Rush Holt

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) for yielding me this time, and I too want to add my applause to the gentleman from Alaska (Chairman Young) and the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), the ranking member, for putting together such an important piece of legislation. Across this great Nation, sprawl is crowding our streets, destroying our open spaces, polluting the air we breathe and the water we drink. Almost all of America is experiencing remarkably similar patterns of growth, a rapid conversion of farmland and open space to a dizzying array of housing subdivisions, shopping centers and office parks. In New Jersey, the State and most of the towns in my district have made a commitment of tax dollars to acquiring open spaces. In New Jersey we have 8 million people living in just 8,000 square miles. Conversion of farmland and open space to development has doubled in recent years. Mr. Chairman, it is clear that now is the time to make open space preservation a national priority to protect the American ideal of wide- open spaces. The need to preserve goes beyond the supply of State and local funds, and that is why we need to pass the Conservation and Reinvestment Act, the most sweeping commitment to the protection of America's public land, marine and wildlife sources in over a generation. This is important legislation. We need it.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, with thanks and appreciation to the chairman and the gentleman from Michigan, I rise in strong support of increased funding for IDEA. Mr. Speaker, there is nothing better we can do for this nation than to ensure that all children in all communities have access to a quality education. IDEA was enacted with this credo in mind. In 1975, Congress enacted this legislation to help states and localities meet their legal responsibility of providing a free and appropriate public education to children with disabilities. Congress' goal was to contribute up to 40 percent of the national average per pupil expenditure for each child with a disability. We are nowhere close to that goal. In fact, we currently provide only 12.6 percent of the national average per pupil expenditure--the most we have ever contributed. According to estimates from the Department of Education, there are 6.3 million children with disabilities being served by our Nation's schools, at a cost to the states of roughly $73 billion. However, this year, Congress is contributing only $5 billion in assistance. That is not enough. We must do more to help the state meet our responsibility that we as a society have undertaken. The Federal Government has always played a role in helping the states provide an education. We have given billions of dollars to ensure that kids from disadvantaged backgrounds have the same educational opportunities as kids from more privileged homes; we have given money to help the states recruit and train teachers; and we have provided assistance to help schools get connected to the Internet. We must not short change the state in this area of IDEA. This IDEA money benefits more than 6.3 million kids in our schools. It benefits our whole community. It helps ensure that our children will grow up to be valuable and productive members of our communities. Even in this era of hi-tech stocks, where people are becoming millionaires and even billionaires almost overnight, I believe there is no better investment we can make for our future than providing a quality education for all children. This bill seeks to do that, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4055.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, this morning I am talking about trailers. Temporary school buildings. I have visited over 80 schools in my district and everywhere I go, parents, teachers, and students all talk to me about the problem of overcrowding and the expense of construction. Just last week, Secretary of Education Riley and I visited Crossroads School in a school district where the total student population has doubled in the past 11 years from 3,500 students to 7,000 now. Mr. Speaker, study after study shows that smaller class sizes produce better students. With the median school construction cost for an elementary school in New Jersey at $13 million, and the price of a new high school at more than $22 million on average, these are expenses that our beleaguered taxpayers cannot afford. They cannot continue to have staggering tax increases year after year. So, Mr. Speaker, they are putting up temporary trailers. Temporary buildings may be a temporary solution, but they are not cheap. They cost nearly $40,000 to install, $6,000 a year to lease, and there is a maintenance cost. There is also a cost to the students. Trailers may provide more space, but do not provide the optimal learning environment for a quality education. Because of their long, rectangular shape, students have trouble seeing the blackboard, and many do not have Internet connections. Congress must act to pass legislation that will provide much-needed financial assistance to fast growing school districts.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from South Carolina for yielding time to me. I also would like to state how much I appreciate the leadership of the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt) in the Committee on the Budget. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see the increase in the budget for research, especially for the National Science Foundation. This bodes well for the fate of the support of research in Congress this year. Turning to the budget resolution overall, which is supposed to represent our national priorities, I would like to point out how skewed these priorities are contained in this blueprint that we have before us. They are not the ones that the families in New Jersey tell me about. New Jersey families tell me that the things that are most important to them are shoring up social security, Medicare, education, environmental protection, and they see the benefit, the direct benefit, to them of paying down the national debt. I would like to point out that the Democratic substitute would have devoted three times as much to paying down the debt as the one that is before us now. The majority's budget resolution has one overriding priority, exorbitant tax cuts at the expense of everything else. In the Committee on the Budget, I offered an amendment that would have invested more resources in school construction, smaller class sizes, larger Pell grants. It was rejected in favor of enormous tax cuts. We offered an amendment in committee to pay down our national debt faster. It was rejected in favor of tax cuts. Earlier this week on the House floor Democrats offered motions, a motion that said simply, let us wait on the enormous tax cuts until Congress has had a chance to pass bipartisan legislation modernizing Medicare. That, too, was rejected. Make no mistake, there are appropriate tax cuts. I myself have crossed the aisle to support marriage tax relief, estate tax cuts, and other reductions. But the irresponsible tax cuts contained in this legislation are a direct affront to our obligations, I mean the obligations of our society to provide a good education for all of our children, to give access to good health care for all, to protect our air and water and land for those who come after us. This headlong obsession with large tax cuts even puts at risk social security.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of the one and a half million Armenians who perished in the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923. The Armenian Genocide was one of the most awful events in history. It was a horrible precedent for other twentieth-century genocides--from Nazi Germany to Cambodia, Bosnia, and Rwanda. This great tragedy is commemorated each year on April 24. On that day in 1915 hundreds of Armenian leaders in Constantinople were rounded up to be deported and killed. In the following years, Ottoman officials expelled millions of Armenians from homelands they had inhabited for over 2,500 years. Families--men, women, and children--were driven into the desert to die of starvation, disease, and exposure. Survivors tell of harrowing forced marches and long journeys packed into cattle cars like animals. In 1915, the New York Times carried reports of families burned alive in wooden houses or chained together and drowned in Lake Van. Mr. Speaker, the murder of innocent children can never be an act of self-defense, as the Ottomans claimed. As Henry Morgenthau, Sr., the United States Ambassador to Turkey, cabled to the U.S. Department in 1915, the actions of the Ottoman Government constituted ``a campaign of race extermination * * * under pretence of a reprisal against rebellion.'' Documents in the archives of the United States, Britain, France, Austria, the Vatican, and other nations confirm Ambassador Morgenthau's assessment. While the Turkish government claims it resources show otherwise, Turkey has never opened its archives to objective scholars. It is time for the world to deal honestly and openly with this great blemish on our common history. The United States can be proud of its role in opposing the genocide while it was taking place. Ambassador Morgenthau, with State Department approval, collected witness accounts and other evidence of atrocities, calling international attention to the genocide. A Concurrent Resolution of the United States Senate encouraged the President to set aside a day of sympathy for Armenian victims. Congress and President Wilson chartered the organization of Near East Relief, which provided over $100 million in aid for Armenian survivors and led to the adoption of 132,000 Armenian orphans as foster children in the United States. Yet the international community failed to take decisive action against the criminals who planned and instigated this tragedy. After World War I, courts-martial sentenced the chief organizers of the Armenian Genocide to death, but the verdicts of the courts were not enforced. International standards were not asserted to hold Ottoman officials accountable. I have cosponsored legislation that would help redress this tragedy. H. Res. 398 would take steps to ensure that all Foreign Service officers and other United States officials dealing with human rights issues are familiar with the Armenian Genocide and the consequences of the failure to enforce judgments on the responsible officials. It would also recognize the seriousness of these events by calling on the President to refer to the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians following 1915 as ``genocide.'' In 1939, when Adolf Hitler was issuing orders for German ``Death Units'' to murder Polish and Jewish men, women, and children, he noted, ``After all, who remembers the extermination of the Armenians?'' Mr. Speaker, the Congress of the United States remembers the Armenians. I urge my colleagues to join me in condemning genocide and honoring the memory of 1.5 million innocent victims. Cosponsor H. Res. 398.