Tom Davis

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my personal thanks and give public recognition to Mr. Stephen Yeonas. Mr. Yeonas has spent the last 50 years dedicated to providing the consistently growing population in Northern Virginia with more than 10,000 quality homes that now are the cornerstone of our neighborhoods and communities. After his graduation from Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law, Mr. Yeonas founded the Yeonas Company in 1946. As founder and president from 1946 to 1973, the Yeonas Company became the largest builder of new homes in the Washington Metropolitan Area for many years. With his professional success Mr. Yeonas has also been the recipient of a number of awards bestowed upon him by the industry he led for some many years. These include the ``Man of the Year Award'' by the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Washington Area and his being named Virginia Realtor of the Year. But I proudly rise today to recognize Stephen Yeonas as truly one of the great philanthropists of Northern Virginia. Most recently Mr. Yeonas and his family have lent their financial support and home building expertise to the Ronald McDonald House of Northern Virginia. The Ronald McDonald House of Northern Virginia, located on the grounds of Fairfax Hospital, offers the families of critically ill children seeking treatment in the Washington area a safe and free place to stay during their time of need. In support of this noble charity, the Yeonas family has graciously combined the 50th anniversary celebration of the first home their family built with a benefit for the Ronald McDonald House. The Yeonas family of home builders have designed, built, and furnished a show home in McLean from October 17 to November 15. The Yeonas family has selected for the furnishings the finest items and products from the home collection of Virginia's Design Foundry which is run by prominent architect Walter Lynch, AIA. Every dollar earned from the entry fee to the home will be donated by the Yeonas family directly to the Ronald McDonald House. In addition, a portion of the proceeds from each piece of furniture sold and a percentage of the sale of the show home itself will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House so that they may provide even more families with the support they need. Over the past 50 years Stephen Yeonas has been building the communities that make Northern Virginia and indeed all of the Metropolitan Washington Area one of the most vibrant areas in the country. As Mr. Yeonas steps down after so many years of service he has left us an indelible legacy of innovation and selfless philanthropy that should serve as a model to us all and I know has been imparted upon his successors, the next generation of Yeonas home builders: Steve Yeonas, Jr., Stephanie Yeonas Ellis and her husband Richard Ellis. I would like to thank Stephen Yeonas for all he has contributed over the past half century. He has enriched the lives of countless thousands and offered hope to so many.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4756, a bill that will help ensure that American citizens can count on the Federal Government and this administration to be ready for the Year 2000 computer problem. Despite hearings held by the gentleman from California (Mr. Horn) beginning 2 years ago in the Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology and then in the Subcommittee on Technology chaired by the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella), we have really very little assurance today from the administration that the Federal Government is going to be able to ensure that critical public and private services will not be shut down at 12:01 a.m. on January 1, 2000. Congress is taking a proactive role in keeping the focus on how much work remains to be done in resolving the Y2K problem, and this bill is another step in that direction. We recently passed the Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act and sent the bill to the President in order to encourage businesses to share information that will help resolve the Y2K problems without fear of incurring civil liability. This was a major step. H.R. 4756 builds on this legislation by combining 3 Year 2000 bills that will make Federal efforts more cohesive in this regard. The bill urges the President to accelerate business continuity plans by taking steps to protect the uninterrupted delivery of Federal services and programs. It encourages the President to take a more high-profile role in promoting Y2K compliance because Americans need to know that this administration is providing leadership on one of the most important technical issues facing our economy. H.R. 4756 requires all Federal agencies to establish a testing schedule before March 1, 1999, to ensure that Y2K compliance of the agency as well as outside entities with which that agencies exchanges data are included. Most importantly, this legislation will ensure that all Americans are prepared for any Y2K related problems by requiring the Commerce Department to develop a consumer awareness program. This problem goes back to the 6th century monk Dionysius Exigus, Dennis the Small, who invented the consecutive year calendar, and we were taught in high school that in the year 999 Christians and pagans were there cowering at the moon waiting for the end of the millennium and the fulfillment of scriptural prophecy, but we now know that did not happen because in the Year 999 about one-tenth of 1 percent of the population knew what year it was, let alone what day it is. The irony is that in the Year 2000 everybody is going to know what day and year it is except for the computers which run our lives. Thus we have come full circle unless we get this situation taken care of. There is an extraordinary amount of work yet to be done. At this point Congress has a moral responsibility to do as much as we can to protect the smooth operation of agencies and their Y2K departments. While every Federal agency is now aware of the problem, the challenge now is to pick up the pace in the long process of fixing the problem. This legislation is critical to achieving our goals in this and achieving as many Y2K fixes as possible before then. For this reason I want to urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation, and I wanted to particularly thank the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella) for swiftly bringing H.R. 4756 to the floor today.