Rosa DeLauro

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, in November, House Budget Chairman John Kasich said this about the budget negotiations: ``Frankly, we don't ask for a lot. We ask for nothing more than a commitment to do this in a 7- year period. The priorities within that 7-year plan are negotiable.'' The Republican leadership in both House and the Senate echoed Mr. Kasich's sentiments and asked President Clinton to produce a 7-year balanced budget using the economic assumptions of the Congressional Budget Office. That's all we want, they said, and then we can negotiate the details. Well, the President has done his part. He has given Republicans a 7- year balanced budget using CBO numbers. But now, Republican leaders want to move the goal posts in the middle of the game. Now, Mr. Kasich and the Republican leadership in Congress say they will not negotiate on the budget priorities. The budget negotiations do come down to a question of priorities. Democrats and the President want a balanced budget that protects Medicare, education and the environment, and includes a tax cut for middle-class families. The Republicans want deeper cuts in Medicare, education, and the environment to help pay for a larger tax break that goes primarily to upper-income families and large corporations. And they want a backroom deal on Medicare. That is wrong. Yet, despite our differences, a balanced budget is in reach. Both sides of the aisle have produced plans that will get us there. We will never all agree on all the details. However, if we can produce a balanced budget that protects Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment, it will pass this House, it will pass the other body and it will be signed into law by the President. My Republican colleagues said that if the President gave them a 7- year CBO budget, they would negotiate. The President has done that. It's time for Republicans to keep your word and get back to the negotiating table. For 220 years, this democracy has worked. Let's make it work again. Government shutdowns and threatened defaults on our debt--these tactics are an affront to democracy. It's time to put away the blackmail schemes and put America on the track to a balanced budget that protects our priorities: Medicare, education, environmental protection, and a tax cut for working middle-class families. Thus far, this Congress has been the least productive Congress since 1933. Will that be the legacy of the 104th Congress? Or, will we rise above partisan politics and do what's right for the country?