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this motion to instruct conferees on H.R. 1501, the juvenile justice bill. I appreciate the constructive comments made by the distinguished chairman, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde). Mr. Speaker, how many Americans must die before Congress makes a commitment to keeping guns out of the hands of children and criminals? How many more news reports do we need to see of innocent children gunned down, of families and communities devastated by gun violence? At Columbine High last year, 13 children were killed, 23 injured, with a weapon originating at a gun show. We thought this was the last straw, but we thought Paducah was the last straw, we thought Conyers was the last straw, we thought Jonesboro was the last straw, we thought Springfield was the last straw. Just weeks ago, little Kayla Rolland was gunned down in a Michigan elementary school, murdered by a 6-year-old child who learned how to kill with a handgun before he learned how to read. It is time to put a stop to these tragedies. Compare our record, compare the epidemiology with any other country. We have a serious public health epidemic. Yes, epidemiology is the right word. This is a public health problem. This motion to instruct conferees on H.R. 1501 to meet and report a committee substitute is important. It would include common-sense gun safety measures. The conferees must take action to close gun show loopholes that allow criminals and children and the mentally ill to buy firearms. Mr. Speaker, it must include provisions to require child safety locks and other safety measures that save children's lives. They must provide maximum support for measures that help enforce our Nation's gun safety laws and protect our children from gun violence. Now is the time for action. Let us prevent tragedies. Let us pass this motion.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. HOLT. That is absolutely correct.

Mr. HOLT. The gentleman is correct.

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. What we are talking about with the amendment here is getting at the heart of our democracy, of our form of government. Of course we are interested in taxpayer rights, and I support the underlying bill, but the Doggett amendment should be in order. We are talking about transparency. The 527 organizations seek to influence elections under the cloak of secrecy. And I can tell my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, that we have not seen the worst. The worst is yet to come. I hope that this House will see fit to adopt the Doggett amendment.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a true American role model. Sgt. Charles A. DaVis has faithfully served the residents of Eatontown and the State of New Jersey for 25 years. He has diligently performed his duties and has acted in such specialized positions including, Patrolman, Detective, Juvenile Officer, Patrol Sergeant and most recently as the Community Affairs Officer. As a Juvenile Officer he utilized his college training in Social Sciences and began a Family Crisis Unit in Eatontown, where he spent many hours with troubled teens and assisted them and their parents in ways to find common bridges over the ``generation gap''. He spent countless hours in our local public schools, explaining to children about the hazards of illegal drugs and alcohol abuse. He also spent time teaching younger children through such programs as ``Danger Stranger'' and Halloween Safety. Most recently he has served as our Community Affairs Officer and has acted as an intermediary to help neighbors resolve their differences before they escalate into courtroom battles. In addition he has initiated a new program entitled The Citizen Police Academy. This program indoctrinates interested citizens in many different aspects of police work and helps them to understand how a police department diversifies itself to address crime, traffic and public service in our town. As you can see, Sgt. DaVis has worked very hard at advancing the concept of ``Community Policing'' in Eatontown. If this isn't enough, Sgt. DaVis initiated the Bicycle Patrol in Eatontown and he is presently regarded as one of the leading training officers in the state of New Jersey for Police Bicycle Patrol. Sgt. DaVis has been an instructor at the Monmouth County police Academy for nearly 20 years. He is a martial arts expert and he instructs police recruits as well as veteran officers in hand to hand defense tactics, use of the police baton, and in the use of martial arts. All of his specialized efforts have been sandwiched around the normal duties of a uniformed police officer who began his career in 1973 and who has spent the last 12 years as a supervisor. Sgt. DaVis has spent his career serving the people of Central New Jersey and I rise today to honor this stellar career.