Martin Frost

Mr. FROST

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to honor 51 Texas patriots, members of the Texas Legislature currently in Ardmore, Oklahoma, who are standing tall to defend Texas against the thirst of additional power of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the House majority leader. Congressional district lines are normally drawn only every 10 years, and the current 32 Texas congressional districts were put in place just 2 years ago and approved by the U.S. Supreme Court. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) was not happy with those lines. He now wants to force the Texas Legislature to draw new lines to remove Democrats from office. Until now, redistricting in the middle of a decade has not been done anywhere in the country in the last 50 years. I want to salute the following heroes from the Dallas/Fort Worth area who are standing up to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay): Roberto Alonzo of Dallas, Yvonne Davis of Dallas, Dr. Jesse Jones of Dallas, Terri Hodge of Dallas, Steve Wolens of Dallas, and Lon Burnam of Fort Worth. I want to call on Governor Perry to stop using the Department of Public Service to harass the families of these brave legislators. Leading Texas newspapers across the State are siding with the 51 patriot legislators, and when the annals of Texas history are recorded, these courageous legislators will be long remembered.

Mr. FROST

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize and applaud the remarkable Dallas Junior Texans Wheelchair Basketball Team of Grand Prairie. This team has shown great strength and determination throughout the past season. Last year, the Dallas Junior Texans placed 9th overall in the Nation and finished the National Junior Wheelchair Basketball Tournament with a record of 3-1. This was truly an awesome accomplishment for the young players on the Dallas Junior Texans. The Dallas Junior Texans owe their success to their competitive spirit and remarkable sportsmanship. I applaud their skilled teamwork and hope that next year's season will bring them another national placement in the top ten. Mr. Speaker, the member of the Dallas Junior Texans Wheelchair Basketball Team know that playing their sport is about so much more than basketball--it's about teamwork, friendships, and determination. I know my colleagues will join me today to honor them for living up to the true spirit of sport.

Mr. FROST

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, we are prepared to close, but customarily we close by preceding the last speaker on the other side.

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards). (Mr. EDWARDS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining on each side?

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern).

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez).

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott).

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I would inquire of the other side how many speakers they have left.

