Rahm Emanuel

Mr. EMANUEL

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the memory of a remarkable woman who dedicated her 87 years of life to reaching out to poor, suffering and dying people all over the world, Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa was born in Albania on August 26, 1910. She chose to become a Roman Catholic sister at age 18 and was assigned to a convent in Calcutta where she taught history and geography at St. Mary's School. Discontent to simply teach, Sister Teresa dedicated her life to creating a new religious order to serve the sick, disabled and dying no matter where they lived. In 1948, Mother Teresa received approval from the Pope to create a religious order known as the Missionaries of Charity. She sought out nuns who were educated as nurses and asked them to train her. She returned to Calcutta where she opened a hospice. In her later years, Mother Teresa devoted her time and energy to establishing hospice programs for suffering from AIDS. In 1979, Sister Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and in 1985, the Presidential Medal. She was also given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Foundation for Hospice and Homecare. However, it was clear that what she most cherished was the satisfaction of delivering care and comfort to millions of needy people. Guided by her 40 years of leadership, the Missionaries of Charity grew from one to more than 400 missions worldwide. Today, there are approximately 5,000 sisters in the order. Mother Teresa was universally loved and will always be remembered. This was evidenced by the fact that both chambers of Congress passed commemorative resolutions within just days of her death in 1997. They also posthumously awarded her the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor bestowed on a civilian. The world will again remember her legacy of compassion when Pope John Paul II celebrates a three hour Mass next month for the her beatification. Mr. Speaker, throughout her life, Mother Teresa knew no limits when caring for others as she gave unconditional love to all. On this day, let us once again remember her lasting contributions and goodwill for all mankind.

Mr. EMANUEL

Mr. EMANUEL. Madam Speaker, we are on the verge of considering $87 billion to be spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is the second payment on top of the first $70 billion that was requested by the administration, and Secretary Powell the other day noted this is a down payment for an additional request to come 6 months from now. Back in April, I introduced a bill called the American Parity Act, which said whatever we invested in Iraq's health care, their education, their infrastructure, their armed forces, we ought to do here at home. Today, I am proud to announce we have 102 sponsors; but in his recent request, there is $6 billion for the Iraqi electric grid, and what does America get? They get the blackout. Not a single dollar invested in America's electric grid. Iraq is being pledged, and thought of, $4 billion for water purification, a wetlands restoration project for Iraq, we finally found an environmental policy the administration can support, and all types of water projects in Iraq. Yet in the Great Lakes, where 40 million Americans get their daily drinking water, there is not a single dollar dedicated to deal with the drinking water in the recent environmental degradation of the Great Lakes along New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and Indiana. We have a bipartisan bill to dedicate $4 billion over 5 years to restore and upgrade the environmental quality of the Great Lakes where drinking water is provided for 40 million Americans, equal to the amount we are pledging for 1 year in Iraq. Just this week, we are talking about spending $4 billion for the Iraqi police. Yet the administration's budget cuts $1 billion for the 100,000 police program here in the United States. So what I did is produce a T-shirt. It envisions and puts on the front the President's reconstruction budget for all of Iraq and Afghanistan, the two proposals. On the back are the cuts here at home in the respective areas of health care, education, veterans health care and veterans hospital, veterans benefits, but also the cuts in job training and job growth. In the last 2 years, Americans have lost 3 million jobs, 45 million Americans are without health insurance, 25 million of that 45 work full-time but have no health insurance. We have taken 4 million Americans out of the middle class and put them in poverty and nearly $1 trillion worth of corporate assets have been foreclosed on. That is the net result of the economic policies. We have a vision for Iraq with an additional $20 billion of reconstruction dollars, of American taxpayer dollars being spent on their roads, their health care, their ports. Um Qsar, a great port in Iraq, is being redredged. Yet we have a 10 percent cut in the Army Corps of Engineers here in the United States, which all of us use to keep our economic vitality and job growth in our districts. The same values that we hold for Iraq we must pledge for all Americans. The same goals we envision for Iraq's future we must envision for America. Unfortunately, we have had two priorities, two sets of values, two sets of books, one for Iraq, their children for tomorrow and one for America. I do not think I will ever not support our efforts in Iraq, but I will not support the deconstruction of the United States, and somebody can be cynical enough to now see how the votes for Iraq's reconstruction can be compared to what we are doing here at home, a $90 billion cut in Medicaid, compared to the 13 million Iraqis who will get universal health care. Somebody could see that as wrong; opening up new universities in Iraq, while we cut $500 million from Pell grants here in the United States. So I ask my colleagues on the other side as they consider on the eve, and I understand the pressure of being loyal to our President and loyal to an administration's goal, to think about what this means what we are doing here at home. Americans over the last 40 to 50 years have been very generous. They have funded the Marshall Plan, brought Europe back to its feet, helped build Japan after World War II. They have continually donated and helped other countries, but America will not be generous if the dream of a tomorrow for America is diminished compared to the dream we hold for the Iraqi people. So as we are on the eve of debating the $87 billion, we need to support our troops; but we need to support our people here at home for their education, their jobs, their health care, their economic development of their communities and the safety of their communities. We should treat our veterans who come home with the same respect we are treating the forces in Iraq that we are trying to rebuild.

