Luis Gutiérrez

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, it is a great privilege for me to pay tribute to the Chicago's Federation of Indian Associations for its invaluable work honoring India on the occasion of the 53rd anniversary of India's independence. The Federation is enriched by the diversity of member organizations who have found a common mission in promoting the Indian community and honoring India. The Federation is strongly committed to serving the Indian community and works tirelessly to meet this goal. To celebrate the special occasion of India's 53rd year of independence, the Federation will host more than twenty-five thousand visitors from Indiana, Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin to witness a spectacular parade carefully planned to showcase India's rich cultural heritage. The India Independence Day Parade will be celebrated on Saturday, August 19th. The parade will feature colorful floats each representing various states of India. The parade will honor India's rich heritage, including its music, costumes, fashion and dance. The Federation will also host a Millennium Banquet and Cultural Program on Friday, August 18th to celebrate this special occasion. I congratulate and recognize Chicago's Federation of Indian Associations for their commitment, dedication and service to the Indian Community.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the chamber on Monday, July 17 when rollcall votes numbered 401, 402, 403 and 404 were cast. Had I been present in the Chamber at the time these votes were cast, I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall vote 401, ``yes'' on rollcall vote 402, ``yes'' on rollcall vote 403 and ``no'' on rollcall vote 404.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this Chamber on Monday, June 26, when rollcall votes 322 through 330 were taken. I want the Record to show that had I been present in this Chamber at the time these votes were cast, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote 322, ``yes'' on rollcall vote 323, ``no'' on rollcall vote 324, ``yes'' on rollcall vote 325, ``no'' on rollcall vote 326, ``yes'' on rollcall vote 327, ``yes'' on rollcall vote 328, ``yes'' on rollcall vote 329 and ``yes'' on rollcall vote 330.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, last week I was unavoidably absent from this chamber when the following roll call votes were taken, roll call vote 256 and roll call vote 291. I want the record to show that had I been present in this chamber I would have voted ``yea'' on roll call vote 256 and ``no'' on roll call vote 291.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I rise today for an amendment that I believe is critically important to the health and well-being of our veterans and to the future of the VA health care system. I urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment and make a strong statement of support for an effective, cost-efficient, and important program, the VA medical research program. Unfortunately, the appropriation bill before us calls for no increased funding, zero, in the VA medical research program. Given inflation and increased program needs, this amounts to a significant reduction in the amount of work and research the VA will be able to perform. This is a shortsighted and extremely damaging budget decision. Few government programs have given our Nation a better return on the dollar than VA medical research. The VA has become a world leader in such research areas as aging, AIDS-HIV, women's veterans health, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Specifically, VA researchers have played key roles in developing cardiac pacemakers, magnetic source imaging, and in improving artificial limbs. The first successful kidney transplant in the U.S. was performed at a VA hospital and the first successful drug treatments for high blood pressure and schizophrenia were pioneered by VA researchers. Quite simply, VA medical research has not only been vital for our veterans, it has led to breakthroughs and refinement of technology that have improved health care for all of us. Given this record of accomplishment with a very modest appropriation, the reduced commitment to the VA medical research budget is unjustified and unwise. At the proposed level of funding, the VA would be unable to maintain its current level of research effort in such vital areas as diabetes, substance abuse, mental health, Parkinson's disease, prostate cancer, spinal cord injury, heart disease, and hepatitis. In fact, research projects currently in progress would be put in jeopardy. I am asking for a very reasonable increase, enough to save the current level of research and to allow for a modest improvement. My amendment calls for a $25 million increase in funding. Approximately $10 million is needed to maintain the current research level and approximately $15 million will help to fund new research projects in such vital areas as mental health and spinal cord injury. This is money well spent on proven, effective research projects that benefit not only our Nation's most deserving population, our veterans, but that eventually benefits us all. Again I believe in this Congress, we must reexamine our priorities and in our current economic climate, $25 million is hardly a budget- breaking commitment. We cannot in any honest fashion say the money is not there. The money exists. It is simply a question of what we want to invest it in, what priorities are most important to us. What better choice, what better investment than the health care of our veterans? The average research grant is $130,000. My amendment will help pave the way for as many as 250 new ones. Which of those grants will help to find a cure for Parkinson's disease? Or ease the pain of post-traumatic stress? Or discover new ways to prevent prostate cancer or protect against heart disease? Or which of these grants will never be funded because we were not willing to make this reasonable and effective appropriation? Which grant will we lose because once again we made speeches praising our courageous members of the Armed Forces when they fought and sacrificed to keep our country safe only to make them sacrifice again when we turn our backs on their health care needs? This amendment shows us that we do not have to sacrifice any of these research projects. The amendment has the strong support of the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans and Vietnam Veterans of America. I urge my colleagues to join these veterans advocacy groups and please support the funding. It is effective, it is necessary, it is reasonable, and our veterans deserve it. I hope Members will stand with me in support of VA medical research. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) for including this amendment in the en bloc package that he has offered to the House and to wish him a belated happy birthday.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, it is a great privilege for me to pay tribute to the Resurrection Project (TRP) for its invaluable work creating healthy communities on the occasion of its 10th anniversary. Founded on May 22, 1990 by a coalition of Pilsen churches, The Resurrection Project is an institution-based neighborhood organization whose mission is to build relationships and challenge people to act on their faith and values to create healthy communities through organizing, education and community development. The Resurrection Project provides assistance through community organizing, family programs, housing services, real estate development, asset management and workforce and business development. The Resurrection Project builds institutional power and develops new leadership by organizing through its member institutions and block club network. TRP prepares leaders to actively participate in the issues affecting their community. TRP's Family and Community Programs respond to the developmental needs of children, adults and families by building upon their values and culture. Each program works to build skills and create opportunities that promote stronger families. TRP programs include Esperanza Familiar (Family Hope), Supportive Housing Programs and the Centro Familiar Guadalupano (Guadalupano Family Center). The Housing Services division educates families on property ownership issues and facilitates investment by residents and financial institutions into the community. TRP staff provides home owner education, client counseling and oversees the marketing and sales for its New Homes program. The Resurrection Project also develops and renovates community-owned real estate in a sustainable, affordable manner. TRP undertakes the property acquisition, financial packaging and construction management for its rental housing and commercial developments. TRP also oversees the physical, financial and tenant management of all its properties, ensuring the long term sustainability of the organization's real estate projects. TRP is developing the economic capacity of community residents through an innovative approach to workforce and business development. The Resurrection Construction Cooperative provides entrepreneurial assistance to new and emerging construction related businesses. The Resurrection Loan Fund provides working capital loans up to one-hundred thousand dollars to these businesses. The Resurrection Employment program offers comprehensive support to individuals seeking better employment. Staff provides support on an individual basis, assessing skills and guiding participants through the job-seeking process. Resurrection Project's exceptional work for our community has been recognized with awards such as the LaSalle Bank's Tom Gobby Community Leadership Award, BP Amoco Foundation's BP Amoco Leader Award for job creation, Bank of America's Community Impact Award and Fannie Mae Foundation's Maxwell Award of Excellence for the Production of Low Income Housing. Some of TRPs accomplishments include building 112 new homes for low and moderate income families, developing a new daycare and after school care center for 208 children, assisting 32 local contractors to begin, develop and expand their own construction businesses, creating a bilingual second stage housing program for homeless single mothers and generating more than twenty-five million dollars in community investment. I have witnessed the many positive accomplishments of the Resurrection Project throughout my community. The organization's hard work, commitment and dedication is invaluable to the people I serve. I commend the Resurrection Project for ten years of building affordable new homes and rental housing, helping businesses grow, challenging community residents to become leaders and strengthening families through the development of new child care centers.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I was unavoidably absent from the House floor when the following votes were taken: rollcall vote No. 211, rollcall vote No. 212, and rollcall vote No. 213. Had I been present in this chamber when these votes were cast, I would have voted ``yes'' on each of the votes.