Barbara Lee

Ms. LEE

Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak against the rule. First, I cannot believe that the Committee on Rules blocked several of our important consumer protection amendments. It is shocking that the Committee on Rules blocked the anti-redlining amendment adopted by the Committee on Banking and Financial Services in markup. Somehow this amendment was just deleted with no vote, no debate, by the stroke of a pen or a computer error. When I asked my colleagues how this could happen this morning, I was reminded of the many anti- democratic maneuvers that we face each and every day in this House. How tragic. This anti-redlining amendment is to prevent insurance affiliates from redlining. It fits squarely into our country's history to not tolerate discrimination in its many forms, but particularly not to allow discrimination in housing. It was adopted in open session on a rollcall bipartisan vote. Whether it was by one vote or by 20 votes, it was democratically adopted. The amendment is an important tool in fighting redlining and racial discrimination. It is inconceivable to me that members of the Committee on Rules would go on record as opposing fair housing and in support of redlining. I urge rejection of this horrendous, outrageous rule. Mr. Speaker, we have not allowed banks to discriminate--why should we allow insurance Companies to discriminate? It is vital to remember, to know that the Supreme Court, in recent years, upheld the Fair Housing Act as covering the sale of homeowner's insurance. The NAACP, and the Justice Department sued the American Family Mutual Insurance company on discrimination in selling their homeowner insurance. The Supreme Court ruled in their favor and the company settled. Thus, there is no question of federal interest in the sale of homeowners' insurance. I have been informed that this amendment displeases the insurance industry. I hope that I am wrong. We are almost forty years from the blood, sweat and deaths of the civil rights movement. The cause for that struggle remains in 1999. This modest amendment asks the minimum: that insurance companies, just like banks, should not discriminate. H.R. 10 is heavily biased toward the interests of the financial services industry with little concern for consumers and communities. Deletion of the Fair Housing Act protections exacerbates this imbalance--and reinforces the image of H.R. 10 as an industry legislative product. The record of companies on fair lending, redlining, and discrimination should be a consideration in establishing eligibility for the formation of a financial holding company. Elimination of this provision rewards the lawbreakers and allows the guilty companies to have the same rights, the same privileges, the same benefits as the majority of companies which are law abiding. I am shocked. I do not want to believe that insurance companies, in the lushness of our booming economy, would resist the idea behind the legislation. As I said earlier, the goal of the legislation is modest. It only asks insurance companies to not be in violation of the Fair Housing Act. That they be fair in selling their policies. That the sale of an insurance policy should be a business Transaction, not a transaction that gives vent to prejudices, stereotypes as to who is and who is not worthy of being a customer by virtue of their residence. The Rules Committee has effectively blocked a formal, and democratically arrived-at decision to eliminate redlining. This blatant violation of our legislation process is outrageous and should be illegal. I ask my colleagues to vote against the rule and to support a motion to recommit.

Ms. LEE

Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) for yielding and for his consistent hard work on behalf of our consumers. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to support a reasonable financial services modernization bill and I worked very hard with my colleagues to include important consumer protections and privacy measures as this bill moved to the floor. Unfortunately, however, the Republicans refused to accept these amendments, and made matters worse by wiping out an adopted anti- redling provision to require the insurance industry to comply with the Fair Housing Act and not discriminate against the poor, minorities and people who live in neighborhoods redlined by the insurance industry. We have not allowed banks to discriminate. Why should we allow the insurance industry to discriminate? We did not adopt this amendment to stall this bill as one of my Republican colleagues accused me of earlier. We adopted this amendment to provide equal opportunity for all Americans. The Committee on Rules, by whatever unDemocratic means they used in a blatant, arrogant misuse of their power, deleted this important, agreed-upon amendment. This overt violation of the legislative process is outrageous and really should be illegal. It is an example of governmental lawlessness. Let us restore some integrity to this process and vote for this motion to recommit

