Wm. Clay

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, this bill also honors the memory of James Byrd, who was horribly dragged to his death behind a pickup truck simply because his killers did not like the color of his skin. It honors Matthew Shepherd, who was beaten and tied to a fence post and left to die in near freezing weather because he was gay. It honors not only the victims of high-profile crimes, it honors the thousands of people whose lives have been scarred by similar acts of hate and violence. Hate crimes legislation is not a partisan issue. It is not about political posturing. It is not about us versus them. This is an issue that transcends politics. I urge the House leadership to allow a vote on this important measure, and I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 1343. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson).

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) for his leadership on this issue. We certainly appreciate his leadership and sponsorship of the bill. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1343, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Consideration of this bill is long overdue, and its passage is absolutely critical. I urge the House Republican leadership to allow the bill to come to the floor for a vote. H.R. 1343 gives law enforcement officers at all levels of government the tools they need to deal with these terrible acts of hate-based violence. This legislation also sends a message to the world that crimes committed against people because of who they are or what they believe are particularly evil and particularly offensive and will not be tolerated in this country. These types of crimes are committed not just against individuals, not just against a single person, but against society and against all Americans. These crimes are not only meant to hurt the unfortunate individual who falls victim to such acts, but they are also meant to intimidate, harass, and menace others who were not directly attacked. A few years ago a man filled with hate shot up a Jewish community center in Los Angeles, wounding children and teachers in a place that was supposed to be a protective sanctuary for children. Following his capture the man said he had shot at those children because he wanted to send a message. He said he wanted to send a wake-up call to America to kill Jews. By passing this bill we will be rejecting such messages and committing the full measure of our justice system to ending such hateful violence.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend the Associated Press for a series of articles it ran late last year entitled, ``Torn from the Land,'' which documented in great detail how private and government entitles cheated many Black Americans out of their land or drove them from their land through intimidation, violence and murder. The misappropriation of these lands, undertaken primarily in the South, began more than a hundred years ago and continued well into the 1960s. The lands and properties that were taken from African Americans were generally small, such as a small home, a 40-acre farm or a modest business. But such losses were devastating to families and to a people struggling to overcome the legacy of slavery. According to the U.S. Agricultural Census, in 1910 African Americans owned over 15 million acres of farmland, the greatest level of black landownership in our nation's history. However, as a result of the illegal land grabs and the discriminatory practices of the old Farmers Home Administration, black landownership today now stands at 1.1 million acres. The wholesale theft of land from African Americans is the greatest unpunished crime in our nation's sordid history of race relations. Landownership was the ladder to respectability and prosperity in the Old South--the primary means to building economic security and passing wealth on to the next generation. So when black families lost their land, they lost everything. Typically, blacks were forced off their lands with phony charges of nonpayment of taxes or through claims of counter ownership by other private or government entities. In other cases, African Americans were forced off their lands with threats of violence or the outright murder of black landowners. In my home state of Missouri, hundreds of blacks fled the city of Springfield in 1906, after three men were lynched. The city, which at the time had a thriving African American population of at least 10 percent with many black doctors, lawyers and educators, is today only two percent black. In another case, 129 blacks abandoned land in Pierce City, Missouri after armed bands of whites burned five black-owned homes and killed four African American men. Afterwards, whites bought up the previously black-owned land at bargain prices. The great abolitionist Frederick Douglass foresaw this future tragedy for Black Americans when, on the 24th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, he said, ``Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, anywhere any one class is made to feel that society is in an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob, and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.'' The Associated Press articles provide ample empirical evidence that Congress needs to conduct a study into these tragic events to determine whether reparations for past losses are in order. Throughout our nation's history, there are many examples of our government taking steps to correct past wrongs committed against specific groups of Americans. We have compensated Japanese Americans for the time they were interned in concentration camps during World War II, and we have compensated Native Americans for the loss of their lands to western expansion. So now the time has come for us to examine the economic and physical losses suffered by African Americans under the old policies of Jim Crow. To do any less, would allow Justice to be denied.