Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the business in order under the Calendar Wednesday rule be dispensed with on Wednesday next.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus and its members, we are presenting this evening during our message hour a call to action, that is Haiti, country in crisis.

We have witnessed this year, so far in the hurricane season, tremendous distress, death and destruction. I want to start by expressing the sympathies of myself and the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, our condolences and support for the people of Texas and the Gulf Region, who have been toiling under storm after storm after storm and dealing with the destruction that comes from nature's wrath, as some would place it.

In this context, I wanted to speak a bit this evening with my colleagues and with the public about the need to actually look at what happens, not at the point at which the hurricane ends on our shores, but also its path and the

death and destruction that it leaves in the wake of its path.

I am speaking of the Caribbean region in our hemisphere, and the many nations in those waters that have been devastated by the series of hurricane activity this year, be it the island nation of Turks and Caicos or the island nation of Jamaica, the island nation of the Dominican Republic, the island nations in the Caribbean region have been rocked by this year's hurricane season thus far. I have had the opportunity to join with Congressman Kendrick Meek and Congresswoman Donna Edwards from Maryland on an emergency codel to destination, Haiti.

The devastation that we witnessed firsthand on that nation is truly a call to action. As you can see here, this year we have had a number of storms from Category 1 to Category 5 in their strength. The nation of Haiti in just 3 weeks was struck by four storms, Tropical Storm Fay, which hit on August 16; Hurricane Gustav, which hit on August 26; Tropical Storm Hanna, which hit on September 1; and then Hurricane Ike, which hit on September 7.

It is estimated that over 850,000 people have been affected by this storm on the island nation of Haiti, and almost half of those affected were children. It is estimated that over 500 people have been killed and rescuers and aides are only beginning to reach some of the hardest- hit areas, as I speak to you right now. It is also estimated that over 150,000 people are internally displaced, and only about half of those people are in shelters.

You will notice that I have been saying, as has been estimated, and this is the case, because Haiti has lost its ability to communicate across its island. The destruction that has rocked that nation has eight of Haiti's 10 geographic departments, which have been flooded. All of the major roads and bridges granting access to many of the hardest-hit areas have been washed away.

Haiti's prime minister says that 1 million people or more may be homeless. The storms have crippled Haiti's already delicate infrastructure, and most of the City of Gonaives, which is the second- largest city on the island, is damaged so badly that it cannot be repaired. Local officials are considering moving the entire city to another part of the island that is on higher ground.

We had an opportunity to meet with President Rene Preval on our codel, and he said to us, this is the Katrina of an entire nation, but we are suffering without a fraction of the means that Louisiana had. A lot of infrastructure that was destroyed by Hurricane Jean in 2004 was recently rebuilt and recently destroyed by this latest series of storms.

This includes the hospital in Gonaives. Radio NPR reports that in the Grand Ravine neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, 700 people are living in a school where there is no running water, no electricity, no beds and often no food. People have been packed in there for weeks, but all is not lost. I was proud to see that, very swiftly, the United States has moved into action to aid our neighbors and our friend known as the island nation of Haiti.

Upon arriving in Port-au-Prince, we saw a lot of helicopter activity and were informed that the USS Kearsarge is in port in Port-of-Spain providing needed humanitarian assistance and aid.

As I said earlier in my presentation, all of the major roads and bridges have collapsed. That has isolated many of the communities and the cities that have historically been connected in commerce and in bringing foods and goods and services across the island. So the only way that people can be fed, can be given water, can be administered medicine is through the air, and we are proud to know that our aircraft carrier is there, as we speak, administering that much needed aid and support.

I want to thank the young men and women I met there who sought not robbery but, rather, to change their mission, to move along with their admiral and captain and crew into the Caribbean Sea from Latin America and over to Haiti where they're working night and day to try to preserve as much life as possible. I can tell you that, from my observations, this is a mammoth task. The mammoth task exists because Haiti remains flooded out.

In Gonaive, we did a flyover, and we were able to see in the streets where people live. There was rushing water, like rivers, flowing past people's homes, flowing over all of their planting grounds, and making it so that people were actually risking their lives in simply trying to get from point A to point B. Many of the residents have taken to their rooftops to live. In other areas, we witnessed the levels of mud that have accumulated as the waters have receded. In some areas, there are as much as 2 to 4 feet of mud before people's homes, in the roadways, in the byways of the communities in which people live.

We had an opportunity to pass over Haiti's breadbasket, an area in Haiti where new harvesting was taking place--the planting of rice. That entire area is completely flooded out, having basically killed off this planting season for Haiti, and so we have a nation in crisis. The crisis is one of a magnitude that I, personally, have never witnessed before. The circumstances become more and more dire with each passing moment.

Haiti is the poorest country in our hemisphere, and it is one of our closest neighbors, just a little over 700 miles away from Miami, Florida. Many in Haiti were looking forward to the harvest of rice crop. Unfortunately, much of it, if not all of it, has been destroyed by these storms just as the food crisis in that country was beginning to abate.

The USAID has moved in. They are providing as much as they possibly can in terms of response. They have allocated $7.5 million in humanitarian assistance. The total value of U.S. Government humanitarian assistance is currently $20 billion. According to the USAID, Haitian Government officials have stated that these recent storms have caused an estimated $265 million in damage, particularly affecting their housing stock, agriculture, public infrastructure, and education.

In meeting with the newly installed Prime Minister for Haiti, Madam Michele Pierre-Louis, we were informed that the children's school has been postponed until the month of October, somewhere around October 3. My observations are that we will have to move with all deliberate speed to help and to assist in the recovery and in the rescue of those people in the various departments residing in the nation of Haiti in order for that part of their lives to be resumed.

We are not in this alone. I was very glad to see that the international community has responded as well. The U.N. troops and peacekeepers are on the ground, helping with the civil society, and the embassies of many of their partner nations--namely Canada, France and Brazil--are also collaborating with their local relief NGOs to bring as much to bear in this forward movement to get Haiti back on its feet, and it's going to take a coordinated effort to make sure that this is done in a timely and in a coordinated manner.

It is my hope that, through tonight's discussion, through tonight's presentations, we will see the need as a Nation to respond and to keep our response going and that when the TV cameras and the press crews have left Haiti that we will remember that this is a nation that is struggling to stand on its feet and that its civil society is extremely fragile. These storms have compounded what has been an ongoing challenge for Haiti to feed its own people.

So, this evening, I wanted to just share some of what I witnessed in the emergency codel commission by the Congressional Black Caucus, and I want to express gratitude to Speaker Pelosi and to Congressman Kendrick Meek for being so expedient in putting this codel together so that we could bring back the relevant facts to this body and to make sure that we're able to do all that we can do as we rebuild here in our own Nation and to make sure that, as to the hemisphere that we reside in, we are good neighbors and that, for our own sakes and for the sakes of the people who reside in Haiti, we do all that we can to make sure that they are on a safe road to recovery.

Having said that, I'm joined by a number of my colleagues this evening, all of whom have had longstanding ties to the nation of Haiti, all of whom have worked very hard in this body to make sure that we remain true to our

values as a Nation. They have been there throughout many crises in Haiti.

I'd like to acknowledge Congresswoman Donna Edwards of Maryland, Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California and Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California to make their statements.

I want to thank the gentlelady from Maryland, our newest member in the Congressional Black Caucus, Ms. Donna Edwards, for her courage and her nimbleness. She rearranged her schedule very quickly to heed the call for her expertise and her ability. Donna has come to us with a background and expertise in the philanthropic world, and she shared that with the prime minister, with the Ambassador to Haiti, and so I know that she will be called upon in the future as Haiti rebuilds to bring that expertise to bear.

