Danny Davis

Mr. DAVIS

Mr. DAVIS. I yield to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman. We appreciate the gentleman's sensitivity to the issue. I also want to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush) for joining me in this amendment.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush).

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. It seems to me that here we are once again, the same old wine with a new bottle; the same lemon, just a new twist; the same target, the poor, a new weapon: Take away not just legal representation, but take away hope, take away faith, take away belief in a system. Take away the idea that you, too, can receive justice, notwithstanding the size of your wallet or your pocketbook or your purse. There is a legal assistance office down the hall from my district office, and I see people go in with their heads down, wondering what is going to happen. But then I see them turn around and leave, and they are walking differently. They now have hope. They have spoken with an attorney. They have spoken to someone who seemed to understand their plight, to know what they are going through, to know what it is all about. I have seen people in Housing Court, no lawyer, no attorney, wondering what is going to happen. I have seen them in Juvenile Court. No attorney, no lawyer, not knowing. I say to my colleagues today that we have an opportunity to reverse a trend. Rather than attack the poor, let us give aid and comfort to the development of our judicial system by helping everybody in this country know that they, too, can receive justice. Let us vote in favor of the amendment and extend justice to all.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, there has been a lot of discussion obviously on this issue. But the reality is that I agree with those who say the budgeting process has become convoluted. It has even gotten a little bit dirty. But this amendment reminds me of the instance where one throws the baby out with the bath water. The baby is the census in this case. While we need to clean up the process, we do not need to do it at the expense of the census. We need the census money. I oppose the amendment.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I am opposed to corporate welfare. I am opposed to giving away taxpayers' money. I am even opposed to fattening fat cats. But I am not opposed to stimulating business growth and development in sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest region of the world. I am not opposed to saying that in order to facilitate the development of opportunity in areas that unless there was some private investment, nothing would happen. And so while generally I would be on the other side of an issue like this one, but because of the need in areas of the world for business development, I find myself in opposition to this amendment because I want to see Africa have an opportunity to grow and develop, and I support investment in countries like sub-Saharan Africa. I oppose the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment to prohibit any funds for new projects by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Cutting OPIC's administrative budget will hurt our nation's 22 million small businesses who export directly or by contract to other countries. Specifically, cutting funds would cut what little business assistance sub Saharan Africa, the poorest region of the world receives. During this decade OPIC has increased its effectiveness in helping Africa. For instance, OPIC has currently four privately managed investment funds available to support investment in Africa. These programs focus on mining, manufacturing, broadcasting, information technology and I hope to see soon healthcare. The point I am trying to make here is that if we cut OPIC'S budget we would hurt small business, decrease our nation's exports, and cut jobs. For the past three years, OPIC's budget has been effectively frozen. We already have this organization working on a shoestring budget. OPIC is not a giveaway program, it is not a subsidy and it is not general assistance. It is not corporate welfare. This is an investment and I might add, an investment that is paying off. OPIC projects have generated $58 billion in U.S. exports and created more than 237,000 U.S. jobs. I must confess that I am at a loss to understand how or why we would want to cut funding for an effort that is producing results, and effectively carrying out its mission. Why would you cut the budget on an agency whose budget is funded from user fees? Why prevent new investments? Why eliminate $9 billion in trade and investment in sub Saharan Africa? Why eliminate $4 billion in hurricane rebuilding resources in Central America and the Caribbean? Why undercut private sector rebuilding initiatives for the war torn Balkans? There is no reason to, and there is no reason to support this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I have always been told, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! OPIC is not broke, let's not try to fix it.