Steny Hoyer

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone].

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Chair for that ruling. Mr. Speaker, on May 24, 1993, a 10-year-old little boy, Stanley Burdynski, Junior, was abducted in suburban Prince Georges County, just a few miles from where we stand. Four and one-half years later he is still missing. We must never forget little Stanley. I am sure that every one of the Members has a Stanley or a Mary in their district, a child who has been abducted by a demented criminal person in their districts and in mine. What this motion to instruct says is that we need to make sure that the fourth year of the program directed at the operation of the Exploited Child Unit of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is fully funded. Mr. Speaker, we need to do everything in our power to ensure the fact that we, to the greatest extent possible, can protect our children from exploitation, from being taken from their families, from their neighborhoods, from their playgrounds, from their schools, by those demented souls of which I spoke, subjecting those children to abuse and, yes, even to death. That is what we will vote on in this motion. I would hope that the House would stand united and unanimous in its commitment to speaking out and acting out and putting our money where our mouth is in the fight against the abusers of children in America. In 1996 I worked with other concerned Congress men and women to gain funding to create the Exploited Child Unit at the Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the Treasury-Postal bill. John Walsh of America's Most Wanted spoke out and came to Capitol Hill, and had a press conference on this very issue, and said he needed to have every one of us, as he was doing on television every week, committed to the fight against abusers of our children. This unit creates a greater awareness and generates leaders for law enforcement to combat child sexual exploitation. There are many efforts underway at the Federal level to combat child sexual exploitation that I want to tell the Members about. Under the leadership of the FBI, each of the seven major law enforcement agencies are coordinating efforts with the National Center to bring a priority approach to such child exploitation cases. Through the 1994 crime bill, the Secret Service is working closely with the National Center, using unique forensic technology to track abductors. The Customs Service has established the International Pornography Investigation and Coordination Center. The U.S. Postal Service continues its aggressive efforts to crack down on child pornography. The FBI has also established a child abduction and serial killers unit. Mr. Speaker, I hope that through these efforts we can create a new awareness throughout the land and make America's children safer and more secure. I urge my colleagues to support this very important effort to protect our children against exploitation, sexual abuse, and yes, even murder. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today in support of H.R. 29, a bill designating a Federal building in New York City as the ``Ronald H. Brown Federal Building.'' I want to recognize the efforts of Representative Rangel who introduced this legislation in January with 25 cosponsors. Mr. Speaker, as you know, in April 1996, 33 Americans including Secretary Ron Brown, employees of the Department of Commerce, business leaders, and military personnel died in a plane crash in Croatia. Ron Brown spent his entire life as a consensus builder working hard for his family and his Nation, constantly striving to bring people together. He was a man who was always in the arena striving for greatness and truly embodied what is right in America. With his death, America lost a tremendous leader. Having served as the first African-American Secretary of Commerce, Ron Brown was always seeking to bridge the racial divide in our country and worked hard to create and protect American jobs. He brought a sense of energy and creativity to the Commerce Department which allowed him to successfully rally labor and management, Republicans and Democrats, and foreign governments with American interests. This was most evident in the strong support that the private sector had shown for the Department. Today, the House will pass this legislation which represents a small, yet meaningful, gesture of our admiration and appreciation for a man whom many considered the best Secretary of Commerce ever. I am sure that Alma and the entire Brown family is proud to see this building named in honor of Ron Brown. I applaud the leadership in bringing this legislation to the floor and join with my colleagues in supporting H.R. 29 and allowing the legacy of Ron Brown to live on in the Federal building located at 290 Broadway in New York City.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the heroic acts of a young man from my district. Kirk Fistick set aside his own fears of disease and infection to save another life. What sets this courageous act apart is that it took place in Russia. By crossing both language and cultural barriers with this remarkable act, Kirk became an Ambassador for the United States. Kirk's heroic acts led the Boy Scouts of America to award him the Honor Medal, an honor only given to 36 people in 1993. Kirk was one of 40 students selected by the National Freedom Support Act Scholarship to represent our country as a foreign exchange student in Russia. One day during his stay in Russia, he came across a man on the side of the road who had stopped breathing. Kirk risked his own life to perform CPR three times before the ambulance arrived and was able to keep him alive until he could receive medical care. Kirk reminds us all, Russian and American, that the Good Samaritan still exists today. Kirk Fistick is the son of Robert and Patricia Fistick who reside in Charlotte Hall, MD. Kirk has an exceptional list of accomplishments. In addition to recently being awarded the Honor Medal, Kirk is an Eagle Scout and was awarded a National Certificate of Merit by the Boy Scouts of America for his help at the site of an automobile accident. Kirk's life has not been all fun and games. He had to endure a 2-year bout with Lyme disease which he contracted during the summer of 1993. At times during these 2 years he was so critically ill he could not walk or sit up straight and required hospitalization or home care, but Kirk is a fighter. Throughout his illness, he managed to achieve honor roll status and played ice hockey as part of his physical therapy. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join with me in honoring this outstanding young man for his many accomplishments and congratulate him on being awarded the Honor Medal.