Steven LaTourette

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 106) to correct the enrollment of H.R. 3525, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, on April 11, one of our area's most beloved citizens passed away--former Congressman J. William Stanton, who served in the House of Representatives from 1965 to 1982. I am honored to have known Bill Stanton, whom I considered a dear friend and mentor. In fact, I know that I would not be a Congressman today had it not been for his unparalleled guidance and support. Bill Stanton was born in Painesville in 1924, and was a longtime resident of my hometown, Madison. Bill was a graduate of Culver Military Academy, and was the institution's Man of the Year in 1994. He also was a graduate of Georgetown's School of Foreign Service. In addition, he was a proud veteran and was the Army's youngest commanding officer in the Pacific Theater during World War II--attaining the rank of captain at the age of 21. He returned from war with the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Star, and other decorations. When Bill came home, he ran a Lincoln-Mercury dealership, making him the youngest franchised dealer in Ford history in 1948 at the age of 24. He also had the distinction of giving legendary football coach Don Shula his very first job--selling cars. Don Shula and Bill Stanton remained lifelong friends. Bill got his political start in Lake County, and served as a Lake County Commissioner for 8 years starting in 1956. He often called those years the ``happiest time of his political career.'' He then proudly represented Madison and the former 11th Congressional District in Congress for 18 years, from 1964 to 1982. He served his district with great honor and distinction, and was an amazingly popular Congressman. In one election, he lost only five precincts in his entire district. Of course, it wasn't always such smooth sailing. When Bill was running for re-election after serving one term in Congress, he was campaigning down in Ravenna in Portage County, which then was part of the 11th district. Bill met an older woman at an event and introduced himself, saying: ``My name's Bill Stanton and I hope you'll vote for me in Congress.'' The woman looked at him and replied, ``I certainly will, young man. We've gotta get rid of that guy we've got there now.'' When Bill retired from Congress, he devoted his time to causes that were important to him. He became an advisor to the World Bank, a post he held until 1993, and he also served on the board of Bread for the World, an organization devoted to easing world hunger. In addition, he was on the Board of Regents of Catholic University. Bill's passing was unexpected and certainly too soon. Just a few weeks before his death, he returned home to attend an event where I was roasted to benefit the United Way. I was thrilled to see Bill, and was so honored that he'd traveled so far to be with me on that special night. I also am pleased that a few years ago we were able to dedicate the Old Camp Isaac Jogues in Madison and rename it in Bill's honor. The Madison park was always loved by Bill Stanton, and his family had ties to it. Bill's father, Frank built the chapel that still stands at the park. Bill Stanton was a great man and a great friend, and I miss him greatly. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Peggy Smeeton Stanton, his daughter, Kelly Fordon of Grosse Pointe, MI, and his three grandchildren--Jack, Charles, and Megan.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Chairman, in an earlier colloquy today on transportation spending, I understood a couple of things. One is that although the budget provides for $1.8 billion in outlays, I understood the colloquy to indicate that if the Committee on Appropriations only wanted to appropriate $23 billion for 2003, and not the $27 billion, a little over $27 billion, we on the Committee on Transportation and the Infrastructure expected. Secondly, I would query the chairman about the firewalls. I understand in the budget resolution we cannot construct firewalls to protect the TEA-21 dollars, and I am wondering where that will come and what the commitment is. Thirdly, today the Senate marked up their budget and provided for an additional $5.7 billion of Federal highway spending in 2003. I would solicit an opinion from the chairman.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, the 2000 census has just recently concluded, a census where a highly successful advertising campaign, coupled with a partnership effort of more than 140,000 government and private organizations at the State and local levels led to the most accurate census in our Nation's history, as my good friend from Missouri just indicated. The employees at the Census Bureau are to be commended for a job well done. Their tireless effort under difficult conditions will not soon be forgotten, and the importance of the census and the Census Bureau as we help celebrate through this meaningful resolution today their achievements, I think, has been pretty well punctuated, as our friend, the gentlewoman from Illinois, and the gentleman from California seem to find many, many nexuses on many, many issues of concern to them that directly bring us back to the census. So the Census Bureau should indeed be pleased that they provided so much information and so much fodder to so many to say so many things. I want to thank the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) for his support on this important resolution. I am proud to bring H. Con. Res. 339 before the House in honor of the dedicated and hard-working men and women throughout the history of the Census Bureau and the historic contribution made to our Nation.

