Joe Crowley

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, this summer Queens Theatre in the Park will present the 3rd Latino Arts Festival to celebrate the contributions of Latino and Latin American artists to the cultural life of Queens and the greater New York metropolitan area. The Festival features a combination of large and small music, theatre, film, dance, children's productions, and visual art exhibitions. Since its modest beginning as a cabaret series with one headliner, the Festival has quickly grown to be one of the major cultural attractions for Latinos in the Northeast. Latinos represent the fastest growing segment of the population in Queens. In response to this changing demographic, the Theatre has made a strong commitment to involving the Latino community in its programs and services. The Festival targets its audience during the summer months when Latinos make up 96% of the 3 million people using Flushing Meadows Corona Park. During its first 2 years, the Festival's audience nearly tripled. This summer, the Theatre expects to increase this number to at least 10,000 with a goal of 15,000. Mr. Speaker, I wish Queens Theatre in the Park and the 1999 Latino Arts Festival the best of luck. I urge anybody in the New York metropolitan area these next couple of weeks to get out to Queens and experience this celebration of Latino culture.

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment to H.R. 1995 that supports and lauds our Nation's teachers. While I have deep reservations over the underlying bill, I recognize the important role of Congress in helping our teachers. Teachers touch the lives of every single American child and help shape their future. My amendment is quite simple. It expresses the sense of this Congress that high quality teachers are an important part of the development of our children, and that it is essential that Congress work to ensure that the teachers who instruct our children are of the highest quality possible. I support recruitment and retention of the best and brightest of teachers, especially for our neediest children. In my district in New York City, we have a very high turnover rate for our teachers, as well as some of the most overcrowded conditions in the country. In fact, a recent survey by my Office of Public Schools shows that the average class size ranges between 29 and 35 students. Mr. Chairman, I have one school in my district that has 50 kindergarten children in one classroom, in a normal sized classroom, with two teachers. Imagine that, the strain on those teachers. We can only imagine the lack of quality education those children are receiving. Additionally, in the 1996-1997 school year the Board of Education hired approximately 6,200 teachers. However, the same year, listen to this, 5,415 teachers left the system. Of those, only 515 actually retired. The New York City public school system, a system that educates over 1 million children, lost nearly as many teachers as it hired in the same year. I am sure many communities around the country face similar situations. The teachers who I have met touring schools in my district are the most dedicated and passionate individuals I have encountered in my life, despite the overcrowded classrooms, the low pay, and sometimes unsafe conditions that they have to co-exist in within their schools. It is my desire to recognize these teachers with this amendment, and laud their efforts, and the impact on our children's lives. Mr. Chairman, as it pertains to the bill as a whole, although my amendment and other amendments improve the overall bill, it still leaves it far short of the needs of my constituents. But Mr. Chairman, it is important to me, as I am sure it is important to the chairman, to recognize the effort and high quality of our teachers. I ask the support of all my colleagues in doing so. I hope they will join me in praising our teachers, recognizing their importance, and pledging to assist in the recruitment and retention of high quality teachers. I would also thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moakley) for offering my amendment before the Committee on Rules, as well as the Committee on Rules for reporting the Crowley amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to my colleague, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings).

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the Gilman-Campbell-Maloney-Crowley-Greenwood amendment to provide funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The UNFPA has long supported the right of couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibility the number and spacing of their children, and to have the information and means to do so, free of discrimination, coercion or violence. Accordingly, the UNFPA works to provide women and men with access to safe, effective, affordable and voluntary contraceptive methods of their choice, as well as access to health care for safe pregnancy and childbirth. Mr. Chairman, I would also like to address two myths that critics of the UNFPA commonly state regarding official UNFPA policies. The first concerns abortion and let me be very clear on this point. The UNFPA does not support or fund abortion in any way shape or form. UNFPA's activities are mandated by the programme of action of the International Conference on Population and Development, which states that in no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning. Instead, the UNFPA works to prevent abortion through the provision of voluntary family planning services. In addition, the UNFPA has not, does not and will not ever condone coercion in population and family planning policies and programs. They are committed to the realization of the UN's charter and the universal declaration on human rights, and it condemns coercive practices in all forms. Mr. Chairman, the world has always looked to the U.S. for its leadership in global population and development programs. Restoring our contribution to the UNFPA will again clearly signal our continued commitment to addressing this important global challenge. Therefore, I ask my colleagues to vote for the Gilman - Campbell - Maloney - Crowley - Greenwood amendment.

