Bob Etheridge

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I grew up on a tobacco farm, and I continue to grow tobacco today. Higher federal taxes and litigation by the states have severely altered the market for tobacco and have led to income losses of thirty five percent for tobacco farmers in the past two years alone. The actions that have led to this point have been taken in retaliation against the industry and its practices, but the harm has been felt on the farm. Tobacco farmers need help. Since coming to the House two years ago, I have tried to articulate to Congress the plight tobacco farmers are in as a result the ongoing tobacco wars. Earlier this month, Dennis Rogers, a columnist with The News and Observer daily newspaper in Raleigh, North Carolina, wrote an excellent essay on the position tobacco farmers find themselves in 1999. Mr. Speaker, I request that Mr. Rogers' article be placed at this point in the record, and I hope it will provide guidance to us all as we debate issues related to tobacco in the future. Congress can benefit greatly from the clear-eyed perspective of this insightful North Carolinian whose feet are planted firmly on the ground. [From the News & Observer, Mar. 3, 1999] It's Not Greed, But Desperation (By Dennis Rogers) The numbers are so obscenely large as to be meaningless: There is $4.6 billion to be paid by the tobacco industry to the state of North Carolina over 25 years. There is $1.97 billion for a trust fund to be spread among the state's tobacco farmers over the next 12 years. But regardless of how much money tobacco farmers eventually get, if any, what are they supposed to do then? Unless you're a farmer, you probably don't care. You've made it clear in your e-mails and phone calls that many of you think tobacco farmers are whiners trying to hang on to a dying business. Nobody guarantees me a living, you've cynically said, so why should we do it for them? But unlike you, I've heard from the farmers, too, strong men and women who are scared about their futures. It is enough to break your heart. What they talk about most is not the money, but losing their souls, their culture, their foundation and their heritage. They talk about the land their ancestors entrusted to their care and the shame they would feel in losing it. They talk about wanting to give their children the chance they had, to stand under a hot Carolina sun and feel your own land beneath your feet, the same land that once nurtured the old folks buried in the church cemetery just down the road. ``What am I going to do if I stop farming?'' asked Johnston County's John Talbot as we rode in Monday's protest through the streets of Raleigh. ``I'm 45 years old. Who is going to hire me?'' Who, indeed? If the tobacco farmers of Eastern North Carolina stop farming, what will become of them? A rootless corporate culture is all a lot of city folks around here know. They do not understand or feel sympathy for the middle- aged farmer who senses that the very ground beneath his feet is moving away. A country family's desperate need for independence may not mean much to those of us who have never had it. There are a lot of us who have never known anything but the slavery of working for a paycheck. We might even resent a farmer's plea that he should be helped to maintain a way of life that seems so alien to us. But what option do they have? There are few good jobs in the tobacco country where they live? We've kept most of the good jobs for ourselves and left country folks who live a long way from town with precious little to turn to now that their lives and times have gotten tough. But before you turn your back on them, ask yourself whether they helped make your good job possible. Farmers have long seen their tax dollars pay corporations to bring jobs to the state that they, because of where they live and the skills they don't have, can never hope to get. Now, they say, that same government is reluctant to given them what they see as their fair share of the money from tobacco companies they have depended on for their livelihood. There was a sign on a tractor driven by a woman in Monday's protest that read, ``We are not greedy. We are desperate.'' We may yet succeed in forcing our farmers from their fields, and contrary to their hollow threats, no, we will not go hungry. But they will. Their souls will wither just as surely as a spring daffodil fades away when it is picked and brought indoors.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, later today we will be taking up the rule and ultimately the bill on ed flex. I believe in having flexibility at the local level, but I think here we are getting the cart before the horse. We are forgetting that there ought to be accountability and a number of other pieces we ought to be dealing with before we give total flexibility. Let me tell my colleagues why. I served as superintendent. There we required the local systems to identify subgroups. If you do not identify the subgroups, to children who are doing the poorest in the schools, and that is what the Federal money is designed to do, what you do is you mask the children with the greatest needs, and here we are talking about lumping all that money together and sending it down. I trust the educators, I trust the parents, and I trust the teachers. The people I do not trust are the politicians. I was there, and they will take that money, and if we do not watch them, the children with the greatest needs will be the children who are going to be left behind in the 21st century. We will pay a price for that, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to call on this Congress to pass legislation to make permanent the Federal Research and Development Tax Credit. I am a strong supporter and an original cosponsor of H.R. 835, which really is a bipartisan piece of legislation sponsored by Representatives Johnson and Matsui to make it permanent. It is also one of the top issues of the new Democratic coalition for this Congress. The R&D tax credit provides an essential incentive for companies to increase their investment in U.S. research and development. The R&D tax credit is important to the Research Triangle Park and the rest of my district in North Carolina, which happens to be the home for 3,100 information technology establishments and over 195,000 technology employees, and with a payroll of $5.1 billion. This tax credit is so important because it provides a base amount, but North Carolina has an amount tied to that that will make a difference, and if the Federal is lost, so will be the State. We need to make it permanent this year. Unless companies can consistently depend upon the combined Federal and State tax credit year in and year out, we risk the ground-breaking research that is provided for job placement.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, it is true, and I think it is by varying degrees, depending on where one is in the country. In certain parts of the country, there is a tremendous need for renovation and repair of current facilities, not only repairing in terms of repairing the buildings and fixing glass, but we have needs for infrastructure. We talk about the Internet and computers. A lot of our buildings, they are not even wired to accept them, and many places do not have the land. Other places are growing so rapidly, they need new buildings. So it is a combination. The answer is absolutely yes. I think it is different between different parts of the country, but it is true all across America. America is one of those great countries where one can travel the world and we say to a child anywhere in America, if you want to go to public schools, you can go. It is a great smorgasbord of opportunity for the future. Step up, enjoy yourself, and take all you will.