Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. That is what it is all about.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate the University of Florida Gators for winning the 2007 men's basketball NCAA championship title. After a hard fought season and tournament, the Florida, Gator men's basketball team proved victorious, on April 2, 2007, with a dazzling 84-75 triumph over the Ohio State University Buckeyes. I want to extend special congratulations to Florida's head coach, Billy Donovan, who trained this team to be the best in the country. All of the athletes are shining stars for the university and deserve our highest praise. This year, the men's basketball team made history by becoming the first school to win back to back championships since 1992. The Florida Gators also maintain a record as the only university in history to win simultaneous championships in both men's basketball and football. Florida's academic reputation is stellar, our sports teams are number one and our fans are like none other. Madam Speaker, it is great to be a Florida Gator! Congratulations to the students, faculty, alumni, and friends of the University of Florida. Go Gators!

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, on Monday and Tuesday, May 14 and 15, 2007, I was attending to personal family matters in the District. Consequently, I missed Rollcall Votes No. 342, ``To extend the District of Columbia College Access Act;'' No. 343, ``Supporting the Goals and Ideals of a National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims;'' No. 344, ``Recognizing National Americorps Week;'' No. 345, ``American Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Coin;'' No. 346, ``Army Specialist Joseph P. Micks Federal Flag Code Amendment Act of 2007;'' No. 347, ``John R. Justice Prosecutors and Defenders Incentive Act of 2007;'' No. 348, ``COPS Improvement Act of 2007;'' and No. 349, ``Safe American Roads Act of 2007.'' If present, I would have voted ``aye'' on all matters.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in recognition of the second annual Jewish American Heritage Month, which takes place in communities across the country each May. Jewish American Heritage Month promotes awareness of the contributions American Jews have made to the fabric of American life, from technology and literature to entertainment, politics and medicine. As we are all well aware, the foundation of our country is built upon the strengths of our unique cultures and backgrounds. While our diversity is our strength, ignorance about many cultures is still prevalent. Because Jews make up only 2 percent of our Nation's population, most Americans have had few interactions with Jews and Jewish culture. The limited understanding of Jewish traditions and the Jewish experience and the historical role Jews have played in our Nation's development contributes to stereotypes and prejudices about Jews and the Jewish community. For example, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, most recent hate crime statistics report that 69 percent of criminal incidents motivated by religious bias stemmed from anti-Jewish prejudice. Like Black History Month and Women's History Month, Jewish American Heritage Month recognizes the abundance of contributions American Jews have made to the United States over the last 353 years. It is my hope that by providing the framework for the discussion of Jewish contributions to our Nation, we will be able to reduce the ignorance that ultimately leads to anti-Semitism. One way Jewish American Heritage Month counters these prejudices is by providing educators the opportunity to include American Jews in discussions of history, as well as highlighting the leadership of members of the Jewish community in significant historical events. For example, it might surprise many to learn that it was an American Jew, Irving Berlin, who wrote the lyrics to the song God Bless America. Even the very foundations of our country were impacted by Jews. Haym Salomon, a Jewish man, was one of the largest financiers of the American Revolutionary War. And Rabbi Joachim Prinz was a passionate civil rights activist, appearing on the podium just moments before Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his ``I Have a Dream'' speech. And the list goes on, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is why communities across the country have come together to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month. Two years ago the Jewish Community in south Florida approached me with the idea to honor the contributions of American Jews with a designated month each year. As the concept gained momentum, 250 of my colleagues joined me as original cosponsors of a resolution urging the President to issue a proclamation for this month. Senator Arlen Specter led the effort in the Senate, and together the House and Senate unanimously passed the resolution supporting the creation of Jewish American Heritage Month. President Bush proclaimed the month of May as Jewish American Heritage Month for the first time in 2006, and again issued a proclamation this year. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to announce that a coalition of organizations has come together to develop curriculum and coordinate events. This coalition, called the Jewish American Heritage Month Coalition, is led by United Jewish Communities, the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Jewish Archives and the Jewish Women's Archives. The events can all be found on the national calendar of the Jewish American Heritage Month Coalition's Web site at www.JewishHeritage.us. Mr. Speaker, I want to pause for a moment and thank this coalition for their tireless efforts to promote the outstanding events across the country. Each day in May has been packed with programs celebrating the contributions of American Jewry to our country, with movies, plays, art exhibitions, speakers, musical performances, and innovative educational curricula. The Jewish American Heritage Month Coalition and the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington kicked off the month with a reception attended by several Members of Congress and about 200 guests. Right here in Washington, the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration have hosted films, lectures, and discussions about Jewish contributions to America. In my home State of Florida, there was a celebration of Jewish music and a discussion of Jewish contributions to the civil rights movement. A New Jersey middle school