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Velazquez-Bachus amendment which would earmark $3 million of appropriated fiscal year 2000 Treasury Department funds to provide grants to States and local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to investigate and prosecute money laundering related to financial crimes. Mr. Chairman, money laundering activities allow drug traffickers, arms smugglers, tax cheats, and many other criminals to fund and profit from their illicit activities. In my congressional district in Queens in the neighborhood of Jackson Heights, the seriousness of the drug money laundering problem is highlighted by the widespread use of money remitters and their agents by organized narcotics traffickers to send the proceeds of drug sales back to drug source countries. Mr. Chairman, the grant program funded by this amendment is part of an overall strategy to help provide local law enforcement officials greater access to Federal law enforcement resources in their ongoing battle against money laundering activity, and so I strongly urge all of my colleagues to support the Velazquez-Bachus amendment. Mr. Chairman, let me just add that I know that the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) has been working on this issue for a number of years, at least 7 years here in the House. And we are not talking about a great deal of money in the overall picture of the budget, but an amount of money that can go a long way to helping us curtail the drug importation and exploitation of many people in my district.

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I rise today as a member of the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health of the Committee on Resources in support of the Wu- Hooley-Miller amendment. This amendment is both fiscally responsible and environmentally sound. It boosts clean water efforts and improves the health of our national forests for recreational and commercial users. The Wu-Hooley-Miller amendment also redirects vital resources towards improving our drinking water, fish and wildlife. This amendment reduces what is basically a subsidy for timber sales management and directs the Federal funds to desperately needed forest restoration projects. House committees have increased the United States Forest Service timber sales requests by almost $24 million while slashing funding for fish and wildlife programs by the same amount. The Wu-Hooley-Miller amendment would reverse these sorely misplaced budget priorities and fund the restoration of watersheds, national forests and fisheries. This amendment scales spending on timber sales back to the President's request of $196 million from the amount in the bill now, some $220 million. It redirects the freed-up funds, almost $24 million, to vitally needed watershed improvements and to the protection of fish and wildlife. Mr. Chairman, as the representative from New York City, I recognize just how important these issues are throughout our Nation. By keeping ecosystems at a healthy level, clean air and water can be supplied to all communities. Protection of watersheds is important for making our communities more livable and making sure that we all have the safest and cleanest water for drinking and for recreation. There is absolutely no reason to put the interest of the timber industry ahead of the health of our forests and drinking water, especially when the two can peacefully coexist. I strongly support this environmentally sound and fiscally responsible amendment, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. Mr. Chairman, let me just add that I have the pleasure of representing a portion of Astoria, Queens, and the prime sponsor of this amendment, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu), represents Astoria, Oregon. Our joint support of this amendment is support for forests, fisheries and waterways from Astoria to Astoria and from coast to coast. I would also like to take a moment to thank my colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Hinchey), the newest member of the Subcommittee on Interior of the Committee on Appropriations, for all his help and guidance on this matter and on so many other important environmental issues.

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) for their support in bringing this amendment to the floor today.