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, the majority leader is correct, this is a very personal, touching matter; but I rise in strong opposition to this bill, this so- called partial-birth abortion ban. This bill continues a troubling tendency that we have seen in this Congress, the tendency for Congress to try to practice medicine. Whether it is legislation prescribing pain management or stonewalling on patients' rights or restrictions on a woman's right to manage her own reproductive health, this Congress has again and again tried to come between patients and their doctors. Patients make life and death decisions with their doctors every day, with cancer, with renal disease, with neurological disease, and any other number of conditions. Many of these decisions are not easy and not pretty. Surely pregnant women deserve no less protection of their rights than others. In short, this bill is an insult to women, and doctors should not be subjected to additional criminal sanctions in this area. Now all of us would like to see fewer abortions performed in this country, and that is why I support education and prevention programs to help families avoid unwanted pregnancies; but the question of whether or not to have an abortion is one of the most difficult decisions any woman can face. Reproductive health care is a personal, ethical, and medical matter that should be left to individuals, their doctors, and their families without interference from the Government. This legislation should be rejected.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of two veterans, of two wars, 80 years apart. Aaron Hush is an African-American Civil War veteran buried in South Brunswick. Al Kady is a World War II veteran and the military historian for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9111 who located Hush's burial ground in South Brunswick, NJ. I commend Mr. Kady for his commitment to locating and preserving a significant piece of New Jersey history. Aaron Hush was a resident of nearby Franklin Township. Upon his death on January 20, 1916, he was laid to rest in the Sand Hills Area of South Brunswick Township, also known as the Thompson Plot. The Record of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War has recorded that Aaron Hush served from February 29, 1864 until August 22, 1865, in the 32nd regiment of the United States Colored Troops. He is one of nearly 3,000 New Jersey African-American soldiers to serve in the Civil War. The Emancipation Proclamation permitted African-American soldiers like Aaron Hush to enlist, be drafted, or receive bonuses to serve as replacements. Records reveal that 2,872 New Jersey African-Americans wore the uniform of the Union Army. There were 469 African-American casualties from New Jersey. Mr. Kady has brought to life the importance of the Hush burial ground. He has worked tirelessly to ensure that the cemetery is preserved and maintained. He is to be commended for his dedication and hard work. As a veteran of World War II and past commander of VFW Post 9111, he knows the importance of maintaining sites important to our national heritage. Mr. Kady will present a copy of Aaron Hush's discharge papers to the South Brunswick Township Council on April 11 for display in the township. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to learn about our local heritage, as well as our national history. Mr. Speaker, VFW Post 9111 military historian Al Kady represents what is right with central New Jersey and the United States of America. His discovery and preservation of Hush's gravesite is a wonderful reminder to the community and the country at large. Kady has served his country in times of great national crisis and continues to do so by preserving history in central New Jersey. This is an important example of what makes America special. A veteran of one war preserving the memory of a veteran of a different war; our common history bridging our individual differences. I urge my colleagues to join me in commending Mr. Kady for his hard work and dedication to the preservation of historical landmarks throughout central New Jersey.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, today I recognize Professor James M. McPherson, who last night delivered the Twenty-Ninth Annual Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities. Professor McPherson's career has combined scholarship and public service in a unique manner, and his selection as lecturer by the National Endowment of the Humanities was a well-earned and long overdue honor. Professor McPherson is the George Henry Davis `86 Professor of American History at Princeton University, where he has taught for over three decades. He has authored a dozen books, among them the Pultizer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (1988), which is widely credited with sparking America's renewed interest in this most crucial part of our shared history. Professor McPherson has not limited himself to academia, however. He has consistently shared his passion for the history of America with a wide and varied audience. He served as an advisor for the 1990 Ken Burns documentary ``The Civil War,'' which was watched and enjoyed by millions of Americans. Professor McPherson has also dedicated himself to the preservation