Eliot Engel

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Chairman, I stand today in strong support of this amendment. This has been the worst year on record for air traffic delays. The New York area, which I represent, has three major airports with some of the worst delays in the Nation. Obviously, this situation must change. This amendment would commission a study to determine how best to fix these delays. The FAA had a chance to commission such a study, but instead they decided to take a unilateral, misguided approach to redesign the airspace over thousands of residents in my congressional district. The FAA did this without consulting the very people whose lives would be most affected. A study should have been conducted years ago. I support reducing delays, but we should first know if the FAA's actions will improve air travel. It would be a mistake for the FAA to continue on this course without knowing whether the airspace redesign would even reduce delays. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment because today we are affected, tomorrow you could be.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the League of Humane Voters of New York City (LOHV-NYC) for their support of animal rights and their efforts to hold elected officials accountable to their constituents on issues concerning animal welfare. Since their conception in 2001, the League of Humane Voters of New York City has been mobilizing public concern for animal rights through the democratic process by campaigning for the election of humane candidates to public office. LOHV-NYC has become a driving force for the defense of animals in New York City by raising tens of thousands of dollars and campaigning for dozens of humane candidates at the local and State level. LOHV-NYC recognized that animal rights was a political issue as well as a moral issue and has worked with citizens, activists, political parties, candidates and elected representatives to create awareness for animal welfare issues. In January 2006, the LOHV-NYC created and published the first ever humane scorecard for the New York City Council, which tracked Council members' votes and sponsorship of legislation relating to animal welfare issues. The scorecard was first published in Satya Magazine in 2006 and since then has received major media attention. The members of the League of Humane Voters in New York City are leaders in the animal protection movement, experts in law and politics, and everyday citizens. I would like to congratulate them on their dedication and on educating countless people on animal rights' issues.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. John Phillips for his devotion and tireless efforts for the humane treatment and protection of animals. As a longtime animal advocate, John Phillips was named the first ever Executive Director of the League of Humane Voters of New York City (LOHV-NYC) in 2004. Under his direction, LOHV-NYC has become a driving force for the defense of animals in New York City by raising tens of thousands of dollars and campaigning for dozens of humane candidates at the local and state level. He also helped organize the first ever humane lobby day, bringing dozens of animal advocates to City Hall to lobby their elected officials. John Phillips' energy and passion for the creation of effective animal protection legislation at the local, state, and federal level has been a major force in fostering discussion of the issues most important to the LOHV-NYC. His passion for the protection of animals and the education of people about the suffering of animals started at a young age, when he became a vegetarian at the age of 10 and a vegan at the age of 14. As well as becoming an animal activist, John Phillips has been involved with many other social justice groups, including those committed to the rights of the LGBT community, the homeless, and the environment. In January 2007, John Phillips was awarded the In Defense of Animals' Companion Animal Guard for his work with LOHV-NYC. We should all take note of his devotion to the protection of animals and I would like to congratulate John Phillips on his many accomplishments.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, six years have passed since America lost our innocence and terrorism struck at the root of our Nation's soil. I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 643, which recognizes September 11 as a day of remembrance. Mr. Speaker, I am a New Yorker, born and bred. I love our city. I was in New York when this tragedy occurred. I would often say to my children when we were in New York, look at the skyline, look at the World Trade Center. It was so invigorating. It makes me feel so wonderful just to be in this city, the city I love, the city in which I was born. We New Yorkers are a tough breed; but I have to tell my colleagues, six years ago when I drove over the George Washington Bridge to return to Washington and I took a look at the Manhattan skyline and saw the Twin Towers were not there, in its place I saw only smoke and fire and it deeply affected me. Mr. Speaker, when I think of the victims, the men, women and children who lost their lives; the firemen, the policemen who went there to save people's lives, and lost their lives, I am saddened. People who went to work, like millions of people across our great country go to work to earn a living to support their families, they went to work and so many were killed by terrorists for simply going about their daily lives. Some of these were my constituents and their families continue to mourn this great loss. Six years later we have far more to do. The terrorist ringleader, Osama bin Laden remains on the lam. We also know many of those brave individuals who sought to rescue and then recover the victims of this tragedy, are now becoming ill due to exposure to environmental toxins at Ground Zero. Today these brave volunteers, area residents and students still lack a comprehensive federal plan to provide treatment and monitoring of their ailments. This is unconscionable. I am proud to join with my NY Colleagues this week to introduce the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. This bill would ensure that everyone exposed to the Ground Zero toxins has a right to be medically monitored and all that are sick have a right to treatment. It would also rightfully provide compensation for loss by reopening the 9/11 Compensation Fund. Today, I feel sorrow in our remembrance of the tragedy of 9/11. We will never forget what happened that day. But we must look forward and right the wrongs our nation has perpetuated against our own heroes and provide them with the care and compensation they so desperately deserve. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Americans to pause and reflect on the tremendous loss of life that day, and how so many sacrificed so much for their fellow Americans.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, the Atria Senior Living Group received the Platinum Community award from the National Assisted Living Nurses Association for 100 percent quality compliance in state surveys at 22 communities throughout the country. With the number of elderly and disabled Americans dramatically increasing, I am proud to say that an Atria Assisted Living facility is located next to my office in Riverdale, where it is helping to care for this influx of elderly. I have visited many times since it opened. I was proud to again visit the Atria Assisted Living Facility, this weekend as part of National Assisted Living Week which has the theme of ``Legacies of Love'' and highlights the value of passing on the legacies of our elders to the coming generations. I urge everyone to visit friends and loved ones who may be at an assisted living facility to share in their love, care, and knowledge. Sadly, I recently lost my mother and value every moment I had with her. We, all of us, should make every effort to learn more about these facilities and the people in them. Atria's Platinum Award demonstrates its determination to give quality care to these most valued citizens, care they have earned and deserve. I congratulate them for what they have done.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, the Federal Aviation Administration has come up with a proposal to redesign the airspace around New York, New Jersey and the Pennsylvania area. Despite all the opposition and all the concerns of the people affected, lo and behold, the FAA made no significant changes in their final proposal. Full steam ahead, business as usual, the public be damned. So I stand today in strong opposition to the FAA proposal to redesign the airspace around New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. Specifically, I am disturbed by their actions surrounding the proposal to route up to 600 airplanes a day over Rockland and West Chester Counties in New York, which I represent. The FAA created that proposal with zero input from the people whose lives would be most harmed by this proposal. In fact, even when I brought this up to the FAA in a meeting in my office, it took over a week of urging before they would even agree to attend a public forum that I held in Rockland. They also conducted this entire process over the course of several years without any kind of adequate notification. My constituents expected better and they deserved better. Throughout this process, we have seen, time and time again, that the FAA would ignore the opinions and suggestions of myself and anyone else who would be affected by their proposal. Valid suggestions that would improve this proposal were written off without serious consideration. The FAA is trying to push through a proposal that doesn't make sense, and they are refusing to accept any changes. But the plan itself is not my only problem. The misleading tactics and the stonewalling by the FAA only add to this issue. Every effort I and my constituents and some of my colleagues have made has been met with bureaucratic resistance while, at the same time, the FAA has laid down strict deadlines for comments and changes. Just as an example, I tried multiple times to get an answer for how loud it would be when an airplane flies over us. This is critical information since overflights will be happening up to 600 times a day. All the FAA would tell me were 24-hour noise averages, which tell me nothing. Noise averages mean nothing to us. A room could be silent for 23 hours and have a 140-decibel rock concert for an hour, and the noise average would be something around a whisper. This is just one example of the FAA providing incomplete or misleading information. In addition, every document the FAA has sent to my office, from the original proposal to the record of decision, has been extremely complicated and vague. I've been living in New York my entire life, and I was unable to interpret the maps of where the planes would be flying over my district. If my staff and I, who are knowledgeable about the region, are unable to decipher the maps, how is the general public supposed to know where the airplanes will be flying over their homes? The answer is that they will not, and that's just what the FAA wants. It would be easy for the FAA to publish good maps of the area. They could use maps that are labeled with names of cities, streets and bodies of water. They could draw lines of these maps signaling precisely where the planes would be flying and at what altitude, but they chose not to do so. They chose instead to provide strangely colored maps with very few labels, so it was nearly impossible to figure out where the planes would be routed. It is this type of complex and misleading information that makes me and my constituents distrust the FAA. And finally, let me say the agency has deliberately manipulated information that it is giving out to be public. For example, my office sent in over 25 pages of comments from over 60 constituents. We also sent in a petition signed by nearly 100 local residents, and finally, we sent 237 pages of a transcript from a public town hall meeting I held in Rockland, which was attended by well over 1,000 people. Dozens of people spoke, not one of whom supported the plan. But the spokesperson for the FAA was quoted in the newspaper claiming they had only received five comments from affected people. Five. This is dishonest. This is unacceptable from an agency that is supposed to represent all of the people in the country. Mr. Speaker, when the Transportation-HUD appropriations bill came to the House for a vote, I strongly supported an amendment to eliminate funding for this airspace redesign proposal. I did this, not only to express my dislike for the proposal, but also to send a message to the FAA that they cannot treat Americans this way. And I will continue fighting this. And finally, let me say to my colleagues, this may only right now concern the northeast corridor, but if the FAA can get away with running roughshod over Members of Congress, over constituents, over Americans, they can do it in any region of the country. We need to fight this. This is wrong. If it can happen in the northeast, it will happen all over America. We must fight this plan, and I will continue to fight it.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues' strong support of a bill that I am introducing, which would protect calling card consumers from being scammed and stop prepaid calling card deception. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my friend and colleague on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Congressman Mike Ferguson, who joins me as an original cosponsor of this bill. As you may already be aware, calling cards allow one to purchase telephone talk time in advance and since the financial transaction occurs before card use, many companies have successfully hidden additional fees and terms that are then hard to appeal. Some consumers find that the calling card rates are higher than advertised or that they must pay surcharges or extra undisclosed taxes. In other cases, the calling card company automatically deducts minutes even if the consumer is unable to connect with the party they attempted to call. Even worse, many consumers find they are being scammed out of minutes and are being cut off in the middle of phone conversations. To help combat some of the aforementioned issues that plague our constituents, Congressman Ferguson and I will be introducing the ``Calling Card Consumer Protection Act'' which requires disclosures related to terms and conditions on all advertising, cards or packaging. It would also require that the calling card service providers disclose a detailed description of any additional fees and the company's name and contact information for consumers should a problem arise. Again, I urge my colleagues support and cosponsorship of this important consumer protection bill.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, today is an exciting day as I join with you and Representative Ros-Lehtinen and over 50 bipartisan co-sponsors--27 Democrats and 27 Republicans to re-introduce the Early Treatment for HIV Act. Today is just one day in a long journey to promoting common sense health care in the Medicaid program. Medicaid coverage for people living with HIV is contingent on two factors; qualifying as low income and meeting the Social Security definition of disability. What this means for uninsured HIV Positive people is that outside of the Ryan White CARE ACT, HIV positive people must wait for their health status to be compromised beyond repair, to deteriorate to full blown AIDS before they can get healthcare coverage under Medicaid. This defies logic as current Federal guidelines call for early access to medical care and treatment including the use of combination antiretroviral therapy. The Early Treatment for HIV Act, ETHA, gives states the OPTION of amending their Medicaid eligibility requirements to include uninsured, pre-disabled low-income people living with HIV. ETHA is modeled after the successful Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act, BCCA, that allows States to provide early access to Medicaid to women with cancer. As with the BCCA, participating States would receive an enhanced Federal matching rate, the same that is provided through the breast and cervical cancer Medicaid project and SCHIP. Earlier access to health care for people with HIV/AIDS is cost effective. It improves both the health and quality of life of many people living with HIV. By keeping people healthy, the government saves money on expensive medical interventions, such as emergency care or hospitalizations. Furthermore, new medications now allow people with HIV to remain in the workforce longer, and reduces the need for support from government income subsidy programs like SSI and SSDI. Will the cost-savings be immediate? No. But after a number of years, when early, effective treatment will limit the number of people whose health status progresses to full-blown AIDS, health care costs will be minimized, and best of all there will be a 50 percent decrease in lives lost to this terrible disease. As all of you know, I have been advocating for improving access to quality healthcare for those with HIV/AIDS for my entire career in public service. I was deeply troubled 2 years ago when the Energy and Commerce Committee ``reformed'' Medicaid during the Deficit Reduction Act. I offered ETHA as an amendment during that mark up and secured the first ever vote on that bill. As I said to then Chairman Joe Barton ``if our committee is sincere about Medicaid reform outside of this budget driven reconciliation process, than we should seriously consider the huge improvements in health outcomes and long term cost-savings that will be realized over time through the Early Treatment to HIV.'' Unfortunately, the amendment was not agreed to. In the past Congress, I was deeply involved in the negotiations of the Ryan White Care Act. Those initially writing the Reauthorization shifted huge numbers in funding away from the epicenters of the AIDS epidemic to other emerging communities and added language that would make it harder for providers to serve those most in need. A common sense approach would have been to just fund the bill at higher levels to keep states from being pit against each other for scarce funding. We righted some of the wrongs in that bill though, and will continue to work to strengthen the Ryan White program. Madam Speaker, today is a new day though and a new Congress. With an equal number of Democrats and Republicans pushing for Early Treatment for HIV in the Medicaid program today, we have a new opportunity to enact common sense, life-saving treatment.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, the reauthorization of State Children's Health Insurance is unquestionably one of the most important bills we will pass this year. This bill will protect six million kids currently covered by SCHIP and provide coverage for an additional five million children. This bill provides aggressive outreach to enroll children by simplifying enrollment procedures and awarding States bonuses for finding more children. This is important since two-thirds of the uninsured children in our Nation are actually eligible but not enrolled in Medicaid or SCHIP. What is the response of our Republican friends? Block the bill from coming up in our committee; create phony issues because they're against insuring children. Illegal amnesty? Give me a break. No hearings? We've had seven hearings on this bill. Eligible for private insurance? 