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today as a strong supporter of the National Endowment for the Arts and as a strong believer in the positive effect that the arts have on our urban communities. The National Endowment for the Arts has continued its laudable mission to bring the arts to segments of the population that would otherwise have a hard time accessing them. Through local theater troop performances and through shows at small museums, hundreds of communities have received exposure to the arts because of the NEA. In order to ensure that all Americans have equal access to the arts, the NEA strives to give priority ``to providing services or awarding financial assistance for projects, productions, workshops, or programs that serve underserved populations.'' The purpose behind my amendment is to help the NEA achieve its commendable goal of leaving no American untouched by the arts. To that end, I am proposing that this bill makes specific mention of one traditionally underserved population, urban minorities. I believe Congress should encourage the NEA to fund programs that improve the availability of the arts to minority populations in our cities. Quite often, NEA funding has been directed to groups which serve an upper middle class audience. Many times these groups are inaccessible to many minority groups. Mr. Chairman, in my own Congressional District of Queens, there is a large Latino population that the Queens Theatre in the Park targets each summer with its Latin Arts Festival, a multi-cultural ethnic celebration. This festival, though certainly successful in its own right, would greatly benefit from additional Federal funding. The Queens Theater in the Park has consistently applied for Federal support from the NEA but has been denied funding despite the fact that they target an underserved community. For many families in my district, the average $75 cost to a Broadway play is far too expensive. Queens Theater in the Park and other local community arts groups are the only exposure many of my residents have to the arts. That is but one example of the difficulty facing minority populations in accessing the arts in Queens, New York, and the Bronx and around this country. Projects targeted at urban youth would greatly help keep them off the streets and away from crime and drugs. In the President's own NEA budget, he outlined a key initiative to use the arts as a way to help at-risk youths. Mr. Chairman, in New York and in communities throughout our American cities there are tens of thousands of at-risk youths who will benefit from exposure to the arts. This amendment would help send a message to our urban youth that we are interested in improving their quality of life by helping to bring the arts to them. The arts help break down the barriers caused by economic and cultural diversity that bring communities together and they offer hope. I am not suggesting that we take funding away from any other program. I am only suggesting that we give projects affecting underserved minority communities, whether they be in our cities or our rural areas, equal access to important NEA funding. Once again, let me state that this amendment will not expand the scope of the original language. It will merely perfect that language by emphasizing that urban minorities are included within the term ``underserved population.'' I urge my colleagues to stand up for equal access to the arts and support the Crowley amendment.

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that my amendment be considered out of order.

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

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Madam Chairman, as a freshman congressman representing the financial capital of the U.S., I rise today in support of H.R. 10. Madam Chairman, currently our financial services industry is governed by outdated laws and regulations which are costly and inconvenient to consumers and which have put the industry at a competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace. Modernizing these outdated laws is needed to bring about the real benefits available to the millions of Americans who use financial services and to allow U.S. financial firms to remain the predominant force in global markets. Madam Chairman, this legislation strikes a critical, unprecedented balance by providing a new financial services infrastructure aimed at keeping the United States competitive in the global marketplace while ensuring quality services and protections for consumers and communities. Madam Chairman, I know many of my colleagues are disappointed that stronger privacy language was not included to protect the confidential medical and financial information of consumers. I understand and agree with their disappointment that the Committee on Rules did not rule in order many Democratic-sponsored amendments to protect consumers. The underlying Banking Committee version is a good bill. Let us not lose sight of what we are trying to do. Madam Chairman, we simply cannot afford to wait any longer to create a modern framework for U.S. financial corporations and our Nation's capital markets. Failure to act now on financial services reform would send a terrible message to global financial markets, and constitute a clear danger to U.S. economic leadership in the world and so I strongly urge my colleagues to support passage of H.R. 10.

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I support the gentleman from New York's legislation to honor veterans of World War I and World War II by renaming Miller's Field in honor of our veterans. As the only New York member on the Committee on Resources, I was happy to support this legislation in committee. I believe that this park will not only honor veterans in the New York-New Jersey area but veterans throughout our country. Recently, I had the honor to join the French Consul General in New York to present the French Medal of Honor to a World War I veteran who lives in Flushing, New York. Tragically this gentleman is one of only a few veterans of the World War I era who are still with us today. Men and women who served in World War II are rapidly passing away as well. This park will help honor their deeds and their fight for freedom which brought an end to tyranny and injustice, not once but twice in this century. I am proud to join the gentleman from New York (Mr. Fossella) in support of this proposal to honor our veterans. As the largest metropolitan area in the United States with one of the largest concentrations of veterans, I can think of no better place to honor the memories of these men and women who fought for freedom and to remind future generations of the valor and heroism of our American soldiers.

