Rubén Hinojosa

Mr. HINOJOSA

Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Chairman, during consideration of H.R. 2 on the Kennedy amendment, recorded vote number 120 on Amendment #13, I inadvertently cast my vote against this amendment. On this particular vote I meant to cast a ``yes'' vote. Amendment No. 25 Offered by Mr. Vento The CHAIRMAN pro tempore [Mr. LaHood]. The unfinished business is the demand for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Vento] on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. The Clerk will designate the amendment.

Mr. HINOJOSA

Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word, and I rise in support of the gentlewoman's amendment to the H.R. 1271, the FAA Research, Engineering, and Development Authorization Act of 1997. This amendment serves to highlight Hispanic serving and minority institutions' participation in the undergraduate FAA research grants program established by the bill. There is no doubt that an overwhelming need exists for more research dollars to be awarded to these institutions. In 1996 they received less than 1 percent of available funds. That is simply not satisfactory. I encourage all my colleagues to today address and rectify this problem and to support this amendment.

Mr. HINOJOSA

Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Chairman, today on rollcall vote No. 90 I was recorded as voting ``yes.'' I meant to cast a ``no'' vote. I oppose eliminating funding for the space station. This is a project which has my wholehearted support. amendment offered by mr. roemer

Mr. HINOJOSA

Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove my name as cosponsor of House Joint Resolution 1.

