Rosa DeLauro

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker, it is long past time for Congress to ensure that managed care means quality care for American families. Doctors and patients must make medical decisions, not insurance companies. If a patient is wrongly denied care, there must be some accountability. We expect individuals to take responsibility for their actions in this country. HMOs should be no different. We finally took up a Patients' Bill of Rights 4 weeks ago, but only after the Republican leadership was dragged there kicking and screaming. Republican leaders never wanted this debate because it was all too clear that they had chosen special interests over the national interest. Finally, after 4 weeks, the GOP leadership is bringing up a motion to go to conference on this bill. I hope that despite the maneuvering of the Republican leadership, that the common sense and the bipartisanship of this bill will prevail. Our colleagues from Michigan, Georgia, and Iowa teamed up to write a bipartisan balanced bill that protects patients' rights without undue burdens or threats to health care coverage. Now, after weeks of the GOP leadership's stall tactics, my good friend, the gentleman from Michigan, in conjunction with his Republican colleagues, is offering a motion to instruct that will insist upon the provisions of the bipartisan bill passed by the House on October 7, and upon offsetting the $7 billion on the House floor to fully pay for the bill. I urge my colleagues, vote yes on the motion to instruct. We need to ensure that patients have access to specialists, clinical trials, and OB-GYN services, among the many other patient protections that are found in the Norwood-Dingell agreement. We cannot allow the watered-down Senate provisions to prevail. Vote yes on the motion to instruct.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, the Republican leadership's budget bill does not extend the life of Social Security even by one single day, it fails to provide one penny for Medicare prescription drug benefits, and, frankly, the only thing it does do is to hurt American families, every American family, in a very, very real way. As one of my colleagues earlier said, if it were not so tragic it would be laughable to hear the Republican leadership on the other side of the aisle talk about their allegiance and their heartfelt sympathy about Social Security and their desire to want to save Social Security. However, their majority leader, in 1984, called Social Security ``a bad retirement, a rotten trick on the American people,'' and I quote, ``I think we are going to have to bite the bullet on Social Security and phase it out over a period of time.'' He said that in 1984. Now let us fast-forward to 1994. On a C-SPAN call-in show he was asked, ``Are you going to take the pledge? Are you going to promise not to cut people's Social Security to meet your promises? No, I am not going to make such a promise. I would never have created Social Security.''

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following article for the Record. [From Parade Magazine, Sept. 12, 1999] ``I Had No Symptoms of Heart Attack . . .'' (By Paul Simon) As I look back on my 22 years in the House and Senate, I realize I would like to change a few of the votes I cast. Most people--and politicians probably more than most--hate to admit they are wrong. I was wrong though, and that was brought home to me recently in a most dramatic way. It started when I happened to read a magazine article on a new device for measuring blockage of the heart arteries. The device takes a type of picture of the heart and coronary arteries (called a ``heart scan,'' something like an X-ray) that can pick up hidden problems. I had no symptoms of heart trouble, such as chest pain or shortness of breath, but the article noted that about 20 percent of those over 60 (I am 70) who have a heart attack or stroke have no advance warnings. I set up an appointment for a heart scan at Rush- Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago on Nov. 10 last year. The scan took 10 minutes, but the results were startling: I was headed for a heart attack or stroke. As a result, last Jan. 5 I had a six-way heart bypass operation. Today, I'm doing fine. It turns out that the heart scan-- developed as a result of research done by Douglas Boyd at the University of California at San Francisco--probably saved my life. Sadly, I had to admit to myself that supporting funds for medical research was not something I devoted much time or effort to when I served in the Congress. I felt other issues were more important. Now I know how wrong I was. All around me are others--former colleagues and friends--who have benefited from medical research: The TV talk-show host Larry King, who has had serious heart problems and undergone bypass surgery, often says, ``Because of research, I'm alive today.'' Sen. Ted Stevens (R., Alaska) and former Sen. Bob Dole (R., Kan.) had successful surgery for prostate cancer thanks to the benefits of medical discoveries. U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.) has been successfully treated for ovarian cancer. But I also think of those who lost their battles or still struggle because not enough research has been done: Jay Monahan, husband of the Today host Katie Couric, died at age 42 from colon cancer, because we don't yet have enough weapons against that disease. Rep. Morris Udall (D., Ariz.) died of Parkinson's disease, another illness for which we're still seeking a cure. I watched Udall--a brilliant legislator with a great sense of humor--gradually decline in health. What a waste of talent that could have been prevented with more research! My first memories of Christopher Reeve are of a dynamic, vibrant actor interested in public affairs. He is still vibrant and dynamic but more focused in his public-affairs interest as he presses with an understandable zealotry for research in spinal-cord injuries. Rachel Mann, a marvelous young woman and family friend, had cystic fibrosis, the largest genetic killer of children. Because of her, I did push for additional funds for research into this disease when I was in Congress, but she ultimately lost her battle at age 25. We can do better A century ago, the average U.S. citizen lived to be 48. Now we live to an average of 76--thanks in large part to medical research. Pharmaceutical companies do an excellent job in research, and they increased their research spending from $2 billion in 1980 to $20 billion in 1998. But we can't rely on them for basic research efforts. That's why funding for the National Institutes of Health, which does basic research that can benefit us all, is so important. Its funding has doubled in the last 15 years--to $15 billion. But while $15 billion is a sizable sum, it is inadequate when compared to what we spend on legalized gambling ($638 billion in 1997), alcohol ($95 billion) and cigarettes ($50 billion). Two-thirds of Americans agree that funding for medical research should be doubled, according to a poll taken last year by the nonprofit advocacy group Research! America. Yet, for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, President Clinton has asked for just a 2.1 percent increase--barely above the inflation rate. That's not nearly enough. We must do more. Greater focus on research would be a marvelous gift to future generations of my family and of yours. I know. It already has been a marvelous gift to me.