Charlie Rangel

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Neal] a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I have one speaker. I did want to make some closing comments. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Oberstar], who is the ranking senior member on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I will leave it up to you how we handle this. I have one more speaker and I assume we want to end it all together, so if the gentleman intends to use all of his time, I think it is important to know that.

Mr. RANGEL. No, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to compliment the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Hilleary] for proving that any issue coming before this House can be debated and that there are two sides to every story. However, the gentleman should know that as a result of this tax expiring, it has not been of any lesser cost to the traveler, and so the airports are collecting this money and it is not being transferred for the purposes that the Congress intended. So my colleague may get caught in a Catch-22 that in your effort to reduce the cost to passengers, that is not happening, and at the same time you are not providing the service which this Congress has an obligation to provide. So I would hope that the Members take that into consideration in supporting this bill.

Mr. RANGEL. I only have one more speaker.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, may the chairman of the full committee advance time to the minority?

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise to support our chairman in this bill. Mr. Speaker, this bill expired because of an attempt at budgetary gimmickry that has almost jeopardized the safety of our airports and our passengers and our pilots, but that is behind us, and I think we have learned a lesson, and in order to ensure the safe operation of the Nation's air transportation system, I join with the chairman in sharing the urgency with which we act, and that is why this matter is on the suspension calendar. This bill will extend a ticket tax through the end of September, 1997, which will give the Congress and our committee an opportunity to come up with a long-term funding plan because, as pointed out by the chairman of the committee, this is merely the reinstitution of an existing tax that nobody challenges is necessary if we are going to safeguard our airways. The bill also extends the Treasury Department authority to transfer tax revenue to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, which is a critical issue for the Federal Aviation Administration. Without the necessary transfer of tax revenue, the FAA will be unable to commit to capital projects as early as March, and March is, of course, just a couple of days away. We have to make certain that there is confidence felt by Americans, and we have the responsibility to provide that for Americans who fly for work or for pleasure. As a matter of fact, it impedes the efficiency of our commerce, as we have to transfer our goods and services to all parts of our country and to the world. I think it is very important that this tax be extended to give the committee an opportunity to assure this Congress and the Nation that this will not happen again and that we are going to work it out in such a way that it cannot happen again. I certainly know that Members on our side are prepared to work with the majority party and with the President in making certain that we come up with a proper solution of this very serious problem. If it has not been said, I think the Congress should know that this bill passed out of the Committee on Ways and Means on a voice vote without objection. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, and my colleagues of the House, I would like to take this opportunity to bring to your attention a very special person who is about to celebrate his 80th birthday on February 28, 1997. I am speaking about Justice Bentley Kassal who has faithfully served the people of the State of New York for over 40 years. Bentley Kassal was born in New York City on February 28, 1917, to Pauline Nirenberg and Hyman Kassal, who arrived from Poland in 1914. He attended New York City public schools. He graduated from Townsend Harris High School and was a member of the varsity soccer and baseball teams. He was elected to the Townsend Harris hall of fame in April 1991 and received its Life Achievement Award in October 1989. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania [1937, B.A.] and Harvard Law School [1940, J.D.]. Justice Kassel enlisted and served for 4 years in World War II and was awarded a Bronze Star Medal, three bronze arrowheads for participating in three D-day invasions, Sicily, Salerno, and Southern France and seven battle stars for his service in the African, Italian, and European theaters of war. In 1956, Justice Kassal was the first reform Democrat legislator elected to the New York State Legislature. He served from 1957 to 1963 in the New York State Assembly. In 1960, he authored a bill establishing the first arts council in the United States--the New York State Council on the Arts. He was elected to the New York State civil court on January 1, 1970, and later to the New York State supreme court in 1976, and designated as an associate justice of the appellate division where he served until his mandatory retirement by reason of the constitutional age limitation on December 31, 1993. As a supreme court justice, he authored 334 published opinions. Justice Kassal served as chairman of the New York State Chapter of Americans for Democratic Action from 1964 to 1966 and was a member of ADA's national board. He is also a trustee at large of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies and the United Jewish Appeal, as well as a director of the city of New York Supreme Court Justices Association, the Helsinki Watch Committee, and several other organizations. In addition, he worked as a pro bono photographer for Save the Children Federation, UNICEF, Helsinki Watch Committee, Foster Parents Plan, Joint Distribution Committee, International Rescue Committee, World Monuments Fund, and numerous other charities, traveling throughout the world, covering 147 countries on 65 photo assignments. Justice Kassel is listed in 14 different ``Who's Who'' directories and is married to Barbara Joan Wax. New York is blessed to have this wonderful and devoted justice, and I am proud and fortunate to be able to call him my friend.