Stephanie Jones

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. I was about to jump out of my seat in order to respond to being soft on crime. Again as a former prosecutor and judge, I have served on a number of commissions with other law enforcement people. In fact, one of the great community reentry programs is actually part of our Ohio Department of Corrections under the leadership of our director. But in the community reentry program that is run by Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries, our motto is that people are more likely to act their way into a new way of thinking than think their way into a new way of acting. One of the things that we want to do is to give them an opportunity to act into a new way of thinking and to have new policies and new opportunities to do some things. The duty of many of these reentry programs is that if we do not do something, we bring offenders back into the community without mental health opportunities, without drug treatment programs, without opportunities for employment. One of the things that is really impacted by a community reentry program and the opportunity for jobs is child support. There are many offenders who are unable to pay child support because they are not working anywhere and we are paying the cost of supporting their children. Through giving them meaningful employment, we will be able to have them pay some of the cost of the children that they have fathered or mothered. But as importantly as we all talk about the importance of family, the importance of having a mother or father in your life, in many of these programs we are able to bring these ex-offenders back to understanding the need to be a good mother or a good father in order to create better families, and having stronger families in communities creates better communities. Having taxpaying, working citizens in our communities provides a stronger tax base. There are all kinds of reasons that we need to be in support of community reentry.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) for his leadership on these issues. He has been hosting sessions across this country with regard to issues that impact ex-offenders and the African American male population in our country and in some of the territories. Reentry is an issue of common sense and of public safety. I am not on the floor just as a Member of Congress. As my colleague said, I have served as a general jurisdiction judge handling criminal felony cases, even death penalty cases, and also as the elected prosecutor in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. I have been working on community reentry issues or prisoner reentry issues in Cleveland for 25 years. I served on the board of the Community Reentry Program in the city of Cleveland. While county prosecutor, I implemented a Pretrial Diversion Program, as well as the Municipal Drug Court in the city of Cleveland. And people said, Why as a judge or a prosecutor are you working on these issues? We must collectively, law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, correctional officials, address this issue. Otherwise, we will continue to spend tax dollars incarcerating and continuing to incarcerate individuals. We need to contemplate that while they are incarcerated that they have an opportunity to train, that they have an opportunity to be educated. I know a lot of people think that going to prison is like being in a hotel. I guarantee it is not like being in a hotel, even though we used to call our county jail the ``McFall Hilton.'' McFall was our sheriff. It is nothing, as many contemplate. And while they are there, we need to work on issues to give them skills once they hit the streets. The programs that I spoke about implementing, the Pretrial Diversion Program, the Municipal Drug Court, and some of the community reentry programs, are still in existence. We need to contemplate that prisoner reentry is not a Democratic issue, it is not a Republican issue. It is a common-sense issue. The facts are clear that meaningful reentry programs significantly diminish the chances that ex-offenders will return to prison. They save taxpayer dollars and increase public safety. So why not invest in enhancing reentry programs in order to end the cycle of recidivism? That is exactly what the Second Chance Act does. Before I discuss the legislation, and I am going to leave that to some of my colleagues as well, I just want to give a few statistics. In 2002, 2 million people were incarcerated in all of the Federal and State prisons. Each year, nearly 650,000 return to communities nationwide. Two-thirds of them are expected to be re-arrested. The State of Ohio has one of the largest populations of ex-offenders reentering the community, with about 24,000 ex-offenders returning to their respective communities annually. Of those ex-offenders, about 6,000 will return to Cuyahoga County, my county, and almost 5,000 will reenter in the city of Cleveland, which is the largest jurisdiction in my congressional district. Statewide, about 40 percent of ex-offenders will return to prison. In Cuyahoga County, about 41 percent. Such high recidivism rates translate into thousands of new crimes each year and wasted taxpayer dollars which can be averted through improved reentry programs. H.R. 1704, the Second Chance Act of 2005, allocates $110 million toward a variety of reentry programs. One of the main components is the funding of demonstration projects that will provide ex-offenders with a coordinated continuum of housing, education, health, employment, and mentoring service. This broad array of services will provide stability and make the transition of ex-offenders easier, and in turn, reduce recidivism. One of the things that we have found over the years in our community reentry programs is a lack of housing for ex-offenders. An ex-offender comes home to a family and the family says, ``I cannot take you in. You need to be somewhere else.'' An ex-offender comes home and does not have access to drug treatment programs and maybe no access to mental health programs. We found that statistically, inmates in many of the prisons not only have a drug problem, they have a mental health problem. And when they hit the streets, they often self-medicate because they are not involved in any psychiatric program that provides them the necessary drugs to able to help them work through their issues. This is the first of a kind piece of legislation that is critical to the success of ex-offenders but is also critical to the success of our communities. We need to focus on these issues and begin to break down the barriers. It is important because there are groups that are committed to reentry on the ground, for example, the Community Reentry Program in my city. But also in our State prison system, our director, Reggie Wilkinson, has been very active in creating a program called the Choice Act. In that he has been able to implement services and programs beginning in the penal institution so that as they come out to the street they are already prepared. I am so pleased to have been a part of many of these programs, and I am so pleased that our legislation has had a hearing before the Judiciary Committee. Many times you introduce legislation, the legislation goes to committee and it never gets a hearing, does not get voted out of committee; and then it kind of lingers and dies in committee. We were pleased that we have had that Judiciary Committee hearing and pleased to have the opportunity now to try and get it voted out and brought to the floor of the House so all of our colleagues can talk about the issue. The other beauty of this program is that we have bipartisan support. There are Democrats and Republicans on this bill. The trade representative, Mr. Portman, was very active in that process. I can go on and on and on talking about this issue and my experiences with the program. But what I will say is I am so pleased. I feel like it is like my silver anniversary in community reentry issues that I am involved in. It is great that I am getting to present an opportunity to talk about a program that is so important to me. And with that, because our time is limited, I am going to yield to my colleague, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), and say to him again thank you so much for your leadership, thank you so much for your concern. I know that the people involved in this country, not only the offenders but their families who are always looking at this, they say, I sent my son to get a job, and when he went to get the job, if he told them that he had a felony record he would never get the job, or if he does not tell them, then they learn he has a record, he loses the job. There are men and women out here who need to be put to work and take care of their families.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I just want to add that also the Second Chance Act will provide demonstration grants, but it also will create a national offender re-entry resource center for States and local governments and service providers, faith-based, to be able to elect and disseminate best practices and provide training and support around re-entry. It will create a Federal task force that will identify programs and resources, identify better ways to collaborate, develop Interagency initiatives. Finally, it will create, in addition to the grants to nonprofit organizations, offender re-entry research to authorize the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics to conduct research around re-entry. We know there are programs working out there that are being run by churches, that are being run by other organizations, and we need to collect some of that data in order to implement some of the programs. Again, I thank the gentleman for his leadership.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I missed votes on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 due to official business in my district. Had I been present, the Record would reflect that I would have voted: H. Res. 438--Urging member states of the United Nations to stop supporting resolutions that unfairly castigate Israel and to promote within the United Nations General Assembly more balanced and constructive approaches to resolving conflict in the Middle East, ``yea.'' H. Res. 535--Honoring the life, legacy, and example of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the tenth anniversary of his death ``yea.'' H. Res. 479 as amended--Recognizing the 50th Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution that began on October 23, 1956 and reaffirming the friendship between the people and governments of the United States and Hungary ``yea.''