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4566) to make technical and clarifying amendments to the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997, as amended.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I urge support for the passage of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of passage of H.R. 4566, the District of Columbia Courts and Justice Technical Corrections Act of 1998. This measure has been favorably reported to the House by the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. H.R. 4566 makes technical corrections to the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997. This measure clarifies a number of D.C. employee related matters and resolves a potential dispute involving the District of Columbia Public Defenders Service. Most importantly, this legislation will give further protection to employees of the D.C. Department of Corrections that may be displaced by the Federal assumption of correctional functions. H.R. 4566 is the result of many hours of hard work and negotiations between the Congress and the administration. I want to thank my ranking member on the subcommittee, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), the gentleman from Indiana (Chairman Burton), the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman) and the Committee on Ways and Means for their assistance on this legislation. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 4566.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I move to lay the appeal on the table.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella) for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate her work on the bill and the work of the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) on this bill as it moves forward to what will hopefully be a successful passage today. This bill, H.R. 1826, does amend the FEHBP to expand the power of the Office of Personnel Management to sanction fraudulent health care providers. The bill authorizes OPM to debar and fine fraudulent health providers that are participating in the FEHBP, and I think my colleagues have spoken about some of the specifics of this earlier. One of the important things this does is it takes about 5,000 employees and annuitants from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve Board who are currently ineligible for the FEHBP. Because of a change in their coverage, they can now be covered by the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan. This is very, very helpful to them. This in no way, shape or form reduces the rates that other Federal employees are paying for this. I think it is a very critical point that needs to be made, and it will give adequate protection and health care to people who are generally under the Federal envelope in these two areas. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella) for her assistance in increasing from $20,000 to $30,000 the maximum amount that Federal agencies can pay for the physicians' comparability allowance. The comparability allowance was created in 1978 by the Physicians' Comparability Act to ease the burden of a critical shortage of doctors and vast salary differences between military doctors and other Federal doctors, as well as the overall differences between Federal and private sector doctors. I think both of these provisions are well worth while, I think are going to be advantageous to all concerned, and I just want to congratulate my colleagues in bringing this to a vote today.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege for the House today to consider H.R. 633, as amended, a bill I introduced to bring equity to agents of the Diplomatic Security Service. With the hard work and dedication of the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), chairman of the Committee on International Relations and his staff members Hillel Weinberg and Kristen Gilley, the House is prepared today to pass this important legislation. Specifically, H.R. 633 would amend the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to provide that the annuities of DS special agents of the Department of State, who are participating in the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System, be computed in the same way as applies generally to Federal law enforcement officers. In general, law enforcement officers must contribute an additional one-half percent of their basic salary to their retirement fund and, in return, are eligible to receive a one- half percent per year served, up to 20 years, or a 10 percent increase in their annuity. As Members know, despite performing traditional law enforcement activities and being placed in high-risk situations on behalf of the United States at home and abroad, many DS special agents are currently treated differently than all other law enforcement agents in regards to their retirement annuity calculations. The security functions that DS special agents carry out every day include protecting U.S. personnel and the security of vital U.S. information and installations both domestically and internationally. Their duties are critical to the viability of overseas operations of the United States and to the protection of thousands of U.S. citizens around the world. Special agents of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security are charged with the security of American diplomatic personnel overseas. These agents also protect Members of Congress and their staffs while on official business overseas. We have seen time and time again the threats that DS special agents face protecting America's interests. In the past few years alone, DS special agents have been placed in harm's way while serving in Bosnia, Burundi, Liberia and Haiti. H.R. 633 is supported by the U.S. Department of State, the Office of Personnel Management, the American Foreign Service Association, the Diplomatic Security Special Agents Association, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, and the Fraternal Order of Police. I would also like to thank again the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica), the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran), the Department of State, and my constituent Jim Prietch for their leadership in making this legislation possible.