Nancy Pelosi

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill because it misses an opportunity to have fairness in our immigration policy.

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I am rising to oppose this legislation. I want to recognize the extraordinary leadership of the ranking member of the Committee on Small Business (Ms. Velazquez), and I urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation. This bill is sadly deficient because it misses opportunities. It misses an opportunity to help our health care providers secure benefit improvements in Medicare and Medicaid that would increase the access of millions of Americans to the health care they need. Unfortunately, the Republican leadership has chosen to make HMOs not the beneficiaries the focus of this flawed legislation. Another missed opportunity was a bill that passed in bipartisan fashion out of the Committee on Commerce which would have increased enrollment in the CHIP and Medicaid, reduce out-of-pocket Medicare expenses and increase access to health insurance for disabled children and legal immigrants. It is a stark example of failed leadership. Another opportunity that is missed is the bipartisan legislation to provide incentives to private sector biotech and pharmaceutical companies to accelerate development of vaccines for AIDS, malaria, and TB. Mr. Speaker, the biggest missed opportunity is in school construction. How can we ignore the needs of our children? Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this measure which fails to provide tax relief to the families and institutions that need it most and fails to adequately meet our nation's health care needs. At the heart of the many flaws that are contained in this bill is the refusal of the Republican leadership to negotiate these measures in a bipartisan manner. We are nearly a month into the fiscal year, and the Republican leadership continues to push forward bills that we all know will be vetoed because of their refusal to reach across the aisle and compromise. The American people deserve better leadership and a real commitment to achieving the important goals of tax relief and improved access to quality health care. We are blessed in this country with the finest health care providers in the world. However, we must not take our good fortune for granted. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 initiated several important changes in reimbursement rates for Medicare and other federally funded health care programs. Unfortunately, many of these new reimbursement rules resulted in payment cuts to health care providers that were far greater than Congress intended. As a result, hospitals, nursing homes, patient care and academic health centers across the country are suffering. The refinements passed last year were a start, but they only addressed a fraction of the losses that the hospitals skilled nursing facilities that treat our most vulnerable citizens are facing. A recent report by the Lewin Group estimates that without further relief nearly 60 percent of the nation's hospitals will not be able to cover the costs of treating Medicare patients by 2004, and in the last two years 170 skilled nursing facilities have filed bankruptcy in California alone. Today, we have an important opportunity to help our health care providers and secure benefit improvements in Medicare and Medicaid that would increase the access of millions of Americans to the health care they need. Unfortunately, the Republican leadership has chosen to make HMOs, not beneficiaries, the focus of this flawed legislation. Medicare+Choice is an important program, but it is irresponsible to allocate over a third of the resources in this bill to a program that serves less than a sixth of our citizens. And to do so without any accountability measures demonstrates once again that the Republican leadership is on the side of the insurance industry, not on the side of patients. All year long we have been waiting for the Republican leadership to pass a real patient's bill of rights. When the House and Senate began the conference on this issue in October 1999 there was an important decision to be made, would this Congress vote to protect patients or HMOs? Democrats have been united and clear in our choice. We choose patients. But the Republican leadership has been just as clear in their determination to protect their friends in the insurance industry. Today, they have once again chosen HMOs over patients. Benefit improvements in Medicare and Medicaid are long overdue, and ignoring an opportunity to increase enrollment in CHIP and Medicaid, reduce out-of-pocket Medicare expenses, and increase access to health insurance for disabled children and legal immigrants is a stark example of failed leadership. I am also opposed to a provision that has been included in this bill which violates the privacy protections that the Census Bureau has promised the American people. This provision would provide personal information to the Congressional Budget Office that is given to the Census Bureau with the understanding that the data will be used solely for the Census. This year's high response rates to census surveys will surely decline if that promise is broken. Among the many important items excluded from H.R. 2614 is bipartisan legislation to provide incentives to private sector biotech and pharmaceutical companies to accelerate development of vaccines for AIDS, malaria, TB and any other disease that kills one million or more people annually. The Vaccines for the New Millennium Act, which was developed in collaboration with industry and public health advocates, creates tax and purchase credits that will increase R&D and expand the market for new vaccines. The combined deaths from AIDS, TB, and malaria total over 7 million each year. Preventive vaccines are our best hope to being these destructive worldwide epidemics under control. The National Institutes of Health is doing crucially important vaccine research. But private sector biotech and pharmaceutical companies have much of the expertise to develop and produce vaccines, and we must leverage their resources and encourage the market to work more effectively in order to develop these vaccines in the near future. This legislation fails to achieve the tax relief that American families need and the improvements in access to quality health care that they deserve. This country deserves better. I urge my colleagues to vote no on H.R. 2614.