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, the public has every right to be cynical about a Republican House leadership whose majority leader said several weeks ago that Social Security was a bad retirement and a rotten trick on the American people. This is from the party who today claims that in fact they want to save and preserve Social Security. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this irresponsible budget, one that does nothing to extend the life of Social Security, does nothing to add a prescription drug benefit for Medicare, but does a lot of harm and hurt to real families in this country. I oppose this bill because it is chock full of accounting tricks. But the cruelest trick of all is the delay in funding to the National Institutes of Health. This bill would delay $7.5 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health, amounting to 42 percent of their budget, 60 percent of its research grants. Let me just say, what is the National Institutes of Health for those who may not know? What is it but our Nation's leading biomedical research effort, to investigate cures and treatments for every disease, for cancer, for diabetes, for arthritis. The list is endless. Why the delay? In order to keep up this budget charade, their absurd claim that they are not spending Social Security, even though the Congressional Budget Office says that they have already dipped into the Social Security surplus to the tune of $17 billion. So to keep up the budget charade, this bill says that no funding could go to the National Institutes of Health, to their researchers, the people who work on these cures and treatments until the last final days of the fiscal year of next year. What does this mean for medical research? It means delay. It would mean delay in research, delay in hiring, delay in salaries for a year. It is outrageous. Mr. Speaker, as a cancer survivor, I am offended with a bill that plays games with biomedical research. We make strides every day in cancer research. That is why this is so cruel. Cancer knows no fiscal year. A family struggling with this life-and-death disease cannot wait a year. They need hope now. As a survivor, I know something about the power of hope. I know what it is like to pray for a cure. I know what it is like to put your life in the hands of doctors and of researchers. I would not be alive today if it were not for the advances in medical research. Advances in cancer research saved my life and every day in laboratories around this country men and women are making those life- saving discoveries that will change the lives of people that they have never met, families huddled in a hospital room, praying for a loved one to have the chance at life. Research cures cancer. Research gives hope. Delays in medical research funding plays games with people's lives. We were sent here to do well by the people that put their trust in us, not to do harm. This bill does harm. Oppose it.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, let us really unmask the Republican rhetoric. They can repeat over and over again that they are not spending the Social Security surplus, but let me just say this: we could put wheels on my grandmother, but we would not make her a wagon. I mean this is unbelievable; it is unimaginable what they are talking about here. Mr. Speaker, their own accounting office, the Congressional Budget Office, has said that their budget spends $13 billion from the Social Security Trust Fund. Instead of trying to strengthen Social Security, protect it for the future and not spend it, they are in fact at this moment deep into the Social Security surplus. As my colleagues know, the baby boomers are going to retire soon. We need a strong Social Security system for those people who are enjoying it today and for those who need to have it for the future. The budget that the Republican leadership has prepared does not allow for that reality, so we need to call this for what it is. I will tell my colleagues what they are doing. Not only are they spending our savings, they are doing it with projects that are out of step with the public priorities. They spend billions of dollars on military projects that the Pentagon does not want. They give billions to the corporate oil and gas industry. Let us unmask this faulty rhetoric.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, the Republican leadership's budget plan does not make the tough decisions that we were sent here to make. Instead, it makes wrong decisions. According to their own, their own accounting office, the Republican leadership has already spent $13 billion from Social Security. In fact, they have picked the lockbox. This money should not be spent. It should be kept in the Social Security Trust Fund so that we are prepared when the baby-boomers retire. No amount of rhetoric can change the facts. The Republican leadership is spending Social Security, despite the priorities of the American people. This budget is a windfall for special interests, billions of dollars for military equipment that the Pentagon does not even want. Billions more will go for corporate welfare that opens public lands to oil and timber interests. Yet the budget cuts funding for smaller classes, which would improve discipline and give children more individual attention. It also cuts funding for police officers that have reduced crime in our neighborhoods. It ignores the fact that our seniors need a moderate Medicare program with a prescription drug benefit. It is irresponsible and poorly planned.