Nancy Pelosi

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Leader, I assume that I should not take it personally that on the day of the California primary you have made the votes earlier rather than later.

Ms. PELOSI. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Ms. PELOSI. I find that disappointing because, as the gentleman knows, we have people who are suffering in our country. We passed the airline bailout bill in a matter of days of September 11, and that was appropriate. We should have at that time passed unemployment benefits for those who are affected by September 11. Now we are 6 months later, and we still do not have the conferees appointed.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Leader, once again I am disappointed that there is no legislation addressing unemployment assistance. We all know that there is an urgent need for that. Will we be appointing conferees on that legislation next week? If so, when might that occur?

Ms. PELOSI. It is my understanding that the Committee on Ways and Means today is holding hearings on Social Security certificates legislation. When would that legislation be expected to come to the floor?

Ms. PELOSI. I thank the majority leader. I had some further questions about the schedule. Is there any Social Security legislation that will be scheduled on the floor next Tuesday or any other day next week?

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Jerry Roberts, a giant among West Coast journalists, who after 25 years of devoted service is leaving my hometown newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle. Jerry Roberts has provided outstanding service to Northern California, devoting his professional life to covering San Francisco, the Bay Area and California. Throughout his career, he has consistently exhibited exemplary fairness and insight. Over the past quarter century, Jerry has covered hundreds of elections, including my first, and has also authored a biography of my fellow San Franciscan, Senator Dianne Feinstein. Jerry has served as the Chronicle's political editor, editorial page editor, city editor and for the past five years, managing editor, always displaying a passion for politics, family and baseball, not necessarily in that order. A fellow West Coast immigrant, Jerry was born in Cleveland, moving to San Francisco in the early 1970s. He and his wife Linda Kiefer raised three daughters, Anna, Maggie and Rebecca in the greatest city in the world. San Francisco is a better place because of Jerry Roberts' professionalism and devotion to his job, his family, and his community. I join Jerry's family and his many friends in wishing him all the best in his new endeavors. We continue to expect great things from Jerry Roberts as we thank him and pay tribute to him for his contribution to San Francisco and to the field of journalism.

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to salute W. Roger Haughton for his longstanding commitment to the San Francisco community. Roger is the Chairman and CEO of The PMI Group, Inc., ed in San Francisco. Roger was honored at the Bay Area's Junior Achievement Spirit of Achievement Gala, held on December 11, 2001, which was attended by over 500 executives of the Bay Area community. Roger was presented with the ``Spirit of Achievement'' Award, which recognizes individuals who have demonstrated exceptional entrepreneurial success, leadership and commitment to their community. The honor symbolizes the ``spirit of achievement'' that Junior Achievement instills in thousands of Bay Area youth each year through its economic education curriculum. Roger Haughton and The PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) Group, Inc. embody the community citizenship and spirit of philanthropy that Junior Achievement endeavors to instill in children across the Bay Area. PMI Group has also been an ardent supporter of the Bay Area community. Through its products and services, and working closely with mortgage lenders, PMI Group has developed many affordable mortgage programs to help families realize their dreams of home ownership. They believe that homeownership helps build strong families which helps build strong communities. In addition to his role of Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of The PMI Group, Inc., Roger has a long history of active volunteerism with various affordable housing organizations including Habitat for Humanity, which has constructed affordable housing for families throughout the United States. Roger is also on the board as well as being former chairman of Social Compact, a Washington, D.C. organization dedicated to promotinc, revitalization of America's inner cities, and is also on the board of San Francisco's Bay Area Council. I am proud to join my constituents in thanking and praising Roger Haughton for his dedication to the Bay Area community. Roger's dedication to the community through his involvement in nonprofit organizations makes him a worthy recipient of the Spirit of Achievement Award. Roger Haughton and PMI are pillars of the Bay Area community; they are servants of exemplary citizenship and spirited philanthropy. We are truly blessed for their generosity and commitment.

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I thank the distinguished gentleman for yielding me time and for his leadership on this important issue. Mr. Chairman, I represent a district that is so beautiful because it is so diverse. Our country is every day invigorated by the arrival of newcomers on our shore. They bring with them their courage, their commitment to family values, a commitment to the academic ethic, the religious ethic, a sense of community, and a strong love of freedom and patriotism, yes, to America. I urge my colleagues to oppose this unfortunately mean-spirited amendment because it is a poison pill and because it will deprive minorities in our country of a right to participate in the freedom that they have so courageously sought.

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I thank the distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for yielding me the time and for his leadership on this important campaign finance reform and on electoral reform as well. I commend the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Meehan), my colleague, for his tremendous leadership and that of the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) for his, and the distinguished leadership of our leader, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), for bringing us to this very, very important and historic day. Today, we have an opportunity to achieve a great victory for the American people, to bring democracy back to them. Every one of us who serves in the Congress takes an oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic. The corrosive and corrupting effect of special interests' big money in the political process is indeed a danger to our participatory democracy. This beautiful city in which we serve 200 years ago was built on a swamp and a swamp it is again today, a swamp of special interest money. Today we have the opportunity to drain that swamp. We have the opportunity to bring a more wholesome attitude to the Washington atmosphere, to Washington, D.C. We have an opportunity to create a new architecture of political fund-raising in our country which devolves to the grassroots, to the people from which power comes and where it belongs. We have an opportunity today to send a valentine to the American people; to tell them they are important to us; that what they think matters to us; that they should have faith in government and they should have hope that the issues that they care about will have a fair shake and not be eclipsed by the blizzard, by the blizzard of special interest money in Washington, D.C. A vote for the bipartisan Shays-Meehan bill, the only real campaign finance reform bill, will end, will end the corrosive influence of special interest money and level the playing field so that all Americans can participate and be heard. Mr. Chairman, imagine a situation where we clear the deck, where we make a clean sweep and we start fresh for the American people, where the money that is raised is at the grassroots level, and we train a cadre of young people interested in politics, interested in government, a more wholesome situation for our country. I urge a ``yes'' vote for Shays-Meehan and a ``no'' on all the poison pills.

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the celebration of the Lunar (or Chinese) New Year--the most important of all Chinese festivals. Part of the Asian philosophy includes the belief that as the turning of the new year, you clean your home, sweep away misfortune and welcome in the new year with hopes for prosperity and good luck. We should all take advantage of this opportunity to explore this tradition and embrace the richness of our diversity. It is the year 4699 by the Chinese calendar, the Year of the Horse. The Lunar New Year is celebrated on the New Moon of the 1st day of the year and ends on the Full Moon 15 days later. It is popularly recognized as the Spring Festival, and is celebrated just before planting begins in the spring, with hopes for a good harvest in the coming year. Family is a major focus of the celebration, especially on New Year's Eve and New Year's day. A ritual paying homage to ancestors is performed in order to unite living family members with those who have departed. Much respect is paid to these ancestors who were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of their families. The festivities conclude with the Lantern Festival, on the last night of the celebration, consisting of a parade of people carrying lanterns, and of young men performing a dragon dance. In San Francisco, the Chinese-American community is a vital, historic and vibrant component of our world-renowned diversity. Chinese- Americans have played a significant role in all aspects of American life including our arts, education, sports, medicine, religion, and politics. Recognition of these gifts and of the cultural diversity in America today was recently symbolized when once again the United States Postal Service issued its annual commemorative stamp honoring the wonderful tradition of the Chinese New Year. I am honored to participate in Chinese New Year celebrations, and I wish all a Gong Hay Fat Choy.

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, finally, as the distinguished majority leader knows, we are in an economic recession, and millions of workers have lost their jobs. The Senate has completed action on 13 weeks of extended benefits for these workers. When will the majority schedule that bill for House consideration?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished majority leader for his comments. Mr. Speaker, I just want to seek some clarification. We are pleased to see that campaign finance reform will be on the floor next week and look forward to a vigorous debate on cleaning up our failed system. Just to clarify, we will vote on the rule on Tuesday night. Will we be debating the rule before the votes on the suspensions?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, it may seem the least that we can do, but if you are out of work, these 13 weeks extended benefits make all the difference in the world. I agree, we should be doing much more. In a matter of hours, maybe 72, of the tragedy in New York, we bailed out the airlines. That was important, it was necessary, and we had to do that. We did it with a promise, though, that relief for the workers in those industries would be on the way soon. Now we are months later, indeed into a new year, a new session of Congress, and we still do not see action on behalf of the workers who lost their jobs, while we put billions in relief for the industry. I further urge what may seem like the least, I am not talking about this as the total package, but as an absolute emergency measure for these families caught in this recession, I continue to urge the majority to take up the Senate bill ASAP, certainly before we go out on a 13-day break. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished majority leader for his information on the schedule.

Ms. PELOSI. I thank the Speaker for that clarification. Mr. Speaker, I would say to the majority leader, I think that if the package he was talking about that was this job creation package is the one that gave $250 million back to Enron retroactively, then I think the public will understand why that is something that was unacceptable in a bipartisan way in this body. I hope that we will be able to find bipartisan relief for those who have been caught in this recession, and the very least that we can do before we go off on a 13-day break is to complete action on 13 weeks of extended benefits for the workers, as the other body has done. I urge the majority to consider doing that next week before we leave.

Ms. PELOSI. Yes, I am.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I wish to respond to the gentleman about the actions in the Senate, but it is my understanding that the House rules forbid us from addressing any individual in the Senate or in the manner it was brought up here. Is that not correct, Mr. Speaker?

Ms. PELOSI. If we go into Thursday.

Ms. PELOSI. Therefore, one would infer from the gentleman's remarks that even if we complete campaign finance reform on Thursday, there would be no other business that day?

Ms. PELOSI. If we complete action on campaign finance reform on Wednesday, will there be any votes on Thursday?

Ms. PELOSI. I thank the gentleman for his reiteration of that. Now, we are planning to complete final passage on campaign finance reform on Wednesday, or go over until Thursday, if necessary?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I take this time for the purpose of inquiring about the schedule for next week. I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey).

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his presentation of the schedule and for his kind welcoming remarks. I want to in turn say that I congratulate him on his decision and wish him well. We still have a year to go and look forward to working with him during that time. And ``work'' is the word. Do I understand that the only legislative business next week will be on Tuesday, with votes at 5 p.m.?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of inquiring about the schedule for next week, I am pleased to yield to the distinguished majority leader to respond.

Ms. PELOSI. Well, we all are awaiting with great optimism the address of the President of the United States in the State of the Union on Tuesday. And I understand the votes are at 5 p.m., but there will be no legislative business on Wednesday or for the rest of the week next week?