Yvette Clarke

Ms. CLARKE

Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the business in order under the Calendar Wednesday rule be dispensed with on Wednesday next.

Ms. CLARKE

Ms. CLARKE. Madam Speaker, today I introduce the National Preparedness Month Resolution, which recognizes that the month of September is designated as National Preparedness Month. This measure applauds the public servants at Department of Homeland Security for their outstanding contributions to our Nation's homeland security and encourages citizens around the world to continue to prepare themselves and their families for acts of terrorism, natural disasters and other emergencies. It has been 7 years since the horrific terrorist attacks against the United States and its people on September 11, 2001. Our Nation continues to heal from the terrible losses that we suffered and our Government remains vigilant against those who attacked us. Yet, while our Nation is fortunate that law enforcement agents and emergency response providers have successfully worked hard to prevent any further attacks, we are still vulnerable. We know that precious lives and critical infrastructure continue to be targeted across the world as evidenced by various suicide bombings in recent years. Terrorism remains prevalent and we must always be prepared both at home and abroad. I am pleased to have so many members serving as cosponsors to this bill. As we all know, preparedness is not a partisan matter--terrorists do not select their victims by political party. Therefore, we must all support the message that families be prepared for emergencies should they occur. If a disaster--whether large or small--occurs in a community, local responders and disaster-relief organizations will be there to help, but citizens need to be ready as well. That is why the Department of Homeland Security has designated the month of September each year as National Preparedness Month. The Department and its key stakeholders will spend the month promoting the importance of being prepared and, most importantly, how to be prepared in our communities across the country. As we all know, when individual citizens, families and communities are prepared, the fear, anxiety, and loss that accompany disasters is substantially minimized. It is imperative that citizens know what to do in the event of an emergency and be ready either to shelter in place or to evacuate their homes. People must be ready to care for their basic needs for a minimum of 72 hours should they be displaced for a period of time. And as our Nation continues to glean lessons from catastrophic events such as the September 11th terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Government must ensure that preparedness efforts help our Nation's most vulnerable populations. Recent wildfires, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes have given us the opportunity to observe whether those lessons have since been corrected. In closing, let me say that I applaud the hard work and dedication of the public servants within the Department of Homeland Security in their effort to protect our Nation. Further, I encourage our citizens to make sure their families are vigilant, alert, and prepared for emergencies, and recommend visiting the Web site www.ready.gov, which might greatly assist them in this process. I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution.

Ms. CLARKE

Ms. CLARKE. To my colleague and very good friend, Kendrick Meek, I want to thank you for picking up the mantle. I know that Stephanie is watching us and is a part of all that is taking place. Mr. Speaker, I rise in honor of the distinguished woman from Ohio, and I still can't believe that she has transitioned. I have taken the Congresswoman's passing somewhat personally. You have heard many of the Members speak about their relationship with her and the pet names or nicknames that she had for them. Well, mine was Baby Girl. My sister, friend, mentor, Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones, to the Representative of the 11th Congressional District of Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio, from the 11th Congressional District of New York, Brooklyn, New York, I love you. Stephanie Tubbs Jones was the consummate public servant. As a new Member-elect to the 110th session of Congress, one of the very first persons to embrace me on the Hill was Stephanie Tubbs Jones. She opened her office, her office staff to helping me to adjust to Washington, to select my staff, and to share with me what her transition had been as she reflected back on becoming a member here in Congress 10 years previously. I had the privilege to have been mentored by her, and the one thing I can say is that she was one determined diva. We danced together, we shopped together, we drove together. Three things that I know that she loved to do, dance, shop, and drive. As a matter of fact, she shared with me the fact that if I loved to drive, then I have got to put my staff under reins and get me a car and do my thing, because that is what she had to do. She worked hard, she played hard, she loved hard. She was proud to represent the people of Cleveland, and she loved her family. She simply adored her son and wanted the very best for him in this life, Mervyn, Jr. She was an inspiration in my life. She loved her country, and she fought for our people every day with an abiding commitment to their struggles. When Stephanie entered any venue, the chemistry changed, and the atmosphere immediately acknowledged her presence. Her history, a trailblazer, a fighter for women's rights, women's health, civil rights, civil liberties, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones was always on the move for justice and equality. And I learned so much from this woman, and I just feel privileged to have had her as my mentor. She dedicated much of her life in service to others. She has bequeathed to us a legacy and an imperative for me to do the same. To Mervyn, Jr., to Barbara, to the Tubbs Jones family, to her constituents in Ohio, to her staff in Ohio, to her staff here in Washington, may the love of God be a comfort to you in this time of our bereavement. Bon voyage, my sweet sister. See you in that great getting-up morning. Fare thee well.