93.5 percent of the children we cover in this bill would have no private insurance without this bill. What is the President's response? Under the President's plan, this program would see its funding cut from last year; and, worse, the amount allocated for its reauthorization would be less than half of the amount required to maintain coverage for current beneficiaries. He says he will veto this bill because it covers too many children. This is unconscionable. Sixty-one national advocacy groups devoted to improving children's health request that we fund the SCHIP program at 60 billion additional dollars. The President countered with $4.8 billion. Clearly, there is a disconnect. We are proud that, despite budgetary constraints, we will be able to reauthorize our SCHIP program at $50 billion. I am proud that we will be covering 11 million low-income children under this reauthorization, and I know our Nation will be better off for it. This is an amazing feat. Passing bills like this is why we should all feel honored to be Members of Congress. I'm sorry that my Republican friends just continue to say no. We say yes, yes to 11 million children, yes to saying that our children ought to be insured, yes to saying that America's children need our help. Pass this bill. It is good for all our children.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2831, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007. I regret that this legislation is even necessary in the 21st Century, but even today, we see instances of pay discrimination time and time again. The reason we are bringing this legislation to the Floor today is because unfortunately, activist judges on the U.S. Supreme Court have changed the rules to make it much, much harder for an employee suffering pay discrimination to bring his or her case to court. Prior to that case, an employee had 180 days from her previous paycheck to file a lawsuit for pay discrimination. However, five members of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Samuel Alito, changed those rules. Now, an employee has 180 days from the time of the decision to file a lawsuit. However, oftentimes it is extremely difficult to know when pay discrimination is occurring. In the Supreme Court case under which the new rules were decided, Lilly Ledbetter filed her lawsuit because she was being paid far less than the lowest paid male employee holding the same position as hers. And she only found out about this because an anonymous person slipped her a note that showed her that fact. There was no way that Ms. Ledbetter could have known about her pay discrimination if she had not received this anonymous note. However, the five Supreme Court Justices decided that she could not sue because it had been more than 180 days since her employers had decided to pay her less than the men. This legislation is not only beneficial to employees, it is good for employers as well. With the current strict time limits, employees have more of an incentive to file lawsuits if they suspect discrimination, simply because if they delay their suit, they will give up their right to sue. It does not make sense to encourage people to sue before they have all the facts. We should ensure that we have a statute of limitations that makes sense. I have fought against pay discrimination since my first day in Congress. Discrimination of any kind should never be allowed, and I intend to keep fighting against it. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is commonsense legislation that should be enacted into law as we work to end discrimination at all levels. Madam Speaker, I strongly support H.R. 2831, and I would encourage all of my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Con. Res. 136 which expresses the sense of Congress that restrictions on visits to the United States by high-level elected officials from Taiwan--including the President of Taiwan--should be lifted. And I thank my friend, Mr. Chabot of Ohio, for introducing this important resolution. Taiwan is without a doubt one of the most important allies of the United States in the Asia Pacific region. Taiwan is a rising economic power and has consistently ranked as one of the top ten U.S. export markets. In 2005, U.S.--Taiwan bilateral trade totaled $57 billion. In addition, our political ties with Taiwan have become ever more important in a world where China is increasing its global reach. I am the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. In Central America and the Caribbean, I have seen China continue to expand its presence while Taiwan becomes increasingly isolated. Given these realities in our own hemisphere, I believe that we must work closely with Taiwan to increase its global visibility and membership in international organizations when it is strategically and politically feasible. Given our strong political and economic relationship, it would seem inconceivable that we would place restrictions on high-level elected officials of Taiwan during their visits to the United States. Taiwan is a key U.S. ally which is trying hard to maintain its international position, and we should give Taiwan our strong support. I commend Mr. Chabot for introducing this important resolution and hope that Congress can work closely with the Bush Administration to ensure that these restrictions are actually removed.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 176, the Shirley A. Chisholm United States-Caribbean Education Exchange Program. I would like to pay tribute to our colleague, Barbara Lee, for introducing this excellent legislation and for the work of Chairman Lantos in moving H.R. 176 forward. Representative Lee and I have traveled to the Caribbean together, and we have seen through our site visits, including to St. George's University in Grenada and an education program at an orphanage in Haiti, the tremendous need for expanded educational cooperation between the United States and the Caribbean. In fact, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell of Grenada listed cooperation on education as among the most important issues for his country's citizens. As such, H.R. 176 creates an educational exchange program between the United States and CARICOM countries, called the Shirley A. Chisholm United States-Caribbean Educational Exchange Program, and provides educational-related assistance for the nations in the CARICOM region. Education is an area in which the United States has a clear advantage-- one which we should use to help our neighbors in the Caribbean. As chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, it has been a priority of mine to help promote good relations between the United States and CARICOM countries. Just last month, the Presidents and Prime Ministers of 14 Caribbean countries met with members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs as part of the historic Conference on the Caribbean and discussed how we could expand relations. During our meeting, I told the Caribbean leaders that we would pass a U.S.