Charlie Rangel

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay homage to the Tuskegee Airmen, whose outstanding valor in World War II inspired revolutionary reform in the U.S. Armed Services. H.R. 1259 which I introduced on March 10, 2005 recognizes these achievements and on behalf of the people of the United States conferring upon the Tuskegee Airmen the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress' highest award. Today, I stand before this House with unbounded joy and pride as we prepare to enact this legislation honoring the Tuskegee Airmen who are still with us and honoring those who have passed on. I feel the joy of the wives and widows sons and daughters of Tuskegee Airmen who have waited a long time for this day. I wish to thank the more than 300 Members of the House who signed on as cosponsors making this a truly bipartisan effort. I wish to commend particularly Chairman Michael Oxley and Ranking Member Barney Frank, of the authorizing Committee on Financial Services as well as Chairman Duncan Hunter and Ranking Member Ike Skelton of the Armed Services Committee who made a bipartisan appeal to the entire House in support of this bill. I would be remiss not to mention Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who commended this bill to the Members of the House.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, celebrating Black History Month is an opportunity to reflect upon the innumerable contributions that Blacks have made to the advancement of American society and culture. People of color whether from the homeland in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America or North America, they have been more than instrumental in shaping the social complexion of America and humanity. It was Carter G. Woodson in 1926 who initiated ``Negro History Week'' in the United States to promote ``a better understanding of the contributions'' of Blacks to human civilization. This noble effort 80 years ago has been successful in informing people all over the world about the numerous contributions of Blacks. It has also aided in reshaping and negating distortions that historians have in many cases intentionally promulgated. Black History Month continues to amplify accurate depictions and narratives about a myriad of global endeavors. These undertakings have drastically improved the daily lives and landscape of the world. Individuals such as Pianky, the military genius and Black King of Nubia who conquered Egypt around 700 BC; Antar, the African-Arabian poet and story teller; and Abram Hannibal, the soldier and commander of 18th century Russia to Chaka who led South Africa until his assassination in 1828 all exemplify and indicate historic contributions to society. ``Their presence and deeds underscore an essential reality: Blacks have been part and parcel of world history, from exploration and revolution to scientific and other achievements.'' Other notable achievements encompass pioneering the making of iron, valuable works of art, carved stones into historic ornaments and statues, the conversion of oil-bearing plants for both medical and dietary purposes. Early contributions also include developing cereal and transformation of a wild plant into cotton which led to the art of weaving. Additionally, people of color are among the earliest farmers who produced wheat, groundnuts, yams and watermelon. Other accomplishments within the past 150 years, include performing the first open heart surgery, produced scientific evidence of cell life and metabolism, pioneered in blood plasma preservation, invented the inhalers used by rescue workers at disaster sites, created communication devices that allowed conversations between fast moving trains, invented machines that allowed for the mass production of shoes and improved the efficiency of lubricating systems used in large industry today. This impressive list is not exhaustive of all the global contributions of people of color. However, it illustrates the vital contributions to America and the world. As we think about democracy in this country, people of color have been at the fore in pursuing ``A more perfect Union.'' Consider Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat on a bus, which sparked the Montgomery County Bus Boycott and the Civil Rights Movement. Also, it would be hard to think about American Democracy without Martin Luther King Jr. and his leadership and dream to bring the ideals of democracy into reality for all Americans. In his 1970 essay, ``What America Would Be Like Without Blacks,'' Ralph Ellison argued that ``Whatever else the true American is, he is somehow Black.'' [CaribEditorial, Feb. 7, 2006] Important Role of People of African Descent The name Dr. G. Carter Woodson means little to most Americans, West Indians or Africans. Indeed, only a minority of people in Virginia, Woodson's birthplace, ever heard of the former coal miner who graduated high school at the age of 21 years, but later earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, around the time when thousands of West Indians, especially Jamaicans and Barbadians, were immigrating to Panama to help build the world-famous canal. But, as more and more people, Black and White in the United States, the Caribbean, Canada, Africa, and elsewhere observe Black History Month, they are learning that it was Dr. Woodson who initiated ``Negro History Week'' in 1926 in the U.S. to promote ``a better understanding of the contributions'' of Blacks to human civilization. Woodson's fledgling effort 80 years ago has since become an international phenomenon, one in which millions of people, Black and White, observe Black History Month. Caribbean and African nations may have joined the observances a bit late, but we believe in the old adage better late than never. For, in the process, Black History Month is helping to shape our thinking and negate the destructive effects of historiographies, which either deliberately distorted or ignored the positive roles of Black people in almost every aspect of life on the planet. Clearly, time has proven Dr. Woodson right. Undoubtedly, Black History Month is bringing to the fore important and accurate narratives about the multifaceted chapters Blacks have written in advancing global human development. From their ancestral homeland in Africa to North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, and other parts of the world, people of color have been instrumental in improving the daily lives of human beings everywhere. Names that run the gamut from Pianky, the military genius and Black King of Nubia who conquered Egypt around 700 BC; Antar, the African-Arabian poet and storyteller; and Abram Hannibal, the soldier and commander of 18th century Russia to Chaka who led and forged the proud Black nation of South Africa until his assassination in 1828 dot the pages of history. Their presence and deeds underscore an essential reality: Blacks have been part and parcel of world history and were present from exploration and revolution to scientific and other achievements. Blacks from Africa pioneered in the making of iron, fashioned precious stones into historic ornaments, statues, and valuable works of art; and used oil-bearing plants for both medicinal and dietary purposes. The developed cereal and transformed a wild plant into cotton, thus opening up the world to the art of weaving. They were among the world's first farmers, producing wheat, groundnuts, yams, watermelons, and possibly coffee. In the past 150 years, Black inventors and pioneers created the key devices that perfected the overall lubrication systems used in large industry today; invented the lasting machine that revolutionized the mass production of shoes; created the means to communicate between fast-moving trains; came up with the inhalators used by rescuers at sites where disasters have occurred; performed the first successful open- heart surgery; produced scientific evidence of cell life and metabolism; and pioneered in blood plasma preservation, more commonly called blood banks. These are but a handful of the exploits of Blacks, deeds which were previously shunted aside but have since been recognized through the study of history by and of Blacks. Along the way that historical record gained prominence in books, scholarly papers and presentations in classrooms, libraries, newspaper and magazine columns, and in special radio and television programs. If knowledge is power, then it stands to reason that we in the United States, the Caribbean and Africa have much to gain from the information and the results of academic and scientific inquiry, which Black History Month and other observances inspire. People everywhere owe Woodson a debt a gratitude for his pioneering action that effectively promoted the institutionalization of Black History as an academic discipline and as a vehicle that has made us all aware of the truth of the valuable contributions of Blacks to international development. He was driven to act because he complained in the 1930s that while white historians used textbooks to persuade students and others that Blacks couldn't ``subject passion to reason,'' they failed to teach them the authentic stories of African achievement. Dr. Woodson argued, quite correctly, that the knowledge of ``real history'' would liberate people of African descent from mental slavery and inspire to demand social equality while upsetting the ``oppressor in America and the colonizer in Africa.'' Add the Caribbean to that equation and the international scope of his efforts would become clear.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to enter into the Record ``Witness for Justice # 248'' entitled Tsunamis, Floods and Earthquakes; Seen and Unseen, published December 26, 2005 by the United Church of Christ of Cleveland, Ohio. The article eloquently written by Rev. Sala W.J. Nolan, Minister for Criminal Justice and Human Rights of this Church on 700 Prospect Ave. in Cleveland reminds us of the existence of unseen tsunamis, floods and earthquakes that continue to overrun communities around the world--stifling the voices of those forgotten. Recalling the 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed nearly 300,000, and Hurricane Katrina that took the lives of more than 1,000 Gulf Coast residents, leaving even scores more homeless and displaced, Rev. Nolan speaks of unseen tsunamis, floods and earthquakes that manifest throughout the world in the form of racism and other forms of injustice. ``They take place in U.S. prisons, which house one-fourth of all prisoners in the world and young Black men exist at 8 times the population rate of the Black men of South Africa at the height of Apartheid,'' explains Rev. Nolan. The ``invisible flood of incarceration'' as described by Rev. Nolan--the imprisonment of our Black and Hispanic youth--is robbing our communities of future entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, political and community leaders and tearing them away from their families--leaving them to languish and surrender their dreams within a less-than-colorblind criminal justice system with a swift, revolving door. I also join Rev. Nolan in her concern over the erosion of freedoms not protected in a political environment where the Republican- controlled White House and Congress have mistakenly justified the infringement of personal freedoms for the sake of a safer America. Rev. Nolan says that since the PATRIOT Act has passed, ``our government has acquired vastly broadened authority to monitor, arrest and detain citizens. We have learned that freedoms not protected will erode.'' Since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration has jailed and deported immigrants who have been living in our country for many years, obeying our laws, contributing to our society and working hard to support their families. It has created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion of anybody who seems to be a foreigner. We must force this secret tsunami to retreat off our lands and we must restore freedoms to those left most victimized by the misplaced political zeal for power--the poor, the enslaved, and the tortured. I join Rev. Nolan in all her concerns and her wish for a more just America free of unseen tsunamis, floods and earthquakes. Witness for Justice #248, Dec. 26, 2005. Tsunamis, Floods and Earthquakes: Seen and Unseen (By Sala W.J. Nolan) As 2005 draws to a close, we have much suffering to address. The tsunami of last December 26 still reverberates throughout the world. The worst hurricane season in U.S. history has damaged the Gulf Coast in ways that will extend to generations. And an earthquake has devastated Kashmir, where relief is terribly complicated by Indian and Pakistani political claims. The events were life shattering and will leave enduring legacies. They are especially notable because of the human suffering that was unmasked. We saw aging and Africa-American citizens in the wake of Katrina, without food and water or medical care, left abandoned on bridges and in nursing homes and sports arenas. The visible poverty among so many citizens of the richest country in the world--and their utter abandonment by the institutions obligated to serve them-- shocked the planet. Every day there are unseen tsunamis, floods and earthquakes. They take place in U.S. prisons, which house one-fourth of all the prisoners in the world and young Black men at eight-times the population rate of the Black men of South Africa at the height of Apartheid. They happen among immigrants in the housing projects of France. They occur among the farmers of Vieques and fishers of the Marshal Islands whose livelihoods and health have been damaged by years of bomb testing and with school-aged children in broken neighborhoods; with Afghan nationals in the cells of Guantanamo; and in secret prisons in Eastern Europe and Saudi Arabia. All over our world, where governments and institutions fail to protect their citizens or actively harm them, the earthquake happens. And when those who suffer are forgotten, the devastation is terrible. Consider the political activists who were imprisoned in the late 1960s and 1970s. Richard Williams was one of them. Following 9/11, he was placed in isolation for 15 months without cause. He was given poor medical care, which often occurs in prison. He passed this month, at the age of 58, and we remember him. Remember Marilyn Buck, Leonard Peltier, Oscar Lopez and others who have languished in prison. Remember Assata Shakur, who has a price on her head. In June, ten environmental and animal protection activists from the San Francisco Bay area were subpoenaed to a grand jury after police raids failed to produce evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Since the Patriot Act passed, our government has acquired vastly broadened authority to monitor, arrest and detain citizens. We have learned that freedoms not protected will erode. Recently, I traveled to the Gulf Coast after the hurricanes, carrying supplies and assessing what we could do to help. I met a little boy, about 10 or 11, collecting toys for his younger brother and sister. When his turn came, there were no appropriate toys in the can for him. He turned away, dejected. Then I remembered that my 5-year-old niece had given me her most precious rubber frog and told me to give it to somebody special. I pulled the frog out of my pocket and gave it to the boy. His face lit up and he ran off with it, laughing and teasing his little brother. In that moment, the disaster was forgotten and he was just a boy again. The prisons of the U.S. hold fathers and mothers whose children, more likely than not, will grow up in an earthquake of poverty and chaos. You probably know some of them, because the invisible flood of incarceration is enormous, but you may not know the secrets that keep because discrimination is a powerful force in their lives. Remember them. What could you do for the children? What could you do for someone who is ill? How much could be done by remembrance and a well-placed word for political prisoners and indigenous peoples of contaminated lands. Remember those who suffer from the secret tsunamis of out world today, and consider that is in your hand. What will you do with what you have?