Ms. CLARKE

Ms. CLARKE. As a Caribbean American woman and a Member of Congress, it's my hope that we can continue to improve our diplomatic and economic relationships and arrangements with many of our neighbors in the Caribbean region, such as Haiti, the Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica and other Caribbean nations. The Caribbean communities, known as CARICOM, have worked with their citizen ambassadors in the American Caribbean diaspora to develop a diversified economy that is favorable to foreign direct investment from the United States and human resource and intellectual capital from the region. As such, the Caribbean nations have cooperated on tax enforcement matters, transparency and exchange for information with the United States. These Caribbean nations are also strategic partners and assist the United States' counter transnational terrorism activities, crime and illegal narcotics importation. These contributions and importance of the Caribbean region to the United States is reflected in the millions of people who contribute to acknowledge the pride heritage of the region by way of the Caribbean Carnival styled parades and festivities that occur across this Nation.

Ms. CLARKE. First, I would like to thank Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the lead sponsor on this legislation, for her ongoing commitment and diligence in championing such an important resolution. She has served as a true advocate for national recognition of Caribbean people and their descendants in the United States. I also want to thank Congressman Higgins for his leadership and his support and management of this resolution to the floor today. As a second generation Caribbean American, American by birth, Caribbean by parentage, specifically Jamaican, I am proud to be a cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 364. National Caribbean Heritage Month is for the millions of Caribbean people and their American descendants, an affirmation and much deserved recognition of their role and contribution to the growth and development of our Nation, as well as the region within this hemisphere from which these Americans, like myself, have come. Caribbean American Heritage Month was created to herald the unique historic relationship between the people of the Caribbean region and the United States and the many great contributions they have made to our country. For centuries now, Caribbean Americans have fortified this great Nation. Alexander Hamilton, born 1755 in the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, was the first Caribbean American from New York to serve in this body, then known as the Continental Congress. He has held numerous cabinet positions, including Secretary of State. Another influential New Yorker of Caribbean ancestry, Colin Powell, also held the position of Secretary of State in more recent times. As it relates to my district, I must mention the late, great Caribbean American of Barbadian and Guyanese ancestry, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, who worked in the Congress from 1969 to 1983 and was the first black woman to run for President of our Nation. Ms. Chisholm paved the way for me to serve in this body, second in the line of succession in the same constituency that she once served.

Ms. CLARKE

Ms. CLARKE. The challenges that they faced served as the brainchild for this legislation. I ask my colleagues to join me in the restoration of civil liberties, creating a truly fair, accurate, secure and timely redress process. I ask them to join me in support of the bipartisan bill, H.R. 4179, the FAST Redress Act of 2008.

Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Lungren, nearly everyone in the homeland security community agrees that having a single comprehensive list of terrorist suspects is an important tool in keeping America safe. However, there are flaws in how the terrorist watch list is maintained and used. Perhaps the biggest problem is that every single day, countless Americans are misidentified as terrorists. These errors most commonly occur when an innocent person's name happens to be similar to one listed in the database. This results in wasted time, both for law enforcement, because they're using resources investigating innocent people, and for the general public who face the prospect of being wrongly detained and possibly altogether prevented from going about their business. Most commonly, this affects air travelers who are screened against the watch list more often than anyone else. Currently, each time a reservation is made, airlines must determine whether a customer is a potential match based on information they receive from our government. Every day, thousands of people are pulled aside, required to go through special procedures, detained, or even denied boarding altogether, at great cost to frustrated travelers who miss flights, which ruins plans, and at great cost to companies which depend on business travel whose employees miss meetings and lose productivity. Because of the terrorist watch list that is being used for screening agencies, many people other than domestic air travelers have also been impacted by misidentifications. Some of these people include international travelers delayed or denied entry to the country by CBP; potential foreign visitors denied visas by the State Department, and other workers, port workers who have been incorrectly denied a transportation worker identification card, which is now required to work at a port facility in the United States. In the future, this will likely become a greater issue, as more potentially sensitive activities are tied to screening against the watch list. In 2007, TSA attempted to address this issue by initiating a redress process called DHS TRIP. But this program has multiple problems, and its scope is limited just to air travelers. Because of the program's limitations, many travelers go through the process only to find they are again misidentified as terrorists in the future. The FAST Redress Act solves this problem by granting DHS the tools to create a department-wide Office of Redress and Appeals, a one-stop shop for any individual who feels they are being incorrectly identified as a terrorist whenever they have contact with our government. Using the Office of Redress, people can voluntarily submit to our government and be put into a single comprehensive cleared list, ensuring they will avoid future misidentification when dealing with any Department entity. This bill also allows the Secretary to enter into intergovernmental memorandums of understanding so this cleared list can be used by all government screening entities. This bill will greatly streamline the process for the countless people who, just because of their names, are regularly misidentified as a terrorist, creating a single, high visible office within our government for everyone who wants to clear their names. I'm very thankful to Chairman Thompson and Ranking Member King, along with TS&IP Chairwoman Jackson-Lee and Ranking Member Lungren for recognizing the importance of this issue and their great bipartisan efforts pushing the FAST Redress Act forward. I also thank the staff on both sides of the Homeland Security Committee for their hard work and the time they put into this bill. Further, since introduction, this bill has received the strong support of the National Business Travel Association, who recognize its benefits for the business travel community. I thank them for their support which remains instrumental as we continue to make this bill law. Finally, I'd like to thank the people of Central Brooklyn that filed into my district office week after week seeking relief after being misidentified against the watch list.

