Gene Green

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to oppose the previous question. Unlike my colleagues from California, we will have an increase in the minimum wage. And the closer we get, just like the chart we saw earlier, like my colleague from Texas, we need to keep working at it. My good friend, the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Moakley], from the Committee on Rules stated earlier if the previous question is defeated an amendment to the rule will be offered. Then the Committee on Rules will immediately report a resolution back to the floor with the minimum wage increase. They take care of the germane questions within the committee. They just need to do it, to provide for the consideration of a bill to increase the minimum wage from $4.25 an hour to $5.15 an hour beginning July 4. This is a fourth time in the last month we as Democrats and a few Republicans have stood here on the floor and tried to give hard-working Americans a raise. Four times we have tried to do this. I have been asked, why are we doing this four times in the last month? I say we are fighting for an increase in the minimum wage. I remember a quote from Martin Luther, 475 years ago, when he stood on the steps in Germany and said, Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me, Amen. That is why we are here. We are here 4 times and we will be here another 4 times and another 40 times until we see a clean vote on the minimum wage. Eighty-three percent of Americans favor an increase in the minimum wage. Yet this morning we have heard, and every time we hear that the majority party still argues that an increase is higher unemployment, increasing the number of welfare recipients. They claim that most minimum wage earners are teenagers. The facts point to the other direction. It is just not true. You need to come to reality and, thank goodness, we are seeing an increase in Members from the Republican majority voting for a minimum wage increase. I hope we see that five more today because we will have an increase in the minimum wage if we only have five more Republicans join us Democrats today. The facts agree with the need for an increase. I ask my colleagues to vote for it.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove my name as a cosponsor of H.R. 2086.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, last year the Republican majority overreached by planning to cut Medicare by $270 billion and offering $245 billion in tax cuts, and when they did not get their way, they shut the Government down. They realized that they were out of step with the American people and the Medicare trustees who said that we only needed $90 billion in cuts or downsizing, that is all that was needed to keep Medicare solvent. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to know that they are moving in the right direction now. Their new budget only calls for $168 billion in cuts, but they still are not quite there yet. I still believe we should continue to do the financially responsible thing by reducing the deficit. If we count the capital gains tax cut and the 4.3-cent gas cut that they want to do, then that adds up to $176 billion, which adds up close to the $168 billion they want to cut out of Medicare. We have reduced the deficit 4 years in a row and will continue to do so, unlike the huge Federal deficits that were run up during the 1980's. We can continue down the road of responsible deficit reduction without the irresponsible cuts in Medicare and education.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the motion on the previous question to this rule to H.R. 2406. We hear a lot of rhetoric about moving people off of welfare and out of public housing and into work, but the Republican leadership has simply refused an up- or-down vote on a minimum wage increase. Mr. Speaker, a livable wage would give our constituents and other working Americans the ability to move off of welfare rolls and out of public housing, but the Republicans continue to oppose this minimum wage increase. In fact, all we hear in the Senate is that Senator Dole wants to call attention to an increase of 4.3 cents in the gas tax in 1993, but not an increase in the minimum wage at the same time. What the Senator fails to inform voters is that he voted for two 5- cent increases from 1982 to 1990, the so-called ``Dole dime.'' Working Americans strongly support an increase in the minimum wage. In fact, the latest national poll shows 83 percent of Americans support an increase. Mr. Speaker, we have a golden opportunity to give American families what they really need, a decent wage for a decent day's work. Mr. Speaker, it is time for a clean vote on a minimum wage.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, what we are hearing from the other side is, ``We are going to shoot the messenger and not change our message.'' The Speaker in today's Washington Post said he is now blaming the media for the unpopularity of the Republican Party issues. He says the media is the reason why the public strongly opposes what they are trying to do to Medicare, opposing increases in the minimum wage, cutting education and the environment. Mr. Speaker, I will be the first to admit that the media and I sometimes have disagreements. But at some level we are all accountable. We have to be accountable. Maybe it is not the messenger. Maybe it is the message. We cannot balance the budget by cutting education funding, by cutting Medicare, and by shutting down the Government and by opposing a minimum wage increase. We need to be responsible for our message, and not blame the messenger.