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Caribbean leaders for their achievement of the Caribbean Single Market Economy and to enter into the Record a Caribnews editorial celebrating this milestone. The CSME--the initial phase of a historic regional economic integration project uniting 13 countries within the Caribbean-- culminates a movement that was years in the making. With the creation of this newest trade bloc that includes Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the countries have agreed to lift tariffs and allow all citizens to open businesses. In conjunction with Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the countries will also be able to provide services and move capital throughout the single market without restrictions. The implications of the CSME are sweeping, with plans advancing to replace national travel documents with a regional passport and the possibility of a common currency to be used by participating countries and a consolidation of economic policies. The CSME is a fitting and progressive response to the evolving global environment characterized by disappearing borders. I have full faith that CSME will create a larger spectrum of opportunities for employment, investment, production and trade for the people of the Caribbean islands. The coming together of regional economies into one bloc will undisputedly give the countries strength in facing other trade blocs and superpowers across the negotiating tables. Mr. Speaker, please join me again in congratulating the leaders of the participating' bean nations for forging ahead with the CSME and wishing them well in their next steps. Caribbean Single Market: Sealed, Signed and Delivered ``Sealed,'' stated one front-page newspaper headline in the Caribbean on Tuesday morning. ``Caribbean leaders sign on formal document,'' hailed another paper. And a third publication completed the process when it made it clear that the pact had been ``delivered.'' In effect, the Caribbean Single Market, the long awaited important step towards deep economic and social integration had moved closer to completion when several CARICOM leaders signed on the dotted line on Monday, committing their countries to be bound by and live up to the provisions of the treaty establishing the CSME. The signing took place, quite appropriately, on the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, the quintessential Caribbean educational institution, and the occasion wasn't simply historic but vital if the countries of the region are to realize their full potential. Admittedly, there were some unfortunate aspects of the ceremony. One of them was a hard fact of Caribbean life: at least one nation, the Bahamas, opted out all together while Haiti, a country in chaos with a dysfunctional interim government wasn't invited to the party. Another setback, of sorts, was the decision by the members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States to push back the deadline for their implementation of the CSM. Originally, the deadline was January 1, then it was moved to March and now we are being told that it would be the end of June. Don't be surprised if the OECS countries demand another extension. The countries, which are moving ahead with the CSM, are Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Antigua, Dominica, Grenda, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the OECS nations are coming on board during the second half of the year. The pact, a work in progress, calls for the removal of all barriers to trade in goods and services, limited freedom of movement by a handful of skilled people, such as UWI graduates, sports figures and journalists, the setting of a regional standard for goods being produced in or entering the region from other countries and recognition of Caribbean Court of Justice. Eventually, it could result in a common currency and the harmonization of economic policies. What it wouldn't involve is a political union. These desirable and important objectives should become a reality by 2008, the year when the CSME should become fully implemented. No one should under-estimate the complexity and the challenges the region faces as it moves forward. Jamaica's Prime Minister, P.J. Patterson, underscored that point when he cautioned the leaders and others at the signing ceremony ``formidable challenges still exist as we move boldly forward in the pursuit of closer regional collaboration within a global economy that is admittedly hostile to the interest of small island developing nations.'' The problem for small states is that global competitiveness can undermine economic growth, slowdown social development and diminish competitiveness. As if those weren't bad enough, the mountains of red tape and the foot-dragging by some countries can reduce the CSM's effectiveness and appeal. But there is little reason to despair. When Caribbean Free Trade Agreement, CARIFTA, the forerunner of CARICOM and CSME, it started with three countries--Antigua, Barbados and Guyana. The list grew in later years. That's likely to happen with the CSME. Secondly, the Caribbean Court of Justice is now a functioning judicial body. Yes, it's true that only Barbados and Guyana have so far accepted the CCJ as their court of last resort, relinquishing the necessity to turn to the Privy Council in London as the final arbiter. Again, foot-dragging is standing in the way of a broader court. Political considerations in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have turned out to be roadblocks for expansion but that's not the case in the OECS. A word about the OECS and its reasons for not signing the final acceptance on Monday. The members are pushing for the creation of a Caribbean Development Fund, which would help bridge the gap in finance, which the elimination of tariffs would create. That's a realistic situation, one that the larger economies have recognized and are trying to solve. The Fund must be established, no ifs, ands or buts. Interestingly, Edwin Carrington, CARICOM's long-serving Secretary-General, in his speech on Monday borrowed from the lyrics of one of Bob Marley's most popular songs, ``One Love,'' and invoked the memory of that great Caribbean icon when he insisted ``Let's get together and feel alright, I say let's stay together and be all right.'' We may be some distance away from achieving that togetherness but at the very least we are on the road to it becoming a fact of life.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Army Spec. Sergio Antonio Mercedes Saez, a 23 year old soldier who lost his life on Sunday, February 5th in Iraq. He leaves behind a grieving family and a legacy of service and sacrifice of which our community is proud. Mr. Mercedes, born in Puerto Rico, split his childhood between New York's Washington Heights and his parents' native Dominican Republic before enlisting in the military three years ago. He was serving his second tour of duty, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, when the vehicle that he was riding accidentally rolled over in a canal. Like so many of our young people, Mr. Mercedes was full of hopes and dreams, not only for himself, but also for his wife Jocelyn and his soon to be born son, which they had agreed to name Christopher Alejandro. He planned on bringing them both back to live in my district, where so many of his family still live and where he could take advantage of his G.I. benefits to get an education. Yet, he also knew that our freedom was not a gift but a right that had to be earned and secured through shared sacrifice. So although he had his whole life ahead of him, he did not hesitate to serve his country. He answered the call when asked to share the load of this war. I know that his family, both in Washington Heights and the Dominican Republic, are pained by his death. His loved ones, including his wife, his mother Carmen and his father Sergio Antonio, will never get to see the smile that so often lit up their lives. Yet they can be proud of the way he served his country. We can all celebrate the life he led, the example he showed and the legacy he left for his son and his community. And we can make sure that the gift that he and other soldiers have given to us is never forgotten.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, as a result of this Administration's failed leadership and mismanagement of resources, H.R. 4745, Hurricane Katrina Small Business Loan Supplemental is a corrective measure. The supplemental funding needed is directly in response to the gross incompetence and poor planning by the Bush Administration. This proposed legislation comes on the heels of Congress providing more than $400 million for Katrina disaster loans two months ago. This highlights that the Small Business Administration is unable to accurately assess the needs on the ground and funds that have already been allocated have been mismanaged. Running out of disaster loans for Hurricane Katrina victims is an embarrassment to this Administration and a slap in the face to those who survived Hurricane Katrina. The facts are clear; the Bush Administration is failing to help Gulf Coast residents rebuild their homes and their lives. Immediate assistance must be given to the region's local small businesses. Currently, only 37 percent of Hurricane Katrina disaster loan applications have been approved from a total of 280,000. Furthermore, less than 10 percent of those loans approved have been paid out. As it stands now, there is a backlog of 105,664 pending applications. Congress must take action to ensure that this mismanagement does not continue to compound the devastation of Hurricane Katrina survivors. The Gulf Coast region is depending upon swift deliberate action to revive its economy and put it on the road to full recovery. However, the Bush Administration is steeped in incompetence, mismanagement and cronyism. Nearly 750,000 families remain displaced from their homes and are paying the price for this Administrations lack of strong leadership. Additionally, this administration has rejected the only bi-partisan plan to rebuild Louisiana. The recent budget proposal indicates misplaced priorities and seeks to slash funding for small businesses, community development and rural development. These funds are precisely what the Gulf Coast requires in order to rebuild. Furthermore, the abuse and the fraud persist in this Administration regarding no-bid contractual agreements which are not capable of rebuilding communities effectively and efficiently in the Gulf Coast. The Bush Administration has not met the needs of Katrina families, small businesses and communities. To further compound this colossal failure in leadership, the Republicans are refusing low-income energy (LIHEAP) assistance funds today, even though home heating costs are up and federal grants are down. Additionally, 12 states have already run out of energy assistance, and some people may have their heat shut off in the next month. I must underline that these are poor families that are struggling to make ends-meat. Congress has cut home energy assistance by $21 million, while the number of people applying for help with their heating bills has reached a 12-year high. Families are essentially paying 17 percent more this year for home heating and 67 percent more since this Administration took office. While millions of Americans are cold at home, oil companies are reporting record profits and Republicans are ensuring that this does not change. It is clear that Democrats are moving to the beat of a different drum than this Administration. We are committed to putting an end to the corruption, mismanagement and poor leadership that has adversely impacted Hurricane Katrina survivors.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, the devastation of Hurricane Katrina exposed what America did not want to see. Beyond the tragedy of this natural disaster, Katrina shined a spotlight on America's poor and disadvantaged. The convenience of disregarding the plight of the poor came to an abrupt halt as a result of Katrina and its aftermath. Katrina pulled the cover off of what prior reports by the U.S. Census Bureau found, which stated for the past four years, the poverty rate has steadily increased; which is a reverse trend from 1993 to 2000. Katrina also exposed the gross disparities relating to poverty in America. According to the Census Bureau 2004 report, the Black poverty rate of 24.7 percent is almost twice that of the general population. This translates to about 9.4 million African Americans, almost one in- four living below the poverty line. Consequently, those affected by the Katrina devastation were disproportionately Black and poor. Despite the rhetoric of conservative pundits who claim that poverty in the Black community is due to irresponsibility, statistics show that individuals living below the poverty line are hard working citizens who go to work everyday. It should be underscored that poverty is a result of a lack of income. Americans fall into poverty simply because they do not have enough financial resources. So it is plausible that even when people are working in the market place they can still fall into poverty. Statistics show that one-in-ten African Americans above 16 who were poor worked full-time jobs. Furthermore, 37 million Americans are living in poverty. Statistics in 2004 indicate that 13 million American children lived below the poverty line, translating into three-in-seventeen. This was an increase of roughly 200,000 from 2003, which means 3,000 children were falling into poverty each week. Moreover, African American children under the age of 18 consist of 43 percent of all poor African Americans. Senior citizens, those 65 and older, have a poverty rate of 23.8 percent. In comparison with other counterparts, statistics show that more African Americans and Hispanics are in poverty at a higher rate than whites and other racial classifications. African American children represent 17 percent of American children, but they make up 31 percent of all poor children in America. Conservatives are quick to attribute poverty to dysfunctional family structures. However, renowned economist such as William Springs suggests that this is a gross over simplification. He contends that poverty is the ``result of economy-wide forces and public policy.'' Mr. Speaker, I share this analysis, hence, it places the onus on policy makers to enact legislation centered on relieving the burden poverty. After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 the Black poverty rate decreased to 32.2 percent. During the years of 1993 to 2000 which were marked by strong fiscal policy the poverty rate for African Americans dropped annually. Katrina exposed America's weakness, not only in the Federal Government's delinquent response, but also relative to our inability to address poverty particularly in the minority community. As we consider the 2007 fiscal budget, we must see the opportunity to provide provisions that alleviate poverty in the Gulf Coast and urban communities across the Nation. Tax cuts for the wealthy and the slashing of social programs will not suffice. Mr. Speaker, a recent article in the ``The Crisis'', entitled Poverty in America: The Poor are getting Poorer, by William E. Spriggs captures the statistical data and reports that highlight the issue of poverty in America, especially the disparities as to race.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Africare organization. Africare is the oldest and largest African-American led organization committed to providing direct aid to the African continent--a leader in the fields of long-term sustainable development and health care, especially with regard to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. The thousands of African families who have benefited through Africare's humanitarianism stand as a testament to the power of the organization's selfless mission. I am proud to offer my congratulations to Africare for many years of service embodying one of our Nation's most commendable ideal--extending our hand and heart to our fellow brothers and sisters throughout the world. Africare helps Africa. Over the course of its history, Africare has become a pioneer among private, charitable U.S. organizations assisting Africa. The organization has supported hundreds of grassroots projects in Africa that have changed the lives of families living on the continent. Africare's programs address needs in the principal areas of food security and agriculture as well as health and HIV/AIDS. Africare also supports water resource development, environmental management, basic education, microenterprise development, governance initiatives and emergency humanitarian aid. Africare reaches families and communities in 26 countries in every major region of Sub-Saharan Africa, from Mali to South Africa and from Senegal to Mozambique. The founders of Africare had a vision--to transform the lives of Africans and infuse into the often-forgotten and deprived continent much needed sustenance. In 1970, West Africa was suffering through one of the most severe droughts in its history which threatened the livelihood of livestock and crops. Villagers were fleeing their homes in search of water. Millions of human lives held in the balance. Among those providing help--medical aid in Niger--were 17 American volunteers, led by Dr. William Kirker, and his wife Barbara. Together they named their group ``Africare.'' The Kirkers themselves had been working in Africa, to improve African health care, since 1966. Although the work by the Kirkers was invaluable, more was needed to be done to stifle the crisis sweeping through the area. Diori Hamani, then president of the Republic of Niger, sought more support from the U.S., in particular from the African-American community. C. Payne Lucas, then director of the Peace Corps Office of Returned Volunteers in Washington was one individual who answered the call. He went on to become the first president of Africare, spending 30 years at the organization. He brought a unique blend of passion and steadfast commitment during his 40-year career in African development. Under the leadership of the Kirkers and Lucas, Africare flourished and continued to make valuable contributions towards the development of the African continent. At the annual Africare dinner last October the 13th, the founders of Africare were recognized in remarks made by Africare vice president Jeannine Scott. The event was attended by notable individuals including that year's Africare Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award recipient, General Colin Powell, the former U.S. Secretary of State, Mr. Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Dorothy Height, president emeritus of the National Council of Negro Women, and my colleagues Representatives William Jefferson of Louisiana and Barbara Lee of Texas, as well as other civil and business leaders. At the anniversary dinner, Africare vice president Jeannine Scott introduced the founders of Africare and recounted the story of how the organization was founded. I thought it would be useful for you to understand the history of the organization and I therefore ask that the text of her speech be entered into the Record. Presentation of the Founders of Africare (By Jeannine B. Scott) Dr. Kirker and his wife Barbara are here with us tonight and we are honored to pay tribute to them and the vision they had to found an organization to initially respond to the many health care needs of our brothers and sisters in Africa. In addition to these founders, we have with us some of the first volunteers who served with them. They are: James Sattler, an attorney in Hawaii who donated his services at the very beginning of Africare's life; Joan Victoria Saccardi--a volunteer on Africare's very first trip to Africa, and who faced her own bouts of illness while carrying out the work she believed in; And Cosco Carlbom was also one of the dedicated volunteers on the very first trip, providing vital technical expertise and was one of only a handful of volunteers to complete the entire two-year mission. Please join me in welcoming these very first Africare pioneers. Another early Africare supporter, Myra Takaski, was not able to join us here tonight. Through the Savings and Loan she headed, Ms. Takaski provided Africare with all the clerical and support services the young organization needed. Our thoughts are with her this evening. Out of the looming dilemma that Africa was facing, His Excellency Ambassador Oumarou Youssoufou, the First Secretary at the Niger Embassy, contacted his old friend C. Payne Lucas who had been Peace Corps director in Niger, beseeching him on the part of then president Hamani Diori to lend his expertise and leadership to the organization. Ambassador Youssoufou and Mr. Lucas discussed the idea. Mr. Lucas was then working at the Peace Corps headquarters in Washington and was interested in new ways to improve the quality of life in Africa. C. Payne also remembered a question that had been posed to him years earlier by President Diori: ``Why don't black Americans, whose ancestors came from the continent, respond to the needs in Africa?'' Mr. Lucas agreed to assume the leadership of the organization, insisting on two important conditions. The first was to expand Africare's focus to include not only health, but water and agriculture as well. His second condition was to ensure that the organization would be rooted in the African-American community and would serve to educate all Americans about Africa--its human, spiritual, historical, and material wealth. With these objectives on the table, Mr. Lucas became the first executive director of Africare. He reincorporated the organization in Washington, D.C. and recruited another Peace Corps staff member Dr. Joseph C. Kennedy to serve as his deputy. With an interest-free loan of $30,000 and a second-hand 4x4 vehicle turned over to the program in Niger after a cross- Saharan trek--both provided by a dedicated benefactor, the late Mrs. Lorraine Aimes Watriss--the ``reborn'' Africare was on its way. For the next year, the only paid employee of Africare was a secretary. C. Payne himself accepted no salary and donated the basement of his house as Africare's first office. In addition to grants, Africare collected donations from ordinary people, often just a few dollars, or nickels and dimes and Mr. Lucas would say, at a time. Seeing the value of organization, the Nigerian Embassy then agreed to house Africare, volunteering the first floor of its Chancery near Dupont Circle. It was surely not easy. But the vision and sincerest of commitments were its impetus to succeed. And succeed, I am sure ladies and gentlemen you will agree they did! It is from these humble beginnings that the Africare you see, know and support today emerged and grew under the guidance of Mr. Lucas and Dr. Kennedy. Thanks to their 30+ years of efforts, energy, sacrifice, risking their careers and more, a solid foundation was laid: Enabling the original vision to become a true and tangible reality; Fostering a legacy that has led to the transfer of over half a billion dollars for more than 2,000 economic and humanitarian assistance projects to some 36 countries throughout Africa; Touching over 2 million lives directly on the continent; Training and mentoring hundreds, if not thousands of young Africans and Americans to follow in their footsteps; Constructing Africare House--home to many whose convictions and activities embrace Africa; Educating the American people of the greatness that is Africa! In honoring our founders this evening I would like to ask Dr. and Mrs. Kirker, along with the first Africare volunteers present here tonight, Mr. Sattler, Ms. Saccardi, and Mr. Carlbom, to join me here on the stage. I would also like to acknowledge His Excellency Ambassador Oumarou Youssoufou. He could not be with us tonight, but is ably represented by his daughter Zouera Youssoufou. I would like to invite her onto the stage in her father's place. I would also like to call a teacher, colleague, my professor and friend, Dr. Joseph C. Kennedy to join us here on stage. And finally, I have the distinct honor to call a visionary leader and guide, and my mentor, Mr. C. Payne Lucas. It is truly an honor for us to pay tribute to all of you here tonight. Please join me, ladies and gentlemen, in welcoming Africare's earliest pioneers and leaders: Dr. William Kirker and Mrs. Barbara Kirker, Mr. Sattler, Ms. Saccardi, and Mr. Calbom, Dr. Joseph C. Kennedy and Mr. C. Payne Lucas--the people who made tonight's 35th anniversary possible. I ask that the text of a statement by Africare president Julius E. Coles which outlines Africare's work today also be entered into the Record. Although Africare's initial focus was on providing medical care to the needy of Africa, the methods used to raise the standard of living in Africa soon grew more diverse. When C. Payne Lucas took the helm of Africare in 1972, he saw that in order to make a meaningful difference in the lives of Africans, the organization had to do more than provide occasional medical care. In order to change the situation in Africa, Africare would also have to assist Africans in gaining access to the tools necessary to take control of their own lives. Following in Lucas's vision, Africare has focused on three main areas: health and HIV/AIDS, humanitarian relief, and food security. Over the years, we have developed close working relationships with African governments. By working in tandem with governments at the national and local levels, as well as with countless communities and villages throughout Africa, we have shown ourselves to be trustworthy partners in development. In response to Africa's need for additional medical care, we have committed ourselves to addressing the health issues that adversely affect the families we serve. Africare's programs have a strong HIV/AIDS component that tackles an entire spectrum of issues related to the disease. HIV/AIDS awareness and education programs focusing on concrete behavior change given the people we work with the knowledge they need to keep themselves safe from infection. Africare also works to address the needs of people living with AIDS and provide care for children orphaned by the disease. Africare has also taken steps to encourage stable, long- term increases in the standard of living. Africare's Food For Development staff members in countries across Africa help locals to achieve food security by delivering food supplies and providing technical assistance to local farmers. Using food resources and funds ftom the U.S. government, Africare administers both emergency food distribution as well as Food For Work programs in which food supplies are exchanged for community service. Africare staff also helps locals to maximize the productivity of their land through modern farming techniques. By planting new crops and using innovative farming methods, African families can increase their annual yield and better withstand otherwise disastrous events like droughts and famines. Africare also provides humanitarian relief services to victims of natural and manmade disasters across Africa. Our current programs distribute Title II food supplies to victims of famine and drought. Africare also works intensively with refugees to ensure that people forced to flee their homelands are provided not only with the supplies they need to survive, but the skills and resources to rebuild damaged societies. In addition to the three pillars of health and HIV/AIDS, food security, and emergency relief, Africare works through a variety of means to facilitate positive changes in the daily life of Africa. By building wells and springs, Africare develops resources from which entire communities can draw safe, clean drinking water. Through education initiatives, children and adults gain the literacy skills necessary for long-term success and access to practical health and nutrition information. Our environmental programs have planted thousands of trees which enrich ecosystems and will reduce soil erosion, benefiting future generations. Africare's focus on stable societies includes initiatives to foster civil society and responsive governance. Africare supports indigenous nongovernmental organizations and encourages peaceful transitions in changing societies. Microfinance programs encourage women to start small businesses which help communities become more resistant to economic downturns. Over the past 35 years, Africare has been able to work with millions of people in 35 countries across the continent. Our organization has grown to be leader in the field and a model of how Africans and Americans of all races can work together towards a common goal. Now we are more convinced than ever of the necessity of helping to build a stronger, more stable Africa. As we continue with our work, we will also continue to grow and evolve to meet the changing needs of Africa. Mr. Speaker, Africare is an institution of which all Americans should be proud. Please join me in saluting Africare for all it has done over the last 35 years and wishing it well as it continues to bring hope and inspiration to millions of people throughout Africa.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Grenada's 32 years of independence and to enter into the Record an article published by Caribnews chronicling historic challenges faced by the country. I congratulate Grenadians in their native country, the United States and abroad on their perseverance to celebrate how far their great nation has come. Thirty-two years ago, on a momentous February 7, the beautiful country of Grenada achieved its independence from Great Britain. Since its independence, Grenada--comprised of the islands of Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martihas--has continued to flourish as a nation. As the first of the Windward and Leeward islands to declare its independence, Grenada obtained its autonomy under the Grenada United Labour Party government of late Prime Minister Sir Eric Matthew Gairy. Since the early days of independence, Grenada has struggled to find its voice. Despite violent power struggles and a U.S.-led invasion, the people of Grenada have overcome strife in order to forge ahead with their parliamentary democracy. Today, Grenada stands as a spectacular island with lush mountains, crystal waterfalls, golden beaches and fragrant spice trees that give the island its epithet ``Isle of Spice''. It is also a vital trade partner, with significant global exports such as nutmeg, mace, cocoa, bananas, vegetables, and fish. But most importantly what is treasured most by Americans is not Grenada's landscape or exports but the Grenadians, who we regard with much esteem as our friends. Thirty-two years ago this month, Grenada did not only put into motion independence, but national development and progress as well. Mr. Speaker, please join me in wishing Grenada continued political and social advancement on this very special day marking their 32nd anniversary of self-rule. [From the Caribnews, Feb. 7, 2006] Grenada Will Rise Again (By Michael D. Roberts) For the Caribbean island nation of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique the devastation wrought by two powerful hurricanes has turned back what progress was being made under the Keith Mitchell Administration. And the undulating nature of activities of national development has also been a major challenge even before Hurricanes Ivan and Emily. It has been like constantly taking three steps forward and one backwards in an eerie dance led by the caprices of the international global market and the negative effects of run- away capitalism. Indeed, the much touted benefits of market globalization have served up its own peculiar and erratic brand of progress now and stagnation then. Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique now finds itself in serious economic straights brought on by brutal and devastating ``acts of God.'' Indeed, these past 32 years have been challenging ones for the 120 square mile tri-island Caribbean nation. And as the nation of some 90,000 people plunge into the uncertainties of a brand new and rapidly redefined world stage, new challenges lie ahead in less than ideal socio-economic circumstances. For one thing the jury is still out on the gains and achievements of the Grenadian economy, since 1984, as it relates to the improvement of the quality of life of all the people. If the mainspring of Grenadian progress, since its independence from Britain on February 7, 1974, is the country's command over the forces of production, then its history to date is one of sporadic and uneven development mixed with episodes of retrogression. From the dominance of British-imposed slavery and colonialism Grenada painfully moved towards full political independence during the militant epoch of the 1960s and 1970s. Granted independence under less than favorable conditions the country took charge of its own destiny replacing the colonial master with local elected officials whose experience in governance was learned from and at institutions set up by their former masters. In this context therefore Grenadian structural forms of today--government, parliament and judiciary--were and are a caricature of British Westminster democracy that has failed to adequately provide for institutions and instruments of equality within the society. It was these spawned social, political and economic disparities that let to the rise and eventual fall of the regime of Sir Eric Matthew Gairy [from 1950 to 1979] and the subsequent triumph--and demise--of the Grenada Revolution (1979-1983). During the 29-year Gairy Regime, Grenada exhibited limited growth and development, with perhaps the sole measure of its progress being the new-found political consciousness of a hitherto cowed and oppressed people. It was Gairy who bucked the ruling status quo of an alliance in the towns of a mulatto upper class, a growing merchant stratum, and a landed British gentry, oftentimes absent from the island. But what started as a populist movement and progressive anti-colonial struggle degenerated into home-gown depostism by the early 1970s as Sir Eric cemented a strangle hold on all parts of Grenadian society. With each year since indepedence--granted during serious internal unrest and political turmoil--the Gairy Regime became more and more oppressive, and it was out of these socio-economic and political conditions that the Grenada Revolution of March 13, 1979 materialized. This break in the evolutionary chain of political and economic development ushered in a brief period of unprecedented economic growth and development. The basis for this was the ruling New Jewel Movement's suspension of the stultifying and archaic British- model constitution, an economic program of planned development based on three pillars--the public, private and cooperative sectors--a grass-roots type of participatory democracy, and an overall policy of national development based along non-capitalist lines. But successful though the Revolution was, in economic and political terms, it quickly imploded, self-destructed due to a combination of immaturity, intolerance to dissenting view, and a failure to understand that the political and ideological direction of the Revolution did not sit well with a people long accustomed, or conditioned to accepting the flawed Westminster model of democratic development as the only way. The one-man one vote position was therefore central to the core of the Grenadian view of democratic rule. Still, even the most strident detractors of the Grenada Revolution would agree that the period 1979-1983 saw unparalleled economic growth and development that has not been equaled or duplicated up to this day. In fact it is safe to conclude that the reversal of the gains of the Grenada Revolution, that began with the interim Government of 1983, and continued with the election of the old Herbert Blaize New National Party (NNP) in 1984, ushered in the modern period of Grenadian retrogression. Kathy McAfee in her celebrated book ``Storm Signals-- Structural Adjustment and Development Alternatives in the Caribbean'' (Oxfam America 1991), in a chapter entitled ``Grenada: Development by Conquest,'' argues that ``by the fall of 1988, after five years of US stewardship, almost none of the developmental goals set by the US had been met. Grenada was deeper in debt than at any time in the nation's past. AID-sponsored efforts to balance the government's budget had failed. The country's tax system, after being thoroughly re-designed by US consultants, had largely collapsed. AID was withholding promised grants to Grenada's government in an effort to force it to comply with structural adjustment conditionalities.'' McAfee says that unemployment was at an all-time high, some 30 percent, and agricultural productivity continued its long-term decline, while Grenada's manufacturing sector remained small and stagnant. In 2006 nobody disagrees that agriculture, Grenada's economic backbone, is in serious trouble and that production for export has taken a big hit. Moreover, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling removing the protected status for Caribbean bananas in the European market has caused more headaches for the country. Added to this by the year 2000 the task of completely destroying all the hard-won gains of the people during the Grenada Revolution was now completed. Here are a few examples of some of the structures and other economic and social programs that are now extinct that have set Grenada back for many years. The National Transportation Service (NTS) is no more, the Marketing and National Importing Board (MNIB) is a shell of its former self. Post- Revolutionary governments allowed about six (6) fully equipped modern fishing trawlers to rot and sink to the bottom of the St. George's sea rather than utilize them. Grenada no longer exports eggplants and other crops to European markets; the country's agro-processing plant that canned fruit juices for export under the Revolution is no more, as is the fish processing plant that began to produce dry salted fish for export. The coffee processing plant in Grenville is now extinct. Only the Grenada International Airport remains because this structure, woefully under- utllized, cannot be easily physically dismantled. But what solution did these post 1983 govenments propose for Grenada's socio-economic developmnent? The answer for many of them was privatization. This process continues today. According to a leading expert on privatization in the Caribbean, Jamaica's Richard L. Bernal, with the overthrow of the Maurice Bishop Government in 1983, the new Government in Grenada committed itself to privatization. ``By 1992, in response to a weak fiscal situation, Grenada had begun a ``self-imposed'' three-year structural adjustment program in which privatization of State Owned Enterprises was an integral component. In that year, 90 percent of the shares of the National Commercial Bank were sold, with the majority shares going to the Republic Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, and 10 percent to Grenadians and others from the Eastern Caribbean,'' [``Privatization in the English-speaking Caribbean: An Assessment''] (the Center for Strategic and International Studies) October 22, 1999]. In the same publication, Bernal noted that ``. . . rapid and extensive divestment without a proper framework can lead to disastrous results . . . It is also important to ensure that there is a proper context in which privatization can take place. A competent executing agency with a qualified staff is needed, together with the appropriate regulatory framework and the necessary safety nets to protect displaced workers.'' So me