Ms. CLARKE

Ms. CLARKE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to enter into the Record two newspaper articles illustrating the dire financial state the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is in at the present moment. The first article is published in the New York Daily News by Frank Lombardi entitled: Eye Rent Spike, Shutdowns. The article affirms that NYCHA plans a rent increase for about 40,000 residents in order to reduce their budget deficit. NYCHA also plans to close all 280 community, youth, and senior centers in order to save money. The second article is published by the New York Times by Manny Fernandez entitled: Housing Cuts Are Proposed To Help Close Budget Gap. This article declares that NYCHA is making some of the steepest cuts in spending and personnel to reduce their shortfall in their operating budget. Today, the agency is looking at a $170 million deficit for 2008, which has halted more than 100 capital projects. But what is more staggering is that over 400,000 residents in 2,600 apartment buildings will be adversely affected by NYCHA's recent decisions. Many of these residents represent our nation's two most vulnerable demographics: senior citizens and youths. So eliminating all of the centers will result in losing many of the following programs that is essential to the growth, development, and progress for many living in public housing: community, educational and recreational programs; job readiness and training initiatives; day care and Head Start; sports, photography, painting, literacy classes and general education courses; computer training, arts and crafts, childcare feeding; and lunch, and senior companion initiatives. We must ensure that tenants do not become helpless victims of the recent state of financial affairs. I encourage my colleagues to support enhancing resources that can mitigate the struggles many public housing agencies such as the New York City Public Housing Authority is facing right now. [From the New York Daily News, May 30, 2008] Eye Rent Spike, Shutdowns (By Frank Lombardi) A brutal rent hike looms for 40,000 families living in subsidized city apartments as Housing Authority officials sprung a plan Thursday to close a gaping budget hole. The Draconian move, which includes closing all 280 community, youth and senior centers, was spelled out at a City Council hearing on the authority's $195.3 million deficit, which is also projected for the next four years. ``This is real. I'm going to have to be able to manage within our means.'' said Authority Chairman Tino Hernandez after the hearing. ``So unless there's some relief that comes from some level of government I'm going to have to move forward with these actions.'' They include: A second rent hike for some 40,000 families whose earnings require them to pay higher rents. Most tenants of the authority's 181,000 apartments pay a fixed rent capped at one-third of their income. The higher earners were hit two years ago with a 10% to 40% hike depending on income and now face hikes of 5% to 15%, to raise $45 million a year, beginning next year. Closing all of the Housing Authority's more than 100 senior centers and 158 youth and community centers. That would cause the layoff or retirement of 1,500 workers--for annual savings of $60 million. Diverting $75 million from the construction budget to cover operating expenses. Selling or renting authority property to private developers for market-rent uses. Details are still being formulated. The threatened actions will generate ``outrage'' among tenants, said Lisa Burriss. an organizer for the Public Housing Residents of the Lower East Side.

Ms. CLARKE

Ms. CLARKE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the subject of this Special Order.