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues today as an original cosponsor of H.R. 3113, the TANF Reauthorization Act of 2001. This bill recognizes the need to build on the framework of the 1996 law and refocus our efforts to truly fight poverty in our country. Although welfare reform ``ended welfare as we knew it,'' it did not reduce family poverty. In many cases, it merely moved families off of welfare rolls and into the class of working poor. As a result, despite a strong economy and a 50 percent decrease in welfare caseloads over the last 5 years, family poverty has declined by less than 13 percent, and overall poverty has fallen by less than 2 percent. Families cannot be economically secure without employment that pays a living wage. As we work on TANF reauthorization, we also need to ensure access to Medicaid, food stamps, child care and other transitional work supports for those families leaving welfare. I support the TANF Reauthorization Act, because it recognizes the need to shift the emphasis from reducing welfare rolls to reducing child and family poverty.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Help America Vote Act of 2001. I do this with some reservations. However, it is necessary that we pass this bill today. I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for their persistence in bringing this bill to the floor. The election of 2000 disenfranchised millions of voters and illustrated the shambles in which we find our current voting system. The right to vote is sacred and guaranteed by the Constitution. This right was made a mockery during the election of 2000. Congress must act to guarantee that every single vote is counted, and that did not happen in 2000. Many citizens have died trying to secure and protect the right to vote in this country. James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andy Goodman died in Philadelphia, Mississippi, in 1964 because of their efforts to protect the right of others to vote. I will not let their deaths be in vain. I hope that other Members of this body share that sensitivity. The bill is not perfect, but it is a compromise and a work in progress. Let us keep the process alive and vote for this bill. Let us send it to the Senate and allow them to work their will on their side.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my congratulations to JET Magazine and its founder and publisher, John H. Johnson, on the 50th anniversary of the world's leading Black weekly newsmagazine. John H. Johnson is the president of Johnson Publishing Company, the most prosperous African-American publishing empire in America. In addition to JET Magazine, his company also publishes Ebony, Black Star and JET Jr. magazines. Within the journalism industry, John H. Johnson is to publishing, what Berry Gordy of Motown is to the entertainment industry. John Johnson's journalistic dream began in Chicago in 1942. Back then, he was going to college and working part time for an insurance company, where he clipped articles concerning African-Americans out of newspapers and magazines. It was there that Johnson realized that the black community was lacking a publication similar to Life and Reader's Digest, so he set out to design a magazine that would cater specifically to the African-American community. To raise money to fund his project, Mr. Johnson's mother allowed him to use her furniture as collateral for a $500 loan. Johnson then developed a mailing list of 20,000 African-American households, whose names he had pulled from the insurance company's list of policyholders. With the money he had borrowed, Johnson sent letters to those on the list, in which he offered $2 subscriptions for his yet unpublished magazine. He received 3,000 replies and printed the first issue of his new magazine, Negro Digest, later to be renamed Black World, with only $6,000. Mr. Johnson began his second publication, Ebony, in 1945. Six years later, Johnson started JET Magazine, which today is his flagship publication. However, in the 1950's Johnson Publishing Company was not without problems. He had trouble getting mainstream sponsors to advertise, so Mr. Johnson decided to form his own company, called Beauty Salon, and advertised his own products in the pages of his publications. Johnson would later receive sponsorships from Zenith Radio and Chrysler after some coaxing. Today, JET Magazine has a weekly circulation of nearly 1 million. Over the last 50 years, JET Magazine has chronicled the important milestones in the lives of African-Americans, including desegregation, black migration from the South, the Civil Rights movement, our efforts to reduce poverty, and African-American advances in politics, the Arts and sports. It is America's preeminent publication on the Black experience. It is also worth noting that in 1995, Johnson Publishing Company expanded their operations into South Africa. Over the course of his illustrious publishing career, Mr. Johnson has received numerous awards for his outstanding achievements, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Horatio Alger Award, the NAACP Springarn Medal, and the National Newspaper Publishers Association's Henry Johnson Fisher Award for outstanding contributions to publishing. The Johnson Publishing name is synonymous with achievement, wealth, staying power, vision and plain old common sense. So at this time, I want to congratulate and thank Mr. Johnson and JET Magazine for 50 years of journalistic excellence.