Joseph Pitts

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, not long ago, news anchor Tom Brokaw wrote a book in which he called today's seniors the greatest generation. After all, it was today's seniors who saw this country through the Depression and fought to save the world from Nazi aggression. Mr. Speaker, no American and no senior, those who have served this country so well for so many years, should ever have to choose between putting food on the table and taking the medicine their doctor has prescribed. But today's advanced medications are expensive. The Republicans in the House have a plan to modernize Medicare by adding a prescription drug plan. This plan is fair, sensible and necessary. Under this plan, seniors will be able to choose the coverage that best suits their needs. It will protect seniors from high out-of- pocket costs and be completely voluntary. The President and the minority party in Congress owe it to our seniors to stop the politics of fear and to support this bill.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act. Over the past 8 years, the current administration has not only cut defense spending in our military, the readiness of our force has been permitted to deteriorate. This is unfortunate. It is unacceptable. Thankfully, the defense authorization bill today before us continues the Congress' effort to rebuild our military and improve the quality of life of our military personnel and their families. Specifically, I am pleased that this bill authorizes funding for several electronic warfare initiatives, which is very important to the defense of our aircraft, most notably, the funding for upgrades in the EA-6B Prowler. The Prowler fleet is over-committed and aging fast. Maintenance is frequently deferred. Mr. Chairman, the U.S. military supremacy in the 21st century promises to be even more dependent upon control of the EW spectrum, than it was in the past few decades. Unfortunately, EW requirements are often overlooked, and this is not the case in this authorization bill. I thank the gentleman from South Carolina (Chairman Spence) for his support of the vital electronic warfare assets and capabilities in this bill, and I urge support of the bill.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, 80 percent of the American people say they want obscenity laws vigorously enforced. That same 80 percent do not believe the Government is doing its job, and they are right. Between 1992 and 1998, prosecutions for violations of Federal obscenity laws dropped 86 percent. A leading distributor of pornographic videos told TV Guide that the President was, and I quote, on our team. He said, ``It's not that Clinton has been outwardly supportive of the adult industry but rather that he hasn't tried to quash it the way Republicans did back in the 1980s.'' Even the public airwaves are not safe anymore. Sexual material on TV was more than three times as frequent in 1999 as it was in 1989. Foul language was more than five times as high. But the FCC has not collected a single fine or forfeiture or refused to renew a license due to broadcast indecency in 15 years. Our children deserve better protection. The Justice Department and the President need to start enforcing the law on obscenity.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, why does the media seem to like some whistleblowers and dislike others? I will mention three names, three of the most famous whistleblowers from recent history. In 1974, Karen Silkwood blew the whistle on the Cimarron Nuclear Facility in Oklahoma, claiming unsafe practices. Karen Silkwood died in a car accident that November while on her way to meet with a New York Times reporter. They say her death was not an accident and that documents she had in the car with her disappeared from the scene of the crash. In 1995, Dr. Jeffrey Wigand broke with a big tobacco company to criticize that industry's practices. In a famous episode, his interview with 60 Minutes was taken off the air because of pressure from tobacco company lawyers. Karen Silkwood and Jeffrey Wigand have both been lionized by Hollywood in movies starring Meryl Streep and Russell Crowe. Both names are synonymous in the media with persons who have been punished for telling the truth. How about the third whistleblower? Linda Tripp blew the whistle on the most powerful person in America. She told the truth, a truth we might never have known had she not spoken up. And, yet, instead of a movie contract, Ms. Tripp faces the possibility of being the only player in the scandal to be convicted of a crime. How is that for American justice?