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, today, we have the opportunity to take another step closer to a goal we all share with President Clinton: renewing investment in our cities and communities. I am joined by 18 other Members today in introducing H.R. 505, the Community Empowerment Act. The Community Empowerment Act expands on the successful empowerment zone initiative we began in 1993 which created 9 empowerment zone demonstration projects and 95 enterprise communities. The bill I am introducing today provides tax incentives for an additional 22 new empowerment zones and 80 enterprise communities. The bill also provides tax incentives for cleanup of up to 30,000 brownfield sites across the country. Everyone has an interest in seeing these communities thrive economically and environmentally. These tax incentives will mean our investments can finally pay off for both the investor and the community. The bill would establish a new category of tax-exempt financing for 20 additional empowerment zones in 15 urban and 5 rural areas. The other newly designated areas, the 80 enterprise communities, 50 urban and 30 rural, and the 2 additional empowerment zones, would enjoy essentially the same incentives as provided under current law. Located mainly in low-income areas, the zones, and smaller enterprise communities, would be designated for tax and other incentives to enhance economic development, job growth, improved education, housing, and other benefits. As in the nine existing empowerment zones, communities would have the power to design their own specific programs. The bill would also provide $2 billion in tax incentives specifically to address the important problem of brownfields, which are abandoned, polluted industrial sites. The tax incentives will spur the private sector to clean up these sites and put them back into productive use. The incentives would apply to all distressed communities, including current and future empowerment zones and enterprise communities, and are expected to result in $10 billion in private cleanup investment over the next 7 years. Under current law, the costs of new buildings or permanent improvements that increase the value of any property are not deductible. The community Empowerment Act would make certain remediation costs deductible if they were incurred while restoring a qualified site. Mr. Speaker, leveraging public sector resources to encourage private- sector community investment is a fiscally responsible and wise means of promoting community development and prosperity. I invite my colleagues to sign onto this bill and vote for it.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I gather that most of the Members, Democrat and Republican, are very anxious to put the heat and passion of our partisanship behind us and to get on and legislate as the American people would want us to do. God knows I have contributed my share toward that heat and passion, and make no apologies for my partisanship. But we cannot have it both ways. We cannot say that he pled guilty but he did not do anything. For those people who want to pursue outside issues, I beg them not to think about doing it. If we want to investigate who was coercing members of the committee, then maybe we will investigate who asked them how they were going to vote on the question of the Speaker. Who is talking about taxes? The Select Committee on Ethics had no right to go into tax issues. That is for the Internal Revenue Service; that is for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and they have the responsibility to do that. The Speaker is intelligent. He is an intellectual. He read the charges. He said he brought discredit upon this House. For God's sake, let us get on with it.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce legislation designating the Federal building located at 290 Broadway in New York, NY, as the Ronald H. Brown Federal Building. Ronald H. Brown, the first African-American Secretary of Commerce, was an extraordinary statesman whose force, competence and sheer commitment forged new ground for U.S. commerce. The ultimate sacrifice of his life in exceptional service to his country is further testimony to his leadership and passion for economic development and opportunity at home and abroad. Ronald H. Brown loved this country and represented the best that America has to offer. he was a compassionate advocate for civil rights; a bridge builder mending the divisions of race, religion and cultures; a mentor developing young talent and extending the ladder of opportunity to a new generation of leaders; and, indeed an extraordinary public servant and leader. His life was one marked by an outstanding record of accomplishment and service to America. He served as Army Captain; Vice President of the National Urban League; Chief Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee; a distinguished attorney; Chairman of the Democratic National Committee; a trusted advisor to the President of the United States; a husband; a father; and, a friend. The designation of this building, home to Federal agencies and site of the recently discovered African-American slave burial ground, would honor Ron Brown's service and memory. This designation would serve as an inspiration and reminder to all Americans of Ron Brown's contributions and the noble cause for which he sacrificed his life.