Bob Etheridge

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I had not planned to come and speak on this bill today. As I was over in my office and watching it, I was thinking I am sure my farmers are out in the field this afternoon, and I hope they are, working, and not seeing what was going on that would have such a dramatic impact on their lives. We are here in an air conditioned building and, as my friend the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Largent) said who just spoke from the majority side, we are in an air-conditioned building, well-lighted and comfortable; and they are out in hot fields, their lives on the line. As he said, and he put it correctly, we are having a family fight. I am not going to get in the middle of this family fight. I am going to let my colleagues all fight it out. But I hope my colleagues will settle it, because this bill has a significant impact on the farmers in my State and the farmers all across this country. Yes, there are other bills to come that will affect the children. But this bill does, too, because it affects the quality of family life. I am proud to be a Member of the United States Congress. I am not proud when we bring our dirty laundry to the floor. There is nothing wrong with offering amendments. I have no problem with that. I will stay here all night and tomorrow morning, all day tomorrow. But we ought to know where we want to get to. It ought to be about getting to a destination. It ought to be about making it better rather than just to stop the process, to make a point. That is not what legislation is all about. I am only in my second term in Congress. I served 10 years in the General Assembly in my State. I understood stalling tactics, but it ought not to be about that. It ought to be about making it better and providing a better opportunity for people in America and specifically about our family farmers, because they are hurting. Our small farmers are going out of business. They are going broke. I have had farmers tell me, and I met with bankers, I met with someone earlier today and they said to me, ``If you do not have crop insurance, I will not make a loan. If you do not get a program in place, we are going to quit lending money.'' If that should happen, I pray to God it does not, but if that should happen, it will not happen with my vote. I trust the majority party will come to their senses and make sure it does not happen with their vote either, because we have been fortunate in America, we have been blessed, as no other country in the world, to have a bountiful food supply. Oh, sure, there are children that do not have as much food as they should have; but over the years we have tried to do a good job. We have not done as much as we should to make sure that they are fed with the child nutrition program and other programs like that. But, Mr. Chairman, we have a job to do. We are paid to do it. So let us get on and pass this bill and get on to the other appropriations bills and get the people's business done.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for his help and for being here this evening. Let me close and say to my colleagues that this thing of education is no one has a lock on all that needs to be done. We have thousands of teachers across this country who every day go into those classrooms and fight the battle of ignorance day after day. They do it without a great deal of pay, but they deserve forever our gratitude and our thanks. The children who will soon be following us as doctors and lawyers and teachers and preachers and, as I told a group that graduated the other night, if they slip up, they might become politicians and become congressmen and governors, but the truth is they are great youngsters and we have an obligation to be better role models. We really do. Because most of them, most of them, are great youngsters. We hear about those problems. And I think we have an obligation to make sure that we honor those who do well and encourage those who want to do better and challenge those that slip up. And I think if we will do that, they will do better, we will be prouder of them. And that means that we have an obligation here to make sure that we shepherd the resources we have, that we do fund the education budget to the extent that we can and stretch it a little bit when we have to. Because there are a lot of places in this country where, as my colleague has pointed out, there are not enough computers. We can help. The school buildings are not as safe as they ought to be, 50- and 60- year-old buildings that are not air-conditioned, that are not wired well. We can do better. In our Nation, in having the boom time we are having today, if we cannot fix them today and provide those resources for a good environment for children to learn, if we tell a child school is important and then he rides by a $40- or $50-million prison to go to a $3-million school, he has already figured out what is important in that community. We can do something about that. We can make that school an attractive, inviting place to go if it is well-lighted. And lighting is important if we are talking about learning. So let me thank my colleague for joining me this evening in this special order.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. That is absolutely true. And that is why when we talk about school construction and renovation, and I should have added renovation to it, and someone says, well, the building I went to was fine, they are not even being honest with themselves when they say that, because the truth is, if there is a building and it is not wired for computers, it has to be done. Now, there is a program that we did in North Carolina, and a lot of States have done it, where the community actually goes in and helps rewire the buildings. And that is all well and good, but those computers need to be networked. They need stations in the classroom. And if we do not allow children that access, it makes no difference where they come from, whether the inner cities or rural areas, that becomes, in my mind, one of the real problems we have in this country. There might be those who would say to that, we do not really need the computers, we need to teach them to read and write. Well, give students a computer, and they will learn to write. People tell me, we do not have computers; we cannot write. Today, with computers and sending e- mail, people are doing more writing today than they have ever done in their lives. There are fewer clerical positions and more managers are using that. So my point is that for children, when we put the computers in a kindergarten classroom, the students just start to shine. They absolutely shine. And the point the gentleman made about donating his computers, I gave mine, we gave some of ours out of our office a couple of weeks ago, and I would encourage other Members of Congress to do so. All they have to do is get permission. They can do it when they buy new ones. There are a lot of them out there. But I would hope they would turn them over pretty quickly so they can get good equipment and not get worn-out equipment. Because the last thing schools need is old, worn- out equipment. They all upgrade them. I will share this story with the gentleman, because there is a program going on, and actually this Congress helped fund it last time, though I was not aware of it, but we have a couple of schools that actually take the computers, they get the internal parts from one of the, I am not sure which computer firm they get it from, and they actually rebuild the computers so they are up to date with the new standards and all the speed of the new computers. And they are letting the young people do it in school as part of their vocational classes. So when that youngster comes out of school, not only can they operate a computer, they can help build one. And they have a job as a technician available to them just like that, and they make good money. So there are things we can do to help if we will be creative and innovative. And there is no question that if we have just one computer to even 25 children, that is not enough. We tried to put them in North Carolina, 1 to 50, and we realized that would not work. Then we upped it to 1 in 25. But really they should have five in a classroom, where there are no more than 25 students. Then when they start working in stations, there is tremendous results. The teacher can work in other areas while that child is working on computers. The gentleman has been in classrooms, as I have, I am sure; and especially if there are enough computers, they are over there just working at it, going to it, just doing all those things. And the neat thing about a computer is, what the child is doing can be instantly assessed. They get instant feedback, and that is so important.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman mentioned the reading program, and I want to share one with him, if I may. It was something that we started maybe 2 years ago, and I shared this with the gentleman earlier. First, though, I want to tell a little story. We gave out an award we call the Golden Key Award for parent involvement, for the parents who got involved in the PTA, because I think this is the key to improving the quality of our schools and helping the teachers get the parents back in the schools. So that led to the issue of how do we engage the parents with students and really help the reading, because I believe that is important. When I came to Congress and was no longer superintendent, I wanted to keep that going. So we started what we call a Congressional Reading Program, for lack of a better word; I could not think of a better one. So what we do is, I have encouraged the students to read. I told them last year, if they would read 100 books, I would personally come and deliver a certificate. Well, I figured there would be a few books read, and I had just an outstanding principal in Anderson Creek. We had a number of others involved. We had probably a half a dozen schools in our pilot, but we only do it for kindergarten, first and second graders. We did not want to go much higher than that, realizing how many it would be. So we kept about six schools involved. They did an outstanding job. The reason I mention Anderson Creek is because they were one of our first pilots. They did it again last year. They must have had 300, and some children read 100 books, at least 100. Some of them read as many as 200 and 300. The significant thing was that when I went to give those awards a year ago, there were probably 400 parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles that filled up the gym. So I will go back this year to give the awards again. This year, there were 481 children who read at least 100 books. Several of the children had read more than 500 books. I mean, we are talking about children reading two and three books a day. They were not very big. We did not tell them how thick the books had to be. But the interesting thing was the number of kindergartners in this school, a lot of them, they received an award. Well, it is quite obvious to me that kindergartners, very few can read when they start, they do not read. But guess who read the books? The parents or the grandparents or the aunts or uncles, whoever. But what we do is, we get a significant adult involved with that child early and then we get the linkage to the school. So this year I delivered 481 certificates. We had more parents in the gym than it would hold. They were standing outside. They stood in line, a lot of them stood up, because they did not have seats, for almost 2 hours because I stood up for 2 hours and handed out the certificates and shook the hand of every child in that school. Mr. Speaker, I only tell that story because I think every Member can do something like that. We ought to honor and encourage our children. It is not enough to stand on the floor of the House and point out the problems; there are plenty of problems in the world. But I think we need to go and honor and reward the good things that are happening. I have always believed that if one rewards successes, one will get more. If you let people know you encourage good things, more good things will happen. I was so pleased because I left there that day, and of course my back was sore from having to bend over to shake hands. When one is 6 feet, 6 inches and shaking hands with little folks, one gets sore, but I felt so good. I was late for the next school; I had to deliver more certificates. We are now going to expand it. But these are the kinds of things all of us can do. It is not very creative, and the cost of a little certificate is not much, but for some of those children it was so important. We could tell in talking with the children and watching their parents who came up to take the photographs. The neat thing was the principal, a lady by the name of Alice Cobb, who is just an outstanding leader and a great educator, she was smart enough to understand how important it was to her children. So she had a video camera going, digital video camera, through all of it so she could photograph every child in the video. Of course, as we know, one can print that out on paper. She sent me a whole stack of stuff she had done. I know the type of person she was, that she had given every child a photograph when they got their certificate. There are some things that we do not think about sometimes. Those of us who are in public office appreciate being acknowledged. Just think what we will do for a plaque or certificate. So a child will do good things, and schools understand that. I hear people sometimes belittle some of the good things teachers do and call it woman fusses. If you are a child and you need someone to say you look good today when you do not feel good, when you are not real sure you look good, someone to tell you you are a nice child or they love you when nobody at home may be telling you that, it may make the difference in that child's life. All of us can talk about things like that to make a difference. We have to require the academics of every child, make them achieve the most they can do. We do that in North Carolina. We require it. We assess each child. We have a tough curriculum. But at the same time, all of us need to be loved, and every child needs that. If you do that, you encourage, you give them love and you give them tough love when you have to, you can get a lot. That is what the gentleman is talking about with the program he was just sharing in his district. We can do a lot of those things.