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the Conyers substitute and to protest the majority's restriction on the number of Democratic amendments considered to the Mandatory Gun Show Background Check Act. Clearly, this decision favors the opponents of gun control and weakens our efforts to combat the proliferation of gun crimes in our Nation. Instead of being a House of the people, we become the water carriers for the NRA. Mr. Chairman, we are out of step with our colleagues in the Senate, and we are certainly out of step with the majority of the people in the United States. By restricting our ability to offer meaningful anti-gun violence amendmentsto this legislation, the Republican leadership has clearly let down the children and families of America by putting the interests of the gun lobby above the safety and well-being of all our children. Therefore I strongly urge my colleagues to support the Conyers substitute which will assure that Congress promptly responds to what the vast majority of Americans want--commonsense laws which are designed to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and children.

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Madam Speaker, when I visit schools and community centers and meet with parents at Little League games and picnics throughout my Congressional District, I constantly hear that we must do something as a Congress and as a nation about the violence that plagues our schools and streets. The crime rate in my district and in New York City has declined. Neighborhoods are safer. Kids do not fear gang warfare and schools throughout New York are safe havens for students. Kids may be safe but parents are concerned. They are concerned about the proliferation of guns, of kids getting access to guns without trigger locks, of guns being bought at gun shows without adequate background checks, and of the ability to buy guns over the Internet. These are the issues that the Democrats want to address, not a bill written in secret by the NRA and brought straight to the floor without an adequate committee hearing. Why is the bill the House is addressing weaker than its Senate bill? Let us pass legislation to protect our children, make our neighborhoods safer and make it harder for guns to get into the hands of children and criminals.

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the Young-Kasich amendment. This amendment would ensure a continuation of the unsatisfactory status quo in which the taxes contributed by aviation users are not spent to improve our Nation's airports and air traffic control system. Mr. Chairman, AIR 21 seeks to unlock the Aviation Trust Fund and ensure that the investments necessary to keep our transportation system safe and efficient are made in a fiscally responsible manner without adversely affecting other discretionary programs or Social Security. Some supporters of this amendment would have us believe that AIR 21 will take funding away from Social Security. This is just not true. All of AIR 21's funding increases come from funds available outside of the Social Security part of our budget. Mr. Chairman, based on the safety needs of our Nation's system, aviation system, the job opportunities which will be created and the fair and equitable treatment of budget issues in this bill. I strongly urge my colleagues to vote against the Kasich-Young amendment and permit our aviation taxes to be used to improve our Nation's airports and air traffic control system. Mr. Chairman, a vote against this amendment is a vote for air traffic safety.

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the manager's amendment and in strong support of H.R. 1000, the Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century. I want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Chairman Shuster), the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski), and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) for their work on this outstanding bill. The Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century is a comprehensive reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Airport Improvement Program. It seeks to address many of the problems plaguing our aviation system by making our airports and skies safer, by injecting competition into the airline industry, and by ensuring that the investment taxpayers have made in the Aviation Trust Fund is returned in the form of affordable, safe air travel. Mr. Chairman, our Nation's aviation system, while once the envy of the world, is now beginning to show age. While we are seeing a dramatic increase in the number of air travelers taking to the skies, airport infrastructure and air traffic control modernization programs are currently being drastically underfunded. But once again, Mr. Chairman, I again want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Chairman Shuster) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) and others for their leadership and their accommodation to the New York delegation in the manager's amendment.

