John Lewis

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy), a member of the committee.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I'm submitting the CBO cost estimate on H.R. 1562, the Katrina Housing Tax Relief Act of 2007. U.S. Congress, Congressional Budget Office, Washington, DC, March 23, 2007. Hon. Charles B. Rangel, Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1562, the Katrina Housing Tax Relief Act of 2007. If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Emily Schlect. Sincerely, Peter R. Orszag. Enclosure. H.R. 1562--Katrina Housing Tax Relief Act Summary: H.R. 1562 would extend and expand certain tax laws specific to areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, which were enacted in the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005. The bill would also raise revenue by changing the collection due process procedures for employment taxes. The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates that enacting H.R. 1562 would decrease revenues by $1 million in 2007 and increase revenues by $42 million over the 2007-2012 period and by $4 million over the 2007-2017 period. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementing H.R 1562 would have discretionary costs of less than $500,000 in 2007 and 2008, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. JCT has determined that the tax provisions of the bill contain no private-sector or intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). CBO has determined that the non-tax provisions (section 4) contain no private-sector or intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA and would impose no costs .on state, local, or tribal governments. Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated budgetary impact of the bill over the 2007-2017 period is shown in the following table. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/4\ minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Melancon).

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. I fully support H.R. 1562, the Katrina Housing Relief Act of 2007. Adequate and affordable housing is a basic human right, and today Congress is stepping in again to give our citizens of the gulf coast some help. This bill will provide tax incentives to ensure that adequate and affordable housing is available in the gulf coast region. I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote ``yes'' for this bill.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill, H.R. 1562.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, on March 13, 2007, the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight held a hearing on housing tax issues related to the rebuilding of communities affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. These hurricanes created and caused more damage than any other natural disaster and left over 700,000 residents in the Gulf Coast without housing. The Congress has provided $15 billion in tax relief to victims of the hurricanes, but it is clear that we must do more and we can do more. The Katrina Housing Tax Relief Act of 2007 will help families affected by the hurricane to return home. This bill will extend incentives for low-income rental housing. It will also expand existing incentives so they can be used to refinance homes that need to be rebuilt from scratch. Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill. This is a necessary bill. I wholeheartedly support H.R. 1562 and urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey, Congressman Pascrell. (Mr. PASCRELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\3/4\ minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana, who represents New Orleans in the Congress, Mr. Jefferson.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise with deep concern that on this very day 4 years ago, our Nation inaugurated a conflict, an unnecessary war, a war of choice, not a necessity. The most comprehensive intelligence we have, the National Intelligence Estimate and the latest Pentagon report, tells us that Iraq had descended into a state of civil war. Over 3,000 Americans have died, and hundreds of thousands, some even say up to 1 million citizens of Iraq, have lost their lives in this unnecessary conflict. And while we are telling our veterans of this war, the elderly, the poor, and the sick that there is no room in the budget for them, the American people have spent over $400 billion on a failed policy. We cannot do more of the same. Mr. Speaker, violence begets violence. It does not lead to peace. President John F. Kennedy once said, ``Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.'' My greatest fear is that the young people of Iraq and of the Middle East will never forget this war. My greatest fear is they will grow up hating our children and our children's children for what we have done. Mr. Speaker, the Bible is right. Even a great nation can reap what it sows. Nothing troubles me more than to see the young faces of these soldiers who have been led to their death. Some are only 18, 19, 21, 22, 23. It is painful; it is so painful to watch. Sometimes I feel like crying and crying out loud at what we are doing as a Nation and what this administration is doing in our name. Our children do not deserve to die as pawns in a civil war. They do not deserve to pay with their lives for the mistakes of this administration. They never had a chance. When I was their age, when I was 23 years old, I was leading the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, soon to speak in Washington on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, but then we were involved in a nonviolent revolution to transform the soul of America, to create a beloved community. Forty years ago, I was there in New York City in Riverside Church when Martin Luther King, Jr., gave one of the most powerful speeches he ever made against the war in Vietnam. If he could speak today, he would say this Nation needs a revolution of values that exposes the truth that war does not work. If he could speak today, he would say that war is obsolete as a tool of our foreign policy. He would say there is nothing keeping us from changing our national priority so that the pursuit of peace can take precedence over the pursuit of war. He would say we must remove the causes of chaos, injustice, poverty and insecurity that are breeding grounds for terrorism. This is the way towards peace. As a Nation, can we hear the words of Gandhi, so simple, so true, that it is either nonviolence or nonexistence? Can we hear the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., saying that we must learn to live together as brothers and sisters or perish as fools? Tonight I must make it plain and clear that as a human being, as a citizen of the world, as a citizen of America, as a Member of Congress, as an individual committed to a world at peace with itself, I will not and I cannot in good conscience vote for another dollar or another dime to support this war.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Madam Chairman, today there are powerful forces in America that want to take us backward, not forward. In the name of global competition, there are some who say that in order to be competitive in the world market that we must give away our standard of living and our high working standards. To those people, I say ``no.'' We have to ask ourselves, as a nation and as a people, what kind of nation do we want to be? Are we really free and successful, if too many of our citizens are harassed and intimidated on the job when they are trying to form a union to protect their rights? People living in a democracy should not have to work in an atmosphere of fear and oppression. And they should be able to exercise their rights to organize. There are many corporations in Atlanta, like UPS, Coke and others, that are profitable international institutions who do not sacrifice the dignity and the integrity of their employees. We have to ask ourselves whether we can be truly comfortable, if somewhere in America somebody is working hard, struggling to make ends meet, but they fear the retaliation of their employer if they try to protect their dignity and worth on the job? How long can we live in comfort before this injustice comes knocking at our door? I have always been a strong supporter of labor and working Americans, and why I am an original co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act. It is our duty as members of Congress to protect our workers and to encourage citizens and corporate citizens to implement these values of respect in our society. I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Kidney Care Quality and Education Act that I am proud to introduce today with my colleague from Michigan, Mr. Camp. This comprehensive legislation will help educate Americans about how to prevent and delay the onset of kidney disease and ensure high quality care for patients with irreversible kidney failure. More than 400,000 Americans have kidney failure, which is also known as End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). The only treatment available to these patients is a kidney transplant or renal dialysis. Because there are so few kidneys available for transplantation, most dialysis patients must undergo 3-hour treatment sessions three to four times per week. Diabetes and hypertension are two of the leading causes of kidney disease. We continue to see the numbers of Americans with these conditions rise, and as a result, we will continue to see more Americans suffering from chronic kidney disease. Statistics show that African Americans are particularly at risk for kidney disease and kidney failure. They make up more than one third of all patients on dialysis in this country. Most alarming, the growth rate of kidney failure among African Americans age 30 to 39 has risen 26 percent since 2000 and it shows no signs of stopping. African Americans have a higher risk of developing the conditions that lead to kidney failure. For example, the American Heart Association reports that more than 40 percent of African Americans have hypertension. African Americans with diabetes experience kidney failure about four times more often than white Americans with diabetes. In addition, African Americans are less likely to receive treatment in the early stages of the disease or to learn about how they can slow the progress of kidney disease. The Kidney Care Quality and Education Act will help address these issues by improving public awareness about kidney disease and improving access to quality care. The importance of educating our citizens about kidney disease cannot be understated. The Kidney Care Quality and Education Act will provide funding to establish critical educational programs to increase public awareness about kidney disease treatment and prevention. These programs will also help people already suffering from chronic kidney disease and kidney failure, by providing important self-management skills that will improve their quality of life and help them continue their normal activities, such as working. This legislation also takes steps to improve the quality of kidney care by creating a 3-year Continuous Quality Improvement Initiative within the Medicare ESRD Program. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation, which also has the support of all sectors of the kidney care community. We should maintain our commitment to Americans with kidney failure by improving the quality of care for these patients and help slow the occurrence of chronic kidney disease and kidney failure.

