Duke Cunningham

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, before I actually get into what I want to talk about, I would like to mention a couple of things that I heard on the floor tonight. I heard that going into Iraq was not against the Constitution, but I remind my colleagues that this President came to the United States Congress and asked for permission. The previous President, President Bill Clinton, did not when he went into Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia and Iraq five times. We hit an aspirin factory in the Sudan; 214 deployments. I did not hear much from the other side of the aisle during that time frame. This President came to this Congress to do that. We were told that we would be in Bosnia 1 year. We are still there. Take a look at Haiti and Somalia today. I think the popular movie, ``Black Hawk Down,'' shows how the denial of armor caused a bunch of our troops to be killed. I think that when we talk about different things, I think we need to put it in perspective. I saw that this week President Izetbegovic passed away. President Izetbegovic in Sarajevo used Svilanovic, who was his minister who trained under Qaddafi, put Mujah Hadeen, Hamas and al Qaeda into Sarajevo. And I will tell the Speaker that many of those individuals are still there from those terrorist organizations and are under scrutiny. The main reason I came today is I heard that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle were going to do a hit piece on Mr. DeLay. Well, I think it is unfortunate that if they cannot win with ideas, they hit our leadership and they try to do anything that they can to discredit the Republican Party. Mr. Speaker, in counter to that, I am going to go through a few things about their leadership. I challenged the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) a while back and said that she had in 1993 and 1994 a 15 percent national security voting record. In 1995 she had a 20 percent national security voting record. In 1996, 21 percent. In 1997, 30. 1998 through 2002, 36 percent. The gentlewoman got on the floor and said the gentleman can say anything he wanted but that it was inaccurate, that I vote for every defense bill. Tonight I researched, Mr. Speaker; and I researched that information and it is just not true. The gentlewoman voted against the defense appropriations bill in 1998. She voted against it in 1997, in 1996, in 1992, in 1991, and in 1989 against defense appropriations. I have got lists here where she voted against defense authorization bills. I would also state that that rating is not just for the bill itself but for the overall defense and how the gentlewoman from California, the minority leader, voted. She voted to reduce military spending by $41.9 billion. That was an amendment. She voted to reduce funding for ballistic missile defense; Mr. Dellums at that time, $1.5 billion. To downsize U.S. forces. Prohibit U.S. command of U.S. forces, she voted for that. Reduce defense and technology spending. Support sharp cuts in defense spending which included pay and allowances for our troops. Of the 20 votes that year, the gentlewoman voted against defense 17 times. The next year. Provide national defense funding, pay raises, combat readiness. The gentlewoman from California voted against that. So again the statement that the gentlewoman from California made was inaccurate and the votes are recorded here. She voted to reduce funding for the F-22 fighter, the B-2 bomber; and we saw how efficient the B-2 was in Bosnia and in Kosovo and in Baghdad as well. The gentlewoman voted of the 20 times, 16 times against national security positions.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to my friend's amendment, and I will be precise in why. I sit on several committees that deal with foreign nations. I would tell my friend, he knows I am a very strong supporter of Israel. I flew there, flew Mirage there. But I would tell my friend also that Saudi Arabia, since May, has done a total turnaround. There are 15,000 members in the royal family. Some of those are helping some of our enemies, possibly so; but there are no direct links that have been caught yet. And I believe that there are more people in Saudi Arabia who want to be the friend of the United States than those who oppose us. I believe that. I think the wrong message to send them is to slap them right smack upside the face when we are trying to get them to help us. So I know the gentleman's amendment is well-intentioned, and I understand why, and I supported the Syrian one; but I think this is wrong.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Chairman, I listened intently to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) yesterday in his opening remarks. Many of the things he said were true. And then I listened to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) on the Defense appropriations committee and many of the things he said were true and I agree with. One of those things is it is time to get our kids home. Many of us have served in combat and away from our families. I was critical of President Clinton, 216 deployments, and our kids were tired. Our equipment was getting worn out. And it was time to get our kids home to be with their families. But now it is also approaching the same thing under President Bush in the amount of time that our people are gone. The only way to get them home is to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan and that is what the President's goal is. I have been with the President. I have seen him get teary when he talks about the losses that we have of our men and women overseas and the principles that he is guided upon that my mother and dad, who were Democrats, talked about the reach for freedom and outreach to the rest of the world. I believe those words, not just from my mother and father, but fought for them. When you talk about the loans, if you want