José Serrano

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Chairman, here we go again. For the sixth year in a row, the FY 2001 Commerce-Justice bill includes only $141 million for the Legal Services Corporation. This is $164 million below the fiscal year 2000 appropriation of $305 million and $199 million below the President's fiscal year 2001 request of $340 million. When it was first presented to the House in fiscal year 1996, $141 million represented one-third of the prior year's level. But it has since become a meaningless number. For each of the past 5 years, a floor amendment offered by the ranking member of the subcommittee and supported by a bipartisan majority has raised the funding level for the LSC to about $250 million by shifting funds within the bill. Action by the Senate and in conference has typically resulted in a more realistic, but still meager, final appropriation. However, as funding allocations for the bill have gotten increasingly tight, it has become much harder to find accounts to cut as offsets for the add-back for LSC. And by now, the $250 million level that the House has typically adopted is far short of the amount needed to provide needed legal assistance to the country's poor and disadvantaged. It baffles me that some of our colleagues object to a Nixon-era entity, the role of which is to assure that low-income Americans have access to the civil justice system, surely a basic human and constitutional right, and which raises substantial non-Federal resources and promotes pro bono service by private lawyers to increase legal assistance to the poor. It was one thing to identify problems with LSC that certainly existed, but these problems have for the most part been fixed. In fiscal year 1996, for example, Congress enacted reforms requiring competitive bidding for all grants and accounts and imposing restrictions on the kinds of cases LSC grantees may engage in. Grantees remain prohibited from abortion, redistricting, or class-action litigation, from representing prisoners or undocumented immigrants, from welfare reform advocacy, and from any sort of lobbying. The cases LSC does work on include domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, as well as child custody and visitation, foreclosures and evictions, access to health care, bankruptcy, wage, unemployment and disability claims, consumer fraud, and similar problems faced by low- income individuals and families. During 1999, LSC closed more than 924,000 such cases, the overwhelming majority concerning women and children. That 924,000 figure shows how LSC responded to a problem by moving to correct it. LSC guidance on the definition of a ``case'' for purposes of case service reports, CSR, has become out of date and unclear, which led some grantees to report as cases activities that were not. LSC responded by providing new instructions guidance, training, requiring grantees to self-inspect their CSR data, increasing oversight to test grantee compliance, and following up where grantees need to take corrective action. Based on what LSC learned during this process, they were able to adjust the million-plus cases reported in 1999 by the estimated 11 percent error rate to arrive at the more accurate figure. Anyway, Mr. Chairman, this year I am offering an amendment to increase LSC funding by $134 million, from $141 to $275 million. This increase would be offset by cutting $82 million from Narrowband Communications, which would otherwise receive a nearly 75 percent increase; $23 million from the Assets Forfeiture Fund, which was one of my offsets last year; $10 million from the Diplomatic and Consular Programs account of the State Department, an account of $2.7 billion; and $45 million from the Salaries and Expenses Account of the Bureau of Prisons, which is re-estimating the amount of funding that it will likely carry over into fiscal year 2001. Let me just say that, as with last year, I am not wedded to these offsets and expect these and other accounts will be adjusted as we proceed to conference. The House has repeatedly rejected $141 million as insufficient for the important work the Legal Services Corporation does. I urge my colleagues to do so again by voting for this amendment.