of Civil War battlefields, serving on the boards of the Civil War Trust and the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites. He also served on the Civil War Sites Advisory Committee created by Congress in 1991. Finally, he was the president of ``Protect Historic America,'' an organization which successfully opposed plans to construct a theme park near Manassas battlefield in Virginia. Professor McPherson's career has been the model of an engaged intellectual, one who can speak to both a scholarly and general audience, and who has fought to ensure that others have the opportunity to experience for themselves the places which have meant so much to him. Professor McPherson is a credit to Princeton University, to Central New Jersey, and to the nation, and I hope the House will join me in wishing him continued success.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Chairman, I thank my good friend, the ranking member of the Committee on the Budget, the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt) for yielding me time. Mr. Chairman, I want to see that the budget does not amount to a fiction. What we want is to see that we can maintain the kind of robust economy that stands behind our projections. We want to have an economy with real productivity growth. And what is behind that? New ideas and smart workers. It is necessary ingredients. I thank the ranking member for the kind remarks, and I would like to extend my thanks to the chairman and to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) for helping to prevail on our colleagues to see the benefit of my amendment. The strong economy that we enjoy today is due in large part to previous investments in research and education, and the increase that we now see in the budget at the 11th hour, or actually it was the 2 a.m. hour last night, in research, is most welcome. But that is only part of what we need. We should approve the Democratic substitute budget which will provide for increased funding in education as well. The Republicans' budget cuts the purchasing power of education by $8.5 billion over 5 years, it freezes funding at the 2000 level for 5 years, it would reduce funding for 316,000 low-income students to receive Pell Grants to attend college. Head Start would have to cut services to more than 40,000 students. The Democratic alternative budget, on the other hand, rejects this Republican freeze for educational funding. It provides $4.8 billion more for education for 2001 than the Republican budget. Over 5 years, the Democratic budget provides $21 billion more than the Republicans. So we have made a partial fix in research, but we need to do more in education, so that we can have the new ideas, the well-trained workforce, necessary for the kind of productivity growth that we have been enjoying.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, recently, the House of Representatives joined together in a bipartisan fashion to pass House Joint Resolution 86, legislation recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Korean war and commending the bravery and patriotism of the 5.72 million men and women who fought bravely in that conflict. I have spoken with many New Jerseyans who served in the Korean war, and I can tell you, this tribute is long overdue. Too often we hear the Korean war referred to as the ``forgotten war,'' because it was sandwiched between this Nation's victory in World War II and the Vietnam war. Because of that, the over 55,000 men and women who lost their lives in the Korean war, and those who served, sometimes do not receive the recognition and gratitude that they are owed. I am hopeful that Congress' passage of this legislation will serve as a first step towards reversing that gross inequity. Victory during World War II signaled the beginning of a world where the United States shouldered the role of undisputed leader of the free world. America was the only democratic power capable of responding to the spreading advances of communism when North Korea commenced its attack on the south. With the aid of the Soviet Union and China, North Korea thought they would swiftly and easily unite the Korean peninsula under communist rule. Only through the blood and sacrifice of men in a thousand dark battles, was the tide turned and freedom restored. The determination that America showed in Korea set in motion the events that ultimately led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of Soviet communism. By standing up for freedom and democracy in South Korea we sent a clear message that where democracy was threatened, the United States would stand firm. Here in Washington, DC, the inscription at the Korean Memorial reminds us that ``freedom is not free,'' and that the young American men and women who have been willing to pay the price for freedom are owed a tremendous debt of gratitude. We must remember their sacrifices. Mr. Speaker, the brave men and women who served in the Korean war fought not for personal gain, but rather to insure freedom for all generations to come. We must not forget what their blood bought. I hope my colleagues will join with me to honor and call attention to our nation's Korean war veterans.