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) for the opportunity to be heard. After a series of hearings and debates today, the House will vote on H.J. Res. 65, disapproving recommendation of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission. I stand here in opposition to that resolution and support the BRAC process. Since the Department of Defense released those dreaded base closure recommendations on May 13, 2005, elected officials, community leaders, and employees have come together to make the case for keeping their respective facilities open. I respect the BRAC process. I understand that it is necessary for the Department of Defense to reconfigure its infrastructure into one where operational and support capacity is optimized for both war-fighting capability and efficiency. I also understand that the BRAC process assists the Department in maximizing joint utilization of defense resources and reallocates military personnel from supporting and operating unnecessary and underutilized infrastructure. However, I believe that the BRAC process should remain a fair process, allowing for every facility to be evaluated in a clear and consistent manner. Let me state that I am extremely pleased that on August 26, 2005, the BRAC Commission decided not only to reverse its decision to close the Defense Finance Accounting Service in Cleveland, Ohio, but to expand and add jobs at this facility. This facility has earned the right to remain open and continue to provide A-plus services to its executive clients and, most importantly, the men and women serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, and around the world. DFAS Cleveland is an integral part of the nerve center that supports our troops on the ground in Iraq and worldwide. It is the homesite of the Reserve pay center of excellence which processes payroll for the Army, Air Force, Naval Reserves and National Guard. It has a track record of innovation and success that has been recognized on more than one occasion. I thank the entire BRAC Commission, particularly Chairman Principi and General Lloyd Newton, for their service. In addition, I would like to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) who is seated on the floor and his staff for all the work they did in supporting DFAS, as well as the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich) for his tireless efforts. Through our collaboration, we were able to outline to the commission the various discrepancies in the initial recommendation and make a good case for reversing the recommendation for removing the Cleveland DFAS office. I want to thank also the Cleveland Partnership and its membership. Thanks to Carol Caruso behind the scenes and thanks to attorney Fred Nance, the managing partner of Squires, Sanders and Dempsey, who argued our case before the commission. He was brilliant. Finally, I would like to say that this process has been a grueling process. In the city of Cleveland, we have lost so many jobs over the past 4 years. The thought that we would lose another 1,200 jobs if DFAS moved was just grueling, and we are thankful for the commission's recommendation. Again, I vehemently argue in opposition to H.J. Res. 65 and thank my colleagues for their support.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss the lives of three great women. The old people used to say that trouble comes in threes; and the threes I am thinking of are Constance Baker Motley, who was the first African-American woman elected to the New York State Senate in 1964, first woman to serve as Manhattan Borough president in 1965, and appointed the first African-American Federal judge in 1966. The second is C. Delores Tucker, the first African-American woman to serve as Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and in any State in America. She went on to be an advocate for appointment of women in presidential administrations. Third, we lost Rosa Parks this week. They are three significant, hard-working, dedicated African-American women who stood out in history in the work that they did. I stand today and ask all of you to join me in extending sympathies and condolences to the families of C. Delores Tucker, Constance Baker Motley, and Rosa Parks.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, I thank my good friend from New York for yielding me the time. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 420, legislation that would have a chilling effect on a plaintiff's ability to seek recourse in court. As I have listened to my colleagues on the floor talk about three-strikes-and-you-are-out with regard to a counsel, you would think this was a criminal situation. They took discretion away from judges with mandatory sentencing. They said, Judge, no matter what the facts are of the case, if this is the penalty, then you impose such penalty. What is very interesting is, even though my colleague cited John Kerry, John Edwards, President Bush, and the Judiciary Committee, not one of them have sat as a judge in a case, making decisions about Rule 11 cases. I am proud to say that I served as a judge for 10 years in the trial court in the State of Ohio and have had the ability to review complaints, review discovery decisions, review pleadings. And judges should be vested with the same discretion they are vested with in other situations and not be subjected to this Rule 11 sanctions piece that is being proposed by this legislation. It is unconscionable that the claim that businesses get on with more business or they can hire more employees, to use that to play against the ability of a plaintiff to bring a lawsuit. What is going to make business do better in the United States of America is this country having a policy that encourages business. What is going to make people work better in the United States of America is having greater opportunity for business, and you cannot blame business not doing well on lawsuits, just as you cannot blame doctors running all over creation because of medical malpractice. I encourage all of my colleagues to take a close look at what this legislation will do, to take a close look and listen to the arguments that are being made by my colleagues with regard to this legislation, and vote in opposition to H.R. 420.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the other side for agreeing to the unanimous consent, and I would like to thank my colleagues for giving me this opportunity. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in celebration of the life of a great heroine of the civil rights movement, Rosa Parks, a woman who dared to make a difference. As a child I traveled to Alabama. My mother was from Chilton County. I experienced the segregated South. I rode in the back of the bus. I used a colored restroom, and I went in the back doors. Thank God for Rosa Parks. I remember one day getting on a bus between Clinton and Birmingham, and the bus driver would not take my bag and put it on the bus. And I said, Sir, this bus ain't going nowhere unless you put my bag on. And an older woman on the bus said, Girl, you better get on this bus and sit down. It is a long ride between Clinton, Alabama, and Birmingham. There are few in history of this country that had the courage to stand up to the adversity with the dignity and strength of Rosa Parks. Her brave action in 1955 began a movement that would change the face of the Nation. Oftentimes history has said that her reason for refusing to get up was because her feet hurt. The truth is she was tired, tired of enduring injustices and tired of being a second class citizen. And as Fannie