Harold Ford

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, with regard to rollcall vote 385 on the motion to go to conference on H.R. 1646, the State Department authorization, I missed that vote en route back to the Capitol. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay well-deserved tribute to Bishop Samuel and Mrs. Lee Ella Smith of Memphis, Tennessee for the example they continue to set as honorable citizens of the Ninth Congressional District of Tennessee and as devoted servants to God and their fellow man. As a bishop with the prolific, Memphis-based denomination, the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), Bishop Smith has rendered extensive efforts to strengthen and expand the work of this five million member denomination. His history of stewardship and sacrifice dates back to his youth and his service to the denomination's founder, Bishop Charles Harrison Mason. From then until now, Bishop Smith has been exemplary in leadership, integrity, and undying loyalty to God. He presently serves as Administrative Assistant to Jurisdictional Bishop, Dr. Jerry L. Maynard of Tennessee, and has worked untiringly with the Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, G.E. Patterson. Bishop Samuel Smith also serves as the pastor of one of Memphis' flagship and entrenched congregations, Southside Church of God in Christ. His influence as a pastor and spiritual leader has been a shining light which has illuminated the way for many young ministers who have furthered their service in gospel ministry. Humble in spirit and rich in faith, Mother Lee Smith has stood with her husband as a noble example of virtue. She is also one firmly committed to the principles of Christian faith with a record of service dating back to her teenage years. Her work with the Church of God in Christ encompasses her commitment in the field of education. Equipped with vast experiences in ministry and earned degrees in religious studies, Mrs. Smith served as Dean of C.H. Mason Bible College in addition to her other countless capacities within the church--locally, regionally, and nationally. She presently serves as the leader of one of COGIC's Department of Women in the State of Tennessee Today, I am happy to salute Bishop and Mrs. Smith as they celebrate 50 years of marriage, Bishop Smith's 75th birthday, Mrs. Smith's 70th birthday, and over 40 years of pastoral ministry. For their devotion to God and one another, and for the high marks they continue to attain, Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives would join with me in honoring Bishop and Mrs. Samuel Smith of Memphis, Tennessee.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the conference report on H.R. 3763. This agreement is a great victory for investors, and for our economy. Ofr course, it will take much more than legislation to restore the confidence in the markets that has been lost. But this bill puts in place a framework to restore confidence and ensure the integrity of the markets. I salute Chairman Oxley for his willingness to compromise on such important issues, and Ranking Member LaFalce for his steady leadership. this legislation will crown his legacy in Congress and on the financial services Committee. I am pleased that the conference report includes every substantive provision of the comprehensive reform bill written by Senator Sarbanes. These include: establishing a strong and independent oversight board for the accounting industry to enforce high standards for auditors of public companies; ensuring that the independence of public auditors isn't compromised by consulting fees from their clients; separating Wall Street research form investment banking--so that small investors have access to the same unbiased research as insiders; imposing tougher criminal penalties for corporate fraud--while at the same time establishing a victims' restitution fund to disgorge the ill-gotten gains of corporate executives. white-collar thieves should not be allowed to walk off with the money they have stolen from investors and employees; disclosing insider stock transactions in real-time; not days after the fact; and at long last providing the SEC with the resources it needs to do its job. It may not give Commissioner Pitt the raise or the new limousine he has asked for. But it will allow the SEC to upgrade its computer systems and hire new investigators. Mr. Speaker, more than half of all Americans are invest in the stock market. they have entrusted public companies with their retirement savings and their children's college funds. And too often, they have been betrayed by those in positions of leadership and responsibility. With this legislation, we cannot ensure the honesty and integrity of every individual, but we go a long way in strengthening the honesty and integrity of our system.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 225, H.R. Res. 96--Proposing a tax limitation amendment to the constitution of the United States, had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, there is nothing like bringing your colleagues together. I appreciate both the gentleman from California (Mr. Ose) and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) for yielding me this time, and I thank my friend, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), and certainly the ranking member, the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce), for all their hard work. I stand here in support of this legislation and thankful the subcommittee decided to take up the issue concerning the FDIC's treatment of loss reserves in its calculation of its reserve ratio, Mr. Speaker. With that issue resolved, I think many of us feel more comfortable in supporting this legislation. I want to take this opportunity to discuss one final issue, and I hope that at some point we can take this up. As enthusiastic as I am about supporting the legislation, I am disappointed in one decision the FDIC has made in recent weeks involving a proposed reorganization of the regional office structure. In particular, the FDIC has proposed to fold the Memphis regional office, which is in my district, and the Boston regional office, which is represented by many of my colleagues here in the Congress. The Memphis office would be folded into the Dallas region and Boston into New York. I believe this proposed change would lessen the FDIC's responsiveness