Donald Payne

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in celebration also of the 150th anniversary of the YMCA's founding in America. The organization has a special place in my heart, because I had the privilege to serve as the president of the National Council of YMCAs of the USA from 1970 to 1973 and have been involved with the organization most of my adult life, beginning with my teaching career in the late 1950s. Newark's combined YMCA and YWCA has become an integral part of all aspects of our community. In many ways, the history of the local YMCA is a perfect example of the support and stability that Ys around the globe have provided for 150 years to the world. It seems appropriate tonight to reflect back on many years of successful involvement and rich history this organization has shared with individuals through all parts of the world. Mr. Speaker, at this point I would like to highlight the route this institution has taken to reach this extraordinary anniversary. The YMCA was founded in London, England, on June 6, 1844, in response to unhealthy social conditions arising in big cities at the end of the Industrial Revolution, roughly 1750 to 1850. The Industrial Revolution took place in Europe. Growth of the railroads and centralization of commerce and industry brought many rural young men who needed jobs into cities like London. By 1851, there were 24 Ys in Great Britain with a combined membership of 2,700. That same year, the Y arrived in North America. It was established in Montreal on November 25, and then in Boston on December 29 of that year. The idea proved popular everywhere. In 1853, the first YMCA for African Americans was founded right here in Washington, D.C., by Anthony Bowen, a freed slave. The next year, the First International Convention was held in Paris. At that time there were 397 separate YMCAs in 7 Nations with 30,369 members in total. Then by 1866, the influential New York YMCA adopted a fourfold purpose: the improvement of the spiritual, mental, social and physical conditions of young men. In those early days, the YMCAs were run almost entirely by volunteers. There were a handful of paid staff members before the Civil War who kept the place clean, ran the libraries and served as correspondent secretaries. But it was not until the 1880s, when the YMCA began putting up buildings in large numbers, that most associations thought they needed to have some full-time employees. Today's YMCA movement is the largest not-for-profit provider of child care, and it is larger than any for-profit chain in the country. In the 1990s, about half a million children received care at a YMCA each year. In 1996, child care became the movement's second largest source of revenue after membership dues. Tonight we celebrate the many years of positive change the YMCA has had on our neighborhoods, townships, States and countries. My local YMCA, in Newark, New Jersey, opened its doors in 1881. Since its inception in 1881, the Newark Y has been an integral part of the Newark community. The programs offered by the YMCA and YMWCA assist Newark residents in their day-to-day lives. For example, the YMWCA has affordable and safe housing options, in addition to state-of-the-art fitness facilities and educational programs. We must continue our commitment to the YMCA to make it continually strong. As my colleagues know, the triangle of the YMCA, the symbol of the Y stands for the mind, the body and the spirit. We talk about the whole person that must be developed in order for that person to take their rightful place in our society. And so we would like to acknowledge that the YMCA of the USA in its 150 years of service has been a tremendous asset to this country, as they celebrate this 150-year anniversary this weekend in New Orleans, where people from all over the United States and the world will be celebrating in this great achievement and activities. We have been very fortunate in our local Y, where many local leaders today in our city of Newark have come up through the YMCA's programs of youth and government and Model United Nations and trips abroad and work programs, and so it is with that spirit that I stand here proud to commend the YMCA on 150 years. We wish them continued success in their work. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, The blessing of his life is that he showed a lot of people how to live . . . not just people infected with HIV/ AIDS--but a lot of us . . . He taught us how to share. He taught us how to give . . . He taught us how to forgive--Diane Stevens. Although we are generally aware of the ravages of AIDS in Africa, few of us have an opportunity to see first hand the personal destruction on individuals. Each year four million people on the African Continent are afflicted with this terrible disease. Hardest hit are the children. Many are orphaned when parents die, many are born with HIV/AIDS. Xolani Nkosi Johnson was born with the HIV/AIDS virus. When Nkosi was three years of age, his mother died of complications due to AIDS. Nkosi was the international spokesperson for children infected with HIV/AIDS. He was the inspiration behind Nkosi's Haven, a care center for infected women and children in Johannesburg, South Africa. A gifted and experienced speaker, Nkosi traveled the world delivering his message in his own words on how AIDS has affected his life, what help the international community can render, the benefits of empowerment initiatives, and the importance of community support. When Nkosi was old enough to attend school, his HIV status set off a firestorm in the public schools system. School officials were reluctant to allow him to attend school. Nkosi took his case to the media and government officials, and as a result, legislation was passed in South Africa that assures that all children will have the right to attend school regardless of their medical status. Nkosi was indeed a brave young man. His courage and commitment to the children of South Africa was never ending until his untimely death on June 1, 2001. So long Brave Warrior King (Nkosi is the Zulu word for King).

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for that very kind introduction. I appreciate the support that the gentleman has given this issue. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Sudan Peace Act, H.R. 2052. I certainly would like to thank my colleague, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), for introducing this legislation. He has traveled, as I mentioned, to Sudan with me a year or so ago, with Senator Brownback, and saw firsthand the conditions and has been a strong advocate for change there. As you know, it is a very sad situation in Sudan, and we have many people, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) and the chairman, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde). We have on our side, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) and others who have fought. But we also have people outside the anti-slavery organization, Charles Jacobs and Mrs. Nina Shay and others. But I also would like to commend the NAACP that at its last several conventions talked about this problem of slavery and has opposed the government of Sudan, and for the talk show host, Joe Madison, who has really given his listening audience an opportunity to hear about the Sudan and has gotten a great new constituency, and Reverend Fauntroy here in Washington, Reverend Jessie Jackson, who intends to go to Sudan soon, and Reverend Al Sharpton, who has been there. We have seen more people become involved. But this issue is not a simple issue of north versus the south. There are many very good Northerners who want to see the end of this war, also. We have many people in the Muslim faith who do not support the National Islamic Front government. The fact is that it is a bad government. They are really perpetrating misery on their people, and it is a strong, small group of people who have just been holding power against people of good will. So the bombings continue, and aerial bombings were reintroduced just last week. The government made an official statement that they were going to end aerial bombings 2 weeks ago, and last week said they have rescinded that and they are starting bombing again. They take these Antonovs, these Soviet-built planes, and it disrupts the community because the community hear the planes and they keep wondering, when are the planes coming, therefore making it difficult to have a normal life. The planes on occasions hit churches and schools and hospitals. Another thing that is happening is many of the educated south Sudanese, many are lacking education now. The schools are not adequate. Therefore, the people of the south are losing out on education. This is a horrible, horrible situation, beginning back in 1956 when it was the first African country to receive its independence; a proud country, a country that fought victoriously against Egypt and the British to retain its independence. The people there are good people, but they are being treated horribly by a terrible government. Slavery still goes on. People are still being starved as a weapon. We need to have a strong reassertion that this government must be changed. We must ask the Bush administration and Secretary Powell, who has spoken out against this, and he has spoken out about Sudan more than any other area in Africa, we want him to continue to push. We want to see capital market access cut off from foreign countries trying to get funds from our capital markets to continue to use this blood money. We would like to see the end to slavery, and youngsters like Ms. Vogel's class out in Colorado who raise funds and send them over with church groups to repatriate slaves with their families. So we have a lot of work to do. We have heard the statistics: close to 2 million dead, and as a result, there have been over 4.3 million people displaced. We need to have a strong envoy to go there and to tell the Khartoum government that time has run out. We no longer will allow this to go on. It has gone on too long. There is no reason in this new millenium, when we have supersonic transports and people going to outer space and living in outer space, that we would have on Earth a country that uses weapons of war against its own people, primarily women and children. We must have a movement in this country to focus on Sudan. We must make this a number one priority. I would urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this peace act.

