Corrine Brown

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. And, Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman from New Jersey will continue to yield for just 30 seconds.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. That is right.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. The other thing is that the handicapped citizens sued Duvall County pertaining to access to the election, making sure that they have an opportunity to vote in private, and they won. So I want to submit this for the Record for the membership to review. [From the New York Times, Mar. 14, 2004] Florida as the Next Florida As Floridians went to the polls last Tuesday, Glenda Hood, Katherine Harris's successor as secretary of state, assured the nation that Florida's voting system would not break down this year the way it did in 2000. Florida now has ``the very best'' technology available, she declared on CNN. ``And I do feel that it's a great disservice to create the feeling that there's a problem when there is not.'' Hours later, results in Bay County showed that with more than 60 percent of precincts reporting, Richard Gephardt, who long before had pulled out of the presidential race, was beating John Kerry by two to one. ``I'm devastated,'' the county's top election official said, promising a recount of his county's 19,000 votes. Four years after Florida made a mockery of American elections, there is every reason to believe it could happen again. This time, the problems will most likely be with the electronic voting that has replaced chad-producing punch cards. Some counties, including Bay County, use paper ballots that are fed into an optical scanner, so a recount is possible if there are questions. But 15 Florida counties, including Palm Beach, home of the infamous ``butterfly ballot,'' have adopted touch-screen machines that do not produce a paper record. If anything goes wrong in these counties in November, we will be in bad shape. Florida's official line is that its machines are so carefully tested, nothing can go wrong. But things already have gone wrong. In a January election in Palm Beach and Broward Counties, the victory margin was 12 votes, but the machines recorded more than 130 blank ballots. It is simply not believable that 130 people showed up to cast a nonvote, in an election with only one race on the ballot. The runner- up wanted a recount, but since the machines do not produce a paper record, there was nothing to recount. In 2002, in the primary race for governor between Janet Reno and Bill McBride, electronic voting problems were so widespread they cast doubt on the outcome. Many Miami-Dade County votes were not counted on election night because machines were shut down improperly. One precinct with over 1,000 eligible voters recorded no votes, despite a 33 percent turnout statewide. Election workers spent days hunting for lost votes, while Floridians waited, in an uncomfortable replay of 2000, to see whether Mr. McBride's victory margin, which had dwindled to less than 10,000, would hold up. This past Tuesday, even though turnout was minimal, there were problems. Voters were wrongly given computer cards that let them vote only on local issues, not in the presidential primary. Machines did not work. And there were, no doubt, other mishaps that did not come to light because of the stunning lack of transparency around voting in the state. When a Times editorial writer dropped in on one Palm Beach precinct where there were reports of malfunctioning machines, county officials called the police to remove him. The biggest danger of electronic voting, however, cannot be seen from the outside. Computer scientists warn that votes, and whole elections, can be stolen by rigging the code that runs the machines. The only defense is a paper record of every vote cast, a ``voter-verified paper trail,'' which can be counted if the machines' tallies are suspect. Given its history, Florida should be a leader in requiring paper trails. But election officials, including Theresa LePore, the Palm Beach County elections supervisor who was responsible for the butterfly ballot, have refused to put them in place. Last week, Representative Robert Wexler, a Florida Democrat, filed a federal lawsuit to require paper trails. He relies on the Supreme Court's holding in Bush v. Gore that equal protection requires states to use comparable recount methods from county to country. Florida law currently requires a hand recount in close races. That is possible in most counties, but the 15 that use electronic voting machines do not produce paper records that can be recounted. Under the logic of Bush v. Gore, Representative Wexler is right. After the 2000 mess, Americans were assured they would not have to live through such a flawed election again. But Florida has put in place a system, electronic voting without a paper trail, that threatens once more to produce an outcome that cannot be trusted. There is still time before the November vote to put printers in place in the 15 Florida counties that use touch screens. As we learned four years ago, once the election has been held on bad equipment, it is too late to make it right.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. If the gentleman will allow me one other quick comment.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank the gentleman for holding this meeting today to discuss the elections and how we are going to ensure that we have a fair election in 2004 and how we are going to make sure that people in America get a chance to vote but also that their votes will count, but I do have to correct my colleague on just one thing because Florida is not just known in the country, it is known throughout the world, because of this last election. I just returned from Eastern Europe and I tell you, anytime I mentioned that I am from Florida, there is a sympathy in the look that I receive because they wonder how in the world that South Africa could get it right and we could not get it right in the great State of Florida. The correction I want to make is that the election in Florida was not close. It was not close at all. Statewide, over 150,000 votes were thrown out, but I want to talk to you about what was very up close and personal for me in that in my District, in the 3rd Congressional District of Florida, in Duval County alone, in precinct 7, 8, 9 and 10, over 27,000 votes were thrown out, 27,000. I have here on my right