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, this evening I want to spend some time with my colleagues talking about an issue that is important not only to me and my colleagues on the minority side, but I think to all Members of this Congress and certainly to the people of America. The topic is education, an issue that we talk an awful lot about, but I want to talk this evening and share with my colleagues some examples of not only programs that work, but also people that are doing outstanding things for our children, certainly in my district and in my State. I want to talk a little bit about an innovative program that I visited a couple of weeks ago in Greensboro. It was a program called Reading Together. One of the things that I learned before I came to Congress, and I think we have all known it for a long time, but certainly it was pointed out to me very vividly while I was superintendent of schools, if one can teach a child to read by the time they are in the third grade, one has accomplished a great deal as to what we need to do to help a child learn and do well, and certainly make it in school and in the world. The Reading Together program is a program that is being piloted in a number of areas; I think it is in Pennsylvania, but also in Greensboro. What that program does is takes mentor students from the upper grades, and in this case they were fifth graders, and on a regular basis they are trained, they work with a trained teacher, and they come down and work with children who have difficulty reading in the earlier grades, normally in the first and second grade, and they become not only mentors, but they become tutors. I watched them for over an hour, and in this process, as those children worked and worked with young people, they had been trained; and when they finished the reading, they debriefed the young person they were working with, and then when the second graders went back to their classes, the fifth graders met with their teacher. They then were debriefed, talked about what had happened, how each child had done, made notes, kept a journal. These are things that very few adults do, and here we have young people doing them. I hear so many times people talk about our young people. They need to get out in the schools and see what is happening, the good things that they are doing, the outstanding jobs our teachers are doing. So I thought this was a good time to talk about these good things, as we are now all across America beginning to close down the school year. In my State, some of the schools were out last Friday and others will finish up this Friday, and many Members like myself will be speaking at commencement exercises. I did last week and will again this week. But I would like to share a program that really is working and making a difference. It is a pilot program that had been started really before I came to Congress, and it is working with some money through the U.S. Department of Education on a direct grant, and it is making a difference. The reading scores have improved dramatically. Students really work their way out of these classes and into the regular class. So that is what it is all about. We give a child some help, and then they can help themselves. Mr. Chairman, my friend from Maryland (Mr. (Cummings) has been out in his schools working, and is a great leader for education and a leader in this Congress. He has some excellent examples, and I would like to yield to him so he may share those with us.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I think the gentleman from Maryland is absolutely correct. I have often said that children come to public schools across this country, and certainly in my State, from a number of backgrounds; and they do not all come. This is where I get frustrated. I used to get frustrated at the State level, and I get frustrated here with some of my colleagues when they want to talk about and start criticizing the schools, because when they start doing that, they are criticizing our children. My colleagues have to be careful because schools are children and the professionals that are trying to help them. They come from a variety of backgrounds, from a variety of experiences. But all of them do not come in top dollar for the same level of knowledge and experiences when they come to school. So they come, as the gentleman says, at different levels. That teacher understood it. What the educators are talking about, when they say ``I want them to all have As,'' they are talking about mastery, so they are mastering the subject. There is a difference in learning and mastering. Most of us can get a bit of knowledge on the computer. If we get training here, all of us have computers in our office, and we have staffs to have mastery. A lot of us just have cursory understanding so we can turn it on and retrieve a little bit of information. If we want to get a little bit further, we have to call and get help. What those teachers were saying to the principal and to the gentleman, I want all my children to be able to have mastery on this computer. I want them to be able to use it, not just turn it on and call for help. They want to be able to go and get all the data that it has in it. I have often said that not all of us learn at the same speed. We forget that sometimes. It takes longer for others, and they still get it. If one watches students, if one ever notices, there will be some who we say they are slow. The truth is they are not as interested in school as others. They may not bloom until they get to be sophomores or juniors in high school sometimes. Sometimes it happens even after they leave high school. There are stories, and I am sure there are Members right here on the floor of this House who would say that they went into the military or went somewhere else and came back. Many times, those who came out of the military, they had 2 or 3 years to adjust. All of a sudden, they came home and realized, ``I did not apply myself when I was in school. I really need to settle down and get focused.'' Today with a lot of young people who go into youth service corps or something else and leave school, and all of a sudden they say, gosh, ``I did not apply myself. I wish somebody would give me a quick kick in the slacks to understand what I needed.'' That is at that level. But at the early years, where those youngsters are such sponges, and they really do want to learn. They come with bright eyes. If you watch those little ones, they all have bright eyes. They are ready to learn. They are ready to go. There is something that we are learning more every day about the brain and how much children can learn and their capacities, and we are doing away with a lot of the myths we used to have, because all children can learn. Let me repeat that again. All children. It makes no difference what their economic, their ethnic, where they come from, or where they are going, all children can learn. They can learn at very high levels. They may have different learning styles. Dr. Comer has a great program. We used him a number of times in North Carolina. We had a number of his projects in our State. I think he does just a wonderful job in showing that we need to bring the family nurturing the youngsters. Because if a youngster comes in in less than a nurturing background or comes to school hungry, and if someone tells us the child does not come, I can assure my colleagues they can go any place, most places in this country where they will see a child come in on Monday morning, and I am going to break the stereotype here because a lot of folks think when we are talking about youngsters, we are talking about children from economically deprived backgrounds. It may be children who just have not had a chance to eat, and it may be upper middle class neighborhoods many times, parents who have the resources. They do not take time to eat, and they grab something from school. Certainly there are those who, after Friday afternoon, who get a regular meal during the week, and Friday is the last really regular warm meal they get until they show back up on Monday morning. My wife works in the child nutrition program in my home county and has for a number of years. She said one can really tell it when school is out for the summer. A lot of the children are reluctant to leave because they know something is going to be missing. School is a safe haven for them, but it also provides for them a real nurturing environment. We have had some problems recently in some of our schools. But, by and large, they are loving, caring, nurturing places for people who really make a difference. We had a program, and I will come back to the question the gentleman raised again in a minute, that we started really in 1992, called Character Education. It was not unique with us. There is nothing really new under the sun. We borrowed a lot of things. We borrowed this from a professor at Vanderbilt and from a number of other folks. But Character Education is about teaching those things that we can all agree on that children ought to know. Rather than add it on as an add-on in the classroom, one really teaches it as an integrated part of the curriculum. So in 1995 we got a grant, wrote a project, got a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, and it started in Wake, Cumberland and Mecklenburg Counties, our three larger counties. A lot of other counties, Nash County, Johnston County, Harnett and others picked it up. But what we do in that process is the community goes through a meeting with parents, and the community says here is some of the basic issues; in this case, this two, four, six, eight, nine issues that they agreed on in Nash County. I think Wake is about the same. Trustworthiness. Most folks will not disagree with that. Respect, responsibility, caring, fairness, citizenship, perseverance, courage, self-discipline. They teach this every single day in some part of the curriculum in every single school. My colleagues say, well, why is that important? When we get bogged down in arguments of whether or not we ought to have prayer in school and all these other issues, that tends to be divisive. This is not divisive. We can agree on these, on all those issues. If we look at those issues, those really are the kinds of issues that build communities, that build respect, that make a school what it ought to be. In the process of putting this in, what we have found in some of our schools, I visited a school down in Johnston County, in Selma. I went in and talked with a principal. He said, ``Oh, yeah, it is working.'' He said, ``Our dropouts went down like 48 percent. The number of suspensions were down, in half.'' But he said, ``The significant thing was children have more respect for one another, for their teachers. And what we saw was our academic scores went up.'' So why would that happen? Very simply. We look at those issues. We are building trustworthiness. Pretty soon we have respect one for another. Children get to talk about those things in the classroom as a part of math, as a part of algebra or science or whatever they are doing. So all of those things start to fit. Pretty soon, we find out that we are back to some of the things we used to do years ago in our schools, that we sort of bumped out, and now it is catching on in other places. But we will be talking about some of these and having an opportunity, as my colleagues well know, in the weeks to come we will talk about the education budget that will come up. There will be those that say we do not need the Department of Education. We do not need those monies over there. I am here to tell my colleagues, having been a former superintendent of school at the State level, that was a grant, and every penny of the money went to local schools, and it made a difference. Now after we have been a pilot, we are putting it in in all of our schools, and it will now be used across the country, and the Department has become a clearinghouse. Those are the kind of things that really make a difference. We take those sponges and start feeding them good stuff like this, along with a rich curriculum, and encourage them and reward them, pretty soon we start seeing the pressure that used to build that is not there, but the learning environment goes up. But it takes a long time to make a change. Some people want to, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) and I understand this, that many times we want to pass legislation and have instant results. Last time I checked, about the only thing that is instant we can get is coffee and tea and those things we buy that are instant. Children take a while to grow and to really make major changes in education. It really takes 8 to 10 years because it takes a child about 12 to 13 years to get through school.