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I stand in strong support of the Bachus amendment, the amendment to prohibit any foreign company from raising capital or listing its securities in the U.S. markets as long as the company is engaged in oil and gas development in Sudan. Currently, the China National Petroleum Company, through its PetroChina subsidy; Talisman Oil of Canada; Royal Dutch Shell, Netherlands; Lundin Oil, Sudan; and TOTAL NEL from France all list their stocks on the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ. We have been talking about what more can we do. As we know, it is not the policy any longer to send U.S. troops abroad. If this were 50 years ago, 40 years ago, with the atrocities of this nature, we may have sent in an intervention group. We did it in Haiti, we did it in the Dominican Republic, we have done it around the world. But today is a different time, a different day, and we do not do that. So our resources are limited as to how we can force a dictatorial regime to change its ways. I think we should cut off access to capital markets in this country. This country is the world's power economically, and the next war is going to be an economic war. We have moved ahead of the Euro, where it is 20 percent, 15 percent stronger than the Euro. This is where everyone is coming to get the money. I wonder why some people serve in Congress. To hear a person talk about $10 million as too much to spend, when if it was not for the Marshall Plan the world would still be trying to come out of the degradation of World War II. We spent billions and billions and billions of dollars to do the right thing because it was the right thing to do. When someone questions $10 million that might go in to try to help a country build a social society or that a vehicle may be taken by the enemy, that is absolutely ludicrous, makes no sense; and I do not know why some people even spend time in this House, because they have absolutely nothing to offer. So I just think that it is imperative upon us to try to use the weapons that we have. We do not have military weapons any longer to go into countries. People wonder, well, why should we do this. Well, because this is supposed to be the land of the free, the home of the brave. We have the Statute of Liberty still standing there. We have to stand for something. When I hear people say why should we be concerned about the new independent states in Central Europe, it is because there has to be someone who is the moral leader of the world. We are in the responsible position. It is like a basketball player. When I speak to young men like Iverson, who plays for the 76ers or a Carter, who plays with the Toronto Raptors, I say whether you like it or not, you are a role model. Young people look up to you; therefore you have a responsibility to act right, to do the right thing. Whether you like it or not, you are looked upon as something that other people want to follow. And this country is the one country in the world that other countries want to follow. We have a moral responsibility whether we like it or not. We cannot move back from the world. We are the world, and we have a responsibility to remain the world's leader. If we cannot do any more than to cut a couple of oil companies off from Wall Street, then what can we do? This is a small thing we are acting on. It will not even have an impact on that trillion dollar industry that trades hundreds of billions of dollars daily, but it will have a massive impact on those companies who come here with blood dripping off their hands to get more money so that more blood will come dripping as they continue to push people from their lands so that they can fill their pockets with dollars. At some point we have a moral obligation and a responsibility. The time is now. I urge support of the Bachus amendment.

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I stand in strong support of the rule and would like to commend the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), who chairs a hunger committee, for his tireless work not only in Africa but around the world where he travels at his own danger in some instances to investigate and bring back the report of what is going on. I would also certainly like to commend the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), who has given all of the support that we need for issues in the continent of Africa. I would also like to mention the work of the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), who is the sponsor of the Sudan Peace Act. The first congressional delegation that the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) went on was a trip with me and Senator Brownback to southern Sudan. It was quite a way to initiate congressional travel. I told him that it was not always like this when Congresspeople travel. His interest, his curiosity, his want to learn inspired him to move this bill. Also a long-time warrior, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), has spent many, many, many hours and days and months traveling, working for the benefit of people throughout the world and in Sierra Leone and in Sudan. The gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, has done an outstanding job. So I think this is a great opportunity for a bipartisan move to talk about probably the worst scourge on the Earth today, a pariah government, a government which bombs its own people, starves its own people, tortures its own people. There are other people, too, like Charles Jacobs from the anti- slavery movement and Nina Shay from a commission to deal with religious discrimination. What I think is finally happening is that America, the world, is starting to see about this tragedy of Sudan: 1.9 million people dead, 4.4 million people displaced. Finally, it has been too long but I hope that the new administration will have vigor to see us change the pariah government in Khartoum so people can have the ability to live a normal life.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to bring attention to the worst tragedy ongoing and occurring in the world today; and that is the tragedy in the Sudan. As my colleagues well recall and are aware, Sudan is the largest country in Africa, becoming the first independent country in sub-Saharan Africa in 1956. For almost four decades, the African giant with the population of 32.6 million people have been the scene of intermittent conflict. But how many people have really paid careful attention to these numbers? An estimated 2 million people have died in war-related causes and famine in southern Sudan, and 4 million people have been displaced. Why did these many people have to die? Could we have done something to prevent the massive loss of life in Sudan? Indeed the answer is a resounding yes. But we chose to ignore or to engage only marginally. We are the largest provider of humanitarian assistance to the Sudan, yet many continue to die. In 1998 alone, an estimated 100,000 people died due to the government's refusal to allow the United Nations relief aid from going into that country. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, some have written and others have talked about the tragedy as a religious conflict or a tribal conflict. The Sudanese conflict, Africa's longest running civil war, is deeper and more complicated than the claims of political leaders and some observers. Religion, indeed, is a major factor because of the Islamic fundamentalist agenda of the current government dominated by the northern-based National Islamic Front, the NIF government. Southerners who are Christians and animists reject the Islamization of the country in favor of secular agreement. Social and economic disparities are major contributing factors to the Sudanese conflict. But the regime is not merely opposed by Christians or southerners. The NIF regime is a minority government led by extremist clique in Khartoum headed by Al Bashir. Muslim leaders have also been victims of the NIF government over the years. The NIF government is clearly opposed by a majority of notherners inside and outside of the country. The National Democratic Alliance, a coalition of northern or southern opposition groups, have been actively challenging the NIF government's hold on power since it ousted the democratically elected civilian government in June 1989. In fact, the NIF government came to power precisely to abort a peace agreement between Sudanese People's Liberation Movement, the SPLM, and the majority northern parties in 1989. But the NIF government is just one of the many obstacles of lasting peace in Sudan, and the second phase of the civil war erupted under the military dictatorship of Nimeiri. In fact, the abrogation of the 1972 Addis Ababa agreement in 1983, which ended the first phase of the civil war in the south by former President Nimeiri, is considered a major triggering factor for the current civil war. Although, the NIF government has persuaded and pursued the war in southern Sudan with vigor, previous governments, both civilian and military, have rejected southern demands for autonomy and equality. This has gone on for the over 40 years that there has been a push for equality, now approaching 50 years. Mr. Speaker, northern political leaders for decades treated southerners as second-class citizens and did not see the south as an integral part of the country. Southern political leaders argued that, under successive civilian and military governments, political elites in the north have made only superficial attempts to address the grievances of the south without compensating the north's dominant economic political and social issues and status. In recent years, most political leaders in the north, now in opposition to the current government, say that mistakes were made and that they are prepared to correct them. But the political mood among southerners has sharply shifted in favor of separation from the north. Mr. Speaker, slavery has reemerged with a vengeance in Sudan. The inhumane practice is directly tied to the civil war in southern Sudan that has raged intermittently for over 40 years. The slaving of innocent southern Sudanese citizens have intensified since the National Islamic Front usurped power in 1989. It is now being condoned, if not orchestrated, by the NIF government and perpetrated by Arab militia allies. Slavery in this time is wrong, but enough is not being done to stop it. The international community as a matter of fact has done very little, if anything, to prevent this terrible practice. Some organizations have resorted to freeing slaves or buying them back. But buying back freedom of slaves by these groups have raised some other questions, and some have said it has increased the trafficking in slaves. But no one can question the yearning of families to free their loved ones from bondage almost at any price. If in fact one had a child in slavery, would not one want that child to be bought back? Nor can anyone question the moral impetus to provide assistance to these families by means of buying back their relatives from slavery. The generous response, for example, by school children in Colorado have raised large sums of money for the purpose; and in many parts of the United States, it dramatizes the compelling case for buying back