Bob Etheridge

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Chairman, let me thank the gentleman from Texas (Chairman Combest) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), the ranking member, and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Everett) who is chairman of the Subcommittee on Specialty Crops and Foreign Agriculture Programs, and others who have worked so hard to bring this bill to the floor with a peanut program that gets us into the 21st century. I commend the gentlemen for their efforts on that. They have constructed a program which will help peanut farmers, particularly peanut farmers who own peanut quotas, make their transition from AMPTA payments, marketing loans, and a countercyclical program. Unfortunately, this transition looks to be difficult on those peanut farmers who rent their quotas and their land. Currently, peanut farmers enjoy support levels of about $610 per ton. Under H.R. 2646, if a peanut farmer has quota, he will still receive close to that support level when he combines the marketing loans, peanut AMPTA payments, countercyclical payments and buyout provisions that this bill authorizes. However, those peanut farmers who rent quota and land do not receive a quota buyout payment so they are totally dependent on the other payments, particularly the new $480 per ton countercyclical peanut program in the bill, a $130 per ton difference from the current level. In North Carolina, we have many peanut growers; and they are going to have a very difficult time staying in business with the provisions in this bill. That is why I am offering this amendment. It would raise the countercyclical payment for peanuts from $480 to $500 per ton. It would offset this increase by increasing the CRP acreage from 39.2 million to 38 million acres. According to the Congressional Budget Office, my amendment also saves $116 million over 10 years. This money could be put back into the CRP or used for other purposes which the House may decide. Mr. Chairman, it is my intention to ultimately withdraw this amendment after a couple of my colleagues speak on this issue, but I offer it in order to raise the issue of how peanut growers who must rent quota and land fare under the underlying bill. I know the chairman and the ranking member included in the manager's amendment a provision to allow peanut growers who rent the opportunity to assign base acreage on their own land or to others. This will give those growers a stronger position in negotiating rent process with landlords. It is a very helpful provision, and I thank both the ranking member and the chairman for this. What I would like for them to do is when they get in conference with the Senate, I hope Members will consider the possibility of phasing in the countercyclical program so these farmers do not have to face the shock of going from the support level of $610 a ton to $480 a ton in 1 year. Phase-in is a smart approach that will allow these peanut farmers a smooth transition. Frankly, it has been a total new approach for them. As a representative from a tobacco-producing State, I have followed the committee's development on this peanut program very carefully. Many tobacco quota holders in my State are hoping for a buyout, and I see this peanut program as a test case to see if we can proceed in a similar direction. Mr. Chairman, I thank both the chairman and the ranking member for looking at this important issue for our farmers.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Chairman, on the point of order, on the issue of jurisdiction and ambiguity, and I understand the Chair is getting prepared to rule, but Mr. Chairman, I would join the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson) who just spoke that there is enough ambiguity. We are looking at issues that 25 States have expressed their wishes, governors have signed the papers indicating their wishes to be a part of a compact, my State being one of those States that want to be a part of it. We are seeing a loss in farmers. Twenty-five years ago in my State, there was 1,600 dairy farmers. Today, we have about a fourth of that figure. We are asking for trouble if we allow milk production to be consolidated into just a few small hands, and we have seen that, as you have already heard about what happened on September 11, continue. We must take action to allow more small dairy farmers to survive, and compacts are a proven method to do that. We have seen that in the northeast. If my State of North Carolina were a member of a compact as were other dairy States in the northeast, their combined income would have been over $20 million in the year 2000, but instead they received 5.4 million in Federal dollars. They do not want the money from the Federal Government. They want to get it from the marketplace. We write these farm bills because of the fluctuation in the marketplace. It has made it difficult for farmers to plan, and we are trying to help level it out as we should to help production in agriculture, but denying a vote on the no cost options to help dairy farmers when prices decline simply does not make sense. That is what we are about. We are about a democratic body, expressing the wills and wishes of the people of this country. The northeast compact has shown that you can take the volatility out of the milk pricing, keep dairy farmers in business and provide a fresh supply of local milk at a fair price, all without costing the Federal Government a cent. We ought to be about that. That ought to be about what we are doing. The compact establishes a floor, as you have already said. Producers, consumers and even processors play a role in determining the price. Some argue that compacts cause overproduction of milk which would then flood our class III producers, like cheese, and cause the prices of these products to decline, but that has just not happened in what we have seen in the northeast. In fact, last year, every compact State saw a decrease in milk production, except one, and that was Vermont which had an increase of only 2.8 percent less than the national average. That follows a similar decrease in production in 1999. We ought to be endorsing that. That ought to be what we are working about as a body here to help make a difference. The northeast compact even provides incentives to farmers not to overproduce, and there is no reason why these incentives will not work in other parts of the Nation. Some may also argue that the northeast compact has not stopped dairy farmers from going out of business in that region. Nothing in this underlying farm bill will keep every single farmer in business, regardless if they are in dairy, wheat or any other product. We understand that, but since the compact has been in place, the rate of closing of dairy farms in the northeast has decreased. If we would have had that in my State of North Carolina, I am convinced we would have more dairy farmers today and this country would be better off. I could talk more about the benefits of the compact, and I hope as you consider your ruling, you will take this into effect, but Mr. Chairman, I believe if we deny a vote on this amendment, that will be most unfortunate, and the full debate of this House will not be had, and I would yield to my friend, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Boehlert) for a comment.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Campbell University Coaching Great and my former basketball coach Mr. Fred McCall. A native of Denver, North Carolina, Coach McCall earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1948 from Lenoir-Rhyne College, where he was a three- sport standout. He was inducted into the Lenoir-Rhyne Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980. Following graduation he earned his master's degree from George Peabody College and then pitched professionally in the Carolina League at Hickory, in the Coastal Plain League at Rocky Mount, and in the Western Carolina League at Newton. A graduate of the Infantry School in Fort Benning, Georgia, he served as an officer during World War II. Coach McCall joined the Campbell staff in 1953 and served the University with distinction for 33 years. He coached Campbell's basketball team to a 221-104 record in 16 seasons. Coach McCall directed his teams to five state junior college championships in eight years, then led the Fighting Camels through their first eight years of competition on the senior college level. During his tenure as head coach and director of athletics, McCall coached three Junior College All-Americans-Len Maness, Bob Vernon, and George Lehmann. In 1954, Coach McCall and Wake Forest Coach Horace ``Bones'' McKinney began the Campbell Basketball School, which has featured such outstanding sports greats as Coach John Wooden of UCLA. Forty-one years later, the School still ranks as the nation's oldest and largest continually running summer basketball camp. Coach McCall developed the McCall Rebounder in the late 1950s to teach proper rebounding techniques. The device has been used by coaches in all 50 states and numerous countries worldwide and has been on display at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Named Tar Heel of the Week by the News and Observer in 1969, Coach McCall resigned his basketball and athletic director duties on January 10, 1969, to accept an appointment as Campbell's Vice-President of Institutional Advancement. He served in that capacity until 1979 when he was named Vice-President for Administration, a position he held until his retirement in 1986. On June 13, 1994, Coach McCall was honored by being inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Coach McCall and his wife, the former Pearle Klutz of Granite Quarry, have three daughters--Janet King, Leah Devlin, and Lisa Singletary--and six grandchildren. Mr. Speaker, Coach McCall not only taught others and me about basketball; he taught us about life. Coach McCall not only helped make me a better player; he helped to make me a better human being. The life lessons taught to me and countless others by Coach McCall's special brand of coaching are lessons we live by to this day. Coach McCall helped strengthen Campbell University, his community, and his country. On behalf of the people of North Carolina, I rise today to offer our eternal gratitude.