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, would the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Callahan) be agreeable to yielding 1 minute of his time?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), our distinguished ranking member of the full Committee on Appropriations, the long-time chair of the Foreign Operations Committee.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce), the very distinguished ranking member of the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, and recognize him for the extraordinary work he did in the international debt relief provision. (Mr. LaFALCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), the very distinguished ranking member of the subcommittee that oversees international debt relief, and a real leader and fighter who was successful on this floor in increasing the funding for debt relief.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), a leader in the fight for protecting reproductive rights throughout the world. (Mrs. MALONEY of New York asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), who, as I said before, coming back from Durban, South Africa, was successful on the floor increasing funds for HIV/AIDS, and with this bill taking a very major first step for the World Bank Trust Fund.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), and in recognizing him, acknowledge the work that he did along with the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Blagojevich) in helping to shape the flexible compromise that we have in here, enabling us to go forward with assistance to Serbia while respecting the work of the War Crimes Tribunal.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Bentsen), a very valued member of the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, who from day one has been very involved in helping us shape this debt relief package. (Mr. BENTSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley), who has been a very important part of our challenge to shape language on family planning. He has been doing that ongoing. He is a very valued member of this effort. (Mr. CROWLEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutsch), a great advocate for peace in the Middle East.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 1 minute to the very distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner), another champion for peace in the Middle East. (Mr. WEINER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining on each side?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to join in presenting our Foreign Operations conference report. I do not use this word often around here about legislation that is being brought to the floor, but I really am genuinely proud of the priorities that are in this bill. Would I like to see more money in some of the areas, for example, in the AIDS account? Yes. As I said last night to the Committee on Rules, this is not a bill I would have written; but it is a bill I can support, because, while I would have liked more, the priorities are definitely in order. Before I begin my remarks about the bill, Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge that our distinguished chairman will be managing this bill as chairman for the last time. I want to thank him for his leadership. I also want to commend the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Porter), the gentleman from California (Mr. Packard), who will be leaving the Congress, who are two distinguished members of the committee. I want to also point out to our colleagues that since the bill came to the floor in its original form and today, we have lost our former colleague, Congressman Sid Yates. I bring up Sid because Sid served on the Foreign Operations Committee since the day it was formed. It was the Marshall Plan committee, imagine in those days, and, except for a brief hiatus when he left to run for Senate and came back, Sid served on the committee from then, the late 1940s, until he left Congress nearly 2 years ago. So I want to acknowledge all of the work that he did to promote democratic values and the compassion of the American people, and also as a tough budgeter on the committee. We will acknowledge the staff as we go on, but I did want to commend the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Porter), the gentleman from California (Mr. Packard), and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Callahan) for their fine work. Mr. Speaker, the chairman pointed out some of the aspects of the bill to our colleagues so they know what they are voting on; and I want to revisit some of those issues. In doing so, I want to recall to our colleagues' minds a quote from President Kennedy that I am fond of bringing up when we do this bill. Every person in America, practically, or certainly of a certain age, is familiar with President Kennedy's inaugural address when he said to the citizens of America, ``Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.'' But not many people know that the very next line in that speech is, President Kennedy said to the citizens of the world, ``ask not what America can do for you, but what we can do working together for the freedom of mankind.'' It is in that spirit that I ask my colleagues to support this important legislation that is here today, because in demonstrating the compassion of the American people, in recognizing that it is in our national interest to promote the global environmental health and stop the spread of AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and