Gary Ackerman

Mr. ACKERMAN

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, the gentleman claims to have heard and therefore claims that it was spoken, a hypocrisy, by the previous speaker. If the gentleman does not apologize for those words, I will object to his withdrawing them.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, if the gentleman apologizes for his words, which were directed at the previous speaker, I will not object.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I will not object, providing there is an apology to the previous speaker.

Mr. ACKERMAN

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join with the constituents of my district in honoring Mr. Frank N. Liguori, chairman and chief executive officer of Olsten Corp., for his exceptional contributions to Long Island. Mr. Liguori was recently profiled in the Long Island magazine for his outstanding accomplishments. It gives me a great deal of pride to reprint this article below for the benefit of my colleagues who do not know Mr. Liguori. Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join me in honoring Mr. Frank N. Liguori for his many years of leadership on Long Island. Reprinted from the Long Island magazine: [From Long Island, January 1995] Satisfying Both Sides (By Christa Reilly) A coin has two distinct sides, but it is valuable only as a complete unit. Frank Liguori, chairman and CEO, Olsten Corporation, North America's leading human resource services company and one of Long Island's top corporations, views the relationships between personnel and clients in a similar way. ``A good deal is good only if both parties are satisfied. We run our business with this kind of approach,'' he says. When Olsten places an assignment (temporary) employee with one of its clients, it seeks to fulfill the needs of both parties involved, with the intent of ``custom matching'' the employee's skills to the right assignment. ``In essence, we have two customers--not only the client, but the employee assigned to the client,'' Liguori explains, ``and we must maintain a good balance. The industry has matured so that staffing agencies, such as Olsten, are viewed by business as a partner in managing their biggest cost--labor. And Olsten has customized its services to address this need.'' Olsten's Partnership Program weaves temporary staff into the fabric of a client's daily operations by managing entire departments or functions. Liguori explains, ``We place supervisory personnel on the client's site and, in effect, become part of the clients human resources department. We are already doing this for 150 major corporations.'' Liguori also applies a similar principle to the home health care side of Olsten's operations, Olsten Kimberly QualityCare. ``Our home health care staff blends in with the family as much as possible. They become an integral part of the patient's and family's daily life,'' he says. Olsten's home health care business has mushroomed, thanks to a 1993 merger with Lifetime Corporation, doubling the size of the company, and Liguori's decision in the early '80s to have the health care side run autonomously by managers with health care expertise. ``The home health care business is driven by demographics--an aging population and the related cost of services. The need for cost-effective care plus advances in medical technology that allow more patients to convalesce at home make a compelling combination.'' When Liguori joined Olsten as a controller in 1971, the company had already begun testing the market for home health care, but it wasn't until the late 1970s, when Liguori had become chief financial officer, that the company established a full-fledged home health care business. Olsten built the business into a $100-million-a-year enterprise before acquiring Upjohn's home health care business in December 1990 and Lifetime Corporation's Kimberly QualityCare in 1993. As chief executive officer, Liguori steered Olsten through the Lifetime acquisition that included not only the health care business, but a major staffing services company in the United Kingdom. Olsten plans to explore additional staffing services opportunities in Europe this year. If Liguori had a chance to negotiate a few deals regarding Long Island, he would like to see consolidation of overlapping bureaucracies and the reduction of costs. ``The quality of life is wonderful * * * but the high tax structure and overall cost of living make it very difficult for this region to recruit businesses, and for young people to grow up and stay on the Island,'' Fortunately, being a board member of the Long Island Association gives Liguori the means to provide input toward those ends. Liguori is also on the board of trustees of the New York Institute of Technology, a board member of the Home Health Services and Staffing Association, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and on the consultant board of the Epilepsy Foundation of Long Island.