hosted an essay contest entitled ``I'm Proud to be an American Jew Because . . . '' Philadelphia hosted ``American Jewish History Through the Arts,'' a series of free programs that highlight the American Jewish experience. And this past weekend, the New York Liberty, the women's pro basketball team, hosted the WNBA's first Jewish American Heritage Month basketball game. Mr. Speaker, we have come a long way in recent years to promote appreciation for the multicultural fabric of the United States. It is our responsibility to continue this education. If we as a Nation are to prepare our children for the challenges that lie ahead, then teaching diversity is a fundamental part of that promise. Together, we can help achieve this goal of understanding with the celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month. I thank my colleagues for their support and call on all Americans to observe this special month by celebrating the many contributions of Jewish culture throughout our Nation's history.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, the most important goal of the Student Loan Sunshine Act is to protect students and parents and help them receive the most affordable loan possible. With that in mind, I would like to mention that recently, a number of my colleagues and I sent a letter to Secretary Spellings regarding the urgent need to reopen the national student loan database for students and parents to receive low interest consolidation loans before the rates are changed on July 1st. Although, we fully support new and better safeguards to protect student privacy which many student loan companies advocate, it is crucial that both students and lenders have safe and secure access to this information.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Thank you so much, Mr. Altmire. I have to tell you what a pleasure it is to have the reinforcements in you and Mr. Murphy and a number of other Members, you, Madam Speaker, to have been elected on November 7 to bolster the efforts of the 30-Something Working Group. Because we hung in there for the last couple of cycles and took to the floor every night to talk to the American people and to our colleagues on this floor about the issues that we believed were important to them that were not being addressed by our colleagues and good friends on the other side of the aisle when they were in charge. I want to follow up on what you and Mr. Murphy have just been discussing relating to the President and his attitude. The conclusion that I have reached is that it must be that the President has contempt for the democratic process. I can't really reach any other conclusion besides that. Because we are not a monarchy. He hopefully realizes that he was not elected king. He is not self-appointed. He is one of three branches of government that are coequal, coequal meaning we have as much say and as much right to weigh in on something as significant as whether to, A, commit our troops to war, and, B, we control the appropriations, we control the purse. And what we believe, as Democrats, is that it is irresponsible for us to give this President a blank check and an open-ended commitment to the Iraqi government with absolutely no accountability and no requirement that there be progress forward or benchmarks met. I mean, the President must believe that we aren't listening to our constituents, or maybe he's not listening. He says he is listening. In fact, on April 24 of this year the President said this, ``Last November, the American people said they were frustrated and wanted change in our strategy in Iraq. I listened.'' Really? I have yet to see any evidence of him listening. What I have seen evidence of, and, you know, I know that I often go back to the analogy of my interaction with my own children when talking about this President, but my frustration and observation about the insolence on occasion of my own children is similar to what we have been observing from the reaction from this White House. I really can analogize it that when I am talking to, for us as the Democratic majority in Congress, we sent him legislation in the supplemental appropriations bill that he vetoed. And I have the privilege of serving on the Appropriations Committee and served on the conference committee. We sent him the legislation with a timeline for withdrawal, with his own benchmarks as he outlined on January 10, with accountability and with protection for our troops, A, ensuring that they not have a tour of duty without a 365-day separation in between those tours, the Army's own rules. We made sure that there was $1.7 billion in funding for veterans' health care. We made sure that there was $1.7 billion in there for military health care, something that you have been incredibly concerned about, veteran and military health care, Mr. Altmire. And on and on. The issues that were, according to the President, very important to him and clearly important to the American people. And so he vetoed that and said that there were other concerns that he had, that he didn't want his hands tied, that he wanted to have the flexibility, that he just wanted a blank check and open-ended commitment. We, being a coequal branch of government, have gone back to the drawing board. And the Democratic majority believing in compromise and a need to negotiate in good faith, we have now put forward another proposal, a proposal that is designed to address the concerns that he outlines. And normally when you're going through a good-faith negotiation there is what's called ``back and forth,'' for example, the analogy that I began a minute ago, when my children don't like what I'm telling them, when I'm talking to my kids and I explain to them that I want them to do A and they don't want to do A, and we kind of go back and forth. And being a parent of small children, sometimes it's a dictatorship, but sometimes there's negotiation. And it always works better when you can work things out with your kids and teach them that compromise is going to get you further. But when they don't like that compromise, my kids, just like all kids, stamp their foot and whine a little bit and tell me that they don't want to do that. That really feels like how this President has reacted to Congress' clear ability to weigh in on the direction that this war should be taking. The American people certainly have weighed in. And what I don't understand is why the President isn't willing to come to the table and negotiate in good faith. The my-way-or-the-highway attitude that he has taken is