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chairman, I rise today in support of the Mink- Woolsey-Sanchez-Morella amendment to restore current gender equity provisions from Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to H.R. 2., the Student Results Act. We must ensure that girls succeed in school. Since the passage of Title IX a quarter-century ago, America's schools have been expected to provide the same opportunities for girls as well as boys. While a great deal of progress has been made, a gender gap still exists in America's schools. Studies show that more than half of all female students take no high school math beyond Algebra 2. In a global economy, where science and technology advances are paramount, this closes doors on future studies, scholarships and careers for these female students. This amendment will retain gender equity provisions in current law, including the Women's Educational Equity Act (WEEA). The amendment encourages the training of teachers to treat boys and girls fairly in the classroom. It targets dropout prevention programs for at-risk youth, as well as pregnant and parenting teenagers. It also allows the training of teachers to encourage girls to pursue careers and higher education degrees in mathematics, science, engineering and technology. The amendment is supported by over 70 organizations, including the Girl Scouts of America; the National Education Association; the American Association of University Women; and the National Parent Teacher Association. The National Women's Law Center, which also supports this amendment, writes: [The] Elimination of the Women's Educational Equity Act signifies the dissolution of the only federal program that specifically targets and tackles the barriers to educational opportunities for women and girls. They give an example of a 1999 WEEA program that created and implemented an on-line course for teachers called ``Engaging Middle School Girls in Math and Science.'' This program helps to ensure that stereotypes and biases do not eliminate educational opportunities for girls. However, this is just one of many programs and services provided by WEEA. Generally, WEEA represents the federal commitment ensuring that girls' future choices and success are determined not by their gender, but by their own interests, aspirations, and abilities. It is a comprehensive resource for teachers, administrators, and parents seeking proven methods to ensure equity in their school systems and communities. Let's do the smart thing. Let's do the right thing. Support the Mink/ Woolsey/Sanchez/Morella amendment. We must give all students, girls and boys alike, the chance to learn, excel and achieve.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, the Republican leadership reminds me of the little boy who denies eating cookies even though his mouth is smeared with chocolate and his shirt is covered with crumbs. According to their own accounting office, the Congressional Budget Office, the Republican leadership's budget already spends $13 billion of the Social Security Trust Fund. All of the sound and fury from the other side does not match the reality. Their hands are in the cookie jar and the Republican leadership is spending the Social Security surplus. The Republican leadership has a long history of trying to undermine Social Security. The majority leader has called Social Security a ``rotten trick'' and said it should be ``phased out.'' This is the same party who, 60 years ago, fought fiercely to stop the creation of Social Security. They are still fighting now to spend the surplus and to see, in the long run, that it is phased out.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it is just so amazing. I think we have a Republican majority that has found themselves at this juncture truly unable to get its work done. They cannot get their work done. They are in charge. They cannot get it done. So what do they do? They try to cover their tracks, look at budget gimmicks, directed spending, directed scoring, whatever they want to deal with, whatever they want to call it. And they think if they say something often enough and over and over again that a fallacious statement, even if they say it over and over again, does not make it true. And they want to hide the fact that in fact they have dipped into Social Security. We should not be cowed by their argument or their comments. We should just continue as point of fact to go after it every single day to talk about what it is that they are doing. It is a pattern. It is a pattern. The patients' bill of rights they do not want to pass. Campaign finance reform they do not want to pass. They do not want to extend and strengthen and protect the life of Social Security. What they do want to do is have a $792-billion tax cut. That is the heart and soul and the center of the agenda. And even though we have all these issues in this body, which, in fact, a number of rank-and-file Democrats and Republicans have supported, they will not let them see the light of day because that is not what the agenda is all about. I am proud to stand with an agenda that says let us strengthen and protect Social Security in the future, let us provide people with a patients' bill of rights so that they can get good quality health care in this country, let us do something about campaign finance reform so we do not have the special interest influence in this effort. In fact, I would say that some of my own party would not agree with it, but there are people on both sides of the aisle, let us see good, solid gun safety legislation in this country. These are issues the American public care about. And our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, really, that is not what they are about.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey for engaging in this effort tonight. I think what we want to do is to kind of just bring some clarity to the debate. Republicans this summer, they spent this summer pushing a tax cut for the wealthiest people in this country and for corporate special interests. They went out on the road, and they talked about how they were going to, in fact, engage the public on a debate on their tax cut. It was nearly $46,000 for the wealthiest Americans and, in fact, about $160 for working families in this country. Two-thirds of the GOP tax cuts went to the top 10 of taxpayers. They went around the country, and lo and behold, the good folks, the good people, the working families of the United States said, we do not buy it. We do not buy it. We do not like it. We do not want it. Now, these are the same people, this Republican leadership, who told us that they could spend all this money, cut taxes by $792 billion, never touch the Social Security surplus. These are folks who cannot be trusted on this issue. The Republican budget plan hinges on gimmickry. There is $46 billion of gimmicks at last count. What they have done with that is so that they can disguise what it is that they are doing in already spending the Social Security surplus. The hypocrisy is mind boggling. The plan is phony, and it is a sham to its core. As