Corrine Brown

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. If the gentleman will yield further, I am reminded of the words of the first President of the United States, George Washington, whose words are worth repeating at this time. ``The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportioned as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars are treated and appreciated by their country.'' Now, I think that is very profound. In other words, how we treat our veterans today will determine whether our young people will enlist and commit themselves to go to war to fight for our great country. Profound, does the gentleman not think?

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. If the gentleman would yield further, my question to the gentleman is I agree that we have a budget, and you determine something about the people of a country how you use that budget. It is clear to me that this President, President Bush, his priority is for the people that funded his campaign. It is not a matter of whether we should fund weapons or supplies that our troops need or whether we should take care of the veterans who have taken care of us for so many years and who need us in their twilight. It is these tax cuts that this administration wants to make permanent. That is the problem. It is a matter of priorities. I mentioned earlier today that Valentine's Day is coming up. Everybody wants to show you some love. If you love me, you are going to send me flowers or spend some money on me, you are going to take me out to dinner. But it is clear that the Bush administration does not love these veterans. In other words, they talk a great talk, but they do not walk the walk or they do not roll the roll. If you look at their budget, the budget priorities are to their rich friends that funded their campaign coffers, and not to the veterans that need them. I come from a district where the veterans are not the richest in the country. In fact, one-third of the homeless people are veterans that have fallen through the safety net. They are not getting the health care they need or the mental health counseling or the job opportunities. It is a failure. The richest country in the world, and we are trying to put the burdens of the war on the veterans. Help me, somebody.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. If the gentleman would yield further, let me just read the statement. ``Aggressive lobbying by veterans groups that brought about medical care for retired military health brings about this great drain on fighting wars, Chu said in the article. He described it as painful to move moneys for new weapons programs to accounts that fund TRICARE.''

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Fired, excuse me.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to first of all thank the gentleman and the ranking member, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans) for holding this special order. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the gentleman a question. I know I will get an opportunity to speak. But I was reading an article concerning the Under Secretary of Defense David Chu, and he said that the organizations that the gentleman was pointing to, the VA organizations, have been too successful in lobbying Congress and that we are taking money that should go to the military for weapons and we are giving it to the veterans. Can the gentleman expound on that for me?

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crenshaw), the Florida delegation, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and everyone who served on the Courthouse Committee in Jacksonville for helping me to bring this bill to the Floor today. Judge Simpson was the overwhelming choice for the people of Jacksonville, and it is easy to understand when one learns about his impact on civil rights in the State of Florida and in the entire South. H.R. 315 is a bill to designate the courthouse at 300 North Hogan Street in Jacksonville, Florida as the ``John Milton Bryan Simpson United States Courthouse.'' Judge Simpson was a native of Florida, born in Kissimmee, Florida on May 30 of 1903. He attended local high school and the University of Florida, and in 1926 graduated from law school at the University of Florida. After law school, he settled in Jacksonville, practicing law in addition to becoming an Assistant State's Attorney from 1933 until 1939. He then ran for and was elected as a State Judge serving from 1939 until 1943. In 1950, he was nominated by President Truman for the United States District Court, Southern Florida; and in 1966, was nominated by President Johnson and joined the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Simpson was an active participant in the struggle for civil rights and was instrumental in desegregating Duval, Orlando, and Daytona Counties in Florida, all in my district. He became an agent for change in the Jim Crowe south. His judicial orders desegregated the schools, city pools, city golf courses, and the city zoo. For his personal courage, he was the subject of numerous death threats and cross burnings. It is well known that Martin Luther King himself appeared before Judge Simpson and argued for a reversal on a ban on nighttime civil rights marching in St. Augustine. Within a week, Judge Simpson issued an order in support of King's appeal. Judge Simpson was known as the giant of the legal system in Jacksonville. He was a man of great courage and fairness. It is most fitting that the new courthouse in Jacksonville is named in his honor. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill which honors a judge of great distinction and character. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. I thank the gentleman for this discussion tonight.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, my chief of staff and I were talking today about the program. He is a young man in his 40s, but his father died when he was a young man, and he was able to get that benefit that took care of him until he went to college. That is a benefit of the Social Security program. So it helps those people that have parents who die, and it also helps the disabled; is that correct?

