Eleanor Norton

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, as an original Co-Chair of the Honorary Congressional Host Committee for the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, with Representative John Conyers, I rise today to recognize one of America's great jazz musicians and celebrated music innovators, Dr. Billy Taylor. As we look forward to and celebrate the second annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in the District of Columbia, we recognize the talented individuals who contributed to the unique sounds that form modern jazz. As a world-renowned jazz artist who uses his talent not only to entertain, but also to educate and inspire, Dr. Billy Taylor will be honored this year with the Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award. He joins last year's inaugural honoree, David Brubeck, as a recipient of this award. I am proud that Dr. Taylor grew up in the District of Columbia in a family that valued artistic expression through music. His talent was undeniable. Dr. Taylor experimented with the sounds of the saxophone, drums, guitar and piano, receiving lessons from Henry Grant, who taught classical piano to the legendary Duke Ellington 20 years earlier. By the age of 13, Dr. Taylor had made his first professional appearance at the Republic Gardens on U Street. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in music from Virginia State University, Dr. Taylor took time off to continue to study, practice and perfect his musical skills. In 1944, he set out for New York City and became instantly emerged in the music scene. Soon after his arrival, Dr. Taylor was invited to play piano in saxophonist Ben Webster's quartet. He also performed on 52nd Street with the legendary Dizzy Gillespie. In 1946, Dr. Taylor embarked on an 8-month tour of Europe with Don Redman's Orchestra, the first American band to visit the continent after World War II. Upon his return, Billy Taylor became the house pianist at Birdland, the historic jazz venue where he was surrounded by pioneering jazz musicians and played with greats such as Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis. As an eminent jazz musician, Billy Taylor began to educate the public on the world of jazz. In the early 1960's, Dr. Taylor became the first black artist to host a daily radio show, ``The Billy Taylor Show,'' on WNEW, a major New York station. Dr. Taylor also brought jazz back to Harlem and the surrounding communities through the revolutionary Jazzmobile project, which he co-founded with Daphne Arnstein, a fellow member of the Harlem Cultural Council. The Jazzmobile began with a float borrowed from the Budweiser Beer Company that was converted into a bandstand-on-wheels. The organization produced summer outdoor concerts, lectures and special programs for disadvantaged inner-city youth. Renowned artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Buddy Rich, and Milt Jackson all contributed to the Jazzmobile by performing free outdoor concerts for the public. In particular, Dr. Taylor recalled the excitement of the audience when Duke Ellington performed, saying, ``I don't know who was more excited, the audience, or Duke. He loved playing for the people of Harlem, and they loved him, madly.'' The program continues today throughout the United States. Billy Taylor's recording career is nothing short of extraordinary. With more than two dozen albums recorded over a span of six decades, Dr. Taylor is renowned within the recording community through such compositions as, ``I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free'' and ``Peaceful Warrior,'' a work inspired by and dedicated to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1990, Dr. Taylor was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President George H.W. Bush and also has received two Peabody Awards, an Emmy, and a Grammy. Dr. Taylor continues to be the country's spokesman for jazz. From 1977 until 1982, Dr. Taylor hosted ``Jazz Alive,'' National Public Radio's most listened-to jazz program of its time. In March 1993, he was appointed Jazz Adviser to the Kennedy Center, where he was responsible for dramatically expanding and enhancing its jazz program--and although he has officially retired, Dr. Taylor is busier than ever, continuing to provide his expertise to the institution. As with Jazzmobile, Billy Taylor continues to create outreach activities and public performances to expose people of all ages to the genre of Jazz at the Kennedy Center. At the University of Massachusetts, where he is the Wilmer D. Barrett Professor of Music, Dr. Taylor leads the annual Jazz in July program. As we prepare for the 2nd Annual Duke Ellington Festival to be held in October, it is my pleasure to recognize Dr. Billy Taylor for his lifetime achievements and contributions to the genre of jazz and to the world at large. He is not only an extraordinary artist, but also a renowned and celebrated professional who has dedicated his life to bringing music to the masses. Dr. Billy Taylor inspires the next generation of musicians to continue in his footsteps and not only excel in their musical performances, but also to motivate and educate.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I take considerable pleasure in welcoming Archbishop Donald Wuerl to Washington and to the archdiocese of Washington. Although born in Pittsburgh, where he last served, Archbishop Wuerl is very familiar with Washington where he studied at our own Catholic University of America. The archbishop follows Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, whose humble priestly ways and message of inclusiveness made him beloved by people of all religions and backgrounds here. Archbishop Wuerl will minister both to official Washington and to average parishioners in the District and Maryland. The archbishop's work in Pittsburgh, however, foreshadows a leader who is first and foremost a pastor. We warmly welcome Archbishop Donald Wuerl.