Corrine Brown

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. That is, Mr. Speaker, I think the most important thing, to have a trust fund. So once we have a trust fund, then we have a dedicated source of revenue, and that is certainly what housing needs because it is not a priority. A lot of people that are in housing, they do not vote. They do not have any rich lobbyists up here. So, therefore, they are not included. They are not on the agenda. No one cares about them. So that is part of the problem. So I really want to commend the gentlewoman for coming up with a mechanism that we can have a dedicated source of revenue. And then, of course, we will have to continue to fight because, just like in transportation, the reason why we cannot pass a transportation bill, and the money is also there in the trust fund, is this administration for some reason does not want to invest in the infrastructure in this country. In Iraq, yes. But not in this country. Because for transportation every billion dollars creates 44,000 jobs, and that is what the people need. Once they have a job, then they can have housing. But until that time, they have to have affordable housing because people just cannot afford it. And the gentlewoman said $44,000 or $45,000 or $50,000. What happens when people have nothing, they have no source of income? They have lost their job, they paid into the fund, but yet this administration will not even entertain extending it so that people can get some assistance.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman will continue to yield, it is not not believable because it is not a priority of this administration. I have served for 23 years, 10 years in the Florida House, and I have been here for over 12 years. I have never seen an administration that dictates what comes before the House of Representatives, the people's House. I mean, if they do not want the bill to pass, it does not pass. Just like with the gun bill, they do not want the bill to come up, regardless of what they have said, because it did not come up. So people do not understand what has happened in this country and in the people's House. I love being here because it was 129 years before the first African American got elected to Congress; so I feel that it is very important that we speak up for the people who do not have lobbyists here in Washington, who do not have people that are going to fight to make sure that we have decent, safe, and affordable housing. And we have a Secretary who does not understand that, a Secretary of Housing, who just happens to be an African American.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, all we need to do is look at the substandard conditions in many of our public housing complexes. That is not a state of mind. That is a state of circumstances, and no one wants to be in those circumstances. But if we look at the dismal record of this administration as far as job creation, African Americans are at almost 10 percent unemployment. So if we look at where we are as far as employment opportunities, training, it is interesting to talk about what they are going to do in the future, but I would like the people to look at their present record. Judge people on the work I have done. I love that spiritual: ``Let the work I have done speak for me.'' We look at the record of this administration when it comes to housing, and it is dismal. When it comes to training, dismal. When it comes to education, dismal. And all of this goes together to change that state of mind, to give people that opportunity to get a heads up, and that is what we are supposed to be about. It is a real honor to serve in the House of Representatives. It is really an honor because we have an opportunity to help people that need a little helping hand. It is not a state of mind. We visit people who try all they can, and they have run out of their employment, and the training program is not there. And they have trained people to go into other jobs, and then they have sent those jobs overseas, and they have no job.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, what a wonderful program. Just one other point I want to make. Recently, the present Secretary of HUD was on Mr. O'Reilly's program, and I want to get a copy of the transcript and submit it for the record because it was horrifying that someone, an African-American, could talk about the fact that you are in an awful condition because this is what you want to be in. He would not have been in the position of Secretary if it were not for affirmative action, a program that this administration; President George W. Bush, on Martin Luther King's birthday announced we should not have any affirmative action.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to mention $50 million, but the Hope Six program is slated to be completely eliminated. That is the only program that goes into the community and not only replaces housing but has other kinds of programs that will assist the people that live in public housing to help them with job training, education, after-school programs; and of course, the Drug Elimination Program is completely wiped out. I have to say Under Secretary Mel Martinez and George W. Bush, they have destroyed the housing program. It is just not a priority for the administration. Hope Six in Florida received three grants, but it may be the last round of assistance that people in public housing will receive if this administration is reelected. The Drug Elimination Program, Members can see that this program and programs which assist, help with after-school programs and tutoring programs; it was the program that actually brought in the cops into the community, working with the young people so they would not get involved in the world of crime; completely eliminated under this administration. The list goes on. Certainly housing has not been a priority. But what was interesting to me was I have received visits from the realtors and the home builders because they are concerned about the new homeownership programs that have worked so well with the public-private partnerships. Those programs have been on the chopping block in Florida and throughout the country. I know the gentlewoman has received some of the same complaints. Why would programs be cut which actually help people become homeowners? Mr. Speaker, let me say to the gentlewoman, I am very excited about her program, and I am very pleased to be a cosponsor, but can the gentlewoman explain where we are going to get the funds from?