to end up going through the World Bank, we only have an 18 percent vote. Do we want France and Germany and Russia controlling where our dollars go? If you have a grant, it is going to be harder for them to ask us to forgive our loan. Instead, they will have to forgive their loans of billions of dollars. That also includes Kuwait. I think we need to give freedom a chance there. And if you do not think that this does not affect our economy, I wanted to look at loans. I said, why can't Iraq, after they get reconstructed and stable, sell the United States oil at two bucks a barrel less? It sounded like a good idea. But I have heard many from the left talk about the only reason we went there was the oil, and you know that many of the Arabs feel that that is why we went there as well. But if you do take a look, if we have a steady flow of oil coming into the United States, look at the gas pumps today. When you talk about the low- and middle-income folks, how are they affected negatively with energy costs, getting in their cars? We saw the truckers that were here in this Capitol protesting because they were going out of business because of energy costs. By stabilizing that part of the world, when they do become solvent, we have got a steady flow of oil. And they are part of OPEC, but when OPEC starts messing around with the United States like they have in the past, I think we are going to have a loud voice in support of the United States, so I think it will affect our economy. I rise in support.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to honor Dr. Michael A. ``Mike'' Zirpolo upon his retirement after nearly forty-five years of practicing medicine in the State of California since his graduation from the University of California. Mike has distinguished himself throughout his career as a dedicated family practice physician who has ministered to thousands of his patients, without regard to whether they could afford the necessary patient care by relying on his independent medical judgment as opposed to non medical determinations. Dr. Zirpolo is nationally known and recognized by both civilian and military pilots for his years of dedication to his additional specialty as a Class I FAA Airmen Medical Examiner, during which he has examined and certified thousands of pilots and ensured the safety of civil aviation by adhering to the highest standards of examination for the certification of pilots. Dr. Zirpolo has played an important role in air passenger and pilot safety during his medical practice and membership in the Civil Aviation Medical Association, American Academy of Air Traffic Control Medicine and Aerospace Medical Association. He has enjoyed the respect and recognition of many active and retired military pilots during his years of practice for his patriotism. Though he is retiring from his general medical practice, he will continue to devote his medical examination efforts to the certification and safety of United States' pilots. I ask my colleagues to join me today in recognizing Dr. Zirpolo's decades of contributions to air traffic and pilot safety, and commend this Doctor and Medical Examiner approach that has marked his exceptional years of practice.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, it is just wonderful being on the House floor with no partisanship. Is not it wonderful for Democratic leaders to stand up and say how bad the Republicans are doing, no matter what bill we have up here? We want to throw people out of houses, we want to do this, our economic policies are terrible, it is destroying the country. Well, there is an election coming up, Mr. Speaker, and they are desperate. In 1993, they had the highest taxes against anybody ever. They cut military COLAS, they cut veterans' COLAS, they cut the gas tax. When they promised tax relief on the middle class, they increased that tax on the middle class. And then in 1994, we limited the tax on Social Security, we restored the veterans' and military COLAS. We cut the gas tax that they had in a general fund. And guess what, we eliminated most of their stuff. And in 2000 there started to be a recession, and we had tax relief. According to Alan Greenspan that recession slowed, and then we had, guess what? 9/11. The billions of dollars that it took to restore not just New York, the Pentagon and the war on terror, but look at what it did to the stock markets and the economy. So I would curb a little bit of the partisanship from the Democrat leaders. They want this body, the other body, and they want the White House, and they are likely to say just about anything when they get up here, but it is not true, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my good friend, Coach Don Watson. Don will be inducted into the Hinsdale Central Hall of Fame during a dinner in Hinsdale on Friday, October 3rd, and his former swimmers are planning a reception and reunion to honor him on Saturday evening, October 4th. The sport of swimming has been uniquely woven into Donald Dale Watson's life. Coach, mentor and friend, this unique man has been dedicated to pursing excellence in the sport of swimming for over 60 years. Don is being honored at a reception organized by his former swimmers and staff on October 4, 2003 in Hinsdale, Illinois. He will be accompanied by his family--wife, Jan, daughter, Ann, and son, Jon. Don first became interested in swimming at the age of 13 and elected to join a swim team that practiced at the local YMCA in St. Louis, Missouri. Back in the 1940's swimming was not a popular sport. The decision to join a swim team would require hard work and dedication from the young athlete. Without any support from family or friends, Don was required to travel across town via bus to attend daily practices. Many evenings he would arrive home long after dark. Fortunately, his hard work and diligence were rewarded with a trip to the national YMCA senior championships where he