Charlie Gonzalez

Mr. GONZALEZ

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I introduced H.R. 2015 on June 7, 1999. This legislation would reauthorize the Welfare to Work Tax Credit and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit programs for five years. Both of these tax credits are set to expire on June 30th of this year. Mr. Speaker, for the last seven years America has experienced an historic level of economic growth. The unemployment rate is at a 29 year low, and over 18 million jobs have been created. But, despite this spectacular success there still are many pockets of poverty and of unemployment or underemployment in our country. Mr. Speaker, the Welfare to Work tax credit and the Work Opportunity Tax Credits are specifically targeted to increasing employment amongst the hardest to hire worker groups in this country. These credits reward work, and their tax benefits accrue to the private firms that hire from these at- risk groups. If we are serious about moving millions of welfare recipients as well as unemployed and underemployed Americans into full time jobs in the private sector, Congress must act now to fully reauthorize the Welfare to Work and Work Opportunity Tax Credits. The Welfare to Work Tax Credit was established as part of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. This tax credit is intended for long term Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) recipients. A private firm that hires a member of a family that has received TANF benefits for at least 18 consecutive months can apply for the credit. The Welfare to Work Tax Credit counts against a firm's federal income tax liability for an amount up to 35% of the first $10,000 earned during the individual's first year of employment, and 50% for the first $10,000 earned during the second year of employment. An employer must retain eligible workers for at least 400 hours or 180 days in order to receive the credit. In the first two quarters of FY 1999, over 47,000 Welfare to Work certifications were issued. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit was initially authorized as part of the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996. This tax credit is intended for several hard to hire groups other than long term welfare recipients. Groups eligible for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit are: Members of families receiving TANF benefits for any 9 months during the 18 month period before starting employment; 18 to 24 year-olds whose principal place of abode in an empowerment zone or an enterprise community; 18 to 24 year-olds who are members of families receiving food stamp benefits for the 6-month period ending on the hiring date; 16 to 17 year-olds hired for summer work for any 90 day period between May 1 and September 15 whose principal place of abode is an empowerment zone or an enterprise community. Veterans who are members of families that have received food stamps for at least a 3 month period during the 15 month period ending on the hiring date. Individuals with physical or mental disabilities that have been referred by their state's vocational rehabilitation program. Economically disadvantaged ex-felons. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients. For eligible hires who remain on a firm's payroll at least 400 hours, an employer can apply a Work Opportunity Tax credit against the firm's federal income tax for an amount equal to up to 40 percent of the first $6,000 in wages paid during the worker's first year of employment. For eligible hires who remain employed from 120 hours to 399 hours the Work Opportunity Tax Credit rate is 25 percent for the first $6,000 in wages. With regards to summer youth employees, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit is applied against the first $3,000 earned in any 90 day period between May 1 and September 15. During Fiscal Year 1998, 285,322 Work Opportunity Tax Credit certifications were issued. For the first two quarters of FY 1999, 157,850 such certifications were issued. Both the Welfare to Work and Work Opportunity Tax Credits are set to expire this year on June 30th. H.R. 2015 would reauthorize both credits for five years. Mr. Speaker, I believe it is important that this Congress take a firm stand in favor of economic development and reduce the remaining pockets of unemployment and underemployment in this country by fully reauthorizing both the Welfare to Work and the Work Opportunity Tax Credits for 5 years. Both these credits have minimal impact on the federal budget. The Joint Committee of Taxation estimated that currently issued credit certifications for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit would cost $445 million between fiscal year 1999 and fiscal year 2004, and Welfare to Work credits would cost $25 million for the same period. We cannot afford to put these programs at risk each year during the annual budget process. We need to reauthorize them for at least a full 5 year period. Mr. Speaker, I encourage may colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 2015.

Mr. GONZALEZ

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my sincerest congratulations to Henry T. Brauchle Elementary School in San Antonio, TX, upon the notification of their receipt of the Blue Ribbon School Award. Schools are awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award based on their performance in regard to several criteria, including: student focus and support; active teaching and learning; school organization and culture; challenging standards and curriculum; professional community; leadership and educational vitality; school, family, and community partnerships; and indicators of success. Henry T. Brauchle Elementary School joins three schools in San Antonio and forty other Texas schools, all of which excelled in these areas and were rewarded with the Blue Ribbon School Award from the United States Department of Education. To receive consideration for this prestigious award, schools must be recommended for national recognition by their individual state department of education or sponsoring agency. Nominations are then evaluated by a National Review Panel including the Department of Education, the Department of Defense, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Council for American Private Education and a select group of educators from around the country. The Secretary of Education then makes a final determination based on the recommendations of this panel. In receiving this special recognition, I believe that Henry T. Brauchle Elementary School will inspire others to provide the level of quality education that this Blue Ribbon School Award merits. I am proud to represent a district and hail from a state that has clearly placed an emphasis on the education of our children.

