Michael McNulty

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Madam Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. McNULTY. Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Madam Speaker, as we approach Memorial Day, I again want to a salute our veterans. I was in Berlin in the spring of 1990 when the people were out there with their hammers and chisels taking down the Berlin Wall piece by piece, and then I listened to the East Berliners thank our American soldiers for their vigilance through the period of the Cold War. The following year in September of 1991, I was in Armenia when people went out in overwhelming numbers to vote for their independence from the former Soviet Union. Then I was with them the next day in the streets of Yerevan and they danced and shouted and sang, ``Ketse azat ankakh Hayastan,'' long live free and independent Armenia; and then pointing to the United States of America as their example of what they wanted to be as a democracy. So it is important for all of us to know that we owe our freedom here in the United States to our American soldiers but also hundreds of millions of people all around the world today are enjoying the blessings of freedom because of the sacrifices of American soldiers. We salute them all.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I do not want to go back to the days of deficit spending. There are a lot of numbers flying around Washington, D.C. these days, and I know a lot of people do not know who to believe. So I am not going to use any of the numbers of the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) or any of the numbers of the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt) or any of the Daschle numbers; I am going to use the President's numbers. He stood in this Chamber not long ago and he projected we would have over the next 10 years a $5.6 trillion surplus. Some people think that is a guess, some people think it is a gamble, some think it is a dream. But sometimes dreams come true. Let us assume it happens. He wants to pay down $2 trillion on the national debt. As a fiscally conservative Democrat, I want to do that. I like that. That takes us down to $3.6 trillion. Then he says, as we all have said, ``We are not going to touch the Medicare or Social Security trust fund monies.'' Now, 400 of us voted to do that. The chairman of the Committee on Appropriations just said we are not going to do that. We subtract that out and we are down to $700 billion. Now what do we do? We are going to have a tax cut in the amount of $1.35 trillion. I rounded that down to $1.3 trillion, and we have a $600 billion deficit. Using the President's numbers, with no new program funding, nothing for education, nothing for military pay, nothing further as far as spending is concerned, we have a $600 billion deficit, using the President's numbers. Mr. Speaker, here is the deal. We have a $5.7 trillion national debt. Last year, we paid $329 billion in interest on the national debt. Let us not go back to the days of deficit spending. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, defeat this irresponsible proposal.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, like many Americans, I like to go around bragging about how we live in the freest and most open democracy on the face of the Earth, but freedom is not free. We paid a tremendous price for it. I try not to let a day go by without remembering with gratitude all of those who, like my brother Bill, made the supreme sacrifice, to remember all of those who, like some of the people I am looking at in this Chamber right now, were willing to put their lives on the line for all that we hold dear. As we approach Memorial Day in the year 2001, I am going to try to continue to keep my priorities straight and to do every day what I am doing this morning. I thank God for my life. I thank veterans for my way of life.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 21st Anniversary of the Maimonides Hebrew Day School in my congressional district in Albany, New York. For more than two decades, Maimonides has provided the Jewish community in the Capital Region with traditional Jewish and secular education of the highest caliber. All students participate in field experiences and extra curricular activities, building bridges between children and adults throughout the community. I proudly extend my highest regard to School President Yisroel Bindell, the School's Rosh Yeshiva, the esteemed Rabbi Israel Rubin, and all of the administrators, staff, teachers and students, and offer them my best wishes for continued success.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today H.R. 1727 comes to the House with strong bipartisan support. This bill was approved by the Committee on Ways and Means by unanimous vote. I strongly support this legislation. H.R. 1727 would bring fairness to our Tax Code for a small but very special group of taxpayers. The bill would extend uniform tax treatment to certain payments received by the surviving spouse or children of a public safety officer killed in the line of duty. This legislation would extend current-law treatment to amounts paid under a survivor annuity with respect to a public safety officer killed in the line of duty before December 31, 1996 with respect to payments received after December 31 in the year 2001. The Tax Relief Act of 1997 provided that amounts paid pursuant to a survivor annuity with respect to public safety officers who were killed in the line of duty are excluded from the income of the officer's surviving spouse or children if the officer's death occurred on or after December 31, 1996. The annuity must be provided under a government plan. For this purpose, public safety officers include, not only law enforcement officers, but also firefighters, rescue squad members, or ambulance crews. As demonstrated under present law, this tax treatment is provided for annuity payments received with respect to public safety officers who lose their lives due to risks inherent in their jobs. These officers risked their lives on a daily basis to protect our families and our communities. This sacrifice obviously is shared by their families. Under H.R. 1727, we are acknowledging that, when a public safety officer is killed in the line of duty, the officer's family has paid the ultimate sacrifice. The sacrifice is no less great because the officer was killed before December 31, 1996. This is why H.R. 1727 extends current law to families of all officers killed in the line of duty without regard to date of death. All surviving spouses and all children of public safety officers killed in the line of duty should receive the same tax treatment. H.R. 1727 provides that all payments received under a survivor annuity as prescribed above after December 31, 2001 would be excluded from income. I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 1727 in the name of all of those who put their lives on the line for us 365 days a year. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak), a friend, a colleague, and a former police officer who himself put his life on the line for the folks in his community.