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I rise to discuss H.R. 4690, the bill making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Justice and State, the Judiciary, and several related agencies for fiscal year 2001. I would be remiss if I did not first express my appreciation for the excellent relationship the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers), the chairman of our subcommittee, and I have enjoyed since I came on board as ranking Democrat, nearly a year and a half ago. He has been a good and fair leader and that made my tenure on the subcommittee both pleasant and productive, as well as educational. I must point out that this is his last year as chairman under the term limits imposed by his conference. His knowledge and experience of this bill can hardly be matched in the House, and I believe this will be a tremendous loss to us. I also want to thank the full committee chairman, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) and my ranking member, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) for their support and understanding during these very difficult times. It has also been a pleasure to work with the other subcommittee members. Those on our side have worked particularly well together, and I must especially thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Dixon) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan), both of whom have served on the subcommittee for many more years than I have who have quietly guided and graciously supported the newer members, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard) and myself. I want to take this opportunity to also thank both the subcommittee staff and my personal staff and our committee staffs. They are all here with us right now. They are Gail and Jennifer, Mike, Christine, John, Greg, Kevin, and, of course, our subcommittee staff, Sally, Pat, and my own staff, Lucy, Nadine, and Cecelia. I am sure I left somebody out, and I am in trouble for that. As I have said often enough each year, within ever-tighter budget allocations, it grows tougher to produce a defensible bill. But my chairman has done a decent job with the resources allocated to him. The biggest flaws in this bill flow from the artificially low allocation and the choices it has forced on the subcommittee. Despite a very sound economy and healthy, on-budget surpluses which CBO, in its mid-session review, is soon expected to increase, the Committee on Appropriations remains bound by artificially low allocations which prevent us even from keeping all of our agencies at their current services level and making funding important new initiatives virtually impossible. This is a time when we should take advantage of the economy and the surpluses to invest directly in our people and in our Nation through programs to narrow the growing income and opportunity gaps and strengthen the economy, not just hope investment will trickle down from tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, which is I think a foolish way to look. The chairman of our subcommittee has provided some increases for high priority law enforcement functions, but overall, the bill is not balanced. There are serious shortfalls in areas that are important to Members on both sides of the aisle. Even within the Justice Department, the emphasis is on prisons and detention, not the programs that protect Americans' civil rights or address crime or crime prevention at the local level. The same is true for the related agencies that protect civil and employment rights. The Commerce Department is virtually frozen without even the inflationary increases needed to maintain current services for its vital activities. Mr. Chairman, let me mention only three problems with Commerce and related programs. Trade monitoring and enforcement will need more resources, not less, to assure compliance with the newly enacted Africa trade law and with China PNTR, even though supporters of both pledge muscular enforcement. The statistical activities that produce the data that underlie our economic decision- making have been declining under hard freezes for years, despite enormous changes in our economy, and we are approaching the point when basic data sets may become unreliable. NOAA, with its critical work on weather, the health of our air and water, coasts and oceans and so much more, is cut $113 million below fiscal year 2000 and more than half a billion dollars below the 2001 request. This certainly leaves no money for Commerce's proposed initiatives, including two of particular importance to me: creating a pool of minority candidates for scientific and technical jobs at NOAA and NIST through minority-serving institutions, and bridging the widening digital divide between the haves and have-nots of the information age. In the State Department, the funding for embassy security is certainly welcome and necessary. However, provisions fencing part of our U.N. dues pending a certification that cannot be made until well into the fiscal year, and holding our contributions to international peacekeeping at the current year's level will reduce our leverage for continuing reform at the U.N. and put us back in arrears to the U.N. The funding shortfall for the Small Business Administration will affect our small businesses and, thus, our economy. The SBA's core programs are vital to small businesses, but providing $201 million below the request means an inadequate base for them to build upon. I am particularly concerned about the severe cuts in the request for microloan technical assistance and to the women's programs, as well as the lack of any funding for the new PRIME Technical Assistance Program. The Legal Services Corporation, which won a final fiscal year appropriation of $305 million, has once again emerged from full committee with an appropriation of $141 million. For the last 5 years, floor amendments have increased LSC's appropriations to around $250 million. This year, I am offering an amendment to increase the Legal Services Corporation to $275 million. I will explain the offsets for this increase when I bring up my amendment. I will also be offering an amendment with the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) to increase funding for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. I believe that in such a good economy, it is outrageous not to address the discrimination that keeps some Americans from full participation in our society. Mr. Chairman, like last year, I am hopeful that by the end of the process, we will have a bill we can all support. Although I have serious problems with H.R. 4690 in its present form, and as long as nothing happens on this floor to make it worse, I will not try to derail it, but will continue to work with the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers) for a better final product. I hope that this is also the concern on the other side, because at this point this bill would be unacceptable to most Members of this caucus. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey).