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Payne amendment. Mr. Chairman, the UN World Food Program (WFP) last Tuesday expressed fears of a ``worsening humanitarian crisis'' in southern Sudan, resulting from the inability to transport food to those who need it. This ban has made most of the region inaccessible to relief agencies trying to deliver urgent humanitarian assistance to some 150,000 people. Mr. Chairman, the funds appropriated by this amendment which is more than $4,000,000 will be used for rehabilitation and economic recovery in areas of Sudan which have endured many hardships due to their religious and political beliefs. These funds will help support education, crop growth and other needs necessary for the basic existence of these people. Mr. Chairman, this is a humane, well thought out, gesture offered by the gentleman from New Jersey and I urge all Members to support this amendment.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. India is the world's largest democracy, and I agree that she is not a perfect nation. But I really do not know any perfect nations. India is a young democracy, much younger than our very own. We still have problems with human rights in America. But India is moving, moving positively and progressively to try and overcome some of the difficulties of a country that has been colonized, a country steeped in poverty, a country that is seeking, working, struggling to overcome. Let us not take them back. Let us help them, not hurt them. There is an old African proverb that says ``When elephants fight, the grass gets hurt.'' Well, India will be hurt, 950 million of them. Let us help them, not hurt them. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of India and against the Burton amendment. Today, India is the world's largest democracy with 950 million people. For half a century India has struggled to overcome colonialism, religious and ethnic conflicts and all of the problems of underdevelopment. India has made tremendous progress in trying to address its human rights problems. India has instituted a process to receive complaints, initiate investigations of all claims, and passed laws to take action against those officials and members of security forces that have committed human rights offenses. The Burton amendment would eliminate U.S. assistance to help sustain these achievements. Mr. Chairman, I know that India is not a perfect country. However, and perhaps unfortunately, there are none, or at the very least, none that I am aware of. Even in our own country, one whose democracy is much older, one that is more technologically advanced, we are still trying to form a more perfect union and so is India. So why, why reduce or cut funding to the world's largest democracy? Why cut funds to a nation that is working hard and struggling to pull itself out of the depths of poverty and despair? Why cut back and or cut out the progress that is being made? W.E.B. Dubois is reported to have once said, when asked about the lack of progress being made by African Americans towards becoming a part of mainstream America, Dubois is reported to have said that ``a people so deprived should not be expected to race with the wind,'' perhaps one could say that a young democracy like India should not be expected to progress at a much faster pace. They are making progress in the human rights arena, but have not quite gotten there yet. They are moving in the right direction and I say, let's help and not hinder them, let us support and not oppose them, let us fund and not cut them. Mr. Chairman, I have lived long enough to understand the African proverb that says when elephants fight it is the grass that suffers, in this case it is the people, 950 million of them. Today let us make a stand for the 950 million people who need our help. Vote ``No'' on the Burton amendment and ``Yes'' for people of India.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I rise to support the Dingell amendment. In 1996, the administration granted the Great Lakes Basin and the Ohio River Division two regional branches of the Army Corps of Engineers as a result of a compromise in the 1996 Congress. Now there is an effort to close that which we just negotiated to keep open, and without even discussing it or telling representatives of the areas affected about it. Although this is a unique situation, there is good reason why this dual division system exists. Both branches serve important purposes. However, I do not believe that the office in Cincinnati can adequately serve Chicago's interests. Currently, the Army Corps of Engineers is working on a variety of projects in the Chicago area, like Chicago's shoreline restoration, the Deep tunnel, Des Plaines River, small flood control projects, and aquatic ecosystems projects. It is vitally important that these projects be managed from a local site. We recognize the need for financial reform and cost savings, but the current budget achieves this. After only 3 years of fiscally consolidating the services and administrative activities of the Chicago branch of the Corps, we have seen successful consolidation of the Chicago headquarters. The past 3 years has seen the elimination of several positions in the Chicago office and the streamlining of services, all of which have helped to reduce spending at this branch. The decision to cut the funding and eliminate the Chicago headquarters would be a great blow to the work that has already been done to accommodate for the 1996 reductions. It would also eliminate the existence of a Great Lakes Army Corps of Engineers headquarters in a city situated on a Great Lake. I trust that we can get together and form the kind of partnership that is necessary to resolve this difficulty. I commend the gentleman from Michigan for introducing this amendment.