Virgil Goode

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the students and teachers of Martinsville Middle School in Martinsville, Virginia, for their participation and achievement in the inaugural Virginia State competition for Project Citizen, which was held on May 15 in the Virginia General Assembly Building. I include for the Record a statement of the accomplishments of the students and their teachers, Mr. Speaker. The statement referred to is as follows: Project Citizen--We the People May 15 the inaugural Virginia state competition for Project Citizen was held in the Virginia General Assembly building. This competition is a civics education program for students in grades 6-9. This program promotes competent and responsible participation in government by engaging students in learning how to monitor and influence public policy. As a class project, students work together to identify and study a public policy issue, then try to develop a solution to an issue, and form an action plan to ``solve'' the problem. The final product is a portfolio displaying their work. This year there were seven portfolios on exhibit for judging at the state competition. After the judging was complete, Martinsville Middle School students in Mrs. Linda Cox, Mr. Richard Tobler, Mrs. Carolyn Turner and Mrs. Betsy Ivey's classes won first, second and third places in the competition. The winning portfolio entitled ``Homeless'' examined the homeless situation in Martinsville/Henry County. Since there is no full time shelter for the homeless, the students want the local governments to investigate the possibility of a shelter where not only are the basic needs of food and lodging provided but also job training to break the homeless cycle. The students on this team were Andrea Lawhorn, Tarieton Walmsley, Jennifer Ward, Caroline Titcomb, Demarcus Tarpley, Justin Knighton, Sarah Draper, Shelby Higgs, and Christina Chaney. The portfolio of the winning team will be sent to Las Vegas, Nevada for national competition during the National Conference of State Legislatures July 19-23, 1998. The second place team from Martinsville Middle School studied ``Recycling--More Needs to be Done''. The third place group investigated ``Activities for the Elderly''. Helen Coalter is the Virginia state coordinator for We the People from the Center for Civic Education.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, there is legislation pending before both Houses of Congress that would raise the excise tax on tobacco products by $1.50 per pack. As a practical matter, these proposals result in a total tax increase of at least $500 billion over 25 years. This tax increase of a half trillion dollars will fall most heavily on the American working men and women. Those who make $30,000 per year pay 43 percent of the Federal tobacco tax burden. The median income in the Fifth District of Virginia, which I represent, is less than $28,000 per year. In fact, if this excise tax of $1.50 per pack goes in, the Federal tax burden on the Virginia family in the Fifth District would be more than $500 per year, and that is a staggering tax increase for a family that is struggling to make ends meet.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, I want to say a special word of thanks to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) for his leadership on this measure and to thank the committee for their prompt action and for doing it right before the Memorial Day recess. Over the course of a number of years, I have had the opportunity to come to know many members of the Virginia Association of Volunteer Rescue Squads. I have seen their experiences in many different avenues and the work that they have done. I also know the hard work that they did in the Virginia general assembly over many years. I know of the kindnesses personally that they extended to my mother when she was ill and needed their assistance on many occasions. So, at the outset, I want to commend the Members of the Virginia Association of Volunteer Rescue Squads on originating the National EMS Memorial Service in Roanoke, Virginia, and in continuing to be one of its major supporters. Now, the service takes in squads, emergency medical services teams and other units from all across the Nation. In the past few years, they have been as far away as the State of Washington and the State of California. In closing, I simply want to say it is indeed fitting that Congress spend a few minutes to honor the men and women who have given their lives in this honorable pursuit and to declare the memorial service held in Roanoke, Virginia and sponsored by the National Emergency Medical Services Memorial Service board to honor emergency medical service personnel who have died in the line of duty.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to commend Dr. and Mrs. Shelton H. Short, III, of Clarksville, Virginia, for establishing a $100,000 permanent scholarship fund at Randolph-Macon College in honor of Dr. Short's late father. The scholarship fund is designed to assist students from Boydton, Virginia, the first site of Randolph-Macon College, as well as students from surrounding communities. Dr. Short and his wife Jean are distinguished citizens and active participants in their community in Mecklenburg, Virginia. Their families contributed in significant ways to that community, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Nation over the course of at least 2 centuries. Indeed, Dr. Short is a descendent of the late Congressman William O. Goode, who served in the body from 1841 to 1843 and from 1853 to 1859. Although I am not privileged to be a relative of the former congressman, he was a prominent Virginian who served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates and wrote the original charter of Randolph- Macon College. Shelton and Jean Short are to be applauded for their generosity and their commitment to the education of young men and women at Randolph- Macon college, an institution of higher learning on which their family has had such a significant and tremendous impact. Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the article from the May 21 issue of the Mecklenburg Sun. The article referred to follows: Scholarship Emphasizes R-MC Ties to Boydton Boydton.