Mike Honda

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, the massive earthquakes that have hit El Salvador, first on January 13 with a magnitude of 7.6 on the Richter Scale, and then on February 13 with a magnitude of 6.6, have brought untold hardships to a nation that has been working diligently to overcome previous natural disasters. Hundreds of lives have been lost, thousands injured and a million more have been displaced, leaving them without food, water or shelter. As Americans, it is our duty to pull together to help our friends and allies during times of extreme crisis. I urge our government to expedite relief efforts, especially where entities such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the United States Agency for International Development are concerned. This disaster also affected me on a deeply personal level--I spent two years in the Peace Corps and the people I met and worked with during my time in El Salvador's rural villages welcomed me into their homes and into their hearts. My deepest sympathies go out to the people of El Salvador for the losses they have had to endure. I have spoken with President Francisco Flores of El Salvador and he has informed me that a massive relief effort is underway to provide shelter, food and water. Many families are still taking refuge in public areas and soccer stadiums. He also expressed fears that disease may run rampant due to open sewage pipes and contaminated water. I assured President Flores that I would do what I could, to bring attention to this crisis. I also told him about the efforts going on in my home district of San Jose to help coordinate relief efforts. Although the situation needs much attention, the most important thing to remember is that there is hope. I have seen, with my own eyes, the ability of El Salvadorans to persevere--and with the efforts of the good people in the United States, we must and will help the people of El Salvador pull through this trying time. Again, I strongly urge that we expedite our efforts to bring relief to the people of El Salvador.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, the Majority today is shortchanging middle and lower income families by giving $688 billion to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. Imagine if we gave $688 billion to the poorest individuals in our nation? Why does this budget seem any less extreme? Our budget surplus is money that belongs to the American people. Let us also remember that the deficits and damage that will be caused by this plan will belong to all of us as well. Budgets are about choices. American families make these important choices everyday as they plan for the future. On behalf of the American people I urge my colleagues to think about our budget as families think about theirs--as if the lives of your children depended upon it. Imagine if you had not saved for your retirement, that you owed money on your credit cards and you could not afford health insurance and then you came into some extra money that could pay off most of these obligations. Would you spend the money on a new sports car or secure your family's future by living up to your obligations? Fiscal discipline and common sense tell us that we must take care of these important obligations to secure the future of this great nation--we have no greater obligation to the families of the United States of America. For their sake, I urge all of you not to buy the sports car by voting for the majority plan and instead meet your obligations by voting for the prudent and balanced alternative.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, many districts who do not have the local resources to fulfill their obligation find themselves not being as great of an advocate for the youngsters. They may want to, but they do not have the resources to cover it. There are other school districts who are well off, and they are still battling with parents and trying to minimize the identification of youngsters, because even in a well-to-do school district, it is still a drain on the general fund, but the mandate is still there. What it really does is pits parents against school districts, and that is not healthy for a public school system. I believe that what the gentleman mentioned, having an IEP for every youngster, should be a right of every youngster before they even start school, because what an IEP does is present all the needs that a youngster has, and you can develop an educational strategy so that the parent, the teacher at the get-go knows what they have to do. From that point, you can have great expectations. You can have accountability. You have benchmarks that we are all talking about, and we are talking about accountability. We have not had the real tools from which to judge the teaching and the youngsters. People say that developing an IEP is very expensive, but then I guess how expensive is ignorance.

Mr. HONDA. That is correct.

Mr. HONDA. If the gentleman would yield, we also found in the penal institutions and the juvenile justice systems, we found there is an inordinate amount of folks in the penal system who have special ed needs. If we do it in the front end, we can save a lot of money in the criminal justice system, the juvenile justice system, and divert and invest our money properly and in a positive vein. Let me just close, if I may, by saying that we still have an obligation, we created that obligation with 94-142. We created that expectation. We said to parents, when we passed that law, that your children have a right to an equitable education, even if they have special needs. We have to cover that. If we fulfill that, our 40 percent, then that would allow the local districts to be able to function at a higher rate and more efficiently, but what concerns me this year is that the idea of creating a block grant funding for education to our States, to me that dissipates the direction of the funding that we need to specifically target to these youngsters and to the school district. I am hoping that we will be able to persuade our colleagues and the administration that special education needs to be very clear in its funding and as its direction and its target.