Lou Hamer said, ``Sick and tired of being sick and tired.'' So she decided to make a difference. Rosa Parks' legacy of courage in the struggle for justice for African Americans in this country will be an inspiration for generations to come. I offer my sincere condolences to her family and friends at this time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in celebration of the life of a great heroine of the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks. A woman who dared to make a difference. As a child I traveled to Alabama and experienced the segregated South. I rode in the back of the bus, I used the colored restroom and I went into the back doors. I remember riding the bus between Clanton and Birmingham and the bus driver refused to put my bag on. I told him the bus wasn't going anywhere until he put my bag on. An older woman said: ``Girl get on this bus, it's a long ride between Clanton and Birmingham.'' Thank God for Rosa Parks. There are few in the history of this country who have had the courage to stand up to adversity with the dignity and strength of Rosa Parks. Her brave action in 1955, refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white man, began a movement that would change the face of this Nation forever. Oftentimes history has said that her reason for refusing to give up her seat was because her feet hurt, but that was not the case. The truth is, she was tired. Tired of enduring the injustices of the segregated South. Tired of being treated as a second-class citizen or as Fannie Lou Hamer would say, ``sick and tired of being sick and tired.'' So she decided to make a difference that day in Alabama. Rosa Parks' legacy of courage in the struggle for justice for African Americans in this country will be an inspiration for generations to come. I offer my sincere condolences to her family and friends during this time.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the newly opened Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage. I was truly honored to be a part of this legendary event in my Congressional District. The Maltz Museum will serve as an extension of the highly prized collection of religious objects in the Temple-Tifereth in Beachwood, Ohio. The creation of the museum was made possible through the efforts of Milton and Tamar Maltz, the creators of the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. They convinced the Temple-Tifereth that they needed a museum to showcase their religious antiques, and provide a better accessible building for a more diverse array of people. The Maltz Museum tells the history of the Jewish people of Cleveland and of those abroad. The museum uses photographic exhibits to tell their stories on religion, immigration, the Jewish contribution to Broadway, and the unforgettable events of the Holocaust. Videos and interactive computers along with audio tapes bring the past to reality. On behalf of the people of the 11th Congressional District I celebrate the opening of the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage. This museum will serve as a link to connect all people of all religions in the pursuit of knowledge of Jewish religious history and its impact on our community.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Madam Speaker, let me switch horses just for a moment and talk about what just happened on the floor of the House. We just had a vote on the energy bill, and my colleagues will recall that the vote, when it began, was supposed to be a 5-minute vote. Ultimately, it ended up probably being a 45-minute vote, and again, the Republicans are twisting arms of their colleagues to get them to vote in support of a bill when, in reality, they would not have done that. In fact, there are many times on the floor of the House when the vote should have been called and it was not. I am going to quote some of my colleagues specifically on this issue. The gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), my colleague says, Once again, on an issue of critical importance to the American people, the Republican majority has chosen to trample the democratic process and manipulate the outcome of a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives after the vote was completed. This is unethical subversion of our democracy, and the Republican leadership has brought shame on themselves in the House of Representatives. Unquote. One would think that this was the first time that the Republican leadership had made a decision to trample on the rights of the people and to engage in shameless conduct by twisting arms on the floor of the House, but let me give my colleagues some background when this has happened previously. On October 7, 2005, this is the bill we are talking about right now, the Gasoline for America's Security Act. The vote began at 1:57 p.m., a 5-minute vote. It was gaveled down at 2:43 p.m., some 46 minutes later. On July 27 and 28, the legislative day of July 27, on the CAFTA, the vote started at 11:00 p.m. and went on till 1:20 a.m. Vote 442, it lasted 63 minutes. It originally was supposed to be a 15-minute vote. In previous Congresses, on July 8, 2004, it was the Sanders amendment on the PATRIOT Act to the fiscal year 2005 Commerce Justice State appropriations bill. That was a 38-minute vote. On March 30, 2004, on a motion to instruct conferees on PAYGO on the fiscal year 2005 budget resolution, it was a 28-minute vote when it should have been a 5-minute vote. On November 22, 2003, the final passage of the conference report on H.R. 1, the prescription drug bill, imagine this, a 3-hour vote. During this time frame bribes allegedly offered. On final passage of H.R. 1, the prescription drug bill, it was 50 minutes. On March 20, 2003, final passage of the budget resolution, it was 26 minutes long. On July 12, 2001, the campaign finance bill, this was a timeout to determine what was to occur next on the floor, 13 minutes. On October 9, 1997, passage of fiscal year 1998 D.C. appropriations bill, 33 minutes. The longest votes prior to the Republican majority in the House, October 3, 1994, a timeout to accommodate changes in the floor schedule was only 44 minutes. And the list goes on. Madam Speaker, this is a specific example of how the Republican leadership has used the floor because they are in the majority to push and shove and make people vote the way they want them to vote instead of the way in which the Member had chosen to vote previously. I call upon the American people to pay attention because as time goes along, it will be revealed what is happening on the floor of this House. Let me switch veins one more time. Everybody has been talking about Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. Let us talk about Hurricane Katrina 1 month later. It has been 1 month since Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast region; yet as of September 27, less than one-tenth of the relief authorized by Congress has reached the 1.2 million households impacted by the storm and thousands of households have received no relief from FEMA at all. Little wonder, since instead of providing relief to the survivors of the storms the Republicans continue to focus on special interests by appointing political cronies such as Michael Brown and David Safavian, who take jobs they are not qualified for and who unfairly award contracts to their supporters. Here is a closer look at how the Republican failures are impacting the survivors of Katrina. Health care: Republican red tape leaves hurricane victims without care. Nearly one in four people living at the Houston shelters reported a time