irresponsible. What we are doing in this next proposal is we are making sure that we fully fund over the next 3 months the funding that the troops need. We provide the President and the Army with the funding that they need, but we tie it to benchmarks, we tie it to progress. The Iraqi government cannot believe that we will be there forever. And then we have a second vote where we would come back; and if the President can certify to us that those benchmarks are being met, then the rest of the funding would be released. If he can't certify that to us, then the funding that we would appropriate would be used to go through a redeployment process. Because at some point the madness has to end. That is what the American people have told us when we've gone home to our districts in town halls, in e-mails, in phone calls. The President appears to have ear plugs in his ears, and it's wrong. And that's why the Founding Fathers established coequal branches of government, so that one person in the executive office, in the Oval Office could not unilaterally decide to commit our troops, to keep them there and to engage us in military action indefinitely. It's irresponsible. Mr. Murphy.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I am really glad that you touched on that, because you read my mind. I am obviously from a State where the National Guard and its readiness is imperative. We are approaching June 1st, which is the beginning of hurricane season. It runs all the way through to the end of November. I know from conversations that I have had with our Guard leadership in Florida that a good amount of our equipment is over in Iraq still. And to make matters worse is that the equipment that has come back is in such horrendous shape that it is almost unusable. When I had a meeting in my district office with the head of our National Guard, with the commander, this was over a year ago, he expressed that concern to me over a year ago. We can't deal with the lack of readiness in Kansas but certainly not in a State like Florida where we are in the middle of hurricane alley. And we have already had the first main storm today, three weeks before the hurricane season even begins. So we are not just talking about the foreign policy impact, the perception of our Nation across the world or the impact on our troops. There is a domestic impact, a significant detrimental domestic impact to our inability to address where we are in this war and when it is going to end. We have got to make sure that the Iraqi government and the Iraqi troops are in a position to stand on their own so that we can bring our troops home and deal with the domestic needs that we have in this country.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Just what all this boils down to for me is just one word, and that is insensitivity. I mean, there is a disconnect, which is almost a word that has almost become cliche, but a disconnect between what is really going on in the lives of the average American person and the policies that the White House and the President advance. And that insensitivity, it is not isolated just to the price of oil. It is not isolated just to the President's believing that he is the only one that is right, and he was elected to be the decision-maker, as he said, and to heck with anyone else's opinion. The insensitivity is reflective, and it permeates every decision they make. Let me just give you an example. I sit on the House Judiciary Committee as well, and tomorrow we have Attorney General Gonzales coming in front of our committee for our regular oversight of the Department of Justice. So the insensitivity and the tone deafness extends to even an issue like that. The White House has defended their firings of the U.S. attorneys, essentially saying they had the right to do it, and they told us whatever reasons that they decided to release those U.S. attorneys, but they got caught in a fabrication. They got caught in a whole series of different stories that have come back to bite them. Now we have a situation where we have an Attorney General who has completely undermined our ability and the American people's ability to have any confidence and trust in what he says. That is a pattern that exists. I mean, we talked during the campaign and during the 109th and the 108th about the culture of corruption. I mean, that is what has been hanging over this Capitol, which finally we have been able to lift it. There are still remnants of it. We still have, sadly, a number of even our colleagues who have been accused of things and are going through investigations, but the Department of Justice and the Attorney General could have handled this U.S. attorney issue in a very simple way, a way that I do not think I could have or you could have questioned. They had the right to decide to change who was sitting in those offices, who was serving as a U.S. attorney, and all they had to say was, we wanted to change the leadership in those eight offices. Instead, they got so caught up in telling a story that they thought was legitimate enough, that now it is not the firings, it is the coverup that is the problem. And that is what the White House does not seem to get. We are almost talking apples and oranges. They are defending their right to have fired them. We are not disagreeing with them over their right to have fired the U.S. attorneys. We do have a serious problem, and we should have a serious problem not being able to trust that the information the administration and the Department of Justice provides to us when we ask them questions is accurate and that it is factual. It is the trust and the violation of that trust that has been undermined for so long, and that was another result on November 7. Part of the result of the election is that the American people's confidence in their government was so badly undermined that they wanted us to help them move in a new direction. So it is just not isolated just to the issues we have been talking about tonight. We could go through a laundry list.