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. I have a couple of questions for the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) and for the chairman, but before that we have had several discussions about the budget and what the budget reflects. Mr. Speaker, when you are in a group or organization, or in the church, you can tell something about the people as to how they spend their money. It is clear that this Bush administration does not value the people that are paying the bills. They do not value the people that are paying the bills. All you have to do is follow the dollars. Every single domestic program is cut under this administration. My question has to go back to starting with Social Security. My question, one, pertains to the Social Security program that we just celebrated a few years ago, how many years it has been in existence, the most successful program in the history of this country. I guess I am the only Member that remembers that the Republicans said that they want to see the program wither on the vine. Would my colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens), explain how old the program is and why it was started in the first place.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take my Special Order at this time.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, this budget is another example of reverse Robin Hood, robbing from the veterans, the homeless, public education, public transportation, the poor and the elderly, to give away huge tax breaks to those who contributed to President Bush's reelection campaign. Let me be clear. This budget is another clear example of reverse Robin Hood: robbing from the veterans, the homeless, public education, public transportation, the poor and the elderly, to give away huge tax breaks to those who contributed to President Bush's reelection campaign. This administration is cutting the programs that our Nation and its citizens need most, while dissolving the safety nets created to protect the elderly and less fortunate in this wealthy Nation. This budget cuts $500 million in job training at a time when outsourcing has left many Americans without work; slashes hundreds of millions in funding for police and firefighters used to protect local communities from terrorists. And let me add that since this administration has been in place, we have not funded the COPS program at all. It doubles drug copayments for veterans as they struggle to get the health care they need. Let me repeat, doubles drug copayments for veterans as they struggle to get the health care that they need. It cuts funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention while we are under the threat of a bioterrorist attack. I do not understand it. Cuts funding to the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program as fuel prices soar. Now this is a real gimmick here: It zeroes out funding for Amtrak, zeroes out funding for Amtrak, which is the Nation's only mass transportation system. And it totally destroys the Medicaid program, which protects the poor and elderly. Veterans continue to get the short end of the stick when it comes to this administration. And let me point out, today's veterans are yesterday's soldiers. Those are the people who are fighting to protect this country. They are the ones who are getting the short end of the stick. The budget raises health care costs for hundreds of thousands of veterans, imposing new copayments on prescription drugs and enrollment fees that will cost veterans hundreds of millions of dollars. As America prepares to welcome a new generation of veterans home from Iraq, it is short-changing health care programs, providing about $2 billion less than veterans' service organizations believe is needed. And the budget once again fails to repeal the disabled veterans tax, which forces disabled military retirees to give up $1 of their pension for every $1 of disability pay they receive. We owe it to the soldiers, airmen, sailors, and Marines who have served as a source of pride in our Nation to begin enrolling Priority 8 veterans into the VA health care system. However, charging each of them an annual $250 fee and doubling the copayment on prescription drugs for the privilege is unacceptable. These men and women have already paid their deduction in their service protecting this country's freedom. Most of the ``increase'' this administration claims for veterans' medical needs come from these fees. This budget is completely unrealistic because it leaves out countless items. Once administration initiatives like additional costs for military operations in Iraq; Social Security privatization, which is unacceptable; and permanent tax cuts for the wealthy are included, the Nation's deficit, which is the highest in the history of this country, will spiral even higher. This is an administration that not only does not have a plan to erase the deficit, but by proposing to make their tax cuts permanent, they will push the current deficits to sky-high levels. This is a terrible budget for the American people. The President's budget is the people's budget, and I will fight to ensure that my constituents' priorities are reflected in this budget. The current issues concerning Amtrak brings up a fundamental question of where this Nation stands on public Transportation. We have an opportunity to improve a system that serves our need for passenger rail service, or we can let it fall apart, and leave this country's travelers and businesses with absolutely no alternative form of public transportation. Without the funding Amtrak needs to keep operating, we will soon see people that rely on Amtrak to get them to work each day, waiting for a train that isn't coming. We continue to subsidize highways and aviation, but when it comes to our passenger rail system, we refuse to provide the money Amtrak needs to survive. This issue is so much bigger than just transportation. This is about safety and national security. Not only should we be giving Amtrak the money it needs to continue providing service, we should be providing security money to upgrade their tracks and improve