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my profound sadness over the passing on Monday of Missouri State Senator Paula J. Carter, one of Missouri's most distinguished and respected public servants. She was a powerful force in the state legislature and represented her St. Louis constituents well during her combined 15 years of service in the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives. Paula Carter was a dear friend of a former colleague of mine in the Missouri General Assembly, and her passing is a tremendous loss to those of us who had the privilege of serving with her. She will be greatly missed. Paula Carter began her career as a public servant in 1984, when she was elected Committeewoman of the 27th Ward in St. Louis and two years later she was elected to her first term in the Missouri House of Representatives. While in the House, she became an outspoken champion of the poor, the disabled and the disenfranchised, and she worked tirelessly to make Missouri government more caring and responsive to our state's neediest citizens. Through her efforts in the House, Missouri improved its assistance and care of those with mental illness and disabilities, and expanded employment and educational opportunities for women and minorities. In March 2000, Senator Carter was elected to the Fifth Senate District seat in a special election and subsequently re-elected to her first full term in November 2001. She wasted little time in making her presence felt in the upper chamber. She served on the Senate Appropriations Committee; the Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee; the Insurance and Housing Committee; and the Aging, Families and Mental Health Committee. She also served as President of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus. Despite her illness, just two months ago in a special legislative session, Paula Carter played an instrumental role in the passage of a critical prescription drug benefit plan for Missouri senior citizens. As always, Paula Carter never let her own physical limitations get in the way of her commitment to helping those less fortunate. So on behalf of the Missouri delegation of the U.S. House of Representatives, I want to offer our deepest sympathies and condolences to the family of Senator Paula Carter. She will be greatly missed, both in our state capital and in her beloved City of St. Louis, but her legislative legacy and accomplishments will endure in the thousands of people she touched through her leadership and determination.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to Mary Alice Ryan, president and CEO of St. Andrew's Episcopal-Presbyterian Foundation in St. Louis, Missouri, and for the past two years National Chairperson of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA). Through her work with St. Andrew's, and her active participation in aging-services organizations in St. Louis, and at the national level, Mary Alice Ryan continues to make a truly considerable difference in the lives of many older Americans. Ms. Ryan has been a member of AAHSA since 1979, and has served in a number of leadership capacities. On November 2, at AAHSA's 40th Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Diego, Ms. Ryan will complete her term as the organization's chair, having served as its top elected leader since 1999. Prior to that, she served with distinction on the association's House of Delegates and as the treasurer for its Board of Directors. Over the years, Ms. Ryan has worked on a number of the association's committees, including professional development, assisted living, and continuing care. She also chaired AAHSA's state affiliate, the Missouri Association of Homes for the Aging, in 1986. As President and CEO of St. Andrew's Episcopal-Presbyterian Foundation, Ms. Ryan oversees several facilities throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area that provide a wide range of services to seniors, including nursing home care, assisted living, and independent senior housing. In addition to serving its own residents and clients, St. Andrews shares its expertise with other long-term care providers, assisting them in building, establishing, and operating high-quality housing and services for seniors. Although she is stepping down from AAHSA's chairmanship, Ms. Ryan will continue to serve on AAHSA's board as it strives to advance the association's vision. That vision, espoused by AAHSA's 5,600 not-for- profit member organizations, calls for the development of a healthy, affordable, and ethical system of long-term care and services for older adults and others with special needs. Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing Mary Alice Ryan for her distinguished record of service to older Americans.