the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) pointed out, it calls the census an emergency. They cook the books with directed score keeping and by moving tens of billions of dollars for this fiscal year into 2001. The Republican Congressional Budget Office, we make this point over and over again, it cannot be made often enough, that is, the Republican Congressional Budget Office made it crystal clear that the Republicans have already spent $13 billion of the Social Security surplus. They are on their way to spending a whopping $24 billion chunk of it. That is a fact. That is not my commentary, the commentary of the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), the commentary of the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) or the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). This is the Republican Congressional Budget Office. To add to this effort, I think we need to get into another level of this debate; and that is, it is outrageous for the Republican leadership to pose as defenders of Social Security. I want to deal with several quotes here. I think it serves us well to remember who some of these folks are. In fact, they are the enemies of Social Security. They want to eliminate it. They do not like it. They have wanted to privatize it. The Majority Leader of the House, I want to talk about several of his quotes. This bears repeating over and over and over again. He ran for Congress proposing to abolish Social Security. This is United Press International, 1984: ``Ultra-conservative economics professor Dick Armey who has based his campaign on his support for the abolition of Social Security, the Federal minimum wage law, the corporate income tax, and Federal aid to education.'' These are not my words. These are not my words. Here it is in blue and yellow in this poster here. Second, Majority Leader Dick Armey believes that Social Security should be phased out over time. ``In 1984, Armey said that Social Security was, `a bad retirement' and `a rotten trick' on the American people.'' He continued, ``I think we are going to have to bite the bullet on Social Security and phase it out over a period of time.'' This is someone who is a defender of Social Security? Wants to save the Social Security surplus? Give me a break. If my colleagues want to fast forward now to 1994, Majority Leader Dick Armey on cutting Social Security. This is CNN's Crossfire, September 27, 1994. ``Are you going to take the pledge? Are you going to promise not to cut people's Social Security to meet these promises?" Dick Armey: ``No, I am not going to make such a promise.'' In 1994, September 28, Dick Armey, Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, ``I would never have created Social Security.'' I think above all, that says who is willing to do Social Security in and who is willing to expend an effort on protecting and strengthening Social Security for the future of retirees in this country. Their words are hollow. They have raided Social Security. They are doing it continuously. They do not like the program. If they have had their druthers it would be gone. I think we need to keep on and let the public know exactly what the score is on this issue.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I think the point that has been made about the tax cut should not be lost in this debate. I think it is at the core of what we are talking about today, tonight, tomorrow, and as the days go on, because this $792 billion, of which $46,000 in a tax cut was going to the wealthiest people and it wound up to be about $160 for working families, but the point of being able to pay down the debt, again, this is not our manufacturing this notion. Alan Greenspan, head of the Federal Reserve, in commenting on the tax cut, economists from all over the country who said that this is not the direction that we ought to be going in and that in fact what you would do by not lowering the debt was to increase the interest rates. Very critical, very important to what people are paying for mortgages, for car payments, for student loans, et cetera. At the core of this debate is the desire of the Republican leadership to pass a $792 billion tax cut that throws everything else in the process that we are engaged in disarray.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, again, we can go to any chart, anybody's analysis of this issue, they have not one dime in their budget for extending the life of Social Security. But they have a $792 billion tax cut for the wealthiest people in this country.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, just one quick point because colleagues need to get into this discussion, the fact the President said let us wait to see what we need to ensure the long-term security of Social Security to protect it and to strengthen it before we start dipping into the surplus. The fact of the matter is is that Democrats have talked about extending the life of Social Security. The Republican leadership has offered zero, nothing, not one dime to extend the future of Social Security.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I think again another quote from the majority leader was just a few days ago where he was quoted as saying that if you are going to demagogue, do it shamelessly, the notion that the party who was opposed to Social Security that has continually talked about its abolition or its phasing out or its privatization, is exactly what is being done. It is shameful demagoguery. But I truly do believe, as my colleague from Oregon said, the American people gets it. They know it. They did not buy the tax cut plan this summer. They are not going to buy this notion that the Republican House leadership is the savior when it comes to Social Security and Medicare. It just defies imagination.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment to provide gender equity.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, the Republican leadership is stealing eggs from the hen house while pretending to guard the door. They claim that they are saving Social Security. But their own office, their own office, the Congressional Budget Office, points out that they have already spent $13 billion worth of Social Security money. Their leadership budget is so full of gimmicks and budget tricks that it would make an accountant cry. In an attempt to fudge the numbers, the leadership created a 13th month so that they can crunch more numbers into the fiscal year. But the facts are very stubborn things. The Republican leadership is not saving Social Security. They have no plans to do so. The Republican majority leader himself has called Social Security a ``rotten trick'' and ``bad retirement.'' He has called for Social Security to be phased out. Earlier this year the Republican leadership tried to spend nearly $1 trillion of the surplus on tax breaks for the wealthiest people of this country instead of strengthening Social Security.