-Caribbean Education Exchange Act soon and hold a hearing on deportees. With today's passage of the Caribbean education legislation and last week's hearing, I am proud to say that we have lived up to our promises. Mr. Speaker, this bill is aptly named for Shirley Anita Chisholm, a former member of the United States House of Representatives from 1968 to 1983 who had family roots in the Caribbean nation of Barbados. I am glad that we honor her service with this important educational exchange program, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 176.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 1851, the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2007. This bill will expand Section 8 Vouchers to improve system efficiency, encourage self-sufficiency, and increase the number of families who can participate. There are currently 20,370 vouchers in use in New York's 17th district which I proudly represent, and 2 million families using vouchers nationwide. These Section 8 Vouchers allow low-income families to choose the housing option that best fits their needs, and encourages permanent economic stability. According to the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, there is funding for 150,000 vouchers that are not in use under the current Section 8 Voucher formula. By reforming Section 8 Vouchers, we put funding and vouchers in the hands of people who need them the most. Madam Chairman, in New York we highly value Section 8 Vouchers housing. The vouchers provide much-needed assistance to families and individuals wishing to become more economically self-sufficient, but who lack the means to do so on their own. Simplifying and expanding Section 8 Vouchers will help alleviate a monumental housing crisis in the state of New York and throughout the country. H.R. 1851 relieves pressure on struggling communities and families and will bring economic security and self-sufficiency within their reach. H.R. 1851 reforms Section 8 Vouchers in a comprehensive and logical way, and I encourage my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, in our Energy and Commerce Committee, we're pushing ahead to grant health care coverage to millions of children, a program called SCHIP. Unfortunately, the President's proposal to reauthorize SCHIP is woefully inadequate. His funding level won't even cover the children currently enrolled in the program. Nationwide, 6 million children are covered by the SCHIP and another 9 million are uninsured. If there was ever a question of where our priorities are, it should be with strengthening and modernizing the SCHIP program. I've just come from a meeting with our Governor, Eliot Spitzer. New York operates a separate stand-alone program under SCHIP, Child Health Plus. As of December 2006, nearly 400,000 children were enrolled and receiving comprehensive health coverage in the program. Our stand-alone SCHIP program has increased enrollment by over a quarter of a million children since the start of the program. Nationwide, we have to remember that the SCHIP program is a critical part of our health care safety net, providing health coverage to more than 4 million low-income children who do not qualify for Medicaid. SCHIP has served New York and our country well, and I will continue to work to improve access for children's health care coverage.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. I thank the gentleman, my distinguished friend, the chairman, for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker, it's time to get our troops out of the middle of an Iraqi civil war. It's time to start bringing our troops home. My friends on the other side of the aisle are essentially saying ``stay the course.'' At what point, I would ask my friends, do we say that the administration's policies in Iraq have failed and it is time to change course? I think that time is now. Even the Bush administration's interim assessment of whether the Iraqis are meeting basic benchmarks shows that they have failed to achieve any level of political and economic success. Here we are in the fifth year of the war, longer than World War II, more than half a trillion dollars and 3,600 American lives lost, and Iraqi politicians seem further apart than ever. Indeed, the evidence that our soldiers are involved in an Iraqi civil war is mounting and a solution seems even further from our grasp. Young American service personnel cannot solve the problem of Iraq, because, ultimately, Iraq is not a military problem anymore; it is a political crisis. And if the Iraqis cannot solve their political problems, we cannot do it for them. Only Iraqi politicians can bring about a solution, and our military personnel should not be dying to hold together the collapsed Iraqi state. Mr. Speaker, this war has turned into a great strategic fiasco, from the lack of planning to insufficient number of troops, to incompetent management of reconstruction projects, to the use of torture in military prisons. Our blunder in Iraq will affect our ability to succeed in the Middle East and elsewhere for years to come. Therefore, I strongly support this bill, which requires that we begin redeploying American troops home within 120 days of enactment and ending by April 1, 2008.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, as Chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 426 and I want to thank my colleagues, Congressmen Jim McGovern and Joe Pitts for introducing this important resolution. As my colleagues have said, Colombia's internally displaced population represents one of the worst humanitarian crises in the hemisphere, and the second largest population of internally displaced in the world. Many estimate that Colombia has the highest number of displaced persons in the world after only Sudan--up to 3 million people. According to Amnesty International, over 60 percent of these displaced persons have been forced off areas of mineral, agricultural or other economic importance. In fact, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has deemed it the ``greatest hidden humanitarian crisis in the world.'' This problem is particularly severe among Afro-Colombians and the indigenous. I hope that Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and the Bush administration can concentrate on this during the next phase of Plan Colombia. The Colombian government's proposal for the second phase of Plan Colombia--the Strategy for Strengthening Democracy and Social Development--focuses greater attention on socioeconomic aid. However, the President's FY 2008 budget for Colombia did not reflect this change. Therefore, I was particularly pleased that my friend and colleague from the neighboring district to my own Chairwoman Nita Lowey made welcome changes to our foreign assistance to Colombia in the FY 2008 House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. In particular, I appreciate Chairwoman Lowey's report language that indicates that U.S. foreign assistance to Colombia should be increased for organizations working with internally displaced persons (IDPs) and municipalities and departments with high IDP populations. I was also pleased that funds in the FY 2008 Foreign Ops bill were targeted specifically towards Afro-Colombians who as I noted are among the chief victims in Colombia's civil conflict. I would be remiss not to mention that I have been impressed by the significant progress made by President Uribe in reducing kidnappings, homicides and massacres in his country. No one can deny these results. But I believe that we must now build on this success by working together in improving social conditions in Colombia, chief among them the plight of Colombia's internally displaced.