Ernie Fletcher

Mr. FLETCHER

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, today we are addressing a growing problem that has stemmed from a cultural change that has robbed some of our youth of their moral pinnings. We have often failed to give our children the guidance necessary to understand the difference between right and wrong and the real-life consequences of violent behavior. While we can and should hold our youth more accountable for their behavior, I believe we should foster families, schools and communities that engender character. The recent rash of school violence stuns us all and raises the question, ``Where have we gone wrong?'' Noted criminologist James Q. Wilson says his studies have all led to the same conclusion: Crime begins when children are not given adequate moral training and when they do not develop internal restraints on impulsive behavior. Forensic psychologist Shawn Johnson says the killings reflect ``A deterioration of moral teaching'' and of the social structure that traditionally imparted that teaching. Chuck Colson said, ``We're experiencing the death of conscience in this generation of young Americans.'' There is no question that loving, caring parents are primary in building our children's character, but with latchkey kids, the prevalence of violence and obscenity in popular culture, and the deterioration of the family, teachers are assuming a role of growing importance. Children spend the majority of their day in the classroom, and too often many lessons taught fail to emphasize the importance of citizenship and respect in our shared community. The Founding Fathers believed that education serves a dual purpose, to prepare children academically as students and ethically as citizens. They acknowledge the importance of individuality without ignoring the fact that the freedom to exercise their rights as an individual is a privilege afforded to responsible members of a democratic society. Thomas Jefferson said, ``The government is best which governs least because its people discipline themselves.'' Personal liberties are the product of personal responsibility. In the event that individuals do not keep up their part of the social contract, we have the judicial system, which is rooted in a system of absolutes where people are deemed law-abiding or law-breaking. To some, the idea of moral absolutes is outdated, and some believe it is too controversial to teach. It is no wonder that we have seen an increase in juvenile crime, especially crime based on prejudice, hatred, and anger. Former Secretary of Education William Bennett had this to offer: ``We should not use the fact that there are indeed many difficult and controversial moral questions as an argument against basic instruction in this subject. We do not argue against teaching biology or chemistry because gene splicing and cloning are complex and controversial.'' Especially in light of the recent school tragedies, I believe that the time has come to emphasize character education in our schools. We need to encourage the work that is already being done in some States. For example, my own State, Kentucky, has developed a character education curriculum which is being used in many schools, and many school districts across the country are using the Character Counts program successfully. This grant from this amendment would be available for such programs. That is why I am offering an amendment to the Consequences of Juvenile Offenders Act of 1999 that will allow local education agencies to form partnerships designed to implement character education programs that reflect the values of parents, teachers, and local communities and incorporate elements of good character, including honesty, citizenship, courage, justice, respect, personal responsibility, and trustworthiness. Surely no one could oppose these. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella). (Mrs. MORELLA asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Portman). (Mr. PORTMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts).

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I really appreciate the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) and the others that have spoken in bipartisan support for this bill. I think it is just crucial as we look at what has happened recently with these tragedies in the schools that we have a national focus on character education. What this amendment does is provide for grants that can be used for character education curriculum and for other activities. For those students also that are identified as having problems, troubled students, that they can provide activities that build character for them, also. I think with this national attention, and let me make the point this is not a mandate and this is not a national curriculum. This gives the flexibility and the resources and the encouragement of local communities, schools, with parents and teachers and a partnership that they can implement character education, have the resources to implement that program to certainly encourage the character of our youths. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. FLETCHER

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to speak on a very important issue: health care. It is an issue that we will be discussing as we begin to look at the markup of some bills this week and I think it is very important as we address these bills that we do so and try to get the politics as much out of it as we possibly can. Mr. Speaker, when we talk to people across the United States, the number one problem that we have now is the number of uninsured: 43.4 million people are uninsured at this time. That number will rise to about 60 million over the next 10 or 15 years. So I think it is imperative, Mr. Speaker, that as we pass legislation, as we look at health care legislation, that we realize that the number one problem we have is the number of uninsured. That number of uninsured is driven by costs. That is a direct correlation as increasing costs of health insurance drives up the number of uninsured. Mr. Speaker, we could make sure that we pass some patient protection that does a whole lot of things, but if it raises the cost substantially we are going to have some of our people and some of our patients that are going to see the physician too late after the cancer has already spread. They are going to see the physician too late or go to the emergency room too late after the heart attack has already occurred when it could have been prevented. They are also going to go too late when the stroke has occurred when they could have had treatment for blood pressure. This is what is going to happen if we drive up the cost of insurance and we continue to drive up the cost of the number of the uninsured. Not only is cost a factor, but it is morally the right thing to do. We need to make sure that we try to cover more individuals in this country, that we provide more provisions to make sure that there is more health coverage and not less. A number two concern I hear from people and patients is the fact that they are concerned about making sure that they get the kind of treatment that they need, that they and their physician make that decision, and it is not insurance companies or lawyers or judges that are making the decisions, and to make sure that those decisions are made by providers. Another major concern is that they want to make sure that they can choose a physician that they trust, one that they have established a relationship with, that they have the kind of choice of choosing those physicians, and that is very important to them. This next week, Mr. Speaker, or this week, actually, we will begin to hear the debate on this bill that talks about external review, ensuring that there is a grievance process if care is denied, that they can go to objective, independent authorities in the area that they are concerned about to make sure that physicians make those decisions; that if they need emergency room care, they can be assured that if it is a layperson's definition of emergency, they can get that care paid for when they get there; making sure that there are no gag rules to prevent physicians from talking about all of the treatment options that are necessary; making sure that they have the kind of information so that they can have the benefit of informed choice so that they can compare one insurance plan with the next, making sure that they know exactly what the grievance processes are, all of the things that the insurance company covers. Another thing we are going to be looking at is associated health plans. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns) has introduced this, and this will allow for small companies, which about 60 percent of the small companies now are not able to afford, or very small companies are not able to provide insurance because of cost, the number one factor. Yet, this bill should hopefully reduce the cost to those companies by about 10 to 12 percent. For each 1 percent that we increase health care, we lose about 300,000 to 400,000 people off of health insurance, strictly because of the cost. Lastly, we are going to be looking at a commission that will establish some guidelines to help again to take the politics out of health care reform. We say when we get to do things, I get disappointed in many folks that try to come and demagogue on this issue and are not truly concerned about the patients that we are talking about. One of the things I would like to introduce and will introduce, and I hope that we are able to pass, is what is called a point of service. This is a provision where one can choose the physician that one has established a relationship with, and that trust, and I think it is very important that we do that. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak tonight, as we begin to debate this issue which is very important to the American people. I hope we can take the politics out and the demagoguery, making sure that we do not raise the cost of insurance, that we can have patients get the access to the care that they need, and not only that, but we allow them to choose the physician that they have trust in.

Mr. FLETCHER

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of this resolution. I thank the gentleman from California for the work he has done on the Committee on the Budget. I stand amazed that we hear such criticism from the other side when they have had 40 years previously to do this very thing that we have done here this day. And I find a great deal of hypocrisy when my colleague stands up and talks about a box that came from a Republican that really will not hold the money when we are here to secure with a lock box the Social Security money that has been paid in FICA taxes by the people of the United States. So finally, after 30 years of spending Social Security for more and bigger Government, we are locking away the Social Security and protecting both Social Security and Medicare. I am proud to play a role in securing and guaranteeing retirement and Medicare security for our seniors. The Social Security and Medicare lock box law will lock away $1.8 trillion of the budget surplus to pay down the national publicly held debt. I support this resolution because it really stops the raid on Social Security that puts the burdens of IOUs on our children's and our grandchildren's back. We need to stop that, and this is an important move to begin in that direction. This lock box provision prohibits the passage of future budgets that will raid Social Security and Medicare fund. It blocks the passage of legislation including spending initiatives or tax cuts that would spend the people's Social Security money. And it requires all budgets from the President and Congresses to include the Social Security surplus from budget totals and it unlocks the funds only for the purpose of Social Security and Medicare preservation legislation.

Mr. FLETCHER

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment and certainly congratulate the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi). I also rise to speak about this supplemental in general. Obviously, it is very important; and I do applaud the increase and support the humanitarian needs and the needs of those refugees; and I am glad to see that we are doing that. I am also very concerned because the supplemental should not be a partisan issue, as this humanitarian effort should not be a partisan issue, because it is about the well-being of our troops. It is about the security of our Nation. It is about looking at risks that we have across this world, including the conflict that we are currently in. As I looked at the papers this morning and saw a crash, an Apache helicopter crash, I thought of the two young soldiers that were killed there, their families. I was reminded of an era not too long ago when we tried to attempt to get some hostages out of Iran, when it was a similar time, when military funding was low, when spare parts were hard to come by, when cannibalization of other aircraft was taking place, when maintenance was a problem, morale was very low, and retention was a problem, and we had problems with readiness. We had problems implementing that rescue, and I believe it was because of the very conditions that we have that exist today. I do not know if the decreased funding that we have had for our military in the last few years resulted in that crash yesterday, but, believe me, do not underestimate how much military morale, maintenance and the experience of those that work directly on the aircraft, how much influence that has on our military readiness and the ability of our pilots and our troops over there to fly safe missions and accomplish what they are setting about to do. I also read in the paper, there was a Pentagon officer that said, I believe he said, that about 10 years ago this battalion of Apaches could have arrived to the station on Monday, flown reconnaissance missions on Tuesday and Wednesday, simulated attack runs on Thursday, live practice runs on Friday and been deployed on Saturday. They have been there for 20 days and still not ready, and they are asking for more train-up time. I have every bit of confidence in our troops, but I think as we reduce spending, as has been done over the last few years, or hold it straight, not provide the kind of funding, we reduce our troops' ability to act and to act rapidly as it is needed in this world and in this conflict. I think it is very important that we look at this again, that we do not underestimate the effect this supplement will have, the message it will give. As I remember my time in the service, I remembered when military spending was cut, when we were not getting the kind of maintenance, when retention was poor, of what effect it had on morale and our ability to get aircraft off the ground. So this is an emergency supplement, not just the direct that has been asked for by the President but also those to increase the pay, to give a message to our troops there that we are fully behind them. Believe me, I have had a lot of conflict personally over this in Kosova because I do not believe that it was prepared properly. I do not believe we had an entry strategy that we needed, an exit strategy, but now that we are there and we have seen the problems we need to make sure that we give the kind of support to make sure that we accomplish our goals in this conflict. We have troops all over the world. There have been 33 U.S. deployments across the world, and yet we have not adequately funded our troops. In the period of 40 years before that, there were only 10 deployments. We have 265,000 American troops in 135 countries. This administration's defense policy simply does not make sense: decreased funding and increased deployments. I believe it is easy to see the problems created by this lack of funding. The U.S. Air Force will be 700 pilots short for fiscal year 1999, 1,300 short by 2000. The Navy will be 18,000 soldiers and 1,400 recruits short in 1999. The Army will be 140 Apache pilots short for 1999. In the last 14 months there have been 55 Air Force crashes during noncombat situations. The USS Enterprise went to sea short 400 personnel. The Army's budget for new weapons is the lowest since 1959. Since the Gulf War, our military has shrunk by about 40 percent. Now recently and yesterday, we on the policy committee heard from former Secretary Caspar Weinberger. He spoke beyond politics about our threats, other threats, our military readiness; and he expressed concerns about what would happen if we do not immediately start rebuilding our forces. So I ask for support, and I thank the chairman for the supplement. In addition to the supplement for humanitarian needs, we need to support this amendment and this supplement in order to begin the necessary rebuilding.