the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price) who came to Duval County at a hearing where all the problems that Florida experienced was discussed and the depth of the seriousness of throwing out 27,000 votes. Why were they thrown out? Because they had old machines, and the machines, when you vote, they just spit the ballot out, and we never counted them. To this day, 27,000 ballots were not counted. The sad part about it is that the supervisor of elections did not inform us. By law, you can ask for a recount in 48 hours. They did not even tell us until at least four days after the election that they had thrown them out. By the way, I was watching television. The supervisor of elections came on television, and the reporters were asking him how many votes were thrown out in Duval County. He said, oh, 27,000. I mean, 27,000. So we have to make sure that that never happens again nowhere in the United States. When I travel around the world and I go to places like Haiti, they did not have 27,000 votes thrown out. When I go to Africa and monitor their elections, I mean if we are going to be the voice of freedom, it starts with the election. Let me just say that I supported the initiative on the Help America Vote Act that was passed back in 2002, and I thought it was particularly important that the law provides money to help States replace and update their old and outdated voting machines. Now we can see why this is so important because of what happened in Florida, just during the last primary. During the primary even though voter turnout was light, serious problems occurred. For example, voters were incorrectly given computer cards that let them vote only on local issues and not on the issue that they came to vote for, the presidential primary. So the fact is that in many counties, the machines did not work, and even the experts, the computer scientists, warned that votes and entire elections, in fact, could be stolen by rigging the codes that run the machines, and the only defense against this is a paper trail, in every vote count, so that a paper ballot could be counted if the machines tallies are brought into question. To me, after what happened in 2000, I think of all places, Florida definitely needs a paper trail. We need a paper trail. Nothing has changed in Florida. We still have the same governor. Jeb Bush is the governor of Florida, and we still have a system in place where the governor paid a firm out of Texas $4 million to verify felons. Well, it did not matter whether you were a felon or not. If your name was James Brown or Corrine Brown, we just took all of the similar names out of the system, and you were not even notified so that you could correct it before the election. So when you went to the supervisor of elections office, where you have been going for the past 30 years, you were told that you could not vote because you were a felon and you had no recourse. We had nothing in place that you could cast your ballot and later we could rectify it, and so all of those people, thousands, was turned away on election day. About three weeks later, they got a letter from the supervisor of their elections saying, whoops, we made a mistake, and we in this Congress and we in this country are still suffering from that mistake, and we have to be committed that what happened in the 2000 election will never happen again in this country. We have to make sure that we put the credibility back for the American people and for the world because the world looks at us as a beacon of light, of hope, and yet they wonder why we cannot get it right in the United States. Maybe the reason why we cannot get it right is because we do not want to get it right. I enjoy a good campaign, but the end result is we have got to make sure that when the American people go to the polls in November that they can vote, that their vote will count and there is verification of the vote. I thank the gentleman very much for having this opportunity to talk to the American people about a system that is still broke, and if we do not put the money, the oversight and the security into the system, then shame on us.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. So that is a major problem.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the subcommittee chairman; the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri); and the ranking members, 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 systems. It will not be easy, but I believe we can pass a bill that can improve our transportation system, even without the help of this administration. Why the Bush administration would be opposed to a bill that has the potential to create millions of jobs is beyond me. I can assure the President that reauthorizing TEA LU at an appropriate level will do a heck of a lot more for the economy than outsourcing our jobs to other countries. Transportation funding is a win-win for everyone involved. States will get an improved transportation infrastructure that creates economic development, puts people back to work, enhances safety, and improves local communities. America's transportation infrastructure is in need of significant additional funding, particularly as we struggle to finance the security upgrades needed to protect our transportation system from terrorist attacks. Unfortunately, we were unable to add a rail title to this bill, but that does not mean our rail infrastructure is taken care of. We have dangerously underfunded rail security, and we are now scrambling to protect our transit passengers. We have also ignored an underfunded high-speed rail, which is one of the best ways to improve citizens and improve congestion on our highways. This certainly is not the bill that most of us hoped for; but it is a first step, and we have nowhere to go but up. We have compromised on a $275 billion bill. We need to have many opportunities to make this bill our own and do the right thing for the traveling public. We need to do the right thing for this Nation's citizens. Let us pass this bill and let us override the President's foolish veto threat.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, President Bush is cutting funds for veterans' medical care in 2005. CBO has stated that the amount the President is providing is 257 million below what is needed to maintain purchasing power at the 2004 levels. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs has testified that he sought $1.2 billion more than what the President provided. The President's 2005 budget is a perfect example of how the Bush administration is failing to treat our veterans with the respect that they have earned. It is mind-blowing to me that the Bush administration is going to make the trillion dollar deficit they created even worse by keeping the tax cuts it has given to the wealthy. Americans deserve to have a President who looks out for the interests of the Nation as a whole, not just for the elite few. In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, the Republican budget is not adequate to meet the needs of 25 million of our Nation's finest individuals. President Bush needs to start walking the walk if he is going to talk the talk. Wearing a flight suit and landing on a carrier does not take care of the needs of former and current members of our Nation's military.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise against the Republican budget because it continues a practice of reverse Robin Hood, robbing from the poor and working people to give tax breaks to the rich.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, first of all I want to commend our brave troops who proudly serve our great Nation and risk their lives to preserve our freedom. I praise their courageous efforts to protect our country, and I am with them 100 percent. They are the best of the best. And I can truly say every Member of this House, this body, supports them 100 percent. What I do not support is this misleading Bush administration and this House that follows them like sheep. Let me repeat that. What I do not support is this misleading Bush administration and this House, the people's House, that follows them like sheep. A new report has been released that shows that George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Condoleezza Rice made 237 misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq in 125 public appearances. Eighty-four of those statements misled the American people about Iraq's chemical and biological weapons. Mr. Speaker, I was horrified last year to learn that 44,000 of our troops were sent out to battle without proper armor. Forty-four thousand. How can we ask young men and women to trust us when we make decisions that involve life and death and then not outfit them with the best that they need to save their lives. We deployed our young men and women to Iraq with Humvees that lacked armored protection and bulletproof windows. I personally went to Walter Reed where six troops had lost their legs while riding in Humvees. If they had been riding in the right type of vehicles, this may not have happened. This use of Humvees in Iraq was not what they were made for. We need to get our troops the equipment they need now. And, Mr. President, you need to spend more time planning for the safety of our troops and their families in your war efforts and less time fundraising and cutting taxes for the rich country club friends of yours. There are two or three other points that I want to make. One, many of my constituents approach me about BRACC and the base closing amendment that we will be doing in 2005. They are telling me we are looking forward to your fighting to make sure our bases are not closed in our area. And my question to them is, why do you think that this Bush administration insisted, insisted, after the House and Senate both voted down and said we should not have a base closure, or BRACC scenario, during this time of war, why do you think this administration insisted that we go through this? It is destabilizing the families and the communities during a time of war. I have heard that someone from the other body indicated that if they were elected that is one of the first things they would scrap. I also want to comment on the 2000 election, which I cannot get past because the election determined who is in charge, and certainly I do not think we are headed in the right direction. I am going to submit for the Record an article that was in The New York Times last week indicating that Florida could be Florida again. In other words, the problems that we experienced in the 2000 election have not been corrected. It is a disservice to the people that we serve that we do not straighten out the problems with the elections, not just in Florida but all over this country; and we have not properly funded the program. Also, let me mention the coup d'etat that took place a couple of weeks ago in Haiti. It is very unfortunate that this Bush administration has chosen to go in and take out a duly elected president. Just take him out. Just take him out. The poorest country in the western hemisphere. We have to make sure that the Haitian people get the assistance that they need from the super Bush administration, after going in and taking out the duly elected president. And I would also like to comment on the recently announced bank merger that the Federal Reserve approved of the Bank of America Corporation and FleetBoston Financial Corporation merger. I am concerned about the recent Bank of America-FleetBoston bank merger announced today, particularly since it went through with very little public input. What concerns me even more is that although Bank of America has made significant Community Reinvestment commitments to other states, I am disappointed that Bank of America did not ensure the state I represent, Florida, that it too will receive its fair share of resources for minority communities. On February 16, in the City Hall of Orlando, Florida, I hosted a Public Hearing so that Bank of America could better understand its responsibility to make a difference in Florida's African-American, Asian and Hispanic communities. Many minority groups and activists from across Florida attended this hearing, along with local elected officials of Florida, and Congressman Edolphus Towns of New York. The groups testified that significant Community Reinvestment dollars were necessary for home loans for minorities, the development of affordable housing, small business loans for minorities, procurement opportunities for minority businesses, community lending for minorities, and community investment for industrial, commercial and social facilities in minority communities. The Bank of America sent representatives to this hearing, but the pleas from the minority communities in Florida fell on deaf ears, and Florida was never promised a specific dollar amount for Community Reinvestment. Bank of America has