Donna Christensen

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this bill would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to work with local interests to study possible projects to stabilize groundwater levels in San Joaquin County in California. I appreciate the efforts made by the chairman of the Committee on Resources and the author of this bill, the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo), to accommodate the concerns of neighboring water users. Section 2 of the bill was amended in committees to allow the participation of the East Bay Municipal Utility District as this project goes through the planning stages. We have no objection to passage of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) and the ranking member, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), for their support in making it possible for H.R. 3589 to get through the committee and be on the floor of the House today. I am really heartened by the support I received from both sides of the leadership and the members of my committee, the hard work of the staff, as well as from the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), and members of the Congressional Black Caucus on this issue, which I believe to be important to the short and long term well- being of the Virgin Islands. I want to thank the ranking member, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), for standing shoulder to shoulder with me on this issue in the face of significant opposition and insisting that my bill be a top priority of the Democratic Caucus of our committee. Mr. Speaker, today is a day of great moment for the people of the Virgin Islands and for me because with passage of this bill we are a significant step closer to achieving a goal to put in place a mechanism to address the fiscal challenges that continue to face our territory. Many Members' districts have been in similar situations, and Members have addressed them in similar ways. I have introduced this bill before us today, H.R. 3589, because throughout my tenure as the Representative of the people of the Virgin Islands in the House of Representatives, I have seen the territory's fiscal condition come dangerously close to collapse on several occasions. In the absence of any similar local action being taken, I believe that the only course to reverse this trend is to create an office with the independence and the authority to help us exercise the fiscal restraint and better fiscal management of both Federal and local funds, something all of our local leadership agrees must be done. Mr. Speaker, it has not been easy for me to watch the fiscal health of the territory steadily decline since I have been in office. Since the middle 1990s, successive administrations and legislatures have, for good reason, not been able to maintain sound fiscal management and financial policies. While some of the reasons for this condition have been outside of our control, such as recurrent catastrophic hurricanes and the tax cuts and credits passed by Congress, much of the blame for this condition can be traced to the unfortunate reality that the territory's managers and lawmakers have not substantively addressed the imbalance between the needs and demands of the community and its revenues. It was not, and still is not, my intention in introducing H.R. 3589 to cast aspersions on the fiscal policies of the current administration or the legislature or past ones. However, I feel very strongly that I could not sit idly by while we continue to face fiscal crisis after fiscal crisis without offering some solution to temper or soften the difficult decisions that we ourselves, not the Federal Government, have to make to get us out of this roller-coaster approach to managing our fiscal affairs. Nevertheless, in taking this action, I was opposed by the governor and lieutenant governor, as well as my party leadership back home, who disagreed with this approach. A resolution that went so far as to condemn my action was passed by the Members of the 25th legislature, but the people of the Virgin Islands, who have long called for accountability and transparency in our government, have supported this bill strongly from the outset. As I reflect on what led me to this point today, I am reminded of a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which was brought to my attention by a local attorney, in which Dr. King said, ``The ultimate measure of a man is not where he,'' or she, I would say, ``stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand in times of challenge and controversy.'' Mr. Speaker, we are indeed facing challenging and difficult times in the Virgin Islands. The actions of those of us in leadership today will have profound effects for our future. While H.R. 3589 will not be a panacea or solve all of our problems, it will help to keep our finances in order and prevent us from sinking further into a fiscal black hole. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I again want to thank the gentleman from California (Chairman Pombo) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Ranking Member Rahall) and the staff. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3632, as amended, today by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary. As amended, H.R. 3632 is a combination of several bills reported by the Committee on the Judiciary after full consideration. I believe this amalgam of bills is largely noncontroversial and thus ask my colleagues to join me in supporting its passage. Title I is designed to deter counterfeiting of U.S. copyrighted works. Such counterfeiting is an enormous and growing problem. It costs U.S. software companies alone approximately $11 billion a year and, as a result, costs the U.S. economy thousands of high-tech jobs in the software industry. The impact on other American copyright holders is equally devastating. Recent events have underscored the scope of the counterfeiting problem as well as the need for title I of this bill. Just last week, a Los Angeles grand jury indicted 11 individuals for conspiring to distribute more than $30 million of counterfeit software. The counterfeiting ring possessed 15,929 genuine stand-alone certificates of authenticity. Those known as COAs are authentication features, like holograms, used to distinguish genuine goods. Because many COAs are difficult to convincingly reproduce, counterfeiters have