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

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 339) expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the Bureau of the Census on the 100th anniversary of its establishment.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the United States Census Bureau. Last week the Census Bureau celebrated its centennial birthday, 100 years of invaluable service to America. Our Constitution requires us to conduct our census, an actual enumeration, every 10 years. I quote: ``The actual enumeration shall be made within 3 years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of 10 years, in such a manner as they shall by law direct.'' The conduct of the census for the apportionment of Congress is almost as old as the birth of our Nation. In 1790, Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State under George Washington, directed the efforts of the U.S. marshals who would serve as enumerators until the 1880 census. Mr. Speaker, the census was never easy to conduct. Suspicious residents were not the only difficulty encountered by our Nation during a census. Census forms from Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey and Tennessee were destroyed by the British when they burned the Capitol during the War of 1812. Throughout our history, censuses have been used to mark significant achievements and milestones in our Nation's history. The 1860 census would show New York as surpassing the 1 million mark in that great city's population. In 1864, General Sherman would use published information on population and agriculture in his war-planning efforts. President Lincoln remarked on the importance of the population information saying: ``If we could first know where we are and wither we are tending, we could better judge what to do and how to do it.'' And one of my favorite Presidents, President Garfield, said: ``The census is indispensable to modern statesmanship.'' Mr. Speaker, 1878 would mark the first publication of the Statistical Abstract of the United States. Today, with more than 1,500 tables, the Abstract is the Census Bureau's oldest and most popular reference product. The 1890 census marked the first use of the punch card and mechanical tabulating equipment. The 1890 census would also mark the end of the frontier in the United States. Census analysts wrote: ``Up to and including the 1880 census, the country had a frontier. At present the unsettled area has been so broken into isolated bodies of settlement that there can hardly be said to be a frontier line.'' Mr. Speaker, in 1902 a permanent census office was established in the Department of the Interior and in 1903 the census office became the Census Bureau in the new Department of Commerce and Labor. The 1910 census included for the first time a census of manufacturers. The 1910 census would also have President Taft issuing the first-ever census proclamation. In 1915, the U.S. population would reach 100 million and the Census Bureau would conduct its first special enumeration for a local government in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1942, the Census Bureau moved to its current location in Suitland, Maryland, which is named after Colonel Samuel Taylor Suit, a Maryland legislator, businessman and agriculturist who first owned the land. Even the reason for the Census Bureau relocating to Suitland is representative of the bureau's devotion to our Nation. During World War II, one of the many new Federal agencies created to aid in the war effort was the Office of Price Administration, or the OPA. Because of its war-related mission, the OPA director believed his office needed to be near the Capitol. As a cooperative and patriotic gesture, the Census Bureau's director, J.C. Capt, volunteered to move the Census Bureau to Suitland, Maryland, so that OPA could be closer to Congress during the war. Mr. Speaker, the Census Bureau does not simply conduct our decennial census every 10 years. In fact, the Census Bureau conducts more than 350 surveys every year and issues more than 1,000 data reports. One of the most important surveys is the economic census, which traces its beginning back to 1810. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says of the economic census: ``The economic census is indispensable to understanding the American economy. It assures the accuracy of the statistics we rely on for sound economic policy and for successful business planning.'' The Census Bureau has a longstanding commitment of service to our Nation. Representative of this commitment to excellence, one of the Census Bureau's employees, through a labor of love, managed to capture the history and spirit of our Nation's census history in a census quilt. From a distance, this work of art appears to be just a quilt, but it is not. It is the story of the U.S. Census Bureau and the role that it has played ``from inkwell to Internet'' to chronicle our Nation's past and illuminate the future. At the center of the story is the Census Bureau seal surrounded by 100 compass points, one for each year of its existence as an organization. At each major directional compass point is a 10-pointed star, created from two five-pointed stars. These represent the population censuses that the Census Bureau conducts every 10 years and the economic censuses conducted every 5 years. The story begins at the lower left corner and moves clockwise. The years before 1902 are depicted by the constitutional mandate and the original 13 colonies, and the Nation's expanding industry, trade and transportation. The story continues with a snapshot of the rich history of the 20th century as the country and cities grow, technology is integrated into our work and society, and the diversity of our people enriches our Nation. Carol Pendleton Briggs, a Census Bureau employee for 12 years, created this work of art to commemorate the centennial. She has created a skillful and moving representation of the Census Bureau's place in American history and its important work as an organization to chronicle the past and illuminate the future. She deserves much praise for such a wonderful work of art. The quilt is on display at the Census Bureau and hopefully will be displayed here sometime soon. Mr. Speaker, H. Con. Res. 339 is an important recognition of the vital contribution of the U.S. Census Bureau. I urge my colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H. Con. Res. 339.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, this is a good piece of legislation. I know that the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Lewis) wanted to be here to speak on this bill. I again, for the purposes of the Record, one of the county's names that escapes me, but I know that every time I saw the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Lewis) he wanted Edmondson County, Edmondson County, Edmondson County included in this piece of legislation. It is included in this legislation thanks to his efforts, and the folks in Edmondson County should be thankful for his endeavors. With that, I urge passage of the bill.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 1206, the measure that we are considering at present.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, we are back here today to consider legislation that reauthorizes the Appalachian Regional Commission. On August 2 of last year, the House unanimously passed H.R. 2501, the Appalachian Regional Development Reauthorization Act of 2001. The legislation we are considering today, S. 1206, is very similar to the previously passed House bill with a few minor exceptions. Both the House and the Senate legislation recognize the diligent efforts of the Appalachian Regional Commission to implement reforms required by the 1998 reauthorization that authorized the commission for 5 years. The Appalachian Regional Commission includes 406 counties in 13 States; 117 of those counties are considered to be distressed under ARC's definition of economic conditions. This means the 117 counties have a 3-year unemployment rate of at least 150 percent of the national average, a per capita market income of no more than two-thirds the national average, and a poverty rate of at least 150 percent of the national rate. Historically, the Appalachian region has faced high levels of poverty and economic distress resulting from geographic isolation and inadequate infrastructure. Since 1965, through its unique Federal, State, local and private partnerships, the ARC has worked to improve economic and living conditions through area-development programs. ARC funds are directed to locally developed projects that address basic water and sewer infrastructure needs, business and entrepreneurial development, education and workforce training, and improved health. These programs provide technical assistance and capacity-building as well as improving telecommunications and information technology to foster sustainable economic development. ARC's assistance continues to be a crucial part of the region's economy and has enabled it to adjust to the elimination of major industries by identifying alternatives to provide jobs and attract outside investment. Like the previously passed House bill, S. 1206 assists ARC in completing its important mission by requiring 50 percent of ARC project funds go to distressed counties and areas by creating a council to coordinate Federal economic development assistance in the region by assisting affordable access to technology and telecommunications through a new program initiative and by lowering the administrative costs for local development districts that include a distressed county. The committee has worked very closely with the administration and the other body to produce a bipartisan and widely supported bill. On that note, Madam Speaker, I want to extend personal thanks to Senator Voinovich of Ohio and his staff in the other body for working with us as we attempted to resolve the differences between the House- passed bill and the Senate bill that we are considering today. I am happy to say that the passage of S. 1206 today will clear the measure to be sent to the President for his signature. I support the bill. I do want to commend and thank the leadership of our full committee, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young); and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), the ranking member; also the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Costello), who is not with us today but an outstanding ranking member of our subcommittee. We are honored to have our friend, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Holden) with us today. On the majority side, there are two Members who really contributed mightily to the effort as this bill moved through the House and now as we consider the Senate bill: first, a new member of our committee and our subcommittee, the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito), who came to me very early in her term and early in this session of Congress and indicated that the reauthorization of the Appalachian Regional Commission was one of her top, if not her top, legislative priority in this Congress. She has been instrumental in making sure that this bill has gotten to where it is today. I want to publicly thank her. Also to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Lewis), who had additional counties that he sought to have represented by ARC, and he was like the proverbial tick on a dog making sure that that language withstood the discussions between the House and the Senate, and today S. 1206 bears the fruit of the gentleman's endeavors, and we are appreciative of his work as well. Madam Speaker, I urge support of the legislation. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 1206) to reauthorize the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965, and for other purposes.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield as much time as she might consume to the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito), who was instrumental in crafting this legislation.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would notify the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Clement) that I am sorry that I missed their performance on the Grand Old Opry; maybe on the return trip.