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, this week I visited a beautiful farm, 85 acres in Holmdel, New Jersey, the Garden State. This property is one of the largest parcels of undeveloped land in that township. The farm has survived two world wars, the Great Depression, the advent of the technological revolution, and the factory farm. But today, because of the estate tax, family members may have to sell the property to developers. This is true even though some of the survivors would like to keep the land in the family and preserve it as open space and farmland. Well, when a government policy robs families of their heritage and forces communities to develop land instead of preserving it, something needs to be changed. I am proud to cosponsor the legislation introduced by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) that would help mitigate this unfair tax which hits so many in New Jersey. The Rangel small business tax package would relieve the estate tax burden for family-owned farms and small businesses, and also includes other helpful tax cuts, including a provision to make permanent the work opportunity and welfare-to-work tax credits. The proposal would also accelerate 100 percent health insurance deduction for the self- employed and increase the tax deductions for business expenses. This is a responsible package to preserve family farms and small businesses and is compatible with efforts to shore up Social Security and Medicare and pay down the debt. Central New Jersey supports eliminating the estate tax for family- owned farms and businesses. I urge my colleagues to support responsible estate tax relief.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the United Negro College Fund, and to call attention to its annual campaign celebration that will occur on March 2, 2000, in Trenton, NJ. For nearly six decades, the United Negro College Fund has had a long and rich history of helping students in New Jersey and nationwide obtain a higher education. In 1943, Dr. Frederick D. Patterson, president of Tuskegee Institute, wrote an open letter which appeared in the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper, which called on the presidents of the nation's private black colleges to join with him to ``pool their small monies and make a united appeal to the national conscience,'' His words became the guiding principle for what was to become one of the world's leading education assistance organizations. One year later, on April 25 1994, the United Negro College Fund was incorporated with 27 member colleges and a combined enrollment of just 14,000 students. Fifty-six years later, UNCF has grown to become one of our nation's oldest and most-respected educational organizations. Today, the UNCF is a strong consortium of 39 private, accredited, four-year historically black colleges and universities. In recent years, UNCF has broadened its focus by offering programs designed to enhance educational quality provide financial assistance to deserving students, raise funds for member colleges and universities, and supply technical assistance to member institutions. More than 300,000 men and women have obtained an education with the support they received from the United Negro College Fund. In communities from central new Jersey to central California and every place in between, UNCF graduates are working to build a stronger nation as community leaders in every walk of life. On Thursday, March 2, 2000, the United Negro College Fund will kick off its yearly events with a ceremony held in Trenton, New Jersey. Through its hard work and the commitment of community leaders, including Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer, and citizens, the UNCF was able to offer scholarships to several students last year, and campaign organizers hope to double their efforts in the year ahead. Mr. Speaker, education is the admission ticket to opportunity on today's economy. The efforts and commitment of organizations like the United Negro College Fund, which have made a positive difference in the lives of so many young Americans, are to be commended and recognized. I hope that my colleagues will join in me paying tribute to the efforts of the United Negro College Fund in central New Jersey and nationwide.

Mr. HOLT

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I rise in strong support of H.R. 5, bipartisan common sense legislation to repeal the Social Security earnings test. I believe the Social Security earnings test should be eliminated. Simply put, this provision of the Social Security law has outlived its usefulness. It is a relic from another time. It survives only to punish older Americans for their productivity. Today, most seniors continue to work at least part time after retiring. These men and women have some of the most dedicated and experienced skills to bring to our work force. And, as a Nation, we should be doing everything we can to encourage them to continue to contribute their time and their talents, not penalize them for doing so. H.R. 5 would repeal this limit entirely, effective immediately. It is a bill that is worthy of our unanimous support. The President proposed it; both parties support it. It is simple, we need to pass H.R. 5. We also need to undertake a comprehensive legislative fix that would use the projected budget surpluses to extend the life of Social Security and Medicare and pay down the debt.

