Sue Myrick

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, due to other commitments, I was unable to participate in the following votes. If I had been present, I would have voted as follows: June 22, 2000: Rollcall vote 315, on the Campbell amendment to H.R. 4690, I would have voted nay; rollcall vote 316, on the Hinchey amendment to H.R. 4690, I would have voted nay; rollcall vote 317, on the Scott of Virginia amendment to H.R. 4690, I would have voted nay; and rollcall vote 318, on the DeGette amendment to H.R. 4690, I would have voted nay. June 23, 2000: Rollcall vote 319, on the Waxman amendment to H.R. 4690, I would have voted nay; rollcall vote 320, on the Davis of Virginia amendment to H.R. 4690, I would have voted nay; and rollcall vote 321, on the Coble amendment to H.R. 4690, I would have voted aye.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment because, as my colleagues are probably aware, last fall Hurricane Floyd left a devastating path of destruction in my State of North Carolina. In the days and the months afterwards, thousands of families spent endless nights in temporary shelters. The sad reality is that many of these families are still living in those same temporary shelters, and they have no reason to believe that they are ever going to get a permanent home. Unfortunately, the elderly are more likely to never leave these temporary homes which tend to be dirty, overcrowded and insufficient. These unbearable conditions harm seniors' well-being and health, and there is very little they can do to change their situation. But, Mr. Chairman, this amendment could change all of that. It is aimed at helping those low-income elderly families in North Carolina who are facing this crisis; and it will allow, through this pilot program, the use of modular housing for these low-income seniors who lost their homes and their livelihoods during Hurricane Floyd. The good news is the modular homes can be assembled quickly and they are extremely low cost, compared to building a regular site-built home. And further, the amendment requires no new spending, but will go extremely far in helping these victims of this natural disaster. This amendment is going to be a good first step toward the goal of helping all low-income seniors nationwide who are left homeless after any major natural disaster. I urge support of this amendment in order to help this urgent situation.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained during the following vote. If I had been present, I would have voted as follows: June 15, 2000: Rollcall vote 279, on the Sanders amendment to H.R. 4578, I would have voted nay.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained during the following vote. If I had been present, I would have voted as follows: On June 15, 2000, rollcall vote 279, on the Nethercutt amendment to keep in place the fund limitation proposed to be loosened by the Dicks amendment which would subsequently require the Forest Service and BLM to complete a regulatory flexibility analysis as required by law for the Interior Columbia Basin Project, I would have voted yea.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I was not present for the following vote. If I had been present, I would have voted as follows: June 8, 2000, rollcall vote 247, on agreeing to the rule H. Res. 518, providing consideration of H.R. 4577, the FY2000 Labor, Health & Human Services and Education bill, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate Gastonia, North Carolina for being named one of 10 All American Cities. Gastonia has a unique history, but it won the award because it has some great plans to fight illiteracy, enhance the arts, and provide a safe environment for our kids. The West Gastonia Boys and Girls Club has created a great mentoring program. College students mentor high school students who then mentor younger kids. To help the arts, St. Stephen's AME Zion Church has teamed up with the United Arts Council to move into a Historic Baptist church. The church hosts shows and--on Sundays--St. Stephen's holds services. And, Gastonia has done great things to fight illiteracy. No one demonstrates the impact of the Gaston Literacy Council better than Gary Avery, who says: ``Now I can read the Bible at church, I can read with my children and I can even write my wife a love letter.'' There is no doubt that Gastonia is a city of hard workers. Now Gastonia has proven to the country that no problem is too big, as long as we work together. I commend Mayor Jennie Stutz for her pledge to create ``City Pride.'' As the All-American City logo is placed around town, everyone will know: Gastonia can be proud of its past, but its greatest days are ahead.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to share a poem that I think says it all in our debate today. Tax his cow, tax his goat, tax his pants, tax his coat; Tax his crops and tax his work, tax his tie and tax his shirt; Tax his shoe, tax his smoke, teach him taxes are no joke; Tax his tractor, tax his mule, teach him taxes are the rule; Tax his oil, tax his gas, tax his notes, and tax his cash; If he hollers, tax him more, tax him till he's good and sore; Tax his coffin, tax his grave, put these words upon his tomb: ``Taxes drove me to my doom.'' After he's gone, he can't relax, they'll still go after Death tax. I would like to urge all my colleagues to vote against the Rangel substitute.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 514 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham) to close.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may assume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost) if he has any more speakers.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Quinn).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost); pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Committee on Rules met and granted an open rule for H.R. 4576, the fiscal year 2001 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of the bill. It provides for 1 hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations. The rule waives points of order against provisions in the bill for failure to comply with clause 2 of rule XXI prohibiting unauthorized or legislative provisions in a general appropriations bill. The rule allows the chairman of the Committee of the Whole to accord priority in recognition to Members who have preprinted their amendments in the Congressional Record. The rule allows the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole to postpone votes during consideration of the bill and to reduce voting time to 5 minutes on a postponed question if the vote follows a 15- minute vote. Finally, the rule provides for one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 514 is an open rule for a strong bipartisan bill. In fact, the Committee on Appropriations approved this bill 2 weeks ago by voice vote and without an amendment. I have always admired the patriotism and dedication of our military personnel, especially given the poor quality of military life for our enlisted men and women; but today we are doing something to improve military pay, housing, and benefits. We are helping to take some of our enlisted men off of food stamps by giving them a 3.7 percent pay raise, and we are offering $163 million in enlistment and reenlistment bonuses. They are called bonuses, but they earn them. To follow through on our health care promises to our service men and women, we are providing a 1-year 9 percent increase in health care resources. A good portion of these funds will go to improve care for our military retirees who have never been given the treatment that they deserve. At the same time, we are boosting the basic allowance for housing so that our military families do not have to pay as much out of their own pockets. Along with personnel, we have to take care of our military readiness. We live in a dangerous world, and Congress is working to protect our friends and families back home from our enemies abroad. We are providing for a national missile defense system so that we can stop a warhead from places like China or North Korea or Iraq if that day ever comes. We are boosting the military's budget for weapons and ammunition. We are providing $40 billion for research and development so our forces will have top-of-the-line equipment for their job. I urge my colleagues to support the rule and to support the underlying bill, because now more than ever we must improve our national security. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert).

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 504 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I would just like to say that H.R. 4205 is a very good bill. I would like to commend the gentleman from South Carolina (Chairman Spence) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), the ranking member, for bringing it forward with excellent bipartisan cooperation. It is a difficult challenge with defense because of so many needs and not enough dollars to go around, but they have done an excellent job this year. I would also like to reassure the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), the ranking member, that the gentleman from California (Chairman Dreier) and the Committee on Rules are very sensitive to the issue of the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) and will work to achieve a satisfactory result. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Rules. (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)