Mr. HINOJOSA

Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the bipartisan retreat in Hershey, PA. We came together in an effort to bring greater civility to the House of Representatives, and that is exactly what I feel we accomplished. We wanted to set a tone of cooperation and compromise for the 105th Congress. We proved that it could be done. As freshman Representative, Jo Ann Emerson from Missouri and I recruited over 60 percent of the 74 Members of our 1996 class. We made sure that our young class is included in the struggle to unite our House of Representatives. Both of us served as part of the planning team and coleaders of the small group sessions. The participants in planning this event spanned the range of ideological, geographic, ethnic and seniority differences. This diversity was also reflected by those attending the retreat, as evidenced by the participation of the Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, Majority Leader Dick Armey, Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, and Minority Whip David Bonior. Acrimony seemed to be the trademark of the past 104th Congress. Upon coming to Washington, it was very apparent to me that the House of Representatives was at a crossroads and that, more than anything, efforts needed to be made so that we could have a level of trust in each other. It was imperative to strive to achieve this goal in order to be able to effectively work together and, in turn, to be productive. Ultimately, that is what all of our respective constituencies elected us and sent us here to Washington to do. On a personal note, I received a letter this week, and I want to share it because it shows that there are people out there in the country who believe that we can do it. It says: My dear friend, Congressman Hinojosa: Thank you for seeing us on Monday. I was glad to see you. I must tell you that you now have the job for which you were born. Normally wild horses could not drag me to any part of that government bureaucracy, but knowing that you were there somehow made it seem more believable, that real people walk those hallowed halls and were going to make a real difference. And from what a person reads in the newspapers and sees on CNN and C-SPAN, it appears that real people are few and far between. Isn't that just the way, they tell us all of the bad stuff and none of the good stuff, and I know that there are some fine Congressmen and Congresswomen. Keep up the good work. Keep on representing the common folks like us in south Texas. Fondly, your constituent, Phyllis Griggs. I want to say that it was a pleasure to be in Hershey, PA, and to see that there is a lot of spirit and enthusiasm to get the job done. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois. Mr. LaHood. I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to rise and say that one of the highlights of the bipartisan retreat was the speech that was delivered by David McCullough, who is a Pulitzer prize winning author and historian and contributed so much to making our retreat so successful. Mr. Speaker, I include the remarks of David McCullough for the Record so that for those who did not attend the retreat, they can read the Congressional Record tomorrow and this will be a part of the Record, so that people in the future will have a chance to read the remarks that he delivered at our retreat, which I think inspired all of us that were there. Bipartisan Congressional Retreat--Plenary Session Speaker (By David McCullough) Well, Amo, you've taken my breath away and your invitation to speak here is as high a tribute as I've ever received. I feel greatly honored but also a strong sense of humility. And I hope it won't seem presumptuous if I--in what I say today-- appear to know your job. I don't. If I can help you in what I say, if I can help the country, then I will be very deeply appreciative of the chance to be here. Your speaker welcomed you to Pennsylvania, I do so too as a Pennsylvanian, by birth and by education and as one who loves this state. There is more history here than almost anywhere else in our country. Our most important, our most sacred historic site--Independent Hall--is less than 100 miles from where we sit, as the crow flies. And if you come to Pennsylvania, you can always learn something, at whatever stage in life. Last year, Rosalee and I came back to Philadelphia. We pulled up in front of the hotel in a big, shiny, rented car and the doorman, a handsome fellow in full regalia, opened the door for Rosalee. I popped the button for the trunk and I could see him getting the luggage out. I got out and walked around the back of the car and he looked up and said: ``Well, Mr. McCullough, welcome to Philadelphia; it is wonderful to have you here.'' And I thought, ``I wonder if he knows me because of my books or because of the work I do on public television?'' And so I said, ``If you don't mind, I'd like to know how you know who I am?'' And he said, ``the tag on your suitcase.'' You can't but help learn a great deal in this session and as Speaker Gingrich said, this event is unprecedented in the long history of the U.S. Congress. A gathering like this never happened before. And how wonderful that your children are here--the next generation--some of whom may also be serving in Congress. We have the future with us too. And we have the past. Now many people think of the past as something far behind, in back of us. It is also possible to think of it as in front of us, in the sense that we're going down a path that others have trod before, and some very great people; we are in their footsteps. And it is in that spirit that much of what I have to say will be said. I want to talk about history; I want to talk about purpose, and because there's an old writer's adage, ``Don't tell me, show me.'' I want to conclude by showing you. ``We live my dear soul in an age of trial,'' he wrote, in a letter to his wife. In the seclusion of his diary he wrote, ``I wander alone and ponder. I muse, I mope, I ruminate.'' He was a new Congressman and he was about to set off for his first session in Congress. John Adams, heading for his very first Congress--the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774--and he was very disturbed, very worried. ``We have not men fit for the times,'' he wrote, ``we are deficient in genius, education, in travel, fortune, in everything. I feel unutterable anxiety.'' The next year when he returned for the second Continental Congress he found that the whole atmosphere had changed. This was after Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. This was a time of pressing need and America, he decided, was a great, ``unwieldy body.'' ``Its progress must be slow, it is like a large fleet sailing under convoy, the fleetest of sailors must wait for the dullest and the lowest. Every man in the Congress is a great man,'' he wrote, ``and therein is the problem--an orator, a critic, a statesman, and therefore every man upon every question must show his oratory, his criticism, and his political abilities.'' In 1776, in the winter--in the dead of winter--with the temperature down in the 20s, John Adams set off again from Braintree on horseback to ride 300 miles. Nothing unusual then; we think of communications and transportation as two different subjects. In the 18th century, transportation and communication were the same. Nothing could be communicated any faster than somebody on a horse. He arrived back in Philadelphia--this is early in 1776, and bear in mind this was the year of the Declaration of Independence--and he wrote: ``There are deep jealousies. Ill- natured observations and incriminations take the place of reason and argument.'' Inadequate people, contention, sour moods, and from his wife, Abigail, John Adams received a letter in which she said: ``You cannot be I know, nor do I wish to see you, an inactive spectator.'' She wants him to be there for all it is costing her, for all the difficulties she is having, caring for the family and running the farm. And then she adds, ``We have too many high-sounding words and too few actions that correspond with them.'' 1776. History * * * History is a source of strength. History is a source of strength. History teaches us that there is no such thing as a self-made man or woman. We all know that. We all know the people who helped. Teachers, parents, those who set us on the right track, those who gave us a pat on the back, and when need be, those who have rapped our knuckles. History teaches us that sooner is not necessarily better; that the whole is often equal to much more than the parts; and what we don't