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, on January 20, New Haven Democratic Town Chairman Arthur T. Barbieri will celebrate his 80th birthday. It is with great pleasure that I rise today to salute this incredible individual, who has contributed so much to the city of New Haven. Born and raised in New Haven, Arthur Barbieri began his career in public service in 1951, when he was elected to the position of town clerk. Two years later, at the age of 37, he became the youngest New Haven Democratic chairman ever, a position he would hold for the next 22 years. During this time, Arthur earned a sterling reputation for his skill in advocating for and developing programs that would benefit the city. The renovation of the New Haven Coliseum, the Connecticut Tennis Center, and the children's hospital at Yale-New Haven are a living legacy to Arthur Barbieri's commitment to rejuvenating his beloved hometown. In 1988, after the death of Town Chairman Vincent Mauro, Arthur once again heeded the call of both his party and his city, and resumed the position of town chairman. Arthur also continues to serve as a member of the Democratic State Central Committee, providing, as always, sage advice and insightful leadership. Arthur Barbieri has been an inspiration and a mentor to me over the years and also worked closely with my mother and father, Alderman and Alderwoman Ted and Luisa DeLauro. On a few occasions we found ourselves on opposite sides of an issue, but no one ever doubted his wisdom, leadership, and commitment to the city of New Haven. Indeed, it is difficult to measure the magnitude of Arthur's contributions, for he has played a major role in so many different projects and has guided the careers of so many local, State, and Federal officials, including President Clinton. It is with great pleasure that I commend Arthur T. Barbieri for a lifetime of achievement. I join his wife, Marion, his family, and his many friends in wishing Arthur a very happy 80th birthday. Arthur truly embodies the past, present, and future of New Haven politics, and it is deepest hope that we will have the benefit of his wisdom and kindness for many more years to come.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, here is what Republican Budget Chairman John Kasich said in November about the budget negotiations: ``Frankly, we don't ask for a lot. We ask for nothing more than a commitment to do this in a 7-year period. The priorities within that 7-year plan are negotiable.'' The President has done his part. He has given Republicans a 7-year balanced budget using their economic assumptions. But now, Republicans want to move the goalpost in the middle of the game. Now, Mr. Kasich and his colleagues say they will not negotiate on the budget priorities. Mr. Kasich, keep your word and negotiate. For 220 years, that's how this democracy has worked. Let's make it work again. Government shutdowns, defaults on our debt--these tactics are an affront to democracy. It's time for people of good will from both parties to do what's best for our country. It's time to balance the budget while protecting Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment. The President's door is open.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, today we will consider legislation that represents a retreat by the extremist wing of the Gingrich Republicans. Their agenda was to punish old people, punish children, punish veterans, and others by holding this Government hostage. Today, after relentless and rightful pounding public pressure, they are sounding retreat and some Federal workers will go back to work. This is a curious piece of legislation. The Republicans' strange strategy of shutting down the Government has been followed by an even stranger strategy of bringing employees back to work but not giving them the operating funds to do their jobs. They are going to pay Federal employees now to do nothing. Once again, the American people and the American taxpayers lose. My Republican colleagues' strategy to link the budget to shutting down the Government failed, and now, quite frankly, they are scrambling. It failed because the values of these extreme Republicans do not represent the values of the American people, neither on a shutdown of the Government nor on the issue of the balanced budget. The American people believe that we must balance the budget, but only if we protect Medicare and Medicaid, education and the environment, and not provide one of the biggest tax breaks in this Government's history to the wealthiest Americans. In November, the Congress voted and the President agreed to a continuing resolution that would balance the budget by protecting America's values and America's priorities, including Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment. We need to honor that agreement.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I want to finish my commentary and then get into our program, so I want to finish what I am going to say here. I might also say that it is interesting that in the tax break package that is being offered by the Republican majority in this House that there was another Ronald Reagan program called the alternate minimum tax. For those who do not know what the alternate minimum tax is, this is a tax that the richest corporations in the United States pay. President Reagan, with very good thought and vision, put this into practice, because oftentimes the richest corporations in this country, when they took all of their deductions, would find that they had a zero tax obligation. He thought, as did others, that it would be unfair to have that occur, that the richest corporations in the country would not be paying some portion or a fair share of taxes the way that ordinary Americans pay their taxes. So he put in a 20 percent rate, and the Congress approved of a 20 percent rate on the richest corporations in the country. Into that tax package that the Republicans are proposing, the $245 billion tax break package, the alternate minimum tax is repealed, repealed, which means that, once again, if this passes and is law, that the richest corporations in the United States will have a zero tax obligation. It is a $17 billion windfall to the richest corporations. Mr. Speaker, I want to remind my Republican colleagues about that, and I also want to remind the listening public that what Mr. Kemp says, that tampering with the earned income tax credit, which the Republican package does in cutting the earned income tax credit, is an increase on taxes for working families at the same time as my Republican colleagues are decreasing taxes for the richest corporations in this Nation. No wonder the public said to the President of the United States, 60 percent of the public said veto Mr. Gingrich's budget bill and do not balance the budget on the backs of seniors and Medicare and Medicaid, and on students and education, and on working families with being unfair to them in terms of taxes. My colleagues are here tonight so that we may have an opportunity to talk about something that is on everyone's minds, everyone's lips, and it is in all of the news. And what we have tried to do is to organize a special order tonight on behalf of the millions of senior citizens in this country and their families who are sitting at their kitchen tables tonight struggling to cope with the impact of the Government shutdown. Day No. 20. Our seniors, including many of this Nation's veterans, live on fixed incomes. They do not have money to fall back on when their benefits are cut off. Now, these vulnerable citizens have become pawns in what is a very, very cynical political game being played by House Republicans, who are refusing to open the Federal Government, despite what they tell the