Walter Jones

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Madam Speaker, this week Congress has taken bold steps toward enacting genuine welfare reform. The next step will be President Clinton's. We will send him real work requirements, real time limits. We will end welfare for noncitizens. Our bill will lift 1.3 million people out of welfare and into jobs by 2002, and we will end the process whereby able-bodied recipients stay on welfare for 13 years. Many in Congress would say that welfare reform is cruel to children. Absolute nonsense. Nothing could be more cruel than to leave today's children in yesterday's welfare system. The goal of any true welfare reform is to lift children and families out of poverty and despair. If America is to prosper in the next century, we must reform welfare so that it honors work and encourages people's responsibility. Mr. President, the American people want you to sign this welfare reform bill. Please, Mr. President, listen to the people.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, today is the day. Thirty days have passed since Bill Clinton placed a self-imposed deadline to take action on Wisconsin's welfare waiver request. Mr. Speaker, the Wisconsin welfare plan has bipartisan support in Wisconsin, and here in our Nation's Capitol. The Wisconsin welfare plan truly ends welfare as we know it. It moves people from welfare, to work, instilling personal responsibility, and lifting families and children out of the poverty trap. Mr. Speaker, Bill Clinton pointed to the Wisconsin welfare plan as a model. He pledged his administration's firm and strong support for helping the people of Wisconsin move from welfare to work. He said and I quote, ``We should get this done.'' Last year, Bill Clinton promised to sign waivers within 30 days. Well, the 30 days are up, and all we hear from the White House is the sound of another broken promise. Mr. Speaker, this is just another example of Bill Clinton saying one thing and doing another.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. The gentleman from Georgia, I just wanted to further refine and clarify something he said about working people. Is it not true in America today that the average working family will spend more on paying taxes than that same average working family will spend on clothing, housing or food? Have you heard that?

Mr. JONES. Would the gentleman yield? I am not going to take his time, but I must tell him that is the question that was asked of me numerous times. How could Mr. Livingston have such an important job and nobody knows who hired him? That is the point he is making.

Mr. JONES. The points have been well made. What we are trying to do is to give a program to the States with a financial support because we believe the States throughout America, the 50 States, as has been proven in Michigan and Wisconsin, that the people of the State know what will help those that are dependent on welfare. The gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Kingston] is right. Most of the people on welfare would like to have an opportunity to get off of welfare, but we have a system that punishes them, whether it be that they live in public housing and they go out and get a job and start making a little more money, and they raise the rent and they cannot get caught up. It is the same way with those that want to work. The point is that we have got to develop a system. I think the States can do a better job--that has been proven--than the Federal Government of saying what works in my country, Pitt County, North Carolina. The State of North Carolina knows better than some bureaucrat that we made reference to 10 minutes ago telling North Carolina or Georgia or Minnesota what works better in their State. Let the people decide. Let the people help people. That is what it is all about.

Mr. JONES. Well, I want you to speak about yours in just a moment. I attended four or five church services about God and Country Day and Return to Glory Day, and I must say that it helped, it inspired me for this reason. As you know, both you gentlemen know, and I am on the bill and maybe you both are, I am on the bill introduced by the gentleman from Oklahoma, Ernest Istook, called the Religious Liberties Amendments, and I had this discussed many times. Why do you in Congress, when you have behind the Speaker's chair ``In God we trust,'' why do you not allow our students to have voluntary prayer in school? And I was pleased to tell them that Ernest Istook, a second or third termer from the State of Oklahoma, has introduced a constitutional amendment, and that is the way it should be, to give voluntary prayer back to the States and the schools. And these people applauded in church when I told them that I was on a bill that would help, if it passes the House and the Senate and goes back to the legislatures. As you and I, all three of us know, and those listening, 38 out of 50 State legislatures have to pass the legislation before it becomes an amendment to the Constitution. But people in America are ready for the clarification of our religious freedoms that the writers of the Constitution promised us, whether you are a Jew, Catholic, Protestant or Moslem. I will share this and then I will yield to you, the gentleman from Minnesota or the gentleman from Georgia. It so happens that last year, in 1995, a Federal judge in Santa Fe, TX, I think his name was Kent, I apologize if I am mistaken, sent a notice to a high school graduating class that if you were going to use the word ``Jesus'' in a prayer, and it was a Protestant-Catholic group, 90 percent of it, then he would have to have you removed by the Federal marshals. So what Ernest Istook and those of us who have joined in this legislation have done is to say all we are asking is that we clarify our constitutional rights to practice religious freedom in America, whether you are a Jew, Catholic or Protestant or Moslem. So I am pleased to tell you that back home in my district, in eastern North Carolina, and I am proud of this district, we care about religious freedoms in this country, and that is what I think the Constitution is all about.