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, academic freedom is one of the bedrocks of a free society. This is known in the United Kingdom, just as it is known in the United States and other democratic nations. Among the nations with an open academic climate is the democratic state of Israel. The views expressed on its campuses span the spectrum from left to right and liberal to conservative. Its students are of all ethnicities, speaking many different languages. But, on May 30, the University and College Union of the United Kingdom voted to urge its membership to consider boycotting Israeli faculty and academic institutions. This deplorable action by men and women of letters runs against the very tenets of free academic exploration. How can people of learning expect to share the studies of the great questions of our time if they are not speaking to one another? Moreover, I fear that the reason behind this extraordinary step is much more dark and ominous. I believe that underlying this attack on Israel's academia is a not-so-well-veiled anti-Semitism. By singling out the conduct of Israel, a democratic and pluralistic country surrounded by a sea of dictatorships, the Union's leadership has taken absurdity and hypocrisy to new heights. The legislation on the floor of the House today voices Congress's extreme disapproval of the Union's short-sighted, bigoted, and offensive action. I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 467 and tell the nations of the world that academic societies are no places for closed-minded, hate-filled efforts to stifle free exchange.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 287 and thank our colleague, Congressman Alcee L. Hastings, for sponsoring this excellent resolution. In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemuller [VALD-say-meuller] drafted a map of the world that inaugurated the use of the name ``America,'' acknowledging the contributions of explorer Amerigo Vespucci, which forever altered the accepted geographical view of the world. As Chair of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, with jurisdiction over the Americas--Latin America and Central America, North and South America--I am keenly aware that the use of this name has forever defined the region where we all live. As we commemorate 500 years of the use of the name ``America'', let us rededicate ourselves to promoting better and closer relations between the United States and the countries of the Americas and hope that the next 500 years will be an era of peace and prosperity throughout the hemisphere. I urge Committee Members to support H. Res. 287.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Michigan for yielding to me. I rise today, Mr. Speaker, in strong support of H.R. 1830, which extends trade preferences for Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, and Ecuador. I want to thank Chairman Rangel, the dean of the New York delegation, and Chairman Levin for their leadership on this issue. I am the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, and as chairman, I believe that the extension of the Andean trade preferences is crucial in promoting development in the economically and politically fragile Andean region while also supporting essential U.S. geopolitical goals. My ranking member, Mr. Burton, just spoke and gave very good reasons why this should be supported. I agree with every one of them. With anti-Americanism on the rise in the Western Hemisphere, I believe that positive engagement with the Andean region can both improve our image abroad and help us to more effectively engage our neighbors. Many of our neighbors in the hemisphere feel a huge sense of neglect from the United States. The extension of the Andean preferences is a great way to show our neighbors that we are engaged and do indeed care. I believe that the preference program has been enormously successful, having created hundreds of thousands of jobs in the Andean region. Every job created in the Andean region is another potential illegal immigrant remaining in their home country. Without the extension of these preferences, these jobs, which are in sectors that do not directly compete with U.S. jobs, will be eliminated. I am also in possession of a letter from the AFL-CIO which gives its approval of these agreements. Moreover, I feel that without the extension of ATPA, many of the unemployed in the Andean region would turn to drug cultivation after they lose their jobs. The Andean preference program was originally created not only to support economic development in the region but also to divert illegal coca manufacturing toward legitimate industries. Using these trade preferences as a tool in the drug war is still very important today. Mr. Speaker, let me conclude by mentioning that President Bush recently traveled to five countries in the Americas in an effort to reinvigorate our partnership with our friends in the region. Prior to his trip, President Bush said that ``The working poor of Latin America need change, and the United States of America is committed to that change.'' I believe that the extension of ATPA can help bring this well-needed change to our friends in the Andean region. I want to emphasize that in my travels in the region, the region feels that the United States is looking elsewhere and is not engaged. The worst thing we could do would be not to pass this because it would prove their fears. We need to pass this. We need to do it quickly, and I urge Members on both sides of the aisle to support this.