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the House Republican symbol should no longer be the elephant, because the elephant never forgets. The House Republicans, especially the Republican leader and my friend from Texas, cannot seem to remember that the American people are overwhelmingly opposed to cuts in education. Less than 1 month after we had a budget agreement that restored the cuts in education, they are back to say, let us pay for a gas tax by cutting education funding. Most Americans support a cut in the Federal gas tax. Frankly, I support one. But not at the expense of education funding. While two- thirds of all Americans are concerned about the quality of education, my colleague, the gentleman from north Texas, Dick Armey, is proposing cutting funding for education programs in order to offset that revenue loss for a gas tax cut. Eliminating our commitment to education is like declaring war on ourselves. We need only to look at our world class competitors in other countries to see what they are doing on education. They are not cutting funding. They are actually putting more money into it and requiring more out of it. We need to hear more about preparing for a better future for our children and our grandchildren.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleague from Ohio and friend in also urging all my colleagues to oppose the previous question. It was interesting to hear the gentleman from Pennsylvania, his creative thinking, talking about an increase in the minimum wage is an increase in taxes. I guess he had to get that. A lot of us Democrats last week voted for that same budget that he was bragging about. But let me talk about what we need to do today, and the rules of the House permit this. If the previous question is defeated, my colleague from Ohio will have an amendment that will be offered to increase the minimum wage. This amendment would direct the Committee on Rules to immediately consider that, to provide for a minimum wage increase. We hear a lot of rhetoric about moving people off welfare but the Republican leadership and I guess my colleague from Pennsylvania is scared of an up-or-down vote on a livable wage because this will move people off welfare. We hear about working families do not really exist on $4.25 an hour, but they do. We in the Democratic Party hope that we will see that increase in the purchasing power. Last week we talked about this, and I had the opportunity to quote a late and great U.S. Senator from Texas, Ralph Yarborough. All this amendment would require is just to put the jam on the lower shelf for the little people. We are talking about $4.25 an hour for people that are working hard to support their families, yet they cannot reach up to that top of the shelf to get those tax cuts that the Republican want to give to them. All we want is to increase their minimum wage a buck an hour, 90 cents an hour. In fact I am a cosponsor of a Republican's bill to increase it by a buck an hour. I am glad they have taken the leadership to do that. This is a bipartisan effort. Last week we saw, as my colleague from Pennsylvania said, 13 members on the Republican side support it. I know there are more than that as cosponsors of my colleague from New York's bill that I am a cosponsor of. All we are asking for is a fair, clean vote on a minimum wage increase. Even today in the Washington Post the majority leader in the Senate talked about let us eliminate this gas tax increase from 1993 that goes for budget reduction and deficit reduction, and at the same time increase the minimum wage. Let us do it, Mr. Speaker. I think that is a great idea. That way the little people can reach it not only in their taxes they save on their gas tax, but they get a pay raise at the same time.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, last week the Houston Chronicle ran a story about how welfare pays more than the minimum wage. We hear a lot of rhetoric about moving people off welfare and into work, but the Republican leadership refuses a simple up or down vote on providing a liberal wage. Using the current minimum wage, workers putting in their 40 hours a week for 52 weeks would earn just over $8,800. A working family supported by a minimum wage earner is below the national poverty level and is eligible to collect welfare benefits. A minimum wage increase will give my constituents and other working Americans the ability to move off the welfare rolls, but Republicans continue to oppose a minimum wage increase. Instead of bringing this issue to a vote, they have proposed yet another Government subsidy for businesses. This measure is nothing more than a huge entitlement and more public assistance, more welfare, when what we need is a job that pays enough to put food on the table. The Washington Post said today that the Senate majority leader wants to cut the gas tax and raise the minimum wage. Let us do it. I think that is a good bill. Let us do it, Mr. Speaker. Democrats want working families to work their way off welfare. It is time for the Republicans to do the same. Support a minimum wage increase.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Just so we all understand the rules.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, is it permissible to yield in 1-minutes?

