Elijah Cummings

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for his presentation. I think the gentleman said it best when he first started, that when you put it on charts, it really does make it very, very clear what is happening here. I think one thing that is very sad though, as the gentleman went down one of those charts that shows who was getting the tax cuts, it says there the tax cuts go to the wealthiest Americans. One of the interesting things about that is that when you look at the folks who are not making a lot of money, some of them may have gotten $300, some may have gotten $400. But when you look at the reduction of services, say, for example, in my State of Maryland, tuition has gone up 10 or 20 percent for college kids and Pell grants have leveled off, I think in part because of our money problems. Well, if a family got $300, say they got $400, the rise in tuition which they must pay if they are going to keep their kids in college, that wiped that out right there. That does not even go on to include all the other things that they will now have to pay for.

Mr. CUMMINGS. That is incredible.

Mr. CUMMINGS. The gentleman is saying when you include the Social Security money----

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman just said something that is just so incredible. Let me make sure I heard the gentleman right. Is the gentleman saying that in the United States, when people go on April 15 and they go through their tax returns and they look at all this money that has been sent to the Federal Government over the last year, taken from their checks every 2 weeks or every month, whatever, the gentleman is saying out of all the people that pay taxes in the United States, it amounts to about $800 billion?

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening with my fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus to address the dire fiscal status of our Nation. Just this past Monday, the Congressional Budget Office released its annual report on the Federal budget and the economic outlook for the next 10 years. The staggering numbers included in this report should be startling to both Democrats and Republicans alike. More importantly, I want the American people to know that we must address this critical issue. Mr. Speaker, since the mission and the purpose of the CBO is to be objective in its analysis and in its reporting to Congress, they have no interest in fudging the numbers to look better than they actually are. With that being said, the CBO projected that the government would accumulate $2.4 trillion in additional debt over the next decade. And as of this moment, the outstanding public debt is well over $7 trillion and is growing by the moment. And with that, Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), one who has spent a phenomenal amount of time on this issue and has been at the forefront in trying to make sure that our tax dollars are spent effectively and efficiently.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues very much.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, let me just say this. I would hope that the American people will have listened to what has been said tonight. I have often said and stated the quote that our children are the living messages we send to a future we will never see, and the fact is that when I think about our children being saddled with this tremendous debt and at the same time many of their parents are not working now so they can support them and many of them have been unemployed for many, many weeks and not getting any help, and I see our college students at colleges like Morgan State University and Fam U, where I was just a few weeks ago asking for help so they can go to school and do well and do better than their parents did, it does concern me; and I would hope that all of America will pay attention to what is going on in this great House. To close out, I will yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) to close out, a distinguished member of the Committee on Ways and Means. (Mrs. JONES of Ohio asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. CUMMINGS. I thank the gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. Majette) for her statement. I really appreciate the excellent statement addressing this issue to the Congressional Black Caucus. I stood up again, and continue to stand up, with regard to the issues that affect all Americans. I have often said that a lot of times when people hear the words ``Congressional Black Caucus'' they just assume that the Congressional Black Caucus is only speaking for African American people. The fact is that the caucus, which represents collectively over 26 million people, more than one-third of whom are white, the fact is that we speak for America. And with that I just want to summarize some of the things that have been already said. But before I do that, I am very pleased to yield to my colleague, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), who is, as I said in a speech just yesterday, one of the strongest fighters that I have ever met, constantly on the battlefield addressing the issues that can bring harm to our citizens, but at the same time in doing those things that uplift them.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) very much. We really appreciate it. He did an outstanding job. Mr. Speaker, I would yield to my colleague, the gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. Majette), one who has also put our budget concerns at the forefront of our Nation's mind and this Congress's mind and one who also believes in making sure that we spend the taxpayers' dollars effectively and efficiently and that we do those things that are reasonable to uplift all of the citizens of our great country.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this special order.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his statement. I really appreciate his being here. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her statement. Mr. Speaker, I yield to a friend of the Congressional Black Caucus, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott).

