Bob Ney

Mr. NEY

Mr. NEY. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.

Mr. NEY. Mr. Chairman, in 1969 Congress passed the Black Lung Benefits Act upon realizing that specialized pulmonary medical services were needed in the Nation's coal fields. They also realized that Federal support would be needed to develop these services. The main goal of the Black Lung Clinics Program has always been to keep respiratory patients out of the hospital by utilizing preventive medicine in the fields. Mr. Chairman, these patients are extremely expensive to treat. The Black Lung Clinics Program also guarantees that respiratory disease patients will have the medical care they need even if they cannot afford it. However, this year the Black Lung Clinics Program is funded at the level of $1.9 million which is the same level requested by the President in his fiscal year 1997 budget proposal. Unfortunately this would represent about a 50-percent reduction from the fiscal year 1996 funding level of $3.8 million. It should also be noted that in fiscal year 1996 the Black Lung Clinics Program received a funding reduction of about 8 percent. My amendment merely restores funding for Black Lung Clinics to the original level. It has been recently brought to my attention, and I hope my colleagues listen closely to this point, that some confusion has arisen between the Black Lung Clinics Program and the Black Lung Benefits Program. as you know, the Black Lung Benefits Program pays disability and medical benefits only to those coal miners that are found to have black lung disease. On the other hand, the Black Lung Clinics Program currently has 40 black lung clinic sites and 27 mobile units throughout the United States, providing preventive health care to over 165,000 coal miners in our country. Mr. Chairman, coal miners have helped to build this great Nation, and they made it what it is today. Through no fault of their own, many miners are now constricted by a variety of respiratory illnesses contracted through occupational hazards, and that is associated with the mining of coal. I ask my colleagues for their support in restoring funding for the Black Lung Clinics Program. I can assure my colleagues that this money will be spent wisely on hard-working Americans whose industries have been decimated by previous acts and rules and regulations around 1990. Mr. Chairman, I also would be remiss if I did not thank the gentleman from Illinois, Chairman Porter, and his staff for their efforts, also the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Obey, and his staff for their efforts on this, and the diligent work of the gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Poshard, who worked with this to help make this amendment come about. Also the support of the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Cremeans], the gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Whitfield], the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Weller], and the gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Rogers]. I again urge your support of a very important amendment.

Mr. NEY. Mr. Chairman, I offered an amendment.

Mr. NEY

Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, Congress is ready to pass bipartisan legislation that will make health care insurance more available and affordable for millions of American families without big government. It is called private sector health care reform. However, over the last 11 weeks someone in the other body has been holding health care reform hostage, refusing to allow the legislation to proceed by using complicated procedural gimmicks. This common sense health care reform is being stonewalled, Mr. Speaker, because of the dream that still exists of imposing a single player, Government-run health care system on the entire Nation. I think that a couple of years ago the people in this country spoke out very loud and clear that they do not want a Government-run system, but they want access, they want availability, and they want affordability for health care. Today many Americans are forced to stay in their current jobs out of fear of losing their health care benefits and insurance. Others just live in fear of losing health care coverage should they lose their job. This bipartisan legislation would make sure Americans who lose their coverage can keep their jobs their health care, and take care of their families. I urge the movement of the bill.