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, a bill that my good friend, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) has worked on so tirelessly. I would like to share a story with my colleagues. It is the story of a young girl from a very poor family in a developing country who had hopes for a better life in a wealthier land. This attractive young woman came from a good family, but it was a family that could provide her with very little. Like young people everywhere, she had dreams, dreams of nicer clothes, dreams of new opportunities, dreams of seeing foreign places. One day she was offered the chance to make her dreams come true. She would have to leave her family and make her own way, but if she worked hard, she was promised a new life in a land of opportunity. She was nervous, but she took the chance. When she got where she was going, she could tell something was wrong. She was led to a hot, dirty trailer and locked inside with a handful of other women, women with emotionless faces and broken spirits. It was there that her life as a sex slave began. At first, she refused to do what she was told, but she could only take so many beatings. Then 30 men a day entered her trailer and raped her, sometimes beating her, always robbing her of her dignity and self- respect, almost constantly abused, crying until tears would no longer flow, month after month. She could not escape because she was locked in a trailer. She didn't know where she was. She didn't know the language. This is a true story. It did not happen in Bangkok, it did not happen in Amsterdam, it did not happen in Rio de Janeiro, it happened in Florida. It is happening today in this country. Every year, 2 million women and children are trafficked into sexual slavery in this country and around the world, 45,500 to 50,000 times in America a year. The sad ending to this story is that this poor girl, who was freed in an FBI raid 2 years ago, spent a year in jail waiting to be deported back to Mexico. Mr. Speaker, if this country stands for justice at all, we can do better for this girl. Dr. Laura Lederer, director of the Protection Project of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, has taken the lead in researching and exposing the shockingly widespread nature of the international sex trade. Here is what she says: ``To conceptualize how immense the problem is, imagine a city the size of Minneapolis or St. Louis made up entirely of women and children. Imagine that those women and children are kidnapped, raped, and forced into prostitution. Imagine that it happens every year. Then stop imagining, because it is happening now in those numbers.'' We all owe Dr. Lederer a debt that we cannot repay for the work he has done for the forgotten victims of this underprosecuted area of organized crime. I urge my colleagues to vote for this important bill.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the students of Hempfield High School, who are here in Washington again this year. They are representing Pennsylvania in the national ``We the People'' competition. Elaine Savukas' AP government class is competing with other schools showing their knowledge about the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. There are more than 1,200 students here from all over America. The format is a simulated congressional hearing before a panel of scholars, lawyers, journalists, and government leaders. I have met with these bright young Pennsylvanians and was impressed with their knowledge and interest in our unique form of government. These students from Hempfield High School are to be congratulated for studying so hard and taking such a serious interest in our Constitution. They are tomorrow's leaders, and I am proud to have them representing the 16th Congressional District of Pennsylvania here today.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues for sponsoring this resolution to honor America's teachers. This week we honor those who challenge our children to learn and grow and prepare to be leaders of tomorrow. When I graduated from college, my first job was teaching in public schools, and I have never forgotten the lessons I learned in the classroom years ago. Teachers, second only to parents, have the future of our Nation in their hands. This resolution honoring and recognizing the unique and important achievements of our teachers urges Americans to take a moment to thank and pay tribute to them. Elaine Savukas is a teacher from my district in Hempfield High School, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She teaches an AP government class and guides her students as they participate in the We the People competition. Each of her students is a scholar, if you will, in the Constitution, able to match wits with students across America. I can hardly think of a better way to prepare a student for a life of good citizenship than to challenge them to know the ins and outs of our unique form of government. America is a great country because of our foundational document, the Constitution. But America is also great because of the generations of dedicated teachers like Elaine Savukas. I want to thank Elaine today for her dedication, her professionalism, and there are countless thousands of other teachers in America who deserve equal thanks. Let us pass this resolution, express to America's teachers just how much we appreciate what they do every day. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the resolution.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, too many seniors and disabled people in this country cannot afford the prescription drugs their doctors say they need. Seniors should never have to choose between food and medicine. This is an important issue that needs a meaningful solution, not the empty rhetoric that we are hearing from the other side. House Republicans are proposing a plan to offer a fair and responsible drug plan that is affordable, available and voluntary to all seniors and disabled Americans. Mr. Speaker, it will help folks to get prescription drug coverage at lower costs by creating group buying power without Washington interference or big government-style price controls. We will reduce the runaway costs of medicine, but not with a Washington-based one-size-fits-all program that kills research and innovation of live-saving cures. Mr. Speaker, it is time to modernize prescription drug coverage. We should all be working together on this important issue. Let us stop the partisan rhetoric and do the right thing for our seniors.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the Mason Dixon Line is the southern border of my district. For decades in the 19th century, the citizen of my district helped slaves escape to freedom aboard the Underground Railroad, and every person who did so, committed a Federal crime. In 1793, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law, and any person who helped a slave escape was fined and jailed. Mr. Speaker, Cuba is a slave state. It is not a Communist theme park. The people who live there have no freedoms. Parents have no rights. Children are the property of the government. More than a decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall which brought elements of freedom to the rest of the Communist bloc, only the likes of North Korea and Cuba persist in persecuting their people, espousing revolution, and exporting terrorism. In America we believe in freedom. Every war we have ever fought was fought for freedom, and no one knows the price or value of freedom better than ex-slaves, and no one can describe what a slave state is like better than ex-slaves, not tourists. If Juan Miguel Gonzalez was not being guarded by dozens of Cuban officials and police, if his parents were not under house arrest and his 6-year-old son were not being held, he would probably say the same. As the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Watts), the Republican Conference chairman, said, ``If you and your child were enslaved, and there was only one ticket left on the Underground Railroad . . . wouldn't you want your child to have it?''