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise this afternoon with my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss what I hope President Bush will address this evening in his State of the Union message. Specifically, Mr. Speaker, I would like to place President Bush's speech in some context which I believe America should use in evaluating the President's address. We can all agree that the President will give a good speech. He has practiced, he has rehearsed and he will do a good job. However, I hope that his rhetoric will match actions that will benefit all Americans and benefit all Americans soon. It was just last year that the President stood in this hallowed hall and set forth a number of priorities that were to guide this Nation throughout 2003. I, along with the rest of the Nation, listened very intently to the President searching for some affirmation in his speech of the principles that have successfully guided our constitutional democracy thus far. The Founding Fathers of the United States understood that governments are instituted to secure the God-given rights of all men and women to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In 1976, the late Senator Hubert Humphrey said, ``The moral test of government is how it treats those who are at the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadow of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, this administration has miserably failed that test. As stewards of the government, we have a moral responsibility to ensure that the poor are granted the same access to opportunity as the rich; the sick are afforded the medical attention needed to restore health; and that the scourge of racism and discrimination is forever dispelled from our national identity. Mr. Speaker, I submit that the true measure of our Union is the state of the least among us. So long as there are 9 million Americans looking for work, 43 million Americans without health insurance and nearly 2.5 million American men, women and children without a place to call home, then America has not reached her full potential. We need leadership that demands equity, parity and equality. We need leadership that is progressive and forward-thinking. And, Mr. Speaker, we need leadership that delivers results to all of the American people. The American people deserve bold leadership, the demands of frank and honest discussion of the issues that are at the center of people's lives. Just yesterday, we celebrated the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, and I have noted so often we listen to the ``I Have a Dream'' speech; but one of the things that he said is that every citizen should demand the full, the full, the full measure of their citizenship. In other words, what he was saying was that this Nation owes every citizen certain rights and at the same time every citizen has a duty and responsibility to this Nation. Since the President's last State of the Union Address in 2003, our Nation waited in vain, Mr. Speaker, for the President to recognize the importance of liberty, diversity, and charity beyond the superficial context of a speech. Yes, the President is quick to say that he is compassionate and conservative. As I have said on many occasions, I have seen much of our President's conservatism. So we are long on conservatism, but it appears that we are very short on compassion. Americans look to the President to set forth policies that would transform these lofty ideals into reality for almost 300 million men, women, and children that reside in our Nation. Mr. Speaker, a year later, we see that the President has not yet been able to synchronize his conscience with his conduct. Yes, we have a lot of photo-ops, but the photo-ops do not bring a paycheck to that worker in Baltimore who has been laid off for the past year. It does not bring an insurance policy for health insurance to that mother in Appalachia who has no insurance; nor does it bring the $7.5 billion to our education system where children need computers, children need books, children need better classroom atmospheres so that they can grow up to be all that God wants them to be. So it was last year, Mr. Speaker, that the President stood before this Nation, as he will do tonight; and there he announced the new initiative to fight the war against global HIV/AIDS with $15 billion to the global fund. After years of work by the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), my colleague in the Congressional Black Caucus, and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen), our health chairperson, and many of my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus urging the Congress to be more proactive in fighting this epidemic, the Congressional Black Caucus applauded the President's effort. We are very pleased that he had listened to us 3 years ago. By the way, I might add that it was 3 years ago when the President met with the Congressional Black Caucus; but 3 years later after many requests, he refuses, actually refuses to meet with the 39 members of the Congressional Black Caucus who represent over 26 million people, at least a third of whom are white. And it is interesting that he laid a wreath at the Martin Luther King memorial just a few days ago and then turned right around the next day and appointed Judge Pickering from Mississippi, whom, as a matter fact, every civil rights organization in the country had opposed and he had been opposed by the Congressional Black Caucus; but this President saw fit to appoint a man who had been turned away by the Senate twice. So we come back to today. A year later we are already