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak for one minute about American Muslim involvement in our Nation's political process. Participation is a fundamental requirement for the strength of our democracy, so it is gratifying when I see a community making such great strides toward becoming politically active. The American Muslim community is drawing strength from their common interests to bring issues of concern to the forefront. This summer, I had the pleasure of attending the American Muslim Council's (AMC) 7th Annual National Convention. The AMC was established in 1990 to provide a fair and accurate picture of the American Muslim community to policy makers. The theme of the convention was ``Strengthening Our Common Ground.'' I was amazed at the diversity of this gathering. The attendees were from a wide variety of backgrounds with their American citizenship and religion as their common bonds. Important issues on their agenda included protection of Muslim families from harassment, media abuse, and obstacles for Muslim students in public schools. I would like to bring your attention to an article by Larry Witham that recently appeared in the Washington Times. It aptly describes the Muslim community's quest to become more active in local and national politics. The article explains that although many American Muslims are still absent from civic and political activities, increased involvement of the community has begun to make a positive difference. American Muslims have been instrumental in electing candidates to State and Federal offices. Community members have begun to occupy visible positions themselves, as chaplains in the military and as law enforcement officials. I move to insert the Washington Times article ``Muslims urged to play part in politics'' from June 28, 1998 in the Congressional Record to honor the value American Muslim participation adds to our political system. It greatly concerns me, that in a nation that prides itself on religious freedom and values religious diversity, that many American Muslims are stereotyped by the media and even government officials as terrorists or likely terrorists. The vast majority of American Muslims embody the American Dream, are loyal to our flag, and are substantial contributing members to our communities. I am proud to represent so many Muslims and proud of their achievements in our Nation. Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues join me in commending the American Muslim community for their efforts to become more politically involved. Their increasingly active community serves as a wonderful example to all Americans. Muslims Urged To Play Part in Politics End of isolation is called a must (By Larry Witham) As a politically-conscious Muslim, M.M. Ali shows up at both Democratic and Republican meetings in Northern Virginia but finds himself ``the lone person from my part of the world.'' The absence of Muslims from civic and political life may still be the rule in the United States, except where they make up a large voting block, speakers said at the annual national meeting yesterday of the American Muslim Council (AMC). ``It is unwise, as some of us do, to live in islands of isolation,'' Mr. Ali told the event, which drew nearly 1,000 participants from across the country. ``Mainstreaming is the only viable way to rise up and be counted.'' A main focus of the second annual Washington meeting of the council, formed in 1990 as the leading policy and lobbying group for Muslims, is to encourage more political involvement and to fight defamation. Muslims now serve as chaplains in the military, one is a state senator in North Carolina, and others work for the FBI and attorneys general. Politicians, moreover, go to their mosques and write resolutions to recognize their festivals. Yet the financially based political clout of other minorities--such as Jews, Greeks, Hispanics and blacks--is not yet a tool of an estimated 5 million Muslims nationwide, divided roughly in half between immigrants and blacks. Khalil Munir, a former congressional staffer, said he witnessed how lack of money prompted three lawmakers he campaigned for in Brooklyn, N.Y., to overlook voters of the Islamic faith. ``When election time came, they knew they did not have to be accountable to the Muslim people,'' he said. He and other speakers said Muslims must pool their money, earmark it for favorite lawmakers, do volunteer work and serve the community in civic roles. One success story, said Randa Fagmy, a foreign policy and legal affairs aide for Sen. Spencer Abraham, Michigan Republican, was his narrow election victory on a Muslim swing vote. Mr. Abraham, the only Arab-American in the Senate, was bolstered by a registration campaign among Muslims and a telephone network that urged them to vote on Election Day, she said. ``Encourage your kids to go into politics as a profession,'' Mrs. Fahmy said. New Jersey's 350,000 Muslim families also were instrumental in electing one local official and one senator in recent years, said Morad Aboud Sabe, president of the Arab American League of Voters of the