become an eager and lucrative market for misappropriated, genuine COAs. And, in fact, the COAs seized last week have an estimated retail value of approximately $1.7 million. While current law prohibits trafficking in counterfeit software and fake COAs, it provides no sanction against the traffic in genuine COAs. Thus the counterfeiting ring busted last week will escape liability for the almost 20,000 genuine COAs they misappropriated. Title I remedies this situation. It expands the current prohibitions on trafficking and labels to include genuine labeling components, such as certificates of authenticity. Title II of the bill before us contains the provisions of H.R. 3754, a largely uncontroversial bill reported out by the Committee on the Judiciary on a voice vote in June of this year. Title II is designed to improve the accuracy and completeness of the Whois database by providing additional civil and criminal remedies for domain name fraud. The Whois database contains the names, street and e-mail addresses and other contact information of domain name registrants. While all domain name registrants are required to submit information for the Whois database, there are no processes to ensure that this information is either accurate or complete. Inaccurate Whois data hampers law enforcement investigations, facilitates consumer fraud, impairs copyright and trademark protection, imperils computer security, enables identity theft and weakens privacy protection efforts. Title II seeks to rectify this growing problem through narrow amendments to current law. Title II provides a rebuttable presumption of willfulness with regard to a civil trademark or copyright infringement, if in connection with the infringement the infringer registers a domain name with materially false contact information. Additionally, the bill increases the maximum possible imprisonment for a Federal felony offense when the offender knowingly provided materially false domain name contact information in connection with the offense. Title III contains the text of H.R. 112 and H.R. 4646, two minor and entirely non-controversial bills previously reported by the Committee on the Judiciary. Section 301 adds Colorado Springs as a place of holding court in the District of Colorado. Section 302 adds Plattsburgh as a place of holding court in the Northern District of New York. Both changes were requested by their respective Congressional delegations and have been supported by the administrative office of the U.S. courts. Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. CHRISTENSEN

Ms. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself of such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the legislation before us today. Recent technological advances have made it all too easy for modern day, high-tech peeping toms to recklessly infringe on the privacy rights of many unsuspecting individuals. The Video Voyeurism Protection Act of 2003 attempts to bring an end to this disturbing phenomenon by making it a crime to secretly take pictures of someone in a State of undress. Specifically, the bill prohibits the use of certain devices to videotape, photograph or record the genitals, pubic area, buttocks or breast of an individual without that individual's consent. Second, the bill guarantees that perpetrators of video voyeurism will be punished by imposing a sentence of fine or imprisonment for up to 1 year. Video voyeurism is a serious crime, the extent of which has been greatly exacerbated by the Internet. Because of Internet technology, the pictures that a voyeur captures can be disseminated to a worldwide audience in a matter of seconds. As a result, individuals in the victims rights' community have labeled video voyeurism ``the new frontier of stalking.'' Finally, I would like to commend Senators Leahy, Schumer and DeWine for taking the lead on this important issue and for making sure that it remains at the forefront of public debate. By all accounts, this bill is truly a worthwhile endeavor. I strongly urge my colleagues to lend their support this sensible piece of legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, this is a technical matter that will clear title to property owned by several of the gentleman from California's (Chairman Pombo) constituents. The cloud on their title arises out of Federal rights-of-way granted more than a century ago. It is unfortunate that Federal legislation is required to resolve this issue, but there is no other solution. I join the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), ranking Democrat, in commending the gentleman from California (Chairman Pombo) for his work on this bill. While this is a simply technical matter, working to address the problems facing our districts one constituent at a time is the essence of our job as Representatives. We urge our colleagues to support the gentleman from California (Chairman Pombo) as he works on behalf of these land owners. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, our system of national heritage areas, created over the last two decades, has been enormously successful. These are grassroots projects that leverage limited Federal support to develop locally funded and managed conservation and preservation programs. Areas rich in historic and scenic resources but which might not qualify for inclusion in the National Park System receive the funding they need through the National Heritage Area Program. H.R. 3257 will authorize a study to determine whether or not the area in Ohio once known as the Western Reserve would qualify as a National Heritage Area. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is to be commended for his tireless efforts on behalf of the communities that would be included in this new area. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is a freshman member of this body, but he is already demonstrating a willingness to go to bat for communities in need of the kind of Federal support the Heritage Area Program can provide. We look forward to working with him to create the Western Reserve Heritage Area should the study we are authorizing today support such a move. The gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) and I congratulate the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) on this important legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3257. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan).