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in just a few minutes we will be going to the budget agreement that I want to congratulate not just the majority Members, but also the whole Congress, because we finally have a budget agreement that, and I know I have heard this morning a lot of my colleagues on the Republican side talking about how it saves the tax dollars, and it does, and that is great. But it also restores a great many of the devastating education cuts that we have been talking about on this floor for months and months. What it does is it shows us we can have a balanced budget in 7 years, just like the President talked about, and still have investment in education and job training and those issues that we know are not just for today, that they are for next year and 5 years from now. But the reason I asked for 5 minutes this afternoon, Mr. Speaker, is to talk about it is time to have a clean vote on the minimum wage increase. Working Americans support an increase in the minimum wage. In fact, the latest poll I saw showed that 83 percent of Americans support an increase in the minimum wage. In fact, just today I see reported that we are not going to have a vote on this floor on a minimum wage increase. I think that hurts not only the Congress, but the majority, but I also think it hurts a lot of good, hard-working people in our country who are trying to struggle on $4.25 an hour. Americans know the real value of the minimum wage has declined in the past 15 years and the minimum wage earners have not seen an increase since April 1, 1991, 5 years ago, Mr. Speaker. During that time, with inflation 3 percent a year on the average, we see that percentage increasing. We have a bipartisan bill that has been introduced by some of my majority Republican colleagues, 20 Members I understand, and I am a cosponsor of that bill, to increase the minimum wage. Yet we see that we are not going to have a vote on it. I know some Members on the majority Republican side are disappointed just like those of us on the Democratic side. There is a proposal though, not the bipartisan bill, but there is a proposal we heard about, and again in speeches today from the majority, that the minimum wage would remain at $4.25, but we would continue to talk about a Federal Government subsidy for employees with families. So what we are seeing is an increase in this big Government in Washington. We have heard now for over a year, a year and 4 months, how we need to not have big Government in Washington. Yet we are going to, instead of businesses who can earn, who are depending on those people making $4.25 an hour to produce a product, we are going to subsidize them from this big Government in Washington. It is like the world turned upside down, Mr. Speaker. I just do not understand it, just being a Member from Houston and understanding that the minimum wage, typically you earn that. We do not need any more subsidies for people who have families. We want a decent wage for a decent job being done, and to get these people off welfare. The biggest problem I think we have, and the majority has to explain, is how a person making $4.25 an hour working 40 hours a week is still eligible in my district for welfare benefits. What we need to do is, if we increase the minimum wage to $5.15 an hour, a person working 40 hours a week would then no longer be eligible for welfare. They would actually be able to work their way off of this subsidy that they may be receiving and the expanded subsidy I hear the majority party may be talking about. That is what is wrong. We need to make sure that they can earn that money to keep themselves, get themselves off welfare. And that is why it is amazing to me that instead of just increasing the minimum wage to where businesses will pay their employees a minimum wage reasonable enough to get them off of welfare, that we are coming up with ways that the government can subsidize it and say, well, we really need to do even more on an earned income tax credit, or do even more for providing for these families. These families want to work and earn a living. They do not want the government to provide it, and that is why it is so important that we provide for a livable wage for the minimum wage. America's families are working harder than ever and we know that. We see the polls. We see what is happening. The disparity between the highest paid people in our country and the lowest paid is getting higher and higher. We need to respond to that as members of Congress, not just as Democrats but as a Congress, because we need to make sure that disparity is not there. The beauty of America has always been that we have a middle class and the hope for people to go into that middle class. And yet what we see is the disparity is getting bigger. The people who make the most are making more money and the people who make less are making even less. Mr. Speaker, I understand we are getting ready to go to the budget, but I would hope we would also see sometime in the near future a clean vote on the minimum wage issue.