Corrine Brown

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to pay tribute to one of the most progressive leaders in the history of Florida, Dr. John Lombardi. He has been a cherished friend to me for over the past 10 years, but he has also been a great friend to the University of Florida and the rest of the State. He is a passionate supporter of public education and he is also a refreshing thinker. I have been able to count on Dr. Lombardi for so many years as a valuable friend and resource person. Though Dr. Lombardi is leaving his position as President of the University of Florida, he will still be a part of the University's community. We will continue to count on him as a resource. As a graduate of the University of Florida, I am proud of all the work he has done to make the University of Florida one of the finest public universities in the country, and the best football team. His hard work has helped us reach new levels of academic achievement and we are all proud of his commitment. I know that the State of Florida is grateful to Dr. Lombardi for being so dedicated in his advocacy for equal rights and a quality education for all of our students. We will miss his leadership, but we will count on his continued support and guidance.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, before I begin I want it to be clear that I do not want to be associated with the remarks of the gentlemen on the other side of the aisle pertaining to education and I want to be clear I am talking about the Republicans. Let us not forget that in 1995 the Republicans repealed many of the educational programs that we were discussing here today. They voted to deny Pell grants to thousands of students. They voted to slash the safe and drug-free drug program. They voted to cut Head Start, deny thousands of children an early childhood education. They even voted to cut school lunch programs and they voted to cut food stamps for 14 million children. My constituents do not understand how a program is saved by cutting it. They knew that when they sent me here that I would never understand that concept, either. I come to the floor today to discuss another issue that is vital to the welfare of the citizens of the State of Florida. Currently, over 3 million Floridians are receiving Social Security benefits, including over 100,000 in my district. Ever since the Democrats, and let me repeat that, ever since the Democrats created Social Security in 1935, let me repeat that again, the Democrats created Social Security in 1935, not only has it been the centerpiece around which Americans planned their retirement but it has provided peace of mind and benefits to both the disabled workers and the children and sponsors of deceased beneficiaries. This peace of mind is something few private insurance plans offer. Social Security is especially important to the millions of women who rely on Social Security to keep them out of poverty. Elderly women, including widows, get over 50 percent of their income from Social Security. Women tend to live longer and tend to have lower lifetime earnings than men. They spend an average of 11.5 years out of their careers to care for the family and are more likely to work part time than full-time, and when they do work full-time they earn an average of 70 cents of every dollar men earn. These women are either mothers, wives and daughters and we must save Social Security for them. I am glad to see that after years of demonizing the Social Security program, Republicans are starting to realize how important this program is. Unfortunately for the American people, my Republican colleagues talk the talk but they do not walk the walk. While the President and the Democrats in Congress want to use the budget surplus to secure the Social Security program, Republicans want to give special interests and the wealthy a huge tax cut, over $700 billion the last time I checked. I recently had several young children visiting me here in Washington participating in the Voices Against Violence program. One of the first questions they asked me was whether or not Social Security would be there for them. I told them it would be there if we took this opportunity we now have to secure the program. So I ask my colleagues to do the right thing for the kids and the thousands of children throughout the United States who are wondering the same thing. Put your money where your mouth is and save Social Security.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Madam Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment. This act represents the Federal Government's commitment to ensure that young girls will not be discriminated against in schools because of their gender. We have struggled for years to level the playing field for boys and girls; and just as we are beginning to see the benefits of this program, the Republicans are attempting to roll back the clock. Let me say that again. Just as we are beginning to see the benefits, the Republicans are trying to roll back the clock. They are trying to gut this program in its mean spirit attempt to take valuable education tools out of the hands of our Nation's female students. Since 1974, the Women Education Equity Act has funded the development of school material as well as training programs. It has served as a resource for teachers, administrators, and parents. The program also helps schools comply with Title IX, the Federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in public schools. Although female students have made gains in education, they still lag behind boys in many important subjects such as math, science, and technology. This program is crucial for the continuation of the development of this program. A young man, one student, an eighth grader, Garrett from Hilliard, Florida feels that boys should be able to have the opportunity to play volleyball, and girls should be able to have weight training if they want to. We found out that this weight training is very important for our bone development and other things. Madam Chairman, with all of the problems that is going on in this country, all of the violence, we in Congress need to be doing all we can to make things better. We should not be gutting programs. We should be adding to various programs. We should be doing all we can to assist the community, the parents, the school, the faculty in bringing the community together, not trying to gut programs.

Ms. BROWN of Florida. I yield to the gentlewoman from Missouri.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today we kicked off Voices Against Violence, a congressional teen conference with a goal of involving young people in a nationwide debate on ways for legislators and others to prevent youth violence, both nationally and in local schools and communities. More than 400 students from across the country will participate in the teen conference. I want to thank the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt) for his leadership in making this conference possible. Now, Mr. Speaker, I want to discuss an issue that is very important to the citizens of my State of Florida. The cuts in the Medicare and Medicaid payments to the health providers in my State are causing a crisis. With Florida's large senior population, no other single payer impacts health care providers in the State more than Medicare. With almost 3 million Medicare beneficiaries, Florida has the second largest Medicare population in the United States. Almost one in every five Floridians qualify for Medicare, the highest percent of any State in the country. Unfortunately for those hard-working people, the cuts in Medicare funding in the Balanced Budget Act are preventing them from getting the care that they need and deserve. Florida's home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, medical equipment providers, Teaching and Disproportionate Share Hospitals are in a state of crisis. Especially in the rural areas, these organizations are being forced to bear an extreme financial burdens, causing them to stretch their budgets dangerously thin and forcing them to provide substandard care to their patients. Every single day in my office I receive calls and letters from patients and their providers who tell me horror stories of people being sent home early from the hospital, having therapy cut off before they are properly healed, and being denied care altogether. This is not right. I hear from my colleagues that we have a huge surplus that we need to give back to the people. This Congress can start giving it back to the people by providing adequate funding for the health care for our seniors who have already paid for it and so desperately need it. I am glad to hear that my colleagues on the Committee on Ways and Means are moving forward on this issue, and I am looking forward to working with them to restore these dangerous cuts. Let us do the right thing and restore these massive cuts in Medicare reimbursement.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening because I listened to several of my Republican colleagues on the floor last night, and I was very disturbed by what I heard. The Members implied that because Democrats continue to support separation of church and State we are not religious people. As a child growing up in Jacksonville, Florida, the district I now represent, my religion was the cornerstone of my life. It still is today. In fact, my church is more to me than a place I visit on Sunday. It is my home. It is a family gathering place and it is a real part of the community I represent. My Republican colleagues would have people believe that Democrats are anti-faith. This is a lie. Democrats believe in the separation of church and State. We believe that every person has the right to choose their religion. We do not believe it is up to the House of Representatives to dictate how and where our faith should be expressed. Our constituents did not elect us to be their spiritual leaders. They do not turn to C-SPAN for healing. Rather, they expect us to vote for the programs and policies that mirrors their beliefs. This is how they judge us. Do we support Head Start and school lunch programs, education? Do we support saving Social Security and protecting public education? This is the reason we have been sent to Washington, not to preach but to support the things that are important to the people who sent us here.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, today we have a chance to do the right thing for millions of Americans who are currently being served by the HMO by holding health care plans accountable when they deny patients the care that they need. I just suffered through a very painful experience of the death of a very close relative. It was a difficult experience made even more difficult because of the HMO restrictions we face. For example, a family member is in the hospital for a week and they have to come out and be placed back in because even though the doctor said that the person needs to stay in the hospital or they have to go to a rehab, they cannot go to the one close to their home; they have to go to one miles away. We know their health care plan should make sense. It should not cause headaches. Mr. Chairman, this bill brings dignity back to the health care for the 4 million people in my great State of Florida who use HMOs. We did not pass a health care plan in 1993. That did not mean that the problem went away. Shame on this Congress if we miss this opportunity to provide genuine protection from harm to the citizens that are counting on our leadership. Do the right thing and vote for the Dingell-Norwood bill.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. In closing, Mr. Speaker, my favorite saying is, ``Let the work I have done speak for me.'' And certainly Mrs. Meek's work speaks for itself. In fact, I recommend that she look at serving 20 more years. 20 more years of service from the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Meek) would be a great tribute to Florida and to this great Nation. Mr. Speaker, the article I referenced above follows: [From the Miami Herald, Sept. 26, 1999] Representative Meek Makes 20-year Mark--Miami Congresswoman Displays Deft Political Touch (By Andrea Robinson) Washington.--Though a morning of angry wind and rain has transformed the nation's capital into a virtual ghost town, an intrepid band of Washington luminaries heads toward a meeting room in a basement of the Capitol. Among the celebrity attendees: House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, Sen. Bob Graham, Attorney General Janet Reno and U.S. Reps. Charles Rangel and James Clyburn, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. The draw? U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, D-Miami, who has summoned an obedient cadre of political figures to speak to a group of her visiting constituents. ``We're here because Carrie told us to be here,'' Labor Secretary Alexis Herman says. This year, Meek marks 20 years of public service, 13 of them in the Florida Legislature. She is the first black Floridian to win a seat in Congress in recent history, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, a four-time congressional winner whose only general-election opponent earned just 11 percent of the vote. Over the past 12 months, Meek is credited with boosting her district by helping to secure notable federal allocations-- $130 million in employment-zone tax incentives; $35 million in housing grants to rebuild public housing; $2.2 million to jump-start a Little Haiti program for troubled children. But most remarkable, political observers say, has been Meek's ability to play politics in more than one arena. Meek--an unapologetically liberal Democrat--has managed to solidfy her standing not only with members of her own party but with those across the aisle. ``She's got a nice way, but she's no pushover,'' says Rep. E. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale. ``She has a velvet glove, but sometimes she can have a fist in it. She's so likable that it's sometimes disarming.''

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Meek). Mr. Speaker, I want to submit for the Record an article that ran in the Sunday September 26 edition of the Miami Herald. This article talks about the achievement the gentlewoman from Florida has made and the obstacles she had to overcome to get to Congress. She was the first African American female to serve in the Florida Senate. And when we both were elected to Congress in 1992, this marked the first time in 127 years that an African American from Florida had been sent to Congress. This year marks 20 years of service for Congresswoman Meek. Her constituents are proud of her hard work and the results she brings to her district. She has fought for fairness in the appropriations process, and I am proud to recognize the gentlewoman for her accomplishments. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson).

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton). (Mrs. CLAYTON asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn).

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Thurman).

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, once again, the Republican leadership is attempting to cut housing programs that assist our nation's most vulnerable citizens. In the midst of one of the greatest economic expansions our country has ever known, we should be doing everything we can to help people move from homelessness to home ownership, and public housing is critical in this transition. All the talk about revitalization and economic integration becomes mere rhetoric when we see such drastic funding cuts proposed for our nation's most impoverished communities. While the President's budget would have increased vital investments in families and communities by $2 billion, the Republican version of this bill, if passed, would have a devastating impact on these same communities nationwide. In my district, Florida's third, the effects of these cuts could prove disastrous. Jacksonville stands to lose more than $5 million if the VA-HUD bill passes, Orlando could lose $1.9 million, and Daytona could lose $842,000. These cuts would be devastating to the families that rely on public housing services. The number of families with worst case housing needs--defined as paying more than 50 percent of income on rent-- remains at an all-time high. Furthermore, families in the transition from welfare to work have a special need for assistance since housing is typically their greatest financial burden. The slight increase in section 8 funding is not enough, since virtually all other housing programs designed to help the needy, such as HOPE VI, Community Development Block Grants, and of particular concern to me are the funding cuts for Brownfields clean up and development, and lead based paint abatement, especially since there is a new superfund site in my district! Overall, the cuts represent an estimated 156,000 fewer housing units for low-income families; 16,000 homeless families and persons with AIDS who will not receive vital housing and related services; and 97,000 jobs that will not be generated in communities that need them. For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to vote against H.R. 2684.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, the Veterans Equitable Resources Allocation (VERA) is an excellent system for directing veterans health care dollars to the states where our veterans receive their care. Since its inception in 1997 the VERA program has helped to more properly and equally distribute the scarce dollars we provide for our veterans healthcare. My state of Florida has the second largest and oldest veterans population in the nation, and continues to suffer from lack of funding for its veterans programs. We recently had a veterans nursing home that was built and ready to care for our elderly veterans but could not open because there were no operating costs. We have a great state and we welcome all our new residents with open arms, but we must have the funds to provide for these new residents. The VERA program was developed to more equally distribute needed funds to our veterans. The program is working and should be allowed to continue to work for our veterans. We've already shortchanged our veterans in this VA-HUD Appropriations. Lets not do it again. I ask my colleagues to vote no on this amendment.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, we cannot have a surplus if we have not paid our bills. Let me repeat that. We cannot have a surplus if we have not paid our bills, and we have not paid our bills. It is simply outrageous that the Republicans today have passed a trillion dollar tax cut when the veterans budget is billions, that is billions of dollars short in funding. As the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Veterans Affairs, I have seen how this shortfall is hurting our veterans. A nursing home in my district had to delay its opening. Hospitals are understaffed and underfunded. Waiting periods for treatments are still weeks too long, and cemetery space is disappearing. While the Republicans celebrate a tax cut bill, they have cut the veterans out of this budget. I urge my colleagues to cut them out. Defeat this rule. This is simply unjust to American heroes.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I have been an elected official for 17 years, and never in those 17 years have I voted against the working people of the country. I rise today in opposition to this bill. This is another attempt by the Republicans to trample upon the rights of the American workers. Working men and women are the backbone of this country. As usual, this Republican bill ignores the problems of worker safety. It is the working men and women who have built up this country, and the Republicans would rather conduct a study than take real action to protect these men and women. Work-related injuries are a critical problem that affect more than 600,000 workers each year. OSHA is finally moving forward to develop a standard to prevent unnecessary injuries, and this bill would only cause those workers more pain. I urge my colleagues to stand up for the working men and women and vote ``no'' on this bill.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

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

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise to engage in a colloquy with the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Callahan). I want to take a moment to raise the issue of American prisoners being held overseas. I want to commend the chairman for including language in this report that required the Secretary of State to report on whether American citizens have not been able to receive fair trials in Ecuador as well as the evaluation of whether foreign assistance to Ecuador has an impact on the lawfulness of the Ecuador justice system. As the gentleman is aware, Mr. Chairman, I have visited Ecuador three times in the past 2 years, and the disregard for fair or even speedy trials have become a crisis in this country. I am very disturbed that many people, especially Americans, are asked to pay bribes to ensure innocent finding. One American in particular, Mr. Jim Williams of Jacksonville Beach, has had very little chance at justice since he was imprisoned almost 3 years ago. His family have struggled to help Mr. Williams get a fair trial, but they have faced a maze of corruption in addition to unreliable policy and a justice system that does not function. This is a very complicated problem that affects many Americans in Ecuador. However, a big part of the solution involves the United States. I hope this report will help our government understand the limitations of the Ecuador justice system as well as the far-reaching impact of our drug policy on countries like Ecuador. With limited resources and corruption in judiciary, I look forward to learning the results of this study and thank my colleague for its inclusion in this report.

Ms. BROWN of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from Alabama.

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Alabama.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, the Republicans practice what I call reverse Robin Hood, robbing from the poor and working people to give a tax break to the rich. I think this is illustrated in this Forbes Magazine headline. But today I want to talk about an issue that is very important to the people of my great State of Florida. Since the elimination of the sales tax deduction in 1986, the hard-working taxpayers in my State have been treated unfairly by the Tax Code. Because our State does not have an income tax, our residents are unable to deduct the same amount as taxpayers with identical income and financial profiles of other States and, therefore, pay a disproportionate share of Federal taxes. The language in this bill would simply allow taxpayers to deduct either their State income tax or sales tax using standard tables to determine their average sales tax deduction. The Rangel substitute is the only opportunity the residents of the State of Florida have to achieve tax fairness. I urge my colleagues to support the Rangel amendment.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing H.R. 2586, the Veterans Burial Plot Allowance Improvement Act of 1999. My bill would increase the amount of the veterans' plot allowance burial benefit from $150 to $300-the first increase of the plot allowance since that benefit was initially authorized over 25 years ago. The proposed increase to $300 more accurately reflects the current cost of interment and better provides for the original intention of the benefit. Additionally, my bill would correct an inequity now imposed on peacetime veterans while providing a further incentive to states and their political subdivisions to expand needed burial space for veterans. Under my bill, all veterans who are eligible for burial in a national cemetery would be eligible for a plot allowance payable to a state or a political subdivision of a state when the veteran is buried (without charge for the cost of a plot or interment) in a cemetery or a section of a cemetery owned by the state or political subdivision and that area is used solely for the interment of persons eligible for burial in a national cemetery. I am proud of America's long-held, solemn commitment to provide a final resting-place of honor for those who have defended her in uniform. I am disappointed, however, that today nearly one-third of United States veterans do not have the option of being buried in a national or state veterans cemetery located within 75 miles of their home--a distance the Department of Veterans Affairs says makes a veterans cemetery ``reasonably available''. And, I am chagrinned that ninety percent of the veterans who are eligible to be buried in a national or state veterans cemetery decline to be buried there. A great many simply feel that those cemeteries are too far away to be a reasonable option for their families. Unless Congress takes corrective action soon, the problem of scarce burial space for veterans will become more severe over the next decade. VA projects a 42 percent increase in veteran burials from 1995 to 2010, with the annual veteran death rate reaching 620,000 by the year 2008. I was extremely disappointed that--although VA needs five-to-seven years to plan and build a national cemetery--its proposed fiscal year 2000 budget failed to request any funding for even the planning of a single new national cemetery. On June 29th, the House passed H.R. 2280 that would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish four new national cemeteries and contract for an independent assessment of the number of additional national cemeteries that will be required for the interment of qualified individuals who die after 2005. Mr. Speaker, as helpful as H.R. 2280 promises to be in fulfilling America's commitment to her veterans, national cemeteries were never intended to be the complete solution. The number of veterans under- served by reasonably available veterans cemeteries is--and will continue to be--far too great and widely distributed to be satisfied entirely by national cemeteries administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The answer, Mr. Speaker, is to expand the national cemetery supplemental system comprised of veterans cemeteries operated by states and their political subdivisions. In 1978, Congress established the State Cemetery Grants Program for VA to assist states in providing gravesites for veterans in areas where the national cemetery system could not satisfy their burial needs. Grants are used by states to establish, expand, or improve veterans cemeteries they own and operate. Legislation enacted last November authorized VA to provide up to 100 percent of the development cost for an approved project. For new cemeteries, VA now also can provide the operating equipment. States must furnish the land and agree to administer, operate, and maintain the cemetery. To date, half of the states--to include my home state of Florida, as well as the large veterans population states of Texas and New York-- still do not have a state veterans cemetery. On May 20th, the Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, of which I am the Ranking Democrat, conducted a hearing on veterans cemeteries. Veterans organization representatives and State Directors of Veterans Affairs testified that many states do not seek VA grants to establish a veterans cemetery because of their concern for the high perpetual costs of operating them. Witnesses noted that the amount of the plot allowance received by state cemeteries--$150--has remained unchanged since the benefit was authorized in 1973 and does not come close to covering the state's cost of an interment. Furthermore, states are not able to receive plot allowance payments for veterans unless those veterans had wartime service. Witnesses estimated that 20 percent of the veterans buried in state veterans cemeteries were peacetime veterans who would have been eligible to be buried in a national cemetery. To encourage states to apply for a VA state cemetery grant, my legislation would increase the plot allowance to $300. This amount represents a conservative estimate of the current actual cost to states for the interment of veterans--the original intent of the plot allowance benefit. My bill also would expand the eligibility criteria for states and their political subdivisions to receive plot allowance payments. A provision that would allow plot allowance payments for all veterans who are eligible for burial in a national cemetery would correct a long- standing inequity for peacetime veterans as well as support the state cemetery grants program. Veterans with peacetime service are not distinguished from veterans with wartime service regarding their burial benefits in a national cemetery. Veterans who elect to be buried in a state cemetery, likewise, should not be subject to differing categories of eligibility for the plot allowance benefit. A third burial option for veterans--the one that offers a location closest to their residence--is a veterans cemetery owned by an agency or political subdivision of a state. Local cemeteries owned by a county or city are authorized to receive the veteran's plot allowance if the veterans is buried without charge for the cost of a plot or interment in a section that is used solely for the interment of persons eligible for burial in a national cemetery. Like state veterans cemeteries, these local, government-owned cemeteries are limited to plot allowances for veterans with wartime service. Witnesses at my Subcommittee's recent hearing testified that they believed that if the amount of the plot allowance benefit were increased to a sum more closely approximating the actual cost of interment, and if the eligibility criteria for receipt of the plot allowance by cemeteries owned by a political subdivision of a state were expanded to include peacetime veterans who were eligible for burial in a national cemetery, that those community cemeteries would be encouraged to establish or expand special sections for veterans. Mr. Speaker, it is important that Congress reaffirm this Nation's commitment to provide an appropriate resting-place of honor for its veterans. My legislation would provide states and their political subdivisions with the incentive to expand the necessary supplement to our national cemetery system so that America might properly memorialize the sacrifices her veterans have made to keep this Nation free. I urge my colleagues to support their veterans through the support of my solution to this bipartisan issue.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today to talk about an issue that is critical to the older Americans in this country and especially to those in my home State of Florida, the Older Americans Act. Since its enactment in 1965, the Older Americans Act has provided for the delivery and support of nutritious service to our elderly population. The support services and centers program provide funds to States for a wide variety of social services and activities including community service employment programs, home delivered meals, transportation assistance, home care, recreation activities, elderly rights protection, and research, training and demonstration programs. The Title III Nutrition Program is the Older Americans Act's largest program representing 43 percent of the total funds. It provides 240 million meals to over 3 million elderly persons who are traditionally more likely to be poor, to live alone, and to be members of minority groups. They are also more likely to have health and functional limitations that place them at nutritional risk. For most of the participants in the program, these meals are the primary source of daily nutrition. The Older Americans Act also authorizes the Senior Community Service Employment Program that provides opportunities for part-time employment in community service activities for unemployed, low-income older persons. This program is administered by elderly advocacy groups, including Green Thumb, National Center on Black Aged, and the American Association of Retired Persons. This program has three goals: provide employment opportunities for older persons, create a pool to provide community service, and supplement the income of low-income older persons. These programs are so vitally important to the health and well-being of our senior citizens, those who work all their lives to make America what it is today. We need to do the right thing for our seniors and reauthorize the Older Americans Act. Mr. Speaker, this program is also one that I have visited in Jacksonville, Orlando, Daytona, Palatka in Florida. But I was recently in Millen, Georgia, and I would like to submit this article to the Record. It indicates ``Meals on Wheels is about more than just food. ``The volunteers are great. They are nice as they can be and they help me get things if I need them.'' I want to read one brief remark about the program. ``Presently, the program cost $7,000 a month to feed all of the clients.'' However, the funds is currently at a serious low point. In other words, these programs around the country are being shut down or terminated because we have not reauthorized this program, the Older Americans Act. I do not understand what is more important than taking care of our seniors when they need us. I am hoping that this is one program that we will put on our agenda to fund and reauthorize before we leave for the August recess. Mr. Speaker, the article I referred to is as follows: Meals on Wheels Is About More Than Food (By Karen Ludwig) Monday through Friday, five days a week, 250 days per year. That's how often Houston County residents who qualify for Meals on Wheels can depend on the organization to deliver nutritious, hot and tasty noon meals with a smile. Meals on Wheels, incorporated in the fall of 1974, is a private, nonprofit organization that provides programs and services to the elderly of Houston County, according to Donna James, executive director. ``Our highest bracket of clients are people who are 80 years old and above,'' said James. Sixty-five volunteer drivers deliver meals to 143 clients. A wide variety of people, including retirees, a base squadron and even home-schooled children who deliver meals with their parents as an exercise in community service volunteer to deliver meals. ``Many of the drivers do more than just deliver meals,'' said James. ``They are great with the clients. Some drivers presently and in the past have gone over to clients' houses and helped them with odd jobs around the house.'' Velda Paquet, Warner Robins site aid, not only packs meals for the clients and does secretarial work, but she also bakes cookies and visits clients even when she's not working. ``Velda is my right-hand man,'' said James. ``She's efficient, packs the meals, works at the office and keeps me hopping. It's hard to find people like her.'' Many of the drivers also cheer up clients. James said. Marjorie Moore, a client for eight years, said she loves it when the home-schooled children deliver meals with their parents. ``I miss the children when they don't come to visit,'' said Moore. ``They are just like my great-grandchildren. They hop up here next to me and love me like mine. They have very good manners.'' Irene Colquit, another Meals on Wheels client, is also fond of the program and its volunteers. ``The volunteers are great,'' said Colquit. ``They are as nice as they can be and they help me get things if I need them. They are a great crew.'' Presently, the program cost $7,000 a month to feed all of the clients. James said the program's funding is currently at a serious low point, but here are yearlong fund-raisers the community can participate in. One such program is the adopt- a-client service, a $60-per client program that funds 20 meals at $3 per person. If money can't be raised to support the program, some clients' services will be terminated. ``Many of the clients are in a low-income bracket,'' said James. ``Their Social Security checks are eaten up by medication costs. Meals on Wheels provides them with a meal when they are unable to provide one or prepare one themselves.'' But all is not bad. Recently, James submitted an essay to the Meals on Wheels of America to nominate a member for member of the year. Thelma McCoy, a Meals on Wheels volunteer and last year's president, won the award. ``The program will receive a much-needed $1,000 grant from the Reynolds Aluminum Co. It's the second time in two years that we have received this award,'' said James.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 434, the African Growth and Opportunity Act. I have met with many of the presidents of Africa. I spoke with African ambassadors and diplomats, and all of them support the bill. I have not talked to one African representative that has been elected that did not support the bill and had a deep desire to increase foreign trade and investment. In addition, as an African American woman, I strongly endorse H.R. 434 and believe that it is time that we pay attention to Africa and it is time that the United States and the world become color-blind to the continent and engage in trade with the Africans, just as we do with Asia and Latin America. Let us not forget that the Africans who were brought to this country unwillingly made a great contribution to the infrastructure of our country without a penny of reimbursements. We owe it to the African continent at least to have them as trading partners. It is about time we made a sea change in our perception of the African continent and do everything within our power as Members of Congress to promote a success for African people whose forefathers have given so much to this great country.

Ms. BROWN of Florida

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Madam Speaker, I once again want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) for his leadership on this matter. The people in Florida owe him a great deal of gratitude for bringing this issue before the public.