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Madam Speaker, yesterday the Nation bid farewell to a true American hero as General Hugh Shelton retired as Commander of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The General wore our nation's uniform for 38 years, and America owes him a special debt of gratitude for his unsurpassed leadership as our senior military officer. As America prepares to wage war against terrorism, we should thank General Shelton for his dedication to duty and professionalism. He is a soldier's soldier, an inspiration to U.S. military personnel, and someone who has earned the respect and admiration of all of his fellow Americans. General Shelton was born in the small town of Speed, North Carolina. He graduated from North Carolina State University in my congressional district and previously commanded the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg and the Army's Special Operations Command. He is truly North Carolina's favorite son. Madam Speaker, to honor General Shelton, I have introduced H.R. 2751, the General Hugh Shelton Congressional Gold Medal Award. This bipartisan bill will bestow a fitting tribute to this superior warrior and great American. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the resolution. On September 11 we lost more American lives than on any single day in history. Terrorism must be stopped around the world. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution to approve the use of American military force in response of the attacks this week on our Nation and her people. Earlier today, I joined with our civilian and military leadership at the National Cathedral for the prayer service in mourning for the victims of Tuesday's attacks. The Reverend Billy Graham was absolutely correct to observe that the assault that was meant to tear us apart has instead joined us together. Our Nation has come together to grieve for the dead, the injured and the missing, and we all weep at the incomprehensible suffering that has been inflicted on the American family. This collective mourning is a necessary and healthy process to help us recover as a people and face the difficult days ahead. But as the Scripture teaches us, ``To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.'' The time to mourn will pass. And the time to act will come. I support this resolution because America must act. America must act deliberately and with decisive force to strike down the terrorist enemy. American must act to protect our country from this new danger whose evil knows no bounds. America must act to eliminate the threat of terrorist attack on our people wherever that threat may exist. I support this resolution because this Congress must come together-- Democrats and Republicans alike--to stand side by side with our Nation's Commander in Chief as he leads our military into the most challenging campaign we have ever faced. We must come together on a bipartisan basis to support our brave young men and women in uniform, some of whom may not live to see our victory over this enemy. I support this resolution, but this Congress and the American people must understand that we are embarking on a very dangerous mission whose duration is unknown and whose outcome is not foreordained. Our enemies in this war hide in the shadows and retreat to the far reaches of the Earth. Our enemies do not have the courage to face us in open combat so our military leaders will need to adapt a new approach to win this war. But I strongly support this resolution because America must stand up once and for all and state to the world: no one with the means and the will to threaten the American people will be tolerate--anywhere on the face of the Earth.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about yesterday's outrageous attack on America. First and foremost, I want to express my sympathy and condolences to the victims of these attacks and to their families. Their unimaginable suffering that they have been forced to endure will forever give them a unique place in America's collective hearts. We pray that the good Lord, in his mercy, will comfort the innocent and help them find a path to perseverance. We resolve that their loss will never be forgotten in this country where we share their deep grief. I commend the many acts of heroism performed by civilians, police, firefighters, and countless others. The response of the American people has been overwhelming, as people give their time, their prayers, and their blood to assist our fallen brothers and sisters. Americans of all walks of life have shown their true colors in this crisis, and those colors are unmistakably red, white and blue. Yesterday, we witnessed multiple acts of extreme cowardice, precipitated by individuals so twisted with hate as to slaughter innocent citizens, men, women and children who have done them no harm and posed them no threat. The people of this country feel these attacks deeply because we know that the target of those assaults were every man, woman and child in this country. Freedom itself and our way of life came under attack yesterday, and we must answer that call to protect our citizens. President Roosevelt correctly stated, ``We, born to freedom and believing in freedom, are willing to fight to maintain that freedom. We, and all others who believe as deeply as we do would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.'' America stands today bruised and bloodied, but she stands nonetheless. America stands unbowed. We will recover from this assault. We will bury our dead. We will rebuild. And we will fight to maintain our freedom. Our enemy in this war may be elusive, but he is not invisible. Our enemy may be sophisticated, but he is not invincible. Our enemy is certainly ruthless, but he will know America's resolve. The people of America want an end to this threat; and by joining together, we can and will do it.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer a personal explanation. Yesterday, I was absent from the Chamber as I attended the funeral of Liston Ramsey, the late Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives. During that time, I was not present to vote on Roll Call Votes 333 and 334. Had I been present, I would have voted Yes on both. I ask that my statement be submitted in the appropriate place in the Record.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 2563, the Patients Bill of Rights, and in opposition to all ``poison pill'' amendments and in particular the Norwood amendment. Like many of my colleagues in this House, I strongly support the Patients Bill of Rights. In fact, the Ganske-Dingell Patients Bill of Rights provides strong patient protections. It ensures access to emergency room care, allows for clinical trials, provides for continuity of care, and holds managed care plans legally responsible for their actions. But, today we have been asked to consider a new amendment to this bill. This amendment, if passed, would gut the spirit of the Ganske-Dingell bill. The Norwood amendment would give HMO's a rebuttable presumption in court, which means that if an HMO follows its procedures in the review process, the patient bringing a suit would be held to a higher standard of evidence that separates HMO's from any other industry, business, or individual in America. Mr. Speaker, that higher standard prevents a patient from making a case in court. That is unfair and it is wrong. We must hold HMO's and health insurance companies accountable for their actions, and I will oppose any amendment that protects HMO's and prevents patients from getting the care they need. If this amendment passes, I will oppose the amended bill because it will become unenforceable and will let HMO's off the hook. A right that is unenforceable is no right at all. Mr. Chairman, I have consistently supported a patient's bill of rights that is strong and enforceable. Today, I am afraid, the House majority is going to pass an insurance company's bill of rights. Maintaining health security is one of the primary challenges facing North Carolina's working families today. Families deserve to know that they can count on affordable high quality health care in their managed care plans. Making crucial decisions about a patient's health care should be the responsibility of the doctor and the patient--not some insurance company accountant. Today's debate is about patients. They are the Americans we hear about in the news and in our communities who are sick and hurting. A real patients bill of rights provides these Americans with access to the care they need and holds managed care plans legally accountable for decisions that lead to serious injury or death. The Republican leadership supports the Norwood amendment because it will send this bill to a conference. And we all know what that means, Mr. Chairman. The Patient's Bill of Rights will die there. America needs a Patients Bill of Rights. Our families are depending on us to give them that right today in this House. The only way we can ensure that they will get that right--the right to clinical trials, emergency room care, and to hold HMO's accountable for their decisions--is to oppose all of the ``poison pill'' amendments proposed today and support the real patient's bill of rights. The Republican bill is a fraud. It is a sham bill. I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 2563, and ask that they join me in opposing the Norwood amendment and other poison pills that will kill a bill that America's patients desperately need.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. I rise today in strong opposition to this rule. This energy bill can be summed up in three words: drill, drill, drill. We have heard a lot of other reasons to be opposed to this rule. I offered an amendment to help do something about this in the Committee on Rules. It deals specifically with North Carolina and the American people to help protect the fragile natural resources, specifically oil and gas drilling off the North Carolina coast. I would urge my colleagues from North Carolina to vote against this rule because it specifically deals with North Carolina but the rest of the country. For several weeks we have heard a lot of talk about this. Today we have one of the most important issues we will deal with in this country for a long time. As we have already heard, we are not having time to deal with the specific issues that affect us as a whole and bring it to this body. Mr. Speaker, my amendment would put an end to the question of whether or not the drilling would take place on one of the most fragile, pristine beaches in this country. But the Republican leadership has refused to give us a chance just to debate the issue in the House, have us decide it and have us vote on it. My State is opposed to it. Tourism, fishing and transportation are important. I urge Members to vote against this rule.