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the House floor when a vote was taken on amendment number 204 regarding the School of the Americas. I have always voted in support of any amendment to eliminate and/or drastically change the way this school functions and had I been present in this Chamber when this vote was cast, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Skelton amendment, which eliminates the offensive and onerous language in this bill regarding Puerto Rico and Vieques. The current language of the bill allows the U.S. military to resume bombing of the island of Vieques with live ammunition. This is an abomination to the people of Vieques and all of Puerto Rico. Instead of returning the island to a state of siege, the Skelton amendment would return the land to the people of Vieques, who have generously and patiently allowed live ammunition to strike closer to their homes, and for a longer period of time, than any other group of United States citizens. This land transfer is one small step towards justice for the people of Vieques, but an important one. My support for the Skelton amendment in no way suggests my support for President Clinton's directive regarding Vieques, to which I am vigorously opposed. President Clinton as Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces should listen to the Puerto Rican people and end the bombing of Vieques. I remind my colleagues that President Bush showed this courage when he stopped the bombing of a Hawaiian island. How sad that President Clinton refuses to show the same vision on behalf of the people of Puerto Rico. In the absence of President Clinton's commitment to do the right thing, to immediately and permanently end the bombing in Vieques, I strongly support the Skelton amendment.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, today I congratulate the Edward Hines Jr. Medical Center Nurses for their invaluable work caring for our nation's veterans on the occasion of the National Nurses Week, which is celebrated the week of May 7-13, 2000. The nursing staff at Hines Medical Center provide nursing care for veterans of all ages and all walks of life. They provide specialty care to patients from Illinois as well as throughout the Midwest. The nursing staff is committed to ensuring that all veterans received the high quality care they so richly deserve. Approximately thirty-four thousand veterans are enrolled at Hines Medical Center. The nursing staff treat veteran patients during more than four-hundred thousand inpatient and outpatient visits each year. The Nurses Week theme this year is ``Helping, Sharing, Always Caring for Our Veterans.'' They have a week of special events planned for Nurses Week. These include a nursing rededication to service program, nursing Olympics, and fellowship programs for all three shifts. Medical media is providing a video that highlights the many contributions of the nursing staff. I congratulate and recognize Hines Medical Center Nurses and all nurses for their service to patient care, research, education, quality improvement, infection control, administration and the many other areas where nurses make a difference at Hines and at all medical facilities. I thank them for their commitment, dedication and tireless service.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, on March 21, 2000 I was unable to be present in this chamber when the following votes were called: rollcall vote 56, rollcall vote 57 and rollcall vote 58. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on each of these rollcall votes I missed. I also missed rollcall vote 61 and had I been present, I would have voted ``no''. On the week of April 10, I was unable to be present in this chamber when the following votes were called: rollcall vote 111, rollcall vote 112, rollcall votes 113 and 114. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on each of these rollcall votes I missed. During the same week, I also missed rollcall vote 130 and had I been present, I would have voted ``no''.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, last week I traveled to Puerto Rico to show my support for the people of Puerto Rico and the peaceful demonstrators who are opposed to the resumption of Naval training on the island of Vieques. As a result of my absence from this chamber during last week, I missed voting on the following recorded votes: rollcall vote Nos. 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, and rollcall vote number 143. Had I been present in this chamber when these votes were cast, I would have voted ``yes'' on each of these rollcall votes. I also missed voting on rollcall vote Nos. 144 and 145 and had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on each of these two votes.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove Congressman Kevin Brady's name from my bill, H.R. 36. His name was inadvertently added to the list of cosponsors, and I ask that his name now be removed.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago (NHS) for its effort and success in rebuilding urban neighborhoods on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. NHS is a nonprofit neighborhood revitalization organization with programs organized around four major areas of activity: community development, neighborhood lending, real estate development and home ownership education. NHS promotes community development through 10 neighborhood-based programs offering home ownership, lending and rehabilitation services. Neighborhood Lending Services, the lending arm of NHS and an Illinois Residential Mortgage licensee, administers loan programs that finance home improvement, home safety repairs, purchase and home rehabilitation for low and moderate income families. The NHS Redevelopment Corporation buys and redevelops single and multifamily properties and builds new homes. Redevelopment activity is strategically targeted to support the work of neighborhood-based programs and to promote neighborhood development. NHS's NeighborWorks Home Ownership Center is an innovative approach to providing in one location all the services and training that customers need to shop for, purchase, rehabilitate, insure and maintain a home. NHS's Homebuyer Education and Landlord Training classes are offered at the Center several times per month in English and Spanish. Since 1975, NHS has rehabilitated more than 20,000 units of affordable housing for Chicago, families, including 334 units of low- income rental housing owned and managed by the NHS Redevelopment Corporation. NHS has initiated more than 12,000 loans totaling nearly $250 million to help individuals purchase or rehabilitate homes. NHS has also generated more than $1 billion of investment in 19 Chicago neighborhoods and reclaimed 990 vacant and abandoned homes for occupancy by new homeowners. NHS's efforts in community development, neighborhood lending, real estate development and home ownership education have improved Chicago and its neighborhoods for thousands of families. I am very honored to commend NHS on its invaluable work. I have witnessed the vital difference NHS makes in our communities and I thank them for their work and commitment. Once again, I congratulate Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago for its exceptional dedication improving Chicago's communities.