underfunding our annual contribution commitment by $600 million, that is, to the AIDS fund, the global AIDS fund, by $600 million. It was just this weekend that members of the Congressional Black Caucus met with the U.N. ambassadors from Africa and they talked about how so many of their people are dying; but yet and still, after we agree that $15 billion should be allocated, we come up $600 million short in the first year, and they too are asking why are we holding back, because they say as long as we hold back the money, more and more people on that great African continent will die. Two years ago, Mr. Speaker, in his State of the Union Address, President Bush said, ``My economic security plan can be summed up in one word: jobs.'' Yet 2 years later, there are 9 million Americans who woke up this morning without a place of employment. On his watch America has lost nearly 3 million jobs. And I know that he will paint a rosy picture. He will tell us that we have a 5.7 percent unemployment rate. He probably will not mention that African American unemployment is 10.2 percent. He may not mention that in certain areas of our country, like parts of my district, the black male unemployment rate may be as much as 21 or 25 percent. He will not mention that. He will not mention that over the past month only a thousand jobs were created. He will not mention that. He will mention that the economy seems to be going in the right direction; but he will not mention that we have such a lack of an increase in jobs, and when we think about it, Mr. Speaker, when we are talking about a thousand jobs for 50 States, that means that we have got very few per State. So in all, a total of 14 million American men and women of all ethnicities are unable to feed their families, pay their mortgages, and clothe their children. The President will not tell us that when he mentions the 5.7 percent that the reason why the number has come down is that so many Americans have become so tired of looking for work. They have been unemployed for so long that they have given up on looking for a job. So he will not tell us that their numbers are not in that 5.7 percent. He will not tell us that. While the President travels the country boasting about the Nation's economic recovery, he neglects and will neglect to mention these 14 million Americans whose families have yet to recover and remain in a state of financial disrepair. Mr. Speaker, last year after listening to the President's State of the Union speech, I asked the following question: ``Where was the assurance that we will adequately fund legislation to guarantee that every vote will be counted in determining who will lead the Government of the United States?'' A year later this question is even more poignant. Just last week students at Prairie View A.& M. University, a historically black college in the President's home State of Texas, marched in protest of their local district attorney's challenge to their fundamental right to vote. It is an affront to democracy that in the year 2004, African Americans are still marching for voting rights, still marching to exercise the very thing that underpins our democracy, still marching, trying to make sure that they are participants in this wonderful thing we call a democracy, still marching. Mr. Speaker, if our Nation is to retain the strength that has sustained us in times of war and in times of peace, in times of depression and in times of robust economic growth, then we must redouble our efforts to ensure that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is indeed granted to all. And when I think about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, one of the greatest things that we can do for any human being is to educate them. Then I think about FAM U University, another historically black college down in Florida, when I visited there just recently and had students come up to me and ask the question at what point will the Congress get it? At what point will they realize that we have worked so hard to get to college, that our families are making less than $30,000 a year and we are trying to be the best that we can be? Can we get a little help from the Congress that spends all of this money in Iraq? Can we get a little help? We Americans, who are trying to be the best that we can be, just want to pursue a little happiness so that we can grow up and contribute to this society. But yet and still, they see the Pell grants leveling off. They see no real increase there. They see their tuitions rising. They work the part-time jobs. They give it all that they have. They try to borrow from Aunt Sally and borrow from Uncle Jim and Momma, but the money simply is not there; and then they find themselves, like the students at Morgan State University, another historically black college where I am on the board of trustees, where we have to actually release some 800 students. Why? Because they simply do not have the money to go to college. Tuition is going up; aid from our Federal Government for our students is going down, when we talk about our hope that the President, when he addresses us tonight, will address the question of how do we support our young, how do we make sure that they rise up to be all that they want to be. I maintain, Mr. Speaker, that terrorism, by the way, is not the only threat to our democracy. Indifference to the ills of the least among us and denial of basic human rights challenges the foundation upon which this country was built. Mr. Speaker, this evening I sincerely hope that President Bush will address all the issues which I have outlined this afternoon in a meaningful way. I