was awarded the senior champion medal. In 1946, as a 14-year old high school student, he qualified to attend the Olympic Trials, but unfortunately missed earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic team by 0.00001 of a second. Once again, his hard work was recognized and he was awarded as the ``1946 Olympic Trials Outstanding Young Athlete''. Missing a spot on the Olympic team did not discourage Don, and he continued to train hard throughout his remaining high school years. He showed significant ability and was given a full athletic scholarship to attend the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where he twice earned NCAA Collegiate All-American honors. Upon graduation from Iowa, Don married fellow swimmer, Janet Louise Watson, but was soon called to serve his country in the Korean War. After serving as a Navy corpsman on an aircraft carrier for three years, Don returned home and accepted a position as an assistant swimming coach at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, where he was blessed to work under the direction of his mentor, Coach James ``Doc'' Councilman. While coaching at Indiana, Don obtained a masters degree in physical education. He then accepted a coaching position at Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois. Although the school's swimming program had been virtually non-existent, after three short years of dedication and countless hours of practice, Don led Proviso East to an impressive eighth place finish in the Illinois State meet. In 1963, Don accepted a position as assistant swimming coach at Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale, Illinois. This decision would alter and mold the lives of many young swimmers in the Hinsdale community. After serving as assistant coach for two years, Don was promoted to head coach and the dynasty of Hinsdale swimming began. It was not long before people realized that this special and quiet man had an extraordinary gift for coaching and encouraging young swimmers. Don would go on to amass an amazing record of unmatched success in high school swimming. As Head Swimming Coach at Hinsdale Central High School over the period 1965-1978, Don's coaching record is one of the most successful in American history. From 1967 to 1978, his Hinsdale Central teams won 12 consecutive Illinois state high school swimming and diving championship titles and achieved a phenomenal dual meet record of 163 wins, 3 losses. His team won the National Interscholastic High School championship title in 1970, when he was selected as the United States Swimming Coach of the Year. Don coached four Olympians. His swimmers set seven individual or relay world records. He was selected as the National Interscholastic Swimming Coach of the Year in 1977. The list of athletic accomplishments attributed to Don's leadership is nearly endless. In 1978, Don retired from coaching at Hinsdale Central. After spending the majority of his life around a swimming pool, he was not ready to throw in the towel and escape the chlorine gas. Don accepted a non-coaching position at the University of Texas at Austin where he continues to serve as Director of the Texas Swimming Center, managing the physical facility as well as collegiate, national and international swimming events. In 2000, he received the Frank Erwin Award for his outstanding achievements and contributions to the sport of swimming in the State of Texas. At the age of 73, Don continues to swim daily. He especially enjoys working out with notables like Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, and federal judge Sam Sparks, who frequently swim at the Center. As incredible and important as his coaching accomplishments are, Don is fondly remembered by his former staff, friends, and swimmers as a man deeply dedicated to the character development of boys and girls, young men and women. Besides pouring countless hours into their development as athletes, Don diligently invested into building each individual's sense of commitment, sacrifice, and hard work. Through their commitment to family, community and country, Don's many proteges continue to ably contribute to the quality of life throughout our nation. Don Watson and his family also contributed greatly to my life. I was a graduate student at the University of Missouri, Columbia when Don visited our swimming facility. I was an assistant to Coach Tom Harabediaw. Don offered me a position at Hinsdale High School as an assistant swim coach. His leadership and trust in his students garnered high school All Americans, state championships, and Olympic gold and silver medalists. I was made to feel part of his family and given a lot of responsibility as a young coach. I only left to join naval aviation and fight in the Vietnam War. Much of what Don Watson taught me about team work, caring for the people you work with, and the drive to win helped me both in the Navy and now as a U.S. Congressman. It pains me to not be able to join this celebration of a great man.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Robert Dynes on his term as Chancellor from 1996 to 2003 for the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). It is an honor to recognize the accomplishments and contributions that Bob has made to this University and the state of California during his tenure. Over the past eight years Bob has dedicated his life to the University of California at San Diego and has had numerous challenges and accomplishments to prove it. I have personally observed Bob's term as Chancellor and seen the determined focus of his administration to uphold the integrity of this fine University. One of the missions of his administration has been to keep the quality of UCSD's faculty at a premium. Bob has maintained this excellence in addition to a 14% growth in faculty. In the past seven years, UCSD faculty has produced two Nobel Prizes, a Fields Medal, three National Medals