Marion Berry

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the staff and the publisher, Mr. John Trout, at the Jonesboro Sun. It has been an outstanding newspaper in the First Congressional District of Arkansas. The Jonesboro Sun was recognized yesterday as one of two finalists in the Breaking News Reporting category in the 83rd annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Letters, Drama and Music. The Sun was the only small newspaper selected as a finalist in the 1998 competition. Last March, the Sun showed us how a quality news team can work together and do a great job by covering the tragic shooting at Westside Middle School. It was a breaking story and the staff at the Sun was on the scene to cover it accurately and honestly. They worked long, hard hours on a story that hit all of us in Jonesboro and around the country. I stand here today to commend the Sun, its staff and its publisher, and their dedication to northeast Arkansas and to quality journalism. They are what newspapers should be about.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I am a bit sad this evening to have to come to this floor again to express the concern I have for America's farmers. I consider and have always considered myself, since the time I have been old enough to understand, privileged to be born a farmer. I still am. That is the way most of the members of my family for as far back as I know about. That is the way they have made a living. We never had a lot but we had enough. And it is a sad thing to see the rest of the country prosper, and we are proud of that, we are happy for them, at a time when America's farmers are in the worst situation that they have been in in this century. It is almost unbelievable that the same body, the United States Congress that passed Freedom to Farm, the same leadership that crammed Freedom to Farm down our farmers' throats when they begged not to do it, they knew this was a bad idea, for us to have to come to this floor tonight and once again ask the leadership of this House to do the right thing. We are not asking them for a handout. We are not asking them to do anything except what they should do. Because they made a commitment when they passed Freedom to Farm. They basically said to America's farmers that they produce and we will help them sell it. They did not pass fast track. They have not helped open up any new markets. They have basically let it go by the wayside and told America's farmers, good luck, guys, we hope you make it. It is like standing on the bank of the river while they know someone is about to drown and saying ``good luck.'' But that is what is happening in this Congress right now. It is unconscionable that the leadership has not appointed conferees and they have not dealt with this and it has already gone to the President's desk, and it is hard to believe. America's farmers are the most productive people that have ever been known in the history of the world. There has never been another nation that it cost them so little to eat as it does this country. America's farmers have had an average increase in productivity of 3 percent annually since 1910. That is unmatched by any other industry anywhere in the world at any time in history. And it is unbelievable that the House is holding up this progress. Our farmers are out there twisting in the wind right now. They need the loans that this money will provide. We have an obligation to them to see that it happens. All of the things that have been said here this evening are quite true. And it is just unbelievable to me that, as a branch of the Government, we do not do the right thing and do what we know is the right thing to do. It is a national security issue. I was amazed a few weeks ago to hear leading economists say that agriculture was no longer an important part of America's economy, that the stock market had grown so big that it was almost insignificant. It is not important unless we happen to eat three times a day. Then it becomes pretty important to us. America's farmers have done such an incredible job that we do not even notice what they do. But they are proud people. They are hard- working people. They work hard. They play by the rules, and all they ask is for an even break. Yet, after passing Freedom to Farm, basically doing away with the safety nets and saying, good luck, fellows, the leadership and the majority party in this House has turned their back on America's farmers. It is an amazing thing to me. I cannot imagine why they would want to do this. It is just amazing to me. The longer I live and the more I see, the more I am convinced that the further we get from our Jeffersonian roots, the further we get from an agrarian society, the more social problems we have. I think there is great value not only in production of food but in rural America and what we learn and what we gain by having a strong rural America. Yet we are letting things like this, actions by the majority leadership, create a situation where rural America is threatened, where America's farmers are threatened, and it is something that just should not be allowed to happen. I certainly hope that our leadership will take the responsibility. Let us hold them accountable, ask them to do the right thing, and bring this bill to conference, get it done, get it passed, get it on the President's desk, and do what we need to do for our farmers. Once again, I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) for holding this special order and appreciate the opportunity to participate.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Madam Speaker, all of us that participated in the trip came away with a new appreciation for what happened in Selma, Montgomery, and Birmingham. We are very appreciative of the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) and certainly the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) for making it possible for us to experience that. When I first came to the House, one of the first people that extended the hand of friendship to me was the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis). He shook my hand and he said, ``Welcome, my friend and my brother.'' I knew just from the way he shook your hand and the way he said it that he meant it. Until I went to Selma and walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge arm- in-arm with the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis), I did not really appreciate what he meant or how important it was that he did that. I suspect, had I been through some of the things that the gentleman Georgia (Mr. Lewis) and some of the others that were in the nonviolent civil rights movement at that time, I would not even want to be in the same room with a guy like me. I can understand that. But I think it says so much that we can come together, that we did make this pilgrimage, and it meant an awful lot to all of us. It shows us, not only how far we have come, but how far we have yet to go, and that we must never, ever forget that we cannot go back to what that was. I just once again want to thank all of my colleagues for their leadership: Doug Tanner, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton), and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis). What a great privilege it was to be with the other leaders of the movement, Bernard Lafayette, many, many others that were there. To hear their experiences firsthand, it gave it all just so much more meaning. I think the term ``keep your eye on the prize'' certainly will always be much more meaningful to me now, and it points out to us how petty and unimportant some of these things we argue about on this floor are, and that there are things that are more important and that that is what we should be about. But it was a tremendous experience for me. I think that anyone that has not done it has really missed something.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Chairman, I thank the distinguished gentleman from Minnesota for yielding me this time, and I appreciate the work he has done on this budget. I rise today in support of the Blue Dog budget. It is an honest and fair budget. The Republicans say they want to help America's farmers. Who are we kidding? The Republican bill slashes the funding to farmers by 10 percent at the time when they need it most. The Republican bill does nothing to pay down the national debt. It spends and spends and spends. Every last drop of the surplus it spends, driving our country further into debt, rising interest rates, bankrupting our farmers and their children. The Blue Dog budget contains $7 billion more for agriculture and recommends a sensible tax cut that will help our farmers. The Blue Dog budget devotes 50 percent of the surplus to deficit reduction, strengthening our economy, and saving for the future. I challenge any Republican who votes for their leadership's budget resolution to go home, look their farmers in the eye and tell them, ``I support agriculture.'' Do not be surprised if they do not believe you.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a man from the 1st Congressional District of Arkansas who will celebrate his 90th birthday in Blytheville, Arkansas this weekend. Mr. Fendler is one of Arkansas' foremost lawyers and has practiced law since 1933 in Blytheville except for four years from 1941-45 when he was on active duty with the U.S. Navy. Born in Blytheville and raised in Manila, Mr. Fendler has received many honors during his 65 years of law practice. He is the former president of the Arkansas Bar Association and a fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Council; a fellow of the American Bar Foundation; chairman of the Section of General Practice of the American Bar Association; a member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association, the ABA's governing body; and a member of the American Judicature Society, among other honors. Mr. Fendler also had an interest in journalism. He is the former chief editorial writer for the Arkansas Traveler, the student newspaper at the University of Arkansas and while attending Harvard Law, he free- lanced as a reporter for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Oscar Fendler has been a leader and advocate for Mississippi County and Northeast Arkansas for his entire life. He is a living history of that area. Mr. Fendler has been a strong voice in Arkansas law and I wish him the best on his 90th birthday and congratulate him on his 65 years of service in our state.