Corrine Brown

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from Missouri.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from California.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, first of all, I would like to thank the chairman and ranking member for bringing this bill to the floor. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to bring an amendment to H.R. 1538, the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of 2007. This bill establishes a toll- free hotline for reporting deficiencies in medical facilities and a new system of case managers, advocates and counselors for wounded servicemen returning from combat overseas to help them get the care they need and help navigate the military health care system. The bill provides no professional protections for servicemen if they or their family members call this hotline to get better treatment. This could cause those injured men and women to refrain from reporting abuses and problems, and the situation we currently have at Walter Reed could continue. There is also the worry that anything reported will affect the serviceman's career. My amendment would simply offer confidentiality for those soldiers to get the care they are provided under this bill. This amendment requires any hotline set up by the Secretary of Defense to ask if the caller wants confidentiality at the beginning of the phone call. Last month, I was in the grocery store in Jacksonville, Florida. A veteran working part time told me about a friend at Walter Reed, with pictures showing the problems occurring there. I couldn't believe what he was describing to me was a military facility, and I told him, You can't believe everything you see on the Internet. The next day, the very next day, this story was in The Washington Post. The fact that an active duty soldier was treated this way is inconceivable. Most of the information I get is from families, about the war and lack of equipment. Not from the Department of Defense, not from the soldiers, but from the family members. I do not want a call for help by a wounded serviceman or woman or their family to be used against them. I do not want those heroes to be scared to ask for help, to be scared their future career could be compromised by one phone call. Support the Brown amendment.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. I want to thank Chairmen Oberstar and Thompson for working together to bring this important legislation to the floor. For too long, we have neglected the security of our rail and transit system, and this legislation will go a long way to make up for this. March 11 marked the third anniversary of the train bombing in Madrid, where 191 people were killed and 2,050 were injured. Since that terrible terrorist attack, additional bombings have occurred in London and India, killing hundreds more people. It is obvious that we must be ready for a similar attack here in our own country, but, sadly, we are not. Mr. Chairman, each year more Americans ride on rail and transit systems than they do on planes, yet the money we are putting in security is a mere fraction of what we devote to aviation security. In 2006, the Federal Government spent $4.7 billion for airline security, yet only $136 million for rail and transit systems. Five times more people take trains over planes each day, yet we spend 35 times more on aviation security than we do on rail and transit security. This is not acceptable. Chairman DeFazio and I recently held a hearing on rail and transit security, and what we found was discouraging. Since 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security has failed to issue a strategy to secure our rail and transit infrastructure, and the Transportation Security Administration has not completed a risk assessment of these systems. Additionally, the rash of international terrorist bombings means that terrorists are getting smarter. Their future attacks will be harder to prevent. The window to secure our rail and transit infrastructure is closing quickly, and we need to act. While the Department of Transportation has done the most work of all agencies to secure this segment, it is obvious that much more work needs to be done. I am glad that the manager's amendment will require DHS to work with the DOT to improve our Nation's rail and transit security system. It is hard to believe that almost 6 years after 9/11 we still have not addressed the rail and transit security. But election brings changes, and I am glad that we, the new congressional leadership, have common sense to take steps to protect the millions of people who use our Nation's many rail and transit systems. The legislation on the floor today takes important steps to address our Nation's rail and transit security. This bill requires comprehensive security plans, strengthens whistleblower protection for workers, mandates security training, improves communications and intelligence sharing, authorizes a high level of grant funding for Amtrak, the freight railroads and public transit providers, and provides funding for safety improvements to the tunnels in New York, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Most importantly, it ensures our communities, first responders, transit and rail workers have the resources they need to keep their systems safe and secure; and it does it through a coordinated effort between the Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation. While we may lag behind other countries' efforts to protect transit and rail workers, I am glad that our new congressional leadership is taking steps to correct this problem. H.R. 1401 will go a long way to protect our Nation's millions of transit and rail passengers, while protecting the communities they travel through and keeping the trains running on time. I encourage my colleagues to safeguard their constituents and support this long-overdue rail and security legislation.