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3334 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to design and construct a water supply project, known as the Riverside-Corona Feeder, in Riverside, California. This legislation also would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in a water reuse project for the city of Corona. Finally, the bill would authorize the secretary to participate in the Yucaipa Valley Regional Water Supply Renewal Project in California. My colleague on the Republican side has explained the legislation. We have no objection. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

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

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, when H.R. 2966 was considered by the Committee on Resources, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), the ranking member, offered a very humorous assessment of the legislation. We all enjoyed his statement's abundant use of horse terms. However, behind his humorous words, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) was pointing out there are serious problems with H.R. 2966, and I share the concern raised by the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), the Bush administration and others that the bill is unnecessary and unwise. It is not a question of whether there should be pack and saddle animal use on public lands. Many people partake of such use, and there are many places where such use occurs on public lands. No, the real question is whether we should single out and legislatively enshrine a narrow specific recreational use into the missions of the various Federal land management agencies. No other recreational use, whether historic or not, is enshrined in the Organic Acts of the various land management agencies. H.R. 2966 would bestow on a select group a right not enjoyed by hunters and fishermen, to name just a few. To single out pack and saddle animal use for special consideration upsets the balance that is sometimes necessary between competing uses and resource management. The underlying problem with the bill is that it directs each land management agency to preserve and facilitate pack and saddle animal use. As the Bush administration testified, conflicts are likely to arise with such a narrow and specific mandate. Further, such a mandate creates a confusing contradiction for land managers when such use is incompatible with the respective land management agency's core mission. Mr. Speaker, I do not think there is a single person in this room who believes we should ban pack and saddle animal use of public lands. With or without this legislation, it has been and will remain a recreational option on public lands. Our problem is not with that use but with the singling out of that use for special consideration in the law. When and where such use occurs are decisions best made in resource management plans, not in generic statute.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased the House is considering my bill, H.R. 2663, to provide for a study to determine the feasibility and suitability of designating Castle Nugent Farms on my home island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands as a unit of the National Park System. Castle Nugent Farms is a unique 1,350-acre property located on the southeastern shore of St. Croix. It contains natural and cultural resources which could provide an unparalleled insight into the plantation period of the Virgin Islands. Castle Nugent Farms is presently operated as a cattle ranch by owners who are very interested in preserving and interpreting the natural and cultural resources of the area. I want to take this opportunity to commend Caroline Gasperi and her family for the stewardship of this land for more than 50 years and for her enthusiasm and dedication to this cause. The owners are justifiably proud of their ranch which contains more than 4 miles of pristine oceanfront with a large and healthy fringing coral reef. The interior of the property consists of Caribbean dry forest and pasture lands with cultural resources from both pre- Columbian and post-European settlement. A large Danish estate house, dating to the 1730s, sits on the property. That house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. At various points in its history, Castle Nugent Farms has been operated as a cotton plantation and a sugarcane plantation. Its current use as a cattle ranch involves raising unique Senepol cattle, a breed which is well-suited to the climate and vegetation of the area. H.R. 2663 is a noncontroversial bill. The National Park Service has no objections to the legislation, and the property's owners not only support a park study of the site but are enthusiastic about the opportunity to preserve the natural and cultural resources of the farm. Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that the park study will provide the blueprint by which we can preserve and interpret this unique piece of island history and resources for the benefit of present and future generations. I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) for taking the time to personally communicate with my constituent, Mrs. Gasperi, and for his strong support and for shepherding this bill through the committee. And I thank my colleagues on the Committee on Resources for their favorable consideration of H.R. 2663 and express my wholehearted support for the adoption of this bill by the House this afternoon. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

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