of Science, a National Humanities Medal, the Kyoto Prize, the Enrico Fermi Award, and two MacArthur Awards. Bob has also helped UCSD broaden the school's research and academic portfolios. This year alone, UCSD established a School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, a Management School, and an undergraduate college dedicated to the integration of technology, culture and the arts. Also on the undergraduate level, under Bob's leadership, UCSD more closely integrated Scripps Institution of Oceanography into the curriculum. The University has also broadened the curriculum related to diversity, adding a Chicano/Latino Arts and Humanities Minor. Student quality at UCSD is at a record high under the guidance of Bob Dynes. Student enrollment has grown 25% since 1996 and quality of life has remained among the highest in the University of California system. This year, UCSD received close to 44,000 applications for admissions, the second-highest rate in the system. An accomplishment he is surely proud of is the one-year retention rate of 94% of all first year students. Bob set high standards for himself and his administration as well as innovative ways to meet them. This is the truly the sign of someone who is a special leader. I am not just saying this because I am his friend; others see this quality in him as well. Bob has recently been named the 18th president of the University of California system by the UC Board of Regents. He was selected from a national pool of more than 300 candidates. His recommendation was made by a Regental selection committee that was assisted by advisory committees of faculty, staff, students, and alumni. I would also like to thank Bob for his service to the 50th District of California. He and his administration worked hard to ensure that my staff was well informed of the University's accomplishments, and a variety of issues and challenges they have faced over the course of his term. This University is an important part of my Congressional District and is important to all San Diegans. I could not be happier with the leadership Bob has provided. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to recognize Robert Dynes on this occasion of his tenure as Chancellor of the University of California at San Diego for his dedication to education and his continued role in enriching the lives of students across the country. I thank him for his service and wish him continued success in the future.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I have not been on the floor that long tonight, but I have sat and listened to a lot of nasty things. And according to my colleagues, all Republicans want to throw out senior citizens; we do not care about our grandmas, our grandpas, our wives, our children. But that is not true. I have a mom. I lost my dad. But I want to take care of them with Medicare, and I want to take care and make sure their health care needs are filled. I believe in a private-public partnership. Let me give a good example. A couple years ago I had pneumonia. I went to the doctor, and then I went to get my antibiotic. It was called Augmentin. I looked at the prescription, and it was $120. I remember thinking how is someone with a low income with children going to afford $120, especially if a couple of their children had pneumonia. The total cost of that Augmentin was $17 because my wife, being a schoolteacher, had insurance. The more we drive up the cost of insurance, and I know it is the latest thing to demonize insurance companies, but if we have a private partnership with insurance companies and the public, they lower the cost of those prescription drugs so people can afford them. So instead of $120, it was $17. That is the goal, to make sure that people are taken care of. Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed in the debate tonight. The wither-on- the-vine gentleman must not have been here because they know that is not true. But there are things that we can do. I understand the concerns about some of the arguments being made about privatizing some of the issues. I, on the other hand, think government control of health care is wrong, but somewhere in the middle we ought to be able to come together and not have the type of debate that was on the floor tonight.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Chairman, this committee used to be a drudgery. If you asked somebody to serve on the D.C. committee, you had to pull them out from under the bed to get them to come to work. I would say that thanks to the ranking member, the chairman, and the work that the committee has done over the past few years, it has gotten to be one of the better committees. I think if one looks at what has been done in a bipartisan way, and, yes, we do have some differences, but in a bipartisan way, with the help of a Mayor that is business-oriented, Mayor Williams, who I think has done a good job, I think we can be proud of the committee and the output of this, with a couple of exceptions. I have volunteered to stay on the committee all these years I have been in Congress because I have an education background and I had several goals. One was to help the education system in Washington because it had some of the highest cost and lowest productivity. Any Member that would go out into the city will find some very dedicated, very good teachers in Washington, D.C. I know the ranking member and the chairman have both gone out into the community, as I have, and visited some of these schools. You would be amazed at the differences since the committee has started to work. The Mayor has gone through a pretty tough bureaucracy; and like all bureaucracies, sometimes you cannot get the things done that you want even though you are the leader of a city. So I laud the Mayor for the work that he has done. Even though in some cases very slow, he has plodded through it. He has kept true to his word. He communicates, and