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Chairman, as the representative from the Bronx, home of the world champion Yankees, and keeping in line with our baseball talk, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt), the star pitcher for the Democratic team.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Chairman, the amendment I offer will fund the requested level for the Justice Department Civil Rights Division. It provides a total of $11,772,000, offset by $16 million from Federal Prisoner Detention, which will still leave an increase of $56 million or more than 10 percent over the current level. The Civil Rights Division is the primary institution within the Federal Government responsible for enforcing Federal statutes that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. In the reported bill, the Division would receive only part of its request for inflationary adjustments, less than the other Justice Department components are being given, and no funding for its initiatives. My amendment would restore the adjustments and further permit the Division to pursue its initiatives. It would increase the number of attorneys and support staff first, to enhance its ability to investigate and, if appropriate, prosecute criminal civil rights violations in the areas of hate crimes, violations under color of law, and violence against health care providers; Second, to increase its ability to promote compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act in employment cases and certifying that State and local building codes meet ADA requirements by providing outreach to help small businesses and law enforcement agencies meet ADA requirements and by ensuring that persons confined in public institutions have adequate mental health services; Third, to combat abusive, discriminatory, and other unconstitutional action by law enforcement officials through ``pattern or practice'' investigations of specific law enforcement agencies and the related suits and settlements that implement remedies; Fourth, to combat abuse and neglect in institutions, protect the rights of nursing home residents and youth in juvenile detention facilities, and address the mental health needs of individuals in correctional and health care facilities; Fifth, of particular interest to many Members, to review redistricting submissions and other voting changes as required by the Voting Rights Act, following the 200 decennial census; and Sixth, to expand programs that protect basic civil rights, including fighting employment discrimination and in-school segregation, providing training in certain civil rights-related legal requirements and investigative techniques to Federal, State, and local agencies, and supporting fair lending laws. Mr. Chairman, I have offered this amendment because it is very difficult to understand why during such a good economic period as we are going through in this country right now anyone would think of cutting the enforcement of civil rights. At this point, perhaps more than ever before in recent history, as we are doing better, we need to certainly make sure that we protect those who may be powerless in this society so that we can share in the wealth and share in the law and share in all that is good about this country. So I would hope that people see it in this spirit, see it as in relationship to everything else that is happening in our society, and understand that the worst thing we could do, the most difficult thing that we would not face up to is the fact that we would allow during these times for people to continue to be hurt and not to be protected. These dollars would allow the Civil Rights Division to go out and do the job that it has to do and, in the process, provide for the protection that all Americans need.

Mr. SERRANO. I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin.

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on the rule to correct a misconception that may be going around the House. I had requested a waiver from the Committee on Rules for an amendment to increase the Legal Services Corporation. I did that because I am troubled every year by the fact that we come to this floor with a very low amount for Legal Services, fully understanding that in the House the amount will go up and in conference the amount will even go higher. So I wanted to avoid us that pain by asking for a waiver from the Committee on Rules. That did not take place. So I will still be presenting an amendment. However, the amendment, and this is what I want to clarify, will be offsetted. It will have offsets and it will bring us up to $275 million. So there is a misconception going around the House that we will be presenting an amendment that Members cannot vote for in a bipartisan fashion. That is not correct. The amendment that I will be presenting will allow us to bring for the time being the Legal Services Corporation up to $275 million, and there will be offsets that I will be presenting. Also, Members should know that that particular amendment will be part of the early process of the discussion rather than later on.