Ms. LEE

Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) for yielding me this time, and also for her consistent leadership on behalf of America's families. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 1218. This bill, as we have heard, makes it a Federal crime for anyone, other than a parent or a guardian, to transport a minor across State lines. This is another attempt to limit the choices available to young people in crises. This bill closes doors rather than opens doors of opportunities for young people and their families, a general support system. Also, it closes the opportunity to consider possible options. Of course it makes sense for a child, a girl, to consult with her parents about something as momentous as sexual activity and the surprising pregnancy that sometimes follows. In States that have no mandatory parental involvement, 60 percent of the parents know about their daughters pregnancy. We could only wish that all parents had the trust of their children and that the remaining 40 percent could turn to their parents for counsel. However, we know that sadly not all children feel that they can safely turn to a parent, especially where sexual activity is concerned. Many young girls are being raised by their grandparents, their aunts and their uncles. Why should we criminalize extended family members or members of the clergy or a trusted adult when they try to help young women facing crisis pregnancies? Under this legislation, grandparents, aunts and uncles and members of the clergy could be prosecuted and jailed for traveling across State lines to obtain reproductive health services for young women. This is wrong. The fact is, many young girls do not have a mother or a father at home to talk to. Those who support this bill do not value extended families which so many girls are part of. Why do the supporters of this bill feel that it is right to discriminate against such a large number of young girls in this country? It is amazing to me that the majority of those speaking on behalf of this bill are men who really do not have the experience of a young girl's trauma. This legislation really does limit reasonable options. It would force young people in a period of turmoil, with the clock relentlessly ticking, to turn to illegal or self-induced abortions or to pretend or wish away their pregnancies with sometimes horrendous results, as we constantly learn from news reports. So I urge my colleagues not to legislate relationships, not to legislate personal behavior. Please vote against this Child Custody Protection Act. It is bad policy and it is discriminatory.

Ms. LEE

Ms. LEE. Madam Speaker, I have to speak out today on this issue because the first amendment means so much to me, and I want to thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt) for yielding me this time and for his hard work on this issue. As an African American woman, the right to free speech has allowed me to challenge the inequities in the society based on race, gender, age, sexual orientation and disabilities. The proposal to amend the first amendment's guarantee of free speech for the first time in the Constitution's history will have a chilling effect on those who fight for freedom and justice. Madam Speaker, this amendment will weaken one of our most fundamental rights. Our government cannot, must not, prohibit freedom of expression simply because it disagrees with its message. We condemn other countries for stifling dissent. We condemn the lack of freedom of speech. In fact, we impose blockades against countries which we believe crack down on citizens who oppose their own government. This Congress needs to stop its hypocrisy. I implore my colleagues not to be superficial and to stand for the freedom, yes, the liberty and the justice that the flag represents.

Ms. LEE

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Michigan for all his hard work and for allowing me this time. Over 70 percent of Democrats are in favor of what the Senate passed, yet 70 percent of the Republicans are opposed to what the Senate passed. Everyone knows the Republicans have played games with this process, playing a shell game with the Committee on Rules. This has really been a sham. This bill is going down unless we pass the Conyers-Campbell substitute to save our children from dying from gun violence.

Ms. LEE

Ms. LEE. Madam Speaker, I call to my colleagues' attention the importance of the Community Reinvestment Act, also known as CRA, which is incorporated within H.R. 10, generally described as the Financial Modernization Act. The House will be considering H.R. 10 in the next several weeks, and I bring to my colleagues' attention the importance of maintaining CRA provisions in H.R. 10, as well as ensuring the modernization of banking securities and insurance functions to include modernization of the Community Reinvestment Act. Madam Speaker, CRA has been an enormous success in the last two decades in raising and leveraging over $1 trillion in low-interest mortgage counseling for housing and small businesses in our underserved communities. However, the need for this kind of support continues and grows. There are over 5 million Americans in substandard housing, according to a 1998 HUD report which states: There has been a sharp increase in the number of working poor families needing housing assistance, with the total number jumping by 265,000, that is 24 percent, from 1991 to 1995. We have a housing crisis in this country. One way to meet this crisis is to maintain the CRA provisions in H.R. 10, which are in the Leach- LaFalce language, and also modernize CRA by supporting the Gutierrez amendment to H.R. 10.

Ms. LEE

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, let me just say first that the gun show bill we are considering today falls far short of what this Congress should be doing to protect America's children. This bill is really a sham, the NRA has shot so many loopholes in the Senate gun show language. Let me just list a few of them. First of all, it opens up a gun runner loophole. H.R. 2122 would only apply the definition at events where 10 or more vendors are selling guns and where 50 or more guns are sold, regardless of the amount of guns sold. This means that nine vendors could sell thousands of firearms at a gun show without being required to do any criminal background or age checks. It also opens up a ``Let's step outside'' loophole. The bill allows gun vendors to complete transactions of gun sales with no background checks if the seller and purchaser merely step outside of the curtilage of the gun show to make the deal. It also allows for a roving vendor loophole. This bill allows gun vendors at gun shows to sell firearms with no background checks if they are simply walking the premises. So please support the McCarthy-Roukema and the Conyers-Campbell amendment. Without these amendments, these loopholes will mean that criminals will get guns.