Mr. EMANUEL

Mr. EMANUEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2658, the Department of Defense Appropriations Conference Report. I am proud to vote for this legislation that provides improved health care, more quality housing, and a pay raise for the brave men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces. I am especially pleased that this legislation gives our troops the tools they need to meet the challenges of fighting the continuing global war against terrorism and maintaining American military superiority and leadership around the world. I am proud to report to veterans in my district that this bill also includes legislation that I recently cosponsored to stop unfairly charging soldiers for the food they eat during their hospitalization. Two weeks ago, I visited the Marines and sailors recovering at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. Some of those young men lost limbs or sustained other permanently disabling injuries. Many more require sustained intensive care and will have long and arduous path toward rehabilitation. I hope that all of them are promptly decorated with one of the most distinguished medals that the U.S. Armed Forces can bestow upon military personnel--the Purple Heart--for their sacrifices and valor. Every soldier, Marine, sailor, and airman deserves the best medical care this country can provide, but they don't deserve to be billed for food and water. It is unconscionable that these heroes owe $8.10 for each day they spent in the hospital. Madam Speaker, I was proud to cosponsor Chairman Young's legislation to correct this injustice. It is the least we can do for our Nation's keepers of peace and defenders of freedom. I am pleased to vote for the fiscal year 2004 Defense Appropriations conference report and to support our valiant military personnel.

Mr. EMANUEL

Mr. EMANUEL. The schools number has not been determined. What I do know is they have $40 million for an Afghan school program, 10,000 teachers trained. The budget is not line-itemed. There is a big number in there for the 1,000 schools that our colleague from Ohio noted the President has planned for Iraq. The $21 billion, at this point, we just got this today and are still going through it. The whole line item, as I outlined earlier, it has numbers for the electric grid, for the water projects, for the hospital program. As my colleague noted, there is a vision there. But there is not a person here among us whose constituents have not talked about after- school programs, teachers being laid off, police and firefighters being laid off, hospital doors closing on the uninsured in this country. So there is not one of us who are not begging for money for their districts and see plans and visions and dollars for Iraq that do not match up with what we hear here at home, in America.