the freedom. Sudan's human hunters are members of Arab militias and the popular defense forces which the government of Sudan has mobilized, trained, armed and unleashed on the civilian population in their racial and religious war against the southern Sudanese. Unlike the Arabized Muslim north, southern Sudanese are black Africans who mostly adhere to traditional beliefs but whose leadership is overwhelmingly Christian. Mr. Speaker, the war in Sudan is certainly a major factor contributing to the slavery in Sudan. The war is essentially one of the southerners resistance in fighting against the domination of the north. But it is the government, the NIF government, which is perpetrating this terrible sin. And until we change the NIF government in the north, this problem will exist. And so what we see in the Sudan in general is that innocent civilians are victims of this war. In many wars that have been fought, armies fight each other. It is the military against the military. But in Sudan, it is the military against the people, the children, the women. This is wrong. Just the other day the NIF government announced that it had resumed its aerial bombing of the south, after claims of suspension of these bombings. Who are those being bombed? Of course, children, women, the helpless, the poor, the hungry. According to a report by the United States Committee on Refugees, the government bombed civilian targets last year 167 times. The NIF government uses the old Russian Antonovs and drops bombs on communities trying to hit schools and hospitals, disrupting the community. All day the community waits and listens to hear whether the planes will come over. And this is a continuous disruption of the community. Mr. Speaker, we are aware of the number of people killed and maimed and displaced and enslaved; yet we as the international community have really failed to do anything significant to end the suffering. Over the years, I have visited southern Sudan on numerous occasions. I have been to Yei,to Labone, to Kukuma, to Loki, and on each trip I see the suffering. I must say with all sincerity that I can no longer see these innocent civilians and promise to end their suffering because I must admit that despite all of the efforts that I have done over the years, we have failed the people of Sudan. But we have also failed other people. We have failed the people of Rwanda in 1994, when the world turned their back as close to a million people were victims of genocide. We cannot say we did not know this was happening. We did know, as we do know what is happening in Sudan. As I speak here before you this evening, more and more people will die. Dozens will be forced out of their homes. Many will be enslaved. Imagine waking up one morning and losing everything you have, your property, your dignity, your family, and, most importantly, your freedom. Mr. Speaker, we cannot afford to wait any longer. The people of Nuba have become an endangered species. A few years from now, there will be no one left except the barren land. In the past several weeks, government forces burned, looted, and destroyed a number of villages, displacing tens of thousands of civilians. In fact, they attempted to destroy and capture the burial place of the recently deceased leader of Nuba, Commander Yusuf Kowa. The people of southern Sudan are also being exterminated systematically. The handful of educated southern Sudanese are aging and many have died. This generation of southern Sudanese is growing up in an environment of war and suffering. And unless this situation is quickly reversed, there can be no peace in Sudan. Those who beat the drums of reconciliation must remember the sacrifices paid by millions of Sudanese. There can be no peace if there is not a just and lasting peace. Indeed, ending the war must be a priority, but we must address the root causes of the war if we are going to achieve a lasting peace. The NIF government is the obstacle to peace, as was the case with Hitler during World War II. They must be eliminated from Khartoum. Since the development of Sudan's oil sector, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and thousands have been killed. Revenues from oil, blood oil, are being used to buy deadly weapons to kill innocent civilians. Foreign oil companies, like Talisman and PetroChina, are collaborating with the genocidal regime in Khartoum. We must put an end to the killing fields in the oil fields of Sudan. The United States Government cannot ignore or look with indifference on the destructive role of oil development. The extraordinary nature of human destruction and suffering in Sudan and the deep complexity of the publicly traded oil companies in Sudan's ongoing catastrophe mark this as a singular moment, one in which America's moral outrage is appropriately reflected in actions which deny market listings to NIF's willing corporate accomplice. We must finally put an end to allowing these companies to have access to capital markets. Yesterday, The Washington Post printed a front page story about the devastation being caused by the oil development and the exploration in southern Sudan. It is called, ``Oil Money Is Fueling Sudan's War. New Arms Used to Drive Southerners From Land,'' by Karl Vick, Washington Post Foreign Service. And in the article it says, ``Today, four oil companies are producing more than 200,000 barrels of oil a day and more firms are exploring other reserves. Export revenues have doubled the government's defense budget over the last 2 years, and a multitude of eyewitness reporters say that new guns are being used to drive tens of thousands of Sudanese like Veronica and her family off their land to secure the oil underneath it.'' ``The fighting follows the oil,'' says John Ryle, an independent investigator, who recently released a report that documented a broad government effort to clear the petroleum concession, sometimes using helicopter gun boats stationed at oil field airports. They all say the same thing, an aide worker said. People came and destroyed their homes and they had to flee. Time after time we hear that from the people, because it is the grab for the oil by this brutal government and these companies that are looking the other way to make a profit from the blood of the people as they drill the oil for wealth. The fighting follows the oil, as we said. They all say the same thing. They have to flee. The situation has further stoked Western outrage over the Sudanese government's human rights record. While no American companies are involved, fortunately U.S. law prohibits them from doing business in Sudan, the involvement of Canadian and European firms in extracting Sudanese oil has prompted disinvestment campaigns. And that is what we must do. The same way that we did with firms in South Africa, we must urge our people to disinvest from the Talismans and other companies that are drilling oil in the Sudan. ``These are war crimes,'' said Eric Reeves, a Smith College professor who works against companies doing business in Sudan. The criticism has fallen hardest on Talisman Oil, as I mentioned a Calgary-based firm that was little known outside of Canada until it bought a 25 percent stake in Sudan's most promising oil field. The Muglad Basin is classical geography for oil, a sedimentary plain exposed by two plates being pulled apart. Unfortunately, the same area roughly defines the boundaries between Sudan's north and the south. Mr. Speaker, a recent report by the British based NGO Christian Aid stated the following: ``In the oil fields of Sudan, civilians are being killed, being raped. The villages are being burned to the ground. They are caught in a war for oil. Part of the wider civil war between the north and the south has been waged for decades, but now oil is a key factor. This makes it different. Since large-scale productions began 2 years ago, oil has moved the war into a new league. Across the oil-rich regions of Sudan, the government is pursuing a scorched-Earth policy to clear the land of civilians and to make way for exploration of oil by foreign oil companies. The Christian Aid report, ``The Scorched Earth,'' shows how the presence of international oil companies is fueling the war. Companies from Asia, from the west, including the U.K., have helped to build Sudan's oil industry offering finance, technology, expertise, and supplies to create a strong and growing oil industry in the center of the country. In the name of oil, government forces and government- supported militias are entering the land of civilians, killing and displacing hundreds and thousands of southern Sudanese. The fact that this is continuing is an outrage. We must focus our attention to that, and in that regard the involvement of Talisman Energy Company has prompted me to introduce legislation, H. Con. Res. 113, which calls for divestment in Sudan's oil companies. It also calls on the President to deny oil companies the ability to raise capital or trade equities in the United States capital markets, and calls on oil companies to freeze oil production. Talisman Energy's role in scorched- Earth warfare against civilians in southern Sudan has been documented clearly. A Canadian-British team just back from Sudan has established clearly and authoritativly that Talisman's concession at its air strips, that they are allowing offensive military missions, including attack helicopters to be used from their air strips, gun boats, helicopter gun ships, and it was confirmed by information held by the Canadian Foreign Ministry for over 2 months and leaves only one question: When will the foreign minister, John Manley, halt clearly and start to really pressure this Canadian corporation in its behavior in the Sudan. We cannot allow this to continue. For the most part in the 1990s, the United States and its European allies worked together to contain and isolate the National Islamic Front government in the Sudan, considered by Washington to be a threat to regional stability. Mr. Speaker, U.S. policy objectives have long been forged in three main areas: the massive destruction to end the civil war; to attempt to stop terrorism which was being conducted in Sudan; and to improve the human rights issues in that country. In early 1990, the United States attempted unsuccessfully to achieve its policy objectives through diplomatic means. By the mid-1990s, in response to the NIF's defiant attitude and intransigence, the U.S. diplomatic efforts were replaced by a policy of containment and pressures. This evolution in approach culminated in November 1997 when the Clinton administration imposed comprehensive sanctions on the NIF government after really reviewing its policy. The sanctions restrict imports and exports from Sudan, financial transactions, and prohibit U.S. investment. This was done by the Clinton administration, and it was a bold move in the right direction. On August 20, 1998, U.S. Naval forces struck a suspected chemical weapons facility in Khartoum in a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan in retaliation for the U.S. embassy bombings in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. More than 250 people were killed in the embassy attacks, including 12 Americans. The bombing of Khartoum was seen by observers as a message to the NIF regime to stop supporting