Bob Filner

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Spratt] for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the so-called Budget Enforcement Act. H.R. 2003 will lead to permanent reductions in veterans' benefits. Although its supporters describe this bill as a neutral and benign enforcement mechanism, in reality it would decimate the benefit programs our grateful Nation has provided for America's heroes, our veterans. If this bill passes, education benefits for veterans would be cut. More than 345,000 men and women who served in our Nation's Armed Forces would be affected. Compensation provided for the men and women disabled as a result of their military service would be permanently reduced. More than 2.5 million veterans and their widows would be affected. The safety net we provide for our aging war veterans would be torn. More than 700,000 old and sick wartime veterans would be affected. Let us not support a bill that would endanger the benefits earned by America's veterans. Let us tell our veterans that we support them. Vote ``no'' on H.R. 2003.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate an unhappy anniversary--the Turkish military invasion of the Republic of Cyprus in July 1974. Mr. Speaker, it has been twenty three years--the occupation remains in place and the suffering of the people of Cyprus continues. When the Turkish armed forces invaded Cyprus twenty three years ago, the people of Cyprus were driven from their homes and villages, brutalized, and over 1,600 people--including 5 American citizens--were never heard from again. Since that time, the Turkish military has maintained a barbed wire border, with an occupying force of 35,000 troops, called the green line that cuts through miles of countryside. Mr. Speaker, Greek-Americans in my home town of San Diego and across the United States also share in the agony created by the occupation of Cyprus. They agonize about missing friends and family, the destruction of the Greek-Cypriot culture and the denial of access to ancestral homelands now occupied by the Turkish army. These people have suffered too long. It is time for the Turkish occupying force to leave and it is time to allow the people of Cyprus to establish a true and united democracy. The momentum for a real solution to this tragic situation is developing. Negotiations between the parties are proceeding and President Clinton recently appointed Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke as his Special Emissary for Cyprus. I agree with him that the time for a peaceful solution to this problem is long overdue. We must work to put an end to this occupation and I urge the parties to continue their talks until a peaceful settlement is agreed to. The time for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus is now and the need is urgent. The green line that separates the people of Cyprus must be erased forever.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, along with the vast majority of Americans, I strongly support the Social Security program and believe that we have a responsibility to make it financially secure for generations to come. When I am in my congressional district, I see this highly successful program at work. More than 63,000 residents of my district receive a Social Security benefit every month. Social Security provides a guaranteed benefit to 99 percent of retirees in the United States. Social Security provides a secure base for senior citizens and allows their children to concentrate more financial resources on their own families. However, we all realize that Social Security has a financing problem that we must address. The sooner we resolve it, the less drastic the solutions and the greater the lead time for people to adjust for their own retirement. I do want to point out, however, that we have time to discuss and decide on wise and prudent adjustments. In 1983, the Social Security trust fund would have been insolvent in 2 months if Congress had not acted. Today, we have 30 years to avoid a similar situation. Radically altering the system is not warranted--the projected shortfall in the trust fund can be fixed with relatively minor changes to the system. Privatization and gambling with retirement income is not the answer. The Social Security Administration has been aware of the problem posed by the retirement of the baby boom generation for decades. Social Security has faced challenges in the past and can face this challenge of the future without dismantling the entire system. As we search for solutions to Social Security's long-term problems, we should think about the features of the program that work. Foremost among them is the availability of benefits to all workers who earned them, regardless of income. Therefore, I agree with the Social Security Advisory Council that we should reject means testing. Tying benefits to need sends the wrong message to workers and beneficiaries--a signal that if they save for retirement, their Social Security, to which they are currently contributing, could be reduced or lost. In addition, the program's progressive benefit formula already differentiates between those who are more highly compensated and those who are not. Lower wage workers currently receive a greater return on their payroll taxes than average and high earners. This practice works, but additional tilting away from those who earn more could punish productivity and create the impression that Social Security is somehow a welfare program. Nothing could be further from the truth. On the other hand, privatization would tilt the Social Security program far away from lower wage workers, by introducing a huge element of uncertainty into the economy and into a retirees' monthly income. Therefore, we must reject this change. Social Security currently is the secure portion of a retirement portfolio. An individual's savings and investments now are the risk-taking segment. Privatizing makes Social Security and an individual's retirement income subject to the whims of the stock market and the skills, or lack thereof, of a person's financial advisor. In short, gambling with our seniors' future livelihoods is unacceptable. With privatization, we would be placing all of our retirement eggs in one unstable basket--risking scrambling all of our retirement plans. Proponents of privatization suggest that it will promote national savings, but shifting payroll taxes from the Social Security trust funds into individual accounts does not increase the national savings by one penny. Misinformation regarding Social Security has been spread by powerful groups determined to turn the entire fate of America's retirees over to Wall Street. In contrast, making reasonable modifications to restore Social Security's long-term imbalance is a more sound and prudent course. Let me repeat--we have time to fix the problems. Social Security has stood the test of time and has proven to be a fair and successful program. We do not need to rush into unknown waters with privatization and other radical proposals. Our seniors and future seniors deserve to have this body take a moderate and deliberative approach to altering a program that has served so many so well.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for having this special order for a very special person. That picture looks at us, and we know his warmth and his friendship and his charisma and his concern for so many people, and it just beams out from that picture, and we thank you for that. As you said, I serve on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and although I greatly enjoy the challenges and responsibilities and even the frustrations involved with being a Member of Congress, my service on that committee is a source of particular satisfaction to me. Veterans are special and unique members of our American family, and it has been a great honor to work on their behalf. Additionally, my service on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs has given me the opportunity to meet and work with many remarkable people, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Honorable Jesse Brown, is one of the most extraordinary. Adlai Stevenson once said that patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. By this or any other definition Jesse Brown has lived the life of a patriot. As a young man Jesse enlisted in the Marine Corps and was among the first American forces to be sent to Vietnam. In 1965 he was ambushed in a rice paddy outside Da Nang. In his letter of resignation to the President, Jesse described this life-altering event. As he said in 1965, in one short moment, my life was changed by a shot I never heard. Subsequently, as we have heard already, Jesse went to work for the Disabled American Veterans and began his career as a passionate advocate for veterans. As he told the President over the succeeding 32 years, I have been driven by an obsession to make sure that veterans, whose lives have also been changed, are not disadvantaged by having honorably served in the military. That was Jesse Brown. As Secretary, he demonstrated the same courage he showed as a marine in Vietnam. He spoke out on behalf of fellow veterans with a directness and honesty that was criticized by some, but deeply appreciated by every veteran in this Nation. He never faltered in his personal commitment, and never lost sight of his duty as Secretary to ensure our country never faltered in its commitment to our veterans. I was honored to have Secretary Brown visit my district on several occasions. He spoke with veterans, he spoke to veterans, and they recognized him as one of their own. These veterans left those meetings more optimistic because they had met Jesse Brown. I took him to high schools where he met our young people. They saw a man, a black man, a black man with a paralyzed arm, who sat in the Cabinet of the President of the United States, and I think those youngsters will have a better chance to succeed because they met Jesse Brown. I took him to churches, and he could preach. He could preach. He was a different man in the church, and I know that my constituents who heard him were spiritually enriched because they met Jesse Brown. He was an extraordinary man. I am proud to call him my friend, and like all of my colleagues tonight, we will miss him as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. I thank the gentlewoman for being so involved in this.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. Sanders], and I thank him for his amendment. My colleagues, recently this House approved a balanced budget deal. That budget was and is a bad deal for the residents of my town of San Diego and a bad deal for America. Yes, we balance the budget, but we balance the budget on the backs of our Nation's veterans, our children, our elderly, and our working families. That deal put a deep freeze on funding for our Nation's veterans and cut real dollars from our Department of Veterans Affairs. It cut pensions for the neediest of veterans, froze funding for the veterans hospitals for the next 5 years, and permanently cut compensation for service connected disabled veterans. Mr. Chairman, what happened to the promise that America made with our Nation's veterans? That promise was forgotten in the budget deal, and that budget deal compromises those promises to the past but ignores also our commitments to the future. It underfunds the Nation's infrastructure needs by billions of dollars and dramatically cuts investments in our Nation's future workers. Head Start, summer jobs, education funding, which serve to give all children an opportunity for a brighter future, are cut in this budget deal, and it makes the transition from welfare to work more difficult by eliminating jobs for job training and child care and housing. Half of the Nation's 10 million uninsured children remain uninsured in that budget, while lavish tax cuts are doled out to those making $500,000 a year. Medicaid is cut $13 billion. Medicaid is cut $115 billion. Americans deserve a better deal, a real balanced budget through kept promises, shared sacrifices and necessary investments in the future. We should support the Sanders amendment so we Americans can get a better budget deal. I thank the gentleman for his amendment.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I come before my colleagues in a 1-minute because at this very minute in Los Angeles, 40 Filipino Americans who are veterans of World War II are conducting a sit-in. They have chained themselves to the statue of Douglas MacArthur. Several have said they will not eat until this Congress passes the Filipino Veterans Equity Act. This act is designed to restore justice after more than 50 years of an injustice to the Filipinos who fought so valiantly in World War II. They were promised full benefits as veterans. They were denied that by the Congress of 1946. Let us support those Filipino Americans who are chained in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. Let this Congress vote to restore justice to those brave veterans of World War II. Let us take up and pass Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 1997.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I rise to honor National City's Retired Senior Volunteer Program and the spirit of community involvement that has brought this and other citizen-run programs into focus as some of the most effective crime fighting tools. I am particularly impressed by the cooperation in National City, CA, between the chamber of commerce, the crime prevention commission, city leaders, and the police department in making this program a reality. All across this Nation, citizens are participating in Retired Senior Volunteer Programs (RSVP) and the first--and still greatly effective citizen crime-fighting program--Neighborhood Watch. These dedicated citizens deserve to receive credit for their work. With my Taking Back Our Neighborhoods Crime Fighting Act, citizens who pitch in with their time would be rewarded. The act would give a $50 tax credit to people actively involved in Neighborhood Watch groups and other organizations--such as RSVP--that are committed to the reduction of local crime. Officials throughout the Nation agree that Neighborhood Watch and citizen programs need to be encouraged. My bill is backed by over two hundred police chiefs, sheriffs, district attorneys, community groups, and elected officials--including mayors of cities big and small--from across the country who supported this bill in the last Congress. I am proposing this tax credit because citizen crime-fighting programs work. They are the most effective crime reduction tools in our communities. Throughout the country, Neighborhood Watch groups have made people feel safer and more secure in their homes, parks, and streets. Neighborhood Watch and citizen patrols establish relationships among neighbors--and establish partnerships between neighborhoods and their police officers. Citizens are trained how to watch out for their families and monitor their neighborhoods, how to be observant and reliable witnesses, and how to assist their local police. National City's Retired Senior Patrol officers will provide many of the routine non-life-threatening tasks that police officers perform and free up officers for work that requires sworn police officers. The National City RSVP'ers will perform vacation house checks, traffic control, conduct safety surveys for residents and businesses and will check on seniors living alone. Because of their presence in the community, residents will get to know them and their link to the police department. When neighbors see something suspicious--they'll know who to call. Similar efforts have been successful. During the last 3 years, San Diego--with its RSVP, Citizens Patrol and Neighborhood Watch--has seen an overall reduction of 36 percent in the crime rate, and a 44- to 48- percent decrease in robberies, homicides and burglaries. Most importantly, those of us who participated were empowered--we felt stronger, we fostered a sense of community, and we saw that we could make a difference in people's lives. But we still have a long way to go to feel safe in our homes and our neighborhoods. Encouraging people to participate in citizen crime- fighting programs will help us protect our families. Giving people in citizen crime fighting groups a $50 tax break will support the RSVP and the many residents already involved in crime prevention programs, while encouraging more community participation. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend National City and all of its residents involved in setting up the Retired Senior Volunteer Program. And I ask my colleagues to back up the citizens in their community--like I have the National City RSVP and others like them--and support this important piece of legislation, H.R. 1529. Working together--and only by working together--can we truly reclaim our streets.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I think it is appropriate following the gentleman from Arizona's remarks on the anniversary of the Normandy invasion that we talk about our veterans in their current situation. On the first day of the 105th Congress I introduced legislation to terminate the confusing system that discriminates against surviving military spouses when they reach age 62. H.R. 165, the Military Survivors Equity Act, would simply eliminate the callous and absurd reduction in benefits that now burdens our military widows. Instead, they would get what they and their deceased spouses thought they would get: fifty-five percent of retired military pay. To put it simply, no offset. When I introduced that legislation and talked to my colleagues about it several months ago, I received letters from all over the country supporting this position, widows who described for me the situations that they were in. Let me read, Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, several of the letters that I received: Dear Representative Filner: I hear from my friends that you have presented in Congress a bill concerning our Survivor Benefit Plan, SBP. Thank you very much. I have been a widow since November 1, 1973. My husband retired from the U.S. Air Force after 20 years, 6 months and 4 days of active duty in 1964. He died on November 1st, 1973. The Social Security offset has been hard to take since my income is only $1,300 a month. I am now 75 years of age and I really could use the money that is rightfully mine. I have raised two sons alone on this small income, and I must watch every penny I spend. My sons were 14 and 11 years of age when their father died. Thank you for helping me in this matter. Another letter from a different part of the country: Dear Congressman Filner: I was reading in the Army Echo that you are working on a bill to repeal the SBP Social Security offset that occurs at age 62. I just want to tell you briefly what happened to me. My husband, who served in the Army for 20 years, was on Social Security disability because of heart problems and could no longer work. He died in July of 1995. I was then 61 years old. I received Social Security plus my SBP. With both of these incomes, I was doing just fine, paying my monthly bills and having enough left for groceries. Then a few months later I turned 62 and was notified that my SBP was reduced from $476 to $302. What a shock. That meant I had $174 a month less. I knew right then I could not make it. This was my grocery money they took away from me. I really don't know what they thought when they made this law. I just hope and pray that some day our people in Congress could look that law over again and make a change. I just want to say it is a shame and disgrace the way we get treated. After all, our husbands worked hard for their country and don't deserve this kind of treatment. Another letter: Dear Congressman Filner: Of all the literature on Social Security offset, there is no mention of 35 percent of retirement pay ever made. My husband thought I would be getting at least half of his retired pay, should he pass away before I did. He believed that he had conscientiously and diligently provided insurance for me. I belief it will take about 10 years just to recoup the monies he paid into the fund, if I should live that long, and with the current offset it could take even longer. My husband paid into Social Security and into the Survivor Benefit Plan. These two funds should be separate and treated as such. I know that surviving spouses are financially suffering. I believe it to be a slap in the face to the deceased service members who gave so much in the service of their country. It was also a slap in the face to the surviving spouse, who more often than not served the same amount of years as his or her spouse. Imagine this scenario: November 1, you received a total of $882 in the form of a retirement check from the U.S. Government. December 1, your spouse passed away. January 1, you receive a check in the amount of $295. This decrease negatively affects the quality of life of the surviving spouse. I hope and pray that you and Members of Congress will try to put themselves in the shoes of that widow or widower who is always trying to make ends meet with less. Just lastly today, Mr. Speaker, another letter from outside my district, as I tried to present this bill to the Nation: I realize I forfeited my pension to be with my husband. We married to be together, not in separate States or countries. We felt the military took care of its own. We paid for several years for a pension which will now be cut when I reach age 62. I really do feel this is unfair. Mr. Speaker, I hope that this Congress will look at H.R. 165, the Military Survivors Equity Act, and finally provide some equity to the surviving spouses of our veterans who we remember today on the anniversary of the Normandy invasion.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his kindness. He knows I rise in opposition to this budget resolution. The remarks from the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Neumann] about how well we are doing economically and what path we are on, I wish someone from that side had said such kind words back in 1993 when we passed the legislation that led us onto that path. Yes, there are some good things in this budget deal, but this budget is a bad deal for the residents of my city of San Diego, and it is a bad deal for America. Yes, it is a balanced budget, but it is balanced on the backs of our Nation's veterans, children, the elderly, and working families. It is a bad deal that puts a deep freeze on funding for our Nation's veterans, and I speak here as a member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. It cuts real dollars from the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Mr. Speaker, if this is such a good deal, why are so many veterans organizations opposed to it: Paralyzed Veterans of American, AmVets, Blinded Veterans Association, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Vets of America? These organizations know that this deal reneges on the promise America has made to our veterans. It cuts pensions for the neediest of veterans, freezes funding for veterans hospitals for the next 5 years and permanently cuts compensation for service-connected disabled veterans. What happened to the promise that America made with our Nation's veterans? That promise has been forgotten in this deal. The budget agreement compromises these promises to the past, it ignores our commitments to the future. It underfunds the Nation's infrastructure needs by billions of dollars and dramatically cuts investments in our Nation's future workers. Head Start, summer jobs, and education funding overall are cut while billions of dollars in corporate welfare are kept safe and sound. It makes the transition from welfare to work more difficult, and half of the Nation's 10 million uninsured children remain uninsured in this budget while lavish tax cuts are doled out to those making over a half million a year. Americans deserve a better deal, a real balanced budget through kept promises, shared sacrifices, and necessary investments in the future. Today's budget resolution fails that test.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I rise to give voice to the views of Sheila LeCompte's fifth and sixth grade students at Clear View Charter School in Chula Vista, CA, who have argued forcefully for a national holiday to honor 1 of 10 women whom they believe are worthy of this recognition. One of the students, Diana Camacho, has it right when she says: ``Not one woman has been celebrated with a holiday, even when they have accomplished just as much as the men. Considering that now we are all treated equal, I believe famous women who changed the world need credit.'' Diana suggests that Marie Curie should be honored with a holiday: ``She changed the world dramatically through her medical discoveries. She was the first person to win two Nobel prizes.'' The 11- to 12-year-old children's nominations for a national holiday run from the well-known to more obscure, but nevertheless very deserving, women. Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was picked by Taylor Barnes and Paul Hernandez. Ernest Joseph Z. Castillo nominated Susan B. Anthony who fought for woman's right to vote. Brian P. Trick suggests that the ``mother of modern computers,'' Grace Hopper, be nominated. He feels strongly about a honor: ``Women are important in making our society a better place for many generations to come. . . She was the one that said that computers could understand English and worked to prove it. Because of her work, we are able to have personal computers and other tools without special training.'' Jean-Marc Apalategui and Alen Cabandong nominate 19th Century suffragist, anti-slavery activist, and former slave Sojourner Truth for a national holiday. Christopher Del Rio would like Harriet Tubman's birthday to be declared a national holiday. He called her the ``mother of the civil rights movement.'' Singer Ella Fitzgerald gets Reuben Felizardo's vote, and Juliette Lowe, the founder of the Girl Scouts of America, is Andy Castiglione's nomination. Aviator Amelia Earhart was the pick of Kevin Han and Jennifer Olsen. These women are all worthy role models and national heroes. I agree with these students. A national holiday for one of this Nation's outstanding women will motivate girls and young women. They can stand on the shoulders of these great women. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, listen again to Diana Camacho's convincing reasons to honor Madam Curie--her choice for a national holiday: ``When I read about her, I got inspired to do better in everything I do. So with a holiday, just think of the influence it could have on young girls who learned about her! If we did this, it would change the way people look at women, because it would send the message that women can do great things just like men can--and be noticed. It would change the world just like Marie Curie did.'' It's time for a national holiday to honor one of our women of achievement.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of Georgia in defense of our Nation's sacred houses of worship to reintroduce the Church Insurance Protection Act [CIPA]. In the 104th Congress, the gentlelady from Georgia, Ms. McKinney and I first introduced this legislation, H.R. 3830, to prohibit insurance companies from canceling, over-pricing, or refusing to renew fire insurance policies for any house of worship. We introduced this legislation in the spirit of H.R. 3525, the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996, which passed the House of Representatives in a rare unanimous vote. It was our obligation to deter the flames of bigotry and ignorance which set these churches ablaze, and the House's efforts served to deter the epidemic assault on our Nation's houses of worship. However, while the embers of the destroyed churches were still smoldering, certain unscrupulous insurers were threatening to cancel or not renew the fire insurance policies of some churches simply because of the perceived ``increased risk'' of arson. One year later little has changed, and our churches continue to face the real threat of losing their fire insurance policies. While we must continue our efforts to prevent future arson fires and to rebuild the churches destroyed by the fires, we must also be certain to protect their ability to insure themselves against this violence in the future. We cannot allow the insurer's fear of a claim to remove a congregation's ability to adequately protect its house of worship and support buildings. Our churches must be held harmless and not subject to punitive measures from the insurance companies. By prohibiting policy cancellations, the Church Insurance Protection Act will extinguish the final smoldering ember that continues to threaten our churches long after the fires were put out. We are currently joined in our efforts by 18 of our colleagues and we are confident that this number will grow as more become familiar with the continued need for this important legislation. We urge our colleagues to act promptly to bring this important legislation to the full House for consideration. America's houses of prayer are sacred places, and they deserve this protection.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, and colleagues, I rise today to commemorate Asian-Pacific Heritage Month by speaking of a group of true heroes of World War II--the Filipino World War II veterans. Upon arrival in Congress, I soon learned about the plight of the Filipino World War II veterans--many of whom have died and others who are now in the twilight of their years. I learned that these soldiers were drafted to serve in our Armed Forces by an executive order of President Roosevelt. I learned that they defended the American flag in the now-famous battles of Bataan and Corregidor. I learned that thousands of Filipino prisoners of war died during the Bataan death march and while imprisoned under inhuman conditions. I learned that their actions foiled plans for a quick takeover of the region and allowed the United States the time needed to prepare forces for victory in the Pacific. Then I learned, unbelievably, that soon after the war was over, Congress voted to take away the benefits and recognition that these Filipino veterans were promised, in the Rescissions Act of 1946. Filipino World War II veterans and their families have been waiting for over 50 years for the justice, recognition, and benefits that they so richly deserve. I am proud that the President and Congress took the first step last year to restore their dignity by resolving to recognize these brave veterans for their contributions to the successful outcome of the war. Now it is time to complete the job. Last year, over 100 Members of this body signed on as cosponsors to the Filipino Veterans Equity Act. This year, I have joined with Congressman Ben Gilman to reintroduce this legislation (H.R. 836)--and we believe it is time to hold hearings on the issue of equity for Filipino World War II veterans. What better way to celebrate Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month than to take action on behalf of the Filipino World War II veterans, many of whom have become citizens of the United States. What better way than to finally correct a monumental injustice and to restore the benefits promised to the Filipino World War II veterans for their defense of democratic ideals. Words to commemorate Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month are fine, but action is better. Join with me in demanding justice and equity for Filipino World War II veterans.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute one of my constituents, Sergio Espinoza, the first San Diegan to win the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, and also to pay tribute to the U.S. Institute of Amateur Athletics, the organization that provided Sergio with the training that led him to his victory. Boxing for the U.S. Institute of Amateur Athletics, Sergio was crowned 106-pound National Golden Gloves Champion on May 3, 1997. This tournament has a distinguished history that spans 70 years of pugilistic excellence. Sergio is an intense young man from my congressional district, who began boxing 4 years ago. In his short career, he won a national tournament for 17 to 19-year-old boxers, and reached the quarterfinals in the World Junior Championship in Cuba. He has served notice to the world that he will be a force in the next Olympics. I am proud to have the U.S. Institute of Amateur Athletics located in my own 50th Congressional District. The USIAA has succeeded in both training and educating student athletes. Under the guidance of its executive director, Mr. Robert C. Coons, and a very dedicated board of directors, the USIAA has become a permanent fixture in amateur athletics in San Diego. The success of Sergio Espinoza and many other young people from USIAA who have represented our city, depend on a community that is willing to share its time, its talent, and its financial resources. In that sense, all of my constituents in the 50th Congressional District share in his victory. Sergio and the USIAA serve as role models for our community--they are true champions and heroes. The citizens of San Diego will honor the remarkable achievement of Sergio Espinoza in a homecoming celebration to be held May 29, 1997, at High Park Church in San Diego. Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join with me in saluting this fine young man, his family, friends, and the organization that he has represented so well in competition, the USIAA.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Shuster substitute. Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the people of California's 50th Congressional District, I rise today in strong support of the Shuster- Oberstar-Petri-Rahall Amendment. This Amendment is important to the American economy and is critical to the economic development of my own congressional district. My constituents sent me to Congress to represent them and their interests and to be fair and honest in doing so. Although their many priorities are as varied and diverse as the communities I represent, their concerns can best be summarized in three words: jobs, jobs, jobs. Jobs so they can support themselves and their families. Jobs so they can raise and educate their children. Jobs so they can contribute to our community. Jobs so they can enjoy their recreation. Jobs so they can provide for their retirement. This Amendment address their concerns in a fair and honest manner and creates these much needed jobs. Contrary to all the hype and hysteria, this amendment is not a budget-buster--in fact it honors the commitment to a balanced budget. And while I typically would oppose the across the board cuts this amendment proposes, I believe the increased investment in our infrastructure would more than offset the impact of these modest cuts. America's investment in its transportation infrastructure has created the strongest economy in the history of the world. It invigorates the economy, creates new jobs and raises revenues. Investment in transportation today creates jobs today--and tomorrow. The Shuster-Oberstar Amendment provides us with the perfect opportunity to again demonstrate this investment policy on a national scale. We cannot let this opportunity pass. Mr. Chairman, I will vote for my constituents' interests tonight and vote for the Shuster-Oberstar-Petri-Rahall Jobs Amendment, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same. Remember, it's about jobs, jobs, jobs.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I am especially honored by his support of this legislation. His stature as a former chief patrol agent in El Paso is recognized around the Nation. The gentleman knows the problems, he has been effective in dealing with them, and I again appreciate joining with him in this legislation. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, in the spirit of National Police Week, I rise to honor 43 courageous U.S. Customs and Immigration and Naturalization Service inspectors who were killed in the line of duty, and honoring at the same time the inspectors who currently perform the same dangerous work the others died doing. The most recent of these brave officers to fall are Customs Inspectors James Buczel and Timothy Cal McCaghren, and INS inspectors Reynaldo DeLaGarza and Tammy Aamodt. The inspectors' names are engraved in the wall of the National Law Enforcement Memorial here in Washington, DC. Yes, I said the National Law Enforcement Memorial. Yet, as my colleague stated, while they lived and while they did their job, they were not considered law enforcement officers. Only when they died did they get that honor. My bill, H.R. 1215, will finally grant the same status to U.S. INS and Customs inspectors as all other Federal law enforcement officers and firefighters. These inspectors are the country's first line of defense against terrorism and the smuggling of drugs through our borders and our large international airports. My district is home to the busiest port of entry in the world: 200,000 people a day cross the border in San Ysidro, San Diego. The inspectors face daily dangerous felons and disarm people carrying every weapon imaginable. Shootouts with drug smugglers happen all too frequently. Because of the current lopsided law, INS and Customs lose vigorous, trained professionals to other law enforcement agencies and also lose millions of dollars in training and revenues that experienced inspectors help generate. It is time we value our INS inspectors and Customs inspectors, both living and dead. I urge the support of H.R. 1215 to correct the unequal treatment of these Federal law enforcement officers. Mr. Speaker, I yield back to my colleague, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Reyes], who knows all too well the valor of these fine Federal employees.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, while on official business I was unable to be present for two rollcall votes on May 7, 1997. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows: Rollcall No. 109--``no''; rollcall No. 108--``yes.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, while on official business I was unable to be present for two rollcall votes on May 7, 1997. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows: Rollcall No. 109--``yes;'' rollcall No. 108--``no.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, today I introduced a bill which I call Taking Back Our Neighborhoods Crime Fighting Act. This is to bolster our Nation's crime-fighting efforts and to encourage citizens to get involved in crime prevention. The only way that we can, in fact, lower our crime rates dramatically, citizens involvement. I am joined by the cochairman and 6 members of the Law Enforcement Caucus. More importantly, this legislation is backed by over 200 police chiefs, sheriffs, district attorneys, community groups and elected officials, including mayors of cities big and small, from across the country who supported this bill in the last Congress. The Taking Back Our Neighborhoods Crime Fighting Act would give a $50 tax credit to people actively involved in Neighborhood Watch groups and other organizations committed to the reduction of local crime, active involvement in Neighborhood Watch groups. I am proposing this tax credit because Neighborhood Watch works. It is the most effective crime reduction program available to our communities. Throughout the country, Neighborhood Watch groups have made people feel safer and more secure in their home, parks and streets. It works because Neighborhood Watch establishes relationships amongst neighbors and it established partnerships between neighborhoods and their police officers. Citizens are trained how to watch out for their families, monitor their neighborhoods, how to be observant and reliable witnesses, and how to assist their local police. Some 64 police chiefs, 12 sheriffs, 17 district attorneys, and 55 mayors around the country firmly believe in Neighborhood Watch and have endorsed the idea of encouraging participation through tax credits. The mayor of Pittsburgh, PA, Mayor Tom Murphy, said, ``One of the ways the City of Pittsburgh encourages community involvement in public safety is through its 300-plus Neighborhood Watch Block Clubs. Linking a Federal tax credit to a citizen's twice-a-year attendance at these anti-crime meetings in which our community-oriented police officers participate will dramatically strengthen this program.'' Over the past decade in my Congressional district in San Diego, CA, we pioneered and refined the practice of community-oriented policing and we have seen the difference it makes. I served on the San Diego City Council for 5 years before I came to the Congress, and I worked hand-in-hand with residents to attack crime. We helped establish Neighborhood Watch groups block by block. We went on walking patrols through the streets and created support networks amongst neighbors. We established what we call drug-free zones to keep dealers away from our schools. And we organized a graffiti patrol to clean up our neighborhoods and restore pride in our community. Most importantly, we worked directly with local police to create innovative crime-fighting strategies. Teams of police officers walked our streets, our schools and our neighborhoods. They got to know the neighborhoods they protected and the people in them. They talked to residents, and residents knew exactly who to call if they saw someone in trouble. They knew the names of the officers. They had their beeper numbers. They had their confidence. And we brought crime rate down. Efforts all over the country like this have been successful. During the last 3 years in San Diego, we have seen an overall reduction of 36 percent in the crime rate and almost 50 percent decrease in robberies, homicides and burglaries. Most importantly, those who are involved in Neighborhood Watch, my constituents who work with the local police, feel stronger, they feel empowered, they feel less alienated, they feel a sense of community, and they knew that a difference had been made in their own neighborhoods. But we still have a long way to go to feel safe in our homes and our streets. Encouraging people in Neighborhood Watch group participation will help us protect our families. San Diego's chief of police, Jerry Sanders, said the success of community policing depends on Neighborhood Watch. As he wrote, ``Voluntary citizen participation in neighborhood meetings is paramount to successfully battling crime. Adoption of a tax credit would greatly enhance our efforts,'' he concluded. Neighborhood Watch groups have proven to be an effective and economical approach to providing a better and more secure society for ourselves and our children. Giving people in Neighborhood Watch groups a $50 tax break will support the many citizens already involved in crime prevention and encourage more community participation. I ask my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation. Working together, and only by working together, in participation with our local police, we can truly reclaim our streets.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I want to focus my colleagues' attention this evening on the plight of the Kurds, an ancient people living in the Middle East in a land that should be a nation called Kurdistan, a proud people numbering some 30 million, perhaps the largest people in the world today lacking in the exercise of their right to self- determination. The Kurds have resided in their present homelands for thousands of years. Kurdish Guti kings ruled Persia and Mesopotamia over 4,000 years ago. Before that, the Neolithic revolution probably first took place in Kurdistan, around 7000 B.C., 3,500 years before similar developments in Europe. Some of the earliest towns and villages, as well as other human settlements, have been discovered in Kurdistan. Yet, one of the largest nations in the Middle East is prevented from exercising sovereignty over any part of its own land. It is an international colony, governed over by the states of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. The Kurdish people suffer from ghastly atrocities committed by all four regimes. Over one half of Kurdistan and nearly two-thirds of the Kurdish population are under Turkish control, an occupation legitimized in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which reneged on a promise to Kurds and Armenians in the earlier 1920 Treaty of Sevres. That promise envisioned the creation of a Kurdish state on Kurdish territory in the aftermath of World War I. The Lausanne Treaty legitimized the Turkish massacres against the Armenians which had already taken place and set the stage for a stepped-up campaign of genocide against the Kurds in subsequent years. Turkish states have been responsible for a long string of ethnic cleansings ever since. Historian James Tashjian has estimated that over 2\1/2\ million people perished in a 100-year period between 1822 and 1922. Among them were Greeks, Nestorians, Maronites, Syrians, Bulgarians, Yezidis, Jacobites, and Armenians. He acknowledged that these figures did not include over 500,000 Kurds murdered, deported, or displaced in the same period. Between 1925 and 1938, an additional 1 million Kurds were reported slaughtered. Almost the entire Armenian population under Turkish control had previously been exterminated, over 1\1/2\ million people. Today, Turkish Special Komandos actually collect rewards for the severed heads of Kurdish guerrillas and others, casually referring to their victims as Armenians, leaving no doubt as to what is in store for the Kurds and their national aspirations. ``Special action teams,'' as they are called, color their faces green and white. The paint, as well as 80 percent of Turkey's military hardware and equipment, is furnished by the United States, much of it at the taxpayer's expense. Today, seven Kurdish members of parliament are in prison in Turkey. Most prominent among them is Leyla Zana, the recipient of the Sakharov Freedom Award. Andrei Sakharov came to the defense of the Kurds in 1989, when he declared, and I quote, ``The tragic struggle of the Kurdish people, which has continued for so long, originates in the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination, and for this reason, it is a just struggle.'' Human Rights Watch, Helsinki Watch, Amnesty International and a variety of other human rights groups have devoted much attention to Turkish depredations against the Kurds in recent years. They note that over 20,000 people have been killed since 1984, over 3,000 villages destroyed with rampant torture, murder, displacement and imprisonment directed at the Kurdish population. The repression by the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq has been more widely publicized. Over 200,000 Kurds were killed in the wake of the Iran-Iraq war, and over 4,000 Kurdish villages have been destroyed over the past three decades by Iraqi forces. Three tons of documents and other materials related to the post-Iran-Iraq war ``Anfal'' campaign are stored away by the U.S. Government. I call upon the State Department to release them for general inspection by interested parties. I believe they would confirm the crimes against humanity carried out by the Iraqi regime in Kurdistan. It is imperative that we affirm a human rights linkage with any foreign aid given by the United States and to oppose the furnishing of lethal equipment to those who would use it for repressive purposes. Never again should United States-made chemical weapons be used against the Kurds or against