Jerry Lewis

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today joining my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans alike, in support of this resolution. Mr. Speaker, the American people need to know just how dangerous today's world is. Many have presumed that with the passing of the Soviet Union and the East-West confrontation that peace was at hand. That without these formidable enemies, America no longer had to worry about attacks. Tuesday's tragedy sends a message--loud and clear--that there are those who have no concern for innocent human life. They will kill with malice, with no other goal except to prove they can strike at the world's most powerful symbols of freedom. This was not a political statement or a military attack. It was murder, an act that is abhorred by all nations and faiths. We must do whatever is needed to protect our homeland from such unconscionable criminals. Our nation is in shock and mourning. Americans are too big-hearted to understand why a group of inhuman thugs would bring these attacks on thousands of innocent victims. We will spend this day rallying to support the families of those who perished and the brave rescuers who are desperately trying to find any who might have survived. We will show our resolve that America will rise to this challenge and overcome it to remain the beacon of liberty and optimism. In the days to come, we will dedicate ourselves to finding who planned and executed this despicable act, and prove to them that we will do everything in our power to bring them to justice and ensure it can never happen again. To those who shared the cowardice of the hijackers: We will not rest until justice is served. To those who have harbored these criminals in the past or consider sheltering them in the future: We will hold you accountable and make it clear that it is a terrible mistake to support attacks on America. For the future, all Americans must realize that our world can never be entirely safe, and accept that we must commit the resources necessary to meet the threat of those whose fanaticism blinds themselves to their humanity. I join all of my colleagues in pledging our support for the President in all of his efforts to protect our citizens. I have every confidence that we will work together--that all Americans will work together--to meet this challenge and overcome it.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege for me to bring to your attention the great life and great works of William E. Leonard. Bill is an old friend and one of the true community leaders of San Bernardino County. He will culminate a 30-year career guiding California's transportation system with the opening next month of what is probably the state's last major freeway: The Foothill Freeway. The life blood of any community that hopes to succeed and grow are leaders who will step forward and commit their energy, time and personal resources to the goals of that community. Over the years, San Bernardino County has had relatively few leaders who have had the vision to see how the entire region might work together, and the courage to push that vision toward success. Bill Leonard has been right at the point of able responsible leadership for all of San Bernardino County. For most of my three decades in public life, I have worked with Bill Leonard to improve the economy and quality of life for the residents of the Inland Empire. Although he never sought elected office, Mr. Leonard has been one of the region's--indeed the entire state's--most influential leaders on transportation. After rising to the rank of First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1946, Mr. Leonard joined his father at the Leonard Realty and Building Company in his hometown San Bernardino. He was active in many construction projects throughout the area, and soon began his public service career as a member of the state Athletic Commission in 1956. San Bernardino County had already established a statewide reputation for powerful highway planners. Local leaders like publisher James Guthrie and grocer Milton Sage, who served on the California Highway Commission, helped set the standard that allowed the state to create one of the best road systems in the nation. William Leonard carried on that tradition as a member of the state highway commission from 1973 to 1977, and on its successor, the California Transportation Commission, from 1985 to 1993. He was chairman of that commission in 1990-91. He is still a member of the HighSpeed Rail Authority. Mr. Speaker, we know that a strong family life is the most important factor in a person's success in life. Bill and Bobbi Leonard created a family environment that emphasized a commitment to personal integrity and public service, and this is evident in the lives of their children. Daughter Christene is an elementary school teacher in San Bernardino; son Fred retired after a distinguished 20-year career in the U.S. Air Force. And William Leonard Jr. has been a highly-respected member of the California Assembly and State Senate for the past 23 years, serving as minority leader in both chambers and providing another generation of strong community leadership for the Inland Empire. Bill Leonard has shown his commitment to action in many ways: He is a board member of the National Orange Show and many hospital, university and community groups. He has received a number of prestigious awards. But he will soon be recognized for his greatest contribution--to ensure the area's roads meet the needs of our citizens. The Legislature has voted to name the interchange of Interstate 15 and the new Foothill Freeway as the William E. Leonard Interchange. It is a fitting memorial to a man who spent his life working for the citizens of the Inland Empire and California, and I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating him on a career of outstanding public service.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. If the gentleman from Texas would yield just one more moment, my district is large enough to put four Eastern States in the desert site alone. Where the pipelines are located, they are likely to go through my district. And, frankly, I would like to have some input, that is direct input, regarding what we might do. It certainly does provide me a better opportunity if it is in the State of California. Dealing with Federal bureaucracies, to say the least, is almost ridiculous. Does the gentleman have a very specific problem? Is it our Governor getting in the gentleman's way? What is it causing the gentleman to want to do this?