terrorist groups. In December 1999, hardliners within the ruling NIF government ousted the founder of the party, Hassan el-Turabi, and his allies from the party and the government in Khartoum. This well-planned move by the NIF leadership was designed to pave the way for rapprochement with the international community and to escape the consequences of U.S. sanctions. Government, eager to reestablish relations with Khartoum, allowed themselves to see the current NIF leadership as having become more moderate, a very cleverly orchestrated plan on the part of the NIF government to give way to allow European governments to say there is a change in Khartoum, but there was no real change in Khartoum. In contrast, many observers saw the rift within the NIF as a struggle between the old generation and the younger, highly ambitious Islamists. It appeared that there is little ideological difference between el- Turabi and the current crowd that are running Khartoum. In fact, those now in power have taken a tougher, more strident ideological stance than the reckless fundamentalists of the el-Turabi faction. Indeed, a closer look at the leadership reveals that this group was the author of the NIF's extremist policies in the 1990s, so there is no change. Only a change to the worse. Mr. Speaker, the desire of some governments in Europe and the Middle East to embrace the National Islamic Front government under the guise of the changing of the guard in Khartoum is driven in large part by commercial interests, and it is clear European oil companies have large stakes in Southern Sudan and are now operational and on the verge of becoming even more prosperous as they go and explore oil. Unsurprisingly, officials in the NIF government have given a red carpet treatment to European governments. Despite U.N. sanctions, the U.N. Security Council sanctions which intended to restrict the travel of senior Sudanese officials, members of the European Union began this critical dialogue, as they call it, with the National Islamic Front government regime several years ago, rejecting the U.S. policy of containment of the NIF regime. They saw an opportunity to move ahead commercially, and we have to appeal to our allies that they must also have a standard of dignity and not to allow themselves to be corrupted by these pariah regimes. This new approach, according to EU officials, seek to achieve reform through dialogue and quiet persuasions without pressure, they say. Supporters of this policy argue that the policy of containment and isolation has failed to achieve its desired objectives. But many observers see the European approach as a synonym for a policy of appeasement, one that too obviously serves the commercial interests in Sudan, once again simply because of the potential lucrative oil sector. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, this so-called critical dialogue is empty rhetoric designed to cover those wishing simply to do business with the NIF government. It is ironic and frustrating to many of us in Washington that America's allies in Europe continue to turn a blind eye to the abuses of the NIF government. Certainly if the objectives of the so-called critical dialogue were to moderate the behavior of the NIF government to improve human rights conditions, to stop the bombing, to end the government controlling the food supply, then we would say fine, let us move in that direction; but it has not done that, and the policy followed by the Europeans has failed miserably. The government continues to bomb civilian targets in the south. The NIF militia continues to enslave women and children at alarming rates. And the government has become increasingly intransigent in the peace process. They really do not want peace, and they feel the new strength provided to them by the oil revenues. There were high level contacts between Washington and Khartoum in late 2000, just last year, intended to test and verify Khartoum's seriousness about reform. The United States delivered a road map for the regime to follow if it sought improvements with relations to the United States. Special envoy, former Congressman and former chairman of the Africa Subcommittee from Florida Harry Johnston became that special envoy and visited Khartoum twice to engage the government in discussions on human rights, humanitarian issues, the IGAD process led by Mr. Moi from Kenya, and other areas to try to see whether the government had new ideas, whether they were really interested in having a relationship with the U.S. by ending some of these horrible situations that they have engaged in through the years. The NIF regime balked at any kind of change. And the United States said that enough was enough. There was an attempt to have a lifting of the U.N. sanctions and to get Sudan into the U.N. Security Council as an alternative member, but an aggressive push by the U.S. prevented it in late 2000. That was a victory for us. What has become clear, though, is that the U.S. and its European allies differ fundamentally on the proper approach to Sudan and basic principles for engagement. We must try to be in sync with our European allies because together we can make a difference in this world, but we have to attempt to get on the same page. Advocates of a tough policy believe that without pressure and support for the democratic forces in Sudan, change is unlikely to come in the near future. Some of our allies in Europe and the Middle East believe that the NIF has changed and further reforms will come through critical dialogue and expanded economic interactions. The Bush administration undoubtedly will have to weigh both approaches in formulating its new policy toward the NIF regime. Indeed, there are those who are advocating the European line here in Washington, that we should abandon the tough policy toward the NIF government. They say it has not worked in the past, so we ought to just start to have engagement like the Europeans. President Bush courageously spoke out about the issue in the Sudan on several occasions since he took office. Secretary of State Colin Powell has spoken on this issue more than any other issue in Africa to date. He said in his confirmation hearings that this was an area that they were going to concentrate on. And as I have indicated, he has spoken out against what has happened there. There are encouraging signs, but the administration must now move forth and needs to articulate its policy clearly. It must do so soon. I recently read an article about the possible appointment of Chester Crocker, former assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under the Reagan administration as the special envoy to Sudan. I know Dr. Crocker. He is well known in the African circles. He is extremely familiar with Africa, its issues, its problems. He has studied and taught about the continent for many, many years. And he has a good grasp of the continent. However, I think it is not the person, it is the policy; and I believe that the policy that we saw as it related to the apartheid government in South Africa, the policy of constructive engagement during those horrible years, lead me to have some questions about whether constructive engagement is the policy at hand today. I fiercely disagreed with the policy, as did the majority of the American people during the South Africa regime. The constructive engagement policy that Dr. Crocker authored in my view was a policy that did not serve the American people well, and it was really a policy that finally, with the leadership of Ron Dellums, the CAAA legislation was passed, the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, in 1986, where many people in the House pushed this bill through. It went through both Houses, but was vetoed by the President. Dr. Crocker, of course, opposed the legislation. And it was the courageous vote of Senator Lugar of Indiana that cast the 67th vote to override the first overridden law of President Reagan, and the good Republican Senator from Indiana said that it was the only right thing to do to end this apartheid government in South Africa. We also have people in the White House who felt that Nelson Mandela should remain in prison. Vice President Cheney was one of only five Members of the House who voted that Mr. Mandela after 23 years in prison at that time should not be allowed to be released from prison. It said nothing about the sanctions; it said nothing about the government of South Africa, just that Mr. Mandela should be freed. Mr. Cheney voted no. Twenty-three years was not long enough for a person to be imprisoned only because he wanted the right to vote. And so the sensitivity of the envoy to Sudan is going to be very important, and it is going to be the way that people view the envoy. When a person was selected to do the negotiations in Northern Ireland, it was a very carefully done process. Senate leader Mitchell was selected to do the negotiations. Senator Mitchell was respected by both the Protestant majority and the Catholic minority. He was embraced by the Ulster regime and the Sinn Fein, the Gerry Adamses and the Trimbles and the Blair government and the Taoisech government in Ireland. He was a person that did not have any dislike from any group. I would hope that when we select an envoy for Sudan, it would be the same type of person that Senator Mitchell is. As a matter of fact, it does not have to be anyone who favors the south over the north. I have had the privilege of traveling with a Republican colleague of mine who served in the House, Republican Representative Tom Campbell from California. Mr. Campbell was a person who visited southern Sudan and visited other parts of Arab Northern Africa. He is a person who in my opinion would be the type of person that you would want to possibly be the envoy. He is a person who speaks foreign languages. He is a person who understands both views. He is a person that is not prejudiced to one side or the other. He is a capable, caring, friend of Africa, who I think would make a difference. Finally, I would say that tomorrow the House will consider H.R. 20, the Sudanese Peace Act, which I strongly support, one of the original cosponsors. The Sudan Peace Act will reassert the findings from the 106th Congress that the government of Sudan is committing genocide against its people of Southern Sudan; that they are employing divide and conquer techniques to further fracture southern opposition to northern governance; that it is helping to allow paramilitary groups to conduct raids and enslave its population. In the bill, we talk about the way that the government of Sudan is inflicting an ongoing campaign of aerial bombing its citizens, a scorched earth policy designed to drive out people from the land so they can then take the oil revenues. In this legislation, it expresses a sense of Congress that the Secretary of State should use the State Department personnel to pursue multilateral and bilateral peace processes in Sudan and seek multilateral pressure on all combatants in the civil war and urges the President to use $10 million appropriated in fiscal year 2001 to assist the Sudanese opposition, the National Democratic Alliance, the NDA, for funding for office space and equipment and radio and vehicles and computers and staff and political effectiveness