Mr. GONZALEZ

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my sincerest congratulations to Glen Oaks Elementary School in San Antonio, TX, upon the notification of their receipt of the Blue Ribbon School Award. Schools are awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award based on their performance in regards to several criteria, including: student focus and support; active teaching and learning; school organization and culture; challenging standard and curriculum; professional community; leadership and educational vitality; school, family, and community partnerships; and indicators of success. Glen Oaks Elementary joins three other schools in San Antonio and forty other Texas schools, all of which excelled in these areas and were rewarded with the Blue Ribbon School Award from the United States Department of Education. To receive consideration for this prestigious award, schools must be recommended for national recognition by their individual state department of education or sponsoring agency. Nominations are then evaluated by a National Review Panel including the Department of Education, the Department of Defense, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Council for America Private Education and a select group of educators from around the country. The Secretary of Education then makes a final determination based on the recommendations of this panel. In receiving this special recognition, I believe that Glen Oaks Elementary School will inspire others to provide the level of quality education that this Blue Ribbon School Award merits. I am proud to represent a district and hail from a state that has clearly placed an emphasis on the education of our children.

Mr. GONZALEZ

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask unanimous consent to submit into the Record an article that appeared in the San Antonio Express News recently. The article highlights City Year San Antonio, a unique public and private partnership program for the national service movement. City Year San Antonio has contributed more than 30,000 hours of service to the San Antonio community in its 3 years of service. City Year San Antonio has established a mentor and tutor program for children from elementary school through high school, including programs on the environment, domestic violence prevention, HIV/Aids awareness, and technology education. I am proud of the work and the service that City Year provides to the San Antonio community. I look forward to the continued success and future progress of City Year San Antonio. AmeriCorps Workers Helping Others Citywide (By Joseph Barrios) . . . Nathan Miller grew up in a quiet Kansas City, Kan., neighborhood but wanted to travel and learn about different places. He graduated from high school and then applied to serve with City Year, one of the AmeriCorps volunteer programs operating in San Antonio. The 19-year-old Miller now works 12-hour days, sometimes tutoring West Side children as part of Project Learn to Read and sometimes working with San Antonio Alternative Housing on minor construction for elderly neighbors. His favorite responsibility is helping teach a nighttime English class for adults seeking citizenship. ``I feel like I help them get along better in their lives,'' Miller said, ``I have a chance to meet people in drastically different life situations from mine.'' Miller is one of more than 140 full-time volunteers in the San Antonio area serving with various AmeriCorps programs. Although the volunteers are affiliated with different funding agencies, their goals are the same. They want to tackle some of San Antonio's blight and improve people's lives. AmeriCorps is the national service program started by Congress and President Clinton in 1993. Programs can be funded with federal dollars or matched by a local ``parent'' organization. The George Gervin Youth Center has 20 full-time AmeriCorps volunteers and Habitat for Humanity has a dozen full-time volunteers working in San Antonio. Miller works for the 10-year-old City Year program, which has 70 AmeriCorps volunteers and works out of an office downtown. An average day for h im varies somewhat from Rudy Beltran, 23, a full-time volunteer with the Just Serve AmeriCorps program run by San Antonio Fighting Back of the United Way. Beltran, based at the Barbara Jordan center of the city's East Side, is a full-time student at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He also teaches an evening, English-as-a- Second-Language class at Highlands High School and tutors high school students in English. Recently, Beltran helped several students prepare for the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills Test. ``I definitely get a lot out of it,'' Beltran said. ``A couple of students came up to me and said it really helped them. They thought they had passed it.'' Fighting Back, a substance abuse, crime and violence prevention and community development program, has 60 full- time volunteers. They are recruiting more than 100 high school students for a new part-time service program in San Antonio. City Year and Southside High School recently started a part-time volunteer program for students called City Heroes. Most of the full-time volunteers started their year of service in August and will finish in June. Volunteers operate primarily on the city's West, East and South sides but can participate in programs anywhere in the city, said Scott Hirsch of the Texas Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service. Volunteers themselves come from all areas of town and sometimes--like Miller--from out of town. Hirsch said the commission is working on guidelines to evaluate how effective volunteers throughout Texas have been in the past five years since the AmeriCorps program was founded. Overall, the various volunteer programs are going strong. Hirsch added that associations with other programs can cause confusion. ``Sometimes, when you're at a cocktail party and you mention you work for AmeriCorps, people think it no longer exists,'' Hirsch said. Some of the benefits to the program are intangible, said Bill Blair, director at the George Gervin Youth Center. Regularly, when volunteers are painting a house or cleaning up an abandoned lot, neighbors will stop by and offer their help. ``I say, `Sure, come on and join us.' You can't beat that sort of thing,'' Blair said. Neighbors can also submit ideas for service projects to any of the programs like City Year or Fighting Back. AmeriCorps volunteer benefits can include health insurance, a weekly stipend, uniforms and a post-service education award of $4,725 that can pay for school or student loans. The program requires a minimum of 1,700 hours a year from volunteers. This fall, Miller will begin college in Vermont. He said his favorite times as a volunteer come when someone thanks him for work that an AmeriCorps volunteer did. ``I have people come up to me all the time. They see your shirt and want to thank you,'' Miller said. ``They can be thanking you for something that happened three years or three days ago.''