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the first African American graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a venerable District of Columbia resident, Retired Lieutenant Commander Wesley Brown. On the Fourth of July, I urged District residents to commemorate the day by celebrating the service of Wesley Brown as a tribute to his historic achievement and as a way of reminding the nation on this day of liberty that thousands of men like Wesley Brown have served their country in the armed forces without equal representation in Congress and that the pending District of Columbia Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act affords a way to begin to right this wrong. Wesley Brown is an alumnus of Dunbar High School, and upon graduation, entered the United States Naval Academy. There, he not only met the tough academic and military requirements to graduate from the Naval Academy in 1949, but also prevailed over racial discrimination and physical and mental abuse at the Academy. Mr. Brown served honorably in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. He retired from the Navy at the rank of lieutenant commander. In recognition of his achievement, the Academy named a building after Mr. Brown last year. His remarkable life story is chronicled in the book ``Breaking the Color Barrier: The U.S. Naval Academy's First Black Midshipmen and the Struggle for Racial Equality'' by Robert Schneller. I am particularly and personally grateful to Mr. Brown, who chaired my first Service Academy Selection Board, which assists me in nominating D.C. high school students for appointments to the military academies, and remains Chairperson Emeritus. Wesley Brown has become a historical figure living among us. His graduation was a pivotal moment in the nation's efforts to integrate the armed forces of the United States and to improve racial conditions. His leadership paved the way for over 1,600 African Americans who have since graduated from the Naval Academy. Today, nearly 23 percent of the Academy's students are from minority groups. Wesley Brown deserves special recognition for this pioneering accomplishment, and the service he rendered to the cause of equal treatment for all Americans by courageously accepting unusually difficult challenges for a young Black man before the armed forces themselves were integrated. He did so as generations of Washingtonians have done for the past 230 years in serving the Armed Forces of the United States, always without equal representation in the Congress of the United States and always paying taxes without representation, notwithstanding that this form of tyranny was one of the major causes of the War for Independence which led to the founding of the United States of America. In the spirit of another great Washingtonian, Frederick Douglass, who challenged the nation in a July 4th address to live up to its stated ideals of freedom and equality, I recognize and honor other District veterans and remind the nation of the necessity to pass H.R. 5388, the Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act which would afford the full vote in the House of Representatives for the first time in American history. Passage of this legislation would be the optimal way to recognize the service of Mr. Brown, D.C. residents who are currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the 44,000 D.C. veterans who have honorably served our nation in the United States Armed Forces.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, when I was asked did I want to accept time in opposition, when I said nor should any Member of this body, I was not being rhetorical. This bill is indispensable to the Federal Government, and it is indispensable to the 20 million visitors who come every year. I don't want anyone to think that the chairman and the Members who have come forward would have the chutzpah to come forward and say support a local transportation system. This system was created by the National Transportation Act. It was not created by Maryland, Virginia, or the District of Columbia but by the Federal Government. It was created by the Federal Government, because by 1969, the Federal presence had spread to Maryland and Virginia, and it was very clear that the Federal Government itself could not operate without a modern transportation system allowing what amounts to 200,000 workers today to get from one place to the other. Meanwhile, the gentleman from Texas has cited the many programs and the transportation funds that the local jurisdictions get, and that, of course, is what has supported this system ever since. What this funding is necessary for is capital funding in order to keep the system up and operating because of pressure put on the system by the Federal Government and nobody but the Federal Government. Almost half of those who ride every day are Federal employees. Without dedicated funding, and here is where the chairman and the Members of the region deserve real credit because there is no dedicated funding for the system, so it has to be funded on an annual basis. The chairman's bill, supported by all of us, essentially says no funding is available unless there is a dedicated funding source. So it performs the task that is responsible to the Federal Government by saying, here is your share that you must give, and it says to the local jurisdictions, you do not get the Federal share unless you come forward not just with funding, but with dedicated funding. The purpose of this bill is to deal with the initial investment that the Federal Government made, which is now going down the drain because the local jurisdictions cannot in fact, by themselves, deal with the maintenance and capital costs that Federal pressure has put on it. Let me tell you what I mean by Federal pressure. We are so dependent on this system, that we subsidize Federal workers to, in fact, take Metro. As it is, you cannot, in fact, get on the roads here, even with Metro. Imagine what would happen if Metro were not available; but it is becoming unavailable because its cars are so crowded that there are many Federal workers who believe that they should just as well take a car, something that the roads coming to and from the District cannot stand. I am a member of the Homeland Security Committee. I do not believe there is a single Member who would not not understand what in the post- 9/11 world this transportation system means to the safety and security of this region. But I can tell you from my work, and the chairman is also on the committee, that it adds to the necessity that President Eisenhower saw in 1969, and an additional one that we cannot turn our heads from. Ask your own constituents how they get around Washington when they come. There are 20 million of them. They are not my constituents, and they are not Chairman Davis's constituents, they are yours. And they would be lost without the Metro system. The beauty of the bill is that it is going to get the local jurisdictions to do what all of our hectoring has not made them do until now, and that is to get the dedicated funding so that the cars, which are now overloaded with Federal workers every morning, you cannot get on these cars, will indeed have additions to them; so the facilities, indeed, can be maintained. The gentleman complained about that. He was perfectly right. There are not the funds to maintain it and keep it operating if you depend only on the three local jurisdictions.