Juanita Millender-McDonald

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, that was beautifully said by the gentleman. Further reserving the right to object, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green), one of the present members of the Congressional Black Caucus, one who has served as a judge and who recognizes the laws as they were applied during the civil rights era.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) so much for yielding, and I am absolutely privileged to stand here today on the shoulders of a woman who stood so proud, though her frame was so small. One act, infused with courage, changed this world. Her act was a spark that ignited a movement that altered the course of history for America. She sat down in order for America to stand up and look at itself, look at herself, and to see the atrocities that they were doing on a group of people, we African Americans. I am so privileged to have had the opportunity to meet this great woman. She came to California; and while she came to California, she and I both hailed from Alabama. Yes, she was a native Alabaman and so am I. Rosa Parks, a seamstress who refused to get up from her seat to give to it a white man, that is the type of courage that she displayed; and yet she did not want anyone to showcase her. In California, when we showcased her in the State legislature, she said, I do not want all of this. I said to her, I am sorry, you have all of this, because you have made this country a better country because of one act that you did. All Americans should be standing up at this point, praising Rosa Parks for what she did, not only for a group of people but for this country. She raised the consciousness of this country and brought it to its knees in terms of segregation. I am looking at the Washington Post Style, and they say: ``Appreciation. The Thread That Unraveled Segregation.'' Indeed, she did. What a mighty force she was, a woman who used threads to make a living, and yet when she was about to make a dress for one of her persons, a person who was really not of her ilk, they told her, you have made this wedding dress so beautifully you should come to the wedding. She says, well, I would like to come to the wedding. But then officials at St. John's Episcopal Church told Lucy, the young woman for whom she was making the wedding dress, that if Rosa Parks was to attend this wedding, she would have to wear a uniform like a servant or sit in the balcony. She refused to do that. She was a woman of such great spirit, great soul. I know the time is passing, but I just want to say to my dear sister, she has made us all proud. My daughters met her. I am sorry my granddaughters Ayanna, Ramia, and Blair did not meet her, nor my grandson Myles; but they will know her because their grandmother will tell them how she stood tall in spite of her small frame. So thank you, Rosa Parks, for the distinction of becoming the mother of a civil rights movement and having the courage to act on behalf of all man- and womankind.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate and honor Harold and Juanita Blair who celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary on September 15th. Harold and Juanita have been lifelong companions, having literally grown up next door to each other in North Braddock, Pennsylvania. Their life together began when Harold asked Juanita out for a date on a dare during their high school years. Harold, who was 17 at the time, was a star on the high school basketball team, while Juanita, at 15, was focused on her school studies. As a result, Juanita didn't really take interest in him until after he had asked her out. Because of America's culture of segregation during the 1940s, Harold was denied a basketball scholarship to any college, so he enlisted in the army, while Juanita attended college in Maryland. After Harold was discharged from the Army, they married on September 15, 1948. However, because of their ages, they initially kept their marriage a secret from their families until they moved to Detroit, Michigan where they have lived since 1949. They have three beautiful children: Harold Jr., Joseph and Lori, my daughter-in-law, and five beautiful grandchildren. Juanita still wears the original wedding ring that Harold gave her in 1948. And although over the years Harold has given Juanita newer and more expensive rings as a show of his love and affection, Juanita continues to wear the original ring that sealed their lifelong journey together. In celebration of their more than half a century of devotion and love, I ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join me in honoring Harold and Juanita Blair as they celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate my mother-in-law, Mrs. Vera McDonald of Los Angeles, California, who celebrated her 90th birthday on July 18th of this year. Vera Jackson McDonald was born in Memphis, Tennessee on July 18, 1915, to Walter and Lola Jackson. As a young girl and the oldest of 6 children, Vera spent her formative years assisting her parents in caring for her younger siblings and running the household while her parents worked. In 1942 at the age of 22, Vera married Artie Lee Miller. Although they did not have any children of their own, they raised a large family after they took custody of their neighbor's six children following the parents' tragic and premature death. On September 16, 1977, we welcomed Vera into our family when she married James McDonald, my father in law, following the passing of her first husband, Mr. Miller. At 90 years old, Vera remains a source of inspiration and happiness for our entire family. Vera would be the first to tell you that, despite her remarkable age, she remains active and independent. She doesn't suffer from arthritis or the aches and pains of age, and does not need to wear her glasses when reading. She is also a woman of strong Christian faith. In recognition of a lifetime of generosity and love, I ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join me in honoring Vera McDonald as she celebrates her 90th birthday.