I want to thank you for being my traveling partner, and I look forward to working further with you and the CBC and our colleagues to make things happen for the Nation of Haiti.

I'd like to acknowledge someone who really doesn't need an introduction, but has been one of the foremost experts on the island nation of Haiti, has been an outstanding, outspoken advocate for the people of that island nation, none other than the honorable Maxine Waters. She's being acknowledged for 5 minutes, or as much time as she may consume.

I thank the gentlelady from California for sharing with us her resolve to be a problem solver, to be a leader in this body in making sure that we can do all we can on behalf of the people of the island nation of Haiti.

I would like to acknowledge at this time another powerhouse coming out of California, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, our vice chair, none other than the Honorable Barbara Lee.

Thank you very much, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, for your leadership, your commitment as a remember of the CBC, and a Member of the House of Representatives. You have been very outspoken and a real leader in addressing these challenges that are before our international community, our friends, and our allies.

So this evening, if I didn't see it for myself, I would not believe it. Haiti is in crisis. As we stand here today, lives are tenuous. And what Haiti needs immediately we've been able to identify. Haiti needs as much support as we can give from this body, as much as we can orchestrate through our Department of Defense.

There is a need for watercraft that can travel across the waters to get to very remote areas that have been cut off by land; there's a need for assessment to take place as quickly as possible about the structural soundness of the infrastructure that currently exists, any modern technology that can be utilized to pump waters back into the seas to help dry out those areas.

Certainly food products are very important. We see a hunger crisis coming down the pike of a magnitude that I don't think we every witnessed in this hemisphere. We need clean water. The waterways of Haiti have been contaminated by the death and destruction around them, the death of humankind, the death of livestock. They need clean drinking water, they need medication and medical support because we are anticipating and trying to get ahead of any outbreaks of airborne diseases, of mosquito-borne diseases.

They need support for those who are struggling with their own health conditions currently.

We've asked the President of the United States to move forward with temporary protected status for Haitians, to halt the deportation of Haitians from the U.S. To send individuals into that environment right now is cruel and unusual punishment. We hope that the administration will heed this call at this time.

There are immigration issues, but there's an unprecedented international relief effort going on right now in Haiti, and the last thing that the Nation can do right now is provide for those who are returning deportees.

Despite the frequent report of drowning caused by unsafe refugee boats collapsing, the current conditions and crisis in Haiti may trigger an exodus of Haitian immigrants to the United States. Desperate times call for desperate measures. You have desperation climbing each and every day.

Since fiscal year 1998, the Coast Guard has interdicted well over 1,000 Haitians each year. Over 1,000 Haitians have already been interdicted in 2008.

Temporary protected status is the most inexpensive, immediate form of aid the President can single-handedly provide, and we ask that he make this possible as soon as possible.

There are currently six countries that are protected under TPS provisions: Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Burundi, Somalia and Sudan. And while other countries under similar circumstances have been afforded relief through TPS, Haiti has been overlooked time and time again.

Remittances are currently one-third of Haiti's gross national product. If we indeed want to underpin and undergird this country in its recovery, it is critical that we look at every vehicle and instrument we have at our disposal to help the people of the island nation of Haiti.

So we've put some recommendations forward. We look forward to further debate and conversation here in the House of Representatives. Haiti is a country in crisis. I've seen it. I know it. It is our time now to act upon it.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for giving us this time as the Congressional Black Caucus. I want to thank our chairwoman, Carolyn Kilpatrick, for her vision and leadership and her insistence upon us traveling on this emergency codel.

I'd like to thank again my colleagues Congressman Kendrick Meek for his leadership in this codel and his ability to get things moving and done through his affiliation and work as a member of the Armed Services Committee.

And I'd like to thank our newest Member, Donna Edwards, for her leadership. She is a rising star. She is a part of making things happen here on the Hill, and it's just a source of pride and inspiration to work with her on this very important endeavor.

Madam Speaker, today I introduce the National Preparedness Month Resolution, which recognizes that the month of September is designated as National Preparedness Month. This measure applauds the public servants at Department of Homeland Security for their outstanding contributions to our Nation's homeland security and encourages citizens around the world to continue to prepare themselves and their families for acts of terrorism, natural disasters and other emergencies.

It has been 7 years since the horrific terrorist attacks against the United States and its people on September 11, 2001. Our Nation continues to heal from the terrible losses that we suffered and our Government remains vigilant against those who attacked us.

Yet, while our Nation is fortunate that law enforcement agents and emergency response providers have successfully worked hard to prevent any further attacks, we are still vulnerable. We know that precious lives and critical infrastructure continue to be targeted across the world as evidenced by various suicide bombings in recent years. Terrorism remains prevalent and we must always be prepared both at home and abroad.

I am pleased to have so many members serving as cosponsors to this bill. As we all know, preparedness is not a partisan matter--terrorists do not select their victims by political party. Therefore, we must all support the message that families be prepared for emergencies should they occur.

If a disaster--whether large or small--occurs in a community, local responders and disaster-relief organizations will be there to help, but citizens need to be ready as well. That is why the Department of Homeland Security has designated the month of September each year as National Preparedness Month. The Department and its key stakeholders will spend the month promoting the importance of being prepared and, most importantly, how to be prepared in our communities across the country. As we all know, when individual citizens, families and communities are prepared, the fear, anxiety, and loss that accompany disasters is substantially minimized.

It is imperative that citizens know what to do in the event of an emergency and be ready either to shelter in place or to evacuate their homes. People must be ready to care for their basic needs for a minimum of 72 hours should they be displaced for a period of time.

And as our Nation continues to glean lessons from catastrophic events such as the September 11th terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Government must ensure that preparedness efforts help our Nation's most vulnerable populations. Recent wildfires, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes have given us the opportunity to observe whether those lessons have since been corrected.

In closing, let me say that I applaud the hard work and dedication of the public servants within the Department of Homeland Security in their effort to protect our Nation. Further, I encourage our citizens to make sure their families are vigilant, alert, and prepared for emergencies, and recommend visiting the Web site www.ready.gov, which might greatly assist them in this process. I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution.

To my colleague and very good friend, Kendrick Meek, I want to thank you for picking up the mantle. I know that Stephanie is watching us and is a part of all that is taking place.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in honor of the distinguished woman from Ohio, and I still can't believe that she has transitioned. I have taken the Congresswoman's passing somewhat personally. You have heard many of the Members speak about their relationship with her and the pet names or nicknames that she had for them. Well, mine was Baby Girl.

My sister, friend, mentor, Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones, to the Representative of the 11th Congressional District of Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio, from the 11th Congressional District of New York, Brooklyn, New York, I love you.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones was the consummate public servant. As a new Member-elect to the 110th session of Congress, one of the very first persons to embrace me on the Hill was Stephanie Tubbs Jones. She opened her office, her office staff to helping me to adjust to Washington, to select my staff, and to share with me what her transition had been as she reflected back on becoming a member here in Congress 10 years previously.

I had the privilege to have been mentored by her, and the one thing I can say is that she was one determined diva. We danced together, we shopped together, we drove together. Three things that I know that she loved to do, dance, shop, and drive. As a matter of fact, she shared with me the fact that if I loved to drive, then I have got to put my staff under reins and get me a car and do my thing, because that is what she had to do.