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) for his leadership in hosting this special order on a very critical issue, not only school construction but school modernization and really the quality of the environment where our children go to school every day. I appreciate that, and for the other speakers who have been here prior to me today. I want to sort of be forced to have sort of a dialogue, if we may, because last week I had the privilege of hosting a special order and it is tremendously helpful when other Members can have a dialogue on an issue that is so important to the future of this country. It is amazing to me many times how we talk so much about an issue, of how it is important it is, and then when it comes time to funding we tend to have a big loss of or lapse of memory, as I say sometimes a big slip between the lip and the hip, when it comes time to fund educational opportunities for our children. Prior to my coming to the People's House 2 years ago, I had served 8 years as the elected superintendent of schools in the State of North Carolina, a State that is not unlike New York or California or any other State in this country today that is struggling with overcrowded classrooms; making every effort to improve the quality of instruction. North Carolina has been cited as one of those States, by the secretary of education and many others, for some quality things they are doing in the classroom. Just this past weekend on Friday I went to East Wake High School and had the opportunity to speak to an academic gathering of high school students, all of whom had made straight As. I hesitate to think how many of this body had made straight As to be here, but 5 percent of that total student body had made straight As and I was pleased to be there. The challenge that they face is substantial, because they are in overcrowded spaces. Every space that should be and is, and some spaces that should not be as classrooms are, used as classrooms. They had six trailers on campus, and we are getting ready to add 3 more, in a county that is struggling to meet their needs. Just yesterday, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price) and I were at Wake Forest-Rolesville High School in Wake County, which is part of my district, where we met with the students and heard them talk about the problem of overcrowding. A school that was built for a thousand students now it has over 1,600 and a substantial number of that student body is now in portable buildings or in trailers. Every space in that building is taken. Unfortunately, the cafeteria has not been enlarged and neither has the library been enlarged. Neither have the bathrooms been enlarged. We heard a student talking about the real challenges that they face just with discipline, but what he said was, and I think it is something that is instructive to all of us, he said we have teachers that are called rovers because we are so short in classroom spaces that teachers do not even have a home room and they move from room to room to teach. He said when I want to go get some special attention from my teacher and help, the teacher is not in the classroom. I cannot find the teacher. Now, that is not unique to my State. It is true all across this country. Wake County, as an example, has added 30,500 students in the past 14 years. It is growing by 29.7 percent, has grown, since 1970. They are adding between 3,500 and 4,500 students each year, depending on how many jobs open in the area. As I tell folks, this is one of the best areas in the country to find jobs, with a 1.5 percent unemployment. It is amazing when people come there to go to work they tend to want to bring their children with them. We are glad to have that, but it adds pressure to our State and to our communities and we desperately need not only to build new schools but to modernize, as the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) has said, and others have already said today. Every school almost in my congressional district is growing by about 20 percent since 1990. They are building, they are borrowing money, they are working hard and it is time now that those of us at the Federal level do our fair share and help. I think the President's proposal is important. It helps in those communities that have great needs, but I think we can do more. I have introduced H.R. 996, which the gentleman has been kind enough to be a cosponsor on with others, and what this will do is reach out to those communities that are growing so rapidly. New York happens to be the fourth fastest growing State in the Nation for new students. It is called the ``baby boom echo'' because the baby boomers who came out after World War II are now having children and they are coming to school. We need to remember that those young men and women who came home from World War II decided that there was a need to make sure that schools were there for their children and they put their children through and built the bulk of the schools that we now have. It is now our turn to step up and help that process. The States are doing a lot. Local unions are doing a lot. We can now help at the Federal level by giving those tax exempt bonds. It does not get in the way of anything locals are doing because all we are doing is providing the cost of the interest on those bonds. They decide where they are going to build, how they are going to build, and it is totally a local effort. Not only will it provide school buildings, opportunities for renovations, it is about $7.2 billion dollars, and let me remind folks who are tuning in that the fastest growing state in this country is the State of California. The second fastest growing State is Texas. The third is Florida. The fourth is New York, and the fifth is my home State of North Carolina and it goes down that list. All across this country we are seeing tremendous growth. If it were not snowing today, and for those who are tuning in it is snowing mightily here in Washington, D.C., there are about 53 million students in our public schools in this country today, the largest number of students in public schools we have ever had in our history; in my home State, about 1.2 million, and the number is growing at a rapid pace. We need to do our part to help struggling local systems. We are calling on them to be innovative. We are calling on them to improve academic performance, and they are doing that. We need to help teachers have quality places to teach and children have good places to learn. I often say to civic clubs, and I say it here again because I think it is so important, I cannot imagine any group in a town that is asking a new business to move in to come in and move to an old rundown warehouse and open up their business and say to them the quality of the facility does not matter, because I have heard people say that about schools; the facilities is not what is important but it is the people who are put in it. Say that to a local business and see if they will come back and open their business in your town. It is important for the quality of that facility and how it looks, because when I was State superintendent it is amazing how many businesspeople from around the country that do commerce would contact us, would ride into town and look at the buildings and then they would want to know about the quality of construction. It was amazing if they were nice, new buildings. They always assume it is good quality, things are going on; and it is. It is important to have nice looking facilities and have quality because teachers deserve that, and today when we are having a shortage of teachers, and last year this Congress passed the first installment of 100,000 teachers, we need to finish that this year and keep going. But we also need to make sure we have a quality place to teach and children have a good place to learn. I thank the gentleman for putting together this Special Order today. It is important that we continue to talk with the American people, tell them to write their Congressmen and their Congresswomen and say to them, we need you to act now, we need you to help our local systems, help them meet this great need that we have all across America.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time. I rise today in strong support of this bill to extend for 6 months chapter 12 bankruptcy for America's small farmers. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin), the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas), the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Smith) for their work on this important piece of legislation and for bringing it to the floor in this expedited manner. I have been pleased to cosponsor this legislation that we will be passing today and thank them for their efforts to help the hardworking small farmers throughout this country who are facing some of the most difficult times they have faced in decades. I have been saying for more than a year that farmers are not seeing the benefit of our Nation's unprecedented economic prosperity. While many folks are watching the Dow, small farmers are just trying to get through this current crisis. We should permanently extend the chapter 12 farmer bankruptcy provision so that small farmers have one less worry every morning when they get up to make sure that they harvest America's bounty that each of us enjoy each day. We are taking action today to make sure that these small farmers can still stay on their land and work through these hard times. Chapter 12 allows farmers the option to reorganize debt over 3 to 5 years rather than having to liquidate their assets when they declare bankruptcy. It also encourages responsible efforts by farmers facing bankruptcy by requiring them to designate income not needed for farm operations or family costs to pay off their debt. As these payments are made, chapter 12 prevents foreclosure on the family farm. I think it is important for us to remember, we are talking about family farmers. To qualify, these farmers will have to have at least 50 percent of their gross annual income coming from farming, no less than 80 percent of debts resulting in farm operations, and total debts not more than $1.5 million. Mr. Speaker, Congress must take action to lend a helping hand to so many folks whose backs are against the wall through really no fault of their own. They are facing tough times. I strongly support this noncontroversial legislation on behalf of the hardworking farmers of North Carolina's Second District and across America.