helping countries develop so we develop markets for our products, this is all in our interest, but it is all in furtherance of the freedom of mankind as well. The total funding bill, as has been mentioned, is $14.9 billion and is just almost near the President's request, a couple hundred million dollars short of that. The bill fully funds the President's request for $435 million for international debt relief. This is a very important accomplishment of this Congress, and it could not have happened without bipartisan cooperation. I think it never would have happened without the outside mobilization of the religious community throughout our country in this Jubilee Year to ask for forgiveness, including debt forgiveness. This means the United States will be finally able to live up to the pledges made 2 years ago to the international community to engage in meaningful debt relief for the world's poorest countries. That language has been included to require the U.S. to oppose any loan from the international banks or IMF when it imposes user fees for a condition. More on that later. The bill also contains on the subject of AIDS, which is a very high priority here. Before I leave debt relief, I want to recognize the work of the authorizers, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce); the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus); the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters); the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank); and also the great work of the chairman of the Committee on the Budget, the gentleman from Ohio, on this. This has really been a bipartisan cooperative effort. On the subject of AIDS, we are all familiar with the dramatic increase that this body voted on, the amendment of the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), on the day she came back from the AIDS conference in Africa, and the bill includes $315 million for HIV-AIDS and which includes $20 million for the World Bank HIV-AIDS trust fund, which was the good work of the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) and the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach), the chairman of the Committee on Banking. I hoped for more funding, as I mentioned at the beginning of my remarks, for HIV-AIDS and the trust fund, but the increases provided in this bill, along with the increased funding anticipated in the Labor- HHS bill, will bring about real advances in the fight against HIV-AIDS. I want to talk for a moment about the international family funding, which has gone from 372 to 425 million dollars. No funding can be obligated until February 15. However, no Mexico City language has been included. I want to commend the President of the United States for his steadfastness on this, excluding this language from the bill; and I want to also commend Democrats and Republicans for working together on this, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood), in terms of the Mexico City language, and, of course, the very distinguished members of our subcommittee on the Democratic side, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson), the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Sabo) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), who all helped to make this bill a success. The bill contains a total of $693 million for the Child Survival Account, part of which we are going to call the Callahan Child Survival Maternal Health Account, in tribute to the fine work he has done on this. This account funds the HIV programs, as well as providing $50 million for global alliance for vaccines and immunizations and $60 million for tuberculosis. The overall funding includes funding for the African Development Bank, for increased funding for the Inter-American Development Bank. I just want to say on Serbia, because that is a question that has been asked, the language in the bill, the agreement allows up to $100 million in assistance for what I would characterize as an appropriate degree of flexibility. It is a compromise. More on that as the debate continues. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the very distinguished gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), a member of the committee. (Mrs. LOWEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick), a very valued member of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs. (Ms. KILPATRICK asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson), a very distinguished member of our subcommittee. (Mr. JACKSON of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Is that the part about me, Mr. Speaker?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, would the gentleman from Alabama be more agreeable to a unanimous consent to add 2 minutes on each side?