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2505, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act and in support of the Greenwood-Deutsch substitute. I am absolutely opposed to reproductive human cloning. Reproductive human cloning is morally wrong and fundamentally opposed to the values held by our society. I am sure that every Member in this chamber today agree, that reproductive human cloning should be banned. That conclusion is easy to come by Mr. Speaker, however, this debate, unfortunately, is not so simple. Today we are considering a complex issue, and I share the concerns raised by several other Members that the House is rushing to judgment. We have had too little time to debate and consider the merits and implications that Mr. Weldon's bill and Mr. Greenwood's substitute present. The Weldon bill and the Greenwood Substitute ban reproductive human cloning and both set criminal penalties for those who violate such a ban. But the similarities end there. Mr. Weldon's bill goes too far, including banning therapeutic cloning for research or medical treatment, while the Greenwood substitute allows an exception regarding therapeutic cloning. The Weldon bill would ban all forms of cloning, and in essence, stop all research associated with it, just as we are beginning to see the first fruits of biomedical research. By supporting the Greenwood alternative, we have the opportunity to ban reproductive cloning while allowing important research to continue. As a member of the Science Committee and as a Representative from the Research Triangle Park region, I understand the importance of the research that our scientists are conducting. This research has the potential to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians, Americans, and people throughout the globe who suffer from debilitating and degenerative diseases. We are on the verge of a significant return on our biomedical research investment. Indeed, our scientists may one day solve the mysteries of disease as the result of work involving therapeutic cloning technology. We must not allow this opportunity to pass by us. Mr. Speaker, let me be clear, I support banning reproductive human cloning, and I will continue to oppose any type of cloning that would attempt to intentionally create a human clone. However, I also support the important biomedical research that our nation's scientists are nobly conducting today. I cannot support a bill that denies those scientists, and the people whose lives they are working to improve, a chance to find a cure. The door of opportunity to cure diseases, that have puzzled us since the beginning of medicine is now beginning to open. And while the full promise of biomedical research remains many years away from being realized, there is that opportunity, that hope, that we can find a cure for cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries, and many other illnesses. Mr. Speaker, I oppose H.R. 2505 because it would stifle important research and decrease the potential for new life-saving medical treatments. The Greenwood substitute strikes a careful balance between banning the immoral and unsafe practice of reproductive human cloning, while at the same time promoting important biomedical research. I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R 2505 and support the Greenwood substitute.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1858- legislation to improve America's standing in mathematics, science and technology education and instruction. A solid academic foundation in math and science education is crucial for success in the 21st Century. This bill includes a major initiative to enhance science education through the National Science Foundation. H.R. 1858 authorizes $200 million for the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish partnerships between institutions of learning and local or state school systems to improve instruction and learning of elementary and secondary school science. As the former Superintendent of Schools in my home state of North Carolina, I have worked for many years to improve science and math education in our schools. This bill also includes the measure that I proposed for the better preparation of K-12 teachers in science. We need better math and science instruction in our K-12 classrooms. This bill will help ensure that improving math and science education remains an important national priority. Quality instruction is the key to helping students learn in these critical fields. This action will make a real difference for our children and will put America on the road towards a higher standing in the world in math and science. There is growing recognition that the success of nearly any effort to improve the academic performance of America's students depends critically on their teachers' mastery of subject matter and their ability to teach it. The way to lift student achievement is to ensure that we have a qualified teacher in every classroom. Therefore, if America is to improve its public schools, initiatives to improve science instruction and learning must become the first priority of education reform. I am pleased this bill takes several steps in that direction. I urge adoption of this bill, and I hope the President will sign it into law as soon as it reaches his desk.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 7. As an active member of my local church, I strongly support the good work performed by faith-based charities across this country. But there is a right way and a wrong way to provide government support for those efforts. Unfortunately, this bill represents the wrong way. H.R. 7 will allow religious organizations to discriminate in hiring on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin and sexual orientation while using federal tax dollars collected from all Americans. This would be a giant step backwards for civil rights. This legislation also subverts First Amendment safeguards by allowing individuals to use vouchers in faith-based programs. Finally, sending federal tax dollars directly to our houses of worship is unconstitutional, and will inevitably lead to government regulation of religion. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support the Democratic Alternative to H.R. 7. The Democratic Substitute will prevent the charitable choice provisions in H.R. 7 from preempting or superseding state or local civil rights laws. The Substitute will also prohibit the use of vouchers and other indirect aid by religious organizations. Mr. Speaker, the Democratic Alternative represents the right way to establish partnerships between faith-based organizations and government. We must never use the American people's money to condone discrimination. Faith- and community-based organizations have always taken the lead in combating the hardships facing families and communities, and I strongly support the work they have done and will continue to do. But H.R. 7 is the wrong way to show our support for these important organizations. I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 7 and to support the Rangel Substitute. In addition, Mr. Speaker, I want to submit for the Record a list of some of the distinguished organizations that have contacted me to express opposition to H.R. 7. This list is large and broad-based and demonstrates the divisive nature of this bill in its present form. I am hopeful Congress will come together across party lines to pass a common sense compromise to support faith-based charities. Here is a partial list of organizations that oppose H.R. 7: The Baptist Joint Committee The United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society The Presbyterian Church, USA American Baptist Churches, USA The Episcopal Church, USA The American Jewish Committee The Anti-Defamation League The American Association of School Administrators Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organization of America The American Association of University Women The American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (AFGE) The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) The American Federation of Teachers The National Coalition for Public Education The Jewish Council on Public Affairs The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) The National Council of Jewish Women The National Education Association (NEA) The National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO (SEIU) The Interfaith Alliance