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor and offer my congratulations to Vitilas ``Veto'' Reid on his recent retirement from the U.S. Postal Service after fifty years of service. During his half century of distinguished service, Mr. Reid held several management positions, including Postmaster of the St. Charles, Missouri post office. Vitilas Reid was an honor graduate of Vashon High School in St. Louis, and he later attended Stowe Teachers College and the University of Missouri--St. Louis. Mr. Reid joined the Postal Service on August 20, 1951 as an indefinite substitute clerk in St. Louis. In 1953, he was made a full- time regular clerk and he worked in several clerk assignments until he was promoted to Supervisor of Mails in 1969. In 1977, Mr. Reid was detailed to Chicago, Illinois to serve on a special assignment with the Delivery Programs branch. Months later, he returned to St. Louis to serve as Manager of the Chouteau Station, the first African American manager to serve in South St. Louis. In 1983, Mr. Reid was appointed Officer-in-Charge of the St. Charles post office, where he later was promoted to Postmaster, the position he ultimately retired from. He was the recipient of the National Association of Postmaster's first Postmaster's Leadership Award, which was presented to him at its National Convention in 1992. In addition to his long and distinguished career with the Postal Service, Veto Reid is also an active and effective community leader. He serves on numerous local and regional Advisory Boards, Boards of Directors and committees, including the St. Louis NAACP Executive Board; the Tri-County United Way; the St. Louis Chapter of Habitat for Humanity; the Equal Housing Opportunity Council; the St. Charles County Community College Advisory Board; and the Linwood University Board of Overseers. He was also inducted into the Vashon High School Hall of Fame in 1990; was appointed President of the St. Joseph Hospital SSM Advisory Board in 1995; and was elected President of the Rotary Club of St. Charles in 1999, the first African American to hold these positions. Veto Reid has devoted his life to community service and helping others realize their dreams. He has made a positive impact on countless lives he has touched and for that we are all grateful for his efforts. Therefore, I want to take this time to proclaim November 3, 2001, as ``Vitilas `Veto' Reid Day'' in Missouri's First Congressional District.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, due to unforeseen circumstances, I missed this morning's vote on the Journal and the vote on H.R. 3162, the PATRIOT Act of 2001. Had I voted, I would have voted ``yes'' on the Journal and ``yes'' on H.R. 3162.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituents, I wish to extend my warmest congratulations today to President Chen Shul-bian and to all Taiwanese people on the occasion of the Republic of China's National Day. Taiwan is one of America's closest and most reliable allies and it is one of Asia's greatest democracies. Our decades-long relationship with Taiwan continues to be strong and I am certain it will remain so for generations to come. The warmth of our relationship can best be gauged by examining the level of friendly interaction between our two nations. Our bi-lateral trade, which topped $64.8 billion last year, continues to grow at a healthy pace and has made Taiwan the United States' eighth largest global trading partner. And last year, nearly 30,000 students from Taiwan attended colleges and universities here in the United States. Additionally, outside of Asia, the United States is the number one tourist destination for Taiwan travelers. Clearly, the people of Taiwan, like the United States share many of the same values that we hold dear, values such as freedom, democracy and the defense of human rights. And they have always remained a steadfast ally in a region of vital importance. Recently, the Taiwanese people and their government once again demonstrated the values and commitment they share with us, by standing with us in the fight against global terrorism following the September 11th attack on our country. The Taiwan government has pledged to do everything it can to assist us in eliminating the evil scourge of terrorism that threatens peace-loving democracies around the world. The people of Taiwan can be proud of President Chen for the excellent job he has done in leading their nation, and equally proud for the fine representation they receive here in Washington from Ambassador C.J. Chen. So to President Chen Shui-bian and to all the people of Taiwan, I want to say ``Good Luck and Good Fortune'' to each of you as you celebrate your National Day.