Mr. NEY

Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, today down in Bellaire, OH, a town in my district, something was said to me at Rogers Barber Shop that is said virtually every single day in my district as I go about talking to people. That was from a constituent who said, ``You've got to balance the Nation's budget, you've got to do it for the children, we've got to do it now.'' Then that gentleman proceeded to talk about how in fact he had opportunity when he was being raised down in the Ohio valley. I stop to think about it, and hardly a day goes by that I do not have a young couple that comes up to me and tells me that they wonder about their future and the future of their children. Mr. Speaker, I would have to ask a few questions. Why are so many families struggling to keep their heads above water? Why has it become so difficult for families in this country to make it? I believe that we can summarize it in the 3 words that has been said best by my colleague from Georgia, the tax trap. It is the tax trap on working American men and women. It is a cycle. It is a vicious cycle. It is never ending on people in this country, Mr. Speaker. Some people believe that the answer lies in Washington DC. It does not. For decades Washington, DC has told the American people that everything is okay while it continued to spend the inheritance of children and undermine their very future. As I went around my district and did a lot of Memorial Day events with our fine veterans, I saw a lot of young people, Mr. Speaker. I looked at my own children, Bobby and Kayla, wondering what opportunity they are going to have, wondering what opportunity other young people are going to have in this country. I wonder if they are going to have the same kind of opportunity I had when I was raised 41 years ago, when a debt was not hung upon my neck to pay, unlike today. A child born today in this country is going to owe $187,000 over their working lifetime to pay for the past spending habits of this room. That is not right, it is not fair, and it is not morally correct to do that to young people, Mr. Speaker. Every day working families who have been so hard hit in the 18th Congressional District of Ohio as they have across this country, especially in the industrialized areas that were ravaged by the bureaucrats in this Government and by the overspending of Washington, every single day those working people have to sit down at their dinner table and they have to balance their budget, and Washington did not. That is the problem, Mr. Speaker. Past tax-and-spend policies are not the way to provide opportunity for working people. And people have insecurity these days. I can only think of the married couple that wants to buy that piece of the American dream, the home. I can only think of the thirtysomethings who are accumulating debt that they cannot pay. I can only think about the couples in their forties and fifties who are desperately trying to do the right thing and save for their future, and I think of America's seniors, America's seniors who paid their dues and who deserve the best and deserve for Medicare to be their for them. Those are the Americans that I can think of. Those are the real people. Not inside the Beltway in Washington, Mr. Speaker, but the real people that every single day have to go out and earn a living and have to provide opportunity for their families. It is not right what has been done in Washington. Enough is enough. It is time to draw the line in the sand. It is time to give people back their ability to control their destiny. Mr. Speaker, corporate America also needs to produce a healthy environment and healthy bottom line for working Americans. Corporate America needs to be involved in job training, employee education, and involved in the community. That does not mean that we need to rip down the corporations, but we need to be able to create a job and people need to be able to have a job. Corporate America has got to help with that take-home power. Corporate America has got to be a player in this system, Mr. Speaker. It has got to be sensitive to the working people, as Congress needs to be sensitive to the working people of this country. We also need legal reform. The country has come into a sense of lawsuit madness and that in itself also has to end. 2030 With all due respect, the trial lawyers are totally out of control in this country. We need to make fundamental changes in Washington, DC, to have a better, brighter, cleaner, safer future for our children. It is about the wallet, Mr. Speaker, the money that the working people of this country put into the wallet and the money this Government takes out. And under our plan, and we want to join together with the other side of the aisle, working Americans are going to have more of their own hard earned money to spend for their futures.

Mr. NEY

Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3373, the Veterans Benefits Amendments of 1996. The bill makes several changes which are needed, and some are administrative in nature, but I also wanted to point out one of substance. Right now, veterans can be locked into a 5-year hold on a life insurance policy, and under this bill, this would allow an individual upon separation of the military, Mr. Speaker, to choose either to enroll in the Veterans' Group Life Insurance Program or to convert to a commercial policy. That is important, because a veteran might be ill and cannot wait that 5-year period to convert that policy, and might need the support that that financial situation can help them and their families with. So I just want to point out that although there are a lot of technical changes that are good, there are changes of substance. I also want to give credit to the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Montgomery] who has always been willing to listen to a new freshman, and also the same holds true for our chairman. I would note, Mr. Speaker, that they have left politics at the door, which is the way it should be. I commend both gentlemen for that for the best benefit of veterans. I rise to support this bill. It makes some changes and clarifications in the definition of minor children for purposes of burial in our national cemeteries, and prevents the VA from moving their education service outside of Washington, DC. I would also like to note, Mr. Speaker, that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs staff has logged many phone calls in support of this measure. It is a good bipartisan bill, and I applaud the entire committee and the chairman for their support of this.