Mr. EMANUEL. I want to thank my colleague again for organizing this Special Order to discuss the news in Iraq. I think it is appropriate to focus on the President's speech, but I am also very interested in Mr. Bremer's testimony the other day and the document they produced about the plan for reconstruction in Iraq. They have produced a blueprint to how they plan to spend $21 billion of American taxpayer dollars, hard- earned dollars to rebuild Iraq. I just want to highlight some of the individual items. There is a $5.6 billion plan to rebuild the entire Iraqi electric grid. In the summer, America had a blackout. The response in the new energy bill for investment in the American electric grid, not a single dollar will be dedicated. As everybody has noted, Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal, we have the most modern economy on top of a Third World late-19th century, early 20th Century electric system. It is not up to the power that we need for an economy that is an information-driven economy. They are going to get $5.6 billion for an electric grid, a new system in Iraq. Not a single dollar is in the energy bill dedicated to the United States, and we had a massive Third World-equivalent blackout that covered the east coast and parts of the Midwest. I would like to also note, and it obviously was in the gentleman from Ohio's State primarily, but the estimates are for every billion dollars we spend, we could produce 10,000 jobs here at home. That would create 50,000 jobs here in America if we would spend that money on America's electric grid, upgrade it and bring it up to snuff and the level that is equivalent to the greatness of this economy.

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I have no idea, but two points on that, if I could, to my colleague. One is we do know it would produce 50,000 here at home if it was spent here. Second, there was an article the other day in The New York Times about how we are paying thousands of Iraqi workers who do not show up for work but just to kind flood the economy with money, thousands of no-show jobs. I am from Chicago. We think we have written the book on no-show jobs. We know something about no-show jobs. And thousands of people are getting paid a salary who do not show up. Let me bring up a couple other things, if I could, because I think this is relevant to everybody's district. We are going to spend, according to the Wall Street Journal today, $4.6 billion of the $21 billion in Iraq, 4.6 is going to go for drinking water, wetlands restoration, environmental policy for Iraq, and also irrigation. I have a bill to invest $4 billion in the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Superior, Lake Huron. Twenty-seven million Americans get their daily drinking water from the Great Lakes. Twenty percent of the world's entire freshwater exists here in the United States. It is the largest body of freshwater in North America. Not a single Federal dollar; yet we are going to spend $4.6 billion in Iraq for drinking water when we have got 27 million Americans here who get their daily drinking water from the Great Lakes and not a single dollar dedicated? What I find most fascinating is we finally have an environmental policy for this administration. It is in Iraq because they are going to restore the wetlands. Third, $850 million of the $21 billion will be spent in hospital construction. Of that, Basra is going to get $150 million for a new children's hospital; $150 million for a new children's hospital in Basra out of the $850 million.

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, of the $150 million, I have a request to spend $1.5 million for the Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. It is one of the top five pediatric hospitals not only in the country, but the world. In fact, that hospital saved my life when I was 16 years old. I was there for 8 weeks. 1.5, it equals to 1 percent, and I am struggling to find the money for construction for a new facility to keep it on the forefront of children's facilities in pediatric care; yet we are going to spend $150 million. So I am going to suggest tomorrow to the Children's Memorial Hospital in the city of Chicago at the corner of Lincoln, Halsted, and Fullerton that they may want to set up a sister program with the Basra Children's Hospital. They want 1.5 million? See if they can set up a sister program and borrow out of $150 million for the new Basra children's hospital. I would also like to draw people's attention in this $21 billion that there is also money for Afghanistan. There is $40 million to build 275 schools and train 10,000 more teachers in Afghanistan.

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I also have a request. There is an academy in Chicago called the Chicago Academy, Carnegie endowment, called one of the landmarks for teacher trainings, a request for $1 million for a landmark facility doing new teacher training in the schools for teachers who get master's degrees. The truth is I have nothing against the reconstruction investment in Iraq, but to vote for these cuts here at home, to ask the people in the gentlemen's districts and my district to pay the taxes, work hard, get the kids off to school, teach them the right values, and see their tax dollars go over there when schools are being closed, teachers are being laid off, police and firefighters are being laid off, health care is being cut, 3 million unemployed Americans, 45 million uninsured Americans, and yet all this investment over there. As my colleagues know, I have a bill called the American Parity Act, and it says whatever we invest in Iraq, we have got to do here at home. So when that bill comes on the floor, I will offer the amendment to ensure that our investment in Iraq does not in any way supersede our investment here at home because Iraq cannot have a future that is brighter and stronger than the one we are committed to to our families here at home and our children.