Mr. GONZALEZ

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my sincerest congratulations to Lackland Elementary School in San Antonio, TX, upon the notification of their receipt of the Blue Ribbon School Award. Schools are awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award based on their performance in regards to several criteria, including: student focus and support; active teaching and learning; school organization and culture; challenging standards and curriculum; professional community; leadership and educational vitality; school, family, and community partnerships; and indicators of success. Lackland Elementary joins three other schools in San Antonio and forty other Texas schools, all of which excelled in these areas and were rewarded with the Blue Ribbon School Award from the United States Department of Education. To receive consideration for this prestigious award, schools must be recommended for national recognition by their individual state department of education or sponsoring agency. Nominations are then evaluated by a National Review Panel including the Department of Education, the Department of Defense, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Council for American Private Education and a select group of educators from around the country. The Secretary of Education then makes a final determination based on the recommendations of this panel. In receiving this special recognition, I believe that Lackland Elementary School will inspire others to provide the level of quality education that this Blue Ribbon School Award merits. I am proud to represent a district and hail from a state that has clearly placed an emphasis on the education of our children.

Mr. GONZALEZ

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, it is a great privilege tonight to address a very important matter that seems to have been forgotten with the current crisis in Kosovo and some of the pressing matters before the Congress. That is the Census. Today is May 12, 1999. We are just 10 months and 19 days away from the official beginning of the 2000 Census. Article 1, Section 2 of the United States Constitution requires the Census to be conducted every 10 years for the purpose of reapportioning seats in Congress among the States. Since the Supreme Court's decision in 1962, one man-one vote, the ruling in Baker versus Carr, censure data has also been used for redrawing legislative boundaries to seek equal population and fair representation in each legislative district. This country has come a long way since the first Census was conducted in 1790. Back then there were no address lists, no maps, not even a mailout questionnaire. Instead, the U.S. Marshals traveled on horseback as they individually counted the population of the original 13 States. The 2000 Census will be the 22nd national census, and it will be the largest peacetime mobilization in the United States since the Great Depression. The 2000 Census will consist of counting 275 million United States residents at 120 million households, more than half a million Census takers, 500 local Census offices, with 12 regional Census centers and four data processing centers, 500 local area networks with 6,000 personal computers, 8 million maps, 79 million questionnaires, and 8 to 9 million blocks across the country. With the annual fate of $180 billion Federal dollars resting on the accuracy of the 2000 Census, the importance of this historic undertaking is all too clear. The 1990 Census 10 years ago resulted in 26 million errors. Thirteen million people were counted in the wrong place, 4.4 million people were counted twice, and 8.4 million were missed. The majority of those that were missed were poor people, children, and minorities. The national net undercount was 1.6 percent of the total population. That is 4 million Americans, 4 million people, who simply did not count. Minorities were undercounted at levels considerably above the national average. Five percent of Hispanics were missed, 4.5 percent of American Indians, 4.4 percent of African Americans, and 2.3 percent of Asian and Pacific Islanders were not counted. Even more unfortunate is the fact that children were missed nearly twice as often as adults, and again, minority children had the highest undercounts, and later we will discuss the repercussions. We cannot and should not allow this to happen again. That is why I agree with President Clinton, that improving the Census should not be a partisan issue. It is not about politics, it is about people. It is about making sure that every American really, literally counts. We must support the Census Bureau and its plan to incorporate the use of modern scientific methods and an aggressive enumeration process to provide the most accurate count possible. Otherwise, the voiceless will continue to have no voice in this country, the unrepresented will continue to be unrepresented, and the American dream will remain just that, just a dream, never a reality, for those who are not counted. Joining me tonight in this effort is my neighbor and my colleague, and my good friend, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ciro Rodriguez). I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez).

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I also wish to point out something that the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez) touched on, and that is that numerous organizations support the Census Bureau's plan to utilize the modern scientific method. These are proven, reliable means. Some of these organizations are as follows: the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials, the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund, the Rainbow Push Coalition, the NAACP, the National Puerto Rican Coalition, the National Congress of American Indians, the America Federation of Teachers, the National Education Agency, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, the National Council of Senior Citizens, and many more organizations recognize the importance of an accurate census. Of course, they are making their voices heard. Congress, by the same token, has a duty and obligation to listen to all of the people and these organizations. I am glad that, again, we have another voice that is sounding loud and clear, and that is the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes). Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes).