shown the minority communities of New England and California great respect, but refuses to do the same for our Florida minority communities. It is imperative that the leadership of Bank of America meet immediately with minority leaders at a general forum to discuss the specifies of a Bank of America commitment for Florida. I am concerned about what occurred in 1994, when Bank of America publicly announced its plans to initiate certain lending programs in the state of Hawaii for Native Hawaiians on Hawaiian Home Lands. The Bank of America publicly called these programs ``commitments'' but did not pledge these commitments to the Federal Reserve Board, nor did Bank of America fulfill its public commitments to Hawaii. The Federal Reserve has stated that the enforceability of this third-party pledge is a matter outside of the Community Reinvestment Act, and to this day, Hawaii has been left without redress. How are we to trust that Florida will receive its share of Community Reinvestment Act money when Bank of America could not keep its word to Hawaii? The Federal Reserve noted in its Order Approving the Merger of Bank Holding Companies, that there were requests for state-specific goals for certain loan products and programs, but that it viewed such third- party agreements as outside of the Community Reinvestment Act. I wholeheartedly disagree. The Board focuses on existing Community Reinvestment Act performance rather than promises of future activities, and anyhow, what type of organization does not have a plan for the future? My office was told that Bank of America has no plan for future Community Reinvestment activity in Florida or how much money would be spent in Florida--but not to worry. I think that this is a poor way to do business. Noting the experience that Hawaii had with Bank of America, I am wary of trusting that Bank of America has the needs of minority communities in Florida at heart.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following for the Record. Florida as the Next Florida [From the New York Times, Mar. 14, 2004] As Floridians went to the polls last Tuesday, Glenda Hood, Katherine Harris's successor as secretary of state, assured the Nation that Florida's voting system would not break down this year the way it did in 2000. Florida now has ``the very best'' technology available, she declared on CNN. ``And I do feel that it's a great disservice to create the feeling that there's a problem when there is not.'' Hours later, results in Bay County showed that with more than 60 percent of precincts reporting, Richard Gephardt, who long before had pulled out of the presidential race, was beating John Kerry by two to one. ``I'm devastated,'' the county's top election official said, promising a recount of his county's 19,000 votes. Four years after Florida made a mockery of American elections, there is every reason to believe it could happen again. This time, the problems will most likely be with the electronic voting that has replaced chad-producing punch cards. Some counties, including Bay County, use paper ballots that are fed into an optical scanner, so a recount is possible if there are questions. But 15 Florida counties, including Palm Beach, home of the infamous ``butterfly ballot,'' have adopted touch-screen machines that do not produce a paper record. If anything goes wrong in these counties in November, we will be in bad shape. Florida's official line is that its machines are so carefully tested, nothing can go wrong. But things already have gone wrong. In a January election in Palm Beach and Broward Counties, the victory margin was 12 votes, but the machines recorded more than 130 blank ballots. It is simply not believable that 130 people showed up to cast a nonvote, in an election with only one race on the ballot. The runner- up wanted a recount, but since the machines do not produce a paper record, there was nothing to recount. In 2002, in the primary race for governor between Janet Reno and Bill McBride, electronic voting problems were so widespread they cast doubt on the outcome. Many Miami-Dade County votes were not counted on election night because machines were shut down improperly. One precinct with over 1,000 eligible voters recorded no votes, despite a 33 percent turnout statewide. Election workers spent days hunting for lost votes, while Floridians waited, in an uncomfortable replay of 2000, to see whether Mr. McBride's victory margin, which had dwindled to less than 10,000, would hold up. This past Tuesday, even though turnout was minimal, there were problems. Voters were wrongly given computer cards that let them vote only on local issues, not in the presidential primary. Machines did not work. And there were, no doubt, other mishaps that did not come to light because of the stunning lack of transparency around voting in the State. When a Times editorial writer dropped in on one Palm Beach precinct where there were reports of malfunctioning machines, county officials called the police to remove him. The biggest danger of electronic voting, however, cannot be seen from the outside. Computer scientists warn that votes, and whole elections, can be stolen by rigging the code that runs the machines. The only defense is a paper record of every vote cast, a ``voter-verified paper trail,'' which can be counted if the machines' tallies are suspect. Given its history, Florida should be a leader in requiring paper trails. But election officials, including Theresa LePore, the Palm Beach County elections supervisor who was responsible for the butterfly ballot, have refused to put them in place. Last week, Representative Robert Wexler, a Florida Democrat, filed a Federal lawsuit to require paper trails. He relies on the Supreme Court's holding in Bush v. Gore that equal protection requires States to use comparable recount methods from county to county. Florida law currently requires a hand recount in close races. That is possible in most counties, but the 15 that use electronic voting machines do not produce paper records that can be recounted. Under the logic of Bush v. Gore, Representative Wexler is right. After the 2000 mess, Americans were assured they would not have to live through such a flawed election again. But Florida has put in place a system, electronic voting without a paper trail, that threatens once more to produce an outcome that cannot be trusted. There is still time before the November vote to put printers in place in the 15 Florida counties that use touch screens. As we learned 4 years ago, once the election has been held on bad equipment, it is too late to make it right.