know can often hurt us deeply. If you want to build for the future, you must have a sense of past. We can't know where we're going if we don't know where we've been and where we've come from and how we got to be where we are. A very wise historian, who was also the Librarian of Congress--Daniel Boorstin--said that to try to create the future without some knowledge of the past is like trying to plant cut flowers. History is an aid to navigation in troubled times; history is an antidote to self-pity and to self-importance. And history teaches that when we unite in a grand purpose there is almost nothing we cannot do. Don't ever forget the great history of your institution-- your all-important institution. All of us, all of us want to belong to something larger than ourselves. I'm sure it's why you're in Congress; I'm sure it's why you decided in the beginning, ``I'm going to give up this and do that, and it's going to be difficult for my family''--because you wanted to serve something larger than yourselves. It's at the heart of patriotism; it's why we are devoted to our churches, our universities, and, most of all, to our country. With that kind of allegiance--that kind of devotion--we can rise to the occasion in a greater fashion than we have any idea. And we've done it time and again, we Americans. Think what your institution has achieved. It was Congress that created the Homestead Act. It was Congress that ended slavery. It was Congress that ended child labor. It was Congress that built the Panama Canal and the railroads. It was Congress that created Social Security. It was Congress that passed the Voting Rights Act. It was Congress that sent Lewis and Clark to the West and sent us on voyages to the moon. Some acts of Congress like the Marshall Plan or Lend Lease, as important as any events in our century, were achieved under crisis conditions. But it doesn't have to be a crisis condition. It can be an ennobling, large, imaginative idea. A big idea. Much of what has happened in our time has been determined by outside forces. In the Depression, the national aspiration--the national ambition--was to get out of the Depression. In the Second World War, the national aspiration--the national ambition--didn't need to be defined, it was to win the war. In the Cold War, the national aspiration was to maintain our strength against the threat of the Soviet menace, but at the same time, maintain our open free way of life. But now the Cold War is over. And outside forces are not determining the national ambition. So what is it going to be? Because we have the chance to choose. You have the chance to choose. And as important as balancing the budget may be, as important as restoring civility and law and order in the cities may be, as important as fourth-grade testing may be, or school uniforms, they aren't the grand ennobling ideas that have been at the heart of the American experience since the time of John Winthrop and the ideal of the City on the Hill. And we have the chance to do that. We have the chance to create that--you have the chance to do that. There has never been in any of our lifetimes a moment of such opportunity as now with the Cold War over. And if we just lift up our eyes a little and begin to see what we might be able to do, we too-- we in our time--could be cathedral builders. We can be a great founding generation, like the founding fathers. And what a wonderful uplifting, thrilling, unifying sense of purpose that can provide. America itself at the very beginning was a big idea; the biggest idea in the political history of the world. That could happen again. John Adams, who was one of the most remarkable of our Founding Fathers and whose wife Abigail has left us a record unlike that of any other spouse of a political leader of that time, set something down on paper in the Spring of 1776 that ought to be better known. It's called Thoughts on Government. It was originally written as a letter to the eminent legal scholar, George Wythe of Virginia. It was about twelve pages long and when other Members of Congress asked him for a copy he sat there, by candlelight, at night in a room in a house across the street from the City Tavern in Philadelphia, copying it all down. And then Richard Henry Lee of Virginia suggested that it be published. Keep in mind please that it was written before the Declaration of Independence. And listen to the language, listen to the quality of the language, which of course, is the quality of thinking. That's what writing is: thinking. That's why it's so hard. ``It has been the will of heaven that we, the Member of Congress, should be thrown into existence in a period when the greatest philosophers and lawgivers of antiquity would have wished to have lived.'' Right away, you see, he's saying, it is the will of heaven, there are larger forces than we ourselves, and he's applying the moment against the standard of the past: antiquity. It is to a very large degree, a lesson in proportion. ``A period when a coincidence of circumstances without an example has afforded to thirteen colonies at once an opportunity at beginning government anew from the foundation and building as they choose.'' New, unprecedented, and they may choose. ``How few of the human race have ever had an opportunity of choosing a system of government for themselves and for their children.'' And here is the sentence I dearly love. ``How few have ever had anything more of choice in government than in climate.'' He proposed a bicameral legislature. ``A representative assembly,'' he called it, ``an exact portrait in miniature of the people at large,'' balanced by a second ``distinct'' smaller legislative body that it may ``check and correct the errors of the other.'' Checks and balances. There was to be an executive whose power was to include the appointment of all judges, and command of the armed forces, but who was to be chosen--and you'll like this--who was to be chosen by the two houses of legislature and for no more than a year at a time. At the close, he also wrote this--and think about this please, as maybe a clue to what the cathedral we build might be. ``Laws for the liberal education of youth are so extremely wise and useful that to a humane and generous mind no expense for this purpose would be thought extravagant.'' Then after another month or so he sat down and wrote a letter to a friend back in Massachusetts, a fellow son of Liberty. April, 1776. Carved into a mantelpiece at the White House, in the State Dining Room, is the prayer--the wishful prayer taken from a letter Adams wrote to his wife Abigail after his second or third night as President in the White House--the first American to occupy the White House as President--in which he says, ``May only wise and honest men rule here.'' I offer for your consideration the possibility that what I'm about to read might be carved, if not in a mantelpiece, somewhere in our Capitol where it would have appropriate attention. I can think of almost no other line from any of the founders so appropriate, so pertinent, to what you face-- what we all face--not just in problems, not just in personal animosities or contention or rivalries, but what we face in the way of opportunity: to be builders as they were. Because he establishes both a way and a warning: ``We may please ourselves with the prospect of free and popular governments. God grant us the way. But I fear that in every assembly, members will obtain an influence by noise not sense, by meanness not greatness, by ignorance not learning, by contracted hearts not large souls. There is one thing my dear sir that must be attempted and most sacredly observed or we are all undone. There must be decency and respect and veneration introduced for persons of every rank or we are undone. In a popular government this is our only way.'' I salute you all. I salute you as a fellow citizen, as a fellow American, as the father of five children, as the grandfather of nine children. I salute you as one who has spent a good part of his working life trying to write some of the history of your great institution. Our country deserves better--from all of us. But we look especially to our leaders as we should rightfully do. And there are no more important leaders than you. We don't expect you to be perfect. We do expect hard work, diligence, imagination, a little humor, civility, and especially, the sense that there is really no limitation to what we, a free people, can do. And that, with the grace of God, and a common sense of purpose, there is no limit--which has always been at the heart of the vision of America since the beginning.

Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado.

Mr. HINOJOSA

Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my feelings about certification of Mexico. I feel very strongly about this issue because I despise what drugs are doing to this Nation. It is a scourge that is ravishing our most precious resource: our youth. Unfortunately, we know this all too well in the area of the Nation that I represent, south Texas. Daily in our papers and on the news, we see the devastation that is occurring with the impact that drugs are having on our children and our communities. It is a problem that I am committed to addressing, and one that is a priority of mine. I know, however, that this is not a problem that I alone can solve. If we are to win the war, it will take a united effort. By that I mean efforts must be made on every level: local, State, and Federal. Just as important are the efforts we must make in our own homes. Only by joining together in combating this epidemic will we ever be able to declare victory. That is why the issue of certification is so important to me. We are all aware that the drug problem is not unique nor internal to our Nation. It is an international crisis. As it affects us, so does it affect our neighbor to the north and our neighbor to the south. So when I say we must work together, I mean all of us, because we share borders. By doing so, and only by doing so, can we begin to turn the tide. On March 1 the President certified Mexico, and since then we have heard from many who feel this was not a wise decision, that they are not making enough of an effort in this battle. I, however, feel that to take any action other than certification would be counterproductive, injurious, and unfair. I say this because I think it is we, in the long run as a nation, who ultimately will lose. First, let us look at the facts. Last year Mexico seized 30 percent more marijuana than in 1995, 78 percent more heroin than in 1995, 7 percent more cocaine than in that same year, and arrested 14 percent more drug traffickers than this in 1995. Those are substantial numbers, showing the improvement that has been made. They are impressive numbers. What these figures tell me is that Mexico is making the effort, that Mexico is cooperating. Why then do we want to send back a message that says, nice try, but you failed? In addition, Mexico has greatly improved its record on extraditions. During 1996 Mexico extradited a record number of individuals. Two of these were Mexican nationals wanted in the United States for drug-related crimes. Additionally, Mexico expelled drug kingpin Juan Garcia Abrego. These facts speak for themselves, showing that diligent efforts are being made by the Government of Mexico. In my hand I have a letter from the Ambassador of Mexico responding to the charges that have been leveled against our neighbor to the south. I would like to quote the following: Mexico is aware that much more needs to be done by us and other countries in the fight against drugs. This is a permanent fight, not just an annual exercise. While there have been failures and setbacks, they are mostly due to the magnitude of the problem and the power of the enemy, not to a lack of political will by our country. The reason why we fight against drugs is not to get a grade or a certification from anyone. We fight against drugs because we want to preserve our institutions, because we want to protect our youth, and because we are convinced that we need international cooperation to effectively deal with this gigantic problem. Decertification will also result in severe economic, social, and cultural ramifications along our Nation's border. When bad things happen to Mexico, bad things happen to us in south Texas. When Mexico goes into a recession, my counties go into a recession. When illegal immigration increases due to crises in Mexico, then it increases in my 11 counties. When the peso drops, retail and real estate sales drop. When friendly relations with Mexico are strained, the people of my district also suffer. To turn our backs on our neighbor is to jeopardize the progress they have made. We need to recognize their commitment and the work they have done to date. Again, let me reiterate, on March 1, the President certified Mexico. Then we have heard from many who feel this was not a wise decision. Mr. Speaker, I would like to say that I appreciate the opportunity to have been able to have given my first 5 minutes.

