Lynn Woolsey

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, last week a Defense Department spokesman announced that the United States is preparing to use landmines in Iraq. What an insult to the 146 countries brave enough to sign the Landmine Treaty which forbids the use of landmines. Embarrassingly, the United States is not a signatory. Landmines do not know the difference between a soldier and a child. Instead of killing children, we need to educate them. Instead of seeding Iraq with explosives, we should plant seeds of peace and well- being worldwide. Instead of using landmines in Iraq, we should be cleaning up landmines in Afghanistan. Madam Speaker, the use of landmines is a step in the wrong direction. There are alternatives to war. Our problem is we have not prepared for them.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Stop Violence Week in Washington. The Violence against Women Act has rescued countless women from the vicious cycle of family violence, but there is so much more to be done. That is why we cannot abandoned our commitment to protecting women from domestic abuse and sexual assault here at home and around the globe. We cannot let the campaign to wage war with Iraq drown out our war against domestic violence and sexual assault. While the world we live in today seems to be constantly changing, too many women, both in and outside the United States, continue to spend their days living in fear and wondering what might happen to them if they even try to end their abusive relationships. These women are counting on us to fund the programs to ensure that they have access to the emotional and legal support services needed for victim recovery. To forget their needs is not an option.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I am here to share the opposition of my constituents to a war in Iraq. The folks I work for understand that the war on terror cannot be won with bombs and bullets, that we can fight with bombs and bullets, but that will not end terror, nor will this approach ensure the safety of Americans. Only a strategy of multilateralism, humanitarian aid and development can win the war on terror. Only a strategy that preempts new terror attacks without creating new terrorists can win the war on terror. Bombs, bullets, and war are not the solution to terrorism. My constituents understand this. The gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) has been coordinating with an organization called Poets Against the War. This organization has been collecting poems written by Americans around the country. Their poems reflect their concerns about current U.S. policy toward the war against terror and Iraq. Today it is my honor to share a poem that was written by one of my constituents, Elizabeth Barret, an 83-year-old woman from Mill Valley, California. She wrote a poem called ``Peace.'' ``I will listen to my heart. I know that I need to open my heart to God. The prospect of war makes me cry out for peace. Where are all the mothers and children? Where are all the men whose hearts have been hurt? Do they not know that they were at one time children too? ``The world needs peace. We have become very small. We need to love each other more than ever. Who will help the world? The women and children will save the world.'' Mrs. Barret eloquently makes the key point that we should measure every single decision this House makes by its affect on our Nation's children. She understands that an invasion of Iraq will inspire a new generation of terrorists to threaten our children. Instead of following this path of destruction, we can work to contain Iraq and concentrate on destroying al Qaeda. That is what is best for our children. One of those children, 15-year-old Carina from San Rafael, California, wrote this poem. It is called ``Lady Paz.'' ``I imagine there are jungles inside her if not under her fertile skins, what hope? I know it is our vampire wishes that leech life from this stolen soil our scrawled, thoughtless messages that degrade such indelible bark. ``I can see her relief so clearly, the dark impressions of her liquid eye casting cacophonous shadows across our curve of hazy planet. ``Give us your real hand, the one where sap pulses warm and whose clasp is meaty and sharp through sun's dream-tricks whose brown fingers don't leave us abandoned and guessing. ``Will you take us, our legs streaked in ash, our misconceptions bending and bending, the fissures in earth's crust growing deeper, the molten rock bubbling up like blood? Oh, peace, you must be a tainted lady. A tainted lady to tame us screaming so.'' Mr. Speaker, Carina understands that violence is not the way to peace. She understands that we can start a war in Iraq and destroy Baghdad from the air. And she understands that after sending our soldiers and their soldiers to the grave, we can win a war in Iraq, but that will not win the war on terrorism. The only way to win the one war that matters, the war on terrorism, is to bolster crumbling societies, support economic development and end support for undemocratic regimes. Let us do the right thing for ourselves and for our children. These children, 25 percent of our population, are 100 percent of the future of this Nation.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to simply say that we support this resolution, and I am proud to be here doing that. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), a new member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume, and I rise in support of this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter) for introducing this resolution because it is a good resolution, and it gives me an opportunity to highlight the importance and value of education in our Nation. H. Res. 106 recognizes the contribution of Lutheran schools to the mix of fine educational opportunities available to American children. We are very fortunate in the United States to have such a diverse system of education. The goal of the education system in America, both public and private, is to give every child in every State the opportunity to succeed, and that recipe for success, Mr. Speaker, certainly includes Lutheran schools, as well as other religious schools, non-religious private schools and, of course, our public schools. It is this variety, this diversity that makes our education system a success and makes America a strong, strong Nation. Mr. Speaker, as we recognize the educational contributions that Lutheran schools make to our Nation, let us recognize, too, the importance and value of all the many different types of schools in America and the contributions they make to the lives of our children and our Nation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, our Nation seems to be stumbling not just toward war with Iraq, but permanent war. We cannot end terror with bullets alone. If so, when do we stop shooting? When we find bin Laden? When we find Saddam? Or is there no end to war? Instead, we should be talking about a permanent peace. We should be asking how to sustain societies before they crumble instead of asking how to destroy those that have already lost their way. We should be asking how to educate children so they do not become terrorists instead of asking how we are going to kill those children once they do become terrorists. We should be asking how to strengthen the United Nations instead of threatening to make it irrelevant. As a Nation, we must emphasize finding alternatives to war. It is a matter of priorities.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa), a valued member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. (Mr. HINOJOSA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I would like to just say that a lot of good things came out of the Clinton economy, and we can all be glad for what happened with that, but that economy is not the same. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews). (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), a new member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to just make one remark before I yield time to the ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and that is that 20 States right now have a waiting list for child care, not just for welfare moms, but for the working poor and working families in general. We must not forget that. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), the ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Tierney).

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones).

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, as a Member of Congress who has actually been on welfare, let me tell Members, I know the pitfalls of H.R. 4. I know the pitfalls of the Republican welfare bill. I also know what we have learned since we passed welfare reform in 1996. We learned that we have to make changes. We learned that we cannot send people to work and keep them in poverty forevermore. We learned that we have to do a better job in helping the families that need that safety net. In this economy with fewer jobs and a greater waiting list for child care, we know that we have a lot of work to do because people are returning to welfare in this bad economy. But the most important thing that we learned from 1996 is that it is not so hard to get people off welfare, but it is very hard to get them out of poverty. So if we want to keep individuals off the welfare rolls, particularly in a weaker economy, the economy we have today under President Bush, we have to work very hard; otherwise we have failed because welfare moms, those who have moved from welfare, have moved into permanent poverty. Today more than one-fifth of the families that have left welfare since 1996 have come back onto the rolls and 39 States have reported a greater caseload increase for the last quarter. This country needs welfare that gives States the flexibility they need to get families out of poverty and into real work, work that pays a livable wage, work that a mother can sustain her family on. H.R. 4 will push more low-income parents into low-paying workfare jobs while making it almost impossible for them to get a real education, the kind of education they need to get good jobs, jobs that will keep them off welfare forevermore. While increasing the hours of work, the Republican bill does not provide the child care support that is necessary to sustain those families. We have a Democratic substitute. Our substitute enables States to give welfare recipients the support, the services they need so that they can go forward, become skilled, educated, and get jobs which will keep them off of welfare forever. I am the perfect example of what a good education, child care resources, good health, and actually being a little bit assertive did not hurt at all, what a difference that makes to a family. I was on welfare for 3 years even though I was working. We cannot take those services away from moms if we expect them to be able to take care of their families now and into the future. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley). (Mr. CROWLEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson). (Mr. THOMPSON of California asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time and for his good work. The Cardin-Woolsey-Kind substitute makes poverty reduction a core purpose of welfare reform. It offers bonuses to States that reduce child poverty. The Democratic substitute gives low-income parents access to real education, such as an AA degree, vocational training, literacy classes, English as a second language or GED studies. Our substitute gives families the support and services they need while they are working and learning, like an additional $11 billion in mandatory funding for child care over 5 years. We know that States are struggling right now to meet the demand for child care. Twenty States currently have waiting lists for child care; and in my State of California, only 19 percent of the children and families on welfare received any type of child care assistance. This is before the Republican challenge to send welfare moms to work for 40 hours a week. There is no way that their small increase in H.R. 4 for child care funding will be able to meet this expanded need. Nobody knows more than I do how important child care is when you are struggling and working. I was a mother on welfare 35 years ago. I had college education, I had great job skills, I was in the workforce, and I needed AFDC in order to get the health care, the child care, and the food stamps that I needed. But it was not until my mother moved from Seattle, Washington, to California that I was able to grow in my job and, within 6 months, I was promoted to management because I could think about my job while I was at work and I did not have to worry about my children. So my story is a good story, and let that be something my colleagues hold in their minds. My colleagues have never been there. I have. Welfare moms can only succeed if they get the education and the skills they need for a job that will support their family through good economies and bad economies. The Woolsey-Kind-Cardin substitute will break the cycle of poverty, and it will strengthen families. It is welfare reform that meets the needs of this current economy, an economy where jobs are scarce, where child care is scarce, and where an education counts greater than ever before. Vote for our substitute and against H.R. 4.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green).

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee), one of the leaders in education.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to join my colleagues in congratulating the women of the University of Portland Soccer Team for winning the NCAA Division I National Championship. But let us not forget that we must also congratulate Patsy Mink's Title IX program, because if there were no Title IX, there would not be a soccer championship for women. Before Title IX, fewer than 30,000 girls participated in intercollegiate athletics. Today, more than 100,000 women compete. In high school, fewer than 7 percent of the young women played varsity sports prior to Title IX. Today, over 40 percent of young women do. Do these games mean that the work of Title IX is finished when it comes to sports, that it is time for the supporters of the Title IX to take their ball and go home? Absolutely not. Is contrary to the scare tactics being used by opponents of Patsy Mink's Title IX program, those who say that women's sports are eating up all the athletic funding. The facts show that women's sports continue to receive far less funding than men's sports. In the community of Duquesne, Pennsylvania, girls' sports receive one dime, one thin dime, for every dollar spent on boys' sports. In my own State of California, where women make up over 56 percent of the full-time students at our 108 State colleges, women's sports receive 35 percent of the athletic budget. In Georgia, more than 86 percent of the legislative grants for stadiums, lighting and equipment at public schools went to boys' sports programs. That would be 86 percent. So while Title IX is transforming the playing field for women's sports, and that is because of our late colleague, Patsy Mink, we are not close to being even between men's sports and women's sports. We must be strong and we must continue to support Title IX; otherwise the dream of an NCAA championship will not be alive for girls in their future.

Ms. WOOLSEY. That is too bad because investment in girls' sports is an investment in their future.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would yield, I do not think I said Federal funding. I am sure I said funding in general.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, that is what I believe I said.

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