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give my full support once again to the work of Chicago civil and human rights leader Reverend Ronald I. Schupp, who is embarking on his fourth annual peaceful twenty-four hour fast and vigil outside of the Chinese Consulate in Chicago. Reverend Schupp is calling upon the government of the People's Republic of China to grant independence to Tibet and its people. His vigil will be held on March 10, the day that is known each year as Tibetan National Day. This day recognizes the ongoing efforts and continuing struggle of the Tibetan people to gain their freedom. The fourteenth Dalai Lama, who in 1989 won the Nobel Peace Prize for his continuing efforts for a non-violent and peaceful solution to end the occupation of Tibet, is still laboring ceaselessly to accomplish this goal. I fully support Reverend Schupp and the vigil he is undertaking once again.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that today I introduced the ``Patients' Formulary Rights Act of 1999'', legislation aimed at protecting the health of millions of Americans. This bill, if enacted, would ensure that prescription medications are dispensed for one reason and one reason only: for the sake of maintaining a patient's health--not for the sake of adding to a company's profits. ``The Patients' Formulary Rights Act of 1999'' would help ensure that people enrolled in a variety of health insurance plans have access not merely to the drugs that they need, but also to something just as valuable to them and to the medical professionals who serve them: information. The field of medicine has changed dramatically in recent years, as managed care has become the dominant vehicle for the delivery of health care. While these changes have led to some positive developments, it also has led to many alarming problems. In far too many cases, ``managed'' care has meant that it is the information available to millions of Americans, and to their doctors and pharmacists, that is being ``managed.'' The practice known as ``drug switching'' is a dangerous example of patients being kept in the dark about the choices being made by others that will determine their health. Sadly, when a patient finally becomes aware that the drug originally prescribed by a physician has been changed, it is often only due to the unfortunate consequences stemming from that switch. In far too many cases, the fact that one drug has been replaced by another is only detected after such an incident of ``therapeutic substitution'' manifests itself in the form of a serious health problem: an unforeseen reaction, a debilitating side-effect or even a life-threatening complication. In other cases, of course, a change in drugs will result in no change at all in a patient's condition. And that is just as unfortunate, as a patient may grow weaker and sicker after taking a drug that is of no help in combating the illness from which he or she suffers. To add insult to injury is the fact that such changes are often the result of pressure applied by accountants and CEOs, which too often trump the prescriptions supplied by doctors and the protocols preferred by pharmacists. I believe that my legislation offers a practical, yet substantive, solution to this growing problem. My bill would require officials of health plans to take new, yet reasonable, steps if they insist on maintaining a list of formularies. Most notably, a health plan will be required to notify all participants, beneficiaries, enrollees and health care professionals that such a formulary is used. A complete list of all prescription drugs included in the formulary will be provided in full. Such notifications will be required at the time of a patient's enrollment, and a full and accurate notification of any changes in the formulary will also be necessary. Such an alert will be issued at the time that any such changes occur, and will be repeated in an annual update to enrollees. In addition, health plans will provide enrollees with a reasonable and understandable explanation of the practice known as ``drug switching'' or ``therapeutic substitution.'' As a member of Congress, I am accustomed to hearing Pentagon officials invoke the need for secrecy for the sake of protecting national security. From time to time, I can accept that. However, I cannot accept a similar argument from officials of the health care industry. To protect the health of their beneficiaries--that is, to protecting their security--such a veil of secrecy must be lifted. Finally, my bill would also instruct current enrollees on steps they can take to ensure that they will continue to have access to the drugs as prescribed by their doctor regardless of changes in their health plan's formulary policies or lists. This would establish the continuity of care and doctors, pharmacists and other health care professionals agree is so crucial to the well-being of their patients and customers. I am very gratified that this bill has already received the support of Citizens for the Right to Know, one of the nation's largest non- profit organizations representing patients and health care providers and health care trade associations. Their endorsement of and advocacy for this legislation will, I am confident, encourage other members of the House to join in me in fighting for such changes. I greatly appreciate their work on this important issue.