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. During the Congressional Black Caucus weekend, we benefited from the presentations, advice and counsel of experts in the many issues of concern to the African-American community in the United States. We had a rich 2 days of discussion at the Washington Convention Center, exploring the problems which afflict our community and possible ways to effectively address and define solutions. My colleague from Queens, NY, Congressman Floyd Flake, held an economic development braintrust forum which reviewed current efforts of community groups in New York City and throughout the Nation to achieve sustainable economic development through the attraction of resources to enable the investment in infrastructure and human resources that will promise jobs, renewed economic activity, and the retention of funds in the African-American community. I want to share with you and my colleagues the contribution of David Jones, who was one of the presenters. David Jones, chairman of the board of Carver Federal Savings and chief executive officer of the Community Service Society of New York, also serves on the board of the Harlem community's empowerment zone. Statement of David R. Jones The distinguished legal scholar Derrick Bell has described the present period as the worst for African-Americans since the 1890s, when the gains of the Civil War and reconstruction were wiped away by the Klan and the black codes. Some might dismiss Bell's observation as over the top. How bad can things be when an Oprah Winfrey takes in more than $170 million in one year or when a hard-charging black middle class is seeing unprecedented income growth and participation in all aspects of American life? But everyone in this room knows what Professor Bell is talking about. Consider the drum beat for attacks on affirmative action, The Supreme Court's single-minded effort to roll back electoral gains in Congress and in the State houses, or the vicious mugging of the Nation's children and poor under the guise of welfare reform. Add in the increasing abandonment of public education and you know Bell is no alarmist. In urban schools like New York's, with kindergarten classes exceeding 50 children (often with only one teacher) and where inadequate materials and poorly trained teachers are the norm, you have a crisis brewing. At a time when real wages are plummeting for all but the most educated or the well-born, and when everyone including the President has said that only the best prepared will have a chance to share in real wage growth, our kids' blighted education opportunity almost certainly will destroy large portions of our next generation. This is not a pretty picture. Still, my sainted grandmother told me never to dwell on today's ills. The point for her and for us is--what are you going to do about it? And that is why a discussion of economic development and wealth creation is so vital now. Walking down the streets of my own Bedford-Stuyvesant community provides a clear look at one reason for our disarray. Brooklyn has nearly 1 million African-American residents. So where are our businesses? Big or small, where are the economic engines that could provide jobs and experience for our young people? And some corollary questions: Where are the financial contributions that could elect leaders responsive to our needs as African-Americans? Where is the funding for institutions that will protect our rights against those who want to strip us of everything we fought for at such great cost? The capital is there within our own communities. African Americans, whose rate of increase in buying big-ticket items outpaces that of white households, don't see much being recirculated. In fact many communities are hemorrhaging cash. I want to emphasize that economic development and wealth creation and all too often considered as separate and distinct ways of obtaining equality in American society from other forms of advancement. It's the old Booker T. Washington/W.E.B Dubois split. But today fighting for economic development is not different from political action and voter registration, or removed from the need to improve educational opportunity. These are all part of the same objective. If we are to rebuild a movement for African- Americans, then political, social and economic empowerment efforts must be melded into one fight. In this effort we must also recognize that we are in trouble because of a significant class problem that divides us, just as it divides other ethnic groups. Despite our significant presence in American society--nearly 40 million strong and with a collective wealth in the billions of dollars, class and income divisions make it difficult to develop a common agenda that would benefit all. At the height of the civil rights movement it was obvious to African-Americans at every income level that joint action for equal rights and opportunity was vital to improving everyone's life chances. That movement cinched extraordinary upward mobility for a generation of middle-class African- Americans already well positioned to make the most of its hard-fought social, political and economic gains. It also opened the door for the tens of thousands of poor and working people who through hard work, wit, and luck managed to escape urban and rural poverty. But as Harvard's William Julius Wilson has shown so well, many were left behind and their condition is rapidly deteriorating. They have become, because of color and condition, the perfect scapegoats for both major parties and held responsible for everything wrong with America. Now the Nation has come full circle. Today's attacks on all people of color don't make fine distinctions between some ``threatening'' ghetto underclass and an alternatively benign and assimilable middle class. The attacks are indiscriminate and across the board. And precisely because the attacks are so broad-brush, they allow for a renewal of understanding that we have a common agenda. They allow for a unity of purpose we have not seen since the civil rights era. Economic development is the arena where that response can be framed. Let's talk specifics. I am board chairman of the Carver Federal Savings Bank, in New York City. With some $370 million in deposits and