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Chairman, today I rise in support of the Miller-Miller sugar amendment. The U.S. sugar program is in critical need of reform. Unlike most farm programs, the U.S. sugar program has avoided any market-oriented reform for many years. Artificially high price supports have distorted the markets leading to expanded domestic production and oversupply of the U.S. market. Approximately 50 percent of government payments go to the largest 8 percent of farms, usually corporate owned. A little more than half of all U.S. farmers share in only 13 percent of the government payments. The artificially stimulated domestic price of sugar is often twice the world price. This hurts the American consumers who are forced to pay substantially more for sugar and sugar-containing products. Although we do not have a sugar cane crop of any size in Missouri, we do have corn growers who produce a substantial amount of sweeteners. The Missouri corn growers do not create the environmental concerns as do the cane growers and they also make outstanding contributions to our alternative fuels industries and associated research. We will have to find common ground on effecting remedies for the problem. The Miller-Miller amendment does not gut or eliminate the sugar program. The amendment reduces the sugar price support rate and current incentives for overproduction. The amendment increases the penalties that big sugar processing plants must pay if they fail to repay government loans. It would make some modest reforms to make the program more market-oriented, and at the same time, promote conservation. I am in favor of most conservation aspects of the bill. Mr. Chairman, I must admit that I am troubled that the bill shows no concern for fiscal constraint. Most of us promised voters that we would protect the Social Security trust fund and Medicare funds. Let us vote for the Miller-Miller amendment. Let us refrain from passing several of the budget-busting programs without consideration of the overall budget. We need a farm bill that is responsible, and we need a bill in a form that we can vote for. I cannot vote for this bill in this form.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, like most of my fellow Americans, I am at a loss for the appropriate words to express how angry, how appalled and how deeply saddened I am about the violence that was committed against our country this week. And yet, I see acts of resolve and courage around me--the rescue workers risking and losing their lives, the long lines of blood donors, the American flags waving proudly from houses, from barns, from cars and from schools--I realize that no mere words can make the American commitment to freedom any stronger than it already is. This country was the target of a faceless, voiceless aggressor who stole the lives of thousands of innocent people but who now lacks the courage to stand up and tell us who they are or why they did what they did. But let this enemy rest assured that we are not a nation in hiding and have not become the victim of helplessness or fear. Rather, we are a country that is finding tremendous strength from some deep place in our collective spirit, and that strength will take us in the coming days, weeks and months where we as a nation need to go. As for the thousands of people who lost loved ones in this senseless tragedy, I wish I could personally speak to each one, shake their hands and tell them what heroes they and their loved ones are in this country's eyes. But they probably already know that. If not yet--they will in time. There is one thing I can say with certainty and that is this: America is on the threshold of change. It will never be the same, and as I personally mourn and grapple with frustration and sift through the rubble of what happened all around me, I am also prouder to be an American that I have ever been in my life.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Madam Speaker, let me thank the distinguished gentleman from California for yielding the time. Today, as we consider improving our relations with the country of Vietnam, we must not overlook our longstanding commitment to human rights in our global relationships. In recent months, the Government of Vietnam has significantly increased its suppression of religious and personal freedoms within its borders. The regime has imprisoned scores of religious leaders, mostly Christians, who have courageously spoken out against their government's repressive actions, and it has caused hundreds more to flee into Cambodia to avoid imprisonment. Still other Vietnamese religious leaders are currently under government-ordered house arrest, effectively cutting off contact with their parishioners and congregations. In addition to its actions against free expression and religious activities, the Vietnamese Government has also confiscated church properties, where in some cases they have turned church sanctuaries into state-run nightclubs. In light of these continued crackdowns on religion, dissidents and minorities, Congress must make it clear to the Vietnamese Government that in order for the U.S. and Vietnam to have a closer relationship, they must do more to improve their human rights record. The Viet Nam Human Rights Act, H.R. 2833, seeks to establish such human rights safeguards. H.R. 2833 would prohibit any increase in nonhumanitarian assistance to the Vietnamese Government unless there is clear progress on human rights on their part. It would also authorize $2 million to help promote human rights and democratic change within Vietnam and support additional Vietnamese refugee resettlement. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2833.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Reclaiming my time, that is what the census is about, how we actually count those in the different communities. As the gentleman said, local governments and community groups want to know how many people actually exist in their communities.