have heard through newspaper accounts that the President will articulate a plan to insure the uninsured. I certainly hope that this plan will be proactive, realistic, and designed to actually achieve the intended results. I hope that if, in fact, the President does present a plan to insure the uninsured, it will not emulate the Medicare plan that does nothing to make prescription drugs more affordable and will in practice destroy Medicare. Mr. Speaker, this evening my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus and the 9 million, and I repeat that, 9 million unemployed Americans will be listening to the President very closely in expectation of a real plan to create economic growth and, most importantly, jobs. America does not want the President to give lip service to the idea of job creation while lining the pockets of corporate America as he did in his 2002 State of the Union Address. America wants the President to promise to work in a bipartisan manner to enact policies which we know work to create jobs. Mr. Speaker, just yesterday we lost another 20 soldiers to a bomb in Baghdad. This evening America wants the President to pay homage to the over 500 men and women, brave young men and women, who have lost their lives in Iraq by presenting a plan to create stability in the region and bring our troops safely home. And, finally, Mr. Speaker, on the eve of another Presidential election, the Congressional Black Caucus and the over 130 million registered voters in the United States want the President to make a real commitment, a real commitment, to protect our right to vote and have our votes counted. Americans want to be absolutely certain that when they arrive at the polls on November 2, their vote will be counted. These are our national priorities, Mr. Speaker, that Americans of every color are looking to the President for leadership. The Congressional Black Caucus will be watching, and waiting to work with the president to strengthen our Nation and to secure the state of our Union. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the great State of California (Ms. Lee).

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak against the woefully inadequate Medicare prescription drug conference bill being considered today. Mr. Speaker, this report is an insult to our seniors. Instead of a bill that helps our seniors, we have a bill that makes an untenable trade-off. A meaningless prescription drug benefit and the dismantling of the Medicare ``healthcare'' program for 40 million seniors and disabled Americans as we know it today. Quality healthcare coverage should come along with a prescription drug benefit, which Democrats have been fighting for over the past six years, not at the expense of it. But that is what this bill does. So today, what we have to consider is a bill that will do more harm than good--one that represents a giant first step in privatizing and the emasculation of Medicare--a program that our seniors and disabled know and love. Under this disastrous plan: Gone are retiree benefits. Because it gives employers no incentive to maintain prescription drug coverage for their retirees two or three million retirees will lose their current private drug coverage. In my home state of Maryland this includes 59,640 retirees. Gone are wrap-around services. Six million low-income beneficiaries will pay more for their prescription drugs. Those who are dually eligible to receive both Medicare and Medicaid--seniors who are so poor that they need what we call wrap-around services to have healthcare coverage--will pay more for their prescription drugs under this plan. To add insult to injury this bill does not allow states to use their federal Medicaid monies to supplement them. This includes 75,800 seniors in Maryland. Gone is the traditional Medicare Program as we know it. They say fee- for-service stays intact. Well if you as a beneficiary want to be nickeled and dimed to death--and pay almost 80 percent out of pocket for Medicare and prescription drug coverage up to $5,044, then it stays intact. Let me explain, that means that after a senior or disabled person has paid almost $4,000 out-of-pocket in premiums, deductibles and contributions, then the traditional Medicare coverage kicks back in. Soon to be gone is traditional Medicare. Traditional Medicare is most threatened by what has been termed premium support. Beginning in 2010, about 7 million beneficiaries will be forced into a premium support demonstration that will make them pay more for Medicare if they don't give up their doctors and join an HMO. This also means that there will be tremendous premium variation from region to region even in the same state when this plan is fully rolled-out. While it may be just 7 million seniors in 2010, now make no mistake the goal is to end Medicare as a social compact, where eventually, Medicare will indeed ``wither on the vine'' and private insurance and pharmaceutical companies will rule the day. Unfortunately, passage of this legislation will mean that many of our seniors will wither right along with the Medicare program--which will no longer be seen as a guaranteed benefit--a concept our nation embraces. Here to stay are vouchers for Medicare beneficiaries--to take to an HMO which will give these folks what they want them to have--there will be little real choice. Seniors want stability--knowing who their doctors will be, who will be able to fill their prescriptions, which drugs will be covered, and in which hospital they can receive services. I have not ever been told by a single senior that they want to be able to choose between profit-driven