to the concerns of financial institutions presently within the region of the country in which I live. Moreover, it would not save much money at all. I think it is estimated to save somewhere around $100,000 to $150,000, which is a decent chunk of change, but when you consider the relationship that has developed over the years between bankers in the Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee area, and then having to move that office to Dallas, I do not think the benefits outweigh the cost to those in this area of the country. It is my hope that my colleagues in the New England area, as well as in those 4 or 5 States covered in my region, can work together to persuade Chairman Powell and those in the FDIC that this is not the right move nor is it the right time to make this move. With that, Mr. Speaker, I again wish to thank both the gentleman from California (Mr. Ose) and the gentlemen from Alabama (Mr. Bachus), and would close by saying that I do think this increase of $130,000 is fair, though I hear some of the concerns being raised by the gentleman from California. And I might add, the University of Pennsylvania professor, I think I had him when I was there. He did not give me a good grade, so he may not be right all the time.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Madam Chairman, I rise in support of this Lantos amendment. Never before, at least in my short time, I am just 32 years old, Madam Chairman, has America's standing been more precarious than it is today. In a lot of ways our need and responsibility to lead has never been greater. I have listened to some of my colleagues, particularly my friend, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul), who raised some interesting points about national security and whether or not we should shoulder the President with this burden when, in fact, he has not asked for it. We in this Congress have a tendency of burdening different agencies and departments with things that they did not ask for. That should not be a reason to defeat this amendment. We have developed a reputation across the globe, whether we like it or not, and I see my friend, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson- Lee) and I was proud to join her and 7 other colleagues on a trip to Kurdistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan some several months ago. We have developed, I think wrongly, as a Nation that being a country that supports things that narrowly benefit us or that is convenient to us and withdrawing in times when it may be inconvenient in the smallest ways. The rules of globalization call that we be better citizens. Part of that citizenship, I believe, is supporting this amendment; and coming to understand that for Chairman Karzai, whom the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson) and the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Military Construction, Committee on Appropriations, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Olver), and the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen), and the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), and my friend, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney), and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Rogers), and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes). Part of what we learned on this trip from Chairman Karzai is that he cannot accomplish the many things we all heard the President speak so eloquently about back in January and have heard Defense Secretary Rumsfeld talk about at length every day in his news conferences. We cannot accomplish the kind of peace and stability and bring about conditions for progress until we create a very stable and secure environment, not only there in Kabul but outside of that area as well. We traveled there, as I said, and gained a greater appreciation for our men and women serving us there. For anyone who believes that young people are incapable of doing monumental things, I say one needs look no further than the U.S. military, and certainly the young men and women who are protecting and defending not only our interests but the free world's interests there in Baghram and all of our air bases in Manaos and certainly there at K-2. It is my hope that we in this Congress will have the courage to urge the President and the administration to do all that is laid out here in this Lantos amendment. I close on this note. We have made so many great strides in this country over the last several years in science and medicine and technology and we will continue to do those things. One of the challenges that my generation, I think, will have, Madam Chairman, is to figure out ways in which not only we use all of that technology and science and advancements here in America but around the globe, but also to figure out how we take the human spirit and try to transfer that as well. Because I think the way we are thought about in other parts of the world, particularly Central Asia, is unfair to all Americans, certainly to the good works of this Congress, this Senate and even this President is attempting and have been done in the past. There has been no greater citizen for freedom and no greater advocate for freedom and voice for freedom over the years than the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) whether it is the Middle East or Africa or other parts of the world. It is my hope that this amendment is passed and that this Congress will take a harder and more thoughtful look and have a kind ear when it comes to foreign aid and issues affecting foreign countries. Because if, indeed, we want to contain or limit terrorism, we must come to grips with the fact that winning the war in Afghanistan alone will not accomplish that. Until we are willing to reach out and educate and close some of the awful gaps that exists between men and women, some of the awful disparities that exist between the children of our country and children around the globe, we will continue to be bedeviled with the challenges we saw on September 11 and continue to hear the kinds of threats that even Director Mueller and General Ashcroft are issuing today. Madam Chairman, I urge support for the Lantos amendment.