Louise Slaughter

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel). (Mr. RANGEL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this rule. The measure leaves unprotected a provision of the underlying bill authored by my colleague, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran). The unprotected provision withholds the release of $590,000, the amount the Joint Committee on Taxation requested above its fiscal 2002 budget until the Joint Committee releases its Report on Expatriates. My colleagues may remember this report. It was requested by one of our former chairs, Mr. Archer, in 1999, to study the scope and the impact of wealthy U.S. taxpayers who renounce their citizenship to avoid paying their U.S. taxes. In the wake of recent corporate scandals and in the wake of assertions by members of the majority leadership that corporations moving their corporations abroad do it only to avoid taxes, which was the fault of our Tax Code and not of the corporations, the report has taken on an added importance. Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal ran a story suggesting the report was largely completed. But despite repeated requests, the report has yet to be released. Last night, the Committee on Rules could easily have removed this potential roadblock to obtaining this report, but it chose not to. Mr. Speaker, this, unfortunately, has become a pattern with the majority leadership. Reports in recent days have suggested that the majority leadership is joining forces with corporations who abuse tax avoidance schemes in an effort to kill our attempts to close major tax loopholes, with the help of the Treasury. Specifically, the GOP leadership attempted earlier this week to strip out a provision passed by Democrats in the Committee on Appropriations that would prohibit government contracts from being issued to companies that have reincorporated overseas specifically to avoid paying taxes. Accenture, formerly Andersen Consulting, is spearheading a lobbying campaign, as their $43 million contract with the IRS could be affected. Accenture recently moved its headquarters to Bermuda to avoid paying U.S. taxes. The amendment to curtail this practice is the first in a campaign by the Committee on Appropriations to force the majority to confront corporate wrongdoing, worker pension raids by executives, and stockholder deception. It is my hope that the majority will stop blocking the efforts to address these reform efforts. In other respects, however, the underlying bill is noncontroversial and provides funds for all aspects of operating the House of Representatives, including staff and committee salaries and expenses, mail and security. It also covers congressional agencies such as the Library of Congress, the General Accounting Office, and the Botanical Gardens. I would like to highlight the bill's provisions designed to improve Capitol Police recruitment and retention. Since September 11, the hours and pressures of protecting staff and Members and the visiting public have increased dramatically. It is imperative that we take steps to ensure that the Capitol Police have the resources to maintain this level of commitment. With this in mind, the bill contains a 5 percent merit pay raise for Capitol Police officers, as well as a 4.1 percent cost-of-living increase. I would also note that the measure provides language clarifying the structure of the Capitol Police Board and authorizing the Chief of Police to appoint an executive director of the board. Moreover, it authorizes the chief to hire officers at a rate higher than the minimum rate associated with that position. The bill also includes language authorizing the Capitol Police to run their own payroll services as opposed to having the House and Senate pay some of the officers out of their systems. We owe it to law enforcement to ensure that they and their families are provided for in this new and uncertain environment. We also owe it to the thousands of visitors to the Capitol each year so that they have confidence that they are being protected to the utmost of our ability. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 15 seconds to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran).

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Hinchey).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I would like to remind my colleague from Washington State that just applauding the arts is not enough, and I yield 2 minutes to the other gentleman from Washington State (Mr. Dicks).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, this is our annual rite of passage on the Interior bill. I remember that one of my colleagues recently said in the last debate that it just is not right to come down here and lie. Well, we are accustomed to that. It seems that every year something comes up that people view with great alarm by the National Endowment for the Arts. This year is a very interesting one. This one comes from Eagle Forum and they say something like 167, I believe, which is an odd number, but 167 naked go-go dancers put on a performance sponsored by the NEA. Not so, Mr. Chairman. The group called Broadway Cares, which was in Equity, fights AIDS, was given a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for a single performance to be held in September of this year. It has not been held. They are master classes conducted by some of the most prestigious companies in modern dance, including the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and the Tricia Brown Company. The festival will include performances by notable dancers including current and former dancers of the New York City Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Sean Curr and Company, Alpha Omega, and that is the only project of Broadway Cares sponsored by the NEA. So that one bites the dust. Today comes a new Dear Colleague saying that NEA has lined up with Planned Parenthood for a dance group, $10,000 again, they do not have many grants, for young people to stop teen pregnancy. And I say hooray for that. But I am proud of my colleagues who every year have seen through this verbiage and understand that the NEA is a very important part. Mr. Chairman, I rise today as I do every year to offer an amendment to try to offer a very modest increase in the National Endowment for the Arts and also for the National Endowment for the Humanities. We can and we should appropriate an additional $10 million to the NEA and an additional $5 million to the NEH because these agencies both remain well below the funding level from a decade ago. A recent economic impact study clearly shows that investing in the arts has a profound economic impact on our States and local communities. The Arts and Economic Prosperity Study which was conducted by the Americans for the Arts just recently, and mostly in rural America and smaller cities, reveals that the nonprofit arts industry, this is so important, I do not want anybody to miss this. The nonprofit arts industry generates $134 billion annually in economic activity. Now, over $80 billion of this stems from related spending by the arts audiences. At the parking lots where they park their cars, the restaurants where they eat before or after performances, at the gift shops where they buy souvenirs, at the hotels where they spend the night, and