of these ``disastrous results'' have visited Grenada since the start of the program, in particular the perception by the public that governments have been just selling off, national assets to raise money. Indeed, there is little to show for privatization. There are also sound arguments that while privatization brings a bag of mixed blessings, in the Grenada context there was and is no competent and experienced monitoring authority to oversee the divestment of state assets. The upshot is that as a panacea for Grenada's economic ills the jury is still out on the privatization program. And yet the ruling New National Party (NNP) government led by Dr. Keith Mitchell cannot be slighted for not demonstrating some measure of boldness when it comes to policy decisions and hard political issues. Buffeted and hindered by a hostile world economic climate the Government has tried to push the Grenadian economy forward with an admixture of privatization, international aid (hitherto to 2004 mostly from Taiwan), re-focussing on tourism, and physical infrastructural development. This program will be one of the key challenges to the government in the coming years as Hurricanes Ivan and Emily was almost responsible for putting the Grenada government into receivership. Overall, if one was to characterize the progress and development of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique these past 32 years, one would have to conclude that it has been a period of turbulence mixed with brief periods of respite, tranquility and development. These past 32 years have seen every form of political upheaval and some of the ugliest forms of repression and brutality. It is a history that has divided Grenadians and continues to drive a fundamental wedge in any movement towards national unity and reconciliation. For example: the events of October 19, 1983 that saw the execution of popular Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and some members of his Cabinet, that led to the subsequent invasion on Grenada on October 25, 1983, is still the salt in the wound for most Grenadians. There is no closure as yet and this will be yet another challenge going forward. But if unity has been illusive thus far, and economic problems further aggravate and create political alliances and divisions, then any commentary on the merits, achievements, and future of Grenada's independence would lead one to the conclusion that independence is a pipe dream. Right? Wrong. While economic independence is not yet a reality, political independence is a fact of life in Grenada. Indeed, without wanting to sound cynical, the mistakes made during the 32 years of Grenadian independence were made by the, Grenadian people and their leaders. And nobody ever said that national development, progress and independence would be a cakewalk. In fact, national development is painful, especially so for a small, agriculturally dependent nation that will never reach critical mass. But these pains are necessary if the country must move forward because the school of hard knocks is where experience is gained, and is perhaps the best teacher on the issue of progress and retrogression--the twin sisters of development. And Grenada's small size is both a blessing and a curse. Its size makes for presumably an easier and more efficient governmental structure and management. With fiscal prudence popular shared services can reach the vast majority of the people and greatly improve the quality of life.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to remember once again the timeless reggae musician Bob Marley and to enter into the Record an eloquent CARIBNEWS commentary by Michael Roberts commemorating what would have been the singer's 61st birthday February 6 had he not died in 1981 of cancer. As Roberts mentions in his editorial, Marley's musical genius generated from his hopes of empowerment and political uplifting for his Jamaican people. ``Marley was a staunch advocate of conscious lyrics and he urged Black people to think positive and do positive things,'' Roberts explains. Not only was Marley a lyricist and a leader but he was an international ambassador advocating for the solidarity of the Caribbean. ``His music and lyrics advocated a kind of Black-centered Christianity which would `free our minds'. Thus Marley, although born in Jamaica, was a citizen of the Caribbean and Third World,'' Roberts writes. Mr. Speaker, please join me again in remembering the legacy of Bob Marley during Black History Month. [From the CARIBNEWS, Feb. 6, 2006] Celebrating the 61th Earth Day Of Reggae Superstar Robert Marley (By Michael D. Roberts) Black Ambassador, musical innovator, and gifted with visionary talents, Bob Marley's music today speaks volumes about a man whose every word and sentence was written with the emancipation of his people in mind. And in his own way he identified the problems and offered solutions to them. That is why the music of the supreme Rastaman endures to this day. Indeed, the greatness of Bob Marley is that his popularity and staying quality outlasts all the present crop of reggae artistes. This Black History Month Marley would have turned 61 years--had he lived. And we can only speculate as to what music he would have concocted in that fertile and creative mind of his as he ``trod down Babylon.'' To my mind the supreme Rastaman still sings getting better with each passing day. In the dancehalls of Brooklyn, the Caribbean basements of Canada, or the open tropical spaces of the Caribbean, Bob Marley's timeless music lives on. His works continue to give new hope to the world's oppressed and solace to the downtrodden as he urges Black people to ``Get up, Stand up, Stand up for your rights.'' A versatile entertainer, he was singer, songwriter, expert guitarist and above all a pragmatic rastaman. Robert Nesta Marley was born in St. Ann, Jamaica, on February 6, 1945. He died May 11, 1981. Bob Marley, as he is popularly known the world over, was the individual most responsible for taking reggae out of Jamaica and making it international. With uncanny vision Marley altered indigenous traditional Jamaican roots music making it more acceptable to the international market and consumer. Curiously, before he would win over his critics, and Jamaica music purists, Marley came under heavy fire, in those early days because it was felt that he was prostituting the roots reggae music. Along with his group the Wailers, that he formed in 1964, and which included two other great reggae leaders in their own right--Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston, known worldwide as Bunny Wailer--Bob Marley was the great popularizer of reggae. It was he and the Wailers who infused this ``island music'' with American pop and rock, making it attractive to all music consumers and which gave it its enduring, lasting, ``always fresh'' quality. But even when Marley sung so-called lovey-dovey ballads and drew the ire of the ``rude boys'' of Jamaica's slums and garrison communities, his message was inherently and basically political: he preached an end to racial oppression and urged Blacks to be proud of their heritage. So in his own right Marley was a Third World music pioneer who eventually turned into a superstar. Marley was a staunch advocate of conscious lyrics and he urged Black people to think positive and do positive things. Nowadays it is fashionable to hear gurus of self-help working their spiel about positive thoughts. You would think that they had listened to the Great Rastaman. Like Malcolm X and Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Bob Marley was acutely aware of the necessity to deal firmly with situations that demanded strong action. That did not mean that he advocated unbridled, confrontational violence but he understood that the poor and oppressed had a duty to resist these things which were part of ``Babylon.'' It is perhaps this prophetic quality that has made Robert Nesta Marley a Third World legend and reggae's only superstar. So as we celebrate the anniversary of his birth on February 6, we must remember his passing and pay respect to his works. He was, undoubtedly, Jamaica's most outstanding ambassador and one who yearned for all the people of the Caribbean to come together. His music and lyrics advocated a kind of Black-centered Christianity which would ``free our minds.'' Thus Marley, although born in Jamaica, was a citizen of the Caribbean and Third World. He transcended the narrow borders of nations moving with his pulsating music to the world community of man. But Marley was not merely satisfied to simply fight for deliverance from ``Babylon'' in the Western Hemisphere through his music and powerful lyrics. He preached resistance to all forms of oppression. His songs of protest and of agitation composed after exposure to the inequalities prevalent in Jamaican and Caribbean society have been adopted by people in many countries struggling for, what his talented compatriot, Peter Tosh and fellow Wailer, called ``equal rights and justice.'' Marley's contribution to Jamaican and world musical culture still stands out as a monumental achievement of human endeavor. It was he more than anyone else who took the indigenous musical art form of a Caribbean island, framed and packaged it to suit international tastes, and then sold it to the world. Today the world still sings ``these songs of freedom,'' as the Dreadlocked One demanded. Let us always remember that his music and his works were aimed, in the fashion of another great Jamaican, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, at liberating his race. Marley's tenure on this earth was a potent reminder that Black people are still not yet free. His creative genius accomplished what most international politicians dream of achieving and he did it by being just--Bob Marley, humble and sincere. There is something for everybody in the works of Bob Marley. Some folks love him for his upbeat, uptempo music like ``One Love'' Jamaica's national song; others like his spiritual side found in such works as ``Redemption Song'' and ``Three Little Birds.'' And still there are many who cling to the masterful works of protest music in songs like ``Bad Card'' and ``Ambush In The Night.'' No matter what people remember Bob Marley for, his works ``Idureth for Iver.'' So ``get up, stand up, stand up for your rights,'' and listen to the Supreme Rastaman who trod into Babylon ``inna this generation''--Triumphantly. Considered today reggae classics, Marley's music never ceases to refresh and reinvigorate each and every time that it is played. Indeed, it is his music's staying power that keeps alive the image and spirit of Bob Marley as fans from all walks of life, and social standing--from the townships of Soweto in South Africa to the plush, affluent homesteads of Beverly Hills--celebrate his 61st earth day.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express how content I was to see President Bush recognize the national treasure that is the Dance Theatre of Harlem at a dinner and performance Monday, February 6 at the White House and to enter into the Record a Washington Post article dated Wednesday, February 8 commemorating the event. In a tribute to the theatre which stands today as the first black classical ballet company, and its esteemed founder Arthur Mitchell, President Bush and many others were able to be exposed to the cultural jewel I am honored to have situated in my Congressional district. The Dance Theatre of Harlem, founded in 1968, is a leading arts and cultural institution dedicated to the advancement and cultural enrichment of youth from diverse backgrounds. Since its founding, it has brought modern and intrepid new forms of artistic expression to audiences throughout New York City and the world--embodying the beauty of the American spirit. Even as the performing company enjoyed international acclaim, being the first U.S. ballet company to perform in Russia and then performing in South Africa, the theatre has strengthened its roots in Harlem. Currently the school enrolls some 700 students per year in community, pre-professional and professional programs and offers courses in various dance forms ranging from ballet and tap to modern-, jazz- and African dance, and even Irish step dancing. With its exceptional dancers, dazzling choreography, and cultural pride, the Dance Theatre of Harlem continues to be a beacon for all communities. Mr. Speaker, again please join me in saluting the Dance Theatre of Harlem and expressing my gratitude to President Bush for recognizing its contributions. [From the Washington Post, Feb. 8, 2006] En Pointe at the White House With a Fete for Founder Arthur Mitchell, the Bushes Give a Lift to Dance Theatre of Harlem (By Sarah Kaufman) There were ballerinas and cavaliers, Broadway singers and a country crooner, but it took the Rev. Al Green to really get the party started at the White House on Monday night. The soul man turned soul saver worked his magic on the East Room crowd, gathered to honor the Dance Theatre of Harlem and its famed founder, Arthur Mitchell. ``I-I-I-I, I'm so in love with you,'' Green rasped in his signature falsetto, arcing back like a bow about to launch its arrow. Of course, there were many in the audience of 80 or so who could sing Green's enduring hit ``Let's Stay Together'' in their sleep. But was one of them President Bush? Green put him to the test. ``Ooh, loving you forever,'' Green purred, ``is what I--'' Suddenly, he thrust the microphone right up to the lips of the surprised president, who recovered enough to mouth something back. Whatever it was could not be heard, but Green was more than satisfied. ``He said `Nee-eee-eeed!' '' squealed the amazed hitmaster, hitting even higher notes than he'd been singing. ``He did! He said `Neeeeed!' '' After laughter and applause for the president's grace note, the set then became a singalong--was that Karl Rove joining in?--and then a dance-along, after Mitchell, a former star of the New York City Ballet, pulled Laura Bush up onstage. President Bush, apparently pumped up after parrying to Green's thrust, followed suit, taking with him Shirley Massey, wife of Walter Massey, president of Morehouse College. ``We got the president up onstage!'' exclaimed Mitchell afterward. Not a man who ordinarily likes to share the spotlight, Mitchell nevertheless gave Bush points for effort, if not for style. ``He did really well,'' Mitchell said. ``He was tapping his foot, and . . . moving. You know.'' Mitchell is no stranger to the White House--he says he has been invited there by every president since John F. Kennedy. He's been there so often he knew many of the waiters by name. But this night was different. The dinner and performance by members of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and others were the work of entrepreneur and philanthropist Catherine Reynolds, chairwoman of the board of the predominantly black ballet company. The show will air this summer on PBS. ``What better place to showcase Dance Theatre of Harlem during Black History Month than the White House?'' she said. ``It's a ballet company in the midst of Harlem--that in and of itself is so American.'' The presidential affair, she said, sprang from a conversation she had a few months ago with Laura Bush about the ailing company, on hiatus for the past year and a half because of rising debt. Reynolds said the first lady asked, `` `How can I help?' '' Reynolds had her answer ready, and the result was a cozy little black-tie dinner in Mitchell's honor, with the guests seated at intimate round tables mounded with roses. Among the invited: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, undoubtedly relieved to be anywhere but in the Senate hot seat where he'd spent the day; donors and arts officials such as the Ford Foundation's Susan Berresford, Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser and Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture; and a contingent of the black elite, such as ``60 Minutes'' correspondent Ed Bradley and Spelman College President Beverly Daniel Tatum. The menu favored creamy comfort foods: puree of parsnip soup, cheesy grits and spinach alongside roast kobe beef, a yellow pepper and avocado terrine, and whipped-cream-dolloped lemon custard cakes with coconut ice cream and a blackberry- ginger sauce, thick as syrup. It was not fare for the calorie-conscious. But there weren't many of those to be seen, anyway; the dancers were off warming up for the performance that was to follow. Filing into the East Room after dinner, we found ourselves chatting with Andrew Card, Bush's chief of staff, who seemed eager to show his own artsy side. ``I hit a crossroads when I was a senior in high school,'' Card said, describing a choice he faced between accepting a scholarship to the Hartt School of Music (on the strength of his trumpet playing) in West Hartford, Conn., or a Navy ROTC scholarship at the University of South Carolina. Guess which one he chose. Still, he said, ``I believe in the arts very strongly. Every once in a while I get the trumpet out. Of course, my wife wants me to play it in the closet.'' It being Monday night, and close to 9 by this time--fans of Fox's ``24'' know how sacrosanct that hour is--we pressed Card on another issue: Did he ever tune in to the Kiefer Sutherland thriller, which recently revealed that the chief of staff of the show's president is a murderous villain of presidency-destroying dimension? Card's eyebrows shot up merrily. ``I hear the chief of staff is kind of a bad guy. Didn't he drug the first lady?'' Yep, and Card's TV counterpart also conspired to engineer a nerve gas leak to incriminate a terrorist organization to prove it had weapons of mass destruction. Card backed up in mock horror. ``I'm not him,'' he said emphatically, eyes wide, waving his arms in front of himself to ward off any notion of a link to reality. ``I didn't do that.'' And then he was gone, spurred by a desperate need to catch up with his wife. Addressing the audience, Mitchell pointed out his company's oft-reported origins, that it was the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 that inspired him to found a classical ballet company of African American dancers--which is, all these years later, still a unique institution. Left unsaid was what it would mean for black ballet dancers if such a company could not survive. In fact, none of the speeches mentioned Dance Theatre of Harlem's having come so close to financial ruin, or the fact that its laid-off dancers' unemployment claims ran out long ago. Bush, seated with his wife in the front row and within a few feet of the small stage, smiled throughout the show, which included children as well as professionals. Hands clasped in his lap, he kept up a steady piston action with one knee--an intriguing tic, yet what did it mean? Restlessness? Excitement? A dream of mashing the pedals on a mountain bike? Harolyn Blackwell, Audra McDonald and LeAnn Rimes each sang solos as well as songs that accompanied more dancing. It was all very classy, very polite, if somewhat restrained. Enter Al Green, the great uncorker, who got throats to open and hands to clap--some on the beat, quite a few off--and got the president to join in the dance. ``The whole evening was so relaxed,'' Mitchell enthused afterward. ``That was a major miracle.'' Speaking of miracles, Mitchell stated his favored outcome: ``I hope this opens the door, that dance becomes a line item in the federal budget so we can take the arts all across America.'' A different miracle may be a bit closer to actually coming to pass. When she became board chairman and vowed to get the troupe back on its feet, Reynolds told The Washington Post that ``failure is not an option.'' So how close to success-- and public performances--is the company now? ``We're close,'' she said. ``We'll probably be making an announcement in the summer.''