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, what we are trying to do here is a good thing, and we are all trying to build on the progress we in the Congress and certainly President Clinton made in reforming welfare. I think one of the things we believe the substitute will do is an improvement on what the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner) and some of my friends on the other side are attempting to do, is to allow for people to go to work and at the same time pursue some kind of job training. Many of us know we will vote on some kind of fast track or anticipate voting on it soon, and one of the things we are trying to do is ensure there is a reasonable component to help people get additional training for those who may experience dislocations. The same is true here, and that is why we think the substitute is better. Two, this is an enormous unfunded mandate, as many of us know, and our effort on this side is to try to alleviate some of that pressure on the States. I have been informed the State of Oklahoma, this would cost them $78 million. My home State of Tennessee, this will cost us an additional $100 million in funding when my State is facing a $400 million budget shortfall. This is not the way to go. One of the things in which we hope on this side is that people can find ways to create that long-term sufficiency. It is my hope that, although I do not have enough time to say it, that indeed my friends will support this substitute and urge my friend the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner) to go back and negotiate a bill that makes senses for all people, not just his party in their reelection efforts.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to legendary photojournalist Mr. Ernest C. Withers. Born in Memphis, TN in 1922, Mr. Withers is renowned for his distinguished photographic record of the Civil Rights Movement in the South during the 1950's and 1960's. No other photographer created as complete a document of this movement as Withers did. An important catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement, Withers helped to mobilize interest in the cause across the United States through his powerful images and writings. Withers often traveled with and photographed such legendary figures as Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, Ralph Abernathy, and James Meredith. His unflinching visual records of these important individuals and critical events like the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 and the assassination of King provide an insightful portrait of these landmark moments in American history. During the struggle for civil rights, Mr. Withers photographed meetings, marches, sit-ins, and police crackdowns all across the South. As the movement erupted, Withers became fully engaged in capturing images which would appear in newspapers and magazines like Time and Newsweek, often uncredited. He noted, ``I had a single sense of having to record what was going on. I look for things of time and value. None of my images deal in violence--they deal in time.'' Though he generally photographed without incident, at the funeral of Medgar Evers, highway patrolmen knocked his camera from his hands, destroying the film. Because of his familiarity with the people and the geography of the segregated South, Mr. Withers was often the first or only photographer to capture momentous events as they unfolded long before the national press became interested. Mr. Withers has photographed every major civil rights activist since the 1950's and said he could do an entire book of his photographs of Dr. King. The Massachusetts College of Art mounted an exhibition of Mr. Wither's civil rights photographs entitled ``Let Us March On'' that has toured the United States since 1992. He has photographed Memphis soul figures like Al Green, Isaac Hayes and Elvis Presley. He has photographed nearly every president from John F. Kennedy to Bill Clinton. He has also captured the innocence of Sunday school teachers, Little Leaguers, and waitresses in his photographs. Furthermore, Mr. Withers has served his country and his community as an Army photographer in World War II and as one of the first nine African American police officers in Memphis. Ernest Withers once said, ``I was trained as a high school student in history, but I didn't know I would be recording the high multitude of imagery and history that I did record.'' In 1998, Mr. Withers was inducted into the Black Press Hall of Fame. Please join me in honoring Mr. Withers as one of truly important and influential figures in our history.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Madam Speaker, on H.R. 2146, rollcall 64, I was on the floor but apparently missed the vote, the Two Strikes and You're Out Child Protection Act. I would have voted in favor of the legislation, had I not been in the cloakroom and slightly confused about the second vote being called. Stated against:

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. Chairman, we are addicted to this money, Democrats, Republicans, and I daresay the Independent, but I know the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) is not. We love the golf tournaments, the concerts, the traveling, all the wonderful things that this soft money allows us to do in this Congress. But let us be honest. Some on this side of the aisle have suggested, my dear friend the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) has suggested that this bill is an incumbent protection bill. Currently for those watching on C-SPAN and those in the gallery, 97 percent of us get reelected each time we run. So how much more of an incumbent protection bill will it actually be? Your argument would be strengthened if somehow or another you could prove that more money correlated to a bigger voter turnout. But what we have seen over the last three election cycles is that more people are turned off by all of this money, more people are turned off by all of this rhetoric than they are actually activated. This notion that somehow or another this soft money will activate grassroots organizations, the facts do not support it. Vote down this amendment. I say to my dear friend the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), I wish we could have had you when we were negotiating this soft money ban from early on. Vote ``no'' on Armey. Allow Shays-Meehan to pass. Announcement by the Chairman

Mr. FORD. Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. FORD. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin), my friend.