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, before I speak to H.R. 4459, I just want to also take this opportunity to recognize the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian which will honor, memorialize, and teach the history and culture of the first people of this country and to welcome their representatives here to the Nation's Capitol. Mr. Speaker, on H.R. 4459, many communities in California, and, in fact, throughout the Nation, are faced with the prospect of shutting down their drinking water supply wells because water has been contaminated with perchlorate or other chemicals. It is critically important we provide assistance to these communities so they can clean up their drinking water supplies. H.R. 4459 will specifically provide assistance to communities in the Santa Clara Valley area of California. The Committee on Resources has also approved similar legislation, H.R. 4606, for Southern California, introduced by our colleague on the Committee on Resources, the gentleman from California (Mr. Baca). I support both bills and I appreciate the support and leadership demonstrated by the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) on this important problem. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time. Although I would rather be here to support the SBA reauthorization, I rise today in support of H.R. 5008, which would simply, once again, extend the important programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5008 marks the fourth extension of the SBA programs. The House Committee on Small Business passed the extension on the SBA programs with bipartisan support a year ago. I want to take this opportunity to commend the leadership of our ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), and our chairman for their strong leadership and their bipartisanship in working on that reauthorization. Yet, the House leadership has failed to bring this bill to the floor for a vote. Why? The leadership in this and the other body give a lot of lip service to small business. We constantly tout them as the backbone and the engines of our economy. Yet, on legislation as critical to their and, thus, our Nation's well-being as the reauthorization of programs on which they depend, this Congress has, once again, failed to act. It is getting late in the year. Our small businesses cannot wait. They need security now. They need the assurance that the programs they will need to continue will be there now. They need to know what to expect, and we need to stop these stop-gap measures and give them that security and that assurance. I am particularly concerned because I have heard Members ask, Why should we continue to fund agencies and programs that have not been reauthorized? Mr. Speaker, actions speak louder than words. Failure to act on this legislation is sending the message that our Nation's small businesses are not a priority for this administration. But they are very important to both the Democrats and the Republicans on the committee. It is also of great concern that this bill fails to address the current problem of high fees associated with the 7(a) program, the flagship lending program for the Small Business Administration. If the leadership fails to bring the reauthorization to a vote by the end of this month, the 7(a) lending program will once again be in jeopardy. It is a good thing that, in our districts, the agencies charged with supporting small businesses are doing what they need to do. On that positive note, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and congratulate the University of the Virgin Islands Small Business Development Center, the university president, Dr. Laverne Ragster, and the SBDC director, Mr. Warren Bush, for successfully hosting its Small Business Innovation Research Program and Small Business Technology Transfer Program Orientation Conference last week. Finally, on a bill previously before this body today, I want to take this opportunity to also join my colleagues in supporting House Resolution 717 and belatedly extend, on behalf of all of my constituents in the U.S. Virgin Islands, our best wishes to President Bill Clinton on his 58th birthday, as well as to wish him a continued speedy recovery, many, many more birthdays and good health and happiness, and God's richest blessings on him and his family.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Chairman, I join my colleagues today in opposition to H.R. 5006, the LHHS appropriation bill. We know that Congress has many priorities to consider during this fiscal year. And we implore Congress to make eliminating health and healthcare disparities top priorities. This HHS bill, unfortunately, does not contain such investment in the health and welfare of Americans nor does it demonstrate unwavering commitment to well-being of our citizens, including those most in need. With this bill, it is clear that the Republicans do not see America's greatest asset is its people, and refuse to invest in making its people as strong and healthy as possible. Let me say at the outset, Mr. Chairman, that this great country of ours ranks at the bottom of all of the industrialized countries of the world with regard to the quality of our health care system, we are not where we should be given our resources in infant mortality, HIV/AIDS, immunization, substance abuse and many of the major diseases. In most cases the reason is because more than one third of our population remains outside of the healthcare mainstream. Today almost 45 million Americans are uninsured, of which 50 percent are minorities: 18 percent of the total elderly population has no coverage at all; 1 out of 6 Americans does not have health insurance; more than 100,000 people lose their health insurance every day; and an astounding 23 percent of African Americans have no insurance at all. Our health care system in this country is currently in peril. It is falling short on promise and contributing to the disabling illness and premature death of the people it is supposed to serve. The picture is the worst for African Americans who for almost every illness are impacted most severely and disproportionately--in some cases more than all other minorities combined. Every day in this country there are at least 200 African American deaths, which could have been prevented. Today we know that must of it happens because even when we have access to care, the medical evaluations and treatments that are made available to everyone else are denied to us--not only in the private sector but in the public system as well. What I am here to try to do today is to leave you with one indelible message: that there are gross inequities in healthcare which cause hundreds of preventable deaths in the African American community every day and which tear at families, drain the lifeblood of our communities, and breed an escalating and reverberating cycle of despair which this subcommittee has the power to end this today if it has the will to do so. The choice if it can be considered that, is either to write off human beings--our brothers and sisters--who make up this segment of our population, or to make the requisite investment in fixing an inadequate, discriminating, dysfunctional health care system. The current strongly held-to ``cost-containment'' paradigm, while it sounds good on the surface, has obviously not worked. We now have double digit increases in premiums in an industry that was to rein in its costs. What it did instead was create a multi-tiered system