Jay Inslee

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Madam Speaker, the Seattle earthquake last week gave us a telling example why it is grossly irresponsible to bring a huge tax cut bill to this floor before we do a budget. There is a lot wrong with this bill. Many people have heard many of these problems: the fact that it gives 43 percent of all the benefits to just 1 percent of Americans. That is a problem. The fact that it is based on really phony fiscal hallucinations based on these 10-year projections when we cannot even project 10 months from now. That is a problem. But perhaps the biggest kind of problem was made clear to us in Seattle last week on the very day that a 6.8 on-the-Richter-Scale quake hit Seattle. The administration tried to hit our earthquake preparedness programs by trying to kill Project Impact. Project Impact is a Federal program that is designed to help improve local communities' earthquake preparedness programs, a program Seattle had used to good effect and which was effective in reducing losses. Why did that happen? Well, the Vice President said that Project Impact was ineffective. Try telling that to the first graders at Stevens Elementary School in Seattle, who I visited last week, the day after the quake, who, until Project Impact came along, did their studying underneath a 1-ton tank of water that was prone to going right through the ceiling and down onto their classroom because it was not secured adequately for a standard earthquake. But then Project Impact dollars came along. The school district secured that water tank and no one got hurt. In fact, in the seven schools in the Seattle school district that had used Project Impact monies, none of the structures that had been dealt with caused any damage. This is an effective program. These Federal investments saved lives. We ourselves saw that in Seattle last week. This is an effective program. So why did the administration try to kill it? Well, that is kind of interesting. The Vice President has said this program was ineffective. But when I asked Joe Allbaugh, our FEMA director, the Federal Emergency Management Agency director, who has done a great job by the way on this disaster, he told me he had not even been consulted. Nobody asked him about Project Impact. Somebody in the Bush administration got out a red pen and just drew it right through that project and tried to kill the program. Why did that happen? Well, it is pretty clear. This was an indiscriminate cut that was simply made to try to accommodate and make room for these tax cuts, and it is a disgrace. It is a disgrace to know that the first casualty of the Bush tax cut is a program that in Seattle, in fact, prevented casualties. When we do tax cuts before we do a budget, bad decisions are made. And this is perhaps the most visible and first one in this sorry state of affairs. We should reject this bill. We should go back and do our jobs, do the budget first, and a reasonable, responsible tax cut that meets our obligation to the American people.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, I am not a member of the Blue Dogs Coalition, but I would like to be an honorary one today because I think this organization truly is the voice of fiscal responsibility in this institution, and I am so happy that my colleagues are here today with this message. I have three points. Point one has to do with a story from this weekend. I was talking to a colleague who went to a meeting this past weekend, and he started to talk about the surplus. An older gentleman came up and poked his fingers in my colleague's chest and said, what do you mean by the surplus, you man, and my colleague started to explain it. He said, no, no, no, hold it right there. As long as we have got a big debt, we have not got a big surplus. And this was not Alan Greenspan talking, but this was a fellow who I think was in touch with the heartland of this country, who understands that with a $5 trillion debt we ought to take care of the deficit first. That gentleman understands that 14 percent of all of his taxes, $14 of every $100 of income taxes he paid last year were wasted, down the black hole. They did not get a teacher, they did not get a soldier or a sailor, but went to pay interest on the Federal debt. That gentleman understood we have to pay a commitment to the public debt. Second point. All of the numbers, which are essentially a fiscal hallucination about this alleged surplus, talk about this 10-year window of opportunity. But it is real interesting, because guess what happens the day after that 10-year opportunity? We baby boomers start to retire. The baby boom generation, which is going to drive us into a fiscal ditch, starts to retire in year 11, year 12 and year 13. And we know what will happen then: we will go right back down into deficit spending if we do not eliminate this debt first. It is time for the baby boom generation, which I am a member of, to grow up. It is time for our generation to be fiscally responsible. And I appreciate the Blue Dogs and their request of the new administration. I hope they are serious about bipartisanship. This will be the real test to see whether they engage us, the Blue Dogs, and everybody else in a discussion of what this tax cut ought to be.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, the depth of the suffering and tragedy in India I think is obvious. But I think what is not, perhaps, obvious is to the extent of how close our relationship will be with the Indian people over the next several decades. I would suggest that one of, and just one of the reasons we should significantly increase our aid to India at this time is that we are going to have a relationship with India, the world's largest democracy, I believe, in the next several decades every bit as close and important, as vital and productive as our previous relationship with the continent of Europe in the last several centuries. And because of that, we ought to significantly increase, is my belief, our commitment, which, at this moment, stands at, I believe, $5 million. My growing friendship with the Indo-American community, seeing the creative talent that has come to our community in my district, which is the major reason for the economic explosion in my district with their creative talents, leads me to conclude that India is going to be every bit as important as the European community. I want to compliment the Bush administration in trying to assess the damage in India. I have spoken to two assistant secretaries in the last 2 days about that. But I do want to encourage the executive authority to significantly increase the aid on an emergency basis, even before we can do an emergency supplemental. And the reason I say that is, the executive staff does have the ability to do this at this time. There are funds in the various accounts to be able to do so. And it is my belief that this would be a tremendous step for the new administration to take, to come up with an aid package in multiples of $5 million. It would demonstrate the compassion that is the basic character of the country, but it would also demonstrate that this new administration intends to have a proactive beneficial international policy.