Mr. JOHN LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. JOHN LEWIS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues, Representative Jim Ramstad, Representative Rick Boucher, and Representative Gary Miller to introduce the Telephone Excise Repeal Act of 2007. Our bill will repeal this 107-year-old tax that is outdated and is only paid by Americans that cannot pay for expensive communications services. The telephone FET was introduced in 1898 as a ``luxury'' tax to fund the Spanish American War. While it may have made sense then, there is no question that telecommunication services today are necessities, not luxuries. Telephone tax revenues, first collected in 1898 to help finance the Spanish-American War, are deposited in the General Fund. Unlike other excise tax revenues, these revenues are not deposited into a specific account such as the Highway Trust Fund, which is made up of gas tax revenues. Additionally, other excise taxes serve the purpose of decreasing consumption of the taxed product; the FET serves no such purpose. A telephone is a necessity for every American, and thus does not fit with this list of ``luxury'' and other excise tax items. The FET is now regressive and disproportionately burdens low-income, rural and lifeline telephone subscribers who have only local telephone service. As more and more Americans buy bundled communication services, the projected tax revenue collected from the FET continues to decrease and only affect those with the least means to purchase more costly packages. CBO estimates that this tax will bring in $1.5 billion over the next 10 years. This tax is contrary to the national goal of having an advanced, highly efficient, and low cost communications network to serve the American people. Please help us hang up on the telephone tax by joining us on this legislation.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise with deep concern that this President has chosen to escalate the war in Iraq instead of charting a course towards peace. Today, I am reminded of the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., when he spoke out against the war in Vietnam on April 4, 1967. He said, ``The world now demands a maturity of this Nation that we may not be able to achieve. It demands that we admit that we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in Vietnam,'' we could substitute Iraq, ``and that our actions have been detrimental to the people of that Nation.'' Mr. Speaker, war is messy. War is bloody. It tends not just to hide the truth but to sacrifice the truth. And the truth is that this was a war of choice and not a war of necessity. It was ill-fated from its inception at the highest levels of Government, and persisting in error will not fix a policy that was fundamentally flawed from the very beginning. Thousands of our sons and daughters have been left dead on the battlefield, and tens of thousands are changed forever, wounded physically and spiritually by the brutality of war. Our soldiers are the best men and women in the world, willing to sacrifice all they have at a moment's notice to protect our freedom. They do not deserve to pay with their lives for the errors of this administration. Mr. Speaker, we will never find the answer to the problem we have created in Iraq down the barrel of a gun. The lasting solution to this crisis will rise from skillful diplomacy, not military might. The Good Book said, ``Come let us reason together.'' We must never, ever be afraid to talk. What harm comes from sitting down with Syria, Iran and our allies in the Middle East to help bring the warring parties together? John F. Kennedy once said, ``Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.'' My greatest fear here is that the young people growing up in the Middle East will never forget this American invasion. My greatest fear is that they will grow up to hate our children, our grandchildren and generations yet unborn, because of what we are doing today in Iraq. Yes, we must maintain a strong national defense. We must defend our borders. We must bring an end to terrorism. But not at the expense of our democracy, not at the expense of the very principles this Nation was founded upon. I want to close by asking a question of old, Mr. Speaker. What does it profit a great Nation to gain the whole world and lose its soul? Gandhi once said, ``It is either nonviolence or nonexistence.'' Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, ``We must learn to live together as brothers and sister or perish as fools.'' It is better to heal than to kill. It is better to reconcile than to divide. It is better to love than to hate. That is why we must vote for this resolution. We must do more. We must not place more of our young people in harm's way. We must not continue to make our soldiers sitting ducks in a civil war. As Members of Congress, we must continue to stand up, speak up and speak out. It is our duty, it is our right, it is our moral obligation. We must find a way to get in the way until we bring our young men and women home, and not to continue to escalate this war. Vote for this resolution. It is the right thing to do. We must send a powerful and strong message to this administration to stop this madness.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2007. I commend my colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee for working in a bipartisan way to reach an agreement on provisions that will not only help small businesses grow and thrive, but will provide small businesses with incentives to hire disadvantaged workers. Not only that, it will not pass any costs onto our children. The most important thing that will come out of passing this piece of legislation today, is that it will ensure that we finally pass a minimum wage increase. As I have said before, we have waited far too long--10 long years--to give our working poor a pay raise. We should be ashamed of that delay, but I am proud that we are taking that important step to restoring dignity and fairness for our minimum wage earners. This minimum wage increase will help millions of our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers. My fight in Congress is the fight against poverty. We must do more for working families, for families who are playing by the rules and still cannot get ahead. I just don't understand how people survive under these circumstances. We cannot stand by and watch millions of people continue to fall into poverty. This minimum wage increase is not the end, but the beginning of our fight against poverty in this nation. Passing this legislation today will smooth the path to the passage of the minimum wage increase. This bill is also a symbol of how much we can accomplish to help hard working families when we work together, across the aisle--Democrats and Republicans. And I look forward to continued progress in the fight against poverty in the 110th Congress.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop).