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I am not so sure I will use all the 60 minutes but we will give it our best. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to discuss the issue of school modernization and construction. I have led the freshman class in fighting for school construction. This past winter we hosted a series of one minutes and a special order like this evening for freshmen to talk about the conditions of our schools in our districts. Recently, I hosted an education roundtable in my district on this very topic, with our very special guest assistant secretary for education Scott Fleming, and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey) to whom I am very grateful for her work in the area of school construction and modernization. I intend to continue my fight to bring school construction legislation to this floor this year, Mr. Speaker. Last week, the freshman class sent a letter to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert) asking for school construction to be brought up this year. We had Secretary Riley endorsing our request. We had the Democratic leadership and many members of the education community on our side. We are asking for a broad bipartisan support this evening for school modernization and construction. Our schools need our help. We need an effective and comprehensive school modernization package that is a Federal, State, and local partnership--a Federal, State and local partnership. Schools, as part of our Nation's infrastructure, are in desperate need of repair and modernization. If these were our Nation's highways that I was talking about, we probably would not be having this discussion this evening. Well, Mr. Speaker, our schools are our educational highways. Let me just give my colleagues some examples of some of the problems I am experiencing in my district, and I am sure many of my colleagues around the country are experiencing similar difficulties. Enrollment in the County of Queens in New York City is increasing by 30,000, 30,000 enrollments every 5 years. In 1999, the enrollment is 270,850 students. In the year 2004, that number will rise to 300,000. By year 2007, it is estimated that Queens County will have over 330,000 new students. In the 7th Congressional District, I represent the most overcrowded school district in the City of New York. School District 24 is operating at over 119 percent of capacity. I have three of the top 10 most overcrowded school districts in the City of New York, District 24, District 30, and District 11 in the Bronx operating at 119, 109 and 107 percent respectively. By 2007, three of the five most overcrowded schools and school districts will be in the 7th Congressional District, my district. Nearly every school in Queens will be operating at or over capacity. This is almost unbelievable. But the average age of a school in New York City is 55 years of age. One out of every five schools in the City of New York is over 75 years of age. Now, when they built these schools back in the 1920s and 1930s, they were built to last; and that is why we have them today. But any school with any normal wear and tear would have to begin to show that wear and tear at least maybe 20 to 30 years after being built. But our students are going to schools that were built 55 and 75 and some even 100 years ago in the City of New York. They are simply falling apart. These schools need new heating systems to replace unsafe older models. Structural repairs are needed, such as retaining walls, windows, and outside black top, and inside modernization repair such as lights and toilet fixtures. Let me just add a little point here. That is in schools that maybe 55 to 75 years of age. Some schools will put on additions. Some schools have temporary classrooms, and that space is taking up the space where there once was a school yard where children would have the opportunity to play in recess or to gather before and after school. The school where I attended kindergarten is PS 229 in Woodside, Queens. Woodside, Queens right now has no playground. Where I played hockey and basketball and grew up, that playground no longer exists. What has taken its place is modular classrooms and now a brand-new wing. It is only my hope that, when the brand-new wing is completed, that they will have a small portion of that playground to be restored to the children so they can use it for recreational purposes. We need to assist local education agencies, those who know best, whether they need construction, modernization, or technical upgrades. So those who say that the Federal Government should not be in brick and mortars, fine. I think we ought to be involved in brick and mortars. But fine. Let us let the State and local governments handle that. We certainly could be there to help them with financing. It is interest-free bonds, which will provide the flexibility and cost-effective approach to assist