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. I thank the gentleman. And the truth is, like I said earlier, there is nothing really new. You sort of borrow ideas and you redo them, but this came from people that had worked somewhere else, so we put it in, expanded it and made it work. The gentleman talked about his schools, and I talked about Anderson Creek, I have been to, and Broadway, and the other schools in Lee County and up in Wake, but we are going to get a chance in this Congress in the next few weeks to show what kind of mettle we are made of, too. Because as the gentleman knows, we introduced a bill last week to create 30,000 more counselors to put in our schools across this country, that are badly needed, and 10,000 more resource officers to be out there to assist and help these young people in these areas where it is needed. Because certainly in our middle and high schools there are not enough counselors to meet with them and counsel and help them with all the assessments. The others that are out there are doing all the paperwork. That is just one little piece; it will not solve all the problems, but it will sure help. I trust before this Congress adjourns that we will also have a chance to deal with the issue all across America that we are all facing, in rural and inner cities and certainly in our growing communities, and that is this issue of school construction, an issue we can do something about it. I have a bill on it, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) does, a number of others do, and I trust we will pass something on that. There are great needs. There is no question about it. And as an example, in Wake County, one of the counties I represent, they have grown 29.9 percent since 1990. And every county that touches it has grown in double digits. A small rural county, 29.7, adjacent to it. They cannot run fast enough to keep up. They are passing bond issues and they still cannot keep up. And I think it is time, if we really believe what we say up here and we really believe education is important, I happen to believe it is one of the most important things beyond our national defense that we have to put out, we are going to have to step up to the plate and take care of that issue. We can do it on a one-time basis through the tax code to really help these States and localities meet the needs. Because as the gentleman well knows, over the next 10 years we will see some of the fastest growth at our high school levels in the history of this country, because we are going to see the ``baby boom echo,'' as they are calling it. The baby boomers are having children, and that growth is going to come, and we have an obligation, I think, to help meet that need. I would yield to the gentleman.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to discuss an exciting opportunity I think that this NASA authorization bill provides our Nation's schools to promote math and science education. However, first I would like to say how disappointed I am that this bill has fallen victim I think to some partisan wrangling because it really did start out as a bipartisan bill. It is my hope that, as we go forward to an eventual conference that will take place with the other body, which will pass a bipartisan bill out of their committee, hopefully, very soon, that we can once again act in a bipartisan way and send a bill to the President that he will sign. With the exception of the conflict over Triana and some other issues, the committee I think has put together a pretty decent bill. I appreciate the majority's willingness to work with me on my concerns in the area of education and to accept the amendments in those areas that I offered in committee, and I want to thank the chairman and the ranking member for their help. I will vote for H.R. 1654, with the hope and faith that a bipartisan conference report can be brought back before this body before this year is out. I am proud to discuss an important education initiative contained in this legislation. This bill directs NASA to develop an educational initiative for our Nation's schools in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the first powered flight, which will take place on December 17, 2003. On that date in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright took their dream of powered flight from the drawing board of their Ohio bicycle shop to the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. It was there at a place called Kitty Hawk that the Wright brothers' dream took flight. On that day, our world was changed forever. The anniversary of this historic accomplishment provides an excellent opportunity for our Nation's schools to promote the importance of math and science education. And as a North Carolinian and a former educator, I am proud to bring recognition to the Wright brothers and their fantastic accomplishment. As a former North Carolina superintendent of schools, I worked for many years to help improve math and science education in our State. America's future will be determined by the ability of our citizens to adapt to the changes in technology that would dominate life in the 21st century. Recent studies show, unfortunately, that America's students are falling behind their counterparts around the world in the areas of math and science. As we watch the sun rise on the dawn of a new millennium, it has never been more important to encourage our children to excel in these important areas. It is no longer good enough for our children to simply be able to read, write, add, and subtract. If today's students are going to succeed in tomorrow's jobs, a firm foundation in math and science is required and it is an imperative. The Committee on Science has taken a leading role in starting a national dialogue on math and science education. One of the most difficult challenges we face has been to interest students in participating in the most challenging math and science courses. That is not unique. It happens in every State. Such a lack of interest could spell doom down the road as fewer students enter the teaching profession in these important areas. And even fewer are prepared for the jobs of the 21st century. The 100th anniversary of Flight Educational Initiative is intended to use the history of flight, the benefit of flight on society, and the math and science principles used in flight to generate interest among students in math and science education. As a young boy, like most Americans, the space program captured my imagination. Unfortunately, today video games and other distractions are more likely to occupy the time of our young people than the space program. However, the 100th anniversary of flight and NASA's plans to send a plane to Mars to coincide with that date provides an excellent springboard to recapture our young people's interest in the space program and in math and science education. Mr. Chairman, I commend the chairman for bringing this bill, authorizing our Nation's space program, to the floor on the same day that the new Star Wars trilogy has opened in our Nation's theaters. Just as the Star Wars movie has captured the imagination of a generation of Americans, NASA and the 100th anniversary of Flight Educational Initiative will help our students sore in math and science education.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation that directs the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to develop an educational curriculum for our nation's schools in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the first powered flight. The 100th anniversary of powered flight, which will take place on December 17, 2003, provides an excellent opportunity for our nation's schools to promote the importance of math and science education to our students. As the former Superintendent of Schools in North Carolina, and as a member of the House Science Committee since coming to Congress in 1997, I have worked for years to improve math and science education in our schools. America's future will in many ways be determined by the ability of our citizens to understand and adapt to the changes in technology that will so dominate life in the twenty-first century. As we watch the sun rise on the dawn of a new millennium, it has never been more important to encourage our children to excel in the areas of science and math. In the twenty-first century, it will no longer be good enough for our children simply to be able to read and write and add and subtract. If today's students are going to succeed in tomorrow's jobs, a firm foundation in math and science is required. One of the most difficult challenges we face in math and science education in generating interest among our children in these fields. With all of the distractions of modern life, it has been increasingly difficult to interest students in participating in the most challenging math and science curriculums. Such a lack of interest could spell doom down the road as fewer and fewer students enter the teaching profession in these fields. The 100th Anniversary of Flight Educational Initiative I am introducing today is intended to use the history of flight, the practical benefits of flight on society and the mathematics and scientific principles used in flight to generate interest among students in math and science education. As a young boy growing up on a farm in North Carolina, air travel and the space program captured my imagination as it did most Americans. Unfortunately, today, video games and other distractions are more likely to capture the imaginations of our young people than the space program. However, the 100th Anniversary of Flight, and NASA's plans to land a plane on Mars to coincide with that date, provides an excellent springboard to recapture our young people's interest in the space program and in math and science. Mr. Speaker, I am committed to seeing our students soar in the areas of math and science in our schools, and this initiative will help them take flight.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, as the former North Carolina Superintendent of Schools and the Second District's Congressman, I rise today to call the attention of the Congress to the Reading Together USA Program and its extension by the proposed Program Reading Together Adult Tutors in North Carolina. Reading Together USA is a peer tutoring reading program launched to improve the reading fluency and comprehension skills of second grade students with the help of fifth grade tutors. The program was collaboratively developed by University of North Carolina--Greensboro, Guilford County Schools, and the National Council of Jewish Women Institute for Education and Innovation at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Materials used are developed by the reading research literature, an institutional framework that has proved to be a well developed support system. Highly acclaimed by students and tutors, parents and educators, Reading Together USA is a systematic and cost effective program to improve reading and comprehension skills of youngsters. The program received governmental funding in the amount of $750,000 both in 1998 and 1999. Reading Together USA consists of nine training sessions for the fifth grade tutors who work with the students in thirty tutorial sessions. The students and tutors meet twice a week for 35 to 45 minute sessions. Furthermore, to determine the effectiveness of a session, the tutors meet their students twice a week to plan and prepare for the next session. The response to Reading Together USA has been very positive as students have gained positive reading experience at a level that helps them to develop fluency and reading comprehension. Their tutors have also developed leadership, organization and human relation skills. Because of enormous success of the program and to meet the growing demand for tutors the extension of Reading Together USA by Reading Togehter for Adult Tutors has been proposed. This program builds on Reading Together USA but features adult tutors targeting especially parents tutoring students at home and volunteers working with youngsters in schools in after school programs. The estimated cost of the two programs is $2 million annually. Study after study has demonstrated that sound reading skills are essential to a student's academic achievement. Students who learn to read well gain the ability to excel in other subjects and enhance their overall educational performance. Reading is a particular important ingredient for success in the Information Age and Congress must support innovative efforts to improve reading. Mr. Speaker, I commend the great achievements of Reading Together USA and strongly support its proposed extension Reading Together Adult Tutors. Education holds the key to our nation's future. Education leads to progress. One of the most important responsibilities we have as a society is to provide quality education for all of our children that is crucial to succeed in a competitive global environment. I encourage my collagues to join students and tutors, parents and educators to support both Reading Together USA and Reading Together Adult Tutors and to allocate the necessary fund for the Fiscal Year 2000.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to welcome a brand new constituent to the Second Congressional District of North Carolina, Master Simon Laniel Copeland. Simon was born on March 31, 1999 to proud parents Tony and Monique Copeland and to big brother Elliot Laniel Copeland. I would like to congratulate the Copelands on the wonderful new addition to their family. As a father of three, I know the immeasurable joy and pride that children bring into your life. Their innocence keeps you young-at- heart. Through their inquiring minds and child's wide-eyed wonder, they show you the world in a fresh, new way and change your perspective on life. A little miracle, a new baby holds all the potential of what human beings can achieve. Through this new life God has blessed the Copeland family. I have known Tony Copeland for many years, and I know that he will be as wonderful a father to Simon and Elliot as he has always been a friend to me. I wish Simon and his family much love, joy, and success in life.