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation to improve the forecasting of inland flooding associated with tropical storms and to develop an inland flood warning system to alert residents of dangerous flooding. The people of North Carolina are all too familiar with the death and devastation that can come from the heavy rains that hurricanes and tropical storms often bring to our state. In 1999, Hurricane Floyd killed forth-eight people and caused nearly $3 billion worth of property damage, primarily through flooding in inland communities. Recently, Tropical Storm Allison cut a path across the nation, killing more than 50 people. If Floyd and Allison taught us anything, it was that we have been more successful preparing coastal communities for these types of storms than in preparing inland communities. Too many folks think of hurricanes or tropical storms as something that affects only the coast and beach cottages. These storms hit us where we live. Floyd and Allison demonstrated all too clearly that the greatest threat posed by these storms are the torrential rains that often do the most damage hundreds of miles inland. A new study by Ed Rappaport of the Tropical Prediction Center shows that since 1970, freshwater flooding caused 59 percent of storm deaths in the United States, whereas only one percent lost their lives in coastal storms surges. Inland residents need a warning system that raises the awareness of the destructiveness of these storms so they can protect their families and their property. Currently, technology exists to help track and prepare coastal communities for the wind, rain, and storm surge damage associated with tropical cyclones. But, now we must move forward with efforts to improve inland flood forecasting and warnings. This bill will provide the funds and the road map to get us there. Ultimately, we can save lives. This legislation builds on work being done by National Weather Service (NWS), emergency management officials, meteorologists and others to reduce the risks of injury due to inland flooding. The bill authorizes $5.75 million over five years for the National Weather Service to improve its ability to forecast inland flooding associated with tropical storms and hurricanes and to develop and deploy an inland flood warning index or system--such as one similar to the Saffir- Simpson scale for wind speed familiar to coastal residents. Joe Allbaugh, Director of the Federal Emergency Management Administration, recently expressed a too prevalent view about storm damage when he said, ``I don't think that we can fault the forecasters. No one can predict 36 inches of rain.'' We must do better than that. It's time to develop the tools so forecasters can warn the public and emergency management officials of the potential for flooding associated with tropical cyclones. We are in the middle of hurricane season, and a deadly storm could occur any day now. I am pleased that my bill has the support of so many Science Committee members including Chairman Boehlert and ranking member Hall. I hope we can see action on this life-saving bill soon.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of America's great teachers, Mrs. Norma Stewart Hamilton of Dunn, North Carolina, in my congressional district, who is retiring from teaching on June 29th after 39 years of service to the children and communities of Harnett County. I want to take this opportunity to thank her for her hard work and service. Norma Hamilton teaches home economics. She is known for her disciplined teaching style, but she possesses an ability to make her classroom an enjoyable place to learn. Recently, several of her former students joined together to celebrate her life's work at the 39th annual Western Harnett High School Mother-Daughter Banquet. They recalled her classes, the exams she gave, and most importantly, her willingness to listen and give sage advice. One of Mrs. Hamilton's former students, Mrs. Rebecca Collins Hunter, herself a home economics teacher, remembered that Mrs. Hamilton never allowed teaching subject matter to supersede her goal of teaching the individual. It has been said that ``The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. And the great teacher inspires.'' As the former Superintendent of my state's schools, I know the difference that an outstanding teacher can make in the lives of young people. Great teachers, like Norma Hamilton, not only teach academic lessons, they teach life lessons. They strengthen the moral fiber of their students and of the communities where they teach. They challenge their students to strive for excellence. In almost four decades, she touched and shaped the lives of over 4,000 children. She inspired more than a generation of students to achieve their dreams and make their own unique impression upon the world. Mr. Speaker, when Norma Hamilton retires at the end of this week, she will take on a new role in the Harnett County community. Although he will no longer teach in a classroom, I know she will continue to contribute to the lives of those around her because great teachers never stop teaching. Today, I honor her for her dutiful service, and on behalf of a grateful state, I thank her for inspiring us with her great teaching.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a great North Carolinian and son of Harnett County, Mr. Lester C. Phillips who recently received the Distinguished Service Award of the Occoneechee Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Lester Phillips was born on August 25, 1930 in Sampson County, North Carolina to Floyd and Erma Phillips and spent the majority of his early years working on the family farm. He married Winifred Naylor in 1950 and together they raised two sons Ray and Robert. In 1959, Lester moved his young family just up the road to Harnett County, and the town of Dunn, to seek employment opportunities and a better life for his family. Upon his arrival in Dunn, Lester landed a job with the H.P. Johnson Oil Company, where he quickly became Mr. H.P. Johnson's most trusted employee. In fact, Mr. Johnson was often over heard saying that ``when he wanted something done right, he always looked to Leck.'' After several years of working for Mr. Johnson, Lester began his career in the trucking business, which would later lead to his ownership of a small gas station on Highway 301 South in Harnett County and later the development of a waste management enterprise. From these humble beginnings Lester built a nationally recognized business that served locations all the way from Florida to Alaska. Not only is Lester an outstanding success in the business world, but he is also a remarkable family man and community leader. He is also an active member at Spring Branch Baptist Church in Dunn. But today we are here to pay tribute to Lester's contributions to the young people of Harnett County and to celebrate his recent accomplishment, receiving the Distinguished Service Award from the Boy Scouts of America. As the father of an Eagle Scout and a recipient of the Boys Scouts' Silver Beaver Award, I know first hand the importance that the organization plays in the lives of our nation's young people. With the help of men like Lester, the Boy Scouts mold young men to be active and productive citizens. I want to honor Lester today for helping to strengthen our nation's social fabric. Mr. Speaker, Lester Phillips is a remarkable example of a citizen servant. He selflessly uses his time and energy to better the lives of the young men in Harnett County. He touches so many lives in so many public ways, but Lester's most important contributions to others are the ones only he knows about. And that is the way he wants it to be. That is a true testament to his unique and special character and the reason we honor him in this House today.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Clay and Anna Jackson on the birth of their first child, Master Luke Robert Wallace Jackson. Luke was born on Friday, May 11th, 2001 and he weighed 8 pounds and 7 ounces. My wife Faye and my son Brian join me in wishing Clay and Anna great happiness during this very special time in their lives. As a father of three, I know the immeasurable pride and rewarding challenge that children bring into your life. The birth of a child changes your perspective on life and opens the world to you a fresh, new way. Their innocence keeps you young-at-heart. A little miracle, a new baby holds all the potential of what human beings can achieve. With great happiness, I welcome young Luke into the world and wish Clay and Anna all the best as they raise him.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Julius Levonne Chambers of Durham, North Carolina, who retired as Chancellor of North Carolina Central University on June 1st. Today we honor Mr. Chambers for his accomplishments as a civil rights lawyer and for his service to North Carolina Central University and my home state. Julius Chambers was born in Mount Gilead, North Carolina, a small community east of Charlotte, in 1936. He learned about racial discrimination at an early age when a white man refused to pay for repairs that Chambers' father had made on the man's truck. In 1954, the year of Chamber's graduation from high school, the Supreme Court handed down its landmark ruling regarding Brown v. Board of Education. Indeed even at an early age it seemed that Julius Chambers was destined to be a key figure in the civil rights movement. In the fall of 1954, Chambers enrolled at North Carolina Central University, which was then called North Carolina College, where in his senior year, he served as the institution's student body president. Chambers graduated from North Carolina Central in 1958, and after earning his master's in history at the University of Michigan, he came back to North Carolina to study law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While he studied law in Chapel Hill, Chambers' path intersected with the civil rights movement once again, when he was chosen Editor-in-Chief of the University of North Carolina Law Review, thus becoming the first African American to hold this title at a historically white law school in the South. After graduating first in his class of 100 in 1962, Chambers attended Columbia University Law School. Then in 1963, Thurgood Marshall selected Chambers to be the first intern at the NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund. Once he completed schooling, it did not take Julius Chambers long to make his own impact on the civil rights movement. He opened his own law practice in June of 1964, and from this one-person law office, he created the first integrated law firm in North Carolina history. Chambers, with the help of his partners and lawyers from the Legal Defense Fund, litigated many historic civil fights cases, including Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971), that helped shaped our nation's civil rights law. In 1984, Chambers left the firm to become the Director of the Legal Defense Fund. He would serve in this position for nine years, until he was inaugurated as Chancellor at his alma mater, North Carolina Central University. Upon his arrival at Central in 1993, Chancellor Chambers faced a daunting challenge. Over the next eight years, Chambers used his many contacts and his reputation as a civil rights lawyer to replenish the University's coffers and improve its infrastructure. But more importantly, he revitalized the University's strong and proud spirit by virtue of his excellent leadership. He had a vision for North Carolina Central University to make the school the best liberal arts institution in the nation. And even in his last days as Chancellor he was still talking about providing better resources for students, hiring qualified and committed faculty, and improving academic achievement. He was a truly great Chancellor and he helped to shape the lives of so many of North Carolina's young African American leaders. While recruiting Chambers for the Chancellor's position at Central, Mr. C.D. Spangler, the former president of the University of North Carolina system, told Chambers: ``If you were chancellor at North Carolina Central University, 5,000 students will walk with their heads held higher because you're there.'' Mr. Speaker, everyone involved with the North Carolina Central family and every citizen in North Carolina can hold their heads high today as we honor Julius Chambers for his career and his remarkable accomplishments. My wife Faye joins me in wishing Julius Chambers and his wife Vivian all the best in the future. And on behalf of a grateful state, thank you Julius Chambers for a job well done.