Ms. CLARKE. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Texas for yielding and for posing that question because certainly Haitian Americans are very aware of the history, the role that they played in helping the United States acquire what was then called the Louisiana Territory that completed our United States and the side-by-side battle in the Revolutionary War. And they wonder why the relationship has not been a much more prosperous one between the two nations, why they have been forsaken over so long. Haiti has been an independent Nation for over 200 years, 205 years, to be exact, and certainly have been worthy of being a partner in the development in this hemisphere. And they are concerned. They are concerned that perhaps there is some bias involved, there's some discrimination because they're a Nation 95 percent of African descent, and they have been used during different times in our history to halt the spread of Communism. But they have never reaped any real reward or collaboration. I think we are all open now, understanding that we are connected. We are in a global economy, we are in a global world. As our prices spike, the impact has a ripple effect around the world, as we talk about food for fuel versus food for food, what the impact has been around the world. I think that is most demonstrably shown with the Nation of Haiti. And none of us can turn a blind eye to that. So I want to thank the gentlelady for raising that question. We are winding down now. To my cohost, thank you very much for, again, being a mentor and someone who provides guidance and understanding around some very complex issues with regard to why we do or do not do the things that we need to do, that are imperative for us to do in terms of our international relations, in terms of our hemisphere, in terms of just getting information permeated throughout the body to get a consensus on a way to go. I think we are well on the way. We have got some commitments so far. We want to be vigilant in our oversight and seeing them go through. But we do want to press for TPS. We know that that can be a real part of the economic sustainability of the Nation, which is critical, and while we come in with other strategies for immediate relief for the hunger that takes place.

Ms. CLARKE. Thank you very much, Congressman Al Green. Thank you for your impassioned comments this evening. I think it's important that when we speak of the need to build out our relationships around the world, that as we've travel to many regions around the globe, that we not neglect our own hemisphere, that we recognize that there are nations of people. And I think what's important to point out is that Haiti is a nation about the size of Maryland in terms of geographic size. It has 9.3 million people there. So when you hear the statistics quoted about the number of people in poverty, when you hear about the number of children in poverty, the percentage of people making $1 or $2 a day, put that in the context of a population of 9.3 million people, and then you get the sense of what we're talking about in terms of a humanitarian crisis. Let me now turn to the gentlewoman from Illinois, who has joined us and has been a fighter and one who has stood up and has produced on behalf of the Hunger Caucus and the people of Haiti, Ms. Jan Schakowsky.

Ms. CLARKE. Let me thank you, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, for your leadership, along with Chairwoman Kilpatrick, for seeing how important it was for us to be on the ground in Haiti as a delegation with a presence to bring some comfort and some hope to the nation that our eyes are not shut to the crisis that is taking place there, and that they do have friends, allies, and supporters here in the United States that will not forsake them, that that nation can know now that the United States' eyes are wide open. And as we see their fate go down, we know that it is our responsibility not to let it happen, and that we will be vigilant around the resource and support that is required to help Haiti to stand up and to go forward in the 21st century boldly and stronger than ever before. So I want to thank you again, Barbara Lee from California, for your ongoing commitment. I've come to this Congress to meet you and to see the work that you have been doing and just to join my voice in synchronization with you so that we can sing a louder song for the causes that you have championed even before I arrived here. Thank you. The gentleman from Texas, Al Green, you, too, were a part of our delegation. Thank you for joining us in this Special Order to talk about international hunger and the crises in Haiti.