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I am not opposed to the legislation, nor should anybody else in this Chamber be.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the District of Columbia District Attorney Establishment Act of 2006, continuing a series of bills that I will introduce this session to ensure a continuation of the process of transition to full democracy and self-government for the residents of the District of Columbia. This bill is the ninth in our ``Free and Equal DC'' series of bills to eliminate anti-Home Rule legislation and to remedy obsolete or inappropriate congressional intervention into the local affairs of the District of Columbia or denials of federal benefits or recognition routinely granted to other jurisdictions. This bill will establish an Office of District Attorney for the District of Columbia, to be headed by a District Attorney elected by DC residents. Accordingly, this bill would move the city a quantum leap toward full home rule for the District of Columbia and equality with other Americans. This bill effectuates a November 2002 referendum where DC voters overwhelmingly (82 percent) approved a locally elected D.A. This important legislation is designed to put the District of Columbia on par with every other local jurisdiction in the country by allowing DC residents to elect an independent District Attorney to prosecute local criminal and civil matters now handled by the U.S. Attorney, a federal official. Instead the new District Attorney would become the city's chief legal officer. As presently constituted, the U.S. Attorney's office in the District is the largest in the country only because it serves mainly as the local city prosecutor. That office needs to be freed up to do security and other federal work particularly in the post 9-11 nation's capital. There is no issue of greater importance to our citizens and no issue on which residents have less say here than the prosecution of local crimes. A U.S. Attorney has no business in the local criminal affairs of local jurisdictions. No other citizens in the United States are treated so unfairly on an issue of such major importance. This bill would simply make the D.A. accountable to the people who elect him or her as elsewhere in the country. In addition to issues of democracy and self government, such as congressional voting rights and legislative and budget autonomy that District residents are entitled to as American citizens, residents are determined to achieve each and every other element of home rule. Amending the Home Rule Act with a local D.A. provision would be an important development toward our goal of achieving true self- government. I urge my colleagues to support this important measure.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Chairman Davis has gone to wonderful creative trouble to find the funds, funds that were not being obligated to use for other purposes. This may look like a regional matter. It is a matter involving 20 million visitors who come to the District of Columbia and, frankly, have so piled on to the system that they have broken it down. Moreover, the rest of the people who use it during the weekdays are almost always Federal workers. We subsidize those Federal workers in order to get them to use this system. Watch what you wish for. They are now using it. Now the system in which we have invested so much, we helped build it, we the Federal Government, because we knew visitors and Federal workers were chiefly involved. Because of that we have got to have a dedicated stream of funding or we do not have enough cars and we are not able to protect our investment by keeping the upkeep and that is why it is falling down. In every respect, Members have more at stake than we do because of Federal workers and because our own constituents use this system. I thank the gentleman.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to introduce legislation to restore the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) authority to regulate marketing to children under the age of 18 in order to help eliminate an epidemic of overweight and obesity that studies link to pervasive advertising of junk food to the Nation's youth. A similar provision has been introduced as part of a larger bill in the Senate, and former President Clinton is taking a leading role in efforts to control the rapid increase in overweight and obesity in children. Yet Congress has failed to take decisive action, despite definitive studies that show that childhood obesity has become one of the Nation's most serious health issues, creating a surge in debilitating diseases we are seeing for the first time in kids. The Centers for Disease Control reports that 12.5 million children and adolescents, ages 2-19, are overweight, a rate that has tripled in the last 40 years. As a result, the incidence of Type 2 diabetes in children, a disease that is mainly associated with adults, has become widespread in recent years. Overweight children have a more than 70 percent chance of being overweight adults, putting them at risk for many serious health conditions, such as high blood pressure, asthma and heart disease. Many of these children are obese in part because they watch so much television, on the average, over 2 hours a day. However, a study by the congressionally chartered Institute of Medicine (IOM) found extraordinary growth in new food products targeted to children, from just 52 new product introductions in 1994 to close to 500 just last year. Significantly, the IOM report finds that advertisements during children's programming feature foods high in fat, with little to no nutritional value. The problem is even greater in programming geared toward African American television consumers, adults and children alike. A summer 2005 survey of programming on Black Entertainment Television (BET) found that 66 percent of the ads were for fast food commercials. The study monitored commercials during the afternoon hours, when children watch cartoons and ``tween'' shows. The WB Network and Disney Channel were also monitored in the study. During that time slot, over 1,000 ads were shown on all three channels. Only 34 percent of ads on the WB promoted fast foods, and none at all on the Disney channel. McDonald's was the leading fast food advertiser on BET. Further, 82 percent of advertisements on BET were for soda, with the WB at 11 percent. The Disney Channel accounted for only 6 percent of soda advertisements. Advertisements for snacks accounted for 60 percent of BET programming, 40 percent on the Disney Channel and none on the WB. As a result of