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I think what is important for us to emphasize in the 30-Something Working Group here is we are about action. Our Democratic leadership under Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer and Mr. Clyburn, our whip, and Mr. Emanuel, our caucus Chair, we spend a lot of time on this floor. The people who are watching see us doing a lot of talking. I mean, talk i nice, but I want us to make sure that we are getting across what we are going to be doing about this problem. The Speaker has made a commitment that has directed the committees that are chaired by Democratic Members that, by July 4, that we will expand and extend renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives, that we will make efforts to make our Nation's farmers leaders in reducing our independence on foreign oil by promoting clean, domestically produced alternative fuels. They do that in Brazil. Brazil has become completely independent of foreign oil. In fact, our own auto industry, our American automobile industry manufactures vehicles to be driven in Brazil because they use an ethanol-based gasoline so they can be self-sufficient. It is entirely doable. We need to refocus, and our policies and committee hearings and legislation that will be moving through by Independence Day will move us in the direction of changing our dependence from the Middle East to the Midwest in our country. We will also provide incentives for an energy-innovation economy that will create new jobs and efficiency measures to help consumers and small businesses reduce energy costs. And we are going to make sure that we strengthen our national commitment to energy research and development for the next generation of high-risk, high-reward energy technology. We have an innovation agenda that was part of the New Direction for America agenda that we ran on and talked about in race after race in district after district. People want to know that it is not just words, that it is not just lips flapping up here. We are going to actually move legislation and use our congressional oversight capability and leadership on this issue so they don't hear one more quarter go by where they see record profits from the oil industry, one more quarter go by where they are on a roller coaster ride for gas prices. We need to make sure that we help our colleagues on the other side of the aisle and the President of this country knows what a gas tank is. Because Mr. Altmire did make reference that this is a gas tank, but this is a pretty ancient gas tank. This is a representation of a gas tank that probably dates back to the 1950s. Perhaps that is the last time that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle or the President actually used one of these. That really is, I think, the only explanation for their insensitivity. It is our job to make sure that we move this innovation agenda forward so we can make it a priority. That is why rolling back those subsidies were part of our 6 in '06 agenda. One of the first bills that we passed in the first 100 hours in the majority was a repeal of the subsidies that were given away to the oil industry that they literally said they did not need. How could they need them? They are sitting on piles of money, billions of dollars, and we gave them subsidies. We gave them back money that they owed us, that were royalties that we should have earned because we give them the right to drill on government-owned land. It is just unbelievable that the priorities of the administration would be closer to the oil industry than it would be to the people. It is immoral. It really is. It is nothing short of immoral. We have to start thinking about how the decisions we make here impact real people. We stand in this Chamber every day. And you know what happens? I was in the legislature in Florida. My district is 450 miles from the capitol in Tallahassee, and it is a lot further from Washington. It becomes really easy, I think, for a lot of the Members to forget the impact of the decisions that we make in this room on real people. You can easily become desensitized. Maybe that is what it is. I know the President goes around the country and talks to people. But the way they set those events up for the President, as I understand it, he is isolated. They screen a lot of the people that get an opportunity to be in the room with him, if not all of them. I just don't think he hears from enough people about the true impact of his policies. It is the only explanation. If he was really hearing what people were saying and if he was really sympathetic to the plight of people who are struggling, and not just poor people, but we are talking about middle-class people who have a job and who are, like you said, living paycheck to paycheck, and even people not living paycheck to paycheck. Just because you can afford to pay $55 to fill up your gas tank doesn't mean it is okay. It shouldn't cost that much. It doesn't have to, and we need to make sure that our actions become reality and that we put pressure on the President to sign what we send him when we send it by Independence Day.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Thank you, Mr. Murphy. You know, I really became enraged this weekend because you both have heard me refer to myself as what I am, and that is a ``minivan mom.'' I am a minivan mom, one of the millions of minivan moms that drive around my district with the kids in the back seat. And I can tell you that we, ideally, if you are a mom with little kids, would drive a smaller vehicle so that you could save gas, so that you could save money, so that you could be more energy efficient and environmentally conscious. However, when you are traveling from soccer to baseball to dance class to school and all the things that minivan moms have to do, you need a vehicle the size of a minivan. And they are expensive to fill up. Believe me. This weekend, we were back up, just for 87 octane, when I filled my gas tank, 87 octane in my hometown of Weston was $3.06 a gallon. The 93 octane was about $3.88. I stood there, and it had been a while since we felt the rage and actually a while since I have gotten feedback from constituents about their frustration, because, like you said, I am actually an idealist. I am not a cynic. I am not someone that believes in conspiracy theories. There is just no question in my mind that that drop in gas prices was absolutely tied to the potential fortunes of the Republican candidates for Congress and this administration. So I am just going to say it straight out. The only explanation other than that and the only explanation for the insensitivity on the part of the President and this White House must be that they are not filling their own tanks. Maybe their drivers are doing it for them. I would like to take the opportunity to introduce our colleagues and the President to a gas tank. This is what they look like. And when you insert the pump into your vehicle, the indicator on the gas pump shows you how much you are paying and shows you