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Madam Speaker, I rise this evening to direct the attention of my colleagues to a task that I think is paramount in our Nation and our ability to be able to compete in the 21st century, and that is the task of improving the public schools in this country. As the hour goes on, a number of my colleagues on the Democratic side have indicated they will join me as we offer a perspective on this critical issue facing our Nation, our States, our communities, and certainly the parents, teachers, and students of this country. As communities throughout my district and really across this country celebrated the graduation season in the past few weeks, I believe it is an opportune time to look at what Congress needs to do to provide our schools the support they need to succeed in the 21st century. It does not seem like it, but in just a matter of less than 2 months, school will be convening again all across America. Over 53-54 million students will head back to school, the largest number of public school students in the history of this country. At a time when the classrooms are going to be overcrowded, space will be at a premium and staffs will be challenged. Today my colleagues, Democratic colleagues who will join me, together we joined all of the members of the Democratic Caucus in signing a discharge petition on the bipartisan Johnson-Rangel-Etheridge school construction bill. American people understandably do not follow legislative process close enough to know what a discharge petition is or why it is important. I regret that we even have to use it, but when there comes a time when the majority estoppels an issue as important as school construction for the children of this country, it is time for drastic action. A discharge petition is the only vehicle we have as ranking minority members to force the leadership to act, such as when they have blocked us from bringing up needed legislation. That is the only way that the Members have an opportunity to get it done. I would remind my colleagues and others that every Member of this body is elected by the same number of people, except at the end before a census when you may have more or less people in a district than usual. This is so important because we know that we have a bipartisan majority in this body of the membership who will vote for this school construction bill that will provide $25 billion to help build and fix schools in communities all across America. But the only way we can get a vote on this bill is if we get 218 signatures on the discharge petition. That means that we have to get a majority of the Members of the House to sign the discharge petition to get it to the floor, and we have more signatures than that as cosponsor of the bill when it came up before. If we get a chance to vote on it, it will pass by a large majority, in my opinion. As my colleagues know, I am the only former State school chief serving in Congress. I had the privilege of being elected to lead my State of North Carolina's public schools for 8 years, through a time of tremendous growth and change and opportunity. I am pleased to be serving in Congress. I have been working since I got here now 4\1/2\ years ago to pass this innovative legislation to provide national leadership for better schools. But the Republican leadership refuses to allow us a vote on this critical bill, for whatever reason. Some say partisanship; some say unyielding ideology. It makes no sense not to have a vote on it. It does not do anything to dictate to anyone. The only thing it does is provide tax free bonds to the local units of government, to sell those bonds and build school buildings to get children out of trailers, off stages, and out of hallways to where they have decent lighting and new technology, all of those things that we think about that is important for education. It is difficult for me to understand why we cannot get a vote on it. When Members stand on the floor of the House and say education is important, the President of the United States says it is one of his top priorities, if he makes one telephone call, we might get a breakthrough, if he would just call the Speaker. We have urgent needs for school construction, and they are going worse every day. We must work to help meet these needs. Throughout my district in North Carolina, schools are bursting at the seams. As I said, school will open in just a few short months, less than 2 now. And somewhere between 53 and 54 million children are going to show up. We know that school enrollment is going to increase the following year, and the year after that, and projections are for the next 10 years. Too many students are being condemned to less-than-the- best facilities and stuffed in overcrowded classrooms and rundown facilities. We need a modernization act to help fix this problem. It bothers me that we talk about how important education is and we turn a blind eye to doing the needed things we need on facilities. Is it the most important thing? Probably not. But it is among the list of important things. Why? Because a well-trained teacher in front of that classroom, in my opinion, is the most critical piece. But then again you ask the question: Why not have a good place for the teacher to teach and the child to learn? If we say education is important and children ride in buses passing nice new prisons to go to a rundown school, what kind of message are we sending to our children. Do they really believe that we believe that education is that important? And yet the Republican leadership refuses to act on our modest bipartisan legislation that begins to supply some measure of help in this critical crisis. Yes, we need more teachers. We need to reduce class sizes, but we need the space to put students in. Every year, the Federal Government spends billions of dollars to build State prisons. We spend money for local roads, bridges, waterways, and countless other projects that are needed and are important. But why do they get priority over school construction? Do you reckon it is because of powerful constituents and influential patrons here in Washington. I would dare not think it was because school children do not vote. My friends, I am here to fight for the citizens who cannot vote, the children. They may only be 20 percent of our population, but I can assure you tonight that they are 100 percent of the future. I am here to represent the children who do not have lobbyists to get the leadership to cut them a deal. I am here to speak for the children whose voices will not be heard by themselves to say we need school construction. We need books. We need air conditioned classrooms. We need technology in those classrooms. We need bathrooms that work and water fountains that put out cool water on a hot day. I urge my colleagues to join me in signing the discharge petition on the Johnson-Rangel-Etheridge School Construction Act and to pass this critical bill without delay, and we can do it. It seems to me a tax cut was important to this body and to the President, and we got it through here in record time, before Memorial Day. School starts in less than 2 months. We cannot build buildings that quick, but we can start; and it is important. I have spoken many times on this floor about the need for school construction, and I will continue to speak out because the need is growing every day, every month, and every year. The last number I saw about the need for modernization in this country is approaching $300 billion. That is a lot of money. Historically we have said that is a local and State responsibility, and we do not say that with a lot of other things. We have people come to the floor and say education is the most important thing we have to do in this country beyond our national defense, and when it comes time to make the hard decisions to help make a difference, it becomes a big slip between the lip and the hip. It takes resources to get the job done. As more children come, the need will continue to grow. You know, the other side of that coin, as I mentioned earlier, is the need for good teachers, to reduce class size, decent facilities, adequate class sizes, and well-trained teachers are a critical piece in the challenge to improve education. We cannot do it in a stop-start, a piece here and a piece there. We would not dare, no businessman would dare try to do that on a production line building an automobile or tractor or any other product; and yet we ask our teachers to operate in conditions that we would not operate a factory for business people. It says something about our priorities. It bothers me greatly at a time when we have more resources available to us in this Congress than we have had in over 20 years. I trust we will not squander that opportunity. Last year, the Democratic staff of the Committee on Government Reform Special Investigation Division prepared for me a study entitled K-3 Class Sizes in North Carolina's Research Triangle Region, and the numbers in this report are startling. I am talking about an area of the country that I think is fairly progressive. It does a good job with education. We have outstanding teachers. Children do well. It is one of those regions when you talk about high tech, you have to talk about Research Triangle Park as one of the top five or six places in the country. No matter how much talk or rhetoric there is in this town about education, I believe we should stick to the facts. Let me share with you some of the facts from my district. I think they would be the same from other districts and