Max Burns

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Ray Charles was a musical genius, a great American, someone who stood for the rights of others. His life and his work will live forever through his music and through his legacy. I urge my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 449 honoring the life and service of Ray Charles Robinson.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott), someone who worked diligently to recognize Ray Charles in the State House of Georgia.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 449. Mr. Speaker, this resolution recognizes the musical genius of one of Georgia's and America's greatest entertainers. It also recognizes the heroic struggle that Ray Charles Robinson began at the age of 7 to overcome the obstacle of blindness and to go on to become an international music superstar. But perhaps more importantly it also places in the Congressional Record for posterity his contribution to Dr. Martin Luther King's drive to end segregation, his worldwide campaign against apartheid and against anti-Semitism. It is particularly significant to me that Ray Charles' greatest recorded public stand against segregation took place in the heart of the 12th District of Georgia. In Augusta, Georgia, Ray Charles' concert had separated black and white fans and suggested that they had to be seated in different areas of the concert hall. Ray refused. He refused to play unless folks were allowed to sit where they wanted. He was sued. He broke his contract and lost a lot of money. But he stood firm. He stood firm for his beliefs, and he stood firm in Georgia. Today we can all sit together in that same theater because of the courage and conviction of Americans like Ray Charles and Martin Luther King and my friend and colleague from Georgia, John Lewis. For many Americans like me, it is amazing to hear Ray Charles sing ``Georgia on My Mind'' and ``America the Beautiful.'' He sings it with conviction, affection and style, that no one else ever has and no one else ever will. In spite of the offense of segregation and bigotry, he kept his love of State and of Nation while working to make both of them a better place. Ray Charles had already arrived where the rest of us needed to be. With this resolution, we recognize not only a great musician and a great entertainer but a great Georgian and a great American. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H. Con. Res. 449.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 449) honoring the life and accomplishments of Ray Charles, recognizing his contributions to the Nation, and extending condolences to his family on his death.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 13) recognizing the importance of blues music, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, June 12, 2004, we celebrated what would have been Anne Frank's 75th birthday. Anne Frank documented her life during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam in a diary that she called Kitty. The diary became her confidant in which she wrote about her family's horrific experiences. Anne has come to be a girl we all feel we know, a personification of good in the face of hatred, murder, and genocide. Sadly, Anne died in a Nazi concentration camp at the age of 15. ``Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl'' has been translated into 67 languages and has sold more than 31 million copies. For many students, this book is their first experience to the horror of the Holocaust. Anne Frank is an inspiration to people of all faiths and is a symbol of children throughout the world who suffer in war and oppression. Anne's own words are still as meaningful today as when she wrote them. The Anne Frank Exhibit is on permanent display at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I would just say, happy birthday, Anne. She and her message will never be forgotten.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 669 and the families and victims of prostate cancer throughout our Nation. Almost 30,000 Americans died of prostate cancer last year; and Mr. Speaker, that is far too many families who are left behind, losing the company of their loved ones. When it is identified early, like many cancers, prostate cancer can be treated and treated effectively. That is why it is crucial for all Americans to receive periodic screenings. None of us are in a hurry to leave this world. Our time with our children and grandchildren is precious, and we should all protect ourselves in every manner possible. Our health care providers in America are performing an important service by advocating periodic screenings for this deadly disease. I am proud to join my colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Deal), and to offer my thanks to these men and women, as well as those who assist all Americans, in recognizing the challenges of prostate cancer. As a Congress, we must pass this resolution to reaffirm Congress' commitment to supporting their efforts.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3658, the Stroke Treatment and Ongoing Prevention Act of 2004. Thousands of American families have had their lives touched by the tragedy of stroke. In July of 2000, the entire State of Georgia was affected when we lost our senior Senator John Coverdell. According to the American Heart Association, another American experiences a stroke every 45 seconds. Every 45 seconds another American faces the possibility of mental impairment, paralysis or death. The STOP Stroke Act will establish a campaign to teach Americans about the risk and signs of stroke so that more incidents may be prevented and so that more victims may receive important and timely care. This bill also recognizes the importance of our research community and directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to assist them in their work by maintaining the Paul Coverdell National Acute Registry and Clearinghouse with information and statistics useful to both research and caregivers. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to offer my support for H.R. 3658 and I look forward to casting my vote in favor of this legislation and of the stroke victims both in Georgia and throughout the United States.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, once or twice a century we are given a President who stands above the rest. President Reagan was such a leader. He united this country in a way that we have not been united since. He did so by simply speaking out for what the vast majority of the people of this country knew to be the truth: President Reagan declared that there is a God and that we, as a Nation, are under his authority. Like President Washington before him, he made no apology to anyone's sensibilities. He called the Evil Empire of communism exactly what it was and committed this Nation to defeating it. He was the first President to begin the battle to reverse the overreach of Federal bureaucracy in the lives of our citizens. Let us truly honor the memory of Ronald Reagan by never ending the fight he so nobly waged for God and for country.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would yield, I had an opportunity at the university environment to periodically have assignments in the international setting. I spent 6 months in Australia, and my sons were in the fourth grade and the seventh grade, and even though they went to Australian schools, my wife would tutor them in their U.S. subjects. Four years later, we were in Sweden. My sons did not speak Swedish, but yet their instruction was in Swedish, and my wife, again, assumed the role of parent/teacher, and my sons, because of my wife's dedication, never missed a beat. Now, not all families can do this. Not all families would select that option. But I think one of the most important things we see in this model is commitment to learning by the family unit and a commitment to assisting their children in achieving very, very positive results; and once that love of learning is instilled, then it carries through for a lifetime.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes), my good friend. Mr. Speaker, I spent 20 years in public education at the university level training young men and women to practice lifelong learning. The field that I was a part of was in computer and information systems, and I began that adventure in the early 1970s. Between the early 1970s and 2000 the industry changed virtually every 18 months. So it was a constant struggle to keep up with the technology, to keep up with the concepts and the techniques, first as a practicing professional but later as a faculty member at Georgia Southern, to be able to train my students in a discipline that was a constant change. That is what we face in our Nation today. That is what we face across the spectrum. I think what I want to talk about tonight, I appreciate my good friend from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) in his work on the Committee on Education and the Workforce with me and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes). The bills that came out of the House today were important and significant on higher education. I was glad to be a part of that for both teacher training enhancement, which included a very significant component on centers of excellence for our minority serving schools, but also the Priorities and Graduate Studies Act, which allow us to focus on math and science and special education, those components of our society and our educational environment that we have, unfortunately, neglected all too frequently over the last number of years and we have fallen behind by any measure on world standards. We have got to improve in our education department. But tonight as a part of lifelong learning I want to shift gears and talk about a concept that maybe does not get as much attention as it should. Many families in America, when faced with the choice of sending their child to a public school, they feel that maybe their needs cannot be met as well as an alternative or two. I want to talk about those alternatives. We seem to be reinventing the way America learns, how young people are prepared to face today's society. We have alternatives from our public schools to our private schools to our charter schools to our home schools to even our cyber schools. Especially in the technology world, the cyber schools are becoming a major component of that. But tonight I want to talk about home school, charter schools. I have home schooled constituents in my district, I have charter schools in my district, and there are many reasons why a parent and a family might look to that alternative. It is amazing, self-learning has really been around a long time. If you go back and you kind of look at the lore of learning and the achievement by individuals who had limited formal education, if any at all, Thomas Edison, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, the Wright brothers, Helen Keller, even Albert Einstein, all self-learners, all life-long learners. It is amazing that we are beginning to come back to the concept of a family taking responsibility for their child's education, to become a partner in the education process. I am a teacher, and I have tremendous respect and regard for those in the teaching profession. The dream of the teacher is to help their students achieve their dreams. So that a dream of a teacher is to make the dreams of that student come true, but the partner with the teacher is the parent. And all studies are going to tell us that when parents are involved, students learn. There is more discipline in the challenge. There is more involvement. There is a better environment for learning. Just recently the Augusta Chronicle in my district in Georgia, the 12th district of Georgia, ran a marvelous article about a young lady who was in a school that failed to meet its annual yearly projects progress as a part of No Child Left Behind. She had a choice. She and her family looked at the amenities, and she changed schools within the public system in Richmond County. And this article went on to describe the positives that were associated with that and the achievement that she received and the way in which she was able to advance so much more, basically because of lack of discipline in the environment that she was having to move from. Charter schools and home schools oftentimes are able to handle those challenges more effectively. There is a charter school in my district in Savannah, Georgia, that I visited not long ago; and they have two fundamental expectations: appropriate behavior by the student and parental involvement in every case. Now all of a sudden many of the things and the challenges that we face have become of limited concern. Sometimes parents choose to home school because the alternatives may instill values that they do not agree with. They may instill values that run contrary to those of the traditional family. They kind of feel caught up and bound by their tax dollars to schools that may not meet their child's needs. Over the last two decades home schools have grown from about 200,000 to over 2 million; and you have to ask yourself, why has there been such a rapid growth in this area? Well, in 1998, there was a study done that in every subject, in every subject in every grade level, K through 12, home school students, are you ready, scored significantly higher than their public or private school counterpart. Some 25 percent of all home school students at the time that they were enrolled at either grade level or beyond, they had an average ACT score of 23, compared to a public ACT score of 21. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, Alan Greenspan rejected the Democratic notion that the more money we put into a school the better the school performs. His comment says, ``Putting money in is not necessarily an accurate measure of the output. We are falling behind by any measure in our secondary schools.'' Greenspan went on to say, we have to increase the skills every year, every year, or we will fall behind, we will fall behind. One of the things that I want us to talk about tonight and maybe share with the rest of House is that how can we take the lessons we have learned from home schooling and apply them to improving our public education system. Primarily, the exponential growth in home schooling is primarily a result of bad public policies and programs in our Nation. We have unfortunately turned a deaf ear to parental input and the voice of the parent. We have not given it its proper respect and consideration. We have tended to push the parent aside, as opposed to making them a partner. I will tell you that the best schools in my district, the highest-performing schools in my district are those who have active parental involvement in every grade in every classroom. The President has placed a strong agenda on education and the pillars the educational reform pillars, accountability and testing. We all know No Child Left Behind has four fundamentals: accountability and testing, flexibility and local control, funding that works, funding that provides a return for the investment, and, finally, expanded parental options so that we can indeed move America forward. We have to close the achievement gap. We have to have a first-class education around our Nation. The report cards that are coming out in Georgia now that show the progress that our schools have made, and they have made great progress. I have been in every school district, in many of the schools in my district, and I will tell you they are making great progress, and I want to congratulate them. We still have a lot of work to do. But the point is, we have to have qualified teachers. We have to have committed parents. We have to have the fundamentals of education in every environment. We are turning the corner on success, and we are beginning to see a return on our efforts when it comes to public education. I am proud of that achievement. If we are going to become lifelong learners, if we are going to be able to move from this decade into the next and the ones beyond, we must all recognize that lifelong learning is a fundamental requirement in today's society. So if you look at the experiences in higher education, if you look at the experiences in our great technical colleges, if you look at the experiences in our secondary schools, we have to realize that we must continue to improve at every turn in order to achieve a competitiveness and a quality standard second to none in our globe. Mr. Speaker, there is a significant part of our agenda for America to ensure that no child is left behind regardless of their background, socio-economic, their ethnicities where they happen to live, but we also have to build that mechanism and that desire for learning. One last illustration. Last week, during the district work week, I met with a family out of Hinesville, Georgia. They were in the military. They had a son, fine young man, 11 years old. He was in a school system that unfortunately was not meeting his needs. Not because he was too slow but because, in reality, he was advanced. He had taken the SAT score at 11. He scored 1,040 on an SAT. This young man had special needs, but they were special needs to be challenged. He was bored. He was bored in a 5th grade classroom when he could perform at 7th and 8th grade levels. I sat there and I listened to the story, and I have got to work on this challenge. But we do not need to leave any child behind, but we do not need to hold any child back either, because there are folks out there who can really achieve. After spending a half an hour with this young man and with his father and mother, by the way, his father is in the U.S. Army, Third Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia. He just came back from a year in Iraq. And I sat there and I listened to this young man and the challenges he faced. I asked him to do one thing, do not lose your love of learning, because that is what will sustain you throughout your entire life. We must all have a love for learning, and he assured me that he loved to learn, and that even though in a traditional classroom he might be a bit bored, that he could make up for that as a self-learner, and that is what we must all be. I want to thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes), thank the committee for focusing on learning and recognizing the fact that learning is an integral part of all of our lives and we must do it every day if we are to remain competitive.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox) and the policy committee in working with me on this legislation, the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley) for managing the debate and supporting this legislation today. This is a Simple Tax For Seniors Act. Simple. Simple tax for seniors. 1982, 24 years ago, the IRS developed the 1040EZ which works for everyone in America except seniors. 24 years. The IRS had an opportunity to correct an oversight, really a blatant example of age discrimination, and yet they have chosen not to act. We are in a position today to correct that problem. It is incredible, absolutely incredible that the current tax law provides simplified tax forms for all Americans except those over 65. This is nothing other than age discrimination on the part of the Federal agency, the IRS. We are told that this injustice stems from an earlier era where all Americans retired at 65 and the 1040EZ had no place to report retirement income. That is no excuse. It is no excuse for not providing a short form for our seniors. If a 1040EZ does not do the job, then we ought to have a separate form that does. Again, that is what this bill does today. This legislation creates the 1040S for seniors that is a simplified tax form. It will provide our seniors with a short form similar to the EZ that all the country can use; and amazingly enough, it results in tax savings. Tax savings and Federal dollar savings for the IRS. There are an estimated 11 million Americans over the age of 65 who currently file the standard 1040 form without taking one itemized deduction. They would be delighted to be able to use a new short form if one were available. We know that the current EZ form costs the IRS about half as much to process as the standard 1040. So we can reasonably expect that we will save 50 percent of the cost of processing associated with the 1040S. Are there any objections to the bill? Apparently not. I am delighted to have the support from both parties, from both sides of the aisle; but we are not willing to admit the fact that this is something that we have to get done today. Some believe that this form will make it easier for seniors to file their taxes, but it might be at the expense of making it harder for the IRS to audit their returns through an automated system. I do not think that is the case; but if it is the case, then I am going to side with the senior taxpayer over the Federal tax collectors each day and every day. Some believe that we ought to do nothing. Just wait, just wait for the IRS to make the changes themselves, that given time, given time, they will do what is right. They will do what they ought to do. They will create a form. We have been waiting 24 years. Why is this bill necessary? We have had a 1040EZ for 2 decades without having a single, simple tax form for seniors. Really a violation of the Civil Rights Act. The Treasury says they are still studying the matter. We have crafted this bill with the help of the Committee on Ways and Means, working with Treasury, to ensure that the bill guarantees a truly effective short form by 2005, a date certain, 2005. We have done so without leaving any loophole. Do not allow the IRS to avoid moving forward to produce anything less than a simple form for seniors equal to the simple form employed by all other taxpayers. We have amended the bill to remove all excuses for creating a true short form and provide the force of law against an action spanning years, and indeed decades, by bureaucrats. It does not take the IRS 2 years to audit seniors. It does not take them 2 years to place liens on their homes. It should not take 2 years to draw up a simple form to make it a little easier for seniors to figure out their tax obligation; 2 years can be an eternity for someone in their sunset years. So if the IRS is truly planning on finally coming out with this short form for seniors, fine. This bill will not hurt a thing. But if they are planning on more stalling, they just got a kick start from the Congress. We are resolved that before this session is over, we will have a law in place that guarantees our seniors will no longer be subject to the blatant age discrimination that they have suffered for years through not having access to a short filing form like the rest of their fellow Americans. My colleagues, it is pretty simple. It is time that we pass the Simple Tax Act For Seniors, H.R. 4109. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding the time. I thank the gentleman for bringing this legislation to the floor. I sat here and I listened to the rhetoric from the other side, and they do not seem to get it. They do not seem to get that education is important to America. They do not seem to get the fact that, as we improve education and teacher training, we can improve America. They do not seem to get the fact that it is important that the future of our Nation depends on education. I want to speak specifically to a portion of this legislation that we worked out with our colleagues from the other side; and that is the demand for more ethnically and culturally diverse, highly qualified teachers. It is critical, especially as the significant growth in the numbers of minority students in K through 12 is present across our Nation. Opportunities that increase the numbers of minority teachers and enhance their training will support the broader strategies to enhance instructional opportunities for and can help to eliminate the achievement gaps of minority students. According to part C of H.R. 4411, it authorizes the creation of centers of excellence at high-quality, minority-serving institutions. During the discussion of H.R. 2211, the Ready to Teach Act, the bill that we are discussing from last year, I offered an amendment that was cosponsored by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa) that authorizes grants for teacher preparation at centers of excellence that are based on language that was submitted by the committee or to the committee by the United Negro College Fund and the Hispanic Education Coalition. I am pleased that the bill before the House today, H.R. 4409, the Teacher Enhancement Training Act, also contains this important new program. I believe that these centers of excellence will provide minority- serving institutions that have demonstrated a record of preparing highly qualified teachers with a leadership role in recruiting and preparing those teachers and increase the opportunities for Americans of all educational, of all ethnic and of all geographic backgrounds to become highly qualified teachers. In general, the purpose of these centers are to increase teacher recruitment at minority-serving institutions and make institutional improvements to teacher preparation programs at these schools. Mr. Speaker, I have two HBCUs in the 12th district. Paine College in Augusta and Savannah State University in Savannah will both benefit from this legislation. They provide grants. Grants are competitively awarded to high-quality teacher preparation programs at HBCUs, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribally-Controlled Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native-Serving Institutions and the Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions. This is a good bill. It provides a positive reinforcement for the future for teachers and teacher training and for minorities across our Nation. These grants can be used for numerous opportunities at these institutions to enhance and create opportunities for minorities in the teaching environment: reforms within teacher preparation programs; high-quality preservice clinical experiences; initiatives that promote the retention of highly qualified teachers and principals; and scholarships to help teachers pay for tuition, room, board and other experiences. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, to support minority-serving institutions and vote yes for H.R. 4409, the Teacher Training Enhancement Act.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time and for his work on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4411, Priorities For Graduate Studies Act. I am pleased to be offering this bill, which will build upon the successes of our graduate education programs and help also trigger improvements at all levels of the educational environment by prioritizing studies in areas of national need. We all recognize the importance of graduate education, particularly as we work to meet the challenges of the No Child Left Behind Act and place a highly qualified teacher in every school, in every classroom in America by the school year 2005-2006. I believe that the legislation before us today will help both States and schools across the Nation achieve that important goal. Mr. Speaker, I speak from experience, having taught at the graduate level at Georgia Southern University for some 19 years. In order to produce a qualified teacher, you have to have a qualified classroom. So if we are going to have world-class math and science instruction for our K through 12 students, we have to have the world-class instruction for those teachers at our graduate schools across the Nation. The Federal Government has long been involved with graduate level education, providing fellowships that assist students who excel in their chosen fields to complete education beyond the baccalaureate level. These programs have been successful, tremendously successful in encouraging in-depth study and creating knowledgeable experts, particularly in subject areas facing a national need. Graduate programs authorized under the title VII component of the Higher Education Act produces immeasurable benefits for our Nation. Not only do these programs enrich our citizenry but they also nurture discovery and innovation that will lead to medical, educational, and technological advancements. Graduate programs train the next generation of teachers, the next generation of researchers and engineers and doctors and lawyers and professors. These individuals will be vitally important in preparing the United States to meet the challenges of a global economy. Title VII of the Higher Education Act authorizes three graduate fellowship programs: the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need program, the Jacob K. Javitz Fellowship program, and the Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational Opportunity program. Collectively, these programs encourage students to advance their knowledge in scientific and technical fields, in the arts and humanities, and in legal studies by providing financial assistance as well as support services to those displaying academic excellence in their selected fields. Each year, Congress appropriates nearly $70 million to assist these students in pursuing their goals. The Priorities For Graduate Studies Act seeks to build upon the success of these programs by targeting fellowships to subject areas facing national need not only at the graduate level but also by encouraging the study of subject areas where there are shortages in K through 12 education. This will help to expand the number of educators prepared to train teachers of tomorrow in the critical subject areas of math and of science and of special education. By placing a priority on these subject areas with a demonstrated national need, graduate fellowships will serve to strengthen education from the halls of universities down to the classrooms filled with children. In addition to placing a priority on these three subject areas, the Priorities For Graduate Studies Act will also recognize the rapidly growing need for teachers prepared to meet the needs of students with limited English proficiency. H.R. 4411 is an essential piece of legislation that strengthens our higher educational system. We strengthen the graduate education, we target the Federal investment toward areas facing a demonstrated need, and we work to improve not just the graduate education but education at all levels across our Nation. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this piece of legislation and help our already successful graduate educational programs become even more successful.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, as I listen to this debate, it appears that we have different perspectives about what is important to America. There is no tax relief measure that has ever been passed by this House which has done more good to help the average working family in my district, the 12th District of Georgia, than the child tax credit. My friend from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) made a quote. He said the $20,000 of tax credit over 10 years was for families earning more than $250,000. Well, he is correct. What he failed to mention is that this assumes you have two children, $1,000 a year for 10 years. If you made $100,000 a year, you would receive the exact same tax credit, $20,000 over 10 years. If you made $50,000 a year you would receive the same tax credit, $20,000 over 10 years. If you make $35,000 a year, which is the average for a small family in my district, you would receive the same tax credit of $20,000 over 10 years. With a median income for a family of four in my district at $35,000, the child tax credit virtually eliminates all Federal income tax for these families. These families earning that range have children. They need every penny of their income to properly raise their children, and I oppose them having to pay one nickel more. There are 113,000 children and families in the 12th District, and if we fail to pass this bill, the tax burden on these families will go up by $33.9 million. We must pass and make the child tax credit permanent. If we fail to do this, it will expire and we will, by default, raise taxes across America, the most broad-based tax increase since this body approved the income tax itself in 1913, which was a huge mistake, and we need to fix it. Mr. Speaker, the child tax credit needs to be made permanent as long as we allow this failed income tax system to continue. I urge Members to support the bill.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the guest chaplain for today. The Reverend Pete Wall is the pastor of Jackson Baptist Church in rural Screven County, Georgia. It is my home church in my home community. It was the church of my father and my grandfather. It is just across the road from our family farm. As my colleagues might imagine, this church and the community that surrounds it has been a guiding force in my life and is dear to my heart. We rarely call him ``Reverend'' at home. It is just ``Brother Pete.'' Pete Wall is a shepherd, both literally and figuratively. He is widely known for his knowledge of livestock, especially sheep. But he is more widely known and loved for his ministry to others. Pete has a shepherd's heart. He cares for his flock. His homespun wisdom and amazing storytelling ability easily wins friends and disarms those who might be put off by a more formal religion or a typical preacher. He has a deep and abiding faith in Jesus Christ, and he lives it every day. Pete readily shares his faith with those who wish to learn about a Christ-centered life, yet he never forces his views on others. Pete has been a blessing to our church and our community for 7 years. It has been a great joy in my life to know him, his wife, Gina, and their family. Mr. Speaker, it is a great honor and privilege to have the Reverend Pete Wall as our guest chaplain today. He is my pastor, he is my friend, but most importantly he is my brother in Christ.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his support of this legislation. There are many Members of this body that deserve my State's appreciation for bringing this long overdue bill to the floor, honoring a great American, a great Native American and a great Georgian, Tomochichi. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management, and subcommittee ranking member, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) were both instrumental in helping this bill advance quickly to the floor. I thank them for their bipartisan support. The gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) should be credited with moving the legislation swiftly so that we can bring closure to a long overdue need in my State and in my district. I believe unanimous approval by this body to be of particular importance to the nature of this bill. This bill renames the Federal courthouse in my district the Tomochichi United States Courthouse. A glance at who this leader was will indicate his accomplishments and quickly demonstrate why his name deserves the eternal respect of his fellow Georgians and Americans. Mr. Speaker, I believe Chief Tomochichi, the Mico, or chief, of the Yamacraw nation to be the cofounder of my State of Georgia. This bill will do much to reawaken the memory of a great man in the hearts of both Georgians and all Americans for restoring our honor by recognizing his service to the beginnings of our great Nation. The English general, James Oglethorpe, first launched Savannah on the Savannah River in 1733. He founded the British colony there and he met Tomochichi as he came up the bluff at what is now the city of Savannah. Unlike the tragic history of