taxpayer money is used only for the purpose intended, and the current Head Start program does not live up to that principle. The need for safeguards and accountability are needed now more than ever.

The School Readiness Act addresses financial management weaknesses found in the current Head Start system and publicly documented in various news accounts. There is disturbing evidence that a sizable share of Head Start funding never reaches its target: disadvantaged children. Instead, the money is being lost to waste, financial abuse, and mismanagement; and there are collective media accounts that suggest that the problem is not isolated.

The director of a Head Start program in Gardenville, Maryland, was indicted on charges that she stole more than $350,000 from the organization over a 4-year period. Imagine if this money were spent on students rather than stolen from Head Start.

A former director of a Head Start program in Charleston, West Virginia, was sentenced up to 5 months in Federal prison after admitting he used an agency credit card for a personal trip to the Kentucky Derby and preparing a false invoice for computer repairs. Rather than investing money in student nutrition, this director took this money from school cafeterias and went to the horse races.

The executive director of the Kansas City, Missouri, Head Start operation earned a salary in excess of $300,000 annually and drove a luxury SUV, leased in part with Federal Head Start funds. The gentleman has since resigned. Head Start was never intended to provide for six- figure salaries and luxury cars.

The Department of Justice gained a guilty plea from an executive director of a Lubbock, Texas, Head Start program after he embezzled more than $800,000 over 2 years and diverted part of the money to a local restaurant.

Mr. Chairman, it is a priority of this Republican Congress to ensure that the necessary financial controls are in place to safeguard against these abuses and to protect the public's confidence in this important school readiness program. Safeguards against financial abuse in this bill include an independent financial audit annually, an annual report detailing how their money is spent and the sources of their funding, oversight by a local governance board, and a requirement that administrative costs may not exceed more than 15 percent of the total program cost.

Congress must not ignore the evidence that much money invested in the Head Start program currently never reaches the disadvantaged children it is intended to serve. I commend the chairman for his leadership and the leadership of the subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle), for this bill; and I urge all Members of the House to support H.R. 2123.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the people of Afghanistan on the elections they just held.

The saying that ``freedom is not free'' rings true for those who defied the Taliban, defied the warlords, and made history by freely electing their leaders this past Sunday.

During the past 4 years, people have forgotten what the Taliban stood for: public executions at soccer stadiums; banning the Internet, music, television and education; preventing women from going to school or work outside the home. A woman caught wearing fingernail polish may have had her fingertips chopped off.

This week however, Afghans, 12 million strong, have shown the world that they will not go back to tyranny, they will not take a step back into oppression, and will not buckle when taking on the challenges of democracy.

Madam Speaker, Afghanistan demonstrates the most recent chapter in freedom's march. It is a glorious story whose success should be recognized and applauded.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor and enthusiasm that I congratulate the Eden Lodge No. 46 as they join together to celebrate their 110th birthday along with their sister chapter King Solomon Chapter No. 42 celebrating their 103rd anniversary.

Located in the city of Marietta, the Eden Lodge and King Solomon Chapter have a rich heritage and continue to serve the Cobb Community and beyond.

The Eden Lodge began in 1894 and the lodge proceeded to grow in the years that followed. After the Great Depression and the hard times that followed during World War II the Eden Lodge was reactivated and grew its strength when in 1961 Eden Lodge built its Masonic Hall.

I would especially like to commend the following members for their leadership and active participation in the Eden Lodge: Emanuel Wilson, Charles Ferguson, Sr., Charles E. Bartlett, Sr., Reginald H. Kemp, Joseph L. Collins, and Mario L. Eury.

With pride, I recognize the Eden Lodge for its 110 years and the King Solomon Chapter for its 103 years of offering a place of fellowship and friendship to the people of Marietta, Georgia and beyond.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all Members to join me in honoring and congratulating the membership for their remarkable achievements.

Madam Speaker, heroes come in every shape and form. Some teach in our classrooms, some defend our freedoms overseas, and on 9/11 our heroes were the ones who wore the insignia of the fire and police departments of New York City on their uniforms.

And again today, our heroes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are numerous. Some are doctors and nurses who have saved lives, others are National Guardsmen and women who rescued people from rooftops and elsewhere. But most are those that you will not read about in the newspaper: Americans committing random acts of kindness when help is needed.

People are opening their homes, donating clothing, and enrolling evacuated children into schools in their communities. In Georgia we have nearly 10,000 children who have been enrolled in our schools. We have set up shelters, held telethons, and opened megacenters to serve as a one-stop-shop for evacuees, all to help them put their lives back together.