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I understand the gentleman's point regarding El Paso Natural Gas. I want to assure all the gentlemen from California that we would like to have all of the Texas gas we can possibly get; but from time to time it is difficult to get it in the way and volume we want. Pipeline and delivery systems ought to be California's responsibility, at least in part, as well as problem.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, if it is accurate that no other State has downsized an interstate pipeline in order for it to be a California pipeline, if that is an accurate statement, certainly the gentleman knows that California is by far the largest State in the Union, with the exception of one, in terms of territory. There are areas like mine, vast areas of the desert where we do need to have some reasonable planning process. We ought to be able to deal with our State agencies. So I am wondering one more time what problem the gentleman has with the State of California or indeed with our Governor.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEWIS of California. So the gentleman is suggesting that if California needs additional pipelines, or let us say lines that carry electricity or otherwise, if we want to decide where they want to go, we have to keep coming to a Federal agency rather than to our own public utility agency.

Mr. LEWIS of California. I will not take too much of the gentleman's time. I apologize that I did not have a chance to hear the opening statement, but I have read a little bit about the gentleman's expression of concern. But, for me, would the gentleman explain again, if it is again, what exactly the problem the gentleman has with California or with our Governor or what this is about?

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman's reviewing that history of difficulties in California. I have complained about that difficulty in the past, but transferring it to FERC in terms of decision-making may only complicate the problem, not improve our position.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I want to express my strong support for the House version of the VA-HUD appropriations bill, and would especially like to associate myself with the comments of Mr. Dreier and Mr. Schiff relating to NASA. The importance of this legislation should not be underestimated. NASA and NSF are critical investments in the science and research that drive technology and our economy. I am concerned about the Senate's action on the Solar System Exploration program. As my colleagues have already stated, the cuts and managerial changes proposed by the Senate would be devastating to the exploration of our solar system, as well as to the men and women who have dedicated their professional lives to extending our reach into deep space. The Senate proposes to cut $50 million from the Mars Surveyor program. The exploration of Mars is an essential element of NASA's exploration program. Because of the nature of Mars' orbit around the Sun, we can only launch missions to Mars every two years. The reduction proposed by the Senate would force NASA to choose between taking unnecessary risks to meet the current launch schedule or delaying the mission another two years. Both of these results would increase the ultimate costs of going to Mars while limiting the ability of NASA to accomplish its mission. Similarly, the proposed transfer of the telecommunications and mission operations directorate to an industry vendor would impede rather than enhance our ability to explore the solar system. My colleague, Mr. Dreier, discussed the impact on mission operations, I would like to discuss the impact on the communications program. It takes great skill and sophisticated equipment to communicate with a tiny spacecraft billions of miles from Earth. Despite what Hollywood might lead you to believe, it is not as simple as just phoning home. To appreciate the complexity faced by NASA, the two Voyager spacecraft, launched in the 1970s are still flying and still sending back data, but they are literally billions of miles away and transmitting a signal that is so weak, that the signal is almost undetectable. In fact, your wristwatch operates on 20 billion times more energy. However, eliminating the highly-skilled staff which operates the Deep Space Network is tantamount to turning off the array. Finally, despite the rhetoric about efficiency, there is nothing efficient about failure. Cutting funding and eliminating expert personnel may look good on the books today, but it will end up costing the taxpayers their space program.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the passage of the Family Sponsor Immigration Act, introduced by my good friend and neighbor, Ken Calvert. This legislation will help us avert family tragedies that now happen all too often because of our overworked immigration system. Jamie Clarino and his family are an example of the terrible results of how our system now works. Mr. Clarino, a Filipino native, fought with the United States Army in World War II and won his American citizenship through his military service. In 1988, Mr. Clarino petitioned to sponsor his four adult children for legal immigration to the United States. Unfortunately, far more people would like to come to our country from the Philippines than we can accept in any year. In fact, the backlog is so large from the Philippines that it took 12 years--until the year 2000--for Mr. Clarino's children to be certified to begin the immigration process. Their documents were found in order. They were scheduled for an interview with our consular officials in Manila that would complete the process. They would soon be able to join their U.S. citizen father in his home for the past dozen years. And then tragedy struck: Mr. Clarino died just before the interviews were to take place. He could not sign the affidavit of support required at the time of the interviews. And under our current law, these children of this man who fought for America in World War II must now begin the process all over again with a new sponsor. Without this legislation, the Clarino family will be forced to wait perhaps a dozen more years for the chance to immigrate. As you can imagine, this means the dream of their father--that his family come to his adopted homeland--will probably never become reality. A sister who is a lawful permanent resident, who could easily take over as sponsor for her siblings, will probably never get the chance. Madam Speaker, I believe we must stop our system from adding to the tragedy of families like the Clarinos, who lose a loved one and at the same time have their hopes of coming to America dashed. My friend Ken Calvert's bill will allow these families to continue their quest under a new sponsor, without losing their place in line. It does not grant special favors; it merely closes a loophole to help those families who are playing by the rules to gain legal immigration to our nation. I strongly support H.R. 1892 and urge its passage.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, it is not my intention to take any significant amount of time, for the work that has been done by our very fine staff on both sides of the aisle has expedited this process. I really wanted to rise for just a couple of reasons. First, to bring to the attention of our ranking member, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), that the last time we were here on the floor with this bill he was suffering from laryngitis and it helped us a lot in expediting the process. I want to congratulate him on the progress he has made between now and then. But I really also wanted to point out one other item to him, and that is that it was not so long ago that it was my privilege to be chairman of the subcommittee that deals with FEMA funding, and the gentleman may recall that this Member certainly did not stand by and allow too much rescission of FEMA funding. Indeed, the challenges of emergencies across the country are an item that I recognize very clearly. From there, I believe the work of the committee, relative to the amount of money in the bill reflecting the problem of the caps we are dealing with in this budget process, is as far as we can go. I am very, very pleased with the expression of concern on both sides of the aisle about the need for more adequate funding for our national security. Indeed, bear with me, for as we move towards September, I am certain we are going to be able to have a very healthy discussion about just how far we should go in connection with making sure the troops are taken care of and we are prepared for whatever emergencies might be out there.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 225, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present I would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 224, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present I would have voted ``yea.'' Motion to Instruct Offered by Mr. Obey

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 221, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present I would have voted ``aye.'' I ask unanimous consent that this statement appear in the Record following the announcement of the vote.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 228, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 220, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 217, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present I would have voted ``no.'' Amendment No. 13 Offered by Mr. Kucinich

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 219, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present I would have voted ``no.'' Announcement by the Chairman

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 216, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present I would have voted ``no.'' Announcement by the Chairman

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 218, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present I would have voted ``no.'' Amendment Offered by Mr. Blumenauer

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I would like today to congratulate Sister Sharon Becker of St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, California, who has been elected to the leadership council of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. In that position, she will be one of five Sisters who are responsible for giving direction to this health care community. Since she joined St. Mary Medical Center in 1993, Sister Sharon's vision and leadership has helped make the hospital one of the most highly-regarded in the High Desert and recognized throughout San Bernardino County for its quality of care. Her dedication to serving the poor and disadvantaged has made St. Mary's a leader in services to the needy in the area. She has been forceful in convincing other community leaders to also ensure that a safety net remains in place for the truly needy. While in Apple Valley, Sister Sharon developed a program for at-risk pregnant women that is now a full-fledged outreach center. She opened a High Desert office for Catholic Charities, making its disaster relief and services to the poor available for the first time. She established a Food Resource Center that provides a range of counseling services for families receiving government food assistance. She started an annual ``Share the Warmth'' drive to acquire shoes and coats for needy children. And she started an annual Thanksgiving food drive for needy families. She was one of the original members of the San Bernardino County Children and Families Commission. As a member of the leadership council, Sister Sharon will help direct the ministries of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. Through the St. Joseph Health Care System, the council oversees the operation of 15 acute health care facilities, as well as an array of clinics, home- health-care services and hospices in California, Texas and Arizona. The sisters have been ministering to the sick since 1912 in California, and their hospitals served 143,000 inpatients and 2.3 million outpatients in 2000. Mr. Speaker, the patients who receive top-notch care at St. Mary's Medical Center will enthusiastically endorse Sister Sharon as a good choice to help run the ministries health care system. We will miss her direct leadership in the High Desert, but have no doubt that she will ensure that the entire system improves over her five-year term. Please join me in congratulating her and wishing her well in this important new role.