since the hurricane hit when they simply could not get the medical care they needed. This administration has failed simply to provide for basic health care needs of the Hurricane Katrina survivors. Instead, they are pursuing a confusing and limited bureaucratic health care waiver approach that is making it difficult for Hurricane Katrina survivors to know what their health benefits are and which may leave many survivors, such as childless adults or poor parents, without any access to care at all and States without Federal funding to assist evacuees. Democrats support a bipartisan simple and fair solution to ensure that all victims of the hurricane have temporary access to the basic care they need. They want to cut the red tape by allowing Medicaid to provide temporary health care coverage. Now, with regard to housing, the Republicans have left thousands without a place to call home. A full 3 weeks after Katrina hit, fewer than 13,000 of the 200,000 families in need of housing assistance have received any help from the administration, even though there are more than one million low-cost rental units available in the South. First, the administration proposed purchasing 300,000 travel trailers, recreational vehicles and manufactured housing, only to find that some of the orders may take a year to fill and only one-third of the proposed sites for the housing and the necessary infrastructure are in place. Then FEMA chartered cruise ships as temporary shelters, with little understanding that living on a ship at sea would make it difficult to find jobs and schooling. Then the President announced an urban homestead initiative which will provide little more than a lottery of properties held by the Federal Government that will help only a fraction of the affected families. It was not until nearly 1 month after the disaster struck that the Bush administration finally announced it would begin to provide rent payments to families displaced by the storm. Democrats have proposed using emergency housing vouchers to meet immediate needs and support funding for construction and repair of affordable housing in the disaster area. Let me take a note from this and say that also Democratic Members of the Congress have proposed various tax initiatives to encourage people to move back to the areas from which they left. One of the pieces of legislation that I introduced provides specifically a tax credit or a tax incentive for families to go back and build where they lived. It would be like a first-time home buyer program that would allow them to build back in the community where they lived. Because basically it is possible, based on all that we can see, that many of the families who would want to move back to the various areas which have been affected would not be able to afford to move back to those communities. I also have proposed in a piece of legislation that I have authored that the low-income housing tax credit be doubled in order to encourage developers to build in many of these areas. Currently, it is 1.78. Under the proposal that I have presented, it would be doubled to 3.50 to allow developers to be encouraged to build in those communities. It is high time that we stop talking about assisting the victims of Katrina and Rita and give them what they need to be successful. In addition, let us talk about economic security. As many as 400,000 individuals have lost their jobs as a result of Hurricane Katrina; yet the Republicans have proposed no changes to extend unemployment assistance. Unemployment benefits are the lowest in the country in the three impacted States, averaging less than $200 per week, or about 50 percent of the poverty level of a family of four. Rather than acting to help working families, the Bush administration has cut the wages of workers working on Katrina reconstruction by suspending the Davis-Bacon rules in the gulf region which requires a payment of prevailing wage. Now, if we are going to talk about poor people in the United States of America, and then we are going to pay them below the prevailing wage, how do we expect they are going to be able to take care of their families and to afford health insurance, if that is the case? It does not make sense at a time when the President says that poverty and racism are actually the outcome of what we see with Katrina and across this country that we would want to pay families at below prevailing wages. Also, in the process of putting in place these economic programs, the President has proposed that affirmative action policies not be put in place. Again, most of the people involved in the Katrina and Rita hurricanes were African Americans. Why would you not want to include in there some chances or opportunities to include affirmative action? And the list goes on, as we talk about education and the opportunity for these young people to move into school systems or move into other colleges to be successful. We go on to talk about the process that the administration has instead chosen to advance the controversial agenda for education vouchers to private schools. Some people may want to attend private schools, but many of the children may want to attend the kind of school they were attending before, a public school, where you have a diversity of students in the system. It is a shame that after all that we have gone through, after all the suffering that we have seen as a result of Katrina that we would not have in place a system, some 30-some days later, to support and encourage the people of the particular areas. I also want to talk about the problem that we see with regard to first responders. They were supposed to, meaning the administration and this Congress, provide dollars to the various areas to support first responders. Instead, they have decided to not meet the needs of the first responders. Additionally, when Hurricane Katrina hit, emergency personnel were on at least five different channels, which was making communications difficult. Instead of fixing the problem for first responders in communicating with each other, the Republicans allowed it to fester. We all recognized the problem we saw on 9/11, that the first responders had no way of communicating with one another. You would have thought, understanding that, that before another event occurred, such as Katrina or Rita, that we would have put in place a system and dollars for first responders to be able to communicate with one another. But we did not fix that. One hopes that as the weeks and months go along that this Republican Congress, this majority Republican Congress, would attempt to address the issues that are important to the people of America, such as our first responders; that they will look at a real energy bill, instead of the one they placed on the floor and beat people into submission to vote for; and that they would also look at this culture of cronyism, wherein only their friends have an opportunity to bid on contracts. Excuse me, they do not even have to bid on the contracts. Only their friends have access to contracts, wherein they have an opportunity to do the work that is created as a result of the disasters in our country. As I close, Madam Speaker, this afternoon, I would say to the American public that there is a lot for you to take a look at and understand what is happening here on the floor of the House of Representatives, this pushing and arm twisting, the cronyism and the like. Because, Madam Speaker, in the upcoming weeks we will be involved in a lot of issues that are going to come before this Congress that will be important to the American public, such as additional issues with regard to energy. And this happening at a time when the American public expects that we are going to be operating aboveboard and we are going to be operating in a way in that all of us can stand up and say that we are proud to be Americans; that we are proud to be a part of a Congress of the United States that acts appropriately; and that we are proud to support and help those who are most in need of our help. Congratulations to Cleveland City Council President, Frank Jackson