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, we keep going back to the undercount, and it is quite serious for certain States more so than others, but this is an American problem because we are talking about Americans not being counted, and we are talking about individuals not being represented. It is not just Texas, though I am going to dwell on Texas a little longer since I am from San Antonio and it has impacted my community more so than many others. But it is Arizona. The 1990 census missed more than 89,000 people in Arizona. In Florida, they missed 258,900 people. In New York, 271,500 people. California, 834,000 people were missed. In a minute, I will tell my colleagues why that is so important, which has already been touched on by my colleagues. But let me go ahead and expand a little bit on some of the specifics. The 1990 census resulted in an undercount of 482,000 Texans. Texas trailed only California as the State with the highest undercount. Of those 382,000 missed individuals, 228,300 children were missed in Texas. In my hometown of San Antonio, there were 38,100 people missed. Nearly half, 16,600 of those were children. That is enough, a number of children, to fill 29 schools with a total of 1,042 teachers. That is in San Antonio alone. If we estimate as $650 in Federal resources annually per child, San Antonio unjustly lost $10,790,000 that should have gone to educate our children. We keep talking about money; and people say, oh, is this just about money? Maybe it is, in large measure. What is so unfair about that? These are our tax dollars that flow from San Antonio, that flow from the State of Texas to the Federal Government. The Federal Government then devises a method of which they then allocate back to the States and to the cities. But if they are not counting us, we will never get what is justly ours. It is our contribution. This is what we should be getting back from the Federal Government as an investment in what we have put out. The 1990 undercount cost Texas $1 billion in Federal funds. If the 2000 Census results in an equally unfair count, Texas stands to lose an additional $2.18 billion in population-based Federal funds. This is simply not fair to Texans. It is not fair to San Antonians. Beyond that, it is not fair to our children. I keep saying Texans and San Antonians, but it really is all Americans. This is not a country that should, for whatever reason, whether we attribute it to political gain or to extract some sort of political advantage, that we should elevate that to the cost and the expense of educating our children, also funds for hospitals, for medical care, for our farmers, for our ranchers. It goes on and on. I will be happy in a minute to highlight and explain to my colleagues how census figures translate to proportional amounts of money being deprived of those individuals who actually contribute to the Federal Government. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from San Antonio, Texas (Mr. Rodriguez) to engage in a dialogue. I know I have gone over some points especially when it comes to children. I know how dedicated the gentleman is to education and education issues. I am aware that the gentleman taught for over 10 years. He was an educator. I am also aware that his wife is also an educator.

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, that is the important thing about this whole debate. We debated in the past in this Chamber on the floor here, and I do not think we have ever had a legitimate debate questioning the methodology that is to be utilized by the Census Bureau. This is a methodology that has been endorsed, accepted, approved, certified by the National Academy of Science. It is not a question of legitimacy of the application of the methods. No one is really going to be attacking that. The reason they are not going to is because they surely will adopt it and want to use it in other areas. It is not a legitimate, well-founded and valid argument. So my colleagues are not going to hear that. What it really comes down to, and I know that the American people would like to think there are certain issues that rise above political considerations. Kosovo is one of them, and it is important to us. It is not a Democratic issue, and it is not a Republican issue. The census is one when we are talking about the lives, the well-being, the quality of life, a standard of living for all Americans. It is not Republican. It is not Democratic. It is a people issue. It is a people issue, and we should not do harm and injustice to it by somehow politicizing it and extracting partisan advantage, or perceived partisan advantage, because I do not believe that there really is any partisan advantage to either kind of fight on some of these issues, and the census does not lend itself to it. Over and above the methodology that is going to be utilized by the Census Bureau, I also wish to touch on the community outreach, what the Census Bureau is doing to engage local communities, to gain the input of the local governments to assist them in making sure we have an accurate count early on. Because as the gentleman has indicated, if we drag our feet on this we cannot meet the certain deadlines. We will not have an accurate census count. So I do want to go over some of the partnerships. Many of these effective partnerships have already been established with the Census Bureau and the following organizations. The American Association of Retired Persons, the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Congress of American Indians, the National League of Cities, and dozens more have joined forces with the Census Bureau and other cities' governments across the Nation to educate people about the census. This year the Census Bureau is looking to build upon the success of its previous partnership programs. Just last week the Census Bureau announced its partnership with Goodwill Industries, a national nonprofit organization who trained 320,000 people last year. Goodwill Industries has become known for training and placing former welfare recipients that will now assist the Census Bureau in its efforts to hire and train some of the nearly 850,000 census workers needed to conduct the 2000 Census. We all need to work to assist the Census Bureau in establishing these partnerships with governments, organizations and businesses in our own districts. There is more to this effort by the Census Bureau, and I commend the Census Bureau for going out there in their outreach effort. There is also what is referred to as Census in the Schools, and it is a project that will strive to educate students about the census, its importance to them, their education, their families and their communities, and it is a darned good place to start in terms of education. The goal is to increase participation by involving schools, teachers and students and engaging the parents. And there is no better way to get a parent's attention than to work it through the children and what is in their best interests. In addition, the Census in the Schools project will serve as another tool to recruit some of the nearly 850,000 workers that will be needed to conduct the 2000 Census. Many of the schools across the country have already received information about the project, and I know that we will be visiting San Antonio and going to the schools and promoting the partnership program. For those who have not received the information, the education materials are available on the Census Bureau's web page, and that is www.census.gov, for government.