state. ``It's time for the Muslim community to produce its own candidates from within,'' Mr. Sabe said, noting that such civic involvement must start with the second generation at an early age. While one political concern of Muslim activists may be U.S. foreign policy toward their homelands, the priority at the AMC meeting was protection of Muslim families from harassment, media abuse or obstacles in public schools. On Friday, FBI Director Louis Freeh was scheduled to address the group at a meeting in the Hart Senate Office Building, but he canceled and instead sent Brekke Tron, head of the FBI's civil rights program. ``I was not satisfied with the director not showing up,'' AMC Secretary Abdurahman Alamoudi said. He acknowledged the tension between FBI efforts to stop terrorism and American Muslim concerns about suffering from guilt by association. Despite the director's absence, ``we broke the myth of the FBI in our Muslim community,'' Mr. Alamoudi said. ``The public meeting was a milestone.'' After Mr. Tron gave a presentation on FBI enforcement ethics and efforts to work with all ethnic groups, three Muslim representatives recounted cases in which law enforcement agents violated the civil rights of that group.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding time. After that introduction, I ought to stop right there. Mr. Speaker, this is a great bill because it offers flexibility as a part of the benefit package to the different agencies. They can take these dollars that are appropriated, there is no new money involved, and can best decide how they can use that in recruiting and in retaining good people. Child care is a major concern for families across this country. A lot of single parents who work for the Federal Government are going to find this immeasurably benefits their performance and ability to stay on working and do their job. I remember when our day care provider at one point in our lives decided she was retiring, that she could not make enough money, and the months of scramble trying to find somebody who could fill that niche. There is no more important decision for a single parent or parents to make than what they are going to do for their children while they are working. This allows the Federal Government to come in and use existing dollars as a part of a benefit package for some of their lower-paid employees to allow the flexibility to try to meet those child care needs for them. It is going to be up to the agencies as to how they best implement that, how they can innovate, but I think this is a very, very good idea. I know my mother brought up five children, and my father, who served two tours in the State prison system, was not around, and she would have to work taking care of other people's kids and work at night. But keeping that family together was the most important thing in her life, and it allowed her to go off and be productive and be successful in other things. This will allow that same standard to Federal employees. We are finding the work force today across the world in an information age is the most important asset that any organization has. It is no longer the machinery or the equipment; it is the employees and their minds and what they bring to bear. This basically allows us to recruit and retrain the best and the brightest by allowing them flexibility to care for their day care needs, something that is very important, something at a governmental level we have been behind the private sector in recognizing how important this is to be able to recruit and retrain good people. And I am very confident that with the passage of this act, as we start meeting and talking to Federal agencies, as they start hearing from employees, both single parents and working parents about how important child care is, that this will allow the flexibility that our agencies need to meet the needs of employees that they are trying to recruit or retrain. So I am very bullish on this bill. I want to thank everybody involved. Keeping families together is important, but keeping and recruiting and retraining and being able to retain quality employees is also important from a taxpayer perspective, and this legislation does this. So, Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for having yielded to me, and I hope my other colleagues will support this legislation.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. I thank the gentleman. With regard to the CHCSII, I have raised concerns with the chairman that, although I support the conference report which authorizes DOD to do field testing of this system at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, I hope to receive an assurance that since current software development and integration is taking place in the national capital region, that these activities will be maintained in the national capital region.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. I yield to the gentleman from Florida.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his hard work on this vital legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Let me say, I was in a markup in another committee. Mr. Speaker, I rise to engage the distinguished chairman, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) on a colloquy regarding two important Department of Defense health care initiatives, AIMCARE and the Composite Health Care System II. Mr. Chairman, DOD has competitively selected Anesthesia Information Management System, AIMCARE, that automates the collection of operating room data and clinical processes. This system offers DOD significant cost savings of over 70 percent with ``Enterprise'' implementation rather than ``hospital by hospital'' implementation. This 70 percent savings a represents savings of over $10 million, that is being made available in the first quarter of fiscal year 1999. Am I correct in my understanding that, resources permitting, the Department is interested in taking advantage of this opportunity?