anybody else, as they were at the ancient Kurdish city of Halabia, where over 5,000 Kurdish civilians, mostly women and children, were gassed to death in March 1988. It is time, Mr. Speaker, to reverse our longstanding policy and recognize the existence of Kurdistan and the rights of its citizens to exercise the prerogatives and liberties which every people without exception should and must enjoy. We should use our influence to help resolve the Kurds' internal conflict and support their unity in the effort to achieve their inalienable right to self-determination. We must stop looking at whole nations in terms of the profitability of oil companies and as assets to be deployed in big power maneuvering. We must ban the export of chemical weapons. Both Iraq and Turkey have used lethal weapons against the Kurds which were furnished by the United States. Cluster bombs are continuing to be sold to Turkey and continuing to be used in bombing runs against Kurdish villages and areas. Iran also continues to oppress the Kurds in its territory. The Shah's father, a Fascist sympathizer who was removed from his throne by the Allies in 1941, oversaw what was called the ``sedentarization'' policies which resulted in the disappearance of many Kurdish and other tribes. Khomeini's regime went after the Kurds almost immediately upon assuming power over Iran in 1979. Leaders of the major Kurdish party resisting Iranian domination have been repeatedly assassinated by agents of the government, often in European settings. The Kurdish plight at the hands of Iran has received surprisingly little notice in America, given our oft-stated concerns over the human rights violations of that regime. We must stop viewing freedom for the Kurds as being some kind of threat to stability and instead welcome such freedom. As was stated by Michael van Walt van Praag, an adviser to the Dalai Lama of Tibet, and again I quote, ``The potential for explosive disintegration lurks in all states where the people are prohibited from exercising their right to self-determination. We must move away from our misguided view of stability premised on immediate short-term economic and political considerations to a long-term perspective which will ensure the peaceful coexistence of all peoples. Universal recognition is the cornerstone and, indeed, the sine qua non of a truly peaceful and stable world.'' According to Justice William O. Douglas, who visited the Kurds nearly 50 years ago, ``The Kurds have a saying: The world is a rose; smell it and pass it to your friends.'' The source of such resources as water, oil, gas and agricultural wealth, Kurdistan has much to share with neighboring peoples in the world, once the pall of oppression has been lifted and they can manage their own affairs and control their own resources and their own destiny. President John F. Kennedy was right when he said that ``There can be no doubt that if all nations refrain from interfering in the self- determination of others, the peace would be much more assured.'' And Dwight D. Eisenhower underscored the point when he declared that ``Any nation's right to a form of government and an economic system of its own choosing is inalienable. Any nation's attempt to dictate to other nations their form of government is indefensible.'' We must apply these principles to our dealings with the Kurds and their aspirations. United States military aid to Turkey should be halted pending a review of Turkish policies toward Kurdistan. Kurdish initiatives for peaceful resolution of conflicts related to the occupation of Kurdistan should be supported. Above all, we must recognize the Kurds as a people with the right to self-determination, a right held sacred by liberty-loving Americans, a right that should be enjoyed by all people in the world. Mr. Speaker, I hope to speak about this at a later time.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I want to tell all my colleagues a brief story that we here in Congress have helped write with the passage of what we called the Welfare Reform bill last year. Members of this body have written a story with a tragic ending, but it is not too late to change it. This is the story of Marta Molina and her 24 classmates at the San Diego Center for the Blind. All are long-time legal residents of this Nation whose supplemental security income will end in a few months unless there is legislative relief or they are naturalized as citizens. Marta, who is 44 years old, is the mother of two grown children she raised by herself following a divorce 10 years ago. She and others in her English and life skills class began studying for the citizenship test well before welfare reform was enacted. After evaluating Marta's degenerative blindness, cataracts and cataract surgery, her physician asked the INS to give Marta extra study time. Because of the rigid mandates of welfare reform, she has no more time. Marta's situation is serious, but the predicament of some of her other classmates is even worse. They are on dialysis and they can possibly die if their Medicare ends. The INS, which should not be in the position of correcting welfare reform's cruel and arbitrary cutoff of legal immigrants' benefits, including the blind, frail, and elderly, was asked to ease the naturalization process for some of these immigrants, but the INS's new rules will not help these blind students. The rules, which do exempt disabled immigrants from the English and civics test, provide no relief for the blind, according to the INS authorities, because their vision impairment does not prevent them from studying and taking a test. These inflexible rules do not take into account that a disability like blindness makes it very difficult to master English and civics under a strict time limit. These students of the San Diego Center for the Blind say they are terrified, living in fear of these inflexible policies that even do not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. They say people are called at INS offices by a number flashing on a screen which they cannot see, and that test preparation material is not available in Braille or on tape. This situation demands our immediate intervention. When this body passed welfare reform last year, I am sure those who voted for it did not intend to jeopardize the lives and peace of mind of thousands of long-time legal residents with disabilities. But now that the law's unintended consequences have been brought to our attention in story after story, we must correct these wrongs. We must act to exempt the blind, frail, and elderly legal residents from the unintended effects of welfare reform, and we must give these residents the amount of time necessary to take the naturalization test. It goes without saying that our own INS office employees should be sensitive to and comply with the dictates of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Mr. Speaker, it is up to us to act now. We must write a new ending, one that averts senseless and most certainly lethal suffering.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I rise today to pay tribute to a great educator and community leader--Florence Johnson--who passed away last week in San Diego, CA. Florence Johnson was the founding principal of the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, a public magnet school in my hometown of San Diego. I worked closely with her during my time as member and president of the San Diego School Board. Known for her dedication to her school and students, Mrs. Johnson led the school to become one of the most popular and innovative in San Diego, with a waiting list of over 4,000 students--more than twice its enrollment. Florence Johnson attended San Diego public schools as a child and obtained her Bachelors and Masters degrees from San Diego State University. She went on to develop a career dedicated to, as she put it, ``the education of the whole child.'' She put this philosophy into practice with her school's innovative curriculum featuring a special emphasis on the arts. From the school's inception in 1978, thousands of students have passed through its gates. Florence Johnson looked at every one of those students with hope and used her skills as an educator to ensure that each student had the opportunity to succeed. She never gave up on a single student and told them, ``I'm not going to let you fail.'' Florence Johnson actively shared her talents with others throughout her career. She established Project CHOICE, a career education program, and helped introduce it throughout the State of California. She was the author of many educational resource materials. She also worked to ensure that our next generation of teachers shared her dedication to their students, in the teacher education program at Point Loma Nazarene College. Mrs. Johnson volunteered for the San Diego County Adoption Agency. She also taught piano, directed the choir at her church, and was a member of the Rhythm Aire Players, a local theater group. We are all saddened by her passing and will remember her as a skilled educator and advocate for her students. My thoughts and prayers go out to her husband, Jim, and her family and friends. Having dedicated a successful career to helping and inspiring others, Florence Johnson is an inspiration to our entire community.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the work of the officers and inspectors of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and the U.S. Customs Service and ask that they be accorded full Federal law enforcement status as outlined in H.R. 1215, which I recently introduced. My bill will finally grant the same status to U.S. INS and Customs inspectors as all other Federal law enforcement officers and firefighters. It is in the public's interest to end the unfair, unsafe and expensive practice of excluding the inspectors from the law enforcement category. Because of the current lopsided law, INS and Customs lose vigorous, trained professionals to other law enforcement agencies. These agencies also lose millions of dollars in training costs and revenues that experienced inspectors help to generate. Customs and Immigration inspectors are law enforcement officers. They carry firearms and are the country's first line of defense against terrorism and the smuggling of drugs at our borders. In my district, 200,000 people a day cross through the San Ysidro port of entry, making it the busiest port of entry and border crossing in the world. These inspectors face dangerous felons daily and disarm people carrying sawed-off shotguns, switch blade knives, and handguns. They have been run over by cars and have had shoot-outs with drug smugglers. Just last week in Calexico, Customs inspectors Robert Labrada, Jr. and Nicholas Lira were shot by a man that they escorted to an inspection area reserved for those suspected of carrying illegal weapons or drugs. Before they had a chance to search him, the man pulled out a semiautomatic handgun and shot one inspector in the face and the other in the chest. The inspectors fired back to protect themselves. Both inspectors are now recovering from surgery, but they are lucky. Other Customs and INS inspectors have been killed in the line of duty, and their names are listed on the wall of the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. The shoot-out at Calexico last Friday is not an isolated incident. The callous, single-minded ruthlessness of drug smugglers put Customs and Immigration inspectors' lives at risk every single day. One INS inspector at the San Ysidro port, Paul Cannon, has had to draw his service revolver four times in the last four years. In a recent case a criminal was trying to break through the inspection gates. Even at gunpoint, it took four inspectors to disarm and subdue him. Yet the Federal Government does not classify these employees as law enforcement officers. United States Immigration and Customs inspectors daily put their lives on the line. It is time that we value those lives. I urge support of H.R. 1215 to correct the unequal treatment of these Federal law enforcement officers.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Jef Eatchel, secretary-treasurer of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union [HERE] Local 30, as he is honored by the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO, for his leadership and contributions to the labor movement and to the San Diego community as a whole. Under his leadership, Local 30 has grown to become a powerful union and has been a catalyst in San Diego for organized labor's renewed commitment to organizing. HERE has been at the forefront of focusing both employers and elected officials on the improvement of the lives of working people in San Diego County. Jef has been active in the labor movement for almost two decades. He has dedicated himself to improving the wages, benefits, working conditions, and quality of life for union and nonunion workers in the hotel and restaurant industry. Jef serves as a trustee of the HERE international union pension and trust fund, is first vice president of the Culinary Alliance, and has served as a trustee for the International Foundation of Employee Benefits for the last 5 years. I have known Jef for many years, and I can attest to his dedication and commitment to the causes for which he labors. He is highly deserving of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO Leadership Award.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me, and the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from Arizona [Mr. Stump] for his leadership, and the chairman of the subcommittee, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Stearns] for helping bring this to the floor. Mr. Speaker, I, too, support H.R. 1092. As we have heard from the chairman, it will expand the ability of the Veterans Administration to enter into what is called enhanced-use leases. These leases, with both private and public entities, require that underused VA property be improved to contribute to the VA mission. The leases that have been established in the past under this authority have, without any exception, helped the VA to better serve our Nation's veterans. So not only are we leasing for revenue, but we are improving the ability of the VA to serve our veterans in the future. I am looking forward to an expansion of this important and very successful program. As the ranking member, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Evans] said, H.R. 1092 would rename the Court of Veterans Appeals as the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The committee has been told by veterans and attorneys representing them that the court, an independent judicial body, is frequently confused with the Board of Veterans Appeals, which is an administrative arm of the VA. We expect this name change to eliminate the widespread confusion. This renaming would also be consistent with recent changes in the names of other courts. Last, Mr. Speaker, the National Cemetery System would be redesignated as the National Cemetery Administration under this legislation. The cemetery system would thus have the same organizational status within the VA as the other VA major components responsible for delivering benefits; that is, the Veterans Benefit Administration and the Veterans Health Administration. The bill would also redesignate the director of the National Cemetery System as the assistant secretary for memorial affairs, thus assuring that this position has the status which reflects its responsibilities. There is a provision also in H.R. 1092 that would protect our veterans by putting into law the increase in veterans compensation benefits that took effect December 1, 1996. H.R. 1092 is supported by the entire Committee on Veterans Affairs, under the leadership of the gentleman from Arizona [Mr. Stump], as well as the major veterans service organizations. I, too, urge my colleagues to approve this measure.