Mr. HOLT

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

Mr. HOLT. I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin, my friend, for organizing this special order. As a freshman Member of Congress, it is fairly recent since I campaigned for election to this august body, and I still vividly remember running for Congress, a challenging experience, but a wonderful experience. It reminds one of what a magnificent place America is, full of hard-working and talented people. It reminds you that the citizens here truly care about the important issues facing each other and that we as a society can work to solve them. But running for Congress also reminds you, reminds me, of something else, that our campaign finance system is broken and needs to be fixed desperately. We know it; the people know it. The only 38 percent of the voters who turn out to vote are sending a message in that way. It is a campaign system where wealthy corporations can donate millions of dollars to political parties and drown out the voice of ordinary citizens. It is a campaign system where special interests can spend an unlimited amount of money on attack ads, I know, I have seen it, to smear and distort a candidate's record; and that is wrong. It is a campaign system where we as elected representatives have to spend an inordinate amount of time raising money, instead of addressing the issues. Campaign expenditures have just gotten out of hand. In primary and general elections combined in the year 1976, all candidates for U.S. Congress spent a total of $115 million. Twenty-two years later, at the most recent congressional election in 1998, candidates spent $740 million, more than six times what was spent 22 years earlier. I am sure the amount of money in this year, 2000, will be even higher. When you look at the low voter turnout and widespread cynicism, you realize that we have to deal with this key issue that has to do with trust in the Government. How can we hope to deal with the big problems that we face, whether it is Social Security, health care, transportation issues, defense issues, international affairs, where these are solutions that we seek as a society, together? How can we hope to have solutions to these problems that the people will have faith in if they feel that solutions are determined by special interests? People understand that their voices are being drowned out. The gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) spoke earlier about the recent Supreme Court decisions, and I think there is cause for hope here. The opponents of campaign finance reform always trot out the First Amendment guarantee of free speech. Well, the Supreme Court back in 1976 under Buckley v. Valeo gave them some support for that line of reasoning, that speech as spending could not be restricted. But last month in Nixon v. Shrink the court did hold up a statutory cap on gifts and donations to campaigns. That makes sense. But although it did not formally reexamine the issue of spending, the comments of the Justices give us cause for hope that they will allow some changes in the way campaign spending is regulated. Recently in an article in the Washington Post, former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Newton Minow, and Craig LaMay, Northwestern University journalism professor, wrote a very interesting piece, pointing out, they say, that a lawyer arguing a case in the Supreme Court is limited to 30 minutes of oral argument. Members of the House of Representatives, as we well know, are limited in the time we have available to speak. In Illinois, voters are given 5 minutes to complete their ballots. In none of these cases can the individual, no matter how well heeled, buy additional time. The process of governing ourselves is something that requires every citizen and is due to every citizen; and it should not be reapportioned according to the resources of those citizens. So elections, say LaMay and Minow, are just as susceptible to distortion and destruction as any other institution would be if its rules allotted free speech according to one's ability to pay. Well, it is a special pleasure to talk about this subject today, because we take some hope not only from the Supreme Court's words of a month ago, but a great deal of hope from the actions of Doris Haddock, Granny D. I, too, walked with Granny D today on her last mile, and stood with her as she gave a rousing and moving and very thoughtful speech on the steps of this Capitol. We applaud her; and I think it is appropriate, as you say, that we dedicate tonight's discussion to her. She reminds us that we need to overhaul the current system and that it may be difficult; but step by step, we can do it. One of the best ways to do it is to start right now with what is in front of us, which is the ban on soft money. It is one of the essential steps and one of the first steps to begin restoring people's faith in government. I would like to point out that on the day I was sworn in, the first thing I did was seek out my colleague, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays), Republican cosponsor of the Shays-Meehan campaign finance bill, seek out the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Meehan), and sit down with them and let them know that I take that to be the most important step we can take to restoring trust in government. So I joined with a large majority, a bipartisan majority of people here, in supporting the Shays-Meehan Campaign Finance Reform Act. It now appears that this legislation is going to have trouble getting out of Congress this year, but we who care about government, and that is millions of people, and care that we have a government that is responsive to the people, rather than special interests, should not let up. Granny D did not let up; and she made it clear she was not walking for Republicans; she was not walking for Democrats. She was walking for her children and her grandchildren and all of the other millions of people that they symbolize who want a government of the people. I am delighted that the gentleman is doing this. I am pleased to join with the gentleman to talk about this great need to take some concrete steps to restore trust in our government. We look to the other body to finish the work that we have begun, but we cannot stop there. There are some other steps we need to take so that we have campaigns financed in a way that give everyone a voice in how they find solutions to the tough problems facing our society.