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Madam Speaker, I am a proponent of the Community Reinvestment Act, which is why I am going to vote against this conference report. I am not pleased that S. 900 weakens the Community Reinvestment Act while strengthening banks' abilities to expand into insurance and securities business. I am not pleased that S. 900 sacrifices adequate consumer privacy for the sake of corporate interests. S. 900 strays too far from acceptable CRA provisions originally in H.R. 10, which required banks to have a satisfactory CRA rating in order to affiliate with insurance and securities firms, and this is important. To maintain that affiliation, they must maintain their satisfactory CRA rating. Unfortunately, this maintenance provision has been stripped from the bill. Sure, S. 900 requires banks to have a satisfactory CRA rating to expand into lines of business, but under this bill, once a bank's affiliating frenzy is over, once it gets as big as it wants by merging with securities and insurance firms, it is no longer required to maintain a satisfactory CRA rating. On privacy, this bill gives banks the right to share all information about consumers with their affiliates. Personally, I do not necessarily want my bank information to be shared with anyone. While S. 900 does give consumers the option to opt out of a bank's information-sharing arrangement with unaffiliated third parties, a consumer, I want America to understand this clearly, a consumer cannot opt out when the financial institution enters a joint marketing agreement with unaffiliated third parties. This means that if my bank has an agreement with a telemarketer down the street, the bank can share my information and the information of all Americans with whichever financial institution. That should be shameful, Madam Speaker.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, November 1, 1999 I was unavoidably absent from this chamber and therefore missed rollcall vote 550 (on passage of H.R. 348), rollcall vote 551 (on passage of H.R. 2737) and rollcall vote 552 (on passage of H.R. 1714). I want the record to show that had I been present in this chamber I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall votes 550 and 551 and ``no'' on rollcall vote 552.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, October 18, 1999 I was unavoidably absent from this chamber and therefore missed rollcall vote 508. I want the record to show that had I been present in this chamber I would have voted ``yea'' on vote 508. I also missed rollcall vote 512 on Tuesday, October 19, 1999. I want the record to show that if I had been able to be present in this chamber when this vote was cast, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote 512.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, September 23, 1999, I was unavoidably absent from this chamber and therefore missed rollcall vote 442. I want the record to show that had I been present in this chamber I would have voted ``yea'' on this vote. I also missed rollcall vote 456 on Tuesday, September 28, 1999. I want the record to show that if I had been able to be present in this chamber when this vote was cast, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote 456.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, October 20, 1999 I was unavoidably absent from this Chamber and therefore missed rollcall vote 515 (a Journal vote) and rollcall vote 519 (Mink amendment to H.R. 2). I want the record to show that had I been present in this Chamber I would have voted ``yea'' on each of these recorded votes. I also missed rollcall vote 516 (Motion to order the previous question on H.R. 2670), rollcall vote 517 (Adoption of the rule for H.R. 2670) and rollcall vote 518 (Conference Report on H.R. 2670). I want the record to show that if I had been able to be present in this Chamber when these votes were cast, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote 516, rollcall vote 517, and rollcall vote 518.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the American-Ukrainian Youth Association's 50th Anniversary and to wish them success at the Jubilee Banquet-Dance to be held at the Palmer House on October 23, 1999 in Chicago, Illinois. The American-Ukrainian Youth Association--Mykola Pavlushkov branch-- in Chicago is the largest such organization in our city and seeks to provide activities for children and young adults in the areas of culture, sports, civics and summer camp programs in its summer camp in Baraboo, Wisconsin. The Pavlushkov branch was formed on October 2, 1949 by young Ukrainian immigrants who arrived after World War II. In fact, many of these young immigrants arrived from German ``displaced persons'' camps. Upon arrival in the United States, this group wished to continue the work they did in Europe as members of the Ukrainian Youth Association (``SUM'') and renewed their SUM activities in their new communities. A central component of the SUM ideology is the concept of self- enlightenment, a concept that has been successfully incorporated into the existence of the Chicago branch. They are proud to follow the path of self-enlightenment through mass meetings of the membership as well as the promotion of the cultivation of Ukrainian culture and arts. I want to congratulate the ``50th Anniversary Committee'' and Chrystya Wereszczak, President of the American Ukrainian Youth Association on the occasion of this important milestone and wish them continued success.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, on September 4, 1999, U.N. officials announced the results of a U.N.