You name it, and the residents of Georgia are stepping up to the challenge and helping out wherever they can.

Madam Speaker, we will overcome this tragedy and we will do it one day at a time and one life at a time. That is truly the American way and the American spirit.

Mr. Speaker, our national budget and spending bills reflect our government's values and priorities, and in recent years those priorities have been skewed heavily in favor of helping the rich and eroding protections for the poor. Our country's religious leaders recognize that danger, and for the second time this year have issued statements calling on our government to truly care for the least among us and to abide by a budget and spending plan that reflects the higher values and morals of our country. I would like to submit for the Record a letter from the leaders of many of the major Protestant churches in our country and another by the National Council of Jewish women calling on Congress not to abandon the poor in the aftermath of Katrina. The budget reconciliation process should not be used to further reduce funding for education, food stamps, health care, and other critical domestic priorities while spending twice that amount in tax cuts for the wealthiest among us.

The Episcopal Church, USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in

American, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), United Church

of Christ, United Methodist Church.

September 13, 2005.

Dear Members of Congress: As leaders of our respective

denominations, we have long sought an end to the injustices

inherent in poverty. We have never seen these injustices born

out so vividly in our own country as in the aftermath of

Hurricane Katrina. The devastation wrought by Katrina has

exposed the anguished faces of the poor in the wealthiest

nation on the planet. These faces, precious in the eyes of

God, cause us to remember that racial disparities and poverty

exist in almost every community in our nation. They also

compel us to set before Congress once again our concerns for

the FY '06 federal budget and its impact on people living in

poverty. With renewed urgency, we call on Congress to stop

the FY '06 federal budget reconciliation process immediately.

We believe our federal budget is a concrete expression of

our shared moral values and priorities. Congress rightly and

quickly responded in appropriating needed funds to ensure an

adequate initial response to Hurricane Katrina. Our

denominations have mobilized and are responding in prayer and

financial support and direct service to those in need. Yet,

just as disaster struck the Gulf Coast, the U.S. Census

Bureau reported in very particular detail that poverty in the

United States is growing. The annual report, Income, Poverty,

and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004

showed that 37.0 million people lived in poverty in 2004, an

increase of more than one million people since 2003.

In April, during consideration of the budget resolution we

wrote to Congress that, ``As we view the FY '06 Federal

Budget through our lens of faith this budget, on balance,

continues to ask our nation's working poor to pay the cost of

a prosperity in which they may never share.'' It is clear

that programs such as Medicaid and the Food Stamp Program

that were slated for cuts by Congress will in fact have

greater burdens placed on them as a result of Hurricane

Katrina. These programs are not simply entitlements or

``government hand-outs,'' they represent the deep and

abiding commitment of a nation to care for the least among

us.

Believe us when we tell you that even before Hurricane

Katrina or the Census Bureau's report, neither we nor our

friends of other faiths had the resources to turn back the

rising tide of poverty in this country. The FY '06

reconciliation bill that is working its way through the

authorizing committees will send more people searching for

food in cupboards that, quite frequently, are bare.

We commit ourselves to working for economic policies

infused with the spirit of the One who began his public

ministry almost 2,000 years ago by proclaiming that God had

anointed him ``to bring good news to the poor.''

The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold,

Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, USA.

The Right Reverend Mark Hanson,

Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in

America.

The Reverend Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick,

Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church

(U.S.A.).

The Reverend John H. Thomas,

General Minister and President, United Church of Christ.

James Winkler,

General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society,

United Methodist Church.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have my name removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 3763.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, two cornerstones of the airline industry filed for bankruptcy. The headlines this morning talk about Delta and Northwest and the customers, but what should be on the front page are headlines about the employees. The employees are the ones who will be impacted the most. Delta and Northwest combined have over 90,000 employees, and that number does not include the retirees who will also have to deal with this issue.

People who have worked a lifetime to retire comfortably are now in jeopardy of having their promised benefits cut by 75 percent. Can you imagine that, 75 percent?

Delta and Northwest Airlines are the latest casualties in a competitive airline industry, and these recent Chapter 11 filings are a symptom of a greater problem and must serve as a wake-up call for all of us. Employees must have the flexibility to choose how they wish to secure their retirements if legacy carriers are to remain in the industry. This means IRAs and 401(k)s, the power to secure your retirement should be in your own hands.

Mr. Speaker, the news today affects all of us, and I ask my colleagues to support comprehensive airline pension reform so these employees retain a more secure future.

