Michael Doyle

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, we had a very unfortunate ruling in Oklahoma City, one that we are going to undo today. This reminds me a lot about back in the days before I was in Congress. I was in the insurance business, and we used to do a lot of cold calling to make insurance calls. They always told us as they were training us that you had to get nine noes in order to get a yes; but if you kept calling, that every time a person said no to you, not to lose faith, because you were one step closer to the yes. So today we are doing a tremendous favor for the telemarketers in America, something that I wish they had done for me when I first started in the insurance business. We are giving them the list of the noes up front, so they do not have to make these nine calls to get a yes. We are telling them up front the people that do not want to talk to them, and now all they have to do is call the people that want to hear from them, that want to buy their products. I think it is a wonderful thing which we do today for the telemarketers, and it is a wonderful thing we do for the 50 million Americans that do not want to have to pick up that phone at dinnertime.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate North Hills Community Outreach on their Millvale satellite's ten-year anniversary. Founded in Allison Park, Pennsylvania, in 1987, North Hills Community Outreach is an interfaith nonprofit organization that addresses the basic needs of individuals and families who are in crisis, hardship and poverty. I am proud of their effectiveness and compassion as they help the people of my district in the midst of difficult times. The Millvale satellite was established in 1993 and was originally housed in the choir loft at Christ Lutheran Church. Having outgrown that space, the offices were moved to a storefront at 223 North Avenue in 1997. Unfortunately, the need for North Hills Community Outreach's services continues to grow and they are planning to move to an even larger facility. To that end, North Hills Community Outreach is collaborating with Millvale Borough on the potential expansion and refurbishment of the Community Center in Millvale. I applaud North Hills Community Outreach's holistic approach to helping people. The organization's case management program includes such services as employment assistance, utility and rent assistance, an emergency food pantry and the Faith in Action program in which volunteers help the frail elderly and adults with disabilities with transportation, yard work and light chores. Over the past ten years, thousands of people in need have benefited from North Hills Community Outreach's caring, professional staff and dedicated volunteers. I commend North Hills Community Outreach on their mission of ``people helping people'' and their belief that no one in northern Allegheny County should ever feel hungry, alone or forgotten. I wish them the best of luck with their move and hope for much continued success.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I represent Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, the second oldest county in the country. And this is indeed a sad day for seniors in Allegheny County because instead of providing our seniors with an affordable prescription drug plan under Medicare, instead, tonight we will give seniors a Medicare+Choice style drug plan. Now, we all remember in Pennsylvania what Medicare+Choice is. That is the HMOs trying to provide Medicare, the same companies that left hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians high and dry, not only in my State but all across this country, when they pulled out of their plans. This plan is nothing more than a huge subsidy to drug companies and will eventually lead to the privatization of Medicare. Do not just take our work for it. The AARP, which represents more senior citizens than any other organization in this country, says, The provisions that would establish a premium support structure beginning in 2010 could destabilize the traditional Medicare program and lead to much higher costs for beneficiaries. Rather than expand choice, this provision could limit choice by leading to a substantially higher cost for beneficiaries who want to stay in the traditional Medicare program. Those who choose not to enroll in private plans should not be put at a financial disadvantage. The other part of this plan that I just find unbelievable right here in title VIII, section 801 is we prohibit the administrator of the program from negotiating better prices from the drug companies on behalf of taxpayers. We are going to spend $400 billion of taxpayers' money, and we always hear from our friends, let us run government like a business. Well, what business does not negotiate for more favorable prices? But not this plan. Our government is prohibited from negotiating lower prices on behalf of senior citizens. I watch seniors in Pittsburg get on buses every month and drive to Canada to buy their drugs, because they cannot afford them in this country, for half the price of what they have to pay for in the United States. And now when we finally have an opportunity to take the buying power of all these senior citizens and negotiate more favorable prices from the drug companies, this bill specifically prohibits us from doing that. Mr. Speaker, this is a bad bill. We should vote it down.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a number of Pittsburgh residents who were honored on May 3rd 2003 with Bloomfield Citizens Council Awards. Every year, the Bloomfield Citizens Council gives out these awards to recognize members of the community who have improved the quality of life in the Bloomfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh. I would like to take this opportunity to commend the 2003 award winners for their efforts to make Bloomfield a better place to live. Emil DelCimuto has been selected as the recipient of the Mary Cercone Outstanding Citizen Award for his commitment to helping others in the community. As a volunteer for the Bloomfield Lions Club, the St. Joseph Nursing Home, and Meals on Wheels, Mr. DelCimuto has dedicated his time and energy to the people of Bloomfield. He is also an active member of the Bloomfield Preservation and Heritage Society and a sports columnist for several local newspapers. The Distinguished Patriotism Award was presented to Raymond Fern. As a Korean War Veteran and life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Mr. Fern is currently Commander of District 29, which has 15,000 members. Mr. Fern also became the first Pennsylvanian in 25 years to receive the All Star Grand Commander of the Military Order of the Cootie in 2000 for his strong commitment to hospitalized veterans. The People of Vision Award was presented to David Voelker, Richard Voelker and Marcia Deaktor for their financial investments in the economic growth and development of Bloomfield. The Bloomfield Citizens Council will present two awards for Christmas decorations this year. Joe and Toni Surmacy received the Keeping Christ in Christmas Award for their holiday arrangement with a religious theme, and Art and Mary Harrover received the Most Outstanding and Completely Decorated Home for their detailed Christmas designs. In closing, I would like to congratulate the recipients of the 2003 Bloomfield Citizens Council Awards on their important contributions to the quality of life in Bloomfield. On behalf of the residents of Bloomfield and the rest of the 14th Congressional District, I thank them for their efforts.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Katherine Hallberg from Woodland Hills School District. Katherine is the top winner of the 2003 14th Congressional District High School Art Competition, An Artistic Discovery. Katherine's acrylic painting entitled ``Technicolor Portrait'' was chosen from an outstanding collection of entries. Katherine is a young woman of considerable talent and is sure to have many successes in her future. The judges were very impressed by her use of light and shadow. I look forward to seeing Katherine's artwork displayed in the U.S. Capitol building along with the artwork of the other competition winners from across the country. I am pleased to be associated with Katherine's artistic talents. Congratulations Katherine. I wish you all the best of luck in the future.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Chairman, I would respectfully add my voice to those opposing this amendment. While I can agree that we all want to reduce our imports of foreign oil, I have not been convinced that raising CAFE standards would actually accomplish this. As I understand it, our import share of oil consumption was 35 percent in 1974. Since then our new fuel car economy has roughly doubled, but our oil import share has risen, nonetheless, to about 50 percent. For this reason, I am not convinced that the amendment, if adopted, would achieve what I believe is one of its primary goals. Additionally, at this time, our economy is struggling. Unemployment is rising, new job growth is stagnating, and there is increasing concern throughout my district and the country about the direction our economy is headed. Yet this amendment could have a devastating impact on the automobile industry which is critical to our economy. Even in my home State of Pennsylvania, which is not normally thought of as a State closely tied to the automotive industry, a total of 220,800 jobs are dependent on the industry. Conference Report (H. Rept. 108-71) The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendment of the Senate to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 95), establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2004 and setting forth appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2003 and 2005 through 2013, having met, after full and free conference, have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their respective Houses as follows: That the House recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the Senate and agree to the same with an amendment as follows: In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the Senate amendment, insert the following:

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the bill. Mr. Chairman, creating a national energy policy is a challenging but vital process. This country needs a comprehensive policy that reflects our diverse energy portfolio and this bill achives that on many fronts. I am pleased that this bill makes some real strides toward increasing utilization of some alternative energy technologies also. Language I worked on to create an advanced building efficiency testbed is included which will allow a university consortium to develop innovations in building technologies that will improve the efficiency of the energy systems in residential and commercial buildings while also reducing pollution. During committee consideration, I offered with Lee Terry an amendment that will create an Advanced Power System Technology Incentive program. This will encourage further utilization of distributed power systems such as stationary fuel cells, turbines, and hybrid power systems. It will help reduce our dependence on foreign oil while also providing assured power to critical infrastructure facilities in a clean, environmentally friendly manner. These are just a couple of the innovations included in the bill before us. Now I do have real concern with regard to language in the bill that would be detrimental to the pension plans of thousands of our mineworkers, and also with the fact that the tax provisions did not include important incentives for clean coal technology. My understanding is that these problems are being addressed and rectified however which is extremely important to me and thousands of others. The bill also contains an electricity title which, while not perfect, will allow the restructuring of our electricity industry to continue. Critics try to make blanket assertions that the restructuring path doesn't benefit the consumer, or won't produce any savings. But in my home State of Pennsylvania, we have found quite the contrary. Pennsylvania has been a pioneer in retail electric competition and it has worked well. In a recent report from Penn Future, a noted public interest group in my home State, they concluded ``electricity is generally becoming a bargain'', and they gave competition and restructuring much of the credit. The chairman of our Public Utility Commission, Glen Thomas, said in a recent interview that since restructuring in Pennsylvania: Consumers pay less for electricity. New generating facilities are being built to meet growing demand. The reliability of the grid has been strengthened. And consumers have more options to buy environmentally friendly ``green'' power generated by renewable resources like hydroelectric and wind facilities. We need to continue these advances and expand the benefits throughout the entire country. I believe that the bill before us today will help those efforts and I urge Members to support it.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Chairman, 39,700 of these people are directly employed by the industry. Mr. Chairman, this is a bad amendment. Let us defeat it.