Mr. FLETCHER

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Con. Res. 93.

Mr. FLETCHER

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 2 p.m. on Monday next.

Mr. FLETCHER

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns on Monday, May 3, 1999, it adjourn to meet at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 4, 1999, for morning hour debates.

Mr. FLETCHER

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the business in order under the Calendar Wednesday rule be dispensed with on Wednesday next.

Mr. FLETCHER

Mr. FLETCHER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 93) expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the social problem of child abuse and neglect and supporting efforts to enhance public awareness of this problem, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman). (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts).

Mr. FLETCHER. Madam Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. FLETCHER. Madam Speaker, I am here today to recognize the continued and very good efforts by the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce) who has offered this resolution, and I stand honored to speak on this very important resolution. This resolution calls for a greater commitment toward recognizing the problem of child abuse and neglect and encourages more to be done for its prevention. Specifically it promotes greater coordination between child protective services agencies, law enforcement agencies and the judicial system in working to prevent such abuse and neglect. Additionally, it commends the work of those who keep children safe, including those in the faith community, nonprofit organizations, State and local agencies and volunteer organizations. Madam Speaker, as you know, April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. The estimated number of children seriously injured by all forms of maltreatment quadrupled between 1986 and 1997. The estimated number of sexually abused children increased by 83 percent, the number of physically neglected children rose 102 percent, there was a 333 percent increase in the estimated number of emotionally neglected children, and the estimated number of physically abused children rose 42 percent. Now 500,000 American children are currently unable to live safely with their families and have been placed in foster homes and institutions. During Child Abuse Prevention Month, we should focus the Nation's attention on this national tragedy and demonstrate gratitude to the people in the United States who work to keep our children safe. Moreover, Congress should continue working to help State and local officials in their effort to prevent child abuse. With my personal experience I have witnessed this firsthand, and in my practice in caring for patients, I am thinking back of one patient in particular, one small child that we cared for at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. A child that was abused to the extent that they were comatose. I think, why should this happen in this great United States. I look at the impact that this has on the events that have occurred, and not only that, but we look at what has happened recently as to how much do we really care about our children. Certainly I am honored to speak on this, the resolution of the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Jones), and I certainly commend her on this. As we are addressing and focusing more attention on this issue, I hope that we can reduce the number of abused children in this tragedy in the United States and certainly continue to work. This concurrent resolution will express the growing problem of child abuse and neglect. It also focuses on enhancing public awareness. We believe that the faith community, nonprofit organizations, State and local officials involved in abuse and neglect, and volunteers across America must recommit themselves to ending this alarming trend. Federal dollars should be used in a constructive manner to maximize the prevention of child abuse in our local communities. It is time for this Nation to focus more attention and resources on the disturbing problem of child abuse. We need to encourage individuals to take actions in their communities to ensure a happy, healthy environment for our children. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce).

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay).

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson).

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Fossella).

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Ewing). (Mr. EWING asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes to close and say certainly it has been a great pleasure to work with the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) and the other sponsors of this resolution. Obviously, as this month is Child Abuse Prevention Month, we certainly are encouraged to see the increased effort that Congress will make, that we can make at this national level to work with local folks, work with law enforcement, with health care, with faith communities, as well as all parts of our local communities, to ensure that we provide a safer place for our children, that we continue to increase the awareness of this problem, that we can, as the future goes on, do a better job in making sure that our children are safe.