-sponsored referendum of voters in East Timor. 78.5 percent of the voters rejected an indonesian government plan for East Timor to receive a special autonomy arrangement within Indonesia. This result, which effectively called for independence, sparked a rampage of killings and other acts of terror by East Timorese paramilitary groups supported by the Indonesian Army. One of my constituents, Mr. Michael Rhoades of Chicago, went to East Timor to serve as a United Nations accredited observer of the August 30 referendum. He participated with the International Federation for East Timor (IFET) Observer Project as a photojournalist. I submit a copy of a recent letter from Mr. Rhoades dated September 25, 1999. He was an eyewitness to the horrors that took place in East Timor. I urge my colleagues to cosponsor H.R. 2809. This bill will impose an immediate suspension of assistance to Indonesia until the results of the August 30, 1999, vote in East Timor have been implemented. I send this letter out of desperation, writing from Australia where I've been for a few weeks courtesy of an Australian Air Force evacuation flight from Dili, East Timor. Two weeks ago I flew from Darwin (our evac destination) to Sydney, sitting frustrated and sad now as I wait to fly back into Timor. It is difficult to write this because there is so much to say, because these have been some of the most heartbreaking weeks of my life, feeling absolutely powerless as politicians bow and curtsy through shallow condemnations of the Indonesian massacre in East Timor. I was in East Timor as an election/human rights observer with the International Federation for East Timor's observer project (IFET-OP). We were (I add proudly) the largest observer group in Timor, at one time numbering almost 150 participants with small teams dispersed in villages and cities throughout the country. Our mandate was to document human rights abuses and election rule violations during the August 30 popular consultation, as well as the periods immediately preceding and following. During my stay in Timor I saw time and again the blurring between ranks of military, police, and militia personnel. I heard stories from refugees sheltering in churches who'd been told that if the vote was for independence their village would be slaughtered. I heard soldiers scream to a family cowering behind the front wall of their home that they'd be back to kill them in the night. I helped try to save a young man (younger than me) dying from machete wounds, ghost- walking bleeding from his shoulder, arms, and gut--bone and intestines pressing through split flesh. I saw this younger-than-me man wrapped in soaked-through bloody sheets as we helped him into our truck. He remained absolutely silent while his sister and father screamed his pain and part of our team sped him off to the only medical clinic still functioning in Dili. I saw him (in-head) as we dodged military and militia patrols trying to get (quick and nonchalant) back home. I see him as I write this letter, I see him as I remember hearing that he was dead. I see this younger-than-me man as Indonesia stalls for time and our leaders huff and sigh for the cameras and their respective constituencies. I see this dead boy, and my friends left behind in East Timor. I fear (am terrified) for the life of Gaspar da Costa whose house we rented in the mountain village of Maubisse, and who went behind that house to quietly cry while we went inside to hurridly pack after telling him we were evacuating, leaving his town for the ``safety'' of Dili; ``and what happens to my family?'' he asked as we swapped our integrity for our skins. And I snapped pictures of Gaspar and his brothers and wife and daughters to document in advance the barbarism of the Indonesian government, preferring to photograph the da Costas while still alive, hugging Gaspar with everything in me when we left, feeling (though not wanting to believe) that I was hugging a dead man. And through the cacophony of U.N. sabre rattling I hear Father Mateus, the priest of Maubisse, who assured me that he was not a hero but who absolutely was. And though the East Timorese soil is wet with the blood of thousands far braver than me, I am particularly in awe of Father Mateus who sheltered refugees in his church and who stood up to the local police and militia heads, saying boldly that he did not trust them because he had been shown time after time that he could not trust them. The last I heard of Father Mateus, his name was at the top of the local militia deathlist. Selfless to the point of bullheadedness Father Mateus declared that there had not yet been a priest martyred for East Timor (because at the time there had not been) and he was prepared to be the first. I remember the horror in the Maubisse polling center the afternoon of the vote when certain militia members and military officers had whispered to the local Timorese polling staff that they'd kill them all in their homes that night. I remember that they slept in the polling center (Maubisse's schoolhouse) on the floor with no blankets, using deconstructed cardboard voting booths as mats. I remember leaving them there when we went home to dinner and a bed at Gaspar's because we were forbidden by our mandate to stay with them through the night. I remember walking up to the school at sunrise the next morning as we'd promised, to see if all was ok, and finding everyone across the road in the church for morning mass. I remember the terror still sharp in their faces as mass finished and they dragged along on tired- of-it feet back to their refuge in the school. And there were the folks who wound their way round to us between the mass and their refuge and shook our hands because they mistakenly thought that we had made the vote possible when it was them-- the East Timorese--coming out to vote in mind-blowing numbers that made the vote. And there was the old