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, the rule poses a serious threat to the American economy because it prevents the House from considering anything other than the same old failed Bush economics that have left America with the weakest economy in a generation. Now, when I am back in my district in Texas, I am often asked a question that is highly relevant to today's debate. That question is, ``Why does the Bush administration continue to insist on more tax breaks for the wealthiest few, while the country is running record deficits?'' So I want to take a few minutes to share with the House the explanation I give to my own constituents. It all began during the 2000 campaign for President. At the start of that campaign, the Republican candidate from my State of Texas, who now serves as President, made an almost unprecedented decision. He became one of the very few presidential candidates who have ever rejected Federal funding during the primaries. By rejecting Federal funds, of course, he freed himself from the State by State spending limits and, therefore, he was able to outspend his most serious Republican rival for the nomination at a critical point in the primary campaign. As a part of the decision to reject Federal funds, the Bush campaign established a special group called the ``Pioneers.'' Each Member of this small elite group agreed to raise at least $100,000 for the Bush campaign. I submit for the Record a list of more than 5 Bush campaign ``Pioneers'' as compiled by Texans for Public Justice. I also submit for the Record an article from the May 6, 2003, edition of the Washington Post. Its headline reads, `` `Pioneers paved Bush's way with big dollars.' '' [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH09MY03.001 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH09MY03.002 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH09MY03.003 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH09MY03.004 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH09MY03.005 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH09MY03.006 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH09MY03.007 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH09MY03.008 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH09MY03.009 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH09MY03.010 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH09MY03.011 Lawsuit Reveals 312 New Bush ``Pioneer'' Fundraisers Austin & Boston: Newly released Bush presidential campaign documents reveal 312 previously unknown members of Bush's record-breaking ``Pioneer'' fundraising network. Participants volunteered to help the campaign circumvent a $1,000 federal campaign contribution limit by pledging to bundle checks from family, friends and associates (most Pioneers pledged to raise at least $100,000). Combined with previous disclosures, the new data publicly identify 538 participants in the Pioneer program. Yet the new documents still do not reveal what each participant raised nor the total amount of Pioneer money raised. Indeed, there is some evidence that the campaign has yet to disclose everyone who answered the ``Pioneer'' call. The new disclosures come in response to a legal challenge to a provision of the McCain-Feingold 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act that doubled the limit on individual contributions to federal candidates to $2,000 and up to $12,000 in races involving a self-funded candidate. Represented by the National Voting Rights Institute (NVRI), the plaintiffs, known as ``the Adams plaintiffs,'' argued that the increased limits would open the floodgates to donations from the wealthy and make it impossible for candidates without large networks of maximum donors to run for office. The Pioneer program is a leading example of the way that wealthy interests are able to bundle together large contributions to influence elections. A federal court panel ruling on May 2 rejected the arguments made by the Adams plaintiffs. In response to a September 2002 subpoena from the plaintiffs requesting complete contribution data and other information on the Pioneer program, representatives of the campaign claimed to possess only limited information. For example, Bush attorneys claimed that they could not locate an accounting of the total amount of money raised by each Pioneer fundraiser. Bush lawyers provided only limited financial data on just 212 of the 538 disclosed Pioneer fundraisers. The total amount attributed to these 212 fundraisers through some unknown data in the campaign is $24.9 million, far short of the $60 million to $80 million that observers suspect that the program raised. ``It's time to end the secrecy over who bankrolled the Bush campaign,'' said Craig McDonald, an expert witness for the plaintiffs and director of Texans for Public Justice, a research organization that has tracked Bush's fundraising since his gubernatorial days. ``It just isn't believable that the President's campaign lost most of a $60 million fundraising list. Has anyone checked Donald Evans' laptop?'' ``These documents reveal the disproportionate power gained by those who can bundle huge sums of hard money for political campaigns,'' said NVRI Executive Director John C. Bonifaz. ``With the hard money increases in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, elite donors such as the Bush Pioneers will achieve a stranglehold over the electoral process and ordinary voters will be locked out. This offends the basic constitutional promise of political equality for all.'' The newly released information and an accompanying Texans for Public Justice (TPJ) analysis reveals the identities of previously unknown Pioneer fundraisers. Key facts about the newly released Pioneer volunteers include: The campaign credited each of 21 super Pioneers (or partnerships in which two or three participants shared one Pioneer tracking number) with raising more than $200,000 through some unknown data in the campaign. Topping the list are business partners William DeWitt and Mercer Reynolds, whom the new records reveal supported Bush to an extent rivaled perhaps only by Enron. Sharing the same Pioneer tracking number, these two Men--who bailed out Bush's hemorrhaging Bush Oil Co., in 1984 and invested in the Texas Rangers venture that made Bush a millionaire 15 times over-- delivered a minimum of $605,082. The largest known single individual Pioneer was Michigan real estate magnate Ronald Weiser, who was credited with delivering at least $588,309. At least 49 of the newly identified fundraisers are Lawyers & Lobbyists Randy DeLay, brother of House Majority Whip Tom DeLay. At least 44 of the just-disclosed fundraisers come from the Energy and Natural Resources industry, including former Dynergy CEO Chuck Watson and former El Paso Energy CEO William Wise, whose companies were battered by Enronesque allegations of accounting fraud and ``round-trip trading.'' The oil company of Pioneer Ray Hunt has teamed up with Halliburton to build a gas pipeline through a fragile Peruvian rain forest that is home to remote indigenous tribes. Former Enron chief Ken Lay was credited with raising at least $112,050. Two-thirds of the new fundraisers (201) come from Bush's home state of Texas, followed by 18 from California and 16 from Washington, D.C. Critics have long contended that Bush's Pioneer disclosures were incomplete--if not selective. Bush campaign officials told the media that almost 400 individuals already had taken the Pioneer pledge by July 1999. An April 2000 article reported that the campaign had revealed just one-third of the names that appeared on campaign Pioneer lists obtained by The Nation. In fact, six of the eleven Pioneers that The Nation reported by name did not appear in the newly released documents (all of these happen to be current or former corporate lobbyists). Prior to the latest disclosure, the Bush campaign had revealed just 226 Pioneers whom it said had raised at least $100,000 each. Materials related to the new Pioneer disclosures made available at the TPJ web site include: 1. Previously sealed depositions of Bush for President Committee Finance Director Jack Oliver; 2. A sample of the more than 300 Pioneer tracking forms produced by the campaign; 3. A campaign spreadsheet tracking 505 Pioneer program participants (including limited contribution data on 212 of them); 4. A TPJ-compiled list of all 538 known Pioneer program participants; and 5. A preliminary TPJ analysis of the newly revealed Pioneer participants.

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. FROST asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks, and include extraneous material.)