She worked hard, she played hard, she loved hard. She was proud to represent the people of Cleveland, and she loved her family. She simply adored her son and wanted the very best for him in this life, Mervyn, Jr. She was an inspiration in my life. She loved her country, and she fought for our people every day with an abiding commitment to their struggles.

When Stephanie entered any venue, the chemistry changed, and the atmosphere immediately acknowledged her presence. Her history, a trailblazer, a fighter for women's rights, women's health, civil rights, civil liberties, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones was always on the move for justice and equality. And I learned so much from this woman, and I just feel privileged to have had her as my mentor.

She dedicated much of her life in service to others. She has bequeathed to us a legacy and an imperative for me to do the same. To Mervyn, Jr., to Barbara, to the Tubbs Jones family, to her constituents in Ohio, to her staff in Ohio, to her staff here in Washington, may the love of God be a comfort to you in this time of our bereavement.

Bon voyage, my sweet sister. See you in that great getting-up morning. Fare thee well.

First, I would like to thank Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the lead sponsor on this legislation, for her ongoing commitment and diligence in championing such an important resolution. She has served as a true advocate for national recognition of Caribbean people and their descendants in the United States. I also want to thank Congressman Higgins for his leadership and his support and management of this resolution to the floor today.

As a second generation Caribbean American, American by birth, Caribbean by parentage, specifically Jamaican, I am proud to be a cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 364. National Caribbean Heritage Month is for the millions of Caribbean people and their American descendants, an affirmation and much deserved recognition of their role and contribution to the growth and development of our Nation, as well as the region within this hemisphere from which these Americans, like myself, have come.

Caribbean American Heritage Month was created to herald the unique historic relationship between the people of the Caribbean region and the United States and the many great contributions they have made to our country. For centuries now, Caribbean Americans have fortified this great Nation. Alexander Hamilton, born 1755 in the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, was the first Caribbean American from New York to serve in this body, then known as the Continental Congress. He has held numerous cabinet positions, including Secretary of State. Another influential New Yorker of Caribbean ancestry, Colin Powell, also held the position of Secretary of State in more recent times.

As it relates to my district, I must mention the late, great Caribbean American of Barbadian and Guyanese

ancestry, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, who worked in the Congress from 1969 to 1983 and was the first black woman to run for President of our Nation. Ms. Chisholm paved the way for me to serve in this body, second in the line of succession in the same constituency that she once served.

As a Caribbean American woman and a Member of Congress, it's my hope that we can continue to improve our diplomatic and economic relationships and arrangements with many of our neighbors in the Caribbean region, such as Haiti, the Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica and other Caribbean nations.

The Caribbean communities, known as CARICOM, have worked with their citizen ambassadors in the American Caribbean diaspora to develop a diversified economy that is favorable to foreign direct investment from the United States and human resource and intellectual capital from the region. As such, the Caribbean nations have cooperated on tax enforcement matters, transparency and exchange for information with the United States.

These Caribbean nations are also strategic partners and assist the United States' counter transnational terrorism activities, crime and illegal narcotics importation. These contributions and importance of the Caribbean region to the United States is reflected in the millions of people who contribute to acknowledge the pride heritage of the region by way of the Caribbean Carnival styled parades and festivities that occur across this Nation.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Lungren, nearly everyone in the homeland security community agrees that having a single comprehensive list of terrorist suspects is an important tool in keeping America safe.

However, there are flaws in how the terrorist watch list is maintained and used. Perhaps the biggest problem is that every single day, countless Americans are misidentified as terrorists. These errors most commonly occur when an innocent person's name happens to be similar to one listed in the database. This results in wasted time, both for law enforcement, because they're using resources investigating innocent people, and for the general public who face the prospect of being wrongly detained and possibly altogether prevented from going about their business.

Most commonly, this affects air travelers who are screened against the watch list more often than anyone else. Currently, each time a reservation is made, airlines must determine whether a customer is a potential match based on information they receive from our government.

Every day, thousands of people are pulled aside, required to go through special procedures, detained, or even denied boarding altogether, at great cost to frustrated travelers who miss flights, which ruins plans, and at great cost to companies which depend on business travel whose employees miss meetings and lose productivity.

Because of the terrorist watch list that is being used for screening agencies, many people other than domestic air travelers have also been impacted by misidentifications. Some of these people include international travelers delayed or denied entry to the country by CBP; potential foreign visitors denied visas by the State Department, and other workers, port workers who have been incorrectly denied a transportation worker identification card, which is now required to work at a port facility in the United States. In the future, this will likely become a greater issue, as more potentially sensitive activities are tied to screening against the watch list.

In 2007, TSA attempted to address this issue by initiating a redress process called DHS TRIP. But this program has multiple problems, and its scope is limited just to air travelers. Because of the program's limitations, many travelers go through the process only to find they are again misidentified as terrorists in the future.

The FAST Redress Act solves this problem by granting DHS the tools to create a department-wide Office of Redress and Appeals, a one-stop shop for any individual who feels they are being incorrectly identified as a terrorist

whenever they have contact with our government.

Using the Office of Redress, people can voluntarily submit to our government and be put into a single comprehensive cleared list, ensuring they will avoid future misidentification when dealing with any Department entity.

This bill also allows the Secretary to enter into intergovernmental memorandums of understanding so this cleared list can be used by all government screening entities.

This bill will greatly streamline the process for the countless people who, just because of their names, are regularly misidentified as a terrorist, creating a single, high visible office within our government for everyone who wants to clear their names.

I'm very thankful to Chairman Thompson and Ranking Member King, along with TS&IP Chairwoman Jackson-Lee and Ranking Member Lungren for recognizing the importance of this issue and their great bipartisan efforts pushing the FAST Redress Act forward.

I also thank the staff on both sides of the Homeland Security Committee for their hard work and the time they put into this bill.

Further, since introduction, this bill has received the strong support of the National Business Travel Association, who recognize its benefits for the business travel community. I thank them for their support which remains instrumental as we continue to make this bill law.

Finally, I'd like to thank the people of Central Brooklyn that filed into my district office week after week seeking relief after being misidentified against the watch list.

The challenges that they faced served as the brainchild for this legislation.

I ask my colleagues to join me in the restoration of civil liberties, creating a truly fair, accurate, secure and timely redress process. I ask them to join me in support of the bipartisan bill, H.R. 4179, the FAST Redress Act of 2008.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to enter into the Record two newspaper articles illustrating the dire financial state the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is in at the present moment. The first article is published in the New York Daily News by Frank Lombardi entitled: Eye Rent Spike, Shutdowns. The article affirms that NYCHA plans a rent increase for about 40,000 residents in order to reduce their budget deficit. NYCHA also plans to close all 280 community, youth, and senior centers in order to save money.

The second article is published by the New York Times by Manny Fernandez entitled: Housing Cuts Are Proposed To Help Close Budget Gap. This article declares that NYCHA is making some of the steepest cuts in spending and personnel to reduce their shortfall in their operating budget.

Today, the agency is looking at a $170 million deficit for 2008, which has halted more than 100 capital projects. But what is more staggering is that over 400,000 residents in 2,600 apartment buildings will be adversely affected by NYCHA's recent decisions. Many of these residents represent our nation's two most vulnerable demographics: senior citizens and youths. So eliminating all of the centers will result in losing many of the following programs that is essential to the growth, development, and progress for many living in public housing: community, educational and recreational programs; job readiness and training initiatives; day care and Head Start; sports, photography, painting, literacy classes and general education courses; computer training, arts and crafts, childcare feeding; and lunch, and senior companion initiatives.