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce the re- introduction of my legislation I originally introduced last year to assist fast-growing states to build new schools, reduce class sizes and overcrowding and foster an orderly and disciplined learning environment. To date, I have gathered more than twice as many original cosponsors this year than the bill enjoyed in the last Congress, and I urge all of my colleagues to join me in signing on to this important legislation. As the former Superintendent of North Carolina's schools, I know firsthand how important quality facilities are to our children's education. The General Accounting Office has identified more than $112 billion in school construction needs across the country. The Secretary of Education has reported that the ``Baby Boom Echo'' will create an explosion of growth in the school-age populations in many states over the next ten years. In fact, the experts at the U.S. Education Department have projected that my state's high school enrollment will grow by 27.1 percent over the next ten years. Almost all of my Congressional District's nine counties have experienced tremendous growth this decade (Franklin County--19.6 percent, Granville County-- 9.9 percent, Harnett County--18.9 percent, Johnston County--25.3 percent, Lee County--17.1 percent, Nash County--17.3 percent, Sampson County--9.5 percent, Wake County--29.4 percent, Wilson County--2.6 percent). Congress must assist the states to meet their school construction needs of the coming decade. My bill will use new tax credits to create $7.2 billion in school construction bonds over the next ten years. These school bonds will be allocated to the states based on the growth we know they will experience in the coming decade. The Etheridge School Construction Act will complement the Administration's school construction initiative by using the same bond-leveraging tax credit but targeting resources to growing states. These targeted tax credits will provide resources directly where they are needed without adding any new federal government programs of bureaucracy. My state of North Carolina will qualify for about $360 million in school construction bonds under this legislation. By directing these bonds to the states with the most growth, we will provide desperately needed assistance to the states with the most critical needs and provide some relief to virtually every state. Specifically, the Etheridge School Construction Act will provide school construction bonds to these states at the following amounts: California--$2.32 billion; Texas--$840 million; New York--$540 million; Florida--$436 million; North Carolina--$360 million; Georgia--$303 million; Virginia--$249 million; Massachusetts--$241 million; Illinois--$237 million; Arizona--$233 million; New Jersey--$191 million; Tennessee--$166 million; Maryland--$129 million; Colorado-- $112 million; South Carolina--$104 million; Indiana--$100 million; Alabama--$100 million; Washington--$83 million; Utah--$83 million; Nevada--$79 million; Missouri--$58 million; Pennsylvania--$54 million; Michigan--$50 million; Connecticut--$42 million; New Mexico--$42 million; Rhode Island--$37 million; Oregon--$33 million; Mississippi-- $29 million; Idaho--$29 million; Hawaii--$29 million; Ohio--$25 million; Delaware--$25 million; Arkansas--$20 million; Alaska--$20 million; New Hampshire--$17 million; District of Columbia--$8 million; Louisiana--$4 million; Kentucky--$4 million; Kansas--$4 million; Vermont--$4 million. The revenue costs of this legislation amount to the modest sum of $2.3 billion which could easily be offset by tightening loopholes in the tax code and minimal reductions in current federal government spending. There is no need to utilize the current and future budget surpluses to pay for this legislation. Therefore, this bill is budget neutral. Below are listed examples of current government expenditures that could be trimmed or eliminated. My individual colleagues who support the Etheridge School Construction Act may not agree with each and every provision I suggest we curtail to finance this important priority, but the list illustrates opportunities for savings available to accommodate the pressing need for new schools. The Green Scissors Campaign and other sources have identified these items. Mining Reform. Under the General Mining Law of 1872, anyone may explore open public lands for hardrock minerals including gold, silver, lead, copper, zinc and many others. Each year, approximately $2 to $3 billion worth of minerals are taken from public lands but no royalties are paid. Modest reform to require a fair market return to taxpayers for publicly-owned minerals extracted by mining companies, for example an 8 percent royalty, would raise roughly $1 billion over five years. Timber Sales. Over the last nine years, the U.S. Forest Service has lost $2.8 billion on its timber program. The losses come from selling timber at below the Forest Service cost of preparing the timber for sale and subsidizing the construction of an extensive network of logging roads to support its timber sales programs. Requiring the receipts for National Forest commodity timber sales to cover the expenses of programs would save $200 million annually or $1 billion over five years. Plutonium Manufacturing Project. This project known as ``Rocky Flats II'' would increase Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) pit production capacity. Pits are the plutonium cores of nuclear bombs and act as triggers for detonation. There is no need for new pit production because the U.S. retains several thousand pits in reserve. For example, there are more than 10,000 spare pits in bunkers near Amarillo, Texas and many of them could be substituted in currently-deployed weapons should a currently nonexistent need ever arise. Terminating this unneeded new construction would save approximately $1.1 billion. Oil and Gas Expensing. Firms engaged in the production of oil, gas and other fuels are permitted to expense rather than capitalize certain intangible drilling and development costs (IDCs). They are subsidies originally intended to increase investment and exploration into oil and fuel. These subsidies are designed to reduce dependence on foreign oil, but they increase the exploitation of our nation's resources and do nothing to abate the world's consumption of fossil fuels and the attendant effects on the global environmental health. Ending this subsidy would save $500 million a year or $2.5 billion over five years. These are a few examples of large expenditures the federal government incurs that could be curtailed to achieve necessary savings. In addition to these big ticket items, one-time spending items are often included in the annual appropriations bills that serve parochial interests of individual Members and represent significant costs to the federal Treasury. For example, last October Congress passed the comprehensive Omnibus Appropriations bill that contained many such items identified by Senator John McCain during debate on the legislation in that body. Below is a partial list spending often characterized as ``pork barrel.'' $250,000 to an Illinois firm to research caffeinated chewing gum. $750,000 for grasshopper research in Alaska. $1.1 million for manure handling and disposal in Starkville, Mississippi. $5 million for a new International Law Enforcement Academy in Roswell, New Mexico. $1 million for Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, for commercialization of pulverization technologies. $1.2 million for a C&O Canal visitors center in Cumberland, Maryland. $250,000 for a lettuce geneticist in Salinas, California. $500,000 for the U.S. Plant Stress and Water Conservation Lab in Lubbock, Texas. $162,000 for research on peach tree short life in South Carolina. $64,000 for urban pest research in Georgia. $100,000 for vidalia onion research in Georgia. An additional $2.5 million for the Office of Cosmetics and Color. $200,000 for a grant to the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Commission. The items listed here are but a representative sample of unnecessary or wasteful government spending we should reduce or eliminate in favor of necessary investment like school construction. Congress must set priorities for the expenditure of the taxpayers' money, and I believe we must elevate school construction on our priority list. Across the country today, there are 53 million children attending school in America's classrooms. Far too many of these children are not being educated in modern, well-equipped facilities where discipline and order foster academic achievement. For