Sam Farr

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a scholar who has pursued excellence in the academic world for his entire life. Dr. Karl Pister first entered the undergraduate program at the University of California at Berkeley more than 50 years ago and is today being honored as chancellor of the University of California at Santa Cruz, a position he has held for the past 5 years. Dr. Pister first began teaching immediately after he received his Ph.D. in theoretical and applied mechanics in 1952. He began as assistant professor and in the Department of Civil Engineering at Berkeley and after 10 years was promoted to professor in 1962. For the following 18 years, he also served as vice chairman and chairman of the Division of Structural Engineering and Structural Mechanics. He was appointed dean of the College of Engineering, at Berkeley, on July 1, 1980, and led the school to be recognized as one of the Nation's outstanding schools of engineering. Dr. Pister has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards. He was twice selected as a Fulbright Scholar, first, in the Department of Mathematical Physics, University College, Cork, Ireland, and then in the Institute for Statics and Dynamics of Aerospace Structures, University of Stuttgart, West Germany. He also was awarded the Wason Medal for Research by the American Concrete Institution, and in 1982, was the recipient of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, College of Engineering Alumni Honor Award for distinguished service in engineering. In 1988 he was presented with the Vincent Bendix Award for minorities in engineering by the American Society for Engineering Education, and in 1993 he was bestowed the highest honor by the society, the Benjamin Garver Lamme Medal, for his contributions to engineering education. He also was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Engineering Alumni Society of the College of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Pister has also served the University of California in many other ways. He held the position as chairman of the committees on Senate Policy and Educational Policy of the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate, and also served as chairman of the University Committee on Education Policy. From 1978 to 1980 he was vice-chairman and chairman of the nine-campus Academic Council and Assembly of the Academic Senate and faculty representative to the board of regents of the University of California. Dr. Pister is also a member of numerous engineering academies and associations. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Mechanics, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Pister is also an honorary fellow of the California Academy of Sciences. He currently serves as chairman of the board of directors of the California Council on Science and Technology and is a member of the board of directors for the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and the board of trustees of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and of the board of trustees of the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Pister also serves as chairman of the board of Engineering Education and is a member of the Coordinating Council for Education of the National Research Council. In addition to my honoring of Dr. Pister's numerous accolades and accomplishments, I would also like to pay tribute to a man of great character. He has made a commitment to a continued vision to lead and a compassion to listen in order to best contribute to the advancement of science and the advancement of our society and Nation. I wish him well in his future endeavors.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, my amendment directly benefits every American and every Member who supports our parks, our public spaces. There is a big pot of money in the Federal budget to pay for new parklands and for other open space acquisition. That money can benefit every American who enjoys the beauty of our national parks, the serenity of the wilderness, the exhilaration of an early morning duck hunt of the surge of pride in exploring the great historical places of this Nation. That pot of money is called the Land and Water Conservation Fund. It is supposed to take some of the money raised from the sale of publicly owned fossil energy resources to build a legacy of parks and open space resources for future generations. In 1964, Congress created the Land and Water Conservation Fund to use some of the Federal royalties from offshore oil drilling to buy parklands. Even though the offshore oil drilling only comes from coastal States, the money was to be used in all of the States. It was an ideal environmental business plan, reinvest the profits from the exploration of publicly owned natural resources into the infrastructure of our Nation's parks and other public spaces. Money would come into the fund and Congress and the President would allocate it between State parks programs and Federal public land priorities. The fund currently takes in $900 million a year. It will continue to take in such money until the program's authority expires in the year 2015. But the plan is broken. Only a trickle of that money reaches the parks and other land conservation needs. By the early 1980's, the President and Congress began using more and more of the fund each year to mask the size of the deficit. Less and less went into land acquisition. In 1991, only $321 million of the fund's $900 million income went into the environment; only $100 million of that is appropriated today for fiscal year 1997, a $12 billion surplus, which frees up other moneys to be spent for other purposes, including fossil fuel energy research. My amendment would restore the funding to the 1995 appropriated levels by increasing the bill's Land and Water Conservation Fund appropriation levels by $134,904,000 over the committee's appropriated level, reported level of about $100 million. My amendment allocate this increase among the land management agency accounts according to the fiscal year 1995 allocations. The Bureau of Land Management would get about $14 million; Fish and Wildlife, $67 million; National Parks Service, $87 million; and Forest Service, $65 million; for a total of $235 million. It is my intention that $2 million of the Park Service increase be allocated for State grants through the National Park Service States assistance programs. This is assisting our States which have long asked for help with this fund. My amendment preserves the committee's decision not to earmark individual projects and to leave it to the discretion of the agencies which projects to pursue. I offset the $135 million cut in the Department of Energy fossil research account. This account has a total amount of $359 million remaining in the bill. The point is that we do not need to allocate as much as the appropriators have done for the programs for research which really benefit our large multinational corporations like Chevron, Exxon, Conoco and such. We have spent over $2\1/2\ billion for fossil fuel research since fiscal year 1992, just over a billion of that for, just a billion of that for, the land and water conservation fund for acquisition in the same period of time. Yet, for example, in my home State of California this program, which the committee has appropriated, would help fund Chevron's research into enhanced oil recovery technology, Arco's research into new horizontal drilling techniques, Pacific Operators' offshore research in Santa Barbara on lateral drilling technology to extract more oil offshore. One may argue these are appropriate areas of research, but why rely totally on this fund? We also have money coming from drilling on State lands and from drilling on private lands, and none of that money is being earmarked for this research purpose.

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, let me point out that the reason people are having such difficulty with this is we do have a surplus here. We are not spending enough money. When the gentleman was a city councilman and mayor, he received money out of the land and water conservation money that came to his city. When he was a State legislator he received money out of the land and water conservation money that came as grants to his State. What has happened is all that money has dried up because we are not spending it, even though we are taking in $900 million. We are only asking that you spend another $135 million of that $900 million surplus for acquisition, so that those cities and counties and States could benefit from this surplus. That is what this amendment is about.

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, this vote is about whether oil companies get more research money or whether your city, county, and State gets more land acquisition money. The gentleman from Ohio pointed out that this vote is essentially the difference between Ohio receiving $830,000 in grants from my amendment or no money. I think that most of the Members here coming to represent their districts have to also think about representing the totality of the districts. It is not just the Federal forest lands and Federal park lands and BLM lands and fisheries management, but it is also State lands, county lands, and city lands. This amendment allows those communities to get access to funds that have been created by Congress for that purpose, for that purpose alone. It does not delete the funding in the oil and gas research fund. It only takes a third of that money and still leaves in excess of $200 million for research. So I suggest to Members of this House that if they want to support their communities for their ability to acquire land from willing sellers, then this is the amendment to do it, and I ask for an ``aye'' vote.

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I ask that we reverse the priorities here and put two-thirds of this appropriation into acquisition of land and one-third into fossil fuel research. That would still leave a surplus in the fund for fossil fuel research of about $224 million, and I suggest that that is an appropriate balance of funds and would urge this House to support my amendment.

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, it does not eliminate it. This program has received over $2 billion in the history of fossil fuel research. We only take, of the appropriations this year, one-third; $1 out of every $3.

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, some of that money, a good deal of that money, also comes from drilling off the coast of California. The point of it is that this Congress created that fund so those revenues would be reinvested back into lands. It now has a $900 million surplus. We are only asking for a very small amount of that money.

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. I rise on this rule, and I think it is a good rule and am going to support it, but to point out that the rule also allows for this bill to be amended. I want to offer an amendment, an amendment that is consistent with the purpose for which this fund was created, the land and water conservation fund. The Congress back in the 1960's enacted this bill and said that we are going to allow for offshore oil drilling of Federal lands and the revenues from those Federal lands, from public lands will be put into a fund and then that fund will be used to help all the States, not just those coastal States that have offshore oil drilling but all the States for all the people of the United States. My amendment shows that we have not been doing that. In essence we have taken, that account now has about $900 million a year income, and reappropriated about $400 million out of that. Of that $400 million, $300 million goes back to the oil companies to essentially do research for multinational corporations to do research. The problem I have with that is, oil is also being drilled on State lands. It is being drilled on private lands, and there is no requirement that in those types of drilling operations that money goes back for that purpose. Then we have shortchanged the money that goes back to the Department of the Interior and to our States and from our States to our counties and to our cities. I am concerned that this fund, which Congress set up originally for that purpose, is not being used for that purpose anymore. It is being used to do a lot of other things. So in my amendment I shift that balance. Instead of two-thirds for the people of America, I suggest that we reverse that and make the funding priorities just the opposite: one-third for the oil companies and two-thirds for all the citizens of the United States of present and future generations and visitors who are lawfully present within the boundaries of the United States so that they can enjoy the quality and quantity of outdoor recreational resources as may be available and are necessary and desirable for individual active participation in such recreation to strengthen the health and vitality of the citizens of the United States. I am reading exactly from the bill, from the law that Congress in the 1960's adopted. So, Mr. Speaker, the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, I think, has done a very good job under hard work, but I thank on this one my colleague has missed the mark. My colleague has essentially not put the priorities where the public wants the priorities to be. There is not a city, there is not a county, there is not a State that is not in need of more resources to buy from willing sellers, to invest in management opportunities. So for every Member of Congress, my amendment has something in it for them. I would urge that, when that amendment comes up under the rule that we are debating and will be adopting, we all vote for that amendment.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise on the third anniversary of the day on which I took the oath of office 3 years ago in this Chamber to replace then-Congressman Leon Panetta, who had gone to work in the White House as head of OMB. Standing in the well before me, I thanked the California State legislature, which I had left the night before, for the good work they were doing in guiding the State of California. At the same time I paid tribute to my mother, who had died of cancer while I was in the Peace Corps; and to my sister, who was killed while visiting me in the Peace Corps. In the gallery at the time was my father, Fred Farr, and my sister, Francesca Farr. Also in the gallery from my district was Rev. Darrell Darling and his son Adam Darling, who grew up in Santa Cruz, part of the district I now represent. Tonight, on the third anniversary, I want to pay tribute to that beautiful young man, Adam Darling, who lost his life in the plane crash with Secretary Ron Brown in Bosnia. Adam Darling died doing precisely what he wanted: serving his country while working to make the world a better place. He was an eternal optimist. Adam had once offered to ride his bike across this country from his home State of California to Washington, DC for then-Governor Bill Clinton because he felt that he could make a difference in the 1992 presidential race just by riding a bicycle across the Nation. After the election he ended up in Washington working for the Commerce Department. When I arrived to be sworn into Congress, Adam was there to meet me. He brought his father, Rev. Darrell Darling, with him from Santa Cruz all the way here to Washington, DC. According to his father, Adam Darling was a leader among his peers, his friends, his family and in his work. His leadership grew from a keen and uncluttered mind, a character free of shame, given or received, and thoroughly generous in spirit. He was very realistic about both public policy and public service and the limitations and temptations of both. Adam's realism never was cynical. ``When you decide to make a difference where there is risk, you cannot calculate the cost or be guaranteed delivery from pain or loss. Bosnia is a land of grief and turmoil and none of us are immune from it.'' Those were the words of his father upon learning of his son's death. Adam was working for the Commerce Department when I arrived. He served on the staff of the press office for several months before becoming a personal assistant to the Deputy Secretary for 2 years. Adam was also instrumental in bringing state-of-the-art science to the central coast and to the country. Just 1 year ago he helped organize the first-ever link between the classrooms across America and marine biologists working in the Monterey Bay. Ron Brown had asked Adam to handle press relations and advance planning for the economic development mission in Bosnia. According to Adam's family, Adam saw it as an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the peace effort where it was severely needed. Rather than working hard to gain personal attention, Adam worked hard for the sheer pleasure of doing well and the satisfaction of knowing he had helped make someone else's life a little more livable. Adam saw life as an opportunity to serve the world, telling his family at the age of 5 that he would be President of the United States someday; a young boy made his commitment to bettering the country at any cost. During the few years that he was afforded, Adam worked with the dedication and commitment of a President and accomplished more for the good of humankind during his lifetime than many even attempt in 100 years. The loss of Adam Darling and 34 others in Bosnia will be sorely felt by all and will remain in our hearts as a memorial to all who pay the highest cost possible in order to keep the world by serving their country. I want to thank the Darlings for being here on this day of my anniversary of being sworn into Congress, and I want to pay tribute to Adam Darling who was here to greet me when I first arrived, and wish that he was still here today. Mr. Speaker, thank you for allowing me this time to pay tribute to this great young American.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time of the gentlewoman from Ohio.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation to address a serious flaw in the rules governing local marketing agreements for television stations. Current FCC rules allow television stations to enter into what are called ``local marketing agreements'', or LMA's. An LMA allows a television station or other entity to manage programming, sales, and operations at another station. For troubled stations, the LMA can provide needed assistance to maintain both their operations and independence. However, as they have become more frequent, so have they become broader and more comprehensive in their scope. Strangely, although FCC rules are clear with respect to TV station ownership--owing two stations in the same market is illiegal--they are extremely vague with respect to television LMA's. For example, current FCC regulations do not take into account the size of a local marketing agreement, the amount of operations managed through an LMA, or the size of the media market affected. Nor do they require prior notice or public comment from the communities that might be impacted. My own community has been affected by this ambiguity in FCC rules. Recently, two local stations in Monterey, CA reached a local marketing agreement which affected a sizeable portion of the programming and operations of one of the stations. No prior notice was given or required; no public input was requested; and there were no studies or consideration of the possible impact, positive or negative, of the LMA on the region. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, this is a growing problem. Although radio LMA's account for the majority of such agreements, the expanding number of consolidations and mergers in the television industry have put greater economic pressures on small stations. LMA's have become an increasingly attractive alternative to bankruptcy--but also, for some, a useful loophole in the duopoly laws. My bill will resolve this problem by extending the more exact and time-tested LMA rules for radio to television as well. As for radio, television LMA's affecting 15 percent or less of broadcast time on a station would not require prior notice or approval by the FCC. However, more comprehensive LMA's would require prior notice and public comment before the FCC could approve them. Such approval would have to be made on the basis of public interest, convenience, and necessity. My bill will resolve the current ambiguity in FCC rules--ambiguity which leaves the LMA process open to broad interpretation, and makes no allowance for the needs, interests, or concerns of local communities. Making LMA rules clear and fair will benefit the station owners who benefit from these agreements, as well as television viewers and local communities affected by them. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. FARR of California Mr

Mr. FARR of California Mr. Chairman, I say to the last speaker, Wake up. We turn on the television set, we see Colombia's Juan Valdez selling us coffee. We see Mexico selling us Corona beer. This is a global market. If we want people to buy American, then we have to tell them what is American. This is a program that requires that the Government match by private funds to advertise and to promote these products abroad. If we are indeed going to sell our products grown in America abroad, we are going to have to maintain this program. I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a man who has served and led his country in the Navy for over 28 years. Capt. Robert J. Plante, who began his career as a naval aviator in February 1968, is now retiring as commanding officer of the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center in Monterey, CA, a position he assumed in 1992. Captain Plante has led a distinguished life. He graduated from the University of Illinois/Illinois Institute of Technology in 1966 with a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering and political science. By 1973 he had not only completed naval flight training but also became an aircraft commander at the Naval Air Station in Brunswick, ME, and successfully completed his masters degree in meteorology from the Naval Postgraduate School. For the following 9 years after graduation, Captain Plante served his country at numerous Navy bases around the world. He earned such titles as officer in charge, Naval Weather Service Environmental Detachment for the Midway Islands; command duty officer and aviation division officer at Fleet Weather Control at Norfolk, VA; meteorological officer aboard the USS Saratoga, and finally, from 1979 to 1981, officer in charge, Naval Oceanography Command Detachment, Keflavik, Iceland. In the ensuing years Captain Plante continued to move up in both rank and duties. After his graduation from the Naval War College in Newport, RI in 1982 he became the commander of the Naval Oceanography Command. Two years later he was assigned to commanding officer of the Naval Oceanography Command Facility at Bay St. Louis, MS. For the following 3 years Captain Plante distinguished himself as Division Director for the Oceanographer of the Navy, Division Director for Welfare Systems Engineering Policy and Standards at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, commanding officer of the U.S. Naval Oceanography Command Center/Joint Typhoon Warning Center at Guam, and finally in August 1990 he assumed his duties as Chief of Staff for the Commander at Naval Oceanograph Command. Captain Plante is the distinguished recipient of the Legion of Merit Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with a gold star. The Navy Commendation Medal with two gold stars, the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon and the National Defense Service Medal. Along with these esteemed awards Captain Plante has also been prestigiously recognized as ``Fellow'' in the American Meteorological Society. The above list of titles and awards which Captain Plante holds is only a part of the reason for this tribute to a great man. His constant drive to succeed, his continued push to assume more responsibilities, and his outstanding leadership qualities are the main reasons we recognize him today. I know I am speaking for all of my constituents to say that we are lucky to have benefited from Captain Plante's service to his country.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Conyers amendment. This debate here is about national security. National security is about confidence, confidence in Government, trust in the Congress of the United States. How can we expect the public to trust the House of Representatives when we continue to keep budget information secret? Think about it. We are in the month of May. Every city council, every school board, every county government, every State government has to have their budgets adopted by the fiscal year July 1. That means right now throughout the United States these hearings on local budgets are going on. All publicized, the public knows every cent that comes in and every penny that is spent, except here in the House of Representatives, where we keep and have traditionally kept secret a portion of the national security budget. I think that is wrong. I think we need to have confidence in what we do here. We can only have that confidence if indeed we tell everybody where their money is going. Mr. Chairman, in light of the debate here today, it is interesting that the President says we should make this public. The Senate Intelligence Committee voted to make it public. The former and current CIA Directors agree that it ought to be public. The only way we can ensure that it will be made public is to vote for the Conyers amendment, help restore confidence in Congress. Support this amendment.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express strong opposition to an unfair and discriminatory provision in the National Security Authorization Act of 1996. This provision would require all HIV-positive personnel to be immediately and summarily discharged from the military. The provision is based on prejudice and misunderstanding about HIV and the AIDS virus. Being HIV-positive does not mean being bed-ridden. It does not mean you cannot work. It does not mean you are contagious. In fact, it may take years before people who are HIV-positive show the debilitating symptoms of AIDS. Current military policy is fair and makes sense. Those who are HIV- positive, as with those with disabilities, are not sent in combat. They are allowed to continue their service until they are too ill to serve. But this provision would remove such persons outright, whether they are ill or healthy. The assumption is, if you have HIV, you are a threat to others, you are sick, or something is wrong with you. All of those beliefs are false. Magic Johnson is one, more famous example, but there are tens of thousands of HIV-positive Americans who are healthy, working, and contributing to society. We should not discriminate against men and women in uniform if they are still able--and still want--to serve their country.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, it is my great honor to rise in recognition of a man who has brought both smiles and laughter to countless Americans. Henry (Hank) Ketcham, who created the famed ``Dennis the Menace'' cartoon strip, is being honored Friday with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Carmel Arts Festival. A resident of my congressional district, Mr. Ketcham has led a distinguished, artistic life that we all can celebrate. Born in Seattle in 1920, he first became interested in drawing at the age of 7 when a local art director and family friend drew cartoon sketches to make him laugh. With considerable talent, he parlayed this love of cartooning into a number of impressive positions throughout his career. After entering the University of Washington as an art major in 1937, Mr. Ketcham moved to Hollywood 1 year later where he worked at the Walter Lantz animation studio, home of the ``Woody the Woodpecker'' cartoon series. Soon after, Mr. Ketcham was lured by the Walt Disney studios, where he worked on ``Pinocchio,'' ``Fantasia'' and many other famous Disney productions until the outbreak of World War II. Desiring to serve his country, Mr. Ketcham enlisted in the U.S. Navy and, as a chief photographer specialist, developed a variety of cartoons, magazines, posters, and animated film spots to encourage his fellow Americans to purchase war bonds. To help supplement his military pay, Mr. Ketcham also started cartooning for magazines, including the Saturday Evening Post, which bought a weekly panel. After the war, Mr. Ketcham fully launched himself into the highly competitive world of freelance cartooning. Because of his immense talent, he quickly became one of this country's most successful artists, selling his work regularly to Collier's, the Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal, Liberty, the New Yorker, as well as to advertising agencies. By this time, Mr. Ketcham was also married and the father of a son named, you guessed it, Dennis, whom my sister Francesca, frequently babysat. In October 1950, the ``Dennis the Menace'' cartoon strip was created and, less than a year later, it was syndicated to 18 newspapers. Mr. Ketcham received the prestigious Billy deBeck Trophy as the outstanding cartoonist of 1952. Within the past 10 years, ``Dennis the Menace'' has been read in more than 1,000 different newspapers in 48 countries and has been translated into 19 different languages. In the following years, Mr. Ketcham expanded his lovable character's popularity through a variety of other media, including books and television. The hit TV show that was produced from 1959 to 1963 is still widely seen around the country and was updated into a popular animation series by the CBS television network. A 2-hour prime-time live action ``Dennis the Menace'' broadcast was aired in September 1987 and in 114 television markets the following month. Over the past 46 years, Mr. Ketcham has sold more than 50 million ``Dennis the Menace'' books, including a four-part anthology, a series of comic books from Marvel Comics and a favorite of Ketcham's, ``Dennis and the Bible Kids.'' Throughout the years, Dennis' civic-mindedness has also made him a popular spokesman for a number of worthy causes, including the Boy Scouts of America, UNICEF, and the International Red Cross. He has had a starring role in two important public service messages through comic books entitled ``Dennis Takes a Poke at Poison'' and ``Coping with Family Stress.'' To this day, ``Dennis the Menace'' continues to bring joy to children and adults alike. The comic strip is widely read throughout the world and, in fact, is delivered to my doorstep every day I am in Washington in the Washington Post. Though 46 this year, Dennis remains as youthful and entertaining as ever. Of course, this is a tribute to Hank Ketcham and his considerable talent. It is my great honor to salute him as he receives this well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise in the debate on the DeLauro amendment. I think this debate is really not about abortion. I think it is about our national security. National security assumes that you will have personal security. Existing law puts women in uniform at risk with their own health care. This amendment corrects that injustice which prohibits these same women in uniform from access to health care when they are in service abroad, even if they use their own money. Think about it. Women in uniform have pledged to uphold the Constitution of this country, which grants those women choice in these procedures. But because of existing misguided law, when they serve overseas it is taken away from them. We must not discriminate against women simply because they serve in the defense of our country. I urge support of the DeLauro-Harman-Ward amendment.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, everybody in America is worried about their wages. Here in Congress, the GOP leadership opposes the President's initiative to raise the minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15 to begin starting next year. The GOP leadership argues that this will have unintended consequences, therefore, let us not do it. However, what they failed to note is that paying workers more money for work performed will increase workers' purchasing power, and that will purchase more goods, more jobs will be created. This helps restore purchasing power, reduces turnover in the job place, and promotes domestic tranquility. I think that is what this country is all about, is about paying people for work performed. Paying more to the lowest wage earner in the country, the lowest, the lowest, not the middle, not the highest. Are there not the same workers we are trying to help with struggling to keep their heads above water? Why is it the GOP wants to end welfare but does not want to pay those who work for being hard workers?

