Cynthia McKinney

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, as a mother and a woman of conscience, I am concerned about U.S. transfers of arms around the world and the impact that those transfers will have 10-15 years down the road, particularly on my son and the other young people of America. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express concern about portions of H.R. 3121 that would reduce congressional oversight on arms sales to foreign countries. Current law governing congressional oversight of arms sales is already feeble--this bill only makes a bad situation worse. On numerous occasions, our soldiers have been sent into war situations where they have had to face hostile forces armed with American supplied weapons. I am sure everyone recalls Panama, Iraq, Somalia, and Haiti where our fighting men and women were sniped at and killed by weapons we supplied to those countries before they turned belligerent. Mr. Speaker, while there are provisions in this bill which I strongly support--such as Narcotics control, refugee assistance, and POW/MIA recovery efforts--I cannot in good conscience allow this bill to breeze through this body without careful deliberation. Every year, the weapons we sell overseas are used against innocent civilians, refugees, political dissidents, and, yes, American soldiers. As the legislative branch, we have the right and responsibility to oversee the transfer of weapons to foreign governments. This does not mean we cannot supply our allies with the tools to defend themselves, it simply means that we should provide a sobering second thought when the administration is about approve the transfer of lethal American weapons into the hands of foreign governments. This bill, Mr. Speaker, would increase the threshold at which Congress must be notified for arms sales, from $200 to $300 million. That means the administration would be able to sell $100 million more in guns overseas before Congress must be notified. Moreover, the bill authorizes the resumption of international military and education training for the Government of Indonesia. Mr. Speaker, it is well known that Indonesia has an atrocious human rights record, especially with regards to the people of East Timor. For those of my colleagues who aren't aware, the people of East Timor have been subjected to near-genocide, simply because of their opposition to the multinational mining interests who want to expropriate their minerals. Mr. Speaker, measures such as these should not be dealt with so lightly under the suspension calendar, and Congress should not be so willing to hand over its limited oversight authority to the administration. While I want to support the good measures in this bill Mr. Speaker, I am afraid that my conscience will not let me vote for a bill that will reduce congressional oversight with respect to the sale of weapons. Moreover, I cannot support a bill which will authorizes the use of American tax dollars to train the repressive military of Indonesia. As a mother and as a woman of conscience, I urge my colleagues to oppose this regrettably tainted bill.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, Earth Day will soon be upon us, and under instructions from the Republican National Committee, members from the other side of the aisle will be planting trees in an effort to clean up their well-deserved antienvironmental image. The American people know, however, that the only thing green about the Republican Party is the color of the campaign dollars they receive from big-name polluters. It is no coincidence, Mr. Speaker, that the Republican majority is still trying to pass legislation to allow oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. GOP coffers have been pumped full of money from the oil and gas industries. You see, the process is simple: Pump greenbacks into Republican coffers, then pump oil and gas out of fragile ecosystems. So this coming Earth Day when you see your Republican Member of Congress planting a tree, just think of how scenic the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be with oil wells dotting the landscape.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this Republican publicity stunt, masquerading as public policy. We are having a hard enough time as it is, trying to scale back some of the special interest tax breaks in our tax code with just a simple majority vote. If adopted, however, this constitutional amendment would make it virtually impossible to reduce corporate welfare. What will this mean for middle- class families? It will mean that Social Security, Medicare, education, and the environment will all be on the chopping block, while corporate tax subsidies are forever locked in place because of a two-thirds vote requirement in the Constitution. Mr. Speaker, this amendment is designed to allow tax increases on middle-class families just as long as those increases are offset by tax cuts for the wealthy. Is that not convenient? Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to defeat this tax day publicity stunt.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker, this Congress has a historic opportunity to pass limited, but meaningful health insurance reform. Just an hour from now, however, we'll begin to debate a bill specifically constructed by the Republican leadership to sabotage any meaningful reform this Congress. Rather than supporting the bipartisan Kennedy-Kassebaum-Roukema bill, the G.O.P. House leaders insist on pushing their own bill which contains controversial provisions like medical savings accounts. And why medical savings accounts? Just follow the money. The Golden Rule Insurance Co. has given more than $1.4 million to the G.O.P. and, coincidentally, Golden Rule just happens to be the premier company peddling medical savings accounts. Mr. Speaker, the old saying is true: He who has the gold, rules. And while the American people want serious health insurance reform, all they are getting from the G.O.P. is cash-and-carry government.