many of our nation's shoolchildren, class is being taught in a trailer or in a closet or in an overstuffed or run-down classroom. We must do a better job of building the quality schools we need to educate our children. As the former two-term, elected Superintendent of my state's schools, I have probably spent more time inside of more classrooms than any other Member of Congress. I can tell you firsthand that it makes a tremendous difference to the children of this nation whether or not they are provided a safe, quality environment in which to learn. What message do we send to our children when we say to them that their education is not a high enough priority for us to find the will to build them decent educational facilities? If a child sees that the adults in the community take pride in the school and its mission, the child will embrace that school and engage mightily in the endeavor of learning. But if a child sees nothing but indifference and neglect, that child is robbed of the hope that is necessary to summon the will to take a chance to make something of himself or herself through the challenging pursuit of academic achievement. We must not allow the indifference of some rob the future from our many children. No student in America should be forced to attend class in a substandard facility. No teacher should be required to struggle in an unsafe, undisciplined environment. No parents in America should be forced to witness their children condemned to school in a trailer. We now have more children in our public schools than at any time in our nation's history. Indeed, even at the height of the Baby Boom there were fewer children in our public schools than there are today. And we know that the coming decade's ``Baby Boom Echo'' will compound this problem many times over. We must exercise visionary leadership to address this crisis in a timely, proactive and effective manner. They say that life boils down to a few simple choices. I believe that if we can find the resources to build fancy new prisons to house the criminals, which I support, then surely we can scrape together some money to invest in our children's education. If we can buy more tanks and planes and guns for our military, which I support, then we can find the will to build new schools. And if we can put on the table every poll-tested tax cut proposal, then by God we can summon the political courage to spend some of our national treasure to ensure continued American prosperity in the next century. The well-worn phrase that children are our future may have become a cliche. But, it also happens to be true. An investment in schools is an investment in our children and an investment in our nation's future. It is time for each Member of Congress to roll up his or her sleeves and get to work to help our communities to build the schools we need to educate the next generation of our citizens. The Etheridge School Construction Act is a vitally important piece of legislation, and I urge this Congress to pass my bill as soon as possible.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, eleven months ago, North Carolina, and the country, lost a truly great American when former United States Senator and North Carolina Governor Terry Sanford died of complications associated with cancer. Terry Sanford lived a life that has served as a shining example of excellence to an entire generation. 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 one of the top ten governors of the twentieth century. As President of Duke University, Terry Sanford challenged a small regional university to dream big and to reach those dreams. And reach them it did. When Terry Sanford left Duke University it had become a world leader in research and higher education in law, medicine, business and the arts. It was his many contributions to creating 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. Called to serve the public once again, Terry Sanford was elected to the United States Senate in 1986. In his years in the Senate, Terry Sanford distinguished himself as a passionate advocate for public education and the poor. In addition to his most visible roles as a statesman, politician and University President, Terry Sanford served the people of North Carolina and this country in many ways. He served as a paratrooper in World War II, as an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and as a state senator. Terry Sanford also participated in numerous charities and was one of North Carolina's leading arts patrons. His passion for the arts endured until his death as he spearheaded efforts to bring a word class performing arts facilities to North Carolina. Terry Sanford was also a committed husband to Margaret Rose and father to Terry, Jr., and Betsy. Terry Sanford inspired me personally. In fact, when I was trying to decide if I should run for Congress, I met with Terry. His words of encouragement helped make up my mind, and they continue to inspire me today. Last year I, along with every other member of the North Carolina delegation, introduced legislation to honor Terry Sanford by naming the Federal Building in Raleigh, North Carolina after this great man. While this legislation unanimously passed the House was sent to the floor in the Senate, time ran out before it could be considered and passed into law. Yesterday, I reintroduced this important legislation, again with the support of the entire delegation. Naming the Federal Building in Raleigh in honor of Terry Sanford will allow his influence to be felt by a new generation of leaders. This gesture is the least that this Congress should do to honor the contributions of this great American.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, now to my friend from the 19th District of Illinois (Mr. Phelps). He understands how important quality education is, how important it is, how the assessment, what growth means and the need for new school buildings. He has been a hard worker since he has been in here in Congress. I had the occasion when our Chief State School Officer worked with his Chief, so I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, let me close by saying thank you for this opportunity to share with you, with our colleagues and with the American people hopefully an issue that is so critical to the future of this country, educating our young people, providing a rich opportunity for each one of them, making sure that we have teachers in front of those classrooms who are well trained, who are well equipped, and they have an environment in which to teach effectively, and for children to have a place to learn the way they should learn in this place we call America for the 21st century.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for his comments, and certainly education is that critical linchpin that fuels our economy, gives us opportunity, and the reason we are the kind of society we are to reach out and help the people around the world. Any of us that travel any places know how people admire Americans, and part of it is because we have a system that says everyone who shows up will have an equal opportunity. Today we have talked about a number of issues of the Family First agenda of education, and one of them being the linchpin of school construction. Too many times when people want to talk about education, they fail to talk as our colleagues have today and have reminded us, that the teacher is the heart of that issue and the students are why we are there. But the truth is, if we ask teachers what is most important to them in having the opportunity to teach children, it is not always salary first. Recognizing that certainly they pay the same for food or shelter as we do, but they need a good environment to teach, and children should have a good place to learn. Also, they need the latest in technology, simply because the young people that leave those classrooms are going to be coming into the workforce. And if anyone wonders why business has stepped up and decided that education is the most important issue on their agenda besides making a profit, all we need to do is look at our public schools. They are going to be employing these young people; and, secondly, they are also going to be their consuming public. Finally, as we talk about the staff shortage we are going to be facing, we are going to be facing some, we have to recognize if we are going to keep some of these people longer than the years after their retirement, we have to make sure that we change our retirement policies for them and make sure that their employment opportunities are where they ought to be, and they get the ample training to make sure that they can deal with our young people. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina for a comment.