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor one of America's greatest allies and inspiration for our freedom, liberty, and most importantly, our democratic system of government--Greece. Today marks the 182nd anniversary of Greek independence. Greek- Americans in my district of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and throughout the United States will celebrate this milestone and continue their rich tradition of philanthropy, civic duty, and education. Indeed, there are more than 3 million Greek-Americans in our country providing America with professors, engineers, scientists, artists, athletes, and politicians. Greek culture and heritage touch nearly every aspect of American life. Greek Independence Day marks the revival of democracy in the place that gave birth to its principles, and many of the political, artistic and social innovations of Greece were the source of some of America's greatest treasures, including the rugged individualism described in Homer's poetry or the political philosophies of Aristotle. In these days of war and terrorism, Greece remains a steadfast and stable ally of the United States in a region of the world that is marked by turbulence and violence. Following the attacks on America on September 11th, Greece was one of the very first countries to express solidarity with the United States. Since this time, Greece has made outstanding contributions to the global war against terrorism, including military support for Operation Enduring Freedom, humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan, and participation in the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. My Speaker, Greek-Americans should be proud of their rich and long heritage of service to their fellow humans, both domestically and abroad. I strongly applaud Greek-American commitment to family, community, and America, and hope all Americans join with Greece and her sons and daughters to celebrate 182 years of freedom, democracy, and friendship.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, due to a personal family commitment on Thursday, March 13, I was not present for rollcall votes 63 and 64. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall number 63 and ``no'' on rollcall number 64.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I represent Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and in the great State of Pennsylvania, doctors are paying way, way too much for malpractice insurance. It is a crisis, and they need some immediate relief. Unfortunately, the bill we have before us today will do nothing to give any doctor in my State any immediate relief. It will not do a single thing to reduce frivolous lawsuits. There is nothing in this bill that will reduce frivolous lawsuits. So, Mr. Speaker, what should we do to address this situation? In Pennsylvania, we have just recently last year passed three laws that I believe are going a long way to address the problem. Number one, Pennsylvania has prohibited venue shopping for oversympathetic jury pools. We have established tough sanctions against lawyers who filed frivolous suits. We have reformed joint and several liability provisions to ensure all liable parties are truly responsible for their fair share of the judgment. We have established strict new standards for expert witnesses. We have allowed courts to reduce verdict amounts if the award will adversely impact access to health care. We have imposed a 7-year statute of limitations on filing of claims, and we have required insurers to offer patients safety discounts to medical facilities with good track records. These are the types of reforms that will help deal with the situation. Putting a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages disproportionately hurts poor people. These damage awards, they are not the cause of the problem. Two-thirds of patients who file claims receive nothing. Only 7 percent of these cases go to court. Let us not cap damages on people who can least afford it. Let us let States like Pennsylvania enact meaningful reforms like we have already done.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) for his kindness and consideration. Please don't think it's funny When you want the ones you miss. There are lots and lots of people Who sometimes feel like this. Mr. Speaker, I borrowed that opening verse from one of the original songs written by Fred McFeely Rogers during his long and legendary career. He wrote over 200 such songs to help explain complex, confusing, and often frightening issues to children in a gentle, noncondescending, and reassuring manner. That is what Mr. Rogers did best, make generations of children in this Nation and beyond feel special, important, and most of all, loved. Mr. Rogers always started his shows by changing into his familiar cardigan and comfy tennis shoes to give children a sense of comfort and consistency. As I don this cardigan, I know there are lots and lots of people in this Chamber and the world who will forever miss the neighborly comfort, love, and wisdom Mr. Rogers gave while wearing a sweater like this one on the show. It is in his honor that I have introduced House Resolution 111, and I sincerely hope all my colleagues join with me in celebrating the legacy of Fred Rogers. Fred was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, about a half hour east of Pittsburgh, and lived nearly his entire life in the city I am proud to represent, Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh will always be Mr. Rogers' neighborhood. It was in Pittsburgh in 1954 that Mr. Rogers began his lifelong involvement with children's television, coproducing a 7-year run of ``The Children's Corner,'' which at the time was broadcast on the Nation's first community-sponsored educational television station, WQED in Pittsburgh. In addition to his duties as producer, Mr. Rogers also performed musical numbers for the show and manipulated the puppets. Such famous puppets as Daniel Striped Tiger, King Friday XIII, and Henrietta Pussycat from his show went on to live in what is perhaps the most famous neighborhood in the world, ``Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.'' From his early and humble start in February of 1968, Mr. Rogers and all of his neighbors have the distinction of being the longest-running program ever on PBS, with nearly 900 episodes and 33 seasons to their credit. Although not comfortable in the spotlight, Mr. Rogers nevertheless has received much well-deserved recognition for his efforts, including the distinction as being one of ``TV Guide's'' 50 greatest TV stars of all time, four Emmys, and induction to the Television Hall of Fame. His messages of self-worth, respect, and understanding have long served as a calm refuge and important contrast in a world of children's television filled with frenetically paced and often violent cartoons. My friends, we have had more than our share of destruction, violence, and fear in these uncertain times. World events play out very differently in the eyes of a child, and in our rush to give voice to our own personal opinions on the happenings of the day, sometimes we overlook the importance of taking the time to explain issues to our children in a calm and easy manner and thus help ease the trepidations of a child growing up in today's world. Fred Rogers realized the importance of taking the time to communicate with children, a fact that was at the very heart of his goals and beliefs. Although he was an ordained Presbyterian minister, he never preached to his audience. But then again, he never had to. His message of unconditional love, peace, self-respect, and respect for one's neighbor is universal. He once said, ``When you are helping children feel safe, you are helping them use their energies for moving forward, toward a more hopeful future for themselves and for our society.'' Mr. Rogers helped children confront difficult real-world issues such as divorce, disease, and adoption by listening to them and engaging them on these topics, by talking to them in a manner that respected a child's developing intellect. I truly hope that the important messages that Mr. Rogers shared with us and our children continue on for the next generation of future Congressmen and- women, and I am confident that his legacy will continue, as I have heard that PBS is encouraging all local PBS stations to continue running the rebroadcasts of ``Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.'' His legacy will also continue in the works of the nonprofit organization founded by Mr. Rogers, Family Communications, Incorporated of Pittsburgh. In the words of Mr. Bill Isler, president of Family Communications, Mr. Rogers was a composer, minister, author, puppeteer, brother, husband, father, grandfather and a friend to every child in the entire human family. Those of us who worked with Fred Rogers share both the privilege and responsibility of continuing his work so that no child anywhere grows up without being told, ``You are special.'' In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to leave you with something Mr. Rogers once said in regards to helping children understand and cope with terrible news events on television. He said: When I was a boy and would see scary things on the news, my mother would say to me, `Look for the helpers. You always find people who are helping.' To this day, that is where I focus my attention, to the many caring people in this world. Our world lost one of the greatest and most caring helpers when Mr. Rogers was called home, but his teachings and messages have instilled in us the responsibility, duty, and ability to carry on his legacy by being one of the helpers that our children look for and need. Thank you, Mr. Rogers. We will always miss your special, caring way of helping and comforting us all. You will always be, for the children.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, we will all have to cast one of the most difficult votes of our careers. I know this will be the most difficult vote I will have to cast in the 8 years that I have had the privilege of representing the people of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is a vote that I have given much thought to because, Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the possibility of sending America's sons and daughters to war; and that is something that we must never take lightly. Now, all of us here in the Congress have been to many briefings. I have talked to the Director of the CIA, the DIA, the National Security Adviser. We have heard from many people from the administration, all of us, I believe, in an effort to get the facts, to seek the truth, to help us make a decision that we think is in the best interest of our country. And I want to say at the beginning that I think we are going to reach different conclusions tomorrow. There are basically three different ways we can vote tomorrow, and I do not question anyone's vote tomorrow. I think everyone in the House is a patriot and will vote in a manner which they think is the best way for our country to proceed. I want to say that up front. But we do have three choices and we are confronted with some realities. I think all of us would agree that Iraq poses a threat. They have biological and chemical weapons. We know that. We know they have designs on reconstituting their nuclear arsenal. They are not there yet. They may not be there for a year or so. But we know they have intentions to do that. So we agree there is a threat. Some of us would observe that the threat is equal to or certainly no greater than the threats posed by many other countries, Iran, North Korea, China, Syria. But I think we all agree that it is in the interest of the United States and the world community that Iraq be disarmed. So the question is what is the best way to do that, and tomorrow we are going to have three choices. The gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) would have us do this exclusively through the United Nations; that we would just work through the U.N. to try to effect disarmament of Iraq. The President's resolution gives broad authority to the President to do whatever he sees fit to disarm Iraq and protect this country. And then there is a third alternative, the Spratt amendment, which seeks to limit the broad authority given to the President, but nothing to the point that it ties the President's hands. I really believe, in looking at all three proposals, that the Spratt amendment makes the most sense. First of all, it makes it clear that the primary aim that we have is disarming Iraq from all weapons of mass destruction. It keeps the Congress engaged. Whatever happened to keeping the Congress engaged in what goes on in our country? I have watched trade agreements where we have abdicated our responsibilities in trade agreements to the executive branch, no oversight with these fast track agreements. And now we are talking about maybe sending our sons and daughters to war; and the Congress is ready to, once again, just abdicate its oversight to the executive branch. I think we need to be engaged, and the Spratt amendment allows us to be engaged. The Spratt amendment commends the President for taking the case against Iraq to the United Nations. It encourages him to persist in his efforts to obtain Security Council approval. And it calls on him to seek and also for the Security Council to approve a new resolution mandating tougher rounds of arms inspections. We think this is an important first step that thinks that the first order of business should be to get compliance through the Security Council first. It also authorizes the use of force if sanctioned by the Security Council. If Iraq resists the weapons inspectors and the new rounds of inspections fail, then the Security Council is going to have to confront the use of military force against Iraq. And if they authorize such force, as they did in 1990, the President does not need any further approval from Congress. He need not come back to us. But if the Security Council does not adopt the new resolution, or if the President considers its resolution too weak to wipe out Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, then the President can seek, on an expedited basis, an up-or-down vote by the Congress to use military force to eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Now, we ask that the President certify that he has sought a new resolution from the Security Council and that it has either failed to pass that resolution or it is insufficient; that military force is necessary to make Iraq comply; that the U.S. is forming as broad based a coalition as it can; and that military action against Iraq will not interfere with the war on terrorism. Security Council approval is in the interest of the United States in the long term, because it is going to help persuade neighboring countries, especially countries like Saudi Arabia and Turkey, to grant us basing and over-flight rights and other means of support. It allows moderate Arab and Muslim states to support the U.S. action, deflecting the resentment an attack on Iraq by the U.S. alone would generate in the Arab and Muslim populations, and it enhances the chances of postwar successes. Allies with us on the takeoff are far more likely to be with us after the conflict. Mr. Speaker, this is something we need to think through. What is a post-Saddam Iraq going to look like? How many years and how many troops will we have to station there? Mr. Speaker, I think the answer is simple. In the last few speeches, the President has made it clear by saying he will not attack Iraq without first attempting to build an international coalition of support from our allies. And I appreciate that because I think that is the right way to go. The Spratt amendment deals with Iraq in the right way by providing for a more thorough and narrowly focused process that I believe increases significantly our chances of success in this delicate and difficult situation. Mr. Speaker, I intend to support the Spratt resolution. I think it is the right way to go. I intend to vote against the President's resolution.