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, this is not a bipartisan bill? This is a bill that just a few months ago the President would have signed and many of you voted for it in committee and would vote for it. I am really disappointed in some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. What I hear them saying is they are more concerned about protecting some of their Members from a controversial vote that splits their coalition than in passing fast track. Frankly as one of the Republicans who voted for IMF funding over objections from some of my leadership, I do not think it is statesmanship, I do not think it is the right direction for the country, and I do not think you are giving cover to anybody by voting ``no'' on this or fooling anybody. But meantime, the world goes on. Dozens of treaties are being negotiated around the world between countries while America simply sits on the sidelines. Chile, the fastest growing economy in the western hemisphere, has new trade agreements with every country in the western hemisphere except for Cuba and the United States. Their markets now buy more from European countries than from the United States because we have not been able to sit down and negotiate agreements with them because we sit idly by in the House waiting for, I guess what people on the other side would wait for an opportune time, which I gather now is sometime after the election when they believe their coalition is not split. Our experience with amendable trade agreements goes way back to Smoot-Hawley and shows that it does not work. We need fast track legislation. This is the longest expiration that we have had in history. With 95, 96 percent of world consumers living outside the United States, it is important that the surpluses that we have in this country, whether it is computers, whether it is food and agricultural products, that we be able to sell these at a fair price and penetrate other markets. Without this, we cannot move on. A ``no'' vote today just kisses this off to six months or a year from now. In the meantime, American consumers suffer by paying higher prices and American exporters lose jobs.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Texas for yielding this time to me, working with the other body and working with the administration to try to bring a bill with some very complex components and, obviously, some very emotional components to fruition here where we can do what is right for American workers. And to my friend from Pennsylvania who spoke, I know these are sincere words from him, but I take a different macro view of how the world and jobs are being created. The reality is that high-technology jobs are being created in America faster than we have qualified people to fill them. This was not expected at the time. In my own county, the Northern Virginia Technology Council did a study that showed we have 20,000 available jobs, average salary $42,000 a year, that we cannot fill. Now, what happens if we cannot find the people to fill them? There is, by the way, a nationwide vacuum in the vacancies in the information technology field, and this is a study by the Information Technology Association of America, the ITAA: 346,000 vacancies for computer programers, systems analysts, software engineers, computer scientists nationwide that we cannot fill. It is building and costing companies more to hire people. We are in a bidding war. Salaries are going up. And with the year 2000 problems and others it is costing our Federal Government billions of dollars more than we originally envisioned because of the scarcity of trained technical workers. Now what does this bill do? It confronts it. One of the most challenging components of the information age is, as a society, how do we confront these challenges that workers are going to have to be trained and constantly retrained as technologies emerge, as they change rapidly to fill the rapidly developing jobs in this era? H.R. 3736 serves as a short-term remedy to this Nation's long-term need for highly skilled technical workers. If we do not, and let us take these 20,000 jobs in Fairfax that are available right now, if we do not find technical workers that are qualified to do this, what happens to those jobs? I will tell my colleagues exactly what happens: We have companies right now unable to find trained Americans to do the jobs that are moving the jobs to India, they are moving them to Malaysia, they are moving them offshore. And as they move offshore, we lose those jobs from this country entirely over the long period so that when our sons and daughters and friends and neighbors are trained to be able to provide for this, not only those jobs but the jobs that spill out of that have gone offshore forever. This is a short-term remedy. And it does something else that I am not hearing from the other side and opponents of this. It addresses the issue of training, something we as a society both on the private sector and government sector have really not focused on in the information age, and that is how you get people to be trained and retrained into where the jobs are, how do we coordinate public education, higher education, community colleges and train people for exactly where the jobs are? Because government traditionally lags a little bit behind the market, and we are finding that now, because of the fee that companies are paying for each worker that is put into a fund is going to fund scholarships for individuals who would otherwise not be trained and to entice people to go into some of these engineering and speciality fields so they can get the training and at the end of the cycle, in the year 2001, we are going to have trained Americans to fill these jobs. Without this legislation, I dare say there is nothing pending before this body that addresses the issue of how we are going to get people into these fields where the jobs are. In my State of Virginia, we have more students graduating from college each year going into psychology as a major than we do into the computer science area, three times as many last year, and yet the jobs are not there, they are in the technical side. This bill addresses that. This bill makes the companies who are bringing workers in on a temporary basis pay for those jobs. That is the way it ought to be. It should not be the taxpayers at large. We have no other vehicle that does that. And that is the beauty of this compromise. By creating that $500 fee to be included as a part of every H-1B visa issued, it will support this fund, and it is going to provide scholarship