We must ensure that tenants do not become helpless victims of the recent state of financial affairs. I encourage my colleagues to support enhancing resources that can mitigate the struggles many public housing agencies such as the New York City Public Housing Authority is facing right now.

[From the New York Daily News, May 30, 2008]

Eye Rent Spike, Shutdowns

(By Frank Lombardi)

A brutal rent hike looms for 40,000 families living in

subsidized city apartments as Housing Authority officials

sprung a plan Thursday to close a gaping budget hole.

The Draconian move, which includes closing all 280

community, youth and senior centers, was spelled out at a

City Council hearing on the authority's $195.3 million

deficit, which is also projected for the next four years.

``This is real. I'm going to have to be able to manage within

our means.'' said Authority Chairman Tino Hernandez after the

hearing. ``So unless there's some relief that comes from some

level of government I'm going to have to move forward with

these actions.'' They include:

A second rent hike for some 40,000 families whose earnings

require them to pay higher rents. Most tenants of the

authority's 181,000 apartments pay a fixed rent capped at

one-third of their income. The higher earners were hit two

years ago with a 10% to 40% hike depending on income and now

face hikes of 5% to 15%, to raise $45 million a year,

beginning next year.

Closing all of the Housing Authority's more than 100 senior

centers and 158 youth and community centers. That would cause

the layoff or retirement of 1,500 workers--for annual savings

of $60 million.

Diverting $75 million from the construction budget to cover

operating expenses.

Selling or renting authority property to private developers

for market-rent uses. Details are still being formulated.

The threatened actions will generate ``outrage'' among

tenants, said Lisa Burriss. an organizer for the Public

Housing Residents of the Lower East Side.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the subject of this Special Order.

Madam Speaker, moving from food for fuel to food for food, we come to the floor tonight to talk about the international food crisis. We're going to look at the causes and effects and possible solutions. We're also going to take a closer look at the situation in Haiti, a country that is only approximately 400 miles off our coast, our neighbor in the Western hemisphere, a country that is arguably one of the worst off in this global food crisis.

There are many causes of the food crisis that we face now. Some of the causes are recent developments and others have been developing for years.

This year we saw lower crop yields because of weather and global climate change. There is increased demand for processed foods from countries with growing middle classes like China and India. There's an increased demand for biofuels like ethanol, which is primarily made from corn. And in response to high commodity prices, a number of countries introduced export bans to preserve food for their own populations, while decreasing the world's supply.

This graph illustrates the record-high food prices that brought on this crisis: Wheat prices up 81 percent in 2007; soybean prices up 71 percent in 2007. Rice, which feeds almost one-half of the world's population, its price increased 144 percent since January of this year. Corn prices shot up 24 percent since January of 2008, and the rise came right after this Congress passed a landmark energy bill requiring increased use of ethanol.

The effects of this food crisis. We know that in the industrialized countries, food purchases accounts for 10 to 20 percent of consumer spending. However, in developing countries, that figure is more like 60 to 80 percent of consumer spending.

People in poor countries already spend a much greater percentage of their incomes on food, and now they are forced to spend even more on food.

This food crisis is pushing people into poverty and worsening the situation of those already living in poverty. The World Bank estimates that more than 100 million people will be pushed into poverty because of rising food prices.

Rising food prices have led to food riots around the world, across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. In Pakistan and Thailand, troops are guarding farmers' crops. In Egypt, troops are baking bread for the thousands of people waiting in bread lines.

The situation in Haiti. Haiti has the lowest, poorest standard of living in the Western hemisphere. About 80 percent of the Haitian population currently survives on less than $2 a day and survives on one meal a day. Most of Haiti's basic food commodities are imported, leaving the country especially vulnerable to fluctuating world commodity prices.

Late last month, the perfect storm of high energy and oil costs and commodity expenses erupted in what has been described as food riots.

Haiti's poorest have resorted to selling mud cakes, a mixture of mud, oil and sugar that quiets rumbling, hungry stomachs.

Rising food prices threaten security in Haiti. Protests over the rising costs of food last month turned violent with six people killed, including a U.N. peacekeeper.

High food costs in Haiti in part also led to political unrest, with the dismissal of Prime Minister Jacques Edouard-Alexis just recently.

As we look at what is happening in Haiti today, it's a reminder to us that the economic climate of the United States, our ability and capacity to influence and impact commodities around the world have a ripple effect, and that what we do in the U.S. to secure ourselves, we must keep an eye to our neighbors in more vulnerable circumstances, such as the Nation of Haiti.

We here in the U.S. Congress recently had a codel sponsored in part by the CBC to Haiti, and while there, we had an opportunity to talk about what we need to do to be supportive of our neighbor in the Western hemisphere.

And one of the major concerns for me in this trip was just some of the issues and concerns that we as Americans have not been as educated about. For instance, were you aware that the average age in Haiti is under 50 years old; that the mortality rate is extremely high; that the age for mortality for most women is 56 years of age and for men, 52 years of age; that the average Haitian eats only one meal a day? These are issues that need to be of concern to us.

Why is that? It needs to be of concern to us because certainly, as one of our closest neighbors, one of the democratic allies of the Western hemisphere, these conditions, if sustained over a long period of time, speak to a humanitarian crisis, speak to destabilization, not only of Haiti but of the entire region, which includes a border that is 400 miles away from the U.S. border.

And so we here are looking at congressional action that will address this food crisis. One of the things that we have quickly moved to do in the Democratic Caucus is an emergency supplemental appropriation which was passed just last week which included $1.86 billion in funding for food aid in PL 480 programs, administered by the U.S.D.A. and USAID; $200 million in development assistance; $400 million for disaster assistance; and $20 million for the World Food Programme.

The farm bill passed just last week also included provisions allowing the

USAID to preposition more food overseas to respond to disaster faster; in addition, more money for non-emergency food aid, like development projects; increased discretionary funding for emergency food aid programs like Food for Peace and U.S. Agency for International Development to the tune of about $2.5 billion have also been expended; extension and expansion of Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act, or the HOPE Act, which provides for duty-free preferences for imports from Haiti.

And then the Jubilee Act passed last month which would assist Haiti in its international debt load and recommends the immediate cancellation of Haiti's outstanding debts.

Solutions for the food crisis. With respect to Haiti, we need to extend temporary protected status to Haitians in our country, allowing them to work legally here, enabling them to send remittances home. This is the most inexpensive form of aid we can grant to Haiti. When remittances are sent home, it forms about a quarter of Haiti's GDP at this point, and so we would be doing not only ourselves a service but a service to the people of Haiti and Haitian Americans here in our hemisphere.

On the global level, we need to meet the immediate need including funding shortfalls of $755 million at the World Food Programme and $240 million at USAID, which this Congress has already begun to do.

We need to strengthen our social safety nets like nutrition programs and school feeding sites to prevent future food security issues from reaching the crisis level.

I've spoken to you already about the youth of Haiti and the fact that the population there is so very young. We need to be clear that malnutrition is running rampant, and if we really want to help Haiti to change course, we must start with their young, and we must be able to improve the opportunities for children to have access to nutritious meals.

We need to increase agriculture development aid to assist developing countries in establishing their own agriculture infrastructure, so countries won't be so dependent on foreign supplies in the future. And that's a pretty complex scenario, because when we look at the way that our farm system has been set up in the United States, it has really created a paradigm where, due to the subsidies that we make to our farmers, it is actually less expensive for Nations abroad to purchase our rice than to grow and compete against the subsidized market. So we will have to find a balance there to enable farmers in Haiti to expand and to be prepared to export to other Nations and be able to compete at real prices with the production of rice in our country and other countries around the world.