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, it is with great admiration that I recognize these members of the U.S. Paralympic team. These extraordinary athletes have overcome great barriers to achieve athletic feats among their peers. These athletes have recently competed at the Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia, one of the most elite multi-disability sports competitions. They have contended with a record setting 3,824 athletes from over 120 countries. Jacob Heilveil, from Bothell, has competed in several sports including basketball and notably as a marathoner. Born in Korea, Jacob contracted polio and was left with residual paralysis and the determination to succeed. In Sydney, he raced as part of the men's wheelchair relay and in the marathon. racing in the paraplegic classification, he finished the marathon course in 1 hour, 36 minutes and 6 seconds. Tony Volpentest, from Mountlake Terrace, is the current world record holder in the 200-meter sprint with a time of 23.07 seconds. He competed in his first Paralympics in 1992 and has been returning successfully since then. In 1996, he won two gold medals and broke both world and Paralympic records. His time for the 100-meters, 11.36 seconds, is barely behind the time for able-bodied athletes, 9.86 seconds. Tony was born without hands or feet, but that has not stopped him from setting new records and frequently beating able-bodied athletes at numerous other races. Tony's grandfather, Sam Volpentest, a Tri-Cities leader, justifiably expresses his pride in Tony's accomplishments. Jennifer Butcher came to these games as her first international competition. She participated in several swimming events: the 200-meter individual medley, 100-meter breaststroke and 50-meter freestyle. Jennifer, an Issaquah native, left Sydney with a bronze medal in the women's visually impaired class of the 100-meter freestyle. At home in Portland, she works at a school for the blind. Mr. Speaker, I commend these athletes for their determination, hard work and incredible success. I ask my colleagues to join me in saluting their fine example of sportsmanship and success on the international stage.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, it has been said that this institution is to be a watchdog. In fact, this resolution asks the people's House to become an attack dog, an attack dog for the oil and gas industry. This is the people's House, and it is a sad day when we turn on the people who expose the fraud to the American people and seek to punish them. The Watergate investigation has been inveighed as a proud moment of Congress. If this party had been running the Watergate investigation, you would not have subpoenaed Halderman and Ehrlichman and gone after them. You would have investigated Frank Wills, the guy who discovered the burglary. You are barking up the wrong tree, and it is a sad day. I am proud of the House of Representatives, and I want to warn Members against this resolution for two reasons: number one, if this passes, and if this goes to the criminal justice system, this House will be embarrassed. I am going to tell you why: unlike many of the speakers today, I was in these hearings, and I saw, time after time after time, the majority party ignore the rules of the House of Representatives. When the judicial system sees this, they will call foul; and our House will be embarrassed by this travesty. If you want to know why these people did not answer some of these questions, it is because they violated the rules of the House. I want to bring up another issue. As a person who believes privacy is important in this Chamber, I believe in this country we should not have certain conversations forced to be made public by the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government should not force your discussions with your priest to be public, the U.S. Government should not force your conversations with your doctor to be public, and the U.S. Government should not force your conversations with your attorney to be public. The majority party seeks to violate those privileges, and we brought this to their attention. These folks did not want to answer questions about their conversations with their attorney. Those who believe that the priest's penitent privilege and the attorney-client privileges are sacred rights of Americans, will vote against this resolution. If you believe in privacy and standing up and crying ``foul,'' vote against this resolution.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove my name as a cosponsor of H.R. 2335.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I honor Ms. Barbara Casey for a long and dedicated career in improving the educational system in Washington State. Ms. Casey, in her professional career and voluntary activities, has shown a commitment to improving the lives of students at home and in school. She began her work in education as a technical operator for a weekly public radio talk show on education issues. Then she moved her volunteer work into the school. She has served as a health room volunteer, classroom volunteer, library aide, reading aide, phoneathon volunteer, C2B2 Committee member and lobbyist. Barbara has also been the Legislation Chair for the Issaquah PTSA Council and Sunset PTA Board of Directors. Her presence in the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is especially notable. She has served as the Sunset PTA Board President and received the Golden Acorn Award twice from the Sunset PTA and Issaquah PTSA Council. In addition, Barbara has volunteered on an impressive list of education organizations. Her work is well known on the Sunset Elementary Shared Management Team, Big Idea Grant Committee, State PTA Legislation Committee and Issaquah Family Service Network Task Force. Her outstanding contributions to the Community Health and Safety Network brought gubernatorial recognition. Since 1994, Barbara has served as the first Government Relations Director of the Washington State PTA. Though an unusual position on a state PTA, it reflects the progressive nature of her work for education. Instead of merely reacting to the decisions of other education administrators, she has been proactive in her advocacy of children's education needs. Barbara has been a model of the PTA mission to speak on behalf of children in schools and the community, assist parents in developing skills to raise their children and encouraging parent and public involvement in public schools. Mr. Speaker, I want to voice my appreciation and commendation for Barbara Casey. She reflects the best of what parents and other education advocates bring to our schools.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in order to publicly praise a tremendous high-tech company in my district, Paladin Data Systems. Paladin, based in Poulsbo, Washington, was recently ranked number 59 among the 500 fastest growing private companies in the nation by Inc. Magazine. Paladin specializes in implementing both Oracle and Microsoft based solutions, Oracle database development, consulting and remote administration, technology training. Founded in 1994, Paladin was voted one of the ``Best Places to Work'' by Washington CEO Magazine in 1998, 1999, and 2000. The Puget Sound Business Journal placed Paladin at number 69 on their list of the 100 fastest growing private companies in Washington. It is clear that Paladin, now with over 70 employees, is indeed fueling the engine of our new economy. Paladin also recognizes that the students of today must receive a comprehensive high-tech education so that they are able to secure jobs in the high-tech corridors of Puget Sound. To that end, Paladin has partnered with the Bremerton, Central Kitsap, North Kitsap, South Kitsap, North Mason, and Peninsula School Districts to form the West Sound School-to-Career consortium to train faculty members to teach the most recent information technology to our young people. Moreover, Paladin received a $100,000 Information Technology Education Grant from Washington State and contributed $50,000 of its own funds for this exciting partnership. Paladin is just one of the many high-tech, bio-tech, and information technology businesses that are stimulating economic growth and creating new jobs in our country. Like many other Members of Congress, I value the contributions of our dynamic high-tech industry and want to make sure that the government continues to take appropriate action to help stimulate and develop this industry. I invite other Members of Congress to join me in congratulating Paladin Data Systems for their amazing success and wishing them nothing but the best in years to come.