Mr. NEY

Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, this is not about the left wing, this is not about the right wing. Today as we stand here, it is not about Bob Dole or Newt Gingrich or Bill Clinton. This is about Medicare; not mediscare, Mr. Speaker, but Medicare. We are not taxing Medicare, we are not cutting Medicare. Mr. Speaker, let us tell the truth about Medicare. We want to stand up for the seniors because the system is going bankrupt. This debate has been so politicized and that is so wrong. We have to stand up for seniors in our country. We have to make changes in the system because it is going bankrupt. The President just this week said, well, the press made me do it. The press made me say cut. Finally it has been acknowledged by the President we are not cutting the system. We need to change the system. We need to put aside politics. We need to quit talking about the Speaker or the majority leader or the President and stand up for senior citizens in this country, do the right thing, make some changes in the system to protect seniors. We are increasing Medicare. We said that last year; we were telling the truth. People can distort and lie louder. We can tell the truth longer.

Mr. NEY

Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I commend the following article to my colleagues: Approximately 2:00 a.m., on May 10, 1996 at Camp Lejeune, NC, two U.S. Marine Corps helicopters collided while participating in ``Combined Joint Task Force Exercise 96.'' This exercise known as ``war games'' consisted of 53,000 British and American troops. The incident which occurred in a wooded area near Courthouse Bay boat basin at Camp Lejeune involved a troop carrier and an assault helicopter. There were 16 victims, 14 dead or in critical condition. Lance Cpl. Jackie Chidester, 23, of Newark, OH was one of the 14 servicemen that died. Jackie was part of the S-3 BLT 2/8 24th NEU(SOC) Unit. The Battalion Landing Team of the 2nd Division, 8th Marine Regiment, 24 Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable). Lance Cpl. Chidester excelled in the classroom and in athletics while attending Licking Valley High School. He was the captain of the Licking Valley football team in 1990 when they clinched the championship and won all-league honors. He also was a State qualifier in wrestling during his junior year. In 1991, Jackie graduated from Licking Valley and attended Heidelberg College in Tiffin, OH. Lance Cpl. Chidester was the son of Imogene Miller and Jackie Lee Chidester. ``He fulfilled a life long dream when he enlisted in the Marine Corps,'' his father stated, ``he loved the Marines. It was rough, tough, and he loved it.'' Whereas, the citizens of the United States and the 18th Congressional District of Ohio, with a real sense of honor join me in commending Lance Cpl. Jackie Paul Chidester on his dedication to serve and protect our great country. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and colleagues in the Marine Corps.

Mr. NEY

Mr. NEY. Mr. Chairman, I do. Obviously I am not pleased. I feel very sorry for the people. Mr. Chairman, I concede the point of order.

Mr. NEY. Mr. Chairman, I will make it real quick. In all due respect, it does not do that. This does not cost the taxpayers. They have to have insurance. People are stuck, they cannot go back to their homes. Senior citizens are having to live with their families right now. They cannot go back. To put a good foot forward on this, I will work with the gentleman in the conference committee. They can be required to have insurance when they go back. They just simply cannot move. One day they had their mobile home there, there was a huge flood, and now they cannot put it back. They are stuck. They have do place to live.

Mr. NEY. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. NEY. Mr. Chairman, at issue here is not a matter of the insurance or anybody trying to scam the system. What has happened here, the Federal agency--by the way, I want to say FEMA did a good job in representing people when the President declared a disaster--but what has happened is someone in FEMA said, ``Okay, you bring the trailers back.'' This has nothing to do with an insurance measure. ``You bring them back, take the piece of ground and build a 12-foot cinder block foundation, put it up on top of there and you can come back.'' So if they do not do that, the entire city of Wheeling, WV, the entire city of Powhatan, OH, lose all their aid unless they make people do that. It is not a matter of insurance or whether they had it or not. It is a matter of whether they took the trailer out, away from harm's way, and took it back. They cannot physically place it on their own land unless a 12-foot cinder block foundation has been built.

Mr. NEY. Mr. Chairman will the gentleman yield?

Mr. NEY. It does not, Mr. Chairman. These are for the homes, this is word-specific, that were moved out and brought back. Right now the mayor has to tell the people, for example, ``You cannot bring them back because the aid is going to be cut off to the entire community.'' If they took the home out, they brought the home back after the flood, this applies to those individuals.