could very well be more telling. Fact number one, last year in Wake County, the largest county in my congressional district and the second fastest growing county in the State of North Carolina, over 95 percent of young children were taught in classrooms that exceeded the national goal of 18 students per classroom. That is kindergarten through third grade. Anyone who has done any kind of longitudinal study, which is a study that is done over years that has a statistical base, says if one wants to really improve education, improve the quality of opportunity for every child, then reduce class sizes, put a good teacher in front of that classroom, and exciting things will happen. Why? Because teachers do not have time when they have 26 or 30 students in a class. It is very difficult. I like to remind people when they raise the issue, Faye and I have three wonderful children. We love all three of them. They have done well, and we are proud of them. One is a teacher, one started as a teacher and is now in law school, and the other finished school and is farming. But when they were growing up, I would hate to think that we had 28 or 30 in a room. They were great youngsters, but I think that would have been tough. That is what we ask our teachers to do every day. We ask them to be surrogate parents, counselors, moral leaders. We ask them to be teachers. We ask them to do everything for our children. And to give students the kind of care and direction they need, and yet we put them in overcrowded classrooms. We stuff more in than the teacher has time to work with and it makes it very difficult. In the Research Triangle region as we talked about those class sizes, 95 percent of the young children are taught in classrooms that exceed the national average. Across the 13-county Triangle region, 91 percent of our children in kindergarten through the third grade are taught in classrooms that exceed 18 students. That is a significant number when you look at all the challenges you have as a kindergartner. For those of us who are adults, it is kind of hard to remember when we were kindergartners. Sometimes it is difficult to remember that when you only have one at home. Just think what it would be if you had 18 and you were trying to teach them their numbers, their colors and their ranges are so great, from some who come to school knowing their colors, others who come to school knowing how to use the bathroom and go do other things and others who do not. Teachers have to do all that. When you are in classrooms over 18, the job is exceedingly difficult. More troubling is the fact that a whopping 42.5 percent of kindergarten students in Wake County are in huge classrooms of 25 or more. When we talk about improving the quality of education across this country as we compete in a global economy, then we understand the tremendous challenge and responsibility we are placing on teachers. No wonder it is difficult to recruit teachers and more difficult to keep them in the classroom. They are looking for other jobs. Besides that, we do not pay them like we ought to pay them. The last time I checked, if a teacher bought a car it cost just as much as it does for the president of a bank or a large corporation. They do not give them a discount. We have got teachers leaving education at an alarming rate now. Why? In the first 5 years, roughly 25 percent are leaving the profession, because they cannot make a living, buy a home and look after their children. There is something wrong when we are not doing that. Besides that, we are not even building the kind of facilities they need. We have to change that. The report I am talking from also documented that reducing class size improves order. Surprise. Improves discipline. It cuts down as much as 30 percent on the time a teacher must divert from instruction to dealing with disruption. It seems to me that means students are learning more if you have time to instruct and they have time to learn. Not surprisingly, small class sizes lead to greater academic achievement, as I have just said. That is what we all want. The report demonstrates that class size reduction in the early grades is one of the most direct and effective ways to improve education performance. Why is it, then, if we know that, that this body wants to turn a blind eye to putting more teachers out there to help reduce class sizes? It is beyond me. I do not understand it. Maybe someone will explain it to me. No teacher can be expected to reach young minds effectively in a classroom that is overcrowded with so many youngsters. It is very difficult. The task is challenging enough to begin with without handicapping our teachers who care so much for their children. Madam Speaker, I have been in a lot of classrooms, probably more than any other Member in this body. I have seen how teachers can take milk cartons and turn them into turkeys for young children. I have seen how they can take throwaway things and turn them into usable items in the classroom. They take all the used equipment we give them, and I often marvel at how grateful they are that we will give them anything they can use. I remember when I was superintendent, we got the business community to give us their used computers because some schools had no computers. Then I go to meetings and I hear people say, ``What we need to do is turn out young people who can compute, who can communicate and when they come out of school, they ought to be able to go in business and run all this equipment.'' I say, ``That's right.'' But they do not have the equipment to learn on. Yet we criticize the public schools and we are not willing to give them the tools to do the job. It is wrong. It is unfair to hardworking teachers and bright young people who want to achieve to not give them a chance. Let me talk about now some of the good things that Congress is doing to help improve our Nation's schools, because I do not think you always ought to talk about the things we are not doing. I think it is important to remind ourselves that we are doing some things. As a member of the Committee on Science, I have been working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to help strengthen math and science and engineering education in this country, because I firmly believe as most of my colleagues do and I think a majority of the people in this country, if we are going to be a major competitor in the 21st century, we are going to have to do better and better educationally and academically because we truly are competing with the world. The days are gone when we just compete with the neighbors next door. We still are the world's largest market, but the truth is that 95 percent of the people of this world live outside the borders of the United States, so that is our developing market and our future market and we have got to be able to compete with it. There are absolutely critical fields in math, science and engineering for our Nation's economy to prosper. Military dominance and supremacy. Domestic quality of life in the 21st century. It is absolutely imperative that we improve our technological skills if we want to remain and continue to grow. Otherwise, we will be passed. The Rand Institute recently issued a report on the changes technology will bring in the coming years, over the next 25 years. Let me share some of this with Members. Hopefully it will help folks understand where we need to get to and be a little bit more focused on why we need to be spending dollars today on education to help our young people who will come out in 2015, will really be the next graduating class that starts this coming year. It dramatically lays out how high the stakes really are, and they are very high. Let me read from the report summary. If that is not a wakeup call, then maybe we have got people ready for a slap. ``Life in 2015 will be revolutionized by the growing effects of multidisciplinary technology across all dimensions of life: social, economic, political and personal. The results could be astonishing. Effects may include significant improvements in human quality of life and lifespan; high rates of industrial turnover; lifetime worker training; continuing globalization; reshuffling of wealth; cultural amalgamation or invasion with potential for increased tension and conflict; shifts in power from nation states to nongovernmental organizations and individuals; mixed environmental effect; improvements in quality of life with accompanying prosperity and reduced tension; and the possibility of human eugenics and cloning.'' We need to read that a couple of times, because that is really heavy stuff. That is available within most all of our lifetimes unless something happens to suddenly end it. Those are major changes. They will all come about as a result of the opportunities in technology and others. Madam Speaker, the impact of this coming revolution is mind-boggling, but one point is abundantly clear. There is no question about it in my mind: America must have the leaders and workers to harness the potential of this coming revolution and continue to exert our global leadership role to secure our economic leadership position. Congress must provide support today through innovative efforts to improve science education to promote the success of America tomorrow. We cannot wait 5 to 10 years to start. Other countries are already investing today. I am pleased to report that we have begun to make some progress in this effort. Today, the House Committee on Science unanimously adopted H.R. 1858, the National Mathematics and Science Partnership Act, to improve our Nation's standing in math, science, engineering and technological education and the instruction of it. This bill includes a major initiative that I started out with last year to enhance math and science education and teacher preparation through the National Science Foundation. This measure authorizes $200 million for NSF to establish partnerships between institutions of higher education and local and State school systems to improve the instruction of elementary and secondary science education. That is an important component. Having been a State superintendent and working at the State level with local school systems, I can tell Members that is a critically needed piece and those dollars can be used wisely. It will provide a variety of other activities to include: recruiting and preparing pre-service