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce into the Record the editorial entitled ``Still Shortchanging the Troops'' which appeared on February 10, 2006, in the New York Times. The military industrial complex is in your face America, front and center, rewarding corporate America, contractors and Halliburton, but shortchanging the troops. The New York Times in its lead editorial on February 10, 2006, made a scathing criticism of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's recently revealed Defense Department budget. As the Times put it: ``It's amazing how Donald Rumsfeld's Defense Spending plan can produce a $439 billion and still skimp on the one thing the American Military desperately needs: expanded ground forces so the weakened and cannibalized Army'' can meet the needs of Iraq without hurting its ability to respond to other threats. I do not believe more ground troops are needed in Iraq. I think this editorial is referencing the fact that the troops fighting in Iraq are returning two, three and four times and have borne more than their fair share of President Bush's Iraq war. I support Congressman Murtha's position that our ground troops in Iraq have become the targets in Iraq; the one unifying idea for all the splintered factions fighting a civil war there is that Americans must get out of their country. However, there is much I do agree with in the editorial. I agree that it is a disgrace to spend only a small part of its 7 percent budget increase for increase of pay and recruitment bonuses while a ``large chunk of this nearly $30 billion goes to more new weapons and postponing overdue cuts in wasteful Air Force and Navy projects unrelated to fighting terrorism. This highlights as nothing else can the disconnect with what Secretary Rumsfeld says he cares about and what he really cares about. When the Secretary of Defense is at a press conference or a briefing, he consistently talks about this war and the brave men and women sacrificing in Iraq to keep us safe. He and President Bush have repeatedly expressed the view that we are fighting the terrorists ``over there, so we don't have to fight them over here.'' Support the troops has become the rallying call for those who blindly accept platitudes in place of plans and rhetoric instead of substantive answers to the many legitimate questions being asked by millions of US. citizens. Secretary Rumsfeld misses no opportunity to label Americans who do not give unquestioning support to the President's war as unpatriotic and worse giving support to terrorists and harming our troops in Iraq. It is quite obvious to me that neither President Bush nor Secretary Rumsfeld support our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. The President precipitously sent our troops into battle on false information and with no plan for the peace. Iraq has become a haven for terrorists and is currently in a civil war in which our troops are caught with nowhere to go. Secretary Rumsfe1d sent them into combat without the necessary armored trucks and tanks and without the necessary body armor. Even from the beginning of the war, there were stories about parents having to buy their sons and daughters armor and of parents collecting used bullet proof vests from policemen. Even after Rumsfeld was asked when he would get his armor, Rumsfeld had nothing but the most unsettling reply. You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you wish you had. No, Secretary Rumsfeld, you go to war with a properly equipped army and an exit plan to get the troops out of harm's way when the mission is accomplished. Even after this incident, when Secretary Rumsfeld was questioned by Members of Congress about the lack of proper armor, the troops did not receive what they needed. A recently released report from the Navy and Military pathologist showed that 80 percent of deaths from torso injuries could have been prevented if the troops had had the proper body armor. The Navy had ordered the armor. As of January 7, the Army had not. This indicates a neglect of the troops, not support for the troops. I am also glad that the Times repeats a truth well worth repeating and one I hope the country will finally understand and will not only demand Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation but hold him responsible for the many unnecessary deaths in Iraq caused by his refusal to listen to his own senior generals. According to the Times and according to my belief and that of many of my Democratic colleagues: ``The prospects of Iraq might have been very different today if Mr. Rumsfeld had listened to some of his own senior generals and occupation officials and authorized significantly larger ground forces from the beginning. The early looting might have been contained before it shattered political confidence and vital infrastructure. The insurgency might never have gotten such a head start. . . . But the obstinate ideologues in Mr. Rumsfeld's Pentagon have never accepted the fact that the reality of Iraq did not fit their assumptions. The budget and the four-year plan released with it read almost as if the current conflict had never happened and could never happen again.'' The budget priorities reveal Mr. Rumsfeld's utter disdain for our troops and an almost unbelievable disconnect from what is actually happening in Iraq. In his speech before the National Press Club on February 3, 2006, Secretary Rumsfeld reiterated his view of the war Americans now face, a war he calls a ``generational war.'' This is the war both he and the President have variously described as the war on fascist Islamic fundamentalists; or against al Qaeda terrorists, or ideologues determined to replace our American values with the values of those who hate freedom and hate our way of life. A very important point made by the Times editorial and the one I want to particularly emphasize is the complete disconnect between the Pentagon budget and spending plan set out and explained to the National Press Club on February 3, 2006, and what Mr. Rumsfeld is spending on in 2007. The President and Mr. Rumsfeld have told the Nation it will be fighting for the next 30 years or perhaps forever a long war against an army we can't see because it does not represent a nation state; it may not wear a uniform; it could be in any country at any time. But, as the Times points out: ``Instead of reallocating resources toward the real threat America faces, the military services continue to pour their money into fighting fictive superpowers in the wild blue yonder and on and below the seven seas. Pentagon budgeters showed themselves so pathetically unable to restrain spending on expensive ships and planes that they actually cut back, rather than increased the overall size of the Army over the next few years to pay for it. It would cost about $4 billion to $5 billion a year to give the Army 30,000 more troops, the minimum it needs to check its alarming slide. Instead the Pentagon chose to begin the construction of two unneeded new stealth destroyers, which will end up costing $2 billion to $3 billion each. It also decided to splurge on a new nuclear attack submarine for $2.6 billion and to shell out $5.5 billion for separate Navy and Air Force versions of new stealth fighter jets, plus another $5.5 billion for yet a third version that either can use. In all the Pentagon is asking for $84 billion to buy weapons systems--twice what it got in 1996--and $73 billion more for research and development. This budget would be wasteful even under a worst-case assumption that had a second superpower arising within the life span of these weapons, turning hostile to America and arming itself to the teeth with the most advanced weapons. There's still unnecessary spending that could be used to repair the Army, which has been ground down at least as much by Pentagon miserliness as by Iraqi insurgents. The citizens of this country, all of them care about the troops. Disagreeing with the President's policies or lack of them does not mean an American does not care about the troops. I would argue those questioning the President care more about the troops than the President. In the same way, Secretary Rumsfeld, preparing for wars with fictive superpowers while still ignoring the very real need of the troops in Iraq, reveals a chilling lack of concern for the troops. [From the Washington Post, Feb. 3, 2006] Army Pledges No Cutbacks in National Guard (By Ann Scott Tyson) Facing pressure from both parties in Congress and state National Guard leaders, the Army yesterday committed to keeping the National Guard's authorized manpower at 350,000 and promised to fund it up to that level. ``If they recruit 350,000, the funding's there. Their authorization remains 350,000,'' Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army's chief of staff, said at a Pentagon news conference yesterday. Because of recruiting shortfalls, the Guard has about 333,000 soldiers on the rolls, but Guard leaders say they are confident of reaching the goal of 350,000 this year. ``We are on a glide path to get to 350,000,'' said Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, director of the Army National Guard, who appeared at the briefing with Schoomaker. The Army had proposed cutting the budgeted Guard strength by about 17,000 positions, in part by replacing six combat brigades that each have 3,500 to 4,000 slots with brigade headquarters that have only a few hundred, said Maj. Gen. Roger P. Lempke, president of the Adjutants General Association of the United States. The National Guard, which represents about 38 percent of the U.S. military's force structure, has served heavily in Iraq, deploying seven combat brigades as well as headquarters and other units with tens of thousands of troops since the war began. Last fall, it surged 50,000 troops to respond to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. ``There's a very strong sense out there among our political leadership that the Guard should not be reduced in any way right now,'' Lempke said yesterday. ``We don't know where the war is going. We're very heavily deployed'' and the suggested cuts ``didn't set well,'' said Lempke, whose association represents the senior leaders of the Army and Air National Guard in the 54 states, territories and the District of Columbia. A bipartisan group of 75 U.S. senators yesterday sent Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld a letter stating they ``strongly oppose'' reported proposals by the Pentagon to cut National Guard force levels. ``We respectfully oppose proposals to cut the end-strength of the National Guard,'' said the letter from Sen. Chrstopher S. Bond (R-Mo.) and Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), co-chairs of the Senate's National Guard Caucus. The letter signed by 73 other senators. Lempke said he welcomed the Army's commitment to keep end strength at 350,000, which he said will help ensure budget money is allocated for the necessary training and recruitment. Schoomaker said the Army would progress with a plan to cut the number of National Guard combat brigades from 34 to 28, but reiterated a plan to replace them with six support brigades. One reason for the reduction in combat brigades, he said, was that many of the units were not fully manned or equipped, a situation worsened when soldiers and gear were shifted to units deploying for Iraq--a process the Army calls ``cross-leveling.'' ``We've used 34 brigades all over the world, and we've had to cross-level big time since 9/11 to make that happen,'' Vaughn said. The Army plan calls for ensuring the 28 remaining combat brigades will be fully manned, trained and equipped to be ready to deploy, Schoomaker said. Toward this goal, the Army has budgeted about $21 billion from 2005 to 2011 to modernize equipment for the National Guard, which he said was a fourfold increase over funding levels in 1999. ``This is a tremendous investment,'' Schoomaker said. ``This is not taking things down; this is building wholeness up.''