Mr. GONZALEZ. I could not agree with the gentleman more. We have gone over about the proven scientific method. I do not think there is any real legitimate attack on it. But I want to assure Members of the House, of course, that every effort will be made to go to the neighborhoods, to make sure the questionnaires are returned and they are answered. We will do everything that is humanly possible for an accurate head count. But beyond that, we already know that is not accurate, and it is not going to result in accurate numbers for us. Knowing that, we have a proven, reliable method of establishing accurate numbers. There are many things that are out there now, and people may question, they may be worried when they hear the word ``sampling'', ``scientific method'', but I have already gone over that the National Academy of Sciences has approved it. This is something that the Bush administration even approved and sanctioned. Even on the floor of this House, does anyone think that the writers of the Constitution, the framers of the Constitution, those individuals, those great geniuses, ever envisioned that we would be casting our votes electronically; that we would use this card that I hold in my hand; that we would put it in a slot and vote ``yes'', ``no'' or ``present'', and it would be going up on some electronic board; that these numbers would be calculated? I am sure there would be individuals that would question that alone, that advance in technology, which speeds things along in this House. No doubt. The reason we trust it is because it is proven. It is reliable. We have tested it. And that is all we can ask of any method or any manner that we utilize today; that it be based on the best scientific method that is available to us; that it is proved correct and accurate time and time again. Many individuals do not understand how important it is to have an accurate census and how it affects their individual lives. I am going to enumerate how these numbers are used year in and year out, and the most important thing to remember is that the census is decennial in nature. That means every 10 years. If we do not get it right that year, we have to live with those numbers for 10 years, just as Texas has lived with them for 10 years at a cost of a billion dollars to our children, our farmers, our ranchers and our citizens. We cannot repeat those mistakes. Census numbers are required to enforce provisions under the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based upon race, sex, religion and national origin. They are used by the Department of Veterans Affairs for State projections on the need for hospitals, nursing homes, cemeteries and other benefits for veterans. State and county agencies use the data to plan for eligibility under Medicare and Medicaid programs. Census data is used to determine the distribution of funds to develop programs for people with disabilities and the elderly under the rehabilitation act. Census data is used in evaluating the impact of immigration on the economy and the job market. The Small Business Administration uses census data to distribute funds for small business development centers. So important to our economy, since we know that over 85 percent of all businesses are truly small in nature. Census data is used to help determine the effects of bank mergers under the Community Reinvestment and Bank Holding Company Acts. Census data is used by local governments to project the need for services such as fire and police services. These are just a few of the number of ways census data is used.

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I could not agree with the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez) more on that observation. In summary, I just want to reemphasize some things. I do not believe there is any legal impediment to the utilization of the modern scientific method for the purposes of redistricting and, of course, the distribution of Federal funds. That goes unquestioned. If people want to take it to the courts, that is a right, as we enjoy so many in our democracy. But again, if it is done for the wrong purposes, if it is just done to delay, to frustrate and thwart an accurate census so we have inaccurate numbers for 10 years, that is wrong. I do not believe it is American and I think it is abuse of the system. And if we ever had frivolous litigation, that is frivolous litigation. I am going to wrap this up by going over other uses of these numbers because they truly are numbers that translate and affect the lives of human beings, though. Community agencies use the census data to target areas that need special programs, such as Meals on Wheels. The data is also used to allocate funds for programs that promote educational equality for women and girls under the Women's Educational Equity Act. And it creates prevention of violence against women's programs dealing with, of course, prevention and post-trauma assistance. The Department of Health and Human Services uses data in its assistance program. Census data is used by State governments to support juvenile justice and create delinquency prevention programs. The Department of Education uses the information for preparing a report to Congress on the social and economic status of children served by different local school districts. If they have faulty underlying data, they are not getting accurate information on which Congress can act. And local governments use the data to implement programs such as Head Start. As we can see, virtually no one in this country goes untouched by the effects of an accurate or an inaccurate census, for that matter. We have all been elected to represent our constituencies and to represent their best interests. An accurate census is in our constituents' best interest. It reminds me, of course, as everyone thinks of an accurate census, ``how will that affect me?'' It reminds me of Hemingway's ``For Whom the Bell Tolls.'' And I will tell my colleagues now, if we do not realize an accurate census, that bell tolls for them, for me, our children, our constituents, and their children.