our crumbling schools. Mr. Speaker, I support the Public School Modernization Act of the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) and the School Construction Act of the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge). Both these acts will drive millions of dollars to New York State and to my congressional district. The Public School Modernization Act will provide $22 billion over 2 years in zero interest school modernization bonds. These bills would give 50 percent of the bonds to the 100 school districts with the largest number of low-income students and would give the remaining 50 percent directly to the States. The Rangel bill would extend Davis-Bacon provisions, which would require payment of prevailing wage rates on all Federal construction projects, to projects funded through school modernization bond tax credits. I would say this bill would bring over $2.8 billion in funds to the State of New York and to the City of New York. The School Construction bill of the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) will provide $7.2 billion nationally in school construction bonds to States suffering from rapid school-age population growth and provide the funds needed by States and cities experiencing high rates of growth in suburban and urban school districts. This will bring $540 million in school construction assistance to the State of New York. I have been talking about New York State, but obviously the numbers we are talking about here extend across this great land in other areas that are experiencing high growth, and other school districts of high levels of impoverished children would also receive a great share of the assistance provided through school modernization bonds. Both of these bills will help reduce the heavy burden on our local property taxpayers by offering school districts tax-free bonds. Let me just give my colleagues a couple of national facts. One-third of the Nation's schools were built before World War II and are still in operation. One-third were built before World War II. There is currently a $112 billion backlog in school construction and modernization needs, $112 billion. Sixty percent of our Nation's schools have at least one major building feature in need of extensive repair. Think about that, 60 percent of our schools in this Nation have at least one major building feature in need of extensive repair. Fifty-eight percent of the Nation's schools have at least one unsatisfactory environmental condition such as poor ventilation or poor heating. In fact, in some schools in Queens County and in my district and in the City of New York, they are still burning coal, still burning coal. We are going into the 21st Century still burning coal. Amazing. In my home district and in many of our schools, we are heading into the 21st Century, and we are facing an enormous lack of seats. If we do nothing, if we do not help our local government, Queens County will be facing between 20,000 and 60,000 seats that they will be shy by the year 2007, between 20,000 and 60,000 seats shy. The City of New York and the State of New York are doing all they can to provide funds for school construction and modernization, making schools and classrooms ready for the 21st Century, providing computers, providing access to the Internet, providing cable-ready classrooms. They simply cannot keep up with the pace. Ellis Island no longer exists in terms of welcoming new immigrants to this great country. What has taken its place is Queens County. My borough has seen a tremendous growth in the past few years, and that is going to continue to take plates in the coming century. In fact, while most of the rest of the city and the other boroughs will be seeing a decline in student growth population, Queens County will be seeing a massive, massive growth. Much of that is due to the baby boom era. Due to the baby boom echo, school enrollment has now reached an all-time record high of 52.7 million in this Nation. To meet rising school enrollments, 6,000 new schools will be needed to be built over the next 10 years in order to meet that challenge. I ask my colleagues, if this is not crisis, what is? If this issue does not ring with them, what will? I urge Speaker Hastert to bring school construction legislation such as the bills of the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) or the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) to the floor for debate as soon as possible. As we ready ourselves for the 21st Century, we have to ask ourselves, have we done all we can do to prepare our students for the next millennium. In fact, not the next millennium, the next century? In fact, have we done all we can do, not for the next century, but for the next decade? Are we really doing all we can do to help prepare our students just for the next decade? Our schools can no longer wait for that answer. Mr. Speaker, we must act today.