Mr. HINOJOSA

Mr. HINOJOSA. I thank the gentleman from California [Mr. Becerra] for yielding. Last night in President Clinton's State of the Union speech, he paid special tribute to the Honorable Frank Tejeda. He mentioned and recognized Frank's mother Lillie and his sister and relatives who attended. They are here this afternoon. And so it is with great pleasure, it is with great honor that I too come to join my fellow colleagues in expressing our feelings and support of the bill just passed today which is going to name a post office in San Antonio the Frank Tejeda Post Office. There are many things about Frank Tejeda that stand out in my mind. One is that he was the son of Mexican immigrants. Two, that he was a first generation south Texan, and very proud of that. He was proud to be an Hispanic leader from Texas and to be here in Washington representing his constituents. From San Antonio all the way down to south Texas, in Zapata, in Roma, in Rio Grande City, a district that borders with mine and thus we create a very special friendship. I had a lot of respect for Frank, and I had looked forward so much to working with him. Frank was proud to have ascended, to have become a national leader. For that, he will always serve as a role model for many Hispanics throughout the State of Texas and other parts of the country. This afternoon, I attended a meeting with Secretary of the Navy John Dalton. He too paid tribute to Congressman Tejeda. He spoke of this great American hero, a gentleman who distinguished himself in so many ways. I know that those of us who are sitting here this afternoon are going to be joining a very large number of individuals who want to pay respects and honor Frank Tejeda.

Mr. HINOJOSA

Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor for me to be able to speak from the House, from the floor of the House of Representatives, my maiden speech, as a freshman Congressman, as one who knew Frank Tejeda. I feel honored that I will be allowed to come before you and to express my thoughts and my sentiments about this great individual whom we knew as Frank. The simplicity with which he spoke, the simplicity with which he treated the rest of the colleagues from Texas and from the rest of the country was something that was outstanding. It was spoken yesterday at the church as we, over 60 of us, Congressmen and Congresswomen, were seated and listened to the priests, to the bishops who were celebrating the mass. They said that he was the individual, he was the Congressman who had grown up right there in that neighborhood and had been an altar boy, had been attending school in that Catholic church and had played in the background and in the playgrounds adjacent to the church, and they spoke of how he had surfaced and become a leader amongst his little friends. But not only did he surface to become a leader amongst those little friends, he rose here in the Halls of Congress to become one of the national leaders whom we all respected, and so we are here to pay tribute to Frank Tejeda. We are here to join the many who feel exactly as I do, and that is that he was an honorable man; that he was honest; that he was hard working; that he was one whom you could depend on. If he gave you his word, you could count on it. When I heard his children express their thoughts at the service yesterday, when I heard Marissa, when I heard Sonya, when I heard Frankie, I knew that he had done a wonderful job as a father and as a friend to those children. And so my last words are that we not forget those three children that he leaves behind, because they gave up so much so that their father could go and serve his constituents, that he could go and serve his country. And for that, I hope that we will always remember them in our prayers and that we see that they lack nothing the rest of their lives.