assistance for students studying math, computer science, engineering for Federal job training services. I think that instead of sitting, complaining and whining about what is happening in different parts we need to take actions, that the result of those actions move jobs out of the United States on a permanent basis. What we need is to take more positive steps to induce qualified Americans to become trained and retrained, and this bill does that. We need to bring students from the inner city right now where a lot of these high technology jobs do not even exist, get them into training and programs. They have the aptitudes. Get them into programs where they can be trained and take advantage of these. This is the wave of the future, not just in the United States, not just in the Silicone Valley or northern Virginia, but across the world, and this legislation is the first meaningful piece I have seen come out of this Congress that addresses this in a fair way and addresses the future, not just the current cycle. And I just thank my friend from Texas (Mr. Smith) for working so hard to bring this compromise about. I am excited about this legislation. I hope my colleagues will support it.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. I would not ask the gentleman to divulge that conversation.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I have tremendous respect for the Attorney General and her career. She was a career prosecutor and I know she is under tremendous pressure, it appears to me, right now from the hierarchy in the administration. But I hope if she reviews this quickly, number one, if she disagrees with the professionals in her own agency as to why this should not move forward, release that information to the public so she can explain why and show the report that we have paid for that basically would indicate otherwise; or if she would rise and have the courage to do the right thing, take this out of the politics and put it in the hands of professionals where it belongs. Not for partisan purposes, but I think in some cases for national security purposes. Mr. Speaker, I applaud the gentleman from Indiana (Chairman Burton) and others for bringing this to our attention this evening.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, these are difficult times for this country and I think that political leaders of all stripes should take pains to step above partisanship and move into the realms where the facts can be judged by the American people and the proper investigative authorities. What concerns me the most in this particular case is that we have really the two only nonpolitical figures that have looked at this, Mr. LaBella, who is the head of their campaign task force, a professional, and Louis Freeh, the President's appointee as head of the FBI, who have taken a look at this objectively and both came to the irrevocable conclusion that the mandatory parts of the statute that would trigger an independent counsel have been met, and that the only option that the Attorney General had would be to appoint an independent counsel. We are frustrated here at the congressional level trying to get all the facts. The Thompson committee was frustrated in the Senate. But 116 witnesses who have fled the country or taken the fifth amendment, and we do not have the means to go out after them. The Justice Department, in many cases, would. They would be able to grant immunity and be able to reach out. But they have so far been unable or willing to do that in an appropriate fashion. That is of concern to me. The most important thing I noted when Mr. LaBella and Mr. Freeh came before our committee, both of them were careful to guard the Attorney General's prerogatives. I think in that way they were good servants and good underlings, taking their appropriate place before the committee and recognizing the hierarchy they had to report to. But these memos have been examined for days by Justice Department officials and neither one of these have been called in at this point to give their point of view. Instead, the Attorney General had called upon the politicians, the political appointees to come in try to poke holes in their argument. It looks almost as if they were looking at a way they would not to have appoint an independent counsel. They could stiff Congress and this thing would go away. Mr. Speaker, I think it is very clear now with everything else happening that is not going to wash with the editorial boards across this country. It is not going to wash with the American people. And it is certainly not going to wash here in Congress. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Indiana has had an opportunity to review some of these redacted copies of the memorandum, and I understand that some of the excuses they were giving or some of the reasons that were given by the Attorney General for not releasing that was that it was going to be a road map to other prosecutions and so on, and that the gentleman just does not think that lies at this point. Is that correct?

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would continue to yield, it seems that we have here a man of high integrity in Mr. LaBella, a thorough professional prosecutor who took a look at this and expressed his frustration in a memo of over 100 pages in length and containing 55 exhibits that really reaches only one conclusion. It is in no way inconclusive or gives policy options. We have the head of the FBI, another political appointee but someone who I think has the respect and the independence that we would expect from the Nation's top law enforcement officer, making the same strong recommendation; really looking at no other options but that the mandatory sections of the statute are triggered. And we have not heard a peep from the Attorney General or anyone else as to why they take issue with this and an independent prosecutor cannot be appointed. That is the way it ought to go. It ought to be away from politics. It ought to be away from the floor of the House, away from the partisan structure that we have going into the November elections. It ought to be in the hands of the professionals and let the chips fall where they may, Republicans, Democrats, whatever. That is what ought to happen. I feel from the bottom of my heart, that is the right answer here. Yet, we are consistently being stonewalled and we are being blocked in every way possible. And it seems to be done by the political appointees, because the professionals have reached their conclusions. Would the gentleman agree with me on that?