training. It asks for continued support for humanitarian food distribution through OLS, the Operation Lifeline Sudan. But it also urges the President to develop contingency plans should the government of Sudan obstruct food delivery as it has done in the past; that we should have other ways to get food to people who are in need. It requires all businesses trading securities in the U.S. capital markets and operating in the Sudan to fully disclose the extent and nature of their operations, particularly oil operations, and requires the Secretary of State to collect information about the war to keep updated information, including slavery and rape and aerial bombings of the citizens. So we are hoping that tomorrow this bill will come to the floor and be passed. We hope that this tragedy in Sudan will finally come to an end. I am encouraged by the number of people now who have gotten on board. I am encouraged by the number of people who have said enough is enough. I am encouraged by the Congressional Black Caucus who have come back to support this whole question of a change in the Sudan. I commend Kweisi Mfume and the NAACP who has said this practice must end. I commend Joe Madison, a radio talk host, who has done an extraordinary job in bringing to his listening audience the tragedy of Sudan. I applaud Reverend Sharpton who has gone to Sudan with Mr. Madison, and Reverend Faunteroy and Reverend Jesse Jackson who intends to visit Sudan in the near future, and to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) who for many, many years has been in Sudan, probably the leading person dealing with this tragedy. He has done an outstanding job, and I have a great deal of respect for what he has done; and my colleague, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) in the House and the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Houghton), and Senator Brownback in the U.S. Senate, Senator Frist, so many who have said enough is enough. The newspapers are finally putting in its newspapers the truth about what is going on there. It has taken a long time. It has taken 50 years to get the attention it should get but it is getting that attention now. Ebony Magazine will have an article in its August edition. We have schools. I went to a school in Bergen County, New Jersey, where they have a curriculum on the Sudan and it is attempting to get the board of education in that town to adopt a policy of teaching about the tragedy of the Sudan. So they say if you start me with 10 who are stout-hearted men, I will soon give you 10,000 more. If I start you with 10 who are stout-hearted men or women, we should say today I will give you 10,000 more, and a trip of a thousand miles must begin with the first step. There have been many steps but they have been quiet steps. The steps that we are hearing now are louder steps. They are more steps. They are bigger steps. They are steps that are making noise. They are people in high places who are now saying this place in the Sudan we have overlooked for so long now it is time for us to focus on it. We have people who are saying that we cannot allow in this new millennium to have people still enslaved and children starving to death. We can no longer allow in this time and place that we should look the other way as we did when the tragedy was going on in Somalia and when the terrible situation was going on in Sierra Leone and when we saw civil war in Liberia, and when we watched dictators in Nigeria we looked the other way in many of these instances, but finally we are coming together on this question of Sudan. I will continue to fight for the right of the people of that nation. I will continue to fight for those voices, people who have no voice, those who suffer daily. We all should be concerned. We all have a responsibility. We all must get involved. We all must call our Congress people and senators, talk to our church people and school friends to have our civic organizations and League of Women Voters put this on their agendas. The women's clubs and the sororities and the fraternities all must take this battle on. We must win. We will win. We are on the right side. No longer can the world run and hide. The world must now decide that enough is enough; that this country needs to be brought into the 21st Century. I hope that tomorrow will be another step in that direction.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, tonight the Kennedy Center will feature as part of its Millennium Stage State Days series a very talented group of students from the Tenth Congressional District of New Jersey whom I was privileged to nominate, the Newark Boys Chorus School. I am so proud of these outstanding young performing artists who have traveled to Washington to share their gift of song at one of America's most prestigious theaters. Known as Newark's ``Finest Ambassadors,'' The Newark Boys Chorus has been heard throughout the world. The chorus has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Cathedral Symphony and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Locations where they have performed include the Lincoln Center, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Carnegie Hall and the White House. With over forty concerts each season, television appearances, tours to Japan, Italy, China, Czechoslovakia, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the boys have become symbols of Newark's renaissance. The chorus sings for CEOs, Governors and Mayors; they sing in corporate settings, in country clubs and concert halls. They visit museums and libraries, attend plays and symphonies and engage in recreational activities such as skiing, hiking and swimming. Training for the Chorus School requires hard work and discipline as the boys continue to maintain academic excellence. These outstanding students are sought after by such selective secondary schools as Blair Academy, Peddie, Milton Academy, Pingry School, St. George's, Seton Hall Prep and Science High. The school encourages these students from Newark neighborhoods to reach for the stars. Not only are they outstanding students and performers, they learn to be good citizens with a respect for their community and their environment. Mr. Speaker, these outstanding youngsters represent the best and brightest of a new generation. Please join me in honoring them as they make their debut at the Kennedy Center.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to the previous amendment and to this small $50 million project. Vouchers are simply bad business. It is bad policy for our Nation's schools. It is ironic that the sponsors of this legislation are fighting for voucher provisions while the title of the bill is Leave No Child Behind. If we take dollars continually out of the public school system, we are going to leave many, many children behind. My objection to the voucher plans are multilayered and logical. First, there is an important question of accountability for the public expenditure of public money. Secondly, the dollar amount that the President requests would average about only $1,500 per student to spend on alternative education. This is far from enough money. We would be better off fixing the schools that are failing so that all of the students would benefit, not just a handful here and a handful there. Third, the results from current voucher plans are mixed. I heard the other side talk about how great they were and everybody were winners. For example, a State-sponsored independent review of Cleveland's voucher program found there was no significant advancement made between the students who used the vouchers and students who did not. So this panacea that we are talking about may not be what we hear on this other side. Lastly, a serious question of the constitutionality of using public money for religious schools surfaces in this debate, Mr. Chairman. We would be much better off using this time to discuss proven, effective ways to educate our children, like the Harriet Tubman School in Newark that I know about, and the Ann Street School in Newark that are public schools that are working so that we can lower class size, improve teaching quality, and have more Federal resources for improving the physical structure of our schools. We want to have school modernization. As a former teacher, I strongly oppose vouchers.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, May 22, my home city of Newark, New Jersey will have the privilege of hosting Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, sixteenth Asantehene, direct successor to Opemsuo Osei Tutu I from Ghana. I would like to ask my colleagues here in the United States House of Representatives to join me in welcoming the leader of Ghana to New Jersey. Our nation has a special relationship with Ghana, which in 1957 became the first country in colonial Africa to achieve independence. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of the Republic of Ghana, earned a college degree from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1939, creating a close bond between the people of Ghana and African Americans. When I had the great honor of accompanying President Clinton on his historic trip to Africa, we received a warm and enthusiastic welcome when over 500,000 Ghanaians came out to greet us. Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has won admiration for the unique leadership he has provided the people of Asante and Ghana in general since he assumed the high office of Asantehene and the heavy responsibilities that go with the position. This dynamic, personable king has succeeded in refocusing the attention of the Asante nation and Ghana, on the development of the country's most valuable resource--its people. It is for this reason that his vision encompasses education, health and industry. A healthy people equipped with the requisite technical and scientific skill and knowledge constitute an invaluable asset to any community, any nation that aspires to achieve maximum industrialization. Born on the 6th of May 1950 and named Barima Kwaku Duah, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II is the youngest of the five children of Nana Afua Kobi Scrwaa Ampem II, Asantchemaa (Queen Mother of Asante). Under his Majesty's leadership and direction numerous and very drastic efforts have been made to assess and redefine traditional roles, integrating some into global standards based in practicality, sustainability and functionality. What has emerged is a much better administrative design of six strategically functional and articulate units of the system. As part of mobilization efforts to relax some aspects of Asante culture to embrace development and progress, Otumfuo has embarked on a drastic overhaul of the Kingdom and its logistics to enable the Manhyia Palace to better equip and prepare itself and its traditional leaders to accommodate the impeding challenges of development. By liberalizing various aspects of the Kingdom, Otumfuo has enhanced governance and emphasized development.