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I rise at a perfect opportunity to talk about the deficit. The gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier), my colleague, would have the American public believe that we are in great shape. What he did not tell us was that the deficit currently is $8 trillion; that 20 percent of that deficit is owned by Japan, China and other foreign countries; that 40 percent of that deficit, in fact, is a trade-off between our various agencies in the Federal Government; and that our children and our grandchildren are going to be paying on that deficit. He then wants us to believe that, as a result of the tax cuts, the economy's in great shape, but give me a break. Stop trying to fool the American public. The reality is, as a result of those tax cuts, this $8 trillion deficit currently exists, and as we continue to throw money after money over to Iraq and rebuild Iraq, give them education, give them health care, rebuild their infrastructure, we are failing to even want to spend time to rebuild the infrastructure of New Orleans, Mississippi and Alabama, and in fact, have not even contemplated how we are going to pay for the Katrina loss. But let me give my colleagues some other news. It is, in fact, true that the Republicans are proposing to offset the cost of Katrina against people who can least afford to lose dollars, and they are going to use dollars that go to low-income folks, Medicare, Medicaid. They are going to use dollars that go to college education. They are going to use dollars that go towards the HUD department that provides for housing, and the list goes on. So I do not know how he could stand on the floor of this House and make people of America think that we are doing well. We are really not, and in fact, the trade deficit continues to rise, and people in America are still out of work, while many of the companies are going across the border or across the seas and giving jobs to people in China and other countries. The gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier) needs a wake-up call so we can begin to tell the people of America the truth. Energy Bill Vote

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Madam Speaker, if you would allow me, on a wholly different issue, I would like to take this opportunity at this time to congratulate the council president of the city of Cleveland, Frank Jackson. Frank Jackson just won the mayoral primary in the city of Cleveland, beating out the current mayor by some 4,000 votes. So this gives me a great opportunity to congratulate him for the work that he has done.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Concurrent Resolution 263, 109th Congress, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time and giving me this opportunity to be heard. I would like to say specifically to the gentleman from Wisconsin, time sometimes is of the essence, but the reality is that minority women and immigrant women, for them time is of the essence, and it is important that we have programming that focuses in on issues that involve cultural sensitivities. In many of the ethnic and minority communities, it is taboo to bring a lawsuit or to bring a charge against your husband, and we, therefore, need to give States the opportunity to have the ability to craft programs that would allow them and encourage them to come forward, and that was the sense of the legislation as it came out of the committee. I would encourage the gentleman to consider removing his manager's amendment in the interest of the racial and ethnic minority women who are out here suffering daily from domestic violence charges. It is so important that we understand that domestic violence cases continue to be on the rise. It is important that we understand in fact that racial and ethnic minority women are often not willing to come forward and bring charges. I don't know about the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), but I was a prosecutor for 8 years, heading the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office, and that was always one of the challenges we had dealing with racial and ethnic minorities. I think it is such a wonderful opportunity for us to say to them, just as we are talking about what is happening with Hurricane Katrina, have we not thought about racial and ethnic issues, that we ought to pay attention to that, right now, today in this legislation. I would encourage the gentleman, as he has encouraged us, to reconsider his decision to remove that important provision from the manager's amendment, and we could continue to have some bipartisan support. As the House considers H.R. 3402, the DOJ/Violence against Women Reauthorization Act, VAWA, today, I rise to express my disappointment and strong opposition to a manager's amendment submitted late last night, by the majority staff of the Judiciary Committee. This amendment seeks to strike ``racial and ethnic minorities'' from the definition of underserved populations in the STOP grants section of VAWA. Mr. Chairman, my initial reaction to hearing about this proposed amendment was give me a break! Why? What is the majority looking to accomplish by striking this language from the legislation. What is the goal! Somebody help me understand this! STOP grants are the heart of VAWA funding. By striking this language from the legislation, domestic violence prevention and treatment services specifically targeting women of color and immigrant victims of domestic violence will continue to be compromised. Mr. Chairman, many racial and ethnic minority women and immigrant women are less likely to report instances of domestic violence than Caucasian women because they face institutional barriers to reporting abuse or seeking help for domestic violence. These women often face restrictions on public assistance, limited access to immigration relief, lack of translators or bilingual professionals, little educational material in the woman's native language, treatment programs that do not take into account ethnic and cultural differences, and prohibitive fee structures. The VAWA Reauthorization provisions in H.R. 3402 establish grants that will provide these women with information to get the assistance they need. Violence against women and children is a serious, widespread problem in America. Each year, close to 1 million incidents of violence are reported against a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend. On average, more than 3 women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in this country every day, and approximately 1 in 5 female high school students reports being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner. Last year, in the State of Ohio, 129 fatalities occurred as a result of domestic violence. In addition, there were over 100,000 domestic calls and arrests as well as over 17,000 new civil protection orders issued. It is important to understand that violence against women and children not only devastates families but it devastates entire communities. Reauthorization of VAWA '05 is integral to providing practical solutions to improving the response of the criminal justice and legal systems by expanding funding for local groups working with underserved communities, strengthening the criminal justice response to sexual assault, providing services for children and youth, and advocating for effective prevention programs. The manager's amendment seeking to strike this language from the legislation would be a slap in the face to minority women across the country. I urge my colleagues to oppose the manager's amendment.