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, it was with shock, disgust and outrage that I watched on TV over Easter weekend flack-jacketed government agents, acting like military commandoes armed with high-powered rifles breaking down doors, assaulting reporters, ransacking a private home and seizing an innocent child in the dark of night, while negotiations were ongoing, with something they called a search warrant. But the warrant they had was not based on a proper court order. It was based on an after-hours ex parte application that claimed Elian was being ``concealed'' and ``unlawfully restrained.'' The Justice Department should have waited until a judge had a chance to hold a hearing to determine if anyone was in contempt of court. Only then would a court order have been appropriate. Why did they not follow that procedure? Because an earlier application by the Justice Department for such a court order had already been turned down. So what did they do? They just broke into the home of an American citizen and seized him. For the executive branch to ignore a court ruling is a very dangerous precedent. So much for the rule of law. We have a constitutional system of checks and balances. Checks on the executive branch will only work if they are made to obey the courts. It was a bad day for America and a new low for this administration.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, 25 years ago, Congress passed the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. Twenty-five years ago, Congress made a commitment to disabled students all over America, promising them we would do our part to make sure they got as good an education as other kids. Twenty-five years ago, Congress made a promise to contribute 40 percent of the cost of educating disabled children, but it was an empty promise. For 19 years, the Democrats controlled the House and never once did they even come close to keeping that funding promise. Twenty years of consecutive Democratic Congresses never even funded 5 percent. Special education has for years been yet another unfunded mandate created only to make those who wrote the law look good and placing an enormous financial burden on local schools. Since coming into the majority, the Republican House has more than doubled Congress' commitment to disabled kids. Today, we will be voting on the IDEA Full Funding Act of 2000. I urge my Democratic colleagues to join the Republicans in making good on our commitment to disabled children.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 3439, the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act, because it protects the interests of all parties affected by low-power FM. I have several small and independent broadcasters in my district. They provide important services to communities in Lancaster and Chester Counties, PA. Unfortunately, the FCC Low-Power FM rule threatens these broadcasters and many like them across the country. While the intentions of the FCC are good, its policy is bad. The FCC's low-power FM policy does not provide adequate safeguards against broadcasting interference. Do we really want to increase the burden for these small and independent stations, many of which are already struggling to stay on the air? I think not. For this reason, we need to pass H.R. 3439 and protect FM station license holders in small, rural markets where there are already limited opportunities for stations to sell the advertising that covers operating expenses. H.R. 3439 makes sure we take a hard look at the consequences of low- power FM by requiring the FCC to conduct an economic impact study of low-power FM on existing broadcasters, with an emphasis on minority and small-market broadcasters. This bill also requires the FCC to properly conduct tests to prevent broadcast interference. I thank my colleague, Mr. Oxley, for introducing this important bill. We must ensure all parties affected by low-power FM--existing small and independent broadcasters, public radio stations, and radio listeners-- are given the consideration they deserve.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, in an editorial in today's Washington Post, we hear once again that the new Independent Counsel Robert Ray is serious about indicting the President after he leaves office. The Post says that, ``A plausible indictment of Mr. Clinton, who has never publicly acknowledged the extent of his wrongdoing, could surely be drawn.'' It goes on to say, ``Some opponents of impeachment argued during the congressional proceedings that Mr. Clinton's susceptibility to criminal prosecution after his term in office was a powerful reason not to remove him.'' And the Post editorial continues in talking about disbarment and a $90,000 fine, arguing in the end that Mr. Ray should exercise restraint. Mr. Speaker, to me there is a more important question. The Associated Press reported yesterday the administration announced that the President will not pardon himself. But if the Vice President is successful in his bid to succeed his boss, would he then turn around and pardon him? The real question is, will President Al Gore pardon President Bill Clinton? I think he owes it to the American people to explain.