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, as the former North Carolina Superintendent of Schools and as the Second District's Congressman, I rise today to call the attention of the Congress to the centennial anniversary of Wiley Elementary School in Raleigh, North Carolina. Last year, Wiley Elementary School was preparing to celebrate its 75th Anniversary when student researchers discovered an earlier Wiley School, making the school 100 years old this year. Wiley Principal Cecilia Rawlins describes the institution and this occasion best by saying. ``Wiley School has a rich history. There are so many people in this community who played a part in our school, and we need to celebrate our history. There are many people who were a part of the school in the past. We want to celebrate the past so we can continue on that tradition toward the future.'' I am pleased to say that two members of my staff, Zeke Creech and Mark Hilpert, attended Wiley. Over the past year, the students, parents, teachers, and the community have been preparing for this celebration. Students have researched the ``old'' Wiley and ``new'' Wiley, reviewed old PTA scrapbooks, and visited the state Archives and History division. Some students who were graduating to junior high school even devoted part of their summer working on a video and ``memory book'' to record the history of Wiley. As a part of this effort, students have recorded Wiley's rich history, architecture and alumni memories. The current school was built in 1923 by C.V. York Construction Co. Its beautiful three story Jacobean Revival brick building was designed by architect Gadsen Sayre. The school was named for attorney, author, and educator Calvin H. Wiley, who also served as one of my predecessors as the first North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction, then referred to as Common Schools, form 1852 to 1865. Today, Wiley is an ``International Magnet'' Elementary School and is one of the oldest continuously operating schools in North Carolina. As it has for so long, Wiley serves as a model for all our public schools in America to follow now and in the future. Mr. Speaker, I commend the long history of educational achievement and parental and community involvement at Wiley Elementary School and join students, teachers, alumni, and the community in this centennial celebration. I encourage my colleagues to join me in this celebration and to read the following articles from the News and Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina making Wiley's 100th anniversary. [From the Raleigh News and Observer, Aug. 26, 1998] Tenacious Youths Detail School's Past (By Treva Jones) Raleigh--Wiley Elementary School was preparing to celebrate its 75th anniversary when planners realized they were off the mark. Actually, there was an earlier Wiley School in downtown Raleigh--a fact discovered by student researchers--meaning the institution will be 100 years old next spring. The school is collecting stories and information about Wiley from former students who learned their ABCs, and more, in the big red brick school house on St. Mary's Street. ``Wiley School has a rich history,'' Principal Cecila Rawlins said. ``There are many people in this community that played a part in our school, and we need to celebrate our history. There are many people who were a part of the school in the past. We want to celebrate the past so we can continue on that tradition toward the future.'' The official celebration will be in April. Planning is under way for a school pageant as well as a get-together for all alumni and friends. ``We want to make it a fund--but educational--experience,'' Rawlins said. Becky Leousis, a Wiley video and photography teacher, got a small grant last year and used it to buy a piece of equipment that adds titles and credits to videotape. One of her video classes, launched specifically to look into Wiley history, interviewed and videotaped Raleigh residents who attended Wiley in its early years. Severally Wiley students spent some of their summer break finishing the tape. Among them were Tom Martin, Chelsea Nicolas and Sam Shaber, all of whom started sixth grade in other schools this month. The three said they were so interested in digging up Wiley history that they wanted to finish what their class has started. ``It's one of the [city's] older schools. It has wonderful architecture. It's just real interesting.'' Tom said. Students combed old school PTA scrapbooks and took a field trip to the state Archives and History division to look up pictures. They researched ``old'' Wiley, ``new'' Wiley, the school architect and Calvin Wiley, for whom it was named. They recorded their findings in a scrapbook and the video, which will be shown during the celebratory activities next spring. The current school was built in 1923 by C.V. York Construction Co., by authority of the Raleigh Township School Committee. The architect, Gadsen Sayre, designed the three- story Jacobean Revival brick building, one of several Raleigh schools he designed during the 1920s. It was named for Calvin H. Wiley, a lawyer, author, educator and the first state superintendent of public instruction--his actual title was State Superintendent of Common Schools--from 1852 to 1865. The first Wiley school was a two-story building at West Morgan and South West streets. As part of a school course this fall, students will produce a booklet about Wiley history and architecture and alumni memories. Anne Bullard, co-chairman of the Wiley Anniversary Committee, appealed to anyone connected with Wiley to write his or her recollection of an event that happened there or write about their most vivid memory of Wiley and send it to the school. Accounts should be limited to 250 to 500 words, Bullard said, and they should be sent before Christmas. ``We do hope to collect quite a lot of them,'' she said. The committee also is seeking photographs of people who had a connection to Wiley and photos of the building. Former students, teachers and parents with memories of and memorabilia from Wiley school are asked to call the school office at 857-7723; to write to Anne Bullard, 208 Forest Road, Raleigh, N.C. 27605; or send e-mail to ajbullard@mindspring.com

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Texas for yielding me time, and I also want to express my deep appreciation for her setting up this Special Order and providing leadership on this very important issue. It is an issue of grave importance I think to this country and certainly to the economic life and viability of America. I also want to thank the gentlewoman and congratulate her for introducing this legislation, and I am proud to be a cosponsor, that will go a long way, in my opinion, in encouraging our youngsters to take an interest in the fields of science, math, and really an area we sort of tend to forget sometimes; we talk about it as if it is a separate piece, and that is this whole area of information technology that really is deeply rooted in science and mathematics. We can talk about standards for students and teachers and we can talk about the math and science curriculum until we are blue in the face, but if we do not generate more interest in these fields among our children, these efforts will mean very little. Talk is cheap, but it takes a lot of hard work to do it. So I want to thank the gentlewoman for her leadership on this issue. It is an issue that I think deserves the interest and an awful lot of time of Members of this Congress. I am sure it does not come as a surprise to the gentlewoman or to anyone else on this floor tonight that as the former superintendent of the schools of the State of North Carolina, the topic of science and math education is not only near and dear to me, but it is an important one that I have spent an awful lot of time working on. When I was superintendent in our State, one of our primary goals was to improve the science and math education for our children, and we did a number of things in this regard in North Carolina. As the gentlewoman knows, her home State and my State of North Carolina, the States of Texas and North Carolina are two States that have been singled out by the Secretary of Education and the President on numerous occasions as two States that really are doing some of the right things. But, the thing to remember is, we have a long ways yet to go. Science and math education is a long journey. We have worked hard in North Carolina to encourage local curriculum. We have a State system of schools really, and we worked on it hard in the early grades to make learning of math and science fun for our children, but at the same time, putting a lot of rigor in it. We have done a lot of applied learning at the same time. Rather than just the analytical kind we have done for years, we have put a lot of applied opportunities in the classroom, and that takes money. It means that we need to have tools to work with. We have worked hard in North Carolina to increase the availability of technology in the classroom and to link our schools to the information highway, what we now call the Internet, and that is so critical. If we want to open up the opportunities for teachers to teach and children to learn, they have to have access to the things that we take for granted in the business community every day. I used to say when I traveled the State that if one wants to go into any modern office, one will find a telephone, a computer and a whole number of other things. If one goes into a school, we expect the teachers to go to the office to use the telephone, and they may have a computer in the library or the media center, as we call it, and that is not acceptable in the 21st century if we want our children to learn. We placed a great emphasis on putting children into a more rigorous math and science curriculum and we have done a lot of that in North Carolina. We raised standards in our math and science curriculum, increased the units of math and science every child needed for graduation, and probably one of the most significant developments that we made, and this was done early on as I went in as superintendent, we required algebra as a requirement for graduation for our students. We said, well, that is nothing great. Well, the truth is, too many students were allowed to get out with just general math and we went to requiring it for graduation, and many said, it will not work. We are going to fail a lot of students. Well, what happened, too many times algebra has been used as a filter. It filtered out an awful lot of students that had an opportunity and ability to do it: females, African-Americans and a number of our minority students were filtered out. We turned it into a pump primer. And what that meant is we forced more into it, and we got better at teaching; we had to do a better job of staff development for our teachers. And lo and behold, guess what happened. Math scores went up, and so did our reading scores. So we have used it in a way to make a difference. I think if we enrich the curriculum and we give the teachers the tools and we help them in staff development and we encourage students, they will rise to the occasion. I read with interest this weekend that other States are beginning to follow our lead and require algebra in earlier grades. Obviously, there is no silver bullet to improve science and math education. It is hard work. However, there is no doubt that we must start in the earlier grades to help our children develop the skills that they need to be successful in the science and technology-based economy of the 21st century. The debate over science and math curriculum is not simply one of improving test scores or making our children smarter. It is fundamental to the future of our country and its prosperity in the 21st century, and it is absolutely fundamental to our children's ability to deal with the complicated issues that they will face in the 21st century. North Carolina has become a hub of our Nation's technology revolution. The Research Triangle Park area boosts some of the best research universities in the world and is the home to a host of a world renowned pharmaceutical, biotechnology, telecommunications and computer companies, the same list that you can read in Texas and some of our other high-tech centers. The technology revolution has been good to North Carolina. But hardly a week goes by that I do not talk to a company's CEO who tells me that we need to improve science and math education and that we need more people with technical skills entering the workforce. It is true in our State, it is true across this country. Unfortunately, too often in this town, what is best for our children gets bogged down in petty politics and partisan power struggles. Take the Dollars for the Classroom program, block grants that were just introduced today by the loyal opposition. Having been a superintendent for 8 years and been at that level, I can tell my colleagues that block grants are great if we have a great grant-writer. It is a sorry way to dispense money for poor folks who do not have grant-writers. Guess which children have the greatest need for science and math education? It is those children in those districts that do not have good grant-writers. And I think it is a sham if we go through such a charade talking about putting more in the classroom. People who have the greatest need are hurt the most by block grants. Now, Mr. Speaker, when we are forced to stand on the floor and debate whether or not we should increase the number of foreign workers we allow in this country to meet the needs of our companies here for workers in some of the fields that our high-tech companies and biotech companies and others need, something is wrong. I can tell my colleagues that something is wrong, and we need to fix it. I am here to tell my colleagues that there is one Member of Congress that is committed to fixing it, because the future of this country, the future of my State and the future of our children depend on it. I want to thank my friend, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson), because she has decided that she is going to do more than talk about it. She has put together a bill, and I commend her for it. I am proud to be a cosponsor on a piece of legislation that does something about the issue of putting resources out there where children are across the country in rural districts that have great needs, as well as urban districts, because the one thing that we are short of in this country is having the kind of staff development that teachers need to be able to teach math and science in a way that children can learn, and we can move them into a higher level as we approach the 21st century. I commend the gentlewoman from Texas for her vision, and I thank her for highlighting the importance of this issue.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take the time previously allotted to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith).