private insurer providers which may or may not want to have them as clients. Here to stay is assets testing. What's good about this bill is that those beneficiaries who are 15 percent below the poverty level are able to forego paying the monthly premiums of $35 and the yearly deductible of $275, and to escape the donut hole in coverage from $2,200 to $5,044. But again our compassionate conservative friends give with one hand and take with the other. In order to qualify as low-income, seniors have to go through the degradation of proving that they are poor enough to receive it--meaning all of their assets, not just incomes are tested. The one saving grace of this bill is poisoned by the lack of compassion. This means that low income seniors will be kicked out of receiving the low-income benefits of the plan depending on their assets--simply because they have been able to squirrel away a few thousand dollars into a savings account. This affects 53,000 seniors in Maryland, many in my district. I ask, who is going to invade their privacy and check their assets-- isn't it sufficient that they're already living off of meager means 150 percent below the poverty level, should they too have to pay $4,000 to receive both Medicare and prescription drug coverage? What a trade-off. How despicable. I think my colleagues can agree that this is a very troubling proposition and a totally unfair result. Here to stay is big money to the drug companies and HMOs. In fact, this bill overpays the private insurance plans by $1,920 per beneficiary at the expense of traditional Medicare by creating a $12 billion slush fund for these companies just to take on these beneficiaries. Mr. Speaker, our seniors do not need a hand-out, but a hand-up--use that $12 billion to give to our current providers and hospitals who already give outstanding care to our seniors, along with a meaningful prescription drug benefit. Here to stay are HMOs that seniors will feel coerced into joining because they will not be able to pay for the traditional Medicare they enjoy today. Additionally, with the establishment of the Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program, beneficiaries again lose because of the lack of negotiated prices for the prescription drugs. Why not leverage the power of the 40 million Medicare beneficiaries? Why not mandate containment of drug costs in this bill? Why give seniors and the disabled a prescription discount card they cannot use until 2006 while the drug companies still get to determine the cost? Why enact health savings accounts that only the well-off can afford? Why include a poison-pill that kills any chance of reimportation of affordable medicines? Why include an artificial budget cap on general revenues funding for Medicare that triggers a fast-track legislation procedure that would allow immediate cuts in benefits, cut payments to nursing homes and home health care providers and increase cost-sharing? Why leave our seniors and disabled powerless? I know the answers. It's because this bill is not a reform bill, but a rewards bill--and the pharmaceutical and the private insurance companies are the winners.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, it is so interesting that when we talk about Medicare, Medicare is so important to so many people. If we did not have Medicare, we would have to invent it because it touches the lives of so many. And I have often said that if I were sick and did not have a way to get well, I think that would make me sicker. I think that we are, with the way this conference report is structured, it seems as if we are pushing more and more people out into the cold and placing them in a position where they will not be able to get available, accessible and affordable health care.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I will close by simply thanking the Members of Congressional Black Caucus for being here tonight and being a part of all of this. I have often said that a hundred years ago, none of us were here. A hundred years from now, none of us will be here. The critical question is what do we do while we are here to lift each other up. The fact is that we have a bill on the floor of this House tomorrow which is supposed to be a prescription benefit bill when, in fact, it does much more harm than good. And I think that when all the dust settles, when everything is laid out very clearly, the question becomes, Have we lifted our seniors up? So many of them have begged for relief. So many of them have cut pills in half and in quarters. So many of them have gone from one drug store to another begging for prescriptions. So many of them have almost broken out in tears when they found out that their doctor did not have the sample prescription drugs that they needed, and so we stand here tonight not only saying that we consider the prescription drug bill to be bad, bad news, but we also on the other hand, Mr. Speaker, offer our HealthCare Equality Accountability Act of 2003 to say that we have a piece of legislation that does not cure everything but certainly it helps; but on the other hand, we have another piece of legislation, the prescription drug bill which does so much harm.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for his outstanding statement. I really appreciate it. I now yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from the great State of Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Mr. CUMMINGS. I want to thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee). Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my colleague from the great State of New York (Mr. Owens).