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Turner).

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel). (Mr. ENGEL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt), the ranking member on the Committee on the Budget. (Mr. SPRATT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey). (Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, because this rule is so patently unfair, I urge every Member of this House, even those who do not care about the integrity of the institution itself, to vote against the previous question. If the previous question is defeated, I will offer an amendment to the rule. My amendment will allow the House to consider the Rangel substitute, the Rebuilding America Through Jobs Democratic substitute which was voted down in the Committee on Rules last night by a straight party- line vote. The Democratic plan provides immediate job-boosting help to the economy. It provides fair tax relief by giving working families a break. It does not pander to the wealthiest of the wealthy. It provides a desperately needed extension of unemployment assistance to the millions of people without jobs under George W. Bush. It stimulates the economy by giving tax incentives to all businesses, especially small businesses and U.S. manufacturing. Let me make it very clear that a ``no'' vote on the previous question will not stop consideration of Republican Pioneers Tax Relief Act. A ``no'' vote will simply allow the House to consider the Democratic Jobs and Growth Plan; but a ``yes'' vote on the previous question will prevent the House from taking up this responsible alternative. Make no mistake, this vote is the only opportunity the House will have to consider the Rangel substitute. I urge a ``no'' vote on the previous question. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent the text of the amendment be printed in the Record immediately before the vote on the previous question.

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), the ranking member of the Committee on Ways and Means. (Mr. RANGEL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings).

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished Democratic whip.

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Capuano).

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. FROST

Mr. FROST. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I am here today to express my support for House Resolution 161 honoring Peter Yarrow's Operation Respect and ``Don't Laugh at Me'' programs. These important programs are designed to promote compassion and tolerance among children in after-school programs and summer camps. I first met Peter Yarrow some years ago and became better acquainted with him when I served as co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force on Youth Violence. And during the last Congress, when I was Chair of the Democratic Caucus, I arranged for Peter to appear before our caucus and make a presentation about his program, and it was an extraordinary presentation. One of the things our task force heard from youth violence experts was the extremely harmful effect of bullying and ridiculing among young people. The goals of these important programs are aimed at making sure the tragedies of Columbine never occur again. They seek to build an environment of respect so that our children will grow to be kind to others and foster positive social relationships throughout their lives. Several years ago, I witnessed firsthand the positive impact this program can have. Peter Yarrow held a concert as a part of the ``Don't Laugh at Me'' summer program, a program that served more than 2 million campers that summer. As part of the event, children came up on the stage to call for greater compassion and respect and to declare their commitment to ending bullying and ridiculing. It was a powerful display, and I am so glad this resolution is on the floor today. I commend the ``Don't Laugh at Me'' and Operation Respect programs. They are truly unique, and they make a difference by encouraging greater tolerance among classmates while making the classroom environment more conducive to learning and improving academic performance. That is why I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this resolution. Let us honor a truly great program and the men and women who work so hard to make a positive impact on our children's lives.

Mr. FROST

Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Teri Jackson of Grand Prairie. Teri has exemplified the finest qualities of leadership and service and today I wish to honor her for her 17 year commitment to the City Council and the citizens of Grand Prairie. A life long resident of Grand Prairie, Teri began her service on the City Council in the mid-1980s. She has guided the city through some very important milestones, including negotiations for a Class I horse racetrack, Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie. During these negotiations she was able to secure property for the Grand Prairie Tourism Information Center. The center was able to realize a prime location much sooner than anticipated thanks to the donated property and funds saved. A Council Member since 1986, Teri has also served as Mayor Pro Tern from 1994-1995, Secretary on the Grand Prairie Sports Facilities Development Corporation since 1993, and as Finance and Government Committee Chairwoman since 1990. In addition she has also held advisory positions on the Regional Transportation Council, EMS task forces, and Compensation Negotiations Committee. Mrs. Jackson is a graduate from the Prestigious Leadership Texas program for outstanding women in leadership roles. On a national level, she has served on the National League of Cities policy steering committee. During her years of service to the city of Grand Prairie, Teri has been recognized with numerous awards. She earned the 1994 Athena Award and 1995 Chairman of the Board Award from the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce and the 1996 Woman of Distinction from Soroptomist International. On three different occasions she has received the MAP Award for outstanding performance from her employer. Mr. Speaker, Teri Jackson exemplifies the qualities of dedication and service as both an employee public servant and citizen of Grand Prairie, Texas. I know my colleagues will join me today to honor her.