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my opposition to the Republican budget that the House passed this afternoon. As a member of the New Democratic Coalition when I came to Congress, I was very proud of the vote that I made last year in the last session to help lead my party in this Congress back to fiscal responsibility and be able to vote on the first balanced budget in a generation. I say that with a heavy heart today because I think we have just passed one, the majority has, that is not a budget but a political document. Prior to my service in public office, Mr. Speaker, I spent 19 years running a small business in North Carolina, where you have to balance the budget, you have to meet a payroll every week, and if you do not balance your books, you will go broke. When I served in the General Assembly where I served for 10 years, I chaired the appropriations committee for 4 years where I helped write a balanced budget for 4 straight years. You have to balance the budget to make sure you do not have to raise taxes. As State Superintendent of Schools of the State of North Carolina for 8 years I had responsibility for running a large agency with a huge budget; I cut a bureaucracy, and it helped improve the quality of education, with others in my State. The people of North Carolina sent me to Congress 2 years ago to help with balancing the Federal budget and to put our national financial house in order, and I was tremendously proud to serve in that first session and vote to balance the budget. But that discipline is difficult. It is difficult to keep your budgets balanced. It is difficult to do the things you need to do to make sure you do not overspend. But it is economically wise, and it is a moral imperative. Mr. Speaker, that is why the Republican resolution that passed today is so disappointing. It returns to those irresponsible promises, in my opinion, and the tax cut binges that helped create the annual deficits, and it crippled this country's economy and piled up a huge national debt in the 1980s that our children and grandchildren could be forced to pay. In order to push this risky scheme, the Republican leadership has passed a budget that fails to protect Social Security and Medicare, threatens needed investments with our priorities in education and abandons our new-found fiscal discipline. This misguided attitude captured on this floor by Members of the majority who said there is nothing, there is no such thing, as an irresponsible tax cut, that is the kind of attitude we ran into in the 1980's that got us in such bad trouble. We should not return to those attitudes. Let me state for the record that I support tax cuts, I am in favor of them, but I think we ought to keep our financial house in order. One of the first bills that I signed as a Member of this Congress when I came was the tax cut for the middle class, for estate tax relief for small businesses and farmers, for the $500-per-child tax credit, for HOPE scholarships so that our children could go to school and have an opportunity to blossom in the 21st century, and to help families pay their college tuitions, and for tax credits or to deduct interest on the money they borrowed to go to college. In this Congress I have introduced legislation for school construction, to provide tax free interest bonds at the State level to build new schools in our communities, which in turn would provide relief to a lot of our local communities that are feeling the strain of tremendous growth. So I am for tax cuts, but they must be responsible, they must be paid for. We must save Social Security and Medicare first before we jump off the cliff. We must pay down the national debt to keep the interest rate down and encourage economic growth. We are now enjoying one of the largest, longest and greatest periods of economic prosperity in our Nation's history, and we should not do anything to undermine it. We must make careful investments in education and in health care and scientific research that will provide the basis for the future for our tremendous growth. We have had that already. We need to continue so that we will enjoy the bounty of a new economy in the 21st century.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) for putting together this important special order on the condition of American farmers at a time when the American farm economy is in deep trouble, as she has already stated, and the need for this body to stop playing politics and get a supplemental spending bill through. There is no excuse for what is happening. Our farmers need help now. They really needed it last month. We tried to get a supplemental bill through, as the gentlewoman well knows, but politics prevailed over good sound policy. I, as a member of the Committee on Agriculture, had to vote against the bill because it was that bad, as did many of the Members of this body, and it did not pass. The reason was we were taking money out of the international fund, where we were selling our products, to loan to farmers to produce, which is the craziest thing I have ever heard of. And this body realized it when it got to the floor. It was nothing more than a political game. I am sorry I had to vote against it, but the point is, as the gentlewoman has indicated, farmers are hurting. Farm families are in trouble all across this country. The need for American families to have us stop playing the partisan games are the greatest they have ever been, and the Republican majority has denied any relief to suffering farmers. They have denied that relief when we can do something about it, as the gentlewoman has indicated. It is in their power to bring it to the floor, it is within their power to let us pass it. Because if it gets to this floor, it will pass. I grew up on a farm. I have a lot of my friends who still farm. It is a great life. I own a little piece of land. It is kind of hard for me to say I farm. I go out there a lot and check the cows, and my son spends a lot of time on the farm, almost every day. But farmers are hurting. I have been around farming all my life, and I do not remember a time when there has been more uncertainty, more turmoil, more economic devastation of such a broad scale in the agricultural community as there is today. I was at a 4-H lamb show during the break with some friends, and an auctioneer came up to me and he said, ``I want to say something.'' He did not know me. I had never met him. He said, ``It hurts me to go and have farm sales, and I am having more farm sales now than any other type of sale I am having.'' And the shame is there is no one there to bid. The farmers' assets are going for a pittance. In North Carolina almost no farmer has been spared, and I think this is true all across the country. Our tobacco farmers are close to facing the lowest production quota in the history of the tobacco program. That goes back to the mid 1930s. Pork farmers, as the gentlewoman has shared, have experienced the lowest prices for live hogs in more than 50 years, for a variety of reasons. And cotton, peanut, dairy, corn, wheat and soybean farmers are being crushed by the low prices. They are being crushed by low prices and oversupply and no place to market their goods. In these modern times there are an awful lot of people who really think they get their groceries at a grocery store, and they do, but what they forget is the farmers that produce those goods, that put them on the shelves. I am here to say to my colleagues that if we want to keep having food come from the farm, as the gentlewoman has already indicated, we had better be about helping the farmers stay in business. Because if the independent farmers go out, and surely they will if we do not give them help, and we wind up with just the large mega corporate farms, America is going to be in deep trouble and we will pay a heavy price for it. Food is a vital part of a country's national security. If we lose our ability to produce food, we will not have the underpinnings of a strong national security. We have a responsibility, and I think a duty, to make sure our farmers survive. And not only survive, they should thrive. It is absolutely not fair, when so many people in the country are deciding whether or not to roll over their IRAs and how to do it, and look at the stock dividends and watch the stock market, when farmers are watching their stock go to market and not even getting paid for it. That is not right. We need to make sure our farmers survive and that our families have access to a safe and adequate food supply. It needs to be produced in the United States if we want to make sure it is a safe food supply. The Freedom to Farm Act that passed here in 1996 has been an utter failure. There is no question about it. Talk to any farmer, they will tell my colleagues that. Promises were made in 1996 of a new and expanded market in exchange for an end to price supports and production controls. So what happened was the Republican majority in this Congress did away with the controls, but we did not fulfill the other part. We did not make sure they had markets for their goods. And if they do not have an overseas market, they are in trouble. And that is where our farmers are. We have to be accountable to our farmers for the failure of that promise, and the only way we can be accountable is to put a bill on this floor that keeps them in business.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. I thank the gentlewoman for those comments. That is absolutely true. If our farmers lose their independence, that is the very thing that has made America great. Going back all the way to colonial days, as the gentlewoman mentioned earlier, is the fact that a person had a piece of ground, and it used to be said they had a mule. There are no longer mules in the country now. Those that came out of Missouri, we have now put tractors behind them and other things. But the important thing was that they had their independence. We have had a strong vibrant economy because of agriculture. When our agricultural economy gets in trouble, pretty soon the rest of us follow. We started to do something last year to help the farmers when we passed the disaster relief bill, but not a dime of that money, not one dime of that money, has been sent to the farmers yet because of a whole variety of reasons. Earlier this year, we passed, and I commend the majority for bringing this to the floor, legislation to free up loan reserves within the Department so that they can make money available to farmers. But that money is also gone, the reason being there is such a big need in the farm community, farmers need a lot of money in the spring to buy supplies to start the farm operations. They are huge users of credit. The problem we have is, as my colleague indicated earlier, the commodity prices are so low, the lowest they have been in probably 50 years, they have very little reserves, they have grain and other commodities in the bins where they are stored. Unfortunately, those commodities are not worth anywhere near the amount they need to go to the bank and borrow money. So it is up to us, I think, to step up and make sure they are in business and get through these tough times so that all of us can enjoy the bounty that we have enjoyed for so long. We have had the food in this country. We have been able to share it around the world. If we want to keep doing that, we better make sure that we make money available through the USDA to get to our farmers. But the money we already made available is gone. The trouble in the farm economy is often the first step, as I said earlier, to a greater problem in the economy in America. And we better wake up and we better get a supplemental spending bill on this floor and the majority better do it for our farmers or we are all going to pay a heavy price. And our farmers know who is in charge. Farmers across this country find themselves in the situation where they do not watch Wall Street. They cannot. They are watching Main Street, and Main Street does not look very good these days. The Wall Street bankers may deal with stocks, but if the Main Street banker cannot lend money to the farmers, a lot of us may not enjoy the kind of bountiful food at the cheap prices that we have enjoyed for so long. This happened once before in our country in the 1930s. Different times. But the farmers got in trouble and we had the dust bowls in the Midwest because the farmers were not farming. That can happen again. It can very well happen in America. But this Congress can take action, and I challenge the Republican leadership to bring that bill to the floor so that we can give our farmers the help they need as they start this planting season.