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to introduce two bills to address organ scarcity, The Organ Coordinator Improvement Act and The Organ Donor Enhancement Act. These bills complement each other in their purpose to increase the number of recoverable organs and make the best use of available organs for transplant. Every 14 minutes, a new person is added to the list of patients in need of an organ transplant. This list is 72,000 patients long today. Last year, we recovered over 21,000 organs for transplant from just over 10,000 individuals. In the same amount of time, we added 38,850 people to the list. These numbers illustrate the urgency behind this issue. Ten people die every day because there was no organ available for transplant. The single greatest barrier to saving lives with organ transplants is the scarcity of available organs. I realize that we are at the end of session and the likelihood of these bills being enacted is minimal. But it is a crucial time to introduce these concepts and ask for support on this vitally important legislation. I am hopeful we can use this time between now and the start of the new Congress to build consensus on these initiatives. I want to gather opinions and expertise from my fellow members and the patients, organizations, and experts in their districts. The sooner we can get the ball rolling on this issue, the faster we will be able to save lives. We must act now to make progress on this heartbreaking inadequacy. The problem is easy to define. There are simply not enough organs to meet the needs of the patients waiting for them on the transplant lists. The challenge before us is to maximize the number of available organs and to maximize the recovery of organs available for donation. When an organ becomes available for transplant, we must spare no resource to ensure that it is delivered to a patient in need. We can do this in three ways. We must first educate more people about organ donation and encourage them to become organ donors. HHS should be congratulated for their efforts in this regard. Next we must invest in research and resources for hospitals and medical schools to improve the success rates of organ donation and options available to those who are in need of organ transplants. Finally, we must make absolutely sure that no organ goes to waste. Currently only a fraction of organs available for donation are actually recovered and made available for transplant. That's where this legislation comes into effect. Today I rise to introduce the Organ Coordination Improvement Act, which would dramatically improve the organ recovery rate. I asked the experts in hospitals and in organ procurement organizations what the single best thing Congress could do to assist with organ recovery efforts. The answer was simple: provide more staff in the hospital dedicated to this effort. This deceptively simple answer points to a greater truth. Only a very few hospitals and Organ Procurement Organizations actually have specifically trained and dedicated staff in the very setting that they are needed most--the front lines of our health care system, When those staff do exist, they make a dramatic difference. A pilot program through HHS to put specifically trained Organ Coordinators in hospitals in Maryland and Texas had a dramatic effect. In one year, Organ Coordinators more than doubled the recovery rate for organs. By placing Organ Coordinators in the hospitals, hospital consortiums or OPOs with the greatest potential for organ coordination, there is a tremendous opportunity to double the number of lives saved through organ transplants. This legislation does just that. The bill provides grants to fund staff positions for Organ Coordinators. A person in this position would be charged with coordinating the organ donation and recovery efforts within a hospital, or in some cases, a group of hospitals. Half of Organ Coordinators would be employed by hospitals and the other would be employed by Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs). Both hospitals and OPOs are leaders in organ recovery efforts and both should be involved in this process. To build on this positive partnership, a control board would be established to coordinate the activities of the Organ Coordinators. The control board would have representation from both the hospital and the OPO, irrespective of which entity received the grant. By placing Organ Coordinators in the hospitals, hospital consortiums or OPOs with the greatest potential for organ coordination, there is a tremendous opportunity to double the number of lives saved through organ transplants. Hospitals and OPOs share an important goal and this bill will serve to augment local success stories and local partnerships that already exist in our communities. The second bill that I am proposing is the Organ Donor Enhancement Act, which would establish a national living donor registry based on the National Bone Marrow Registry. Last year, 10,538 people made their organs available for transplants. Of these, 4,640 people were living donors. Last year there were 9,237 kidney transplants performed, 4,441 transplants from living donors. Clearly, organ transplants have progressed to the point where nearly 45 percent of all kidney transplants done in 1999 were from living donors. Mr. Speaker, no longer must a patient on the transplant list wish for an organ to become available from a horrible accident. Now kidneys and livers may be transplanted from one person to another and we have an obligation to help save the lives of the more than 62,000 people waiting for them. The National Bone Marrow Registry has operated successfully since 1986 by registering people who are willing to donate their bone marrow to save somebody's life. Sometimes these are family members, friends or even strangers who possess the courage and compassion to be a living organ donor. While maintaining the highest privacy protections for registered volunteers, doctors are able to search and locate potential organ matches. The sheer scale of a national organ registry will enhance the practice of organ transplantation with increased speed and efficiency that no other resource could offer. The National Living Donor Registry aims to break down the largest barrier to organ transplantation. It increases the number of potential donors and establishes a mechanism for doctors to match organs to patients. Here in the shadow of the Capitol Dome, the Executive Director of the Washington Regional Transplant Consortium reports that more than 2 people a week contact her and inquire about becoming a living organ donor. Currently, living donors comprise 45 percent of all kidney transplants that are performed. The availability of living donors means particularly strong hope for liver and kidney transplants, especially because kidney patients make