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my most sincere congratulations to the twenty-six teachers from the Pittsburgh Public School System who completed the Research Experience for an Urban Teachers Institute (REUTI) this summer, which was hosted in part by Carnegie Mellon University. These teachers in an effort to improve the quality of education they provide to the students of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, received valuable training that they will implemented in their classrooms this fall. Their successful completion of this five-week program which instructs middle and high school teachers to become more proficient in the teaching of math, science, and engineering, clearly demonstrates their dedication to their field and to the children that they impact on a daily basis. This knowledge will improve the educational experience of students across the Pittsburgh School System and help provide them the tools they will need as they continue their education and move into careers of their own. At a time when our Federal Government has recommitted itself to improving our nation's schools and increasing our student's proficiency in math, science, and engineering, these teachers have proven themselves to be leaders in their field. Their efforts, together with other dedicated teachers across our nation, will help our students to again be among the top scoring student in the world. I encourage them to bring these new skills to not only their students, but to their colleagues so they may work together to provide the best education possible. The partnership that was formed between Carnegie Mellon University and the City of Pittsburgh Schools through REUTI demonstrates the importance of all levels of education working toward the common goal of providing a higher quality education to the students in our community. Through this collaborative effort, Carnegie Mellon researchers opened their laboratories and offices to provide a welcoming environment for the teachers who were able to participate fully in ongoing research activities. As a result of the cooperation from Carnegie Mellon University, these teachers were able to get a better understanding of the culture of scientific research. This experience is something that will assist these teachers in educating their students about the daily work of a scientist. Once again, I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to each of the twenty-six teachers from the Pittsburgh area who have dedicated themselves to continuing their own education in an effort to improve the quality of the education they provide to our region's students.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4600. We do have a problem with physicians and hospitals paying too much for malpractice insurance, but H.R. 4600 is not the answer. The cap on H.R. 4600 is based on a 1975 California law that when adjusted for inflation would have a value of slightly more than $40,000 today. This 1975 base cap penalizes the most vulnerable victims of medical malpractice: children, homemakers, the elderly and minorities, society members who have limited incomes and thus will benefit less from future economic earnings. Nearly 12 percent of Americans currently live in poverty and would depend on noneconomic damages to live on if injured. In my home State of Pennsylvania the people have decided against caps by including a prohibition on caps in our State constitution. Like them, I do not believe a cap on damages will do anything to reduce insurance premiums or ensure the quality of health care. But I realize the issue of a cap is a good starting point for discussion. Members like myself want to compromise and work on real solutions for the problems. Let us vote against this bill and start to work on a compromise that truly will reduce premiums.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the work of Dr. James Withers, the Director of Operation Safety Net in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dr. Withers recently received national recognition from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Community Health Leadership Program. The prestigious award includes a $120,000 grant to provide additional funding for his program. Dr. Withers, a Forest Hills internist and member of Mercy Hospital's medical and teaching staffs, founded Operation Safety Net to address the health care needs of Pittsburgh's homeless population. The program partners volunteer medical professionals and medical students with former homeless people to provide medical care to the city's unsheltered homeless. Dr. Withers launched Operation Safety Net in 1993, after spending almost a year visiting Pittsburgh's streets dressed as a homeless person to learn about their health care needs. He and a friend walked down countless dark streets, alleys, and abandoned buildings to find people in need of medical care. He even carried his medical supplies in a backpack to ease their concerns. Now, the 16 Operation Safety Net teams of volunteers, students and former homeless, do much the same, searching out those in need of care. Dr. Withers, or ``Doc Jim'' as he is known on the street, still walks with the teams several nights a week. The project now provides care for about 900 patients annually--the majority are substance abusers and many suffer from mental illness. In addition to helping Pittsburgh's unsheltered homeless population, Operation Safety Net also offers a valuable experience for the medical students and residents who participate as volunteers--giving them a hands-on lesson in caring for disadvantaged patients. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to recognize Dr. James Withers for this national award and express my gratitude for his determination and leadership. His lesson reaches well beyond the medical students and residents who volunteer with Operation Safety Net. It carries a message for all of us. Dr. Withers' nominator for the award put it best by saying, ``Jim's advocacy, creativity, and leadership are tireless. He teaches all who are willing to listen, in Pittsburgh and beyond, that each of the homeless has a name and that each has a story.''

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor United States Air Force Captain Jeannie Sweeney Ambrose, a Vietnam veteran and fellow Pittsburgh Irish-American. Captain Ambrose has served seven years on active service with the Air Force as a nurse and has dedicated much of her life to caring for and honoring all veterans. Born in Ireland, Captain Ambrose immigrated to the United States in the early 1960s and joined the Air Force after becoming a United States citizen. Captain Ambrose served a tour in Vietnam at Camrahn Bay in a MASH unit, where in her time off, she volunteered her skills as a midwife for impoverished Vietnamese civilians. Following her Vietnam tour, she continued to serve our country in an Air Force Hospital in London where she met her husband, Eddie Ambrose, who has also served his country as a C-131 pilot in Europe. In addition to compassionately caring for our soldiers during the Vietnam War, Captain Ambrose continues her work of honoring veterans through her poems. Every Memorial Day, veterans gather to hear her touching rendition of a poem she wrote, Flanders Field. Captain Ambrose's efforts on behalf of those who have served our country should be recognized, thus I have included one of her poems ``Take My Hand'' so that my colleagues in Congress and all Americans may share in her compassionate views. I believe that by honoring Captain Ambrose, we are recognizing not only her efforts, but also the efforts and importance of nurses who serve during wartime. As a son of a World War II veteran, I would like to extend my gratitude to Captain Jeannie Sweeney Ambrose for her kindness and compassion towards our servicemen and women. She is to be commended for her efforts on behalf of Pittsburgh veterans. Take My Hand (By Jeannie Sweeney Ambrose) Here--take hold of my hand, Lad, I'll try to kill the pain, You've had your share of fighting this day, We'll get you well and home again. Here--take hold of my hand, Lad, Don't go away from me now, I'll stop the blood and fix your wounds But you must stay with me and fight the pain. Here--take hold of my hand, Lad, I can't lose more of you now, We've all come so far, the lot of us, And I've got to get you to your home again. Ah--Lad, you must not quit on me now, I'll not let you go, you hear, Come, fight with me just once more, Your mom must not be left to cry. He had looked at me with one brief smile, And had asked me my name. I said call me Jeannie, or call me your mom, Today it will all be the same. My lad squeezed my had one more time, He smiled and then he died, I closed my eyes to remember his face, and said, I'll see you each year as we call out the names. Ah Lad, I still see your face, And all those we tried to save, Your face and smile were all we had, To help get us through those days. I still remember those lads, they were Our country's best They had fought and died for all of us, In a land so far, far away, Now they were all gone, now all at rest. My lads are here and everywhere today, We must never forget what they gave, They cannot smile or laugh at war anymore, But then neither can we who stay. Ah Lad, if I could just hold your hand once more, It would help me remember this day, I cannot forget their faces anymore, Nor the reasons they died in such pain. I go to the Wall each year to find my lads, There are so many of them now, The Wall grows warm under my hand As I find and touch their names. Here Lads, hold my hand, We're all together again.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer support to the local Pittsburgh television stations in my district that are moving into the digital future. These stations: including WPXI, a Cox owned station, WTAE a Hearst-Argyle station, KDKA of CBS Television, and WPGH and WCWB which are both Sinclair Broadcasting Group stations have demonstrated a commitment to the future of free over-the-air television. By investing in digital television, they are preparing to offer their viewers--many of whom are my constituents--exciting services like High Definition TV, interactive television, datacasting, and expanded programming content. The digital television transition is happening now, and I am proud that stations in Pittsburgh are leading the way. Today, record players and cassettes have in many cases been replaced by CDs. Analog VCRs are being replaced by digital VCRs and DVD players. Similarly, consumers will soon be swapping their analog television sets for digital television sets. Of course for digital television to move into its next exciting next stage and fulfill its great promise, it will be important that all of these digital devices are capable of working together. This concept--called interoperability--will enable a cable set-top box to be plugged into a digital VCR, which could in turn be plugged into a digital television set and all of the different devices will be able to communicate with each other. While there may be some discussion about the best way to achieve this end. It seems that everyone can agree that the final goal of interoperability will greatly benefit all consumers. Like any new technology, the digital television transition can go only so far without the full support of the American consumer. Clearly, their support will increase significantly when these different devices work together easily enough for the average consumer to understand. As we continue forward, let me reiterate: I am proud that Pittsburgh stations are leading the way in this exciting transition and I am confident that their investment in digital television will produce benefits for all consumers.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the tremendous artistic ability of a young woman from my Congressional District, Brenda Anderson of Springdale High School. Brenda is the top winner in the 2002 18th Congressional District of Pennsylvania's High School Art Competition, ``An Artistic Discovery.'' It gives me great pride and pleasure that Brenda's artwork will be representing the 18th Congressional District of Pennsylvania in the national exhibit in the United States Capitol. I encourage my colleagues as well as any visitor to Capitol Hill to view Brenda's artwork, along with all of the other winning artwork that will be on display throughout the next year. It is truly amazing to walk through this corridor and see the interpretation of life through the eyes of these young artists from all across our nation. Brenda's piece, entitled, ``Paradise,'' is a picturesque oil painting of a coastal view. Her attention to detail of the waves rolling in to the rocky beach as the dark clouds loom above, emulate a day at the beach and trigger your senses of the taste of the salty air and smell of the fresh ocean breeze. Brenda's artwork was selected from a number of outstanding entries to this year's competition, I hope that she and her family are proud of her artistic talents as well as this accomplishment. I would also like to recognize all the other participants in this year's 18th Congressional District High School Art Competition, ``An Artistic Discovery.'' I would like to thank these vibrant young artists for allowing us to share and celebrate their talents, imagination, and creativity. The efforts of these students in expressing themselves in a powerful and positive manner are no less than spectacular. I hope that all of these individuals continue to utilize their artistic talents, and I wish them all the best of luck in their future endeavors.