Ms. CLARKE. Madam Speaker, moving from food for fuel to food for food, we come to the floor tonight to talk about the international food crisis. We're going to look at the causes and effects and possible solutions. We're also going to take a closer look at the situation in Haiti, a country that is only approximately 400 miles off our coast, our neighbor in the Western hemisphere, a country that is arguably one of the worst off in this global food crisis. There are many causes of the food crisis that we face now. Some of the causes are recent developments and others have been developing for years. This year we saw lower crop yields because of weather and global climate change. There is increased demand for processed foods from countries with growing middle classes like China and India. There's an increased demand for biofuels like ethanol, which is primarily made from corn. And in response to high commodity prices, a number of countries introduced export bans to preserve food for their own populations, while decreasing the world's supply. This graph illustrates the record-high food prices that brought on this crisis: Wheat prices up 81 percent in 2007; soybean prices up 71 percent in 2007. Rice, which feeds almost one-half of the world's population, its price increased 144 percent since January of this year. Corn prices shot up 24 percent since January of 2008, and the rise came right after this Congress passed a landmark energy bill requiring increased use of ethanol. The effects of this food crisis. We know that in the industrialized countries, food purchases accounts for 10 to 20 percent of consumer spending. However, in developing countries, that figure is more like 60 to 80 percent of consumer spending. People in poor countries already spend a much greater percentage of their incomes on food, and now they are forced to spend even more on food. This food crisis is pushing people into poverty and worsening the situation of those already living in poverty. The World Bank estimates that more than 100 million people will be pushed into poverty because of rising food prices. Rising food prices have led to food riots around the world, across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. In Pakistan and Thailand, troops are guarding farmers' crops. In Egypt, troops are baking bread for the thousands of people waiting in bread lines. The situation in Haiti. Haiti has the lowest, poorest standard of living in the Western hemisphere. About 80 percent of the Haitian population currently survives on less than $2 a day and survives on one meal a day. Most of Haiti's basic food commodities are imported, leaving the country especially vulnerable to fluctuating world commodity prices. Late last month, the perfect storm of high energy and oil costs and commodity expenses erupted in what has been described as food riots. Haiti's poorest have resorted to selling mud cakes, a mixture of mud, oil and sugar that quiets rumbling, hungry stomachs. Rising food prices threaten security in Haiti. Protests over the rising costs of food last month turned violent with six people killed, including a U.N. peacekeeper. High food costs in Haiti in part also led to political unrest, with the dismissal of Prime Minister Jacques Edouard-Alexis just recently. As we look at what is happening in Haiti today, it's a reminder to us that the economic climate of the United States, our ability and capacity to influence and impact commodities around the world have a ripple effect, and that what we do in the U.S. to secure ourselves, we must keep an eye to our neighbors in more vulnerable circumstances, such as the Nation of Haiti. We here in the U.S. Congress recently had a codel sponsored in part by the CBC to Haiti, and while there, we had an opportunity to talk about what we need to do to be supportive of our neighbor in the Western hemisphere. And one of the major concerns for me in this trip was just some of the issues and concerns that we as Americans have not been as educated about. For instance, were you aware that the average age in Haiti is under 50 years old; that the mortality rate is extremely high; that the age for mortality for most women is 56 years of age and for men, 52 years of age; that the average Haitian eats only one meal a day? These are issues that need to be of concern to us. Why is that? It needs to be of concern to us because certainly, as one of our closest neighbors, one of the democratic allies of the Western hemisphere, these conditions, if sustained over a long period of time, speak to a humanitarian crisis, speak to destabilization, not only of Haiti but of the entire region, which includes a border that is 400 miles away from the U.S. border. And so we here are looking at congressional action that will address this food crisis. One of the things that we have quickly moved to do in the Democratic Caucus is an emergency supplemental appropriation which was passed just last week which included $1.86 billion in funding for food aid in PL 480 programs, administered by the U.S.D.A. and USAID; $200 million in development assistance; $400 million for disaster assistance; and $20 million for the World Food Programme. The farm bill passed just last week also included provisions allowing the USAID to preposition more food overseas to respond to disaster faster; in addition, more money for non-emergency food aid, like development projects; increased discretionary funding for emergency food aid programs like Food for Peace and U.S. Agency for International Development to the tune of about $2.5 billion have also been expended; extension and expansion of Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act, or the HOPE Act, which provides for duty-free preferences for imports from Haiti. And then the Jubilee Act passed last month which would assist Haiti in its international debt load and recommends the immediate cancellation of Haiti's outstanding debts. Solutions for the food crisis. With respect to Haiti, we need to extend temporary protected status to Haitians in our country, allowing them to work legally here, enabling them to send remittances home. This is the most inexpensive form of aid we can grant to Haiti. When remittances are sent home, it forms about a quarter of Haiti's GDP at this point, and so we would be doing not only ourselves a service but a service to the people of Haiti and Haitian Americans here in our hemisphere. On the global level, we need to meet the immediate need including funding shortfalls of $755 million at the World Food Programme and $240 million at USAID, which this Congress has already begun to do. We need to strengthen our social safety nets like nutrition programs and school feeding sites to prevent future food security issues from reaching the crisis level. I've spoken to you already about the youth of Haiti and the fact that the population there is so very young. We need to be clear that malnutrition is running rampant, and if we really want to help Haiti to change course, we must start with their young, and we must be able to improve the opportunities for children to have access to nutritious meals. We need to increase agriculture development aid to assist developing countries in establishing their own agriculture infrastructure, so countries won't be so dependent on foreign supplies in the future. And that's a pretty complex scenario, because when we look at the way that our farm system has been set up in the United States, it has really created a paradigm where, due to the subsidies that we make to our farmers, it is actually less expensive for Nations abroad to purchase our rice than to grow and compete against the subsidized market. So we will have to find a balance there to enable farmers in Haiti to expand and to be prepared to export to other Nations and be able to compete at real prices with the production of rice in our country and other countries around the world. And finally, we need to significantly increase investments in agricultural research so our scientists can develop better crops that can withstand disease, drought and produce higher yields, and then deliver those crops to farmers around the world. I am just so honored to be joined this evening by a number of my colleagues who also attended the codel, some of whom are members of the CBC, some of whom are members of the Hunger Caucus here in Washington in the U.S. House of Representatives, and it is my pleasure at this time to yield to the gentlewoman from California, the Honorable Barbara Lee.

