Kendrick Meek

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. These are the organizations that would like, that want children to have health care. Am I correct?

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Some of them are saying, well, yeah, I'm with you, you know, I'm all impressed, and they go in and take a picture with the President in the Oval Office and they go back home or they come back over here to the Capitol. That's what's happening very quietly. I just want to put that out because that's the way the White House has been successful in getting this kind of picture. Now, I know every last Member here in this picture, and I know the conversations I've had with them one-on-one about the war in Iraq, but better yet, they're down there with the President. All I'm saying is that all of the groups, some, was it 270 and counting, are saying that we want health care for children. And all of the Members, I want to the make sure I say it right, a number of Republicans in the Senate that voted for this measure, and over here in the House?

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Forty-five Republicans voted with Democrats on this bill.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I think somewhere like 18 or 20 that we would need to override. I think that number now is somewhere maybe, you know, around 15 or 16 we have to convince them to do it. I want to drag this out and put it out into the light.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. We have I guess somewhere about a minute 30 left. I yield to Ms. Wasserman Schultz, chair of the House administration in appropriations. She's an appropriator.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I was just told that we have four additional minutes. I was given some information that was incorrect, so if you wanted to continue.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I just want to say that you have increased our stock. To have a chair of a full committee with us two days in a row and to have a cardinal to join us at the last minute, even though a member of the 30 Something Working Group here on the floor with Mr. Ryan and myself, I mean, in the light of other Members, they really may feel we have moved up in the world to have these two gentle ladies here with us but yet powerful.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, with that we would like to thank the Speaker and the Democratic leadership for allowing us to have this hour. We would like for the Members, if they want to get a copy of the letter that Chairwoman Tubbs Jones read into the Record, they can go on www.speaker.gov and also all of the groups that support and the folks, the Republican Senators, of why SCHIP should be overridden or passed.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Real quick, reclaiming my time, that is a perfect example of what we were talking about. I mean, you weren't drinking any ``Haterade'' or anything like that. You were just like, wow, I have constituents that would love to get the same health care. Mr. Speaker, that is what I was talking about just 10 minutes ago, kids abroad having opportunities that American kids don't have, and then we have a President to speak passionately about our responsibilities in Iraq and Iraqi children. But, better yet, we have children here in the United States, Mr. Speaker. I can tell you, it is so wrong, the veto that the President carried out. I mean, it is so wrong. I don't know how, Mr. Speaker, to be honest with you, I don't know how Members cannot vote to override the President. Because, Mr. Ryan, you know, and we said several times on this floor, that you have Members now, and you served with them too, Madam Chairman, that are watching us now and reading about the Congress, that was once upon a time, Mr. Speaker, a Member of Congress. They make bad decisions. Republicans, Democrats and independents said, guess what, we are going to send somebody up there that can make good decisions. I am going to share with you, and if this was about politics, I wouldn't say this, and thank you for yielding, some of the new Republican Members that are on the other side can very well be reading the paper and watching Congress on television after next November if they vote against a chance for 10 million children to receive health care. Mr. Speaker, I don't care who you are, I don't care where you came from, if you're a stone-cold conservative, Republican, what have you, we are talking about something that is paid for. It's not going into the debt. We are talking about something that provides health care for the most vulnerable children in the United States of America, and we are talking about doing the right thing as it relates to good government. The same individuals vote for subsidies for oil companies but they don't want to vote on behalf of the kids.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Little pressure in the Roosevelt Room, somewhere around there. You are with us on this stopping the overside of the President's veto; please tell me that you're with us.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. They do want it. And the thing about it, they should want it and Members of Congress should want it. These are children. They don't wear $800 suits and $200 silk ties and all of the things that big-time folk wear here in Washington, D.C. But I think it is important that letter that was sent to the President should be sent to Members of Congress to remind them the reason why they are up here. Some Members say Kendrick is not talking about me. He can't be talking about me. Someone who might have read the Congressional Record, said, well, he's not talking about me; yes, you too. Your children, too. Your grandchild, too. So if you're within the sound of my voice and you hear what I'm saying, your neighbor's child, too. Your child will be affected by 10 million children not having health care, will be affected by the lack of health care that that child will not have if the President and the Republican minority have their way. Now, I commend Democrats that voted for the bill, I commend Republicans that voted for the bill, but we should make sure that we point out the fact that there are a number of Republicans in this House that will stand or say they will stand with the President. They're saying they stand with the President. They're not saying they're going to stand with the American people. I think you're 110 percent right for sharing that with Members of Congress and letting them know, and these associations should approach their Member if they voted for it or not, just to remind them that this is very, very important.