up two-thirds of the transplant wait list. The time is now for a voluntary, national list to enable these everyday heroes to become life-savers. In the midst of a tragedy, an organ transplant can create something awesome. A tragedy can save a life. For grieving families, it can be consolation that death has not struck in vain, and that indeed, their loved one continues to give energy and life. For thank everyday heroes who seek to become living donors, their gifts are the greatest gift of all. It is wondrous that medical technology has brought us so close to the miracle of life through organ transplant. Transplants have been performed since the 1960's and are now performed for 11 organs. Just last year, new types of liver transplants were being performed. We must work to maximize our resources and make the most efficient use of them. There is no doubt about the need for organs. The potential lives that could be saved should encourage us to work on these two pieces of legislation to increase the number of recoverable organs and maximize the potential of available organs. Lastly, I must offer my gratitude to the numerous patients, doctors, hospitals, organ procurement organizations and other individuals who offered valuable feedback on these bills. Many people have already put much time and effort in assisting me with the best ways to address organ scarcity. They have provided invaluable assistance and counsel, advice and criticism, and I thank them for their help. I ask my colleagues and others interested in organ recovery, organ donation and organ transplantation to examine these bills and provide me with their comments. It is my hope that by introducing these bills, more patients and professionals in the field will be inspired by these efforts to work with me. It is essential that they continue to be generous in their comments, opinions, questions, criticism, and ultimately, support. I welcome the response of my colleagues on these two bills and look forward to further discussion next session.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, I would urge the House to see the failure of passage of the oil pipeline safety bill the other night, not to be seen as an end of our efforts on oil pipeline safety this year but, rather, I believe we should look at it as a very strong statement by this House that there is a bipartisan sentiment for a strong pipeline safety bill. We have the ability this year, particularly with the extension of time, to pass a strong pipeline safety bill from this Chamber this year. We hope that that bill would have two elements: One, a very strong inspection criteria to assure Americans that the pipelines they live hundreds of feet from in fact will be inspected, and, number two, an assurance that the Office of Pipeline Safety can have supervisory authority over the training plans by operators. Mr. Speaker, I think it is time for us to reach across the aisle and across the Chambers to fashion a consensus bipartisan bill. I believe that is possible. I am open to do so. I urge my colleagues to join me in pursuit of that strong bill.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge a no vote. And that is not out of disrespect to the work done by Senators McCain and Murray in the other Chamber in an attempt to advance this cause. But, Mr. Speaker, the majority leadership has not brought one single House bill on this issue to the floor of this House this session despite multiple tragedies in multiple States of this country, not one single bill. And why is that important? It is important because, unless we have a strong mandate that pipelines be inspected, a stronger mandate than is in the Senate bill, we will be committing the very same blunder, the very same blunder that Congress has made for 20 years running. They have deferred to OPS to pass rules 22 times, and 22 times that has been ignored. The House bills that we want to vote on a simple chance to vote plug that gigantic hole. Now, there is one thing I know. I am not a scientist. I am not a meteorologist. I am not a hydrologist. But there is one thing I know, and that is that nobody has ever gotten a different result by doing the same thing. We must break this chain of failure and statutorily mandate inspections or commit the same blunder that every Congress has made late in the session saying, it is the best we can do. It is not the best we can do, and it is not up to American standards. I am not alone in this opinion. The people with moral authority on this subject, the three families who sent their young men out on a nice day in Bellingham in June last year whose sons never came home, want us to defeat this bill and move on to a stronger bill. Now, the oil and gas industry desperately wants this legislation. They have sent armies of lobbyists up here to try to get this bill through. But I am not voting for them. I am not voting with them. I am voting for the families. I am voting for Redmond and Kirkland. I am voting for the environmental community. I am voting for my conviction of conscience that we must enact a strong bill now or forever lose our chance until another string of tragedies occur. I will say one more thing. The oil and gas pipeline industry understands pressure. Do not let them use this for a relief valve. Keep the pressure on and pass a strong bill.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the Veterans Commemoration Act of 2000. This piece of legislation will help to alleviate a serious impediment to adequate health care for our veterans. Many veterans have trouble getting to and from VA hospitals. The legislation that I am introducing today would create a coin commemorating Executive Order 5398, signed by President Herbert Hoover on July 21, 1930, which established the Veterans Administration. The proceeds from the sale of this coin would fund a transportation program for veterans, provided by the Disabled American Veterans. This program provides a much-needed service to our nation's veterans. The DAV provides transportation services to veterans to and from VA hospitals. Considering the fact that many veterans live far away from VA hospitals and are disabled, the lack of transportation can be a very serious impediment to adequate health care. In my home state of Washington, the Veterans Administration hospital in Seattle serves the entire Pacific Northwest. Many of the patients who rely upon the care provided by the VA have severe disabilities that prevent them from easily accessing the clinic. Public transportation serves those veterans that live in the Metropolitan area, but for the thousands of veterans without access to public transportation, the DAV steps in to provide door to door services. This essential program is truly the missing link for veterans' health care. The DAV has recognized this need by creating the transportation program. This program has been very successful so far. But it only operates in a few select areas and serves only a handful of veterans. This program should be available to all veterans, but the DAV simply cannot afford to fund a project of that magnitude. This bill would create the funds necessary to expand this program. With no cost to the taxpayer, we can help our nation's veterans and show them that their needs are important. We must show our support to the brave men and women who have risked their lives to serve this country. This unique program, provided by the DAV, deserves our support. Today I stand with over 150 of my colleagues to introduce this legislation. This bipartisan bill has diverse and broad support. We have the time and the support to pass this bill now. We should not wait for the next Congress to take action when we have the ability and the will to do so now. I urge my colleagues to stand with me and with the Disabled American Veterans to pass this bill and support our veterans.