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Rangel substitute and in opposition to the Republican Robin Hood in reverse, take from the poor give to the rich, Marie Antoinette-inspired bill. Mr. Speaker, the Republican plan is an instrument of destruction. Not only does it cut taxes for the wealthy but it cuts the heart out of poor people who need LIHEAP, senior citizens who need Medicare to help pay for their prescription drugs, babies who need milk, mothers and children who need food, communities that need policemen to cut crime. These cuts are not good for America and will cause our people and our communities to bleed. I have been told, Mr. Speaker, in the community where I live, when you cut, cut, cut, somebody is going to bleed, and the blood of the American people will be on the hands of those who held the knife. I will not cut the heart out of the people. Vote for the Rangel substitute.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this Robin Hood in Reverse, this Marie Antoinette inspired bill, this Voltarian tax package, H.R. 2488, The Financial Freedom Act. My father always told us that there is nothing new under the sun and I think he was absolutely correct, because Billie Holiday pegged this bill perfectly when she sang: Them that's got shall get, Them that's not shall lose, So the Bible says and that still is the rule, Mamma may have, Papa may have, But God Bless the child that's got his own. The French philosopher Voltaire is supposed to have once said that the purpose of politics is to take as much money as you can from one group of people and give it to another. The Archer Tax Plan is out of touch with the American People and seems to be more in line with the thinking of Voltaire. The Treasury Department has estimated that this tax bill will cost the American people almost $300 billion per year. Who are the people that it will cost? It will cost senior citizens who need Medicare help with their prescription drugs. It will cost children and teachers who need lower class sizes. It will cost hospitals and medical schools who train doctors and treat poor people. It will cost communities who need to reduce crime. It will cost homeless people who need a place to stay. It will cost victims of AIDS who need to be cured. It will cost retirees who need social security; and it will cost hungry people who need to be fed. I can just see Robin Hood turning over in his grave, I can feel Franklin Delano Roosevelt grimace in pain and I can hear Jesus the Christ saying, as you do unto the least of these my brethren, so have you done unto me. Can you imagine a tax plan where close to half the benefits would go to the richest 1 percent of the taxpayers, to the average tune of $54,000. Yes, under this plan, them that's got are the ones who get. Corporate welfare, their Martini lunches, capital gains tax reduction are all protected, while we can look for cuts in Head Start, money for students with disabilities, after school programs and meals for the elderly would all face serious cuts. Under this plan roads, bridges and streets could crumble, the 43 million people with no health insurance remain uninsured, the over 5 million in severe need of housing receive no relief and the 34 million people who are labeled as moderately or severely hungry and where parents skip meals so that children can eat will get no help. I can hear Marie Antoinette or someone who does not know the impact or consequences of these cuts saying, let them eat cake. They cannot eat cake; because there will be none, and if there is, it certainly will not be sweet. But we can vote like the representatives a majority of the people want us to be. We can vote these cuts down and stand up for the people. I thank you Mr. Speaker and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to community health centers operating in my district which have gone above and beyond just simply being providers of good care but who have also demonstrated a real understanding of the health needs of a community. Today there are more than 43 million Americans without health insurance. However, despite the staggering numbers of uninsured, a network of health centers in my district have continued to rise to the challenge and provide outstanding care to those uninsured. Under the tireless leadership of Bill Moorehead, board chairman, and Berneice Mills-Thomas, executive director, the Near North Health Service Corporation provides primary care to women, infants, school age children and their parents who live in medically underserved areas of the City of Chicago. In addition, Near North operates the Infant Mortality Reduction Initiative. This program seeks out high-risk families via a door-to- door canvass of blighted neighborhoods and the Cabrini Green Housing Development. This program has been credited with reducing the infant mortality rate of the area from 26.6 per 1,000 live births to 12.8 per 1,000 live births. Healthy Start, Store Smart Moms and Youth Pregnancy Prevention. This program teaches young mothers how to purchase nutritional meals for their children through mobile and satellite clinic programs. Project Match. This program matches former welfare recipients to real jobs, jobs that provide a real opportunity for families to become totally