of care, both within managed care and without. Those at the lowest rungs of the system got sicker, the sicker, i.e. more costly, were and still are being dropped, and those who were the sickest were and remain locked out entirely. So not only are health care costs continuing to escalate, the overall health picture in this country is worse than ever. What we now have is a system, which continues the failed paradigm in which African Americans and other people of color who because they have long been denied access to quality health care, now experience the very worst health status. Not doing what is needed to change this is to threaten the health of not just African Americans and other people of color but every other person in this country, especially at a time when we live under the cloud of possible bioterrorism. Controlling the cost of health care, which can only be done in the long term, will never be achieved without a major investment in prevention, and leveling the health care playing field for all Americans through fully funding a health care system that provides equal access to quality, comprehensive health care to everyone legally in this country, regardless of color, ethnicity or language. The funding requests I am outlining today are the bare minimum to ensure that our children have the opportunity for good health, that there are health care professionals who can bridge the race, ethnicity and language gaps to bring wellness within reach of our now sick and dying communities, that states and communities will receive the help to fill the gaps and repair the deficiencies of access and services, and which will enable the affected communities themselves to take ownership of the problems as well as the solutions to their increasing healthcare crisis--a crisis that threatens the health and security of all Americans. Yet this bill fails to even meet this baseline obligation. If we have learned nothing in the last 10 years, we should have learned that cost containment strategies in our unequal system of care can never bring down healthcare costs. We can only ensure that quality health care will be within the reach of future generations if we make a major investment in prevention and increasing access to care now. On March 20, 2002, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a landmark report entitled: Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care which was requested by Congressman Jackson. Among other key findings, the report documented that minorities in the United States receive fewer life-prolonging cardiac medications and surgeries, are less likely to receive dialysis and kidney transplants, and are less likely to receive adequate treatment for pain. Its first and most telling finding states that ``racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare exist and, because they are associated with worse outcomes in many cases, are unacceptable.'' And so I urge the committee to give serious and favorable consideration to our funding requests. Because of time limitations, let me focus on just a few areas contained in the request: Sixty-six million dollars for the Office of Minority Health, OS, DHHS. As the Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) lead office for improving the health status of racial and ethnic minorities, the Office of Minority Health (OMH) conducts and supports health promotion and disease prevention programs and activities designed to help reduce the high rates of death and disease in communities of color. OMH also serves as one of the focal points for the Department's initiative to eliminate health disparities. By increasing funding to $20.9 million, this office will be able to expand OMH's elimination of health programs in prevention, research, education and outreach, capacity building, and the development of community infrastructure. The increased funding is also needed to fund the State Partnership Initiative Grant Program; Cultural and Linguistic Best Practices Studies; State Health Data Management; Community Programs to Improve Minority Health Grants; Center for Linguistic and Cultural Competence in Health Care; Eliminating Obstacles to Participating in Government Programs; Technical Assistance to Community Health Program; and Community-Based Organization Partnership Prevention Centers. Two hundred twenty-five million dollars for the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD), NIH. Funding is needed to develop and implement programs necessary to further address minority health and health disparities and to help improve the infrastructure associated with this research and outreach. In addition, the loan repayment payment must be expanded to include master degree graduates from schools of public health and public health programs to ensure that efforts to build and disseminate research-based health information are intensified. As required, the Center is currently developing a strategic plan to guide the Center's efforts. To be effective, the plan must include and reflect the direct input of the NIH institutes and centers; consumer advocacy groups; the public; researchers; professional and scientific organizations; behavioral and public health organizations; health care providers; academic institutions; and industry. The resulting plan is needed to serve as a fundamental blueprint for the Center's activities, as well as a vehicle for helping to ensure a coordinated and effective response to minority health and health disparities. One hundred twenty million dollars for the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH), National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC. The REACH program is a cornerstone CDC initiative aimed at helping to eliminate disparities in health status experienced by ethnic minority populations in cardiovascular disease, immunizations, breast and cervical cancer screening and management, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and infant mortality. The increase is needed to fund additional Phase I planning grants, Phase II implementation and evaluation grants, expand and enhance technical assistance and training, and apply lessons learned. REACH received 211 applications in its first year, but it only had enough funding to make 31 awards, leaving a very large number of meritorious projects unfunded. REACH must have the resources necessary to capitalize on the strengths that national/multi-geographical minority organizations can provide the initiative. Three hundred million dollars for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). At