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, my friend, Mr. Thomas, the chairman of the awesome and powerful Ways and Means Committee, has normally presented brilliant arguments, many of those I have opposed; but I have really never seen such creative thinking as he has done on the alternative minimum tax. I would hope the whole world, and that is at least those in New York and around the country, will hear who he is describing as the richest people in the world. I mean, coming from California there may be some distorted thinking about incomes, but from all of the statistics, they say that over half of the people are between the incomes of 100 and $200,000, they would be getting the relief. And then if we were talking about, I do not want to start a class war because I do not want to offend any on the other side, but over 50 percent of the relief under the interest in the capital gains would go to people above a million dollars. And so I do not think we would call the 100 to $200,000, certainly as it relates to the Nation, that is high income, but it certainly does not compare to the recipients of those in the categories that will receive capital gains and corporate dividends. But more importantly, I beseech Mr. Thomas to deal with the question of equity. When we are trying to help somebody in terms of taxes or to take away some benefits from somebody, it may be done in the back room, but ultimately the public will know which group are the beneficiaries. Now, there is no way that you can contradict that nobody in this Congress or the Ways and Means Committee or the Finance Committee ever thought that the people that we were going after to make certain that they paid a minimum tax would find themselves being pushed in the category where they would be paying out thousands of dollars in taxes which we never intended for them to have, they just got pushed into this by inflation. We owe them more than new people that would benefit, some kind of relief. Now, this whole idea that we did it outside of reconciliation means that you did not do it at all. We know that when the House and the Senate conferees go to conference, that is when Democrats are invited to go but whether we are there or not, that we try to find out what is the best in both of the bills. So it would seem to me that the only thing that we truly have that was passed by both the House and the Senate was relief for the alternative minimum tax. True, the Republican-controlled House did not put in any reconciliation, but those who were invited to go to conference would at least know that the Senate had it in their reconciliation bill and the House overwhelmingly passed it. So it would seem to me, in equity and fairness, if you are talking about the intent of the House and the Senate, since they never included in their reconciliation bill the concept of the tax relief being given to capital gains and to corporate dividends, that in good conscience you could come back to the House and report that you followed the instructions. It just seems to me, Mr. Chairman of the full committee, that you already knew that you were not going to give relief to the AMT; and now, instead of saying that we are sorry that we never responded to an equitable need, we never intended to throw these people into this category, instead of that, you have made them the richest people in the world. Well, it is getting close to the election; and since the economy is doing so well, we will stick by that. If Republicans say they are the richest people in the world, Democrats would support that you said it.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize a passionate newsman, Marvin Scott of WPIX--Channel 11, who has dedicated more than 35 years to bringing accurate and unbiased news to all New Yorkers and to enter into the Record a Daily News article commemorating Scott's career. Last year marked a great milestone--Scott's 25-year anniversary at WPIX. For the last quarter century, New Yorkers have welcomed Scott into their homes each evening because the Bronx-born reporter has had his finger on the pulse of the community. From a very young age, Scott wanted to be a reporter. His dream actually started when he sold a photo of a Bronx fire to the Daily News and upon return from the fire, held his first ``news broadcast'' to his Bronx neighbors, Scott jokingly recounts. Throughout his career, which first began in radio but then WNYW--Channel 5 before his arrival to WPIX--Channel 11, Scott has covered space shuttle launches, interviewed world and local leaders, and most recently traveled to Iraq and spent Christmas with U.S. troops. It is this type of sacrifice and sensitivity that has made Scott an informative and integral part of the New York City media. One such story that is a testament to Scott's remarkable ability to connect with his viewers is the story of Stephanie Collado, a young girl from Brooklyn who years ago needed a heart transplant. Scott reported on her family's plight and remains in touch with Collado even today, years after the operation. As Scott says, he continues to live his dream. Hopefully, he will do so for many more years to come. [From the New York Daily News, Nov. 28, 2005] Great Scott! 25 Yrs. at 'PIX (By Richard Huff) Marvin Scott and a few close friends will gather today to mark a rare milestone in television--a quarter of a century at one station. The Bronx-born reporter has been with WPIX/Ch. 11 for 25 years, and spent 10 years before that with WNYW/Ch. 5. He was in radio even before that. ``I had a dream of someday being able to be a reporter in New York,'' said Scott. ``A role model of mine as a kid was Gabe Pressman [now at WNBC/Ch. 4] and now Gabe is a contemporary and a friend.'' Scott's dream to be a reporter actually started when he sold a photo of a Bronx fire to the Daily News. He made $27 for the sale. His first news broadcast, he joked, was when he returned from the fire and delivered the details to his neighbors at Mount Eden and Townsend Aves., in the Bronx. Decades later, his audience is bigger, of course. ``I do it for the adrenaline and a love for what I do,'' he said. ``I could not think about doing anything else. No two days are alike.'' Scott's a stickler for details. Indeed, he's been keeping track of every story he's done for years. He figures he's told more than 4,600 stories in 25 years. ``Sure, some are clunkers,'' he said. ``I'll never turn down an assignment.'' Scott says he's been on the front line of history. He's covered Space Shuttle launches, interviewed world leaders and spent Christmas last year with soldiers in Iraq. ``I'm a story teller,'' he said. ``Every day I tell a story that runs from a minute-and-a-half to three minutes.'' One story that has stuck with him for years concerns Stephanie Collado, a young girl from Brooklyn who needed a heart transplant. He followed her story from her mother's pleas for help, to the operation and the years after. He still talks to Collado from time to time. ``It was human,'' he said. ``It was a human story about a little girl in need. Adults would not have handled it as courageously as she did.'' The key to survival is being a good writer, and being sensitive, Scott said. That's advice he gives all young journalists, including his daughter Jill Scott, a reporter for New York 1 News. ``I'm most proud of the fact that she did it on her own,'' Scott said. ``She made her own opportunities and she got noticed. It makes me so proud.'' And no, even though many of those who started out in the business when Scott did have thrown in the towel, he has no intention of stepping aside anytime soon. ``I just feel blessed,'' he said. ``I am a kid from the Bronx and I'm continuing to fulfill my dream.''

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, last year the United States laid eyes on one of the greatest natural disasters to ever hit our Nation. Hurricane Katrina ravaged a large part of our country, our economy, and, as a nation, our spirit. Last year Congress committed aid to the victims of this tragedy which the President signed into law. But our work and our commitment to the people of the gulf coast region cannot end there. If we turn our backs on those victims, we will only be subjecting them to another disaster, that of a government which isn't willing to support its own people. In the months following the hurricane, news and media coverage were filled with photos and video of the effects of abject poverty leaving people in dire straits. Yet today, a short 4 months later, the faces of Katrina have all but disappeared from magazine covers or the nightly news. Make no mistake that the victims are still victims, and the journey back to rebuilding whole communities and lives is a long and difficult road. To that end, I take pride in introducing, with my esteemed colleagues Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Congressman Bill Jefferson, Congressman Rahm Emanuel, and Congressman Charlie Melancon, the Relief for Working Family Victims of Hurricane Katrina Act of 2006. At present, thousands of families that suffered through the hurricane remain far from their homes and without adequate recourse or resources to help return their lives to normal. Over 900,000 children in the States effected by Hurricane Katrina were ineligible for the refundable child tax credit because their parents earned income level was too low, often by the smallest of margins. Current law restricts the refundable credit to families with income levels over $11,000, and more if the families have more than one child. This bill would allow working families earning $10,000 a year, just about minimum wage, to claim the full credit. I am joined in these efforts by my good friend, Senator Barack Obama, who is introducing companion legislation in the Senate today. Relief like this can carry a family miles down the road to rebuilding their lives. Congress must uphold its commitment to the victims of the hurricane. President Bush, in his State of the Union Address, remarked that, ``In New Orleans and in other places, many of our fellow citizens have felt excluded from the promise of our country.'' It's sad that it took an epic disaster to open America's eyes to the lives of the impoverished and marginalized. The greater tragedy is if we do nothing about it.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay homage to a man who gave a voice to the voiceless first in his native Jamaica and then throughout the world. The legendary reggae singer Bob Marley would have turned 61 on Monday, February 6 and it is appropriate that we pause to recognize the extraordinary impact of his life and work. Not only did Marley define reggae music as we know it today, but he introduced it outside his native land of Jamaica, achieving international superstar status and shaping music on a global scale. His message of freedom and empowerment resonated everywhere and was an inspiration to a generation. While evolving his sound to encompass rock and African themes, Marley never diluted his message, underpinning his music with the politics and theology of his Rastafarian beliefs and his personal struggles in Jamaica. He has inspired everyone from Stevie Wonder to The Clash with his lyrics. His music was a social force, calling for opportunity, justice and freedom and challenging those who sought change to act to achieve it. Throughout his career, he was influenced by the gulf between haves and have-nots, a culture of oppression that was particularly evident in his poverty- and crime-ridden homeland. Reggae's mesmerizing rhythms carried an undeniable signature that rose to the fore of the music scene in the 1970s, largely through the recorded work of Marley and his group the Wailers. Some of his albums, such as Natty Dread and Rastaman Vibration endure as reggae milestones that gave a voice to the poor of Jamaica and, by extension, the world. Much of his music today aims to uplift the impoverished and powerless, instilling in them a beautiful sense of dignity in their culture, despite the hardships they encountered in their daily lives. In 1978, he received a United Nations Peace Award for his attempts to calm the warring factions of Jamaican politics and played at Zimbabwe's independence celebrations in 1980, where he came to learn that more Zimbabweans knew the lyrics of his song than they did the words of the national anthem. Marley died prematurely at age 36 in 1981, after doctors discovered a cancerous growth on his foot haphazardly after a soccer game. Despite his death, the heartbeat reggae rhythms of the music that he left behind continue to thrive today. Moreover, Jamaica itself has been transformed by his legacy. Marley was buried on the island with full state honors on May 21, 1981. In a crowning irony, given the reviled status that Rastafarians and their music had once suffered at the hands of the Jamaican government, Marley's pacifist reggae anthem, ``One Love,'' was adapted as a theme song by the Jamaican Tourist Board. Bob Marley continues to live today in our hearts and minds, as does his music. With anthems such as ``Get Up Stand'' he continues to fight for those who feel they cannot. With such a vision, Marley continues to be worthy of recognition and remembrance.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize legendary tap dancer Fayard Nicholas who died on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at the age of 91 and to enter into the Record a statement remembering Nicholas prepared by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Nicholas was the elder half of an amazing tap dance legend--The Nicholas Brothers. Together the show-stopping duo influenced generations of dancers with their wildly creative tap routines, which included slides across the floor and signature no-hands leg splits. Legends in their own time and ours, Fayard and Harold Nicholas are best known for their unforgettable appearances in more than 30 Hollywood musicals in the 1930s and '40s. They were talented singers and actors as well, but Jim Crow segregationist customs kept them from having speaking parts. Their artistry, choreographic genius, and unique style--a smooth mix of tap, jazz, ballet and acrobatic moves--have astonished vaudeville, theatre, film and television audiences all over the world. Their work influenced dancers from Gene Kelly to Fred Astaire to Debbie Allen, Gregory Hines to Savion Glover. Russian ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov once called the Nicholas Brothers ``the most amazing dancers I have ever seen in my life--ever.'' Born in Mobile, the brothers learned to dance while watching their musician parents who played in their own band at the old Standard Theater--their mother at the piano and father on drums. Fayard was 18 and Harold was just 11 when they became the featured act at New York's Cotton Club in 1932. They then appeared on Broadway with ``The Ziegfield Follies of 1936'' and later Hollywood appearing in such great hits as ``The Pirate'' (1948) with Gene Kelly and Stormy Weather (1943) with Fred Astaire. In 1981, the Brothers were honored with a retrospective of their work in films at the Academy Awards. Fayard received a Tony Award for his choreography in the Tony Award winning Broadway show ``Black and Blue'' in 1989. Two years later, the brothers received a Kennedy Center Honor. Their legacy has also been remembered with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and induction into the Apollo Theater Hall of Fame. Even after Harold passed away in 2000 due to heart failure, Fayard kept their legend alive by giving lectures and demonstrations until 2004, when he suffered a stroke. Not only is the Nicholas Brother's dance skill to be admired and remembered but so is their spirit. With each advancement in their career, they overcame racial discrimination, proving that even ignorance cannot dampen one's skills and drive. The Nicholas Brothers stand as a testament and an example to all by finding joy in following one's passion. I join the NAACP in remembering Fayard Nicholas. NAACP Mourns the Loss of Legendary Tap Dancer Fayard Nicholas Nicholas Brothers duo inspired dancers such as Fred Astaire, Gregory Hines and Savion Glover The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) mourns the loss of Fayard Nicholas, the elder half of the tap-dancing duo the Nicholas Brothers, who died Tuesday in Los Angeles after suffering from pneumonia. Bruce S. Gordon, NAACP President and CEO, said ``Both of the Nicholas Brothers will be greatly missed. They took their passion for the art of dance and turned raw talent into skill. Each performance by the Nicholas Brothers demonstrated the depth of their creativity and left audiences gasping at their show-stopping presentation.'' Fayard and his brother Harold overcame racial boundaries when their vaudeville tap show headlined New York's Cotton Club in 1932. From there the brothers went on to dazzle audiences on Broadway and Hollywood. In 1934, the Nicholas Brothers were hired to be in their first major musical titled, Kid Millions, and appeared on Broadway in The Zeigfield Follies of 1936. Despite the lack of formal training, the Nicholas brothers also pioneered in the art of ballet and in 1937, they performed in Babes in Arms. Throughout the 1940s, the Nicholas Brothers updated their style and performed in a series of musical films in Hollywood. Among those films was Sun Valley Serenade (1941) with performances with Dorothy Dandridge, whom Harold later married and divorced. In 1948, the pair performed a memorable routine with Gene Kelly in Be a Clown. After a series of international tours, nightclub and television performances, the brothers' schedule remained tight. In 1970, Fayard captured the leading role in The Liberation of L.B. Jones and in 1989 won a Tony Award for his choreography of the Broadway revue Black and Blue, featuring child tap star Savion Glover. In 1991, the Nicholas Brothers received the Kennedy Center Honors and were honored at the Academy Awards. Harold passed away in 2000 from heart failure, but Fayard continued to give lectures and demonstrations until suffering a stroke in November 2004. Fayard Nicholas was 91. Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. It's adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities and monitor equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank former chairman Conyers for yielding me this time. It is really ironic that you would be on the Judiciary Committee during all of the years that it took to get the King holiday there; and also that, as a Member of Congress, you lived through the civil rights movement with the people that we have honored in the past and with Dr. Coretta King. I think if we had to review where we are with Coretta King, it is that she wasn't that woman behind a successful man. She was truly a partner and a leader in her own right. Somehow she knew when to speak out and when just to leave it to Martin Luther King. What I have found over the years is that she has such a personality and such a soothing voice; but, boy, I am telling you, if it dealt with a challenge against what is right, against inequality and injustice, this very soft spoken, beautiful woman knew how a civil rights leader is supposed to take risk and go to the mat. When we lost Dr. King, how quickly she was able to pick up that torch and to give to this Nation the leadership that really turned us around from a Nation that was struggling with racism and even today continues in that fight for equality for all Americans. Those of us that were able to march with Dr. Martin Luther King cannot think of a time when she was not there marching with him. Any pictures from the past, Coretta Scott King was there. How often we work with these people as though they are mere mortals, only to find out when they are gone how deep that vacuum has been made by their loss. For all of the groups that Coretta Scott King has provided the leadership for, we hope since we cannot replace Coretta King, that all of us have in us some type, some quality of the conviction and the courage that Dr. King and his beautiful wife had. And collectively, if all of us can say this is not a struggle for the King family or a civil rights leader, but a struggle for this great country, I think we can move forward.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Mrs. Coretta Scott King and to add my support to H. Res. 655 honoring the life of this extraordinary woman. As much as we loved and respected Mrs. King, her family has suffered an even greater loss. To the King children--Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter, and Bernice, know that you have our deepest heartfelt sympathy. Hailed as the `First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement', Coretta Scott King had to endure injustices at an early age. Born in Heiberger, Alabama and raised on the farm of her parents Bernice McMurry Scott, and Obadiah Scott, she was exposed at an early age to the injustices of life in a segregated society. She walked five miles a day to attend the one-room Crossroad School in Marion, Alabama, while the White students rode buses to an all-White school closer by. Yet through it all, young Coretta excelled at her studies, particularly music, and was valedictorian of her graduating class at Lincoln High School. She graduated in 1945 and received a scholarship to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. As an undergraduate, she took an active interest in the emerging civil rights movement; and joined the Antioch chapter of the NAACP, as well as the college's Race Relations and Civil Liberties Committees. Her life would be forever changed when she met a young theology student, Martin Luther King, Jr. They were married on June 18, 1953, in a ceremony conducted by King's father, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. Coretta Scott King was very supportive to her husband during the most turbulent days of the American civil rights movement. After his assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, she kept his dream alive while also raising their four children. In her own words, she was ``more determined than ever that her husband's dream would become a reality.'' For more than a decade, she worked tirelessly to have her husband's birthday observed as a national holiday. Her determination would payoff when it was first celebrated in 1986. In 1969, she established the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, dedicated both to scholarship and to activism. With fierce determination and undying strength, Mrs. King worked to keep Dr. King's ideology of equality for all people at the forefront of people's minds. She picked up the baton when it was dropped by her husband's assassination and continued to move forward in the civil rights arena. In her own words, ``We must make our hearts instruments of peace and nonviolence, because when the heart is right, the mind and the body will follow.'' She exemplified courage, strength, and a deep compassion for justice. Coretta Scott King will be remembered as one of America's greatest treasures and will be forever missed.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Mrs. Coretta Scott King and to add my support to H. Res. 655 honoring the life of this extraordinary woman. As much as we loved and respected Mrs. King, her family has suffered an even greater loss. To the King children--Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter, and Bernice, know that you have our deepest heartfelt sympathy. Hailed as the `First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement', Coretta Scott King had to endure injustices at an early age. Born in Heiberger, Alabama and raised on the farm of her parents Bernice McMurry Scott, and Obadiah Scott, she was exposed at an early age to the injustices of life in a segregated society. She walked five miles a day to attend the one-room Crossroad School in Marion, Alabama, while the white students rode buses to an all-white school closer by. Yet through it all, young Coretta excelled at her studies, particularly music, and was valedictorian of her graduating class at Lincoln High School. She graduated in 1945 and received a scholarship to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. As an undergraduate, she took an active interest in the emerging civil rights movement; and joined the Antioch chapter of the NAACP, as well as the college's Race Relations and Civil Liberties Committees. Her life would be forever changed when she met a young theology student, Martin Luther King, Jr. They were married on June 18, 1953, in a ceremony conducted by King's father, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. Coretta Scott King was very supportive to her husband during the most turbulent days of the American civil rights movement. After his assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, she kept his dream alive while also raising their four children. In her own words, she was ``more determined than ever that her husband's dream would become a reality.'' For more than a decade, she worked tirelessly to have her husband's birthday observed as a national holiday. Her determination would payoff when it was first celebrated in 1986. In 1969, she established the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, dedicated both to scholarship and to activism. With fierce determination and undying strength, Mrs. King worked to keep Dr. King's ideology of equality for all people at the forefront of people's minds. She picked up the baton when it was dropped by her husband's assassination and continued to move forward in the civil rights arena. In her own words, ``We must make our hearts instruments of peace and nonviolence, because when the heart is right, the mind and the body will follow.'' She exemplified courage, strength, and a deep compassion for justice. Coretta Scott King will be remembered as one of America's greatest treasures and will be forever missed.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, as the end of 2005 draws near I rise to say a few words about the people of Darfur and to enter into the Record an eyewitness account of Hillary Anderson a BBC correspondent in Darfur entitled Sudan's Slow and Cruel Starvation first broadcast July 2004 in which she personalizes what Darfur means in pain for mothers and children in Darfur. Unfortunately the year 2005, especially in the last few months, has gotten worse than 2004 for the people of Darfur. According to the United Nation's humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, people are still being killed, the Janjaweed Militias are still armed and kill at will, women are raped, men are dead, no food is planted or harvested. Mr. Egeland announced on December 20, 2005, the situation in Darfur was so bad that aid organizations were being threatened and might be forced out of the country. Therefore we can know with a sad heart that Ms. Anderson's 2004 story of Juma and Nadia has been repeated many times in 2005. And if this Nation does not act, this story will be repeated thousands of times in 2006--until there are no more Jumas and no more Nadias. Ms. Anderson begins her piece from the Mornay camp: ``I am sitting in the dark on the edge of a camp for displaced people in Darfur. I can hear the loud persistent crying of one child rising above the murmur of the camp as the people settle down for the night. Tonight the stars are out--that means no rain. Last night was not like this at all. You can see it coming in the afternoons. The sky begins to darken and the horizon goes an ominous, brown shade of yellow. Then the wind starts and the dust of the Sahara desert whips up, blasting whirling sands in all directions. The people start to run in their long rags, heads bowed against the wind. Then, the heavens simply open, the wind ferociously hurls drenching curtains of water at everything around. Mothers with their children, whose faces are twisted up in misery, squat grasping the sides of their makeshift shelters--which do not keep them dry. The torn plastic bags that make up the walls of their twig shelters flap madly in the wind. The ground turns into a mire of mud. . . . In the morning we wake up to hear the children crying. In the makeshift hospital here, set up by foreign aid workers, it is so crowded with the sick that some are sleeping on the floors. Among the stench and the flies, the children lie wasted, staring into space. Tiny human beings, who were born into the madness of man's inhumanity to man, into the madness of a spate of killing that has left many of their fathers, brothers, grandparents and uncles dead. And now, they face starvation which is cruel and slow. Most of the children are too far gone to eat. Some have the peeling skin and lesions that come with advanced starvation--their skin is wrinkled, lose around their bones. The mothers sit by powerless. We spent two weeks in Darfur, driving through the eerie, burnt-out villages, empty of people. We traveled to Mornay camp, where we were a month ago. On arriving back, we went to the medical tent. It was strangely quiet inside. Four people are sitting in a circle. A mother was looking down and sobbing silently, rubbing her hands on her face. I realized I knew her. Then it slowly came to me what was going on. Her daughter Nadia, whom we had spent two days with in this tent a month ago, was dying. The mother, Juma, was saying an awful goodbye. We moved away in their private moment. Ten minutes later Nadia was dead. The men took her body away to prepare for the burial. Then they emerged at the far end of the grave yard, carrying her tiny body in their hands. They said their prayers and laid her body in the earth. Juma, her mother, sat on the ground. She wasn't crying any more. After the funeral I went to pay my respects. . . . When she saw me, she started screaming `Nadia, Nadia, Nadia.' She fell on me, screaming, she kept screaming. She kept repeating her daughter's name. Then the older women started screaming too. When Juma left the graveyard I saw her walking away on her own, sobbing and crying her child's name into the breeze of the vast desert, into the nothingness of the camp. . . . Darfur is a nightmare that is alive here today and perhaps somewhere else tomorrow. Racial and tribal tensions, and regional disquiet, have erupted into a war where the civilians are being punished, killed and abused. We are the adults, this is the world we live in and accept. The world we have created for ourselves. . . . Why are massacres of civilians allowed to happen in Sudan? Why has no-one counted the dead?'' [From BBC News, July 24, 2004] Sudan's Cruel and Slow Starvation (By Hilary Andersson) I'm sitting in the dark on the edge of a camp for displaced people in Darfur. I can hear the loud, persistent crying of one child rising above the murmur of the camp as the people settle down for the night. Tonight the stars are out--that means no rain. Last night was not like this at all. You can see it coming in the afternoons. The sky begins to darken and the horizon goes an ominous, brown shade of yellow. Then the wind starts and the dust of the Sahara desert whips up, blasting whirling sands in all directions. The people start to run in their long rags, heads bowed against the wind. lack of shelter Then, the heavens simply open, the wind ferociously hurls drenching curtains of water at everything around. Mothers with their children, whose faces are twisted up in misery, squat grasping the sides of their makeshift shelters--which do almost nothing to keep them dry. The torn plastic bags that make up the walls of their twig shelters flap madly in the wind. The ground turns into a mire of mud. My TV crew and I run for our shelter 15m (50ft) away. All night, the rain pounds against our ceiling. I wake up at 0300--it is still going on. The people on the other side of our wall are still sitting, bracing themselves against the wind and rain, where they were at dusk. This is what it is like most nights for them. waste In the morning we wake up to hear the children crying. In the makeshift hospital here, set up by foreign aid workers, it is so crowded with the sick that some are sleeping on the floors. Among the stench and flies, the children lie wasted, staring into space. Tiny human beings, who were born into the madness of man's inhumanity to man, into the madness of a spate of killing that has left many of their fathers, brothers, grandparents and uncles dead. And now, they face starvation which is cruel and slow. Most of the children are too far gone to eat. Some have the peeling skin and lesions that come with advanced starvation-- their skin is wrinkled, loose around their bones. The mothers sit by powerless. We spent two weeks in Darfur, driving through eerie, burnt- out villages, empty of people. We travelled to Mornay camp, where we were a month ago. On arriving back, we went to the medical tent. It was strangely quiet inside. Four people were sitting in a circle. A mother was looking down and sobbing silently, rubbing her hands on her face. I realized I knew her. Then it slowly came to me what was going on. Her daughter Nadia, whom we had spent two days with in this tent a month ago, was dying. The mother, Juma, was saying an awful goodbye. We moved away in their private moment. Ten minutes later Nadia was dead. The men took her body away to prepare for the burial. Then they emerged at the far end of the graveyard, carrying her tiny body in their hands. They said their prayers and laid her body in the earth. Juma, her mother, sat on the ground. She wasn't crying any more. Crying to the desert After the funeral I went to pay my respects. Juma had two older women next to her who, perhaps through custom, were telling her to hold her emotions in. But when she saw me, perhaps remembering the filming we did with Nadia last month, she started screaming ``Nadia, Nadia, Nadia''. She fell on me, screaming, she kept screaming. She kept repeating her daughter's name. Then the older women started screaming too. When Juma left the graveyard I saw her walking away on her own, sobbing and crying her child's name out into the breeze of the vast desert, into the nothingness of the camp. Donkeys, half starved themselves, moved around slowly. Refugees continued collecting water and fixing their huts. This happens here every day. Darfur is in a nightmare that is alive here today and perhaps somewhere else tomorrow. Racial and tribal tensions, and regional disquiet, have erupted into a war where the civilians are being punished, killed and abused. We are adults, this is the world we live in and accept. The world we have created for ourselves. Will these things still happen in Africa a century from now? Will it ever change? Why are massacres of civilians allowed to happen in Sudan? Why has no-one even counted the dead? Money is needed desperately now to save lives. But it has gone this far in Darfur, because no-one really noticed or did anything to stop it. Nadia did not have to die at all.