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Tim and I have a good friend by the name of Charles, and Charles was saying how excited that he was about the fact that we pointed out the folks that wanted children to be covered by health insurance. And I think it's important that even if we continue to say everything that we're saying and we say it 10 times, it's not going to hurt. It's not going to hurt the debate here. Let me just back up. What the White House is doing now, Mr. Speaker, and I just want to kind of bring this out into the light, let's drag it out from out of the dark halls of Congress. What's happening right now, they're getting invitations to the White House: come sit down with the Vice President or the President or some major policy person, saying, you know, a little tea, a little coffee, some cookies.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. We're all happy for him.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I'm pretty sure there's some tourism dollars in there somewhere.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It is an honor to come to the floor to have the 30-Something Working Group. And as you know, we have been coming to the floor now some 4 years strong, 4\1/2\ years, bringing to light issues before the Congress and also the American people on what's happening under the Capitol dome. We have been doing a lot of legislation recently in this 110th Congress that I think should definitely be highlighted every time we have the opportunity to do so. We have a number of pieces of legislation that are in the pipeline right now that are being sent to the White House that the President has threatened to veto. These are priorities that the American people voted for to move in a new direction; need it be in Iraq; need it be domestically; or need it be making sure that we run this government in a fiscal way, one that all Americans, Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike, would like to have. Good government is good. And it's important that we encourage not only the passage of good pieces of legislation but also make sure that we encourage the President to do the right thing, even though he may say from time to time that he is not going to do things, that he will sign pieces of legislation like the Student Loan Reduction Act, which is so very, very important. It cuts student loan rates in half. I want to just commend the Members here in this Chamber, especially in the majority, that pushed the President to sign that bill. I want to thank all of the college kids and students and parents and grandparents that are having to help their young people pay back their student loans and to being able to cut that interest rate in half. I am joined tonight by two of my, and I can say this, bestest friends in Congress: Mrs. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the chairwoman of the Ethics Committee and a colleague that I serve with on the Ways and Means Committee; and also my good friend Tim Ryan from Youngstown, Ohio, who is a member of the Appropriations Committee that considers himself a very important part of what we do here. As you know, Ways and Means, we find the ways and means, and he says he has appropriated to make sure it all goes to the right place, Mr. Speaker. I guess what we usually do, and what I am going to do, without really making opening comments because we like to have a discussion, I want to allow my two colleagues here to share some of their thoughts with us. But before I do that, today, as you know, in the 30-Something Working Group, we shed light on what is happening in Iraq. We know that we have a number of our men and women that are there in harm's way. We know that we have men and women in Afghanistan and also deployed throughout the world. But as of today, October 3, the total deaths have been 3,808. The total number of wounded in action and returning to duty within 72 hours has been 15,432. The number wounded in action and not returning to duty within 72 hours has been 12,577. The total number of wounded is 27,753. I want to make sure, Mr. Speaker, and we want to make sure, the 30- Something Working Group, that Members know what is going on in the Middle East and that we bring this to their attention and read it into the Congressional Record so that we can every day move towards a position that would take our combat troops out of harm's way and replace them with Iraqi troops. We can provide technical support, but I think that is very important. With that, I yield to my colleague Mrs. Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. You know, Madam Chair, I think it's very, very important for us to understand that the President is vetoing the legislation because he knows that his Republican colleagues here in the House and the Senate have his back, at least a number to stop us from overriding his veto. And this is something that, Mr. Speaker, we have to put the pressure on those Members. I'm going to put the pressure on in a few minutes when I get an opportunity to really share what I feel about what the President has done today. It wasn't the perfect bill, but it was the bill that was going to provide health care for children. Mr. Ryan.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Tell the truth.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Excuse me, Mr. Ryan. ``These people,'' referring to who?