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to simply say that in the name of basic tax fairness and on behalf of all of the survivors of the heroes who put their lives on the line and gave their lives for our communities, I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join with my friend, the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Lewis), in supporting H.R. 586, the Fairness to Foster Care Families Act. H.R. 586 would expand the types of foster care payments that are excludable from a foster family's taxable income. The bill recognizes that payments received by foster families, regardless of the type of agency providing those payments, are needed to care for the foster child and, therefore, should not be taxed. We have over 560,000 abused, abandoned, and neglected children in our Nation's foster care system who need caring homes as they wait to return to their birth parents or to be adopted. H.R. 586 removes one barrier to at least some families taking a foster child into their homes. Under current law, foster care payments are excluded from taxable income only if the placement and payment is made by a State agency or, in the case of an individual under the age of 19, by a nonprofit agency. This bill would extend this favorable tax treatment to any foster care payment made by an agency licensed or certified by the State. This would remove restrictions currently imposed on foster families whose payments are made by for-profit agencies or, in the case of foster individuals older than the age of 18, by non-profit agencies. The impact of for-profit agencies in the child welfare system is uncertain. We need more information on how these for-profit agencies affect child well-being and on how common it is for States to contract with them to undertake certain functions, including the placement and oversight of children in foster care. However, it does seem appropriate that we not penalize foster families when they receive foster care payments from private agencies with which a State has entered into a contract to administer parts of their foster care system. Furthermore, H.R. 586 recognizes that States also may contract with private agencies to place older, often disabled individuals with foster families. This bill is not a single simple answer to the problems faced by our foster care system, but it does take a small step to help some foster families. I strongly support H.R. 586, and I urge support from all my colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume; and in support of all of the foster children across this country and the families who care for them, I urge support for this bill.

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I join today with many of my colleagues in remembering the victims of the Armenian Genocide. From 1915 to 1923, the world witnessed the first genocide of the 20th Century. This was clearly one of the world's greatest tragedies--the deliberate and systematic Ottoman annihilation of 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children. Furthermore, another 500,000 refugees fled and escaped to various points around the world--effectively eliminating the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. From these ashes arose hope and promise in 1991--and I was blessed to see it. I was one of the four international observers from the United States Congress to monitor Armenia's independence referendum. I went to the communities in the northern part of Armenia, and I watched in awe as 95 percent of the people over the age of 18 went out and voted. The Armenian people had been denied freedom for so many years and, clearly, they were very excited about this new opportunity. Almost no one stayed home. They were all out in the streets going to the polling places. I watched in amazement as people stood in line for hours to get into these small polling places and vote. Then, after they voted, the other interesting thing was that they did not go home. They had brought covered dishes with them, and all of these polling places had little banquets afterward to celebrate what had just happened. What a great thrill it was to join them the next day in the streets of Yerevan when they were celebrating their great victory. Ninety-eight percent of the people cast their ballots in favor of independence. It was a wonderful experience to be there with them when they danced and sang and shouted, ``Ketse azat ankakh Hayastan''--long live free and independent Armenia! That should be the cry of freedom-loving people everywhere.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On behalf of Minority Leader Dick Gephardt and all of the Members of our side of the aisle, we want to welcome all of the former Members of Congress to this session today. It is a great opportunity for us to reminisce. I personally try never to miss this particular event. I walked into the Chamber and one of the first people I saw was one of my former leaders on the Committee on Armed Services, Sonny Montgomery. Before I came into the Chamber, I had breakfast with my class president, Bill Sarpalius, of the class of 1988. George Sangmeister, another member of our class, is over here. I saw my old buddies, Denny Hertel and Larry LaRocco. Last night at the reception I had a chance to visit with Ambassador Lindy Boggs and thank her for her outstanding service to our country, especially in her latest assignment. I see so many members of the New York family, Matt McHugh and Bobby Garcia and Norm Lent and Jerry Solomon and Dave Martin, and New York, I am happy to say, is very, very well represented here today. So, on behalf of Dick and Dave Bonior and all of the members of the Democratic Party, I join with Speaker Hastert and the Republican leadership in welcoming all of you to this session today, and to thank you for your outstanding service to our country, and for reminding us of our great history and our heritage. Thank you very much.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. McNULTY

Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.