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, to my colleague, I do think that the House Committee on Rules will give me ``welcome to the NBA'' treatment. I do see my bill getting stuffed.

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, one last thing. I draw these health care analogies, these school analogies, infrastructure analogies, the producing of jobs and building a future at home. There is also a request in there for $100 million for a witness protection plan for Iraq. The entire budget for the United States on witness protection: $30 million, for the entire United States. The last time I checked, we could help people who wanted to finger drug dealers, who wanted to finger big gang leaders. We could use that money. Thirty million dollars is all we spend for fighting crime here in the United States, but we are going to dedicate $100 million to the Iraqi witness protection plan. I think Americans will look at that and think maybe we should have a dual citizenship program. Maybe they should apply over there and start fingering people.

Mr. EMANUEL. No. It is in there. If we ever get a chance to ask Mr. Bremer or the people that developed this, I am not suggesting they do not need resources to help people who would turn on former Baathists that are living in the neighborhood, but $100 million for a witness protection plan in Iraq, and we spent our entire Department of Justice request last year in 2001, $30 million; $3 million in the State of California. Ten percent of the budget to that. Does anybody really believe that we could not use more money or that is going to be well spent? And yet the American soldiers, their families and their kids in the recent tax credit get only $450 per child tax credit.

Mr. EMANUEL. No, they will not get that. There are 12 million children in this country who will not get the tax credit; yet we are going to spend $100 million in Iraq on a witness protection plan. There is a desire to build 3,500 units of affordable housing in Iraq. The President's budget submitted had 5,000 units of affordable housing. Iraq's entire affordable housing unit will be nearly equal to the President of the United States' plan for America.

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, we have been joined by the gentleman from Hawaii, but I want to add one thing. What I described was the line items of the $21 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan reconstruction. I went through the hospitals, the education, infrastructure, the water projects. I did not mention that today in the newspaper there is an additional $8 billion that was just recently offered for Turkey. I do not have anything against offering assistance to Turkey. They are a good American ally, but $8 billion so they would participate. What I find interesting is we spend about $11 billion a year on Pell grants. So Turkey in 1 year will get nearly what we spend for one of the largest Federal assistance programs for kids to go to college here in the United States. That is what we are going to offer Turkey. So just to put this in perspective, we have $21 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan reconstruction, the lion's share going to Iraq. That does not count what we are spending now in Turkey that was just approved yesterday. I do not know, but the last time I checked, we fought tooth and nail to get Medicaid reimbursement here at home for our hospitals for the health care of our citizens, and I know our colleagues from Ohio and Hawaii, and I do not want to take more time than is allocated here for me. But I want to add that piece for Turkey to that number. As we talk about $21 billion, there is another $8 billion just offered for Turkey. Again, there are needs at home. It need not be an either/or situation that the President has put us in, America versus some of our allies.

Mr. EMANUEL. I want to make one quick point that I left out of my notes, and I would like to draw people's attention to it. There is $21 billion in this for rebuilding for Iraq. There is another line item for $150 million for retraining and recruiting police officers to guard the streets of Baghdad. Yet the President's budget zeros out the police program that funds police on the street here in the United States, the 100,000 police program. So we will have dollars dedicated to recruiting, training, upgrading the police security for the city of Baghdad and the rest of Iraq, 40,000 of them; yet the President's budget zeros out the COPS program here in the United States to help recruit 100,000 police on our streets, to make sure we have the right types of police on our street, they have the resources they need, so we can actually bring crime down here at home. These are the people, if we have a terrorist threat, we are going to be calling on. And yet, as I went through the hospital program, I went through the water purification program, I went through the electric program, comparing what was going on there versus the cuts or eliminations here or nonfundings here at home, I left out the police program that I think is also important. Somehow we have placed the safety and security of what goes on in the streets of Baghdad above what we are doing here at home. I did not want to leave that out from the discussion.

Mr. EMANUEL

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join the people of Sweden in mourning the loss of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, a dedicated public servant who died last Thursday. Her brutal murder has shaken the foundation of that proud and peaceful nation. To lose such a young and promising leader is an international tragedy that is difficult to comprehend. In only 46 years of life, Anna Lindh rapidly ascended the European political community to become one of its most capable, competent, and respected members. She was a singularly instrumental figure during the Swedish presidency of the European Union in 2001. From joining the Swedish Social Democratic League at age 12, Ms. Lindh was destined for a career in public service. She was elected to the Swedish parliament the year she graduated from law school. She later became the Deputy Mayor of Stockholm, Minister of the Environment, and eventually, Foreign Minister. The impact of her political skill and achievements touched people worldwide, most notably in the Balkans, where her remarkable talents helped prevent war in Macedonia. Building coalitions was her calling, and her success in this critically important area earned the respect of leaders from around the globe. When asked once what he appreciated most about Sweden, our own Secretary Colin Powell once replied ``Abba, Volvo, and Anna.'' Anna Lindh truly epitomized a new generation of internationally- minded politicians. Her murder was a tragedy that cannot be forgotten, but it must not overshadow her achievements and her lasting contributions to the international community. Mr. Speaker, I join today with the people of Sweden and more than 12,000 of my constituents of Swedish descent in their grief as they remember and honor Anna Lindh's life. And I send my condolences to her husband and her two sons.

Mr. EMANUEL

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the life of a respected and exceptional public servant for the people of Chicago, the Honorable Robert J. Egan, who passed away on September 15, 2003. Robert Egan was born in Elmhurst in 1931. In 1958, he married his lovely wife Marie. Together they had five wonderful children, Beth, Margie, Sarah, Robert Jr., and Frank and four grandchildren, Tony, Meggy, Kaitlyn and Sarah. Judge Egan served as a first lieutenant from 1954-1956 in the U.S. Army infantry in Korea. He then worked his way through law school at Loyola University and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1959. He later joined the Illinois Attorney General's Office, where he served as Chief Legislative Counsel and Chief Attorney in its antitrust division. In 1970, Judge Egan was elected to the Illinois State Senate. Although defeated in 1972, he was subsequently reelected in 1974. He served in the Senate until 1984. During his first year in the State Senate, Judge Egan sponsored seven anticrime measures that were enacted into law. He also was a leader in the movement to strengthen sentences for serious and repeat offenders. Judge was his last title, gained when he was appointed to the Cook County Circuit Court in 1987. He retired from the bench in 1988. From 1990-1999, he served on the review board of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. Mr. Speaker, I join with the people of the northwest side of the City of Chicago in recognizing the life of Robert Egan, and wish to express my deep sense of sorrow to Marie and the rest of Robert's loving family.

Mr. EMANUEL

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise proudly as an original cosponsor of the Charitable Giving Act and also in strong support of Cardin-Doggett substitute. I signed on as an original cosponsor of H.R. 7 because our Nation's charities are struggling in this weak economy to meet increasing demands with diminishing resources. In response, this bill delivers tax fairness and strong incentives for America's donors to give generously, even those with modest means. I am pleased that the substitute makes this bill even stronger by taking this opportunity to shut down tax avoidance schemes built into the Tax Code that encourage dishonest corporate transactions and bookkeeping practices. Another improvement is that the substitute pays for the bill. This is critical since the President has asked Congress for another $87 billion for rebuilding Iraq, twice the amount originally anticipated. I am as pleased as the next person when corporations earn profits. But there is something wrong when tax breaks for working families are outnumbered by corporate subsidies for oil drilling, insurance, nuclear power, commercial real estate, equipment purchases, drug manufacturing, ethanol production, and more. President Reagan criticized corporate tax subsidies as wasteful and in direct conflict with free market principles and economic growth. In 1986, he issued executive orders to cut back many of these subsidies. Republicans and Democrats should continue working together to follow his lead. In recent years, however, subsidies have made a comeback. At the same time, corporate income taxes are virtually the lowest among the world's developed countries. The Bermuda scheme is the tip of the offshore iceberg now costing U.S. taxpayers $50 billion or more a year. Taxpayers subsidize overall corporate subsidies worth $125 billion. This amount is equivalent to the income taxes paid by 60 million individuals and families. Many of these subsidies fail to serve any worthwhile economic or social objective. But since 2001, more loopholes and breaks for special and corporate interests have been added to the code. It is replete with sunsets, phase-ins, phase outs, and gimmicks that encouraged Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom to circumvent tax law. But nothing has been done to make it easier for working families to navigate the Code. There is something wrong when more than 60 percent of Americans found it necessary to pay an accountant or tax preparer to file their taxes in 2002. Ending offshore havens, gimmicks and tax shelters should go hand in hand with simplification in any tax reform initiative. The Cardin substitute is a first step toward reforming a tax code that's proven more user-friendly to corporations and the wealthy than America's working families. Another important step would be for Congress to consider my proposal to create a Simplified Family Credit that merges the EITC, the child tax credit and the dependent exemption into one easy-to-claim credit. I will continue supporting legislation that simplifies the Code for reward working families as much as corporate interests. Mr. Speaker, to that end, I am please to vote for the Cardin-Doggett substitute, and in support of the Charitable Giving Act of 2003. This important legislation, in addition to closing unfair tax loopholes, will recreate new incentives for Americans to make charitable donations for an array of worth and important social services in our Nation.

Mr. EMANUEL

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, to add to that point, we have 45 million uninsured folks in this country with no health insurance. The bulk of them work. We have a pension crisis and retirement plan crisis where there are $330 billion in arrears in private retirement plans. We have college education where families face a choice, take a second mortgage on their home, or the child is guaranteed to graduate $30,000 to $40,000 in the hole because they borrowed to go to college. And then we have the Nation's deficit on top of that which ties our hands and our ability to meet the needs of middle class families, whether their parents are retiring, health care needs to their own families and children, as well as the education of their children. I believe that the deficit if we look at how it grows over a period of time is actually a ticking time bomb underneath Social Security and Medicare. In the immediate time, we are not able to afford the basic services and needs that our government provides in helping families meet the dreams that they have for their children, providing health care and education so they too can do what their parents have done and build a better future for their children. So the deficit, although sometimes we want to ridicule it and people call it an abstract thing, people understand the consequences of the deficit as they try to do what they try to do for their own family and children. They cannot afford their health care and college education; and they are scared out of their wits when they come to retire, neither Social Security nor the plan they thought they had through their employer will be there. I think people understand that the deficit is in fact damaging the ability of both their government today and their own plans for tomorrow to be met.

Mr. EMANUEL. And the irony is as these deficits mount, tuition costs are rising 11 to 15 percent annually, and the ability of college assistance like the Pell grants, which once represented two-thirds of college cost, today represents less than a third with no ability to increase that. Health care inflation is running at an average of 15 to 25 percent, and there are no resources to deal with the two most important factors driving health care costs up, that is, we now have a record uninsured of 45 million, and we have prescription drug costs running 15 to 70 percent increases. Those are contributing factors to the increase in health care inflation. Those two factors in my view are creating tremendous pressure on the middle class of this country. We do not have the resources or the means nor a plan to deal with them. The deficit will tie our hands and tie the Nation's ability to address the very things that are squeezing on the middle class family's budget.

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I think the deficit has now become the centerpiece of his economic policy. If we look at the administration's projection over the next 6 and 7 years, on the deficit going out to the year 2011, they actually borrow money every year consistently regardless of how big or how small the deficit will be from the Social Security surplus. Every year that is done. To mask the size of the deficit, they must borrow from the Social Security trust fund.

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, in 2\1/2\ years, we have added $2.5 trillion to the Nation's debt and 2.5 million Americans have lost their jobs. As Ronald Reagan used to say, facts are a stubborn thing, quoting former President John Adams. In the short order of 2\1/2\ years, 2.5 million Americans have lost their jobs, 45 million Americans are without health insurance. $1 trillion worth of corporate assets have been foreclosed on, and 2 million Americans have come out of the middle class to poverty, and we have added $2.5 trillion to the Nation's deficit. A record like that is starting to give mismanagement a bad name.