Mr. JONES. I am going to give this back to you in a moment.

Mr. JONES. During the week at home during July Fourth, just like I am sure you as well as the gentleman from Georgia, I attend four or five church services that were called God and Country Day.

Mr. JONES. In my district, as a candidate for Congress and now as an elected Member of Congress, and going back in my district every weekend since I have been here 17, 18 months, except for about four, the people keep telling me, Congressman, we are tired, we are working harder, we are working longer, but we are taking home less money, what can you do to help us? I think the Congresses of the past that have been the Democratic controlled Congresses kept increasing programs, increasing the size of government, and when we increase the size of government programs we are taking more money out of working people's pockets. What has happened in America is that frustration. That is why I think we are the majority now. People are looking for us to reduce programs, particularly those that do not work, which there are plenty, and they are looking to us to say please give us a chance, let us work harder but let us keep more of our money. I see this frustration every time, every weekend I go home, because I see people at the grocery stores, I see people at church, I see people down the street and they say to me, Congressman, we like what you all are doing, please give us a chance to earn and to have a chance to do for our families what we think we should have a chance to do.

Mr. JONES. Absolutely.

Mr. JONES. I would like to ask the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Kingston] or the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Gutknecht], we recently, as you were talking about welfare reform, if my colleagues remember, the House of Representatives passed a bill, and I am going a little bit off your subject but it does tie in, about we are talking about late- term abortions, and the President of the United States, the highest office in this land, when the majority of people in America said, even women and men that were pro-choice said, that late-term abortions are wrong when a child in the 7th and 8th month of life in the womb of a mother, is murdered, and yet the President vetoed a bill that Democrats on that side and Republicans on this side said that we need to ban late-term abortions in America. And yet the President vetoed it. Now, I want to ask the gentleman from Minnesota how his people in Minnesota feel about that issue.

Mr. JONES. Is it not true that since the mid-1960's, when the Great Society program was established under the leadership of Lyndon Johnson, that it has cost the American people $5 trillion? This Nation today is about $5.3 trillion in debt. So welfare has cost the American people $5 trillion. In addition to that, what the Republican majority has proposed that even Democrats supported and the President vetoed is a program that would save the taxpayers in 7 years in outlays about $58 billion and lend the programs, or I should say direct the programs back to the States, which most of them want, and the President vetoed it. Is that not correct, please?

Mr. JONES. Absolutely.

Mr. JONES. Is it not true also, according to the General Accounting Office, known as the GAO, that in 17 years without a balanced budget, which the Republican Party is committed to achieving, without a balanced budget in 17 years, according to the GAO that average working person will pay 80 cents out of a dollar to taxes? Have your heard that?

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted tonight to ask the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Gutknecht] and the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Kingston] to join me in probably about 30 or 35 minutes of a dialog regarding issues facing the American people today. With that, I have asked my friend, the gentleman from Minnesota, if he would be the floor manager of this discussion. With that, I will ask him to initiate the discussion.

Mr. JONES. I thank the gentleman from Minnesota and the gentleman from Georgia for participating with me tonight.