Mr. Speaker, Hurricane Katrina has devastated the Gulf Coast unlike anything we have ever seen. The television cameras and newspaper pictures can only give us a glimpse of the devastation.

Recovery efforts will take time and resources, and many have opened their homes and their hearts and their wallets to those who have lost so much. And I am so very proud my home State of Georgia has stepped up to the plate to help those in need.

Everyone is doing their part. Many Georgia companies like Coca-Cola and UPS and Home Depot have given millions, million in aid to relief organizations.

But today I would like to recognize the hard work and dedication of some others, the students, the teachers and the schools of Georgia. Georgia schools are doing all they can, and we commend their efforts.

As of today, over 7,300 Hurricane Katrina-displaced students are enrolled in Georgia public and private schools. Georgia students are doing all they can as well. From bake sales to stuffing backpacks full of supplies, students are helping their new friends and peers by opening their hearts and homes.

Through times of crisis come times of opportunity, Georgians have seized that opportunity to help, and we are all grateful for their kindness and their generosity.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Neil Ward on the occasion of his upcoming retirement from the American Academy of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery.

Dr. Ward has been a caring and passionate practitioner of medicine for over 30 years, holding every leadership position in the 12,000 member international organization which specializes in treating patients with problems of the ears, nose, and throat.

After receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona, Tucson, in 1956, Dr. Ward served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force; and following discharge in 1959, he decided to devote his life to helping and healing others. He came to Washington, D.C. to attend the George Washington School of Medicine with the goal of becoming a physician and making a difference in people's lives.

Not only has Dr. Ward made a lasting mark on his community as a doctor; he has also inspired a new generation of physicians as a lecturer and teacher and has advanced science and medicine through his published papers. It is my privilege to salute a fellow physician and respected colleague and join in congratulating him on his retirement.

Mr. Speaker, we all watched in disbelief as the desperation of fellow Americans rolled across our TV screens waving from rooftops in New Orleans, waiting to be saved. And as the hours rolled by, it became clear that our response, our response, at the local, State, and Federal levels was lacking.

Hurricane Katrina is the largest natural disaster in the history of our Nation, affecting an area the size of the entire State of Michigan. Any response would have been lacking for some. There will be opportunities in Congress and elsewhere to evaluate that response, but now is the time for all Americans to pull together and work together to get millions of our fellow citizens back on their feet. Now is the time for the American spirit to shine.

We are a giving and a generous country, and millions of Americans are desperate to help. There are so many avenues of opportunity.

Our Nation has faced huge challenges before, and we know how to succeed in the face of adversity. We succeed by marshaling that American spirit and by working together. Together, it is imperative that now we in Congress and across our Nation move forward with that uniquely American can-do, never-fail attitude.

Mr. Speaker, as we return from our district work period, at the forefront of all of us is the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina which literally turned our Nation upside down.

In my district on the north side of Atlanta, I am so proud of the work that has been done to provide relief support for those directly affected by the storm, the largest natural disaster in our Nation's history. Local towns are sending not just money and goods but personnel from fire and police departments. Our local Red Cross has activated shelters to help evacuees find relatives and get back on their feet. These are Americans helping Americans. The American can-do spirit is alive and well and strong.

But most disheartening has been the vicious, personal attacks against some who are trying their hardest to help folks recover, attacks that have even come from supposed leaders in our Nation. These statements and their tone are harmful to our Nation and our recovery. I call on all Americans, especially those in positions of influence, to work positively and constructively to solve our current challenge. Anything less does a disservice to all Americans and, ultimately, our viability as a free and a democratic society.

Mr. Speaker, job growth in the U.S. has increased for 25 straight months with unemployment at 5 percent, lower than the average for the last three decades. And the news just keeps getting better.

New home sales hit a record high in June. And that should not come as a surprise, seeing as how more Americans are working than ever before-- over 130 million jobs.

But we do not see this on the front page of our newspapers or on the nightly newscasts.

The Republican accomplishments of this House speak for themselves. We passed medical liability reform to prevent frivolous lawsuits from forcing doctors out of practice or closing hospitals and leaving patients with limited access to care.

We passed Association Health Plans to let small businesses pool their resources together in order to purchase affordable health insurance for their employees.

Mr. Speaker, remember the death tax, the tax that unfairly burdened American families at the most inopportune of times? We listened to Americans, to our constituents, and we voted to repeal that unjust and unfair tax.

Mr. Speaker, as we head into the August work period we have a record of accomplishment and we look forward to sharing it with the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have my name removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 1946.