assets, Carver is the largest African-American managed bank in the Nation. Founded in 1948, it now has eight branches throughout the city, and is one of only a handful of African-American institutions that is publicly traded. Carver was always there for the community, providing the black churches with loans when others wouldn't. Now the bank is beginning to take its place as a vital part of what has to be done. It was recently approved to grant SBA loans and has just launched a credit-card service. Our main office on 125th Street, destroyed in a fire three years ago, has been rebuilt as a $5 million four-story state-of-the-art banking facility that is one of the key elements in the revival of 125th Street. A scholarship fund established in 1986 has already given out some $320 million to college-bound kids in our communities. Carver--and the creation and support of similar institutions across the Nation--are just the most obvious vehicles for stopping the cash hemorrhaging from our communities and providing the capital to create and support a vital small-business community. Such work should be a mandate if we want to create a foundation for the next round of struggles around politics, jobs, and education. Another area that needs serious consideration is the fledgling development of enterprise zones. I serve on the board of the upper Manhattan empowerment zone and chair its economic and physical development committee. As you know, the empowerment zone initiative is proceeding in eight cities. While not without its critics and with only limited dollars, there can be no doubt that the zone has already generated a substantial amount of investment interest in central Harlem. A one-stop capital shop for small businesses, offering both loans and technical assistance, has just opened its doors. The first round of proposals, numbering in the hundreds, have been reviewed. They range from expanding funeral homes to creating a Harlem health club, night clubs, credit unions, and a new cable distributor. So while it is too soon to declare victory, the concept-- driven by many members of this caucus--plainly can provide a significant push to economic activity in our communities. And for it to work, government has to play a role, too. The government at every level has to fulfill its commitment to be a partner in areas the private economy cannot provide. The Community Redevelopment Act forced banks to do community development, but there are no comparable requirements for check cashers, for instance. No community people own them. Making them reinvest in the community is something we can do easily. And where jobs develop outside the community there has to be a decent transportation system to get people to those jobs. Even the latest projection by the Regional Plan Association, covering education and transportation needs, doesn't deal with how poor urban residents can realistically access jobs in suburban industrial parks. Here's where government needs to play a role today. It lies in such areas as subsidizing work on a high-speed rail system so inner-city youths can access suburban jobs. It means a WPA for national infrastructure projects, putting needed services in place while training young people as a new class of artisans. It means getting away from the childishness of left and right that says government and business have to fight each other. They have always collaborated; the question is-- in whose interest? We can make them work together for our community, and that is what self-reliance means. Community leaders must demand government programs--in education and skills development, in transportation, and in the transition from welfare to work-- that ensure self-reliant traits can flourish. But government won't provide unless it is pressured. That pressure has to come from organizations in our community, and particularly from members of this caucus. So what shape are the institutions in that protect African-American empowerment? Why haven't we been able to fund our own groups? And what of the institutions that are supposed to be on the front lines? Even Kweisi M'Fume has said how difficult it is to raise money for the NAACP from inside our community. Plainly, we have work to do. In closing: as the struggle for resources in America becomes more brutal, we had better have a serious discussion about how we can fund our own defenders. I mean the members of this caucus along with our civil rights, political, and social institutions. Keeping them alive and fighting is a major part of what makes economic development so critical today.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, during the just concluded Congressional Black Caucus legislative weekend, we were honored by the presence of the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Honorable Boutros Boutros-Ghali. The Secretary General spoke to the International Affairs workshop on ``Conflict Resolution in Africa: Diplomacy and Action'' that was chaired by our esteemed colleague and chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Donald Payne of New Jersey. All who heard the Secretary General's speech were impressed anew with his commitment to the economic, social, and political development of the African continent. I believe that all of our colleagues in the House should be made aware of the Secretary General's speech and, therefore, I ask that it be placed in the Congressional Record. I am honoured to stand before Representatives of the American people. The United Nations--so much the dream and creation of the United States--finds its home, here, in America. I am particularly honoured to have been invited to participate in this forum by Congressman Donald Payne, the distinguished Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and recognized foreign policy leader in Congress. I thank Chairman Payne for holding this meeting on the peace-keeping mission of the United Nations to give us the opportunity to make more Americans aware of this vital work. I pay tribute to Chairman Payne and to Congresspersons Cynthia