And finally, we need to significantly increase investments in agricultural research so our scientists can develop better crops that can withstand disease, drought and produce higher yields, and then deliver those crops to farmers around the world.

I am just so honored to be joined this evening by a number of my colleagues who also attended the codel, some of whom are members of the CBC, some of whom are members of the Hunger Caucus here in Washington in the U.S. House of Representatives, and it is my pleasure at this time to yield to the gentlewoman from California, the Honorable Barbara Lee.

Let me thank you, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, for your leadership, along with Chairwoman Kilpatrick, for seeing how important it was for us to be on the ground in Haiti as a delegation with a presence to bring some comfort and some hope to the nation that our eyes are not shut to the crisis that is taking place there, and that they do have friends, allies, and supporters here in the United States that will not forsake them, that that nation can know now that the United States' eyes are wide open. And as we see their fate go down, we know that it is our responsibility not to let it happen, and that we will be vigilant around the resource and support that is required to help Haiti to stand up and to go forward in the 21st century boldly and stronger than ever before.

So I want to thank you again, Barbara Lee from California, for your ongoing commitment. I've come to this Congress to meet you and to see the work that you have been doing and just to join my voice in synchronization with you so that we can sing a louder song for the causes that you have championed even before I arrived here. Thank you.

The gentleman from Texas, Al Green, you, too, were a part of our delegation. Thank you for joining us in this Special Order to talk about international hunger and the crises in Haiti.

Thank you very much, Congressman Al Green. Thank you for your impassioned comments this evening.

I think it's important that when we speak of the need to build out our relationships around the world, that as we've travel to many regions around the globe, that we not neglect our own hemisphere, that we recognize that there are nations of people. And I think what's important to point out is that Haiti is a nation about the size of Maryland in terms of geographic size. It has 9.3 million people there. So when you hear the statistics quoted about the number of people in poverty, when you hear about the number of children in poverty, the percentage of people making $1 or $2 a day, put that in the context of a population of 9.3 million people, and then you get the sense of what we're talking about in terms of a humanitarian crisis.

Let me now turn to the gentlewoman from Illinois, who has joined us and has been a fighter and one who has stood up and has produced on behalf of the

Hunger Caucus and the people of Haiti, Ms. Jan Schakowsky.

I want to thank the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky) for her breadth and depth of knowledge of the relationship that the United States has had with the Nation of Haiti and what we need to do to turn the tide around. It's a critical piece, and certainly as we look at our hemisphere going forward in the 21st century, what our expectations are for the development of not only the United States of America but our neighbors in the region, your words, your knowledge is going to be a critical part of what we are going to need going forward. And I thank you for taking the time to be a part of this Special Order. The people of the United States thank you for your commitment and certainly the people of my district who are really

concerned about their family and their relations in Haiti. Thank you for your commitment, and we look forward to further conversation and collaboration on the issue of hunger internationally and specifically the rebirth and the regrooming of Haiti.

And I would like to just point out life expectancy, again, for women in Haiti is 56 years old. Life expectancy for men in Haiti, 53 years old. It's amazing in the 21st century that less than 400 miles away from the United States of America, we have people dying in the prime of their life due to a lack of food, due to lack of opportunity. They can stand on the edge of their shores and see the bright lights of Florida shining across the seas, but they can't reach for that level of potential within their own boundaries and their own nation. And when we look at the relationships that we establish with other nations around the globe, one has to wonder why, with a nation the size of Maryland and the population of 9.3 million people, we haven't seen fit yet to establish the type of relationship that creates a symbiotic relationship, fertile land on a fertile island; yet people are starving.

At this time I would like to acknowledge my cohost for this evening's Special Order. She is no stranger to most of us, to all of us. She has been an outstanding leader in this Congress and has been an outspoken leader, the most knowledgeable person that I have had an opportunity to interact with on international affairs, on homeland security, and has been a true mentor to me, and that's none other than the Congresswoman and the gentlewoman from Texas, the Honorable Sheila Jackson-Lee.

I want to thank the gentlewoman from Texas for yielding and for posing that question because certainly Haitian Americans are very aware of the history, the role that they played in helping the United States acquire what was then called the Louisiana Territory that completed our United States and the side-by-side battle in the Revolutionary War. And they wonder why the relationship has not been a much more prosperous one between the two nations, why they have been forsaken over so long.

Haiti has been an independent Nation for over 200 years, 205 years, to be exact, and certainly have been worthy of being a partner in the development in this hemisphere. And they are concerned. They are concerned that perhaps there is some bias involved, there's some discrimination because they're a Nation 95 percent of African descent, and they have been used during different times in our history to halt the spread of Communism. But they have never reaped any real reward or collaboration.

I think we are all open now, understanding that we are connected. We are in a global economy, we are in a global world. As our prices spike, the impact has a ripple effect around the world, as we talk about food for fuel versus food for food, what the impact has been around the world. I think that is most demonstrably shown with the Nation of Haiti. And none of us can turn a blind eye to that.

So I want to thank the gentlelady for raising that question. We are winding down now. To my cohost, thank you very much for, again, being a mentor and someone who provides guidance and understanding around some very complex issues with regard to why we do or do not do the things that we need to do, that are imperative for us to do in terms of our international relations, in terms of our hemisphere, in terms of just getting information permeated throughout the body to get a consensus on a way to go.

I think we are well on the way. We have got some commitments so far. We want to be vigilant in our oversight and seeing them go through. But we do want to press for TPS. We know that that can be a real part of the economic sustainability of the Nation, which is critical, and while we come in with other strategies for immediate relief for the hunger that takes place.

Our time has expired, my colleague. I just wanted to thank the Speaker for this Special Order on the international food crisis, subject Haiti.

I would just acknowledge that we have received statements to this Special Order from Congressman James McGovern of Massachusetts to be entered into the Record, as well as Representative Pomeroy to be entered into the Record.

Madam Speaker, to the manager of this bill, Congressman Meeks, and to the sponsors of this bill, my colleagues, Congressman Towns, Congressman Frank, Congressman King, Congresswoman Velazquez, and Congresswoman Waters, I want to say thank you so much for having the vision and the foresight to work across the aisle to do a great service to not only the people of the city of New York, but to this Nation.

Starrett City is the last bastion of federally subsidized housing developments of this nature in this Nation. And as we look at the challenge that it faces today, we are looking at a crisis head-on for affordable housing around this Nation.

Our willingness to come together in the 11th hour to put a remedy in place speaks to our resilience and our ability to address challenges that we face in the 21st century. And as these concerns grow greater and greater and the housing crisis gets more and more in depth, with millions of moderate and low income families in peril's way, today's legislation, H.R. 5937, says that this Congress is willing to stand up and do something, and that we've been sent here to solve the problems that our communities are facing today.

I want to congratulate Congressman Castle for standing forward today in a bipartisan way. It may seem to some that this is just a piece of legislation that will impact New York, but when we stand up for New York and Starrett City and Spring Creek, we're standing up for all Americans who are facing such peril.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, both the Washington Post and the New York Times reported that under the Bush administration the military has increasingly granted so-called ``conduct waivers'' to allow more people with criminal records, including drug convictions, to serve in the Armed Forces. As a matter of fact, conduct waivers granted for felonies and other crimes constitute the majority of all waivers, about 60 percent for the Army, and 75 percent for the Marine Corps.