Mr. GONZALEZ

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, it is my own honor to rise and offer these remarks in support of the measure that would name the Federal building in Austin, Texas, after former Representative Jake Pickle. As many that are gathered here tonight know that my father served in this Congress for 37 years and, of course, shared every one of those years, at least 31 of those years, with Jake Pickle as his esteemed colleague. We will hear stories often expressed by Jake Pickle and my father regarding the many rides they would take back to their district on Air Force One when LBJ was the President. They will always talk about the Civil Rights Act and the great vote of 1964 and the 2:00 a.m. phone call that President Johnson made to Jake Pickle, which is an interesting story in and of itself. The real story, though, lies in the phone calls that both my father and Jake Pickle received from LBJ before the vote. Jake Pickle is an extraordinary man, and I have had the great privilege of knowing him since I was a teenager. When I went to college in Austin and Jake Pickle was back in the district, he would come to the State capital where many of the students would work. And he would come in there and he would mentor us and he would counsel us. He is a great man in many, many respects, not just a great representative but everything that we should aspire to as public officials. He is the kind of individual that will take the time, from the busiest of schedules, and do it the old way and that is to sit with the person, to meet with them, to listen, to understand them and then give good, sage counsel and advice. To Jake Pickle, I think it would be the greatest honor but truly it would be something that would remind us every day of what public service is all about.

Mr. GONZALEZ

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the great public service career of one San Antonian. Over the past 25 years, Mr. Eloy Aguilar has served the constituents of the 20th district of Texas as district director for my predecessor and father, Henry B. Gonzalez. Twenty-five years ago, Eloy began his career of service and over the years he has shown great dedication and commitment to the constituents of the 20th district and all the people of San Antonio. There have been countless changes since he began his career in 1974, but the one thing that has not changed is Eloy's dedication. He has devoted many hours, evenings and weekends to the work of the people. Though he had served the community of San Antonio for a quarter of a century and was ready for retirement, Eloy continued his role as district director for me during the transition from my father's lengthy term through the first months of my own. In just a few days, Eloy will enter retirement. I take this opportunity to thank him for his tireless service to the constituents of the 20th district and to the Gonzalez family. His presence will be greatly missed. Eloy, we wish you all the best.

Mr. GONZALEZ

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues today to join me in supporting the amendment to H.R. 472 offered by the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney). This amendment succeeds where 472 fails. It allows for local government participation without jeopardizing inaccurate census. It includes local governments in the Census Bureau's plan. It makes them a vital part of it by including them in the process of building and checking the list utilized by the Census Bureau when it conducts the census. That is the participation that local governments want. They want to be part of the process now, not later. Let us not be fooled. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the end result of H.R. 472 will be another inaccurate census. The voiceless will continue to have no voice. The unrepresented will continue to be unrepresented, and the American dream will remain just that, just a dream, never a reality for those who are not counted. We must vote for the Maloney amendment. Vote yes.

Mr. GONZALEZ

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 73, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no''.