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her comments, and she is correct. Education is the key to opportunity in the future. We have worked at it in North Carolina, and she has worked in Nevada, and all of us have to work at it in this country because of the mobility of our population. For a child in North Carolina today, they may be going to school in Nevada next week or California or New York. We have to work our system together so we have some parity across the country. Mr. Speaker, I yield now to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre), my colleague from the Seventh District, to share with us some of his thoughts on education.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. The point the gentlewoman makes is absolutely correct. If we think about it, when most of us were growing up, our world was much smaller in the sense that we thought about the competition being maybe the community next door, the county next door, or maybe even the State next door. For our young people today, that is not so. It is the whole world. We talk about the world having shrunk. It has only shrunk in that time has shrunk. Because if something happens today on the far side of the world, within seconds it is front page news in Washington, D.C., or hometown, U.S.A. This means that for our children and for us as adults, we have to learn to deal with issues differently. That puts an extra burden on our public schools and on our teachers. When we were talking earlier about the teachers and having training to deal with computers, it really means that the teacher has to be able to integrate their teaching techniques on that computer. Otherwise, the computer is a tool that will not be used.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Nevada. She understates her hard work, because she has worked hard since she has been here. She had a record of support for education before she came, it preceded her, and she is doing an excellent job. Mr. Speaker, I think the point that the gentlewoman made, that education is no longer a K-12 or K-16 through four years of college or master's or doctorate. It is a lifelong process. All we need to do now is talk about the new technologies and recognize those of us that are rusty with computers have to get up to speed on those computers because most of our children are ahead of us. The gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) just talked about it, but the truth is that is the way of life for all of us now, and we have to do a better job.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman would yield at this point for a moment, let me ask a question. It sounds like Nevada is doing some creative things, and North Carolina has done some of these same things. I assume that they are doing after-school tutoring in some areas right now for those students who need extra help to stay up with the other students, and probably some early morning tutors, too.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Connecticut, because she has been on the forefront of this issue. She understands as much as anyone in this Congress that education, public education for our children, is the one thing that levels the playing field for all people. It makes no difference what their economic or ethnic background is, when they get an educational opportunity, it is very difficult to ever close that door again. I thank the gentlewoman for her time. Now let me turn to my friend, a new Member of Congress, and yield to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley), from the First District, who has taken on this issue of education again, because she fought for it in her home State before she came here.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois. He has well stated the foundation that I think that we all can agree with as it relates to improving the educational opportunities for all of our children in this country, to make sure that the 21st century will be bright for all students, and ultimately, as he has indicated, make sure that our social security system is sound, that everyone is productive and working and paying into it, and will make a difference. Let me touch on a couple of points, and then I want to turn to my good friend, the gentlewoman from Connecticut, for a couple of comments on this educational piece. I talked earlier about the Conn experience. There are a couple of other points that I would like to make, especially on a school that is in the inner city, they are working hard, they have formed what they call CONNections, advisory committees, where each group has to work together to bring the parents in; or if they happen to be in a foster care home, whomever is responsible for the child, they have a responsibility to come and work with the individual assessment of those teachers, so that every child can get extra care and extra time on those core subjects. They are working to reduce class sizes, where they are getting more individualized attention and a feeling of belonging on the part of each student. My friend, the gentleman from Illinois, just talked about those advisory groups that are showing up as hard evidence and data on results for children. I think sometimes we tend to forget that. It is not in isolation. We have to do it altogether. Their assessment measures are working. They are on track on a year to year assessment that has been going on long enough now that this absolutely is working. They have documented their performance in a systematic way. That has enabled them to show what they are doing. Let me say that it is happening in a school and in a county that is seeing some of the most rapid growth in student enrollment population in the Nation. As a matter of fact, North Carolina is the fifth fastest growing State in the Nation over the next 10 years, as documented by the U.S. Department of Education, for student enrollment in high school. Wake County alone has added over 30,000 students in the past 14 years, and gained anywhere from 3,500 to 4,500 students every year, this is the size, and larger than some school systems. When we start talking about building buildings, they have an ongoing project that they have not gotten out of. They are bursting at the seams. They cannot get enough space. We can imagine what that does to each individual school. Since 1990 alone, Wake County has seen 29.9 percent growth in student population, but every county that touches Wake County in my district has grown over 20 percent in the last 8 years. That is why Congress I think needs to step up this year and follow through on the proposal the President has talked about for providing school construction for our students. I have a bill that I will be introducing later this week called the Etheridge School Construction Act. We now have 55 sponsors, and I hope to have more before it goes in tomorrow. It will provide for $7.2 billion in school construction bonds for growing States and localities that are hurting. Now, some of my colleagues will say, that is not the Federal government's responsibility. I would ask them, what did we decide when we did not have electricity and we did not have telephones? There was a time we did not have canals in this country, and we put in a system in the Federal Government to make sure we had water transportation. Finally we got to the interstate system, thank goodness for Eisenhower, who pushed us into it. There are a lot of things we have gotten into in recent years that we were not in. I will say to the Members, our soldiers who came home from World War II decided we needed to build some schools. They put their shoulders to the wheel. It is now our responsibility as we move towards the 21st century to make sure that the baby boom echo does not have to be taught in lean-tos and in shacks and in rundown buildings. We need to build some school buildings to make sure these children have a good place to go to school. They need to have as good an environment to be taught in as my colleague, the gentleman from Illinois, talked about that we are sending our prisoners to. When we talk about sending children to school, and they ride by a $30 million prison to go to a $4 million school, they are not very dumb. They can figure that one out. Our priorities are misdirected. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague, the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), who is a champion if ever there was one, for education, to share with us some thoughts she has on this subject.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. If the gentleman will yield for a moment, because I think he is on to something. Let me raise a question with him because he talks of the 42 students he had when he started, and I think every teacher in America can identify with the statement he just made. Without dating him, and I will not do that, but he was talking about when he started teaching. The diversity of the student population in our schools have changed dramatically in recent years, and the home life of so many of our students have changed because we have two-parent households, both are working, or even if it is a single-parent household, and I thought his point as it relates to the children having someone to really identify with, to let that teacher or in that classroom be their friend today as it was years ago when they had some time. Let me ask this question because I think it is important. As we reduce the class sizes, as we have started to do and we need to continue, and provide for the good learning environment where when one goes to school, if it is the nicest place one goes to that day, that is what it ought to be. Then certainly that is not only going to help the discipline problems we see that we are spending money on, but more importantly, as the gentleman just alluded to, discipline and achievement go hand-in-hand. We will see achievement go up dramatically.