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 100th birthday celebration of Leopoldo Castro Castro and Lucia Contreras Perez, parents of Jesus V. Castro, a former resident of my Congressional District and an exchange student from Peru at Shaker Heights High School from 1965-1966. Leopoldo Castro was born in Orcotuna, Peru, a small village in the Andes Mountains, on November 15, 1905. Although his parents were farmers without any formal education, Leopoldo managed to finish grade school, and with only that level of education, became a distinguished resident of Orcotuna. Leopoldo wanted to become a lawyer, but his family could not afford his college education, nor were there any colleges in the region. But those hurdles did not hold him back. Leopoldo saved enough money to purchase a law book and taught himself the Peruvian legal code. At age 20, he was appointed Justice of the Peace of the District of Orcotuna by the State Supreme Court, a position he held for over 50 years. His fair and thoughtful decisions as Justice of the Peace gained him the respect of his entire village. Achieving what Leopoldo could not for lack of means, his son, Jesus V. Castro, and his grandson, Jorge E. Castro, attended college and law school and became attorneys. Jorge currently serves as Tax and Trade Counsel in my Washington, DC office. Leopoldo's wife of over 70 years, Lucia Contreras Perez, also of Orcotuna, will turn 100 years of age March 2, 2006. They live happily in Lima, Peru with their children and grandchildren. Mr. Speaker, next week their hometown of Orcotuna will honor the lives of Lucia and Leopoldo during the annual Saint Francis of Assisi traditional festivities. I wish Lucia and Leopoldo Godspeed as they celebrate their 100th birthday.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 100th anniversary of E.F. Boyd & Son Funeral Homes, Inc. The Boyd family, which owns 3 funeral homes in the Cleveland area, has been in business since 1905, and is celebrating a century in business. Elmer F. Boyd, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, originally owned a barber shop but realized the need for a funeral home that catered to African Americans. Boyd then opened the third funeral home in the Cleveland area that served blacks. In the time before automobiles Boyd would use a city owned streetcar named the Black Mariah to carry bodies and families to burial sites. Boyd would also go to the homes of the deceased to embalm or preserve the bodies, and he would sew the lining into the casket himself before manufacturers lined caskets. In the late 1930s Boyd's son William joined the business, and later his son William II, and daughters Marina and Marcella took on the duties of their father and grandfather. Since the passing of Elmer Boyd many other members of the family have kept the business running, including his great-granddaughter, and oldest daughter of William II, Victoria. Victoria is the only female in the family who has both an embalmer and funeral director's license. Four generations have made possible the successful continuation and expansion of E.F. Boyd & Son Funeral Homes for 100 years. On behalf of the people of the 11th Congressional District, I wish to commend E.F. Boyd & Son Funeral Homes, Inc. on their 100th anniversary. Their existence is a true testament to family values and dedication, and the continuing legacy of the American dream.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to address the House about H.R. 2123, the Head Start School Readiness Act of 2005. Once again, we gather here to address the needs of the Nation's youth and debate how we will meet those needs. For the past 30 years, Head Start has set the foundation for the educational achievement of most young children in this country and has many of today's successful young adults as its proof of effectiveness. Many years ago, we did the necessary research and identified the conditions under which young children are more receptive to learning. We realized that it would take special effort and targeted resources to prepare children for the rigors of the academic day. From the beginning until today, we have implemented changes to reflect technological advances, changing demographics, professional advancements, etc. We, as a Nation, have risen to the call of our children and provided a caring, nurturing responsive environment for them. We spend millions of dollars every year training teachers to carry out the Head Start function. Mr. Chairman, we also lose those well-trained individuals one after the other because we professionally abandon them after we have spent hard earned dollars training them. Along with my colleague from Illinois, I sought to provide the authorization for Head Start to implement salary and work incentives to retain trained teachers in the Head Start program. The amendment was not ruled in order and we have not had the opportunity to even have a discussion about the amendment. We proposed up to $300 million to aid the many Head Start programs nationwide. Mr. Chairman, rejecting my amendment I believe deprived the American people of an opportunity to hear how their elected representatives viewed something as critical as Head Start. It would have given the voting public an opportunity to compare how we prioritize items. They would have heard us debate how to spend our scarce dollars. They would have had a reference point and a window seat to observe how we determined what is important and measure that with what they think is important. To some the comparison may have been Head Start versus Iraq; for some it may have even been Head Start versus health care; for others it may have been Head Start versus affordable housing. As one who has fought tirelessly for the victims of natural and manmade disasters, I have supported every effort to rebuild New York after 9/11; I have supported every dime of supplemental funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina; I have supported appropriations bills for every conceivable assistance package this country has had to provide. I now stand in support of retaining qualified certified and government- trained teachers in a Head Start program free from discrimination, prejudice and intolerance. I submit to you, Mr. Chairman, it is not too much to spend and it is right on time. In any case, the people will not get that chance. They will never know if we may have carefully studied this issue and decide teacher retention was a worthy, valuable and cost effective expense. What they will hear is a debate on an amendment designed to re- introduce discrimination and disadvantage to a program created to overcome the vestiges of poverty, racism, and academic neglect. This House will debate an amendment today to permit faith-based recipients of Federal Head Start dollars to discriminate against individual based on their individual, guaranteed right of free religious affiliation. As a former judge and prosecutor and an American--I am offended and insulted. We as a body cannot effect a simple reauthorization because each time we get to a bi-partisan agreement to move Head Start in to the 21st century--this poison pill provision rears its ugly head. Not to mention separation of Church and State. Mr. Chairman, this is a sad and unfortunate event in the history of this august body: That after over 200 years as a sovereign country-- with a checkered past, at best, on discrimination, we now debate discrimination by statute in the case of our young and budding leaders of tomorrow. I rise in objection to this amendment to permit discrimination based on religious affiliation in the Head Start program. I raise the highest objection that I can to rolling back over 200 years of progress on justice, harmony and tolerance. I rise in objection to holding the future of Head Start hostage to this provision. Equally important, I rise to object to the proverbial slap in the face this amendment visits upon true and significant bipartisanship. I commend the chairman and the ranking minority on the Education and Workforce Committee for their commitment to the children of this Nation by presenting a bill free of polarizing provisions. Unlike so many contentious issues brought before the House, bipartisanship was not D.O.A.