Mr. CLAY. I yield to the gentlewoman from New York.

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Chairman, I stand in support of the Maloney-Rangel amendment to improve the count of Hispanics in the 2000 census. This issue is a very simple one: the Census Bureau changed the question on Hispanic origin from the 1990 questionnaire to a different format on the 2000 questionnaire. As a result, it is difficult to compare the count from some of the subgroups of Hispanics. The Census Bureau can go a long way towards fixing this problem using data from the long form. This amendment makes sure the money to fix this problem is in the right place. I am a bit puzzled by those who oppose this amendment. I am, frankly, a bit puzzled about why the Census Bureau has not come up with a plan to fix this problem. Do these people not care about an accurate count on Hispanic groups? Mr. Chairman, the Census Bureau director, Ken Pruitt, went around the country talking to the American people about how the census was an American celebration. He called it a celebration of our country and our democracy. The census, he told us, is what makes our democracy uniquely American. The American people listened to the director and responded in an unprecedented fashion. I do not know of a single person in this House or professional census taker or statistician who predicted that the 2000 census would have the kind of response we witnessed. Now it is the Government's turn to respond to the people. The numbers for some of the Hispanic groups do not make sense because the Census Bureau changed the question, and the new question changed the way people answered. What is more, the problem can be fixed. Now is the time for the Census Bureau to show its thanks to the American people for their part in making this one of the best censuses ever by producing the best data ever. The Census Bureau can do the work, and we here in this House can provide the funds to make that happen, or we can turn our backs on the American people and take their cooperation for granted. If we defeat this amendment, we will be telling the American people that they were taken, once again, by their government and this House of Representatives, for granted.

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. (Mr. CLAY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CLAY. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. CLAY. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I support the Maloney-Kucinich amendment to provide the funds necessary for a special report on the counts from a Census 2000 program called the Service Based Enumeration. One of the significant improvements in the 2000 census was the way the Census Bureau reached out to local governments to improve the census count. This was good for the census and good for the communities. Nowhere was that partnership more evident than in the effort to count people who during the census had no usual place to live. Some of those people were sleeping in shelters. Some were sleeping on the street. Some were sleeping in cars or in buildings that the Census Bureau considered vacant, and the census counted those people at soup kitchens and mobile food vans. To make this count of a special population happen, local governments and community groups donated time, energy and money to the census. In some communities, counting this special population was a major undertaking. In others, it was a modest effort. Most communities worked with the Census Bureau to make this count happen. In 1990, Congress worked with the Census Bureau to assure that any time the street and shelter counts were published they were accompanied with the appropriate caution that these numbers should not be taken as a count of the homeless. That was a successful cooperative effort, and to my knowledge those numbers have not been misused. Nonetheless, some of the groups who advocate on behalf of the homeless worry that the publication of the 2000 census numbers from the street and shelter count will be misused. Consequently, the Census Bureau included those counts with other categories in a way so they could not be separated out. The acting director of the Census Bureau told me that these numbers would be published in a separate report this fall. This amendment will provide the resources necessary for that special report, and I applaud the Census Bureau for taking this approach. I am sure that this report will contain the same cautions as 1990. These data should not be used as a count of the homeless. At the same time, the special report will give local governments and community groups a way of evaluating their efforts. We all realize that the 2000 census count is seriously flawed, but the only way to improve on that count is to make it public and to enlist the efforts of all involved in improving those data in the next census. Mr. Chairman, I ask my colleagues to support this amendment so we can continue to improve uncounted persons with no usual place to live. We cannot bury our heads in the sand and pretend this problem does not exist.