Mr. GONZALEZ

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for allowing me this opportunity, and I also join my colleagues in commending her for the leadership role that she has played in this important battle. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in hopes that history will not repeat itself, in hopes that we have learned by our previous mistakes. That is what we teach our children, that is what we have been taught. You would think as leaders, elected by our constituencies, we come here today with those important lessons. That may not be the case. In the 1990 census, there were 26 million errors, approximately 8.4 million people were missed, 4.4 million were counted twice, and another 13 million were counted in the wrong place. Of those minorities, as has already been pointed out, those were minorities, they were children, they were poor people in the rural areas that had the highest undercounts. Clearly, we can do better than that. We must do better than that if we are to truly represent Americans of all ages and colors. In Texas alone, we had an undercount of nearly half a million people, and it cost our State $1 billion in Federal funds. That is $1 billion of our tax money. Estimates suggest that an equally inaccurate undercount in 2000 would cost Texas over $2 billion. I have already heard from several mayors in Texas, including the mayors of San Antonio, Laredo, Brownsville, Houston and Austin. They know what the 1990 census cost Texas and they are desperate to avoid another undercount. Even my local newspaper, the San Antonio Express News, has joined this all too important debate, requesting of Governor George W. Bush, Jr. to take a stand for Texas on the census and to allow and make sure that we utilize the latest proven, reliable scientific methods in arriving at an accurate count. In 2000, the Census Bureau will have to count 275 million people at 120 million addresses. We are just over a year away from the first census 2000 mailing, and we must allow the Census Bureau to get on with their business, counting the American population. H.R. 472, the Local Census Quality Check Act, scheduled at one time to come up on the House floor this week, would require the Census Bureau to conduct post-census local reviews. Now, that sounds like a good idea. But when you look under the cover, it appears to me that the real goal of H.R. 472 is to postpone deadlines while making it impossible for the Census Bureau to use scientific methods to arrive at the most accurate count possible. Dr. Kenneth Prewitt, the director of the Census Bureau, has stated that H.R. 472 would mandate an operational change to the census 2000 plan which is neither timely, effective nor cost efficient and would return us to inadequate 1990 operations that have now been substantially improved upon. It is simple. Post-census local review is not a new idea. The Census Bureau has used it in the past. They used it in 1990 and it proved to be inefficient. With that experience in mind, the Census Bureau developed a new plan for the 2000 census which would address the issue of local participation while utilizing modern scientific methods to produce the most accurate census possible. I support the Maloney amendment to H.R. 472 which allows the Census Bureau to do just that, address local participation and use proven statistical methods to produce the most accurate census possible. The Maloney amendment gives local governments the power to add new construction to the census address list, review counts of vacant addresses and to review jurisdictional boundaries as part of a local update of census addresses before the census is conducted and not after. It is clear to me that this amendment not only includes local governments in the census process, it makes them an integral part of it by including them in the process of building and checking the address list on a timely basis. After all, if what we all want is for our local governments to have some participation and some control or simply some say in the process, let us include them now and not later. Mr. Speaker, I respectfully would request that the following letters from mayors in Texas who support local participation but oppose H.R. 472 be submitted into the Record. City of San Antonio, Howard W. Peak, Mayor, March 16, 1999. Hon. Dan Burton, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Congressman Burton: I am writing you to request your support for a fair and accurate census in 2000. As you are well aware, the 1990 census resulted in 26 million errors and an undercount of more than eight million Americans. With more than 38,000 citizens not counted in San Antonio and close to half a million statewide, Texas trailed only California as the state with the highest undercount in the 1990 census. On behalf of the City of San Antonio, I am requesting you to oppose H.R. 472, the Local Census Quality Check Act. While I am favor in local participation and involvement to ensure a quality census, the effect of this legislation would prevent the Census Bureau from utilizing the most effective scientific methods for ensuring an accurate census. Furthermore, the Act jeopardizes the ability of the Census Bureau to correct census counts for persons missed or counted twice by requiring that the 9-week local review process begin after all other census activities are completed. The Census Bureau abandoned the post-census local review process because it was found not to be cost-effective. As currently drafted, H.R. 472 undermines the goal local officials have been working towards--the most accurate census possible. Therefore, I support the amendment proposed by Representative Carolyn Maloney which would coordinate local review with the other census activities. San Antonio and the entire state of Texas stand to lose billions of dollars in federal funds allocated on the basis of the census. The only way we can assure a fair and an accurate census is to allow the professionals at the Census Bureau to make the many critical decisions involved in taking a census based on their expertise and experience. I ask for your commitment for a fair and accurate census in 2000. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Howard W. Peak, Mayor.

Mr. GONZALEZ

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to encourage the Republican leadership to join my colleagues in making debt reduction a priority. My Democratic colleagues have made a commitment to dedicate the surplus to saving social security and Medicare and paying down the debt. This is the fiscally responsible decision to be made. For the first time in a generation we will have a surplus. We are finally in the black. Just because we have some money on the positive side of the ledger, we cannot let spending fever grip Congress. I know my colleagues on the other side of this aisles want to dole out tax cuts, but now is not the time. While across-the-board tax cuts may sound attractive, it is not the most opportune time to indulge. The truth is that such a tax cut will only benefit the most affluent Americans. We must practice fiscal responsibility and restraint. If we dedicate the surplus to paying down the debt, we can put money in the pockets of hardworking families. What I mean by that is that we can reduce the debt from $3.7 trillion to $1.3 trillion. Such a reduction will have a ripple effect on our economy. All Americans stand to gain. Economists believe that this kind of reduction would result in lower interest rates.

Mr. GONZALEZ

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. Mr. Speaker, as a country, we are in an enviable position. The United States is prospering due to a sound economic policy, low unemployment, and a balanced budget, but we must not rest on these accomplishments. We must build and go forward. We must now address the most important issue facing our country, the need to improve our educational system. We have the opportunity now to invest in our children and in our futures. Last year we started down the road to improving our public school system by making a commitment to hire 100,000 new teachers at the early grade levels in an effort to reduce class size. This will allow us over the next several years to reduce the national average class size to 18 students. In addition, this will ensure that we are providing a solid foundation in the essential basics during the crucial early years of child development. What the last Congress did not accomplish we must accomplish in this Congress. Our Nation's schools need to be modernized and, in many cases, rebuilt. As we head towards the 21st century, we cannot allow our children to be forced to learn in dilapidated schools and in crowded temporary facilities. In my home town of San Antonio, I have visited schools where space is so limited that teachers' offices are in tiny rooms which once served as utility closets. If we are looking for improved results, we must afford the best learning environment for all of our children. We must, in modernizing schools, continue to provide them with the ability to access the Internet, not only as an educational tool but also as a teacher training tool. In addition, we must establish incentives to recruit and maintain highly qualified teachers, providing increased support through teacher training in specific fields of expertise. The President, in his State of the Union Address and in his administration's budget, has proposed a comprehensive program to improve our public school system. I believe the administration's educational agenda is headed in the right direction, and I support the President's proposal to provide approximately $22 billion in interest- free funds for school modernization. These funds will benefit schools in virtually all of our districts, in some cases rebuilding schools that were built before we very first entered the public school system. Recently there has been much talk about a global economy. If we as a country and our children as the future leaders of this country are to participate and prosper from that economy, we must stop the erosion of the public school system and work to ensure that the public school system not only improves but thrives as we enter the 21st Century.