a hearing before the Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the Government Reform Committee on May 21, 2002, AHRQ Acting Director Dr. Carolyn Clancy described the initiatives undertaken by her agency to attack health disparities. One of the most important of these is the EXCEED program, which funds Centers of Excellence to eliminate health disparities in nine cities throughout the country. These include efforts to address diabetes care for Native Americans, health disparities in cancer among rural African American adults, and premature birth in ethnically diverse communities in Harlem, New York. According to Dr. Clancy, ``EXCEED encouraged the formation of new research relationships as well as building on existing partnerships between researchers, professional organizations, and community-based organizations instrumental in helping to influence change in local communities.'' The EXCEED program exemplifies the type of initiative recommended by the IOM report, which urged ``further research to identify sources of racial and ethnic disparities and assess promising intervention strategies'' (Recommendation 8-1). Yet the Administration's 2003 budget would curtail these efforts. In the budget, total AHRQ funding falls from $300 million in 2002 to $251 million in 2003. About $192 million of the AHRQ budget is protected from the cutbacks, meaning that $49 million must be trimmed from the remaining $108 million of spending, a 46 percent cut. The EXCEED program and other research grants to study and reduce health disparities fall into this vulnerable $108 million. Increase of $14 million for the U.S. DHHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and a reworking of authorization language to tie it to disparity work U.S. DHHS Office of Civil Rights to enforce civil rights laws. Enforcement of regulation and statute is a basic component of a comprehensive strategy to address racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare, but it has been relegated to low-priority status. The U.S. DHHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is charged with enforcing several relevant federal statutes and regulations that prohibit discrimination in healthcare (principally Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act), but the agency suffers from insufficient resources to investigate complaints of possible violations, and has long abandoned proactive, investigative strategies. Despite an increasing number of complaints in recent years, funding for OCR remained constant in actual dollars from fiscal year 1981 to fiscal year 2003, resulting in a 60 percent decline in funding after adjusting for inflation. The decrease has severely and negatively affected OCR's ability to conduct civil rights enforcement strategies, such as on-site complaint investigations, compliance reviews, and local community outreach and education. Providing a substantial increasing in funding for the Office of Civil Rights is necessary for OCR to resume the practice of periodic, proactive investigation, both to collect data on the extent of civil rights violations and to provide a deterrent to would-be lawbreakers. Increased funding for Initiatives for Health Professions Training: (1) $40 million for the Health Careers Opportunity Program ($5.2 million increase); (2) $40 million Minority Centers of Excellence ($7.4 million increase); (3) $52 million for Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students ($5.8 million increase); and (4) $3 million for Faculty Loan Repayment and Faculty Fellowships ($1.67 million increase). Diversity in the health professions offers numerous benefits, including ``increasing the proportion of under represented U.S. racial and ethnic minorities among health professionals''. (IOM Report). Such efforts were supported by HHS in the past, but now are threatened with extinction. The spring 1999 issue of the HHS Office of Minority Health's newsletter Closing the Gaps focused on the theme of ``Putting the Right People in the Right Places.'' The newsletter highlighted the startling under representation of ethnic and minority groups within the health professions and stressed the important role of three programs: (1) the Health Careers Opportunity Program, which trains more than 6,000 high school and undergraduate students each year and is associated with acceptance rates to health professional schools that are 20 percent higher than the national average; (2) the Minority Faculty Fellowships Program, which addresses the problem that ``just four percent of faculty at U.S. health profession schools are minorities''; and (3) the Centers of Excellence Program, which works with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Health Professions Schools to ``recruit and retrain minority faculty and students, carry out research specific to racial and ethnic minorities, provide culturally appropriate clinical education, and develop curricula and information resources that respond to the needs of minorities.'' Unfortunately, the very same programs highlighted by HHS in 1999 as successful have disappeared from the President's 2004 budget. In fact, all of these programs received zero funding or are scheduled for elimination. To insure that no one is denied necessary health care because of race, ethnicity or language, they must have the tools to do their job. Bringing equity into our healthcare system demands a funding increase for this office. Fifty million dollars for Territorial Hospitals and Health Departments. Mr. Chairman, years of Medicaid caps have and continue to create a crisis in the healthcare systems in the offshore territories. To address and resolve this, last year I requested that the sum of $50 million be made available to the secretary for territorial hospitals and health departments to close some of their critical health care gaps and repair infrastructure deficiencies. I repeat this request again for this year's appropriation. Because of the Medicaid cap, and a match that is not indexed for average income level, both which are Congressionally set, we are unable to cover individuals at 100 percent of poverty--for the Virgin Islands it is closer to 30 percent below that income level. Under the cap, spending per recipient is at best one-fifth of the national average. Our hospitals are struggling, because the cap prevents them from collecting full payments for the services they provide, and they are also unable to collect Disproportionate Share payments, despite the fact that about 60 percent of their inpatients are below