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman would yield further, she is absolutely correct. There is no excuse for it. There is no excuse when we have the power to do something about it. The majority does. We do not. The majority does. We should move tomorrow. We should have a bill on this floor before we go home this weekend and we ought to pass it so that the farmers can go to work. Planting season, as my colleague said, has started. And in the Southeast, for some of the crops, we are getting pretty far along already. And in my colleague's part of the country, they are going to be planting within the next week or so and some are probably getting land ready. We need to act now, and it does not need to be next month.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call to the attention of the Congress a distinguished United States veteran by the name of Joe Poe from Dunn, North Carolina. As our Nation focuses on the mission of our men and women in uniform in Yugoslavia and other parts of the world, I rise to pay tribute to one who has already served. Joe, his wife Marilyn, and their children suffer from undiagnosed Gulf War related illnesses. Joe served in the United States Army for 20 years before retiring in 1992. His assignments have included serving in the 82nd Airborne and the 101st Airborne Divisions, as a drill sergeant in Panama in Operation Just Cause. He also served in support of joint special operations, and as a team sergeant for a forward surgical team in Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield. During his career, one of Joe's greatest contributions was helping write and implement the Army's doctrine on forward surgical teams. He is the recipient of the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, and other high honors, decorations and badges. The Gulf War should have been Joe's last battle, but it was not to be. Following his service, Joe began to experience disabling side effects as a result of his service in the Persian Gulf. Six years later, and thanks to the determination of Joe, his family and the efforts of Kate Darwin, a dedicated social worker on my staff, Joe became designated as 100 percent disabled and became one of the first acknowledged cases of Gulf War related illnesses by the United States Department of Defense. I am grateful to Kate and commend her for her tireless efforts battling the Federal bureaucracy on behalf of Joe and other veterans. Even though his speech has slowed considerably now, the whole world listens to Joe Poe. He spends countless hours on the internet contacting other Gulf War veterans and lawmakers to organize them to support Gulf War veterans and their causes. Late last year, with limited time remaining in the legislative session, Joe and other North Carolina veterans arrived in Washington to press lawmakers to pass legislation on behalf of Gulf War Veterans. As a result of their efforts, H.R. 4035, the Drugs and Informed Consent Act, and H.R. 4036, the Persian Gulf Veterans Health Act were passed, thanks to Joe and his boundless determination and his continuous effort. I learned things from this. Never underestimate Joe Poe and never underestimate the unshakable will of the human spirit. Mr. Speaker, I provide for the Record an article dated September 30, 1997, from the Daily Record of Dunn, North Carolina, on Joe Poe. Once Fighting For Country, Now Fighting For His Life Joe Poe works every day to find answers for him and others about what has caused his Gulf War Illness. (By Andy Rackley) Talk with Dunn's Joe Poe and it is easy to understand why so many people have rallied around him and feed off his determination. Visit with Mr. Poe for more than 10 minutes and it is also easy to see why friends, family members and casual acquaintances call him an unsung hero. Mr. Poe, a 20-year retired Army veteran, was once the lean, mean fighting machine which invokes the spirit of the elite soldiers in the U.S. Army. He tells of numerous military stories with a fire in his eye which keeps even the non- interested drawn into his tales. However, the final few years of Mr. Poe's service saw him journey to what he thought would be his final battle--less than a year before his retirement--on the desert basin of the Persian Gulf. Mr. Poe was team sergeant for a forward surgical team during the Gulf War. There were only two such teams. The team was part of a doctrine in which Mr. Poe's brilliant mind helped design. now uses cane Now, a little more than six years after Mr. Poe's participation in the Gulf War, Mr. Poe's mind is still beaming with brilliance, however, it has slowed somewhat. The soldier which used to walk several clicks (kilometer) in an hour with a 60-pound rucksack on his back, now has to walk with the use of a cane and can barely support his own weight. The man who helped rewrite the Army's doctrine on forward surgical teams, now takes about 30 minutes to type a paragraph on a computer. Regardless of the obstacle and the limitations caused by his illness, he gives a smile and carries on in his fight. According to Mr. Poe and his family, he has Gulf War illness. He has been poked and prodded by numerous hospitals from Fayetteville to Winston-Salem to Washington, D.C. The prognosis is always different. And the prognosis is never Gulf War Syndrome. He suffers from numerous symptoms like migraines, memory loss, concentration problems, balance, speech, vision-loss and others. Though frustrated sometimes to tears over the government's attitude toward he and other veterans' suffering from an unknown illness, Mr. Poe still arrives at work early in the mornings--except when he just can't seem to make it in--at the family's business. American Artisans on South Clinton Avenue in Dunn. Though he is no longer able to work with the business, he goes there and digs in for a daily battle of researching information on Gulf War illness, developing and linking numerous veterans groups across the state and nation, and being a support link for other veterans. dead animals found He is uncertain of how he contracted the disease, but he does tell frightening stories of his time spent in the Gulf War to include dead animals being found near his camp and mysterious colored clouds. Mr. Poe was near the ammunition depot where Iraqi chemical weapons were destroyed. He said there were more than 1,600 other reports of mysteriously dead animals. ``DoD (Department of Defense) said the animals died from a natural occurrence of anthrax,'' he said. ``Maybe one or two or maybe a herd, but not 1,600 different reports of animals dead and the flies on them dead, too. It had to be something more.'' He also tells of multiple detections of nerve agents by several units near his camp to include his unit. Mr. Poe was one of the people who gave a report to DoD about the detection of nerve agents. Mr. Poe and his three teammates all suffer from some type of illness. According to Mr. Poe's wife Marilyn, her husband was already sick by the time he returned from the Gulf. ``We--the children and I--knew something was wrong He had numerous problems and symptoms which you could not define as to one sickness. Everything was steady and in slow progression until 1995 when Joe's speech became dramatically affected, he had trouble walking and just getting around. And he has continued to get worse,'' she said. family showing symptoms Mrs. Poe and the children have also began to feel signs of the sickness. Mrs. Poe has come down with multiple sclerosis and the children are having problems with their joints. These are the biggest concerns Mr. Poe has. Is his sickness affecting those around him? He has limited his time spent with others in church or eating out with the family because of his fears and concern for others. ``We just want answers,'' Mrs. Poe said. ``I think a lot of the doctors we've seen are also frustrated. A lot of them don't know what is going on or how to help. And those who may know something in the Veterans' hospital may not be able to help because of higher authorities. We just want help before it is too late.'' Mr. Poe doesn't have an answer to the illness facing he and fellow veterans, but every day he adds another piece of information to his Gulf War illness collection. Other veterans say Mr. Poe's fight each day is a huge step for all Gulf War veterans. One of those people who call Mr. Poe a hero is his wife. ``One thing about Joe is that he has always done things for the benefit of others whether it was his role as a husband, his role as a father or soldier. He always gave it his all and then some. What amazes me is that even with his situation, he is still thinking of others.'' fighting for others Mike Ange, another local veteran affected with Gulf War Illness, said Mr. Poe is definitely a modern-day hero. ``He has a tremendous medical problem that nobody really knows how to fight. Despite that, he gets up every day and spends most of the day fighting not just for himself, but for others as well.'' Larry Perry, spokesperson for the Desert Storm Veterans of the Carolinas Association, echoes those remarks. ``Joe puts unbelievable amounts of time and energy into this fight. It takes guys like Joe to win this thing. His fight, I hope, will one day lead us to victory.'' Mrs. Poe said their fight has been solidified by the great community they live in. ``I can't say enough about Dunn. The people believe in Joe's fight and they are very supportive. People like those at First Baptist Church who have gone above and beyond what is normally expected. And U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge who stands behind Joe and other veterans,'' she said. The Poes have sent their blood off to be tested for mycoplasmal infections at the Institute for Molecular Medicine in Irvine, CA. However, the testing procedure has been put on hold until funds can be raised to continue research. The testing of veterans' blood by the medical institute is not financially-supported by the Department of Defense. The Poe's blood samples are two of 500 waiting to be sampled. Out of the 500 samples, 200 of those are from North Carolina. Mr. Poe and other veterans plan to hold annual meetings to help disseminate up-to-date information on Gulf War Illness. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Rothman). Save Social Security and Medicare