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I am most grateful for the time. The gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Callahan) is, as always, a gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this debate today I think points to the quality of the bill that the committee has brought before the full House. I think it is clear from the participation of so many Members that they have been participating every step of the way. We are blessed in this House by a very active Congressional Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Women's Caucus, all of whom have taken a very particular interest in this bill and different provisions in it. Their involvement has helped us produce a better bill. The involvement of the outside community, particularly the Jubilee 2000 initiative of the ecumenical movement for debt forgiveness in this jubilee year has helped us produce good policy that will help people throughout the world, helped us produce a better bill. We have commended each other variously and severally and individually as to our participation in various parts of the bill. I want to also recognize the Clinton administration. We are very proud of the debt relief provisions in this bill. The President has been a leader on this issue, has made it a very high priority as has Secretary Summers, Gene Sperling, his advisor, and others in the administration. They have helped us get where we are today on that score. I also want to again commend the President for his commitment to reproductive freedom by staying with us with the promise of not signing a bill that would have the restrictive language that was contained in the bill last year. Very important to all of this, though, Mr. Speaker, are our staff: Charlie Flickner, John Shank, Chris Walker, Gloria Maes, Nancy Tippins on the Republican side; Mark Murray and Jon Stivers on the Democratic side. I want to commend them for all of their hard work in bringing us to where we are today. Then I would like to once again say good-bye to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Porter) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Packard), two valued members of the committee, and commend the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Callahan), our distinguished chairman. It is a pleasure to work with him, Mr. Speaker. We do have our differences. As I said last night, this is not a bill I would have written. It is a compromise. It has good priorities in it. We still have a long way to go. On HIV/AIDS, a disease that challenges the conscience of this world and certainly of our country with all of our tremendous resources, we have increased the funding; and with the World Bank Trust Fund, we have taken a major first step. But we must recognize that much more needs to be done. We must all recognize that all of this is in our national interest, in our national interest to help the poorest of the poor in the world, to spread Democratic values, to make the world a more peaceful and safe place, to expand our own economy by promoting our exports. All of this is contained in this bill. This is a better bill because of the active involvement of our colleagues, the outside groups and the President of the United States. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and commend our distinguished chairman once again for his extraordinary service.

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to one of organized labor's greatest leaders on the occasion of his 85th birthday. John F. ``Jack'' Henning has had a long and distinguished career on the frontlines of the labor movement, fighting passionately for justice, equality, and human rights here and around the world. It is my privilege to commend and thank him for his lifetime of leadership. Jack Henning was born in San Francisco in 1915 to hard-working parents of modest means. Hardworking himself, he graduated from St. Mary's College with a degree in English literature. In 1938, he started working with the Association of Catholic Unionists in San Francisco and began his steady climb within the labor movement. By 1949, he was working for the California Labor Federation, the official AFL-CIO organization for California, as a senior staff member, and in 1970, the Federation selected him as Executive Secretary-Treasurer. He held that position until 1996. In addition to his service with the California Labor Federation, Jack served the cause of organized labor from within the halls of government. From 1959-1962, he served as the Director of the California State Department of Industrial Relations. He then served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations as the U.S. Under Secretary of Labor. In these positions and afterward as an advocate, he worked consistently for justice and fair treatment of workers. He was instrumental, for example, in securing organizing rights for California's farm workers, in preventing restaurants from counting tips as wages under minimum wage laws, and in encouraging the labor movement to take strong stands for civil rights. Jack has served on the Board of Regents of the University of California, where he fought to divest the University's holdings in South Africa under apartheid, and the Board of Trustees of St. Mary's College. He has sat on San Francisco's Public Welfare Commission and the Fair Employment Practices Commission and was the U.S. ambassador to New Zealand from 1967-1969. In 1999, the University of California at Berkeley's Center for Labor Research and Education created the John F. Henning Center for International Labor Relations in recognition of his tremendous contributions to the labor movement. The Henning Center focuses on strategies for global unionism and the impact of globalization on workers around the world. Jack was also named Distinguished Labor Leader in Residence at the University of California's Institute of Industrial Relations. Jack Henning has been an unfailing voice on behalf of the working women and men of the United States and of the world. We are all indebted to his leadership. It is my honor to join his seven children, John Junior, Brian, Patrick, Nancy, Daniel, Thomas, and Mary, and his many friends and colleagues in wishing him a Happy Birthday.

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), a leader on this issue from the authorizing committee.