self-sufficient. Since its inception, Project Match has found jobs for over 800 people who would otherwise still be on public assistance. Near North Health Services Corporation's record of achievement through its service to the community, City of Chicago, and State of Illinois must be commended for its recent focus on male health. Another outstanding community health center operating in the City of Chicago is the Erie Family Health Center. Currently undergoing a change in leadership, this community health center is able to serve over 17,000 patients per year in the West Town, Humboldt Park, and Logan Square neighborhoods. In addition to the excellent primary care services offered at all of the Erie Family sites, Erie Family also administers a wide array of social services to its communities, including the Erie Teen Health Center. This center serves the health needs of at-risk adolescents. The Erie Integrated Care Program. This is the only bilingual primary care provider serving HIV and HIV/AIDS-infected patients in the City of Chicago. The Pediatric Care Program in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Public Health. This program services children zero to 21 whose income falls below 180 percent of the Federal poverty line. This program serves those children and young adults who would not otherwise qualify for Medicaid. Near North and Erie Family represents a small fraction of the good Chicago's community health centers are doing for the city. Daniel Hale Williams Health Center, Mercy Diagnostic, Mount Sinai Family Health Centers, Alivio Medical Center, Mile Square Health Center. The Sinai Family Health Centers, under the leadership of Michael Savage and many other community health centers in the city and in downstate Illinois provide over 500,000 patients per year with quality cost-effective primary care services. These providers are making a significant difference, and I urge my colleagues to join with me in commending the work of community health centers and to make sure that as we go through the appropriation of monies for the next year that community health centers be high on our list of priorities.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. I am pleased to see the Goodling amendment because it does in fact correct some of the flaws in this bill, but not enough. Therefore, I remain in opposition to the Teacher Empowerment Act and in support of the Martinez substitute. We need to change our attitudes towards educating children, because children are indeed the future of this Nation. This bill kills the efforts to provide qualified teachers to classrooms, and gives it to States to do whatever they choose. Even a State like mine, where the funding for districts is uneven, there are districts in my State that receive less than one-third of what other districts receive for local funding. Therefore, I am afraid to trust them with these additional resources. Reducing class size is probably the most effective thing we could ever do to provide a high quality education for all of our children, no matter where they are. So, Mr. Chairman, while the Goodling amendment in and of itself does move us in the direction, I remain committed to the Martinez substitute, and urge that we vote for the Martinez substitute to this bill. Mr. Chairman, I remain in opposition to the Teacher Empowerment Act and in support of the Martinez substitute. We must change our attitude towards educating our children. Over 95 percent of our Nation's children go to public schools. These children are our future Doctors, Lawyers, Senators and Presidents. This bill kills the effort to provide qualified teachers to our children's classrooms and gives it to the states to do what ever they choose. Qualified teachers are far more effective in smaller classes than in larger ones. One of the bill's most serious defects is that it undermines the federal commitment to helping local communities reduce class size to 18 students by failing to ensure a separate, dedicated stream of funding, targeted to high-poverty communities. Unlike the other side I understand the need for reduced class sizes. This is probably the most important thing that you have in the classroom. Having a teacher that is eager to teach, one that is eager to help students, one that makes you feel at ease is needed in order to make that light bulb go on and for a student to say, I want to learn. The Martinez substitute gives back to the students their best opportunity to learn, therefore, I urge all Members to support of this substitute.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, this year the celebration of our Nation's birthday, July the 4th, was shattered by a string of hate crime attacks in the Chicago area, apparently the attacks of Benjamin- Smith who had links to the World Church of the Creator. The targets of his attacks included African Americans, Asian Americans and Orthodox Jews. Northwestern University basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong, and Indiana University student Won-Joon Yoon died as a result of these attacks. Followers of the church have been linked by police and civil rights groups to numerous other incidents, including the 1991 murder of an African American sailor in Neptune Beach, Florida; the 1993 fire bombing of the NAACP office in Tacoma, Washington; the 1997 beating of a black man and his son in Sunrise, Florida; and the 