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I think it is worth standing here for the next few minutes to continue this dialogue. I want to congratulate the words of the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham) who just spoke, along with those of the gentleman from San Diego, California (Mr. Filner), as well. Both of the gentlemen from California have spoken very righteously about this particular issue. And while we know this amendment will be ruled out of order in the next few minutes, it does bear saying. I do not know if all my colleagues are aware of what we are talking about here, nor perhaps the American people who might be watching; but what we are talking about here is the fact that during World War II Americans encountered a very rough time in the Pacific. There was a point there where it was not clear how the battles would turn and how the war would turn; and in the Philippines, things were tough. It got to a point where our President, President Roosevelt, called upon the Filipino people to come forward and fight under the American flag. In fact, it was an edict. They were to serve under the American flag. And, sure enough, they did, and they did so with honor. These were individuals from the Philippines who were fighting not just for their country but for the United States of America. They were under the command of U.S. forces. They were under the direction of generals of the United States of America. When they were told to go to battle, it was by American generals; and it was to provide for the security and safety not just of Philippine soldiers but of American soldiers. When many of these Philippine soldiers died, they died under the American flag. At the conclusion of the war, these Filipino veterans who fought so valiantly were entitled, because they had fought under the flag of the United States and at the direction of our President, to receive the benefits of Americans who had served under our flag. And had everything proceeded as it normally would, these Filipino veterans would have received every single type of benefit that an American soldier received having fought for this country at the direction of this government. But in 1946, Congress affirmatively took steps to rescind those rights that those veterans from the Philippines had. The Rescission Act of 1946 stripped Filipino veterans of any rights they had as American veterans. Last session, this Congress, working in a bipartisan manner, actually restored a modicum amount of those benefits. It allowed some of those Filipino veterans who were in this country, had been here for the last 50-some-odd years, and who actually decided to go back to the Philippines, to retain their SSI benefits, these are folks that are in their 80s, at reduced levels. In fact, we ended up saving money having them do that. Because rather than having them collect supplemental security income at the price of what it would cost by their staying here in America, if they did it in the Philippines, it would cost even less. That was, in a way, a token to those Filipino veterans, but it actually saved us money. What the two gentlemen from San Diego are talking about is trying to restore some semblance of decency, who are now in their 80s and dying away, and it is the right thing to do. It is something we owe them. Because when it was time to take to that battle and they were charged to do so, they did not ask what would happen; and they did not ask what would be the return, they just did so. For that reason, we should try to work in support of the amendment by the gentleman from California (Mr. Filner), which would simply say give these veterans, now in their 80s, for the most part, access to health care that most American veterans are entitled to receive. That is the right thing to do. And I would join with my two friends from San Diego who are fighting for this, to say that it is something I hope that the conference committee will take up, that the chairman and ranking member will consider, because we should do this. At a time when many of these veterans may not see the next year, as we come closer to doing this, it is the right thing to do. In the last session of Congress, in the 105th Congress, we had 209 Members of Congress who cosponsored legislation that contained these precise provisions. Just eight sponsors away from having a majority of this House saying they wanted to see this happen. We are very close. Most Members do support this when they are told about this, but it is just so difficult bureaucratically, procedurally, to get this done. I would hope that the chairman and the ranking Members and the committees of jurisdiction, when in conference, would consider this. I join with my colleagues from California who have spoken, along with the many others who would like to speak on this, to say it is the right thing to do and we should move forward. Announcement by the Chairman

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to the ``The Puerto Rican Family of the Millennium,'' the Del Valle Family. Telesforo del Valle, Sr., Rafaela Leon del Valle and Telesforo del Valle, Jr., were honored on Wednesday, June 7 by the National Puerto Rican Day Parade of New York, GALOS Corp. of New York and Puerto Rico and Manhattan Valley Senior Center. Telesforo del Valle, Sr., was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, in 1908. He moved to Brooklyn before moving to ``El Barrio'' in Manhattan. He was a guitarist and a composer and in 1932 he became a member of a musical group called ``Trio del Valle''. In 1941, while studying law, he joined the National Guard and Civil Defense. In 1945 he made history as the first Puerto Rican elected Councilman at Large in the City of New York. He was also the first Hispanic candidate to form his own political party. In 1948 he became the first Hispanic from New York to run for the United States Congress. Mr. Speaker, in 1958 Telesforo, Sr., and his wife Rafaela Leon del Valle, who was born in the town of Guarbo, Puerto Rico, formed an organization known as ``Loyal Citizens Congress of America, Inc.''. They established offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. They organized the first military troop of Hispanic cadets in New York and New Jersey to prevent and combat juvenile delinquency. A major goal of the organization was to provide guidance to workers and to intervene in labor disputes. Loyal Citizens Congress of America had over a thousand members who were knowledgeable on the political and electoral systems. With their support, Telesforo, Sr., was appointed by New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to be his campaign director in the Hispanic communities of New York State. Rockefeller won the Latino vote by 85 percent. It was the first time the Republican Party ever won in East Harlem. In 1985, Mr. And Mrs. Del Valle were recognized with the ``Valores Humanos'' award. Mrs. Del Valle was honored by the newspaper ``El Diario'' of New York as the most prominent feminist in the State of New York. Their son, Telesforo del Valle, Jr., Esquire, is a criminalist who has followed in their footsteps and whose career and achievements are great sources of pride for them. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to the ``The Puerto Rican Family of the Millennium,'' the Del Valle Family.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the amendment offered by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton). The language that was put in this bill really is just more punishment for the people of Vieques and a lot of disregard for the people of Puerto Rico. Let me answer the question of my colleague from Colorado why we do not have a referendum in there in Fort Sill or Fort Carson, simply we have Senators, we have Members of Congress to debate those issues. Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States. They have no representation here, so it is proper to question the people after 60 years of harassment and pain. The people in Vieques have paid a price for 60 years, and now the Navy and some folks on the other side tell us that we cannot find another place in the world, another place to hold these maneuvers. Then how come on many occasions during the past 60 years we rented out Vieques to foreign governments to come and do their practice there? If Vieques was so essential to us, why did we have free time for other nations to come and harm the population, harm the economy, harm the coral reef and harm the people? It is time to do the right thing. While many of us are not even speaking about the agreement, we might not agree with, to think that we would come now and add more harsh language is just unfair.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, it is with joy that I rise today to pay tribute to and to congratulate Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, Jr., for his dedication to education and human rights, and for his many accomplishments, including his service to America during World War II. He will be honored today at Bronx Community College when the Gould Student Center is renamed the Roscoe C. Brown, Jr. Student Center. For 16 years, from 1977 to 1993, Dr. Brown was president of Bronx Community College in New York City. During that time, he brought the college to national prominence as a model urban community college devoted to providing opportunities for educational advancement for all. Mr. Speaker, prior to becoming president of Bronx Community College, Dr. Brown was director of the Afro-American Institute at New York University. In that capacity, he educated students and the general public about the accomplishments of the African American community. It was during that time, too, that Dr. Brown began his career in radio and television, providing a larger public with insights into African American life. Before his academic career, Dr. Brown distinguished himself as a member of the heroic Tuskegee Airmen, who came through World War II with a commendable record of successes in combat. Dr. Brown has also been personally involved in the struggles for human rights for all people and has fought against all forms of racism and bigotry. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor and a privilege for me to ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, Jr. for his major contributions to our country.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute and wish success to Community School Board 12 which will hold its annual scholarship dinner dance tomorrow. For the past 24 years, Community School Board 12 has held a scholarship dinner dance in recognition of their students. The ultimate objective of the function is to raise funds in order to award savings bonds to seven outstanding students in each of the 24 elementary and secondary schools. Over the past few years, Community School District 12 and the Community School Board have collaborated in the effort. The purpose of the scholarships is twofold. First, students who have excelled academically during the school year will be acknowledged and given praise. Second, the scholarship serve as an incentive to all students to strive for overall collegiate achievement. The worth of this event is unquestionable, and its effect can be long lasting. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the individuals and participants who are making the Community School Board 12 Scholarship dinner a success and in congratulating this year's recipients.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, it is with joy and pride that I congratulate and pay tribute to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, which will celebrate its centennial this year. Located on the campus of Bronx Community College, the hall of Fame for Great Americans is a national landmark honoring American achievements. Along with celebrating the centennial, some prominent American leaders will be honored. This year's honorees are Bernard Beal, Valerie Lancaster Beal, Wall Street investment bankers, and Elinor Guggenheimer, a major civic leader and philanthropist in the city. Mr. Speaker, the Hall of Fame for Great Americans is the original ``Hall of Fame'' in this country. It was founded by Dr. Henry Mitchell MacCraken, chancellor of New York University, in 1900. Last year two significant architectural awards were bestowed on the Hall of Fame, one from the New York Landmarks Conservancy and the other from the Municipal Arts Society. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the individuals and participants who are making the Hall of Fame for Great Americans centennial celebration possible.