--A Clarksville couple has honored the memory of the late Shelton Hardaway Short, Jr. by establishing a $100,000 permanent scholarship fund to Randolph-Macon College in his honor. As benefactors of the scholarship, Shelton H. Short, III and his Jean were center stage at a ceremony Wednesday night in Boydton announcing the fund. They were joined by Dr. Ladell Payne, president of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, local elected officials and about 100 onlookers at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse. The scholarship is designed to reward deserving college students from Boydton who will serve as ambassadors of the college's roots in Boydton. If no eligible students apply from the town, the scholarship will go to students in Mecklenburg, Brunswick and other surrounding counties. The gift is meant to underscore the historic ties between Randolph-Macon, which was founded in Boydton, and Southside Virginia. In remarks to the audience, Short noted that his father ``would be pleased that the scholarship given in his name would bring closer the links between Randolph-Macon as it was in its founding home of Boydton in 1930, with Randolph-Macon of today and tomorrow in Hanover County, Virginia.'' Short also said his father would wish ``that the recipient of the Boydton scholarship consider himself or herself as a goodwill ambassador representing Boydton, Southside Virginia'' and surrounding areas. According to Short, the criteria for winning the scholarship will go beyond academic and extracurricular achievements and address the character of potential applicants. The newly-endowed award is need based and will go to academically promising students in Boydton and surrounding areas. Applicants ``should consider making straight A's in good manners, a neat appearance and helpfulness to others as well as classwork,'' said Short. ``To me straight A's in Greek or geometry are meaningless without good manners and a sincere desire to help others.'' ``We would ask the town fathers and town mothers of our area, and especially Boydton, to impress upon the winner the necessity of being a goodwill ambassador for Boydton, Randolph-Macon College's place of birth. What the student does will reflect back upon Boydton--good or otherwise.'' Short said Boydton students would be the first choice for the scholarship, followed by students in the rest of Mecklenburg County and Brunswick County. Other areas included in the scholarship's territory are Granville, Halifax, Vance and Warren Counties in North Carolina, and Charlotte, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Halifax, Lunenburg and Nottoway Counties in Virginia. Students from the North Carolina counties of Mecklenburg and Brunswick will also be eligible, Short said. Short described his father, Shelton Hardaway Short, III as a ``modest gentleman'' who loved Randolph-Macon College. ``He loved the original town of Randolph-Macon's birthplace-- Boydton--as well as Randolph-Macon's present and future locality, Ashland. Shelton H. Short, Jr. dedicated, designed and donated the official flag for Randolph-Macon in 1968 and used as a centerpiece for the College's ensign a photo of the central structure of Randolph-Macon as it stood in Boydton in the 1930s.'' At age 16, Shelton H. Short, Jr. left home in Brunswick County, Va. to enroll at Randolph-Macon in Ashland. His education there was interrupted by World War I, and he volunteered for the U.S. Army infantry as a teenager. After being assigned to training school at Virginia Military Institute, Short went to Plattsburg, N.Y. and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. When the war ended, he returned to R-MC and graduated as a member of the Class of 1919 with a bachelor's of art degree. After volunteering for the Army in World War I, Short returned to the military at the age of 43 to serve his country during World War II. He became a major in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in the reserves after the surrender of Germany and Japan in 1945. At Randolph-Macon, his volunteer spirit and energy were readily apparent--he was President of the Cotillion Club, an officer in Kappa Alpha, and centerfielder for the Yellow Jackets baseball team, even playing the day Babe Ruth and the Boston Red Sox played the Yellow Jackets in an exhibition game. After completing his degree, he turned his attention to the local business community, serving as president of Jeffreys Motor Company in Chase City and chairman of the Board of Trustees of Jeffreys-Spaulding Manufacturing Company and of Jeffreys-McElrath Manufacturing. He also owned and operated several farms and was a prominent tobacco and tree farmer. He was director of Jeffreys Lumber, Inc., Home Telegraph and Telephone and Virginia Forestry, among other companies. In addition, he served for 4 years as a director of Peoples Bank and Trust Co. and its successor, Fidelity American Bank and Central Fidelity, all in Chase City. Short also worked to better the community by serving on the Mecklenburg School Board and the Town Council of Chase City. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates from Mecklenburg County and served on the Virginia Economic Development Commission under three governors. A life-long member of the Methodist Church, he served on the Chase City Centenary United Methodist Church Board of Stewards for much of his adult life. He was also a Trustee of the former Blackstone College for Women. The first winner of the Honorable Shelton H. Short, Jr. Scholarship will be announced in the fall, said Dr. Payne, R- MC President. The scholarship will reinvigorate the ties between Boydton and the college, he noted.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 3226 authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain lands and improvements in the State of Virginia. I would like to begin by commending the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) for his leadership and hard work on this legislation. This bill will clear the way for George Washington and Jefferson National Forests to sell 368 acres to the Commonwealth of Virginia in exchange for cash and land. All sales or exchanges would be for fair market value. The Natural Bridge Juvenile Correctional Center is located in Rockbridge County. It has been under the maintenance and supervision of the Commonwealth since 1964 and, having seen that facility, in my opinion it is highly appropriate that it be conveyed to the Commonwealth. This legislation also authorizes the sale of over 200 acres along Interstate 64. This tract will be sold to the Allegheny Highland Economic Development Authority which will develop the land into a separate area called Innovative Park. Additionally, this bill authorizes the sale of several other small tracts of land which are close to I-64 and which have lost their natural forest characteristics. The proceeds from the sale will be used for the acquisition of other lands in Virginia that still have forest characteristics. The George Washington National Forest, the Jefferson National Forest and the U.S. Forest Service have expressed their support for this legislation. I strongly support the measure and urge its passage by the House. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Chairman, it is ``Southern'' English.