increased fast food advertising, children are more likely to consume an additional 167 calories a day, a caloric intake that further exacerbates already high obesity rates. Currently, obesity affects nearly 18 percent of black children compared to 14 percent of white children. These studies are evidence that the estimated $15 billion spent on junk food marketing in the last year is adversely affecting the eating habits, and consequently, the health of our nation's youth. This marketing is especially problematic in poor, predominately African American neighborhoods, many of which have no access to fresh and healthy food products due to a dearth in neighborhood grocery stores. This problem is highlighted here in the District where the lowest income wards attract corner convenience stores that feature unhealthy, fatty foods in abundance, but do not provide foods of significant nutritional value that assist both in the intellectual and physical growth and development of children. The FTC and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have historically shared joint jurisdiction over advertising to children. The FCC first implemented regulations on children's advertising in 1974, setting limits on the amount of advertising per hour during children's programs, but these limits do not address the content of the ads. Under current law, the Children's Television Act of 1990, advertising during children's programming is restricted to no more than 10\1/2\ minutes per hour on the weekends, and 12 minutes per hour on the weekdays. However, these ``restrictions'' are simply an adoption of what is already the established industry norm. In 1978, the Federal Trade Commission recommended banning television advertising to children under the age of eight after research at the time indicated that marketing to young children was unfair because young children do not understand the persuasive intent of advertising, thereby establishing an unfair and deceptive act or practice. However, industry lobbyists filed a lawsuit against the FTC, and lobbied Congress instead to pass the FTC Improvement Act of 1980, which stripped the FTC of its authority to issue industry-wide regulations to stop unfair advertising practices. The debate still continues, however, as the IOM's recent report recommends banning television advertising to children even up to the age of twelve, and the American Psychological Association (APA) says that children under the age of nine cannot understand persuasive intent. Nevertheless, the methods for advertising products to children have become more sophisticated. Marketing strategies now include Internet games, specialized product placement in stores, as well as cartoon character endorsements like those that featured Sponge Bob Square Pants endorsing Burger King products, and promoting unhealthy eating habits. Ironically, funding will lapse this year for a successful program I cosponsored that turned television on its head, and according to studies, has effectively used TV to get children active. The Youth Media Campaign--VERBTM program, the brainchild of the former chair of the Labor/HHS subcommittee, Jon Porter, with whom I collaborated when I had a similar bill, received no funding in the President's Fiscal Year 2007 budget, and the program, despite its demonstrated effectiveness, has received less and less funding since its inception, from an initial appropriation of $125 million. The VERBTM program focuses children on physical activity at a time when physical education is often no longer a required component of school curricula. Through print, radio, internet and television advertising targeted at the nation's 21 million children aged 9-13 years, VERBTM programming emphasized free-time, outside of the classroom where children traditionally are at play. The program also featured a multicultural message, giving extra focus to African American and Hispanic youth who have the highest incidence of childhood obesity. Most important, two recent evaluations of VERBTM have found the program to be remarkably effective. VERBTM offered the first concrete hope of progress against the alarming surge in debilitating diseases we are now seeing for the first time in children, and I sincerely hope that the Congress will again fund this program to ensure its continued success. However, I am pleased to join with Senator Tom Harkin, who has introduced this language in the Senate as part of a more comprehensive bill promoting healthy lifestyles and disease prevention. I am also pleased to join with others, such as former President Clinton, who has joined with the Nickelodeon Channel to promote responsible, healthy food choices and lifestyles. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. I thank the gentlewoman for her initiative. As a former chair of the EEOC credited with bringing efficiencies that eliminated the backlog, I strongly support her amendment. The efficiencies that I brought to the commission included settling cases. At first, they were controversial, but the civil rights community focused in and around them. When the remedy rate increased, the businesses were very grateful for them because they got them out of the city. The call system is not such an efficiency. It makes work that has not saved either work or money. Callers instead want to get to somebody who really knows something, the way when you have a recording or a customer service person and you say, let me speak to a real person who can tell me some real information. Meanwhile the Nation's civil rights enforcement agency is being dismantled. What other agency has lost 20 percent of its staff since this administration took power? What kind of message is the 109th Congress sending to civil rights. Eliminate the call center. Let trained staff do their work.