Lynn Woolsey

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, no wonder the majority is only allowing 2 hours to debate this conference report. They don't want the American people to hear the harmful things their budget will do to education; to seniors and their families; and to middle-income workers. But I am going to tell you, my friends, about the part of this bill that I know best--welfare reform. As the only Member of this body who has actually been a single, working mother on welfare, I know that the welfare provisions in this bill will not work. I have lived it. This bill does nothing, absolutely nothing, to get families off welfare and into jobs that pay a liveable wage. There is no education, no job training, and not nearly enough child care and health care. Mr. Speaker, the choice comes down to this. We either punish poor children, as this conference report does, or, we invest in families so they can get off welfare permanently. Let's do what is right for our children. Vote against this conference report.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, rather than not vote for a bill that was good in general, I was able to vote against my conscience for women. I did not like doing it; I did it. I do not want to do it again, and I hope the rest of the Congress will not either.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, speaking of women in the military, last week the new majority actually let the House of Representatives go a whole week without an overt attack on women's reproductive rights, but now they are back at it again. Today, the antichoice forces are hoping to score another victory by denying military women, women who happen to be stationed overseas, access to a safe and legal abortion in a military hospital, even when they will use their own money. Military women defend our country with their lives. Now their lives will be in jeopardy when they are forced into Third World clinics and unsafe back alleys. Is that what you would want for your daughters? Is that what you would want for your granddaughters? Another day in Washington, another attack on Roe versus Wade. Stand up for military women, for their constitutional right to choose. Vote no on this rule.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the conference report for H.R. 2564, the Defense appropriations bill for fiscal year 1995. Mr. Chairman, this bill will prohibit military women who are stationed overseas from obtaining an abortion in a military hospital-- even if they use their own money to pay for this procedure. Mr. Chairman, this provision of H.R. 2564 will put the lives of military women in danger, because they will be forced to use third- world clinics or unsafe back alley facilities. It is true that, as Representative Young pointed our earlier, I voted yesterday for the conference report on H.R. 2020, the Treasury-Postal appropriations bill for fiscal year 1996. I voted for this bill because I know that this measure is necessary to get our Nation's Federal employees back to work. Under this bill, Federal employees will lose their ability to use their own health insurance to pay for a full range of reproductive services. This is a travesty, and I fought against this provision when it was considered initially by the House. Nevertheless, I believe that there is a critical difference between the anti-choice provisions in the Defense appropriations bill and the Treasury-Postal appropriations bill. The difference is that when a military woman needs an abortion, and she is stationed overseas in a third-world nation, the only medical facility which is likely to be clean and safe, with well trained doctors, will be the base Hospital. Plain and simple, I cannot support a bill which denies military women the chance to use the only decent available medical facility. Today, the anti-choice forces are hoping to score another victory by denying military women, who happen to be stationed overseas, access to a safe and legal abortion. Military women defend our country with their lives. Now their lives will be in jeopardy if the Defense appropriations conference report passes. Is this what you would want for your daughter? is this what you would want for your granddaughter? I urge my colleagues to protect a military woman's constitutional right to reproductive choice. Vote no on the conference report for H.R. 2126.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, with most of the Republican leadership running for the Presidency right now, and running on ego and on meanness, it makes sense that this new majority is sending President Clinton a welfare bill that pushes over 1 million more children into poverty and does nothing, absolutely nothing, to help recipients prepare for jobs that pay a decent wage. On the other hand, the Democrats have a welfare reform bill that invests in education, in job training, in child care and child support. Mr. Speaker, when 100 percent of the House Democrats voted for this legislation, we demonstrated that conservatives, moderates, and liberals can agree on reform that guarantees a safety net for children and gets their parents to work. I ask, why does the crybaby Speaker not cry about real babies? Real babies who are becoming even poorer as a result of this mean-spirited, whining leadership. We must veto this horrible welfare bill.

Mr. WOOLSEY

Mr. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, the American people are sick and tired of wealthy special interests peddling influence through the halls of Congress. We need to change the way Washington works, and we need to do it now. For too long, Congress has been held hostage by lobbyists trying to force their special interest agendas on the American public. And too often, they are successful. H.R. 2564 is the first truly comprehensive lobbying reform bill in almost 50 years. This bill will let the American people know who the lobbyists are and how much they are spending to influence Members of Congress. The Senate passed this important bill unanimously. We don't need to change it. We need to pass it and send it to the President right away. Let us not delay this much needed reform any longer. Mr. Speaker, it is time to restore faith in American Government. Vote for honest government. Vote for this bill and vote for it without amendment.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise again in strong opposition to the Callahan motion to next year's foreign operations appropriations bill. Mr. Speaker, just 2 months ago, women from different nations, cultures, and religions came together at the U.N. World Conference on Women in Beijing. At Beijing, women from around the world spoke about the need to increase access to family planning, particularly in the developing world, where an unwanted pregnancy is often a matter of life or death. If you believe that women, rich and poor, should have the right to choose safe motherhood, you must vote down the Callahan motion. If you believe that women should have the right to choose how many children they have and under what conditions, you must vote down the Callahan motion. If you believe that the United States has the obligation to support the United Nations in its efforts to slow the Earth's exploding population, and the misery that comes with it, you must vote down the Callahan motion. I think that it is an outrage that the House is being forced to debate this issues once again. Come on, this is getting ridiculous. The House of Representatives needs to get on with its work and send the foreign operations appropriations bill onto the President. We have a conference report, it is a good conference report, and we should not waste the taxpayers' dollars by going back and forth over the issue of international family planning. I urge my colleagues to support international family planning, support the conference report language for the foreign operations appropriations bill, and vote down the Callahan motion.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, today we are pausing to remember Israel's courageous fallen leader, Yitzhak Rabin. Prime Minister Rabin was a rare leader, the kind the world sees once in a generation. He was a valiant soldier who led the Israeli Army to victory in the Six-Day War. He united Jerusalem, and secured Israel's borders. He made it safe for Jews from around the world to pray at the Western Wall. But it is for his tireless dedication to peace that he will always be remembered. As a former soldier, he knew all too well the price of war. He made many sacrifices, and took many risks to make peace. He knew that his mission for peace was unsure and dangerous, but he also knew that peace for the Jewish State was a worthy and important goal. In the fall of 1993, I had the privilege to meet Yitzhak Rabin in Israel, and was struck by his sincerity and humanity. Then, a month later, I was standing on the White House lawn the day that Prime Minister Rabin and Yasser Arafat took that enormous step toward peace. I remember the handshake, and the promise it held for a bright future for Jews and Arabs alike. Now, an assassin's bullet has taken away one of the real visionaries of our time. And in a split second, the world became a great deal poorer. Today,it is hard for us to make any sense of so tragic an act. But, we try by taking a minute to reflect on Prime Minister Rabin's enormous accomplishments, and by holding his life up as an example of courage, commitment, and dedication to peace. As Representative of the Sixth Congressional District of California, I assure you that I will always make sure that the United States stays a strong and dependable ally of the State of Israel. We must stand by Israel always--but it is even more important at such a troubled moment. Further, we must all make sure that Prime Minister Rabin's heroic deeds are remembered forever--and that we give life to his dreams by dedicating ourselves to fulfilling his goal of a lasting peace for all.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, Speaker Gingrich may use warm and fuzzy words like ``preserve'' and ``strengthen'' when he is talking about Medicare in front of the cameras. But when he is talking to the special interests, he sings a different tune. Last week, he said that while the new majority did not get rid of Medicare in ``round one * * * we believe it's going to wither on the vine.'' I repeat, wither on the vine. Well, Mr. Speaker, I am from Marin and Sonoma Counties, CA--the home of the world's greatest grapes and wines--and I can tell you that the only things we let wither on the vine are grapes plagued by disease or ruined by drought. Never, however, would the people of Sonoma and Marin Counties let Medicare--the root of economic and health security for seniors and their families--wither on the vine. We know that Medicare must be cared for and preserved for generations to come. Mr. Speaker, if there is anything rotten and sick around here that deserves to wither on the vine it is the Gingrich Medicare scheme, and not Medicare--one of the most popular and successful programs ever created.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, make no mistake, you are hearing it. This bill is for one thing and one thing only and that is to criminalize late-term abortions and it is a cruel attempt to make a political point. H.R. 1833 is a frontal attack on Roe versus Wade, plain and simple. The radical right wants to do away with Roe, and this bill is the first step. So let us be honest about what this debate is really about. This legislation seeks to prohibit abortion techniques which are used in the late stages of a pregnancy, when the life of the mother is in danger, or when a fetus is so malformed that it has no chance of survival. Mr. Chairman, I cannot help but make the comparison and connection that a lot of the proponents of this bill are the same people who are cutting Medicaid, who are doing away with the support systems for those children that are going to be born malformed and for the mothers who will be ill. Because of the gag rule which was just passed, the life or health of the mother, or the fetus will have zero consideration.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the rule for H.R. 1833. The proposed rule for the Canady late term abortion bill is nothing less than an outrage. This rule bars Members from offering amendments which would allow a procedure when the life of the mother is in danger or when the fetus is so malformed that it has zero chance of survival. This restrictive rule makes sure that an awful bill remains an awful bill. Ladies and gentlemen, let's make one thing clear. This rule ensures that H.R. 1833 will be a direct challenge to Roe versus Wade. In other words, if you are a pro-choice Member of Congress, if your constituents vote for you because they feel assured that you will not violate a woman's right to choose, if you agree that the mother's life has value then there is no way that you can vote for this rule. This rule will force the House of Representatives to vote on banning a specific surgical procedure with absolutely no safeguards for the life, health, or future fertility of the mother. To my colleagues on both sides of the aisle I urge you to defeat this rule. This issue does not belong on the floor of the House of Representatives, it belongs in a doctor's office. Politicians should not decide whether a terminally malformed fetus should be brought to term. A woman, with her doctor's advice, should. Remember this my friends, you can not say you are pro-choice and vote for this rule. Defeat this rule, stand up for women's lives, do not violate Roe versus Wade.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, just 2 months ago, women from different nations, cultures, and religions came together at the United Nations World Conference on Women, in Beijing. At the Beijing conference, Mr. Speaker, women from around the world spoke about the need to increase access to family planning, particularly in the developing world, where an unwanted pregnancy is often a matter of life or death. If you believe that women, rich and poor, should have the right to choose safe motherhood, you must vote down the Callahan motion. If you believe that women should have the right to choose how many children they have and under what conditions, you must vote down the Callahan motion. If you believe that the United States has the obligation to support the United Nations in its efforts to slow the Earth's exploding population, and the misery that comes with it, you must vote down the Callahan motion. Support international family planning; support the conference report language for the foreign operations appropriations bill; vote down the Callahan motion.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about H.R. 1833, a bill which would criminalize some late-term abortions. First of all, I would like to say, H.R. 1833, Mr. Canady's bill to criminalize specific late-term abortions is a cruel attempt to make a political point. Make no mistake about it, ladies and gentlemen, the Canady bill--with all of the emotional rhetoric, with all of the graphic pictures, with all of the exaggerated testimony--is the first frontal attack on Roe versus Wade by the new majority. Plain and simple. The new majority wants to do away with Roe; the radical right wants to do away with Roe; and the Canady bill is the first step. So let us be honest about what this debate is really about. Next, I want to talk about who will be harmed by the Canady bill. This legislation seeks to prohibit a wide array of abortion techniques which are used in the late stages of a pregnancy when and if the life of the mother is in danger or a fetus is so malformed that it has no chance to survive. The procedures which the Canady bill seeks to prohibit are used very, very rarely. In fact, less than 600 times per year, for all late term abortions and, less than 100 a year for this procedure. These particular abortion techniques are used in extreme and tragic cases. Like a fetus with no brain; or a fetus with missing organs; or a fetus with the spine growing outside of the body. The procedures which will be banned by the Canady bill are used when the fetus has zero chance of survival. If women are forced to carry these malformed fetuses to term, they are in danger of chronic hemorrhaging, permanent infertility, or death. That is what H.R. 1833 is all about. To my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I know that this is a difficult issue to talk about on the floor of the House of Representatives. I do not think that this subject belongs here. I do not think that Congress should be making decisions on surgical procedures. Women and their doctors need to make these decisions, not Members of Congress. So let us put the decision back where it belongs. Give women the right to make their own decisions. Let us preserve Roe versus Wade. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H.R. 1833 when it is considered later this week.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, now is the time to stand up for seniors by voting down this plan to raid Medicare to provide tax breaks for wealthy special interests. Instead of continued partisan bickering, we need a bipartisan effort to save Medicare by eliminating the waste and fraud that cost billions each year. I come to this floor today as the Representative for Sonoma and Marin Counties in California. As I always say to my colleagues, I am so fortunate to represent such a concerned and caring constituency. For the last several months, I have been speaking to the people in my Congressional District. I have been speaking with senior citizens, with hospital administrators, with physicians, and with working families. Seniors are scared to death because they will have to pay more for less at a time when so many are struggling to get by. And families are scared to death because they do not understand how they will support aging parents and send their kids to college at the same time. The people of Sonoma and Marin Counties have spoken loud and clear: they do not support $270 billion in Medicare cuts in order to pay for $245 billion in tax breaks. The new majority is making the argument that these massive cuts in Medicare are needed to save the system. I agree that Medicare and Medicaid can be improved, and that Congress should vigorously support efforts to make this system better. But I disagree with Speaker Gingrich that the way to keep Medicare solvent is to operate on it with an axe, instead of a scalpel. Speaker Gingrich would like to convince the American public that Medicare is in a sudden crisis. However, concerns about the Medicare Trust Fund are not new. The Medicare Trustees have on eight previous occasions warned that the Trust Fund would be insolvent within 7 years. Each time, Congress responded immediately in a bipartisan way to make the changes necessary to keep Medicare solvent. However, the cuts proposed by Speaker Gingrich go far beyond what is needed to protect the Medicare Trust Fund. What is more, since the proposed premium increases do not even contribute to the Medicare Trust Fund, it is clear that the new majority is increasing premiums only to pay for a special interest tax giveaway, not to strengthen Medicare. In other words, the Gingrich Medicare plan is a major cut. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the rate of growth in health care spending per person in the private sector over the next 7 years will be 7.9 percent. The Gingrich Medicare plan, however, brings the rate of growth of Medicare spending down to 4.9 percent per beneficiary. This means that the Gingrich plan will not keep up with the pace of inflation and the growing population of older and disabled Americans. As a result, there will be major increases in costs: by the year 2002, seniors will spend $400 more in Medicare premiums. Moreover, seniors may lose their choice of doctor because they will be forced into a government-mandated managed care plan. In addition, hospitals and emergency rooms will be forced to reduce care and and many will close. Some health care experts predict that up to 25 percent of all hospitals could close if Speaker Gingrich's assault on Medicare becomes law. But I do support making Medicare stronger. That is why I voted for the Democratic substitute to reform Medicare, and am a cosponsor of H.R. 2476, the Common Sense Medicare Reform Act. The Democratic substitute saves $90 billion over the next 7 years. It reduces seniors' premiums, while providing coverage for new benefits such as more frequent mammograms, colorectal screenings, Pap smears and diabetes screening. The Democratic substitute increases seniors' choices of health care coverage, but does not force them to give up their own doctors. Under the Democratic substitute, the Medicare program will be strong and solvent, and seniors will continue to receive high quality care from doctors they know and trust. I also support the approach taken in the Common Sense Medicare Reform Act, which strengthens Medicare by eliminating real waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare system. It will also save the amount needed to keep Medicare solvent for years to come. This bill will give law enforcement more tools to fight Medicare fraud, a crime which harms Medicare and the American taxpayer. And this bill, unlike the new majority's plan, will require that any funds recovered through cuts or savings from waste, fraud, and abuse will be automatically returned to the Medicare Trust Fund--not used to pay for a special interest tax giveaway. In addition, I would also like to raise my objection to the way that Speaker Gingrich has conducted the debate on his massive changes to Medicare. As someone who believes in the Democratic process, I am outraged that the new majority only allowed for one day of public hearings on this assault on Medicare. As a former Petaluma City Council member, I remember that we talked longer and harder about sidewalk repairs than the House of Representatives has about an issue which affects the health of millions of Americans. This is unfair and undemocratic! So, I am here to speak out for the people who have been shut out of the Democratic process by this new majority. These people should not be silenced, and they should not see their concerns ignored by a Congress bent on pursuing a partisan agenda. We would all do better if we listened carefully to those we represent. As one man in my district said, I worked hard all my life, raised ten kids and fought in two wars to live my life in peace. Living on only $801 a month, I need all the help I can get. To my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I would like you to remember these words. Think about this man, and the millions of seniors just like him all over America who do not deserve second rate medical care and who do not deserve to have their pockets picked for a special interest tax giveaway. I call on my colleagues to reject this bill, take the tax giveaways off the table, and get on with the bipartisan job of restoring Medicare's solvency by eliminating rampant waste and fraud. Stand up for seniors by voting down this bill.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I would like to respond to the speaker from Indiana, wondering if he knows that in his district 31,695 working families will have their taxes increased by this Republican bill.