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce Teachers for Tomorrow, a bill to address the serious teacher shortage in our nation's schools. We have 54.4 million students in America's schools--the greatest it has ever been. But we lack the most important part of the equation--teachers! Nationwide, we will need an additional 2.2 million teachers in the next ten years. There are particular shortages in specific subject areas such as math, science, bilingual education and special education. For the first time in my district in Washington State, teaching positions have remained vacant. We cannot afford to allow the current trend to continue where our best and brightest students ignore the teaching profession or leave it altogether. Where the median age of teachers is 42 years old, it is glaring evidence that new graduates are not entering the teaching field. There are a million teachers ready to retire in the next decade, leaving the classroom faster than new teachers are graduating from college. Even more troublesome is that only half of new teachers in urban public schools are still teaching after five years. Moreover, the new teachers who are twice as likely to leave are those with the highest scores on standardized tests. These are serious warning signs of the current teacher shortage and upcoming crisis if we do not act to recruit and retain teachers. There are everyday heroes in classrooms throughout America. We must face the fact that our teachers are getting older and we are failing to make teaching a viable option for today's students and young professionals. We have to continue to make sure that our top graduates continue to enter the teaching profession. This legislation would do Just that. We need to empower individuals to make the decision to be a teacher. We need to make it possible for more specialty teachers and more teachers overall to enter our nation's public school system. This legislation would permit every public elementary and secondary school teacher to apply for loan forgiveness. Current law only applies to teachers that teach in certain specific areas or low-income schools. This bill would also increase the incentives to meet specific instruction needs by establishing a three-year program of direct reimbursement for those teachers. All other teachers would be eligible for a five-year program of indirect loan forgiveness. Both programs would forgive 100 percent of the incurred loan debt. Additionally, this bill grants other incentives for new teachers. Under income tax laws, loan forgiveness would be granted tax-neutral status. This prevents the current problem where loans are treated as additional income that effectively place teachers into an inappropriately high tax bracket. This is the only loan forgiveness legislation that provides for continuing education. Teachers need to be given the opportunity to continue their professional development. With increased expertise and training, they will be able to impart that much more knowledge into their lessons and students' learning processes. Furthermore, our teachers deserve to use the benefit of their experience and be able to guide their classrooms and schools with local control. As leaders in the community, teachers and school administrators know how make the best decisions for their students. This legislation only provides federal loan forgiveness where graduates have incurred federal loans. It maintains the ability of local schools to make hiring, firing and other decisions as they see fit. Local school administration is not a business the federal government should be in. We need to support our teachers. Our teachers deserve our highest accolades for educating our nation's children. We ought to thank them for the meaningful work they do every day. Our students, the future of our country, learn under the hard work and patience of our teachers and they merit our appreciation. I submit to my colleagues a plan to recruit and retain qualified teachers. We cannot shirk our duty to provide a high quality education to every child. I urge my colleagues to meet this challenge and support this legislation.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the seventh annual Kids Day America. This weekend youngsters will gather in Silverdale, Washington to commemorate this day by learning about health, safety and environmental issues. Local law enforcement officers, doctors, dentists, lawyers, and community leaders will volunteer their time to help children develop healthy habits and an awareness of their environment. I am heartened by this special event for several reasons. Kids Day America pools the collective resources of many talented adults for the common cause of passing knowledge to our children. Through this exercise we strengthen the bonds of our community--and it is this more than anything that will guide our children toward healthy and full lives. As we in Congress work to make our communities safe and beautiful with clean air and clear water, it is inspiring to know that children across the country are learning to protect these natural assets. Furthermore, as we struggle with health care costs for our elderly, it is vital that the habits of a healthy lifestyle are taught to our children. Mr. Speaker, I commend all who have helped organize this important day. Their dedication and leadership truly distinguishes my Congressional District.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Madam Speaker, in June 1999, a gasoline pipeline ruptured in Bellingham, Washington, and the ensuing fireball killed three young men. Following that tragedy, the House of Representatives did nothing. Several months ago, a fuel pipeline ruptured by the Patuxent River in Maryland, spilling over 100,000 gallons of fuel, creating an environmental disaster. And following that disaster, the U.S. House of Representatives did nothing. Several weeks ago in New Mexico, in Madam Speaker's own State, entire families were incinerated in a terrible tragedy due to a ruptured natural gas pipeline. And to date, despite many of our best efforts, the U.S. House of Representatives has done nothing. This Chamber, despite this continuing toll of human loss and environmental loss, has not moved one bill through committee, has not moved one bill to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote despite many of our bipartisan efforts to accomplish a meaningful bill this year. Madam Speaker, I rise today to call on the House leadership to bring forward to this Chamber a meaningful, comprehensive, pipeline safety bill with real teeth. And we have several to choose from in the House. We have a bipartisan bill cosponsored by the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Metcalf), a Republican from the Second District in Washington, and myself, H.R. 4558. I am a prime sponsor on a bill, House bill 4792, bills that will achieve something we have long needed in this country and that is statutorily codified inspection criteria to require that pipelines in this country are inspected on a regular basis to try to prevent these tragedies. Now, why is that so important? It is important because the tradition in the last several decades here has been of abject failure. What has happened before is that when tragedies of this nature have occurred, the U.S. Congress has