Mr. ACKERMAN

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak about the flourishing economic relationship that is unfolding between the United States and India. Just a few years ago, hardly anyone spoke of the tremendous opportunity for developing strong economic ties between our countries. Today, for a number of important reasons, we are witnessing dramatic change in this domain. We are engaged in an economic relationship with India that is strengthening the ties between our countries. Just last week, several major American papers published excellent articles on the state of United States-India trade. Each of them describes in detail how the liberalization of the Indian economy, initiated by Prime Minister Rao, has created fertile ground for American businesses to interact with their Indian counterparts abroad, creating new jobs at home while servicing a huge untapped market overseas. I am inserting into the Record today an article from the Wall Street Journal of January 12, 1995, which I commend to my colleagues. Titled, ``India Is Elbowing Into China's Limelight: Foreign investors Taking Note of Economic Revival,'' this article highlights the opportunities for building American business and creating new American jobs. Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the enhanced relationship which is now unfolding before us. This is due in no small part to the creativity and determination of American businesses to expand their exports to new, fertile markets. We should also acknowledge, and pay tribute to, the Indo-American community which has taken a particularly keen interest in promoting economic ties between our nations. This community deserves recognition and thanks for helping to forge lasting economic ties that will strengthen mutual friendship between our countries in the months and years ahead. [From the Wall Street Journal, Jan. 12, 1995] India Is Elbowing Into China's Limelight: Foreign Investors Taking Note of Economic Revival (By Urban C. Lehner) Bangalore, India.--K. Gopalkrishnan was braced for the worst when Motorola Inc. transferred him from his native Singapore to a new pager factory in this southern Indian city. Although of Indian descent himself, the 35-year-old executive had heard horror stories about India's bureaucrats and workers. His first nine months in Bangalore have been a pleasant surprise. Clearing a new assembly line through Indian customs was a breeze, he says; the whole process, from packing the line in Singapore to producing the first pager in Bangalore, took only eight days. Indeed, the entire factory was set up in just five months, and it's already operating as efficiently as the Singapore plant. ``Contrary to what you hear outside the country, Indians can be among the most efficient people in the world, if properly guided,'' Mr. Gopalkrishnan says. But not the most efficient people, at least not yet. Motorola's older, larger factory in Tianjin, China, ``has produced some benchmark results that everybody else [within Motorola] is battling'' to match, Mr. Gopalkrishnan says. ``We hope to be in those shoes soon.'' high hopes Thanks in part to foreign-investment success stories like Motorola's, many Indians hope their economy can soon be in China's shoes, too. It's a tribute to how far India has come that they even dare express the hope. For, until very recently, China was everybody's nominee for most-likely-to- become-an-economic-superpower. India was a chronic underperformer that seemed unable to get its act together. But India's three-year-old reform program has started to bear fruit just as foreign investors have begun to take a more sober view of China. As a result, many Indians are starting to take their country seriously as a rival to China. ``Sooner or later, India's inherent advantage will assert itself,'' says Manmohan Singh, India's finance minister and the author of the reforms. Judged on fundamentals, the competition between India and China is still no contest. China's economy is growing twice as fast. China's savings and literacy rates are more than half again higher. Foreign debt and government red ink drag down China's economy far less than India's.

Mr. ACKERMAN

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join with many constituents of my district in honoring Mr. Ronald S. Cooper, managing partner of Ernst & Young's Long Island office, for being chosen as the secretary-treasurer to help formulate and launch the Long Island Association [LIA] Health Alliance. The goal of this newly formulated Health Alliance will be to control the cost of health care on Long Island. Mr. Cooper was recently profiled in the Long Island magazine for his outstanding accomplishments. It gives me a great deal of pride to reprint this article below for the benefit of my colleagues who do not know Mr. Cooper. Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join me now in honoring Mr. Ronald S. Cooper for his many years of leadership on Long Island. Reprinted from the Long Island magazine article ``Making a Positive Impact'' by Christa Reilly: Ronald Cooper, managing partner of Ernst & Young's Long Island office, is proud to serve as secretary/treasurer to help formulate and launch the LIA Health Alliance. ``It's very innovative and will be very helpful in driving down the cost of health care. It's an absolute win-win situation.'' Years from now, he explained, it will ``probably be the one thing I can be really proud that I helped make happen.'' Taking a leadership role in projects important to improve the quality of life on Long Island is a way of life for him. As he explained, ''I have always believed, and acted on the belief, that you must get out in front and lead in order to make an impact on life. I don't enjoy being the back of the pack.'' Cooper has served in leadership roles for a host of important community groups. He is treasurer of the LIA Board of Directors, and has made a strong impact upon the community through his many years of involvement with the UJA-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies. ``When I first realized that UJA has no office on Long Island, I spearheaded a task force to get them one,'' he explained. Subsequently, he was elected as the first chairman for UJA's Long Island cabinet. Today, it is a thriving organization with a $20 million campaign. Cooper has been recognized for his leadership. He has received the Long Island Distinguished Leadership Award, the Distinguished Community Service Award of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and the Franklin H. Ornstein Human Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee. He has traveled to Israel about ten times and, with regard to the recent peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, said, ``It's wonderful. I was invited to be in the gallery when Rabin and Hussein addressed the Joint House in Washington. It was a most thrilling moment to see the two of them indicate that the war was over.'' Just like the peace treaty, the Long Island Action Plan also needs to be put into practice. A cumulative list of more than 250 action items that the 12 Summit committees compiled, the Action Plan represents the hopes of many Long Islanders. Cooper said, ``The summit has a very useful function--to focus the public on issues we must face. The aftermath, however, will determine whether it was successful. Everybody understands we need to solve the cost structure of taxes and LILCO rates.'' Despite the cost structure, Cooper pointed out that Long Island has been a hotbed of entrepreneurship. Each year, Ernst & Young selects and honors an Entrepreneur of the Year. Although it was a program that began in Indianapolis and spread nationwide, it seems appropriate that a leader, such as Cooper, should wish to recognize another upcoming one. ``It's the best such program on Long Island. It focuses on the great companies--on the positives--of Long Island. It serves as a reminder that Long Island hasn't changed that much in terms of industry. Long Island goes through cycles. It used to be a defense industry economy, now we are moving into high tech and biotech industries.''

Mr. ACKERMAN

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I object.

Mr. ACKERMAN

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I object.