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce a bill to allow treatment using Medicaid funds for men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer. This bill mirrors the measure that Congress enacted in 1999 to help low-income women who would otherwise not qualify for Medicaid, despite being diagnosed with breast cancer or cervical cancer. Congress found that women responded in large numbers to efforts by government and others to encourage early diagnosis using mammography after the Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality Prevention Act was enacted in 1990. However, in 1999 Congress recognized that because the screening did not provide coverage of treatment for women above the poverty level, the screening legislation had the tragic but unintended consequence of informing these women of a serious disease that demanded immediate treatment but leaving them without the means to seek that treatment. Later, Congress amended Title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide medical assistance for the women screened and found to have breast or cervical cancer under a federally funded screening program. In today's bill, I have endeavored to provide the same relief for men. This bill allows men, earning up to 250 percent of the poverty level, who are diagnosed with prostate cancer through a Federal screening program for prostate cancer, to qualify for treatment using Medicaid funds. The program would target men who are low-income, uninsured or underinsured men who, nevertheless, do not qualify for Medicaid and do not have private insurance. Prostate cancer outranks breast cancer as the second most common occurring cancer in the U.S. and the second leading cause of cancer- related deaths. However, diagnosing this cancer is often less expensive, and unlike breast cancer, often does not require immediate treatment. Prostate cancer treatment does not require invasive surgery in many instances. Many prostate cases can be diagnosed with a simple Prostate-Specific Antigen, PSA, test unlike the high technology mammography machines used to detect breast cancer. Many men are advised to wait and watch for the development of the disease before seeking treatment. However the rate of cancer deaths coupled with available treatment is strong evidence that many lives could be saved at considerably less expense if early detection and treatment were more available. Although race is a factor, every man over the age of 50 is at risk of developing prostate cancer and should be screened. Veterans that have been exposed to Agent Orange also have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer. Many doctors recommend yearly screening for men over age 50, and some advise men who are at a higher risk for prostate cancer to begin screening at age 40 or 45. Many Black men are at the highest risk of prostate cancer--it tends to start at younger ages and grows faster than in men of other races. Currently, Medicare provides coverage for an annual PSA test for all men age 50 and older but men still do not fall within existing requirements to receive Medicaid. I urge my colleagues to join with me in establishing this program guaranteeing treatment for men diagnosed with prostate cancer. It will meet an immediate and pressing need in communities across the country, and across racial and class lines.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Chairman, this amendment concerns the Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Chairman, I thank both gentlemen for accepting my amendment.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of H. Res. 826. Youth sports are much more than just an afterschool activity or a great way for young people to spend their energy and free time. Youth sports can help enrich a child's life; and, Mr. Speaker, they serve a much more important role today when so many youth have become voyeurs of sports and not participants in sports. H. Res. 826 is sponsored by Representative Mike McIntyre. Youth sporting leagues and activities, when combined with healthy parenting and responsible coaching, help children to grow emotionally, socially, and physically. Teamwork, discipline, and the value of hard work that goes with them are important lessons for children to learn. In addition, there are clear physical and health benefits for children who participate in youth sports. Mr. Speaker, obesity has become a major problem of young people in the United States. This week I am introducing a bill that would allow the FCC to regulate junk food advertising on TV which is so out of hand that physicians and other health care providers have focused in on this advertising in particular. I am pleased that before Representative Jon Porter, former chair of the HHS subcommittee, left, I was a cosponsor of a bill that has been funded now for the last 5 years with him to establish a program that was extraordinarily successful, as it turns out and according to studies, in getting young people out and active. It was the VERB program. I regret very much that thus far this program has not been funded this year by the committee. I am hoping that it will be funded by Congress before we go home. No health issue is more pervasive among young people than obesity and being overweight. We appear to be raising a generation that is losing interest in physical activity and, in addition, is consuming nutritionally deficient foods that will guarantee that they have health problems for the rest of their lives. We have an epidemic of the type II diabetes for the first time in the history of this country. This is not the kind of diabetes people are born with. This is the kind of diabetes people get as a result of lifestyle, and the notion that youngsters now are the fastest growing group of those with type II diabetes should concern all of us and should get us to doing whatever we can to bring this matter to the attention of their parents and their communities. What Representative Mike McIntyre's resolution does in this regard may seem small, but everything we can do we should now be doing. Children who are not active and maintain poor diets develop health problems that we now know will be with them for their entire lives. The notion that high blood pressure, pediatricians tell us, now starts for many children when they are in elementary school, for example. Youth sports helps counteract this behavior by encouraging physical activity and healthier diets. Internationally, many organizations use youth sports to help remove barriers between culturally diverse communities. Basketball and soccer leagues have been successfully used in South America and Northern Ireland to foster reconciliation among troubled youth. Youth sports help train children to become productive citizens and future leaders. Youth Sports Week, which will be celebrated during the second week of July, will raise awareness of the existence of sports leagues around the country and promote sportsmanship among players, parents, coaches, and officials. I very much urge Members to support this resolution. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am pleased to join my colleague in consideration of H.R. 5104, a measure sponsored by Representative Jim Davis. H.R. 5104 names a postal facility in St. Petersburg, Florida, after Morris W. Milton. Mr. Milton was known as a creative and courageous attorney who fought for the rights of the disenfranchised and disadvantaged in his St. Petersburg community. The measure has the support and cosponsorship of the entire Florida delegation and was unanimously reported by the Committee on Government Reform on May 4, 2006. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am pleased to join my colleague in consideration of H.R. 5504, a measure sponsored by Representative Dennis Moore. H.R. 5504 names a postal facility in Mission, Kansas, after Larry Winn, Jr. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Winn was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served from 1967 to 1985. He is currently a resident of Prairie Village, Kansas. This measure has the support and sponsorship of the entire Kansas delegation and was unanimously reported by the Government Reform Committee on June 8, 2006. I urge Members to support this bill.