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a good friend and great Arkansan who passed from this world earlier this year. Thomas Benton Smith, or Tom B. as his friends called him, was born in Wynne, Arkansas where he spent his life working to improve the town and Cross County. Tom B. served as county attorney and deputy prosecuting attorney in Cross County and was municipal judge for Cherry Valley. He was also city attorney for Hickory Ridge and had served as a special Arkansas Supreme Court associate justice. A faithful Democrat, Tom B. also spent many, many hours working as the chairman of the Cross County Democratic Central Committee, as state Democratic Committee Treasurer and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention as well as Democratic state conventions. He was also Chairman of the Cross County Election Commission. Serving his community and working to make Wynne a better place to live was something that Tom B. strived to do. He was a member of the Wynne Chamber of Commerce and the past president of Wynne Fumble Club and a past board member of the Arkansas Community Foundation. He was also the founding president of the board of Little Sheep Day Care at Wynne Presbyterian Church. Tom B. meant a lot to me, my family and the people of Arkansas and he will be greatly missed. His perpetual good humor, loyalty to his friends and family and the things he cared about made him not only much beloved but made his community a better place to live, work and raise a family. Tom B. has honored all of us with his friendship and service and I am proud to have called him my friend.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the way this bill has been handled. Mr. Chairman, I rise to express my support for this bill, but it is very reluctant support. First of all, I am deeply disappointed that there is no money for domestic disaster relief in this bill. Most of the money in this bill, $687 million, is for foreign disaster relief efforts. There have been some terrible disasters in those countries this year, and I am fully in support of helping these countries out. However, the Republicans didn't see it fit to include any money for recovery efforts in our own country. According to USDA, there is approximately $102 million in disaster recovery needs across the United States at this time. We need $102 million--and the Republicans gave us nothing. (This money is in the Senate bill, but the House appropriators did not include these funds in this version). As far as getting this money out, we all know that the committee was prepared to bring this bill up on March 4. This bill was to contain desperately needed relief for our farmers ($109 million for credit insurance, and $42 million for FSA salaries and expenses), as well as the disaster relief in Central America. These are all obvious emergency appropriations, but the House leadership decided that they wanted these appropriations to be offset. This caused a three week delay in bringing the bill up, a three week delay in getting these funds to the farmers who desperately need it. I don't know if the House Republican leadership realizes it or not, but they are putting family farms out of business every day that this bill doesn't pass. And now, it looks like this bill won't be sent to the President until after the recess, where it faces a potential veto. Who knows how many farmers are going to be forced to close their operations between now and then. I am certainly not happy with this bill. But I can't vote against this measure and delay money to farmers in my district any longer.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I stand here this evening in support of real managed care reform. We have all heard the stories, the countless stories, about people who have suffered because they were not allowed to make their own health care decisions in consultation with their doctors or other health care professionals, stories from people who have lost loved ones because someone behind a desk, not a doctor, made a bad decision. Congress needs to take action on passing bipartisan legislation to provide the American people with basic protections and basic guarantees when it comes to managed care. Eighty percent of Americans with private health insurance, Mr. Speaker, are enrolled in managed care plans. In many cases, Americans are required to be enrolled in managed care plans because their employers have contracted with managed care companies to achieve cost savings. Congress should act this year to enact a law that contains the following five principles. Here is what we should do, and here is what the American people want: As I have said before, patients and their doctors, not insurance company clerks, should make decisions about what care is medically necessary. The American people want insurance reforms to be overseen by the States, not by a federal bureaucracy. The American people want real reform that keeps their medical records confidential. They want real reform that includes meaningful protections, like the right to emergency room treatment as defined by any prudent lay person. They want real reform that includes meaningful accountability for a right without a remedy is no right. Too many people have been denied care under their HMO policies or their managed care policies, and that should not be the way it is in this country. We have quality health care in America, but people have to be sure if they need a particular procedure, a particular operation or particular health care service, that they can have it. There is widespread support on both sides of the aisle for some type of managed care reform. Every Member of this body voted for some type of reform last year. The American people want and support patient protections. It is imperative to the American people that they see action on managed care reform. Let us give the American people what they want, real managed care reform.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have the special order time of the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley).

