John Dingell

Mr. DINGELL

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from California [Ms. Waters].

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from California [Ms. Harman].

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from California [Mr. Beilenson]. (Mr. BEILENSON asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. Sanders].

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-Lee].

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Klug].

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Hefner]. (Mr. HEFNER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton].

Mr. DINGELL. No.

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, in view of an imbalance in time, I think we should yield some time over here and, therefore, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Hoyer].

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, for purposes of correcting the Record, I yield 30 seconds to the distinguished gentlewoman from Oregon [Ms. Furse].

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Illinois [Mrs. Collins], the ranking minority member of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. (Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Stupak].

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from California [Ms. Eshoo].

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon [Ms. Furse].

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 2 minutes. Mr. Chairman, it is all very simple. This is a Robin Hood in reverse tax proposal. It is part of a package which is geared to help the rich and to hurt the poor. If we look, we will find that better than 50 percent of the tax reductions are going to go to those who earn more than $100,000 a year, the top 1 percent of the population of the country. Beyond that, it is going to cut programs which are important to people. It is going to cut the school lunch program. It is a bill which will cut the Women, Infants, and Children program. It is going to eliminate one of the most successful nutrition programs in the history of this country. It is a package that is going to cut school loans, college loans, college scholarships, and summer jobs. When we read this against the rest of the Contract on America, we will find out why this proposal should be rejected. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to reject this tax cut. It is unfair. I urge my colleagues to wait and to support the Democratic alternative, which will be a better package, fairer to everyone. It is going to strike, among other things in this package, the retirement taxes and the benefit cuts that Civil Service employees have worked for for a lifetime, that increase their costs solely to benefit the well- to-do. Mr. Chairman, the Medicare, Energy, and Telecommunications provisions of this bill reported by the Commerce Committee exemplify the tangled and deceptive nature of the measure before the House. This bill's title falsely advertises tax fairness and deficit reduction. The bill accomplishes neither. Nothing in the title of the bill advertises the fact that it imposes $10 billion in new costs on Medicare beneficiaries, providers, and employers. Nor does it mention a hastily drawn sale of a government asset, the Uranium Enrichment Corporation. In a most curious piece of theater, the Commerce Committee was summoned to a markup a few weeks ago to consider this assortment of unrelated health, energy and communications measures. In a Congress filled with surprises and irregular procedures, were we getting a jump on reconciliation and beginning the process of deficit reduction? My hopes were dashed. In the markup, Republicans made clear that we were not meeting for deficit reduction, when every Republican voted against our amendments to devote the savings from almost $10 billion in Medicare cuts, from extended auctions of spectrum licenses and from the sale of the uranium enrichment corporation exclusively to deficit reduction. In Medicare, the Republicans here propose raising premiums as much as $120 per year, shifting costs onto employers, and reducing payments to providers. Let us be straight with the elderly about what would happen under this bill. You will pay more in health insurance premiums to finance this tax cut. With respect to the extension of competitive bidding authority for radio licenses, Commerce Committee Democrats objected to the fact that the legislation was approved without a hearing or any attempt to determine whether, in fact, competitive bidding authority ought to be extended. For example, during the markup both Republican and Democratic Members expressed concern about the manner in which the Commission was utilizing this authority with respect to licenses in the Specialized Mobile Radio Service [SMR]. These concerns should have been vented during an oversight hearing and not raised for the first time at a markup. Ironically, during the same week that H.R. 1218 was introduced and approved by the Committee, a court issued a stay to prevent the Commission from using its competitive bidding authority to issue licenses for one group of licenses for broadband PCS. These are blocks of frequencies reserved for ``Designated Entities'', including small businesses, firms owned by minorities and women, and small telephone companies. Many of our colleagues support the ``Designated Entity'' approach adopted by the Commission. No matter what our position, however, it is irresponsible to approve H.R. 1218, thereby blessing the Commission's ``Designated Entity'' policies, without conducting the necessary oversight so as to determine whether the underlying statute ought to be modified or in some way clarified. Similarly, many of us want to privatize the U.S. Uranium Enrichment Corporation. We made privatization part of the 1992 energy strategy legislation. However, in the majority's rush to generate revenues to finance tax cuts, the committee allowed itself to be swept up in a hasty and imprudent process. As a result, the committee and the Congress are largely in the dark as to whether the American taxpayer will realize a fair return from the sale of the Corporation. No hearing was held on the underlying bill. In fact, Chairman Schaefer's questions following a February 24 oversight hearing on the Corporation have not been answered. These outstanding matters include applications of the antitrust laws, rights to sensitive technology, and disposition of recycled Soviet weapons materials under a contract the Corporation entered into in 1994, including the difficult issue of matched sales. My colleagues on the other side have restored to an odd rhetorical gesture to justify some of these cuts: the cuts, they argue, are in President Clinton's budget. We should all note the irony of Republicans taking such comfort in the recommendations of a President they have so pilloried. The President, to his credit, has laid down a comprehensive budget proposal. Republicans have not. The President has expressed opposition to putting further burdens on the elderly. Republicans seem to welcome the opportunity to impose them. This legislation is poorly conceived and hastily drawn. I urge its defeat. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time. gentleman from Tampa, FL [Mr. Bilirakis], chairman of the Subcommittee on Health and Environment of the Committee on Commerce. (Mr. BILIRAKIS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Missouri [Ms. McCarthy]. (Ms. McCARTHY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Oregon [Mr. DeFazio]. (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DINGELL

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, Saturday, April 8, 1995 will be a very special day for the State of Michigan and for the city of Taylor. On that day, tribute will be paid to a great patriot and a great friend to the veterans in Michigan, Wayne ``Boomer'' Buck. Boomer has served since June of 1994 as the State commander of the Michigan Department of Veterans of Foreign Wars. In that capacity, he has worked tirelessly to provide vigorous leadership to support the department's member posts, and guide their commanders. As the State commander, he has been responsible for the administration of a department with 88,000 members, comprised of veterans of all conflicts from World War I to the present. Wayne Buck was born and raised in Michigan. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1956, and served aboard a 7th Fleet destroyer in the South China Sea during a period of high tension in that part of the world. For that, he was awarded the China Service Ribbon. He returned to duty in the United States in 1957 and was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1962. Boomer has been active in the VFW since joining the Walter J. Smith Post 511 in New Britain, CT, in 1966. He became a life member of the VFW in 1970. While living in Connecticut, he served as an active member of his home post as well as on committees at the district and department level. After returning to his home State of Michigan, Boomer served as an officer and commander of Post 9283 in Southgate, achieving recognition as All State Commander in 1983. He later served in a district office, and was elected district four commander in 1987. His exceptional performance led to recognition as outstanding district commander that year. He later served as POW/MIA department chairman for Michigan, as Michigan vice commander, and became Michigan department commander in June, 1994. Mr. Speaker, my friend Wayne ``Boomer'' Buck has devoted his life to service of his country and those who have worn its uniform. He has done so with energy, integrity and skill. It is with pride that I commend him to you with the highest praise I can render: ``Citizen, Patriot, Friend.''

Mr. DINGELL

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I demand that the gentleman's words be taken down.

Mr. DINGELL. Reserving the right to object, Mr. Chairman, what words was it the gentleman would like to withdraw?

Mr. DINGELL. What about the word cynical?

Mr. DINGELL. Did the gentleman also wish to apologize?

Mr. DINGELL. He did not wish to apologize. Then I object.