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. This amendment jeopardizes the safety and security of over 2 million Amtrak passengers and is a huge step backwards in protecting the Nation's transportation infrastructure from harm. Amtrak was a first responder during Hurricane Katrina, delivering food and supplies and helping to evacuate thousands of gulf region residents when President Bush and his administration were nowhere to be found. Now they are becoming a key part in each State's future evacuation plan. I was in New York City shortly after September 11 when the plane leaving JFK airport crashed into the Bronx. Along with many of my other colleagues in both the House and the Senate, I took Amtrak back to Washington. I realized once again just how important Amtrak is to the American people and how important it is for this Nation to have alternate modes of transportation. Vote ``no'' on this amendment.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Andrew Wise of the Neighborhood Housing & Development Corporation in Gainesville, Florida. On Tuesday, March 20, 2007, Andrew Wise was honored with the Dorothy Richardson Awards for Resident Leadership from NeighborWorks America. Mr. Wise combined his passion for Neighborhood Housing & Development Corporation (NHDC) and his networking skills to recruit a remarkable stream of community, business and educational leaders who have become active in the NHDC organization. NHDC is a non-profit homeownership center that has been in existence since 1982. The organization's goal is to promote and provide decent and affordable housing for low-to- moderate income residents of North Central Florida. Mr. Wise has been an eloquent NHDC ambassador to the many church, community and civic organizations to which he belongs. Within NHDC, his board tenure and experience have made him the go-to person for new board members--especially community residents--in understanding the array of NHDC programs and their many and varied funding sources. He has been invaluable in helping new members move past this steep learning curve by getting them to focus on the mission of the organization and how its board and staff are so instrumental in transforming lives and uplifting the community. Created in 1991, the Dorothy Richardson Awards for Resident Leadership celebrate the outstanding contributions of dedicated community leaders across the United States. Each year, the NeighborWorks network honors residents who exemplify the qualities of Dorothy Richardson, a Pittsburgh activist who helped advance the community-based development movement that informed the formation of the NeighborWorks network. My congratulations and respect go out to Mr. Wise on his lifetime of work and commitment to earn this award.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the constituents of the Third Congressional District of Florida as I pay tribute to the life of Dr. Emma Moran. There are those who pass this way and touch lives, and there are those who make lives better for having been in our midst. The depth and breath of the life of Dr. Emma Moran can be summed in one phrase--she loved, she cared and she taught us how to live through the giving of our talents. Dr. Moran was an educator, activist, advocate, and a believer in the sanctity and importance of education. She had this embracing personality that while in her presence she made you feel that your words and thoughts were important to her, and that she listened and cared. This great woman of faith, tenacity and boundless energy embodied the better qualities of human existence, and she demanded no less from each of us. Dr. Moran was and is a true inspiration. Rest now, my friend, for your work here is done and your life shall live on forever in each of us.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. I yield to the gentlewoman from California.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Before I decide whether to withdraw my amendment, I have some questions for Ms. Waters about the present status of the deadlines that are in the bill, and maybe she can clarify it for me. I have a concern that we have certain dates and deadlines in this bill. And, of course, this bill, when it passes the House, has to go to the Senate, and we have certain deadlines in that bill, and then the President has to sign it. I am concerned that when it is signed, that the residents won't have an adequate amount of time to respond. As you well know, in the hearing that took place 18 months ago, HUD and Public Housing said of the residents that they had surveyed that they had only contacted about 25 percent. And so I want to make sure that those people are not disadvantaged and we are all on the same page. We all care about the same people. Can you clarify for me the status of that situation?

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Let me clarify my statement. First of all, let me say that during the time of the hurricane, what I saw was a government that didn't care. It wasn't working. Everybody in the whole country, in fact, in the whole world saw that. It was a real serious indictment on the Bush administration that was in charge. But I said since that time people have blamed the local government, the State government and the Federal Government. Yes, we have done our part, but perhaps we could have done a better job in spelling out how that money is to be used, because regardless of how much money we have appropriated, and we have appropriated and we have done a good job with that, the money has not gotten down to the people that we intended for it to get to.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Frank, I have an additional question for you, then, before I withdraw this amendment, and that pertains to the Road Home program. Are you prepared to answer questions about that program?