Mr. FORD. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Rivers).

Mr. FORD. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. FORD. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. FORD. Mr. Chairman, I know the gentleman made the point about the Democratic Party, but was not the gentleman quoted in the front page of one of our local newspapers here on the Hill urging us not to consider a telecom bill because it would hurt campaign contributions to the party?

Mr. FORD. Mr. Chairman, my dear friend, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg), there is probably little that can be done to satisfy his concerns, I would say to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays), because he was opposed to the bill before reading the excerpt from last night. I am reminded in some ways as I hear my colleagues of the recent Presidential race, when our current President, and congratulations again to him, would say to his opponent, Al Gore, that this guy will say anything to win. In a lot of ways, my friends on this side of the aisle are pulling any and everything out of their hat to try to confuse and distort Members on this side and their own to try to send this bill to conference. I would say to the gentleman from California (Mr. Doolittle), the same columnist you cite over and over again, Mr. Samuelson, he referred to the Republican tax package as deceptive also. Maybe he is wrong on both fronts. I say to my friend, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), and to my dear friend, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), and to my friend, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), all the amendments that are being offered, this is the same group that was opposed to campaign finance before we arrived here today. I close on this: the addiction to soft money, all of us will be okay without it. We can find ways to pay for our golf tournaments, to pay for our resort visits. We can find ways to pay for all of those things we pay for with soft money now. Vote for Shays-Meehan. Vote down these poisoned amendments.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, I have listened with great delight to my friend from New york and others who have expressed their opposition to this bill. It is almost as if my friend from New York would have us do more than what we are doing. I will be interested in hearing some of the debate tomorrow. Let me be clear. I support campaign finance reform, because I think when we have liberal Democrats and some conservative Republicans saying something is bad, it is probably a good thing. And we will hear a lot of that tomorrow, not just here in this Chamber but even outside this Chamber. Any time we can limit the money that companies like IBM and AFL-CIO chiefs and union bosses and Enron chiefs give to this process, it is a good thing for the political process. What is it that we are afraid of, actually having to campaign? What is it that we are afraid of, actually having to go home and ask voters to examine and analyze our records? I submit I am one Congressman not afraid to go home and ask the voters to analyze my record without the help of some of these huge corporate dollars, without the help of some of these union dollars. And I hope the majority of my colleagues will see fit to vote that way tomorrow.

Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, under the Ney bill, how much money could Ken Lay have contributed, the former chairman of Enron, to the NRC, the DNC, and all the other parties?

Mr. FORD. How much could you give to the national parties, I would ask my friend from New York? Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of one of music's greatest icons, Rufus Thomas, who passed away in Memphis, TN, on December 15, 2001, at the age of 84. As his family and friends mourn his passing, it is appropriate that we pay tribute to him and his legacy. Rufus Thomas was known as one of Memphis' most colorful, influential, and beloved entertainers during a career that spanned more than seventy years. As a pioneering disc jockey at WDIA, an accomplished recording artist, and a prolific performer throughout his long career, Mr. Thomas made invaluable contributions to Memphis' storied musical heritage. Rufus Thomas became widely known for songs such as ``Walking the Dog,'' ``Do the Funky Chicken,'' ``Can Your Monkey Do the Dog?,'' ``Push and Pull,'' ``Breakdown'' and ``Do the Funky Penguin.'' But Mr. Thomas's musical contributions went far beyond commercial success. A true musical pioneer, he opened the door for many young musicians and helped catapult African American music into the limelight as a cornerstone of popular culture and entertainment. Mr. Thomas helped found two historic recording studios, Stax Records and Sun Records, that helped launch the careers of many musical legends, including B. B. King, Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, and Elvis Presley. In recognition of his great contributions, Rufus Thomas was honored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, one of many accolades he received throughout his career. His songs have remained popular since their release and have been re-recorded by groups such as Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones. He was featured as a performer at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Yet, even with all of his successes, Rufus Thomas remained an integral part of the community--always accessible and willing to perform for his many devoted fans. Until he became ill in November of this year, he never spoke of retiring and referred to himself as the ``World's Oldest Teenager.'' He explained, ``I ain't old. You don't get old when you're doing what you love and enjoying every minute of it.'' Rufus Thomas made a life of doing what he loved and for that he was loved by all who knew him. A true symbol of undying youth and optimism, Mr. Thomas will be remembered for the kind heart and boundless energy that he displayed in all aspects of his life, and for the mark he left on musical history. Mr. Speaker, it is with profound reverence that we honor Rufus Thomas. He will be missed and remembered fondly by his family and friends, an entire community, and musicians and music lovers everywhere.