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. I thank the gentlewoman from New York for yielding me the time. Mr. Chairman, I am going to spend my brief time in talking about an area of this immense and devastating bill that I know firsthand, Medicaid. My ideas about Medicaid did not come from theory or books. I know it. I lived it. Twenty-eight years ago, I went from being a married woman with complete health care coverage for my children to being a single mother with three small children receiving no child support and working at a job that initially provided no health care coverage for my three kids. Overnight, a simple checkup became an impossible luxury in our household. I will never, never forget what it was like, Mr. Chairman, to lie awake at night worried to death that one of my children would get sick. Thankfully, I was able to turn to Medicaid and other forms of public assistance to add to my salary so I could provide my children with the health care, child care, and food they needed. Mr. Chairman, that safety net is what helped my family get back on their feet. But I will never, not for 1 minute, think that just because my family made it, so can the millions of families who are in similar or worse situations than we were today. That is why I am so outraged by Speaker Gingrich's assault on Medicaid. The Speaker and his allies are taking health care from our children. In fact, they are cutting $182 billion to help pay for $245 billion in tax breaks to the wealthiest special interests. In my home State of California alone, almost 470,000 children on Medicaid will lose their health care coverage under this plan. Twenty- eight years ago, Mr. Chairman, that would have been my three children.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to compliment my colleague from New York for having this special order tonight on the anniversary of the minimum wage. Mr. Speaker, 28 years ago I was a single, working mother with three small children receiving no child support and earning minimum wage. Even though I was working, I was earning so little, I was forced to go on welfare to provide my children with the child care; health care; and food they needed. Even though I was educated and had good job skills, I still wasn't making enough to fully support my kids. My story bears repeating tonight, because too many families today are in the same predicament I was in 28 years ago. If this Congress is truly serious about reducing dependence on welfare, then let's increase the minimum wage and pay working parents enough to support their families and take care of their kids. The minimum wage has not kept up with increases in the cost-of- living. Workers these days can put in a full day of work, 40 hours a week, at minimum wage and still live below the poverty line. The new majority in Congress wants to cut the earned income tax credit; kick single moms and their children off welfare; and reduce health benefits for low-income families, but they won't even hold a hearing on increasing the minimum wage. If we want to reduce reliance on public assistance, doesn't it make sense to make work pay? Shouldn't entry level jobs pay more than public subsidies? Doesn't that make sense? In addition to making good sense, a minimum wage increase is also a matter of basic fairness for millions of working Americans. In 1960, the average pay for CEO's of the largest U.S. corporations was 12 times greater than the average wage of a factory worker. Today, those CEO's receive salaries and compensation worth more than 135 times those, wages and benefits, of the average employee at the same corporation. That's not fair. And it's not fair that 80 percent of minimum wage employees are women. It's not fair that from 1973 to 1993, real income for working men with high school diplomas dropped by 30 percent. It's not as if businesses aren't doing well. Private business productivity has been increasing and profits are up. But wages are stagnant--there's something unfair and wrong with this picture. Isn't it time to let American workers share the fruits of their labor? Speaker Gingrich and his allies say they support traditional American values. Well, let's return to the traditional American value of paying an honest wage for an honest day's work. Let's raise the minimum wage.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mr. Geoffrey Sackett, a man who lived a remarkable life in Marin County, CA before he tragically passed away at the age of 48. As a young child, Geofffrey Sackett was motivated to reach inside himself, to find and foster a courage that cruel necessities demanded. He spent 2 years of his childhood fighting polio, only to recover and face yet another disease, diabetes. Geoffrey celebrated his entry into adulthood with a quadruple heart bypass operation. Again, he was struck, only this time with an illness he couldn't beat--AIDS. And, again, Geoffrey found the strength to endure a long, long struggle with a terrible disease. Last summer, Geoffrey's battles with his own body ended as his glorious spirit finally flickered out. Marin County, the State of California, and indeed our entire country, lost a treasure with Geoffrey Sackett's death. Geoffrey's family and friends marveled at his ability, even as a child, to endure through debilitating diseases with little complaint. Geoffrey was always too busy helping others, and too busy working to make the world more humane. As part of his commitment to making the world a better place, Geoffrey strove to keep others free from AIDS through the Needle Exchange Program in Marin County. He worked with the Marin County Board of Supervisors to have a state of emergency declared in Marin County, thus allowing for a legal needle exchange program. He spent countless hours, in the cold, in the rain, in the streets and in the parks, exchanging clean needles nonjudgmentally to humans in need. There are many who will never know his name, but who will live because of his efforts. Mr. Speaker, it is in those people, and in our hearts, that Geoffrey's great giving spirit lives on. The kindness and generosity Geoffrey demonstrated in his community is an example for us all.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, now is the time to stand up for seniors by voting down this plan to raid Medicare to provide tax breaks for wealthy special interests. Instead of continued partisan bickering, we need a bipartisan effort to save Medicare by eliminating the waste and fraud that cost billions each year. I come to this floor today as the Representative for Sonoma and Marin Counties in California. As I always say to my colleagues, I am so fortunate to represent such a concerned and caring constituency. For the last several months, I have been speaking to the people in my Congressional District. I have been speaking with senior citizens, with hospital administrators, with physicians, and with working families. Seniors are scared to death because they will have to pay more for less at a time when so many are struggling to get by. And families are scared to death because they do not understand how they will support aging parents and send their kids to college at the same time. The people of Sonoma and Marin Counties have spoken loud and clear: they do not support $270 billion in Medicare cuts in order to pay for $245 billion in tax breaks for wealthy special interests. The new majority is making the argument that these massive cuts in Medicare are needed to save the system. I agree that Medicare and Medicaid can be improved, and that Congress should vigorously support efforts to make this system better. But I disagree with Speaker Gingrich that the way to keep Medicare solvent is to operate on it with an axe, instead of a scalpel. Speaker Gingrich would like to convince the American public that Medicare is in a sudden crisis. However, concerns about the Medicare Trust Fund are not new. The Medicare Trustees have on eight previous occasions warned that the Trust Fund would be insolvent within 7 years. Each time, Congress responded immediately in a bipartisan way to make the changes necessary to keep Medicare solvent. However, the cuts proposed by Speaker Gingrich go far beyond what is needed to protect the Medicare Trust Fund. What is more, since the proposed premium increases do not even contribute to the Medicare Trust Fund, it is clear that the new majority is increasing premiums only to pay for a special interest tax giveaway, not to strengthen Medicare. In other words, the Gingrich Medicare plan is a major cut. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the rate of growth in health care spending per person in the private sector over the next 7 years will be 7.9 percent. The Gingrich Medicare plan, however, brings the rate of growth of Medicare spending down to 4.9 percent per beneficiary. This means that the Gingrich plan will not keep up with the pace of inflation and the growing population of older and disabled Americans. As a result, there will be major increases in costs: by the year 2002, seniors will spend $400 more in Medicare premiums. Moreover, seniors may lose their choice of doctor because they will be forced into a Government-mandated managed care plan. In addition, hospitals and emergency rooms will be forced to reduce care and many will close. Some health care experts predict that up to 25 percent of all hospitals could close if Speaker Gingrich's assault on Medicare becomes law. But I do support making Medicare stronger. That is why I voted for the Democratic substitute to reform Medicare, and am a cosponsor of H.R. 2476, the Common Sense Medicare Reform Act. The Democratic substitute saves $90 billion over the next 7 years. It reduces seniors' premiums, while providing coverage for new benefits such as more frequent mammograms, colorectal screenings, Pap smears and diabetes screening. The Democratic substitute increases seniors' choice of health care coverage, but does not force them to give up their own doctors. Under the Democratic substitute, the Medicare program will be strong and solvent, and seniors will continue to receive high quality care from doctors they know and trust. I also support the approach taken in the Common Sense Medicare Reform Act, which strengthens Medicare by eliminating real waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare system. It will also save the amount needed to keep Medicare solvent for years to come. This bill will give law enforcement more tools to fight Medicare fraud, a crime which harms Medicare and the American taxpayer. And this bill, unlike the new majority's plan, will require that any funds recovered through cuts or savings from waste, fraud, and abuse will be automatically returned to the Medicare Trust Fund--not used to pay for a special interest tax giveaway. In addition, I would also like to raise my objection to the way that Speaker Gingrich has conducted the debate on his massive changes to Medicare. As someone who believes in the democratic process, I am outraged that the new majority only allowed for one day of public hearings on this assault on Medicare. As a former Petaluma City Council member, I remember that we talked longer and harder about sidewalk repairs than the House of Representatives has about an issue which affects the health of millions of Americans. This is unfair and undemocratic. So, I am here to speak out for the people who have been shut out of the democratic process by this new majority. These people should not be silenced, and they should not see their concerns ignored by a Congress bent on pursuing a partisan agenda. We would all do better if we listened carefully to those we represent. As one man in my district said, ``I worked hard all my life, raised ten kids and fought in two wars to live my life in peace. Living on only $801 a month, I need all the help I can get.'' To my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I would like you to remember these words. Think about this man, and the millions of seniors just like him all over America who do not deserve second rate medical care and who do not deserve to have their pockets picked for a special interest tax giveaway. I call on my colleagues to reject this bill, take the tax giveaways off the table, and get on with the bipartisan job of restoring Medicare's solvency by eliminating rampant waste and fraud. Stand up for seniors by voting down this bill.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Centerforce which is celebrating its 20th anniversary of service to hundreds of thousands of families all over California. This unique community-based organization provides both direct and indirect services to prison visitors including children and families of incarcerated parents at 29 centers serving 34 State prisons and 1 youth facility. Over 350,000 visitors benefit from this innovative program each year. Centerforce is the statewide extension of The House at San Quentin which was established by Seamus Kilty and supported by Catholic Social Services of Marin. It has continuously served prison visitors since 1971. In 1975 Centerforce was envisioned to create a statewide network of visitor centers modeled after The House. Under the leadership of Maureen Fenlon, O.P., the first executive director, and with the cooperation of the local communities, visitor centers were established at each prison so that all families of prisoners could receive basic support services necessary to keep their family together. These services include transportation, child care, refreshments, crisis intervention, prison visitor advocacy, special education programs, summer camps for the children, and simply protection from inclement weather for the traveling families. Mr. Speaker, Centerforce is a national model of the collaboration we need between government, community organizations, and individuals to nurture and support the family unit especially at times of separation when they are more vulnerable. As we know, every prison inmate is a family member who will be returning to that family in the future. We all value the family as the most essential unit in our society. It takes just a short-term investment in these families, and especially in their children, to keep the family ties strong and thereby lowering the recidivism rate in the long term. I commend Centerforce for the major contribution it has made to the preservation of thousands of families throughout California and our country who have benefited from this visionary, compassionate, yet very down-to-earth program. [[Page E 1968]] Although Centerforce is a statewide organization, I take pride in its accomplishments because it was created and is located in the congressional district I am privileged to represent.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to the Casa Allegra Community Services project. Casa Allegra was founded in 1975 and provides residential, job training, and community integration services to adults with disabilities. This important organization has been an instrumental component in the successful integration of Marin County's disabled adult population. One part of the Casa Allegra's work on behalf of people with disabilities has been the Adult Community Service [ACS] program. The staff at ACS provide individualized support in employment, education, community integration as well as instruction in self-advocacy, communication, and behavioral skills. All ACS instruction is provided in the settings and contexts in which nondisabled adults participate. The goal of ACS is to team up with family members, coworkers, employers, classmates, and others to help people with disabilities succeed as productive, accepted members of the whole community. It is this focus, one of integration coupled with a healthy respect for self determination, that makes the work of Casa Allegra so very valuable and so very important. Mr. Speaker, Marin County has been very fortunate to have Casa Allegra Community Services in its midst. This program is a model for the entire Nation.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an organization that has provided service to the families of Marin County for over 50 years. The Marin Family Service Agency [FSA] has provided critical mental health and social services to Marin County families by functioning as a safety net for families, a lifeline for people in crisis, and a champion of family health. The Marin FSA began in 1945 with the goal of strengthening families through the teaching of basic skills in parenting, caretaking and self- sufficiency. Through the years, that goal has expanded to include Marin County's first family counseling program, child sexual abuse treatment programs, family alcoholism treatment programs, and support services for elders. Wherever and whenever families need assistance, the caring and dedicated staff of the Marin FSA are there to help families help themselves. Perhaps it is because the focus of treatment is the whole family, and not just individual family members, that the Marin FSA is such a successful social service provider. Robert Thomas, the current executive director of Marin FSA and a recipient of the United Way's Seaton Manning award for leadership, realized the pervasive and eroding effect that problems like alcoholism, domestic violence and child sexual abuse have on the entire family as a unit. Robert Thomas and the dedicated staff of Marin FSA know that successful resolution to problems that affect families, is treatment that includes the whole family. Mr. Speaker, Congress would do well to follow the lead of the folks at Marin FSA. By coordinating our social services, we too could achieve the excellence of care that the Marin FSA provides to the families of Marin County.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. I really did come here to talk to you about fire prevention and be with you on that debate. Since I was referred to, I do, out of a point of personal privilege, want to respond. First of all, I would like to thank my colleague from north of me for showing my newsletter, which was actually sent out with the newspaper and it was not franked and it cost a third less at least of what it would have if it had been franked. But it is a newsletter I have gotten compliments about all around the district. People appreciated it. They do appreciate communication from the person that represents them in Congress. I would like to ask the question about all this rhetoric. One, I do not think you listened to what went on in the hour before, when we were up here. Otherwise you would not be able to accuse us of not answering questions. We were responding to what we heard earlier. But I would like to ask you, will you take the tax breaks off the table so that we actually can have an honest debate about Medicare and Medicaid and balancing the budget? Would the gentleman not vote for that?

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, if you want to hear about some brave firefighters, make that 2,164 extremely brave firefighters, talk to the people I represent in West Marin, CA. You see, over the past week, at least 45 homes and over 12,000 acres of Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, CA, have been destroyed by tragic wildfire, a fire caused by an irresponsible individual with an illegal campfire and in a non-campground. I flew over the disaster area during the initial stages of the fire last week, and I can tell you that I have never seen anything so mighty and devastating and so tragic in my entire life. But, Mr. Speaker, the damage and injuries would have been far worse were it not for the incredible courage of firefighters from throughout the San Francisco Bay area and California, men and women who put their lives at risk to protect one of our Nation's greatest national treasures, the Point Reyes national seashore and the town of Inverness, CA. Special praise goes to the Department of the Interior, the California department of forestry and fire protection, and the Marin County fire department. These three agencies coordinated an unprecedented fire fighting effort the likes of which you have never seen. In all, 2,164 firefighters representing 40 agencies participated in this massive effort. In the effort to thank and honor them, I would like to submit a list of those agencies for the Record. The list referred to follows: Agencies That Assisted in the Mount Vision Fire National Park Service, Point Reyes National Seashore, Pt. Reyes. California Department of Forestry, Santa Rosa. Novato Fire District, Novato. Dixon County Fire Protection District, Dixon. Marin County Fire, San Rafael. Vacaville County Fire Protection District, Vacaville. Napa County Fire Department, Napa. US Forest Service, San Francisco. Suisun City Fire Department, Suisun. Larkspur Fire Department, Larkspur. Redwood Valley-Capella Fire Protection District, Redwood Valley. San Mateo County Fire Department, San Mateo. Ross Department of Police Services, Ross. Oakland Fire Department, Oakland. California Highway Patrol, Corte Madera. California Department of Corrections, Santa Rosa. Tiburon Fire District, Tiburon. Corte Madera Fire Department, Corte Madera. Salvation Army, San Rafael. Kentfield Fire Department, Kentfield. Department of Youth Authority, Sacramento. San Rafael Fire Department, San Rafael. Mr. Speaker, by air and land, these men and women worked around the clock with only a few hours' sleep. They slept on the ground in disposable paper sleeping bags. Thanks to their tireless efforts, 80 percent of the national park remains untouched, untouched by the fires, and Mr. Speaker, there were no, I repeat no, major injures or loss of life. Just to give you a hint of their selflessness, one resident whose home remains standing amid several others that were burned to the ground, returned to his home to find a note in his [[Page H 9895]] kitchen from the Tiburon fire engine company No. 12. The note said that the firefighters had fought to save the house from the surrounding flames and that they had been successful, but they wanted to thank the homeowner because afterwards they had come in and had soda and crackers. As the resident said, when he returned home, no amount of soda and crackers will ever be enough to repay these firefighters for their heroic actions. In fact, he said that he was the one that should be thanking the firefighters, not the other way around. I assure you, Mr. Speaker, similar stories of firefighters going beyond their call of duty to assist victims and protect homes and the park can be found throughout West Marin. Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate National Fire Prevention Week, let us salute our Nation's firefighters. Like the constituent that I told you about, we are all forever indebted to these courageous men and women, the true heroes of the United States of America.