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening with my fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus to address the health care crisis in America. While millions of Americans lack adequate health insurance, the rights of the uninsured continue to increase. In addition, the cost of prescription medication is placing an enormous financial burden on consumers. And our seniors, many of whom are living on fixed wages, are in desperate need of relief. Mr. Speaker, the late Senator and former Vice President, Hubert Humphrey, once said, `` . . . the moral test of government is how it treats those in the dawn of life, the children; those in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.'' As a Nation we have failed that test on all three counts. Currently, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are offering a bill to overhaul the Federal Medicare program under the guise of a much-needed prescription drug benefit for this Nation's seniors. This bill, if passed, would cost our children over $400 billion. Mr. Speaker, I say it will cost our children because the government is currently operating in a deficit. We simply do not have the money. Therefore, it is the younger generations and those yet unborn who will have to shoulder the financial burden required by this legislation. Mr. Speaker, let us not be mistaken. Every dollar being spent worth saving or improving one's quality of life is a dollar well worth spending. However, this bill directs billions of dollars towards enhancing the financial well-being of corporations at the expense of the physical well-being of those who need it the most. This Nation's seniors have practically begged us, as their congressional representatives, to work together in drafting a comprehensive bill that would provide prescription drug coverage and enhance the current Medicare program. Quite frankly, this bill is an inadequate response to their plea. Let me boil it down to the very basics. The Medicare conference agreement prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from negotiating lower drug prices on behalf of the 40 million Medicare beneficiaries. In other words, this legislation says that the Secretary of Health and Human Services cannot negotiate lower prices although we have millions of Medicare beneficiaries buying medicines or obtaining medicines from these pharmaceuticals. This proposed legislation also creates a gap of $2,844 that would be impossible for lower-income seniors to bridge and disallows lower- income seniors the ability to receive coverage under both Medicare and Medicaid. And further, Mr. Speaker, the bill could have disastrous effects on my home State of Maryland. 59,640 Maryland Medicare beneficiaries could lose their retiree health benefits and 75,800 Maryland Medicaid beneficiaries could pay more for the prescription drugs that they need. Mr. Speaker, that is simply unacceptable. We can and we must do better for our seniors. The Congressional Black Caucus is extremely concerned about the health care needs of the 26 million people of every color that we represent. Therefore, providing affordable, high-quality health care for every American is a top priority. And I emphasize the fact that the Congressional Black Caucus represents not only African American people but we represent people of all colors. As a matter of fact, many of our districts do not have a majority African American population, and we have consistently found that we have spoken for Americans who are merely feeling as if they have no voice in this Chamber. Some have said that we have been the conscience of the Congress. I would submit that we have been the conscience of this Nation. To this end, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Hispanic Caucus, and the Native American Caucus introduced the Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act of 2003. This comprehensive and ambitious legislation will improve the lives and livelihoods of all Americans and signifies a historic milestones towards providing equal access to affordable and quality health care. The gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen), who will be addressing us a little bit later, played a very significant role in leading the Black Caucus and the other caucuses to create this very important legislation. Mr. Speaker, let me say why it is so important to communities of color that this Congress create an affordable prescription drug benefit under Medicare and work to pass the Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act. The state of health care within communities of color is particularly disturbing. According to a recent report released by the National Urban League, ``African Americans are more likely to be among Medicare's lower-income beneficiaries . . . 