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) for yielding this time to me, and I thank the chairman of the committee, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Combest) and also the ranking member, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) for their swift action regarding this matter. I rise today because the farmers in the First Congressional District of Arkansas and across the country have basically been victims. They have been ripped off by the old bait-and-switch of an insurance company. We started getting calls about a month ago from farmers in our district that had been victims of this problem, and it has spread, Mr. Speaker, much beyond the First Congressional District of Arkansas. The problems farmers have had with the CRCPlus have gone on far too long, and it is time for us to provide a legislated remedy so that they can have the necessary insurance that is available to them and give our farmers the option to not be victims, and hopefully to keep other farmers from being victimized by similar circumstances in the future. Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of the bill, H.R. 1212, Mr. Speaker, and I hope my colleagues will support it.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moakley) for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the closed rule and in support of the legislation before us. Once again, we are here pleading for some action by the Congress and the administration to step in and take care of a problem that has been hurting the hard-working steelworkers of the First Congressional District of Arkansas and across this country for far too long. We are here today because the legislation we are debating will directly address the surge of unfairly traded imports. We must pass this legislation, and the administration must support it. I cannot even count how many times we have stood here asking for the same thing, enforce our trade laws, stop illegal foreign dumping of steel in the United States. The administration has stood by for months now with their hands in their pockets doing nothing for the thousands of steelworkers in the First Congressional District of Arkansas and across this country who have lost their jobs, people who have families to feed. We have been promised action time and time again but have seen nothing. I urge support of this legislation.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Louisiana and appreciate what the gentleman has said here this afternoon. And, Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of fiscal responsibility and budgetary common sense, which I think we all are in support of. As this budget debate has begun, and it continues, I am reminded of a fellow that I used to eat breakfast with every morning. For 30 years I ate breakfast in the same little cafe, the Rice Paddy Cafe, there in Gillett, Arkansas, and pretty much the same group of men would sit at the table every morning. I am sure the Speaker has been in cafes like that in her district. They are wonderful places. I had this friend that, when harvest time would come, well, he would eat breakfast there every morning, and then late in the afternoon, on his way home, he would stop there and get a cup of coffee. And when he would come back in every afternoon to get that cup of coffee, during harvest time, he would have figured all over his pant leg. He would have a ball point pen and he would be calculating on his blue jeans, his pant leg there. When the combine would make the first round, he would estimate how much grain he had, and then he would start figuring out how much money he was going to have. Sometimes he would figure he was going to have lots of money and he would go buy some expensive item, like a new car or something, before he got his crop harvested and before he sold it. Then, when he would go home that night, well, his wife would wash his blue jeans and the next morning all of his money would be gone. That is kind of the way I think of this situation we are in right now. I think we need to take a realistic look at our national budget. We keep hearing about this budget surplus, this magical surplus that everyone wants to spend. We all love to spend money, especially if it is someone else's. The fact is there is no surplus. The sad fact is that the taxpayer dollars designated for the Social Security Trust Fund are being used to cover up the true amount of the national deficit. If we take the Social Security Trust Fund out of the equation, we will have a surplus not until the year 2001. That surplus could be minuscule even then compared to the billions and billions of dollars that we keep hearing about. When we do get a surplus, I personally would rather not count those chickens until they hatch. We still have a matter of $5.6 trillion in debt to contend with. That should be enough money to scare every one of us. Those who advocate spending these surplus monies on new programs, like tax incentives, should look to the private sector for advice. If we asked our local banker if he had a customer that was $5.6 trillion in debt, and the customer wanted to spend more, what would the banker say to them? Would we want to give them a loan if we were running the bank? As world leaders, would our country say to an irresponsible nation that was $5.6 trillion in debt, that is okay, what the heck, we will just give them a couple more billion, it will not matter. I do not think that is what we would do if we were going to be responsible. Throwing good money after bad hurts our taxpayers, our economy and our long-term prosperity. How can we use any future surplus responsibly? First, we can pay off the national debt. Second, we must ensure Social Security's solvency. Just putting more money into the program will not work. We need comprehensive bipartisan reforms. Taking the Social Security Trust Fund off budget is a good first step. Third, we must ensure that the Medicare program is there forever and for all of our seniors. Like Social Security, Medicare needs some long-term reforms. There is no question that its benefits are outdated, its payment structure is unwieldy, and its reimbursement to rural areas is just plain unfair. Setting aside money for Medicare out of any surplus will not end the program's problems but it will provide a cushion in the event our Medicare beneficiaries need it. Paying down the debt, shoring up Social Security, and saving Medicare. This is a reasonable thing to do, it is a responsible thing to do, and it is a responsible use of the future surplus. Today I want to urge my colleagues to reject a foolhardy proposal that will spend nonexistent surpluses and create billions of new spending. Let us do with our national budget what the American people do with theirs. Let us balance it, let us keep it balanced and let us be responsible. And whatever we do, let us do not wake up in the morning to find out that our surplus disappeared when we did the wash last night. I think it is a responsible thing to do, and I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. I thank the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) for her comments. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen), the author of this bill.