conflict between settlers and Native Americans in other colonies, Tomochichi brought lifelong friendship to the infant colony, granting the settlers permission to peacefully settle in the Savannah region. Among Savannahians, as has been pointed out, the hospitality that Tomochichi showed these young settlers is legendary. But Tomochichi's gifts to our State were just beginning. Thanks to his diplomatic skills, this Yamacraw leader was instrumental in convincing the other Creek tribes in the immediate vicinity to accept the fledgling colony of Georgia. Without his political leadership, Georgia may well have perished in its infancy, with a hostile Spanish administration in what is now Florida, intent on turning Native Americans against English settlers. Tomochichi and his family then traveled to England where they met with the King and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Upon his return to Georgia, Tomochichi successfully lobbied his new neighbors to establish the first missionary school among the Lower Creeks, recognizing that education was the key to the future as these two cultures became intertwined. Tomochichi passed away at around 93 years of age on October 5, 1739, at what we used to call the Yamacraw Indian Village, just upstream from Savannah. But before he died, he requested that his body be buried in Savannah among his new friends. He was buried with full military honors in the largest public ceremony of the day, with cannons firing a final salute and his old friend General Oglethorpe serving as a pallbearer. His body was laid to rest in the center of the city's main square at the time, later to become Wright Square, with a traditional Indian burial mound atop his grave. A century and a half later in the 1880s, some shortsighted city officials allowed the mound to be removed and another statue placed on the site. Admirers of the great chieftain responded by placing an inscribed granite boulder in honor of Tomochichi a few feet from his remains, but to this day many believe that we owe our old friend much more. Today this body can help restore the honor and respect due this great American by renaming the Federal courthouse in Savannah, Georgia, as the Tomochichi Federal Courthouse. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2523.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I would like to add my thanks to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder) for bringing this significant and important concept to the American people. It is time we have a change. The IRS has been a burden on all of us for too many years, and the fair tax offers us an opportunity to right a wrong that is long overdue. I think it is interesting, if we look back historically, that when our Founding Fathers first developed the Constitution, an income tax was illegal. It was barred. It was not even accepted. It was universally disdained, and the wisdom of our Founding Fathers in the Constitution, article I, section 9, said, ``No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.'' In 1787 they said no income tax. What happened? What happened? Well, it appears that later on in the 1894 time frame, Congress came along and decided that they were going to tax income. They were going to suggest that we needed to generate some revenue and that we were going to unfortunately have to address this issue with an income tax; and Mr. Speaker, the income tax was a whopping 2 percent, 2 percent, flat tax. Two percent on incomes over $4,000, $4,000.

Mr. BURNS. Absolutely. So what we are going to do is tax only those people who make over $4,000, a king's ransom at that time, and unfortunately, at least for the Congress, they were trying to use the existing Constitution. Because of its vagueness, the Supreme Court overturned it, said an income tax is unconstitutional. That led to the constitutional amendment in 1909 that fundamentally changed our tax system that we now struggle with today. So I think it is interesting that if we went back to our Founding Fathers, they recognized the dangers of an income tax, and here we are in 2004 trying to say America, wake up. It is time. Again, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for this visionary approach and the work that he has done in this environment, but we have talked about criminals and tax cheats and illegals who have an underground economy. Help the American people understand the challenge that we face just in that underground economy. Help them understand the numbers.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important for the American people to understand that our current tax system does not provide all of those in our Nation the opportunity to contribute to our society; and the fair tax, a consumption-based tax, does just that. We all participate in a fair and equitable manner. One of the biggest areas of concern is in the area of health care and in the need to support Medicare and our Social Security retirement system and all of the things that are an essential part of what we are as America; but this fair tax, this tax would eliminate an income tax, Social Security tax, all Federal withholding taxes, is that correct?

Mr. BURNS. One hundred percent of your gross income would be your net.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will continue to yield, I think he is 100 percent right. One of the biggest challenges we face is the uninsured and the working uninsured, those individuals who would like insurance but, unfortunately, their incomes are taxed before they have the opportunity to buy the insurance. And if they are fortunate enough to have insurance coverage through an employer, there are certain incentives for the employer then to not be taxed on the contribution they make to their employees' insurance coverage. When we look at the current system, the current income tax system we have, I understand we are talking a 22 percent increase in the cost of everything we produce; is that correct?