Mr. NEY. I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Mr. NEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, on January 20, 1996, eastern Ohio and the northern panhandle of West Virginia were struck with a disastrous flood. There are many residents in this area that are owners of mobile homes. Several of those homeowners transported their mobile homes to safe areas away from the rising water before the mobile homes were damaged. After this area was drained, after the flood waters receded, the owners then moved their homes back and in some cases attempted to move their homes back, because according to FEMA, these mobile homeowners must build expensive 12-foot-tall foundations if they want to move their homes back to the areas that were affected. Even though it was all along the Ohio River, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia in particular, this was called to our attention about this FEMA regulation by a local newspaper, the Wheeling Intelligencer. We were getting calls from not only Wheeling, WV, but Powhatan, OH, in particular. These are two areas, but I am sure this applies to many people along that entire Ohio River. In some cases the mayor in, for example, Powhatan, OH, Mayor Bell is forced to tell people, ``You can not bring your trailer back onto your land.'' Because if the mayor does not do that, aid is going to be cut to that municipality. So the intent is to let people come back onto their land. The problem we have got is that FEMA, however, is saying they have got to build a 12-foot foundation, bring their mobile home back, put it on top of that 12-foot foundation, which is ridiculous. If another flood occurs, they can move the mobile home off and then they can bring the mobile home back once the flood waters have receded. So there are a lot of people, Mr. Chairman, that are simply in a very bad position as a result of this rule. The amendment simply states that the placement of any manufactured or mobile home on any site shall not affect the eligibility of any community to participate in the Federal Flood Insurance Program under the National Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, so long as the home was previously located on the site, the home was relocated from the site because of the threat of flooding and such replacement is conducted no later than 180 days after a flood subsides. I spoke to the gentleman from West Virginia [Mr. Mollohan] and this has affected his area. I feel this is a bipartisan amendment. It is my understanding hopefully that there will be no opposition to this but I just want to urge, this is very important to people in the regions concerned. I urge your support.

Mr. NEY. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. NEY. That is correct.

Mr. NEY

Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I commend the following article to my colleagues: Whereas, Shelly McPeck Kelly, a United States Air Force Technical Sergeant that died in the plane crash along with Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, and Whereas, Shelly McPeck Kelly, was a loyal and devoted wife, and loving mother of two; and, Whereas, Shelly McPeck Kelly, served faithfully as an airplane stewardess in the United States Air Force achieving the rank of Technical Sergeant, and Whereas, Shelly McPeck Kelly, should be commended for her service to the United States of America during the Bosnian Peacekeeping Operation; and, Whereas, the residents of Eastern Ohio join me in honoring Shell McPeck Kelly for her brave and loyal citizenship to the United States.

Mr. NEY

Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker, I also wanted to extend on behalf of my district and, obviously, all the Members of the House, condolences to the family of Ron Brown and all those who were aboard the airplane that crashed in Bosnia. Also, Mr. Speaker, I wanted to point out that one of my constituents who was originally from Zanesville, OH, Shelly McPeck Kelly, was aboard that plane. She leaves behind a loving family in Zanesville, OH. That would be her mother, Shirley Clark, and also her stepfather, Sam Clark, and several siblings. She also leaves behind a loving husband, Dennis, and two children, Sean and Courtney. Shelly McPeck Kelly was to retire in 2 years from the Air Force. She achieved the rank of technical sergeant. She was a loyal and devoted wife and a loving mother. She served faithfully her Government aboard a U.S. Air Force plane, and also had previously served for the President aboard Air Force One during the Bush administration. I recognize her service to the country, and rise on behalf of the residents of eastern Ohio to say that we want to commend Shelly McPeck Kelly for her service to the United States of America during the Bosnia peacekeeping mission, and just also say that the residents of eastern Ohio join me in honoring the memory of Shelly McPeck Kelly and send condolences to her family, as we also send to the family of Ron Brown and the other devoted and loyal Americans aboard that plane.