the total at the end after you are done filling your tank. They are not filling their own tank. That must be the only explanation why the President hasn't taken any steps to address our dependence on foreign oil, to deal with the record profits, obscene profits that the oil industry is making. I don't understand how he could look himself in the mirror after the 2006 State of the Union which I was here for and you guys were running to join us here. I heard President Bush stand at that lectern and tell us that we must end America's addiction to foreign oil. It clearly was just words. That is what they are good at. They are good at the words. They just are not good at backing up the words with action. But we are. Here we are talking about what we need to do. I want us to share with our colleagues and other folks that might be listening what our plans are, because we are going to take some action. We represent the folks that drive minivans around their district and drive pickup trucks and who run small businesses who need to make sure that gas prices don't cut their legs out from under their business and prevent them from being able to function. That is the reality on the ground every day. Your gas prices go up, you have a harder time choosing to provide your employees with health insurance, you have a harder time being able to buy that piece of equipment your business needs. There is a direct result on small businesses from gas prices going up. We are taking several significant steps. The Speaker has created a Select Committee on Global Warming and Energy Independence. That was a controversial move but something that she felt was important because it is so critical that we address the issue of global warming and energy independence that we needed to highlight it and put it up on a pedestal and get Members to travel the world and talk about how we can move the ball down the field and address this issue. In addition to the hearings and oversight that select committee will be doing, and that select committee will meet for a year time period because there needs to be action taken within a very short time span so we can get some results for the American people. Also, in the Energy and Commerce Committee, we will be hearing Mr. Stupak's legislation called the Energy Price Gouging Prevention Act to immediately provide relief to consumers and prevent the oil companies from price gouging like what is clearly going on here. I mean, we cannot allow the oil industry to put our constituents on the roller coaster ride that they are clearly on right now. We have to do a number of things. We have to set an example in this institution. Speaker Pelosi has moved forward with the Greening the Capitol Initiative. I am privileged to chair the subcommittee which will be working on a lot of the initiatives for the Greening the Capitol project. What we will be doing is within the next 2 years, by the end of the 110th Congress, we will establish policies that will make our Capitol complex carbon neutral; and we will make sure that we set an example for businesses across the country. We have to take several major steps to provide relief and balance and focus on alternative energy research so we can truly wean ourselves off dependence from foreign oil and not just talk about it. I am a little hot about that. I see the Speaker is standing on her feet, which means we are probably getting close to the end of our time.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Student Loan Sunshine Act, and I congratulate Chairman Miller for bringing the principles of honest leadership to higher education financing. The cost of higher education has increased dramatically over the past few years, making college less affordable for many families. Financial aid is an important tool in helping make the cost of college more affordable. The people and institutions that administer these loans must be held to the highest ethical standards. For most students, their college loan will be their first form of major debt after their graduation. As we encourage financial literacy and responsibility among this generation of young people, we must ensure that students are protected. They need to understand and know that their lenders and their financial aid administrators are in their corner and that they don't have individuals that are trying to undermine them or make money on the backs of these students. Financing a college education is dependent on industry and institutional accountability. Strict codes of conduct will ensure this accountability. Additionally, I am also supportive of the Department of Education's efforts to install new safeguards to protect students' privacy. We need to make sure that our students can have the utmost confidence in the system that is designed to provide them the opportunity to pay off their loans after their education and go on to become productive members of our society.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, public service is among the most noble and demanding of professions, and excellence in the delivery of public service helps to keep the city of Hollywood, Florida, strong and prosperous and a wonderful place in which to live and work. The effectiveness and efficiency of government depends, in large measure, on public employees whose task it is to provide, on a daily basis, a broad range of services of the quality required and expected by the public. Quite often the importance of the public service that is rendered by public employees and the exemplary manner of their performance are often forgotten or overlooked. Public employees and volunteers, through their commitment to excellence and diversity of skills, have made great contributions to the City of Hollywood in areas such as public safety; recreational activities; neighborhood revitalization; and the delivery of water, sewer, and solid waste services. The City of Hollywood recognizes the contributions made by public employees as well as volunteers at all levels of city government and finds it fitting to set aside a special time to honor and thank these dedicated individuals who perform such vital roles. Public Service Recognition Week is being celebrated from May 7 through May 13, 2007, and salutes approximately 1,700 City of Hollywood employees who devote their time and talents to public service and who ``do whatever it takes'' to help citizens attain a high quality of life, and the numerous volunteers who contributed approximately 22,632 hours of volunteer service. To provide even better service to the public, the City of Hollywood has committed to an organizational cultural change to enhance customer service and employee involvement and has initiated this process through the employee-guided strategic plan created by Hollywood City Manager Cameron D. Benson, a wonderful man, I might add. With that said, Mr. Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to the City of Hollywood, Florida, in its celebration of Public Service Recognition Week. Now, Mr. Speaker, additionally, I also rise today to recognize National Safe Kids Week. This is an issue that is near and dear to my heart as a mom with three young children. This year National Safe Kids Week will be held from April 28 through May 6, 2007. That is the week that we are in now. National Safe Kids Week is a joint partnership between Safe Kids Worldwide and its founding sponsor, Johnson & Johnson. This week of public education activities has been held annually for 19 years and draws much-needed attention to accidental childhood injury, a leading killer of children 14 and under. This year's National Safe Kids Weeks' theme is ``Make it a Safe Kids Summer.'' The start of summer is known by emergency personnel as ``trauma season'' since accidental deaths and serious injuries to children increase dramatically. An average of 17 children a day, or 2,143 children in total, died from May to August, 2004, due to injuries, many of which could have been prevented. Safe Kids Worldwide research indicates that five of the most common causes of children's accidental injury deaths in summer are drowning, which increases 89 percent in the summer over the monthly annual average; biking, which increases 45 percent; falls, which increase 21 percent; motor vehicle passenger injuries, which increase 20 percent; pedestrian injuries, which increase 16 percent. In fact, almost 60 percent of total children's accidental injury deaths from May to August from 2001 to 2004 came from these risk areas. Events led by Safe Kids coalitions are taking place in more than 300 communities across the Nation in order to educate parents and families about how to keep kids safe during the summer, especially when participating in these activities. As my home State of Florida, drowning prevention is an important concern of mine as a parent and as a legislator. In fact, drowning is the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death to children in the summer months in Florida. My most rewarding victory, Mr. Speaker, came from the passage of the Florida Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act. I was honored to sponsor this law as a State legislator, which has helped to save countless numbers of children from accidental injury and drowning in Florida pools. As the majority of drownings and near drownings occur in residential swimming pools and in open water sites, I hope that more States work to address water safety in their communities. Recently I introduced similar Federal legislation here in the House of Representatives. My legislation, the Pool & Spa Safety Act, would provide grants to States that pass such comprehensive safety laws and also support drowning prevention educational programs, among other provisions. Along with my colleague Representative Frank Wolf, we hope this bill will be passed before another ``trauma season'' occurs for our Nation's children. I encourage my colleagues to lend it their support. I also urge my colleagues to support National Safe Kids Week and to work with your State or local Safe Kids coalition to prevent these accidental injuries to children not only in the summer months but throughout the year.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, last Sunday marked Holocaust Remembrance Day, which honors the memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust during World War II. We are now in the midst of the Days of Remembrance established by the United States Congress as our Nation's commemoration of these victims. We remember the Holocaust so that the lessons and responsibilities left from this tragedy are not lost. Always, but especially now, it is imperative that we remember and take action against the genocide that is currently taking place in Darfur. As we look to the past to remember those that perished at the hand of Nazi Germany, we must not forget the 2,500,000 Darfurian civilians targeted and displaced because of their ethnic or racial identity or the more than 300,000 people killed thus far. Tragically, over 1,600 villages have been destroyed by Sudanese government soldiers and government-backed militias. The growing number of destroyed homes and lives is a testament to the fact that simply remembering is not enough. Madam Speaker, as you know, children are among the most helpless victims of any genocide. One million of the six million Jews that were killed in the Holocaust were children. Jewish children were targeted by the Nazi regime, and now the children of Darfur suffer the brutal effects that burning villages, shootings, rapes, and the search for refuge have on the youngest victims of this tragedy. My heart is warmed by the work of grassroots organizations in South Florida and across the country that bring attention to the crisis in Darfur. We must heed the lessons of Holocaust Remembrance Day and make sure that another Holocaust never happens again. Racially inspired hatred has surfaced many times in the decades since the Holocaust, and it is our duty to stop the disaster in Darfur and make it the last genocide of the 21st century.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, this Sunday, the Miami Herald's Broward County edition will publish the 1,130th column by writer Claire Mitchel. Claire's column, entitled ``The Third Third,'' is believed to be the longest-running, uninterrupted features column on aging in any major newspaper in America. Nothing in the last 22 years, not illness, surgery, births, deaths, computer foul-ups, vacations, hurricanes, nothing stopped Claire Mitchel from offering her unique weekly perspective on the aging of America. Week after week, Claire's column has offered us wisdom, guidance, insight and gentle chuckles. Her book, a collection of her columns, was entitled ``Seeing the World Through Rose-Colored Bifocals.'' Tony- winning playwright Vinnette Carroll conceived a musical based on Claire's line, ``At our age, we don't buy green bananas.'' But Claire Mitchel has been far more than a columnist. She has been a public relations person who represented everyone from Ann Landers to Eleanor Roosevelt. She marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; she had her own radio show; and she was an ardent feminist before mainstream America understood what that meant. Claire was Coordinator of Women's Concerns for Broward County's Human Relations Division for 10 years and a co-founder of the Older Women's League. She was chosen Feminist of the Year by the Broward Commission on the Status of Women and was inducted into the Broward County Women's Hall of Fame. And through it all, she has been a devoted wife and mother. In her column, marking her 85th birthday recently, Claire offered this observation: ``Today I am a woman of 85, asking the same question everyone asks following such a statement, where did the years go? My answer is, with a lot of living. ``Each day, on each occasion, when there was a question of whether to do something, I chose yes. No regrets for what I did, just what I didn't do. When others hesitated, I volunteered. Mostly it was the right decision, leading me to an activity that I enjoyed.'' This has been the underlying message, Mr. Speaker, of each of Claire Mitchel's weekly writings for the last 22 years: keep living every day to its fullest, no matter what age you are. With that, Mr. Speaker, I pay tribute to Claire Mitchel, whose shoulders are strong enough to have supported thousands of women by sharing with them her pearls of wisdom. Recognizing National Women's History Month

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I also rise today in recognition of National Women's History Month as we wind down to the last day of this month on Saturday, March 31. First let me start off by saying how honored I am to be a part of the 110th Congress, which boasts 90 women Members serving in both the House and Senate. With this year's theme of ``Generations of Women Moving History Forward,'' it is my honor to recognize some very special women in my district, the 20th Congressional District of Florida, who have done and continue to do their part to advance the women's movement. Today I call specific attention to a particular group of women who volunteer their time at the Jack and Jill Children's Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Jack and Jill Children's Center is a nonprofit organization that provides family-oriented, early childhood education and support to strengthen working families. The center has a volunteer Grandparent Program, whose mission is to engage older adults in volunteer services to meet critical community needs and to enrich the lives of volunteers. Jack and Jill's grandparents have the important job of interacting with little children. Whether it is tying shoes, serving meals, patting backs at nap time, or sitting with a child and practicing writing their name, these grandparents provide each child with a special relationship that he or she may not otherwise receive. The success of the Grandparent Program, Mr. Speaker, is attributed to its mutually beneficial nature, to both the participants and children who receive the care. Many of the programs' grandparents are working with their own grandchildren, who will grow up in a loving educational environment, fostering a stronger sense of community, work ethic and successful life. These amazing women, Mr. Speaker, are Martha Myrick, Pearline Scott, Annie Welch, Merceline Victor, Barbara Osgood, Elizabeth Dorsey, Johnnie Daniels, Maria Morency, Margaret Lewis, and Albertha Brown. They collectively average 75 years of age and have been an active part of our south Florida community all of their lives, some of whom even attended grade school together. By providing a better life for our Nation's working, single and low- income mothers, Jack and Jill's Grandparent Program is moving women's history forward. Mr. Speaker, our Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, exemplifies that a woman can do a job that any man can. I thank her for her service to our Nation, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to tell America about some of the women in my district who make positive changes in the lives of others.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Who works at the White House.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Absorbed, even, by the 30-something leadership.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Thank you, Mr. Meek and Mr. Murphy, it is great to be here again. I had an opportunity to engage in some dialogue with the caucus chairman on the Republican side, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Putnam). I fully expected to be engaged in a point-counterpoint discussion on the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney scandal, and that he would be defensive, as many of his colleagues have been. But knowing Mr. Putnam as we do, he was very frustrated. He expressed deep concern. He was beyond comprehension how the administration could have dealt with this problem in the way that they did. I was asked how I felt about it as a member of the Judiciary Committee. Quite honestly, under normal circumstances the President does have the right to appoint and unappoint and ask for the resignation of U.S. Attorneys that serve at his pleasure. Had it been a matter of him just saying, yes, I asked for their resignation, we have some other needs, we are moving in a different direction, whatever he said, just be straight with the American people. Just be straight with the Congress. If he had said, yes, I asked for their resignation, I can do that, I am the President. Fine. But, instead, it is fabrication, it is distortion, it is no, it was not him, it was the guy behind the tree. It was his mother. Just own up to what you did. Now, if the problem is what you did, you asked for their resignation because they were too good at their job and they were pursuing public corruption cases against Republicans, and we have colleagues that picked up the phone and put some pressure on these U.S. Attorneys whose resignation ultimately was asked for, that is a horse of a different color. But this would have never exploded to the level it has if they had just said, yes, we did. What I pointed out in my conversion with Mr. Putnam, in past years, and I was happy to see he was frustrated and concerned and there is bipartisan concern about the action that this administration has taken repeatedly on the war in Iraq, on the U.S. Attorney firings, and on the handling of the Valerie Plame issue, and the list goes on and on. Had there not been Democrats in charge of the Congress, this would have been another thing that would have been swept aside. They would have moved on or waited it out. They would have squeezed their eyes tight shut and hoped that this, too, would pass.