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues today, especially the Congressional Black Caucus, as I rise to speak on a piece of legislation that is of utmost importance to me and to many in this body, and that is the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act. It is scheduled, as my colleagues have said, to end this week. This law, Mr. Speaker, provides care and assistance to over 500,000 persons in this country infected by HIV. A piece of legislation this important should not expire. It should be expanded, because it affects tremendously the African American community. I would be hard pressed to find an issue that is more troubling to the African American community than HIV and AIDS. As African Americans, we make up only 13 percent of the United States population; however, about 50 percent of the estimated AIDS cases in this country are African Americans. This number is an outrage. HIV is killing our young people. African American women are especially at risk. In 2001, HIV was the third leading cause of death among African Americans between the ages of 25 and 34. Among women of this same age group, HIV was the number one cause of death. This is why annually I have a minority AIDS walk for women and children, especially minority women, because of the devastation this has caused. It is ravaging communities of color. In 2003, African Americans accounted for two-thirds of new AIDS cases among all women nationwide. Moreover, African American teenagers make up only 15 percent of the U.S. teenagers. Why is it then that they account for 65 percent of the total new AIDS cases reported among teenagers in 2002? Mr. Speaker, we must have this piece of legislation expanded. We must have this piece of legislation so that we can eradicate this dreadful disease that is ravaging our communities. We cannot sit idly by and watch this disease tear apart our communities and affect a generation of our children. That is why I stand here today with my CBC colleagues to impress upon my colleagues the absolute necessity for the reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act. This act is essential in making sure that HIV/AIDS no longer ravages our community. The numbers illustrate the horrible trend. We are an underserved and vulnerable population, and I refuse to allow that to continue. Title IV of the CARE Act is particularly essential. Title IV serves women, children, youth, and families who are all affected by AIDS. Each year, over 50,000 women and children benefit from title IV services. Title IV services include, among other things, medical care, child care, and transportation. Without these services, Mr. Speaker, women and children participants would not receive the care they need to fight this dreadful disease. People of color make up 88 percent of the beneficiaries of title IV services. Thirty percent of all title IV consumers are children under the age of 13. In 2002, almost half of all Ryan White CARE Act clients were African Americans. The Ryan White CARE Act funds the National Minority AIDS Education and Training Center. We need this. We need it desperately. Programs like this ensure that African American victims of this disease get the quality care they need and deserve to survive and that our communities get the clinical expertise to be able to provide that care. We also need more education programs and testing sites. We need to make sure that the care is available to everyone in need. We need more attention paid to this epidemic. It is not just international, it is national, and it is widespread among the African American community. We need the reauthorization of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I first want to thank my colleague and friend, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey), as well as the chairman of the subcommittee, for allowing me to come before the body today for this very important amendment. Today, I am offering an amendment that addresses one of our Nation's greatest needs: providing a sound educational foundation for children who are homeless or in foster care. There are many obstacles these children must overcome, but access to early education should not be one of them. Quite simply, my amendment does the following: it encourages Head Start grantees to reduce barriers by directing them to increase their outreach to homeless and foster children. It encourages coordination between Head Start grantees and community service providers and homeless and foster children. It increases the coordination of these populations as they transition out of Head Start to elementary school and increases reporting requirements. It allows homeless children and foster children to be automatically eligible for Head Start. Mr. Chairman, the early years of a child's life are critical to their development. Homeless and foster youth face monumental hurdles, starting with their need for stability, emotional reassurance, and access to educational resources. Because of these inherent challenges, homeless children and foster youth are twice as likely to have a learning disability and are three times as likely to have emotional and behavioral problems that can contribute to long-term learning disabilities. We can help these kids by identifying them early and making sure that they are enrolled in Head Start. The work we do now for these kids will help them throughout their life. This, Mr. Chairman, is an investment worth making, but we must make this investment now. The numbers are staggering. Tragically, an estimated 1.4 million children experience homelessness each year. More than 40 percent of the children in homeless shelters are under the age of 5. Currently, only 2 percent of the more than 900,000 students served by Head Start are children identified as homeless. In my home State of California, there are more homeless children today than ever before. The California Department of Housing and Community Development estimates that there are 80,000 to 95,000 homeless children statewide. The vast majority of these children come from homeless families that consist of a single mother and her children. The numbers of children in foster care are equally astonishing. There are approximately 532,000 children in foster care in the United States. In California, there are approximately 85,226 children in foster care. With the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in the gulf States, and the displacement of families, these numbers will only increase. Now, more than ever, our children need a head start just to keep up. Providing opportunities for foster children has long been a priority of mine. I have introduced legislation in this Congress that creates a foster care mentoring program that seeks to team college students with foster kids who age out of the system. The purpose of this is to provide structure for these children and to open new doors and opportunities through education and community partnerships. But all of these partnerships, Mr. Chairman, start at an early age and must begin with Head Start. Mr. Chairman, my amendment is good policy. This is an excellent investment in our most vulnerable population. No child should be alone in the world, and in these United States of America no child should be left behind. My amendment will prevent these children from the beginning in becoming victims of bureaucratic loopholes and keep them transitioning into and through life with the support and commitment that they deserve. I ask all of my colleagues to support this critical amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey).

