Robert Matsui

Mr. MATSUI

Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Gibbons] for yielding this time to me. [Mr. Gibbons] is trying to do on this motion to recommit. Let me just respond, if I may, to a few of the points that were being made from the other side of the aisle. First of all, this is not precipitous action. This was in the original President's budget in February of this year. We held extensive hearings on the entire administrative budget, so this did not come up just last Friday or last Monday. Second, Steve Shay, who also testified; he was the international tax counsel for the Reagan administration at the State Department; he supports this proposal, and he says this was under deliberation under President Reagan, when Reagan was President. So, this is an issue that was vetted, talked about, and has been constantly discussed within the administration for years and years, so this is not a new proposal. Also, in terms of the renegotiation of treaties, as my colleagues know, a lot of people bring those issues up, and we find ourselves caught in a bind. We do not want to argue the issue substantively; we want to argue technical issues. The best way to get a foreign country to renegotiate with us is by passing a law. We need to pass this law, and then every country will start negotiating, just as Canada did, just as Germany did, just as these other countries did as well. I say to my colleagues, ``So, you don't start negotiating before we actually pass a law. You pass a law, and then you start negotiating. That's what USTR has been doing recently as well.'' The Jackson-Vanik issue: We have Steve Shays, former Reagan administration official, as I said, who testified. He said there was no Jackson-Vanik or human rights issue. We have a Harvard professor who testified and sent a letter-- Professor Bats at Harvard--that says there is no human rights issue, and I cannot understand how Members would at all think that this proposal that is supported by Bob Dole, Tom Daschle, Bill Bradley, the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Gibbons, has anything to do with Jackson- Vanik. I mean it is just not at all common sense to think this has anything to do with Jackson-Vanik, particularly since 12 other countries that we are aware of have similar proposals, some of which are more stringent than the one we have under entertainment. Let me just conclude by making one further observation about this human rights issue because I think it is very interesting that the opposition is bringing it up. Before this even kicks in we have to have about 5 million dollars' worth of assets. We are talking about couples who have $1.2 million of capital gains. I mean it does not even kick in until they go beyond a couple beyond $1.2 million of capital gains treatment. Most of those people end up going to the Caribbean countries by the way. They are not trying to emigrate to England or some other countries that have democracy like we have, so we are not really talking about human rights. We are not talking about Jackson-Vanik in this situation. I think we should really be realistic about this----

Mr. MATSUI. I mentioned Finland which requires the citizen to be deemed, who renounces citizenship to be deemed, a citizen for 5 years beyond the time he renounces his citizenship. I mentioned Germany which says that, if this individual is a citizen of our country, of their country for 10 years, it is a 25 percent tax on assets----

Mr. MATSUI. I just mentioned two.

Mr. MATSUI. As my colleague knows, if one wants to say this is more punitive than a 25-percent tax on one's assets from Germany if they are a citizen for 10 years, I guess it depends upon how one looks at it, but I think that is a pretty punitive tax.

Mr. MATSUI

Mr. MATSUI. I thank the ranking member for this time. You know, it is very interesting. I heard during the debate on the rule the gentleman from Delaware [Mr. Castle] say there is really not much difference between the different bills we have before us. Second, he also said that this is just the first step of the legislative process so that any imperfections or flaws could be changed as we move along. I might just have to make a couple of observations. First of all, there is a big difference between what the Democrats are proposing and what the Republicans are proposing. For example, on the issue of work, the Republican proposal, all they do is provide the same amount of resources currently existing in the system, they block grant it, send it to the States with very few restrictions or very few standards. Well, how are you going to get people to work? We all know that in order to create jobs, in order to create people in the work force, you have to provide job training, you have to provide education, you have to provide day care and even transportation, because most of these people on welfare do not have cars. So you have to provide them bus tokens. The Republican bill does not provide any of that. Nevertheless they expect within 7 years to get 50 percent of the American people on welfare off of welfare to jobs. We know that is not going to happen. In fact, the reason the Republicans are making that proposal without any additional resources is because in 2 or 3 weeks on the floor of the House of Representatives we are going to be debating a tax bill. That tax bill will cut taxes by $188 billion over 5 years, or $640 billion over 10 years. Bear in mind this is not going to go to the middle class. In fact, the top 1 percent of the taxpayers in America will get 20 percent of that tax cut, and those that make over $100,000 a year will get 58 percent of that $640 billion tax cut. So this is not a program to move people from dependency to independence, from welfare to work,; this is a program basically to give tax cuts to the very wealthy. We knew they were going to do that when they took power on November 8, and they are doing it now. The American public should begin to realize that. I might just conclude by making one final observation. We have a safety net in America. When a child is in an abused family, we put him either in foster care or provide adoption services to him. The Republicans are going to eliminate that program and block grant it. Those standards to the States--and you know the reason we had to do this in the first place was, in 1980, 1980, the States were doing such a terrible job with these children that we had to take over and set forth national standards. In fact, standards--little things, what they would call additional paperwork, things like providing medical records for the child when the child moves from one foster care family to another, or maybe the child's educational records. That is what we are really talking about here. That is why this bill is mean-spirited and that is why this bill should not pass.