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Thank you, Mrs. Tubbs Jones. Tim, we used to play football once upon a time, and I remember being on the sideline as a freshman member of the football team. I used to be what they call a ``headhunter.'' I used to break the wedge in kickoff. That's the way I got on the bus to be able to travel. And many times I would sit on the sideline and say, ``Wow, the coach just let me in. I'll sack that quarterback.'' Well, you know, this is one of these moments. I'm so glad that I'm a Member of Congress and it's been federalized by the people of the 17th Congressional District to come up here and represent them and the American people. And I'm proud of the fact that we have passed a children's health care bill that covers children that are in need, that means families, that means a healthier America, that means better test scores, that means lower cost to State and local communities from picking up emergency room bills where they end up getting the care because they have to provide the care, but there's no way to pay for the care, then raise local taxes on the local community because of that lack of health care insurance for that uninsured child. I'm so glad that I've had the experience of walking to a CVS, Wal-Mart, whatever you want to call it, into a drugstore, and I'm glad as a Member of Congress I have witnessed mothers and fathers trying to figure out how they can stop their child from coughing and how can they prevent the sickness that is spreading in some communities based on the fact that it is financially challenged, need it be urban or rural. I'm glad I'm here to give them voice because apparently, Mr. Speaker, there are some Members in this Chamber and there are some Members in the other Chamber over in the Senate that, in my opinion, are failing to represent that side of America. One may say, well, Congressman, I understand, colleague, what have you, you're talking about those other folks, you're not talking about me. Well, guess what? I'm so glad, Mr. Murphy, that I have health care insurance, but I didn't ask my constituents to elect me so that I could have health care insurance and they can't. That's not how this thing works. And my kids, like Mr. Ryan said, they go to school with other kids, and if those kids don't have the necessary insurance to have preventive care to head off some of the major issues that they're going to face because they're getting drugstore care, the best care that their parents can provide for them, they're going to make my child sick. So now we're back to the point of fiscal responsibility and we're back to the point of doing the right thing and good government and where I left off. I'm glad Mrs. Tubbs Jones mentioned that this is a bipartisan bill, passed this House overwhelmingly, passed the Senate with a very good vote. Now the question comes to my Republican colleagues, because the President is not going to run for President again, and the thing about it is that we have term limits on the Presidency of the United States, and that's been carved out long before my presence here in Congress and long before my mother's presence here in Congress. But Mr. Ryan pointed something out, because I'm putting this back on the Members of the House and the Senate and the Congress, because I don't want Members going home saying, well, you know, the President, and the President this and the President that. My constituents want more than that. It's almost like when I walk into my Baptist church, they want to hear more as a Christian than one day Jesus Christ, he died on Calvary. They need to hear more than that. They need to hear more of a story. They need to hear more of the reason why we practice that certain religion. Putting that aside just for a moment, our constituents have to know more about what's going on here in Washington, DC. That parent needs to know why. The President is saying socialized medicine. Well, that's what he says, that's his Potomac two-step because the average American doesn't even know what you're talking about when you say ``socialized medicine.'' They understand health care. They understand being able to take their child to a doctor and the States understand, the 43 or 46 Governors that are supporting the SCHIP bill, they understand getting a block grant from the Federal Government so they can provide health care for their children. I would like to talk a little bit about what Mr. Ryan mentioned. This President and the past Republican majority here in this House irresponsibly gave tax cuts to billionaires and millionaires and then turned around and gave unprecedented subsidies to oil companies of some $50 billion, $8 billion in lost waste, fraud and abuse of no-bid contracts in Iraq, billions of dollars for schools and roads and clinics in Iraq, stood up here teary-eyed saying, ``We need to help the Iraqi people.'' Well, I want folks to get teary-eyed about helping American children and their families. I want them to get teary-eyed. I want them to get emotional. When you look at this foreign debt hold, no other time in the history of this country have we ever been in the fiscal situation that this President has put us in and the Republican, thank God the minority now, has put us in in the past, and