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, regrettably, I was not present for the vote on final passage of H.R. 3529, the Economic Security and Worker Assistance Act, or the preceding motion to recommit. Had I been present, I would have voted ``Yea'' on rollcall vote number 508, the motion to recommit, and ``Nay'' on rollcall vote 509 final passage of H.R. 3529.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, once in a while on this floor, we have the privilege to leave politics behind and recognize the outstanding achievements of Americans. So today I would like to pay tribute to a group of young Americans-- very close to my heart--that have become ambassadors of the playground. In 1999, my friend Bryan Weaver founded a non-profit group named Hoops Sagrado. Hoops Sagrado is a cultural exchange program that is using the game of basketball to help bring a better life to two groups with seemingly little in common, young adults from the urban center that is Washington, DC, and young Mayans from the rural western highlands of Guatemala. Despite the difference in cultures, the group share a common passion: They both love playing basketball. Hoops Sagrado is named after a Native American belief that all races are connected through the sacred hoops of life, and must live in balance with one another to survive. These young men and women are doing their part to fulfill what Dr. Martin Luther King said was ``Life's most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?'' For the last two years I have had the great privilege of serving as an honorary chair of the Hoops Sagrado project, and was thus especially pleased to see that last week the Washington Post devoted a Metro Section series to Hoops Sagrado's mission in Guatemala. The series highlighted the hope that Hoops Sagrado brings to these young people from Guatemala and America, a disproportionate portion of whom are raised by single mothers, and touched by the scourge of violence. With great pride in the achievements of Hoops Sagrado, I urge all Americans to follow their example in touching young people, and review the Washington Post series published during the week of November 25, 2001 and describing how they overcame hardship to build bridges of friendship. Finally, I would like to thank them and their sponsors Ben Cohen, Phil and Jan Fenty of Fleetfeet, and The National Basketball Association for the important and honest work they did as ambassadors on behalf of this country. [From the Washington Post, Nov. 25, 2001] Ambassadors of the Playground By Sylvia Moreno Two vans stuffed with tall, gangly teenagers, oversize suitcases and boxes of basketballs wend sluggishly westward from the Guatemala City airport on a muggy summer night, the riders seeing this new world through the prism of the one they just left. ``This looks like Georgetown,'' says 17-year-old Max Costa as the van he rides in passes a few blocks of small shops and boutiques. Moments later, whoops and hollers greet the sight of a Wendy's, one of several fast-food restaurants on the outskirts of the capital. ``This looks like the Adams Morgan part of town,'' Max announces excitedly, as they pass strip malls punctuated with neon signs and billboards advertising a Burger King and a Domino's Pizza. ``That's straight, joe!'' They get to the ancient and picturesque city of Antigua close to midnight, and as they stroll the historical streets, their minds are fixed on things such as finding a burger or a hip-hop disco, They encounter neither. They are more than 3,000 miles from home--in body, perhaps, not in spirit. This trip is supposed to show them that there's so much beyond the `hood, but they're still looking for home. The ancient colonial arch in Antigua is compared to McDonald's. They it look at stunning examples of centuries- old Spanish architecture and Antonio ``Biggle'' Dupree, 18, asks: ``Is that a church? That's big, dog!'' His friends call him Biggle because he looks like one of their idols, the late rapper Notorious B.I.G.