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, as it should be, military service is being held in high esteem. What strikes me when I visit our military bases and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, is the age of those who have answered the call to duty throughout America's history. In this war, as in those of our past, we send our young. They are the best of the best. Their motto might well be, in the words of Alexander Pope, ``Act well your part, therein all honor lies.'' Spc. Jeffrey Wershow, a National Guardsman from Gainesville, Florida, is a shining example of Pope's words. He was a patriotic young man with passion and heart who left this world too early. His dreams included law school and public service. Spc. Wershow wanted to change the world, and he did. I stand 100 percent behind our troops. All those who deserve our appreciation, our respect, and our compassion. The brave men and women in uniform who have volunteered to defend our country are in my thoughts, and in my prayers. I pledge to work to ensure that they have all the resources necessary to help them accomplish their mission quickly and safely so that they can return home to their families. I want to salute the 566 U.S. troops killed in the year that troops have been in Iraq. Our Nation is humbled by their allegiance, service and sacrifice. I pray that their families will find comfort and peace. To date, 3,254 U.S. troops have been physically wounded. I wish them a speedy recovery and happiness as they return to their family and friends. An untold number of troops will not bear physical scars from this war, but will struggle with their time in Iraq when they return home. I pledge that I will not forget their service and will stand with them when they come home to America. Thousands of Iraqi civilian casualties have been reported. I want the Iraqi people to know that my heart goes out to them during this difficult period. May God bless our troops and may God continue to bless America.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, Iraq, 1 year later. First of all, I want to commend our brave troops who proudly serve our great Nation and risk their lives to preserve our freedom. I praise their courageous efforts to protect our country, and I am with them 100 percent. They are the best of the best. And I can truly say every Member of this House, this body, supports them 100 percent. What I do not support is this misleading Bush administration and this House that follows them like sheep. Let me repeat that. What I do not support is this misleading Bush administration and this House, the people's House, that follows them like sheep. A new report has been released that shows that George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Condoleezza Rice made 237 misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq in 125 public appearances. Eighty-four of those statements misled the American people about Iraq's chemical and biological weapons. Mr. Speaker, I was horrified last year to learn that 44,000 of our troops were sent out to battle without proper armor. Forty-four thousand. How can we ask young men and women to trust us when we make decisions that involve life and death and then not outfit them with the best that they need to save their lives. We deployed our young men and women to Iraq with Humvees that lacked armored protection and bulletproof windows. I personally went to Walter Reed where six troops had lost their legs while riding in Humvees. If they had been riding in the right type of vehicles, this may not have happened. This use of Humvees in Iraq was not what they were made for. We need to get our troops the equipment they need now. And, Mr. President, you need to spend more time planning for the safety of our troops and their families in your war efforts and less time fund-raising and cutting taxes for the rich country club friends of yours. There are two or three other points that I want to make. One, many of my constituents approach me about BRACC and the base closing amendment that we will be doing in 2005. They are telling me we are looking forward to your fighting to make sure our bases are not closed in our area. And my question to them is, why do you think that this Bush administration insisted, insisted, after the House and Senate both voted down and said we should not have a base closure, or BRACC scenario, during this time of war, why do you think this administration insisted that we go through this? It is destabling to the families and the communities during a time of war. I have heard that someone from the other body indicated that if they were elected that that is one of the first things they would scrap. I also want to comment on the 2000 election, which I cannot get past because the election determined who is in charge, and certainly I do not think we are headed in the right direction. I am going to submit for the Record an article that was in The New York Times last week indicating that Florida could be Florida again. In other words, the problems that we experienced in the 2000 election have not been corrected. It is a disservice to the people that we serve that we do not straighten out the problems with the elections, not just in Florida but all over this country; and we have not properly funded the program. Lastly, let me mention the coup d'etat that took place a couple of weeks ago in Haiti. It is very unfortunate that this Bush administration has chosen to go in and take out a duly elected president. Just take him out. Just take him out. The poorest country in the western hemisphere. We have to make sure that the Haitian people get the assistance that they need from the super Bush administration, after going in and taking out the duly elected president.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Madam Speaker, in talking to other international leaders and, of course, we have to be careful not to call any names because then they will also be put on the hit list, but they were very disappointed with the leadership of the Bush administration. They were willing to act but not only would this Bush administration and its leadership not act; they blocked other nations from acting. So do you think that the State Department has been honest to the American people in regard to Haiti?