this is what we owe these foreign countries. I am going to move on because I know we have some Members here. Here is another issue. When you look at the cost of the war and how many kids can be enrolled in Healthy Start. I am just going to use the per hour number, $13.7 million, 2,000 kids can be enrolled. And then I am going to jump up here to the 1-year cost, $120 billion for the 1- year cost, 16.7 million kids can go into Healthy Start. Now, that is just Healthy Start. We come to the floor with the facts, not fiction. Here is the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. I just want to make sure that all the Members are with me on this. The cost of the Iraq war is rising. Again, here are the numbers. Per second. Since I have been here talking a few seconds have passed. Per second, $3,816 is being spent per second. Do you hear the Members down here talking about wasteful spending, anything like that? Meanwhile, we are giving the Iraqi Government all kind of chances. To further drive my point home, here it is, President Bush, Members are familiar with this, doubled the foreign-held debt. It took 42 Presidents 224 years to build up $1 trillion in foreign debt. All these Presidents, this President and his Republican colleagues here in Congress have been able to build up more than 42 presidents, 224 years of history, $1.19 trillion in debt over the last 6 years, and we have turned that around, or are trying to turn that around here. Here they are. These are my Republican colleagues and the President of the United States. Many in this picture are my friends. But I tell you one thing: When we send this and we go to try to override the President of the United States of America and standing in the schoolhouse door not allowing kids to have health care in this country, I want to know, are you going to march down to the White House like you did when we put time limits on this war and accountability on this war to push the Iraqi Government to where they need to be to get our combat troops out of harm's way and to get their troops on the ground? The last time, Mr. Speaker, I was on the floor was Monday with Mrs. Tubbs Jones. I walked downstairs and I don't know his name. But it was one of our people that work here in the Capitol that constantly bring the folks over from Walter Reed on what we call the ``twilight tour,'' walking around here in the Capitol, Mr. Murphy, and getting a tour of the Capitol. I am sorry, his name escapes me at this point. This vet was there with involuntary jerking of his right arm. As a matter of fact, I am shocked that they were even able to save his arm. It was so twisted with cuts and stitches and all those things. But he was happy to walk into this Capitol of great democracy. But guess what? He had a child, too. So we get all excited about, we are for the troops, and I am for the troops, and you are soft and I am hard and all that kind of stuff. That is rhetoric. The real bottom line comes down to, what are you going to do as a Members of Congress? Not as some sort of speech giver or note reader or whatever the case may be. What are you going to do as it relates to being a Member of Congress? Are you going to go down and stand with the President and say, ``I'm with the President''? Or are you going to be with the children of the United States of America? Mrs. Tubbs Jones and I, we have to see the Federal budget when it comes through Ways and Means before it goes to the Budget Committee and we met with the Treasury Secretary just today talking about fiscal responsibility. I think the problem, Mr. Ryan and Mr. Murphy, that the President has with this issue is that the American people asked for a new direction and accountability. Guess what? This SCHIP bill is paid for. We show paid for by saying pay-as-you-go. If you're going to do something, you have to show how you're going to pay for it. At least that's what they said in my house. The President, how did he rack up $1.19 trillion? He didn't worry about paying for it. He just said, let's put it on the credit card. Let's put it on the children. Let's put it on other folks. Children have had enough abuse on the part of the past Republican majority and the President. Now we are trying to bring about accountability in health care and he doesn't want to sign the bill. Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is, I challenge, this is not a WWF kind of experience here, but I challenge my colleagues with a straight face to come to this floor and say otherwise why we should not have health care for children. I want to make sure that Members understand, this is why we're elected, to represent the children, not special interests, not the oil companies, not somebody who said, ``Well, if we spend this on that, I can't get my tax cut.'' It is not all about that. If we can't represent the children of the United States of America, we got a big problem. I am so glad that Speaker Pelosi, I am so glad that our leadership has said, this is what we're going to do, and that we're going to try to override the President. The bottom line is the Republican Members of this House have to join and be with us, which they are on the bill, Mr. Ryan and Mr. Murphy, but we need more of them to override the President of the United States on this very bad veto. Do we have issues with the SCHIP bill? Is everything in it that should be in it? Of course not. But the bottom line is children need health care and they need representation.