I thank Mayor Williams for that. Another area was the waterfront. But there was a whole area in which pilings had been left from the 1940s that were corroding into the Potomac River. The Anacostia River had the highest fecal count of any river in the United States. It was not just pollution that was killing the fish. There is such a high fecal count because every time it rains that raw sewage goes into the Anacostia River. Fish were dying because of the bacteria. There was so much bacteria it ate the oxygen and the fish suffocated. That is how bad it was. We still need a national program to help the Washington, D.C. sewage system. Without it, we will not clean up our rivers, and it will be a health hazard to Washington, D.C.; and I look forward to working with my colleagues on doing that as well. If my colleagues will go down now they will see a marina in progress. Half of it is done, and the other half, all the pilings that were leaching creosote into the water, are gone and the new docks are coming in. Guess what? That is revenue to the city because that is leased land. Instead of being a drain, instead of being a deficit, it will be a revenue producer for the city. My goal is to make the waterfront like a San Diego, where I live, or a San Francisco wharf and waterfront where people can go down with their families and enjoy the waterfront and water that is clean instead of polluted like it even still is today. And again I want to thank the ranking member. We differ a little bit on economic scholarships. I personally think my colleagues would be surprised that, yes, I support vouchers, as some call them, or economic scholarships, whatever you want to call them. But I only support them if the community wants them. I do not think the Federal Government should mandate it. The community must itself want them, because in some areas there may be transportation costs far exceeding the cost of moving a child to another area. There may be a certain school that, a private school, that does not take IDEA children. And those costs may be apples and oranges. In many areas across the country vouchers do work. In my opinion, Washington, D.C. is a classic. I know the gentlewoman opposes it, but the Mayor supports it, the city supports it; and I think the people that in some cases where their children are trapped, where a mother of a child that wants to learn is out there and wants to get out of the quagmire that they live in but yet are trapped in a school that does not produce, they deserve the opportunity. The first goal is to bring that school up to level, I agree, with public education. But in the meantime, let us not let that child get left behind. Let us work with that child. I think my colleagues know my heart is in the right place, even though they may disagree with me on the issue. But I think it will be a good program. Mr. Chairman, I again want to thank the ranking member and the chairman and the members on the committee. It is starting to be a very good pleasure to work with this committee.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Chairman, Mayor Williams did another thing. The highest incidence for prostate cancer is among African Americans, and the highest incidence in the United States is in Washington, D.C. The mayor worked with our committee and chairman and ranking member, and on a sleet, rain-driven night, we packed the house in a town hall meeting on prostate cancer for African Americans because it had never been done before. The mayor has agreed to do another meeting, and we plan on doing that.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Chairman, I have good friends on both sides of the aisle and both sides of this position. What does me hurt is the partisanship, some of the partisanship, not from all Members, that I hear from Iraq to the White House politics to the rest of it on an issue. If we disagree on this issue, that is fine. I personally truly believe that this gives some of our children an opportunity to get out of schools that are crime- and drug-ridden and are being left behind. Not many, if any, Members of Congress, either the House or the other body, have their children in D.C. public schools. Most are in private schools. And yet there are some that would deny poor children, poor families to have the same rights that Members of Congress and other people that are affluent have. I think that is wrong. The other fallacy is that we are cutting public spending. We are not. Look where we have come from. When many of us dedicated ourselves to improving education, the roofs were so poor they were controlled by the fire department in D.C. Schools had to be delayed. We improved that. We put forth charter schools. We put forth a summer school where we had thousands of children volunteer to go to summer school in D.C., not because they had to, but because they did not want to be left behind. And there is another phase of that that we disagree on. But please do not say we are trying to damage education, because we believe from the bottom of our hearts that this is helping children. Take a look at the board of education. They had a board of education appointed by Marion Berry where one of the members was in charge of finance and never had an accounting course, never finished high school, but was put there because of a political appointment. We changed all of that. We have a Mayor, we have a superintendent, we have an active, professional school board, and our schools are improving. Yes, we have got a long way to go, and we have got to work together on both sides of this issue; and I dedicate myself to working with the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) and the ranking member on that. But please do not say that we are trying to damage education. We disagree on the value of this particular amendment. I personally believe in many areas it will work.