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

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. As a member of the Government Reform Committee, I am pleased to join my colleague in consideration of H.R. 5540, a measure sponsored by Representative Randy Neugebauer. H.R. 5540 names the postal facility in Dimmitt, Texas, after Sergeant Jacob Dan Dones. Sergeant Dones was killed in Iraq on October 20, 2005. This measure has the support and cosponsorship of the entire Texas delegation, and was unanimously reported by the Government Reform Committee on June 8, 2006. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests at this time, and yield back the balance of my time asking for support of this bill.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Act, a bill to authorize funding for the College Access program, which provides grants for secondary education tuition to the members of the D.C. National Guard. This bill is the eighth in the ``Free and Equal D.C.'' series of bills to remedy obsolete or inappropriate intervention into the local affairs of the District of Columbia or denials of federal benefits or recognition routinely granted to other jurisdictions. I decided on this bill to authorize an education incentive program after meeting with Major General David Wherley, the Commanding General of the D.C. National Guard (DCNG), who suggested that education grants would be useful in stemming the troublesome loss of members of the DCNG to Guard units in surrounding states that offer such benefits. I am grateful that last Congress, Representative David Hobson understood the importance of educational benefits in retaining appropriate D.C. National Guard levels in our nation's capital and was instrumental in getting a D.C. National Guard educational grant program included in the House version of the Defense Authorization bill. Unfortunately, the program was dropped in conference. However, this bill is necessary now more than before because the D.C. National Guard has been experiencing a disproportionate decline in force as compared to the Guards of neighboring jurisdictions, particularly Maryland and Virginia. For example, although National Guards throughout the United States have had difficulty maintaining and increasing their numbers, the decline of the D.C. National Guard has been precipitous. Since 1994, even before the war on terror, statistics show that the D.C. Army Guard has declined 34 percent, as compared to a 26 percent decline for Maryland and Virginia's 16 percent decline. Between 2002 and 2005, the D.C. Air Guard experienced a 6 percent decline, as compared to Maryland's 5 percent decline and Virginia's 2 percent increase. The declining D.C. National Guard enrollment is especially serious given the unique mission of the D.C. National Guard to protect the federal presence. This responsibility distinguishes the D.C. National Guard from any other National Guard. The D.C. National Guard is specially and specifically trained to meet its unique mission. The D.C. National Guard, a federal instrument, is losing personnel to other guards because it is not able to offer the same level of benefits that adjacent National Guards provide. The DCNG is severely under- competing for members from the pool of regional residents, who find membership in the MD and VA Guards much more attractive. A competitive tuition assistance program for the D.C. National Guard will provide significant incentive and leverage to help counteract declining enrollment and level the field of competition. The small education incentives in my bill would not only encourage high quality recruits; this benefit would have the important benefit of helping the DCNG to maintain the force necessary to protect federal presence, including Members of Congress, the Supreme Court, and visitors if an attack on the Nation's capital should occur. I am pleased to introduce this bill on advice of Guard personnel who know best what is necessary. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I introduce the District of Columbia Medicaid Reimbursement Act of 2006 today to raise the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP), the federal contribution from the federal government, to 75 percent from 70 percent and to reduce the District's unique role as the only city that pays the full local cost of Medicaid, a program that is carried by states and counties in our country. New York City, the jurisdiction that powers the economy of New York State, contributes a 25 percent local share to Medicaid while the state pays 25 percent, less than the District's statutorily mandated 30 percent contribution. I introduce this bill because the District's continuing responsibility for most Medicaid costs that are typically borne by entire states is a major component of the District's structural deficit and threatens the stability of the city itself. The District's Chief Financial Officer reports that rapidly increasing Medicaid costs put the city at risk. In FY 2005, these costs accounted for $1.4 billion or 22 percent of the city's gross funds budget. Total program costs have risen 42 percent since 1999, and are projected to increase by another $39 million this year. Yet the District, unlike other large cities which have lost significant populations, has no state and no state economy to share this burden. More than 25 percent of District children and adults are enrolled in Medicaid compared to 12 percent in Maryland and just 9 percent in Virginia. On average, the District spends over $7,000 per enrollee, while Maryland and Virginia spend $5,509 and $5,177, respectively, reflecting serious health conditions that are concentrated among big city residents. The D.C. Medicaid Reimbursement Act of 2006 is the seventh in the ``Free and Equal D.C.'' series. This series of bills addresses inappropriate and often unequal restrictions placed only on the District and no other U.S. jurisdiction. Although today's bill cannot address the entire structural