students for careers in mathematics education, a shortage in this country right now; offering in-service professional development initiatives, including summer or academic year institutes or workshops to strengthen the capabilities of existing mathematics and science teachers. For too many years, we employed teachers, depending on the school systems, 9 months; in North Carolina it is 10 months and we wonder what they ought to do the next 2 months. Go out and find a part-time job? That is fine when you are young, but as you get older, you really need to have full-time work because you have full-time bills. We are beyond where that can continue to happen. Especially in the area of science and mathematics, if we can provide them with resources, they can get training, they will come back and even be far better teachers the following year. Innovative initiatives that instruct teachers on using technology more effectively. This is a critical piece, because technology is moving so fast. When you are in that classroom every day and you are instructing every day, you do not have time in a lot of cases to do all those things you would like to do to keep up to speed with all the new pieces coming down. I guess education is the only place I know where we ask a teacher to teach all day, go home at night and do a lesson plan, grade papers until sometimes 8, 9, 10 o'clock at night, especially if you are a teacher of literature and grading compositions, and come back and start all over the next day. That is why it is getting more and more difficult. It also will help in the development of distant learning programs for teachers and students, an opportunity to cut down on travel, especially now when gas prices are getting to be prohibitive for people to travel. Teacher transition efforts for professional mathematicians, scientists and engineers who wish to begin a career in teaching. There are those who have put in a full career in a professional field and really have got their years in to retire and feel a calling. They would like to go back to the public schools and get reinvigorated with a group of young people, and start teaching all over again, something they have wanted to do but could not do because of finances. There will be resources here to help make that transition, especially at a time when teachers are so critical and the shortage is so great. Madam Speaker, my district is, as I said, in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina, where we know that technology fueled the remarkable economic growth we have experienced in the 1990s, land that was turned from pine trees and cotton fields to high tech, computer chips, and a revolution that employs over 100,000 people. It has changed the landscape forever and added wealth to a lot of people. This partnership bill, this initiative that we are talking about, will help foster and provide a solid foundation on which to build better math and science education, not only in places like Research Triangle Park, but all over America and help those people who are looking for a better opportunity in life to realize it. We cannot turn back. I grew up on a farm in eastern North Carolina. The county where I grew up, we grew normal crops you would have in eastern North Carolina, tobacco, corn, cotton, soybeans. Then we had hogs and all the other stuff. I think now how busy we thought we were then, but reflecting back we really did not have anywhere near as much to do as I thought we did, because today the pace seems to be much faster. I only say that to say that the things we are talking about tonight of education and opportunities have helped a young farm boy have the opportunity to get a college degree and the educational opportunities I have had, and served as a State legislator, State superintendent, now a Member of the most distinguished body, in my opinion, in the world, in the United States Congress. Yet, with all that we still have much to do. Let me take just a moment now in this special order to talk about and celebrate a bipartisan accomplishment that passed this House just a few weeks ago. I think it is so important. It really is a bipartisan accomplishment that I think will help improve the schools in this country and certainly has had a significant impact on schools in my State and in those areas across the country that we have put it in, and that is called character education. Last month, during the consideration of H.R. 1, this House unanimously voted to add a character education amendment that was offered by myself and my Republican colleague, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp). This important measure will provide $50 million per year for the U.S. Department of Education to provide grants to State and local school systems to launch education initiatives for our children. When I served as State superintendent, we pioneered character education. After a comprehensive survey I did in 1989, surveying about 25,000 across the State, some alarming data came back that things we really needed to do and pay attention to and after a year and a half study and work with a whole host of principals, teachers, academicians, judges and others, we recommended to the State board and they adopted a character education program that we really initiated and integrated into the curriculum across the State. The survey showed that discipline, safety, good order and respect were really major problems or were perceived to be major problems, I should say, in the public schools of North Carolina. We planted a seed of character education, and I happen to believe they have produced a bumper crop of good things for the children of our State. This bill, I trust, will begin the process of doing that across America. Character education works, I believe, because it teaches students to view the world through a moral lens and to learn that actions really do have consequences. I think character education works best because it is integrated in the curriculum but probably equally or more important it integrates those basic values that all of us can agree on: Honesty, integrity, respect, responsibility, kindness, compassion, perseverance throughout the academic curriculum. I do not know of anyone who can disagree with those. It works, character education works, because it teaches children how to grow up to become not only good students but good citizens and decent human beings as well. I am pleased and proud that the House has passed the $50 million Etheridge-Wamp character education amendment and I call on my colleagues in this body and the White House to support it. Mr. Speaker, let me return back to where I started and then I will prepare to wind down shortly. This issue of school construction, I have talked about several issues after having started with that but I think it is important to remember Congress is called upon from time to time to do many things. If we have a disaster, we try to respond. If we have a problem in the world, America is the last safe haven as a democracy for people around the world, and we normally go and try to help, as we should. The time has come to do our own homework, to take care of our own children, to meet their needs, and we can do it. We have the resources, but the question is do we have the will. Do we have the commitment? I have often believed that it is one thing to talk. It is another thing to do. It is easy to say I care; I have compassion. It is another thing to show it in acts. It is one thing to tell a person, I am concerned you do not have food and then walk off and leave them with their stomach grumbling. It is another thing to help. I do not know that building schools is exactly like that, but I truly believe that if we do the things for children, we have quality facilities, good teachers, a good environment for them to learn, reach out to their parents and invite them to be part of the educational establishment, schools will be better, educational attainment will increase and America will be a better place in the future, and our democracy will stand for a long, long time. If we do not, as our Founding Fathers challenged us long ago, we have a democracy but we are the only ones who can determine whether it will last. I really believe that we have it within our destiny. Finally, Mr. Speaker, I want to offer my views on reform of Federal support for kindergarten through 12th grade education. As I said at the outset, I spent a number of years, and as I told my colleagues when I came here, as the only chief in this body, former chief. I do not know that I have all the answers but I know some of the things we ought not be doing and sometimes we do some things on this floor that I know we should not be doing. I believe I have a little different perspective as we look at it than others in this town about what it takes to improve schools for our children, and my State has repeatedly been cited as a model for reform by everyone from the Bush White House to Democratic leaders in the Congress, to the nonpartisan Rand Corporation that has done a number of studies in education across America. H.R. 1 as passed by this House may prove to be a decent education reform. I sure hope it does. There are some things in it that I would not have put in it, I would have written differently, but I voted for this bipartisan bill because I support the concept of greater accountability with greater resources to get the job done. Let me say again so no one misunderstands, one cannot, one will not, improve schools and education on the cheap. In the 1980s, we decided we were going to rearm the military and the last time I checked we spent hundred of billions of dollars and we won the Cold War. We did not win it on the cheap. It will not even take that kind of money to turn education around. I get amused when people talk about how much we are spending, and we do spend quite a bit, but the truth is at the Federal level in most cases it is less than 7 percent of all the money going to education. If one goes back to the 1960s, when we really increased in science and math education, when Sputnik went up we were spending closer to 12, 15 percent, depending on which system you were in. So we have gone backwards. Our schools today face daunting challenges, among them record enrollments, run-down facilities, incredible diverse bodies with special needs. And, yes, we have higher expectations, to