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, it is with joy that I once again pay tribute to Bronx Community College, which will hold its 22nd Anniversary Hall of Frame 10K Run on Saturday, May 6, 2000. The Hall of Frame 10K Run was founded in 1978 by Bronx Community College's third President, Dr. Roscoe C. Brown. Its mission is to highlight the Hall of Frame for Great Americans, a national institute dedicated to those who have helped make America great. The tradition continues under the stewardship of Dr. Carolyn G. Williams, the first female President of Bronx Community College. Dr. Williams has endorsed the race and will continue the tradition initiated by Dr. Brown to promote the physical fitness as well as to highlight higher educational opportunities. As one who has run the Hall of Frame 10K race, I can attest to the excitement it generates. The race brings the entire city together. It is a celebration and an affirmation of life. It is a wonderful way to enable over 400 people to run in the Bronx. It is an honor for me to join once again the hundreds of racers who will run along the Grand Concourse, University Avenue, and West 181 Street, and to savor the variety of their victories. There''s no better way to see the Bronx Community. For most of the past 22 years, Professor Henry A. Skinner has coordinated the Hall of Fame 10K race, a healthy competition which brings together runners of all ages from the greater Metropolitan area. This year he has passed the mantle to Robert Hill, assistant track and field coach at Bronx Community College. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the individuals and participants who are making the Bronx Community Colleges''s 22nd Annual Hall of Fame 10K run possible.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to and wish a happy 90th birthday to Mr. Elias Karmon, an outstanding individual who has devoted his life to his family and to serving the community. Mr. Karmon served as President of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce for four consecutive terms after serving on its Boards since 1953 and holding the positions of Treasurer, Second Vice President and First Vice President. His dinner attendance record of 930 people at the Chamber's annual dinner in 1979, with David Rockefeller as the guest of honor, has never been equaled. Mr. Speaker, along with Dr. Ramon S. Velez and Michael Munoz, Mr. Karmon created the South Bronx Board of Trade, an organization aiding the businesses of the borough, particularly minority-owned enterprises. Today, as honorary Chairman, he still continues his activities with the organization. As Chairman of the Building Fund Committee of the Bronx Board of Realtors, Karmon was instrumental in negotiating the purchase of its present building in 1992. Karmon is also the Chairman of the Annual Essay Contest, a contest he initiated in 1975 among students of the public and private high schools in the Bronx and in Manhattan, for the Bronx-Manhattan Association of Realtors. A civic leader in the Bronx for 60 years, Karmon has been active in many business, civic, health, service and humanitarian organizations. To name a few, in 1949 he founded the Prospect Avenue and Neighborhood Businessmen's Association, Inc. and served as its president for 12 years. In 1954 Karmon served as Chairman of the Bronx Urban League Advisory Board, being a founding member of the Bronx Branch. His involvement with Einstein College began around 1955 with the organizational committee that brought about this College of Medicine. Karmon and his late wife, Sylvia, are members of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. One of the founders of the Ponce de Leon Federal Bank in 1959, he stills serves on the board and is presently its Treasurer. Mr. Speaker, Karmon is currently President of EMK Enterprises, Inc., a real estate firm located on Prospect Avenue Since 1904. He takes pride in never having left our beloved South Bronx. He is listed in Who's Who in American Jewry. The business, professional, religious and civic organizations to which he has belonged and continues to belong, like the honors and awards he has received, are almost beyond counting. Few men of business of the 20th century have been so honored for so many things. Mr. Karmon is a talented leader who will continue to show us dedication, leadership, and wisdom. He is truly a source of inspiration to all who know him. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in wishing a happy 90th birthday to Elias Karmon.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, it is with joy that I pay tribute to the ``4th Annual Family Day Millennium Celebration'' on Saturday, June 3, 2000. Family Day in the 21st Century at Crotona Park is a celebration that will take place near the lake at Crotona Park from 12 pm to 6 pm. Family Day provides an opportunity for the residents of this community to claim Crotona Park as a playground and entertainment place for the family, free of crime and vandalism. Mr. Speaker, the Family Day celebration is an event that gives Crotona Park and the neighboring communities an opportunity to embrace and recognize the importance of their families. It also gives them the opportunity to claim ownership of Crotona Park. The CES 4x and CS110 marching band with their cheerleaders and baton twirlers, will walk through the park demonstrating family pride and unity, accompanied by parents, teachers, and classmates. This event is sponsored by Phipps Community Development Corporation-- Crotona Park West, Friends of Crotona Park, Mount Hope Housing Corp., Mid Bronx Desperados, Aquinas Housing, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Partnership for Parks, Bronx Lebanon Hospital, The Bronx Healthplan, 42nd and 48th Precinct Community Affairs Dept., CES 4x, Goodwill Baptist Church, Councilman Jose Rivera, Assemblywoman Gloria Davis, Morrisania Revitalization Corp., Community Board #3 & Community Board #6, Community Action for Human Services, 105.9 Caliente Radio Station, and the GAP. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the individuals and participants who are working to make the ``4th Annual Family Day Millennium Celebration'' not just possible but successful and fun.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I pay tribute to and congratulate the Monsignor Scanlan High School Girls Varsity Basketball Team for a very successful year. This group of 13 young women finished their season with a record of 29 wins and 1 loss. With this record they have demonstrated that they have the ability and the desire to be assets and role models in our community. We are proud of their accomplishments and I hope they will continue to be successful both on and off the basketball court. They are terrific examples for young women throughout our communities. Again, I congratulate them and wish them the best of luck in their future enterprises. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to and congratulating Monsignor Scanlan High School Girls Varsity Basketball Team.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for yielding me this time. Mr. Chairman, I am really troubled about what we are doing here today, and I cannot believe we are doing it without much more debate. This looks to me very much like something from my younger years when we got involved in Vietnam. Let us understand this Colombia situation is a civil war. It is a civil war that has been going on for a long time. We have decided all of a sudden that it is a war on drugs. That is our excuse or it is some folks in our administration's excuse for getting involved in a civil war. And then the mistake we are making here which I brought out in committee and in subcommittee and other places is the fact that we are referring to the insurgent group in Colombia as narcoterrorists. The minute in this country you call somebody a terrorist, you close the door, and rightfully so, on ever negotiating with them. So by saying that we are going into Colombia to help the military, number one, which is wrong, fight the narcoterrorists, we just said that we are never going to negotiate with one side in a civil war. Now, I suspect that people in Washington are beginning to look at Latin America and beginning to get this feeling which was a bad feeling and a wrong feeling in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. They see a progressive President in Venezuela, Chavez; they see a new so-called socialist President in Chile and they say, ``Oh, my God, we've got to do something,'' so where do we set our anchor? In Colombia. And then to suggest that in Colombia only one side may be involved with drug money is to suggest we are reinventing that country. There is a major problem with drugs in Colombia, and it plays a role in everything that is done in that country. I wish that today we had the courage to look at this issue for what it is. We are getting involved in a civil war which we are going to pay for a price, a big price in the future. Secondly, we are closing off any opportunity to speak to one side. How do you bring peace to a country if that is what you want to do by shutting the door on one side? And, thirdly, we are thinking about Colombia as we thought about South America in the 1960s. We are looking at it in the year 2000 in the same way. We made mistakes then; we are going to make them again, and for what? So that some helicopter company somewhere can sell a few helicopters? It is not worth it. I wish we would reconsider this and vote as I will against this bill.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to once again pay tribute to the South Bronx Mental Health Council, Inc., which tomorrow will celebrate its ninth annual ``Patient Recognition and Empowerment Day.'' Created in 1968 as Lincoln Community Mental Health Center, the South Bronx Mental Health Council, Inc., is a community-based organization which provides treatment and mental health services to the local population and to area schools and senior centers. It is committed to helping empower its patients and their families through the rehabilitation of patients and their reintegration in their communities. All of us, I am sure, have known someone who, whether we were aware of it or not, struggled with some form of mental illness. Tragically, a suicide or other crisis is all too often our first--and only-- indication of the individual's suffering. While it is important, and appropriate, to recognize the care givers who provide these services, it is even more important that those individuals who have made special efforts to overcome their challenges also receive our attention and support. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in saluting our friends at the South Bronx Mental Health Council, who on Friday, January 28, will celebrate the eighth annual Patient Recognition and Empowerment Day.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mrs. Norma Rivera, an outstanding individual who has dedicated 48 years of her life to community service, and to wish her a happy retirement. Born on June 1, 1935, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Mrs. Rivera moved to Buffalo and graduated from high school in 1952. In 1953 she moved to the Bronx where she has been living since. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Rivera worked in a factory for three years before joining a housing court agency that was located on Park Avenue in the Bronx. She worked at that agency for eight years. In 1964 she left the housing court agency to work as a counselor and a program coordinator at Sport's for the People, a medically supervised outpatient program. In 1984 she was employed by Lincoln Hospital working in medical records until her retirement in December of last year. Norma is also the President of People's Voice Democratic Club in the Bronx. Mrs. Rivera is the proud mother of six, Victor, Debbie, Jacqueline, Manuel, Jeanette, and Frances and grandmother of twelve, Lisette, Angie, Kennedy, Michael, Alexis, Matthew, Charles, Denise, Samantha, Brittany, Norma Luz, and Francine. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mrs. Norma Rivera for her enduring commitment to the community, and in wishing her a happy retirement.