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa) for putting together this special order this afternoon because it is on a topic that is important not just to our Hispanic students and their families; it is important to every American. Let me take just a moment to speak as a former State superintendent of the State of North Carolina, a State that is seeing tremendous growth in our enrollment of students of Hispanic background. Let me also thank the gentleman for his leadership on educational issues as a leader in the Hispanic Caucus, and also as a cochair of the House Education Caucus, the Democratic side, and his work there. He understands the needs not only of Hispanic students and Latinos, but of all children in our public schools; and I thank him for that. Mr. Speaker, North Carolina has a rapidly growing Latino population, as do many of the other States in this country. They come, as my colleagues who have preceded me to this rostrum today have said, for economic opportunity. They come for a variety of reasons; and, yes, they bring their children and want them to have the same educational opportunity as other children. As a superintendent, I worked hard to serve the educational needs of our Latino community, because they are an important component of the future of this country. If anyone who is watching today does not understand that, all they need do is read our papers and look at the demographics and how our country is changing and the contributions they are making to our society in so many ways today and will continue to in the future. The biggest barrier to children, the biggest barrier to their learning, is language. We have just heard that. If a child cannot understand the language, then they have a difficult time understanding math or science or history or whatever they are being taught. In North Carolina, and in most of the school systems in this country, but I will speak specifically about North Carolina and our needs at the national level to do some of these things, implementing English as a second language has served the Latino community better than anything else. The reason for that is that young children need to understand the language. As I have said, the number of non-English speaking students, not just Latinos but of all languages coming to our shores, have skyrocketed in North Carolina in recent years. It has increased almost 29 percent; 32 percent last year was the increase in just the Latino numbers in our State. English as a second language works better for youngsters who are in kindergarten to second grade. Let me say why. It takes only 6 to 18 months for those students at a very early age to be proficient and be able to handle it in the classroom, but for high school students it takes 5 to 7 years to bring them up to speed. Why? Because we do not have the teachers, we do not have the resources and we are not focusing, in my opinion, as we should. Let me say of an elementary school in my State, happens to be in my district, in Lee County, in Sanford, where they have an outstanding teacher. She taught Spanish for a number of years. She lived in Spain for about 5. She teaches prekindergarten youngsters. In just 1 year, in just 1 school year, she can bring those students to proficiency. They can acclimate to the classroom and compete with other students and do an outstanding job. That is an indication of immersing students in English, giving them an opportunity in the second language. They spend a number of hours each day in this class, but they also get to go to their regular classes. That is why English as a second language is so important. There is not enough funding at the Federal level and not enough at the State level to meet the needs of our students. The Hispanic Caucus is providing tremendous leadership on education, as well as this issue of language barriers. It is not isolated to this caucus because they reach across the lines and work with all the other caucuses, because we have a lot of children in our schools who need this help. I think we have an obligation to put our message and our vote where our mouth is. It is easy for Members to come to this floor and talk about how important education is, and then they fail to realize if a child cannot understand the language, they cannot learn. Today we have a number of students and others in the gallery. I will guarantee the Members, they would tell us the very same thing. I want to thank the Caucus for their help, not just on the language issues, but the understanding of the needs of children in classrooms that are overcrowded; in putting more teachers in the classroom, and in helping by voting in support of the 100,000 teachers, as the President proposed. They have also have also been helpful in supporting H.R. 996, a bill that I introduced, the Etheridge School Construction Act, to fit the needs of these communities that are growing so rapidly. The classrooms are overcrowded. Teachers do not have decent places to teach. That is just not acceptable in a day and time when we have the resources to make it happen. This bill would provide tax credits to finance local construction bonds across the country in those areas that have great needs. Texas is one of those States. That is one of the second fastest-growing States in America. It will make a difference. I thank them for their help on that. We now have over 100 cosponsors on this bill. I urge the Members of the other body to join us. Mr. Speaker, again I thank my colleagues from Texas and all those in the Caucus who are working so hard to make education for all children a top priority, but specifically making sure that languages are available for those children who do not understand the English language, to help them to get up to speed so they can become a full player in this economic system of the 21st century, because the future will belong to the educated. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) for yielding me this time, and I also thank my friend, the gentleman from Guilford, North Carolina (Mr. Coble), for his support in helping get this bill to the floor and for his leadership in this important bipartisan legislation. Mr. Speaker, I would say that every member of our delegation joins me in support of this important legislation. I would also like to thank the chairman and ranking member of the committee for bringing this bill to the floor in such a timely manner. The number of the bill would indicate that it is receiving expedited treatment to get here, and I thank them for that. Mr. Speaker, this Sunday, April 18, will mark the 1-year anniversary of the passing of a truly great and courageous North Carolinian and American. Former United States Senator and North Carolina Governor Terry Sanford died last year of complications associated with cancer. Terry Sanford lived a life that has served as a shining example of excellence to an entire generation. Terry Sanford learned growing up that hard work reaped rewards, that boldness is a requirement of leadership, and that possibilities exist that are only bound by the size of one's imagination. Throughout his life, he fought to improve education, to promote racial healing, eradicate poverty, promote economic development, promote the opportunity for every person, no matter what their economic background, their creed or color might be, to have economic opportunity. Known as North Carolina's ``Education Governor,'' Terry Sanford inspired teachers and students to excel with his unrelenting commitment to public education. It was his many contributions to education that led Harvard University to name him as one of the top 10 governors in the 20th century. As President of Duke University, as we have heard, Terry Sanford challenged a small regional university to dream big and reach for the stars. And reach them it did. When Terry Sanford left Duke University, it became known as the world leader in research and higher education in law, medicine, business, and the arts. It was his many contributions to create what is generally regarded as the ``Harvard of the South'' that led Duke University to name its Institute for Public Policy after this great American, known as the Terry Sanford Institute for Public Policy. Called to serve in the public arena once again, Terry Sanford was elected to the United States Senate in 1986. In its years in the Senate, Terry Sanford distinguished himself as a passionate advocate for public education and for the poor and less fortunate. In addition to his many vital roles as a statesman, politician, and university president, Terry Sanford served the people of North Carolina and this country in many other ways. He served as a paratrooper in World War II, as an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as a State senator, and in many other capacities. He also participated in many charities, too many to cover here today. He was one of North Carolina's leading patrons of the arts. His passion for the arts endured until his death, as he spearheaded efforts to bring a world-class performing arts facility to North Carolina. Terry Sanford was also a committed husband to Margaret Rose, a devoted father to Terry, Jr., and to Betsy. Mr. Speaker, Terry Sanford inspired me personally as a student and also in politics. In fact, when I was deciding to run for Congress, I went and sat down and talked with Terry Sanford. His words of encouragement helped me make up my mind, and they continue to inspire me and many others today. Last year, prior to his passing, I began searching for a way to honor Senator Sanford who has meant so much to me, my family, and so many North Carolinians and Americans. With the help of my colleagues here in Congress, we came up with the idea of naming the Federal building in downtown Raleigh, a stone's throw away from the governor's mansion where Terry Sanford may have made many of his most important contributions to a generation of North Carolinians and a generation of teachers and students who will continue to make a contribution for years and years to come. Naming this building in his honor will allow his influence to be felt by a whole new generation of leaders. Terry Sanford was more than a great and admired politician. He was one of the most accomplished Americans of our time. His North Carolina values and visionary leadership brought us through some of the most difficult challenges that beset our generation and set us forward in North Carolina on a path of tremendous progress that we enjoy today economically. This gesture is the least we should do for a man who allowed us to view the world from his broad shoulders.