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation to provide a technical clarification of the bill enacted last December to reform HUD's regulation of manufactured housing. Last year, we labored mightily and successfully to enact long overdue changes to HUD's regulation of manufactured housing. That legislation strengthened consumer protections by authorizing national manufactured housing installation standards and by creating a process for dispute resolution to deal with manufactured housing defects. It also streamlined and updated the regulatory process. HUD regulation of manufactured housing is funded through fees levied on the industry. As part of last year's reform bill, we made HUD's use of such fees for regulatory purposes subject to appropriations in advance. The purpose of this was to enhance oversight of HUD regulation. However, due to negotiations on other issues, this authorizing legislation was not able to be enacted until December of last year, after the VA-HUD appropriations bill for the current fiscal year. Thus, a technical reading of this authorizing legislation might preclude the ability of HUD to use fees collected after December 27 of last year for HUD regulation of manufactured housing until an appropriations bill is enacted for the next fiscal year starting October 1. This potentially puts in jeopardy critical regulatory activities over the next few months. This was never the intent of the authorizing legislation. Therefore, the bill before us today, which passed the Senate by unanimous consent, would simply authorize HUD to use manufactured housing fees collected after December 27, 2000, for manufactured housing regulation, but only until such time as next year's VA-HUD appropriation bill is enacted. This allows HUD to continue important manufactured housing regulatory activities while remaining true to the intent of the authorizing legislation to subject such fees in the future to the appropriations process for oversight purposes. I therefore urge support for this noncontroversial legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer my comments and warmest congratulations on the retirement of my friend, Wayman F. Smith III, who is leaving his position as Vice President of Corporate Affairs for the Anheuser Busch Corporation after 20 years of dedicated service. Throughout his life, Wayman Smith has remained a committed public servant who has made it his life's work to expand opportunity and raise the aspirations of African Americans in both his native St. Louis and our country as a whole. As a young man during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Wayman made the dangerous journey through the segregated South to help register African American voters as part of the NAACP Voter Registration Project. Later in the Sixties, Wayman entered the political arena and was elected to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, where he served for twelve years. He also served four years on the Board of Police Commissioners for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Wayman Smith began his high school years in the 1950s at the segregated Summer High School in St. Louis, but later transferred to and graduated from Soldan High School following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Brown vs. Board of Education. After completing his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, Wayman later went on to earn his Juris Doctorate degree from Howard University School of Law. Following his graduation from law school, Wayman became a partner in the law firm of Wilson, Smith, McCullin and Smith and later served as a judge in the St. Louis Metropolitan Court and served as the director of the Conciliation for the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. During the last twenty years, Wayman has served as Vice President of Corporate Affairs for the Anheuser Busch Corporation, where he has been credited with building positive and economically productive relationships between Anheuser Busch and the African American community. Under Wayman's leadership, Anheuser Busch's Corporate Affairs Department expanded its Minority Purchasing Program initiative from less than $1 million to nearly $200 million. As a result, the Anheuser Busch Corporation today holds the honorable distinction of having done business with every African American, Hispanic and women- owned financial institution in the nation. Additionally, his department has raised over $160 million for the United Negro College Fund and he founded the ``Budweiser Jammin' for Education Fund'' a major provider of college scholarship funds for our nation's urban youth. Literally hundreds of organizations have benefited greatly from Wayman's assistance, including the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which received a direct contribution from Wayman Smith to help pay off the mortgage on its Washington, D.C. headquarters. In addition to his professional responsibilities, Wayman Smith has always been a leader in community involvement. He founded and chairs the African American Initiative for the United Way: a program that has raised millions of dollars for worthwhile charities in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area. Wayman is also Chairman of the Board of Regents for one of our nation's historically black educational institutions, Harris-Stowe State College, and serves on the Howard University Board of Trustees where he is also Chairman Emeritus. Wayman Smith also participates on the boards of the St. Louis Gateway Classic Foundation, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Rankin Technical College, the NAACP Special Contributions Fund, and the United Way of Greater St. Louis. Now after twenty years at the corporate helm, Wayman plans to enjoy his early retirement from Anheuser Busch by returning to his first love, private legal practice. This summer, Wayman will rejoin his brother, Christopher M. Smith, Sr. and six other attorneys in the Smith Partnership in St. Louis, where he will continue to represent Anheuser Busch as well as other national and international interests. It is my pleasure and honor to recognize Wayman F. Smith III, for the many contributions he has made on behalf of his beloved City of St. Louis, his community and his nation.