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me commend the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). I have visited both of your districts, and I know we have similar problems as far as HUD is concerned and housing and homeownership. I personally had one of the largest town hall meeting workshops on homeownership where we brought in all of our partners, and we are working together to try to improve housing for all Americans. The Congressional Black Caucus's goal is to have a million new homeowners. I am proud to be a part of that. But I have to say that this administration, the Bush administration, has almost wiped out the housing program. In the memo that was uncovered that, if George W. Bush is reelected, they are going to cut every single domestic program, and there are not a lot of advocates, unfortunately, for housing in this Congress. On the vote tonight is another demonstration of ``we do not really care about the people who need the hands up.'' This administration practices what I call reverse Robin Hood. When I was coming up, my favorite program was Robin Hood. These people practice robbing from the poor and working people to give tax breaks to the rich. Of course, it happened again today. I certainly agree that we need middle class tax cuts, but we also need breaks for the working poor, people who work every day but cannot make it because they do not have health insurance, they do not have decent housing for their children. I was listening to the report on 9/11 where they were talking about what was not available for the young people in Iraq, decent housing, training, education. I said to myself, we need a little of that in my district, and I am sure in the gentlewoman's. The homeless have been mentioned. I have been on the Committee on Veterans Affairs for over 12 years. One-third of the homeless people are veterans, one-third. It is criminal that we do not provide the support system that they need. They are out there because they do not have the proper medication, the proper assistance. When one walks around and sees the homeless, most people try to have a blind eye. One-third of them have lost a lot defending us.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman will continue to yield, I know him very well. He is a nice person. But I can tell the gentlewoman he was the worst Secretary we ever had. Because for this administration, it is just not a priority, and they do not want to spend the dollars. It is mind boggling how if a person is not one of the rich, companies, I mean, the gentlewoman talks about people that really need a helping hand. That is not a priority of this administration. It is not a priority of the former Secretary. It is just not when they cut the programs that they cut. It does not matter what one says. I say that all the time. Actions speak louder than words. I can say ``I love you'' all I want to. I can say ``I support you'' all I want to. But if I cut the programs that make people whole, then I do not care anything about them. They can show them better than they can tell them. And this administration consistently has cut not only housing but veterans housing programs, consistently cut them. And, therefore, if we do not have affordable housing, then people end up homeless in the streets. And that is a sad state of affairs when we have veterans in the streets that today they are our soldiers, they are our heroes; tomorrow there is no safety net for them.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Elections have consequences.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, the problem, in my opinion, is that if this administration does not support it, then it cannot come to the floor. We cannot have a debate over it. In fact, if we look at the Medicare bill, which is just so important to so many people, they would not even allow a Democrat in the House of Representatives to be on conference. They have the votes, but they do not even want to discuss ideas that are not their ideas. Even though they can just vote it down, they do not even want a discussion. And that is the same thing with the gentlewoman's bill. They do not even want the bill on the floor for discussion.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. If the gentlewoman will continue to yield, Mr. Speaker, how will they partner? For example, I heard the gentlewoman say the credit union, and I have spent time discussing with them and talking with them about their being more involved with housing and helping in homeownership.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. So that would expand the dollars, and so they would be able to serve more people?

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. So that $5 billion could be leveraged?

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to once again commend the gentlewoman on working on this initiative, on her AIDS initiative. She has certainly been a bright star in Congress since she has been here and her leadership in the area of housing and the work that she has done as far as HIV and getting funding. This administration went to Africa and committed $15 billion. I do not think we have $1 billion yet. Photo-ops are one thing. But that is, once again, how we talk the talk, but we do not walk the walk. And the world community had expected some assistance and some leadership from the United States in this area, and none has come so far. I just need to know what kind of dollars have been put up for the AIDS that the gentlewoman worked so hard on.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. His son.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the gentleman from New Jersey before he leaves. I know that he heard about the back-door announcement made by the administration on the Friday afternoon before Labor Day: the cost of Medicare for seniors is rising by 17.5 percent to $78.20 per month. This is something that I know my grandmother and all of our grandparents cannot afford. The blame for this increase has been put on the rising medical costs. However, it is this administration with its close ties to health care lobbyists that has failed to do something about spending. In fact, that bill that we passed, the Republican Party will finally do what they have been trying to do for 35 years to the program: destroy the program with these inflated costs. Can the gentleman address this? I come from Florida where Claude Pepper, my mentor on health care issues, the most well-known advocate for seniors, a man who fought for years and years to strengthen Medicare and Social Security, would be rolling in his grave if he were here today. This is a life and death issue for many of our senior citizens. The bill that was passed that prohibits the Secretary from negotiating the prices of the drugs, the bill that was passed in the House in conference, not one single Democrat was permitted to be in the room, the people's House, not one. And in the Senate, for the first time ever, the Senate leader was not able to pick who was going to be in the room. Can the gentleman from New Jersey explain to me and to the people who are listening today about this increase and what can we do to repeal this hideous Republican bill that was pushed through by this President?

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, when the Republicans took over in 1994, I will never forget that they tried to take his picture down out of the room, someone who served this institution, this country, and dearly beloved. I participated in a march to that room to make sure that we reinstated Claude Pepper's position, because he deserved to have his picture in that Committee on Rules room. I have to tell the gentleman, I remember him at the conventions and his liveliness and how he fought so hard for seniors in this country. And now this administration, with their lies and misleading people about this Medicare bill, this bill that prohibits the Secretary from negotiating the price of the drugs. We on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, along with the Department of Defense, insist, insist that they negotiate the price of the drugs so we can keep the costs down for our veterans, for our people, military families. No one can explain it. There is no discussion. When we raise that issue, they give us a blank stare, because the pharmaceuticals wrote those provisions. What has happened here, the fox has moved into the House of Representatives, into the people's House. We see it with this Medicare bill. We see it on environmental issues. We see it over and over again. If this administration, and I do want to talk about Medicare, but if this administration that totally runs this House of Representatives, totally controls the agenda of the House of Representatives wanted an assault ban, it would have been on the floor and it would have been passed. They control. We cannot have a hearing. We talk about homeland security. We cannot even have a hearing on railroad safety because the administration will not sanction it. I have never seen anything like it. I have been elected to the House of Representatives for 12 years. I have been an elected official for 23 years, and I have never seen such disrespect for the House of Representatives, for the people's House. I take it very seriously, because I was one of the first African Americans elected to Congress from Florida in 129 years. I take my job very seriously. And it is just, it saddens me to no end to see how the administration, which is a separate branch of government, runs the people's House, the House of Representatives. It is a disgrace. Now, would the gentleman please tell me about the Medicare and what can we do so that my grandmother, who does not have an additional $78, $80. I know to these big-timers, that is nothing. But the seniors who are living on a fixed income, that is deciding whether to buy their medicine or buy food. They are going to raise the costs, and where is the money going? It is going to the HMOs and the pharmaceuticals. It is criminal.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. We can play politics on some things, but in an area like this, it should not be any politics played.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. They want to kill the program.