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Spratt amendment and in opposition to the Kasich bill. Our amendment provides for the next generation rather than just the next election. Mr. Chairman, I want to commend Mr. Spratt for crafting a substitute that wills save all of the surplus until we ensure the solvency of Social Security and Medicare. Congress must exercise fiscal discipline and save Social Security first. I also want to thank committee Democrats for adding my bill, the Etheridge School Construction Act, to the Spratt Substitute. This legislation will provide critically needed help for local schools like those in my District that are bursting at the seams. As the former Superintendent of my state's schools, I call on this Congress to make the education of our children our top priority. Despire the rhetoric from the other side of the aisle, the Kasich budget does nothing for school construction and abandons the 100,000 new teachers initiative. The Kasich budget cuts higher education by $36.3 billion over ten years. As the first member of my family to graduate from college, I know firsthand that affordable access to a quality education is the key to the American Dream, and Congress must not cut financial aid. This is a question of our values and our priorities. A budget should be about the next generation not just the next election. Vote for the future and the Spratt Substitute. House Budget Committee Democratic Caucus The Democratic alternative requires the enactment of legislation extending the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund to 2050 and the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund for 12 additional years prior to the enactment of net new tax cuts or net new spending initiatives. If the solvency of the Social Security and Medicare HI Trust Funds is extended, the Democratic alternative provides for education, training, and social services initiatives. republicans devastate education funding Despite Republican rhetoric about supporting education, the House Republican budget resolution drastically cuts funding for education, employment and training, and social service programs. Republicans Cut Education by $1.2 Billion in 2000--The House Republican budget cuts education funding for 2000 by $1.2 billion below a freeze at the 1999 level. Republicans Cut Purchasing Power by 18.1 Percent by 2009-- These cuts in education funding translate into a 6.9 percent decrease in purchasing power by 2004, and an astounding 18.1 percent decrease in purchasing power by 2009. higher education, employment and training, and social services The Republicans deeply cut funding that provides higher education assistance, college preparation, social services (such as Head Start), and job training in order to increase spending for elementary and secondary education. (The Republicans do not say which education programs they eliminate.) Republicans Cut Higher Education and Social Services by $16.7 Billion over Five Years--The Republican budget cuts funding for higher education, training, and social services-- programs such as Pell Grants and Head Start--by $1.7 billion for 2000, by $16.7 billion over five years, and by $36.3 billion over ten years compared with the 1999 freeze level. Republicans Cut Education by 5.7 Percent for 2000, 16.2 Percent for 2009--The magnitude of cuts in the Republican budget requires an across-the-board cut of 5.7 percent for 2000 in programs other than those for elementary and secondary education. By 2009, the Republican budget cuts these programs by 16.2 percent compared with the 1999 freeze level. democrats boost education funding The Democratic budget rejects the Republicans' damaging cuts in education programs. It provides $2.6 billion more for education for 2000 than the Republican budget. Over time, the difference between the Democratic and Republican budgets gets even greater; the Democratic budget provides $10.2 billion more than the Republicans over five years (2000-2004), and $51.4 billion more over ten years (2000-2009). Protect Higher Education, Employment and Training, and Social Services--Unlike the Republican budget, the Democratic alternative does not cut higher education, training, and social services to increase elementary and secondary education programs. The Democratic alternative increases the overall education budget. Hire 100,000 Teachers--The Democratic budget increases spending by enough to continue the President's initiative to hire 100,000 new teachers over seven years in order to reduce the average class size in first through third grade. Congress funded 30,000 new teachers last year, and the Democratic alternative supports those teachers and allows the hiring of 8,000 more. Modernize Schools--The Democratic budget includes new tax credits starting in 2000 to pay the interest on almost $25 billion in bonds to build and modernize up to 6,000 public schools. It also continues welfare-to-work and employer- provided post secondary education tax credits. Increase Special Education--Because the Democratic budget provides $2.6 billion more for 2000 than the Republican budget, Democrats have more room to increase funding for special education. The Republicans increase elementary and secondary education funding by only $500 million above a freeze. Unless they cut other elementary and secondary education programs, they can only increase funding for special education by the same amount.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Chairman, this is a bad bill for farmers and for the American people. I support the funding in this bill for farmers, even though it is inadequate. But the cuts in this bill are entirely irresponsible, and will do more to harm agriculture in this country than any benefit it will receive from the paltry amount of money that has been included for farmers. The biggest challenge facing farmers and other businesses in this country is competing in the global economy. Talk about kicking farmers while they are down, this bill would cut critical funds for the development and expansion of global markets at a time when pork and grain farmers are suffering from plunging world demand sitting on record surpluses and tobacco farmers are dealing with a 35 percent cut in their income over the past two years. I cannot support a bill that gives farmers something with one hand and takes it away with another. This cynical bill will be vetoed, and the Republican leadership know it. They loaded this bill up with veto bait in an attempt to score political points and in the process have ensured that the relief farmers desperately need will be delayed. And that's wrong. Unfortunately, this bill puts partisan gain over the people's interests, and I urge Congress to reverse course and pass a balanced bill that will speed relief to the farms where it is needed the most.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend from Washington State (Mr. Smith) for organizing this special order this evening on an issue that is really so important not only this year to this Congress, but to the future of this country and to our children who have not yet been born. And he talked a few moments ago about a new Democrat. As my colleagues know, that is a group, a caucus, as he has shared, has been formed here in Congress of Democrats who believe in growth, who believe in funding education, but also believe that we should balance our budget, and keep our House in order and that we should reduce our public debt. To make sure that we have a good sound economy I think is a sound philosophy, and it is most important and it makes sense for American families, as he just talked about. Before I came to Congress, as many of my colleagues know, I was the elected State superintendent of my State of North Carolina for 8 years. What they may not know is that prior to that I spent 19 years as a small businessman meeting payrolls, paying taxes. I knew what it was to go to the bank and borrow money if I had to, not only to expand, but to meet payroll if I had to on Friday if I had not collected enough of my sales during the week. So it takes financial discipline. So I know firsthand how important it is to keep your books sound and your numbers straight. That is why it is so important, as I come to the floor this evening to join my colleagues in this special order because it is an issue I think we have to take about. Tomorrow we will be debating it on the floor and talk about fiscal discipline at the federal level that we had in North Carolina when I was there because I served for 10 years in the General Assembly at the State level. Four of those years I chaired the Appropriations Committee and had responsibility to write four balanced budgets, and Congress is now headed in that direction of getting our House in order. Mr. Speaker, that is why the Republican budget resolution is so troubling to me. If we look at it, they are talking about a $800 billion tax cut over 10 years. It is too risky, it is too radical, and, in my opinion, too irresponsible. The Republican budget is a tax cut spree financed with fantasy surpluses yet to materialize. If the economy should dip and we hope it does not, but we know what history tells us, guess what happens? There is no money. The American people remember the 1980's when we had huge deficits. We do not want to return to that. That would certainly be a mistake. When the people of North Carolina sent me to Congress, they gave me simple marching orders. That was to help the Federal Government live within its means. And one of the first bills I voted on, major bills, was to balance the federal budget, and, as I have said earlier, as a former businessman you have to balance your budget, and if you cannot balance your budget and live within your means when you have a good economy, when do you get to do it? We must act now to pay down the debt when we have money, and that is the one thing that could stifle our economic growth and the expansion that we are enjoying and bring tremendous hardship on hard-working people all across America who have paid the price, who are now working hard and looking for us to do the things we ought to do that are right. Pay the debt down so, if we have another tough time, we can get through it. Mr. Speaker, future generations of Americans deserve the opportunity to strive and achieve without the questioned burden of debt that our current consumption is creating. We are consuming a great deal right now. We owe it to the next generations to pay this debt down and make sure that our children and our children's children are not saddled with it. If we use projected surpluses as an excuse to enact massive tax cuts, we will have no resources available to pay for debt relief for our children or our grandchildren. We will not be able to lower interest rates on homes and expand the economy in the 21st century. Two more pressing crises, and I could list a whole bunch, but I only want to touch two facing America, and that is facing social security and Medicare. We have to invest in that and do it now, and the budget we will see tomorrow will not do that. It is a shell game. They show us how to increase revenues and expenditures for programs that are important to people for 3 to 5 years. At the end of that period they cut them off, because that is when all the big tax cuts kick in. What a cruel hoax to play on the American people. Secondly, investing in education, so that the next generation of American leaders will have the kind of education they need to continue to grow this economy in the 21st century. Not one penny in their budget proposal for school construction, at a time when there is crying across this country for modernization and new school buildings. We have a greater growth in school population for children in public schools than we have had in the history of this Nation. There are more children in school today, and yet, not one penny. The Republican budget proposal cripples our ability, in my opinion, to rise to these challenges, and we have an opportunity tomorrow to do something about it. We have a chance to say no, no to the excesses, but yes to a responsible budget that will provide opportunities for our children, that will provide targeted tax cuts, that will help grow this economy, and help us move into the 21st century in a position to continue to be the great Nation that we are, and provide strength and hope to people around the world. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for this opportunity to be part of this special order.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Caroline and Richard Sullivan of Charlotte, North Carolina. On March 7, 1999 at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, they welcomed into the world their first child, John Lee Sullivan. There is nothing more wonderful and joyous than watching a child grow and I known that they will treasure every new day with their son. Faye joins me in wishing the Sullivans great happiness during this very special time of their lives.