Mr. EMANUEL. It is interesting that the President's request for rebuilding Iraq has a $2 billion request for Iraq's electric grid, and it was America with the blackout. In our energy bill, we say we do not have the money to invest in our own electric grid.

Mr. EMANUEL

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take the time of the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio).

Mr. EMANUEL

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, people from around the world come to America for their medical care, yet Americans are forced to travel the world for their medications. A recent Families USA study found that the prices of the 50 drugs most commonly used by seniors in America increased by an average of 3.5 times the rate of inflation over the past year. Between 2000 and 2003, seniors' expenditures on prescription drugs increased by 44 percent. For too long, seniors have been paying premium prices for the same prescription drugs that are available in Canada and European countries at 30, 40, 50 percent reductions. What we are proposing through the market access bill is allowing people here in the United States to buy medications in Canada and Europe, is free market competition, allowing the market to work. That competition will bring prices down in the United States and save our consumers and our taxpayers thousands upon thousands of dollars. We as public officials are entrusted by the American people to represent them. We are not entrusted to ensure that they pay the most expensive price, but get the best price for the medications they paid for the research on. A recent USA Today Gallup poll showed that 71 percent of the American people showed support for allowing them to buy their medications in Canada or Europe. I stood just Sunday with the Governor of Illinois who announced that for the first State ever in the Union, that they will now study what would be the savings to the taxpayers of Illinois if the 230,000 retirees and State employees would be allowed to buy their medications in Canada. In the last year, the cost to the State for prescription drugs increased by 15 percent. Illinois now spends $340 million a year for prescription drugs for their employees and retirees. It is projected in the Illinois budget that that will increase by 17 percent next year and another 15 percent the following year after that. There are early predictions of what the savings will be, but I will wait for that study to be produced. The Governor asked for two actions: a, report back in a period of time for the savings to the State, if there are any; and, b, if there are savings, to then open up the health care contracts that the State has for its employees and retirees so they can cover prescription drugs bought in Canada. That is the same program that the AARP does for its own seniors today. United Health covers 96,000 seniors who buy their medications in Canada and covers it with an insurance policy. Now, nobody believes that the AARP would risk the health and welfare of our grandparents. Now, if there is an ability for a State government to save $50 million to $60 million, rather than lay off teachers, rather than lay off police officers, rather than close prisons, I think they have an obligation to the taxpayers and to their employees to get them those savings. We too will face that choice. Just in July, prior to going home for the August recess, a bipartisan majority of the House Members came together and voted across party lines to allow market access, to allow Americans to buy the medications, the name-brand drugs that they need for cholesterol control, blood pressure control, arthritis, other types of medications, either in Canada or in Europe. That passed with an overwhelming majority. This is not a decision of Democrat versus Republican, or right versus left, but of right versus wrong. We can do better for the American people. We can give them the choice and the competition they deserve so that they can get the savings they deserve. The irony of all of this situation is that Americans pay 50 percent more for the medications that their colleagues in France, Germany, England, Italy, Ireland, and Canada pay. And yet what is ironic is every cancer drug, every AIDS drug, every major medication in this country was developed by the taxpayer funded research through the tax credit research and development credit or through direct funding by the National Institutes of Health. The American taxpayers and consumers today are not only underwriting the research in this country, they are underwriting the profits of the American pharmaceutical companies. I have nothing against profits. I think they are a good thing. But they do not need to make up their profits in the United States from our seniors and our consumers when they can actually have the free market operate in the appropriate way so we can get the best price for our consumers and our seniors and for our taxpayers. As we embark on this largest expansion of an entitlement in over 40 years, thinking of adding $400 billion to Medicare to cover a prescription drug plan, I think we owe the decency and respect to the taxpayers to ensure that we get them the best price, not the most expensive price for that $400 billion. Now, those medications exist out there. Today you take Tamoxifen, which is a major cancer fighting drug, it costs $360 million here in the United States. In Canada that same medication for the same amount cost $33. In Germany it cost $60. You can go drug by drug and there is a major 40 to 50 percent reduction. I would call on our colleague and I call on governors and mayors around the country to look at what we did in Illinois and see if you cannot save your taxpayers and your employees the cost that they need so we can plow that back into other health care coverage for the uninsured, to expanding our school, retaining our teachers, doing teacher training, and make sure that our police are on our street making them safe. Those are the right choices we owe to our employees, our consumers, and, most importantly, the taxpayers.