the poverty level. About one-third of these qualify for Medicaid, which as I indicated before, never fully reimburses them. The rest of their patients have no coverage whatsoever. Long-term care is limited, and thus unavailable to persons and their families who need it, not because the rooms are not there, but because we do not have enough Medicaid dollars to pay for them, even though the federal funds are matched 2 to 1 by local dollars--far above our requirement. While many states are covering women and their minor children well above the 100 percent of poverty, we cannot even come close. Along with my fellow representatives from Guam, American Samoa and Puerto Rico, I have introduced bills to both remove the Medicaid Cap as well as, for the first time, provide for the creation of a Disproportionate Share payment to our hospitals. Our final request, Mr. Chairman, once again deals with the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative. We are here today once again to request funding for the full amount of our request for the MAHI in the amount of $610 million. While our review of the current programs demonstrates the need for increased funding, in light of our other requests which all have the potential to impact this epidemic to some degree, and the budgetary constraints of our government we are requesting a need-based increase over our 2002 request of $70 million. We strongly believe that the $610 million request is absolutely necessary if we are to have any success whatsoever in stemming the tide of this epidemic which continues to ravage our communities. Once again, the purpose of the special and targeted funding is to provide technical assistance and to increase the capacity of our own communities to administer programs aimed at prevention and treatment, and to bolster or build the infrastructure needed to make all life saving measures accessible. The Minority HIV/AIDS request is not meant to be the total funding for communities of color but should be utilized in such a way to better enable our communities, that are hard to reach and out of the mainstream, to access the $8 billion plus that is available for HIV and AIDS. It is also important to point out that as serious an issue as it is, HIV and AIDS is just one symptom of all that is wrong in our communities, many of which come under the purview of this subcommittee. This funding will not only be successful in the fight against long term HIV and AIDS but also in all other areas, if in the long term the underpinnings of our communities are also strengthened. There is a critical part of the Minority HIV/AIDS initiative request, which does not involve money. It is one of language. Mr. Chairman, the intent of the MAHI is to ensure that its funds, which are only a small part of overall HIV/AIDS funding, are used to build capacity within African American and other communities of color which are the ones now being disproportionately impacted. The current of the language initiative has not maintained that focus. We are therefore requesting that the original FY 1999 language be restored or be mirrored, in your 2005 bill, with the following change which I believe meets the concerns of the Department with regard to discrimination, while empowering our communities which is the only way we can effectively control this and the other diseases which create the disparities. The cost in dollars today will be significant, but the cost in lives and to our economy in the future are risks that we must not take. There is no question that health disparities are deeply rooted in our medical system and in our culture. Eliminating them is going to take a lot more than one leadership summit or one media campaign. It will take a long-term commitment. It will take a long-term investment. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, ``Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.'' We have a moral obligation to end injustice in health care and health disparities among Americans. I urge my colleagues to support this request. On behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, I urge a ``no'' vote on the rule and the underlying bill.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to urge my colleague to oppose the previous question on H.R. 5006, the FY 2005 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill in order that we could get an opportunity to debate an amendment by Ranking Member Obey which the majority on the Rules Committee refused to make in order. The Obey amendment would add $7.4 billion to the GOP bill, paid for by reducing the average tax cut for millionaires in FY 2005 from $127,000 to $89,000. As a physician and the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus' Health Braintrust, I am particularly supportive of the amendment's proposed to add additional funds for health care. The amendment would increase health care and funding by $1.1 billion, including providing $500 million for critical investments in medical research at NIH; providing $333 million for maintaining access to health care, including restoring the Community Acess Program for the Uninsured, eliminated by the Republican bill, increasing funding for rural health, and increasing funding for the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant and Healthy Start; and providing $100 million for childhood immunization and infectious disease programs. Conversely, the majority bill shortchanges health care programs in some critical ways. It cuts rural health care activities by 21 percent from FY 2004. It cuts helath care professions trading by 8 percent. It cuts public and preventative health activities by 18 percent. And it only provides a piddling 4.6 percent increase in HIV/AIDS programs for the second year in a row. My colleagues the majority bill clearly demonstrates that their rhetoric about supporting the middle class and families are not reflected in the legislation they propose. Democrats on the other hand have consistently fought on behalf of programs that would strengthen the middle class and families. I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question and support the Obey substitute.