65 percent of African American beneficiaries fall below 200 percent of the poverty level and 33 percent have incomes that actually fall below the poverty level itself.'' Minorities are also disproportionately among the uninsured, representing more than half of all uninsured Americans. Hispanic Americans, 35 percent; Native Americans, 27 percent; African Americans, 20 percent; and Asian-Pacific Islanders, 19 percent. All have substantially higher uninsured rates than white Americans, which is 12 percent. Conversely, the health care needs of minority Americans are often greater than those of nonminorities. Our communities disproportionately suffer from numerous chronic diseases: diabetes, heart disease and stroke, and many forms of cancer. Racial and ethnic minorities are also more likely to receive unequal treatment than white Americans. According to the National Academies' Institute of Medicine Report of 2002, racial and ethnic minorities tend to receive inferior care in comparison to white Americans even when insurance status, income, age, and severity of conditions are comparable. Communities of color are less likely to receive preventative care and face a greater risk of misdiagnosis, inadequate treatment, and even premature death. The state of health care in minority communities is nothing short of alarming. Mr. Speaker, consider the following statistics: The death rates from heart disease among African American adults is 29 percent higher than white adults, and the death rate from stroke is 40 percent higher. Compared with whites, Native Americans are 2.5 times more likely to have diagnosed diabetes, while African Americans and Latinos are 2 and 1.8 times more likely, respectively. African American women are more likely to die of breast cancer than women of any other race or ethnicity. The infant death rate among African Americans is more than twice as high as it is for white Americans. African Americans and Latinos account for 68 percent of new adult and adolescent AIDS cases. Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander descent have the highest rate of hepatitis B of all U.S. ethnic groups. Older African Americans are 3.6 times more likely to have lower limbs amputated as a result of diabetes. African American seniors are more than two times less likely to receive treatment for prostate cancer. In general, the health of minority Americans continues to lag far behind that of white Americans, creating a health care divide between communities of color and the rest of America. Mr. Speaker, as the richest Nation in the world with an average gross domestic product in the trillions, the United States spends a greater percentage of its GDP on health care than any other G-8 or Scandinavian nation. On a per capita basis, the United States spends far more on health care than any other country in the world, $3,935 or 13 percent in 1997, while the median Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development country spent $1,728 or 7.5 percent. Yet the United States had the largest percentage of citizens without government-assured health insurance coverage. In addition to having the largest number of uninsured, we rank 12th among 13 countries on 16 available health indicators. The United States ranked 13th for low-birth-weight percentages, 11th for life expectancy at 1 year for females, 12th for males, and 13th for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall. Mr. Speaker, through the Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act of 2003, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Hispanic Caucus, the Asian Pacific American Caucus, and Native American Caucuses confront the issue of disparate minority health care head on. Our bill addresses the shortage of minority health care providers and improves workforce diversity through the expansion of such successful programs as the Health Career Opportunities Program and the Minority Centers of Excellence. Our bill would help patients from diverse backgrounds, including those with limited English proficiency, with provisions such as codifying existing standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate health care, assisting health care professionals provide cultural and language services, and increasing Federal reimbursement for these services. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and the Native American Caucus for their diligence in drafting this important piece of legislation. I would also again like to extend my special recognition to the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen), the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust; the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis), chair of the CHC Health Task Force; the gentleman from California (Mr. Honda), chair of the CAPAC Health Caucus; and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), chair of the Native American Health Caucus; Senate Democratic leader Daschle; and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), House Democratic leader, for their leadership. I also appreciate the support of my congressional colleagues who continue to stand firmly by our side in our efforts to make universal health care a reality. Mr. Speaker, as Members of the greatest national legislature in the world, our social contract is clear. We have a moral responsibility to promote the general welfare of all of our citizens regardless of race, age, ethnicity, or social economic status. We must work to accomplish this goal by providing comprehensive health care coverage to all of our citizens and meaningful prescription drug coverage to our seniors. We should not rest nor recess until this task is done. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen).