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. I thank the gentleman from Texas, because he is absolutely correct, and the Families First agenda at this time with the educational package in it is just a tremendous piece with the President's initiative for more teachers, for modernizing our school facilities. Every State has needs, and every State is doing some things to make a difference, and yet at the end of World War II, when our men and women came home from fighting the war that many in history said would end all wars, which it did not, they put their shoulder to the wheel, and they said: We are going to build schools, and we will make sure that children have an opportunity. We now have an obligation, and I want to yield to my friend, the gentleman from Mississippi's 4th district (Mr. Shows), for some comments on what is happening in his area as it relates to this whole education agenda that we are working on.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to thank my Democratic colleagues for joining me here today to talk about one of the most vital issues that faces this Congress, I think, and certainly this country over the next several years, and that is education. So that you and others will not think that I am just standing talking about education, because I have found in this great deliberative body called the People's House, we talk about a lot of issues, and we can talk endlessly on issues if someone will provide us data. But prior to my being elected to the People's House in 1996, I served 8 years, or two terms, as the elected State Superintendent of Schools in my home State. I have made education a top priority, public education for our children, not only at the State level but I have done that also since I have been here in Congress. Throughout my service as Superintendent and to this day as a Member of Congress, I have spent a great deal of time in the classrooms of the schools of my State to observe firsthand the exciting educational innovations that are taking place in my home State. I would say that is true all across America. As my colleagues join me this afternoon, I trust they will talk about some of the exciting things that are happening in their State, also. Too many times, all we do is we talk about the problems, and it is important to acknowledge we have shortcomings and that we work on those shortcomings to make them better, because young people only have one chance to get a good education in their first 12 years and so it is throughout the rest of their lives. But sometimes it is important to acknowledge our successes as well as our shortcomings. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit a school in Wake County, which happens to be the largest county in my district and that also is the capital city county. The school I went in was Conn Elementary and it is really now called Conn Global Communications Magnet Elementary School. That is a mouthful. But what it really means is that these young people are wired through the Internet and through a special innovative program that the leadership in that county has put together in a partnership with the Federal Government to do some creative and exciting things for these young people. They really are on the cutting edge of education reform in America. The buzzword in Washington these days is accountability. I would say to you, as strongly as I possibly can, that an effective accountability or assessment mechanism is absolutely essential to sustain educational achievement, and I will talk about that later on today as I talk because we have done that in North Carolina on a statewide basis. But now let me continue to talk about Conn Elementary, because they can teach us here in Washington a great deal about this whole issue of accountability and what you do to excite and energize young people and make them really love school all over again and love this thing we call learning. Let me share with my colleagues and read, if I may, Mr. Speaker, the mission statement of Conn Elementary School. Let me say that Conn is not an exception in my State of a school having a mission statement. Every school has one. ``Conn Global Communications Magnet Elementary School will prepare students for successful citizenship in a global society. The learning environment created at Conn will provide an educational experience that will emphasize heightened communications skills via reading, writing, mathematics, science technology, and the arts as a means of connecting and interfacing with the world.'' I would read that again, but let me just paraphrase it very quickly to say they understand that education is broader than what some have said, reading, writing and arithmetic. It has gone long past the three Rs. There are a lot of other things that need to be interfaced and integrated in a good, sound public education these days. ``Conn will ensure success for all students.'' Underlined ``all students.'' Not just the bright students, not just the students that come from parents who have money, not just from parents who have the time to interface and work with the schools, but all students. Now, let me share with you why they say that and how they get to that point, because I think it is important to as we emphasize that this innovative public school focuses on achieving for all their students and how they do it. To achieve these goals, Conn has set out the following expectations for their students and, yes, for their staff and for the parents: ``Motivational global studies will accomplish a narrowing of the achievement gap between minority and nonminority students.'' This is true not only in my State, it is not just true in Conn, it is true in every school in this country. How do we narrow that gap between those students who are achieving at a high level and those who are not and how do we make sure they all achieve at a much higher level because we need all of them participating in this new economy of the 21st century. ``Cultural diversity will provide opportunities for children to recognize and appreciate the value of cultural differences in their own communities and beyond.'' Let me tell you why that statement is so important. We have the most diverse population in our public schools today we have had in the history of this republic. Yet there are those who want us to believe that we can educate the same way we have educated historically. That is absolutely not true. We have to recognize the cultural diversities and backgrounds from which our children come, accept those, and then help them achieve at a high level. That may mean that they need more time on task in some areas than others and it may mean that they need smaller class sizes. This Congress is going to be about that, and I will talk about that more in just a moment. ``Technological resources will enable students to communicate with the world around them.'' Many times when we talk about technology, some of us talk about technology as if it were just a computer. That is not the whole view of the issue. Computers are just one piece of a total mass communication world that we live in that children must have access to in our public schools. If they do not have access to that total view of technology, how in the world can we expect them to walk out of school one day and engage and interface in a world that is changing so rapidly? We talk on this floor of the House about the changing world and talk is awful cheap. It is easy to talk about changing education and making it better. I have often said, money is not the only issue but the last time I checked, without a certain amount of money very little happens. Even though here at the Federal level we only put in about 7 percent of the resources that our public schools use, we can have a tremendous impact if we will encourage, provide leadership, help and be a partner. Because we are a partner. We are not the senior partner but we are a major partner and we ought to be a partner that is about helping rather than throwing impediments anywhere along the way. ``Communication skills will be the key to meaningful connections between students' education and their understanding of individuals, groups and countries.'' Now, understand when I use this, this is a special school that has access to the Internet and other things