1998 beating and robbery of a Jewish businessman in Hollywood, Florida. Two brothers held on stolen property charges related to the slaying of a gay couple are being investigated in arson attacks at three synagogues. The brothers' relationship to the World Church is being investigated. But hate crimes are not new or uncommon in the Chicago region. Looking over newspaper headlines, we find that in May, a mosque in DuPage County was desecrated, only the latest in a string of such desecrations. A group of white teenagers attacked a black police officer near the Dan Ryan Woods. A Gurnee man convicted and awaiting sentence for a hate crime against a biracial couple was arrested and charged with illegal possession of several weapons. A 27-year-old was charged with a hate crime for intentionally running down two African American teenagers as they rode their bikes along a Kenosha sidewalk. A Crystal Lake man was charged with shooting and killing a Japanese store owner just because of his ethnicity. A Federal jury convicted a Blue Island man of cross burnings before the home of black neighbors in an effort to drive them from the neighborhood. A Pakistani gas station attendant was attacked by a customer because of his ethnicity. A retired Chicago firefighter settled a racial harassment suit, admitting his guilt of hate crimes against his Hispanic neighbors and apologizing for his acts. Pizza Hut in Godfrey, Illinois settled a suit brought by an African American family which they refused to serve and threatened in the parking lot after they left the restaurant. An Hispanic couple was subjected to repeated incidents of racial hate crimes, including the painting of their homes and garages with racist graffiti. Three men who beat 13-year-old Lenard Clark into a coma because they did not like African Americans cycling through their neighborhood were convicted. A Chicago Heights man was convicted of attacking a biracial couple in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. Four teenagers, professed skinheads, were arrested for spray-painting anti-Semitic slogans on roads, signs and overpasses. An African American man in Mokena was the victim of repeated hate crimes after receiving newspaper clippings covered with racial slurs. A Waukegan man was convicted of kicking a Mexican-American teenager who lay dying in the street after a traffic accident. Three white teenagers in Belleville admitted to dragging a black teen beside their sport utility vehicle. A Rolling Meadows man was convicted of hate crimes after shouting racial slurs and attacking an African American in a bowling alley. The list is much longer. Though the Justice Department is required to publish a report of hate crimes, police agencies are not required to report crimes to the Department of Justice. Hundreds of agencies do not report hate crimes. Many individuals are afraid to report hate crimes. In Illinois, 114 departments reported one or more hate crimes totaling 333 for 1996. The remaining 787 agencies reported no hate crimes. It is obvious that hate crimes are running rampant throughout not only Illinois but throughout our country. They cannot, should not and must not be tolerated. I urge America to come into the 21st century as one Nation with enough room for everybody to live. Hate crimes are an attack on individuals or groups of individuals. But they are also an attack on our communities and our nation. The strength of our nation flows directly from the powerful notion that democracy and equality form the inseparable, interlinked foundation for our economic, social and cultural progress. Our democracy succeeds because the notions of democracy and equality and the constant struggle to expand and deepen democracy and equality have grown and spread and taken root in the psyche of our people. The struggle for equality for African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans and women have not been easy or painless. These struggles are far from complete. I believe the historical record is clear: every American has benefitted, our Nation has been enriched, by breaking down the barriers which prevent some Americans from fully participating in, contributing to and benefitting from all that America has to share. Hate crimes, and those who perpetrate such crimes, crimes which target victims based on race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, tear at the heart of America, at the ideal that people all over the world look to for inspiration. Hate crimes are twice as likely to cause injury and four times as likely to result in hospitalization as assaults in general. Our Nation fought a bloody civil war to determine whether a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men (and women) are created equal can long endure. The resounding answer to that question, written in the blood of so many Americans, was nothing less than a second American Revolution. It is no accident that our Department of Justice was born in 1871 following the Civil War as a response to the wave of hate crime terror instituted by the Ku Klux Klan. And, within the space of a few years the DOJ brought more than 500 prosecutions under the Enforcement Acts which broke the back of the Klan. It is unfortunate that the second and third incarnations of the Klan were not met with similarly forceful responses. We need additional legislation on the Federal level to reinforce