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. I really appreciate this discussion on education, because I believe that the President has made education one of the cornerstones of his administration for this next 4 years. One of the things that I found as a principal is that one of our jobs is to identify youngsters who need special education and need to be assessed. But that is not an obligation of the principal nor the teacher, because we are just good guys. It is also a mandate by the Federal Government. Public Law 94-142 requires everybody in schools to be able to go out and seek youngsters who may need special education services, and the PL 94-142 also said that they would fund the cost of special ed at the level of 40 percent. Currently, in the past few years, it has not gone beyond 12, 13, 14 percent. What that does for local school districts, and I was on a board of a local school district in San Jose, and we found that we had to struggle very, very hard to come up with the general fund moneys to supplement the funds that did not come from the Federal Government. What we find ourselves in is a bind that we have this requirement, this duty to seek out youngsters who need special education and also assess them and cover the costs and then cover the costs for the services that they would need. But we have to also use general fund monies to supplement the lack of the money that is not coming from the Federal Government. That puts the local districts into even more of a bind, because the general fund money that are allocated to special ed becomes siphoned off for services for other needs that the schools have to align the costs to. I think that what we have found ourselves in is fulfilling a mandate without the funding. I believe that having mandates without the full funding that we were promised is a disservice not only to the school districts, but ultimately to the youngsters. This pits parents and schools against each other, because we all have this great expectation now to meet the needs of our youngsters, but not having the resources to follow through.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, today I speak in recognition of the dedication and commitment of Peace Corps volunteers for the past four decades. Since its inception on March 1, 1961 the Peace Corps has become a powerful symbol of America's commitment to encouraging progress and developing opportunity across the world. Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Executive Order signed by president John F. Kennedy that established the Peace Corps. Over 162,000 Americans, including seven current members of Congress, have served as Peace Corps volunteers. They have made significant and lasting contributions in agriculture, health care, science, human rights, and the environment, serving in over 134 nations worldwide. At the same time, they have been enriched by their experience and strengthened the ties of friendship between the people of the United States and the citizens of other nations. The Peace Corps also serves as a model for countless other programs and continues to foster a spirit of cooperation and volunteerism worldwide. Its volunteers come from all races and all walks of life and embody the core values that we as Americans treasure. I served in the Peace Corps from 1965 to 1967 in El Salvador. Like many returning volunteers, I have carried the ideals of the Peace Corps and the concept of public service my entire life--into my own community and into my career in the United States Congress. Mr. Speaker I ask that the Members of Congress honor the men and women of the Peace Corps on the occasion of its 40th anniversary and continue to promote the spirit of service and volunteerism that they embody.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, today I honor the life of a great American, Senator Alan Cranston. While Senator Cranston left the Congress 8 years ago, after four terms in the Senate, his legacy remains as strong as ever because of the depth of his convictions and the significance of his accomplishments. Senator Cranston was one of only two California senators to be elected to the Senate four times and he served 14 years as the Democratic Whip. His accomplishments bear great weight. During his service in the United States Senate, Alan Cranston had a hand in many major pieces of legislation. He was deeply involved with arms reduction and nuclear arms control and led the debate on SALT II and START treaties, worked on ratification of the Panama Canal treaty, helped to expand trade for California technological and agricultural products, and reduced military spending. Senator Cranston also fought tirelessly to build affordable, adequate housing for our families and to protect our national environment for present and future generations. The Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act of 1990, was a major housing bill he helped pass. He also authored legislation that created three major national parks and expanded two others, seven park wilderness areas and 51 forest areas and he was the original author of the California Desert Protection Act. Senator Cranston's record of accomplishment in public service spanned 10 Presidents and 6 decades, and his thoughtful approach to making policy impacted the everyday lives of many Americans. He helped formulate legislation to get more highway money available for mass transit, which reduced our dependence on oil and helped to reduce air pollution and traffic congestion. A champion of civil liberty and individual rights, Senator Cranston authored the freedom of choice bill that enacted Roe vs. Wade into law and created and fought for a ``Bill of Rights'' for the disabled. Senator Cranston's dedication to public service has inspired generations of Californians and Americans to get involved in public service. His integrity and dedication influenced my commitment to fight for social justice and my decision to run for public office. Senator Cranston's life ended on the night of December 31st 2000--at the conclusion of the 20th century. While tragic, this is truly fitting, as it is due in no small part to the work of Alan Cranston that 20th century will always be known as the American Century.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my deepest appreciation for the excellent investigative work of the San Jose Police Department and the actions of an extraordinary citizen. Yesterday, through the thoughtful work of our law enforcement and a concerned citizen who chose not to ``look the other way'', a tragedy liken to Columbine was averted. A young man, whose motives are not yet fully understood, was apprehended with a cache of weapons and explosives, which he allegedly was intending to use in an elaborate mass killing scheme and blowing up of the campus of De Anza College in Silicon Valley. Having spent much time at De Anza College and working with many of its wonderful students, I was shocked to hear of this news. As a former schoolteacher and principal, I know how hard it is for young people today to deal with the many pressures they face. We don't yet know what this young man's motives were, but this news is a powerful reminder to all of us that we must continue to do better in identifying the warning signs for violence in our schools and work personally with our students, teaching diversity, and tolerance.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, today I express my concerns over the difficulties that arose during our voting and ballot counting process in this most recent presidential election. It is undisputed that the presidential candidate who received more popular votes on Election Day, November 7, 2000, was not elected to the nation's highest office. However, our Constitution allows for this anomalous result. While the Electoral College system may need to be reviewed, I believe the most troubling aspect of this result was that the voting process and procedure failed a great number of American voters. From allegations of voter intimidation, voter confusion, to the now infamous Votomatic punch systems, process and procedural problems abounded. We are now in the 21st Century, and as a Representative from the Silicon Valley, I know that the technological creativity and innovation exist to solve these problems. We must be willing to research, test and implement reliable technologies to the way in which we conduct elections. The right to vote is one of the most cherished and fundamental rights we have in our great nation. There are a myriad of ways in which a voter may become disenfranchised and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a milestone in the protection of this right. Now, 35 years later we have learned that even more is needed to protect our right to vote and have our vote counted. Mr. Speaker, as has been stated by many of my colleagues who are concerned about this issue it is nothing less than the integrity of the vote in America that we in Congress must now work together to protect.