that a lot of schools do not have. Every school should have this. But it gives them a chance to understand what they are about. ``Integrated, project-based learning will ensure active participation and in-depth understanding of global concepts.'' When we talk about education sometimes, many of us talk about education in the framework of our own background, of how schools were when we were in school. If we have not been in the classroom in the last 10 years and we go in and visit, we would recognize the school, we would recognize the hallways, we might even recognize the classroom, but I will guarantee you if you look at the curriculum and the things that a lot of teachers are doing in these creative classrooms, it would sure be different. ``Integrated project-based learning will ensure active participation and in-depth understanding of global concepts.'' I want to repeat that, because I think that is important as we move in this world economy. We stand on this floor and we talk about the issues of trade. We talk about the issues of money moving, et cetera. All this is in the perspective of the world that has changed in the last 10 years with global communication. ``Lower student-teacher ratios will encourage more active involvement in the learning process, more developmentally appropriate teaching, differentiation of instruction, and focused applications to improve student performance.'' The last bullet I read is so important to this whole concept of what we talk about when we talk about total education for every child, so that it is geared to that student, that that student understands what is expected, that teachers have class sizes small enough that they can deal with. In a diverse population that we have when a teacher has to go in the classroom and have 30 students, it is a very, very difficult task when the range is so great with those students. I have said many times, my wife and I have three lovely children of whom we care very deeply, and I love them dearly. But I would be less than honest if I did not say today, it would be very difficult if we had 30 of them and we were trying to instruct them around the house and to direct traffic. I think that is true in most households. Too many times we ask our teachers to do the impossible task of doing what we could not do, what we would not do, and yet we talk a lot, and I have often said when it comes to education, we all have lots of answers and very few solutions. In the political arena, we need to become better partners. As those partners, we need to be sort of like the managing partner. We are willing to help where we can and push where we need to and be less critical of the children and teachers who I think are working awful hard. Let me close on Conn Elementary with one other point, and then I am going to yield to one of my colleagues. This vision is a prescription for excellence for Conn Elementary and really for education in Wake County. I think that would be somewhat true of all the schools in my State of North Carolina. Conn is a richly diverse, inner city magnet school, and they really are laying a foundation for lifelong learning and citizenship for these students. In a situation where in many cases we would say those students could not do it, they are measuring up and they are achieving at very high levels and they are closing the gap between minority and nonminority students. They are doing it because teachers care, students are focused, parents are engaged, and they are also disaggregating data for both minority and nonminority students. Let me tell you what I mean when I say disaggregating, because so many times we talk about averages, average students. Very few of us are average. We are special in our own way. If you take that data and break it down in individuals and individual groups, pretty soon you will find out which student really needs the help, where you need to give more time for math, where you need to give more time for reading. All of us learn differently and at different levels, and Conn Elementary is doing that to make sure that every child reaches their full potential. Mr. Speaker, to meet the needs they are making sure that some of these students have smaller class sizes, and they can only do it, my colleagues, because they have some additional money in a partnership with the Federal Government, and the State is putting some extra in it. That is why I say when you say it does not take extra money we are deceiving ourselves and misleading the public. It takes additional dollars. Mr. Speaker, with that I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green) who really does understand how important it is, how important education is to the future of this country. He is close to it. Not only has he been a fighter here in Congress, but every weekend when he goes home, his wife reminds him.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) for yielding me this time. I want to take this opportunity this afternoon to thank the gentleman from Texas (Chairman Combest) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), the ranking member, for their hard work in bringing this important piece of legislation to the floor this afternoon in such a quick manner. I am proud to be a cosponsor on this legislation, and I am glad that we are passing a bill that will help farmers through some of the most difficult times that they will face in decades. Mr. Speaker, for more than a year now, farmers have been excluded from the robust economy that the rest of this country has enjoyed. While many citizens debate whether or not to roll over their IRAs, farmers are just trying to figure out how they can survive and put food on the table until this crisis has been turned around. We have to take action to make sure that they survive and they have an opportunity to prosper. If we do not, consumers will want to know why the grocery store shelves are empty and food prices are so high, while farmers are left to pick up the pieces. We have to act now. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Secretary Glickman came to a farm breakfast in my district. More than 300 farmers showed up for breakfast. That is twice the number that normally come in any given year. From the comments of what those folks said at that breakfast, they are hurting and hurting badly. These loans will determine whether or not some of those farmers and their families and their neighbors can stay on the farm. I am glad we are taking action to help farmers make it through the dire straits that they now face and that we will act today. Our small farmers are a vital part of our economic fiber in this country. They are important to the character of rural North Carolina and America, and we cannot afford for those small farmers to cease to exist. I am proud of what we are doing this afternoon, and I want to make sure that this important program is available to farmers as they approach the critical spring planning season. This is the first, as you have already heard, in many steps, including crop insurance reform and supplemental funding for this year as we look at the 1999 year that this Congress must take to strengthen the safety net for our farmers. I urge unanimous passage of H.R. 882, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Committee on Agriculture and others in this Congress to make sure that we provide a safe and secure future for American farmers so the rest of us might enjoy a safe and secure future and good food.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend Mr. Latham for introducing this important legislation and Chairman Combest for bringing it to the floor today. As has been well documented, our pork producers have been devastated by record-low prices for their products over the past year. While live hog prices have fallen dramatically, consumer prices are virtually unchanged. Somebody is getting rich at the expense of our farmers. Pork producers need better and more up-to- date information on prices to ensure that they are being treated fairly, and I hope the investigation into pork prices prompted by this legislation will go a long way towards protecting their interests. For too long, the processing and distribution of swine has been concentrated in too few hands. This concentration could be dangerous for our farmers, and I urge the Senate to move quickly to pass this important legislation. Too many small farmers and their families in North Carolina depend on swine production for their livelihood for us not to take action now. This investigation is a small but important step in the right direction and I urge the House to adopt this important bill today.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call the attention of the Congress to the work of John M. Alexander, Jr. of Cardinal International Trucks, Inc. in Raleigh, North Carolina, recipient of the ATD/Heavy Duty Trucking Dealer of the Year Award honoring his outstanding leadership within the truck industry and the community. Mr. Alexander's accomplishment is particularly exceptional because his father, John Alexander, Sr., won the NADA/Time Magazine Dealer of the Year Award in 1968. John Alexander started working sorting parts in his father's dealership when he was twelve years old. During ensuing years, he worked in various departments of the family business, climbing up the company climber. In 1981, he became the new President and General Manager of Cardinal International Trucks. In addition to running his dealership, he also holds the position of secretary/treasurer of the UD National Dealer Council and serves as a ``grassroots lobbyist'' for the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association. John Alexander, Jr. is not only active in the truck industry, but he is also very active in his community. When Mr. Alexander is not at work he can be found raising funds for schools and local charities. His efforts helped supply Lacy Elementary School with their first computer lab. He has also shown his dedication to maintaining a strong relationship between fathers and schools by co-founding a program called the ``Dad's Lunch Bunch,'' which also allows him time to spend with his daughters, Mary Carroll who is sixteen and Catherine McKnitt who is fourteen. I commend Mr. Alexander for his hard work in both the Raleigh community and the truck industry. I encourage my colleagues to read the following article announcing his important work and achievement: 1998 Dealer of the Year John Alexander, Jr. Alexander's first job in his father's dealership was counting parts at age 12. From there he worked his way through virtually every department--service, parts, administration and sales--until becoming president and general manager in 1981. He has been an active participant in numerous industry activities. He is secretary/treasurer of the UD National Dealer Council, a ``grass roots lobbyist'' for the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Assn. and serves on the technical training committee of North Carolina Industries for Technical Education. In his community he's a tireless fund-raiser for charitable organizations and the local schools. Largely due to his efforts, one local elementary school was the first in the county to get a computer lab and computers in each classroom. He co-founded the ``Dad's Lunch Bunch,'' a program aimed at getting fathers more involved in the schools, and is spearheading a drive to update computer technology in a local school.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Mr. James Victor Stancil III on his achievement of the rank of Eagle Scout. This outstanding young man from Lillington, North Carolina is an active member of the community and Antioch Baptist Church, as well as an exemplary student at Western Harnett High School. As a member of Troop 2, Victor displays his leadership ability as Patrol Leader, Troop Guide, and Junior Assistant Scout Leader. He has also organized many community service projects, including building a picnic shelter for a local church. In 1995, Victor earned his Order of the Arrow Award and served as the troop chaplain. Academically, Victor excels in many areas of study. He is President of the Beta Honor Club and of the Future Teachers of America Club, as well as a member of the Future Business Leaders and Future Farmers of America Clubs. He has been awarded best actor for his Drama Club performance of ``Mircle on 34th Street'' and the ``Advanced Biology Project Award'' from his Science Club. Victor has also participated in two of North Carolina's prestigious summer programs for academically gifted youth, the North Carolina Governor's School and Summer Ventures in Math and Science. He plans to attend North Carolina State University in my Congressional District in the fall. As a former Scout leader myself and a recipient of the Boy Scouts' Silver Beaver Award, I know the difference that Scouting can make in young lives. Scouting instills important values in young men that leave a lasting imprint and the experience gained through Scouting will continue to serve Victor well. I was honored to present Victor with his Eagle Scout Award on January 17, 1999. I congratulate him on this momentous achievement and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, so often the brave men and women who fought on the front lines of American wars are forgotten by our government and ignored in our society. People who risked everything to preserve our freedom now make up a significant portion of the homeless population, languish in hospital suffering from multiple disorders, and are laid to rest without the honors they have rightly earned. I rise today to honor three strong North Carolinians who fought to ensure that such a veteran received a proper burial. Robert Joseph Burke, known around his community as Sarge, was a highly decorated, but down on his luck, veteran of the Korean War who passed away on November 5, 1998 in an apartment fire. His body laid unclaimed for weeks, the victim of government bureaucracy, until Dennis Rogers, a journalist for Raleigh's The News & Observer, learned of his plight from Mr. Burke's friends at the Scramble Dog Inn, his local hangout. Debbie Jernigan, the owner, had helped him over the years with food and medical care and was there with him the night he died from his burns. Mr. Rogers contacted a member of my staff, Miyoshi Jones for help. Ms. Jones worked untiringly fighting the bureaucratic red tape that held his remains hostage, and her efforts resulted in Mr. Burke's burial at the Sandhills Veterans Cemetery at Fort Bragg. I would like to enter into the record two articles written by Mr. Rogers that beautifully articulate the story of the valiant efforts of these brave North Carolinians to honor the memory of one of America's heroes. [News & Observer, December 23, 1998] Dennis Rogers: Life's Lessons, Part One Every day at 2 p.m., Robert Joseph Burke would come through the doors of the Scramble Dog Inn on Western Boulevard. The bartender didn't have to ask: a hot beer and a bottle of Texas Pete on the side. He'd leave about dark, easing his way to his nearby apartment. There he'd try again to chase the memories away with cheap wine. The cops say he was drunk Nov. 5 when he fell asleep in his apartment with a cigarette in his hand. They took him to the burn center in Chapel Hill, but he died the next day. He was 68. He was also a pain in the neck, a hopeless flirt and a proud man who once was a hero. Oh my, the stories he could weave of those days when he was a kid from Brooklyn, back when he was a soldier and young and sober. He liked to be called Sarge. ``You'd sit there all day and listen to his stories,'' said Debbie Jernigan, his friend and the owner of the Scramble Dog. ``There was so much kindness in him. And so much bull.'' But barroom war stories don't earn you the Silver Star for heroism. Or the Bronze Star, either. His military records say he once wore them both, along with the two Purple Hearts he earned for being twice wounded in combat in Korea. And there was his Combat Infantryman Badge and his Ranger insignia, solid proof that once this tale-telling old man was as tough as a cob, and brave, too. That could be the end of this story, I guess. But a remarkable thing happened when Sarge died. He may have lived his later years as a forgotten man from a forgotten war, a barfly taking up space, talking to anyone who'd listen and killing himself one beer and one cigarette at a time in a roadside tavern. But because of two strong women, he did not go quietly into that long, long night. Not Sarge. The first is Debbie Jernigan, the den mother of the Scramble Dog crew. She is the best friend a down-and-outer ever had. She had turned the old bar that opened in 1956 into a working-class refuge, a place to see a friendly face smile when the real world turned mean and cold. She is quick to give others the credit, but they know what she's done for them, how she nagged and mothered and fed them and paid for a cab to take them home on those nights when the beer and good times got too good. That's why they felt such a loss when the Dog burned to the ground earlier this year. ``We took care of each other there.'' Debbie said. ``We took up collections or held cookouts or poker runs. We tried to help people stand on their feet and get back a little of their pride. ``Sarge was living in an old pickup truck behind the bar when we first got to know him. When the people in the bar found out he was homeless, they chipped in and bought him a tent.'' Sarge proudly moved his new tent to the woods behind the Scramble Dog where, of course, he set it on fire with his hard drinking and endless smoking. ``You know what he did then?'' Debbie asks. ``His false teeth had been burned in the fire and he brought them to me and asked me to clean them. Can you believe that?'' Well, yes, because it wasn't the last time Sarge would test Debbie's patience. Look for the rest of the story in this space Friday.