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to share some very happy news about the St. Louis Housing Authority. Just two short years ago, the St. Louis Housing Authority had the distinction of holding the worst federal ranking--14.25 out of 100--of any big city housing authority and the Department of Housing and Urban Development was threatening to take over the agency. But then, fortunately, Cheryl Lovell was named Executive Director of the agency and good things began to happen. Last month, the St. Louis Housing Authority achieved a federal ranking of 70.3 and by all accounts things are improving for the residents of St. Louis public housing. I commend Cheryl Lovell for her dedication and achievement and would like to share the following article ``City Housing Raises Its Grades'' which appeared in the St. Louis Post Dispatch on June 13, 2001. [From the St. Charles County Post, June 14, 2001] Affordable Housing Options Will Be Studied (By Ralph Dummit) A consultant has been selected to conduct a study in St. Charles County on the availability of affordable housing. The consultant is Paul Dribin, who served for several years as an official in the St. Louis office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Dribin Consulting was picked by St. Charles County Executive Joe Ortwerth from among five or six applicants for the $45,000 contract. Social service workers across the county have sought answers to the question of available housing for low-income residents for many years. They have contended that not only is it difficult for poor families to rent houses but that affordable houses for sale to the poor are in limited supply. They are concerned that development is geared more to large houses on large lots than to building houses or apartments in a more modest price range. Dribin is no stranger to housing matters in St. Charles County. The Farms apartment complex off Kisker Road had been a property insured and subsidized by HUD when neighbors began to complain about its poorly maintained and rundown condition. As a HUD official in St. Louis at that time, Dribin sought to solve the problem at The Farms. He was able to acquire $8 million from HUD to repair the project and got a voluntary deed from the owners in lieu of foreclosure, then conveyed the property to St. Charles County. Today, the property--now called Sterling Heights--is well maintained and provides affordable housing to dozens of families. In previewing his job for the county, Dribin wrote that the problems of affordable housing are increasing in rapidly growing areas such as St. Charles County. Most residents are benefiting from the expanding economy, but ``the working poor are finding housing options more limited.'' Dribin may rely on Development Strategies Inc., to gather census data for his study. The county had hired Development Strategies after the Flood of 1993 to study ways to provide replacement housing for the hundreds of people left homeless by the flood. Dribin said that after the census figures are analyzed, he will prepare a comprehensive report ``detailing the housing conditions and the overall need for affordable housing'' in the county. Further, based on the identified needs of the community, Dribin will present to the County Council ``a detailed proposal outlining alternative strategies for implementing an affordable housing policy.'' The consultant added, ``Forming a housing authority is only one option in a range of public and private sector alternatives to address (the county's) housing needs.'' Dribin expects to have an initial report completed by mid- August and to issue a completed report by the end of September. Recently, business leaders have joined in voicing concern about providing more affordable housing for their employees. Gregory D. Prestemon, president of the county's Economic Development Center, said late last year that he had heard from almost all of the county's larger employers ``that they see a need for housing to fit the needs of people of all income levels.'' Ortwerth has told the County Council that although state law authorizes a county housing authority--such as the one in the city of St. Charles--to construct, acquire, lease or operate housing complexes, that is not his goal. Ortwerth said a county housing authority should concentrate on working with the private sector to promote the construction of affordable housing. He contends that such housing can be built so that it will maintain its value and does not depreciate the value of other residential properties in a community. One purpose of studying the county's housing needs is to qualify under state statutes to form a county housing authority. Earlier, Ortwerth had hoped such an authority might be able to take over the voucher program administered by the North East Community Action Corp., also known as