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, before I begin, I want to thank Mr. Barney Frank, chairman of the committee, and Maxine Waters and other members of the Committee on Financial Services for doing such a fine job in crafting this bill. I rise in support of H.R. 1227, the Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act. I truly believe this bill is a tremendous victory for the gulf coast that was affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I once again want to commend my colleagues. Before I start talking about my amendment, let me talk about what happened during the hurricane because I saw something during Hurricane Katrina that I have never seen in the 25 years I have been an elected official and certainly the 15 years I have been a Member of Congress. I saw something in the government that I have never seen before. I saw a government that was not just incompetent, but I saw a government that did not care about its people. I thought I was in a third world, and I have got to take a moment to commend my community because we all watched it on television and were horrified. We came together. I represent the Jacksonville area, and we came together as a community and we sent over 16 tractor-trailers full of goods and services to New Orleans. We came together as a community. It was the business community. It was Democrats; it was Republicans. It was students, and we filled those tractor-trailers and sent them in there until the government could kick in. What we saw was a government that was not capable of responding. Well, when you look at the top 20 positions, and one police officer told me that you don't put people in positions over disasters that have public relations backgrounds. You make them ambassadors. But you put people in to head up disasters that are life and death to your communities that have the background and experience to do the job. That certainly was not the position of FEMA or Homeland Security. I want to put that on the table before I begin. Now, this particular amendment would allow that residents returning would have the opportunity to include their utility bill into the payment for their rent. This is something that was taking place prior to, and this would be something that would be permitted under my amendment. Many public housing residents are being forced into deeper debt because of utility bills. Public housing residents that lived in the areas of Rita and Katrina had their monthly rent included in their utilities. Currently, their vouchers do not include utilities, and many public housing residents are forced to make tough choices. I have three such examples. Bobby Jennings lived in C.J. Peete for 34 years prior to Katrina. She paid income-based rent in the amount of $167 per month, which included utilities. Now she lives in another part and she pays $1,050 in rent which is not covered by her rent voucher, and she must pay $429 per month out of pocket. Well, her average income, she is a senior citizen on a fixed income, is $655 per month. So $300 per month she has to come up with. And that is the same for Mrs. Gloria Williams who was paying $185 per month. Now she pays $1,128 per month and she must come up with $406 per month. The last person is Mrs. Wright. She lived in public housing for over 20 years. She was paying the amount of $290 per month. She is in Houston, Texas. She now pays $625 a month, and she has to come up with an average of $250 a month for utilities. So utilities impose a disproportionate burden for the poor. And for the average American, utility bills only comprise 6 to 10 percent of household income. In this area it is 32 to 53 percent. Those receiving vouchers have already demonstrated their great need for assistance, and they are being shortchanged. We can't allow this to continue, and we must provide proper funding to those receiving this voucher. This amendment would ensure that utilities are part of the housing voucher for residents returning to New Orleans. The Congressional Budget Office said that it would have no direct impact as far as spending is concerned. I urge the adoption of this amendment to help people like Mrs. Jennings, Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Wright receive the assistance they greatly deserve. I yield to the gentlewoman from California.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Thank you. As you said, I have been to New Orleans and the region, really, some eight times. I tell them they've got a Member-at-large in me because I feel a great passion because you saw an example of a government that did not work, but I hate to say is not working and still is not working. Eighteen months later, we have a government, and you can say it's the local government, you can say it's the State government, but I am saying the Federal Government, shame on all of us because the people don't care why it's not working. The point is the government is not working for them. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Will the gentlewoman yield?

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. That is correct. Before the hurricane, the utilities were a part of their vouchers, yes, ma'am.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. That is correct.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. I am going to withdraw my amendment at this time, Mr. Chairman. I will be talking to both Chairs of the committee. I want to let you know that I sincerely thank both of you for the leadership that you have shown in this area. And just remember, they do have a Member-at-large.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Thirty percent of money. In addition, my understanding is that, for example, if that person didn't have insurance, and even though the insurance told them that they were not in the area, and they have that in writing, they weren't in the flood area, they were penalized 30 percent. So that is $30,000. So then a person could end up with $20,000 for their home, and they cannot rebuild with that.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. I have one last question on this program before I withdraw my amendment. My understanding is if a person lives in their house and is eligible for $50,000, that we can charge fees up to $30,000 if that person is not coming back to the New Orleans area.