Mr. JONES. If the gentleman would yield, because we may in 1 minute yield the time to the gentleman from California [Mr. Rohrabacher] so he can have a full hour, but I would like to add to the point very quickly that you, with a badge on your lapel that says that you are a Member of Congress, and the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Kingston], you will have a very difficult time, as I would or anyone else in this membership, to get into the White House. Yet we have a man running a security that nobody knows how he got there. It is absolutely ridiculous and crazy. I think I have about 2 or 3 minutes left. I would like to yield, if the gentlemen would agree, the remainder of my time.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, my fellow colleagues and I are well aware of the danger and tremendous problems that drugs pose on our society. What America needs is a sound and tough drug policy to fight this threat to society. Mr. Speaker, what America doesn't need is more election-year political posturing. Today and tomorrow, the Clinton administration is sponsoring a 2-day summit. This is just one way the White House is attempting to fool the American public, that they are committed to the war on drugs. Mr. Speaker, if the Clinton administration was actually serious about fighting drugs, they would have asked their New York judge to resign after he freed an admitted drug runner and refused to allow 75 pounds of cocaine to be used as evidence. Mr. Speaker, the Republican commonsense approach to the war on drugs is simple and effective. Give law enforcement the funding for resources necessary to fight this problem, not a 2-day summit on border patrols.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, here we go again. Just as this Congress is set to debate the funding of the National Endowment for the Arts, NEA Chairwoman, Jane Alexander, has again shown us that both she and the taxpayer funded NEA, must go. Last Sunday, at the New York Lesbian and Gay Video and Film Festival, director Cheryl Dunye premiered her film, ``Watermelon Woman,'' funded by the tax dollars of hardworking Americans. In the words of the director herself, this pornographic film depicts black ``lesbians experiencing their sexual desire for each other.'' This film was produced from a $31,000 grant from the NEA. I believe that in the opinion of most Americans, Watermelon Woman has absolutely no serious artistic, or political value. NEA Chairwoman Alexander and the National Endowment for the Arts are attempting to pull the wool over the eyes of taxpaying Americans by marketing this sexually explicit film as black history. As Edmund Peterson, chairman of Project 21 and a leading black conservative put it, in Friday's Washington Times, ``There is no demand in the black community for this movie; this is a classic example, of the Clinton administration, being in bed with the gay-lesbian movement, and funding a project through tax dollars, that can't get funded any other way.'' Mr. Speaker, this is not the first time that Miss Alexander and the NEA have demonstrated a desire to divert our tax dollars to controversial works that demean the religious beliefs and moral values of mainstream Americans. One should not forget the March 1994 performance of Ron Athey, at the Minneapolis Walker Art Center. This NEA-funded performance featured Mr. Athey carving a design into the back of an assistant, mopping up the blood with paper towels, and then sending the paper towels on a line, out over the shocked audience. Miss Alexander defended the performance, stating in the Washington Post, ``not all art is for everybody.'' Many in Congress denounced this performance as an obscenity. Miss Alexander and the NEA responded by awarding more of our hard-earned tax dollars to the Walker Art Center. Miss Alexander and the NEA have repeatedly thumbed their noses at Congress and the American public. I call on President Clinton to find the moral courage within himself to protect the children of America from these obscenities, and to demand the immediate resignation of Jane Alexander. Mr. President, you cannot have it both ways. Middle America does not share the NEA's values. The American taxpayer and the working families of the Third District of North Carolina do not want their money spent on so-called works of art, like a crucifix in urine, or photographs, which exploit our children. This week, the House is scheduled to debate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. It is time the Government got out of the business of funding this so- called art. I urge each of my colleagues to support the elimination of the NEA's Federal funding. The taxpayer cannot afford it and our children do not deserve it.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Madam Chairman, I rise today in strong opposition to the Durbin amendment. The denial of Federal crop insurance will destroy the tobacco farmer and the economy of rural America. Besides being excluded from common USDA services provided to all other farmers, this will be an economic nightmare. It is no way of doing business. The denial of crop insurance does not seem like much. However, most farmers have entered into loan agreements requiring them, the farmers, to obtain crop insurance. This amendment will place the farmer in violation with their current and future lenders. Who will help the family farmers then? Let me repeat that. Most farmers have entered into loan agreements requiring them, meaning the farmer, to obtain crop insurance. This amendment will place the farmer in violation with their current and future lenders. Who, again, will help the family farmer? Most importantly I believe this amendment is aimed at the cigarette industry. However, the victim will not be the industry, it will be the small tobacco farmer. In my State of North Carolina the production of tobacco employs approximately 260,000 people. More specifically, 1 in 12 people have a tobacco-related job. A ``yes'' vote will be a vote to destroy the North Carolina economy. Madam Chairman, in closing I want to make two points that the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Rose] and others have made on the floor of this House. Since 1982, the tobacco program has been a voluntary farmer-run program that is operated through farmer-paid assessment and fees. I am going to repeat that again, Madam Chairman. Since 1982, the tobacco program has been a voluntary farmer-run program that is operated through farmer-paid assessment and fees. The second point I would like to make, CBO estimates the concurrent tobacco program will result in a $1.4 billion gain for the Federal Government over the next 7 years. I am going to repeat that again. CBO estimates the current tobacco program will result in a $1.4 billion gain for the Federal Government over the next 7 years. I ask the House to vote against the Durbin amendment.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, I rise this afternoon to recognize a truly outstanding Marine Corps officer and to ask all of my colleagues to join me in giving our congratulations and best wishes to Maj. Gen. Fred McCorkle. General McCorkle leaves North Carolina this month to take command of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Miramar, CA. It was recently, in his present assignment as the commanding general at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, NC, that I had the honor of getting to know Fred McCorkle. I quickly found a deep respect for his ability to challenge the men and women under his command, not only to excel within their profession, but to foster a relationship with the surrounding community of Havelock, NC. Beyond his all of duty, he has brought the people of Craven County and the base community closer together. He has become a role model to thousands of young men and women serving in our Nation's Armed Services. It will be difficult to top his accomplishments. I am confident that we will continue to hear the name Fred McCorkle associated with exceptional work in the Marine Corps. More likely, we will begin to hear how well ``the Assassin''--the famous call sign he received in flight school--is doing on the west coast. While the Assassin may, as he says, have ``performed open heart surgery, been to the moon, and spoken to Elvis,'' such achievements do not begin to compare with the fine work he accomplished as the commanding general at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, NC. This year, under his command, Marine Crops Air Station Cherry Point received the coveted Commander-in-Chief's Annual Award for Installation Excellence. During the last 3 years, General McCorkle has served with distinction as the commander of the Marine Corps Air Bases Eastern Area, and the commanding general at the Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, NC. His service to the Marine Corps, Congress, and to the Nation as a whole, has always been characterized by selfless devotion to duty and unflagging dedication to country and corps. It is a privilege for me to recognize the many accomplishments General McCorkle has achieved during his 28 years of military service. Born in San Francisco, CA, Fred McCorkle lived most of his life in Johnson City, TN. He went on to earn a bachelor of science degree in education from the East Tennessee State University in 1966, and a masters in administration from Pepperdine University in 1979. After completing Officer Candidates School and the Basic School at Quantico, VA, he attended Naval Flight School at Pensacola, FL, and was designated a naval aviator in January 1969. General McCorkle went on to enhance his professional education while attending the Marine Corps Command and Staff College in 1980 and the National War College at Fort McNair in 1984. His staff tours include aviation land forces plans officer at the Aviation Plans and Programs Department from 1980-84, and branch head of the Aviation Plans, Programs, Budget, Joint Matters and Policy Branch at Headquarter Marine Corps in 1992. His operational assignments include billets as commanding officer at the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One, at Yuma, AZ, from 1986-88; assistant operations officer and operations officer of the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing at Cherry Point, NC, from 1989-90; and as commanding officer of the Marine Aircraft Group 29 at Marine Corps Air Station New River, NC, in 1992. General McCorkle served in Vietnam with the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262 from 1969 to 1970 where he flew more than 1,500 combat missions. Every day in Vietnam, Fred McCorkle put the future of his country before his own, as he flew an unbelievable average of two combat missions a day. Throughout his career, in fact, he has accumulated more than 5,200 flight hours. As you might imagine, he has earned several personal decorations that include: the Legion of Merit with three gold stars; the Distinguished Flying Cross with a gold star; the Purple Heart; the Air Medal with single mission award and 76 strike/flight awards; Navy Commendation Medal with Combat ``V''; and the Navy Achievement Medal. Mr. Speaker, Fred McCorkle and his lovely wife Kathy have made many sacrifices during their 28 years of service with the corps. During the past 2 years that I have had the privilege of working with General McCorkle, his efforts have significantly improved the readiness and spirit of the corps, and thus the military preparedness of our Nation. Knowing Fred as I do, I have no doubt that the same can be said about his entire career. North Carolina will miss his presence and professionalism. Those of us who have had the privilege and honor to know Fred and Kathy McCorkle will miss their dedication and friendship. Assassin, congratulations on your new assignment on the west coast. I wish you well as you assume your new command. You are a great marine and a great American. Good luck and God speed--Semper Fi.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, over the last year and a half the phrase ``family friendly'' has been battered around the Chamber like none other. But when it comes right down to it, being family friendly can only mean one thing: a vote for the balanced budget amendment. Without passing a balanced budget amendment, American families lose out on lower interest rates, faster job growth and much needed relief from a debt amounting to more than 80 percent and a lifetime of taxes. Keep in mind that in 1994, the Federal Government spent $203 billion in interest on the national debt. That is more than it spent on education, job training, public works and children's nutrition programs combined. Mr. Speaker, what could be more family friendly than relieving your children and their children of having to pay inflated taxes for years to come? Pass the balanced budget amendment.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of an outstanding individual from eastern North Carolina, Elvin J. James. Elvin James is the head football coach at Goldsboro High School, in my district in North Carolina. Recently, USA Weekend Magazine honored Coach James with its ``Most Caring Coach Award, 1996.'' Without a doubt, education is an issue that is critically important to the future of our country. Though we spend more money on education than any other country in the world--$27 billion to be exact--our students' test scores and literacy levels have steadily declined. It is becoming more and more clear that we must return education to parents, local communities, and especially to teachers. Mr. Speaker, it is a teacher like Coach James, who goes that extra mile, who dedicates so much of himself to his students, that brings this message home. Coach James is a living example of where hard work and dedication can take you in this world. Coach James grew up in Beaufort, NC, and was adopted by his grandmother, Jennie James, who supported him and eight other children by working as a maid. She admits to this day that the family had very little, but Jennie James taught her children right from wrong. Her continuing message, ``Get an education, work hard, be respectful,'' had a great impact on Coach James' life. Coach James excelled in football and other sports during his school years. In 1974, he was awarded an athletic scholarship by Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina, to play football and to pursue a college education. Unable to pay for his expenses, James left school and joined the U.S. Army. After serving 4 years, he returned to college and earned a degree in education. He has been teaching ever since. Coach James currently lives with his wife Mary Kay, their daughter, Ashelyn and their son, Elvin Jarrod. Mr. Speaker, Elvin James is worthy of our recognition for more than just this. During the past 10 years, Coach James had helped more than 50 students earn college scholarships, and helped numerous students stay in school. He spends countless hours on the phone talking with college coaches about potential candidates. Many times a year, Elvin James travels from State to State, taking students on campus visits and trying to introduce them to opportunities, they never dreamed were possible. Since he began, Coach James has put more than 80,000 miles on his car. He has spent more than $3,000 of his own money, and given up more than 45 of his sick and vacation days to take these players on recruiting trips. Less than a half-dozen of these players would have received scholarships if it had not been for these trips. Coach James doesn't stop here. James is there for each student, literally, every step of the way; helping them prepare for the SAT or helping them fill out their college applications. On several occasions, when parents were unable to take their children to college, Coach James was the one who took them and helped them move in. He has even let students with family troubles move in for a while, until things at home got worked out. Coach James works in a school that serves many disadvantaged students. Many of his students come from broken homes. By many of society's standards, the odds are against these children's success. However, Coach James is a great motivator, who encourages students to believe in themselves, even when no one else does. When Coach James looks at these children, he sees wonderful young men and women, who, if given the opportunity, will become outstanding and productive citizens. Mr. Speaker, for more than 14 years, Elvin James has been touching the lives of young people. He deserves this award and our praise tonight. Coach Elvin James, USA Weekend Magazine's Most Caring Coach, 1996, is an example of what is truly right with our education system. Our country and especially our children need more teachers and parents, just like Coach James. I am proud to recognize Coach James, as a symbol of all the men and women who have dedicated their lives to education, and who care so much about our children's future.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 207, I was unavoidably detained--had I been present, I would have voted ``no.'' amendment offered by ms. jackson-lee of texas

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, when Republicans kept their promise and delivered to the President a strong welfare reform bill, he vetoed it. Now Bill Clinton, realizing it is an election year, is trying to take some sort of credit for being pro-welfare reform. Let's take a look at his latest charade. The Republican Governor of Wisconsin, Tommy Thompson, implemented a strong, get tough welfare system in his State. In his weekly radio address, President Clinton praised the Wisconsin plan as ``one of the boldest yet attempted in America.'' Yet, the Wisconsin plan is very similar to the one that President Clinton vetoed! Mr. Speaker, in President Clinton's case his actions speak louder than his words. President Clinton has done nothing in the past 3\1/2\ years to reform welfare. On welfare, he is truly the great pretender.