safety and security measures in the entire rail system. Once again we see the Bush Administrations paying for its failed policies by cutting funds to vital public services and jeopardizing more American jobs. This Administration sees nothing wrong with taking money from the hard working Amtrak employees who work day and night to provide top quality service to their passengers. These folks are trying to make a living for their families, and they don't deserve this shabby treatment from the President. It's time for this Administration to step up to the plate and make a decision about Amtrak based on what's best for the traveling public, not what's best for the right wing of the Republican party and the bean counters at OMB. I represent Central Florida, which depends on tourism for its economy, and we need people to be able to get to the state to enjoy it. Ever since September 11th, more and more people are turning from the airlines to Amtrak, and they deserve safe and dependable service. Some people think that the solution to the problem is to privatize the system. If we privatize, we will see the same thing we saw when we deregulated the airline industry. Only the lucrative routes would be maintained, and routes to Rural locations will be expensive and few. I was in New York shortly after September 11th when the plane leaving JFK airport crash into the Bronx. I, along with many of my colleagues in both the House and Senate 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 alternative modes of Transportation. This isn't about fiscal policy, this is about providing a safe and reliable public transportation system that the citizens of this Nation need and deserve.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

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

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Chicago, Illinois (Mr. Davis). (Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 548 is a bill to designate the Federal building and courthouse in Dayton, Ohio, as the Tony Hall Federal building and United States courthouse in honor of our former colleague from Ohio, Tony Hall. This bill has strong bipartisan support. Tony Hall is a true son of Ohio. He was born in Dayton in 1942. After attending local schools, he graduated from Denison University in 1964. He was accepted into the Peace Corps and served as a volunteer in Thailand from 1966 until 1968. Upon his return, he was elected to the Ohio house of representatives and in 1972 was elected to the Ohio senate. In 1978 he was elected to the House of Representatives where he served for 11 terms. Tony Hall currently serves as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture. Tony Hall was founder and cochair of the Congressional Hunger Center, a nonprofit organization created to bring awareness to the growing and persistent problems of world hunger. He also served as chairman of the House Select Committee on hunger from 1989 until 1993. Congressman Hall sponsored legislation to help immunize the world's children against major diseases and to increase U.S. funding for distribution of vitamins A and C. His passion for protecting and ensuring human rights and combating hunger brought Congressman Hall to such places as North Korea, Peru, Sudan, Haiti, just to name a few. In 1994 he helped nominate Bishop Carlos Belo for the Nobel Peace Prize for the bishop's role in protecting civilians during armed conflict. Congressman Hall was an exemplar for his unswerving commitment and sustaining contribution to promoting humanity and peace in a world stricken with poverty and torn by war. This designation is a fitting tribute to his exceptional public service, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 548. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, in the aftermath of the 2000 election, in which my congressional district witnessed the discarding of 27,000 votes, I am displeased to see that the Congress is here again today, 4 years later, continuing to confront many of the same problems we faced in the previous election. Many Members of Congress here to voice their own concerns, as well as echo those of citizens across the county, are engaging in floor debate to publicly enunciate their doubts and worries with respect to the veracity and/or fairness of the 2004 election. The goal of my colleagues is not so much to systematically overturn the 2004 election results, but rather, to bring about honest and open debate today to the House floor. Clearly, a formal challenge to the election's outcome could not change the results, but what it can do is to at least force both Chambers to engage in open debate and speak clearly about the serious flaws we have experienced in our last two presidential elections. I believe this debate is beneficial for our democracy, particularly in light of recent events that went on in my State in Florida, as well as apparent discrepancies in Ohio. With respect to the Ohio vote count, I find the objections stated by my close friend and colleague, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, to be most disturbing. According to her press statement, among the numerous discrepancies in her state, perhaps the most egregious included: ``large percentages of rejections among provisional ballots, numerous problems with voting machines, and significant flaws in registration processes and procedures.'' These very serious concerns, I believe, deserve to be discussed and debated by the Congress, in an open public forum in full view of the American public. In addition, I would like to enumerate numerous other discrepancies that were contained in a report put out by the Judiciary Committee entitled, Preserving Democracy, What Went Wrong in Ohio, about the 2004 elections: The misallocation of voting machines led to unprecedented long lines that disenfranchised scores, if not hundreds of thousands, of predominantly minority and Democratic voters. Mr. Blackwell's decision to restrict provisional ballots resulted in the disenfranchisement of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of voters, again predominantly minority and Democratic voters. Mr. Blackwell's widely reviled decision to reject voter registration applications based on paper weight may have resulted in thousands of new voters not being registered in time for the 2004 election. The Ohio Republican Party's decision to engage in preelection ``caging'' tactics, selectively targeting 35,000 predominantly minority voters for intimidation had a negative impact on voter turnout. The Ohio Republican Party's decision to utilize thousands of partisan challengers concentrated in minority and Democratic areas likely disenfranchised tens of thousands of legal voters, who were not only intimidated, but became discouraged by the long lines. Shockingly, these disruptions were publicly predicted and acknowledged by Republican officials: Mark Weaver, a lawyer for the Ohio Republican Party, admitted the challenges ``can't help but create chaos, longer lines and frustration.'' Mr. Blackwell's decision to prevent voters who requested absentee ballots but did not receive them on a timely basis from being able to receive provisional ballots likely disenfranchised thousands, if not tens of thousands, of voters, particularly seniors. A federal court found Mr. Blackwell's order to be illegal and in violation of HAVA. Second, on election day, there were numerous unexplained anomalies and irregularities involving hundreds of thousands of votes that have yet to be accounted for: There were widespread instances of intimidation and misinformation in violation of the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1968, Equal Protection, Due Process and the Ohio right to vote. Mr. Blackwell's apparent failure to institute a single investigation into these many serious allegations represents a violation of his statutory duty under Ohio law to investigate election irregularities. We learned of improper purging and other registration errors by election officials that likely disenfranchised tens of thousands of voters statewide. The Greater Cleveland Voter Registration Coalition projects that in Cuyahoga County alone over 10,000 Ohio citizens lost their right to vote as a result of official registration errors. There were 93,000 spoiled ballots where no vote was cast for president, the vast majority of which have yet to be inspected. The problem was particularly acute in two precincts in Montgomery County which had an undervote rate of over 25 percent each--accounting for nearly 6,000 voters who stood in line to vote, but purportedly declined to vote for president. There were numerous, significant unexplained irregularities in other counties throughout the state: (i) in Mahoning county at least 25 electronic machines transferred an unknown number of Kerry votes to the Bush column; (ii) Warren County locked out public observers from vote counting citing an FBI warning about a potential terrorist threat, yet the FBI states that it issued no such warning; (iii) the voting records of Perry county show significantly more votes than voters in some precincts, significantly less ballots than voters in other precincts, and voters casting more than one ballot; (iv) in Butler county a down ballot and underfunded Democratic State Supreme Court candidate implausibly received more votes than the best funded Democratic Presidential candidate in history; (v) in Cuyahoga county, poll worker error may have led to little known third party candidates receiving twenty times more votes than such candidates had ever received in otherwise reliably Democratic leaning areas; (vi) in Miami county, voter turnout was an improbable and highly suspect 98.55 percent, and after 100 percent of the precincts were reported, an additional 19,000 extra votes were recorded for President Bush. Third, in the post-election period we learned of numerous irregularities in tallying provisional ballots and conducting and completing the recount that disenfranchised thousands of voters and call the entire recount procedure into question (as of this date the recount is still not complete): Mr. Blackwell's failure to articulate clear and consistent standards for the counting of provisional ballots resulted in the loss of thousands of predominantly minority Mr. Blackwell's failure to issue specific standards for the recount contributed to a lack of uniformity in violation of both the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clauses. The voting computer company Triad has essentially admitted that it engaged in a course of behavior during the recount in numerous counties to provide ``cheat sheets'' to those counting the ballots (Preserving Democracy, What Went Wrong in Ohio, A Report Put out by Democratic Judiciary Committee Staff). Moreover, in my State of Florida, the problems that surfaced regarding the 2004 election related more to pre election irregularities. Examples are plentiful, examples include: Duval County, where I had to personally fight to get additional early voting locations in the county so citizens could vote early if they so desired; in Orlando, along with many of my Florida colleagues, I demanded a Department of Justice investigation into police misconduct and voter intimidation, in which the Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers intimidated elderly members of Orlando's black community, wherein armed plain clothes police in Orlando went house to house to question, or rather intimidate, dozens of elderly African American voters in their own homes. It is not surprising to me that many of the people that were questioned were volunteers in get out the vote campaigns. Lastly, we saw once again that the Florida elections supervisors were on the verge of incorrectly purging thousands of Florida citizens from the voting rolls, an action which fortunately was never completely carried out because of a CNN lawsuit requesting to see the names on their list. Let us remember that during the 2000 elections, in my district alone (Duval County) there were approximately 27,000 ballots that were spit out by faulty machines. A disproportionately large percentage of these votes came from City Council Districts 7, 8, 9 and 10, primarily African American residential areas. Even more disturbing to me was that the Supervisor of Elections' office didn't release these figures to local officials until after the 72 hour deadline had passed. As a result, there were no legal avenues to demand a recount. Moreover, it often goes unpublished that Florida Governor Jeb Bush spent $4 million of taxpayer money to purge a list of suspected felons from the rolls across the State: but whether or not this list was accurate was of little importance to Governor Bush. Apparently, it was the responsibility of the accused citizen to correct his or her status. Only later did we learn that the reason many of the people were incorrectly purged (estimates go as high as 50-57,000) was merely because their name was the same as, or similar to, one of the purged felons. For this reason, during the 2000 elections, some of the local election supervisors went so far as to refuse to purge names from the list of their voter rolls because, they argued, `they did not have faith in how the state compiled its list of disqualified voters.' Moreover, as part of a grassroots effort to encourage voters, particularly minorities, to get out to the polls, I organize motor voter drives. Yet during the last election, many voters, especially African Americans, were wrongly purged from registration lists, and many who had signed up at state motor voter vehicle offices never had their voter registration fully processed. As a result, these voters were disenfranchised as well. It is for this reason that provisional balloting is so important (wherein if a voter has not re-registered after moving within the same county, he or she may cast a provisional ballot at the polling place of their current residence). Unfortunately, to this day, the state of Florida STILL does not completely follow through with provisional balloting because, in Florida, if one casts a provisional ballot in a voter precinct which is not their own, their vote will be discarded. To close, I reiterate that I strongly support today's Floor discussion, and pledge to continue to do everything within my capacity as a Member of Congress, and as the Democratic Party's Voting Task Force, to improve our voting system to ensure that everyone's vote is counted in future elections, and that our democracy remains just that, a democracy, not a plutocracy ruled by the elites.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to pay my respects to Charles W. Cherry. I was extremely saddened upon hearing the news of the death of Mr. Charles Cherry. I knew Mr. Cherry since my days at college, and fondly remember him as an outstanding civil rights advocate, and a fighter for the civil rights of the African American community. Mr. Cherry was, most of all, an extremely effective community leader, and always stood up for the poor and the underprivileged, even in the most adverse circumstances. On a biographical note, I think it is important to recognize that Charles and his family were the founders of the Daytona Times, an influential weekly African American community newspaper, and a Member of The City Council. Additionally, Mr. Cherry should also be recognized as being only the second African-American student to receive both a Juris Doctor and an MBA from The University of Florida. He was an activist and an entrepreneur who fervently believed that underprivileged communities thrive when offered economic opportunity. He moved to Daytona Beach in 1952 and became active in the civil rights movement, participating in sit-ins and other efforts in the 1960s to bring about integration. He became president of the Volusia County branch of the NAACP in 1971, was president of the State of Florida NAACP from 1974 to 1984, and later headed the local chapter again. He served on the NAACP's national board for 12 years starting in 1977. All Floridians are grateful for the leadership he provided and will miss his presence and persistence when it came to the issues he championed. I will miss him dearly, and his family will remain in my thoughts and prayers.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this resolution. The Republican leadership is trying to have it both ways. When President Bush took office in 2001, he inherited a budget that was in balance and actually had a surplus. There was no need to increase the debt limit, because we were actually reducing the debt of the United States. When President Bush took office, his Office of Management and Budget, OMB, projected that the nation would not reach its statutory debt limit until 2008. However, due to the irresponsible fiscal policy of the Republican leadership in the House, due mainly to the tax cuts that cut revenue we needed to keep the budget in balance, we are at this place, increasing the debt limit. In 2001, the budget surplus was cut almost in half, in 2002, the budget plunged into deficit; in 2003, the deficit grew to the largest in history; and in 2004, the deficit broke its own new record. This third increase in 4 years should be seen as the symptom of a larger problem. What is the response of the Republicans? More tax cuts, decreasing the revenue into the treasury and cutting important programs to all Americans. This debt limit is not related only to the ability of the United States Government to borrow money. This huge debt is affecting our ability to buy goods overseas, and the ability of the dollar as a reserve currency for the rest of the world is being affected. One day we will wake up with an even larger debt and the Euro will be the currency of choice for the rest of the world. We will be shut out of markets and the interest we pay to borrow even more will rise, costing us more to pay our debt, and reducing the services we supply to our constituents. This includes Social Security and Medicare. By passing this administration's tax cuts, it reduced revenue to the country by $12.1 trillion to $14.2 trillion over the next 75 years. This is three times the projected shortfall in Social Security. And it exceeds the combined long-run unfunded obligations of both Social Security and Medicare. Mr. Speaker, we must stop the bleeding and this bandage will not fix the problem!

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. I want to thank the gentlemen from Wisconsin and Florida for their hard work on this legislation. This bill is needed now and the Committee is doing its job by getting this bill to be considered on its own rather than as part of another appropriations bill. However, there are still thousands of people in Florida without electricity. These storms had a huge impact on our tourist based economy with millions of dollars lost in hotel rooms alone. Car dealerships, mobile home dealerships, boat dealerships have been wiped from the face of the earth. I rise to object to the limited funds available for the small farmers in Florida. It is the end of the growing season and there is no chance to recover any of the investment that the small farmers in my district put into their land. Farmers are losing an entire year's crop and have nothing to show for it. Wihle some crops still have time to rebound and get back some investment by the end of the growing season, the squash farmers in my area are totally out of luck. I heard from one gentleman, Mr. Roy Brown, who has 40 acres of squash that is ruined. He has put $520 into each acre, for a total loss of $20,000. While there is some compensation available, by rule he can only get 50 percent of his investment back. That leaves him over $10,000 in the hole. Why did it take so long for the money to get to these people? Have they not suffered enough without needing to wait for us to get to work? We need more money for these people who have suffered from 4 hurricanes in a 6-week period.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, first of all I thank the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski) for their hard work in pushing for the highest amount possible for our Nation's transportation system. I want to particularly thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski) who I have enjoyed working with over the past 12 years. I thank the gentleman for his leadership. American transportation infrastructure is in need of sufficient additional funding, particularly as we struggle to finance the security upgrades needed to protect our transportation system from terrorist attack. Transportation projects are also a natural economic development tool which this Nation sorely needs. Department of Transportation statistics show that every $1 billion invested in transportation infrastructure creates 42,000 jobs and $2.1 million in economic activity. It also saves the lives of 1,400 people. We cannot ignore those numbers. Transportation funding is a win/win for everyone involved. States get to improve their transportation infrastructure which creates economic development, puts people back to work, enhances safety and improves local communities. Unfortunately, we were unable to add a rail title to the bill, but that does not mean that our rail infrastructure is taken care of. We have dangerously underfunded rail security. It is surprising after what happened in Madrid that rail is not a priority in this administration. By delaying the passage of much-needed legislation, we are doing a disservice to the driving population and the Nation as a whole. The States who are battling red ink want to see a bill passed. Construction companies laying off employees want to see a bill passed, and citizens waiting in traffic jams want to see a bill passed. If this Congress fails to pass a bill funding transportation, shame on us.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to oppose this blatant attempt to hijack the Constitution of the United States for political gains. On July 12, 1996 this House of Representatives voted for, and I supported the Defense of Marriage Act. On September 21, 1996 this bill became the Law of the Land as Public Law 104-199. The Defense of Marriage Act states that ``No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising fro such relationship''. I do not support a constitutional amendment to prohibit gay marriage. Historically, amendments to the Constitution have been utilized as a tool to protect or defend the rights and liberties of American citizens. Two prominent examples include the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery and the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Marriage has historically been in the domain of the States to regulate. There is no Federal marriage certificate or license needed to be married; however, the State determines how and when a license is necessary. I am opposed to this Amendment. I do not feel that the Constitution of the United States should ever be used to limit the rights of citizens. States currently have jurisdiction over marriage, and can outlaw the act of same sex marriage if they choose. This amendment does nothing to improve the major problems facing marriages today, particularly the Nation's extremely high divorce rate, 50 percent. The reasons for this vote are politically motivated. At a time when 12 of the 13 appropriations bills, a budget, and transportation funding for the states have not been passed, why are we spending valuable floor time on a bill that has already failed in the Senate? Do not support this amendment and let us get back to the people's business.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman will yield further, I guess, once again, it is not a priority. It is back to Robin Hood. They do not have the big-time lobbyists up here, although the world community is looking to the United States for leadership in this area, and it is just has not been a priority. I really want to commend the gentlewoman. I am going to let her close. I want to thank her so much for her leadership in the housing area, in what she has done as far as HIV, just stressing the importance of having a dedicated source of revenue for housing, because, as I said, the memo went around where this administration indicated if reelected, every single domestic, domestic, program, would be cut.