Ms. CLARKE. Our time has expired, my colleague. I just wanted to thank the Speaker for this Special Order on the international food crisis, subject Haiti. I would just acknowledge that we have received statements to this Special Order from Congressman James McGovern of Massachusetts to be entered into the Record, as well as Representative Pomeroy to be entered into the Record.

Ms. CLARKE. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky) for her breadth and depth of knowledge of the relationship that the United States has had with the Nation of Haiti and what we need to do to turn the tide around. It's a critical piece, and certainly as we look at our hemisphere going forward in the 21st century, what our expectations are for the development of not only the United States of America but our neighbors in the region, your words, your knowledge is going to be a critical part of what we are going to need going forward. And I thank you for taking the time to be a part of this Special Order. The people of the United States thank you for your commitment and certainly the people of my district who are really concerned about their family and their relations in Haiti. Thank you for your commitment, and we look forward to further conversation and collaboration on the issue of hunger internationally and specifically the rebirth and the regrooming of Haiti. And I would like to just point out life expectancy, again, for women in Haiti is 56 years old. Life expectancy for men in Haiti, 53 years old. It's amazing in the 21st century that less than 400 miles away from the United States of America, we have people dying in the prime of their life due to a lack of food, due to lack of opportunity. They can stand on the edge of their shores and see the bright lights of Florida shining across the seas, but they can't reach for that level of potential within their own boundaries and their own nation. And when we look at the relationships that we establish with other nations around the globe, one has to wonder why, with a nation the size of Maryland and the population of 9.3 million people, we haven't seen fit yet to establish the type of relationship that creates a symbiotic relationship, fertile land on a fertile island; yet people are starving. At this time I would like to acknowledge my cohost for this evening's Special Order. She is no stranger to most of us, to all of us. She has been an outstanding leader in this Congress and has been an outspoken leader, the most knowledgeable person that I have had an opportunity to interact with on international affairs, on homeland security, and has been a true mentor to me, and that's none other than the Congresswoman and the gentlewoman from Texas, the Honorable Sheila Jackson-Lee.

Ms. CLARKE

Ms. CLARKE. Madam Speaker, to the manager of this bill, Congressman Meeks, and to the sponsors of this bill, my colleagues, Congressman Towns, Congressman Frank, Congressman King, Congresswoman Velazquez, and Congresswoman Waters, I want to say thank you so much for having the vision and the foresight to work across the aisle to do a great service to not only the people of the city of New York, but to this Nation. Starrett City is the last bastion of federally subsidized housing developments of this nature in this Nation. And as we look at the challenge that it faces today, we are looking at a crisis head-on for affordable housing around this Nation. Our willingness to come together in the 11th hour to put a remedy in place speaks to our resilience and our ability to address challenges that we face in the 21st century. And as these concerns grow greater and greater and the housing crisis gets more and more in depth, with millions of moderate and low income families in peril's way, today's legislation, H.R. 5937, says that this Congress is willing to stand up and do something, and that we've been sent here to solve the problems that our communities are facing today. I want to congratulate Congressman Castle for standing forward today in a bipartisan way. It may seem to some that this is just a piece of legislation that will impact New York, but when we stand up for New York and Starrett City and Spring Creek, we're standing up for all Americans who are facing such peril.

Ms. CLARKE

Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, both the Washington Post and the New York Times reported that under the Bush administration the military has increasingly granted so-called ``conduct waivers'' to allow more people with criminal records, including drug convictions, to serve in the Armed Forces. As a matter of fact, conduct waivers granted for felonies and other crimes constitute the majority of all waivers, about 60 percent for the Army, and 75 percent for the Marine Corps. It is important to note that the vast majority of such convictions stem from juvenile offenses, but at the same time, a provision of the Higher Education Act, which Congress is currently in the process of reauthorizing, bars young people with drug convictions from receiving Federal financial aid to go to college. I find it absolutely alarming that the Bush administration seems to think that youth who are prone to youthful indiscretions and get into trouble with drug use are, on the one hand, not worthy of Federal support to obtain a college education, but on the other hand, are perfectly fit to go and to fight the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Because of what many have termed the ``Drug War Draft,'' countless students with minor drug convictions are turned away from the university financial aid office only to be funneled across the street to the military recruiting office. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with giving young people with past drug convictions an opportunity to redeem themselves in service to our country by joining the armed services, it is a moral outrage that current law blocks redemption through educational opportunities to these same individuals. When asked about the conduct waivers, the Army's Operations Chief Lieutenant General James Thurman stated, ``You've got to give people an opportunity to serve.'' Well, I thoroughly agree with the general, people should be able to contribute to this society in whatever way they best can, whether by enlisting in the military or by enrolling in school and obtaining the skills needed to become productive members of our workforce, our communities, and by extension, our Nation.