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a special anniversary for this country. Five years ago, President Clinton and a bipartisan majority in Congress created the AmeriCorps program. Since then, more than 150,000 men and women have devoted 1 or 2 years of their lives to getting things done for America--making our people safer, and healthier. AmeriCorps is a bold and innovative approach to building the American community through national service. In exchange for their service, AmeriCorps members receive expanded educational opportunities. In the end, Mr. Speaker, it is our nation that wins. America has benefited from this service in a wide variety of ways. AmeriCorps members have helped to build or refurbish 11,000 homes for low-income people. They are tutoring children in some of our toughest neighborhoods--more than 2 million at-risk kids have benefited from these efforts. They have contributed to the unprecedented decline in crime rates nationwide by working with law enforcement to establish 40,000 safety patrols. And AmeriCorps members in the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) have gone to the sites of some or our Nation's worst natural disasters to provide assistance. There is an NCCC team on the ground today in North Carolina helping the victims of Hurricane Floyd. As part of the AmeriCorps' fifth anniversary celebrating, 21 exceptional AmeriCorps members have been selected to receive the first annual All-AmeriCorps awards to honor exemplary community service. Awards were made in the following categories: Getting Things Done; Strengthening Communities; Common Ground; and Leadership. One of the Getting Things Done award recipients is from West Haven, CT, in my district. His name is James Boland. Ten years ago, James was a homeless Vietnam veteran. Today, he is getting things done as a AmeriCorps member at the Veterans Administration's Connecticut Community Care Center--the very facility that took him in off the streets and saved his life 10 years ago. The Community Care Center, or CCC for short, provides veterans struggling with mental illness, substance abuse, or homelessness with a continuation of community-based rehabilitation services. James is an important part of that care. He developed and oversees the CCC's mentoring and buddy programs, and he established and leads the monthly family dinners. He also conducts skills building group sessions for veterans in the CCC's day program. On top of all that, James works 20 hours a week as the property manager for four houses for homeless and mentally ill veterans--he is also the resident manager of one of the homes. The CCC changed James's life. He has gone from living on the streets to being close to finishing his bachelor's degree from Charter Oak State College. AmeriCorps will make it possible for him to continue this path of success. He plans to use his education award to go to graduate school. Mr. Speaker, James Boland is proof positive of the value and success of the AmeriCorps program, not only for the opportunities it has given James, but for the care and compassion James has given to homeless vets. His is not an isolated story. Twenty other AmeriCorps members are being honored today. Let me briefly describe them and the categories of their awards: getting things done Christine Packer was an AmeriCorps VISTA member and VISTA leader in Idaho. She helped start a statewide immunization effort that successfully boosted Idaho's immunization rate for 2-year-olds from 50 percent to more than 70 percent. The highlight of Traci Chevraux's AmeriCorps service in Colorado was the creation of Smoke Free Sheridan. Traci brought together the local school district, school-based clinics, higher education institutions, faith based groups, the health department, community-based organizations, physicians and local residents to develop a program that would prevent and reduce the prevalence of smoking among school-aged children and their families in the town of Sheridan. Lin Min Kong is an attorney who worked in South Central Los Angeles with low-income Thai immigrants and helped them turn a run-down old hotel into affordable housing with community space for social services, after-school programs, and computer skills development classes for children and families. Toni Sage organized a tutoring and mentoring program at Parkview Elementary School in Salt Lake City. Alarmed by drug activity that was taking place two blocks away from the school, Toni worked together with her students, students from the University of Utah, and local community organizations, to turn the area into an urban green space. strengthening communities Jack Bridges did his AmeriCorps service in Americus, GA, his hometown. He built houses for low-income people for Habitat for Humanity and started a reading and tutoring program for the Habitat homeowners' children. Scott Finn spent 2 years as an AmeriCorps member in Big Ugly Creek, WV. In his first year, he worked with community residents to turn an abandoned school into a community center, and in his second year, Scott helped start APPALREAD, a childhood literacy program. During APPALREAD's first year, 82 percent of the children served improved their reading scores. Tera Oglesby served with the Seattle Police Department's Crime Survivor Services Unit. Together with another AmeriCorps member, Tera developed the first Victim Support Team for the Seattle Police Department. Anna Severens served as an AmeriCorps member with the classroom-on- wheels, a free mobile pre-school program operating out of a converted school bus. Her work in raising money for the program and expanding client referrals resulted in doubling the capacity of the program. Byrnadett Frerker has done 2 years of AmeriCorps service. She spent her first year establishing Literacy Avengers, a computer literacy program for middle school students. The students than taught computer skills to their parents. She spent her second year fighting fires and doing hurricane relief work as part of the St. Louis Safety Corps. Common Ground Christy Hicks established and supervised a conflict resolution program for middle school students in Pontiac, Michigan training students as peer mediators. She then worked to expand the program to elementary school students. Mark Payne is an AmeriCorps member who served in his hometown on the south side of Chicago with City Year and Public allies. Mark helped develop a mentoring program that recruited young