McKinney, Alcee Hastings, Albert Wynn and Victor Frazer, who serve with him on the House International Relations Committee. I know that all of these members have valiantly continued the tradition of the Congressional Black Caucus as champions of U.S. engagement with the developing world, and particularly with the nations of Africa and the Caribbean. The history of African-Americans is one of struggle, of pride, and of brilliant achievement. African-Americans are an inspiration to all who seek to live in liberty, in dignity, and in justice. I want to acknowledge the rich contribution which African- Americans have made to the United Nations and to international diplomacy. Earlier this year, I participated in the dedication of the new Ralph Bunche Center for International Affairs at Howard University. This wonderful centre honours the memory and contribution of the man whose leadership launched the United Nations. I recognize as well the continuation of the legacy of the African-American diplomats whose UN service followed that of Ralph Bunche, and want to pay particular tribute to the service of Ambassador Andrew Young as the US representative to the United Nations. I had the privilege of working with Ambassador Young and his able successor, Ambassador Don McHenry, in the late 1970's, as they made the US an active participant in the movement for self-determination and majority rule in Southern Africa. And, of course, I could not be here at this meeting without paying tribute to the leadership of the African-American community--especially Randall Robinson of TransAfrica--and the Congressional Black Caucus in securing legislation to impose sanctions upon the apartheid regime in South Africa in the mid-1980s. Allow me, now some personal reminiscences. In 1977, I was asked to become Minister of State of Egypt. As Minister, I chose--without hesitation--to focus on African affairs. In support of President Sadat's foreign policy I travelled throughout Africa and engaged with the problems of the Continent. Today, I can look back and say that I have visited virtually every African country. And I can look forward and predict that Africa will emerge as a great and vibrant force on the world scene. My friends, I am African. And as an African, I am grateful to you for inviting me to share with you some of my thoughts on conflict in Africa. My public comparison of the amount of international attention and response devoted to conflicts in Europe as compared to those in Africa has made me unpopular with some. But I stand by the recognition of this reality. I further recognize the need for greater advocacy for Africa. African conflicts are not getting the attention they need from the international community. You, as leaders of the African American community, must continue to be vocal on behalf of Africa. You must call upon the international community to engage actively in the resolution of African conflicts before they escalate and exact a terrible toll on human life. The security of African States, and of Africa as whole, needs to be understood as significant for world peace and security. Policy makers in government, those in the private sector, and in the international news media, need to be challenged to address conflicts in Africa, and seek their solution. How can we obtain the international attention needed to resolve African conflicts? Let me mention four ways: diplomacy, disarmament, regional cooperation, and peace- building. The UN is at work in all these areas. But more can be done, with your help. First, we can act through diplomacy. Diplomacy cannot work miracles--particularly when one party believes it will gain from using force. But in Africa, military action too often is taken before diplomatic options have been exhausted. When diplomacy is an option, more and more African countries turn to the UN. As an impartial body, with a global mandate, and without the need to publicize its role, the UN can achieve a great deal. It can work behind the scenes, where compromise may more easily be reached. The successful UN involvements in South Africa and Sierra Leone are solid examples of effective diplomacy. So is the resolution of territorial disputes involving Libya and Chad, and most recently, Nigeria and Cameroon. Remember, however, as we have been reminded in Angola and in Somalia, that no diplomacy--no matter how skilled--can be successful without one essential ingredient: the will of the parties to achieve peace. The same is true in peace-keeping, which is based upon consent of the parties. Peace-keeping is therefore not appropriate for war situations. I have long argued that in war situations, the international community should either send combat troops or no troops at all. Experience has shown that the best way to do that is with a multinational force, or regional force, authorized by the UN Security Council. The enforcement action could then, if necessary, be followed by peace-keeping. This was the course of the international involvement in Haiti--so far successful, and in which the leadership of the Black Caucus has been crucial. I call upon you, the members of the Congressional Black Caucus to continue your efforts to mediate the conflicts in Liberia, Rwanda and Burundi. We must persevere in our efforts to resolve those conflicts. For history has shown that hard work and perseverance can produce positive results in even the most difficult situations. Second, we can reduce conflict in Africa by disarmament. Disarmament is an essential confidence-building measure, both among States and within them. The signing in April of the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty was a major step forward in the disarmament of weapons of mass destruction. Action is now needed to stem the uncontrolled flow of small conventional arms--which have, for too long, sustained and stimulated African conflict. What I have called micro- disarmament will be indispensable. Africa has been flooded with small arms. The very existence of light weapons in such vast numbers makes conflict in Africa