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I presume what the gentleman is talking about is pendency of the contest itself actually on the floor, because obviously the contest is pending now. I would suggest, as I understand the Speaker's ruling, the Speaker would specifically interpret what the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Armey] has suggested, and therefore, the gentleman would suggest that in light of the record as referred to by the Speaker that has been made here on the floor, that the resolution itself need not be changed, when we clearly have agreement that during the contest itself, under the Federal Contest Election Act, and under the Rules of the House, as pointed out by the chairman of the Committee on Rules, Mr. Dornan could in fact have the privilege of his presence.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would yield, I think that resolves the matter.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I was going to say something, but I think the Speaker has clarified the interpretation the Chair will make. I will say in terms of a record, though I have not had the opportunity of conferring with the gentleman from Connecticut [Mr. Gejdenson] and I have conferred with the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Menendez], it was clearly not the intent of the resolution, as I understand from Mr. Menendez, to obviate any contestant's right to appear on the floor at the time the contest is considered. We agree with the chairman of the Committee on Rules in that regard.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce the introduction by myself and the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hyde] of the Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act. The gentleman from Illinois and I are introducing this bill to send a clear and unmistakable message to deadbeat parents who attempt to use State borders as a shield against child support enforcement orders. It says essentially you can run, you can try to hide, but you cannot escape your moral and legal duty to pay child support you owe. The Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act of 1997 will strengthen penalties for deadbeat parents in egregious interstate cases of child support delinquency and enable Federal authorities to go after those who attempt to escape State-issued child support orders by fleeing across State lines. Under the Child Support Recovery Act sponsored by the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hyde] and enacted with broad bipartisan support in 1992, a bill which I cosponsored with the gentleman from Illinois, parents who willfully withhold child support payments totaling more than $5,000, or owing for more than 1 year, are presently subject to a misdemeanor punishable by not more than 6 months imprisonment. A subsequent offense is a felony punishable by up to 2 years in prison. The law that we are introducing today addresses the difficulty States frequently encounter in attempting to enforce child support orders beyond their borders. The Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act would augment current law by creating a felony offense for parents with an arrearage totaling more than $10,000 or owing for more than 2 years. This provision, like current law, would apply where the noncustodial parent and child legally reside in different States. In addition, the Deadbeats Act would make it a felony for a parent to cross a State border with the intent of evading child support orders where the arrearage totals more than $5,000 or is more than 1 year past due, regardless of residency. Mr. Speaker, this House has articulated in the welfare bill that we passed, in the act sponsored by the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hyde], and other legislation, that we expect those who have children in America to take responsibility for those children, to ensure, whether or not the family unit stays intact, that those children have adequate resources to be housed, to be clothed, to be fed, to be nurtured. Mr. Speaker, this Congress cannot force or mandate by law that parents will love their children. We hope that they will do that. We know that that is critical to a child's welfare. We know as well that the failure of some parents to do that has led to a crisis in this country when it comes to crime committed by children, teenage pregnancy, and other activity that we lament being perpetrated by young people. But, in fact, it is parents who we should expect and, yes, demand that they meet their responsibilities, first to their children, but then as well to their communities. Mr. Speaker, I would urge my colleagues to cosponsor this act with me, and I hope that we have early hearings and early passage of this act.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I thank the gentleman from California for working to report out this very, very appropriate piece of legislation which will recognize five brave Americans, five of our friends and neighbors who we asked to risk their lives on a daily basis. We like to think that in asking that risk that there will never come a time when the ultimate sacrifice will be made, but we know full well from history that there will come times when some of these brave law enforcement officials who are on the front lines of protecting our communities, our families, our safety will lose their lives in that effort. These five individuals are Americans who have worked and sacrificed to ensure that freedom and justice prevails in this land. I particularly, Mr. Speaker, want to rise to mention Special Agent Michael John Miller. He was but 41 years of age when he lost his life. He lived in Prince George's County, born in Prince George's County and lived in Upper Marlboro, MD. He had two children, Benjamin and Dale, age 10 and 8. They will know their father was a hero but nothing can replace their father, nothing can ease their pain nor that of his wife, Wanda. But it is important that they know, and the families of the other four agents know, that as we name these buildings for them, it is not simply a ceremonial act, it is an act of deep gratitude, of deep respect, and deep appreciation. Mr. Speaker, I again thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California [Mr. Martinez], a member of the committee. (Mr. MARTINEZ asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment for the reasons enunciated by the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Clay] and the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Porter], the distinguished chairman of our subcommittee, who both spoke eloquently and effectively to the merits. I want to say to my friend from Michigan, Mr. Hoekstra, that I have a bill in and it is called the Family Services Improvement Act. It seeks to make it easier for local LEA's and States and counties and cities to apply for Federal funds, and seeks to put the burden on the Federal Government, not on the local entities, to coordinate their resources to make it easier to access, to help the children that the gentleman from Missouri and the gentleman from Illinois and the gentleman from Michigan