African-American males as volunteers and role models for youth in the community. During Jamie Lee Manning's 2 years with AmeriCorps, she distinguished herself as a leader and team builder who organized a 3-day service project to honor and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King. The project involved parents and children from the diverse San Jose, CA community. Trampas Stucker was a high school athlete who was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident. That did not stop him from graduating with his class the following year and joining AmeriCorps as a reading and math tutor for economically disadvantaged kids in his hometown of Tonasket, Washington. He also worked with ``The New Kids on the Block,'' a traveling puppet show that taught kids about accemptance and celebration of diversity in race, gender, cultures, and physical disabilities. During her first term of AmeriCorps service, Graciela Noriega and a diverse team of AmeriCorps members were assigned to do parks and recreation activities with young people in Orlando, FL. When the community did not accept the group at first, Graciela created ``Culture Shock'' a program that brought a diverse group of guest speakers to the community to participate in activities with local youth, sharing their culture through food, music, dance, arts, crafts, and dialog. Leadership Kyoko Henson joined AmeriCorps as a way to give back to the Pittsburgh, PA, community for the support it gave her as a single mother who escaped an abusive relationship. During her AmeriCorps service, Kyoko organized outreach projects to address community health needs, spearheaded clothing drives, served as a reading tutor and educator about community services and created a summer youth program. Kelton Young did his AmeriCorps service in Fort Worth, TX, as a TRUCE specialist, working with young people in gangs, or who were at risk of joining gangs, to make positive decisions about their lives. Kelton helped to develop 18 TRUCE sites, each serving more than 200 participants. Mason Jenkins was an AmeriCorps member and team leader for YouthBuild in New Bedford, MA. In addition to his work with YouthBuild, Mason joined the steering committee of a group formed to address teen pregnancy. He also helped establish Young People United, a youth group that successfully put on a citywide conference called ``The City is Mine'', to bring young people together to discuss the issues that are most important to them. Maria del Mar Bosch did her AmeriCorps service in Puerto Rico, where she helped to set up training opportunities for America Reads tutors working with Head Start students and after-school programs for children in poverty. Jason Lapeituu wanted to provide a safe and stable place for young people to feel accepted and to develop their hopes, dreams and goals for the future. As an AmeriCorps member, he made that happen in Pine Island, MN. He knew that in order for young people to be comfortable in the youth center of his dreams, they had to be a part of creating it. Working with local youth, Jason found a site, planned community events that raised start up funds and helped to renovate a laundromat into the Pine Island Union of Youth, Inc. From the age of 15, Arthur White lived on his own, having grown up in poverty in an abusive home. After high school, he joined AmeriCorps and began serving with an environmental education program working with elementary aged students. With a dream of one day running his own environmental education center, Arthur was instrumental in the reactivation of the Nature Center at Bear Brook State Park in New Hampshire to provide park visitors with an opportunity to learn about the park environment. Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues in the House join me in honoring the contributions of these terrific people and the benefits AmeriCorps service has had for the country.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in favor of this continuing resolution in order to keep the Government open. But I am also here to remark on the sorry state of affairs that this Congress finds itself in. We have a Republican majority unable to get its work done resorting to accounting gimmicks to cover their tracks and to hide the fact that they have already dipped into Social Security. And they would like to cover that up. The facts would seem undeniable. The Republicans' own Congressional Budget Office has already confirmed that the majority has spent up to $13 billion of the Social Security Trust Fund this year. A more recent estimation puts the raid on Social Security at $24 billion. But Republicans deny these facts and instead have embarked on a cynical strategy to pretend that their goal is to protect Social Security. It will not work because the American people are smart and they can spot a political ploy a mile away. They know that asking the Republican majority to safeguard Social Security is like asking the fox to watch the hen house. Yesterday it was the majority leader who led Republicans in that mantra to protect Social Security, the very same majority leader who in 1984 called Social Security ``a bad retirement'' and a ``rotten trick'' on the American people, the same majority leader who once said ``I think we are going to have to bite the bullet on Social Security and phase it out over a period of time.'' Well, one might say that that was 15 years ago and maybe he has changed his mind on Social Security. Give the guy a break. Okay, let us fast forward to 1994 when the majority leader said this about Social Security: ``I would never have created Social Security.'' Privatizing Social Security has been a long-held goal of the majority leader and other Republican leaders. Now they want the American people to believe that this budget impasse is because they want to save Social Security. This budget impasse has nothing to do with Social Security. This budget impasse has to do with the Republican majority's true goal, to pass a massive tax cut that goes directly and primarily to the wealthiest Americans. That is why we cannot meet our obligations to our children, our parents, our teachers, our veterans, because Republicans have other plans for that money, a tax cut to bring comfort to the comfortable. After all, there are people out there who need to remodel their yachts. There are corporate CEOs who just cannot eke by on their $10 million a year in salaries. That is who the Republican tax cut and budget would help. And to use senior citizens and Social Security as a smoke screen is shameful. A few months ago, a bipartisan majority in this House voted to lock up the Social Security Trust Fund. Now this Republican majority has picked the lock on the lockbox.