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the Dingell amendment, and to allowing criminals to buy guns at gun shows, and to guns being sold to children who end up dying each and every day from gun violence. Mr. Chairman, the American people were promised commonsense gun control. The American people expect us to take commonsense measures to prevent the sale of guns to the wrong people. However, Mr. Dingell's amendment will allow criminals to get guns. Of course we know that these guns end up in the hands of children. And then, what do we have--children in urban and now, suburban communities killing each other. And then, to add insult to injury, this Congress's response is to enhance sentences and try young people in the courts as adults rather than provide for measures to prevent juveniles from becoming violent in the first place through crime prevention measures as the Conyers Campbell substitute would have addressed. The emergency rooms in our hospitals and our mortuaries are filled with young people. For those of us who have witnessed the ambulances and heard the sirens around the clock, for those who feel the pain from the loss of their child to gun violence, please vote for the McCarthy- Roukema amendment and close this loophole which has caused the death of too many of our children. The Dingell amendment ensures that criminals will be able to buy guns.

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the McCarthy-Roukema amendment, the Conyers-Campbell amendment, and to stop the killing of our children.

Ms. LEE

Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize and honor Richard Umansky's service to children and their families in the East Bay and Northern California. Dr. Umansky is the Director of the Child Development Center of Children's Hospital Oakland and will be retiring at the end of June 1999 after 34 years of dedicated service. Dr. Umansky has dedicated his career to the provision of quality health care services for infants and children with developmental disabilities and for those with the risk of developmental disabilities. Throughout his 34 year career with Children's Hospital Oakland, Dr. Umansky has displayed strong and passionate leadership. His highlights include developing and realizing a vision of comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic services of the highest quality for the child with developmental disabilities; establishing and directing the Children's Hospital Oakland Child Development Center from 1965 to the present with the mission of providing diagnostic, treatment and prevention services for children with or at risk for disabilities, and their families; providing leadership in developing a wide range of service organizations for persons with disabilities, including the Regional Center of the East Bay; working collaboratively with community organizations to effectively link health care with other services for children with disabilities, such as the schools; training hundreds of health care providers, including physicians, public health nurses, NICU nurses, infant development specialists, therapists, nutritionists, psychologists and others; serving as a community and state advocate for improved services and funding for individual children and groups of children with disabilities; conducting and collaborating on basic and clinical research in the areas of child development, medication, behavioral therapies, and nutritional management of children with specific disorders. Dr. Umansky has made a positive and profound impact on the lives of many individuals and organizations in our community. His leadership skills and dedication will be sorely missed. I proudly join his many friends and colleagues in thanking and honoring him for his remarkable career with Children's Hospital Oakland and extending to him my best wishes on his upcoming retirement.

Ms. LEE

Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in honor today to salute Police Chief Joseph Samuels, Jr., the first African-American Chief of Police in the City of Oakland. Police Chief Samuels joined the Oakland Police Department in 1974 after working for a Finance Corporation as a Branch Manager. He rose through the ranks of the Police Department to the position of Captain where he spent three years in the Patrol Division. He later served in the investigative and support units of the Department. In October, 1991, he was appointed Chief of Police of the City of Fresno in California. He has continued his civic involvement and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Oakland Boys and Girls Club, the Oakland Jazz Alliance, the Alameda County Chapters of the American Cancer Society and the American Red Cross. During his tenure as Oakland's Chief of Police, part one felonies were reduced by 23.3%, homicides were reduced by 54.4% and violent crimes fell by 23.2%. Citizen complaints against Police Department personnel also decreased by 44% during Chief Samuels' tenure. Chief Samuels' other accomplishments include securing over $30 million in state and federal grants to expand the Department's personnel and community outreach. Chief Samuels also established nine citizen community oriented boards. Chief Samuels' professional affiliations include membership in the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Police Executive Research Forum, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the California Peace Officers Association, the California Police Chiefs Association, and the Alameda County Chiefs of Police and Sheriff's Association. Chief Samuels has made a positive and profound impact on the lives of many individuals and organizations throughout the City of Oakland and I know that the community is more safe as a consequence of his leadership. I proudly join his many friends and colleagues in thanking and saluting him on his years of service to the community and his commitment to law enforcement.

Ms. LEE

Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 75, and I want to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) and (Mr. Payne) for bringing this to not only the committee's attention but to the country's attention. The war in the Sudan is currently Africa's longest running Civil War. It is estimated that 2 million people have died as a result of this war. The Sudanese conflict has caused major famine and misery for the people of southern Sudan. This resolution condemns the National Islamic Front government for its genocidal war in southern Sudan and its support of terrorism and continued human rights violations. The State Department is called upon to increase the diplomatic pressure on the NIF government and to provide greater leadership by strengthening the Intergovernmental Authority Development process. The United States must take the moral high ground in addressing genocide throughout the world wherever it is occurring. The recent attention on the terror and the death and destruction in Yugoslavia causes many of us to question why there has been no attention and outrage over the 2 million people dying in the Sudan or over the 800,000 people who died in Rwanda. Mr. Speaker, during the hearings on this resolution we heard some very sobering testimony about the lack of our own country's response to this human tragedy. There is an abolitionist movement taking place in this country here in 1999. Imagine, an abolitionist movement to free the slaves of Sudan. How tragic it is that in 1999 there must be in the United States of America an abolitionist movement. But we need this movement to assist us to help the public become aware of the great contributions and discrepancies in our policies toward Africa. Mr. Speaker, I want to once again thank all of the leadership on this issue and hope that we get a unanimous aye vote for this resolution.