and myself, and everybody on this floor, in fact, want to help. So although I oppose the gentleman's amendment, I think that the idea that the gentleman expresses in terms of maximizing resources so that children can be better educated, families can be better served, is an objective in a time of fiscal constraint that we need to pursue with vigor. Mr. Chairman, there is a 7-year-old with a learning disability in my district. This second grader receives special assistance from her school so she can keep up with her class. But because of the financial constraints of her school district, the little girl only receives help because the school district receives specifically designated Federal education funds. And so today, I want to make sure that my colleagues understand just what a drastic effect this amendment would have on all of the children throughout this country who need our help. The Hoekstra amendment would block grant Federal K through 12 education funding as general education aid without addressing Federal priorities or providing for any program accountability. Mr. Chairman, program accountability must not be overlooked. The Federal programs that this amendment would consolidate have strong accountability requirements that focus on program effectiveness, a crucial requirement for any Federal program. A vote in favor of this amendment would eliminate the specific national purposes of the Federal investment in education. Under this amendment, Federal funds would not have to be used for their intended purpose. Local education agencies would have an unlimited discretion to spend Federal K through 12 education funds for any purpose they deem appropriate, including noneducational purposes. The current formulas provide funding on the basis of need. The amendment would drastically reduce the targeting of Federal funds to the most disadvantaged students and neediest school districts. The purpose of Federal education funding is to ensure that school districts and disadvantaged students are not overlooked and receive the resources they so desperately need. The Hoekstra amendment would actually direct a greater percentage of Federal funds to the State educational agencies rather than directly to the school district under the current system. And, Mr. Chairman, there is another important fact that has been overlooked by my colleagues on the other side of the isle. The Hoekstra amendment breaches the bipartisan budget agreement that this legislative body entered into earlier this year. Specifically, the agreement allowed for the President's budget request for Goals 2000, education technology, and bilingual education. This amendment effectively strips funding for all three important programs by consolidating them into title 6 block grants. I would urge my colleagues not to overlook that 7-year-old with the learning disability who looks to us for help. She will fall through the cracks if we vote to pass this amendment.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, we concede the point of order.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, we concede the point of order on this side.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, reserving the right to speak on the point of order, we will concede the point of order. We have reviewed it, and the gentlewoman is correct.

Mr. HOYER. Yes.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time, and I very much appreciate the leadership she has shown on this issue. I want to say that I appreciate the leadership that the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Smith] has shown as well. This is a very wrenching issue for every Member of the House. It is my perspective, as the Members know, on this particular issue that this is really not about abortion. It is about Federal employees' pay and benefits. Every other employee in America gets certain benefits from their employer. Those benefits are paid in consequence of and in consideration of the services rendered by the employee to the employer. Therefore, the benefit in this case is not the Federal Government's nor the taxpayer's any longer. It is, in fact, the compensation paid to the employee. Having said that, Mr. Chairman, I know that there is a very serious disagreement on this issue and perception as to whether or not this is the application of taxpayers' funds towards a procedure that many taxpayers find unacceptable; in fact, most taxpayers find unacceptable, whether or not they are for Government action to prohibit it. Mr. Chairman, I would simply say that it has been historically my position and continues to be that this is the Federal employees compensation package. It is not ours to control one way or the other. I know there is a significant dispute on that. I thank the gentlewoman for offering this amendment so it could be brought again for our attention before the House.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, we would concede to the point of order that the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Collins] has raised.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, I have no requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I want to begin by complimenting the chairman, the gentleman from Arizona [Mr. Kolbe], for the fine job he and his staff have done in producing this bill. This bill represents a measured and responsible effort to allocate sufficient funds to each of the agencies covered by the bill so that they can carry out the duties assigned to them in an effective way. Very frankly, I believe this is the best bill that we have passed in last 3 years; and I congratulate the chairman, the gentleman from Arizona [Mr. Kolbe], and our famous staff and others for this accomplishment. Overall, within the constraints of the Budget Act, our allocation in this bill includes a reduction of $596 million in budget authority from the 1998 requested sum. Mr. Chairman, basically this bill deals adequately with the IRS. We have had problems with that. That is the biggest component of the bill. Unfortunately, it does not fund law enforcement quite as much as I would like to see done. That is because of the fiscal constraints that confront us. That is understandable. With respect to other portions of the bill, the gentleman from Arizona [Mr. Kolbe] has pointed out that there are no, I repeat, no GSA projects in this bill. That is unfortunate, I know, from the standpoint of many Members who know that there are needs in their districts. But again, the fiscal constraints that have confront us have compelled us to that objective. Mr. Chairman, I simply want to restate that the gentleman from Arizona [Mr. Kolbe] has done an outstanding job. The members of the committee have worked very hard on this bill. I think it is a bill that Members can be proud of and will feel meets the Congress' responsibility to fund the important agencies that come within the ambit of this bill.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?