name a few. We have more children showing up at the schoolhouse door today who do not speak the language of the school system than ever in history, but if we will do a few things we can help those children. They will be capable. They will be prosperous. They will be our next generation of doctors, lawyers and teachers. We have to give them an opportunity. Education is the key to opportunity. Education is the door through which all of us walk into the middle class. We do not get there without it. The days are gone when you can be a dropout and become a millionaire, but you can do it with education. That is still the American dream. Before we put new requirements on our schools and on our children, the schools are not going to be able to meet those strident new standards if we fail to provide the resources that they are going to need to achieve those goals. It is one thing to say jump and then you put a millstone around their feet. It is another thing to give them wings. I am very concerned that we may not put the resources behind it. Congress may fail to do that. If we do, we will pay a heavy price. The resources that we are going to need to invest in better schools can only come from the budget we have. The Bush budget request provides the smallest educational increase in percentage terms in 6 years, in 6 years. In fact, the final budget that we passed eliminates all the education funding that the Senate Democrats added and cuts education funding even below what the President's budget had requested, $1 billion less than the President's budget this year, and $20 billion less over the next 10 years. Now, that does not sound like folks who are really committed to improving education in this country. I cannot imagine this body saying we are going to improve our military and scale up to meet the needs of the 21st century and the challenges around the world but we are going to give you $20 billion less money. That is not going to happen. To do it to our teachers and to our children is akin to being sinful. If we are to realize our potential as a country, we absolutely must reverse this course and rededicate ourselves to real education reform. We must provide the tools to get the job done. If you are going to dig a hole, you give somebody either a shovel or you give them a tool to dig a hole with. If you are going to dig a big enough one, you may want a piece of power equipment. But if we are going to raise the bar on every child in America, and I happen to believe we can and should, we need to make sure that they are strong enough to jump over that bar. It reminds me of something one of my farmer friends told me one time. He said, if all you do to a pig is weigh him every day and you do not feed him he is not likely to get much bigger. Well, if all we do to young people is we test them every day and we do not give them the resources to help those that have the greatest need, they are not likely to improve a whole lot. We need to be able to put the resources there to get the job done. Tough reform without real resources will be nothing but a cruel hoax on our children. Reform without resources will condemn an entire generation of American children to failure at a critical time in our Nation's history by frittering away an unprecedented budget surplus. In North Carolina, when we started doing our assessment program, we put resources in to help those children who were not up to scale. We put in summer school so they can go back and catch up so they do not get failed, because once a child fails and he fails to pass a grade, the likelihood of that youngster dropping out increases dramatically. It is important that we do the things that need to be done. We know what needs to be done. We may not know everything that works, but we can find the best ideas and put them in there. Madam Speaker, we have a chance before this Congress adjourns this year to get this discharge petition before this body, to vote on it, send it to the Senate, let them vote on it, and I have every belief that they will pass it, and send it to the President for his signature. It will make a difference in the quality of schools in America and the modernization and the technology that is needed; but more importantly, it will make a difference in the lives of children in America.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the Republican tax bill. Unfortunately, this bill is a missed opportunity, and it represents misplaced priorities. Sadly Mr. Speaker, this bill is very much a missed opportunity. The White House and the Republican Leadership have utterly failed to deliver on the President's promise of a bipartisan process that puts accomplishment for the American people above gamesmanship by Washington politicians. More importantly, this bill falls to provide for America's priorities. We must pay down the national debt to remove that burden from our children and grandchildren and cut interest rates for items like cars and homes. This Republican tax package will return us to the days of big deficits, high interest rates, high unemployment and a struggling economy. I support and have voted for balanced tax relief as part of a comprehensive economic plan that will restore America's prosperity so that all of our hard working families can have security in their family finances. We must pass a strong economic plan, not a risky gamble with our nation's economic strength. The Republican bill mortgages the future based on a guess. If the projected surpluses fall to materialize, Social Security and Medicare will be on the chopping block. The American people know that the budget projections are not real. They are an estimate. It is irresponsible to make decisions that will directly impact people's lives based on a ten- year number we know is no more reliable than a ten-year hurricane forecast. This bill is a cynical maneuver for short-term political gain. I support and have voted for exempting virtually all North Carolina families from the estate tax, but this bill sunsets in 2010 which would reinstate the estate tax. I support immediate relief from the marriage penalty, but this bill will hurt families by driving up interest rates on homes, cars, and credit cards. As the only former state schools chief serving in Congress, I was very pleased by the President's promise to improve education. But this bill saps the resources we need to strengthen our schools for the 21st Century. The bill does nothing to help states build schools to relieve overcrowding and get our students out of trailers even though we have strong, bipartisan support for tax legislation to accomplish that priority. And the spending cuts that this bill requires will threaten child care, Head Start, job training and college aid that are vitally important to allow people to make the most of their God-given abilities. Mr. Speaker, a great deal of attention has been paid lately to the trouble on Wall Street and signs the economic boom may well be over. One sector that hasn't been booming for some time is agriculture, and farmers in my district have been hurting in the face of production cuts, commodity price losses and natural disasters. I was appalled when the Budget Committee passed its budget that would gut important farm programs to finance this tax bill. If approved, these cuts would eliminate funds to identify solutions to the state's hog waste problems and force dozens of our Farm Service Agency offices to close their doors. These agriculture cuts are wrong, and I will fight to restore them despite the expected passage of this Republican tax bill. Mr. Speaker, we can have responsible tax relief balanced with sound investments in our nation's future, but this tax bill is a missed opportunity. I urge my colleagues to vote down this bill and come together to pass a responsible tax cut that honors America's values and respects the people's priorities.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross).

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 30 seconds. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the chairman of the committee and the ranking member for their support and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp) for working together in this bipartisan manner on this very important measure, doubling this bill's funding for character education. Last Congress, the gentleman from Tennessee and I had the opportunity, along with 22 other Members in this body, to serve on the Speaker's Bipartisan Working Group on Youth Violence that really addressed this issue after the Columbine tragedy. This came out as one of the unanimous recommendations of that commission as a way to prevent violence among our young people. As a former State superintendent of my State schools, I understand firsthand that character education really works. In a number of schools in my district, in Wake County, Johnston and Nash, it is providing leadership. This amendment will build on those efforts and provide more of our young people with the education on the basic values. Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre), another proponent of character education.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time otherwise reserved for opposition.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, let me close for our side on this debate by saying that this House has a chance to make character education work all across America. It works in those schools that we now have it in because it teaches our children to view the world through a moral lens and to understand that their actions really do have consequences. Character education works to improve order, discipline and the respect in our classroom, and to reduce the incidence of violence. The research we have done in North Carolina for schools that have it, violence goes down and academics go up. It teaches children to become not only successful children and students, but also good citizens and decent human beings as well. We must not only educate our children's minds, but their hearts as well. I believe if we can seize this moment and provide a national commitment to character education for our children, then we will not need metal detectors, bars on the windows, or other punitive measures that are more appropriate for a penal system than for our school system. Mr. Chairman, I encourage my colleagues to vote yes on the Wamp- Etheridge amendment.