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleagues here in the United States House of Representatives to join me in honoring a very special person, Mr. John Anderson Crews, who serves as a source of inspiration to his family and many friends. John Anderson Crews of Newark, New Jersey, celebrated his 98th year of life on February 3, 2001. He was honored at a gala hosted by his two daughters, Maria Crews-Minatee and Betty Crews-McNeil. Some 175 family members, guests and friends shared this event at his home congregation, Mount Zion Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. Born in Vance County, Henderson, North Carolina, he came to Newark at the age of twenty (20). He married the late Maude E. Epps in 1925 and they raised three children. During World War II Mr. Crews was employed at Wright Aeronautical in Paterson, NJ, as an airplane engine assembler. He retired from the Pennsylvania Railroad after twenty-one years as an assigned laborer. John Crews has always led a busy life over his ninety-eight years. He is well known as an avid fisherman who taught many people the art of good fishing. For many years he served as the official filetier during the annual Fishing Derby at Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In addition, John Crews has been the mechanic who generously repaired cars for family and friends. He stays abreast of current events through his daily routine of reading all sections of the local newspaper. Family and visitors are frequently challenged by his thorough knowledge of family history and what's happening today. Mr. Crews, the living legend has been a member of Mount Zion Baptist Church since 1923, so it was only fitting that his birthday celebration be held at his church home. He served as church sexton, superintendent of the Baptist Young People's Union and an ordained deacon. The immediate family of John A. Crews extends through five generations with two children, three grandchildren, three great- grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the proposed rule on H.R. 1, No Child Left Behind Act. Because education is such an important issue, I feel that rules must be introduced on the floor so that all people can express their opinions in the general debate. The Committee on Rules only allowed one amendment from the Democratic side, and that is wrong. I went before the Committee on Rules and asked that my amendment, which would keep the title I monies at a 50 percent level, be included. When title I began, 75 percent of the money was targeted for poor children. It was the Federal Government saying, we need to assist these schools where there is an imbalance in funding. The imbalance still is there; but it was reduced from 75 percent of poverty to 60 percent of poverty, to 50 percent of poverty, and now it is 40 percent of poverty. On the other hand, some of the people on the other side of the aisle say, we have a 25 percent amendment coming up at you next time. Mr. Speaker, we are going to leave every child behind. I ask for the rejection of the rule.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleagues here in the United States House of Representatives to join me in paying special tribute to a very talented group of students at the Gordon Parks Academy, located in my Congressional district in East Orange, New Jersey. On May 15th, they will be honored at the 11th annual Panasonic Kid Witness News Vision Awards Ceremony, to be held in our own Newark Museum in Newark, New Jersey. The Gordon Parks Academy, K-8, is this year's special Technical Vision Award winner for producing a video with the best special effects. This winning video, ``Reading: Destination Unlimited'', used especially creative and innovative special effects to create its message that books can transport the mind and the imagination. Two students wander into their school's book fair looking for a recommendation. They are invited by the mysterious librarian to take a trip across the United States. To the tune of Nat King Cole's ``Route 66,'' the students experience a fun-filled cross-country odyssey. The special effects reinforce the point that reading a good book can be as vivid as living what you are reading. Mrs. Sharman Howe Nittoli, the TV Production Teacher and KWN coordinator, should be commended for her outstanding work with the very talented young people who produced this video. Kid Witness News is a hands-on video education program in more than 200 primarily inner-city schools in 120 U.S. cities. Using Panasonic-supplied equipment to create video projects, young people are encouraged to develop their creative, communication and technical skills through video production. Annual awards are presented to student teams in various categories, including Best Video, Documentary, Local Hero, Multiculturalism and News at a special program held in New Jersey each spring. It is apparent that The Gordon Parks Academy is proud to be a participant in Panasonic's KWN student news program. I know Ms. Joyce F. Howard, the school's principal, clearly recognizes the importance for young people of diverse backgrounds to seek new experiences and examine themselves in different roles as they prepare for their own future. I truly am proud to say congratulations to her, to the program advisors, and especially to the students of Gordon Parks Academy for a job well done. As a former teacher and lifelong advocate of youth, I am pleased to support Panasonic's Kid Witness News program. I commend Don Iwatani, Panasonic's Chairman and CEO of North American operations, for his support and leadership of such a commendable program. The excitement surrounding this program is that we actually will see ``The World Through Their Eyes'' in years to come as the participants become the future newsmakers of tomorrow. The 2001 New Vision Awards are a testament to the great future of today's youth as they prepare for the 21st Century. I am proud that Panasonic is in New Jersey and proud of its efforts to make a difference in the lives of children both in New Jersey and across the country.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleagues here in the United States House of Representatives to join me in honoring an institution which is close to my heart and which has inspired countless young men and women over its 120 years of service, the YMWCA of Newark and Vicinity. As friends and supporters of the Newark Y gather for the 120th anniversary celebration, we reflect on the unique history of the organization as it has worked to serve fellow citizens, young and old, men and women, families and singles, of all races and religions. The Newark Y was the first major Y in the nation to have an African American Executive Director, Mr. Robert Wilson. In the early 1950s, when both the YMCA and the YWCA were conducting a capital campaign to raise funds for a new building, it was decided that the two would merge, creating the YMWCA. The Newark Y has been in the forefront of international programs, with the diligent global work of people like Woody and Connie English putting Newark on the map. As a school teacher in the 1950s, I encouraged students on the athletic team I was coaching at the then Southside High School, called Malcolm X. Shabazz High School today, to join in the storefront Y at 52 Jones Street. That first group formed the Omega Phi Epsilon High School Club, and within a few years we had over 40 clubs. The TransCity Teen Program was recognized as the most active in the country. Our efforts at the Y resulted in thousands of youngsters being mentored and placed in colleges throughout the northeast and the rest of the nation. Volunteers would drive them to college and help them settle in to their freshman dormitories. Participating in regional, national and international programs in Europe, South America and Africa, many of the Y youngsters of yesterday have become outstanding leaders of today in all fields: education, law, government, medicine, and the corporate world. The YMWCA is committed to developing the spirit, mind and body of the individual; to creating a sense of common social purpose in the community; and to promoting basic, wholesome values for living. The YMWCA demonstrates those commitments through programs and services which offer opportunities to develop youth leadership skills, strengthen family life, adopt healthy lifestyles, build international understanding, make friends, go to camp, learn to swim, obtain new skills, volunteer in the community, and play basketball and other sports. Despite the ever-changing nature of the world, the need for these kinds of programs and services remains as great as it was when the YMWCA was founded in 1881. As the proud former national President of the YMCAs of the USA, I am pleased to recognize the Y for its many contributions to the quality of life in Newark and surrounding communities and urge support for the Y so that it may continue to serve us for years to come.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleagues here in the U.S. House of Representatives to join me in honoring a very special and dedicated person, Reverend Dr. L. Ronald Durham, who celebrated his 10th Pastoral Anniversary at First Mount Zion Baptist Church in my home city of Newark, New Jersey. Friends gathered on Friday, May 4th, in New Jersey to mark this milestone and to express appreciation for Reverend Dr. Durham's dynamic leadership. Reverend Dr. Ronald Durham began his ministry at the age of 17. After studying at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina on full scholarship, he received his Bachelor's Degree in Theology from Evangel Christian University in Louisiana. He holds his Masters of Theology Degree from United Christian Seminary, as well as a Doctor of Divinity and Doctor of Christian Ministry. Dr. Durham was also given an Honorary Doctor of Sacred Theology Degree from the American Bible Institute in Falls Church, Virginia. After sixteen years of faithful service to First Baptist Church of Anderson, North Carolina, Dr. Durham joined First Mt. Zion in April of 1991. First Mt. Zion's historical background inspired him to write his Doctoral Thesis entitled ``The History of the Black Baptist Church in New Jersey.'' During his ten years at First Mt. Zion, Pastor Durham has had many notable achievements. Inspired by the recovery story of a good friend, Pastor Durham established the ``21 Club,'' a Drug and Alcohol Education Program in Newark, New Jersey. He has been recognized by the City of Newark on several occasions for his outstanding community service. He initiated the federal ``Weed and Seed'' program for Newark, which continues to bring millions of federal dollars into the city to combat illegal drugs and restore Newark's communities. Other outstanding achievements under his inspirational leadership include: restoration of the 123-year-old sanctuary; purchasing of a church van and bus; refurbishing of a three-family property; and establishment of a stock investment program with Merrill Lynch. He has established the Inspirational Choir, Sanctuary Choir, Community Outreach Ministry; a new Youth Ministry, the Women's Support Ministry, Mother Board, Prayer Band, and the First Mt. Zion Theological Institute. He has worked to promote economic growth among African Americans. Dr. Durham led a group of 75 churches to purchase a 42-acre campground in Pennsylvania. In addition, Dr. Durham recently authored his first book entitled The Secret Power of Prayer, and he writes quarterly lessons entitled the Baptist Layman, a publication of the National Baptist Convention. He is a seminar leader for the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education. He serves as confidant and teacher to pastors and preachers all over the United States through his Internet ministry. Mr. Speaker, let us offer our congratulations on this special occasion and send our best wishes for continued success to Reverend Dr. Ronald Durham as he pursues his important spiritual mission.