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Richard Knott on his retirement after 30 years of service to the San Diego Unified School District. It is an honor to recognize the contributions that Rick has made to this school district and to our Nation during his career. Rick has dedicated his life to the education system and has had numerous accomplishments throughout his 30 years with the San Diego Unified School District, the National Association of Federally Impact Schools, NAFIS, as well as many other education-related organizations. I personally have worked closely with Rick in his role as the Controller of the San Diego Unified School District, and as a member of the Board of Directors of NAFIS. As a member of the NAFIS board, Rick has been an advocate of the Impact Aid program, a program designed to reimburse school districts for a loss of tax revenue as a result of a Federal presence. Rick has worked not only to increase funding for the Federal Impact Aid program, but also to ensure that the program's authorizing law is applied fairly to school districts, and maximizes the value of the program dollars. On behalf of San Diego Unified, Rick has sought to ensure that the school district is receiving its fair share of impact aid dollars under the law. In addition to being a liaison to the Department of Education for the school district's basic support payments, Rick aggressively sought new sources of Impact Aid dollars. Rick even identified a section of the law, Section 8002, that had previously not applied to the district. Since 1994, Section 8002 has yielded in excess of $35 million for students in San Diego. Through Rick's work, San Diego City Schools identified and qualified for Voluntary Integration funding resulting in over $100 million of income to the district since 1985. This was done at the time when districts were not thought to qualify for the Voluntary Integration fund. Rick has drafted several legislative concepts and language to increase funding to the district or improve business/finance operation at both the Federal and State levels. Rick has also been asked to testify before the U.S. Congress, House of Representatives Subcommittee on Education to discuss the importance of Federal Impact Aid issues. I would also like to thank Rick for his service to the 50th District of California. Rick frequently joked with me about the strong voting block that he controlled--that of his wife and children--in my Congressional District. Rick worked hard to ensure that my staff and I maintained a thorough understanding of the Impact Aid law, and the issues and challenges facing the program. This program is important to my Congressional District because of the presence of a number of large military installations. Rick's dedication to strengthening and improving this program has improved educational opportunities for military children in my Congressional district, and for military and Indian children all across our country. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to recognize Richard Knott on this occasion of his retirement from the San Diego Unified School District for his dedication to education and his continued role in enriching the lives of students in my district and across the country. I thank him for his service and wish him continued success in the future.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I did not say the program was not supported, to the gentleman, my friend. But I would say that be careful when we talk about volunteer, because the cost of this is very high per person.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, whether one supports AmeriCorps or not, recently they got over $60 million. Now they want another $100 million. Just do the math; 50,000 AmeriCorps, what they call volunteers, take 50,000 into $162 million. They are making over $30,000 each per volunteer, if you take the cost of it. Now, the individuals do not do that, but that is the cost of the program per person that is in there. We do not need this.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter). My friend, and she is my friend; she is a valued Member, she is a close friend. But I want to tell the gentlewoman, I never said AmeriCorps volunteers got $30,000. As a matter of fact, I said they do not individually get that amount. But my colleagues, we want to increase AmeriCorps $100 million. Look at the money we have already put in AmeriCorps last year, I think $260 million. If we look at this, to me a volunteer at a church, they get coffee and doughnuts. If we take all of the hundreds of millions of dollars that we put into AmeriCorps each year and want to put another $100 million in this year, if you take 50,000 workers into that, that is over $30,000 per person cost. Now, a lot of that goes into administration. But when we define volunteer, let us make sure that volunteer is volunteer, not paid worker. That was my point.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Chairman, I am a veteran. The gentleman who just spoke is not. I am a combat veteran. The gentleman is not. I was wounded in combat. The gentleman was not. And I resent the implications that we are trying to cut veterans benefits. This bill increases veterans benefits $1.3 billion. In my mind, that is a good thing, not a bad thing. If you take a look at what the Republicans have done since we have been in the majority, every single year we have increased veterans benefits. While Bill Clinton's budget fought against veterans health care, actually cut, not increased, Republicans came together with moderate Democrats and increased the veterans budgets every single year. I resent a gentleman saying, well, we do it just for tax breaks for the rich. Those jobs that the gentlemen are talking about, 70 percent of the jobs are created by small business, that enhance. We want those veterans to have business and we want them to have jobs. We did not, as the Democrats in 1993 when they had the White House, the House and the Senate, cut veterans COLAs. They cut military COLAs. They gave us the highest middle-class tax increase in history. That tax increase also hurt our veterans. Republicans along with moderate Democrats restored those veterans COLAs, we restored the military COLAs, and we gave middle-income taxpayers tax relief. For the gentleman to sit up here and say that we are cutting veterans benefits when this bill increases it $1.3 billion aggravates me, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. I yield to the gentleman from West Virginia.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Taking back my time, I agree with the gentleman. I want more money in veterans. But to insinuate that it is a tax break for the rich when they say that about every bill is a political shot that is wrong. Point of Order