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. It is interesting. This guy is an everyday joe and trained Kelly from a young tender age as a boxer. In closing, Mr. Speaker, it is always an honor to come to the floor with Mr. Ryan and Mr. Murphy and Chairman Tubbs Jones. We are so glad to have a chairperson of a full committee on the floor with us. We're not used to that. We look forward to continuing to come back to the floor to share with not only Members but also the American people. It was an honor addressing the House.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. You know, Mr. Murphy, I am glad that you are part of our majority-making Members that came here and gave house Democrats the majority. And the way it went on in the Senate, even though there is just one majority Member there that put the quit the Senate Democratic majority. But there is still a lot of work to be done. As I sit here, and Mr. Ryan knows and Mrs. Stephanie Tubbs Jones knows, we have been on this floor before in the 108th and 109th Congress, and saying if it was about politics, we would just not come to the floor. We would allow the Republicans, and I am not generalizing, those that are in the position of standing with the President, not with the American people, that works politically for Democrats. The majority will even get greater, Mr. Speaker, if we just sat in our office or we just went to committee meetings and didn't come to the floor burning the midnight oil here tonight. But it is not about politics. It is about the country, and that is the reason we are here. I just wanted to point one thing out. Folks get excited about the war. But you saw the $10 billion figure I had on the whole war cost for, this is a little clearer here, $10 billion right here per month. This whole child health insurance package is $35 billion over 5 years, Mr. Speaker. Five years, $35 billion. That is 3\1/2\ months of the cost of the war in Iraq. Five years versus 3\1/2\ months. The President's action is one thing. The Republican minority allowing it to stand is another thing. You see, I want to give the American people some homework, because I think it is important. We can't say well, you know, the President, you know, they are not going to have another opportunity to stand in judgment on some given Tuesday on the President of the United States. But they will every 2 years have an opportunity to stand in judgment of every Member of the U.S. House of Representatives. I think that is something very, very important. Also, Mr. Ryan, you know that we have worked very hard on veterans. Mr. Murphy, you know we have worked hard. All of us have worked hard. We have made the largest increase in VA assistance in the history of the republic. Since the VA has been created, it has received more health care assistance from this Congress than any other time, any other time in history. Now, my mother before me who served here in the House said the thing about the House, the main thing about being elected, is bringing your experiences to the floor. I just wanted to take 2 minutes to tell you about an experience. I have a 10-year-old and I have a 12-year-old daughter. We take pride in at least once a week riding the Mall, what we call here the Mall, from the Capitol on down to the Washington Monument on to the World War II Memorial, and we take a hard left to go over to the Jefferson Memorial on our bicycles, and we come around and we go to the Lincoln Memorial. I just wanted for a minute for Members to realize what is going on down there at the Lincoln Memorial. You have the last outpost of Vietnam vets that are there running off a generator for power, standing there for the missing in action, raising money, selling patches and things of that nature, who have to renew their lease every 21 days to stay there on that Mall. They have been there for years, since the Vietnam Memorial was set up. I talk to these gentleman, my kids talk to these gentleman constantly, because they are our heroes. But they are out there showing the medication and the kind of cocktail they have to use to even deal with what happened over 20 years ago. I think when we start looking at governance here in this house, we have got to look at it beyond what the paper is going to print the next day. We have to do what is right on behalf of the country. So when we look at 5 years, a $35 billion program, versus 3\1/2\ months of operations in Iraq, we can't help but think of good governance. I want to put the pressure to the point where the Members here willing to stand with the President on this very bad decision in the face of uninsured children in this country, that they make sure that they understand that when folks walk in on some given Tuesday voting for representation, need it be Republican, independent, Democrat, what have you, yes, your children too, that they didn't walk in grasping the hands of the President of the United States to take some sort of talking notes from some conservative think tank, and I will let you talk about that, to talk about how they are going to deny children health care in this country. I go back to saying nothing is perfect, but I can tell you one thing, it has to be better than what we are facing right now, the program that needs to be reauthorized and children have to have health care. So I want my Republican colleagues that voted against this legislation for all, and as far as I am concerned, and this is my individual reason, I know people have reasons, but I think it was largely political, when you think about it, in the final analysis, I want them to feel the pressure when they step off the plane or the train or the car or whatever the case may be, and I don't care if you are Republican, independent, thinking about voting one day, 17-years- old, you are going to get your voter registration card, put the pressure on your Member of Congress on this issue. I think it is very, very important. The bottom line is, if a Member has a problem with what I am saying, you know, it is a beautiful country. It is America. Thank God the flag is flying over the Capitol right now. I am going to say it. And I think it is important that Members understand that this is serious business. We are down to children now. This is not about somebody walking around with a suit or something on. This is about the children of this country. Not Iraq. Mr. Speaker, time after time, Mr. Ryan, you know, Ms. Jones, Mr. Murphy, you know, as I yield over to my friends, Members come to this floor and pound and shake and throw paper and carry on on behalf of the Iraqi children. What about the American children? What about them? What about those individuals that are catching the school bus in the morning? What about that parent catching the early bus taking their kids to school? What about the folks that work here in this Capitol that have people that live next door to them that don't have health care? What about them? Get emotional about them. Pound and shake your fist about that. I hope we have the kind of paradigm shift when that vote comes up to override the President of the United States, that we have some of our colleagues on the Republican side that go see the wizard; get some courage, wisdom and heart, and stand up against this President, and don't allow those individuals that I see down here that are trying to block democracy from happening coming down here from the White House saying ``stick with us.'' Stick with who? Stick with the President, or the American children? I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I know it is a proud moment for Ohio. I was watching a HBO special leading up to the fight. He has a daughter, and his trainer actually does blacktop.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Thank you so much, Madam Chair. And thank you, Ms. Lee, for saying thank you and showing your appreciation. I know we have some Members that want to speak, and Madam Chair, I'm going to have to leave the floor soon, so I just want to mention two or three things. One, I want to thank those great Americans that participated in our conference. And I think that some of the brain trusts that were held, from what I'm hearing from e-mails and telephone calls, were some of the best that we've had. That means hats off to those that put on those brain trusts and issue forums; that means one of the 43 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, individually they were able to do it. And we were also able to shed light on ``Unleashing Our Power.'' It wasn't just a title of members of the Congressional Black Caucus. It was for those participants, black, white, male and female, that attended the conference, to leave empowered to go back to their State, back to their local community, and even in their own home, and unleash their power as it relates to education, health care, so on and so on. One thing that I can tell you that was very, very good this year, and we were able to work very hard, is making a lot of young people feel welcome with our Emerging Leaders Initiative. Our apprenticeship program has been a really successful program. We had a lot of people that participated. We had high school students that participated; we had college and recent graduates that came to this conference. And I look forward, Madam Chair, to future years where we can be able to continue to have a successful weekend. This was obviously a large fund- raiser for our scholarship program, for our internship program. These are kids that wouldn't ordinarily have an opportunity to be a part of anything here in Washington, D.C., to serve as interns in Members' offices or committees. So everything happened the way that it should. There are always things that we can work on to make it better next year. But as it relates to the substance, Madam Chair, I am so pleased that people walked away with more knowledge than when they walked in and were inspired by what they heard. And I took the opportunity to go into Mr. Payne's Africa brain trust. Very powerful. He had heads of state come in to address people who needed to know more about the African countries that are there. So with that, Madam Chair, thank you. I want to thank you. We co- sponsored the ALC a couple of years ago together, co-chaired it. I want to thank you for your leadership, and thank you for hosting this hour.