Mr. EMANUEL

Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1538, ``The True American Heroes Act'' and H.R. 911 to create a ``Memorial for Victims of Terrorism.'' Enacting both of these important bills today is a fitting tribute to the victims of the terrorist attacks launched against the United States two years ago this morning. The September 11 attacks were devastating, but our Nation was never weakened. The attacks were perpetrated because of the terrorists' hatred of the American values of liberty, democracy and equality. Hundreds of the victims were parents working hard every day and praying for better futures filled with love and hope for their children. Some victims were young children on their first airplane flight. Others were sons and daughters, the pride of their families, making it on their own in New York City. Twenty were U.S. soldiers, thirty-three were sailors, sixty-one were federal civilian employees, and nine were Army and Navy contractors beginning their morning at the Pentagon, and all of them were living the American dream. Ordinary Americans were transformed into heroes as the two jets brought down the World Trade Center, when the third tore into the Pentagon, and when the fourth was thrust into a Pennsylvania field. Two years from September 11, we remember and honor those brave Americans, their sacrifice, and we promise to never forget them. Our nation has remained robust because our strength derives not from tall skyscrapers or fleets of airliners, but because America is defined more by its values than borders, and is defined less by our past than by our promise. Rarely have those values of democracy and freedom been more clearly demonstrated in our country's short history than on September 11, 2001. As the gravest moments arrived, many ordinary citizens fueled by instinct, courage and grace, rushed toward the flaming buildings in order to rescue their fellow Americans or to overwhelm terrorist-controlled cockpits in order to defeat their destructive plans. Every community was shocked and scarred by these catastrophes. My hometown of Chicago suffered the loss of five women, who left their friends and family bereft. But more than shock or horror, generosity, strength and selflessness characterized Chicago's response. Although my city is a thousand miles away from New York, Chicagoans rushed to assist New Yorkers, Pentagon workers, and rural Pennsylvanians and support them as our neighbors. Whether they were Chicago firefighters hurrying to Ground Zero or school children writing letters to comfort their fellow pupils in New York, Chicago responded with its renowned heart and generosity. And so did every community across the country. Mr. Speaker, we observe September 11 not only to recognize the lives cut short by hatred, but also to honor the genuine American heroes. These many men and women include firefighters, police officers, paramedics, emergency technicians, and all rescue workers who cast aside concern for their own safety to rush to save the lives of other Americans in harm's way. Their bravery and commitment serve as shining examples of why they remain role models that our children emulate. We must also pause today to honor the sacrifices and continuing heroism of our courageous service men and women who left family and friends in order to defend our nation in the global war against terror. U.S. troops are fighting, sacrificing and serving extended tours of duty so that the men, women and children of Afghanistan, Iraq and other nations suffering under the heavy burden of tyranny and terror may share the freedom and inalienable human rights that Americans enjoy. We owe them our resolve to defeat terrorism, and to ensure that here at home leaders are charting the proper course. Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate to reflect today on how we as a nation can better demonstrate American values. As we nurture burgeoning democracies beyond foreign shores, we must also align our priorities with human rights and with freedom here at home. Let those left behind pay tribute to those who died by reaffirming our commitment as a nation to freedom and defense of human dignity, and in so doing keep our nation strong. To that end, I strongly support this legislation creating a memorial for the victims of terrorism, and ensuring that our public safety workers have all the resources that they need to do their jobs continuing to prepare and protect America.