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. That would include Republicans and Democrats, whatever.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that we are considering today H.R. 3007, the Commission on the Advancement of Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology Development Act, introduced by Representative Morella, and of which I am proud to be co-sponsor. This bill is essential to America's continued global competitiveness in developing innovative science and technological advances. With science and technology being kept components of our nation's economic dominance in the world, we have to keep up in fostering and mining the talents of all our children, both male and female. Since females currently make up very few of our nation's scientists, engineers, and technological innovators, we have a responsibility to steer our businesses, colleges, and communities in a direction that will encourage women to participate in each of these areas. This legislation represents a critical, positive step towards attracting more women to the study and pursuit of careers in science, engineering, and technology. Fields which have historically been dominated by men. It creates a Commission that will identify over a 1- year period, the factors responsible for the relative lack of women pursuing educations and careers in these disciplines. The Commission will then transmit to Congress their findings and recommendations for encouraging increased female participation in these fields. I want to commend Mrs. Morella for her work on H.R. 3007 in the Science Subcommittee on Technology as well as all of my colleagues on the full Science Committee. This is a worthwhile bill that deserves the support of every Member, and I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of this legislation.

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the `Lorton Technical Corrections Act of 1998.' This important legislation, cosponsored by Congressman Jim Moran and Congressman Frank Wolf, will serve to put a mechanism in place to deal with the future of the lands associated with the Lorton Correctional Complex in Lorton, Virginia. In early 1997, the Congress and the Administration agreed to work cooperatively, in good faith, to restructure the Federal relationship with the District of Columbia. The municipal affairs of the Nation's Capital, for Constitutional and historic reasons reflecting fundamental national policy, are part of the most complex local governmental structure in the United States. In this Congress, I introduced the `National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997' which was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support as a part of `The Balanced Budget Act of 1997.' With the support and hard work of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and the delegation from the Commonwealth of Virginia, this legislation included the mandated closure of the Lorton Prison by the end of the year 2001. Under the law, DC correctional functions will be assumed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and DC inmates will be housed at other facilities outside of northern Virginia. Current law would also transfer control of the Lorton parcel to the U.S. Department of Interior after 2001. At the time of enactment of this law, after considering various options, my colleague Jim Moran and I concluded that the Interior Department was the best Federal agency to maintain the integrity of the parcel and to meet my intention that the area be preserved as open space to the maximum extent possible. While recognizing the importance of reserving the authority of members of the community to assist in the ultimate determination of future uses of the property, I have always been concerned about maintaining significant open space in the parcel and avoiding damage to ecologically sensitive areas. I also believe that we must ensure that the I-96 corridor is not burdened by further traffic congestion in the Lorton area. However, subsequent to the enactment of the closing of Lorton Prison it has become clear that the Department of the Interior is not the agency best suited to handle the future disposition of the Lorton parcel. Therefore, it has become incumbent upon the Virginia delegation to once again work to establish a Federal mechanism that will properly address the future of the land. This bill introduced today will create such a mechanism. This legislation is the result of many hours of hard work and negotiation between Congressman Moran, Congressman, Wolf, Senators Warner and Robb, the General Services Administration (GSA), the Departments of Interior and Justice, the Office of Management and Budget, and myself. Under the bill 1) the GSA will assume control of the land; 2) the County of Fairfax will submit an official reuse plan to the GSA delineating preferred permissible or required uses of the land; and 3) the Department of Interior will have the ability to reserve a portion of the land if desired to enhance U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service properties within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Most importantly, this legislation will allow for the continuance and expansion of park and recreation uses on the parcel. The County of Fairfax, working with GSA, will have the utmost flexibility to preserve the rural character of the land; expand parkland and recreational amenities to better serve the region, and guarantee that all projects on the land do not further burden the I-95 corridor and do serve to enhance the quality of life of Virginia residents. I look forward to working with Congressman Moran, Congressman Wolf, Congresswoman Norton and Senators Warner and Robb to achieve quick consideration and passage of this important legislation.