Ms. CLARKE

Ms. CLARKE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the importance of credit unions. As a member of a credit union, I am a true believer that people should help people; which are the credit unions' mission. Members know that during the economic downturn that we are currently facing right now, credit unions will always be there to serve their members to the best of their ability. Members who have accounts in a credit union are owners of the financial institution and they elect the board of directors in a one person-one vote system regardless of the amount of money invested in the institution. That means that credit unions are in fact an economic democracy; every customer is both a member and a shareholder. While this Nation is painfully suffering the current mortgage crisis, credit unions have displayed an outstanding record of service to both minority and low- to moderate-income mortgage applicants and have a long history of responsible mortgage lending. What is impressive to me, Madam Speaker, is that in 2006, credit unions approved an overwhelming 71 percent of applications from low- to moderate-income mortgage applicants. Furthermore, as a member of the House Committee on Small Business, these nonprofit, member-owned banking alternatives are attractive to many entrepreneurs because of the great lending rates and services they provide to them. For individual members, credit unions generally pay higher interest rates on deposits and charge lower interest rates on loans than banks while offering the same services such as savings accounts, checking accounts, credit cards, certificates of deposits, and online banking. So the fact that they provide competitive interest rates, fewer or no fees, and convenience makes so many members hold credit unions in such a high regard. Madam Speaker, credit unions are extremely vital to my hometown, New York City. Credit unions serve more New Yorkers living in low-income and underserved areas that are continually being abandoned by big corporate banks. I must point out that there are about 43,697 credit union members living in my district. In fact, there are 6 credit unions in the New York 11th Congressional District, which has 3,662 members and an asset value totaling more then $13 million dollars. Madan Speaker, I must note that what many people do not know is that more than \1/3\ of all credit union CEOs nationwide are women. Therefore Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing the tremendous contributions credit unions provide to so many communities throughout the country and provide any continued support to these financial institutions.

Ms. CLARKE

Ms. CLARKE. Would the gentlewoman yield a moment? It is an imperative. As I have said, since I've been on the Hill these past 15 months and have looked just about every crisis in the eye from mortgage foreclosure to the war in Iraq to you name it, education, health care, it all points back to the fact that we are at a specific juncture in our Nation's history that requires courage. And that means the courage to make the proper investments for the growth and development of our Nation. There is no more worthy an investment for us to make than in these children, than our children, our Nation's children. They will be inheriting from us a millstone around their ankles if we don't do right by them today. With the challenges that we are facing in terms of the debt build-up in this Nation, it is going to take a whole group of really smart people, really intelligent folk, who use the ingenuity of who we are as Americans to take us to the next level. That investment starts now. You can't invest it in me. It's too late for me. The investment is in our children. So I thank the gentlelady again. This is a very important special order that we are here, we are at the advent of the Week of the Young Child and that we are speaking out for those families that don't have a voice here, that don't have the high-paid lobbyists, that are really working every day, and they come home, they hug their babies and they just want an opportunity for that baby to succeed. In many instances, those children are struggling like salmon swimming upstream in environments that are less than wholesome. And were they to be in an early childhood education setting, they would be sure to get a nutritious meal every day. They would have a loving caregiver that also is there to stimulate the growth of the intellect and the brain. And that is why these dollars that are requested, which are really not breaking the bank by any means, are so critical and can reap such dividends in the long run if we do right by them today.