Mr. MATSUI

Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from California [Mr. Fazio] and I rise today to pay tribute to Mr. William Meehan, a native California who has devoted his professional career to the preservation and growth of labor's health in this great State. In the many years Mr. Meehan has been a major force in the labor realm, both of our offices have relied on his expertise and counsel. We join with the scores of colleagues to salute the outstanding leadership you have given to the Sacramento-Sierra's Building and Construction Trades Council and to the Sacramento Central Labor Council. In an era of shrinking resources, Mr. Meehan has been one of Sacramento's great defenders, ensuring jobs for thousands of men and women throughout the region. Not only has Mr. Meehan been an outstanding defender of the labor force, but we would be remiss in not commending his steadfast support of this entire community. The list of political, charitable, and labor related organizations with which he has aligned himself reflects the great characters all leaders strive to achieve. An abbreviated list of organizations who are indebted to his leadership and hard work include the Greater Sacramento Area Plan, Labor and Business Alliance, Sacramento Water Intelligently Managed, Private Industry Council, Auburn Dam Council, Friends of Light Rail, American Red Cross, Sacramento Employment Training Agency, Harps, National Toxics Coalition, United Way, Hundred Dollar Club, Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and the Sacramento Fire Board. Truly, Sacramento is a better place to work and live thanks to what we hope is only the first half to Mr. Meehan's career. As he begins to undertake his latest challenge for the Painter's International, we ask our colleagues to join us in wishing him continued happiness and success.

Mr. MATSUI

Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to two Sacramento community assets: Cosumnes River College and the man who has led the college's remarkable growth and success, president Marc E. Hall. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Cosumnes River College and the end of Dr. Hall's tenure as president. Cosumnes River College opened in 1970, in a storefront in south Sacramento. In the beginning, student enrollment was slightly over 2,000 and in the 25 years which have passed, the college has attracted an average semester enrollment of 9,000 students at their main campus alone. Since its first year, the college has served more than 152,000 students, illustrating a growth which has necessitated the college's newly expanded El Dorado Center and the Folsom Lake Center. During the last 25 years, the college's curriculum has expanded and contracted to reflect the region's job and economic markets. A statewide leader in partnerships, CRC has joined with other educational institutions and business and industry leaders such as Ford Motor Co., Sacramento Educational Cable Commission, PacWest Cable, Citizens Telecommunication and several allied health agencies, all in an effort to bring quality education to the region's students. With the benefit of strong leadership, the college has become an active participant in community affairs and has led a movement in establishing educational goals for its service area. An example of the college's success is the foodservice production and control program to the area in the 1989-90 school year. The program includes a special cooperative effort with the Sacramento Area Community Kitchen, training unemployed workers for careers in the foodservice industry while simultaneously preparing nutritious meals for the area's homeless shelters. This cooperative effort took 80 percent of the students enrolled in this special food preparation course off the public assistance rolls and put them to work in a variety of jobs. The college has implemented many other partnership programs, reflecting a model approach to serving both students, workers and employers in this region. Three of the four presidents of CRC are still active in the local education and business communities. Oliver Durand, founding president, Vincent ``Pete'' Padilla, emeritus and Dr. Marc E. Hall, current president. All three were recently recognized by the college's foundation for their excellent leadership and commitment to education. Dr. Hall, has chosen to close his tenure as president in June of this year and will return to the scene of his first love, the classroom. He will be sorely missed by the staff and the students who followed his leadership through the shared governance process, during one of the community's largest growth periods. I ask my colleagues to join me in saluting the outstanding contributions Cosumnes River College has made to the region and also in thanking Dr. Hall for his remarkable leadership.

Mr. MATSUI

Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, we rise today to pay tribute to Mr. William Meehan, a native Californian who has devoted his professional career to the preservation and growth of labor's health in this great State. In the many years Mr. Meehan has been a major force in the labor realm, both of our offices have relied on his expertise and counsel. We join with the scores of colleagues who salute the outstanding leadership you have given to the Sacramento-Sierra's Building and Construction Trades Council and to the Sacramento Central Labor Council. In an era of shrinking resources, Mr. Meehan has been one of Sacramento's great defenders, ensuring jobs for thousands of men and women throughout the region. Not only has Mr. Meehan been an outstanding defender of the labor force, but we would be remiss in not commending his steadfast support of this entire community. The list of political, charitable, and labor related organizations with which he has aligned himself reflects the great character all leaders strive to achieve. An abbreviated list of organizations who are indebted to his leadership and hard work include the Greater Sacramento Area Plan, Labor and Business Alliance, Sacramento Water Intelligently Managed, Private Industry Council, Auburn Dam Council, Friends of Light Rail, American Red Cross, Sacramento Employment Training Agency, Harps, National Toxics Coalition, United Way, Hundred Dollar Club, Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and the Sacramento Fire Board. Truly, Sacramento is a better place to work and live thanks to what we hope is only the first half of Mr. Meehan's career. As he begins to undertake his latest challenge for the Painter's International, we ask our colleagues to join us in wishing him continued happiness and success.