inevitable. The United Nations has begun to track the transfer and stockpiling of light arms, and to set forth steps of achieving mico- disarmament. A comprehensive international ban on land-mines is also urgently needed. Even years after conflict has subsided, land-mines continue to pose a severe obstacle to agriculture, transportation and infrastructure. Landmines in Africa are part of a destructive legacy of conflict that has impeded development. And this, in turn, has fuelled still more conflict. The United Nations has taken the lead in building international support for a ban on the production and transfer of all land-mines and land-mine components. This U.N. campaign deserves the widest support. Third, we can help prevent--and resolve--the problems of conflict in Africa by reinforcing regional cooperation. Cooperation between the United Nations and the OAU has been strengthened. The current situation in Burundi emphasizes the positive role which regional organizations can play in promoting regional stability and the peaceful resolution of local conflict. The OAU must play an ever more active role in the resolution of African conflicts. It has recognized the need for leadership in this area through the creation of a Mechanism for the Prevention. Management and Resolution of Conflicts. I thank the Congressional Black Caucus for your support of the OAU over the years. And I thank you for your recent support for U.S. assistance to the building up of OAU's conflict resolution capacity. In April, I welcomed the decision of the Government of Central Africa to designate armed units for possible United Nations or Organization of African Unity peace assignments. This measure has far-reaching implications for conflict management prospects in Central Africa. Had such a measure been enacted two years ago, a massive human tragedy in Rwanda might have been averted. I have been intensively involved in the U.N.'s work with the Monitoring Group [ECOMOG] of the Economic Community of West Africa States [ECOWAS] regarding the terrible conflict in Liberia. As you know, I took the initiative to recommend to the Security Council the involvement of U.N. peace-keepers in Liberia, as a major assistance to the ECOWAS operation. I know that all of us have been frustrated by the lack of political will to reach a peaceful agreement on the part of the faction leaders. However, there now appears to be reasonable grounds for optimism. We are now awaiting word from the Liberian Council of State as to what role the UN should play in the elections scheduled for the end of May 1997. We understand there is a consensus for the UN to conduct the elections. For my part, I will use my best efforts to give the Liberian people the opportunity to choose their own leaders in free and fair elections. The fourth area for international action is peace-building, which combines many dimensions in a comprehensive effort. The purpose is to remove the causes of conflict, and to solidify the achievement of peace. Democracy and respect for the rule of law help guard against division, conflict and war. In Africa, democracy is an essential component in the conflict resolution process. It is a strong support for efforts to achieve national reconciliation. In Mozambique and in Angola, for example, democratization and improved civil governance have underpinned a new commitment to peace and an end to violent conflict. Sierra Leone has just concluded a successful electoral process. But this process was not an easy undertaking. I personally intervened with former Chairman Strasser, and later on with his successor, Brigadier Bio, to impress upon them the necessity of abiding by their pledge to hold elections. At a critical stage in this controversy, I personally went to Freetown to make the case for free and fair elections. Development is crucial. Without it, the competition of scarce resources will condemn Africa to continual conflict. The unbearable burden of debt must be lifted from African shoulders. And development assistance levels must rise so that Africans can be enabled to participate in the new global economy. The Congressional Black Caucus leadership has created a new US trade and investment policy towards Africa, following the legacy of the late Secretary Ron Brown. Ron Brown opened the eyes of the US business community to opportunities for profitable investment in Africa. I salute the memory of Secretary Ron Brown. He gave his life on a peace-building mission. He was a true peace-builder. The new U.N. Special Initiative for Africa--which I initiated in April 1996--offers a comprehensive, peace- building approach. It draws together all the elements of the U.N. system--including the Bretton Woods institutions--to mobilize support for Africa's priority development goals, in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. I ask you of the black Caucus to help Americans learn about--and support--the U.N. Special Initiative for Africa. Just yesterday, the High Level Panel of Personalities on African Development--a group of internationally recognized experts on African development--met in New York to provide me with counsel on the implementation of the Special Initiative for Africa. I am pleased to have on this Panel the participation of the Honourable Andrew Young. If the international community gives Africa the support she deserves, it can help to tip the balance toward a brighter future for all of Africa, and for all the world. Thank you.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I commend my good friends, Congressman Stokes, and Congressman Jerry Lewis, ranking member and chairman respectively of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Administrations Subcommittee for all their hard work in producing the conference report on the fiscal year 1997 VA-HUD appropriations bill. I want to take this opportunity to discuss one of the important programs that has been supported in the past by this subcommittee, the Economic Development Initiatives of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The EDI program is part of HUD's Community Development Block Grant Program. This program is assigned the important task of financing efforts that generate economic revitalization and link people to jobs and social services, goals which are critical to the communities which I represent in Harlem and Washington Heights. I hope that over the next year Congressmen Lewis and Stokes work with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to consider requests to fund grant proposals in the Economic Development Initiative Program. I also encourage the Department that if it does decide to fund such proposals, that it give strong consideration to an important project in my district, Columbia University's Center for Disease Prevention. The Center for Disease Prevention provides a crucial instrument for the creation of new business and jobs in the economically depressed neighborhoods of Washington Heights and Harlem. CDP, as well as the larger Audubon Research Park of which it is a vital component, will be the central element of the new Enterprise Zone program in New York, providing job training and business development services to these north Manhattan neighborhoods. Furthermore, CDP will provide a center for enabling American biomedical science to generate new business in advanced pharmaceuticals and medical technologies in this economically depressed area. The purpose of the entire project is to attract entrepreneurs and expand businesses and establish the area as a hub of biotechnology industry employment. When completed, the CDP will support 400 new jobs. The entire Audubon project will create nearly 2,500 jobs, including scientific, research, laboratory, clerical, administrative, retail, and building operations and support, and young people in the area will have access to job training and educational opportunities that would otherwise not be available to them. In addition to this important economic stimulus, the health benefits from new discoveries at CDP (and the entire Park) will flow directly to the surrounding community which is characterized by high rates of illness associated with poverty poor health, and urban distress. In closing, I would appreciate the subcommittee encouraging the Department of Housing and Urban Development to consider proposals under CDBG's Economic Development Initiative program, and if such proposals are considered, I will work with the Department to favorably review Columbia University's Center for Disease Prevention, a project that will promote economic revitalization and job training and creation in New York City.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Further reserving the right to object, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I have discussed this with the chairman of the Subcommittee on Trade, it is a noncontroversial addition that has been placed on it by the Senate, and I do not object.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I support the gentleman from Illinois, and I withdraw my reservation of objection.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I have no objection to the manner in which this is being handled by the distinguished gentleman from California [Mr. Thomas].

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to join the gentleman from California [Mr. Thomas] in expressing our appreciation for staff, both Democrat and Republican, because it was they that guided us when we were not actually in session for the conference. And the conference was a bipartisan conference inasmuch as we had very strong disagreements, but the issues were resolved at least in a civil manner. I think it is a successful conference because I think we emphasize how important it is for people to have jobs. We are obsessed with the problems we get from immigrants, from unwanted children, from drugs, from crime and from violence. Yet education, job training and the opportunity to have hope for the future seems to have in great measure reduced these problems. The minimum wage just makes a lot of sense, and I am glad the American people just did not say no but insisted that at least we move this far forward. I also wanted to thank the Republicans for extending the targeted jobs credit, which means disabled people, veterans, those that come from poor families, those that are on welfare will be provided with incentives to get jobs by giving credits to employers who take this risk and who hire people. It is unfortunate that most of the moneys in this bill were raised just by cutting off economic development in Puerto Rico. I think it will take a long time before this country and especially this Congress would recognize these are citizens who fight and die for the United States of America and, if we want to change the support that we are giving them, I would think that you could put me first on the list to review it. I think that it is insulting just to cut off economic assistance and job creation without hearing, without even thinking about the impact that this will have not only to people in Puerto Rico but those who will leave to come to the mainland because of lack of opportunity on the island. I would hope, too, that those of us that intend to work together would realize that working together with civility makes a heck of a lot more sense than attacking each other in a partisan way. (Mr. GOODLING asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that that portion of the Congressional Record for July 25, 1996, where Members were allowed to pay tribute to our colleague, the late Hamilton Fish, that that portion be leather bound for distribution for Members and the family of Hamilton Fish and that former members be given notice an opportunity to insert their tribute into the leather bound books.