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, last Friday was political payday for the NRA with a vote to repeal the assault weapons ban. Yesterday was political payday for the antichoice crowd with a vote to ban an extremely rare abortion procedure. And today, Mr. Speaker, is political payday for the Golden Rule Insurance Co. and its medical savings account scheme. Today we will vote on a health insurance reform bill which includes medical savings accounts, at a cost of $2 billion to taxpayers. It is no coincidence, however, that the Golden Rule Insurance Co. has given more than $14 million to Republicans. This chart, Mr. Speaker, demonstrates how a few large, well-placed contributions to the GOP resulted in today's vote on medical savings accounts. Mr. Speaker, the old saying is true: He who has the gold, rules. And while the American people want serious health insurance reform, all they are getting from the GOP is cash-and-carry government.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, on Friday this House voted to repeal the assault weapons ban as a payoff to the NRA. Today we are voting to ban a rare but sometimes medically necessary procedure as a payoff to certain right-wing elements within the Republican party. Mr. Speaker, we need to be honest with each other. Anti-choice forces see this ban as the first step toward ending a woman's right to choose in America. As far as the anti-choice forces are concerned, there is no difference between the procedure we are debating today and abortions in the cases of rape and incest. Yet these same radicals believe that properly manipulated, this late- term procedure can be the wedge issue to divide the overwhelmingly pro- choice American public. Today, it is this procedure. Tomorrow, it is family planning. Mr. Speaker, no one in this body likes this procedure. And, yes, it is unpleasant. But this rarely used medical procedure remains necessary to ensure that women who must have an abortion are still able to bear children afterwards.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Thank you very much. I certainly want to commend you for the role that you play in terms of being a role model for the newer Members and for people like me who have long looked up to you and now find myself working right next to you. I just want to say thank you for your leadership. I have got some posters that I think punctuate what you have said. Here I have a chart that shows how from 1979 to 1995 the wages of men have decreased. The wages of women increased, and then began to decrease. The gap that was closing between men and women was basically because the wages of men were dropping. Then, of course, as you have pointed out, the income gap. We have not seen the kind of income gap that we are experiencing now since the days just prior to the Great Depression. Here we see that the top 25 percent receive more than 95 percent of the income growth. The other 75 percent of Americans receive less than 5 percent of the income growth. Meanwhile, the top 5 percent of American families got more than 40 percent of America's growth. Just as you so correctly pointed out about the impact that the President's policies have had on the deficit, the decrease in the deficit, and Wall Street, Wall Street sizzles, and Main Street fizzles. I have another chart. Again, as you so correctly point out, the subsidies, the social safety net that we have painstakingly constructed or woven, is there because there are some corporations that are getting away with not paying their fair share. Certainly they are not paying their workers what they are worth. What we have seen here just in terms of the corporate income tax is that corporate income taxes have gone down, and, of course, individual income taxes have had to take up the slack. In the previous special order we had one of our colleagues discussing about the diet that he was on, trying to lose 50 pounds, and he was going to lose 2 pounds and then save the other 48 pounds for the last 2 days of the diet. Well, I think that is about the way the Republicans have run this ship of state, because they in their budget put off the hard decisions until the out years. But the Progressive Caucus has come up with a budget plan that does not put off the hard decisions into the off years. It goes right in by cutting defense spending and cutting corporate welfare. We demonstrate that you can have a downward trend, a steady downward decline in the deficit, if you make the hard choices, and you make them early. So basically I would just say that when the economy is bad, nothing else is good. The work that you have put together with the legislation will improve the lives of working women all over this country. I come from a family where my mother worked. She worked for 40 years at Grady Memorial Hospital as a nurse. I am a single female head of household, and I am a working woman. I suspect that if my son grows up and marries, as I suspect that he will, he will also marry a working woman. We just want to make sure that the leadership of this country is aware and sensitive of the needs of working women, and that is what your legislation provides for. I would also say, as the only one in the Georgia delegation, that after we were elected, we had women come to our office for issues that ranged from access to credit, to child support enforcement, to sexual harassment, and even something as simple as a role model who showed to them that, yes, it could be done. So just as we plead with our colleagues to make sure that the plight of working women is not forgotten, we plead for ourselves, and I commend you for your legislation and the work that you do as a role model for the rest of us.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, 10 days from now, the State of Georgia could begin laying off teachers due to Republican cuts to title I education funding. According to the Republicans, these cuts are necessary to balance the budget. Mr. Speaker, I have a hard time believing that. Especially when those same Republicans increased military spending by $7 billion for pork-barrel projects the Pentagon didn't ask for. Moreover, Mr. Speaker, today's budget impasse is a direct result of Republicans insisting on $177 billion in tax breaks skewed to the wealthy. It's no wonder Congress' approval raring is so low. I suppose, Mr. Speaker, the GOP plans to deal with declining geography test-scores by reducing school funding, so we can buy the bombs necessary to eliminate the countries our children can't find on a map anyway. I guess that's one way of boosting geography test scores.