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 414 and in support of the tens of thousands of steelworkers across the Nation, as we fight to rebuild an industry that has been devastated by illegal dumping of foreign steel onto American markets. I want to say that again: Illegal dumping of steel onto American markets has devastated this industry. As a Member of Congress whose family has worked over 73 years in the steel industry, I believe it is critical that we fight to ensure that our Nation's steelworkers have a fair and level playing field to market their product. After all, this is the same industry that built America and remains its backbone. Over the past several years, 51 steel mills have been closed, 31 steel producers have filed for bankruptcy, and over 46,000 hardworking Americans have lost their jobs. And why did they lose their jobs? Because their competitors are cheating, breaking our trade laws. And it has been a national disgrace that we have allowed it to happen this long. Across my district in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, once called the steel capital of the world, thousands of hardworking men and women have lost their jobs because their competitors were cheating. Without the protections provided by the President on March 5, more workers will be left jobless by foreign producers who illegally bombard our markets with cheap foreign steel. It is for these hardworking men and women and their families that I fight today. After all, if we are going to have free trade, we first have to have fair trade. The writing is on the wall and the call of our steelworkers must be heard. So, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this rule to table an ill-advised resolution which poses a direct threat to the same industry that built and continues to remain America's backbone. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 414 and in support of the President and the tens of thousands of steelworkers across our nation as we fight to rebuild an industry that has been devastated by the illegal dumping of foreign steel onto American markets. As a Member of Congress whose family has worked in the steel industry for over 73 years, I believe it is critical that we fight to ensure that our nation's steel workers have a fair and level playing field to market their product. After all, this is the same industry that built America into the world's pre-eminent superpower and it is the same industry we will continue to rely on to remain safe and strong. The very backbone of America is being threatened today. Over the past several years, 51 steel mills have been closed, 31 steel producers have filed for bankruptcy, and over 46,000 hard working Americans have lost their jobs. The International Trade Commission ruled unanimously that this loss is directly the result of steel dumping and not the fault of the American steel industry. Across the district that I represent in Western Pennsylvania, an area once universally called the Steel Capital of the World, thousands of hard working men and woman have lost their jobs due to unfair competition and through no fault of their own. In fact, the productivity, work ethic, and technology of America's steel industry is far superior to any other nation in the world. However, without the protections provided by the President on March 5th, these workers will be left jobless by foreign producers who illegally bombard our markets with cheap, foreign steel. It is for these hard working men and women, and their families, that I fight today! America cannot simply stand back under the banner of free trade and allow foreign nations to subsidize their steel industries, underpay their workers and dump their products on our markets with the hope of destroying the American steel industry. After all, in order to have free trade, we must first have fair trade. The writing is on the wall and the call of our steel workers must be heard. So, Mr. Speaker, I am standing today with the President and alongside every American steel worker. I urge my colleagues to join me and vote against this ill-advised resolution which poses a direct threat to the same industry that built, and continues to remain, America's backbone.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, as a proud graduate of the Penn State Class of 1975 and as the only current Democratic Member of Congress to have graduated from Pennsylvania State University, it gives me great pleasure to honor a great institution of Pennsylvania and college football, Coach Joseph Paterno. As an original cosponsor of this legislation, want to extend my heartfelt appreciation and admiration for JoPa's achievements in athletics and academics. Today, we are considering House Resolution 276, praising Joseph Paterno for his steadfast commitment to academics, service, and citizenship. Additionally, Coach Paterno has managed to win 324 college football games during his tenure in Happy Valley, surpassing football legends like Paul ``Bear'' Bryant and Pop Warner. On the way to achieving this unprecedented milestone, JoPa has led the Nittany Lions to 19 bowl victories, more than any other Divison 1-A football coach in history, and was selected by the National Football Foundation and the College Football Hall of Fame to receive the prestigious ``Distinguished American'' Award, becoming the first active football coach ever to receive the award. During his acceptance speech at the 1991 Hall of Fame induction, Coach Paterno said: ``What are coaches? Number one, we're teachers and we're educators . . . we probably have more influence over our young people than anyone other than families.'' We could laud Coach Paterno all day on his outstanding achievements on the football field, and deservingly so, but JoPa always stressed academic success and dedication to community to all his players. He has insisted upon a ``total person'' approach towards cultivating his players, encouraging and developing responsibilities to academics and personal lifestyle in addition to athletic ability. The Paterno approach not only produces winning collegiate football teams, but also develops educated, well-rounded and successful college graduates. The Grant Experiment of Coach Paterno has produced 20 first- team Academic All-Americans, 14 Hall of Fame Scholar-Athletes, and 16 NCAA postgraduate scholarship winners. The Penn State football team has a 68 percent graduation rate . . . well above the national norm 50 percent. The four-year average rate for the team was 74 percent. Indeed, Paterno said, ``The purpose of college football is to serve education, not the other way around.'' Joe and Sue Paterno have give much of their lives to college football during Joe's 51 year career at my alma mater, and in 1997, announced their intention to give $3.5 million dollars to endow new faculty positions and scholarships, thus continuing their commitment to academic success. As part of this endowment, special new construction projects are being undertaken, including the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, a new interfaith chapel as well as an all sports museum to be built on campus. Coach Paterno once said ``A great library is the hear of a great university.'' He and his wife established the Paterno Libraries endowment in 1984, growing the fund to over $4 million dollars. The Paternos have ensured greatness for library facilities and academics at Penn State by serving as co-chairs of the campaign to expand the Pattee Library. Their efforts helped raise $14 million to expand the library, including a personal contribution of $250,000. The expansion doubled the size of the library, and the University dedicated the new wing in September of last year, aptly naming the new expansion the Paterno Library. In conclusion Mr. Speaker, I sincerely hope the Members of the House of Representatives will join me in recognizing the contributions Coach Paterno has given to America, not just as successful football coach, but as an example of loyalty, dedication, and commitment to improving oneself in life. I salute JoPa, and wish him the very best of luck.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the Boehlert-Markey amendment. Every American supports increasing the fuel efficiency of the vehicles that we drive, but the question that we are all faced with today is, what cost to our safety, our economy and our life-styles are we willing to accept to meet the unreasonable standards imposed by this amendment? The bill we are debating will significantly reduce fuel consumption while ensuring that consumer safety and American jobs are not compromised. This balance will be threatened by this amendment. The American auto and steel industries are working together to increase fuel economy through technologies such as zero emission fuel cells and lightweight steel. These technologies will decrease emissions, increase fuel economy, and preserve the high safety standards that protect each and every one of us. If this amendment passes, over 18 plants and 135,000 automotive jobs will be lost in addition to thousands of jobs in the American steel industry, an industry already facing high unemployment as a result of dumping of illegal steel into American markets. In addition to the steel and automotive industries, workers in the rubber, aluminum, plastics, electronics and textile industries will not escape the job cuts that will be forced on the American economy. Furthermore, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has confirmed that higher CAFE standards may result in the use of weaker materials in construction which will increase the likelihood of injury and death on our national roadways. For these reasons, for the loss of American jobs, the cost to the American economy and the safety of the American consumer, I ask that we defeat this amendment.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to the amendment offered by the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders). At a time when the entire country's attention is focused on the need for a national energy policy which is comprehensive, balanced and improves the overall national security by reducing our dependency on foreign sources, I believe a move to slash $52 million from energy R&D will produce unwarranted and detrimental effects that will only make the current situation worse. Now is not the time to be short-sighted in making our funding decisions. We have heard the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) and the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks) speak eloquently to the fact that both of these programs, which we all support, PILT and weatherization, have been adequately funded in this bill. The gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) talks about the benefit of energy R&D research. If Members do take time to do a brief cost-benefit analysis, they will find that supporting energy R&D efforts is the most efficient, effective, and timely investment we can make; and for those Members who think that slashing $52 million from fossil energy research, that they are somehow going to improve the environment, they should think again about that disjointed logic of such a conclusion. Consider the following that has occurred as a result of energy R&D: we now see the possibility of zero-emission power plants using coal, natural gas, municipal waste and biomass; and research is under way to capture and sequester carbon dioxide. DOE's FE research program has a solid record of success. We have over $9 billion of commercial sales, of fluidized bed combustors that have been made, a commercial return of over $9 for every $1 of DOE investment. More than 200 commercial fuel cells operate in the United States and overseas and the most efficient, cleanest gas turbine in the world has ``Made in America'' stamped on it. Without question, FE R&D is a lot more than just coal and fossil energy research, and development does more than one might have imagined to help all of our constituents meet their needs when it comes to paying their energy needs. Please defeat this amendment.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1831, The Small Business Liability Protection Act. I was pleased to join fellow members of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment and Hazardous Materials in becoming an original cosponsor of this bill and I am pleased to see it moving forward towards implementation. We all agree that small businesses are in great need of appropriate relief from unintended consequences posed by Superfund's liability structure. I realize that the parameters of what constitutes appropriate relief was a contentious matter during debate on related legislation considered in the previous session of Congress. I am pleased that continued discussions on the matter have produced consensus on how best to provide this relief such that we are now poised to advance a legislative remedy that is fair, balanced, and is supported by a diverse group of interested parties. Superfund reform has been a pressing need not only in Pennsylvania, but also throughout the country. Clearly, there is a need for more comprehensive Superfund reform. While this bill is limited in its scope, it will provide a much-needed clarification regarding small business liability that for too long has been misconstrued by the courts to the detriment of many small business owners. It is my hope that the tone set by today's debate on H.R. 1831 will carry the bill to swift enactment, as well as foster an atmosphere in the House in which other significant achievements such as advancing brownfields legislation can be achieved. In closing, I want to express my appreciation to both Subcommittee Chairman Gillmor and Ranking Member Pallone for exhibiting exemplary leadership and bipartisanship on this most critical issue.