public. They had the opportunity to open the Federal Government 12 times, the latest was yesterday. Let us be clear about what is happening here. The President of the United States, the Democrats, responsible Republicans all agree that it is time to end the Government shutdown and it is time for Speaker Gingrich and the right wing extremists in the House to stop holding America's seniors hostage to their political games. It is power politics at its worst, is what we are watching. Bob Dole, and I don't have the quote up here, but I will get it, Bob Dole, the Republican majority leader of the other body, wants to reopen the Government. He said enough is enough, and he is right. He is absolutely right. He said that this has gone about as far as it can go. We need now to put people back to work. I don't want to misquote the majority leader. This is what he says. ``I don't see any sense in what we have been doing. I would hope that we would have quick action in the House. People have been gone from their jobs long enough. Enough is enough.'' And that quote was on January 2, 1996. Now, how are seniors affected by the shutdown of the Federal Government? That is what my colleagues and I are here to talk about tonight. In my own district, the Third District of Connecticut, the Veterans Hospital in West Haven Connecticut cannot now legally pay for anything. They must depend on vendors to continue to provide, without payment, food, hearing aids, glasses, medical supplies, ambulance services and all of the lifesaving treatments provided our Nation's veterans. Mr. Vincent Ng, the director of VA Hospitals in Connecticut, said ``We will do whatever is necessary to care for our patients. We hope our contractors will support the needs of the medical centers during this crisis situation so that we will be able to maintain our full standard of patient care.'' Our Nation's veterans should not be forced into paying for the failings of this Congress. Men and women who have put their lives on the line for this Congress and for this country deserve better than that. Mr. Speaker, it is just not the veterans who are being hurt, but those who care for them as well. One VA employee called my office today to explain that he had received a paycheck of one week's pay and two weeks' worth of deductions. He called because he does not have any money for food. We made a reference for him and we directed him to the nearest food bank, to the nearest food pantry. He is not alone. The plight of the VA employees in my district prompted Mayor Richard Borer of West Haven, CT, to make a public plea for donations to the local food shelters to help feed workers who are now not being paid. The people who care for our veterans deserve better. The crisis facing our elderly veterans extends to every single State in this Nation. If the Government shutdown continues, veterans benefits may run out. New claims are not being paid for VA pensions, rehabilitation counseling, education, and home loans. Programs that provide food to the elderly are also in jeopardy if the Government shutdown continues. Funding for the Meals on Wheels Program has evaporated. To understand how many seniors rely on this service, let me again give an example of one of the Meals on Wheels providers in my district. The New Haven Community Action Agency provides meals to 2,000 senior citizens every single day. Some 600,000 elderly Americans face the loss of Meals on Wheels, transportation, and personal care. What are we about in this Nation? What are these people doing to seniors and to veterans in this country? The Meals on Wheels program in my State has suffered a 40 percent cut in funding because of the shutdown. It is unclear how much longer we will be able to carry the Federal Government's responsibilities to feed our elderly. In addition, Federal funds to States for Medicaid have been severely limited. On December 27, States received only 40 percent of the estimated quarterly payment for Medicaid. Without further action, the Federal match for Medicaid and its 36 million beneficiaries of the Medicaid program, two-thirds are elderly and the disabled. While the House Republican leadership refuses to reopen the Government, the Republican leadership in this body continue to take their paychecks. These same Republican leaders promised last year that they were going to make this Congress live under the same rules as everybody else, but today while seniors worry about the fate of elderly feeding programs, while veterans' health services are jeopardized, while seniors are suffering, the congressional paychecks just keep on coming to the leaders, to Mr. Gingrich. Mr. Speaker, I am returning my congressional pay back to the U.S. Treasury and will continue to do so until the Government is reopened. If Speaker Gingrich and the right wing extremists in the House of Representatives who are keeping this Government closed were forced to put their paychecks on the line, I think the crisis would be over in a heartbeat. The President, Democrats, and Republicans in the U.S. Senate all want to reopen the Government and stop inflicting pain on our seniors and veterans. But a small band of extremists in this body are holding America hostage. Yesterday, when the Democrats voted to try to reopen the Government, only 2 Republicans were brave enough to join us. Only 2. Democrats need 20 good Republicans. Twenty. Mr. Speaker, 197 Democrats are prepared to have voted to reopen this Government. We need 20 Republican votes. So, I am pleading with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to have the courage, have the courage to do the right thing, to show their allegiance to the American people instead of their allegiance to Newt Gingrich. Join us to reopen the Government and restore the services that the taxpayers have paid for and are paying for every single day that this Government is shut down. We only need 20 good Republicans, 20 patriots. The 20-day Government shutdown is affecting more and more Americans. Seniors have been hit extremely hard, and remember, most older Americans live on extremely limited monthly budgets and are not able to compensate for the loss of vital Federal benefits. Our Nation's veterans and other senior citizens should not be asked to pay the price of the Gingrich Government shutdown. Mr. Speaker, I now yield time to my colleagues who have joined me on the floor tonight so we can engage in a dialog and discussion on this issue. I yield to my colleague from New Jersey, Mr. Frank Pallone, who has been a real warrior in this effort to reopen our Government and real friend of America's senior citizens.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey. I think that it is largely because it is what Bob Dole said: ``Enough is enough.'' And it was a bipartisan consensus in the Senate to bring people back to work, let them earn their pay, and let us then sort out what budget differences that we have. I also just want to mention one point because I am so delighted that you brought it up before I yield to the gentleman from Virginia, that it is this whole notion of focusing on balanced budget is just political posturing, because the issue has been what it always has been, what are our priorities in this budget. We all want to see our fiscal house be put in order. A $245 billion tax break for the wealthiest Americans is not putting our fiscal house in order, especially at the expense of Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment. Our Republican colleagues would like to continue to mask what they are doing, and I thank the gentleman for bringing that issue up again. I now yield to the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Moran], who has represented Federal employees in the very, very best manner possible.