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Solomon amendment because I fear a Quebec-type situation in this country. Now is the time to establish English as the official language. If we do that in this bill and if we follow suit in 123, we will not have problems cropping up like in Canada and across the world. Mr. Chairman, I can tell my colleagues that if we have that up front, everybody knowing it, it is better. My great-grandmother was German and she never learned to speak English. She was at a disadvantage her whole time in this country, and I think we need to start with English first.

Mr. GOODE. I yield to the gentleman from Indiana.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Chairman, I want to commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling) for his initiative in this area, and he is correct, Virginia is a leader in testing its students. We want to see education maintained at the local and State level. I supported this measure the first time and am very glad to support it this time, and I want to read a few statements from a teacher in the Pennsylvania County School System. ``I am greatly disturbed by the President's attempt to sponsor national student testing. I am intimately aware of the problem confronting teachers, parents, employers and students' ability to perform many needed basic skills. I don't see that more tests, especially those generated by administrators or bureaucrats at a national level, will identify any problems that teachers on the front line have not already known. National standards have no meaning to localities except one more example of the Federal Government trying to run the show.'' He said it all, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Taylor] for emphasizing trade equity. I also commend the chairman of the Committee on Rules for his package of bills and do not seek to do any harm to his position, but I do seek the position of making it better. The gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Taylor] simply wants to add a fourth section to a three-section bill. The persecution of Christians in China is atrocious. Their policy of abortion is atrocious. In China, the tolerance of those who do not believe as they believe is bad, to say the least. But my father used to say, ``If you want to get somebody's attention, you got to hit him in the pocketbook.'' And the trade equity provisions pushed by the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Taylor] would hit the Chinese in the pocketbook. I urge my colleagues to support his position and make a good bill better.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. I thank the gentlewoman for arranging the program this evening. Mr. Speaker, together with my colleagues, I rise tonight to pay tribute to the memory of one of our best, Walter Capps. Walter's death on Tuesday not only shocked and surprised all of us, but also has united us in sadness that we have lost such a gentle and caring friend. My wife, Lucy, and I met Walter and Lois at freshman orientation last November and have had the opportunity to come to know them in the months since then. From my observations, today's issue of Roll Call was completely correct with its headline that characterized Walter as the nicest Member of Congress. There was something special in his nature, a cheerfulness, an openness, a warmth that made him both liked and respected. I remember very well Walter's remarks to our Thursday morning prayer breakfast not long ago. He spoke about his personal faith and his experiences as a professor of religion at the University of California, Santa Barbara. From his remarks, one could sense Walter's deep commitment to America's young people, the strength of his faith and a certain inner peace. To Lois and the Capps family, I say that we feel your loss with you for we have lost a friend and someone whom we are richer for having known.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Chairman, I want to commend Chairman Goodling for this amendment and for his leadership on this issue. During the recent August recess and during the last two weekends, I have talked with area school superintendents from across Virginia's 5th district. I have talked to school administrators, with teachers, with students and with the parents and with citizens, and there is widespread opposition to any national test. Recently Cheri Yecke, a member of the Virginia State Board of Education, also spoke out against the national test. We do not want a commission, we do not want an appointed body, we do not want a board making the decision on a national test. We believe that a national test decision should be by elected Representatives of the United States Congress, and I am glad to see the bipartisan opposition to a national test, and I hope we can kill this snake today overwhelmingly on the floor of this body.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, I wish to make a few comments on the retirement of Dr. Richard L. Lesher, who is retiring after 22 years as president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. During his tenure, chamber membership has grown to 215,000 business members, 3,000 State and local chambers, 1,200 trades and professional associations, and he guided the creation of BizNet, the American Business Network, and its two award winning television programs, First Business and It's Your Business. He oversaw creation of the Center for Workforce Preparation, which helps ensure that Americans are ready to meet the challenges of a new economy. And he credits retired Virginia Justice Lewis F. Powell with the high profile that the chamber has taken. He implemented many of Powell's suggestions over the years. Congratulations to Dr. Lesher on his successful years at the U.S. Chamber and best wishes on his retirement.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the Virginia tobacco growers I urge Members to defeat this amendment.