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Prescription Drug Fairness for Seniors Act of 1999. I want to thank my colleagues, the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Turner), and the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), for coming up with this great idea to help correct a tremendous injustice in America today. Our senior citizens pay over twice as much as citizens in other countries. They pay over twice as much as the preferred customers of the prescription drug manufacturers in this country, and it is simply not fair. This chart demonstrates the way that our seniors are overcharged and the amount they are overcharged for their prescription medications. They are forced to make a choice between food and medicine, between paying their rent and having medicine, between having utilities, having heat, and medicine. This is simply not right. The First Congressional District of Arkansas, that I am so fortunate to represent, contains the most senior citizens of any Congressional District in this country that live only on social security. The cost of prescription medication is a tremendous burden for them. Yet, we allow them to continue to be overcharged by 40 and 50 and 60 and 70 percent. They are overcharged by the most profitable companies in the world. These companies should be profitable. We are in favor of them being profitable. But that profit should not come at the expense of our senior citizens being forced to choose between food and the medicine it takes to keep them alive. When that happens, it becomes a moral issue. It becomes an issue that this Congress should address. Our bill, the Prescription Drug Fairness for Seniors Act of 1999, will reduce the cost of prescription medication for our seniors approximately 40 percent. Our seniors should not be at a disadvantage because they are citizens of the United States. The average prescription price for Canadians is 72 percent less than it is for Americans. For Mexican citizens, it is 103 percent less than it is for Americans. This simply does not make any sense. If the prescription drug manufacturers that sell product in this country can sell it at other countries at much reduced rates, if they can sell it to our Federal Government at much reduced rates, these same prices should be available to our seniors. That is what this bill does. One company last year raised the price of one of their medications 4,000 percent in one day. The Federal Trade Commission looked at this. They decided it was unfair and they filed a $120 million recovery claim against this company. This is an outrageous attempt to make a profit. The Prescription Drug Fairness for Seniors Act of 1999 will reduce those prices, as I have said, by 40 percent to most of our recipients. It is something we should do. It is the fair and right thing to do. It does not cost the Federal Government any money. This will simply make our seniors part of the largest purchasing pool in the world, and it will give them the ability to be dealt with fairly through their own local pharmacies. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. It is a good bill, and it is what we should do for our seniors. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Sheila Jackson-Lee).

Mr. BERRY. I thank the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen) and again appreciate his leadership in this effort. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Stabenow).

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Michigan, and I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California, and I yield 5 minutes now to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Turner) and congratulate him on his leadership in this matter.

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his leadership in this matter. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) not only for her support in this matter but for her great leadership in the House. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maine.