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, Reverend Dr. Samuel Simpson, pastor of the Bronx Baptist and Wake Eden community Baptist Churches in the Bronx was born in Jamaica W.I. He relocated to the United States in the early sixties. He and his wife Lola Campbell have three children and five grandchildren. He is well known in the Bronx and the West Indian communities throughout the State and beyond. In addition to leading the Bronx and Wake Eden congregations, Reverend Simpson has been instrumental in starting the Honeywell Baptist Chapel, and a newer mission in the Spring Valley area. Grace Baptist Chapel in the northern section of the Bronx is an off/shoot of Bronx Baptist Church. Reverend Simpson also communicates his strong belief in helping people via the media, and writes a weekly column for the Carib News. Periodically he is heard on Family Radio and has been the subject of three books: ``What God did for Me,'' ``Sam Simpson, Architect of Hope,'' and his most recent ``To Dream the Impossible Dream.'' He serves in many capacities in the Baptist denomination. Among his leadership roles has been president--Baptist Convention of New York for two terms, and moderator--Metropolitan New York Baptist Association. Other areas of service were: president and board chairman of Protestant Council of Churches of New York, president, Bronx division of Council of Churches, chairman of the board and president, Bronx Shepherds Restoration, and board member, Northeastern Bible College. Reverend Dr. Simpson is a true man of God and a firm believer in serving the total person. He has worked tirelessly for his community both within and outside the Bronx seeking to improve the temporal and spiritual aspects of his congregation and his community. We are a stronger, better community for his work.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues' strong support for the Alarm Customer VoIP Notification Act, which I am introducing today. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my friend and colleague on the Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee, Congressman Cliff Stearns, who joins me as an original cosponsor of this bill. Currently, burglar and fire alarm signals are transmitted from the home or business to a central monitoring station over the traditional phone line system. In many cases, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone systems will become a substitute for the current land line systems. When a VoIP (broadband) phone system is improperly installed, by either a consumer or a cable provider, there is a significant risk that existing alarm panels will be bypassed, and will no longer be able to send an alert to the alarm monitoring station. Unless the consumer is notified and the system is properly tested, they will be unaware they no longer have alarm services they are relying on to protect their life, health, safety, and property. Approximately half of the 26 million alarm consumers will learn that their systems are no longer operable when a monthly automatic test is run on their system. However, even those with self-testing systems will be without alarm monitoring services for up to a month. The other half of Americans who have older legacy systems, which cannot be automatically tested by a central monitoring station, will only learn they no longer have alarm services during an emergency. To make matters worse, seniors with home health alert systems, Personal Emergency Response Systems--PERS, will be unaware that they have lost their health lifeline. Consumers who utilize alarm systems have invested significantly to ensure that they have the security that burglar, health, safety, and fire alarm monitored systems provide. They should be given the information needed to ensure continued alarm monitoring services. That is why I have introduced the Alarm Customer VoIP Notification Act. This bill requires that before a VoIP system is activated, the customer be notified that their alarm system needs to be tested and that they need to notify the alarm monitoring company. Again, I urge my colleagues' support and cosponsorship of this important consumer protection bill.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, health care has never been more important, or more complex, in the United States than it is today. An efficiently functioning health care system requires many contributors, perhaps especially evaluation and quality improvement. Harry Feder is a senior vice president and chief operating officer of IPRO, one of the Nation's largest and most experienced health care evaluation and quality improvement organizations, and the man responsible for ensuring that necessary and appropriate care is provided across the continuum of care. Faith Feder is well known for her commitment to education, her abiding concern for the elderly and the care of the needy. As part of her commitment to education, she has served as both the Treasurer and President of the SAR Academy, where she led a parent body of its 600 children. In addition, she has been involved in numerous communal causes that treat the uninsured and assist the elderly. She is a founder and treasurer of Foremost Home Care. Harry has in-depth knowledge of processes and issues surrounding the monitoring and assessment of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. He has extensive knowledge and a national perspective on programs dealing with Utilization Review, Quality Improvement, Managed Care, Long-Term Care, Fraud and Abuse, and Independent Review of Appeals. He was awarded a Masters Degree in Public Administration from New York University Graduate School of Public Administration and is a lecturer in the Department of Health and Epidemiology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine as well as on the faculty of the New York University School of Continuing Education. Those are some of Harry's and Faith's accomplishments and just a few of the reasons that they are being honored by the Riverdale Jewish Center. For me, however, it is not only these accomplishments, but their being my close and dear friends for so many years that makes them so special.