Mr. DeLAURO

Mr. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor for me to rise today to recognize the New Haven Free Burial & Benevolent Association which is celebrating its one hundredth anniversary this Sunday, October 17, 1999. For the past century, this organization has been a source of support and comfort for the Jewish community, especially in times of distress. The New Haven Hebrew Free Burial & Benevolent Association was founded and continues its mission based on an old Jewish custom--tzedakah--that which is right. For centuries, Jews have held a commitment to protect and provide for their communities. The New Haven Hebrew Free Burial & Benevolent Association, once two separate entities, joined forces to provide interest-free loans and burial services for members of the Jewish community in financial need. Generations of Jewish community members in New Haven have benefitted from the Association's economic and social support. The organization works to further the concept of Gemilut Chessed, aiding worthy persons in becoming self-supporting, self-respecting members of the community, through the provision of interest-free loans. Members are able to receive small loans, without question, which are repaid on a weekly payment schedule. This safety net enables recipients to get back on their feet, and alleviates some of the pressure caused by an unexpected financial crisis. It truly demonstrates the community's commitment to supporting its own in times of need. Throughout time, the Jewish community has shown honor to the dead by preparing the body for burial and performing tahara, the ritual washing. This is one of the greatest mitzot--good deeds--in the Torah. According to Jewish Law and Custom, the complete washing and dressing of the body is necessary in order for the soul to rest. Because the natural decomposition of the body is of the utmost important in Jewish Law, the body must be placed in the ground in a strictly Judaic cemetery. The New Haven Hebrew Free Burial & Benevolent Association provides funerals and burial plots for those who could not otherwise afford the cost of a Judaic burial. In addition, the organization owns and operates a cemetery. The members and Board of Directors devote their efforts to its maintenance. It is their goal that no person should be denied a Jewish burial because of financial need. For one hundred years this local organization has met weekly and worked diligently to raise money to provide their community these interest free loans and burial services. Today, it is indeed my honor to recognize the tremendous contributions of the New Haven Hebrew Free Burial & Benevolent Association to the Jewish community--preserving and protecting the dignity and character of Judaic custom. I would like to express my sincere thanks and heart-felt congratulations to all the members on this momentous occasion.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I met with low-income working families in my district on Monday, and here is what they have to say about the GOP gimmick to delay their tax refund, the earned income tax credit: My colleagues do not know Christina Quinn, but she says, and I quote, ``My husband and I budget for all of our bills, and we use the lump sum for things like buying a car because we have no credit. If we got it monthly, it would just be absorbed by the regular bills.'' My colleagues do not know Gina Philips, but she has been using her yearly Federal tax refund to pay off her debts and clear up her credit so she can finally buy a home for herself and her 16-year-old daughter, and my colleagues do not know Jeanette Tilman, who says that Republican leaders in Congress who want to delay payment of the earned income tax credit for working families, and I quote, ``need to walk in our moccasins.'' Yes indeed, the Republican leadership of this House should not try to balance the budget on the backs of the working poor. They ought to heed the words of their presidential standard bearer.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, nearly 6 months ago, a devastating shooting at Columbine High School claimed 15 lives. It opened the eyes across the country to the tragedies that occur when guns are allowed into children's hands. Nearly 6 months and numerous deaths since Columbine, the Republican leadership of this House still has taken no action to keep guns out of the hands of children and criminals. It should not take a Columbine or Jonesboro or a Los Angeles day care center shooting to get Congress to do the right thing, to enact common- sense gun safety measures. Daily double digit death counts of children because of guns ought to be enough to spur us to act. Sadly, nearly 6 months since Columbine, nothing has been done. The Republican leadership that tried to water down and kill gun safety legislation at the bidding of the NRA earlier this year seems to be on the NRA payroll still. The House and Senate are supposed to be working toward a compromise on juvenile justice legislation, but only one meeting has been held in the past 2 months, and it was only a symbolic gathering. It is time for action. We need a strong bill that will keep firearms out of the hands of those who should not have them. At the very least, the final bill must include the Senate-passed gun safety measures and exclude the kind of poison pills that Republican leaders recently have used to try to block essential efforts such as campaign finance reform and a patients' bill of rights. Children's lives are much too important for such games. Just this week, families in Connecticut were given another chilling reminder of the need to keep children and guns apart. The Hartford Courant's headlines captures what has become all too familiar: ``Two Boys, A Gun, Another Nightmare.'' It reads, ``In the Montville case, State police said Austin Lamb, 7, and brother Alex Lamb, 9, were apparently playing with a long-barreled weapon, either a rifle or a shotgun, in their grandparents' bedroom when the gun went off Sunday morning. Austin died of a single gunshot wound to the head.'' It is time for Congress to enact common-sense gun safety measures. Let us be responsive to the parents, to the families, to the children of this country. I applaud the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) and her motion to instruct.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to rise this evening to join my colleagues in calling on the Republican Leadership to bring hate crimes legislation to the floor of this House. For too long, this House has failed to act in the face of the growing list of victims who have fallen to the culture of hatred that seems to be on the rise in this country. We have seen synagogues burned to the ground. We have seen James Byrd dragged to his death down a dusty road in Texas. And one year ago yesterday, we lost Matthew Shepard after he was beaten and left for dead on a cold night in Laramie, WY. And there have been too many stories, some that the Nation has not yet heard, of young men and women visited by untimely and violent deaths. In Texas City, TX, Laaron Morris and Kevin Tryals were shot to death, one of their bodies left in a burning car, simply because they were gay. In Ft. Lauderdale, CA, Jody-Gaye Bailey was shot in the head by a self-proclaimed skinhead. Minutes before the shooting, her assailant ranted about his desire to kill her just because she was black. In Sylacauga, AL, Billy Jack Gaither was beaten to death with an ax handle, his body set afire on a pile of burning tires, because he was gay. In Kenosha, WI, two African-American teens were intentionally run down while walking on the sidewalk. Eight years earlier, their assailant had deliberately rammed a van carrying five African-American men. In northern California, three synagogues were burned to the ground by two brothers who are also suspected of gunning down two gay men in Redding, CA. Even as violent crime