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, later today there may be an amendment to take Federal crop insurance from the American tobacco grower, yet it will be left for wheat, rye, barley, and all the other crops. Some do want to destroy the American tobacco grower. In 1896 William Jennings Bryan said, ``If you destroy the American farmer, grass will grow in the streets of every city of the land.'' In 1997, if we destroy the American tobacco farmer, 350,000 good jobs will be lost. We will be buying Chinese cigarettes, we will be buying Brazilian cigarettes, and we will be wrecking our trade surplus that agriculture so richly provides this Nation. Save crop insurance and help the American economy.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, as a result of the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments, America's air quality has improved and those improvements are continuing. Yet after industries have expended billions of dollars, and even before the improvements that will result have been fully realized, America's economy faces additional regulation. Mr. Speaker, now is not the time to burden America's economy further. An example is an industry that provides employment to nearly 9,000 men and women in the Fifth District of Virginia. Over a year and a half period, the wood furniture and related industries engaged in a negotiated rulemaking with the EPA, the American Lung Association, the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, and others. The rulemaking resulted in an agreement that would cost the industry an estimated half billion dollars and would substantially reduce smog- causing emissions and title 3 pollutants. Mr. Speaker, the agency called this process a credit to industry, environmental and governmental cooperation. But almost before the ink was dry, the agency was back proposing more burdensome regulations that their own scientific advisory committee cannot agree will have significant health and environmental benefits. Mr. Speaker, I know that there are many of us here who are willing to work for standards based on quality science and health and environmental benefits--but not these regulations and not at this time.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of STEP 21, and also commend the gentleman from Texas [Mr. DeLay] and the gentleman from California [Mr. Condit] for their leadership and work on this issue. There is an old saying in the Fifth District of Virginia that the best way to figure out where to build a new sidewalk is to look for the worn path through the grass. That saying applies equally well to the construction of roads. In my district, which is geographically larger than some States, there are barely 30 miles of interstate highway and what amounts to miles and miles of well-worn paths through the grass and across the creeks and rivers and through the mountains. Those well-worn paths are the roads that comprise the transportation network of the Fifth District of Virginia, a network that inhibits economic development, endangers our citizens who travel the roads, and were built for far less traffic than they are asked to handle today. Yet, in this fiscal year, it is estimated that Virginia will receive only 81 cents in transportation funds for every dollar in gas taxes that we pay to Washington. Last year that amount was 74 cents for every dollar paid. In fact, over the course of ISTEA, Virginia will receive an average of only about 83 cents for every dollar Virginians send to the Federal highway trust fund. And so today I rise in support of STEP 21. STEP 21 is a bipartisan proposal. It adopts a funding formula to more equitably distribute the money that Americans pay as gas taxes. STEP 21 assures that every State will receive at least 95 cents on the dollar. STEP 21 will make ISTEA's promise of funding fairness a reality. Mr. Speaker, as the House continues to consider ways in which to create an intermodal transportation network that will treat every State fairly, that will increase safety on the highways, and that will create opportunities for economic development, I urge my colleagues to support STEP 21, the ISTEA Integrity Restoration Act.

Mr. GOODE

Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, today, with reservations, I support H.R. 5, the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act Improvement Act of 1997. Even before I came to Congress in January of this year, local school administrators and school board members from my home in Franklin County, VA, had alerted me to the grave fiscal dilemma they face in attempting to comply with IDEA. These local school officials and many of their colleagues in similar rural areas are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the needs of students with disabilities because of inadequate Federal funding and overly stringent Federal restrictions. These local officials are sincere in their commitment to provide an education to every young person that they serve, whether that person is faced with a disability or not. They are, however, increasingly confronted with nearly impossible dilemmas as the costs of special education rapidly increase. With this bipartisan bill, we will give these dedicated local officials some relief and will begin to meet the commitment to the level of funding that Congress made to States and localities when IDEA was enacted. There is one section of this bill that does trouble me. In some instances, a student may engage in egregious misconduct that would result in expulsion except that such student is covered by IDEA. In those instances, I believe expulsion is merited and should be left to policies developed by the States and the localities. On February 5, 1997, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the U.S. Department of Education was without authority to condition receipt by the Commonwealth of Virginia of IDEA funding on the continued provision of free education to disabled students who have been expelled or suspended long term for criminal or other serious misconduct unrelated to their disability. I agree that decisionmaking on these very case-specific instances should be left to localities and States and disagree with this aspect of this bill. On the whole, however, this bill offers improvements and gives schools greater flexibility, promotes cost-sharing between State and local agencies and recognizes the role of teachers.