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, in 1991, White House Chief of Staff John Sununu was harshly criticized by the news media for using official aircraft for personal use. There seemed at the time to be a consensus on the part of the news media that despite his position, taking military aircraft on personal trips was inappropriate. But, Mr. Speaker, 9 years later, we have a First Lady whose use of official aircraft to run for political office has already cost the taxpayers more than $182,000, and the election is still 7 months away. Chief of Staff Sununu was criticized for using government airplanes for personal use. Is not using government aircraft to run for a political office in a political campaign even more questionable? Every one of us in this body lives and works under strict ethics rules designed to prevent the misuse of official tax paid resources. Is it not wrong to charge 80 percent of your campaign travel costs to the taxpayer? The First Lady's campaign costs the taxpayer over $3,700 for every hour she is in the air. Mr. Speaker, I am amazed that this has gone on so long unquestioned by many in the media.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, we serve in historic times. This is the first administration in history to consume $50 million in what amounts to a 6-day expedition. The President has just returned from an official trip to India and Pakistan. On this trip, he took 77 Air Force planes and a huge entourage. He said he was going there to try to stop the arms race between India and Pakistan. It seems that the President and his aides spent more time sight-seeing at the Taj Mahal and looking for tigers than engaging in productive diplomacy, and all of this cost the taxpayers $50 million. How interesting that it took Ken Starr 6 years to spend that much investigating indiscretions at the White House, and the White House called that investigation a waste of taxpayer money. Think of it, 6 days of sight-seeing versus 6 years of investigations. It turns out that Starr may have been the most frugal executive branch employee of them all.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today out of concern over reports that the United Nations may decide not to hold the referendum for self- determination for the people of Western Sahara. Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that, quote, ``All peoples have the right to self- determination,'' end quote. Both sides, Morocco and Western Sahara, in the U.N. Settlement Plan and Houston Agreement, agreed to self- determination for the Sahrawi people. The U.N. has spent approximately $500 million on peacekeeping in the settlement plan over 10 years and $30 million on humanitarian aid in the same time period. It would be a shame, no a disgrace, to waste $530 million. The credibility of the United Nations and the United States would be further eroded if they are willing to give up on the stalled agreements. The U.N. should remain committed to the peace agreement. Mr. Speaker, the people of Western Sahara deserve the same respect and support of the people of East Timor or any other country. A free, fair, and transparent referendum must go forward.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and urge my colleagues to vote for this good bill. Partial-birth abortions should have been made illegal long before now. But the supporters of this procedure continue to tell us that it is needed. They claim that, without this procedure, the health and even the lives of mothers in this country will be at risk. By saying this, they seem to suggest that those of us who want to ban this procedure are somehow being insensitive or cruel. But former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop says the procedure ``is never medically necessary to protect a mother's life or her future fertility. On the contrary,'' he says, ``this procedure can pose a significant threat to both.'' The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says ``there are no circumstances under which this procedure would be the only option to save the life of a mother and to preserve the health of a woman.'' In 1995, a panel of 12 doctors representing the American Medical Association voted unanimously to recommend banning partial-birth abortion. The American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the most respected doctor in America are all telling the truth. But not everyone is. Not too long ago, Ron Fitzsimmons, executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, admitted that he lied through his teeth when he claimed that partial-birth abortions are rare and only on women whose lives are in danger or whose babies had severe defects. He also admitted that he had lied about how frequent partial-birth abortions are. There are thousands every year in America. What Mr. Fitzsimmons showed us is that there are pro-abortion activists in this country so extreme in their position, so completely unwilling to listen to reason, that they will defend even this procedure which is indistinguishable from cold-blooded infanticide. Stabbing a baby in the back of the neck with scissors is gruesome, even if his head remains an inch inside the birth canal. Mr. Speaker, partial-birth abortion is so gruesome and so barbaric that it must be stopped immediately. It is completely unnecessary. It is in every case unjustifiable and in no case the lesser of two evils. The will of the American people has been consistently clear in every poll on this issue. The House and Senate have both passed this ban before by large margins. Clearly, reasonable and thinking Americans want this ban to become law. A few extremists continue to stand in the way. We will be asked to recommit this bill so that they can add on a provision providing an exemption for what they call ``mental health.'' That will, of course, mean there is no ban at all. In fact, if they are having a bad day, they can have a partial-birth abortion. Mr. Speaker, we have a good bill before us. It does not need to be changed. It already does what we know is the right thing to do. We should stop playing games and pass this good legislation so that America can go back to believing that their Government stands for decency. America knows that partial-birth abortion is wrong. They want us to do something about it. I urge all my colleagues to support the ban on partial-birth abortion today.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, pornographers in this country make more money than rock and country music combined. Pornographers bring in more dollars in a year than all Broadway productions, all theater shows, all ballet, jazz and classical music combined. And this administration is doing almost nothing about it. The Supreme Court has ruled that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. Federal law prohibits interstate transportation and distribution of obscenity. But since 1992, prosecutions for interstate distribution and sale of illegal pornography are down 75 percent. In all of 1997, there were only six prosecutions by all 93 U.S. Attorneys. The cause and effect between pornography and crime, violence against women and children, rape and child abuse, is clearly established. The President and the Department of Justice should enforce the law, not ignore it.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, every American contributes to Social Security, hoping one day that that investment will help him or her to retire comfortably. We expect and hope that those dollars will one day come back to us with interest. For generations, this program has worked fairly well, but we now have a younger generation that is not so confident about the Social Security system. Most young people in their 20s with whom I speak do not count on getting a dime from Social Security when they retire, and they know how much better their own investments perform compared to the low rates of return earned by the Social Security Trust Fund. Mr. Speaker, the Social Security system is a good program, millions of Americans depend on it; but it is time that we allowed Americans to invest a small portion of their FICA taxes into an authorized group of funds, like a 401(k) or a pension plan, an individual retirement account, to get the benefit of compound interest. It is time we made some changes, reform that will save and strengthen Social Security in the long run.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the American dream. Of course, the American dream is different for everybody, but for a significant number of Americans, the American dream means starting up a small business, helping it to grow, and then passing on that business to their children. Unfortunately, our Federal Government punishes these people who want to pass their life's work on to their children. Approximately 70 percent of family-owned businesses are not passed on to the next generation. Mr. Speaker, 87 percent do not make it to the third generation. This is no surprise when we factor in the death tax. The death tax forces families to pay taxes of up to 55 percent on the value of a deceased family Member's estate, making it virtually impossible for a small business owner or family farmer to pass that on to their family. This is wrong. The House has passed the Small Business Tax Fairness Act which will deliver some relief from the death tax. I hope the President will sign it and help more families live out the American dream.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, would my colleagues go on a huge credit card spending spree if they knew that they would be dead and gone once the bill came due and their children would be responsible for paying it off? Of course not. Most Americans work hard to make sure that they have some money to leave their children when they die. Most Americans would never dream of leaving their children a pile of debt for their inheritance. But that is exactly what the Federal Government has been doing for years. For 40 years, when Democrats controlled the Congress, they spent money on more and more Government programs and created bigger and bigger debt and they knew that their children would be the ones saddled with the bill, but they kept spending and borrowing and spending more. That was wrong. Republicans are putting an end to this kind of spending-now-and- paying-later mentality. One of our priorities in this budget is to pay down the public debt. We want to pay off those bills so our children do not have to. Let us work together to make sure our legacy to our children is a sound economy, safe neighborhoods, and quality schools instead of decades' worth of bad debt.