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I think that the gentleman's class came to Congress a couple of terms ago, including the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen) and the gentleman deserves a lot of credit for this. He has gotten some reinforcement from our class, this freshman class, and this one representative from New Jersey is going to be with them all the way until we can get good sensible campaign finance reform. The people want it. We need it for the sake of our democracy. And I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin very much for all that he is doing. I thank the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen) for his efforts. And, of course, I want to thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Meehan) and the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) who have carried the banner for this here in the House of Representatives.

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend. Talking politically for a moment, the cynics say we will not do anything, it does not poll. The opinion polls, when we ask people what do they care about, the pollsters come back and say campaign finance reform is way down the list. It does not poll. Let me tell my colleagues that certainly in my district, and certainly in all the districts that Granny D walked through, it is very much on people's minds. It is not clear in people's minds how to deal with it, but they know we must deal with it. It is not just a political issue on a list of items. It is not just another item for a plank in a political platform. This is fundamental to our democracy. It is fundamental to our system of government and people understand that. That is why this is of utmost importance. So that we can be able, so that we can deal with these other tough problems that we as a country face. We have got to get on with it.

Mr. HOLT. On that subject, this was not a stunt. She was out there with the American people. She brought with her what she learned along the way. In a particularly moving part of her speech today on the steps, she talked about finishing her walk yesterday and starting her walk today at Arlington Cemetery. As the gentleman knows, she walked in 10-mile segments approximately all across the country. She said those spirits were with her today as she walked through Washington and as she stood on the steps of the Capitol. These are people who had fought for American ideals. She wondered, in fact, she was quite sure that they did not fight and die for a government that goes to the highest bidder, for a government where special wealthy interests have more voice than the common people, where we have, as some say, auctions, rather than elections. It was moving when she put it in that context and when she put it in the context of all that she had heard from people in Arizona and in New Mexico and in Texas and in Tennessee and West Virginia. It was not a stunt. This is an effort to recapture what is great about the American government.

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman commented a few moments ago that Granny D spoke about a feeling of powerlessness. I hope she does not feel powerless now as she sees the thousands of people who joined her on the steps of the Capitol, who are joining her on her web site, who are joining her at every stage here. It is interesting, many of them carried signs and chanted, ``Granny D speaks for me.'' It is perhaps ironic that a rather diminutive 90-year- old has such a powerful voice. In fact, when she stood up to the microphone she did have a powerful voice, but an even more powerful voice in her actions. She spoke about this cynicism that people have. I hasten to say that our colleagues here are honorable people, almost all driven by real altruism. But there is a perception out there in the country, and this is what the gentleman spoke about when he talked about the Supreme Court, a perception that is crippling, crippling our democracy, a perception that anything that comes out of Congress is determined by the wealthy special interests. We need to take action on that. I really commend the gentleman for doing this. Some States are doing some things. In New Jersey, we have public financing of the gubernatorial campaigns. It works well. It is not a perfect solution. The soft money ban that we have been talking about this evening is not a complete solution, but it certainly is a good first step.