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleagues here in the United States House of Representatives to join me in paying tribute to the late Raymond F. Conkling, a popular and well-respected professional who gave many years of outstanding public service to this institution. During his years on Capitol Hill, Ray made many friends on both sides of the aisle and made a significant contribution to the work of the Congress. Mr. Conkling, who passed away on October 25, 2000, lived in Arlington, was born in Michigan and grew up in Peekskill, NY. He graduated from Columbia University, where he also received a law degree. During World War II and the Korean War, he was a naval aviator and received a Distinguished Flying Cross. Later he was a captain in the Navy Reserve. He began his legal career in New York with the firm of Millbank, Tweed, Hope and Hadley, then in 1954 moved to Washington. He served in the tax legislative counsel's office in the office of the secretary of the Treasury and later as tax counsel of the House Ways and Means Committee. He was senior tax attorney for Texaco and then legislative counsel to Diamond Shamrock Corp. He returned to government service in 1986 on Representative Guy Vander Jagt's staff, where he handled tax issues. He was a member of the National Democratic Club, the Capitol Hill Club and the Army Navy Country Club. Survivors include his wife of 28 years Juanita Conkling of Arlington, and a daughter, Tracy Conkling of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues join me in honoring Ray Conkling's memory and in expressing our deepest sympathy to his family.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentlewoman from the great State of Ohio for conducting this annual black history hearing. Congressman Stokes did it so many years, and she has certainly filled in the gap. Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate Black History Month, I rise to join my colleagues in reaffirming our strong commitment to voting rights and our determination to ensure fairness in the electoral process. Of course I was active during the civil rights struggle of the 1950s and 1960s when I marched in the South and Selma and other places and welcomed Dr. Martin Luther King to my hometown of Newark. I am keenly aware that many people gave their lives so that future generations could freely exercise their right to vote: Medger Evers, Martin Luther King, Malcom X, and others. During the Presidential election dispute in Florida, we heard many reports of voter intimidation and irregularities in the voting process in predominantly African-American precincts. Unfortunately, this is not new and it is not confined to Florida or the South in general. In my home State of New Jersey, during the recent Senatorial election, white voters began receiving phone calls in the middle of the night between midnight and 4 a.m. on election morning telling them that African Americans were urging them to vote and to vote Democratic. Of course the process was to anger voters, waking people up in the middle of the night, as a way of disrupting the flow. In New Jersey, Republicans actually have to seek preclearance from the Department of Justice under a consent decree before they do anything out of the ordinary because of past widespread election abuses. Their voter intimidation tactics have included hiring off-duty police officers as so-called ``ballot security'' police; videotaping of voters at African-American polling places; the posting of threatening signs warning that potential voters could be arrested and sent to jail. There was a high profile incident in New Jersey which gained national attention when a top campaign official in the gubernatorial race bragged about paying African-American ministers to keep minority voters from the polls, all lies. As members of the Black Caucus, we are here to say that we will stand up for the right to vote guaranteed by the Constitution and reinforced by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. At the top of our agenda for this Congress, we should be having a thorough review of voting problems and an investigation into the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters. Combating voting abuses and ensuring fairer elections in the future is the best way for us to honor the memory of those heroes that I mentioned before. It is ironic. In 1981, we had an election for governor that was only a few thousand votes out of the 3 or 4 million votes cast in New Jersey decided the outcome. At that time, it was this ballot security group that came out and intimidated voters and so forth. In Florida, we heard the Supreme Court decide the future of this country by stopping the vote and giving the election to the now- President George Bush. The Supreme Court used the 14th Amendment involving the equal protection under the law, an amendment stating that you cannot have different standards in different counties for looking at votes. But it is very ironic that the 14th Amendment came about after the Dred Scott case where Judge Taney said that Dred Scott, who was a slave and was taken from his slave State to a free State, that the owner could not continue to have him as a slave, but Judge Taney said, yes, blacks have no rights that white men have to observe. The 14th Amendment was passed in the middle 1860s to say that there is equal protection under the law and therefore the Dred Scott decision was overturned by the 14th Amendment. It is ironic in Florida the 14th Amendment, which was used to free Dred Scott, was used to deprive African Americans of their right to vote. As I conclude, I once again thank our chairperson of this night for her leadership.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time, and I commend her for calling this Special Order. I too rise to express my opposition to the nomination of former Senator John Ashcroft, a man who has spoken repeatedly against gun control, against a woman's right to choose, against affirmative action, against integration of schools, against the Miranda rights of suspects. How can we have this person, as our President wants to nominate and has nominated, and who opposes a qualified person like Bill Lan Lee, who said that even though you are great and I hear what you say, I just do not believe you can do what you say; against Frederica Massiah-Jackson for Federal judgeship; against Dr. David Satcher, one of the tremendous physicians in this country for Surgeon General; against Dr. Foster, another candidate for Surgeon General; against Ronnie White, who, in 71 percent of the cases voted for the death penalty, where Mr. Ashcroft voted for another person who only voted for the death penalty 55 percent, who happened not to be African American. Finally, when a person said that receiving a doctorate degree, honorary doctorate degree from Bob Jones University, that after he swore he was telling the truth, and when he looked into that camera, when he was asked about that university, Senator Ashcroft sat in that seat and said, in 1999, in June of 1999, that I did not know what Bob Jones University stood for, when George Bush went there to campaign and McCain went there to campaign, and the whole question of when President Bush apologized to the Catholics because he said that he should not have gone there because they are antiCatholic, and never said a word about the antiblack. But that was our new President that wants to bring all people in. I just cannot understand how Senator Ashcroft could put his hand on the Bible, put his hand up to God and say, I did not know, less than a year ago, what Bob Jones University stood for. Mr. Speaker, for those reasons, I do not think he is qualified to be the Attorney General of the United States of America.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, in a short while we will gather in a joint session to count the electoral vote from November's Presidential contest. We will count these votes even though the Republican appointees on the Supreme Court slammed the door in the face of thousands of Florida voters by refusing to allow their votes to be counted. Ironically, Republican legal advisors used the ``equal protection'' clause of the 14th amendment to argue their case while denying equal protection to thousands whose votes were never counted. The message calls to mind George Orwell's famous words that ``some are more equal than others.'' One fact is not in dispute: that Vice President Al Gore won over 539,000 more votes nationwide than George W. Bush. That makes it even more important that we get an accurate vote in Florida. As a member of the House International Relations Committee, I have had the privilege of monitoring elections around the world. Never have I seen a case like this--where one candidate's first cousin was hired by a major news network to call the election results; where that same candidate's campaign cochair had the authority to certify the election results and rushed to do so before all ballots had been counted; where the certification was signed by the candidate's brother, the Governor, and where Supreme Court members appointed by the candidate's father halted a vote count. Is this the model of democracy we want to hold up to the rest of the world? I urge my colleagues to refuse to be a part of this undemocratic process.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I add my voice to those who have already spoken to express my heartfelt sympathy for the family of Julian Dixon. When I decided to run for chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, among the first persons that I sought advice from was Julian Dixon. He had a way of sorting out the issues, trying to ensure that the purposes of the Congressional Black Caucus were definitely on the agenda that I was going to propose and gave me tremendous advice. That was just the way that he was. I think the committees that he served on sort of said it all. He was a member of the Committee on Appropriations. He would not only appropriate formally on the committee as his responsibilities said he should and fought for the District of Columbia when there was a lot of adversity; but he in his own private way was a giver, he was an appropriator, he gave advice. He gave a wonderful event at the Democratic National Convention where he had a beautiful dinner just for friends, because that was the type of person he was. He was on the Committee on Ethics. He is a person of high ethics. Everyone knows that. I think the committees that he served on said it all. Finally, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, one could not find a person more intelligent, more noble, more thorough and efficient than Julian Dixon. We traveled recently, and he and his wife just complimented one another. So as I conclude, I think that we can simply remember that old Negro spiritual that said that ``Let the work that I have done speak for me.''