Mr. DOYLE

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the House and Senate Prayer Groups, it was an honor to chair the 48h Annual National Prayer Breakfast held on February 3rd, 2000. Each year, leaders and guests from across the nation and around the world meet in our capital city to share breakfast and to celebrate a mutual faith in God. We join in respect and love in a remarkable time of fellowship to honor the spiritual principles that are the heritage of our country and the God who has blessed us with them. We meet not as members of different countries and creeds but as children of God to pray for guidance and peace. Participating in the National Prayer Breakfast has been an honor and a blessing for me. The thoughts and prayers shared at this year's breakfast were of great value to those who attended, and I believe they will be so to many more. I am therefore including the program and transcript to be printed in the Record. The program and transcript follow: 2000 National Prayer Breakfast REP. ZACH WAMP: I am here to greet you in the spirit of Jesus this morning, on behalf of the Prayer Breakfast Group, and to introduce to you Maceo Sloan, the chairman, president, and chief executive officer of the Sloan Financial Group who will offer our pre-breakfast prayer. Please welcome Maceo Sloan. MR. SLOAN: Good morning. George Washington Carver said, ``How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong, because some day in life you will have been all of these.'' We must remember that our nation will not be judged by how prosperous we were or how innovative we were in business, but with how we assisted those most in need of a fair chance and opportunity. We must further realize that America's success is predicated on these values, and that we violate those principles if we do not reach back and embrace those Americans who have not had an opportunity nor have they benefited from our rising tide, for while a rising tide may rise all boats, it does not help if you do not have a boat. As the Reverend Jesse Jackson has said, ``We have removed the ceiling above our dreams. There are no more impossible dreams.'' My prayer for America today can be found in part in John, chapter 3, verse 18. Let us pray: Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth. We ask you dear Lord to open our hearts to those who need our guidance, love, compassion and understanding. Lord, we are assembled here today to ask you to strengthen our commitment to love one another. We ask you to heal our nation and direct our path to righteousness. These things we ask in your name. Amen. REP. WAMP: Thank you, Maceo. Your Congressional hosts have provided for our international guests translation into the following six languages: Chinese, German, Russian, French, Korean, and Spanish. Anyone who desires translation and has not picked up a radio receiver, please raise your hand at this time and an usher will provide you with one. For those who may need to hear the English amplified, it is also available on the radio receivers on Channel 1. Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention, for all of our enjoyment this morning, it is my privilege to introduce the Bethune-Cookman Concert Chorale. Welcome them. (Choral Performance.) SEN. CONNIE MACK: Good morning. My name is Connie Mack, and as the A year ago, I had the pleasure of hearing a choral group from Bethune-Cookman College, located in Daytona, Florida, sing at the inauguration of Governor Jeb Bush. I was so moved by their performance, I invited them to sing here at the breakfast this morning. (Applause.) They are going to perform again for us, The Battle Hymn of the Republic. (Choral Performance.) SEN. MACK: Again, I want to thank the Bethune-Cookman Concert Chorale. You have truly touched our souls and moved our hearts this morning. Thank you for getting us off to a great start. At this point I would like to call General Joseph Ralston, United States Air Force and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to offer the opening prayer. GEN. RALSTON: Let us pray: Dear God, on this day of prayer, we join together in thanksgiving for the many blessings you share with us. We thank you for a land of abundant treasures, a people of limitless talents, and a nation of priceless freedoms, including freedom of religion. We ask that you grant us the wisdom, courage and strength to be faithful stewards of this trust so that future generations may benefit as we have from your bountiful gifts. We are blessed today because we are joined by so many people, from so many nations, so many cultures, and so many religions who share in the unifying power of prayer. We ask that you enlighten all of us that we may find the path to peace and freedom, and that we all may come to embrace our similarities and resolve our differences. We especially ask that you extend your guidance to those who have been chosen to lead your people throughout the world. Please give them the discernment of mind, heart and spirit to be benevolent and just in all they do. Dear God, though we are of many faiths, we have one prayer in common, that you would use each of us as instruments of your peace, that we may ease the burdens of those less fortunate. We ask this in your name. Amen. SEN. MACK: I would ask you, if you have not already had breakfast to go ahead and eat your breakfast. Normally we have a 20 to 25 minute period for breakfast, but we have an extended program this morning and we want to get you out on time, so this is going to be an abbreviated period of about five minutes. I will be back with you in a moment. (Breakfast) SEN. MACK: The first prayer breakfast took place in 1953 during the administration of President Dwight David Eisenhower, and every president since President Eisenhower has been very supportive and involved in this annual event. This is a moment in time when members of Congress, the President and other national leaders and leaders and heads of countries from around the world come together in one gathering to reaffirm our trust in God and recognize the reconciling power of prayer. Although we face tremendous challenges each day in our lives, our hearts can be strengthened both individually and collectively as we seek God's wisdom and guidance together. As I have traveled around the world, I have been blessed with the opportunity to meet with the leaders of government, business, education and clergy in the spirit of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. We gather in small groups representing all religions, political, cultural and economic backgrounds. We gather in the spirit of brotherhood, in the spirit of love, and in the love of God. We are gathered here this morning in that spirit, in the presence of our God. We are reminded to live each day sharing with each other, our families, our friends, and yes, even our adversaries, the peace and joy which comes from following the teachings of Jesus, teachings which speak to us of the importance of love, of hope, of peace, of joy. But the most important of these is love. In these moments we affirm who we are and why God has called us to be servant leaders in such a time as this. Once again, we join with our founders in committing our lives to God, as sovereign of our lives, and our country, and our world. At this time, I would like to introduce the folks seated at the head table. Starting on your left and my far right--and I know that probably bothers him a little bit to be referred to as ``to my far right''--my cousin, Federal Appellate Judge Richard Arnold. General Joseph Ralston, who you heard from a moment ago. Mrs. Ralston. Hadassah Lieberman, wife of Senator Joe Lieberman. Senator Joe Lieberman. My partner in life, Priscilla Mack. The First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton. The President of the United States, the Honorable William Jefferson Clinton. Speaker of the House, the Honorable Dennis Hastert. The Representative of the Vatican to the United States, the Apostolic Nuncio, the Very Reverend Gabriel Montalvo. Congressman from Pennsylvania, the Honorable Mike Doyle. Ms. Amy Grant. Mrs. Joseph Gildenhorn, wife of Ambassador Gildenhorn. The former Ambassador to Switzerland, the Honorable Joseph Gildenhorn. Reverend Franklin Graham. And a young lady I was worried about for a few minutes, but she is here with us now, Erin Hughes. Mr. Maceo Sloan, who you heard from earlier this morning. It is my privilege at this time to introduce to you the Honorable Mike Doyle, Congressman from Pennsylvania, who is the leader of the House Prayer Breakfast Group. Mike will speak on behalf of the House and the Senate Prayer Breakfast Groups. REP. DOYLE: Thank you very much, Senator. I feel a little vertically challenged this morning. I'm going to stand up a little bit to see you. How's that, huh? (Laughter and applause.) It's not easy being short. It is a real honor to be here this morning. Mr. President, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Speaker, His Excellency, distinguished guests one and all, fellow sinners--have I left anyone out? (Laughter.) I want you to know it is my distinct pleasure to bring you greetings from the United States House of Representatives. I want to especially welcome our international guests, people who have traveled thousands of miles to be here with us today. Welcome. We are glad you are here. My job this morning is to tell you a little bit about our Prayer Breakfast here in the nation's capital. Every Thursday morning we gather in the Capitol, approximately 50 or 60 members of the House, Republicans and Democrats, all religious faiths, every background, from every part of the country, and it is members only, with a few rare exceptions. The amazing thing is that what is said in that room stays in that room. That is probably unique in all of Washington, D.C. We have breakfast together, we hear a Scripture reading, and we try to sing. We sing a hymn each morning, and some days are better than others. Then we get a member to come up and share a little bit about their life--their political journey, how they got here to Washington, D.C., their family, and most importantly, their spiritual journey. I can tell you that we learn more about a member of Congress from those 30 minutes when that member shares, than from any other activity that takes place on the House floor. It truly is an amazing event to watch people who you see for the first time. You think, ``I don't really have much in common with that person, or I might not particularly like that person.'' Then they share their heart and tell their story and you get to see what is really inside a person. You realize that although there are so many things that separate us and there are so many differences, there is so much more that bring us together. It is in the spirit of Jesus Christ that we meet, that people open up their hearts and you get to see what is inside. It changes how you feel about people, and it changes your own life. There is a verse in the Bible that says, ``Fix your eyes not on what is seen, but on that which is unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but that which is unseen is eternal.'' I just want to take one moment to tell you how that verse changed my life and to challenge everybody in this room to take that verse and change someone else's life with it too. When I got to Congress in 1994, it took me about a week to realize that one of the first things you do is try to get your committee assignments. I learned right away I was not going to be sitting on the Appropriations Committee or the Ways and Means Committee as a freshman, and decided I wanted to be on the Veterans Affairs Committee because we have a lot of veterans back in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I got on this committee, and the chairman at that time was a gentleman by the name of Sonny Montgomery. There was a subcommittee I wanted to serve on, the Hospital Subcommittee, but that subcommittee was pretty full. There was only one slot open and I did not have the seniority to get on the committee. I saw Sonny in the gym and I told him how much I wanted to serve on that committee, that my father was a 100 percent service-connected disabled veteran, that what the VA hospitals did for my family meant a lot to me and I would like to be able to serve on that committee. Sonny told me there were no slots on that committee. The morning we got to the committee meeting to draw the committee assignments, I was told that I had a slot on that subcommittee because Sonny Montgomery had stepped off that committee as the chairman so that I could be on the committee. He traded something that was seen for something that was not seen. I did not know what that second half was, but that week I saw Sonny in the gym, and he asked me if I would come to the prayer breakfast that met on Thursday mornings in the House. I had never heard of it before and probably would have never attended. But because Sonny did that for me, and he did not even know me, I thought it was just a wonderful gesture on his part, I said, ``Sure, I'll come to the prayer breakfast.'' And that is how I was first acquainted with the prayer breakfast. Here I am, six years later, having the privilege to serve as President of the House Prayer Breakfast. That single act changed my life down here in Washington, D.C., because somebody took something that was seen and traded it for something much more powerful, that which is unseen. I know Sonny is here. I see him sitting right there at the first table. Sonny Montgomery, thank you for helping to change my life. Ladies and gentlemen, that is my message today. Think about that when you go home. What is seen is just so temporary, but the unseen things in life, love, are the really powerful things in your life. Touch someone else's heart when you go home today. Trade something seen for something unseen, and you will change people's lives. God bless you all. SEN. MACK: Mike, thank you for that story and for helping us interpret the meaning of the Scripture that you read. Thank