Mr. GONZALEZ

Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, the issue that we address today will affect every constituent in every congressional district throughout the Nation. You will hear us repeat numbers, facts and figures but truly what we are trying to emphasize, that these are just not facts and figures but real people. The 2000 census is just around the corner and if we do not stop the partisan rhetoric which has clouded this issue for far too long, we will once again keep millions of Americans from having a voice. As Chair of the Census and Civil Rights Task Force for the Hispanic Caucus and Co-Chair of the Census Task Force for the Democratic Caucus, I am committed to achieving a fair and accurate census. The impact of a fair and accurate census will be felt across the Nation in every community and in the lives of every American. The information gathered in the census is utilized in many ways. It is used by States and local governments to plan schools and highways, by the Federal Government to distribute funds for health care and countless other programs. It is used by businesses in creating their own economic plans. Our last census, in 1990, was the first time in history that the count was less accurate than the one before. In 1990, more than 8 million Americans were not counted and more than 4 million were counted twice. In Texas, as already indicated, over 500,000 were not counted. In my own home city of San Antonio, as referred to earlier, 40,000 were not counted. In a report released by the General Accounting Office this past week, it is reported that 22 of the 25 large formula grant programs use census data as part of their allocation formula. Those 25 formula grant programs distribute approximately $166 billion in Federal funds to the States. The 22 formula grant programs that utilize census data account for 97 percent of the total. That is $161 billion. These are Federal tax dollars that citizens across the Nation have paid, Federal dollars that should come back to the community in the form of improved infrastructure, better neighborhood schools, health care for the poor and the elderly, local economic development and much more. In my State of Texas, where over 500,000 were not counted, it is estimated that we lost close to $1 billion in Federal funding over the past 10 years. We were second only to California in the harm caused by an inaccurate count. This astronomical loss of funding breaks down to $1,992 per missed person. It is estimated that if we utilize the same inaccurate enumeration methods for the 2000 census, Texas will stand to lose $2.18 billion in Federal funds. We must realize that this is not a political issue. This is an economic issue. It is an education issue. It is an infrastructure issue. And most importantly, it is about fairness. It is about time that we stop the partisan rhetoric and choose people over party politics. Every person in this Nation counts and every American deserves to be counted. It is important to point out exactly who was missed in the 1990 census. It is really no surprise, because the very people who were not counted in the last census are those communities who are typically overlooked. Of the 8 million Americans not counted, minorities, children and the poor were disproportionately represented. Nationally, 5 percent of Hispanics, 4.4 percent of African Americans, 2.3 percent of Asian and Pacific Islanders, and over 12 percent of Native Americans living on reservations were undercounted. In Texas, the net undercount from the 1990 census was 2.8 percent, almost twice as high than the national average of 1.6 percent. The percentage of Hispanics and children missed in Texas were all greater than the national average. Of the 500,000 Texans missed, over half were of Hispanic origin. Statewide, 3.9 percent of African Americans, 2.6 percent of Asian and Pacific Islanders, and 2.8 percent of Native Americans were undercounted. While missing or miscounting people is a problem for the census, the fact that particular groups, children, the poor, people of color, city dwellers and renters were missed more often than others produced census data that underrepresented these particular groups. Each of us should be outraged by these types of inaccuracies. The Census Bureau and other experts have told us that the most accurate census can be obtained by utilizing modern and proven scientific statistical methods. These are proven methods, proven to be the most accurate system to obtain the census. Now, we know that the Constitution calls for an enumeration. I agree. We should try to count as many people as we possibly can. I also realize the obstacles that face us if we rely on this head count alone. Today society is highly mobile. Most households are two-income families. There are language barriers. And there are people who have a distrust of government. These are just some of the obstacles facing us if we choose to continue to employ a head count system alone. Proven scientific statistical methods can overcome these obstacles and will give us the more accurate count. Over and above the accuracy, we know that this system is cheaper than the actual head count. The Supreme Court recently ruled that these scientific methods can only be used for redistricting and distribution of Federal funds and that a head count must be done for the purpose of apportionment. If we know we can get the most accurate census through these methods and that they will save us money, we must utilize them. The gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) who just preceded me has introduced legislation that will amend the census act so that scientifically proven statistical methods can be used for every purpose of the census, apportionment, redistricting and distribution of Federal dollars. I believe in this bill and urge all of my colleagues to support it so that every American will be counted and have a voice. We must stop the partisan bickering over the census. We must put people first. We must put people over party politics. We must and should be dedicated to obtaining a fair and accurate census in 2000.