It is important to note that the vast majority of such convictions stem from juvenile offenses, but at the same time, a provision of the Higher Education Act, which Congress is currently in the process of reauthorizing, bars young people with drug convictions from receiving Federal financial aid to go to college. I find it absolutely alarming that the Bush administration seems to think that youth who are prone to youthful indiscretions and get into trouble with drug use are, on the one hand, not worthy of Federal support to obtain a college education, but on the other hand, are perfectly fit to go and to fight the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Because of what many have termed the ``Drug War Draft,'' countless students with minor drug convictions are turned away from the university financial aid office only to be funneled across the street to the military recruiting office. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with giving young people with past drug convictions an opportunity to redeem themselves in service to our country by joining the armed services, it is a moral outrage that current law blocks redemption through educational opportunities to these same individuals.

When asked about the conduct waivers, the Army's Operations Chief Lieutenant General James Thurman stated, ``You've got to give people an opportunity to serve.'' Well, I thoroughly agree with the general, people should be able to contribute to this society in whatever way they best can, whether by enlisting in the military or by enrolling in school and obtaining the skills needed to become productive members of our workforce, our communities, and by extension, our Nation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the importance of credit unions. As a member of a credit union, I am a true believer that people should help people; which are the credit unions' mission. Members know that during the economic downturn that we are currently facing right now, credit unions will always be there to serve their members to the best of their ability.

Members who have accounts in a credit union are owners of the financial institution and they elect the board of directors in a one person-one vote system regardless of the amount of money invested in the institution. That means that credit unions are in fact an economic democracy; every customer is both a member and a shareholder.

While this Nation is painfully suffering the current mortgage crisis, credit unions have displayed an outstanding record of service to both minority and low- to moderate-income mortgage applicants and have a long history of responsible mortgage lending. What is impressive to me, Madam Speaker, is that in 2006, credit unions approved an overwhelming 71 percent of applications from low- to moderate-income mortgage applicants.

Furthermore, as a member of the House Committee on Small Business, these nonprofit, member-owned banking alternatives are attractive to many entrepreneurs because of the great lending rates and services they provide to them. For individual members, credit unions generally pay higher interest rates on deposits and charge lower interest rates on loans than banks while offering the same services such as savings accounts, checking accounts, credit cards, certificates of deposits, and online banking. So the fact that they provide competitive interest rates, fewer or no fees, and convenience makes so many members hold credit unions in such a high regard.

Madam Speaker, credit unions are extremely vital to my hometown, New York City. Credit unions serve more New Yorkers living in low-income and underserved areas that are continually being abandoned by big corporate banks. I must point out that there are about 43,697 credit union members living in my district. In fact, there are 6 credit unions in the New York 11th Congressional District, which has 3,662 members and an asset value totaling more then $13 million dollars.

Madan Speaker, I must note that what many people do not know is that more than \1/3\ of all credit union CEOs nationwide are women.

Therefore Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing the tremendous contributions credit unions provide to so many communities throughout the country and provide any continued support to these financial institutions.

I want to thank the gentlewoman from Florida, Ms. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, for her leadership on this issue, and at the advent of the Week of the Young Child, that we would take this time to really put things in focus.

You know, every time I go home to my district on the weekends there is a particular constituent of mine that no matter where he sees me, we say something to each other. He started this when I was running for office. And he said to me, ``Yvette, if you ever get elected, remember the children.''

Every time I run into the gentleman, he says the same thing to me over and over, and now that's how we greet each other: ``Remember the children.'' And while we're going through all of the challenges that we are facing in day-to-day life as adults, remembering the children is probably the most poignant message that we could give to this administration and, quite frankly, give to our constituencies and to this Nation. The investment we make in our youngest, most vulnerable today will be the difference in where this Nation will be in the next decade, the next score, the next 100 years. And the short-sightedness for so long in providing the real resource and support that our families need, that our parents need, that our mothers need, to give their children really what I believe they should be entitled to, because as you've stated already this evening, the science point to it. The earlier that we begin the education process for our children, the more advantaged they are. In communities of color, that means closing the gap, the achievement gap. We know this. It's well documented. Science backs it up. Yet the will, the will to really address this issue is really what we are addressing this evening.

And when we think about the fact that we were innovative enough to know that creating a Child Care and Development Block Grant was important, that's fluff with no substance when there's no funding to it.

And I have been very fortunate. I kind of grew up in the day care movement. Many people know my mother as a former councilwoman. But even prior to that, she started her career, one part of her career, let me put it that way, because she is the renaissance woman, but one of my earliest recollections of my mom and the work that she did was being a teacher's aide in a classroom in an early childhood education center. Some people call them day care centers. But I saw the certified teachers in the classroom. I saw the nutritious meals, the educational curricula that were developed just for these students. So I know better. I know that these are early childhood education.

She worked her way up from being a teacher's aide to an assistant teacher and then to a full class teacher. She then went on to become a day care director and then became a supervisor of several day care centers within our city's extensive child care system.

So the thousands, if not tens of thousands of lives that I've seen personally touched by an early childhood education experience, we can't put a dollar figure on it. These are young people who I run into today that say, ``I used to go to your mom's day care; I'm now a doctor.'' ``I used to in your mom's day care; I'm now a teacher.'' ``I used to be in your mom's day care; can I write you a check?'' I'm like, all right, that's really worth it. That's really worth it.

And I make light of it, but it's really up to us, the 110th Congress, to really push the envelope where this is concerned. This is where the rubber meets the road. We find ourselves in some really challenging times when it comes to workforce, workforce demands, the individuals who will be future employees. And we have talked about the challenge of our public school systems and truly adequately educating our students and our scholars when we have this opportunity right now to make it clear that we do stand for the education of our children. We do stand for providing for young children this opportunity to get that head start in life.

It really is, if the gentleman will yield.

I think it's a very important point because one of the challenges that our very extensive public day care system is experiencing in the city of New York is the stress between being a certified teacher in the public day care center, the salaries received there, versus maybe a couple more course credits and going into the straight into the public schools that calling for more teachers, more qualified teachers, certified teachers, and so we see a bleeding of the system. We went through a very extensive time of advocacy, activism to really mobilize for early childhood education, for day

care, for working parents, for working mothers, and now we are seeing an erosion, all a reaction to a lot of what we have seen in terms of the cuts. So in New York City, where we have had this longstanding system of over 330 day care centers throughout the five boroughs that employ almost 6,000 caregivers, we're seeing day care closings.

And that doesn't mean the demand is gone. The demand continues. The waiting list continues in perpetuity. There will be some children who won't get this opportunity. They will be disadvantaged.

That's right.

That's right. So there are some real challenges that we have to look squarely in the eye. And we have to ask ourselves what about the children? How are we preparing ourselves to sacrifice as a society to make sure that in 10 years, in 20 years, in 30 years, we are one of the most competitive nations in the world? We're struggling with those answers and trying to balance it all out now, but it begins with an investment that we make in our young.

And what we are seeing in terms of these cuts and in terms of the rhetoric coming from the Bush Administration do not bode well, notwithstanding all of what we hear about his care and his concern for the families of our Nation.

Put the money for the mouth is. That's what I say. Put the money where the mouth is. We want to expand and institutionalize early childhood education so that the United States is, indeed, the most competitive when it comes to development of our scientists and development of our engineers and development of those who will have to compete globally as our economy continues to morph with young scholars coming from other nations who have decided, notwithstanding their GDPs, to invest in the education of their children.