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Moakley] for giving me an opportunity to speak out on this. I am going to say what is on everybody's mind. It is just so close to the election, I suppose, on both sides of the aisle we get blinded about substance in our concern as to what is it that the pollsters really want. A lot of concern has been in the White House and on the Hill as to whether or not the President would breach his promise to change welfare as we know it. I would think that the chairman of the Committee on Rules, notwithstanding how diligently the Committee on Rules has worked on this legislation, would have to agree that there is no urgency in terms of Members understanding the work that was done in conference. This is not an unusual thing, unless it has something to do with the fact that we are going into recess, and that this will be a political issue back home. Other than that, it seems to me if we are talking about millions of children, children who would be Democrat, Republican, Christians, Jews, black, white, Americans, and certainly the lesser among us, that all of us would want to make certain that we are doing the right thing; and really, not even push the President into making a hasty decision, when at least the last position he took was that he appreciated the direction in which the legislation was going and he saw some imperfections which could be worked out. But it was he who said that he wanted to change welfare as we know it. What is welfare? What is this obsession about putting people to work? Everyone agrees if you are able to work, you should be working. Every taxpayer should be angry and annoyed to find people slipping back on their responsibilities and not working. Are we talking about just women, or are we talking about women that have children? I pause, because it is not a rhetorical question. The bills that I know of say aid for dependent children. I think what we are saying, I would say to the gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon], is that that child will be held responsible for any conduct that we politically do not like about the mother. We are going even further, not as far as the gentleman would like, but I think even the President agrees with the gentleman's posture, that if after 5 years or 4 or 3 or 2 or whatever the Governors decide, I think the minimum is 2 years, that if for any reason at all, there are no jobs available, and if the mother played by the rules, signed up, went into training, did all of the American things in order to show that she wanted to maintain her dignity, she wanted her family not to stay on welfare, she wanted to go into the private sector and contribute, if all of those things are established, it is my understanding it really does not make any difference. Playing by the rules does not make a difference, in election years, because we said it does not make any difference what the heck you have tried to do; the question is, are you working. Quite frankly, I believe that the mother could vote with her feet if she does not like the situation employment-wise. I am mean enough to be with you. I am a politician, too. My problem is the child. What did the child have to do with the fact that the mother wanted to work, did not want to work, jobs were there, jobs were not there? Do Members know what the political question is? The Republicans will throw 2 million people, children, into poverty, and my President will only throw 1 million into poverty. Mr. Speaker, I do not want to get involved in religion around here, but there is not a denomination of people that do not believe that the helpless of this country--just being an American means you are supposed to help them. You do not send a 2-year-old child or a 2-month-old child out to get a job. Someone has to be responsible. Someone has to be responsible for that child. Do not ask the child for its identification, and ask whether or not it is a citizen. Do not ask the child whether, by choice, the mother is a bum. Do not ask the child what the unemployment statistics are. As Americans we believe in taking care of our children. This is a political bill. It should not be passed into law. It should not be passed here. The President should not sign it if you do shove it down his throat.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, what time is it? It is time for us to get on with our conventions. We better get on with the Democratic Convention and Republican Convention. What do we want to say that we are for? Reform. What is a nagging sore in everyone's problem? Welfare. People who do not work. What is the bill all about? Well, the bill is supposed to be to protect children. I heard the previous speaker say that. He said that this child will be cut off of welfare if the mother does not get a job in 2, 3, 4 or 5 years. He did not say it, but I know he read the bill. The winners in this are the Governors. There is nothing to tell the Governors what to do, and they will be the losers in the long run, but not as bad as the children. They can do what they want with immigrants and with little kids because for 60 years we have said there is a safety net for children. But not before this election. Who won? Bob Dole? Oh, yes, he said it already. He shoved this one down the President's throat. Three strikes and the President would have been out so he wins because what the heck, he forced the issue. And who is another winner? My President. He is a winner. He has removed this once again. Everything you come up with, my President says, oh, no you do not. And so here again he is a winner. So when we look at it, this is a big political victory. The Democrats are happy in the White House. The Republicans are happy because they made him do it. The Governors are happy. They begged for the opportunity to do it their way after all. They are closer to the problem. And the only losers we have now are the kids. The got no one there to protect them. The religious leaders came out. Obviously they are not as highly registered as some other people, but they said do not do this to our children. They are the weakest. They cannot vote. If my colleagues do not like their mothers and their fathers and their neighborhoods, then get involved in education and job training and make them work. But there are winners and losers and the kids are the losers.