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, what we are talking about is asking for a vote on minimum wage. Why will not the House allow us to vote on the minimum wage? By opposing the previous question, that is the only way we can do that. This martial law resolution gives special status to a lot of categories of bills. A minimum wage increase deserves that special status. We should be willing to give special treatment to the American families who are having to work for $4.25 an hour. In fact my colleague from Colorado talked about this should go through the committee process. My committee has tried to have a hearing on this bill, and we have not. Seventy percent of the bills in 1996, and I will yield if I have time, 70 percent of the bills on this floor this year did not go through the committee process, and yet today they are not willing to use that special exception for the working folks. He knows also the reason that we tried to have health care reform in 1993 and 1994 and not a minimum wage increase, but it has gotten so far out of whack because of inflation we need to do it. A great Senator from Texas said what we need to do is put the jam on the bottom shelf for the little people. Senator Ralph Yarbrough, the late Senator, said that minimum wage increase will do that, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, we have heard this morning, and I am glad, that after a year of threatening cuts in education funding, I am glad that the Congress and the President yesterday and today will consummate it and restore the drastic and extreme education cuts that they have been fighting a year over, and I am glad the Republican majority saw the light. But, really, what I want to talk about today is the minimum wage. Americans strongly support an increase in the minimum wage. In fact, the latest national poll shows at least 80 percent of Americans support an increase in the minimum wage, and yet the majority of the Republicans oppose an increase, and some even oppose the minimum wage. In fact, yesterday the House Republican leaders decided not to even bring up a minimum wage increase for a vote. The only thing we have heard of is a measure to provide another Government subsidy for people who work at $4.25 an hour. More welfare instead of someone being able to work their way off of welfare. That is not what the American people want. Republicans talk a lot about moving people off of welfare and into work, but people need a livable wage to do this. Members can talk the talk, but they need to walk the walk. American families are working harder than ever, but it is tough to get ahead when working full time does not put enough money in your opinion pocket to put food on the table.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Mr. DeLauro], for organizing this very special order on the minimum wage. Mr. Speaker, I join a number of our colleagues tonight in support of an increase in the minimum wage. Since the President proposed increasing the minimum wage to 5.15 over 2 years, a river of ink has flowed on both sides for this issue. According to the latest national poll, 87 percent of Americans favor an increase in the minimum wage. Howver, some of my colleague in the Republican Party continue to oppose a minimum wage increase, and they even oppose the minimum wage. In fact, I may have taken the gentlewoman's poster, because this is such a great quote: ``Emotional appeals about working families trying to get by on $4.25 an hour are hard to resist. Fortunately, such families don't really exist.'' That is why my colleague and a good friend of mine, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Tom Delay], I want him to know that I have these families in my district that are trying to get by on $4.25 an hour tonight, Maybe that is our problem. Maybe they have lost touch with what is actually happening out in America, with families trying to get by on $4.25 an hour. There ar families that are trying to do that, and it is a shame that maybe some of our colleagues in Washington do not understand that. Mr. Speaker, Republicans continue to argue that an increase may lead to higher unemployment and increase the number of welfare recipients. Mr. Speaker, the logic of this just does not match. Ask anybody on the street if increasing the minimum wage will increase welfare recipients. Mr. Speaker, the best welfare reform we can pass is a job that pays a decent wage to get people off welfare. Additionally, some of these same critics claim that the minimum wage is paid mainly to teenagers, and that an increase would cause layoffs of these teenagers. Americans know that the real value of the minimum wage has steadily declined for the past 15 years, and that minimum wage earners have not seen an increase since April 1, 1991. Fifty-seven years ago Congress passed its first minimum wage of 25 cents an hour, and 57 years later, Americans are working to find that the real value of the minimum wage has steadily declined during these past 15 years. Minimum wage increases have been passed bipartisanly. In fact, our current Senate majority leader and our current Speaker voted to increase the minimum wage in the late 1980's. Minimum wage earners today have seen a fall of 45 cents in real value since the 1991 increase. The idea that an increase in the minimum wage could lead to an increased number of welfare recipients is simply not correct. In fact, the opposite is true. Again, the best welfare reform is a job that pays a livable wage. What critics fail to recognize is that the current minimum wage does not even provide a livable wage. Using today's minimum wage, workers putting in their 40 hours a week for 52 weeks a year will earn just over $8,800. In my