Ms. DeLAURO. I thank the gentleman. I would encourage members of the Committee on Rules to find their way to the Committee on Rules by 10 o'clock.

Ms. DeLAURO. This argument is directed at a Democratic President.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman and just say what a number of my colleagues have said, that, in fact, this is worth the fight; that there are fundamental differences about the values of this Nation and its priorities and whether we stand for Medicare and Medicaid and education and the environment and for working class families in this country, or we stand for a $245 billion tax break for the wealthiest Americans. Let me tell my colleagues that Speaker Gingrich, since last April, has made statements about shutting down this Government. In June, he said, We are going to go over to the liberal Democratic part of the Government and then say to them we could last 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, 5 years, a century. There is a lot of stuff we don't care if it is ever funded. I don't care what the price is. I don't care if we have no executive offices and no bonds for 30 days. Not this time. That was in September. The fact of the matter is he has been fanning, inflaming, and planning for a shutdown. We have a shutdown, with unbelievable desperate effects on senior citizens in this country. We sill have an opportunity to vote tomorrow with our voting card to vote ``aye'' to reopen this Government. We need 20 Republicans who will, in fact, follow the lead of their districts and the people who sent them here to serve them rather than following their allegiance to Newt Gingrich. That is what this is about, and the desperate effects that this shutdown has on seniors in our communities and veterans in our communities. Do not be fooled by the rhetoric of a balanced budget. It is balanced and it helps the richest people in this country and hurts seniors and veterans and students and working families. I want to yield now to my colleague from New Jersey, Mr. Pallone.

Ms. DeLAURO. We have 197 Democrats who are prepared to vote ``aye'' to open this Government. We need 20 good Republicans to do that. I now would like to yield time to my colleague from New York, Major Owens, who has been a champion on education and other areas, and particularly on seniors.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. I just want to make one point, that someone of our Republican colleagues today said on the floor that he did not hold the key to opening the Government and put the blame on the President. Well, I would submit to my colleague and all my Republican colleagues that the voting card, which is what the people that voted us to these offices gave us, they gave us this ability, to use this card. You do not need a key, you do not need a magic bullet, you do not need anything else. You need to take this card and you need to vote ``aye'' to open this Government. That is what this is. That is what this is about.

Ms. DeLAURO. I thank the gentleman from West Virginia. I am delighted to recognize and have join in this conversation the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Fields].

Ms. DeLAURO. I thank the minority whip. I think that you are right. The public wants to see us every day continue to fight on their behalf. So we now have had 12 votes on trying to reopen this Government. We ought to have as many as necessary, and have one everyday if that is what it takes to reopen this Government. I thank you all for your comments and for your unbelievable work in this area.

Ms. DeLAURO. I would just say it is a question of values, where are our American values. I think the public has a very clear idea of where those values are in looking at protecting Medicare and Medicaid, the education for our young people, our environment, and making sure that working families can see their way in this country. That is what it is about, values. I would like to yield to my colleague, the minority whip, the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Bonior].

Ms. DeLAURO. I thank the gentleman. Thank you for going through those various programs. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, before my colleagues and I get started this evening, I would just like to make one comment about the commentary of the prior speaker having to do with the earned income tax credit, a program that, I might add, was started by President Ronald Reagan. And to refresh people's memories, he was a Republican President of the United States. President Reagan started the program to help to keep working families off of welfare. I might also remind my colleagues of the words of another Republican, Mr. Jack Kemp, and these were his words in October of 1995, and again I quote. ``I hope you guys'', making reference to the Republicans, ``do not go too far on removing the EITC, because that is a tax increase on low-income workers and the poor, which is unconscionable at this time.''