you again very much for that personal story. We will now hear a reading from the Old Testament by the Honorable Joseph Gildenhorn, former Ambassador to Switzerland, a man who has been involved with this gathering for many years. AMB. GILDENHORN: Thank you, Senator. As we start the new millennium, our hope, desire and prayer is to promote peace throughout the world. Our country's divine mission is to help find solutions to problems facing nations both in distress and in turmoil. To me, this is America's noblest calling, to be a strong and trusted peacemaker and peacekeeper wherever conflicts occur. We pray that we are successful in meeting this awesome responsibility, not only for ourselves but for our fellow man. I believe that the unqualified acceptance by our country to play a major leadership role in seeking universal peace poignantly demonstrates the greatness of America as we look to the future. I have chosen a passage from the book of Micah, chapter 4, verses 1-5, which I believe is relevant to this message. It reads: ``But in the last days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountain, and shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall go unto it. And many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the SEN. MACK: Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. The music of Amy Grant has touched the lives of people throughout the world. She has toured extensively, spreading a message of hope and love, and her faith has been the driving force of what she has done in the past 20 years. I am pleased to have Amy with us this morning, singing the beautiful ``El- Shaddai.'' (Amy Grant performs.) SEN. MACK: Amy, once again you have reminded us that music truly is the voice of the soul. Thank you very much for that beautiful song. It is now a special pleasure and a delight, frankly, to introduce a gentleman from Arkansas, of whom I am very proud. He is my cousin, Richard Arnold, and he is a federal judge with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. Richard will read a Scripture reading from the New Testament. JUDGE ARNOLD: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew: The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone has found. He hides it again, goes off in his joy, sells everything he owns and buys the field. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he finds one of great value, he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a drag net that is cast into the sea and brings in a haul of all kinds of fish. When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore. Then sitting down, they collect the good ones in baskets and throw away those that are of no use. ``Have you understood all this?'' He said. They said, ``Yes.'' And He said to them, ``Well, then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the Kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who brings out from his store room new things as well as old.'' SEN. MACK: Thank you, Richard. Last year we had a conversation with the Vatican about the possibility of the Pope coming to this prayer breakfast. However, we were unable to make the arrangements. We do have, however, a very special message personally written by Pope John Paul II, which has been sent to us through the Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, the Apostolic Nuncio in the United States. It is my pleasure now to introduce the Most Reverend Gabriel Montalvo, who will bring to us the special message from the Pope. ARCHBISHOP MONTALVO: To the distinguished participants in the 48th National Prayer Breakfast. ``Christ yesterday and today, the beginning and the end, Alpha and Omega; all time belongs to him and all the ages. To Him be glory and power through every age, forever. Amen'' With this ancient invocation to the Lord of History, I greet all of you and thank you for the gracious invitation extended to me through Senator Connie Mack, to address the 48th National Prayer Breakfast sponsored by the Congress of the United States. Although it is not possible for me to be present in person, I am grateful for this opportunity to share some thoughts with you through my representative in the United States, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo. We are now at the dawn of the new millennium, when followers of Christ throughout the world are celebrating the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, the 2000th anniversary of Christ's taking flesh and dwelling among us, the central event of history and the key to the meaning of human existence. The beginning of the millennium evokes reflection on the passage of time, especially when we are convinced that humanity is at the crossroads and must make important decisions regarding the epoch that is opening up before us. This is a time to reaffirm our belief that the God who created the universe and fashioned human beings in his own image and likeness continues to guide and sustain human history. The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 obliges us followers of Christ to renew our faith in Christ, the key, the center and the goal of all history, the new Adam who reveals man to himself, unlocks the mystery of his origin and goal, and sheds light on the path that leads to humanity's true destiny. This great vision of faith has an authentic public dimension: for the deeper understanding of the truth about human nature and human fulfillment, given to us by faith, naturally inspires efforts to build a better and more humane world. The century that just ended has shown clearly that immense suffering results when economic and political systems do not respect the full truth about man, his spiritual nature and his quest for the transcendental in his search for truth and freedom. This great project--the building of our world more worthy of the human person and our society, which can foster a renaissance of the human spirit--calls also for that sense of moral responsibility which flows from commitment to truth: ``walking the path of truth,'' as the Apostle John puts it. And such a moral responsibility, by its very nature, cannot be reduced to a purely private matter. The light of Christ should illumine every thought, word and action. There is no area of personal or social life, which is not meant to penetrate, enliven and make fruitful. The spread of a purely utilitarian approach to the great moral issues of public life points to the urgent need for a rigorous and reasonable public discourse about the moral norms that are the foundation of any just society. A living relationship with the truth, Scripture teaches, is the very source and condition of authentic and lasting freedom. Your nation was built as an experiment in ordered freedom, an experiment in which the exercise of individual freedom would contribute to the common good. The American separation of Looking back on my own lifetime, I am convinced that the epoch-making changes taking place and the challenges appearing at the dawn of this new millennium call for just such a prophetic function on the part of religious believers in public life. And, may I say, this is particularly true of you who represent the American people, with their rich heritage of commitment to freedom and equality under the law, their spirit of independence and commitment to the common good, their self-reliance and generosity and sharing their God-given gifts. In the century just ended, this heritage became synonymous with freedom itself for people throughout the world, as they sought to cast off the shackles of totalitarianism and to live in freedom. As one who is personally grateful for what America did for the world in the darkest days of the 20th century, allow me to ask: will America continue to inspire people to build a truly better world, a world in which freedom is ordered to truth and goodness; or will America offer the example of pseudo freedom which, detached from the moral norms that give life direction and fruitfulness, turns in practice into a narrow and ultimately inhuman self-enslavement, one which murders people's spirits and dissolves the foundations of social life? These questions pose themselves in a particularly sharp way when we confront the urgent issue of protecting every human being's inalienable right to life from conception until natural death. This is the great civil rights issue of our time, and the world looks to the United States for leadership in cherishing every human life and in providing legal protection for all the members of the human community, but especially those who are weakest and most vulnerable. For believers who bear political responsibility, our times offer a daunting yet exhilarating challenge. I even go so far as to say that their task is to save democracy from self- destruction. Democracy is our best opportunity to promote the values that will make the world a better place for everyone, but a society that extols individual choice as the ultimate source of truth undermines the very foundations of democracy. If there is no objective moral order that everyone must respect, and if each individual is expected to supply his or her own truth and ethic of life, there remains only the path of contractual mechanisms as the way of organizing our living together in society. In such a society, the strong will prevail and the weak will be swept aside. As we have written, ``if there is no ultimate truth to guide and direct political action, then ideas and convictions can easily be manipulated for reasons of power. As history demonstrates, a democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism.'' Faith compels followers of Christ in the public arena in your country to promote a new political culture of service, based on the vision of life and civilization that has sustained the American people in their positive character and outlook that has nourished their optimism, their hope, their willingness to be generous in the service of others, and will protect them from the cynicism which dissipates the very energies needed for building the future. Today, this optimism is being tested, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ remains the sturdy foundation of hope for the future. I am convinced that, precisely at these crossroads in history, Christ's message of truth and justice, and of our universal brotherhood as God's beloved children, has the power to emerge once again as the ``good news'' for our times, a compelling invitation to real hope. It will do so if the power of God leading to salvation is seen in the transformed lives of those who profess the Gospel as the pole star of their lives and the deepest source of their commitment to others. To build a future of hope is, to use a favorite expression of the late Paul VI, to build a ``civilization of love.'' Love, as Scripture teaches, casts out fear, fear of the future, fear of the other, fear that there is not enough room at the banquet of life for the least of our brothers and sisters. Love does not tear down, but is rather the virtue that builds up. And this is my prayer for you: that as men and women involved in public life, you will truly be builders of a civilization of love, of a society which precisely because it embodies the highest values of truth, justice and freedom for all, is also a sign of the presence of God's kingdom and its peace. May God grant you peace in your personal lives, in your families, and in the country you are privileged to serve. From the Vatican, January 29, 2000, John Paul II. SEN. MACK: Your Excellency, the members of the House and the Senate and our guests this morning feel honored and privileged to have received the message from the Pope, and we thank you for delivering it this morning. At this time, it is my pleasure to introduce to you the Speaker of the House, Mr. Denny Hastert. REP. HASTERT: Thank you, Senator. Would you please bow your heads and join with me in prayer. Heavenly Father, in the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul writes that we should offer our bodies as living sacrifices to you. And Paul continues and he says we have different gifts according to the grace given to us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve. If it is teaching, let him teach. If it is encouraging, let him encourage. If it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously. If it is leadership, let him govern diligently. If it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Those of us gathered here in your name, Lord, have many different gifts, but we all carry the responsibility of leadership. But our first responsibility, Lord, is to serve you. And let us remember that only through faith in you can we transcend the fears and the doubts that confront us day by day. Through your providence, you have helped place in us these positions where we can do much good. And so we pray to you, Lord, to help us govern diligently, to bless us with the Lord, also help us to remember your goodness and your mercy so that we may show that goodness and mercy to others. And help us to always remember why we have been called into your service and into the service of this nation. Lord, as we walk these paths of responsibility and governance, let us remember that when we are on the high roads, when people are looking up to us, that we continue to look to thee so that we don't trip and fall. Lord, and when we walk the low roads, when it is dark, help us again turn to thee for your faith and your guidance and your love. We ask this, Lord, in your precious name. Amen. SEN. MACK: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Our principal speaker today is a very dear friend, the Senator from Connecticut, Senator Joseph Lieberman. I have been privileged in my years in the Senate to have known Joe. He is a participant in our weekly Senate prayer breakfast. Joe and I have worked together in the Senate on a number of issues, and we have traveled together and had great times together. He is truly one of the finest men I have known. And he has sometimes been referred to as the conscience of the Senate. It is a special joy to be able to present to you my friend and colleague, Senator Joe Lieberman. SEN. LIEBERMAN: Here is evidence of the power of prayer to raise a man up. (Laughter.) Thank you, Connie Mack, my dear friend. You are one of the most thoughtful, decent, loving people that I have ever met or known. You not only give politics a good name, you give humanity a good name. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Perhaps you can hear--I have been struggling with a cold and a sore throat for the last few days. This brings to mind an incident that happened many years ago when I went to a synagogue in my home city of New Haven. The Rabbi got up at the time for the sermon and he said, ``Dear congregants, those of you who have been here for the daily services and those who are here today, can hear that I have a terrible sore throat, and frankly I had decided that I would not give a sermon this morning. But then I thought to myself, why should you derive pleasure from my misery?'' (Laughter.) So, with that in mind, I proceed. Mr. President, Mrs. Clinton, Speaker Hastert, distinguished clergy, particularly here at the head table, Archbishop Montalvo and Reverend Graham, other head table guests, honored guests in the hall, ladies and gentlemen, to each and every one of you, I extend the greeting that the people of Jerusalem in temple times extended to those who came to thank God for his blessings. (In Hebrew.) ``Blessed be those who come in the name of the Lord.'' Mr. President, Mrs. Clinton, I want to particularly pray for you this morning as we begin a session of Congress and you begin the final year of this extraordinary administration. God has given you gifts that you have used so magnificently in the service of the people of this country, indeed, of the people of the world, literally raising up millions of our fellow citizens and making peace in places where most people thought that was impossible. God has given you many gifts, and This morning, uniquely in this place, this very temporal city we come together to reach up to the timeless, which brings to mind the story of the man who is blessed to be able to speak with God. And in awe of the Lord's freedom from human constraints of time and space asks respectfully, ``Lord, help me understand--what is a second of time like to you?'' And God answers, ``A second, my son, to me is like a thousand years.'' The man then asks, ``Then Lord, help me to understand in my own mundane way--what is a penny like to you?'' ``To me,'' the Lord declares, ``A penny is like a million dollars.'' The man pauses, thinks for a moment, and then asks, ``Lord, would you give me a penny?'' And God answers, ``I will, in a second.'' (Laughter and applause.) I am honored deeply by being asked to speak to you this morning. But as that story suggests, I proceed with a profound sense of my own human limitations. I want to begin by talking with you about the weekly Senate prayer breakfast. Those still small gatherings that have, along with their counterpart in the House, spawned this magnificent National Prayer Breakfast, as well as similar meetings in every American state and so many countries throughout the world. When I was first invited to the Senate Prayer Breakfast years ago, I found a lot of excuses not to go. Some were good, like my reluctance to leave my family early on another weekday morning. But some excuses turned out to be not so good, like my apprehension that the Senate Prayer Breakfast was really a Christian breakfast, and that because I am Jewish, either I might feel awkward or my presence might inhibit my Christian friends in the Senate in their expressions of faith. Well, I turned out to be wrong on both counts. The regular participants in the breakfast and our wonderful shepherd, Chaplain Lloyd Ogilvie, persisted and finally convinced me to attend by employing a tactic that usually works with us politicians. They asked me to be the speaker. (Laughter.) That was a very important morning in my now 11 years in Washington. We began with prayer and readings from the Bible, and then called on the Chaplain who told us about some people in the Senate family we might want to pray for because they were ill or had lost loved ones. And then it was my turn. I spoke about the Passover holiday and answered some very thoughtful questions. At the end, we joined hands and prayed together. All in all, it lasted less than an hour, but I will tell you, I was moved that morning. More than that, I felt at home. I found a home. Today, years later, I can tell you that the Senate Prayer Breakfasts have become the time in my hectic life in the Senate when I feel most at home, most natural, most free, most tied to a community, because when we are at those breakfasts, we are there not as senators, not as Republicans or Democrats or liberals, or conservatives--not even particularly as Christians or Jews. We are there as men and women of faith, linked by a bond that transcends all the other descriptors and dividers, our shared love of God, and acceptance of his sovereignty over us, in our common commitment to struggle to live according to the universal moral laws of the Lord. I pray that all of you who have come from so many places, some from so far to be here this morning, feel that same unifying, humanizing, elevating love. And I also pray as we begin this new session of Congress that your presence will inspire those of us who are privileged to serve in government to appreciate the truth that is so palpable at these breakfasts. What unites us is so much greater than what divides us. The work that needs to be done for the people we in government serve will best be done if we work together and we will work together best if we understand that we are blessed, not only to be citizens of the same beloved country, but children of the same awesome God. Praying for the Lord's guidance, as Connie has said as we begin a new session of Congress, has been the traditional purpose of this National Prayer Breakfast. But there is another stated aspiration, and I quote, ``To reaffirm our faith and renew the dedication of our nation and ourselves to God and his purposes.'' I want to speak with you about that second goal this morning because I believe it is critically important at this moment in our national history, when our economic life and so much else is thriving, but there is evidence that our moral life is stagnating. Although so much is so good in our country today, there are other ways in which we need to do better. There is, for example, compelling evidence that our culture has coarsened, that our standards of decency and civility have eroded, and that the traditional sources of values in our society--faith, family and community--are in a life and death struggle with the darker forces of immorality, inhumanity and greed. From the beginning of our existence, we Americans have known where to turn in such times of moral challenge. John Adams wrote, ``Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.'' George Washington warned us never to indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. That is why we pledge our allegiance, after all, to one nation, under God, and why faith has played such a central role in our nation's history. Great spiritual awakenings have brought strength and purpose to the American experience. In the 18th century, for instance, the First Great Awakening put America on the road to independence and freedom and equality. In the 19th century, the Second Awakening gave birth to the abolitionist movement, which removed the stain of slavery from American life and made the promise of equality more real. And early in the 20th century, a third religious awakening led to great acts of justice and charity toward the poor and the exploited, which expressed themselves in a progressive burst of social and humane legislation. In recent years, I believe, there have been clear signs of a new American spiritual awakening. This one began in the hearts of millions of Americans like you who felt threatened by the vulgarity and violence in our society and turned to religion as the best way to rebuild a wall of principle and purpose around themselves and their families. Christians flocked to their churches, Jews to their synagogues, Muslims to their mosques, and Buddhists and Hindus to their temples. Others chose alternate spiritual movements as their way to values, order and peace of mind. I have thought at times that it has been as if millions of modern men and women were hearing the ancient voice of the prophet Hosea saying, ``Thou hast stumbled in thine inequity, therefore, turn to thy This morning I want to ask all of you here to think with me how we can strengthen and expand the current spiritual awakening so that it not only inspires us individually and within our separate faith communities, but also renews and elevates the moral and cultural life of our country. Let me suggest that we can begin by talking more to each other about our beliefs and our values, talking in the spirit of these prayer breakfasts--open, generous, and mutually respectful-- so that we may strengthen each other in our common quest. The Catholic theologian Michael Novak has written wisely, ``Americans are starved for good conversations about important matters of the human spirit. In Victorian England, religious devotion was not a forbidden topic of conversation, sex was. In America today, the inhibitions are reversed.'' So, let us break through those inhibitions to talk together, study together, and pray together, remembering the call in Chronicles to give thanks to God, to declare his name and to make his acts known among the peoples, to sing to him, and speak of all his wonders. And I would add that we who believe and observe have an additional opportunity and responsibility to reach out to those who may neither believe nor observe and reassure them that we share with them the core values of America, and that our faith is not inconsistent with their freedom, that our mission is not one of intolerance but of love. Discussion, and study and prayer, I think, are only the beginning, because we know, all of us from our faith communities, that in the end we will be judged by our behavior. In the Koran, the prophet says, ``So woe to the praying ones who are unmindful of their prayer and refrain from acts of kindness.'' Isaiah at one point seems to summarize the entire Torah in two acts: keep justice and do righteousness. And the Beatitudes inspire and direct us beautifully to action. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. Turning faith into action I think is particularly appropriate in this millennial year, whose significance will be determined not by turning a page on our calendars at work or home, but by turning a page on the calendars of our hearts and deeds. To make a difference, we must take our religious beliefs and values, our sense of justice and right and wrong into America's communal and cultural life. In fact, I want to suggest to you this morning that there is good news, that that has begun to happen. In our nation's public places, including our schools, people are finding constitutional ways to honor and express faith in God. In the entertainment industry, a surge of persistent public pressure, a revolt of the revolted, has prodded at least some executives to acknowledge their civic responsibility to our society and our children. It is even happening in government, my friends, where we have come together, under the leadership of President Clinton in recent years, to embrace some of our best values, by enacting, for instance, new laws and programs that help the poor by reforming welfare, that protect the innocent by combating crime, and that restore responsibility and trust by balancing our budget. In communities across America, people of faith are working to repair some of the worst effects of our damaged moral and cultural life, like teenage pregnancy, family disintegration, drug dependency and homelessness. Charitable giving is up. More of the young are turning to community service. And because our economy is booming, So, there is ample reason in this millennial year to go forward from this 48th National Prayer Breakfast with our hearts full of hope, ready, each of us in our own way, to serve God with gladness, to work to transform these good beginnings into America's next spiritual awakening, one that will secure the moral future of our nation and raise up the quality of life of all of our people. ``Let your light shine before others,'' Jesus said, ``so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven.'' And if enough of us do let our lights shine before others and involve ourselves in good works, then in time, as Isaiah prophesied, ``Every valley will be exalted, every mountain and hill will be made low, the crooked will become straight, and the rough places smooth, for the earth will be full of the glory of the Lord.'' Thank you. God bless you. Godspeed. SEN. MACK: Joe, thank you very much for that most inspiring and thoughtful and beautiful presentation, the message of which is unity and love that we share among each other. Thank you again for that beautiful message. Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, as I mentioned a moment ago, we are deeply honored to have both the President and Mrs. Clinton with us this morning. It is now my pleasure and honor to present to you the President of the United States. (Applause.) PRESIDENT CLINTON: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you and good morning Senator Mack, Senator Lieberman, Mr. Speaker, Congressman Doyle, other distinguished head table guests, and members of Congress and the Cabinet and my fellow Americans and our visitors who have come from all across the world. Let me thank you again for this prayer breakfast and for giving Hillary and me the opportunity to come. I ask that we remember in our prayers today the people who are particularly grieved, the men, women and children who lost their loved ones on Alaska Airlines Flight 261. And let me say to all of you, I look forward to this day so much every year; a little time to get away from public service and politics into the realm of the spirit and to accept your prayers. This is a special year for me because, like Senator Mack, I am not coming back, at least in my present position. I have given a lot of thought to what I might say today, much of it voiced by my friend of 30 years now, Senator Joe Lieberman, who did a wonderful job for all of us. The question I would hope that all of my fellow citizens would ask themselves today is: ``What responsibilities are now imposed on us because we live at perhaps the greatest moment of prosperity and promise in the history of our nation, at a time when the world is growing ever more I sometimes think in my wry way: when Senator Mack referred to his cousin, Judge Arnold, a longtime friend of Hillary's and mine, as being on his far right and that making it uncomfortable, I laughed to myself, ``That's why Connie wanted him on the bench so he'd get one more Democrat out of the public debate.'' (Laughter.) But I wonder how long we will be all right after this prayer breakfast. I wonder if we will make it 15 minutes or 30 or an hour; maybe we will make it 48 hours before we will just be back to normal. So I want to ask you to think about that today: What is underneath the fundamental points that Senator Lieberman made today? For us Christians, Jesus said the two most important commandments of all were to love the Lord with all our heart and to love our neighbors as ourselves. The Torah says that anyone who turns aside the stranger acts as if he turned aside the most high God. The Koran contains its own powerful version of the golden rule, telling us never to do unto others what we would not like done to ourselves. So what I would like to ask you in this, my last opportunity to be the President at this wonderful prayer breakfast: Who are our neighbors? And what does it mean to love them? His Holiness John Paul II wrote us a letter about how he answered that question, and we are grateful for that. For me, we must start with the fact that ``neighbors'' mean something different today in common language than it did when I was a boy. It really means something different in common language than it did when I became president, when there were 50 websites on the world wide web. Today there are over 50 million, in only seven years, so that we see that within our borders we are not only growing more diverse every day, in terms of race and ethnic groups and religion, but we can talk to people all across the world in an instant, in ever more interesting ways that go far beyond business and commerce and politics. I have a cousin who is from the same little town in Arkansas I am, who plays chess a couple times a week with a man in Australia, 8,000 miles away. The world is growing smaller and more interdependent. The point I would like to make to you today is, as time and space contract, the wisdom of the human heart must expand. We must be able to love our neighbors and accept our essential oneness. Now, globalization is forcing us to that conclusion. So is science. I have had many opportunities to say in the last few months that the most enlightening evening I had last year was one that Hillary sponsored at the White House, where a distinguished scientist, an expert in human genome research, informed us that we are all genetically 99.9 percent the same, and furthermore said that the differences among people in the same racial and ethnic group genetically are greater than the differences from group to group. For some, that is reassuring. For some, that is disturbing. When I said that in the State of the Union, the Republicans and Democrats both laughed uncomfortably. (Laughter.) It seemed inconceivable. (Soft laughter.) But the truth is that modern science has taught us what we always learned from ancient faiths: the most important fact of life on this Earth is our common humanity. Our faith is the conviction of things unseen--I love what Representative Doyle said--but more and more our faith is confirmed by what we know and see. So with all the blessings we now enjoy, what shall we do with it? If we say, okay, we accept it, God, even though we don't like it everyday, we are one with our brothers and sisters. Whether we like them or not all the time, we have to be bigger. Our hearts have to grow deeper. Time and space contract; help us to expand our spirits. What does that mean? We know we cannot build our own future without helping others to build theirs, but many of us live on the cutting edge of a new economy while over a billion people live on the bare edge of survival; and here in our own country there are still too many poor children and too many communities that have not participated in our prosperity. The Bible says that Jesus warned us that even as we do it unto the least of these, we have done it unto our God. When times are tough and all of our fellow citizens are having a hard time pulling together, we can be forgiven if we look at the welfare of the whole. Now the welfare of the whole is the strongest it has ever been, but people within our country and beyond our borders are still in trouble--people with good values, people with the values you have held up here today, people who would gladly work. We dare not turn away from them if we believe in our common humanity. We see all over the world a chorus of denial about our common responsibility for the welfare of this planet, even though all the scientists say that it is changing and warming at an unsustainable rate, and all the great faiths remind us of our solemn obligation to our earthly home. Even more troubling to me, our dazzling modern world is witness to a resurgence of society's oldest demon--the inability to love our closest neighbors as ourselves if they look or worship differently from the rest of us. Today the Irish peace process is strained by a lack of trust between Republican Catholics and Protestant Unionists. In the Middle East, with all its hope, we are still having to work very hard to overcome the profoundest of suspicions between Israeli Jews and Palestinian and Syrian Arabs. We have people here today from the Indian subcontinent, perhaps the most dangerous place in the world today because of the tensions over Kashmir and the possession of nuclear weapons. Yet, when people from the Indian subcontinent come to America, they do better than nearly anybody because of their family values, their work ethics and their remarkable innate capacity for absorbing all the lessons of modern science and technology. In Bosnia and Kosovo, Christians thought they were being patriotic to cleanse their lands of Here in Washington, we are not blameless, for we often, too, forget in the heat of political battle our common humanity. We slip from honest difference, which is healthy, into dishonest demonization. We ignore when we are all tight and in a fight, all those biblical admonitions we profess to believe, that we all see through a glass darkly; that with St. Paul, we all do what we would not and we do not do what we would; that faith, hope and charity abide, but ``the greatest of these is charity''; that God says to all of us, not just some: ``I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine, all of you.'' Once Abraham Lincoln responded to some friends of his who were complaining really bitterly about politicians who would not support him. And he said to them, and I quote: ``You have more of a feeling of personal resentment than I have. Perhaps I have too little of it. But I never thought it paid.'' We know it does not pay. And the truth is we are all here today because, in God's timetable, we are all just like Senator Mack and me: we are all term-limited. In my lifetime, our nation has never had the chance we now have--to build the future of our dreams for our children, to be good neighbors to the rest of the world, to live out the admonition of all our faiths. To do it, we will have to first conquer our own demons and embrace our common humanity, with humility and gratitude. I leave you with the words of a great prayer by Chief Seattle. ``This we know: all things are connected. We did not weave the web of life. We are merely a strand in it, and whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.'' May God bless you all. (Applause.) SEN. MACK: Mr. President, thank you for those comments. At least for me, what you said was a challenge, a challenge to reconcile the way we live, what we do, with the spirit that we hold so dear--the challenge for us as individuals and the challenge for the nation as well. Thank you so much for those beautiful words. (Applause.) Mr. President, we have another very special moment, I think. Our closing song this morning will be sung by a young lady from my hometown of Ft. Myers, Florida. Her name is Erin Hughes. I had the joy of hearing Erin sing last year at the prayer breakfast in Ft. Myers. Erin will sing for us The Lord's Prayer. (Erin Hughes performs.) SEN. MACK: Wow! Thank you so much, Erin. You touched my heart a year ago, and you touched it again this morning. Thank you so much. Now I would like to call on Reverend Franklin Graham, who will lead us in the closing prayer. But first let me say to you, Franklin, we are delighted to have you with us. Your father, Billy Graham, was one of the founders of this event in 1953, and has been with us almost every year since its inception. We wish him and your mother our best and our love, and our prayers are with both of them. REV. FRANKLIN GRAHAM: Thank you, Senator Mack. Mr. President, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Speaker, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I bring greetings to you from my mother and father. I spoke with my father last night, Mr. President, and he asked I give to you and Mrs. Clinton his love and his greetings. He is unable to be with us this morning due to an operation that my mother had just a few days ago. She is in the hospital, and she is not doing very well. I know my mother and father would appreciate your prayers for them. We have heard much said about a new beginning at the start of this millennium. Many would like to have a new beginning because of the mistakes and sin in their lives. They wish they could experience forgiveness and just some way start over again, to have a new beginning. This is exactly what you can have with Jesus Christ, a new beginning. In your personal life, your home, your family, in your role as a leader, in your office, in daily relationships and responsibilities, a new beginning is what Jesus Christ accomplished with his death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave. The Bible says that we have all sinned and come short of God's glory and that the wages of sin is death. But God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God gives each one who will respond in faith to his son the opportunity for a new beginning. If we confess our sins to God and repent, and by faith receive Jesus Christ, God's son, into our hearts and make him the lord of our lives, God will forgive our sins. He will heal our hearts and give us the hope of eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us pray: Our father and our God, once again, we thank you for this unique occasion that brings us together to reflect on your goodness to our nation, to meditate on thy word and pray to you with thanksgiving. We come this morning first of all to pray especially for those in leadership over us. We ask you to give wisdom and strength to our President, to our Vice President, the Cabinet, the members of the Supreme Court, the Congress, our military leaders, and all others who carry such heavy responsibility in our nation. We thank you for their willingness to give of themselves, sometimes at great personal sacrifice. We pray also for those heads of state and those who have joined us from other nations. We humbly turn to you, oh God, for the help we need each day. In spite of the fact that we are now in the year 2000, the social problems of the world are still with us, as they have been since the dawn of history. Our tremendous technological and scientific achievements have not solved the basic human heart and the problems of this world of greed, and pride, and moral depravity and hatred, or the problem of loneliness and sorrow and suffering. Once again as we have gathered here in this great city and amidst this bountiful breakfast, we are reminded that there are those that are hungry and hurting in this country and around the world. We pause, father, to remember those who are homeless and those who are starving, those who are living under war and oppression and persecution like in the Sudan and other parts of the world. Oh, father, guide our President and leaders in Congress as they try to solve and respond to the great political and humanitarian crises at home and around the world. You alone have given this nation our prosperity, father. You have given our freedom, and our strength. Our faith in you, oh God, is our heritage and our foundation. We have neglected your word. We have ignored your laws. We have tried to solve our problems without reference to you, and we ask for your forgiveness. Help us this day to confess our sins and to repent and to receive by faith your salvation, your son, Jesus Christ. Thank you for our great nation and the freedoms you have given to us. With this freedom, may we not serve ourselves, but may we serve others in your holy name. Amen. SEN. MACK: That concludes our prayer breakfast. There have been lots of people who have spent a great deal of time in preparing both the program and the breakfast this morning, and I would like for you to give them and all those who volunteered a round of applause. (Applause.) I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for coming this morning. Your presence has helped to make the event a great success, and I hope you are happy that you came and that you are leaving with a very special spirit. Good morning, and God bless.