on and on. I have this chart here to give you some idea of what we get. The $134 billion that comes back into the Federal Treasury, it creates 4.58 million full time equivalent jobs. The resident household income of the people who work in arts is 89.4 billion. The local government revenue is 6.6 billion. State government revenue, 7.3 billion. Federal income tax revenue, 10.5 billion. I challenge anybody to tell me of any other program which we give a very modest amount to, $116 million in this case, that comes back with this kind of return, and this is just the economic return. There are many others. The things that it does for young children; their developing minds; as we have mentioned a while ago, cutting down on teenage pregnancy. Let me go on with some of these figures that I think are very important. The patrons spend an average of $22.87 per person over the price of admission which is being spent in our local communities, supporting the businesses and sustaining the local jobs. As you can see, this is a very important investment that we make here and we get a great deal back for the modest amount we put in. Now the 232 million the Federal Government invested in NEA and NEH last year, as I said, has returned $134 billion and I think that is a good investment. The study also shows that the kids who are exposed to art, their SAT scores in high school go up 57 points. It improves their critical skills in math, reading, language development and writing. That, again, is cheap at the price to get that kind of return for money for arts in schools. For example, the study shows that learning dance and drama help to develop skills that improve creative writing. Probably what they are worried about this morning with Planned Parenthood will teach young women that they have a better hope in life other than being a teenage mother. Skills learned in music increases a student's understanding of concepts in math. That is so important to us. More broadly, the study concludes student attendance and retention is better for those involved in the arts. Additionally, student learning experiences in drama, music, dance and other art activities assist in conflict resolution and lead to improved self-confidence and social tolerance. I think as I go through these things you can say these are things we devoutly wish for the children of the United States. These results demonstrate the importance of incorporating arts into our schools. So it is time for us to give them a portion of the financial support they deserve. This amendment goes just to support the NEA's Challenge America program which is targeted specifically for communities that have been underrepresented among the NEA direct grants. Challenge America has successfully supported arts education and community arts development in many communities nationwide. The program facilitates State and local arts partnerships and regional touring arts programs. We need to extend this great program and the amendment will provide part of the funds to be able to do that. State and local and regional arts associations receive vital support from the NEA, bringing arts close to home. The NEA also supports the after-school programs and activities in underserved communities that allow our youth to understand the benefits of arts learning. The NEH. NEH is a wonderful program, bringing into our communities the humanities; subjects such as history and literature or foreign languages and philosophy and geography. For example, they support a summer teacher training program that prepares and encourages teachers to bring humanities alive in the classroom. They teach us well who we were, what we hope to be, and what we can become. The NEH actively supports historic preservations of books, newspapers, official documents and material culture collections that are so important for us to understand our history. These efforts are vital to preserving America's historical and cultural heritage. I commend the President for recognizing the critical role the arts play in our schools and communities. Now it is time to show us the money. The administration's budget request includes a very slight increase, actually not any increase at all, just inflation. But if we want to leave no child behind, if we really want to encourage growth in this economy, we need to increase the funding for these two agencies because they are proven, proven like no other to do exactly that: Encourage growth in the economy and leaving no child behind. So we request $10 million more for the NEA, $5 million for the NEH by making minor correspondent reductions in the administrative budget in the Department of the Interior. The account, which is appropriated an increase in the underlying bill, would be increased by less than half of 1 percent. This offset ought to be acceptable to all of my colleagues. Less than 1 percent of our entire budget is committed to arts. In other words, it costs each year less than 40 cents a year to support art. Yet, our small Federal investment in the arts reaps rewards, as we have said here, many, many times over. I urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment cosponsored by my good friend and cochairman, the gentleman from California (Mr. Horn), and by the ranking member on this committee, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks) who fights valiantly every year for this program in committee, and for whom we are very grateful, to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson), and the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella). Please support this modest increase in the NEA and NEH. It is the least we can do to invest in cultural and economic well-being of our Nation. And once again, I ask my colleagues to reject the fearmongering that comes out every year. To tell the truth, I almost wait with some anticipation to see what they will dig up year after year. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Nethercutt) for a unanimous consent request.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Baldacci). (Mr. BALDACCI asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis). (Mrs. DAVIS of California asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. McCarthy). (Ms. McCARTHY of Missouri asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney). (Mrs. MALONEY of New York asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt). (Mr. HOLT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey). (Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis). (Ms. SOLIS asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume to refute what was said by a previous speaker, that the NEA does not have a distribution formula. It is very important, I think, that we get this information out to the populace here. As we have said, the NEA serves every nook and cranny of the United States. Forty percent of the total budget is distributed to all of the 50 States through the State arts agencies and distributed at the State level. That is 40 percent of it. The remaining 60 is awarded from the NEA at the Federal level and the distribution formula says that no individual State can get more than 15 percent of the NEA's budget. I wish that people could understand that because this again comes up year after year. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks).