Michael Castle

Mr. CASTLE

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend and pay tribute to the fine work of an outstanding, dedicated, and caring Delawarean, Louis J. Amabili, director of the Delaware State Fire School. For myself, and on behalf of the citizens of the First State, I would like to thank him for his many years of tireless and dedicated service. On this occasion in Delaware, firefighters will gather and recognize his more than 50 years of outstanding leadership and guidance to his community, State, and Nation. This type of dedication to public service is rare among individuals. During his tenure, many dedicated and caring men and women have been trained to help prevent or battle fires and perform emergency medical service for our citizens. Because of the stewardship and teamwork of Louis Amabili, Delaware fire and emergency medical services have become a vital and integral part of our community. Louis J. Amabili has been a loyal and devoted guardian to the hundreds of fire services personnel throughout Delaware. He is the founding Director of the Delaware State Fire School, a facility that originated from his design and now bears the honor of his name. The school is currently viewed as one of the leading fire training facilities in the Nation. Under Louis Amabili's direction the Sussex County and New Castle County training centers were established to provide live fire training within 30 minutes of every fire company in Delaware. He has served as president of the New Castle Volunteer Fireman's Association, he is a member of the Hockessin Fire Co., and the International Association of Fire Service Instructors. President Richard Nixon appointed him to the Fire Prevention and Control Commission, where he coauthored the commission's report ``America Burning''. And, for his numerous achievements in fire services, Governor Pete DuPont recognized him with an ``Order of the First State''. In addition to his many accomplishments, Louis Amabili is one of the most respected leaders in fire services today. He has served on the board of directors of the National Fire Protection Association, and chaired the Fire Officers Professional Qualifications Standards Committee. During his tenure as a member of the International Fire Services Training Association he received their highest recognition for his role in fire service training. He has chaired the Joint Council of National Fire Service Organization and helped to establish the National Fire Professional Qualification System. He serves as a member of the board of directors of the Congressional Fire Services Institute, which I have the privilege and honor of serving as cochairman, and he received the Institute's highest honor, the Congressional Fire Service Person of the Year Award. Mr. Speaker, I salute Louis J. Amabili for an outstanding record of public and community service, a record that has touched so many lives throughout the State of Delaware and our Nation. He is truly an inspiration for all of us. His tireless commitment and dedication to the cause of volunteer firefighters will find a permanent place in the Delaware volunteer fire service history. The example Louis J. Amabili has set in the fire service is one which we hope all future fire and emergency medical services personnel will emulate. His dedication to fire and emergency medical services is admirable and his tradition of service is truly commendable. I want to thank him for his 50 years of exemplary service.

Mr. CASTLE

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1776, an omnibus commemorative coin act that has been negotiated with the Senate. This bill contains seven surcharged coin programs that, as usual, benefit worthy causes. I still believe that there are too many coin programs being ordered to be minted in 1997 for them all to be successful. However, for the first time, the taxpayer and the mint will be insulated from any failure of these programs to sell their authorized mintage amounts. That is because the protections from our reform legislation H.R. 2614, have been signed into law earlier this week. The beneficiaries of the respective coins are as follows--for 1997: the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, 100,000 $5 gold coins authorized, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 500,000 silver dollars authorized, and the Jackie Robinson Foundation, 100,000 $5 gold coins authorized and 200,000 silver dollars authorized. In 1999 Yellowstone National Park will be commemorated, 500,000 silver coins authorized. Under the Commemorative Coin Reform Act signed into law on September 30, 1996, only two programs per year are permitted. Early in the 105th Congress we will address this conflict in a mutually agreeable fashion. The bill also includes something for the collectors who support all of these programs by actually purchasing the resulting coins. Beginning after 1999, mintages will be limited and as stated, only two programs per year will be permitted. In addition, we are moving toward the first circulating commemorative coin program since the bicentennial quarter. Providing a Treasury feasibility study is positive, the program will honor the 50 States of the United States of America by producing a series of circulating quarter dollar coins that commemorate each State in the order that they entered the Union. Each year, until every State has been honored, five unique designs, each representing an individual State, will be issued at intervals of about 2 months. The completed set will represent the diverse history and culture of the States of the Union. There will be no private surcharges added to the cost of these coins. Nevertheless, the estimated earnings from the silver coins alone is over $100 million over the course of the program. This sum is scorable for budgetary purposes. The mint's production schedule is demand driven. Increased production, estimated for this circulating commemorative program at an additional 50 percent over baseline projections, will produce anticipated earnings on the order of over $3 billion for the total program. By Congressional Budget Office scoring convention, these earnings are off-budget and thus are not available to be spent by Congress. Instead, they will be applied directly to replace borrowing otherwise necessary to fund the national debt, saving taxpayers over $1 billion in interest payments over the first 10 years of the program. The bill also provides coins for the three programs that observed House Banking Committee rules and proceeded through the difficult process of obtaining two-thirds cosponsorship, through hearings, markup and passage through this House in regular order. They are: The Black Revolutionary War Patriots Memorial for 1998, 500,000 silver dollars, the Dolley Madison coin for the benefit of Montpelier in 1999, 500,000 silver dollars, and the George Washington coin to benefit Mount Vernon also in 1999, 100,000 gold $5 pieces. Among its other virtues, this program will introduce a younger and more diverse population to the fascinating hobby of coin collecting. This bill will also protect the taxpayer from the abuses common to many earlier coin programs and still benefit a number of worthy causes. I urge its immediate adoption.

Mr. CASTLE

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, a recent review of 34 new pilot television shows in U.S. News and Worked Report found that many of them contain extensive and graphic violence--some as early as 8 p.m. In one show, a criminal drives a nail into the palm of a corrupt mayor. In another, a man is buried alive with his mouth and eyes sewn shut. And in yet another offering, as the top of a corpse's head is sawed off an alien creature pops out. Children are particularly sensitive to the world around them, as they notice and absorb everything they see and experience. Psychologist Stephen Garber of the Behavior Institute of Atlanta has seen an increasing number of children in his practice who, despite having no actual contact with violence and living in safe neighborhoods, are developing not just fears but full-blown phobias about being kidnaped, getting shot, and other real-world calamities. He attributes this in part to what children see on television. The American Psychological Association estimates that a typical child will watch 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence before finishing elementary school. This matters because studies are pretty clear with respect to the impact that viewing violence has on children. In 1956, one of the first studies of television violence reported that 4 year olds who watched ``Woody Woodpecker'' cartoons were more likely to display aggressive behavior than children who watched the ``Little Red Hen.'' Study after study in decade after decade confirmed similar findings. However, the harm caused by viewing violence is broader than the encouraging of violent behavior. Studies have found that viewing violence increases mistrust of others and fear of being a victim of violence, and desensitizes viewers to violence resulting in calloused attitudes and apathetic behavior toward violence. Over the years, Congress and broadcasters have sporadically tackled this issue. For example, in 1990, Congress passed the Children's Television Act to increase the amount of quality educational programming for children. The recent rewrite of the Telecommunications bill included a requirement that television sets be manufactured with a computer chip that would allow parents to screen out programs, rated by the broadcast industry, that are inappropriate for their children. And more recently, the broadcasters have agreed to air 3 hours of educational television programming per week. I support these efforts. But quite frankly, I don't think they are enough. I agree with the philosophy that if a river is polluted, you don't just put up a warning sign--you try to clean it up. That is why I am introducing a resolution, with Congressman Wolf and 10 other Members of Congress, expressing the sense of the House that broadcasters should not air violent programming between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Cleaning up television will not resolve all of the Nation's ills. But as former Education Secretary William J. Bennett points out, in recent years we have seen a explosion in moral pathologies: abused and abandoned children, out-of-wedlock births, drug use, violent crime and just plain trashy behavior, as well as the vanishing of the unwritten rules of decency and civility, social strictures and basic good manners. He attributes this to the fact that ``the good'' requires constant reinforcement, and ``the bad'' needs only permission. Turning the tide, reinforcing ``the good'' will ultimately take a massive collective effort, one that engages our families, our civic leaders, our religious leaders, our teachers, our community leaders, all levels of government, neighbors--everyone in society. But the media, too, with its enormous role in the socialization process, must join us in this effort.