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Joycel San Agustin of Las Palmas Elementary School. Joycel is the Grand Champion of the grade 6 Greater San Diego 24 Challenge' Math Program. I want to applaud his success. The 24 Challenge' Math Program is an activity which helps young students learn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. It has been used in more than one-hundred-thousand classrooms around the world to teach basic mathematics. Becoming the grand champion of such a competition is quite an accomplishment. During the 2000-2001 school year, more than 640 elementary and middle school classrooms throughout San Diego County received 24' game materials to be used with second- through eighth- grade students. A U.S. Department of Education grant provided for 24 Game Mathematics Club kits to be sent to participating classrooms in San Diego County. The fruits of this small but worthy contribution can be seen in Joycel's triumph. I enjoyed meeting this young man and other competitors at this local program within my district. It is truly a pleasure to meet these bright students and their families.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Jonathan Goodman of the San Diego Hebrew Day School. Jonathan is the Grand Champion of the grades 4/5 Greater San Diego 24 Challenge' Math Program. I want to applaud him for his success. The 24 Challenge' Math Program is an activity which helps young students learn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. It has been used in more than one-hundred-thousand classrooms around the world to teach basic mathematics. Becoming the grand champion of such a competition is quite an accomplishment. During the 2000-2001 school year, more than 640 elementary and middle school classrooms throughout San Diego County received 24' game materials to be used with second- through eighth-grade students. A U.S. Department of Education grant provided for 24 Game Mathematics Club kits to be sent to participating classrooms in San Diego County. The fruits of this small but worthy contribution can be seen in Jonathan's triumph. I enjoyed meeting this young man and other competitors at this local program within my district. It is truly a pleasure to meet these bright students and their families.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Ben Wendel of Stanley Middle School. Ben is the Grand Champion of the grades 7/8 Greater San Diego 24 Challenge' Math Program. I want to applaud him for his success. The 24 Challenge' Math Program is an activity which helps young students learn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. It has been used in more than one-hundred-thousand classrooms around the world to teach basic mathematics. Becoming the grand champion of such a competition is quite an accomplishment. During the 2000-2001 school year, more than 640 elementary and middle school classrooms throughout San Diego County received 24' game materials to be used with second- through eighth-grade students. A U.S. Department of Education grant provided for 24 Game Mathematics Club kits to be sent to participating classrooms in San Diego County. The fruits of this small but worthy contribution can be seen in Ben's triumph. I enjoyed meeting this young man and other competitors at this local program within my district. It is truly a pleasure to meet these bright students and their families.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Todd Kimzey of Loma Elementary School. Todd is the Grand Champion of the grades 4/5 Greater San Diego 24 Challenge Math Program. I want to applaud him for his success. The 24 Challenge Math Program is an activity which helps young students learn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. It has been used in more than one-hundred-thousand classrooms around the world to teach basic mathematics. Becoming the grand champion of such a competition is quite an accomplishment. During the 2000-2001 school year, more than 640 elementary and middle school classrooms throughout San Diego County received 24 game materials to be used with second- through eighth-grade students. A U.S. Department of Education grant provided for 24 Game Mathematics Club kits to be sent to participating classrooms in San Diego County. The fruits of this small but worthy contribution can be seen in Todd's triumph. I enjoyed meeting this young man and other competitors at this local program within my district. It is truly a pleasure to meet these bright students and their families.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Chairman, I would say that a lot of us have fought for an increase in IDEA money, I say to the gentleman from Kansas. I would also say I have given my colleagues one way in which we can provide more money for IDEA. The largest group of teachers leaving education is in special education because they are spending so much time in paperwork, so much time in court, that they are leaving the profession. These are dedicated people. If we want to cap lawyer fees, then we can get up to four times the amount of money into special education.