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, Reverend Dr. Samuel Simpson, Pastor of the Bronx Baptist and Wake Eden community Baptist Churches in the Bronx was born in Jamaica West Indies. He relocated to the United States in the early sixties. He and his wife Lola Campbell have three children and five grandchildren. He is well known in the Bronx and the West Indian communities throughout the State and beyond. In addition to leading the Bronx and Wake Eden congregations, Rev. Simpson has been instrumental in starting the Honeywell Baptist Chapel, and a newer mission in the Spring Valley area. Grace Baptist Chapel in the northern section of the Bronx is an offshoot of Bronx Baptist Church. Rev. Simpson also communicates his strong belief in helping people via the media, and writes a weekly column for the Carib News. Periodically he is heard on Family Radio and has been the subject of three books: ``What God did for Me,'' ``Sam Simpson, Architect of Hope,'' and his most recent ``To Dream the Impossible Dream.'' He serves in many capacities in the Baptist denomination. Among his leadership roles has been President--Baptist Convention of New York for two terms, and Moderator--Metropolitan New York Baptist Association. Other areas of service were: President and Board Chairman of Protestant Council of Churches of New York, President, Bronx division of Council of Churches, Chairman of the Board and President, Bronx Shepherds Restoration, and Board Member, Northeastern Bible College. Rev. Dr. Simpson is a true man of God and a firm believer in serving the total person. He has worked tirelessly for his community both within and outside the Bronx seeking to improve the temporal and spiritual aspects of his congregation and his community. We are a stronger, better community for his work.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and my good friend from Massachusetts for recognizing me. I'm very proud that this was the first bill that was reported from our Telecommunications Subcommittee this year. We had extensive hearings last year on the bill, and this bill is truly bipartisan. I want to thank the ranking member, Mr. Barton, for working with me on this bill, as well as Chairman Dingell, Mr. Stearns and of course my friend, Ed Markey. When people look at their caller ID, they have a right to believe and expect that the number that is there and the name of the person who is listed there is truly the number and the name of the person calling them. And I was shocked when I first heard that can you manipulate both the name and the number. In fact, there are Web sites, you only have to dial a Web site and pay a fee and you can manipulate the name, the number. And there's even technology where you can change the sound of a person's voice. So a 50-year-old male calling can sound like a 21-year- old female, and the name is different, and the phone number is different. That should not be. Constituents thought they were receiving calls from congressional offices at one time, and these calls turned out to be far from appropriate. Think of the mischief that can continue to happen. Unscrupulous people can trick unsuspecting victims to release personal information such as credit card numbers or Social Security numbers. It's easy for someone to pretend to be with Chase Manhattan or Citibank when you take a look and you see it says Chase Manhattan or Citibank and a number, and someone calls and says, well, we just need to verify your Social Security number with your account, and perhaps a senior citizen or someone else would feel that they could trust the caller ID and give personal information. This has to stop. Having investigated this issue in great depth, I became convinced that what was happening was only a harbinger of things to come. There's a strong possibility that more and more people will use this technology in political campaigns. Imagine calling someone at 2 o'clock in the morning and having the number of the opposite political campaign calling you to say vote for this candidate. So this is ridiculous. You could have insulting, slanderous, racist, sexist calls, and people would think when they look at their caller ID that it's somebody else calling, not the person who is calling. Both the gentleman from Massachusetts and the gentleman from Florida pointed out numerous instances. So this is truly a bipartisan piece of legislation, one that is needed, one that the American public is probably not aware that needs to be corrected. People just don't think that this can happen. They believe in what the caller ID says. So I urge my colleagues to give this important legislation strong support. This is a good step towards protecting our Nation from this emerging technology. And again, the people who use this have to have the intent to defraud in order to come under this statute. So this protects everybody, as Mr. Markey pointed out. There may be some instances, Mr. Stearns pointed out, where we would want to protect this technology, where we would not want to give the correct ID. This shows that if you have the intent to defraud, you can be prosecuted under this. So it strikes a fair balance. Those were the hearings that we had. And, again, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill, and I'm pleased to be the sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate World Day Against Child Labor. Today serves to remind us of the exploitation of child workers around the world and to encourage us to act as global leaders in ending these atrocities. I learned of the brutal working conditions of children who labored in the cocoa fields through a series of articles published by Knight Ridder several years ago. One young boy, Aly Diabate, told how he was sold into slavery when he was barely four feet tall. He said, ``Some of the bags were taller than me. It took two people to put the bag on my head. And when you didn't hurry, you were beaten. The beatings were a part of my life. Any time they loaded you with bags and you fell while carrying them, no one helped you. Instead, they beat you and beat you until you picked it up again.'' In response to stories like these, I, along with Senator Tom Harkin, authored the Harkin-Engel Protocol to hold chocolate companies accountable to American consumers and the global community. The Harkin- Engel Protocol provides for the development and implementation of industry-wide global standards for the growing of cocoa beans and the manufacturing of chocolate products that are sold in the United States. This framework provides a reliable capacity for the first time to publicly certify that cocoa used in chocolate or related products has been grown and processed without abusive child labor. The Harkin-Engel Protocol allows chocolate manufacturers to agree to take responsibility for the labor conditions of cocoa farms which they do not own. It is not and should not be the way of this Congress to stand by while children anywhere are sold into slavery. And it is not our way to provide a marketplace for products tainted with the blood of children. I encourage the Members of this Congress to act as global leaders and help end child slave labor throughout the world. Madam Speaker, my hope is that we will use World Day Against Child Labor to raise American awareness of the pressing issue of child slavery and to rise to the challenge of accountability in American products.