problem that the District faces because the city is not part of a state, the bill would eliminate the greater percentage the District pays than any city by allowing a 25 percent city contribution, rather than a contribution even greater than New York City. In 1997, as part of the Balanced Budget Act, Congress recognized that state costs were too costly for anyone city to shoulder. To alleviate the resulting financial crisis, Congress increased the federal Medicaid contribution to the District from 50 to 70 percent, and took responsibility for a few state costs--prisons and courts--relieving the immediate burden, but the city continues to carry most state costs. In 1997, a formulaic error in the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) allotment reduced even the 70 percent FMAP share, and as a result, the District received only $23 million instead of the $49 million due. I was able to secure a technical correction to the Balanced Budget Act of 1999, partially increasing the annual allotment to $32 million from FY 2000 forward. I appreciate that last year, Congress responded to my effort to get an additional annual increase of $20 million in the budget reconciliation bill, bringing D.C.'s Medicaid reimbursement payments to $57 million as intended by the Balanced Budget Act. This amount did not reimburse the District for the years a federal error denied the city part of its federal contribution, and in any case, of course, was not intended to meet the structural problem this bill partially addresses. The District has taken important steps on its own to reduce Medicaid costs through greater efficiency, and to treat and prevent conditions that prove costly when hospitalization or expensive treatments become necessary. The District Medicaid agency won federal recognition as one of only two Medicaid programs nationwide to exceed the federal government's child immunization goal for school-age children at 95 percent, and improved its fraud surveillance, recovering $15 million in fraudulently billed funds. The city's novel D.C. Health Care Alliance, for which federal approval is pending, would allow coverage of residents and provide more early and preventative care, avoiding huge Medicaid costs when health conditions become severe and Medicaid becomes the only option. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this increase that will help my city's most needy residents.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the 31st Annual Capital Pride Festival, a celebration of the National Capital Area's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender, (GLBT) communities, their families and friends. The Capital Pride Festival has grown from a small block party in 1975 to the current week-long celebration. This year, Capital Pride culminates with the Pride Parade on June 10th and ``The Main Event,'' a street fair on Pennsylvania Avenue in the shadow of the Capitol, June 11th. I have marched in the Pride parades since coming to Congress to emphasize the universality of human rights and the importance of enacting Federal legislation to secure those rights for the GLBT community. This year's theme, ``Many Communities, All Proud,'' holds special meaning for the citizens of the District of Columbia and its GLBT community in particular. Washingtonians live in distinct, diverse neighborhoods such as Colonial Village to the North; Fort Drum to the South, Northeast Boundary to the East, and Spring Valley to the West. Yet, we unite in our quest for all the rights guaranteed U.S. citizens by the Constitution. In 1994, the District of Columbia lost the first vote it ever won on the floor of the House of Representatives, the delegate vote in the Committee of the Whole. The Republicans retracted the District's vote when they assumed control of the House. Our city of 550,000 residents, 10 percent more residents than the entire State of Wyoming, who pay more taxes per capita than 49 of the 50 states, remains the only jurisdiction in the United States subject to Taxation Without Representation. Our Nation's Capital is entitled full voting rights in the House and the Senate. On May 18, 2006, the House Committee on Government Reform reported out the District of Columbia Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act of 2006. This is the first milepost on DC's road to full and equal representation. This one success is a reminder of the pending legislation that the 109th Congress must pass. The Clarification of Federal Employment Protections Act, The Domestic Partner Health Benefits Equity Act. The Domestic Partnership Benefits & Obligations Act, The Early Treatment for HIV Act, The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, The Family & Medical Leave Inclusion Act, The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act, The Military Readiness Enhancement Act, The Responsible Education About Life Act, The Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act, and The Uniting American Families Act. I ask the House to join me in welcoming the celebrants attending the 31st Annual Capital Pride Festival in Washington, DC, and I take this opportunity to remind the celebrants that United States Citizens who reside in Washington, DC are taxed without full voting representation in Congress.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, Memorial Day Weekend, May 26-29, is the 16th Annual DC Black Pride celebration in Washington, DC. DC Black Pride is an exciting 4-day event complete with dynamic workshops, receptions, cultural arts activities, small and large nightclub events that culminates in the world's largest Black Pride Festival at Metro Center, on the site of Washington, DC's former Convention Center. Many consider DC's Festival one of the world's preeminent Black Pride celebrations. The Festival consistently draws more than 30,000 people to the Nation's Capital. Attendees come from every major urban area in the United States as well as from Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the Caribbean and South Africa. The Black Pride Festival features activities for the entire family including performances by national recording artists, 200 exhibition booths, book signings from noted writers, participation from national and local health organizations, and arts and crafts. Black Lesbian and Gay Pride Day, Inc (BLGPD), the celebration's organizing body, chose the theme ``Fire 2006'' to encourage the Black Lesbian Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) people to ``get fired up'' about their health and wellness, to strengthen the Black LGBT Community, and to encourage Black LGBT people to live their lives with pride. Black Lesbian and Gay Pride