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. I once again want to thank the chairman for his leadership. But my mind goes back to our meeting that we had Wednesday at the White House with the Congressional Black Caucus members, with Colin Powell, Secretary of State, and with Condoleezza Rice and with later the President; and I guess I have a little Haitian or a little African in me because I knew then that our government under the leadership of the Bush administration and those Cabinet members were not going to lift their hands to help the poor people of Haiti. They were not going to do one single thing. We have spent $200 billion of American dollars in Iraq to build up a democracy there, but we deny people less than 600 miles from our shore any assistance, any intervention. And not only do we deny them; we are prohibiting, prohibiting other countries from going in and assist them. Shame on this administration. And hopefully we can have a regime change or a change in our government come November. Ever since I was elected to office, I have advocated on behalf of the Haitian people, and it simply enrages me that Haiti has been nothing more than a stepchild to policymakers in the State Department. While Cubans gain access to U.S. citizenship by merely stepping on land in Florida, Haitian immigrants are not just detained indefinitely when they try to come to the United States, but they are mercilessly sent back to the island. These groups that refer to themselves as ``the opposition,'' are in reality nothing more than armed gangs often funded by drug lords, that are on the verge of taking power through undemocratic means. I repeat: these are not legitimate political opposition groups, many of them are the same criminals that were in power before Aristide, the same thugs we removed from office just a decade ago. Ex military, ex death squad members, drug and gang members, and members of the wealthy business elite that dislike representative government are their leaders. It is more than ironic that just as the Bush administration admonishes Haiti and other nations for being ``undemocratic,'' they led the way for these armed gangs (the same gangs they criticize in the press) to usurp power. They did not like the idea of a government that is trying to redistribute money to the poor and provide Haitians with proper education and health care, because they feel threatened that their previous absolute hold on power will dissolve. And since they can't defeat Aristide in a fair election, they resorted to overthrow him militarily. I have traveled to Haiti numerous times with Members of the Congressional Black Caucus, met with Haitian government officials, opposition groups, and leaders of NGOs, and served the Nation as an election observer, and I will tell you that Aristide won by a landslide. This cannot be denied by anyone. Yet for whatever reason, the Bush administration has been anything but a friend to the Aristide government, and insists ironically that Haiti does not deserve our monetary assistance because their elections were ``unfair.'' It simply mystifies me how President Bush, a President who was selected by the Supreme Court under more than questionable circumstances (in my district alone 27,000 votes were thrown out), is telling another country that their elections were not fair and that they are therefore undeserving of aid or international recognition. Haiti is a nation that is still in the incipient stages of democracy and is in desperate need of foreign aid, and the Bush administration's economic stranglehold on the island has exacerbated Haiti's already crippled economy. The economic situation in Haiti is dire, yet the Bush administration's State Department apparently does not lend help to nations for humanitarian reasons, only when a precious natural resource such as oil is at stake. Moreover, I remain outraged that Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Miami INS office is explicitly going after the Haitian refugees. In December, the INS routinely released refugees who passed credible-fear interviews--unless they were deemed special security risks connected to September 11. That is still the case for asylum seekers from Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba and almost any other country--except Haiti. The Miami INS, under orders from the Department of Justice, imprisons Haitians seeking to prove they deserve asylum, while asylum seekers from other countries roam freely within American borders. This unfair discrimination against Haiti has become a common practice under the current administration, and the Congressional Black Caucus is one of the few voices fighting against this outrageous policy. To conclude: I reiterate my utter disappointment in the events that occurred in Haiti, and my outrage at the Bush administration's contribution to the fall of a democratically elected government.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank our troops for preventing further chaos and killing in Haiti. But I would like to know what in the world does the future hold for the Haitian people.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, do you believe that if the United States had acted earlier in a more humane way that this crisis could have been averted?

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Madam Speaker, let me just say that I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I think everything goes back for me to the 2000 election when we had our own form of coup d'etat; when in my district alone, over 27,000 votes were stolen, 27,000 votes. So when we think about the domestic issues, I go back and blame that election. But what happened this weekend and last week is just unacceptable. This administration, the Bush administration, it is clear, if you do not go along with them lockstep, then they will take you out. Look at Venezuela, look at Iraq, and now Haiti. For the past 3 years, this administration, the Bush administration, along with its leadership have blocked humanitarian assistance to Haiti. And, yes, the Haitian people are suffering. And the words ``corrupt government,'' what do you have to be corrupt with? We block any funds from the international community. The majority of the money that the Haitian people receive is for those people that are working abroad in the United States and sending it back. I am on the Committee on Transportation and the Infrastructure. I understand something about infrastructure, roads, bridges. They do not have food, water. The people are suffering. But we are responsible for the crumbling of that poor island. And I want to thank the chairman because I have been there on numerous occasions with him. And, of course, he and I and others in the Congressional Black Caucus attended their election. And I can tell you that the people were excited about voting. And I can also tell you that 27,000 votes were not thrown out in Haiti like it was thrown out in Duvall County. But I have four questions that I would like to just ask the chairman and other Members. The first one, to what extent do you think the role of the United States played in a Haitian coup d'etat? What part did we play?

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have my name removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 3473.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, as a Member elected from Florida, I have always supported the citizens of Haiti, and I was one of the ones that went and witnessed the fair election of Mr. Aristide. Let me just say that it was just as fair as the election that took place in Florida. But sadly, even though Haiti is right off the shores of Florida, this administration has treated Haitians and the Haitian people like unwanted stepchildren. Right now in Haiti, people are starving to death and being slaughtered in the streets, and the U.S. is nowhere to be found. U.S. policy has undermined the Government of Haiti. Let me say again, the U.S. policy has undermined the duly-elected Government of Haiti and continues today to threaten the very lives of the Haitian people. I ask this President, how can he justify our attack of Iraq by claiming we are building a democracy while he sits idly by and watches a democracy in Haiti being destroyed by thugs whose only goal is to steal power from a duly-elected President? Shame on you, Mr. President.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. As the gentlewoman said, as far as HUD is concerned, with the cutting out of the programs, prevention programs that were supported, and in addition we are cutting the COPS program that helped the community.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me commend both the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) and, of course, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) and the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and other Members for forging these kinds of debates and discussions on the floor of the House of Representatives, the people's House. I have got to just take a moment to remind everyone that I am the congresswoman from Florida, the Third Congressional District of Florida. I, along with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) and Carrie Meek, was the first Member of African American descent that was elected to Congress in 129 years. So we have a tremendous amount of responsibility. I have to mention just for a moment the 2000 election. I do not think I can ever come to this floor and not mention the 2000 election, because I want the American people to know that it matters who is in charge. I want everyone to know that not just 500,000 people nationally voted for Gore, over 50,000 people in Florida voted for Gore. And if we are not careful, and if we look at the reports, the same thing will happen again. We can have another election stolen from the people, and the people will not have a voice in this House. We have three separate branches of government. We have the administrative branch. We have the House and the Senate. It is a real honor to serve in the people's House, but the people do not have a voice in the people's House. The House voted against privatizing FAA. The House voted, the Senate voted, and it came back in the appropriations bill. The House voted against doing away with overtime pay. The Senate voted against it. It came back in the appropriations bill. We can only vote up or down. So we do not have a dictatorship in this country, but we have a void, and that void needs to be taken care of in November. One can tell something about a country, something about an organization, something about a church by their budget, the priorities of that budget. Just think about it. If one is in a church and they are concentrating on building and if they are in an organization that is just building and building, that tells one something about the organization. But if the organization is interested in the children, the senior citizens, the elderly, that tells one something about that group. I can tell the Members that this budget is what I call ``reverse Robin Hood,'' robbing from the poor and working people to give tax breaks to the rich. I want to extend that a little further because it is more than tax breaks to the rich. It is the rich that contributes to the Bush campaign re-election fund. All one has to do is follow the money. I say follow the money. If we look at the budget, what has been cut? Veterans' programs, homeless, public education. And that is the real joke. They stole this, just like the election, ``Leave No Child Behind,'' but this administration are not only leaving the children behind, they are leaving their grandmothers and everybody else. Public transportation, seven out of the 15 Cabinet-level agencies cut; EPA cut; HUD cut; Department of Agriculture cut; Commerce cut; Health and Human Services cut; Justice, Transportation, and Treasury, to give huge tax breaks to those who have contributed to the President's reelection campaign. And I stand by that. All one has to do is follow the money. What is most disturbing to me, and there are many things that are disturbing, but how the veterans' budget is being cut. When the President made this great discovery that he wanted to go to Mars, and I guess he is going, it comes out of the VA HUD budget. They are already cutting up HUD, and now they are going to squeeze the veterans' budget even more. So that additional money for NASA is going to be taken right out of the hides of the veterans in this country. Misplaced priorities. There is one area that I want to ask questions in before we end, and I will turn my statement in. Under the area of homeland security, in Florida I guess we have got some kind a scheme. I have talked to mayors on both sides of the aisle, first responders. They have not received a dime under homeland security. I have talked to other Members of Congress. They have received the moneys in the area, but they have taken off a portion for administrative. But in Florida they come up with this list and in Tallahassee they can decide whether or not to send any of that money to the community. They are not sending them money, but they may send them flight suits or something. But the community is using COPS programs and they are using additional police or fire as first responders because that is where the money is needed. We are not checking the ports. We are not checking the containers that are coming in. So homeland security is a failure under this administration, just like so many other areas. But would the gentlewoman respond to what is happening in her area under homeland security? This budget is another clear example of reverse robin hood: robbing from the veterans, the homeless, public education, public transportation, and 7 of the 15 Cabinet level agencies (the EPA, HUD, The Departments of: Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Justice, Transportation, and the Treasury), to give away huge tax breaks to those who contribute to President Bush's re-election campaign. Once again President Bush came out with a budget that is too little, too late. It is a budget that short changes the middle class, a budget that does nothing for minorities. And it is mind blowing that the Administration is going ahead to make the trillion dollar deficit they created even worse by building another budget around more tax cuts, and making them permanent! As is obvious from the budget introduced today, President Bush is the president of special interest groups. Time and time again our veterans get the shaft. The fiscal year 2005 budget is a perfect example of how the Bush administration is failing to treat our veterans with the respect that they have earned. We show potential and current members of the armed forces how America honors their sacrifice by how well we treat our veterans. 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 healthcare system; increase the VA home loan guaranty to 90 percent of Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac's conforming limit so that the guaranty keeps pace with the rising cost of housing; maintain VA staff at an adequate level so that already backlogged claims can be processed; and fully fund concurrent receipt for every eligible veteran. This budget is not adequate to meet the needs of 25 million of our nation's finest individuals. Ironically, the President's budget plan, which rhetorically proposes to strengthen our economy and our national defense, will only weaken them. Economically, the huge budget deficits are more than just an accounting problem, they will be injurious to our children, and our children's children, who will be forced to repay the record amounts of debt we are borrowing today. And it is not necessary to be an economist to know that chronic deficits threaten our economic strength because they crowd out private investment, drive up interest rates, and slow economic growth. The budget proposed today makes it quite evident that the Bush Administration does not have any plan to eliminate the budget deficits, and in fact, is pushing headlong toward expanding the size of the deficits. The $5.6 trillion ten-year surplus projected when the President took office has been replaced by deficits year after year. For 2004, the budget proposes a record deficit of $21 billion--$146 billion more than the 2003 deficit, which was also a historic record. Deficits for every year are worse than projected a year ago. Moreover, it is mind blowing that the Administration, in the face of these deficits is only making them worse by building its budget around yet another set of tax cuts! These tax cuts will reduce revenues by $1 trillion, and driving the budget further into the red. And what's more, the President is doing everything he can to make them permanent! This budget is completely unrealistic because it leaves out countless items. Once Administration initiatives like additional costs for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Medicaid giveaway and space travel to Mars are included, the Nation's deficit will spiral even higher. This is an administration that is not only without a plan to erase the deficit, but by proposing to make their tax cuts permanent, they will push the current deficit to sky high levels.''

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise against this sham Medicare proposal on behalf of Claude and Mildred Pepper, my grandmother, and all of the other seniors who will be increased out-of- pocket expenses for this sham Medicare bill.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today the Republican party will finally do what it has been trying to do for 35 years, destroy Medicare. 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, and this hollow bill does nothing for them. A snake is a snake, no matter what color it is. And AARP is getting into bed with a snake, the Republican party, in supporting this bill. To the AARP leadership, I have some sage advice that my Grandmother used to tell me: ``Those who sleep with dogs, wake up with fleas''. Each provision in this bill is one more nail in the coffin of a program that has guaranteed health care for this Nation's seniors for 38 years. Under the Republican plan, HMO's that offer an alternative to Medicare will pick and choose their customers, and get paid more than Medicare to do it. And yes folks, these are the same Plus Choice providers that are fleeing your districts in droves, and leaving your seniors with absolutely no healthcare options. Even more disturbing is the fact that this bill prohibits, yes, prohibits, Medicare from using its bargaining power to cut drug prices. What happened in the 2000 election is a U.S.A. coup d'etat. This is what happens when you don't have fair elections. Folks, it matters who is in the White House. This is entirely a Republican initiative, and their goal is to destroy Social Security and Medicare entirely. Their goals is not to modernize it, but to have it wither on the vine.

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time. I had not planned to come to the floor this morning, but I was sitting in my office and I heard my colleague from Florida mention Claude Pepper's name in relationship to this Medicare bill. Claude Pepper would be turning over in his grave by this bill. It was an insult to all of the fine work that Claude Pepper did in this House, and he would be on this floor speaking against this horrible bill. This Republican Medicare bill is a slap in the face for every senior struggling to pay for needed medicine. The leadership of this House is not pushing this bill because they care about seniors. In fact, they would end the program altogether. In 1995 the majority leader called Medicare ``a program I would have no part of.'' Another leader said ``a program that I hope will wither on the vine.'' Now they want us to believe the spin that they really care about Medicare. A zebra cannot change its stripes, Mr. Speaker, and the American people are not buying this sham. America's seniors are happy with the Medicare program, and we should provide for a prescription drug benefit the same way we provide for doctor visits through Medicare and not through a private program that even the insurance industry says will not work. This is a life-and-death issue for many of our seniors, and this hollow bill does nothing for that. And I want to close quoting the only black Supreme Court Justice we ever had, Thurgood Marshall. He said: ``A snake is a snake. It does not matter whether it is black or white; if it bites you, it is the same.'' And I can say that for the Republicans on this bill, and I can also say that for AARP, who has left the people.