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleagues here in the U.S. House of Representatives to join me in honoring a very special person, Ms. Mary Alice Carter, as she celebrates an important milestone in her life. Mary Alice Carter was born 80 years ago, on December 31, 1920, in Alamance County, North Carolina. Her proud parents were William and Maude Howard, and she was the 5th of four brothers and four sisters. Since her earliest years, her strong, living and vivacious personality has placed her at the center and circle of family and friends. Seeking opportunities for herself and her family, she left the familiarity of her North Carolina home in 1964 and moved to Newark, New Jersey, and began a new life. Hard work has been the hallmark of Mary Alice's life, and to ensure the best life possible for her two daughters, she worked in a number of positions in hospitals and jails, and as a domestic. Her hard work enabled her daughters to pursue their goals, and both remain grateful to her for her sacrifices on their behalf. Mary Alice joined the New Hope Baptist Church right away after arriving in the North. Next to her family, her Church is her greatest love and forms the core of her life. For 35 years she has been active in its life, including being President of the Pastor's Aide Club from 1972 to 1993. She was honored to be named Mother of the Church, a position from which she inspires the lives of the young members of the Church and brings joy to her friends as well. The home of Mary Alice is a central gathering place for family and friends alike. Her hospitality and living personality have brought people together for many years, with the most important moments: graduations, birthdays, holidays, church and community celebration-- spent at Mary Alice's Her legendary cooking, particularly sweet potato pie and coconut cake, has been attracting family and friends alike for a lifetime. Most important, in addition to being a role model for members of the community, she has been a devoted, supportive mother to her two children, Mary Lee and Susan; her four loving grandchildren, Loretta, Janice, Shawn and Samantha; and a new great-grandmother to Janesha. As a loving family member, generous friend, and inspiring community member, Mary Alice Carter is greatly appreciated and loved by so many as she celebrates her 80th Birthday. Mr. Speaker, as Mary Alice Carter's family and friends gather to honor her, let us join in sending our best wishes for a Happy 80th Birthday and many joyful times ahead.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, today--Sunday October 29th--marks a very special occasion at the historic Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, with the conclusion of a three-day installation celebration for the new pastor, The Reverend Dr. M. William Howard, Jr. I was pleased to be among the many well-wishers who attended the solemn morning worship service to officially welcome Reverend Howard, under whose dynamic leadership Bethany Baptist will continue to flourish and to reach even greater heights. Bethany Baptist, the oldest African American Baptist Church in Newark, was founded in 1871. Underscoring the church's strong emphasis on community involvement and cultural commitment, the building itself was designed to resemble an African hut. Ministries of the church include a senior citizen center, AIDS ministry, hospice program, computer literacy program, prison ministry, race track ministry for jockeys, a farmer's market, support for foster children, and missionaries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Reverend Howard served as President of New York Theological Seminary, a graduate school of theology committed to increasing the capacity of church workers as they strive to make a positive difference in their congregations and their communities, from 1992 to 2000. In recognition of his work, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations named NYTS the recipient of its Award for Excellence for the year 2000. Prior to assuming the presidency at NYTS, Rev. Howard was for 20 years a member of the national staff of America's oldest Protestant denomination--The Reformed Church in America. He also served as moderator of the World Council of Churches/Programme to Combat Racism, President of the National Council of Churches, and President of the American Committee on Africa. An activist for social justice at home and abroad, Reverend Howard was a leading participant in the movement against apartheid in South Africa for two decades. His strong moral stand prompted the former apartheid government to deny him a visa to visit South Africa. When Nelson Mandela made his first visit to the U.S., Reverend Howard chaired the committee which organized the interfaith worship service at the Riverside Church at which Mr. Mandela was welcomed to New York. In 1979, during the hostage crisis in Iran, Dr. Howard conducted Christmas worship for Americans being held captive at the U.S. embassy, and in 1984, he chaired the delegation which along with the Reverend Jesse Jackson succeeded in obtaining release of a U.S. Navy pilot being held prisoner in Syria after having been shot down during a bombing mission over Lebanon. His work has taken him to Cuba, the former Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, Central America and the Middle East. Reverened Howard, a native of Americus, Georgia, is a graduate of Morehouse College and Princeton Theological Seminary. He holds several honorary degrees, keys to cities and awards from many organizations. A member of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and the Council of Foreign Relations, he has served as Secretary of the Association of Theological Schools, a member of the New York City Board of the Enterprise Foundation, and a commissioner of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues in Congress join me in congratulating Reverend Howard and his wife Barbara Jean, who are the parents of three children, as he officially assumes this new leadership role at the historic Bethany Baptist Church.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, October 28th, I had the privilege of attending the 25th anniversary celebration of an organization which has led the way in offering improved opportunities and a better quality of life for working men and women, the Service Employees International Union. Honored at the event were President and Co-founder John ``JJ'' Johnson and all the Charter members of Local 617. The program featured union members, friends and supporters, including Newark Mayor Sharpe James; former President Curtis Grimsley; Patricia Ford, SEIU International Executive Vice President; Carol Graves, Essex County Registrar; and Thomas Giblin, Essex County Democratic Chairman. Three decades ago, when public sector employees in my home city of Newark, New Jersey, and throughout the nation had not yet begun to organize, Service Employees International Union took the historic initiative of chartering Local 617. In February of 1976, Local 617 began to negotiate with the Newark Board of Education for its first contract. When no satisfactory results were reached, the members voted to strike. With strong support from the Newark community, members remained on strike for 12 days. SEIU President Curtis Grimsley and Executive Vice President John Johnson met with Governor Brendan Byrne and requested his intervention to reach a settlement of the dispute. The strike ended with an understanding that both parties return to the table and bargain in good faith and agree to binding mediation. Since 1976, Local 617 and Local 3 jointly negotiated contracts with the Newark Board of Education. After the contract was settled in 1976, President Curtis Grimsley and Executive Vice President John Johnson were subpoenaed to appear in court, and a fine was imposed on Local 617. Personal fines were imposed on President Grimsley and Executive Vice President Johnson and they were placed on two years probation because of the strike. In 1977, Local 617 organized the City of Newark Crossing Guards, who went on strike after there was no progress during negotiations. A contract was eventually reached after Mayor Kenneth Gibson met with the Union leadership. That same year, Local 617 established a Community Service Plaque Award for Community involvement to be presented to a student from each of the Newark High Schools. The Local also successfully petitioned to represent the Bus Attendants of the Newark Board of Education. In 1978, there was a 3-day strike which led to approval of a benefit package for the membership consisting of prescription drugs coverage, dental care, vision care and temporary disability, benefits which members still enjoy today. In 1990, Local 617 organized the Newark Pre-school Employees. That year, 250 workers went on strike with the support of the parents and the community. This strike, lasting 7 weeks, was the longest in the history of Local 617. Since that time, SEIU has been certified to represent additional units, which include Community Day Nursery, Christ Church Day Care Center, Mary E. Wheeler Willis Educational Center, Irvington Housing Authority, HOPES, Irvington Crossing Guards, City of Newark Department of Public Works, City of Newark 911 Communication Operators and the Jersey City Head Start Program. The Union also obtained an affiliation agreement with the International Union, which merged Local 305 of the Newark Housing Authority into Local 617. The Local has also affiliated with Joint Council 33, the Eastern Conference of Service Employees, the New Jersey AFL-CIO, Essex West Hudson Labor Council, the Industrial Union Council, the Council of Union Employees, and the A. Randolph Institute. Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues here in Congress join me in congratulating Local 617 of the SEIU, an organization which has grown from 25 members in 1969 to over 3000 today, as they continue to champion the rights of working men and women.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call to the attention of my colleagues here in the U.S. House of Representatives the accomplishments of a person who has truly made a difference in her community, Ms. Gloria Jean Oliver. Retired as a captain from the East Orange Police Department, Ms. Oliver has been selected as one of the recipients of the presitigous YWCA ``Women of Influence'' awards. She will be honored at a special luncheon in New Jersey on November 4, 2000. Born in Glenridge and educated in the East Orange school system, Ms. Oliver attended Upsala College and received a bachelor of arts degree in Social Science. In 1969, she distinguished herself by becoming the first female to be hired by the East Orange Police Department after placing first on the New Jersey Civil Service exam. After breaking this barrier, she spent her first decade as a detective in the Juvenile Aide Bureau while also taking on an assignment in the rape squad. She continued to be a pioneer in her field, becoming a founding member of the Afro-American police organization with the formation of the East Orange Kinsmen, Inc. She was the first recording secretary of the organization, which was dedicated to serving the local community. After a promotion to sergeant in 1979, Ms. Oliver supervised the robbery squad. In 1986, while assigned to the Patrol Division, Gloria was promoted to lieutenant and was in charge of the ``Safe Neighborhoods Division.'' She commanded the 4 p.m. until midnight tour of the Patrol Division, was the Record's Bureau supervisor and was in charge of the Communications Division. In 1998, she was promoted to acting captain, where she served ten months as the commander in charge of the 4 p.m. until midnight tour before her retirement in September of 1999. Among the hobbies she enjoys are reading, traveling and writing poetry. A true family person, she is devoted to her eighty-eight year old father and takes great pride in her two nieces, Shelly and Krystal, and her great nieces and nephews. Ms. Oliver is now enjoying a well- deserved retirement where she continues to be active as a member of the Board of Directors of the North End Nursery. Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues join me in commending Ms. Oliver for her outstanding professional achievements and her service to the community. Let us extend our congratulations as she receives the Women of influence Award and our very best wishes for continued health and happiness.