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

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Many years ago, Mr. Speaker, Chatham County, Georgia, donated approximately 12 acres of land on Hutchinson Island to the Federal Government so that the Corps of Engineers could build the Savannah River Tide Gate Structure. That project was closed in 1991 and the operational gates were removed. As a result, according to the Corps of Engineers, the Federal Government no longer needs this property. Chatham County now would like to have this excess land returned to them so it could be used as part of an economic development project and a public recreational park. Without this legislation, the government has to follow a lengthy process for disposing of the property. This bill allows the property to go back to the county that gave up the land in the first place and will expedite an important local project that will benefit the public. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston), the author of the bill and, presumably, from Chatham County, Georgia, to explain it to us further.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3282) to designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 400 North Main Street in Butte, Montana, as the ``Mike Mansfield Federal Building and United States Courthouse.''

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Camp), one of the authors of this fine piece of legislation.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Initially, I want to thank two fine Members that we will hear from later, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Camp) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak), for bringing this matter to our attention. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3370 is a bill that allows certain property conveyed to the Traverse City Public Schools in Traverse City, Michigan, to be used by a public or private nonprofit entity for an educational or recreational purpose. Under the 1996 language that transferred the property to the Traverse City School District, the property reverts to the Federal Government if it is not used by the school district. The local YMCA has developed a plan to improve the property and construct a three-pool swimming facility on part of the property. The school district would then use the new fields and facility and the Coast Guard will be able to use the pool for winter training and rescue swimmers. Without the amendments made by H.R. 3370, this worthwhile project would not be able to proceed. For this reason, I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. General Leave

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3370) to amend the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1996 to modify the reversionary interest of the United States in a parcel of property conveyed to the Traverse City Area School District in Traverse City, Michigan.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time just to indicate to the gentleman from Tennessee that I very much appreciate his kind remarks. He has been someone that I have looked up to in the 7 years that I have been in Congress, and I would be remiss if I did not make mention of the fact that he apparently has used his weekend wisely and he is sporting a new hairdo and is even more dapper than he was last week. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bills H.R. 3282, H.R. 2595, H. Con. Res. 259, H.R. 10, H.R. 3441, H.R. 3442, and H.R. 3370, the legislation just considered.