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I want to go back to my ``mom'' analogy that I had last week. It is like how I deal with my kids. I told them, as all little kids, they get nervous when they have done something wrong. Sometimes they might not be completely truthful. And I have sat them down time and again, and said, listen, honey, if you just tell me the truth right away, it is going to be easier. I might be a little mad, but I am going to be more upset if I find out you lied on top of a lie. Young kids might not completely understand this, but grownups like the President and the Attorney General can certainly understand the more you stretch the truth, because we have to be careful about the words we use here, the harder it is to remember the last one you told, the last version of the truth you told.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. We absolutely have to make sure that we continue to exercise the system of checks and balances in our oversight role here. If we don't, I am really fearful about what else. And we have already seen the evidence of how far this administration will push and how obsessed they are with the notion of a unitary Executive and the concentration of power that they have tried to gather in the Executive, through signing statements which are notations, whole paragraphs and pages and pages of notations on legislation that we pass here. We will say ``X'' must happen. And in a signing statement, the President will actually write a note that says why he doesn't have to do ``X'' even though Congress passed a law and he signed it. He has exercised more than any other President combined the so-called right to, essentially if he doesn't think a provision in the law that we have passed is constitutional, he has exercised his belief that he can ignore it or not implement it. That is what the judiciary is for. So between signing statements and the abuse of power with the PATRIOT Act and National Security Letters and essentially not being entirely straightforward, for lack of a better term, I am coming up with a lot of adjectives and synonyms for the ``L'' word here, there is an incredible effort being made that seems to require more energy than the straight-up truth does. That is why the oversight role is so important. If we are not here asking questions, then the administration will run rough shod over the Constitution. They have proven that.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I thank the gentleman. On Friday, what we said was no more blank checks, no more war without a strategy and a plan to get our men and women in uniform home, no more sending troops over into combat, into harm's way without the armor they need, without the preparation they need, without the rest they need. All of those items were in that Iraq War supplemental. The alternative, what the President preferred, was just give me the money, just give me the money; do not ask me any questions. He was opposed to his own benchmarks. The benchmarks that he laid out on January 10 were in the bill, the ones that he said the Iraqi people have to meet, that the Iraqi leadership has to meet, and we added some that said, you know what, you have to make sure that you think about protecting the men and women we are sending over there.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Words are nice, but when you go, like each of us have, to Walter Reed Army Medical Center and you look those troops in the eye and you have a chance to spend some time with them, the words ring really hollow unless you know you can back those words up with some action, with some commitment, with some belief in the mission and understand how devoted these men and women are to getting the job done. I mean, listen to some of the folks that are in that hospital, they all, to a person, have told me when I have been there, they want to go back. They want to get better, and they want to go back to join their comrades, their buddies, and help finish the job, but we have to make sure that we have their back.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. As we conclude, the President is so stubborn and so ``my way or the highway,'' that his own definition of victory, the benchmarks that we have put in this bill, he is threatening to veto. That is what is mind-boggling, even when we insert his milestones. Still, that is not acceptable. If the gentleman would like to talk about our Web site.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. We have locked elbows for 12 years, Mr. Meek, worked together and fought together. As we close, I was thinking as you were closing that you and I, we were born 3 weeks apart. The Vietnam war, when the Vietnam war was ending, we were less than 10 years old. We were little kids. I don't remember much about how the Vietnam War closed out, but that was the beginning part of the history lessons that we had in public school. I remember learning about, and I have read articles and read textbooks and studied for exams learning about what happened to our men and women in uniform when they came back from that war. As they came back, they were spat upon and disrespected and unappreciated. We see sadly the results of that with so many of the homeless and mentally disabled veterans that scatter on our Mall and who stand up for the rights of veterans. I have to tell you, I am also proud of the American people because as we grew up, and as we spent the balance of our lives until this point without there being war, that is not how our troops are treated any longer. The American people grew, and they learned, and that is what I am incredibly proud of. I am proud that our colleagues today did two things that are important: We used our heads, and we listened with our hearts, and we will be able to bring our men and women in uniform home from this war. Until then, we will make sure that they have the funding that they need, the equipment that they deserve, and the plan to get them home. Mr. Speaker, the 30-Something Working Group is always proud to be able to come to the floor at the pleasure of the Speaker of the House and our leadership team. If anyone wants to contact us or see any of the charts or see any of the information that we have talked about on the floor this afternoon, they can e-mail us at 30SomethingDems@mail.house.gov or visit us at our Web site, www.speaker.gov/30something.