And so I just wanted to stop in and share some of my experience with you, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, and to say to my colleagues that we have to stand up. This is a critical issue, and as we reflect on the week of the young child, it is important that we not forget that they come from a community of families, and those families are struggling. They need to be able to be at the job on time. They need to be able to know that their children are safe and in a wholesome environment while they are at work. And that's what these child care centers and these early childhood education environments create for the children and for their parents: a sense of relief and a sense of well-being both for the child and the family.

Would the gentlewoman yield a moment? Just think about the mobility of a family that is unable to have their child care subsidized, the time that it will take for them to be able to gain firm footing once their children now get into public schools. And then the challenges they may face with learning deficits, quite frankly, because there are children of means who are being given an opportunity to be in stimulating learning environments when some working class parents just can't afford it. And without the support that we can give, we are really handicapping. We are really tying the arms of these families and these communities. And we know that if we just give people a chance in this society, they can make the best of it. And that can make a difference from one generation to the next.

Would the gentlewoman yield a moment? It is an imperative. As I have said, since I've been on the Hill these past 15 months and have looked just about every crisis in the eye from mortgage foreclosure to the war in Iraq to you name it, education, health care, it all points back to the fact that we are at a specific juncture in our Nation's history that requires courage. And that means the courage to make the proper investments for the growth and development of our Nation.

There is no more worthy an investment for us to make than in these children, than our children, our Nation's children. They will be inheriting from us a millstone around their ankles if we don't do right by them today.

With the challenges that we are facing in terms of the debt build-up in this Nation, it is going to take a whole group of really smart people, really intelligent folk, who use the ingenuity of who we are as Americans to take us to the next level. That investment starts now. You can't invest it in me. It's too late for me. The investment is in our children.

So I thank the gentlelady again. This is a very important special order that we are here, we are at the advent of the Week of the Young Child and that we are speaking out for those families that don't have a voice here, that don't have the high-paid lobbyists, that are really working every day, and they come home, they hug their babies and they just want an opportunity for that baby to succeed.

In many instances, those children are struggling like salmon swimming upstream in environments that are less than wholesome. And were they to be in an early childhood education setting, they would be sure to get a nutritious meal every day. They would have a loving caregiver that also is there to stimulate the growth of the intellect and the brain. And that is why these dollars that are requested, which are really not breaking the bank by any means, are so critical and can reap such dividends in the long run if we do right by them today.

The achievement gap is real. It is well-documented. And if these children had that Head Start, had the early childhood education, it closes the achievement gap by leaps and bounds. The clock to education doesn't start when we slide that child into the kindergarten door. There is so much more that goes into it. And I am a witness to what early childhood education can do. I have seen it for generations in New York, for working-class parents, parents that by no means are wealthy, but we had a period of time in our city's history where we understood that early childhood education was a critical component to not only helping working families but to giving those children that educational boost, that stimulating environment, that healthy and wholesome environment while their parents were at work.

There is nothing worse than a parent that has to worry about their child. We hear these horrible stories about people who go to work and leave their child in a car, or worse leave it with a younger child that is then caught in a situation where harm comes to them. We need to be able to allay those types of fears for parents. And this is a win-win- win scenario, our investment in Head Start and Child Care and Development Block Grants. It's a win-win-win scenario.

Or gentlelady, how about $110,000 a year for a child in juvenile detention?

What it is is the coming of age. Our economy is evolving in ways that generations before us could have never imagined. That means that we have to redouble our efforts when it comes to the education of our young. We have to come up with the winning strategies for Americans to be able to move our Nation forward. This is the way to go. This is the way to go.

I think that your daycare provider has really said it all. I don't think there is a dollar value that can you truly put on the work that these women and men do with our youngest, most vulnerable ones. And they make that sacrifice. Wouldn't it be awesome if they were rewarded and our communities were rewarded and our families were rewarded with a government that responded and really put the funding in place, to not only raise the level, but to get rid of all of those waiting lists that we see. What a difference that would make in every one of our communities around this Nation.

Thank you very much for your commitment.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank the Representative from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) for yielding time, and for his words about this important resolution.

I also wholeheartedly thank Chairman Howard Berman of the Foreign Affairs Committee along with Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairman Eliot Engel, full committee ranking member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and subcommittee ranking member Dan Burton for their support and great help in moving this legislation through committee to the House floor.

The release of the U.N./World Bank report, ``Crime, Violence and Development: Trends, Costs and Policy Options in the Caribbean'' should be a wake-up call for every American interested in the security of our Nation.

As the report points out, a variety of factors, including some for which we in the U.S. are partly responsible, such as a seemingly insatiable and heavy illicit legal drug consumption and extremely problematic deportation policies has contributed to our neighboring Caribbean region having the highest crime rate in the world.

While today the region remains a wonderful place for Americans to visit, and most hospitable tourist destination in the world, in the long term, if this trend continues, it will wreak serious social, economic, and security troubles for many of the tranquil Caribbean nations.

Allowing this situation to deteriorate for years to come will ultimately create a security threat, not just for the Caribbean states, but, indeed, for our own country, as well as an unstable Caribbean region, and would create a vast vulnerability in America's border security.

Many of the problems identified by this report have long been recognized by Caribbean leadership. These emerging democracies and developing nations are doing everything within their means to collaborate on the safety of their respective nations and, by extension, our hemisphere.

Now, with the confirmation provided by this report in hand, ignorance is no excuse. The U.S. must partner with its Western Hemisphere neighbors and allow it to find workable solutions that will help the people of the Caribbean and ensure long-term security and stability of our region.

As the daughter of Caribbean immigrants, and a district that boasts the largest concentration of Caribbean Americans in the Nation, and as a member of the Committee on Homeland Security, I ask my colleagues to support this resolution calling for the U.S. to take up the solutions contained in the very important U.N./World Bank report. If we act now, we will help our allies to reduce crime greatly at levels before the situation becomes far less manageable and a threat to the Western Hemisphere that is, indeed, within our global community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to enter into the Record my heartfelt support for H. Res. 1061, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. April 4, 1968 was a tragic day for America and the world. We lost a visionary leader whose conviction that all men and women are created equal, be brought to fruition in our time. Today I will not mourn, but celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King.

Although we have come a long way in remedying the social injustices of our country's history, we must continue to be engaged in a dialogue of racial and economic equality. and for the peace that Dr. King gave his life for. He fought for peace here in America, and he fought for peace for all around the world.

America is currently engaged in a war that has taken the lives of over 4,000 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis. The uncanny similarities that the war in Iraq has with the Vietnam war must lead us to adhere to Dr. King's message of nonviolence. Dr. King spoke out against the Vietnam war even when his colleagues questioned his wisdom.

On April 4. 1967, a year to the day of his death. Dr. King addressed his colleagues at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at the Riverside Church in New York City. His speech that day was entitled Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence. His message was poignant then and speaks directly to us today.

Dr. King stated, ``Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must he ours.''

In order for us to continue Dr. King's legacy of peace and justice, we must take a stand to end the illegal and unjust war in Iraq. Today I reaffirm my commitment to ending this war and continuing the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thank you very much.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Altmire, and to my colleague the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek) and to my colleague the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), it is great to be here with you once again. I just wanted to come and have a conversation with you folks out there and, of course, my colleagues here.