Day, Inc, a nonprofit organization with a volunteer Board of Directors coordinates this annual event. BLGPD's 2006 Board consists of Clarence J. Fluker, President; James Hawkins, Vice President; Janisha Gabriel, Secretary; Lisa Washington, Treasurer; the following Members at Large: Ramon Gardenhire, Shanika Whitehurst, Sterling Washington, Ray Daniels, Donovan Anderson, Courtney Snowden; and these Members Emeritus: Earl Fowlkes, Eric E. Richardson, and Cheryl Dunn who lead BLGPD in its mission to build knowledge of and to create greater pride in the Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered community's diversity while raising funds to ameliorate and prevent health problems, especially HIV/AIDS, in this community. I ask the House to join me in welcoming all attending the 16th Annual DC Black Pride celebration in Washington, DC, and I take this opportunity to remind the celebrants that United States Citizens who reside in Washington, DC are taxed without full voting representation in Congress.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, what can you say about a woman who has earned two of America's highest civilian honors--the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Bill Jefferson Clinton and the Congressional Gold Medal by our current President and Commander-In- Chief George W. Bush? For more than 80 years, Dr. Dorothy Irene Height, current Chair and President Emerita of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), the world's largest women's organization, has not only been a leader in the fight for women's and civil rights, but she has also been an activist and crusader for human rights. She has tirelessly dedicated her life's work to serving her community, our Nation and the world. Dr. Height's Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal symbolize the promise of America and embody the essence of sacrifice and allegiance to one's country. The values that have come to symbolize her life are the core values that should be represented in the lives of all Americans, young and old. She has worked to make America the best Nation that it can be and she is the best of what America represents as a Nation. She has fought to make the promise of the American dream, with justice and liberty for all, a reality in America through her tireless efforts. Whether you choose to call her the ``Queen Mother of the Civil Rights Movement'' or the ``Grand Dame of the Civil Rights Movement,'' Dr. Height is simply the embodiment of everything that makes our Nation great. She is truly an ``indispensable'' part of the civil, human and women's rights movement. She is one ``America's National Treasures.'' Her distinguished service and contributions to making the world a more just and humane one, have earned her hundreds of awards and honors from local, state, and national organizations and the federal government. Dr. Height has received over 24 honorary degrees, from such institutions as Spelman College, Lincoln University (Pennsylvania), Central State University, and Princeton University. She has not only been the recipient of hope's most precious gift--freedom, but she has been at the forefront as the giver of hope to millions of men, women and children of all races, colors, and creeds. On this day, 52 years ago, the Brown vs. Board of Education decision served as a bridge to the promise of freedom for people from all races, creeds and colors. In commemoration of that historic decision, we celebrate the legacy of one woman who epitomizes the fight for freedom in this country and the journey for justice--Dr. Dorothy Irene Height. In 1954, when the Brown vs. Board of Education decision was announced, Dr. Height led the way for the YWCA to produce the booklet, ``Our Schools and Our Democracy,'' to encourage associations to participate fully in helping desegregate the schools. Dr. Height also convened a Southern Regional Conference in Atlanta to discuss the problems and opportunities of desegregation and worked closely with the student leadership of the YWCA to develop simple things that people could do, such as escorting a child to school when it is first integrated. Fifty-two years later, her commitment to young people is alive and well today. Dr. Height is leading the way in leaving a lasting legacy for the next generation through the Dorothy Irene Height Youth For Excellence Initiative (YFE) Program in association with the Civil Rights musical, ``If This Hat Could Talk: A Musical of Passion, Power, and Triumph.'' Dr. Height has utilized the musical as a strategy for ``keeping the Civil Rights legacy alive'' and empowering young people to make a difference in their local and global communities. Because of her unwavering commitment to our youth, the YFE has become a cornerstone of the Musical's program. The YFE provides multicultural students, grades 7-12 with a free performance and materials for their teachers to continue teaching lessons of equality, fairness and respect for diversity in the classroom. The Musical experience allows them to learn about their Civil Rights legacy and continue that legacy through education. They view Dr. Height's journey throughout history and that of others like Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, A. Phillip Randolph, John Lewis, Linda Brown and Mary McLeod Bethune, just to name a few. Today, because of her vision, her story, her on-going, never-ending commitment to kids, the Musical has been seen by over 10,000 youth. Dr. Height has set a new standard of excellence in her diligent, unwavering efforts to instill a commitment to Civil and Human rights in the next generation of leaders. It is today that we, the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, celebrate and honor Dr. Dorothy Irene Height. We truly have an affinity for her. For 37 years, Dr. Height's trailblazing efforts have enabled us, as a Congressional Black Caucus, to empower the masses and effectively represent the interest of urban and rural America in this country and address the legislative concerns of citizens of all backgrounds. She has enabled us to be a viable, fair, fearless, and strong governmental force. Dr. Height showed us how one woman of courage, with one voice, could set in motion a mission that changed the world. As we continue as a Congressional Black Caucus, operating in one single voice, while reflecting our own diversity, we have gained strength, insight and instruction from her life. Through her efforts, she has taught us how to turn tumultuous times into turning points, pain into personal victory and adversity into achievement. For this, we are forever grateful.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind).