Loretta Sanchez

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, this past June, United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Vietnam to formally open the United States Embassy there. The recent establishment of diplomatic relations reflects changes between the United States and Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and the lifting of the trade embargo in 1994. Thus, several issues are emerging in the dialogue between the United States and Vietnam. It necessitates the creation of a forum for Members to express their views and to work with the administration on forming foreign policy towards Vietnam. I rise today to call on my colleagues to join the Congressional Dialogue on Vietnam. It is founded by myself and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Zoe Lofgren). This group will facilitate the dialogue between Members of Congress. It will also provide information to interested parties, and it will engage in discussions between Congress, the administration, and the Vietnamese-American community. Last September I co-chaired a human rights caucus, a briefing on the human rights situation in Vietnam. During this briefing we heard from representatives from international, religious, and human rights organizations about the status of human rights, religious persecution, and the social and political state of Vietnam. Through this hearing we learned that there are several voices wanting to be heard on this issue, and it is our job to give these groups the forum to do so. I strongly believe that with the normalization of relations between the two countries there comes a great responsibility. Now, more than ever, it is of critical importance that we pay careful attention to the progression of developments in U.S. Vietnam policy. Again, I strongly urge my colleagues to join the Congressional Dialogue on Vietnam, and I look forward to working with each of them on this important issue.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall vote 21, final passage of H.R. 2181, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted YES.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, over the past few weeks there have been several news reports about one of the most rapidly growing crimes in our communities. In fact, the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register have both reported a rise in physical and financial abuse against senior citizens. As our population continues to grow older, we must be prepared to face the reality of these horrible crimes. As leaders in our communities, we must be prepared to deal with this growing problem of elder abuse. All too often seniors are taken advantage of in their own homes. Many perpetrators see senior citizens as easy targets who are both vulnerable and oftentimes unable to defend themselves. It is our responsibility to help protect our elders from these criminals and to ensure that they feel safe within their own homes. I have been working closely with the local agencies, law enforcement agencies and the FBI to develop legislation that will effectively protect senior citizens from abuse. H.R. 3181 does this. H.R. 3181, the Older and Disabled Americans Criminal Protection Act, authorizes shared housing agencies to run background checks on potential caretakers. Shared housing agencies give seniors the opportunity to remain within their own homes by matching them with a caretaker who cares for them in lieu of rent. Unfortunately, shared housing agencies do not have the proper tools to help ensure the safety of these senior citizens. H.R. 3181 gives shared housing agencies the proper mechanism to run State and FBI background checks on potential caretakers before placing them in the home of a senior citizen. The local police departments in my district along with the FBI have commended H.R. 3181 as a proactive effort to prevent crime. They recognize the growing problem of elder abuse and realize that my bill attacks these crimes by lessening the chance that they will ever occur. As people grow older, remaining in their homes should increase their level of comfort and security, not threaten it. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in this effort to protect our loved ones and to battle the growing problem of elder abuse. It is our responsibility to give our communities the proper tools to battle crime. Cosponsor H.R. 3181 and protect our senior citizens.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor the League of United Latin American Citizens on this their sixty-ninth birthday. LULAC was founded in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1929 and is the oldest and largest Hispanic civil rights organization in the country. Since its beginning, LULAC has promoted the cause of Hispanic Americans in education, employment, economic development and civil rights. LULAC has established nationwide programs for educational attainment, job training, housing, scholarships, citizenship, and voter registration. LULAC has adopted a legislative platform that promotes humanitarian relief for immigrants, increased educational opportunities for our youth, and equal treatment for all Hispanics in the United States and its territories, including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. In every endeavor, LULAC has stood for the rights of individuals. Through community outreach, LULAC has touched the lives of thousands of Hispanic members of society. My congratulations to the founders and members of LULAC and my best wishes to the continued success of this venerable organization on its sixty-ninth birthday.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for this time and for his diligent and effective representation for the citizens of Orange County. I thank also the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Gejdenson), the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick), and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), who have each carried a special burden in this cause. And to all of my colleagues on this side of the aisle and to a handful on the other, congratulations. They were right. When others were spreading false and dark and shameful allegations of criminality and conspiracy, they stood tall for justice, and their judgment was confirmed by 19 honest citizens on a grand jury of Orange County. It was unfortunate to call this process an election contest. It causes some to think that this is a game. It is serious business whenever we contemplate throwing out a single ballot in any race, especially when a voter has never been confronted with the evidence against them. It is not over. In the coming days the committee intends to have these suspects purged from the voting rolls despite overwhelming evidence that the vast majority were legal voters last November. I hold here in my hand an official document of the committee. However, the committee is so ashamed of this political hit piece it would not even put its own name on it. I say to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), his document contradicts his own task force chair, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers). It is rebutted by 4 sworn statements. It is refuted by the indisputable fact that the accuser claims he was in possession of an absentee ballot even before they were distributed by the Republican registrar of Orange County. And finally, he leaves out the fact that he was a disgruntled fired employee of a school district and that he made his accusation against a school board member who refused to order his reinstatement and who was not an employee of my committee. A word about racism: We searched the Congressional Record for the last Congress and found 50 occasions when this House and the other body debated race-based outcomes. Of course, those references to racial preferences and reverse discrimination and race-based set-asides were about affirmative action. Whenever this Congress subpoenas government records of Americans at the INS, for a narrow slice of time in a small geographic region the outcome will be race-based. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, the outcome would unfairly target Dutch immigrants; in San Francisco, the Chinese immigrants; in Miami, the Cubans would be unfairly labeled; and in Providence, Rhode Island, it would be Italians. Racism is persistent and as real today as it was 100 years ago. As we honor the birth of a great leader, President Lincoln, let us resolve to understand these issues and to open our minds to do more to end this bias against any ethnic or racial subgroup. I say to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) I heard and understood him on this issue, and therefore I extend an invitation. If he will permit me to join him in a school in his district to discuss voter fraud or anything else, I will host him in my district to do the same. And to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), he says the Contested Election Act needs changes. I invite him to sit down with my staff and to do bipartisan reform. And to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), his district and mine have serious problems with water reclamation projects. Half of our State today is declared an emergency. Could we not begin tomorrow by working together on this important issue? And to the Speaker, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrich), I know of his proposal to launch a new effort in America's schools to teach civics. I challenge him to expand his ideals and ensure that every 17- year-old spends time learning about registration, the electoral system. Give them hands-on experience. Let them see what voting is about. We must do more to reverse the decline in voter participation in this country of ours. And finally, I am reminded of 2 Sundays ago when I was the guest of honor at a Catholic mass in my district. The priest gave a sermon about rejection, the rejection Jesus felt when he was turned against and the rejection his Orange County parishioners felt when their votes were cast in doubt. Today, Orange County is celebrating the dismissal of this case. I am going home to tell those parishioners that the faith they placed in this democracy has been honored, that they have not been rejected by those who stood tall in their defense, that here, uniquely in this world, justice will ultimately prevail on behalf of the voters of Orange County.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Taller San Jose (St. Joseph's Workshop) for offering hope to the Latino youth who seek a productive, self-reliant future. The young people who come to Taller San Jose are looking for a second chance to ``work on their lives''. The students are male and female, 18 and over, and bilingual. They have usually dropped out of school, often more than once; have one or more children; want to finish school; and seek job training in order to become productive adults. The program includes life skills and mentoring, GED preparation, computer literacy, clerical skills, nursing assistant training, and woodworking. All classes are designed for participants to develop job ready skills and behaviors which translate into accountability and responsibility. The program also offers classes to the larger community such as English as a Second Language at the basic and intermediate levels. Taller San Jose, which has been open for 2\1/2\ years, was a recent recipient of the Audrey Nelson Community Development Achievement Award. This award recognizes exemplary uses of Community Development Block Grant funds which address the needs of families, homes and neighborhoods. TSJ was recognized as one of six in the nation to receive this national award in 1998.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register this weekend reported on one of the fastest growing crimes in our communities: financial and physical abuse of seniors. And according to Orange County's adult protective services, most elder abuse is money motivated. Seniors are the victims of various financial scams, many of which occur within the privacy of their own homes by entrusted caretakers. Financial and physical abuse against seniors is on the rise. Last year, Orange County logged 3,419 elder abuse calls and predicted that about only one in six are reported. And in most of these cases the abuse occurs within the privacy of their own homes. As many people grow older, remaining in their homes should increase the level of comfort and security and peace of mind, not threaten them. That is why I fear the potential for abuse in shared housing arrangements. Let us prevent this abuse before it happens. Shared housing agencies provide living arrangements for seniors who wish to remain in their homes, but require some additional care. An example of a shared housing arrangement would be, for example, if my mother had a vacant room in her house and needed someone to help her pay the bills and do her shopping, she could seek out someone in a shared housing arrangement. The agency would refer a potential caretaker, who would live with her and care for her in lieu of rent. Unfortunately, we live in a society where violent crimes occur every day, and we can no longer guarantee safety within our own homes. But we can increase our level of safety through continued preventive efforts. I believe that the problem of crime is, at least in part, a problem of resources. Until now, shared housing agencies have not had the resources necessary for proper safety for their clients. And without the ability to check the backgrounds of clients, they confront constraints that hinder them from increasing public safety. Therefore, I have introduced H.R. 3181 to assist shared housing agencies in preventing crime. This bill authorizes shared housing agencies to run background checks on potential caretakers. And this bill is not just about background checks and fingerprinting, it is about making our communities safer for all of us to live, it is a tool that shared housing agencies can use to prevent violent crimes and to help protect our loved ones. This bill provides the appropriate mechanism to be proactive in stopping abuse and fraud. But most importantly, it gives us all the peace of mind to know that our loved ones will be safely cared for within the privacy of their own homes. My bill establishes the necessary process to help combat the potential for abuse in shared housing. It is important to recognize that the bill does not mandate, does not mandate, an agency to run FBI checks on their clients; it is merely a tool that they can use if they choose to. It is flexible and voluntary. It allows each agency to determine whether or not it is beneficial for them to use the FBI in order to guarantee protection for their clients. And by allowing the State and FBI to run background checks, service within housing arrangements will only improve. Administrators will receive comprehensive reports and will be able to better determine what is a most suitable and safe match for their clients. I have been working very closely with the FBI and local police departments, who agree that this bill can significantly reduce fraud and physical abuse. Currently there is no national standard, no operating procedure to screen potential home-sharers. Many States have begun to run checks for child-care providers and for school teachers. Just as it is our responsibility to protect our youngest citizens, it is also our responsibility to ensure the safety of our seniors. I encourage my colleagues to cosponsor H.R. 3181.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, education, education, education. I sit on the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Now, Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to hear so many people this year talk about education. In particular, when I see some of them were the ones who were cutting the school lunch program for our children just a few years ago. And I remember that, because I sat on the other side of the television watching and hearing what was being debated. Today, when we were talking about national standards, something we had already resolved last year, I thought, this is not doing any good for our children. So let us talk about issues that really matter to our children. For example, school construction. Now, this past couple of months, every weekend when I have gone back to Anaheim and Santa Ana and Garden Grove, the areas and cities that I represent, I have been visiting schools. In fact, I have probably visited almost 60 elementary and secondary schools in my district. And since I went through the public school system in Anaheim, I have gone back to many of the same schools that I graduated from. Indeed, one of the biggest reasons that I ran for Congress was because I wanted the children in Anaheim to receive the same type of education that I had received 25 years earlier. Well, the biggest problem we have right now back home is that our children have no classrooms in which to study. In fact, I visited an elementary school patterned exactly the way my elementary school was patterned. The same floor plan, where a teacher was holding class in what used to be the broom closet for the janitor of our school or, for example, I took a look at the classroom that was made from the breezeway because we used to walk through a silent tunnel to get from one set of classes to the other when I went to school, and now, doors have been slapped on the sides and this too has been turned into a classroom. And I held a forum just a few weeks ago in my district with minority leader Gephardt and Juanita Millender-McDonald, a former public school teacher in California, and we listened to parents and to children and to school administrators talk about what it feels like to be in an elementary school built for 500 with 1,100 children attending; with 23 permanent classrooms and 27 portable classrooms on the playground, on what used to be basketball courts, on the grass areas, and our children are going year-round to school. Even in Anaheim, we are contemplating such a shortage of classrooms that we will now be considering in July double sessions, which means our children could go to school early in the morning and be late getting out in the dark, for example. So it becomes even more important to address the issue of school construction, and we are trying to do that. I have introduced a Rebuild America's Schools Act, which would require local parents, teachers, taxpayers, to take the responsibility of building new classrooms, and we would help them by giving them tax credits for the interest paid on bonds they would have to pay, they would have to pass in order to build new schools. Individuals would have to take local responsibility to ensure that children have a place to study, but we need to help them. And in California where we are growing by 5, 6, 10 percent a year in the number of children who attend schools, we must find a solution. I hope that the bill that I have here in Congress now will become law. It is patterned after a program we already have on the books, one which we passed in August. Mr. Speaker, it is not just urban city children who need help. It is children in suburbs who also have many attendees in their school districts, it is children that I represent. It is not just at-risk kids who we must talk about, because all of our children are at risk right now. They are at risk when one child is hungry in the classroom and bothering those who are fed. They are at risk when there is no band program in the school. They are at risk when PE has been taken away because there is no gymnasium and no money to build those facilities, and they are at risk when our children have no playgrounds because there are portable classrooms sitting there. Let us really talk about what matters to our children.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained on February 4, 1998 for the vote on H.J. Res. 107, Fees and Sanctions Relating to Health Care Task Force. Had I been present, I would have voted `aye.'

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, many of you know that my major legislative focus this past year has been to alleviate California's and the Nation's overcrowded schools. I have introduced a bill, the Expand & Rebuild America's Schools Act, to ensure that schools with high growth rates have a Federal incentive to pass local bond initiatives to help build new schools and new classrooms. To highlight this legislation, I held a forum this past month in my hometown of Anaheim, California, a forum on school overcrowding, and it was attended by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), our Democratic leader, and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Juanita Millender-McDonald). She herself is a former teacher in California. We held it and we had witnesses to talk to us about how they are affected by the overcrowding crisis. Students and teachers, administrators, education experts from my district, Sacramento and Washington, D.C. gave valuable testimony that shed light on what is going right, what is wrong, and what has to be done to help our kids. And, yes, I did hear a 6th grade student talk about how she no longer has playground space because portable classrooms were needed to be placed on the school's blacktop; or the teacher's frustration who said she was using a coat closet as a workroom; or even the knowledge that I have of having returned to my elementary school there in Anaheim and to see the janitor's mop room now being used as a classroom for special education children. And I know that we need to solve this problem of school overcrowding. The forum produced many good ideas about what must be done locally and in our State to build more schools, but what remains clear is through this we still need Federal help. I applaud the President for stepping up to the plate and offering two major bond programs to encourage renovation of schools and new school construction. His bond program could be, in my view, more focused on alleviating the crowding of our most impacted schools, and I look forward to working with the administration to ensure that some exception or preference can be given to schools suffering from both high growth rates and little space. For example, the elementary schools in Anaheim were built for 500 students, yet each of them has almost 1100 students attending. And, of course, they are now on year-round schedule. My legislation, which offers a similar bond financing program, is a good example of getting local people to take on the responsibility of financing their schools with an incentive that if they do this, we will help them, not by creating more Federal bureaucracy or a new spending program, but by offering interest free rates on bonds because the Federal Government will provide a tax credit to the lenders in the amount of the interest. Therefore, these local agencies will only have to repay the principal. Only schools which are highly impacted by overcrowding can qualify for these bonds. School overcrowding is not only just a problem in Orange County or in California, but States such as Nevada and Arizona, Florida, and Pennsylvania are experiencing the same challenges. If my colleagues would like additional information about the forum and the information we have received there, please contact me. And I hope that we can work together to ensure that our children can get all the space that they need.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to honor Colonel Aaron Bank on his birthday. Colonel Bank is one of our great military leaders and one of our great Americans. Colonel Bank helped found, organize and train the United States Army's elite Special Forces group which is known today as the Green Berets. He was hand-picked to organize and develop the Army's Special Forces division because of his depth of knowledge and experience in unconventional warfare. Colonel Bank served his country through several wars. In 1942 he was recruited for the newly-formed Office of Strategic Services (OSS). In 1944, he parachuted as part of a three man team into occupied France to promote resistance there. While in France he sabotaged the Germans' efforts by blowing up railroad lines, bridges and electric networks. He gathered resistance fighters which had increased to 3,000 and turned back the Germans in a series of fire fights. At the end of World War II, Colonel Bank was sent to train Vietnamese troops. In an extraordinary feat, Bank parachuted into Laos to search for missing prisoners of war. After serving in Vietnam he was sent to Europe again and assigned to Army counterintelligence to catch Soviet bloc agents. By 1952 he was formally designated commander of the 10th Special Forces Group, the Green Berets. Throughout his career Colonel Bank has demonstrated his keen intelligence, his compassion and his patriotism. He has engendered the utmost respect for his fellow mankind. His devotion and love of country form the foundation upon which he has built his beliefs. Colonel Bank was a hero yesterday and is a hero today. His bravery, his devotion to freedom and his love for his country fill us with pride and admiration. Happy birthday and best wishes!

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to honor a wonderful person and a great American, on her 102nd birthday-- Thelma Gammell. Thelma is a joy to know. Perky, humorous, and filled with the spirit of life. She was born in Miller, South Dakota, and on October 9, 1895. Life was very different then. The United States, itself, was just over 100 years old. Her ancestors had migrated from Wales in 1776, during the Revolutionary War. Life was very difficult and often hard. Thelma, however, grew up in a family that had good values. They worked hard and they lived the best they could with what they had. Her childhood was filled with horseback riding, dolls and ``kitten playmates.'' The winters on the prairie were long and cold, but Thelma enjoyed playing in the snowdrifts with her sister. In 1912 Thelma met with her husband, John Gammell. They lived in several states including North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska. They had a son and a daughter who were both born in Wyoming. In 1937 the Gammells moved to Laguna Beach, California, where John worked as a carpenter and Thelma worked as a pottery designer. After retirement, the Gammells traveled, visiting friends in the Midwest. After her husband passed away in 1967, Thelma became active as a volunteer for the Santa Ana Senior Center and has continued her dedicated service for over 12 years. Surely her secret to a long life must be her warm and outgoing personality and her joy of life. For Thelma Gammell life had been filled with many wonderful memories. All who know Thelma have been charmed by her presence. Happy birthday and best wishes for a wonderful year.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize a remarkable culinary school that was recently established in Orange County, CA, the Orange County School of Culinary Arts. The school is sponsored by the Regional Occupation Program (ROP) of North Orange County. ROP is responsible for rehabilitating and re- training underprivileged and unemployed citizens and high school students to compete and succeed in a competitive work environment. The Orange County School of Culinary Arts offers a wide variety of culinary classes that is as good, if not better, than that of the larger culinary institutes in America. While the cost of tuition at one of the big three Culinary Arts schools often exceeds $27,000 per year, a course at the Orange County School of the Culinary Arts costs $40 per class, a $65 uniform fee and the cost of the food that is prepared and consumed. There is currently a shortage of professionally trained chefs in the United States by 2 million. By the turn of the century, this number is expected to increase dramatically with the expansion of the cruise industry and the resort business throughout the United States. In Orange County alone, there are 8 positions available for every qualified applicant, and existing programs have not been filing the void. The community has already flocked to the program. Almost 500 students have already enrolled when the student body was only projected to be 120 students. The courses range from beginner and advanced levels of preparation for a variety of foods, to restaurant management, nutrition, and sanitation. All courses are instructed by chefs with an extensive training in internationally-renown culinary academies and working backgrounds from the finest resorts and cruise ships around the world. I would like to recognize the Orange County School of Culinary Arts as a benchmark for other programs to follow. This program will not only alleviate the shortage of professionally-trained chefs, it will open a world of opportunities to neighboring citizens. From now on, a student can now pay for a professional training equal to those of the finest academies for a fraction of the cost. The Orange County School of Culinary Arts stands before us as a shining example of success for other communities to follow in the coming years.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to a bill I introduced to provide for the review of criminal records of individuals who wish to enter into shared housing arrangements with senior citizens and disabled persons. H.R. 2964, the Older and Disabled Americans Protection Act of 1997, will empower placement organizations with the authority to run FBI background checks on potential shared housing participants. Many seniors and disabled persons enter into shared housing programs which is a popular option for those who wish to remain at home, but need that little extra care and comfort to live on their own. Shared housing is a nonfee homefinder referral service that matches seniors and disabled persons with others who wish to share a house, apartment, or mobile home at affordable rates. There are more than 350 programs throughout the country. Usually, a participant lives in the home of a senior or disabled person and provides care in lieu of rent. Abuse in shared housing arrangements is on the rise. Most Americans do not know that senior citizens and disabled persons are all too often being manipulated and abused within the privacy of their own homes. A recent article on August 31, 1997, from the Orange County Register noted that 4 to 10 percent of Orange County's 350,000 seniors are victims of some sort of abuse. During the past 6 months, Adult Protective Services in Orange County, CA received 300 calls about financial abuse, compared with 70 calls for a similar period a year ago. These numbers ring true throughout the county, where abuse reports have risen to 2,173 in 1995 from a low of 903 in 1987. Most of these acts of abuse are either physical or financial, and unfortunately, many more cases often go unreported due to shame and reluctance on the part of the victims to report problems. I believe that solving this problem of abuse can be done through proactive prevention. Currently, there is no national or statewide standard operating procedure available to screen shared housing participants. Shared housing referral services and senior advocates have informed me of their desire to perform criminal background checks on those who wish to live with and care for the elderly and disabled persons. H.R. 2964 will give these agencies the means necessary to protect their clients from abuse. In addition, it would exempt services using background checks from any civil liability, so they can focus strictly on providing safe living arrangements for seniors. I believe this bill will help ensure that our Nation's seniors and disabled persons can lead secure, healthy, and dignified lives. I encourage my colleagues in Congress to join me in making sure that seniors and disabled persons do not become victims.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend my colleagues in the House for passing H.R. 1753, establishing not less than 2,500 Boys and Girls Clubs of America facilities by 2000. I was pleased to support this measure. I wish to direct particular attention to the work of the Girls and Boys Club of Garden Grove, CA. Since 1956, the Garden Grove clubs have strived to improve our community with programs that meet families' needs. The Girls and Boys Club of Garden Grove have 9 centers that serve 1,000 children every day, providing what these children need: a safe, enriching alternative to the streets, encouragement to succeed in school, and providing family support. Each of the nine ``Kids Clubs'' offer daily programs that are unique in order to address the specific needs of the children and families living in specific neighborhoods. In Orange County, 70 percent of children come home to an empty house after school. Children who are home alone after school are twice as likely as other children to abuse alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. As long as a child is actively involved in a Girls and Boys Club, they are not just staying off the streets, they are staying out of trouble. They are learning in computer labs and homework assistance programs; they are being fortified in cooking and nutrition programs, they are growing strong and confident in the gym and on the play yards, they are being enriched in craft classes and shops, and they are building character in leadership programs. The Garden Grove Clubs are currently seeking to establish five new ``Kids Clubs'' Centers at schools throughout my district. There are over 10,000 children needing a safe place to go after school. As of now, Garden Grove only has the sites to serve about 2,000 kids. I strongly support H.R. 1753 and encourage the National Boys and Girls Club to distribute funds and assistance to the successful Girls and Boys Club in Garden Grove so they can continue to enrich the lives of thousands of other young Americans.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong and full support for H.R. 1493. In addition, I am submitting two letters I received regarding this issue. In particular, I want to call attention to the fact that this bill will permanently reinstate a criminal alien, prearraignment identification program at the detention facility in the city of Anaheim, CA. This successful INS pilot program has existed in the city of Anaheim since October 1996. The pilot program has effectively identified 4,500 undocumented criminal aliens in city detention facilities before their initial court appearance. Such suspects often fail to appear for subsequent court proceedings. The INS can then determine which inmates are in the country illegally and therefore subject to deportation. On February 27, 1997, I wrote the Commissioner of the INS to urge continued operation of the prearraingment pilot program which was set to expire in April 1997. In addition, I asked the General Accounting Office to evaluate the cost effectiveness of the project. On March 14, I received a letter from the city of Anaheim thanking me for supporting the project as well as suggesting criteria for the GAO study. On April 3, the INS informed me that the program had been extended through June 30, 1997, primarily because of the facts I brought to their attention in support of the program. Finally, on June 20, 1997, I joined my colleagues in the Orange County congressional delegation in a bipartisan letter to the INS to extend the program. The INS agreed to continue the program indefinitely pending the continuation of appropriated funds. I have worked diligently on this issue because criminal conduct has no place in our communities. Moreover, undocumented criminal aliens should be quickly and permanently deported. Not only do I support the permanent deportation of undocumented criminal aliens, I want them caught before they commit crimes and jeopardize our communities. Without Federal assistance in undertaking this law enforcement effort, undocumented criminal aliens could cause undue harm to women, men, and children. Furthermore, immigration matters such as the determination of the immigration status of aliens is a Federal function. Local law enforcement should not perform the rightful duties of INS agents. Police must continue to take care when arresting individuals. Arrests must be based on probable cause and not on some profile based on ethnicity. The Federal Government should do all it can to avoid burdening state and local police budgets with the cost of identifying, apprehending and deporting undocumented criminal aliens. As a fiscal conservative, I believe Congress must implement a cost- effective program that deploys INS enforcement officers in the most efficient manner. I believe the bill would help ensure this is accomplished. We need to ensure that more criminals are captured earlier, before they have done harm to our people in our districts, and before they end up being a burden to our local law enforcement. Congress of the United States, Washington, DC, June 20, 1997. Ms. Doris Meissner, Commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Chester Arthur Building, Washington, DC. Dear Commissioner Meissner: As members of Orange County's Congressional Delegation, we ask that you continue the City of Anaheim's Criminal Illegal Alien Pre-Arraignment Identification Program after June 30, 1997. As you indicated in a March 17, 1997, letter to Anaheim City Mayor Tom Daly, ``The INS is constantly striving for new and innovative law enforcement initiatives to combat the involvement of foreign nationals in criminal activities. From all reports I have received thus far, the Anaheim project certainly has the potential of becoming such an initiative.'' The success of this program, and its sister program in Ventura County, has led to the introduction of H.R. 1493, a bill to extend these programs nationwide. The House Immigration and Claims Subcommittee recently held a hearing on H.R. 1493, and plans on moving this bill in the near future. In light of the fact that the Anaheim program is the only one of its kind in a city jail, and the only means of obtaining data from which Congress can evaluate the merits of this program, we strongly urge you to continue the program. We look forward to your response to this urgent request. Sincerely, Dana Rohrabacher. Ron Packard. Loretta Sanchez. Chris Cox. Ed Royce.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I guess I hold a distinction in this Congress. I say to my colleagues, I am a Head Start child, a public school kid, a Pell Grant recipient. I would say to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Paul], I think some Federal programs do work for our children, and I would say to the gentleman from Oklahoma [Mr. Watts], I guess when I started out, I would be one of those poor minority students the gentleman professes to be so concerned about. But, Mr. Speaker, today I rise against the so-called HELP Scholarship Act. Let us face it. This bill is not talking about scholarships, it is talking about vouchers, and that is why this bill bypassed our committee, the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for any consideration, and it is now on the floor under a gag rule. It saddens me that during a time when our public schools are facing their most challenging times, we are encouraging American people to turn to private schools to teach their children. Ninety percent of all of the children in America go to public schools, and the numbers increase every day. Let that be the focus of our education agenda: How to improve America's public education system. For example, in Orange County, all the kindergarten through 12 schools in my district are overcrowded. They have resorted to year- round classes, portable classrooms, just to deal with things in the classroom, and they still maintain high academic standards. Voucher programs, at most, would help only a few students, and those who do use these vouchers will not even be given civil rights protection under the school admissions process. What kind of school choice is that? School construction is an issue that deserves the attention of this Congress, not vouchers. That is why I have introduced legislation that will offer interest-free bonds to school districts to help them finance these new school needs, the school construction needs that they have. Let us do what is right for America's children. Let us make sure that quality exists for everybody in our schools. Please vote against H.R. 2746.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to speak about a friend, Walter Capps. My husband, Stephan, and I had a very difficult campaign. I came in January at the same time that Walter came with his wife, Lois. During this entire campaign, while we were south of Los Angeles, just north of Los Angeles, Walter Capps and Lois, his wife, were running for Congress. And I kept hearing some amazing things about this super man who would go out and talk to people and was bright and intelligent and had the toughest race going on in Congress. I kept thinking, would it not be wonderful if in California we would have somebody like Walter Capps representing us? And when I arrived, the first thing my husband said to me was, I would really like to meet Walter Capps. Of all the famous people we have here in Congress, my husband, Stephan, wanted to meet Walter. Now, my husband, Stephan, had gone to the University of California at Santa Barbara. He had spent five years there, finally graduating with his degree, and in that time he was one of those students who had petitioned to try to squeeze into one of Professor Capps's classes. And in five years there was such a demand for those classes that he was unable to be in his class. So he said, the one person I really want to meet is Walter Capps. As you know, my husband has stayed back in California, and I go out to California to be with him on the weekends. I kept saying to my husband, do not worry, you will get a chance. There is always the Christmas party in December. And as I heard about the death of Walter this week, the first thing that came to mind was that there never really is enough time. In fact, tomorrow sometimes never comes for some of us. If there is one thing I have learned from Walter's death, is that we all have to appreciate each other while we are here together. A couple of weeks ago, Walter came and sought me out and took me outside of these halls, and we sat down and we spoke a while. Walter and I had a lot of things in common. We were both Representatives from California. We both had tough races. He went back every single weekend, most of the time on the same plane that I did. Many times we would talk. And while many people have said, oh, my God, how can Loretta take the pressure of everything that is going on this year, what most people did not realize was that Walter Capps was doing the same thing I was doing, going back every weekend, talking to the people, getting ready for a very difficult reelection, being with the people back home, trying to be with his family, his three children and his wife, and trying also to do the job of a new Congressperson. He took me outside of this room and sat me down and he said, are you okay, Loretta? Is everything okay? Is there something we can do for you? Here Walter had been going through the same things, in essence, that I had and yet he had found the time to ask me if everything was okay in my life. I guess the most special thing about Walter was the fact that he had such a great family. As we all know, family takes time and it takes love and it takes commitment. About the greatest thing I can remember, as you all do, I am sure, is Lois and Walter together holding hands. That always struck me, because Stephan and I have been married for a little over seven years, and many of you have not had a chance to see us together. But when we are together, we hold hands. When I used to watch Walter and Lois, I used to think to myself, they do it and they have been married almost 37 years. I thought, would it not be great if when Stephan and I reach 37 years we are still holding hands? Walter, you taught me quite a bit. I am proud to call you my friend and, Lois, our thoughts are with you. He was a great man. He is a great man. He will be with us for many, many years.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time of the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Payne].

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez who, after 36 years of service, is resigning from Congress this year. I would like to join my colleagues in honoring this great leader. Congressman Gonzalez leaves a legacy of hard work and dedication to his constituents as well as the entire country. He provided leadership by serving diligently as the House Banking Committee chairman from 1989 to 94, where he shepherded 71 bills through the legislative process from introduction to enactment into law. Congressman Gonzalez is a role model for young men and women as well as the Hispanic community. Before serving in Congress, he operated a Spanish-English translating business with his father and taught math to veterans and citizenship classes to resident aliens seeking citizenship. He went on to serve his constituents of San Antonio as a member of the city council for 3 years and then as State senator for nearly 5 years. Congressman Gonzalez is a devoted public servant who will be missed by all of his colleagues. I am very proud of his achievements and contributions to our country.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today to draw the House of Representatives' attention to statements received at a Member's briefing I cochaired on the human rights situation in Vietnam on September 30, 1997. This briefing included testimony from experts from international, religious, and human rights' organizations on the social and political state of Vietnam. In addition to myself, the gentlewoman from California, Ms. Zoe Lofgren, the gentlewoman from Ohio, Ms. Marcy Kaptur, and the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Tom Davis, were also in attendance to hear the recommendations from these witnesses. Madam Speaker, I request the statements made at the briefing be submitted for the Congressional Record. This past June, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Vietnam to formally open the U.S. Embassy. The recent establishment of diplomatic relations reflects historic changes of the United States- Vietnamese relations since the end of the Vietnam war in 1975 and the lifting of the embargo in 1994. I believe that with the normalization of relations between the two countries comes a great responsibility. Now, more than ever before, it is of critical importance we pay careful attention to the progression of developments.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a couple who have actively supported our community, Mr. and Mrs. Wylie Aitken. Wylie and Bette are being honored with the Champions For Children's award by the Hillview Acres Children's Home for their strong commitment to children. Wylie and Bette are active participants in many political, legal, and community organizations, many involving children. They include Hillview Acres Children's Home; Rosary High School Board; California State University at Fullerton Special Games; Santa Ana College Bear Essentials and several Children's Hospital of Orange County guilds. Wylie founded the law offices of Wylie A. Aitken in Santa Ana and is the chair of the Democratic Foundation of Orange County. As a nationally recognized trial lawyer, he is called upon frequently as a guest on television and radio talk shows, and is a featured seminar speaker and consultant to other lawyers. Mr. and Mrs. Aitken were college sweethearts and have been married for 35 years. They have three children, Darren and Christopher, both attorneys and Ashleigh who works in Minority Leader Richard Gephardt's office. They both grew up in the 46th Congressional District of California and have consistently devoted themselves to their community. They are both long time members of St. Antonio's Roman Catholic Church in Anaheim and donate a great deal of their time to the church and related agencies. Besides working to help children, Wylie and Bette have been supportive of many other charities. They worked hard to elect women to public office and have spent time and energy combating teenage pregnancy. I am honored to call them friends and recognize their contributions to the community.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of the Rangel substitute to H.R. 2646, the Education Savings Act for Public and Private Schools. The Coverdell legislation is a Federal subsidy of private school education. Ninety percent of all the children in America go to public schools. The numbers are increasing every day. Let that be the focus of our education agenda, how to improve America's public education system. Our schools are trying to fix their problems. For example, the majority of kindergarten through 12th grade schools in my Congressional district are overcrowded. They are continuing to succeed despite the difficult circumstances. Should we not give incentives to local school districts to modernize, to renovate their schools, to build new classrooms rather than give incentives to parents to take their kids out of the public school system? That is why I am encouraging my colleagues to vote for the Rangel substitute. Let us do what is right for America's children. Let us make sure that a quality education is available to every student, regardless of their family income. Please vote for the substitute.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on an issue of national importance that has been ignored by this Congress. Schools across the Nation are bulging at the seams and the Department of Education predicts that overcrowding of America's schools will only worsen over the next decade. Yet school construction was not a part of our budget agreement and it has not been a part of the debate on this floor. The Secretary of Education recently released a Baby Boom Echo report citing that kindergarten through 12th grade enrollments will be at an all-time high of 53 million this fall. By the year 2007, the number will reach over 54 million. How much longer can we ignore the problem of school overcrowding? In my county, Orange County, we have one of the youngest populations in the Nation and Orange County schools are perfect examples of how overcrowding can create problems for schools and students across the Nation. Schools in my congressional district have one of the highest growth rates in the Nation, between 2.4 percent and 5 percent per year. Each time that I go home to my district, I visit one of those schools. During many of these visits, I have witnessed high schools and junior high classrooms where 50 or 60 or 65 students are crammed into one classroom. I have seen two classes being taught in one room. I have seen too many schools who use portable and temporary structures because they cannot afford to build new ones. Our kids are not getting the attention they need and their learning is being inhibited. In addition, schools are quickly deteriorating because of extended and increased use. Local school districts and States have obviously been unable to address school construction needs and, unfortunately, we have not given them an incentive to do so from the Federal level. That is why I have introduced the Expand and Rebuild America's Schools Act, which is a bill that will assist our local education agencies with the financing of school construction bonds. The Expand and Rebuild America's Schools Act offers a 2-year pilot bond program that local school districts can take advantage of when financing school construction needs. The bonds are interest free. Because the Federal Government will provide a tax credit to lenders in the amount of the interest that would otherwise be paid. But more importantly, this bill will reward schools that have high standards and that continue to succeed amidst bad conditions. This bond program will help those schools that have severe overcrowding problems, illustrated by year-round schedules and the use of these portable classrooms. Qualifying criteria for the program includes high growth rates and high student-teacher ratios. Finally, this bill allows schools to apply for the program directly through the Department of Education, avoiding any State bureaucracy in funding decisions or program administration. I hope this Congress will soon realize the importance of education, of our schools, and of our children. Let us make school construction and this bill a priority for our legislative agendas.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, my thanks to the Democratic leader for giving me this opportunity to appear before the full House to set aside any doubts about my full cooperation in this election contest. A few uninformed individuals have made accusations of stonewalling. In my case, the sooner this ordeal is ended, the better. That is why I took the affirmative action back in February to invite the task force to Orange County for a field hearing. At that 9-hour hearing, I voluntarily appeared and testified under oath. I answered each and every question put to me by the majority and by the minority. Ten days later, I provided this task force with the complete results of my own field investigation of the so-called 303 voters that the Secretary of State of California alleged were not lawful voters. I gave the names, the addresses, and voter registration information on nearly 200 of those individuals that we were able to interview or research and we had proof, they showed us proof that they were naturalized or native born U.S. citizens, some for many decades. In a detailed brief, I showed the task force each and every instance where our field investigation demonstrated that the INS data is simply wrong, wrong, wrong. I have complied with Mr. Dornan's subpoenas except those that the Committee on House Oversight quashed as not relevant to this election contest. My campaign has turned over thousands of pages of financial records. We filed thousands of pages of briefs and evidence which have refuted every one of Mr. Dornan's allegations, including his charge that U.S. Marines and Catholic nuns residing in my district were illegal or suspicious voters, and the committee has never issued a subpoena to me or to my campaign. The only subpoena the committee has issued has been to the INS. A few weeks ago the committee asked me, my campaign manager, and my campaign chairman to respond under oath to a handful of questions. We fully complied in the time frame the committee requested with over 1,800 pages of sworn statements and evidence. I have cooperated with this committee at every step, even while I exercised my right to argue before the district court, which had issued subpoenas about the constitutionality of this process and the burden that it has placed on innocent parties. Even though the Federal Contested Election Act requires that all parties, that all parties file with the Clerk of the House copies of all depositions in compliance with all subpoenas, neither Mr. Dornan nor the committee has filed any evidence with the Clerk or has shown it to me. Eleven months into this investigation and months after the INS has complied with the committee subpoena, I have not been provided with one ounce of information on a single individual on this list of over 5,000 people you continue to talk about. The committee has never offered me or my lawyers the opportunity to sign any confidentiality agreements necessary so we can take a look at any of the lists, let alone any evidence or details you might have about the truth. The investigation has been conducted in secret, despite the fact that the statute calls for full and open sharing of discovery in filings with the Clerk of the House that must be shared and should be shared with all parties in this dispute. This is a status report of what I have done and this is what I offer to my colleagues in the House. I hope this fully sets aside the notion of any effort on my part to stonewall this investigation.