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the VA-HUDS-IA Conference Report that would significantly increase funding above the earlier House and Senate passed levels for vital housing programs. I commend HUD Secretary Cuomo, President Clinton, and Representative Alan Mollohan, Ranking Member of the HUD-VA House Subcommittee, for their tremendous leadership on housing issues and their success in increasing America's investment in affordable housing for impoverished Americans. In June, I joined with most Democrats in voting to oppose the Republican led House bill that was severely underfunded. Thanks to the success of our Democratic leadership, today, I intend to vote for this improved agreement. Although I am glad this agreement increases funding levels, we must recognize that it still does not meet America's housing needs. Despite America's continuing economic growth, an estimated 5.4 million Americans pay more than half their income for rent and millions more live at risk of homelessness. We must continue to do more to develop new quality affordable housing, preserve existing affordable units, and provide needed housing and services to homeless Americans and those with special needs to ensure they have an adequate foundation to participate in our growing economy. This bill is so important because it assists low income Americans. HUD residents of Section 8 housing and public housing have an average annual income of $7,800. This bill also assists seniors on fixed incomes and people with disabilities and special needs. Without this housing assistance, working men and women would be forced to choose between housing, health care, food, and other basic needs. This agreement provides funding increases to important programs; $258 million for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS programs [HOPWA]; $452 million for 79,000 new Section 8 housing vouchers for low-income Americans; $100 million for a new Shelter Plus Care account to renew expiring homeless projects; $3 billion to modernize and make capital improvements to public housing and $3.242 billion to operate public housing for the 1.4 million American families who live there; and $1.8 billion for the HOME program to produce affordable housing for poor Americans. Of particular importance to San Francisco, this agreement provides $258 million for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program [HOPWA] to assist low-income persons with AIDS and their families with short-term rental assistance and mortgage assistance, and provides assistance to acquire, construct, modernize, or operate facilities and deliver supportive services. HOPWA provides vital resources to ensure that people living with HIV and AIDS have access to the stable housing that is necessary for their medical care. More than 200,000 people with HIV/AIDS are currently in need of housing assistance, and 50% of those living with this disease will need housing assistance at some point during their illness. Increase in housing demand and the number of people living with HIV/AIDS mean that San Francisco's HOPWA needs are greater than ever. This increase will greatly benefit those living with HIV/AIDS. I urge my colleagues to support this Conference Report and increase housing assistance to low-income Americans.

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me, the distinguished ranking member. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the continuing resolution because I think it is time we got about the people's business. The decisions that we will be making in the next few days and next week are about our national budget, the appropriation of funds to meet the needs of the American people. I believe that our national budget should be a statement of our national values. What we think is important is what we should put our resources to. So we are coming down to the last few or several appropriations bills. One of them is Labor, Health, and Human Services, which is the lion's share of our domestic budget. In that budget we fund the Department of Education and the Federal role in education. In that bill we also fund the National Institutes of Health. All of the studies that we receive from the National Institutes of Health and other research organizations that are funded by the Federal government tell us that children learn better in smaller classes. Indeed, we are even learning that some children do better in smaller schools. We pay for this research. We have the best scientists in the world applying their intellects to it. They give us their conclusions. Then this body chooses to ignore those conclusions about smaller classes and smaller schools. President Clinton has an initiative on the table which has been rejected by the Republican majority. The President's proposal would provide interest-free loans for localities to have bond measures for school modernization, for smaller classes, and rewiring schools. If we are going to have smaller classes, we need more classrooms and we need more teachers. If we are going to have our children prepared for the future, we need to have these schools modernized, wired for the future. It is really very, very difficult to understand how the Republican majority can reject such a reasonable proposal, a proposal based on science and for the well-being of America's children. That by and large is the main argument that is keeping us here. At the same time, the Republican majority has chosen to take four- or five-day weekends, instead of attending to a prescription drug benefit for our seniors, a real prescription drug benefit for our seniors; instead of a subsidized premium for insurance companies, which they may or may not even decide to offer; and to attend to a real Patients' Bill of Rights. But it is about the children that we are here. The Republican majority is asking us to vote for a continuing resolution, not so that we can continue our work until we are finished, but so that we can go home for 4 or 5 days, come back with work unfinished, and ask for another continuing resolution. I urge my colleagues to vote no on the CR.