Mr. NEY

Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the gentleman from Colorado, for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to point out the importance of H.R. 2816. Of course, as has been stated, it is a bill to extend the deadline for construction of a hydroelectric project in Ohio. It is in Belmont County. It is located at the Pike Island Locks and Dam in our county in Ohio. It will have a very positive impact on the local economy, Mr. Speaker, in this area. The anticipated cost is estimated between $106 million and $130 million, with a cost of approximately $85 million for civic, electrical, and mechanical construction. The Pike Island project would provide between 84 and 139 construction jobs over a 3-year period with a payroll between $10.8 million and $18.6 million. This project, Mr. Speaker, was brought to our attention by Yorkville, OH in the district of the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Regula]. I want to thank him for being a cosponsor. I also want to point out that this is also an environmentally friendly project. The development of the Pike Island project can satisfy part of the supply-side electrical generating capacity that the region will need to meet its growth. The project will also generate approximately 49.5 megawatts and provide important reductions in the emissions of sulfur dioxide and other airborne pollutants. More importantly for our area, I want to point out that clean air credits will also be generated, which is important in helping to ensure we can burn our region's high-sulfur coal and we can continue to burn the coal that is important for our jobs. The Pike Island project will also create and preserve local employment, enhance recreational and sporting opportunities for local residents, and will pay considerable taxes and fees. That is for the entire region of Belmont County in Ohio. Mr. Speaker, also I want to say in closing, I want to thank the county commissioners in Belmont County, Commissioners Beaning, Coyne, and Pollak, and also Don Myers, our director of development, who worked with us on this project. It is a good bill, and I urge support.

Mr. NEY

Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on House Oversight be discharged from further consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 168) waiving certain enrollment requirements with respect to two bills of the 104th Congress, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. NEY

Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to make a couple of statements on this resolution. First, I commend the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Porter] for bringing this forth to the floor of this House, and also commend the House for continuing to keep the pressure on this issue. I think the previous speakers have pointed out why we need to do that. Also, Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to state that I myself lived in Iran, in a southern city called Shiraz. I was there during the revolution in 1978 of the Shaw of Iran. People would talk over the years about prejudice. Prejudice can exist in any country toward a people or toward a religion. There may have been some internal prejudice in 1978 and prior toward the Baha'i religion, but I want to tell the Members, Baha'is were not pulled out into the street and executed. This regime, let us make no bones about it, goes beyond the thoughts of prejudice toward the Baha'i, and they have executed people, they have forced families to purchase the bullets that their loved ones were executed with. This is a brutal regime in Iran that has carried out assassinations toward members of the resistance in Europe recently. This is a regime that promotes terrorism around the world. As we know, even in Bosnia, as we speak this year they were active there and around the world to persecute people. I believe that the world needs to be constantly made aware and to promote and push the point of what is being done to the peaceful Baha'i people. I just want to again stress that if we do not keep up this type of pressure, it will be forgotten. This has helped in the past, and I want to commend the Members for what they are doing today, on behalf of the Baha'i people.

Mr. NEY

Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the House version of S. 1494, because it reauthorizes five major programs and encourages homeownership and affordable housing development in this country. But also, like the previous speakers on both sides of the aisle, I also want to mention that by bipartisan support in the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, we had a good measure come forth, and that has been talked about by the previous speakers. That is inclusion of the language in the revised version of the bill that would allow public housing agencies and landlords who receive Federal assistance to more easily designate certain dwellings as elderly only, disabled only, or elderly and disabled. I thank the gentleman from New York [Mr. Lazio] for his perseverance on this issue, and the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Blute], of course, for bringing this issue forth. While there are almost 3,400 public housing developments nationwide, only 10 have been approved by HUD and designated as elderly only. When I served in the State senate, Marty Gould, who is the head of Martins Ferry housing authority in Belmont County, OH, among other directors, had continuously called, because there was always one view coming out of Washington, some rules and regulations, and the directors really did not know what to do. This clarifies it once and for all, adds good protection for our senior citizens, and is the right thing to do.

Mr. NEY

Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I commend the following article to my colleagues: Whereas, Mrs. Helen Best, should be recognized for celebrating her 80th birthday on December 14, 1995; and, Whereas, Mrs. Helen Best, should be honored for her achievements, including her membership to the Carroll County Precinct Committee for forty years, deputy director and director of the Carroll County Board of Elections, and committee chair of the Subcommittee on Elections and Candidate Services; and, Whereas, Mrs. Helen Best, has demonstrated her commitment to Carroll County and the surrounding area; and, Whereas, the county owes Mrs. Helen Best a great deal of gratitude for her selfless, devoted service; and, Whereas, I join the residents of Carroll County, with distinct pleasure, in celebrating Mrs. Helen Best 80th birthday.