district, the current poverty line for a family of three is $12,000. You can work full-time, one wage-earner in your family, minimum wage, and still be eligible for food stamps, so this quote by my colleague, and again, a good friend, I would say to the gentleman from Texas, I have families in my district who are trying to struggle on the minimum wage at $4.25 an hour. This working family is supported by a minimum wage earner well below the national poverty rate and is eligible in collecting food stamps. However, this same family, if we had an increase to $5.15 an hour, figuring in the maximum earned income tax credit, would be $1,500 above the poverty level if we increase the minimum wage. This increase would give my constituents and other working Americans the ability to work their way off of the welfare rolls. It is argued that the minimum wage is a wage for teenagers, and therefore only at entry level. While this may have been true in the past, in fact, I remember working for minimum wage at $1.25 an hour, and I was glad when Congress increased that minimum wage, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the average minimum wage earner today is over 20, 20 or over, and more likely to be female and working full-time. The minimum wage is demonstratively no longer just for teenagers. If Congress does not increase the minimum wage our welfare rolls will grow, quite to the contrary of what may be said on the other side of the aisle. But with a minimum wage increase, these families will have the opportunity to be more self-sufficient. We should have a clear vote on a minimum wage increase, without cluttering up or including tax cut issues or other issues the Republican majority may want. One of the complaints I hear so often, and my colleague, the gentlewoman from Houston, TX [Ms. Jackson-Lee], knows this, people ask us all the time, they say, ``Why can you not just vote on a bill on its issue, instead of putting in everything but the kitchen sink?'' That is what I am worried we are going to see. We are going to see extraneous issues thrown in the minimum wage. If 87 percent of the American people want a minimum wage increase, they deserve a vote straight up and down on a minimum wage increase. House Republicans are talking a lot about working families, but they continue to show that they may be out of touch with where reality is at. American families are working harder than ever, and it is tougher to get ahead when working full time does not even put enough money in your pocket to put food on the table without food stamps. Republicans have a golden opportunity to give the American families what they really need, a decent wage for a decent day's work. If Congress is serious about getting people off of the welfare rolls, Congress should allow Americans to work their way off of it by increasing the minimum wage. I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Connecticut for this opportunity tonight to talk about that, and also for swiping your poster for a few minutes.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, you just heard it and the American people heard it. The Republicans are talking a lot about working families, but it is time that they did more than just talk about it. It is time they decided to actually raise the minimum wage. Seventy percent of Americans believe that the minimum wage must be increased. Now at least 20 Republicans are backing the increase in the minimum wage. It is time, Mr. Speaker, that we bring this to a vote. Yesterday the Democrats on our Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities asked our chairman of the committee to hold hearings on the minimum wage. Democrats understand that the purchasing power of the minimum wage will soon be the lowest it has been in 40 years. American families are working hard to get ahead, but it is tough to get by when working full-time does not even pay to get off welfare. An increase of $0.90 means an additional $1,800 a year in the pockets of full-time workers. Republicans have an opportunity to join us in helping America's working families. It is time to pass the minimum wage increase bipartisanly.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Congress has a golden opportunity to actually do something for the American people. We can pass the necessary health care reform bills this year and also increase the minimum wage, like my colleagues have said. The Kassebaum-Kennedy health care bill in the Senate will enhance the portability of coverage by ending permanent exclusion for preexisting conditions. However, the inclusion in the House of the medical savings accounts, malpractice reform, and also the taking away of State regulation of multiple employer welfare plans will hurt health care reform. Key Senators, including Senator Kassebaum, have discouraged the inclusion of these medical savings accounts because it has no place in this bill. House Republicans want to federalize insurance regulations for self-insured small business. The States are now regulating these plans, and have served as a laboratory for innovation on improving coverage and combating fraud. Why do we want to bring that to Washington? The Nation's Governors, State legislators, and insurance commissioners have opposed these provisions, but the majority Republicans have put it in. Let us give the people reasonable health care reform and a minimum wage increase.

Mr GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, 5 years after the Persian Gulf war, the United States still imports 9 million barrels of oil. In fact, our Nation is more dependent on foreign oil than ever before. More than 50 percent of our oil is imported, and about 20 percent comes from the Persian Gulf. While we may never completely eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, we must minimize our reliance on foreign sources from the volatile Middle East. We should look more toward our neighbors and trading partners in the Western Hemisphere, like Venezuela, which has made significant investment in the United States and recently opened its oil industry to investment by U.S. companies. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to move toward a policy that encourages domestic oil and gas exploration and production, to ensure a vibrant and healthy economy.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. 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. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today the House Republicans will pass up a golden opportunity to advance realistic bipartisan health care reform when it considers H.R. 3103, instead of sponsoring and passing the Roukema-Kassebaum-Kennedy health reform bill that I cosponsored. The bill which the House considers today will have disastrous consequences for consumers. Carefully crafted State insurance laws will be replaced by a uniform standard developed and implemented by the Department of Labor here in Washington. That is right. We are taking away States' ability to regulate and move it here to Washington. They want to move it to an agency that one of my Republican colleagues said was led by what he thought was a Communist. What does this mean to the average American family? State statutes and rules requiring certain benefits be covered by health insurance policies may no longer apply. For instance, many States like Texas, where I am from, have statutes requiring the inclusion of newborn infant coverage in their State law. That will be wiped out if this bill passes today. Under the Republican health plan, this may no longer apply. This is moving from State control to Washington control. That must have been in the fine print of the Contract With America.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague and ranking member from Missouri for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 3103, and a little background. I was honored to serve 20 years in the Texas legislature, Mr. Speaker, and work for many of those years with the statehouse members to beef up and strengthen our State health insurance regulation laws so that people who buy group insurance would know what they are purchasing. Here today I see this bill would actually abolish that protection, not only in the State of Texas, but State legislatures all over the country have worked for many years to provide and strengthen State oversight of these laws. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked the Committee on Rules to make in order my amendment striking the preemption of these multiple employer welfare arrangements, also known as the MEWA insurance laws, because what happens now is in all of our States, we regulate them. This bill will take away that State regulation and move it to Washington to definitely a universal national standard developed and implemented from Washington and will replace these carefully crafted local State insurance laws that meet the needs of our local States and not necessarily what is from Washington. Mr. Speaker, that is right. The majority of the Republicans want to move the regulation of these insurance laws from the States to an agency led by what one of my Republican colleagues said in his turn were Communists. We hear a lot of rhetoric from the other side about giving more power to the States, and yet in this issue the Republicans want to take away the States' authority to regulate these health plans and give it to the Federal Government. While we have heard about local control rhetoric so much, the House Republicans want to expand the authority of the Department of Labor with these regulations. In his own estimates, Secretary Reich will have to develop 26 new regulations to deal with the federalization of multiple employer welfare arrangements. The Federal Government got out of this business of regulating MEWA's in 1983 because the States were better equipped to deal with the high instances of fraud on the local level. But now we see this bill will preempt those States rights, and what will it mean to the average American family. State statutes requiring that certain benefits covered by health insurance policies may no longer apply. Again, let me give an example from the State of Texas. In 1973 we changed the law that required insurance policies in Texas have to cover newborn infants. Up until then, a newborn infant had to survive 14 days before the group insurance policy would cover them. That was a mandated benefit, and this bill would possibly take that away unless the Department of Labor somehow says, OK, we are going to have this minimum benefit. This protection would be no longer available, at least on the local level, that the States have decided need to be provided to the purchasers of insurance. Unlike block grants, States have tested and successfully regulated MEWA's, and there is no compelling reason or need to preempt State authority in this area.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have my name removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 1202.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, on March 13, I was unavoidably detained from the House floor and missed four Record votes. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows: Rollcall 56, ``no''; rollcall 57, ``yes''; rollcall 58, ``yes''; and rollcall 59, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the Republican cuts in education are not necessary to balance the budget. Today's newspapers across our country report that the Nation's deficit this year is $145.6 billion, down from $163.5 billion last year, and half the $292 billion of 4 years ago under a Republican administration. We have made great strides in reducing the deficit without the outrageous cuts in education. But the Republicans continue to insist on attacking public education and continue to govern piecemeal. The uncertainty about Federal funding has caused chaos in our local schools as they wait for final word on future funding for levels of elementary and secondary education programs. Today as we continue on the GOP's road, school districts across our Nation may be forced to lay off 40,000 teachers because of the funding uncertainty, and increase class sizes and cause an additional decline in the quality of education. The American people want our children to be educated, but the Republicans refuse to give up on their extreme course of deep cuts education funding. The American people want a balanced budget without these education cuts.