continues to decline in America, the awful list of hate crime victims continues to grow. According to the FBI, there were nearly 8,000 hate crimes committed in 1995 alone. From attacks on synagogues in northern California early this summer to the tear gassing of a gay pride parade in San Diego this past August, we have seen assault after assault on individuals because of their religion, their race, or their sexual orientation. We are all appalled by these violent, hateful crimes. But how many more of our citizens have to fall to the epidemic of hate crime in this country before this House is compelled to act? We passed resolutions condemning hatred and racism. We came to the floor of this House and sent out thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims. We spoke of the loss of values in America. But a Nation's values must also be reflected in its laws. We should not just speak of our outrage. We should pass this legislation and help put a stop to acts of hatred. Currently, the law only allows the prosecution of a hate crime if it is committed while the victim is exercising a federally protected right, such as voting or attending school. This law was written to address the challenge of segregationists attempting to prevent minorities from voting or going to school, it does not meet the challenge of today's hate groups that seek to terrorize entire communities with their violent acts. By passing the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, we empower federal prosecutors to assist local law enforcement in finding and punishing those who commit hate crimes based on a person's race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. Hate crimes are not just assaults on individual victims, they are an assault on entire communities. The murder of one gay man is about attacking the entire gay community. Burning down a synagogue is about striking fear into the hearts of Jews everywhere. Let's call hate crimes what they really are--terrorism. When the supporters of hatred and division turn their thoughts into hateful acts, they need to know that we will come after them with full force of law and that they will pay for their crimes. I want to thank my colleagues who came to the floor this evening to keep this issue on the national agenda. We will continue to fight for passage of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act and we will not stop until it is the law of the land. Let us do this in memory of the victims of hate crimes. And let's do it to ensure that we are not here this time next year, remembering the life of Matthew Shepard and mourning the loss of another 8,000 victims of hate crimes.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, last week we passed a historic piece of legislation giving patients strong protections against HMO wrongdoing. We put medical decisions back where they belong, in the hands of doctors and patients. But the glow of our victory has quickly faded. Today the insurance industry, HMOs, and the Republican leadership are garnering their forces to undermine the Patients' Bill of Rights. The chairman of the Committee on Commerce said yesterday that the bill, and I quote, ``will never reach the President's desk.'' Plans are underway to bend, tear, and spindle these basic patient rights. Families with loved ones who are sick need the Patients' Bill of Rights. They need it now. We should begin work immediately to reconcile our bill with the other Chamber's, and give patients the ability to choose their own doctors, guaranteed access to emergency and specialty care, the right to make health decisions with their doctors, and the ability to hold HMOs accountable. Last week's victory was one battle in the war for strong patient protections. The American people deserve the Patients' Bill of Rights, and they deserve it now.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to stand today to join with the community of West Haven, CT, as they honor my dear friend, John Barone, as Italian-American of the Year. This weekend is special to Italian-Americans across the Nation. We join together to commemorate the historic voyage of Christoforo Colombo and celebrate the strength of our heritage. Colombo's determination, hard work, and courage led the way across the seas for millions to follow. These immigrants--our parents and grandparents--had little more than hope and determination, yet they built the strong, vital communities that have become the backbone of Connecticut and our great Nation. Each year, the West Haven community honors a member who has demonstrated this same leadership and courage. This year, that man is John Barone. John has been a driving force in the West Haven community since he and his wife, Ann, first made their home here 48 years ago. John illustrates the vital difference an individual can make in a community. Through his years of dedication to the Italian-American Club and his unfailing efforts to improve the quality of life for the families of West Haven, John has always endeavored to help his neighbors in any way that he could. With his ever-present cigar, and accompanying smile, John's warmth and compassion have become a true source of inspiration and comfort to our community. John has spent his life preserving and promoting the strong values of Italian-Americans--hard work, family and neighbors, and the importance of keeping our traditions and heritage alive. Last year, I had the opportunity to join family, friends, and over 100 community members who gathered to dedicate the West Haven Beach Bocce courts in his honor. Bocce is a game that combines strategy, skill, and determination. Carrying the true spirit of Italian culture, it is played in Italian- American neighborhoods across the country. John's love of bocce is well-known. His determination to create easy access to the game for the residents of West Haven, and dedication to bringing them together to share and enjoys a game that has its origins in 19th century Italy is truly characteristic of John. Today, these courts provide endless hours of enjoyment for people of all ages from dawn until dusk. John is an extraordinary individual who has spent his life striving to improve the quality of life for all members of the West Haven community. He is a true friend and I am proud to rise today to recognize his accomplishments and join with family, friends, and the West Haven community as they name him this year's Italian-American of the Year.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, let me read a letter from my constituents Gary and Marlene Rappaport from Orange, Connecticut. As parents whose 25-year-old daughter Rebecca died after delay in receiving a bone marrow transplant because of repeated denials from her insurance provider, we are writing in strong support of the Norwood-Dingell bill. As Rebecca wrote in her journal dated March 28, 1997, ``I would like my family to continue my pursuit of litigation, suing for gross negligence resulting in severe physical damage, physical pain and inestimable emotional suffering. My medical record, history, and physicians support my case. Should an award be given in my absence, I would like a significant portion donated to cancer research. Rebecca had a full life ahead of her. She did not get that chance. Her parents are left with an unimaginable heartache, the loss of a beloved daughter, and nowhere to turn to address wrongful denial. Vote against the Boehner substitute. It fails to cover all privately insured Americans, does not provide for independent or timely appeals of decisions. It does not provide for access to specialty care. And most of all, it does not allow patients to hold their health plans accountable. The only bill that does that today is Dingell-Norwood. Do it. Pass Dingell-Norwood. Do it for the Rappaports and do it for families like them who are in pain and who are begging for our help here on the floor of this House today.