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to join my colleagues Madeleine Bordallo and Eni Faleomavaega in strong support of our amendment to provide some additional relief to our constituents in the form of additional health care dollars. It remains a national shame in my view, that because of where they live, my low-income and indigent constituents, as well as those of my colleagues, are not able to receive the same level of Medicaid assistance because of a punitive cap. My colleagues, while the national per capita expenditure for Medicaid is $3862, the expenditure for the Virgin Islands is only $436. The total cost of Medicaid in the Virgin Islands is about $15 million per year but the Federal government only covers about $6 million of that amount. According to the Virgin Islands Medicaid Director, the 18,000 Medicaid recipients she serves receive an absolute ``bare bones'' service. Mr. Chairman, a report 3 years ago entitled the Access Improvement Project of the Virgin Islands, revealed that great disparities exist for eligible children in the Virgin Islands compared to the continental United States. The report shows that while the Nation as a whole spends an average of $76 for EPSDT screening per Medicaid eligible child, the U.S. Virgin Islands only spent $1.20. Additionally, the total Medicaid expenditures per child also shows an astonishing disparity. In the age group 15 to 20, national Medicaid expenditures were approximately 599 percent more than what is being spent in the Virgin Islands. We also received a 50 percent match, despite a State like Mississippi where the average income is $1,500 higher than ours. They receive 80 percent match. And the Virgin Islands Medicaid program cannot provide wheelchairs, hearing aids or prosthetic devices, and only provides physical and occupational therapy to a limited degree because of the limited funding. Mr. Chairman, this modest amendment which we are offering today, would provide a one time 25 percent increase in Medicaid payments to the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa so that our most vulnerable constituents could receive better health care services which they otherwise would have to do without because of our already overburdened local governments. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. Point of Order

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Con. Res. 467, a bill that declares genocide in Darfur, Sudan and I commend its sponsor for introducing it. Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago, genocide occurred in Rwanda. In a little over three months, 800,000 people had died and 2 million more had fled their homes while the U.S. and other nations stood by and watched, later promising that it would never let such a crime happen again. Today, we have the opportunity to live up to our promise. We have the opportunity to perform our role as a contracting party in the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. We have the opportunity to prevent the continuation of the brutal murders that have already taken place in Darfur, Sudan. 30,000 civilians have already been murdered, 130,000 more have fled to neighboring Chad, and around 1,000,000 more have been forced into refugee camps. If we do not act immediately, the death toll will continue to rise. Estimates say that within the next several months, the death toll could rise to 300,000 people or more. We cannot stand by, watch, and once again promise that we will never let such atrocities occur. We have the opportunity to support H. Con. Res. 467, thereby declaring genocide in Sudan and urging the President to act immediately to alleviate this terrible situation. Mr. Speaker, we must act immediately. I ask that we unite and support H. Con. Res. 467 to end the furtherance of these atrocious crimes against humanity.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish at least one Border Patrol unit for the U.S. Virgin Islands. With over 175 miles of unprotected and open borders, the Virgin Islands are the gateway to the U.S. and our nation's southernmost border. And, it would appear, Mr. Speaker that the U.S. Virgin Islands is today the gateway of choice for human smugglers. Since 1998 more than 500 Chinese nationals have entered the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Those dropping the aliens ashore have identified the Virgin Islands as an area from which illegals can try to travel undetected to the U.S. mainland. While most of these landings have principally been during the pre-dawn hours at one of the several cays on the island of St. John, there have also been landings on all three islands with 15 Chinese nationals being apprehended on St. John and St. Thomas as recently as this past April 19th. According to the U.S. Attorney for the Virgin Islands, ``we don't know who these people are who are smuggled into the territory from China.'' Because of the lack of a Border Patrol Unit in the territory, other federal agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have to spend a significant amount of man-hours apprehending, processing, detaining and watching aliens in custody. ICE has to use between 6 and 8 agents in every landing of 12 to 15 aliens. At a rate of on average 3 to 4 landings per month more than 80 hours are spent processing these aliens. Time which could be used to investigate conspiracies, smuggling organizations and dismantling rings. Mr. Speaker, having a Border Patrol Unit assigned in the territory would also enable us to deal with the other serious problem we face which is drug smuggling. ICE has identified several trafficking organizations that use the U.S. Virgin Islands to conduct drug smuggling operations, with marijuana, cocaine and heroin being shipped to the territory on a weekly basis. We also know Mr. Speaker, of the very real connection and relationship between drugs and terrorism: One third of listed terrorist organizations are involved in drug trafficking; according to published reports Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden financed the development of a highly addictive liquid heroin as part of their multi-pronged terrorists campaign to destabilize western society; and according to a UN report, ``Funds used from the production-and trading of opium and heroin are used to buy arms and other war materials and to finance the training of terrorists and support the operations of extremist. Mr. Speaker, it is a proven fact that it's more beneficial to stop undocumented aliens and contraband before it enters the United States, rather than attempt to catch everything after it has already entered. Having a Border Patrol in the Virgin Islands will increase exponentially the ability of our country to intercept the next potentially dangerous terrorist before he or she reaches our shores or the drugs that could be used the finance another 9/11 type operation. I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.