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, on May 4, 1996, the Cabrillo College Police Officers Association will host a retirement party for Sgt. Charles ``Chuck'' Nicolls in recognition of his 27 years of service to the students, faculty, and fellow employees of Cabrillo College, located in Aptos, CA. Mr. Nicolls has served the people of California as a firefighter and police officer for 27 years. He was employed by the city of Modesto as a firefighter and fire company engineer from August 1964 to February 1969. He then served as a police officer, motorcycle officer, and undercover narcotics officer from February 1969 to April 1985, often under perilous conditions. Sergeant Nicolls then served the Cabrillo Community College from September 1989 to March 1996, as a police officer, training manager, administrative sergeant, and the ``Chief of Barb B-Q's'' for all special events. Sergeant Nicolls established a training site at Cabrillo College for the California Motorcycle Safety Training Program. Sergeant Nicolls stayed on-duty for 26 hours after the Loma Prieto earthquake. On February 15, 1995 Sergeant Nicolls was awarded American Police Hall of Fame Distinguished Medal of Honor and citations for his contributions to the community. Throughout his whole career, Sergeant Nicolls has consistently demonstrated a sense of honor and duty, rare in today's world.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, this is a solemn day in the history of the modern world. Eighty-one years ago today began a period of systematic persecution of the Armenian people--what would become one of the more terrible cases of state-sponsored terrorism against an ethnic group. Beginning with the execution of some 200 leaders from the Armenian community on April 24, 1915, Armenians in Turkey were subjected to cruel and brutal treatment. Those of Armenian descent serving in the Ottoman army were subjected to forced labor and later executed. Women were raped or forced into prostitution. Thousands of men, women, and children were forced to leave their villages and either killed outright or sent on death marches through the desert, where they suffered horribly from disease and starvation. When it was all over, nearly 10 years later, 1\1/2\ million Armenians were dead--victims of torture, executions, and forced labor--and hundreds of thousands of others were refugees. The terrible results of this systematic persecution can still be seen today: where once over 2 million Armenians lived in Ottoman Turkey, less than 80,000 live in the region today. Many years have passed since the Armenian genocide, but we must never forget what happened to the Armenians of Ottoman Turkey solely because of their ethnicity. We must make sure that our children, and their children, learn about the genocide and understand the circumstances which led to such a horrific event in history. In remembering the millions who died so tragically and unnecessarily, we would be well to remind ourselves of what the terrible effects of racism and bigotry can be. When a nation sees political gain in supporting ethnic persecution, as Ottoman Turkey did in persecuting the Armenian people, the result can only be disaster and tragedy. We must also remember that individual cases of persecution are often followed by more extreme measures. The Armenian genocide of 1915-1923 had followed decades of anti-Armenian persecution in Ottoman Turkey. For these reasons, we must never, never tolerate discrimination or bigotry in any form, whether it comes from a single individual or a whole government. We must work together to ensure that such a horrible tragedy as befell the Armenian people never happens again.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1675 because it will reauthorize the 1972 Coastal Zone Management Act. There are many reasons to champion the CZMA. But one reason stands above all others: This law saved our coasts. Back in the late sixties and early seventies we all saw runaway urban sprawl eating up some of our most precious coastlines at breakneck speed. And my own home State of California led the race. At the development rates of the time, we thought that the entire California coast would be an unbroken chain of housing tracts, hotels, and condos by the turn of the century. The entire burden of planning and coping with this coastal development was left to local counties--which didn't have the resources or expertise to deal with the problem. They also only focused on their stretch of coast and could not see the forest through the trees. Then came the CZMA. It said to the States ``If you come up with a plan to manage your State's coastal resources, then the Federal Government will provide funding to help you implement the plan.'' California and 28 other States took up the offer and designed and implemented coastal plans. In California, voters passed the Coastal Act which created the California Coastal Commission and the California Coastal Conservancy. These twin State agencies have worked over the past 20 years to manage growth along California's coast and to preserve the coast's most unique and valuable resources. These State agencies have used the CZMA to help stem the runaway sprawl along the California coast and we are the only statewide land use planning body in California. And that kind of planning has helped protect California's economy. My friend Doug Wheeler, California's Secretary of Resources, recently released a report on the role of California's coastal resources in its future. The report found that coastal dependent industries contributed over $17 billion a year to California's economy and supported over 370,000 jobs. Coastal tourism alone contributes $10 billion a year to the State's economy. In closing I want to thank Jim Saxton, chairman of the Oceans and Fisheries Subcommittee, for his leadership and hard work in getting this bill passed. It has been a hard up-hill fight for him. Although reauthorization of the CZMA now seems noncontroversial, the chairman had to fight against his own party's leadership which held up this legislation for over 1 year. In fact, one of the assumptions of the failed 1995 budget resolution was the termination of the entire Coastal Zone Management Program. So I think that any credit claimed by the Republican leadership for the passage of this bill belongs solely to Jim Saxton. H.R. 1965 is crucial to the environment and economies of all 35 coastal States. I urge its passage.