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, Elian Gonzalez will be the only person in the history of this country to have citizenship and/or residency shoved down his throat. He has not asked for it and the guardian who we accept is speaking for him in Cuba has rejected it. In the meantime, there are 2 million folks awaiting citizenship in this country who followed the law and will not get it on that date. There are 9 million undocumented aliens who will not receive residency on that date. The arrogance of all of this is that for the first time ever we are going back on a promise. We have said for years that we are not trying to hurt the Cuban people, but rather the Cuban government. From a desire to hurt the Cuban government, we now question grandparents' love for their grandchild, after all, they are only tools of the Communist government, and fathers' love for their child. I have spent 3 days with the grandmothers. We all know grannies. They do not seem to me to be crying Communist tears or Socialist tears. They are crying the tears of grandparents who want Elian back. They show me pictures of his room, of his toys. They said to me, ``We cannot provide him trips to Disneyland or Disney World. We cannot provide him an electric car, but we love him, and we want him back.''

Mr. SERRANO

Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mr. Ivan Rodriguez, an outstanding Puerto Rican athlete and a very successful baseball player. On Thursday, November 18, Ivan was named the 1999 American League Most Valuable Player by the Baseball Writers Association of America. It marks the first time that a catcher has captured an MVP in either league since Thurman Munson of the New York Yankees in 1976. Ivan becomes the ninth catcher in major league history to win a Most Valuable Player Award. It is the sixth MVP for a native of Puerto Rico with the others being Roberto Clemente in 1966, St. Louis' Orlando Cepeda in 1967, Detroit's Willie Hernandez in 1984, and Juan Gonzalez in 1996 and 1998. Born on November, 30, 1971 in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, Ivan was named on all 28 ballots, with seven 1st place votes, six 2nd place votes, seven 3rd place votes, five 5th place votes, two 6th place votes, and a seventh place vote for 252 points. Mr. Speaker, Ivan batted .332 with 35 homers and 113 RBIs in 144 games in 1999. He established an American League record for home runs by a catcher and was the first backstop in league history with 30 homers, 100 RBIs, and 100 runs scored. Ivan also had 25 stolen bases, tied for fifth most ever for a catcher, and was the first major league catcher ever with 20+ homers and 20+ steals. He was fifth in the American League in hits (199), and ranked seventh in average, runs (116-tied), and total bases (335). His .332 average was the highest for an American League catcher since New York's Bill Dickey (.332) in 1937). Behind the plate, Ivan won his eighth consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award, the second most in history behind Johnny Bench. He threw out 54.2% (39 of 72) of the runners attempting to steal, the fifth straight year he has led the majors in that department. It was the highest percentage since statistics were first kept. Ivan also led major league catchers with 141 starts and had ten pure pickoffs. Ivan also captured his sixth consecutive A.L. Silver Slugger Award and was selected as the catcher on the Associated Press Major League All-Star Team. Through his dedication, discipline, and success in baseball, Ivan serves as a role model for millions of youngsters in the United States and Puerto Rico who dream of succeeding, like him, in the world of baseball. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Mr. Ivan Rodriguez for his contributions and dedication to baseball, as well as for serving as role model for the youth of Puerto Rico and the U.S.A.