woman who came up to us and shook our hands and kissed them and said, ``friend.'' I remember my friend Meta who shouted my name and came up to hug me when our team walked through the gates of IFET's Dili HQ after we'd evacuated Maubisse. Meta who was so proud to introduce me to his father. Meta my friend, who is running; who went to hide in the hills. Who I hope with every part of me is still alive, as I do Gaspar and his family and Father Mateus and the brothers and refugees in his church . . . and here I feel like I'm being selective and truly I wish that no Timorese were being slaughtered. But that now is an impossibility, estimates put the death toll in the high thousands or tens of thousands and the longer that we U.N. member states stall, the greater the number of East Timorese being massacred or forcibly ``relocated'' and the greater our collective shame. When I originally drafted this letter for a few small U.S. newsweeklies, Indonesia had just conceded to allow a U.N. peacekeeping force into East Timor. I, among others, did not trust them. They would stall for time. And in that time there would be more slaughter. It is a week later now and much of this U.N. force is in the region, working with an Indonesian military which continues to be uncooperative and brutal. Airdropped food is providing a minimum of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of refugees slowly starving in the Timorese hills, but the Jakarta-driven massacre continues as stories of mass-killings during the past few weeks come forward through eye-witness testimonials, as refugees forced into West Timorese camps are terrorized and murdered, and as the militia masses its Indonesian- military-backed forces along the western side of the Indonesia-East Timor border (as it now can be called). The Australian media reported that Interfet peacekeepers chased three TNI trucks (TNI being the acronym of the Indonesian military) through the streets of Dili Thursday, TNI trucks which were loaded with troops who fired three bursts from automatic rifles, trying hard to shatter any remnants of the peace which they were tasked with restoring. Originally this letter was a call to action. Now, I hope, it acts as a call to continue that action. Unflinching vigilance and continued humanitarian action will be absolute necessities in the coming months, not only in East Timor but also for the hundreds of thousands of refugees forced into military convoys or onto boats headed to West Timor and other Indonesian islands. (Recent reports speak of a near total absences of males between the ages of 16 and 50 in the refugee camps and convoys.) And at home in the United States there are bills in both the House and the Senate (HR. 2809 and S. 1568) which would `lock-in' the temporary bans on military and financial assistance to Indonesia. These bills also set conditions (including a safe and secure environment in East Timor, full humanitarian assistance, and the return of all refugees), which Indonesia must meet before this assistance can resume. I write this letter in the hopes that you will read it and be incensed, that you will read it and want to pressure our government to act, to continue to act. The United States government carries much of the blame for this slaughter in East Timor, as they have sat by for twenty- four years while Indonesia--third largest global market for U.S. weapons and consumer goods; home to a bargain-priced, easily-exploitable labor force; and our viciously anti- Communist Cold War ally--carried out its sadistic policies against the East Timorese population, as they (the U.S. government--and we citizens by extension) turned a blind-eye and an approving nod to the invasion. I write this letter as a plea, an agonized cry from across the Pacific, to ask that you pressure our representatives in Washington to act. Please pressure them to act.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, we are debating today a concurrent resolution that states that it is the sense of Congress that ``the President should not have granted clemency to terrorists.'' The resolution uses the word ``terrorist'' 10 or 15 sometimes. I have heard the word terrorist used incalculable times during this debate, and I am sure I will continue to hear it throughout the rest of this morning. So I would like to talk about that word and its connection to these people who have been offered clemency, in a way that is a little more accurate, a little more honest, and perhaps a little less driven by politics. They were convicted of crimes. Specifically they were convicted of weapons possession, car theft and robbery. These are not acts of terrorism. These individuals are not terrorists. They are also convicted of seditious conspiracy, a political charge, a charge entirely unrelated to violence, a charge virtually never used in America in the second half of the 20th Century. For these crimes, ``crimes,'' that is an absolutely essential point, crimes in which not one person was seriously injured, crimes which did not cause one person to be killed, not one, they were sentenced to 90 years in prison. Ninety years. In the late 1980s when they were sentenced, the length of their sentences for these nonviolent crimes was consistently longer than most criminals received for unspeakable acts of violence, more than for assault, for rape or for murder. Now, we have heard supporters of this resolution talk about very serious acts of violence that were associated with the FALN, of which these people were associated with. These were terrible acts, they were wrong, and I am not here to defend them. As a Puerto Rican and an American, I express my deepest condolences to the victims and their families. Violence such as those acts should not be tolerated. But these were not the acts where these individuals were convicted. This is the plain and simple truth of the situation. That does