--except Biggle has a baby face and a soft voice. He walks through a small plaza lined by grand 16th-century ruins--convents and churches toppled in 1773 by an earthquake that forever changed the face of this former Central American capital. But looking at the massive stone walls with small, high-set windows, Biggie says, ``Imagine what it would be like to be in one of these Guatemala jails.'' A Grand Vision That night was the first in a three-week journey to the lush highlands of western Guatemala, a country of spectacular beauty and stark oppression, poverty and hunger. Group members came to play hoops, but they had been told they would do much, much more. These African American teenagers--nine from the District, two from Montgomery County--were to see some of the country's most cherished sites, take Spanish classes, conduct daily basketball clinics for Mayan children and repair basketball courts for a poor, mountainside school. They had come as representatives of Hoops Sagrado (Sacred Hoops), a fledgling nonprofit group whose leader hoped that such an experience would instill leadership skills and a sense of community service in disadvantaged youths through playing and coaching basketball. For the players, it was a free trip, a chance to get out of Washington, to see things, to enjoy themselves. Their leader had a grander mission in mind. Bryan Weaver founded Hoops Sagrado in 1996 after his first visit to Guatemala, when he was struck by the role that hardscrabble basketball courts played as social centers of indigenous Mayan villages. He returned in 1999, bringing one of the African American kids whom he coached in youth leagues in Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights. Last year, he brought three. He was convinced that African American and Mayan kids could learn valuable lessons from each other. They are unalike racially, culturally and linguistically, but they face the same problems of bigotry, street violence and relegation to the margins of their societies. Bryan expected members of his group to grow in self- confidence from coaching kids and to realize that they were not alone with their problems--that others might have even harder lives. And the Mayan youngsters, he figured, would benefit from the court moves his players could teach and be inspired to strive for more in their lives than a sixth-grade education and recycling the meager lives of their parents, grandparents and great-grand parents. To help the Mayan kids, Bryan also started a scholarship program to help keep girls in school past sixth grade, when free public education ends in most indigenous villages, unlike in the cities, which get enough resources to pay for public education through 12th grade. He figured that this--the third summer of the program-- would be pivotal. He had joined forces with directors of the Shiloh Development Community, a teenage mentoring project in Columbia Heights, and with the addition of the Shiloh group was bringing the largest number of players yet to Guatemala: 11. He had included two girls, hoping that they would serve as role models for the Mayan girls who also would turn out for the basketball clinics. There were preparatory meetings, with Bryan telling the players about Guatemala's indigenous Mayan community and urging them to heed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s challenge: ``The most urgent and pressing question in life is what are you doing for others.'' He was focused on lofty ideals and aspirations. But the players including one young man who, despite two previous trips with him to Guatemala, was still fighting the lure of the street--presented the kind of mundane and vexing problems that young people sometimes exhibit: Stubbornness. Laziness. Lack of common sense. Failure to think through the consequences of their actions. Anger. Indifference to other people and their problems. The oldest and the veteran of these trips was Sean Thomas, 23, who in his mid-teens was sent to a drug boot camp and was slowly realizing that he needed to break out of Adams Morgan to straighten out his life. He was flashy and street smart but erratic--Just like one of his favorite ballplayers, former Sacramento Kings point guard Jason Williams. Sean wore his Williams Jersey in Antigua and tried out the little Spanish he remembered from his two previous summers in Guatemala: Vamos, chicas. ``Let's go, girls.'' The first female Hoops Sagrado volunteer, 16-year-old Carrie Sartin--a tall, thin Sheryl Swoopes wannabe, walked the cobblestone roads of Antigua that first night, carrying ``T&. Whiskers,'' a black and white stuffed cat she had brought along. ``They have rocks as streets,'' she said later. The guys also included Clayton Mitchell, a brash 18-year- old, who walked through Antigua's empty and peaceful central plaza at midnight, pausing for a moment to advise the others: ``Enjoy the night. You can't do this in D.C.'' Dwayne Crossgill, 18, knew that. An all-around athlete, Dwayne ran track and played football and basketball. He longed for opportunities to get out of the District. He thought that there was more to life than the view from his second-story apartment in Columbia Heights, where he lives with his mother. There, drug dealers stand on stoops and push their wares. Dwayne had beard the occasional gunshot. He had attended more than one friend's funeral. ``Living in D.C., I realize there's lot of bad in the world, a lot of crimes,'' he said before he left for Guatemala. ``It's good to see the there's other ways of life.'' Bryan eventually found out--the hard way--that teenagers who don't know each other don't magically get along and that even the most well-meaning adult counselors can clash. He later realized that his charges were not as prepared as they should have been about the culture and mores of Guatemala, about how to talk, act and dress in a vastly different culture. And he also discovered how hard it can be to persuade a teenager that behavior or dress that is acceptable in Washington could easily be offensive or provocative in a Mayan village. But those lessons came later. Trying to Connect Bryan had brought with him the autobiography ``I, Rigoberta Menchu,'' and a few days after the group got to Guatemala, he asked