and upgrade the tools, both criminal and civil which give law enforcement the ability to prevent and punish hate crimes. Now is the time for state and local government to review their hate crime laws and upgrade the training of law enforcement officials to respond to hate crimes. Most important, we must rally every American, every man, woman and child to join in defending our democracy. The best defense against hate crime is mass revulsion and rejection of racism, sexism and homophobia. To paraphrase the remarks of Frederick Douglass, of July 4, 1852 condemning slavery and racism: * * * It is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation which is insensitive to such crimes must be quickened; the conscience of the nation which tolerates such crimes must be roused; the propriety of the nation which ignores such crimes must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation which tolerates such crimes must be exposed; and these crimes against God and community, men and women must be proclaimed and denounced and fought against with every fiber of our national will. Hate crimes must not be tolerated at any level in our society.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Jackson amendment which promotes small business development and protects affirmative action by providing that 70 percent of trade financing and investment insurance provided by OPIC be allocated to small women and minority-owned businesses having at least 60 percent African ownership. This amendment would ensure that, at the very least, a majority of our OPIC funds in Africa would be used for the benefit of the African people. I commend the gentleman for this amendment and urge its adoption.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. Mr. Chairman, I simply want to add my voice to those who are seeking to find a solution, those who are seeking to bring resources, seeking to bring progress to one of the greatest needs that exists on the face of this Earth. We can give to Sub-Saharan Africa because we can give the greatest gift of all, and that is the gift of life. We can do it through sound trade policy, and we can do it through direct aid.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this bill, because although it is well-intended, although it sounds good, it looks good, but in reality who does it really help? It really helps the multinational corporations that will slide into sub-Saharan Africa, pick up all of the goodies, put it in their pockets, in their wallets, and then move back. It has no protection for workers. I see nothing in this bill that says that companies must hire, train, upgrade citizens who are indigenous to the community. I commend all of those who worked on it, and I admit that it sounds good. I, too, love Africa. I am of African descent. But I can tell the Members, I do not want to help multinational corporations at the expense of the people in my district who have lost more than 130,000 jobs in the last 20 years, people who want to work, good people, but people who cannot find work because the jobs are gone.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Jackson-Lee amendment encouraging assistance of the American Business Community to deal with the HIV/AIDS problem in Sub-Saharan Africa and to consider the establishment of an HIV/AIDS response fund. Anyone familiar with the HIV/AIDS problem knows of its tremendously negative impact on life in Sub-Saharan Africa and how it is rampaging throughout the area bringing death and destruction. Mr. Chairman, I've been told that those to whom much is given, much is expected in return. Therefore, many of our businesses and pharmaceutical companies are in a great position to provide help and resources to those with the greatest need in our world. This is a great opportunity to give the greatest of all gifts, the gift of life. I thank the gentlewoman from Texas for introducing this amendment and urge its adoption.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, again, I want to thank the chairman of the committee and the ranking member for their cooperation. Mr. Chairman, this amendment basically requires that no funds under this bill be used for male employees at the United States Customs Service to strip search women or for women employees to strip search males. It is my understanding that the Customs Service currently prohibits such searches. However, there have been allegations by several complainants who have stated that men have participated or been present during strip searches of women. Therefore, this amendment simply underscores what is already the policy at the U.S. Customs Service to prohibit men from strip searching women and vice versa. I believe it is important to speak to this issue because Federal funds are involved and because of the allegations which are being made. In addition, what is agency policy may not be adhered to by individual employees. Therefore, we simply want to underscore that it should not be tolerated. Now, I would hope that I could work again with the chairman and ranking member to ensure that this important policy is adhered to by all employees of the U.S. Customs Service. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the chairman for comment.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I thank the chairman very much for his comments.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.