passed bills that have essentially deferred to an administrative agency, to the Office of Pipeline Safety, and have directed the Office of Pipeline Safety to adopt meaningful inspection criteria, to adopt meaningful training criteria for operators. And what has happened despite those continued grants of discretion to the administrative agency? Well, what has happened is total failure. In 1992, this Chamber required requirements to identify high-risk pipelines. And yet, in a new millennium, we still do not have a regulation or rule requiring that. We have the National Transportation Safety Board. It found ``in 1987, the Safety Board recommended that the Office of Pipeline Safety require pipeline operators to periodically inspect their pipelines to identify corrosion, mechanical damage, or other time dependent defects that may prohibit their safe operations. Yet, 13 years after our initial recommendation was issued, there are no regulations that require pipeline operators to perform periodic inspections or tests to locate and assess whether this type of damage exists on other pipelines.'' Thirteen years and yet we are on the cusp of a failure if we do not pass a bill that has a statutorily required maximum period between inspections. Now, the other Chamber, Madam Speaker, has passed a bill that again requires and gives discretion to the Office of Pipeline Safety to act. Well, frankly, we need a tougher bill. We need to break this chain of failure in the U.S. Congress. We need to bring to the floor of this House a bill that will have a statutorily codified inspection regime to make sure that these pipelines are in fact inspected. I believe we can obtain a bipartisan resolution and get a bill to conference committee relatively quickly to do that under the leadership of the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Chairman Shuster) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), the ranking member. There have been lots of discussions, and I believe we can find a bipartisan solution to this to make sure we pass a meaningful bill. I want to address a couple of other things our bill needs to do if we are going to give Americans the confidence they deserve in their pipelines. Besides the inspection, we have got to pass a bill that has meaningful training requirements for the people who operate these pipelines. They have to get a license to drive a truck with gasoline in this country. They have to get a license to fly an airplane. But they do not have to have any license or essentially any training requirements to operate a pipeline. It is time to require a meaningful training requirement for all operators. Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to help this leadership bring these bills up for a vote.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, I stand here to say that our national oil and gas pipeline safety standards are a national disgrace. They are more like Swiss cheese than safety standards. And as a result of those wholesale failures to inspect pipelines, we had three young people die in Bellingham, Washington, and we have entire families being incinerated in New Mexico. And while these tragedies occur, indeed Congress fiddles. For every one safety inspector in this country, we have almost 50,000 miles of pipeline. We have a wholesale failure to do these inspections. And this will take one step forward to increase probably 30 inspectors so we can move on with these inspections. Let me say that giving resources to the Office of Pipeline Safety is not enough. It is not simply a matter of resources. It is a matter of will and statute. We have wholesale failure of having an adequate statute, as well. We are calling upon this House in this Congress to adopt meaningful, aggressive, comprehensive revisions of our oil and gas pipeline standards. We have several bills pending in the House. We are calling for the leaders of the House of both parties in this Chamber to adopt a comprehensive inspection standard. Let me advise the House there is a bill that has come from the other Chamber. It is woefully inadequate. It does not require inspections by statute. It again goes down that rose-colored path of giving discretion to the Office of Pipeline Safety. That is the path of failure. We have to adopt a standard that cannot give any wiggle room to the industry or to the bureaucrats. Let us pass a strong comprehensive bill this year out of this Chamber. America deserves no less.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I commend the Edmonds School District for being named one of the Best 100 Communities for Music Education in America. This phenomenal program begins with a strong commitment to music education. Music is not perceived as an extra or optional subject, but as a core piece of a child's education that develops creativity, teaches self-discipline, enhances abstract thought and adds to a well- rounded education. They embrace a philosophy that music education is a valued aspect of the school curriculum. As with any other discipline, music courses are taught during the day and have State Essential Academic Learning requirements. This district offers opportunities to all students in kindergarten through 12h grade. Edmonds School District offers a wide range of music programs. Outside of general music education classes and choir, students have the opportunity to learn instruments, join the Concert Choir, Orchestra, Concert Band, Vocal Jazz and Instrumental Jazz Ensemble in middle school. High school students have an even greater breadth of opportunities in Concert Band, Orchestra, Choir, Vocal and Instrumental Jazz, Marching Band, Pep Band and special programs such as Theory, History of Rock and Roll, Guitar, Percussion Ensemble, Steel Drum Ensemble and even African Drumming. Edmonds School District had the largest number of participants in band, orchestra and choir of any local school district involved in the 1999-2000 High School All-State Groups. Not only do many students get the chance to participate, but are they are recognized at state and national levels for their superior talents. Mountlake Terrace High School was one of 15 bands across the nation invited to play at the Essentially Ellington Festival at New York City's Lincoln Center. They have received top awards at the Reno Jazz Festival and Clark College Vocal and Instrumental Jazz Festivals. The combined district high school concert choirs recently performed at Seattle's new performance center, Benaroya Hall, and will entertain crowds this year at Carnegie Hall in New York. Lastly, Edmonds orchestra programs have won top honors at the Mercer Island Orchestra Festival and at the University of Idaho Festival in Moscow. These expansive opportunities in music education and superior achievements are well deserving of this award. I commend the Edmonds music education staff for their contributions. They have been recognized as leaders in the field by frequent invitations to present at state level conferences. Mr. Speaker, I ask that this House please join me in recognizing, honoring and commending the students and staff of the Edmonds School District for being one of the Best 100 Communities for Music Education in America.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, we hear so much these days about the problems plaguing today's young people that sometimes the positives are drowned out. Therefore, I rise today to publicly recognize the Kirkland Teen Center. I will be attending the center's groundbreaking ceremony this Saturday, and I want to take a moment to make my colleagues aware of this extraordinary center, created by our youth for our youth. The center's operating partner, Friends of Youth, is a local non- profit agency with nineteen locations throughout King and Snohomish Counties. The Friends of Youth's mission is to: develop, provide and advocate services for children, youth, their families and communities that encourage individual growth and promote constructive relationships. Mr. Speaker, that mission will be the guiding force behind this drug- free and alcohol-free youth center. The center will include a coffee shop with a teen manager, provide poetry classes, as well as provide a state of the art recording studio, a modem photography lab, and a graphic art/animation technology station. Moreover, the center is being built from the ground up and will connect with the Kirkland Senior Center, allowing for intergenerational programs and events. The center allows teens to develop positive relationships with peers and adults, and parents to have the security in knowing their child is spending time at a safe place. I hosted three informative town meetings in my district last year about the need for after-school programs. I strongly believe that after-school programs are an excellent, well-proven way to keep teens from engaging in criminal activities. The time between school bells and dinner bells presents the most risk to our young people, and in an age when most parents are unable to stay home with their children, we must provide safe and productive activities for our youth. The Kirkland Teen Center is a perfect example of a safe, after-school center, and I believe Congress would do well to promote more centers like this one around the country. All of the youth that volunteered their time to plan, or serve on this center's Board of Directors and Advisory Board, deserve our praise for their hard work and selfless dedication to their community as a whole. I ask all of my colleagues to join me in congratulating everyone involved in the Kirkland Teen Center for a job well done.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, this is a privacy amendment we are offering to assure ourselves that Congress is made aware of privacy violations or concerns that arise from agencies' review of citizens' actions on the Internet. What we have fashioned here is a relatively simple amendment that will require these agencies, under Treasury and others subject to these appropriations, to report to Congress of any monitoring activities that these agencies are involved in on our use of Internet sites. Now, what has indicated that this is appropriate is both the proliferation of our use of the Internet and our citizens' use of the Internet, but also some legitimate concerns we have of some of the agencies' activity in monitoring citizens' actions on the Internet. For instance, we have been told that the Office of National Drug Control Policy had placed cookies on sites that would essentially allow tracking of personal identifiable information and how people surf or travel through the Internet. There are very legitimate privacy concerns that Congress ought to be aware of before those agency monitoring activities are allowed to continue. We know about the explosion of the Internet; we also are aware of the potential explosion in the violation of citizens' privacy if we do not ride herd on potentially problematic privacy violations. So what our amendment would seek to do is simply require the agencies to notify Congress of the nature of these activities by Federal agencies. Our people are very concerned and increasingly concerned about privacy on the Internet and otherwise, and it is certainly appropriate that we in Congress as the elected officials know about those potential privacy violations by our own government. This amendment would, in fact, make sure that these agencies told the elected officials about those privacy violations if they were occurring, or at least allow us to determine what should be or should not be allowed in monitoring Internet access by our citizens. Mr. Chairman, this is a basic, fundamental American right. Let us pass this amendment. I hope the chairman actually would allow it so that we can make sure in Congress that privacy rights of citizens are not being violated. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an exceptional leader in my district, Mr. Gary Oertli. For the past five years, Mr. Oertli has dedicated himself to the faculty, staff and students of Shoreline Community College serving as the college's president. Mr. Oertli will step down as president at the end of June. Under the direction of Mr. Oertli, Shoreline Community College has been revitalized. With his commitment to a diverse campus community, Mr. Oertli created the college's Multicultural/Diversity Education Center and helped establish the college as a national leader in multicultural education. During his tenure as president, Mr. Oertli has advanced Shoreline Community College locally, regionally and nationally. The college's job-ladder partnership program, begun during Mr. Oertli's presidency, was recently named best college-based welfare-to-work program in the nation. Community colleges are truly the ``peoples' colleges'' because they provide a needed alternative to four-year institutions, offer educational and vocational instruction at low cost, and truly recognize the worth of every student. Mr. Oertli's work demonstrates his belief in this sentiment. In addition to the leadership he exudes on campus, Mr. Oertli has also been recognized as a leader in the community as well. During his time at the college, Mr. Oertli enjoyed an excellent working relationship with district legislators, and with his direction, the college secured funding for a major library renovation and technology center. Mr. Oertli has also been working closely with me as I try to secure funding for the Puget Sound Center, an exciting joint venture that teams community colleges, elementary and secondary schools, and high- tech centers to pool resources and provide high-tech training for our young people. While I am confident that Shoreline Community College will continue to be an exceptional and innovative institution, the college will indeed lose a remarkable educator. I am proud to have an exceptional leader like Mr. Gary Oertli in my district and I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing his commitment to education.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I would speak in favor of this amendment, because I think it gives us an additional tool to in fact put WTO to work for us. I want to address one very important issue where we need to put WTO to work for us in enforcement of our trade agreements. That is this emerging threat from the Airbus Industrie to the primacy of our aerospace industry. Right now while we speak there are plans afoot for European governments to heavily subsidize, perhaps to the area of $4 billion, the research development projects for the new generation double-deck double-aisle jumbo jet, super jumbo jet by Airbus. This appears to be clearly in violation of WTO and agreements we have reached with the European community in at least two respects: number one, it clearly shows a subsidized loan situation by which several governments in Europe have already agreed to effectively subsidize through these governmental loans this development of this aircraft; and secondly, the abject failure and refusal of the European community to show us any critical project assessment, which was required by our 1992 agreement. Mr. Chairman, we need to use these funds to make sure that we aggressively pursue enforcement of the WTO treaties, which are now being breached, and our 1992 agreements with the European community. I believe an investigation will show that these agreements have not been honored, and that we face the loss of aerospace primacy, which is important to the thousands of Boeing workers, I must say, in my district, but important to the whole United States economy. Let us pass this amendment. Let us go forward to put WTO to work to keep aerospace number one in this country.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment, because fundamentally, when it comes to climate change, the House should not adopt the posture of the ostrich. We are not compelled to act by the Kyoto Treaty. We are compelled to act by common sense, common sense to make sure by this amendment that we can move forward and do what the law already authorizes people to do, which is to continue to talk across the waters. The Earth is heating up, and we are a cause. The northern hemisphere is the hottest it has been in 1,000 years. The 1990s were the hottest decade. The 3 hottest years in human history were 1995, 1997 and 1998. Glaciers are rapidly receding. Bird populations are disappearing. Why? Why? The answer is clear. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have gone up 30 percent since the preindustrial age. They will go up, and there should be no doubt about this. They will double, in fact, in the next 100 years unless this House pulls its head out of the sand and deals with climate change issues. That is a simple fact, and there is nothing to debate about that subject. Every 6th grader in this country understands that if we double CO2 layers in the atmosphere, we will substantially increase the temperatures in Chicago and heat deaths will increase in Chicago. That is not alarmist. Human life will continue to persist, but Maple trees may not in New England. This House has got to act; the country understands that. Ford is moving, Chrysler is moving, British Petroleum is moving. We need to keep this country moving by a simple amendment that will continue to allow us to do what we need to do. Mr. Chairman, I want to encourage Members on this issue, I think it is our individual responsibility to read on this issue. If the gentlemen will read the latest evidence, they will conclude we have a responsibility to act, not because of the Kyoto, but because of common sense.

Mr. INSLEE

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Chairman, as a Member of the Washington delegation, I rise in very, very vigorous opposition to the Nethercutt amendment. And I would like to share with my fellow Members why I do. I know this area very, very well, and the Interior-Columbia Basin. It is an area my colleagues should come see. It is an area where Lewis and Clark first encountered the salmon cultures of North America, where they first came down the Snake River and they ran into the Columbia River, and guess what they found? They found an entire people who lived on salmon. Lewis and Clark in their journals in Undaunted Courage, Members should read it, it is a great book, said they could walk on the backs of salmon literally across the small areas of the Columbia River when the first European arrived. Now, today, we have at least 12 runs of salmon that are endangered. They are on the verge of going to extinction forever at our hands, at our hands, at the hand of the Federal Government, who has not to date acted in their interests to make sure that we do not take natural-use land policies on Federal land that drive them to extinction. I am here to ask that my colleagues from across the country to come to the aid of the State of Washington to save the salmon that Lewis and Clark first discovered in the Columbia River. And I want to tell my colleagues that if this amendment were to pass, it would gut the most meaningful effort we have to date to make sure that we the Federal Government plays its role in saving these salmon. Now what would this do, what would the study simply do? It would do what I think is common sense. It would try to have some coordination between the 62 land-use plans, the 32 forest plans that are now independently running off in their separate directions like chickens with their heads cut off. This would send us right back to those old days of agencies not acting in coordination. I want to address specifically those. I want to address those who are very concerned about the potential of dam breaching on the Snake River, and those are legitimate concerns. I want to tell my colleagues that the single most effective way we could send us all down this dam breaching road, is to ignore the common sense things we need to do that we hope the Forest Service and BLM will do to help restore habitat. Because I can tell my colleagues this, if we fail in our obligation to restore salmon habitat, if we fail in our obligation to change hatchery processes, if we fail in these obligations, in these responsibilities, then the potential exists that we do get into a dam breaching scenario. Those who want to speak about dam breaching, the last thing we should do is to try to stop the Federal Government from taking common sense measures to do something about salmon.

Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in vigorous opposition to this amendment. Presidents, Republican and Democrat, for decades have left the American people great gifts across this country; and today the U.S. House, or some therein, attempt to gut the ability to leave those gifts to the American people. And, apparently, the way they are trying to do it is to make sure there are no fingerprints on the weapon to gut the ability to protect these gifts of the American people. Let me tell my colleagues why. We should be allowing Presidents to create national monuments. If this amendment passes, all we will create are monuments to futility, monuments where we cannot do anything to protect these gifts. Let me tell my colleagues why that is important. In the State of Washington, 6 days ago, the President left a gift to the American people creating the Hanford Reach Monument Area. Six days ago. I will tell my colleagues, the people of the State of Washington want that monument. The people of the State of Washington deserve that monument. And the people of the State of Washington are going to get that monument. And let me tell my colleagues why. This is a picture of the Hanford Reach, the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River. Very close to this is where Lewis and Clark first came to the Columbia River. My colleagues can see these white bluffs form a spectacular scenery over the Columbia. Let me show my colleagues what happened when we did not have this monument. When we did not have this monument, certain practices resulted in the absolute collapse of these white cliffs; and we would have a quarter mile of, essentially, dirt collapse into the river right into this area and destroy salmon habitat and destroy spawning habitat. We need to stop that from occurring. There was a comment by my colleague about something about the local people do not want this. Well, I have got a message for the U.S. House from the first family of people who settled this area and broke this ground. Lloyd Wheel, a 90-year-plus former judge, who grew up with the first European family who homesteaded on this property right outside this picture, Lloyd Wheel has a message for the U.S. House: do not destroy this monument. Protect these salmon. Make sure the natural heritages are protected.