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I will just conclude by mentioning what a heroic effort our local pharmacies have made in the last few years to try to take care of our seniors and see that they got the medicine they needed at the best possible prices, and the heroic effort that our seniors have made to deal with this very difficult situation. The drug companies will say, ``We need this much profit.'' What we are saying is, we want them to make a profit but they should not make it all off of our senior citizens. We must level the playing field. We must treat our seniors the way that other preferred customers get treated. And this is the right thing to do. It is the fair thing to do. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support H.R. 664.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of a good friend, Maurice Smith, a prominent farmer and banker in Birdeye, Arkansas, who passed from this world earlier this month Maurice was a great man who lived in Arkansas and provided leadership for the generations. Maurice has had a long history in Arkansas politics. He served as highway commissioner and director of the state Highway and Transportation Department. He was also appointed to the University of Arkansas board of trustees and served as chief of staff to then- Governor Bill Clinton. But if it is one thing that Maurice Smith be remembered for, it is his leadership as the director of the state Highway Department. In 1991, under his direction, a 5-cent-a-gallon increase in the gas tax and a 2-cent-a-gallon increase in the diesel fuel tax pumped an additional $48 million into the department's construction budget each year. One of my favorite quotes is from former Senator Le Roy Percy of Greenville, MS. ``I guess a man's job is to make the world a better place to live in, so far as he is able--always remembering the results will be infinitesimal--and to attend to his own soul.'' Maurice was such a man and he will be greatly missed. He was chairman of the St. Francis Levee Board. He provided support and leadership for generations of Arkansans to make the state a better place to live, work, and raise a family, with special attentionto developing infrastructure.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I stand here tonight without reservation, I am against this impeachment. It simply does not rise to the level that the Constitution requires. It is unfair, it is partisan, and it mocks fair play. We should not do it. For the good of this country, this partisan insanity must end.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a man who has dedicated his time to working for Arkansas' veterans. For this reason, the AMVETS has awarded this great veteran, Winston ``Mac'' McGinnis who lives in my District in Melbourne Arkansas, the prestigious AMVET of the Year Award. The AMVET of the Year Award was given to Mac for the many hours of volunteer work for all veterans and their families since his retirement from the U.S. Air Force in 1966. After an injury in Guam while serving in the Air Force, that resulted in a spinal cord injury, Mac was retired with 20 years of service. Since that time he has worked with other veterans and has volunteered in four different Veterans Hospitals. He has received a 100,000 mile award from the VA for the miles he has driven doing volunteer work and transporting veterans to and from VA hospitals. Mac is the Executive Director of the AMVETS Department of Arkansas, Commander of Post #1 in Melbourne VAVS Representative at the Little Rock Medical Centers and National Executive Committeeman for Arkansas AMVETS. The Silver Helmet Award has over the past 40 years acquired a well-deserved reputation as the most prestigious of all the awards given by veterans organizations. I congratulate Mac for his award and his years of service working with the veterans in Arkansas. Mac, thanks for a job well done. I wish you well.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) on its 100th anniversary this month and to commend the organization for the work they do on behalf of independent pharmacies across the country. The NCPA represents the pharmacist owners, managers, and employees of nearly 30,000 independent community pharmacies. Independent pharmacists--more than 75,000 nationwide--dispense the majority of the nation's retail prescription drugs. Independent pharmacists have a tremendous responsibility that is of increasing importance. Patients continue to rely more and more on their community pharmacist for good advice on which medication will help them. With many patients visiting the pharmacy more often than their doctor, community pharmacists continue to use their knowledge when telling consumers the pros and cons to these products. Ninety-eight percent of our community pharmacists make recommendations on over-the- counter drugs and general health care issues. Their expertise is imperative to the health of millions of people across this country and I commend them for a job well done. Community pharmacists are truly working for the well-being of patients across the country and I am proud to work with them. The National Community Pharmacists continue to play a role in the lives of millions of Americans and I congratulate them on their 100th anniversary.

Mr. BERRY

Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, it is with great satisfaction that I rise today because a resolution that I feel very important has been included in the omnibus spending legislation that passed the House tonight. This resolution expresses the sense of the Congress that the international community must work together to resolve cases where kidnaped children are taken abroad. Too many children like Machael Al Omary, who was illegally kidnaped by her non-custodial father from my district of Jonesboro, or Hatam Al- Shabrami, who was abducted by his non-custodial father and last seen in Saudi Arabia, have been illegally kidnaped. With their children in other countries, their mothers have no right to legal recourse. Unfortunately, there are thousands of children like Machael and Hatam who have been illegally taken to another country. If the country is not a signatory to the Hague Agreement, the parents are left totally helpless. In many cases, when the country is a signatory, justice is often difficult to obtain, and comes at a high price. Our legal system makes decisions involving the custody of children based on what is in the best interest of the child. Once such arrangements are made no one should ever be rewarded for the illegal abduction of a child from our country by being able to keep the child and thumb their nose at authority. This resolution sends a strong message of this country's support for the rights of our children and I am glad it was included in the legislation.