--``Dead on Arrival.'' Instead, a bipartisan, thought provoking legislative initiative was D.U.A.--``Dead Under Attack.'' Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment and let Head Start get on with the business of preparing America's youth for tomorrow.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I would like to compliment both the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. McCrery) on the work they have done on this legislation. I introduced a piece of legislation. This bill's number is H.R. 3768, mine is H.R. 3769. I hope as we go through the process you would take a look at the legislation that I have. The legislation I have has two of the same provisions, the temporary housing tax credit as well as the work opportunity tax credit for Hurricane Katrina victims. But I would ask Members to consider expanding the low-income tax credit to assist Katrina victims in obtaining affordable housing. This legislation would make the following changes to low-income housing tax credit. It will double the housing tax credit authority for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama for 2006 and 2007 to $3.70 times State population. The current cap is $1.85. It would extend difficult development area designation to Federal disaster areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida through 2007. The difficult development areas are currently those areas with high construction land and utility costs because of their location. In DDAs, the tax credit is based on 130 percent of the project's total cost instead of the normal 100 percent, providing an incentive to developers to invest in these most-distressed areas. This legislation will make affordable housing projects in Federal disaster areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida eligible for the DDA designation and the basis boost, increasing investment and economic development in the region. It would also waive the national pool ``full subscription'' requirement for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida through 2007. Currently, the low-income housing tax credit not used by States is added to a national pool. The tax credit in that national pool is then distributed to those States that apply for the excess credits. However, to be eligible for those credits, a State must have used all of its previously allocated tax credits, or full subscription. This legislation waives the requirement for Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. I would hope that you would take a look at this piece of legislation because I think it will also help Katrina victims. Last, I would ask you to consider giving them a home buyer tax credit that would encourage people from these States to go back to the States where they lived and they would get a $5,000 tax credit to rebuild a new home in those communities. I support this legislation. I would encourage you to consider the two areas that I mentioned.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform you that the Cleveland Great Books group will begin its 60th consecutive year this fall of 2005 in gathering to discuss the classics in literature. People have been reading great books for many centuries. The technique of asking questions and probing for an understanding of the problems they deal with was used by Socrates in ancient Athens, Greece. In modern times, it is thought that the formation of discussion groups for the purpose of discussing the Great Books was started after the First World War by John Erksine. In 1927, Mortimer Adler helped launch 15 adult education courses in New York City to discuss the Great Books. In 1930, Robert Hutchins and Mr. Adler introduced Great Books seminars into the undergraduate curriculum at the University of Chicago. Soon, across the United States ordinary laymen with a love for literature began to form and lead Great Books seminars in their local communities. Such a group formed here in Greater Cleveland. This group first met on October 8, 1946 at the East Cleveland Public Library. That first opening session involved a discussion of the Declaration of Independence. It was chosen by the original leader Frank P. Whitney. Today, Betty Gaetjens is the sole remaining member from that first night. In 1972, the group moved their discussions to the present-day location of the Cleveland Heights Noble Road Library. However, the practice of meeting twice monthly for nine months would remain the same; during the same summer recess, members would read a book to be discussed at the first meeting in the fall. When the members gather on September 20, 2005 to discuss Homer's ``The Odyssey,'' it will mark the beginning of the 60th continuous year of this Great Books discussion group. The current members of this group are: Pam Bryson, Kathleen Colacarro, Fred Damankos, David Fogarty, Betty Gaetjens, Ray Habian, Sally Hanley, Maureen Hollander, Linda Jones, Charles Lally, Ed Lampman, Frank Lavallo, William Malloy, Anne Meissner, Jane Melbourne, Howard Montgomery, Renee Paolino, Matthew Paolo, Jackie Perkovic, Lois Rowland, Milena Salehar, Nick Smith, Lisa Sturgis and Harvey Weiss. As they begin their 60th year, members look forward to exchanging ideas with all the enthusiasm of that first night in October of 1946. They will converse freely, think with greater clarity and perception, and come away with a more profound insight which they did not have before.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation, but I would beg our committee to also give flexibility to the States for people who are not victims of the hurricane. And let me tell them why. I come from the State of Ohio where the city of Cleveland was deemed the city with the highest poverty rate in the Nation, and the State of Ohio has $1.14 billion left in their TANF fund as a surplus. There is something wrong here if we have the largest city with the highest poverty rate in a State with all this money. There is either something wrong with the administration by the Republican-led Governor's office or the stringencies of the requirements do not allow them to be flexible enough to take care of the poorest people in the State of Ohio. I am for helping all the people who are victims of the hurricane, but this is a clear example of how poverty in the United States runs rampant and there is money there to help them, but somebody is not using it right.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time of the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I stand today concerned about what happened on the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Katrina. I hope that apart from this devastation we can say that Hurricane Katrina has brought to light the atrocities that have been going on for years across our country. Only yesterday in Cleveland, Ohio, we were notified that 400 evacuees would be coming to Cleveland tomorrow that we were supposed to support. Only 2 hours ago, we learned that they were not coming. This is a part of that same situation we are talking about, that FEMA does not know what they are doing. What we are concerned about is people being put on a bus, being told, ``We are going to take you somewhere,'' and the people do not even know where they are going. It is part of denying these evacuees dignity, denying them an opportunity to say that we are Americans and we are entitled to the very same democracy that everyone else is entitled to. Far too long we have neglected the underprivileged of this country, and we are quick to criticize others for not taking care of their own. However, we have all forgotten the poor in our country and we are hoping this will be an opportunity again for this country to address the issue of poverty, the lack of housing, the lack of education, the lack of the ability to create wealth, the lack of opportunity to grow African American and small businesses. A recent study by the Population Reference Bureau noted that the Orleans Parish, Louisiana, and Harrison County, Mississippi, are counties that are homes to New Orleans and Biloxi and have median incomes that are just above $32,000, 44 percent below that of the national average. I will not read through all the statistics that I have, but I will say these statistics point out the dilemma that we face as a result of poverty being rampant in our country. It is unacceptable. It is unacceptable. Now, the President said it was unacceptable what FEMA did, but since saying that he is backing off on his statement about its being unacceptable. The other thing I need to point out is, people keep saying to those of us who are speaking out that we should not place any blame, that we should be quiet and move forward. But the reality is, you have got to own up to your mistakes before you can correct those mistakes. And the United States Government needs to own up to the mistakes that they made over the past few days with regard to this. There is a gospel song that says, ``Sweep around your own front door,'' and that is what we need to do in America is sweep around our front doors across this country, the doors that used to exist, the doors that no longer exist. It is our job, and we are calling upon people across America to say that it is unacceptable, that what we have seen over the past few days from our government is unacceptable, that it is not permissible and that the people of America, the people who have been devastated by the storm, deserve to have the same kind of support, the same kind of encouragement that all other Americans want.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, while there has been much devastation brought upon the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Katrina, I hope that apart from its devastation, we can say that Hurricane Katrina brought to light some of the atrocities that have been going on for years such as the poverty crisis in this country. For far too long, we as a nation have neglected the underprivileged of this country. We are quick to criticize other countries for not taking care of their own, however, we have all but forgotten the poor in our own country. A recent study by the Population Reference Bureau noted that Orleans Parish, Louisiana and Harrison County, Mississippi, the counties that are home to New Orleans and Biloxi respectively, had median household incomes of just $31,369, 44 percent below that of the national average of $44,684. Additionally, 23.2 percent of the people in Orleans Parish and 14.6 percent of the people of Harrison County are below the poverty rate. Disproportionate rates of those people are African American. A whopping 35 percent in Orleans Parish and 27.4 percent in Harrison County. High proportions of elderly residents of the Gulf Coast have disabilities as well. In New Orleans alone, 56.4 percent or 28,195 elderly resident have disabilities, compared to the national average of 39.6 percent. About 9 percent of households in New Orleans did not even have a vehicle available to escape the storm. And for those who did have transportation, add to that the steadily rising gas prices which now exceed $3.20. This is simply unacceptable. The world is watching. And they are waiting to see if we are going to do right by our own citizens. If we will pull together to do what is right. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the Gulf Coast. We fight for democracy across the globe, but when our own needed help we were slow to respond. There is a gospel song that says, ``Sweep around your own front door.'' Today, I say America it is time for us to sweep around our own front doors. We can no longer put on blinders to the poverty crisis that is now staring us in our face. We must work within this Congress to put in place legislation that will help these victims not just over the next few months, but for years, because that is how long it will take for us to heal from this natural disaster.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this legislation, but I rise today also to say to America it is time now, not later on. One of my favorite speakers, Dr. King, had a speech that he gave saying ``Now is the Time.'' For a moment I am going to paraphrase some of his words. He said now is the time to make real the promise of democracy. He said now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley, and I say the valley is this national despair that we are in right now, to the sunlit path of Americans helping Americans. Now is the time to lift our Nation from the quicksands of Hurricane Katrina to the solid rock of safety and normalcy for the people of America. We have had all these images on television. We have had images of people in facilities that were built for games. We have images of people in facilities that were built for conventions. We have had images of people who are American people, they are taxpayers, they are the elderly, they are the frail, they are the poor, they are the people left out without any housing. This is a class issue because those of us who had the money to get out of New Orleans, get out of Mississippi, get out of Alabama, they got out. But these are people who are American taxpayers who could not get out. Why are we not helping them? Today we have allocated resources. What I am concerned about is who will the resources go to? When we look at Iraq, they went to Halliburton. What about the resources going to the American taxpayers? They paid their dues. I took a moment and went on the Internet and got the application for disaster resource. The application and the pages that go with them are some 25 pages. Can you imagine if you were in the situation of some of these people, that they would in fact have to fill out this form. Let us get rid of the form and give them what they need. Put these people on cruise ships with bedrooms, bathrooms, food, a place where they could be. Let us not try to figure out and make magic. We know what can work for these people. Finally, these men, women and families are entitled. They are American taxpayers, take care of them.

Mrs. JONES of Ohio. I yield to the gentlewoman from Michigan.