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman of the subcommittee, the chairman of the full committee, and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) for their support. I ask all of my colleagues to support this very worthy amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to support House Concurrent Resolution 242, authorizing use of the Capitol Rotunda on September 22 for a ceremony to receive the statue of the Indian leader Po'Pay, leader of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 against the Spanish, from the State of New Mexico. This is New Mexico's second statute to be submitted for the National Statuary Hall Collection and the last of the 100 statues authorized to be submitted by the States since the collection was established by law in 1864. The collection is now finally complete, though in the future, some States may choose to replace their existing statues with different significant historical figures. In 1998, the New Mexico legislature selected Po'Pay as a subject of the State's second statue for the National Statuary Hall Commission and created the New Mexico Statuary Hall Commission, whose members were appointed by the Governor. Sculptor Cliff Fragua, a Pueblo Indian himself, was awarded the commission to create the statue in December 1999. The 7-foot-high statue is carved from pink Tennessee marble and will stand on a 3-foot-high pedestal comprised of a steel frame clad in black granite. Po'Pay was born around 1630 in the San Juan Pueblo, in what is now called New Mexico. As an adult, he became a medicine man and was responsible for his people's spiritual life. He also shared their suffering at the hands of Spanish settlers and missionaries, who forced them to provide labor and food to support the Spanish community. The Spaniards also pressured them to give up their religion and way of life and to adopt Christianity, and those found practicing their religion were tortured and flogged, while others were executed. In 1675, Po'Pay and 46 other Pueblo leaders were convicted of sorcery. He was among those flogged while others were executed. In 1680, Po'Pay organized the Pueblo Revolt against the Spanish. To coordinate the timing of the uprising, he and his followers sent runners to each pueblo with knotted deerskin strips. One knot was to be untied each day, and the revolt would begin on the day the last one was untied. After the Spaniards arrested two of the runners, the pueblos were quickly notified to accelerate the revolt. The attacks began on August 10, 2 days before the last knot would have been untied. The Spaniards took refuge at Santa Fe; the besieging Indians cut off their water supply, but soon permitted them to leave the area. While the Spanish ultimately returned in 1692 and restored control over New Mexico as a Spanish territory, their interest in and ability to disrupt the native cultures were severely diminished. The Pueblo Revolt helped to ensure the survival of the Pueblo culture and shaped the history of the American Southwest. Madam Speaker, as a member of the Joint Committee on the Library, which supervises the National Statuary Hall Collection, I am pleased to participate in this significant milestone for such a piece of art to be placed in the Nation's Capitol Building. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to yield 4\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) who really this Po'Pay would have been his constituent had we had a country at that time.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Madam Speaker, I fully support H. Con. Res. 242, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, as a Member on the Coast Guard Subcommittee, I want to thank you and Ranking Member Filner for your continued leadership in bringing this bill to the House floor today. Year after year a select group of Members come to the Floor and sing the praises of the Coast Guard on how this agency continues to do more with less. Recently, our Nation has witnessed what we have been addressing each year. This month we witnessed just how vital the Coast Guard is to the safety and security of our country. The Coast Guard was the only Federal agency that responded in the Gulf Coast States in a timely and efficient manner. Here are the Search and Rescue numbers for the Coast Guard in response to Katrina: 24,132 lives saved to date; 33,537 lives saved or evacuated to date; 12,534 Cumulative lives saved by air resources; 11,598 Cumulative lives saved by surface resources; 9,405 Cumulated hospital evacuations. Where would we be without the Coast Guard during the devastation of Hurricane Katrina? As we speak here today--the Coast Guard continues to save lives. We must support them! We need more agencies like the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2005 authorizes $8.7 billion for the Coast Guard and authorizes $1.6 billion for the Coast Guard's Deepwater program to replace aging ships and aircraft, and requires a new implementation plan. This bill before us today is important--now more than ever. It is our obligation to provide the Coast Guard with the tools to heighten their service. I will argue that we need to go further as a Congress and increase the appropriated funding for the Deepwater program. I hope that with the Coast Guard's strong showing in the gulf States during Katrina validates why the appropriations committee and the Administration should make a greater commitment to the Coast Guard and the Deepwater program this year by increasing