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the small family farm is quickly becoming an endangered species in this Nation. And with farmers being hit by the inheritance tax or what we should call the death tax, it is no surprise. Many family farmers work hard their whole lives struggling to make ends meet as they feed not only their own families, but families around the world. But instead of showing gratitude to farmers for their lifetime of work, our government instead punishes these farmers when they pass their farm on to the next generation. When a farmer dies, the Federal Government assesses a tax of up to 55 percent on the value of his or her farm. This is ridiculous. It is tragic. For many people, the American dream is to build up a business or a farm and then pass it on to their children. Yet many times the children have to sell the farm just to pay the taxes. Death should not be a taxable event. We are losing our farms. We should repeal the death tax. I urge all of my colleagues to work towards this end. Farmers deserve a thank you, not an IOU.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, there is a doctor in Illinois who produced the following advertisement. It reads, ``Fresh fetal tissue harvested and shipped to your specifications, where and when you need it.'' It also reads: ``Liver, spleen, pancreas, intestines, kidney, brain, lungs,'' and I will not read them all, ``with appropriate discounts that apply if specimen is significantly fragmented.'' And at the bottom it says, ``All that you need to initiate service is a purchase order number, payment type, and your billing address.'' Mr. Speaker, this is horrific. These are body parts of babies sold on the open market like toys or collectibles. This is a violation of law. Selling body parts of babies is wrong, it is unethical, it is illegal, it is dangerous to the women from whom these body parts are taken and it must stop. The administration must enforce the law. We do not live in Nazi Germany. There is a hearing at 2 o'clock before the Committee on Commerce. I hope, Mr. Speaker, this practice will be stopped in America.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the gentleman from Oklahoma's point of order. I rise as a former Pennsylvania State legislator who knows a little bit about unfunded Federal mandates, as we had some experience with balancing our budget. I was appropriations chairman for 8 years in the State house. Every year as we went to work on our State budget, by the way, which was always balanced, we could not print money, we realized that the Federal Government had stuck us with some unfunded Federal mandates. I think the largest one we had to grapple with every year was special ed. The law which Congress passed says that the Federal Government will provide 40 percent of the special ed funds. I think when I came to Congress 3 years ago, we were about 6 or 7 percent. I think today we are up around 14, 15 percent of those funds. But we are nowhere near the mandate in the law that Congress passed. When this body tells States that they have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars here and millions of dollars there, it creates a hardship. Fiscal responsibility may be something that we have discovered here in Washington in the last 5 years, but to States that have been balancing their budgets all along, these mandates do cause some complications. Most States have to cut back other programs in order to meet these Federal demands. Mr. Speaker, I think when we approach unfunded Federal mandates, we should approach them with our eyes open. We should realize that the minimum wage, the Federal minimum wage, is just another unfunded Federal mandate that we are placing on local governments, on businesses, and it is sort of insulting to some of these local governments and State legislatures that have a better track record than Congress in keeping their fiscal houses in order when we pass these. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' and sustain this point of order.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor two more championship soccer teams from my district, the Downingtown Whippets and the West Chester Henderson Warriors. The Downingtown varsity boys triple A soccer team are the 1999 Pennsylvania State champions. These young athletes from a traditional sports powerhouse worked hard to build themselves into a trophy-winning team. I want to congratulate them on their success. The Henderson varsity girls triple A soccer team holds the State girls championship. These ladies have continued a tradition of winning for Henderson. They have been State champs 4 out of the last 5 years. Two years ago they not only won Pennsylvania but were ranked number one in the Nation. I am proud to say that both of these outstanding teams are from Chester County, Pennsylvania. They will be here tomorrow to receive the congratulations of many. So three teams, Octorara boys double A, Downingtown boys triple A and Henderson girls triple A, all from my congressional district, congratulations. You have made Chester County proud.