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that the Republican Party, with the direction, because he definitely gives direction to this House, they do not do anything without his direction, he has done more to destroy Medicare. What the Republicans have been trying to do for 35 years, that is just where we are now. They want to bloat the bill so that next they cannot afford it, and next on the agenda will be Social Security. Coming from Florida, next will be Social Security, and he wants to gamble with Social Security. This administration wants to kill the New Deal. Let us just face it. They want to kill public education with all of their gimmicks. I said they practice what I call reverse Robin Hood. When I was growing up, I loved that program, Robin Hood. This administration practices what I call reverse Robin Hood. Robbing from the poor and working people, poor and working people, to give tax breaks to the rich, to the top 2 percent, and it just amazes me how they say one thing and do another. I must go to the assault weapons. The President said, I understand, and it is amazing they were able to pin him down that he said anything, but he said during 1999, because during the debates he never answered one question. I am hoping that the media insists that he answer some questions during the debate because he never answered any. They said he looked comfortable and looked like he could prop his feet up but never did he answer a question. So to say that he actually committed one thing that he would support the assault weapons ban, to continue the ban, well, then he says, well, if it is put on his desk. I guess you say that and then someone said whatever you do, do not pass that bill, do not even bring it up for a vote on the House of Representatives floor, not even in the people's House, when the majority of the American people support it. Why can we not have a vote on this floor to send a message where we stand as elected officials on this particular bill? But if the President wants it, I can rest assured and you can rest assured that the American people, we would have that ban.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) for his leadership day in and day out speaking to the American people. I hope this is a wake-up call because God knows, we need one. This administration talks the talk, but they do not walk the walk. As the veterans say, they do not rule the world. They talk about how much they care about veterans as they cut programs. There will be a cut in all programs under another 4 years of this administration. These people on the other side of the aisle really do believe in giving the moneys to their corporate friends, what I call reverse Robin Hood, robbing from the poor and working people, to give tax breaks to the rich. That is their agenda, and they push it through over and over again. I really hope the American people will give us some help in the next election.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I, along with my constituents and all of the American people, want to extend a happy birthday to William Jefferson Clinton. His leadership in so many areas is sorely missed, in particular as today on the assault rifles that without his leadership we would not have passed. Many Members gave up their seats in the House of Representatives because they felt it was the right and honorable thing to do to protect the American people from these assault rifles. We had leadership in President Clinton in so many areas. He had the foresight to appoint Jesse Brown as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, who fought for the veterans. His contributions as far as economic development, housing, laying the foundation for a program that is being gutted under this last administration, it just goes on and on. So I would like to put my comments in the Record and let President Clinton know that I dearly love him and the people dearly miss him.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation to honor Lance Corporal Thomas E. Creek by renaming the Amarillo VA Medical Center for him. As we are once again forced to confront on an almost daily basis the sacrifice of the young men and women who are serving our Nation, it is fitting and appropriate that we continue to honor the uncommon bravery of those soldiers who came before them. Thomas Creek embodied such bravery, when in February of 1969 he selflessly gave his own life to save the lives of fellow Marines in Vietnam. Mr. Speaker, by all accounts, Thomas Creek was a young man who deserves this honor which we can bestow upon him today, and I am proud to support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support the bill introduced by my colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley), to rename the Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Sunnyside, Queens, New York, after Lance Corporal Thomas P. Noonan, Jr. Lance Corporal Noonan was mortally wounded in combat in Vietnam. For his actions under fire, he received the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart. Mr. Speaker, I support this bill and thank my colleague for consideration in honoring a valiant veteran who gave his life defending the principles that America stands for. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney).

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution to honor the 58th birthday of the 42nd President of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton. I came to Washington the same year that the President did. We both were elected in 1992 and took office in 1993. Those 8 years were the best anyone could imagine. Under his leadership, the United States ran a budget surplus for the first time since Lyndon Baines Johnson's administration. The economy had its highest productivity level in decades, and nothing has been seen recently that even remotely compares to this. This President had the leadership to push through Congress an assault weapons ban that stopped dangerous and unnecessary automatic and semi- automatic guns from our neighborhoods. Rather than leaving important policy decisions to others, he took the lead in some unpopular positions to place this country in a position to lead the world. Under the Presidency of Mr. Clinton, our country achieved new heights of respect. I wish former President Clinton my best wishes on a speedy and successful recovery. Once again I want to wish a happy birthday to William Jefferson Clinton. I speak for my constituents and many millions of Americans in expressing my gratitude. We thank him once again for his leadership of service, and this country truly misses him.