funding for the program. Finally, I want to take this opportunity to reiterate a request for a joint port security hearing with the Coast Guard subcommittee and the Full Homeland Security Committee. In the aftermath of Katrina, we are reminded just how much work needs to be done in coordinating with Federal and local agencies and emergency responders. Our approach to port security is no different. The Coast Guard is responsible for securing the 95,000 coast lines that includes Great Lakes and inland waterways. This is our longest border. Given the miscommunication surrounding FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security and local and State emergency responders, a joint port security hearing is an excellent opportunity to make sure we are all on the same page-- if there were to be a catastrophe at one of our ports--terrorist or natural--we will be able to respond and save lives. In closing, I urge my colleagues to vote for this important bill that provides for the Coast Guard to continue to do its extraordinary job. Mr. Chairman, I look forward to continuing to work with you on these and other vital issues that face our country.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take the Special Order time of the gentleman from New York.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week we observed Labor Day. We take this important opportunity every year to honor this Nation's workers. Tonight I want to shed light on one way that this country can really honor a group of workers that make up almost half of this Nation's workforce, and those are our women. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Labor estimates that women will account for 55 percent of the increase in total labor-force growth between 2002 and 2012. However, in 2004 women made up 46 percent of the total United States workers. In that same year 68 million women were either working or looking for work. Women work in every sector of our economy. They are professionals, managers, nurses, salespersons, factory workers, and business owners. More and more women are entering into nontraditional occupations. We are an essential component of the American workforce. Then why is it that a full-time working woman receives only 73 cents to every dollar received by a man? That figure is worse for women of color. African American women earn 65 cents for every dollar paid to a white male. Hispanic women receive only 53 cents for each dollar earned by a white male. This means that Hispanic women are paid only slightly more than half of what white men earn. Even in jobs where women make up the majority of the workforce, and that is over 70 percent, men still earn close to 20 percent more than the women. This trend must stop. Anyone would be hard pressed to find statistical evidence proving that women work is less arduous than their male counterparts or that they underperform comparatively. There is no logical explanation why a woman, who is often times still responsible for her children and family, in addition to working full time, should earn less than a male doing the same work. This is not an issue that is going to go away, Mr. Speaker. Pay inequity is affecting the American family. If women earned the same amount of money as men who work the same hours doing the same job, their families' annual income would increase by $4,000 per year. This would cut poverty rates in half. Equal pay for equal work will increase women's spending capability. Equal pay for equal work will empower women to plan for their children's education and their own retirement. Over 40 years have passed since the enactment of the Equal Pay Act. In that time we have only closed the wage gap by one-third of 1 cent per year. Mr. Speaker, this is unacceptable. We must do more to correct this disparity.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, my prayers and my heart go out to those who have been displaced and the families that have been disrupted by this devastation. I stand firmly with my brothers, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson) and, most importantly, New Orleans; the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson); and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Davis) while they meet the challenges ahead and while they grapple with this devastation. Hurricane Katrina is turning out to be the worst human catastrophe in America's history, far surpassing Hurricane Camille and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in its destructive and deadly impact. At this time I would like to thank all Californians for their generosity and outpouring of donations, food, clothing, and opening their homes to the families and to our families of this gulf coast area. My district has a hurricane disaster relief effort, and we are getting big-rig trucks that are taking all of this to those ravaged areas, and we thank my church that raised over $100,000 on Sunday, Second Baptist Church, Dr. William Epps, in providing donations to the region. The flooding and physical destruction of New Orleans, a truly historic American city, coupled with the complete destruction of families, homes, businesses, roads, and bridges along this 120 miles of Louisiana and Mississippi coastline presents a humanitarian challenge of unprecedented proportions with consequences that will be felt for years to come by those who lost loved ones, jobs, homes, and any sense of comfort and security. And the reality of our government's failure thus far to deal adequately with the tragedy that has occurred in New Orleans and along the gulf coast deepens each day. While Hurricane Katrina could not have been prevented, it is now clear that the flooding of New Orleans that followed Katrina would not have been so devastating if the levees had been rebuilt and the wetlands had not been taken away. For years the Federal Government had not provided the critical funding that would have made possible the building of sound infrastructure that would have protected New Orleans from this assault that has come to the great people of this great city. Our figure says it all. It would have cost only $2.5 billion to build storm defenses around New Orleans capable of resisting a Category 5 hurricane. Katrina was an upper Category 4 hurricane. Nothing about New Orleans in this situation is new. Its vulnerability has been known for decades. This government knew that, yet nothing was done to protect the city and the surrounding communities. FEMA, supposedly given a high priority for funding in the wake of 9/ 11, was not visible in the first days following this hurricane. We saw and heard evidence of the lifesaving work of countless private organizations like the Red Cross and the Salvation Army; yet this FEMA was not seen or heard of. In other words, we did not know what they were doing. And in the days after Katrina hit the gulf coast, we have now learned that in many cases, FEMA was actually an impediment to the ongoing rescue and recovery efforts attempted by State and local officials. I am certain that in the months ahead we will see that FEMA's slow response to this terrible disaster needlessly resulted in the loss of hundreds, maybe thousands, of additional deaths and injuries. Why did this happen in the most powerful country in this world? This question begs for real answers. Finally, there is a much more profound American problem that this disaster has illuminated, and that is the fact that the victims of the flooding in New Orleans have been, for the most part, African Americans and poor. The lowest lying areas of New Orleans, the most vulnerable to flooding, were inhabited by the city's most vulnerable people. Tragically, these victims, many of whom are children, the elderly, and the disabled, could have been spared much of the pain and massive destruction that was caused by Katrina if only their safety had been our government's priority. Instead, they were essentially left to fend for themselves with even more tragic consequences. How could this happen, Mr. Speaker, in the world's most powerful and wealthiest country? Clearly, it was not due to a lack of resources; but, rather, it was the result of our Homeland Security and this administration whose priorities did not include assisting the most vulnerable and needy of our society. One of the first questions that we will need answers for after the rescue and recovery efforts are completed is what will happen to New Orleans? And these questions should be answered by Congress and the administration. What will happen to New Orleans? I will say this: we must have a plan for rebuilding New Orleans and the surrounding gulf coast communities, and we must have it soon. The people of New Orleans and the surrounding gulf coast communities cannot wait too long for solutions to this immediate crisis they now face. Mr. Speaker, we must act now. The people of New Orleans and the people of this country are waiting.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Concurrent Resolution 225 and ask for its immediate adoption so that the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama can get the relief they sorely need through funding from the Federal Government. I offer my prayers to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and my thoughts and condolences are with the many families who have lost loved ones and family members. During turbulent times such as this, I have witnessed the generosity of great Americans from across our country who have come to the aid of their fellow citizens. Now is the time those citizens of the Gulf Coast communities need our help. In my home State of California, those citizens who in recent years have suffered through devastating earthquakes, mudslides and brushfires know firsthand how natural disasters can dramatically impact their lives and how challenging it can be to rebuild homes, communities and families. Already the people in southern California and in my district are hard at work donating both time and resources to the many victims in the impacted Gulf Coast communities. We Californians have a long tradition of helping our neighbors through devastating tragedies and disasters. And in that spirit, I call on all Americans to help support the rescue and recovery efforts that are under way in the region affected by Hurricane Katrina. I applaud the leadership of Congress in convening this special session today to ensure that funding will be made available to help rebuild the lives of the families affected and the communities in which they live.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I am deeply disappointed that this House approved the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement last evening. As I listened to my colleagues who voted for this bill, I could not help but wonder if we were voting on the same piece of legislation. Contrary to what many of my colleagues have said, the CAFTA will not help American workers and will not save American jobs. Also, our exports to DR-CAFTA countries are already at full capacity for what those countries can consume. Therefore, talk of spurring U.S. exports to the region is empty rhetoric designed to deceive the uninformed person. Instead, DR-CAFTA will increase off-shore production and services and will continue to cause a decline in the standard of living among the American working class. Under this Agreement, our Central American neighbors will have restricted access to generic pharmaceuticals. This will increase drug prices, including lifesaving HIV/AIDS drugs and medicines putting their health and lives at risk. Surely, Mr. Speaker, you have heard the anguish of Americans who cannot afford basic prescription drugs in this prosperous land of ours. Can you imagine what it will be like for our neighbors who subsist on wages of less than $2 per day to pay for higher drug prices? Where is the humanity in this? Our Central American neighbors are poor--forty percent of them earn less than $2 per day. The vast majority of them are forced to work under harsh labor conditions. Many women suffer from sexual harassment and discrimination at the work place. Employment places lack basic hygienic facilities, especially for women. In fact, it is fair to say that the Agreement lacks meaningful incentives for employers to uphold, enforce or comply even with current labor standards. Let us not fool ourselves--this Agreement will not lift our neighbors out of poverty, will not improve their working conditions, and will not help the ordinary worker, whether in Central America or here at home. Instead, this Agreement will displace family farmers, harm small business and force these workers into lower paying jobs. I wish I could have voted for the DR-CAFTA because I believe trade is a way to lift people out of poverty. But it must be fair trade that also respects labor standards, the environment and allows human dignity. Fair trade must be fair for both America's families and families of other countries with fair living wages while protecting the environment. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I am deeply disappointed that this was not and balanced trade agreement. I hope that Americans will take a good look at where our country is headed. I feel for my countrymen and I feel for the people of the DR-CAFTA region.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, hallelujah; finally, we have a transportation bill. I would like to thank the chairman and the ranking member for their leadership and their strong support on relieving gridlock on our highways and mobilizing people and moving goods. That is why I rise in support of final passage of H.R. 3. As a member of the committee and a conferee on this bill, I have been supportive throughout this process. I will be quick and to the point. The bill is long overdue, 22 months to be exact. This has been a long process, but I want to focus on the new beginnings that passage of this bill will provide for my constituents and the many businesses across this country. The bill is not everything we wanted, but it is a start. It will provide mobility for millions of people, create jobs, reduce congestion, and improve the movement of our Nation's goods. It will benefit the country and it will certainly benefit my home State of California. I want to thank the leadership for including my language for the Projects of National and Regional Significance in the final version of this bill. The focus of the Projects of National and Regional Significance during the conference committee has been on the funding for critical, high-cost transportation facilities, and as we know, it is an imperative for the future. However, including the definition of this new program and listing the criteria for what constitutes a Project of National and Regional Significance in this bill is just as important. The new program will provide the framework for the ongoing funding of larger projects that contribute to the economic vitality of our national and regional economies. This program is about the future of our transportation infrastructure and the growth of our national economy. I would like to thank my ranking member on the subcommittee, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) and the chairman, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri), for their even and measured approach throughout this reauthorization process. Their insight, understanding and vision on what transportation infrastructure can be and should do is evident throughout this bill. I thank you all for what you have done for California and this Nation.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of House Concurrent Resolution 202 authorizing use of the Rotunda for a ceremony on July 26, 2005, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of a noted Italian-American artist, Constantino Brumidi. Brumidi was in many ways a classic American success story. Born in Rome to Italian and Greek parents in 1805, he began preparing for an artistic career at age 13 by studying with distinguished sculptors and painters. Much of his artistic vision was based on the wall paintings of ancient Rome and Pompeii, and on studies of the Renaissance and the Baroque. He focused on work for the Catholic Church, including several Popes, Italian princes, and other wealthy patrons. Forced to immigrate to the United States in 1852 from an Italy wracked by political turmoil, he became an American citizen in 1867 and established himself as a creator of historic frescoes and murals. Beginning in 1855 and lasting until his death in 1880, Brumidi is known today primarily for the murals he painted in a changing U.S. Capitol building over a 25-year period. His training was well suited in the classical design of the Capitol building. These works of art lure the eyes of visitors upward towards sights of beauty, in addition to the historic design of the Capitol itself, as they wander through examples of his artistry in the Capitol Rotunda, committee rooms, and what has become known as the Brumidi corridors on the first floor of the Senate wing of the building. Brumidi also accepted private commissions and periodically returned to his specialty of religious paintings for the Catholic Church which he had practiced extensively earlier in his career. Brumidi's worked on decorations in hallways and rooms throughout the Capitol and in the Hall of the House of Representatives and in the Capitol dome, which symbolizes the center of American democracy. His murals combine classical and allegorical subjects with portraits and scenes from American history and tributes to American values and inventions. His work on the monumental canopy, called ``The Apotheosis of George Washington'' in the newly constructed dome remained incomplete at his death in 1880, but the dome frieze was ultimately concluded in 1953. Other artists continued to work on his unfinished projects. Brumidi's works are so admired that even in a constantly changing, crowded building where additional rooms for staff are created out of corridors which contain Brumidi's work, efforts are made to ensure that the walls and ceilings remain available to public viewing through transparent partitions. Mr. Speaker, Constantino Brumidi has deservedly been called ``the Michelangelo of the Capitol.'' His legacy was recently chronicled and evaluated in a richly detailed 1998 book by Dr. Barbara A. Wolanin, curator for the Architect of the Capitol and published by the U.S. Government Printing Office. It is fitting in another period of major change of the U.S. Capitol building with the anticipated completion of the U.S. Visitor Center in 2007, we honor Brumidi's lasting contributions. I want to commend the sponsors of this concurrent resolution, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica) for taking this initiative as well as the gentleman from New York (Mr. Israel), who has sought a Presidential proclamation honoring Constantino Brumidi. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Israel).

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD

Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate an extremely important anniversary: 157 years ago today Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton stood before a women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York and made it known that women's rights could not be complete until they were granted the right to vote. One hundred and fifty-seven years ago, women and men would not be considered equal without the strongest tool that existed in this country to enact change and that was the right to vote. In the greatest democracy in the world, the idea that half of the population did not have a voice was completely unacceptable to these two women and the countless others who stood beside them such as Sojourna Truth, a very strong advocate also for women's rights. What seems like an absolute now, that women should be part of the process, that women should be able to hold elected officials accountable for their actions, that women themselves could become elected officials, was not the case 157 years ago, Mr. Speaker. The women who stood up and fought back 157 years ago did so in order that we could be able to stand here today. Because of the courage of these women, we now have 69 women serving in the House of Representatives and 14 women serving in the Senate. However, women did not receive the right to vote without a struggle. Suffragists such as Carrie Chapman Catt, Maud Wood Park, Lucy Burns and Alice Paul faced such humiliations as arrest, jail time, and derision from all directions so that women could simply walk to the voting places and speak their minds through their votes. We owe a great deal of gratitude and great debt of gratitude to these women. Had they not marched, picketed and protested, many of us would not be standing here today. Unfortunately, many women are not making the most of this right that many fought so powerfully to secure. Our voices are no less important than they were many decades ago. Our ideas and beliefs are held no less powerful. Women have the power to make changes and affect policy. They can do so simply by going to the voting booths. However, while 60 percent of the women voted in the last election as opposed to 56 percent of men, a full 32 percent of women are still not registered to vote. A shocking 45 percent of young women ages 18 to 24 are not registered to vote. It is not enough for women to rest on our laurels given that we have and do have the right to vote. We actually have to get out and make our voices heard. We must engage all women in the process. We must demonstrate to them that their voices matter to us. We must devote our energies to letting young women know that, like their counterparts 157 years ago, their participation can change the path of history. I want to thank these women who fought so hard 157 years ago so that women across this land could vote and can continue to vote and that I could have the opportunity to stand here today and give thanks to them.