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Marshall).

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson).

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Barrow).

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott).

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Deal and members of the delegation for bringing this resolution before us as a tribute to our fallen colleague, Mr. Norwood. More than anything else, Congressman Norwood was a warrior. He fought for his beliefs with passion and conviction, and he fought for the people of his district and for the people of Georgia who loved him. He was awarded two Bronze Stars for his bravery on behalf of our Nation during the Vietnam war, and he fought courageously for patient rights right here on the floor of the House of Representatives. In fact, his last official act was to reintroduce the Patients' Bill of Rights on Monday, a bill he coauthored with John Dingell. Charlie Norwood, this good man, this son of Georgia, fought a good fight. He was a warrior to the end. The thoughts and prayers of all of the Members of Congress, and especially the members of the Georgia delegation, are with his wife Gloria and his two sons, Charles and Carlton, their family and his many grandchildren. I hope they will find comfort in knowing that Congressman Charlie Norwood made a lasting contribution not just to the State of Georgia, but to the Nation and to all of us as Members of this body. We are more than lucky, we are very blessed to have known him as a friend and as a colleague. He will be deeply missed. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time do we have left.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 1 minute to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the young lady from California, Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, Charlie Norwood, the man from Georgia, not just a citizen of Georgia, not just a citizen of the American South, but a citizen of the world, a man who fought the good fight, who kept the faith. He was a good and decent man, and we will never ever forget his lasting contribution. We pray for his family, for the people of his congressional district, and we pray for his soul. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.