Ms. CLARKE. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Florida, Ms. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, for her leadership on this issue, and at the advent of the Week of the Young Child, that we would take this time to really put things in focus. You know, every time I go home to my district on the weekends there is a particular constituent of mine that no matter where he sees me, we say something to each other. He started this when I was running for office. And he said to me, ``Yvette, if you ever get elected, remember the children.'' Every time I run into the gentleman, he says the same thing to me over and over, and now that's how we greet each other: ``Remember the children.'' And while we're going through all of the challenges that we are facing in day-to-day life as adults, remembering the children is probably the most poignant message that we could give to this administration and, quite frankly, give to our constituencies and to this Nation. The investment we make in our youngest, most vulnerable today will be the difference in where this Nation will be in the next decade, the next score, the next 100 years. And the short-sightedness for so long in providing the real resource and support that our families need, that our parents need, that our mothers need, to give their children really what I believe they should be entitled to, because as you've stated already this evening, the science point to it. The earlier that we begin the education process for our children, the more advantaged they are. In communities of color, that means closing the gap, the achievement gap. We know this. It's well documented. Science backs it up. Yet the will, the will to really address this issue is really what we are addressing this evening. And when we think about the fact that we were innovative enough to know that creating a Child Care and Development Block Grant was important, that's fluff with no substance when there's no funding to it. And I have been very fortunate. I kind of grew up in the day care movement. Many people know my mother as a former councilwoman. But even prior to that, she started her career, one part of her career, let me put it that way, because she is the renaissance woman, but one of my earliest recollections of my mom and the work that she did was being a teacher's aide in a classroom in an early childhood education center. Some people call them day care centers. But I saw the certified teachers in the classroom. I saw the nutritious meals, the educational curricula that were developed just for these students. So I know better. I know that these are early childhood education. She worked her way up from being a teacher's aide to an assistant teacher and then to a full class teacher. She then went on to become a day care director and then became a supervisor of several day care centers within our city's extensive child care system. So the thousands, if not tens of thousands of lives that I've seen personally touched by an early childhood education experience, we can't put a dollar figure on it. These are young people who I run into today that say, ``I used to go to your mom's day care; I'm now a doctor.'' ``I used to in your mom's day care; I'm now a teacher.'' ``I used to be in your mom's day care; can I write you a check?'' I'm like, all right, that's really worth it. That's really worth it. And I make light of it, but it's really up to us, the 110th Congress, to really push the envelope where this is concerned. This is where the rubber meets the road. We find ourselves in some really challenging times when it comes to workforce, workforce demands, the individuals who will be future employees. And we have talked about the challenge of our public school systems and truly adequately educating our students and our scholars when we have this opportunity right now to make it clear that we do stand for the education of our children. We do stand for providing for young children this opportunity to get that head start in life.

Ms. CLARKE. It really is, if the gentleman will yield.

Ms. CLARKE. I think it's a very important point because one of the challenges that our very extensive public day care system is experiencing in the city of New York is the stress between being a certified teacher in the public day care center, the salaries received there, versus maybe a couple more course credits and going into the straight into the public schools that calling for more teachers, more qualified teachers, certified teachers, and so we see a bleeding of the system. We went through a very extensive time of advocacy, activism to really mobilize for early childhood education, for day care, for working parents, for working mothers, and now we are seeing an erosion, all a reaction to a lot of what we have seen in terms of the cuts. So in New York City, where we have had this longstanding system of over 330 day care centers throughout the five boroughs that employ almost 6,000 caregivers, we're seeing day care closings. And that doesn't mean the demand is gone. The demand continues. The waiting list continues in perpetuity. There will be some children who won't get this opportunity. They will be disadvantaged.

Ms. CLARKE. That's right.

Ms. CLARKE. That's right. So there are some real challenges that we have to look squarely in the eye. And we have to ask ourselves what about the children? How are we preparing ourselves to sacrifice as a society to make sure that in 10 years, in 20 years, in 30 years, we are one of the most competitive nations in the world? We're struggling with those answers and trying to balance it all out now, but it begins with an investment that we make in our young. And what we are seeing in terms of these cuts and in terms of the rhetoric coming from the Bush Administration do not bode well, notwithstanding all of what we hear about his care and his concern for the families of our Nation. Put the money for the mouth is. That's what I say. Put the money where the mouth is. We want to expand and institutionalize early childhood education so that the United States is, indeed, the most competitive when it comes to development of our scientists and development of our engineers and development of those who will have to compete globally as our economy continues to morph with young scholars coming from other nations who have decided, notwithstanding their GDPs, to invest in the education of their children. And so I just wanted to stop in and share some of my experience with you, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, and to say to my colleagues that we have to stand up. This is a critical issue, and as we reflect on the week of the young child, it is important that we not forget that they come from a community of families, and those families are struggling. They need to be able to be at the job on time. They need to be able to know that their children are safe and in a wholesome environment while they are at work. And that's what these child care centers and these early childhood education environments create for the children and for their parents: a sense of relief and a sense of well-being both for the child and the family.

Ms. CLARKE. Would the gentlewoman yield a moment? Just think about the mobility of a family that is unable to have their child care subsidized, the time that it will take for them to be able to gain firm footing once their children now get into public schools. And then the challenges they may face with learning deficits, quite frankly, because there are children of means who are being given an opportunity to be in stimulating learning environments when some working class parents just can't afford it. And without the support that we can give, we are really handicapping. We are really tying the arms of these families and these communities. And we know that if we just give people a chance in this society, they can make the best of it. And that can make a difference from one generation to the next.