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I will be very, very brief, because I do not want to interrupt the gentlewoman's remarks. But our Republican colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fox], who was here earlier, talked about a November 19 agreement, a continuing resolution that was in fact signed by the President and by the Speaker of the House. There were two parties to the agreement. And the issue was to talk about a balanced budget in 7 years; but, also, part of that agreement was to reinforce the priorities and values of this Nation that include Medicare, Medicaid, education, the environment, and tax reform for working middle-class families. I dare say that the President has kept his part of the bargain. It is our Republican colleagues and Republican leadership in this House who have failed to move on any reduction in their cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, education, or the environment, or to remove their tax break package, which is $245 billion, to the wealthiest Americans. When we talk about that agreement, we need to talk about both sides who signed and discussed that agreement. And I thank my colleague for yielding to me.

Ms. DeLAURO. Well, the issue is, and my colleague is right, there is not a Member of this House who does not want to see the Congress, House and the Senate, and the President put our fiscal house in order. Everyone wants to move in that direction. The question is, as you pointed out so well, the priorities in dealing with this budget, how one gets to a balanced budget. Now, if we want to talk about $245 billion in a tax break for the wealthiest Americans, provide them with that, and at the same time we want to cut $270 billion in Medicare, we want to cut $163 billion in Medicaid, we want to cut education programs, and the environment, and increase taxes for working middle-class families, then our priorities are wrong in terms of balancing that budget. Take that tax break package off of the table and then let us talk about balancing the budget.

Ms. DeLAURO. It is really a shell game and politics at its worst in this body. The linking of the shutdown of the Government to the balanced budget, as I said, is the worst of politics because we cannot continue the budget negotiations or talk about what the American public wants to talk about in terms of Medicare and Medicaid. We do not have to keep this Government shut down. This is holding the American public hostage and workers hostage, and it is wrong, and I believe that the public is beginning to understand what is going on. The American public said to the President of the United States, veto this budget that cuts Medicare, Medicaid, and pays for a tax break for the wealthy. Sixty percent encouraged the President to veto this budget.