Mr. CASTLE

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the fine work and contributions of two outstanding, dedicated, and caring Delawareans-- Lynn Rogers, president of the Delaware Volunteer Firemen's Association and Sally Stevenson, president of the Delaware Volunteer Firemen's Association Ladies Auxiliary. Delaware fire companies are comprised of outstanding, dedicated, and caring men and women who give of their time and talents to help prevent or battle fires and perform emergency medical services for our citizens. Because of the leadership and teamwork of Lynn and Sally, Delaware fire and emergency medical services have remained a vital and integral part of our community. I salute Lynn and Sally for their exemplary record of public and community service. They are truly an inspiration for all of us. Their commitment and dedication to the cause of volunteer firefighters will find a permanent place in the Delaware volunteer fire service history. Mr. Speaker, just recently the Delaware Volunteer Fireman's Association and Ladies Auxiliary celebrated its 76th anniversary of leadership and service to the towns and communities of Delaware. It is important that this fine, dedicated organization continue to be able to recruit and retain young men and women who are committed to this outstanding form of public service. The support for the Delaware Volunteer Fireman's Association and Ladies Auxiliary is strong and the tradition of service is solid, I hope that they realize how deeply their efforts are appreciated.

Mr. CASTLE

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I will yield myself a moment or two just to comment on the distinguished gentleman from Virginia's comments on the 290 names. Of course that is all intentional, to make sure that these are worthwhile doing, and I am glad that he and the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Davis] had to go to a little bit of effort to do that. It makes us feel that it is at least working in some way or other, but we are very supportive of this legislation. We congratulate both of these gentlemen on the wonderful job they have done.

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I, too, yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2026) to require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the death of George Washington, as amended.

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the next bill of this series is H.R. 2026, a bill to require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint 100,000 $5 gold coins in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the death of George Washington. The beneficiaries of this coin's surcharges will be the Ladies of Mount Vernon who look after the memory of our first President and work to preserve the physical plant of his home at Mount Vernon. This coin has been on the recommended list of the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee since their annual report of 1994. This year it gained the cosponsorship of over 300 members and is presented to this House free of any controversy. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Davis].

Mr. CASTLE

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1776 is the last commemorative coin bill to be considered here today. It commemorates and serves to remind us all of the selfless sacrifice by thousands of individual black patriots during our revolutionary war. The proceeds of the 500,000 silver $1 coins authorized under this legislation will go toward helping to build a memorial to these patriots that will be situated on the Mall. The coin will feature a likeness of Crispus Attucks, a black man who was killed in the Boston Massacre, the first American victim of the Revolutionary War. This project came to fruition as a result of the sponsors working closely with the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee and carefully observing Banking Committee rules to produce a coin that meets all the strict new relevant criteria, including the taxpayer protection language of the Commemorative Coin Reform Act of 1995. I urge its immediate adoption, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would make a closing comment or two. Mr. Speaker, first of all, of all the bills, three bills we are handling today, this particular piece of legislation I think had the greatest struggle in that they were dealing with other sources of funding; they were dealing with an authorization issue as well as, obviously, obtaining signatures. I think all those involved with the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Foundation, which is the correct full name, deserve to be congratulated on their perseverance for what I consider to be an extremely good cause. It was with some degree of pride that we were able to have a hearing, have them actually come before us and be able to approve this legislation. We wish them great success. I hope that anyone who is listening to this will be ready to buy any or all of these coins. We want them to succeed down the road. But this one in particular I think is one that took a great deal of work, so I congratulate all those individuals. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Oklahoma [Mr.Watts].

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Mrs. Johnson].

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1776) to require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of black revolutionary war patriots, as amended.

Mr. CASTLE

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1684) to require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of James Madison, as amended.

Mr. CASTLE. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, we are here today to suspend the rules and pass three commemorative coin bills: H.R. 1684, H.R. 1776, and H.R. 2026. All three of these bills have played by the new rules of the commemorative coin process. Each has acquired the cosponsorship of over two-thirds of this House, and each has gained the endorsement of the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee. Furthermore, the sponsors of these bills have agreed to abide by the terms of this subcommittee's bill, H.R. 2614, the Commemorative Coin Reform Act of 1995. These accommodations by the various bill sponsors are in recognition that, as we heard at our July 1995 hearing, the Commemorative Coin Program is clearly in trouble. These problems persist, primarily because too many coins have been produced. These three have been obtained more than 290 cosponsors, demonstrating that the Banking Committee rules in the 104th Congress have not raised the standard to the point that all coin legislation is blocked, and that if a group follows the rules, they have a reasonable opportunity to get coin legislation to the floor. Nonetheless these successes should not be taken as invitations for many more coin projects to advance. CCCAC guidelines call for no more than two programs per year and it will clearly take a while for the collecting public to digest the massive Olympic Program that appears to have again resulted in losses to the mint. Passage of our commemorative coin reform legislation by the Senate will help control runaway coin programs and protect the Federal Government and the taxpayer from further losses. As necessary we will recommend even tighter regulations should it appear that more coins are being proposed than the market will absorb. In any event, the days of large issues are finished, and future mintages will be allocated based on the success or failure of programs that have already been approved. H.R. 1684 is the first of these bills before the House today. It calls for the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the death of Dolley Madison. Dolley Madison was one of the earliest heroines in American history. She served as First Lady for Thomas Jefferson who was widowed by the time he served as President and later for her husband, James Madison. During the War of 1812, when invading British troops burned the White House, Dolley Madison, at some personal risk, saved an historic portrait of George Washington. The National Trust for Historic Preservation today owns Montpelier, the Virginia estate where Dolley Madison and James Madison lived. Proceeds from this coin will go to help endow preservation of the building and the estate. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Bliley]. (Mr. BLILEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTLE

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the three coin bills which were just passed, H.R. 1684, H.R. 2026, and H.R. 1776.

Mr. CASTLE

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. CASTLE

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3793) to provide for a 10-year circulating commemorative coin program to commemorate each of the 50 States, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, we are here today to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 3793, the 50 State Commemorative Coin Act. This bill honors the 50 States that make up our Federal Union of the United States of America, by producing a series of circulating quarter dollar coins that commemorate, in order, the entrance of each State into the Union. As we approach the millennium, it is appropriate that we renew the bonds that make this country great. It exists today because the first 13 States joined together to ratify the Constitution and were later joined by 37 others to form a ``more perfect union.'' Beginning next year and for 9 more years until every State has been honored, five unique designs, each representing an individual State, will be issued at intervals of about 2 months. The completed set will represent in dazzling variety, the diverse history and culture of the States of the Union. Each State, as the date of its coin issue approaches, will have the opportunity to provide input to the Mint and the National Fine Arts Commission on just what design elements best characterize its unique qualities. This legislation will provide winners all around: The youth of America will be introduced to a fascinating hobby at minimal expense, as an entire set of 50 coins can be collected from pocket change at a total cost of $12.50. Serious numismatic collectors will have the opportunity to acquire these coins by paying only the respective premiums for uncirculated versions or for silver replica editions; there will be no private surcharges added to the cost. Nevertheless, the estimated earnings from the silver coins alone is $110 million over the course of the program. This sum is scorable for budgetary purposes. The Mint's experience from the last circulating commemorative issue, the bicentennial quarter of 1976-77, provides the basis to estimate what additional earnings will accrue to the Treasury from this program. The additional profit to the Treasury derives from the fact that each coin that is taken out of circulation by a collector will need to be replaced by another that will be used in vending machines, parking meters, and in normal commerce. The Mint's production schedule is demand driven. Increased production, estimated for this circulating commemorative program at an additional 50 percent over baseline projections, will produce anticipated earnings on the order of over $3 billion for the total program. By Congressional Budget Office scoring convention, these earnings are off-budget and thus are not available to be spent by Congress. Instead, they will be applied directly to replace borrowing otherwise necessary to fund the national debt, saving taxpayers the interest on billions of dollars, in perpetuity, or until the debt is paid off, whichever comes first. This bill is simple and straightforward. At our hearing last July, witnesses described the near unanimously favorable reception for this bill by the collecting community and the broader public. The numismatic franchise of the Federal Government is very valuable, but little has been done in recent times to nurture it and expand the market. This becomes a real problem when one realizes that the profile of the average collector is an upper middle class white male, over 50 years old. We are not creating new collectors to replace those who leave the hobby by whatever mechanism. This program would introduce a younger and more diverse population to the fascinating hobby of coin collecting. It will also teach about the history and diversity of this Nation through pocket change and I urge its immediate adoption. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. (Mr. FLAKE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I appreciate the gentleman's comments about the relative coming to the States of Delaware and New York. I am proud to be from the First State, but I am proud that New York came along, too, and helped form the Union as well. So we congratulate them on that. Mr. Speaker, I would like seriously to thank the gentleman for his tremendous cooperation on legislation throughout this 2-year cycle; we have been the chair and vice chair of this committee, and it has really been a great pleasure in working with him on so many, many things. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Oklahoma [Mr. Lucas].

Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would again like to thank the gentleman from New York. He has to deal more with the weather problems because of flights. My problem is not a weather problem. I was announcing for reelection today and I got tied up doing that. I appreciate the support that he has given to this legislation. I appreciate the support of the gentleman from Oklahoma and those who have been involved with this. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.