not excuse what they did, and they have served very long sentences for what they were convicted of. But for what they were convicted of, and that is the only fair standard in any democracy, they have served long enough. And that is why 10, 10 Nobel Peace prize winners support their release. That is why Coretta Scott King and former President Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu support their release. That is why an unprecedented international coalition of human rights organizations, of religious, labor and business leaders support their release. That is why the United Council of Churches of Christ, why the United Methodist Church, why the Baptist Peace Fellowship, why the Episcopal Church of Puerto Rico, why the Presbyterians of Puerto Rico, why the Catholic Archbishop of San Juan, support their release. These are reasonable people I just mentioned, concerned organizations that speak for hundreds of thousands of Americans. They have examined the facts, they have studied the evidence, and they have concluded that these people have served a long enough time for their crimes and they are no longer a danger to our society. A strong supporter of independence for Puerto Rico, it is with a heavy heart that I think about violence that was associated with this movement long ago, and it is with a heavy heart that I think about the people that were hurt at the time, and it is with a heavy heart that I think about all of the anger and pain that is associated with it. And I hope with a sense of hopeful necessity and fairness and forgiveness that we can all come together and look for peace and reconciliation among the people of Puerto Rico and among the people of this great Nation, as we have done in Ireland and as we have done in the Middle East. Let us be a leader here at home for peace and reconciliation.

Mr. GUTIERREZ

Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this resolution. I think that the resolution is just not founded on facts. I believe I have good knowledge of why the President of the United States offered clemency. The President of the United States had not offered clemency because a group of politicians got together one day and decided to go down there and ask him for clemency for these 15 Puerto Rican political prisoners. He did so because he believes in peace and a reconciliation, and he believes that the rule of law is based upon justice and to look and to examine the facts in an impartial manner. I believe the President of the United States acted correctly when he listened to the petition and responded to that petition. Now, people would like to think, and of course the discourse has been much about who did what for whom and why. Well, let me come here to try to explain why I believe the President acted and acted correctly. The President looked at this issue and said, there are 10 Nobel Peace Prize winners who have petitioned me, the President of the United States, for this release. Among those 10 Nobel Peace Prize winners was Desmond Tutu; Coretta Scott King, the widow of Reverend Martin Luther King. Among those 10 Nobel Peace Prize winners was a former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter. That is a lot of different people coming together and saying to the President of the United States, In the spirit of peace and reconciliation, and as you view Puerto Rico's relationship with the United States, we ask you to initiate a new dialogue, a dialogue based upon peace. And you cannot have peace without justice. They said to the President of the United States, let them go and allow them to return home. Now, the question of violence, which is an issue which continues to get debate here, let us make it clear, and I would like to just read from the New York Daily News, an article written by Juan Gonzalez, and it says, In a statement the prisoners issued in early 1997 when they acknowledged with a sense of self-criticism that the FALN's war of independence had produced innocent victims on all sides and pledged, if released, to participate in the democratic process. That is about peace and reconciliation. I would like the American people to understand one other thing, that we also have to have the convictions of our own morals. We have gone out to Ireland, and we have set a course and help set a course for peace there. We have gone to the Middle East, and we have gone to set a course for peace in the Middle East. We have gone throughout the world to bring about peace. In that peace process, we must close the past and close those chapters and begin a new chapter. So based upon a process of reconciliation, of bringing people together, we had hoped that the President would take action. I want to make absolutely clear to everybody here that the 11 that have accepted the President's conditions, none of them, none of them were ever charged and/or convicted of any charge which caused the death or human hurt upon any individual. None of them. None of them. That is clearly the record. That clearly is the record. Now, my heart goes out, as I know all of our hearts go out, to all innocent victims of violence. We want to end the vicious cycle of violence, and the President of the United States has taken a courageous step. I would hope that, and I am not going to ask for this to be entered into the Record, but we could read a Requiem en Cerro Maravilla, a Requiem en Cerro Maravilla, which will indicate to all that violence has two faces in this nature, that there has been violence from both sides. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) and the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) and I and 10 Noble Peace Prize winners, including the Arch Bishop of San Juan and the Cardinal of New York, is asking everybody to come together in peace and reconciliation. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have tresspassed against us and bring peace to all.