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee). It is indeed interesting a lot of times when people hear the Congressional Black Caucus talk on issues they have a tendency sometimes to think, oh, here are some liberals standing up and being against a certain provision or being for something. One of the most interesting things that came to my attention today is that there are many conservative organizations who are against this bill. And one of them being the Heritage Foundation issued these comments within the last 2 or 3 days. And I quote, now, this is the Heritage Foundation, they say, ``The agreement contains an unworkable and potentially unpopular drug benefit with millions of Americans losing part of their existing coverage. Instead of targeting benefits to seniors who need them, the Medicare conferees are insisting on creating a universal drug entitlement to be delivered through the vehicle of stand-alone insurance. In the process, according to both the Congressional Budget Office and recent independent economic analysis, more than 4 million seniors with existing private coverage are bound to lose it or have it scaled back. Meanwhile, the politically engineered premiums and deductibles coupled with their odd combination of donut holes or gaps in drug coverage are likely to be unpopular with seniors.'' That is dated November 17, 2003. And that is from the Heritage Foundation. Now, the fact is that we all agree, maybe for a little different reason at times, that this is not an appropriate bill. But it is just interesting because I want to make it clear to everybody who may be listening to us tonight that it is just not the Congressional Black Caucus that is standing up against this legislation.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the subject of my Special Order.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to remember and honor a teacher and mentor and a friend, a dedicated husband and father from my hometown of Baltimore who rose from modest beginnings to lift up the people of his community and the State of Maryland. Howard Peters Rawlings spent his earliest years in Baltimore's Poe Homes public housing project. However, when he finally succumbed to cancer on November 14 of this year, he had become one of the most influential and well-respected leaders of the great State of Maryland. Pete Rawlings' life exemplified the character and integrity that all Americans should seek to achieve in their own lives. That, Mr. Speaker, is why I ask that we pause in the work of this great House to reflect upon the character of this truly great man. Despite the daily hardships of their lives, Pete Rawlings' parents, Howard Toussant and Beatrice Peters Rawlings, instilled in him the core values for which I rise to honor him today. Pete was born during the Great Depression, an age when few Americans expected a lifetime of exemplary achievement from any young African American. The young Howard Rawlings was not deterred, however. As a matter of fact, he was determined to be excellent at everything he did, and he was successful at that. His dedication to excellence led Pete to academic success at Baltimore's Douglass High School and carried him onward until he earned his bachelor's degree at Morgan State University, his master's degree in mathematics at the University of Wisconsin, and the experience that would make him a master teacher in more ways than one. Yet, Pete Rawlings never forgot from whence he had come. He was called to public service and rose to chair one of the most powerful committees in the Maryland legislature. The source of much of Pete's influence can be traced to his chairmanship of the appropriations committee in Maryland's House of Delegates, the legislative body where I served together with him for nearly 14 years. Pete was determined to make his lifelong fight for better schools, health care and housing the center of legislative debate, and he did succeed. He was a driving force behind the debates about reorganizing Maryland's school system, Maryland's higher education system, expanding financial support for our public schools, extending health care and creating safe and affordable housing for tens of thousands of additional families. We who were privileged to know and work with Pete understood that his influence did not derive from his position of power alone. As Dr. Steven Carter once observed, true leaders are defined by their integrity. Leaders of integrity have the capacity to discern right from wrong and they act upon what they know to be right even if that commitment places them in peril. Dr. Carter's insights about integrity are exemplified by Pete Rawlings' lifetime of service to the people of our community and State. In his commitment to the education of our children, health care for all and fair housing, Delegate Rawlings consistently followed his vision of what is right, both for the present and for decades to come. At times, he was rewarded for his dedication by harsh criticism. Yet Pete remained steadfast, knowing that the course that he followed was opening the doors of opportunity for many people to come. Otherwise, he knew they would be left on the outside looking in and left in a state of arrested development. He did not seek celebrity or acclaim, but generations to come will remember him as a true and faithful servant who kept the faith of the people he served. Mr. Speaker, all too often those of us in public life worry too much about the next election. A true statesman, however, worries about the next generation and children yet unborn. Pete Rawlings was such a man. As I close, Mr. Speaker, I am moved to share with you that dying from cancer, my friend and colleague continued working from his hospital bed until his death. The people of Maryland have lost a great leader and I have lost a great friend and mentor. At this difficult moment for Pete's loving wife Nina and their wonderful family, I join all the people of the great State of Maryland in offering our prayers and our gratitude for a life well lived. I thank God that he allowed Pete Rawlings' life to eclipse with my own.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take my special order time out of order.