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to enter into the Record ``Witness for Justice #245'' entitled My Christmas List, published on December 5, 2005, by the United Church of Christ of Cleveland, Ohio. The article eloquently written by Bernice Powell Jackson the Executive Minister of this Church on 700 Prospect Avenue in Cleveland is a fervent wish for Peace. Her wish, her prayer, is one that many of us share with her and I hope is in the hearts and on the lips of every minister, rabbi and imam when he or she stands before a congregation. Minister Jackson believes that for Christians the call to work for peace comes from the Prince of Peace. Those of other faiths, she says, are called ``by our Creator to work for a world of peace not only at this time of year, but all year long.'' Minister Jackson's first wish on her Christmas list is for peace on earth. I join with her in this wish for all of us; but I wish the God's peace especially for the least among us for these are the first victims when peace is absent. These victims are the women, the children, the child soldiers, the soldiers and their families, the poor, the invisible, the uncounted, the sick, the forgotten, and those whose dignity, even humanity, is not acknowledged--the enslaved, the trafficked, and the tortured. Minister Jackson's second wish is for young people who are ready and willing to take up the struggle for a world of peace and justice. She states this article, number 245, is her last Witness for Justice Column. She hopes for young people like the ones who struggled for civil rights in the U.S., in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, in the people power struggle in the Philippines, and in Tiananmen Square in China will arise to take on the causes for which she has been such an effective advocate. Minister Jackson recognizes the struggle continues against poverty. I join Minister Jackson in her second wish and add a second wish of my own. I wish that we will see the end of extreme poverty in our lifetime. I commend the work and advocacy of Jeffery Sachs, Bill and Melinda Gates, Bono and Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and wish with them that childhood AIDS can be treated, that the AIDS Pandemic in Africa can be stopped, that treatable diseases that cause blindness in Africa can be eradicated and that people who are too poor to live can receive simple remedies like mosquito nets that will save 5000 children a day in Africa, clean water and enough food to flourish not just survive. The third wish on Minister Jackson's Christmas List is for health care for every American. I join her in this wish. Ours is the richest country in the world and yet 45 million Americans cannot afford health care. Minister Jackson says the health care system is ``imploding all around us.'' It is failing us. As a nation, America can no longer afford not to have health care for all Americans. The lack of universal health care for Americans represents a failure of our government and of our priorities; both must be changed. Finally, Minister Jackson wishes for a return of a value which she writes ``seems to be disappearing from our landscape--the value of integrity.'' Integrity she says is ``a value which can only be earned through a life of honesty, fairness, forthrightness and a commitment to the common good of all humankind. It is a value which seems to be sorely lacking in government, in politics, in media, in business, even in religion. Integrity means standing up for what is right and just and true, no matter which way the winds of the world blow. It means speaking the truth, not words of political spin . . . It means matching your words with your life. My Christmas wish is for an increase in integrity in our world.'' I join Minister Jackson in this wish with all my heart. Witness for Justice #245, Dec. 5, 2005 My Christmas List (By Bernice Powell Jackson) Every year for the past eleven years I have shared my own Christmas list with you. Most years it has included a wish for even a day of peace in the world--when war ceases, when domestic violence pauses, when guns are laid down in homes and cities and nations. It hasn't happened yet, despite the prayers and the hard work of so many of you. Nevertheless, I believe, that those of us who are Christian are called to work for peace by the Prince of Peace. Those of other faiths are also called by our Creator to work for a world of peace not only at this time of year, but all year long. So my first wish is for peace on earth. As I write my last Witness for Justice column, I wish for young people who are ready and willing to take up the leadership in the struggle for a world of peace with justice. I am reminded that there has been no viable struggle for justice and peace which did not include young people in the leadership in the last century and I am sure that will be true for this century as well. Young people were a part of the leadership in the civil rights struggle in the U.S., in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, in the people power struggle in the Philippines, even in Tiennamin Square in China. We need young people willing to say war is not the answer, poverty is not the solution and racism can be no more and to do the difficult work of making such a world a reality. That may mean using old tried and true methods of protest like marches and demonstrations and letter-writing, and it might include new 21st century high-tech methods of protest driven by the internet. We need the energy and enthusiasm of young people in the work for peace and justice and my Christmas wish is that each one of us who are elders will mentor a young person to take the lead in this millennia-old struggle. My third wish is for health care for every American. If there is one issue which can impact every one of us and which can be won in the next two years, I believe it is national health care. Simply put, the health care system is imploding all around us. Corporations large and small know it, labor unions know it, non-profit organizations know it, retirees know it, those 45 million Americans with no health care insurance know it, the medical profession knows it, and hospital administrators know it. Even the politicians know that the health care system we now have is not working for any group in America except possibly the insurance industry, but unless we DEMAND an immediate change, however, politicians will not do anything about it until it collapses around us. Maybe the total collapse of General Motors or maybe the influx of Asian bird flu into the U.S. with millions unable to afford treatment or maybe millions of retirees losing their promised health care benefits or millions of workers being required to pay higher and higher deductibles will be what propels the collapse of our present- day system, but my Christmas wish is that Americans demand that our nation come up with national health insurance before the system collapses not afterwards. My wish is for a return of a value which seems to be disappearing from our landscape--the value of integrity. Integrity is a value which can only be earned through a life of honesty, fairness, forthrightness and a commitment to the common good of all humankind. It is a value which seems to be sorely lacking in government, in politics, in media, in business, even in religion. Integrity means standing up for what is right and just and true, no matter which way the winds of the world blow. It means speaking truth, not words of political spin. It means looking out not just for oneself, but for the whole community, especially those who are powerless and can't stand up for themselves. It means being willing to admit mistakes and to ask for forgiveness, knowing that we are all human and fallible. It means matching your words with your life. My Christmas wish is for an increase in integrity in our world. My Christmas wish list this year is for health and wellness for every reader, for laughter and joy, for strength and comfort in the days ahead. In the words of the great American writer, Maya Angelou, ``I wouldn't take nothing for the journey''. The struggle continues!!!

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, this Budget reconciliation spending cut bill asks those with the least to sacrifice the most, while providing the most fortunate with even more. Today's Bill: This Budget reconciliation charade is such an affront to working and lower-income families that our nation's religious leaders have stepped in to say `enough is enough.' The Lutheran Bishops sent a letter saying this bill is contrary to Biblical teachings. The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church has said this reconciliation bill is ``tantamount . . . to blasphemy.'' And the Conference of Catholic Bishops have said they are ``deeply disappointed'' with this legislation, especially ``its lack of concern for children.'' The conference report before us includes a number of cuts that would hurt children, the disabled and poor Americans. This bill picks on our most vulnerable citizens who depend on Medicare, Medicaid, SSI, child support, welfare and a host of other critical programs. Some of the most egregious items in the conference report include: Unfunded Welfare Policies: includes new work requirements in the TANF program without providing adequate funding for child care. According to CBO, the bill is far short of the nearly $11 billion needed to implement the new work requirements and keep child care funding even with inflation. Cuts Child Support Enforcement: CBO tells us that the reductions in child support collections will reduce collections being sent to families by $8.4 billion over the next 10 years. Cuts Assistance to Relatives Caring for Abused Children: the report eliminates Federal foster care payments to grandparents and other relatives with limited incomes who are caring for abused children. Delays Assistance to the Disabled: the report delays the payment of past-due benefits to low-income disabled individuals who are eligible for back payments. Medicaid and Medicare cuts: the legislation before us makes extraordinary cuts in Medicaid that will raise health care costs and reduce benefits for our nation's most vulnerable children and individuals. It also contains more than $6 billion of Medicare cuts, including premium increases. Protects Special Interests: this agreement protects special interests at the expense of struggling families. Yet, the conference did not have to pursue these Dickensian cuts. It could have accepted Senate language that reduced overpayments to private insurance companies. Or it could have gone further, and completely eliminated these overpayments, which would negate the need for most of the pain and raise more than $20 billion over five years. Instead, it's gifts for the greedy, and cuts for the needy. I don't know what the poor, elderly, disabled, and foster children have done to deserve this. And I don't know why the Republicans would wait until the wee hours of the morning, just a few days before Christmas, to show just how mean-spirited they can be. For the Republicans to deal this heavy blow to the poorest among us at the same time they reduce taxes for the very rich is not only wrong, but it smacks of being immoral. Future Tax cuts (February?): The $56 billion Republican tax bill overwhelmingly benefits the very wealthy. Nearly 50% of the benefit from the extension of capital gains and dividend rate cuts goes to households with incomes over $1 million This tax bill grants these wealthy households an annual benefit of more than $32,000. In contrast--Middle-income families receive only 2 percent of the benefit of the capital gains and dividend rate cuts, resulting in an average annual benefit of only $7. So the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class gets left behind. That's Republican economics. I urge a ``no'' vote on this shameful conference report.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, there certainly was a lot of emotion in the speech given by the chairman; but I suspect in this time of the year where so many people are concerned about our sick, our poor and our disabled, that rather than being moved by the rhetoric of the Republicans, we might take a deep breath and find out who is on our side as Democrats. I know that the poor and the aged and disabled do not have much of a political voice, but somehow in this holiday season the spiritual leaders probably understand this a little better than some of us. These are the charitable organizations that reach out, Catholic Charities, the Jewish Council Against Poverty, the Protestant Council. Each and every day they run soup kitchens and try to assist people, especially mothers that have no one in the household to assist them in raising their children. Any specialist will tell you, if you do not give a kid the right start, you do not give them a chance to get to school, and cut the resources from under him to get an education, it is not just why can they not do it my way or why did he not get an inheritance. It is a question of where do these kids end up. They first end up not paying much taxes since they do not have the talents to get a job; but worse than that, in New York we spend $84,000 for every kid who gets in trouble who finds himself on Ryker's Island, and I do not think you have to be a health specialist to know that when you cut the ability of people to get access to health care, they do not necessarily die right away. More often than not, they end up at the most expensive of expenditures, and that is in our hospitals. I do not know what the poor and the disabled have ever done to the majority or, indeed, what the moral majority, why they would wait until Christmastime to show just how mean they can get. Even if they cannot control this meanness, why would they do it at a time when they have given hundreds of billions of dollars of tax cuts to the very wealthy? I am not that good spiritually, but know my friends on the other side of the aisle that are so concerned with the Bible and biblical phrases, there is one thing somewhere, and I do not know all of the facts as is properly recorded, but it deals with a bunch of rich people that could not get in heaven because they had not treated the lesser of Jesus' brothers and sisters the way he would want. I have never seen a more classic example of the violation of that spirit than what I have seen in the last couple of weeks on this floor. So you can raise your voice all you want, you can scream about spending, but it just seems to me that there are no religious leaders that I can think of that feel they have an obligation to take care of those people who are in the hospital, who are hungry, who are without clothes, who are without food, and certainly the children who are really the least powerful of all, if you had to do it, why do you not just do what you do in conference and come out and say that we authorized it? But to have this heavy blow at a time when you are reducing the taxes on the very rich is not only wrong, but it smacks of being immoral. This is the wrong thing to do. This is the wrong time to do it, and it is something that I am confident is not in accord with the moral teachings or the spiritual beliefs of anyone in this body. What you are doing is saying that you have to cut spending. Why can Iraq not get on that list of not wanting to spend? Why can we not just slow down the rebuilding of Baghdad and rebuild the health of some of our people and the schools of some of our people? Why can we not invest in Americans and make them the most productive people that we can make? Why do you pick on the most vulnerable in Medicare, which the other side is probably going to hit as badly as we hit Medicaid? What are these programs? The programs are listed as SSI. What does it mean, you have to be blind, disabled or aged? Medicare, you have to be old and sick? Medicaid, you have to be poor and sick? The programs are designed to bring the moneys to the mothers who have been abandoned or just for children, and the other one is education. Is there anyone that you missed, the sick, the poor, the young? Is there anyone else that you want to include that programs should be cut? I might also add, with capital gains tax cuts and corporate dividend tax cuts, is there anyone that is rich that you missed in terms of not giving a tax cut? What a combination package you have given to the American people and what a time to do it. So whether you call it Christmas or holiday seasons or Chanukah or whether you call it Kwanzaa, you sure picked the right time to hit the wrong people at this time of the year.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. My colleagues, I do not know how the majority gets away with what they do. I do not think that their legislative initiatives are just for the legislation, but rather to do away with traditions that have existed under Democrat administrations. If you have an immigration problem, lock up the immigrants and lock up the employers. If you have a health problem, then get rid of Medicaid and Medicare and let the private sector resolve the problems. If you have a prescription drug problem and you want to subsidize that and help out the older people, do not let the Federal Government do it. Give the money to the private sector; let them compete and let them do it. The Social Security system, if people have relied on their government when they get older or disabled, do not let the government be involved. Get some private accounts and let them do it. Now we are talking about how well the economy is doing: plants are closing; people are fearful of losing their jobs; pension plans are going busted; and, really, people do not feel nearly as good as the Republicans and the President think. Now we have a bill before us where these pension plans would be a heck of a lot better if we did nothing, rather than do the harm that we are about to do to them. The demands that are going to be made on employers to reach sometimes the increase of 240 percent in making contributions to these plans will cause many of them to drop the plan and go into bankruptcy. The whole idea of how much revenue we are going to lose, some $70 billion, is not even an issue, if at the end of the day enough sweetheart nips and tucks were given to a handful of people so that we would be assured that the days of defined benefit pensions are just about over. Some people will have to make political choices today in terms of support of this because there are some vested interest people that need short-gain satisfaction. But at the end of the day, the same way people regret their votes for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, they will have to come back and ask did they do more damage than good on today. If you look at actuaries and people who have studied this, they realize that so few pensions are now protected by the PBGC, and in the future many less will be protected. So, Madam Speaker, these bills are not brought up just to become law. Many of the bills that are coming to this floor are brought to see which people are going to vote against the title of the bill and pay a price for that at the polls, or whether some are secure enough to vote against the substance of the bill that in the long term is going to adversely affect our workers. At this time with the House permission, I would like to turn the balance of my time over to Congressman Ben Cardin from Maryland who has spent a lot of time on pensions and can share with the House the pitfalls that we have in this bill before the House today. I yield the balance of my time to Congressman Cardin.