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, we knew it was coming, and now the payoff to the NRA has finally arrived. It is common knowledge that the NRA pumped $1.4 million into supporting extremist candidates. As a result, Speaker Gingrich now has the votes to advance the NRA agenda. Mr. Speaker, this vote is a shame for this House. This vote, Mr. Speaker, amounts to nothing more than a big payback. No wonder Congress' approval rating has sunk so low.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, in this era of corporate downsizing and mass layoffs, working families have to fear, not only losing their jobs, but also their health insurance. To allay this fear, 53 Senators have cosponsored the bipartisan, Kennedy-Kassebaum health care reform bill which is likely to pass in the Senate. Here in the House, Mr. Speaker, 186 Members--from both parties--have cosponsored a similar health care reform bill sponsored by Republican Congresswoman Marge Roukema. Fearing broad bipartisan support for health care reform, however, the ninjas in the Republican leadership have begun their clever sabotage of the only real chance that health care reform has in this Congress. Rather than supporting the Roukema bill, they are pushing their own bill which they know the President will have to veto. Sadly, Mr. Speaker, I am sure the insurance industry is standing by to handsomely reward this sabotage.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, in their infinite wisdom, House Republican leaders are once again pushing the Government of the United States to the brink of another Government shutdown. The reason this time is their insistence on cuts to education and the environment. These cuts are so egregious, however, that even the Republican Senate voted 84 to 16 in favor of a Democratic amendment restoring education and job training funds. Mr. Speaker, in this changing economy, the last thing we should be doing is cutting funds for programs that will help our children compete against highly educated workers in Germany and Japan. This Congress, Mr. Speaker, should be concentrating on how to give the American middle class a raise and a decent education, not a Republican-sponsored wedgy.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Cato Institute issued this news release which said, ``huge amounts in corporate welfare remain untouched.'' Now, everyone in Washington knows that the Cato Institute is the furthest thing from a liberal think tank. Yet, even they understand that the corporate welfare state is about the only thing that is not being cut in order to balance the budget. In fact, the Republican majority wants to cut Pell grants for 280,000 students while preserving subsidies for companies like McDonald's and Campbell's soup to advertise overseas. That Mr. Speaker, is a perverse set of priorities. In this changing economy when workers are being axed in favor of cheap labor overseas or worker-replacing technologies, the last thing we should be doing is undermining educational opportunities of our future work force. Mr. Speaker, the Republican majority needs to understand that what is good for our children's education, is good for America.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, who made that determination that the debate on this privileged resolution would be limited?

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, is it not true that there is probably a rule in the rule book for anything trying to obstruct what we are trying to do over here?

Ms. McKINNEY. Is that not true, Mr. Speaker?

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to a betrayal of Benedict Arnold proportions. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported today that the Democratic leadership in the State of Georgia--that is, the vanguard of the Dixiecrats--is actively recruiting people of the right skin color to challenge our colleague and two-term Democratic Member of Congress, Sanford Bishop. I want to say that again. The leadership of our party in the State of Georgia is recruiting white primary opponents to unseat a sitting Member of Congress of the same party. And why? Only because Sanford Bishop is black. Georgia Democratic House Speaker Tom Murphy is reported to have said that he would support the candidacy of Ray Goff who happens to be white. In fact, Murphy is willing to support Goff against Bishop even though Goff has not declared whether he is a Democrat or Republican. How's that for party loyalty, Mr. Speaker? Once again Tom Murphy and his fellow dinosaurs have demonstrated that black Democrats are no more than spare parts for their whites-only party machine.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, last night President Clinton reached out to the Republican leadership, asking them to join him in balancing the budget, and to leave the policy fights until the election. However, the GOP is so obsessed with giving a tax cut to their wealthy contributors that they cannot agree with the President's proposal to balance the budget in 7 years using CBO numbers. Mr. Speaker, this just proves that the Republican budget is just the vehicle by which they deliver their tax breaks to Wall Street. The President has kept his side of the bargain by introducing a budget which balances in 7 years using CBO numbers. Where is the Republican commitment to protecting Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment? Unfortunately for the American people, it is just not there. Thank you, President Clinton, for trying to bring our Nation together.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, AT&T lays off 40,000 employees at a time when profits have never been better. The Republican Congress furloughs 260,000 Federal workers for no reason other than to use them as human shields in the GOP jihad to provide tax cuts to companies like AT&T. This, Mr. Speaker, is just the beginning of a two-pronged attack on the American middle class. Daily, I get calls from constituents wondering why they cannot go back to work while negotiations over the budget continue. Even Bob Dole has said enough is enough and that Federal workers should return to work. However, our noble Speaker of the House, whose behavior resembles that of the King of Prussia, insists on keeping Federal workers off the job until the President goes along with his attack on Medicare. Mr. Speaker, Bob Dole is right, enough is enough.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, I have come to the floor this evening to voice my utter dismay at how our Federal employees, our veterans, and children are being treated by this Gingrich-led farce called leadership. Republicans are hurting those who do not deserve it. We have dedicated employees in the State, Justice, and Commerce Departments who are being manipulated by those who claim that they care about the American people. We have Medicare recipients and children who will not receive benefits because the Republicans simply do not care. We have devoted State Department employees who were called in from furlough to cope with an airplane disaster in the dangerous hills of Bogota, Colombia. There are individuals who were deemed nonessential and are not being paid but are risking their lives to travel into the guerrilla-controlled hills of Colombia to insure that Americans' lives are protected. This is the Christmas season. This is the season where good will toward men should be the order of the day. However, we appear to have many Members of this body who have a personal agenda that not only casts a scrooge-like haze over this season and the lives of Americans, but demonstrates a cold-hearted callousness for the well-being of our elderly, our children, our most vulnerable citizens. I am here this evening because it is a sad day for America and this Congress. We have a few Members of this body holding the entire country hostage, and behaving as if they are, in fact, involved in a guerrilla war themselves, high up in the hills of the Sierra Madre. It is unfortunate that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have truly made this a season not to be jolly. I also have a lot of constituents who are undergoing quite a bit of concern right now as it relates to the 11th Congressional District and the recent ruling from the judges that really turns the entire congressional map upside down, topsy-turvy, and places incumbent Members of Congress in the same district, and generally creates havoc on the congressional election plain, just a few short months away. While we are here trying to protect the rights of average, ordinary Americans who are going to be hurt by this shutdown of government services, we also need to note that, particularly to my constituents who are concerned, that also the Department of Justice is shut down. That means that if there are some who are interested in the timely filing of an appeal to the Supreme Court for the drastic measures that were taken by the lower court in Georgia, we are just out of luck, because the Department of Justice is among those whose Federal employees have been called off of the job. We have definitely got to do something to put our Federal employees back to work. The work of our government employees is necessary, it is essential, it is valuable, and it is critical. To deny our Federal employees paychecks just a few days before Christmas is about the most cold-hearted kind of treatment that I have ever, ever thought that anybody could visit upon other people.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, one only has to examine the priorities in the Gingrich budget to understand for whom the Republican Party stands. The $500 billion in corporate welfare is going untouched while seniors, pregnant women, and the disabled are expected to absorb $433 billion in health care cuts. And yes, these are health care cuts because Medicare and Medicaid spending will not keep pace with medical inflation. When you consider that Medicare and Medicaid care for the oldest and sickest people in our society, any reductions that do not keep pace with medical inflation are cuts, plain and simple. So now, Mr. Haley Barbour, please send your million dollars to Grady Hospital in Atlanta, with an explanation that the Gingrich budget does not cut Medicare and Medicaid to pay for tax breaks to the well off.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, I have noticed that for the last few weeks, my Republican colleagues have stopped talking about saving Medicare. That's probably because no one believes that cutting $270 billion from Medicare while providing $245 billion in tax breaks will save anything except the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Now the Republicans talk only about balancing the budget. However, their so-called balanced budget proposal actually increases the deficit next year and the year after that. This should come as no surprise considering that their tax breaks come first, while leaving the hard spending cuts to future Congresses. That is exactly what Ronald Reagan did to increase our debt by $3 trillion. Mr. Speaker, it appears my Republican colleagues can't help repeating the mistakes of the past. I suppose that's what happens when you're hooked on Reaganomics.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to one of the most principled and courageous Members of Congress--I speak of none other than my dear friend, colleague, and mentor, Pat Schroeder. Pat is not only an inspiration and role model for me, she is also a shining example of what all women and people of conscience should strive to be. Over the years, Pat has stood by her beliefs and the beliefs of our party, even when it was unpopular to do so. She is more than just a leader, she is the moral compass of our generation. Mr. Speaker, Pat Schroeder came to Congress as a defender of those in our society with no voices and no lobbies. I am proud to say that she will be leaving Congress still untainted by the system, true to her beliefs. Thank you, Pat, for your service to our country, and thank you for making the women of America proud. Things just will not be the same without you.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. We have everything except the Supreme Court.