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, with horror we have watched a string of school shooting tragedies over the last 2 years: Littleton, Colorado; Springfield, Oregon; Fayetteville, Tennessee; Edinboro, Pennsylvania; Jonesboro, Arkansas; West Paducah, Kentucky; Pearl, Mississippi; and just last week in Conyers, Georgia. Thirteen children under the age of 19 are killed each and every day because of guns. Families are so afraid of school violence that children are kept home. This is a serious crisis and we need to act now. Our colleagues in the other body took action last week. The House can and should begin debate on how to reduce youth violence before this Memorial weekend break. Addressing the issue of school gun safety and media violence alone will not solve the problem. We need to address the broader issue of the quality of our children's education. A real solution must deal with the issues of class size, which is especially important in my District of Queens and the Bronx, but also of discipline, of safety officers and guidance counselors in our schools, both in pre- and after-school programs as well. We cannot wait for another tragedy to happen before Congress acts, Mr. Speaker. We as Democrats stand ready to force a vote now on a juvenile justice bill so we can get it to the President's desk by the end of this school year.

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Madam Speaker, I just want to shift gears for a moment. We all know there is a very, very important weekend coming up and that is Memorial Day weekend where we celebrate and commemorate all of those who fought for the saving of this country in all our world wars. In particular, I just want to mention a good friend of mine, a neighbor, a mentor of mine as I was growing up, Mr. John Hart, actually my next door neighbor. I am proud to say that this weekend John Hart will be the grand marshal of the Woodside, Queens Memorial Day Parade. John Hart is one of America's treasures. He served our country in World War II and saw action in Europe. He came back from that war and he and his wife, Pat, raised four children in the community of Woodside. John, like so many other Americans who gave of themselves that we might be free, is still alive today and is having an opportunity to walk amongst his fellow citizens in Woodside so that they can show their appreciation to John and men and women like him. So when my colleagues are eating hot dogs and hamburgers and having corn on the cob this weekend, think of John Hart and think of all of those men and women who gave so much of themselves so that we today are free.

Mr. CROWLEY. Madam Speaker, I rise this evening to talk about E-Rate. I strongly urge my colleagues to fully fund the Universal Service Fund program for schools and libraries, commonly called the E-Rate. The E- Rate has successfully helped provide equal access to opportunity and education for school children and the public at large. In just 18 months, the E-Rate has connected over 600,000 classrooms in over 80,000 schools and libraries across this great Nation. At a recent round-table discussion that I held in my district with educators, I asked principals and superintendents in my 7th congressional district, what is the one thing I can do right now in Congress to help education, and unanimously they said, continue the E- Rate program. Do not let the E-Rate program die, do not let it diminish. It is effective, it is working. It is connecting our schools to the future. Most importantly, the E-Rate program enables all schools and libraries to provide Internet access to children, regardless of their means. For most schools and libraries, the cost of both telephone and Internet access is cut in half, and for some of our most poorest schools, access will be almost free, almost free. The E-Rate is helping to close the digital divide. Children in the most isolated inner city or rural town will have access to the same expansive knowledge and technology as a child in the most affluent suburbs. This House supported this program in 1996 and should continue to support this program today, especially because of the scope and influence of the Internet on our children's lives. Recently, surveys have shown that the American public strongly supports the introduction of information technology into our Nation's schools and libraries. A nonpartisan poll was commissioned by EdLiNC and conducted by Lake, Snell, Perry and Associates and the Tarrance Group. The results of this poll are impressive and send a clear signal that the American people support the concept of the E-Rate. Madam Speaker, 87 percent of Americans support providing discounts to schools and libraries. Eighty-three percent of Americans think that access to the Internet in schools and libraries will improve educational opportunities for all Americans. Eighty-seven percent of Americans support continuing discounts for libraries and schools. Seventy-nine percent of Americans believe that PCs are an effective alternative for teaching subjects such as math and reading. Tomorrow the FCC will vote on the funding level for the Universal Service Fund for America's schools and libraries for the year beginning July 1, 1999. I urge every member of this House to lend their support to fully funding the E-Rate program. John Hart: One of America's Treasures

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, on May 24, 1999, I was unavoidably detained in New York due to poor weather conditions. The weather delays caused me to miss Rollcall Votes 145 and 146, and had I been present, I would have voted in the affirmative on both Rollcall Vote No. 145 and Rollcall Vote No. 146.

Mr. CROWLEY

Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, referring to the Democratic campaign finance reform discharge petition, which has 196 Democratic signatures, a Republican recently remarked in Roll Call and I quote, ``People who sign the discharge petition are committing treason against the party. That is how strongly I feel about that. That is a dangerous position to take and we need to end that talk.'' It is no surprise the Republican Party, which outspends Democrats two-to-one, has proclaimed that supporting campaign finance reform should be a felony offense. Mr. Speaker, our political system needs and our constituents demand campaign finance reform now. Nine out of 10 Americans support campaign finance reform. I repeat, 9 out of 10 Americans. Last year, 196 Members signed the discharge petition that led to bringing the Shays-Meehan bipartisan campaign finance reform bill to the House floor. Without that petition process, the House Republican leadership would never have let that debate occur. Time is running out. In order to have enough time for the Senate to pass campaign finance reform, moderate Republicans must sign this discharge petition immediately. Mr. Speaker, the House must act now on campaign finance reform, and pass it before Memorial Day.