I was in my office when I heard the wrap-up of the last Republican hour, and I thought I heard one of my colleagues state that we are in this economic crisis currently due to the last 13 months of Democratic control. I couldn't believe what I heard, because I thought to myself, what a joke. Who does he think he is fooling with this type of baseless rhetoric?

Americans know exactly who and what caused this economic downturn. Pointing the finger right now does not help us to put milk in the refrigerators of our neighbors and our constituents, and it certainly doesn't fill the gas tank, and it certainly does not enable people to stop fretting about whether they can make next month's mortgage payment.

One of the things that we can all be grateful for is that this Democratic-controlled Congress saw fit to rise to the occasion to forecast what we see as a real economic downturn by putting forth in a bipartisan way an economic stimulus package that we hope will bring at least a moment of respite, a moment where folks can catch their breath and catch their bearings as we present to them the opportunities to refinance their homes and the opportunities to just sort of take a look at the landscape and be able to catch up.

Right now, everyone is sort of running after themselves and trying to catch up with the mounting costs of just living today. And it is really just not a time for us to be pointing fingers. It is a time for us to put our shoulders to the wheel with real solutions for all Americans.

Certainly this ``New Direction'' Congress has enacted an economic stimulus package that brings relief to our families and provides recovery rebates starting next month, that raises loan limits for mortgages backed by the FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and allows our families to get mortgages with better terms. That is the type of language that Americans want to hear today. That is what the families of my district need to know is coming from us today.

When you think about the fact that we are going to be putting hundreds of dollars in the hands of more than 130 million American families who will spend it immediately to invigorate the economy, then you know that we are concerned, that we are not just saying that you got yourself into this, now get yourself out.

I noticed that no one said to Bear Stearns, you got yourself into this, now get yourself out. We decided as a nation that we had to make sure that the underpinning of our economic society was not withdrawn from under us. We need to do that for every single family here in America. We need to get that done.

Listening to our caucus and the conversations we are having as Democrats around phase two of our economic stimulus is quite heartening; knowing that we are examining what is needed to really get this economy going, which means really innovation, which

means bringing to the table the idea that we cannot continue to buy oil which is not an unlimited source, but that we have to look at renewable energies and the type of industry that will be developed in the years to come through that industry and looking at our infrastructure that has not been addressed, at least in my lifetime, that we know that we are going to need to get this done over the next decade or so.

So all of these things are on the table. These are things we are discussing as Democrats in terms of phase two, because we know that this stimulus is just the beginning of a multi-pronged strategy that we must take to ensure the future economic growth and strengthening of America.

So I want to just thank my colleagues for their continued focus, and not being distracted by those who would rhetorically joke about what is really a major concern to so many Americans right now as they sit at their kitchen tables, at their dining room tables, and they look at the energy bills that have come in from a very harsh winter and a very rough climate in many parts of the country, as they look at the fact that the cost of milk per gallon is now the same cost as gasoline per gallon, as they look at what it takes to travel from one part of this Nation to another, the cost, or from their homes to where they work each day, the cost. All of this is what we need to be focused on, and I am really excited that we are on our way.

We talked about the war in Iraq, and there is a direct correlation between what is happening with us economically and what we are able to do economically when we have got so much invested in a war in Iraq.

Just this last week, we have looked at 5 long years of war. I can't ever recall in my lifetime, and that is just to give you a sense, of us ever being at war this long. It says something to those who have given their lives and who are veterans of the wars of years gone by and those who would give their lives as our soldiers in the future that we can't be reckless about the call to arms in this country.

Some would say that what we have done with the war in Iraq has not been the best moment in our history. So as we look at the fact that over 29,000 Americans have been injured and more than 31,300 have been treated for non-combat injury and illness, I hope that we will also focus on the redeployment that will ultimately have to take place once the Iraqi government stands up. It is in the capacity to do so, and we are hoping that these things will happen simultaneously, quite frankly. But that we also pay attention to these families in our communities, of the walking-wounded warriors who will need our support and will need our help as they readjust to coming back to an America that has a faltering economy, that is struggling to keep its own people in their homes.

We need to pay very close attention to what is happening with our veterans, and this Democratic Caucus, this Democratic Congress, has been in the forefront of veterans' rights, of veterans' benefits, in a way that no other part of this government has paid attention to it.

So when I hear my colleagues in the last Republican hour focus on trying to cast aspersions at what the Democratic Congress has done, I really hope that they will join us in the bipartisan effort to focus on what is real. What is real are the veterans that are coming home to our communities and the struggles of their families and the duress that their families have been under in just trying to make ends meet on veterans' salaries. It is the struggle that everyone in our communities is facing, whether it is personally or it is a neighbor, in seeing those for-sale signs going up throughout the neighborhood. These are the issues that we are concerned about.

The gentleman from Florida really has emphasized what we know is a challenge for America right now. And we are making the marriage here in our conversation, the marriage between the fact that we have to disengage from Iraq, that we realize that our policies have failed there, that it is now a diplomatic mission more so than anything else. And, yes, there will be a cost to redeployment, but the cost to American families has been extensive. And as our brave men and women come back to the United States of America, come back to our respective communities and they face the economic challenges that we have all been facing over the past couple of months, couple of years in some communities, that just compounds the whole reintegration process that is going to be required, the health care, the ongoing health care that is going to be required. And I think that we have positioned ourselves as a Congress to really meet those issues. We know what the challenges are. We have heard firsthand.

And when you look at our first economic stimulus package that will provide child tax credits as a rebate to these families, when you look at that expansion of financing opportunities for those who may be in mortgage crisis; and, believe me that we can't separate the wounded warrior from the home they own in the community and the cost of gasoline to get back and forth to the VA hospital and the milk that they have to buy for their child.

This economic stimulus is going to be of support to those families as well. But they are going to face what we are facing as civilians in a very special way. And I know that the work we are doing here, Mr. Altmire and Mr. Ryan, is making a difference in their lives. That is why it was important for me to talk about the baseless rhetoric that I heard coming from across the aisle because I don't want Americans to overlook the fact that we have raised the bar and set the standard for how we are going to treat one another as Americans, how we face our challenges head-on, and come up with the solutions that are most important.

Right now there is a crisis in health care. There is a crisis in affordable housing and mortgage financing, and there is a crisis called Iraq. There is a direct correlation if you put the equation together, the type of money that we have been spending on this war in Iraq, and let's not forget our soldiers who are also fighting in Afghanistan, but the primary cost, the overwhelming cost is going into the war.

And our hope is that we will down surge, redeploy, have a surge in diplomacy and get our economic house in order in the United States of America and treat our veterans and their families as they ought to be treated, treat all Americans as they ought to be treated, and help them through this time of extreme pressure and extreme challenge.

I am proud to be a member of this Democratic caucus that has looked at the landscape in its entirety, that is dealing with it in a holistic way. We are not compartmentalizing these issues because one has a direct bearing on the other.

I see Mr. Ryan standing here in rare form, and I know he wants to chime in.

That's real, Mr. Ryan.

Mr. Ryan, you've put your finger on the pulse of what we are trying to accomplish here. It is our responsibility to redirect those who would take the debate to its lowest common denominator and distract the American people from the realities of where we are today.

Where we are is a Democratic Congress that has risen to the occasion, that has filled in the gaps and is holding the line while others would seek to continue failed policies that are costing us more and more and more with each day. Basically mortgaging, you know, the lives of our children and our grandchildren in order to pay for it, while at the same time neglecting all that needs to be done to make sure that we can live a decent standard of living here in this country.

So we have fought this and we are still fighting. I yield.