Ms. DeLAURO. The gentlewoman from Florida is absolutely right. I applaud the work she has done on the floor of this House in order to try to bring out precisely what is going on here. Sometimes it is difficult to get the word out and to really have people understand what kind of a shell game is being played on them.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, enough is enough--that is what the majority leader of the other body said yesterday about the game of political blackmail being played by the Republican Party. The President, Democrats, and responsible Republicans all agree that it is time to end the Government shutdown and allow Federal employees to go back to work. It is time for Speaker Gingrich and the right-wing extremists in the House of Representatives to release these 260,000 political prisoners. Federal employees should not have to pay for the failings of Congress. That is why I am reimbursing the U.S. Treasury for my salary for every day of the shutdown. If Federal workers are not being paid, neither should Members of Congress. ``I think we've made our point,'' said the Senate majority leader about the Republican shutdown. But, sadly, the only point that Republicans are making by shutting down the Government is that they are unfit to lead.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I just want to make a quick comment on the comments of my colleague, the last speaker, who knows very well that there have been unbalanced budgets in this country under Republican Presidents, but never has there been a shutdown of the Government of the magnitude that we see today. What we see here is a political ploy. It has very little to do with balancing the budget but it has to do with trying to hold hostage this Democratic President. It quite frankly is politics of the very worst kind, and I believe that the American public has some understanding of what is going on here. Mr. Speaker, last months Speaker Gingrich shut down the Government because he did not like his seat on Air Force One. Now the Gingrich Republicans in the House of Representatives are at it again. This time they are holding the American people hostage in order to blackmail the President into agreeing to their massive cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment, all to pay for a tax break for the wealthiest Americans. Make no mistake about it, this has been the Speaker's plan all along. As long ago as April of last year, the Speaker threatened to shut down the Government in order to get his way on the budget, and I quote him: ``I don't care what the price is,'' the Speaker said in April. ``I don't care what the price is.'' It is this kind of childish philosophy that has isolated the Gingrich Republicans from responsible Republicans in the United States Senate who have joined Democrats in calling to open up the Government and put the employees back to work again. ``Enough is enough.'' That is the quote from the majority leader of the other body in announcing that he has had it with this legislative blackmail scheme. Enough is enough. That is how the American people feel. Enough is enough for the 600,000 senior citizens who are losing their Meals on Wheels because of the Republican Government shutdown. Enough is enough for the small businesses that are facing layoffs because they have not received the small business loans that they were promised, and enough is enough for the Federal employees who serve the public every day and who now have been betrayed, Think of the Federal employees, of the Social Security office once located in the Murragh Federal Building in Oklahoma City. In April they survived the worst terrorist attack in our Nation's history, and today they are the target of political terrorists and are being forced to work without pay. The Republican Party claims to be the party of fiscal responsibility, but this Government shutdown is costing taxpayers $50 million a day, $50 million a day. Thus far, the shutdown has cost hard-working taxpayers $550 million. That is right, taxpayers are paying hundreds of millions of dollars, and they are receiving no services in return. That is not fiscally responsible. That is not responsible at all under any set of circumstances. Thus far, the House of Representatives has had 12 votes to reopen the Government, and only two Republicans have had the courage to join Democrats to end the irresponsible politics of the Gingrich Republicans and in order to reopen this Government. Enough is enough. That is what the public wants is for this Government to open and not to be having a gun pointed at the heads of Federal employees or at the President of the United States. Let us get serious here. We are sent here to do the work of the people, and that is to carry on the Government of this country every single day, and if the Gingrich Republicans who are, for political reasons, only keeping this Government shut down, at great cost to the American taxpayer, at great cost to the American public in terms of the services that we are bound to provide to people in this country, and they put their faith and trust in all of us who serve in this body, and we dare not turn our backs on the American public in the way that the Speaker of this House has, and the Republican leadership. Woe to those who do this, for the public will turn its back on you.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary appropriations bill and I urge my colleagues to sustain the President's veto of this legislation. With two-thirds of the Cabinet agencies closed, paychecks stopped for 760,000 Federal workers, and 260,000 Government employees furloughed, this body should be taking up legislation to immediately reopen the Government and put Federal employees back to work. What we are engaged in this afternoon is filler, trying to put something on the floor because there is no legislative business to conduct, so we have this veto override. We know what the outcome will be on this, but let us take up the time because the Speaker of the House, and the House Republican majority do not want to do what they were sent here to do and that is to reopen this Government and put those Federal employees back to work again. That is wrong to keep them out of work and not being paid. The House should follow the actions of the other body and correct this injustice. Failure to reopen the Government represents a dereliction of our constitutional duty.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Albert Schweitzer Institute for the Humanities, a nonprofit organization in residence at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, CT. In this season of peace and goodwill, it is an especially appropriate time to honor this organization that is working for the ideals Dr. Albert Schweitzer dedicated his life to--promoting and improving human rights, health care, the environment, and peace throughout the world. In 1984, the Schweitzer Institute has led the way in providing assistance to the areas where it is most needed. The Schweitzer Institute was the first organization to evacuate children from Bosnia, bringing over 20 Bosnian children to the United States and arranging for their medical treatment. While peace seems to be on the horizon, Bosnian civilians are still suffering from the ravages of war. Another trip to Bosnia is planned for January to bring desperately needed medicine, warm clothes, food, and toys. The Schweitzer Institute is also working with the Inter-American Development Bank to run and monitor the Nickerie Hospital in Suriname. The hospital is in a remote area of Suriname's rain forest where no other health care is available. The institute will work to modernize health care facilities and improve the access and quality of care. In the past, the institute has evacuated children from the former Soviet Union to the United States for medical treatment; and has sponsored international conferences on issues such as global health, military toxic waste and ethics. The Schweitzer Institute has improved the quality of life for thousands of people around the world. I am proud of the work they have done, and I would like to congratulate Harold Robles, president and founder of the institute, and his staff on their important and successful work. The Albert Schweitzer Institute for the Humanities is truly making our world a better place.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I am holding a copy of an advertisement that ran in today's Washington Post paid for by a group of business leaders who are calling for a balanced budget. What they don't say is what they are willing to sacrifice to achieve that goal. Will they have the courage to say ``no'' to corporate welfare and tax breaks? The sponsors of this ad are questionable spokesmen for tightening our belts. Let me tell you about one, Lawrence Bossidy, the CEO of AlliedSignal. Mr. Bossidy earned $12.3 million last year, while closing down a plant in my district, putting 1,400 people out of work. Mr. Bossidy and the protectors of corporate subsidies could all learn a lesson from Aaron Feuerstein of Malden Mills. When his factory burnt to the ground earlier this month, Mr. Feuerstein did not walk away from his responsibility to his workers. This Congress should not walk away from our responsibility to America's working families by passing a Republican budget that protects corporate welfare, while cutting Medicare, Medicaid, and education for working families.