Ms. LEE

Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall, No. 204, H.R. 1400, the Bond Price Competition Improvement Act of 1999, I was unavoidably detained due to a late flight and poor weather conditions. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Ms. LEE

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Mrs. Mink).

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to express my opposition to this defense authorization bill. I believe that this budget is counterproductive to our domestic requirements and goes far beyond our national security needs. Today national defense consumes 48 percent of our discretionary budget. The proposed 2000 budget will consume 51 percent of the discretionary budget. American cities receive only 25 cents for every $1 that the Pentagon collects. That 25 cents must be spread thin to protect our environment, feed and house families, educate our children, provide health care for the elderly, and to fund other essential programs. We must also make sure that our courageous men and women serving in the armed services are adequately compensated for their very courageous duty. However, we must stop giving the Pentagon more money than it asks for or that it requires, to the detriment of our country's basic needs. I urge a ``no'' vote on this costly bill.

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks).

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I yield one minute to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), the ranking member of the Committee on Armed Services.

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott).

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Tauscher).

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt). (Mr. SPRATT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Guam (Mr. Underwood). (Mr. UNDERWOOD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez). (Mr. MENENDEZ asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. LEE

Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in celebration of the Sixtieth Anniversary of the establishment of the Cerebral Palsy Center for the Bay Area located in Oakland, California. The Cerebral Palsy Center for the Bay Area was founded in 1939, as the Spastic Children's Society of Alameda County (California), and was the first such organization in the country. The Society was renamed the Cerebral Palsy Children's Society of the East Bay and was instrumental in the passage of state legislation in 1941 that created the first comprehensive program of special classes, physical therapy and diagnostic services for children with cerebral palsy. The Center continues to pioneer services, assistive technology and software, to help people with developmental disabilities reach their highest potential, with the Computer Learning Center as its latest example. The Center leads in raising public awareness about cerebral palsy and other developmental disabilities and the rights and aspirations of individuals with such conditions. The Center has been sustained and enriched throughout its 60-year history through hundreds of volunteers who assist with numerous administrative tasks, maintain buildings and grounds, teach classes, provide job counseling and computer training, and coordinate special events and fundraisers. I join people throughout the Bay Area in recognizing this momentous occasion of celebrating 60 years of extraordinary service by The Cerebral Palsy Center of the Bay Area to people with developmental disabilities.

Ms. LEE

Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in honor today to salute Owen A. Marron on his achievement of being named the Unionist of the Year, 1999, by the Central Labor Council of Alameda County and acknowledge his accomplishments as he completes his career as the Central Labor Council's Executive Secretary-Treasurer. Mr. Marron has been a longtime leader in the U.S. labor movement, particularly in California. Mr. Marron was born in Buffalo, New York and grew up in Southern California. Upon completion of high school, he worked in the Kaiser steel mills in Fontana, California. When he joined the United Steel Workers Union, he became the fourth generation in his family to join. Following his discharge from the U.S. Army in Korea, Mr. Marron returned to the steel plant, soon becoming a grievance committeeman for his local. He later served his local as the recording secretary and Chairman of the Incentive Committee. In 1964, Marron left the steel mills to pursue a career in the labor movement in California by working as a representative for SEIU Locals 660, 616, and 700. In 1976, Marron became a delegate to the Central Labor Council of Alameda County and a labor representative of the State Council on Developmental Disabilities. In 1982, Marron was appointed to the Alameda County Central Labor Council's staff. During his career with the Labor Council, he served as Assistant to the Secretary and Executive Secretary-Treasurer. In addition, he was elected as Vice President of the California Labor Federation. Throughout his more than forty-year career in the labor movement, Marron has displayed strong and passionate leadership. His highlights include organizing over 150,000 trade unionists and their families in labor marches in 1982 and 1984; leading the historic Alameda County employees strike of 1976; mobilizing the entire Alameda County labor movement in a strike against Summit Hospital in 1992; and playing a pivotal role in bringing President Bill Clinton to the Alameda County Labor Day Picnic and South African President Nelson Mandela to visit Oakland. He has made a positive and profound impact on the lives of many individuals and organizations. His leadership skills and dedication will be sorely missed. I proudly join his many friends and colleagues in thanking and saluting him on receiving this prestigious award and extending my best wishes on his upcoming retirement. Marron will be honored as the Unionist of the Year in Oakland, California, on June 17, 1999.