Sean to read to the group a paragraph from Chapter 1, in hopes of setting the right tone for the trip. Menchu is a Mayan who grew up not far from where the Hoops Sagrado team was headed. During Guatemala's 37-year civil war, as she tells the story, members of her family were raped and killed, like hundreds of thousands of Mayan Indians. Menchu, living in exile in Mexico, won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her work in promoting social justice and human rights for Guatemala's indigenous people. The work has been criticized for exaggeration and misstatements, although it has also been widely praised as an accurate portrait of what it was like in Guatemala in those years. Menchu was Sean's age, 23, when she told the story of her life, a narrative that turned into the book. So Bryan hoped the words would resonate with him, as well as the others as they embarked upon their journey into the Mayan world: ``I'd like to stress it's not only my life. It's also the testimony of my people. It's hard for me to remember everything that's happened to me in my life since there have been many very bad times but, yes, moments of joy as well,'' Sean read haltingly. ``The important thing is that what has happened to me has happened to many other people, too: My story is the story of all poor Guatemalans. My personal experience is the reality of a whole people.'' So Different, So Similar But that first night, Menchu's world was far removed from these young people, armed with their headphones and gangsta rap and hip-hop CDs. Their T-shirts bore the slogans: ``Thug Life'' and ``Scarface,'' ``Kids and Guns Don't Mix'' and ``Sexy.'' And on their feet they wore the equivalent of what could pay for several school scholarships for Mayan children: silver Nike Solo Flights and black patent-toe Air Jordans; leather Reeboks and New Balance cross-trainers. What they did share with many Mayan children wasn't so obvious: broken homes, families wracked by alcohol or substance abuse, apathy and discrimination. Daily, the Hoops Sagrado team would travel a road up a mountain to get to the village of Xecam and the basketball clinics. It was a strain, up a steep and gutted road, marked by hairpin curves and treacherous cliffs. But the real effort, it turned out, would come from within. The road from Washington to Guatemala and back was marked by tears, turmoil, anger, doubt and misunderstanding. Dwayne's favorite T-shirt was imprinted with the words of a Swahili slogan that bore the prophecy for this group. ``Life has meaning only in the struggles,'' it read. ``Victory or defeat is in the hands of the gods. So let us celebrate the struggles.'' There were plenty of struggles ahead.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the conference report on H.R. 1. This bill represents a major step forward in education policy. For the first time, federal funding will be tied to results, to actual student achievement. The system of accountability and standards implemented by H.R. 1 is long past due. Results cannot be achieved without resources--for good reason, the consideration of H.R. 1 has been linked to substantial increases in appropriations. For decades, the federal government has made promises to local schools that we will provide them with the resources they need to raise student achievement. Now, we are imposing accountability measures requiring schools to perform. So it is absolutely crucial that the resources be there. And we are providing substantial increases for ESEA funding to school districts. That said, this legislation, by itself, cannot fulfill some of the claims that have been made. Calling it the ``No Child Left Behind Act'' exaggerates what we are doing here, and I fear it makes false promises to the children who will still be left behind. This week, this Congress passed up a historic opportunity to make good on a commitment we made to children with disabilities in 1975 with the passage of IDEA. With IDEA, the federal government promised to fund 40% of the costs to states of providing a quality education for children with special needs. But year after year, Congress has fallen well short of making good on that promise. This week, we fell short once again. We owe it to children with disabilities--and to all of our children--to come back here next year and ensure that IDEA is fully funded. Another shortcoming of this legislation is its silence on school construction and renovation. Millions of students, including thousands of children in my district, attend schools that are in desperate need of extensive repair or outright replacement. This problem has not gone away. Our children deserve safe, comfortable, modern schools. And while this bill dramatically raises authorization levels, it provides true funding increases only for fiscal year 2002. I recognize that compromises had to be made to gain the broad bipartisan support that this bill enjoys. But if we are serious about leaving no child behind, we have to continue our commitment to education funding next year, and every year. This conference report represents a large step forward for education. I commend Chairman Boehner, Ranking Member Miller, and the conferees for working hard over many months to produce this bipartisan legislation. We have lifted the hopes and brightened the futures of million of children. However, to close the achievement gap, to improve our schools, to give every American child the same opportunities to succeed in the 21st century workforce--our work is far from done.