Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 105 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 105 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 143 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, MAY 13, 1997 No. 62 House of Representatives The House met at 12:30 p.m. and was Second is the issue that I ask both and Dependent Children, and 1.4 mil- called to order by the Speaker pro tem- sides of the aisle to consider, and that lion recipients of food stamps as well. pore [Mr. SUNUNU]. is the issue of safety; safety in that The process that we presently use in f they should not vote on a bill that is the Texas Department of Human Serv- going to move nuclear waste through ices. Many professionals, social service DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO their communities, endangering the professionals and social workers, have TEMPORE lives, the health, and the safety of worked in that effort for many, many The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- their constituents; throwing away a years. In the process of welfare reform, fore the House the following commu- vote on that issue, throwing away the not only does Congress but the State nication from the Speaker: lives and the health and safety of their itself and the legislature and the Gov- constituents, just to prove a point. ernor recognize that we could do it bet- WASHINGTON, DC, Mr. Speaker, I would urge both sides May 13, 1997. ter. We do not disagree with that, that I hereby designate the Honorable JOHN E. of this House to vote no on moving nu- we could make it more efficient, more SUNUNU to act as Speaker pro tempore on clear waste to Nevada, House bill 1270, effective, and certainly more respon- this day. and I would issue this proclamation: sive. NEWT GINGRICH, that the Members should consider that The TIES Program does not do that. Speaker of the House of Representatives. their constituents should come first, It puts in a profit mode with a private f that their safety and their lives are at company the whole concept of eligi- issue here. MORNING HOUR DEBATES bility determination. That means when f a mother or a dependent who needs The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- WELFARE REFORM welfare comes to an office, they deal ant to the order of the House of Janu- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under with a cold and uncaring professional, ary 21, 1997, the Chair will now recog- someone whose basic motive is profit, nize Members from lists submitted by the Speaker's announced policy of Jan- uary 21, 1997, the gentlewoman from and may be given incentives for how the majority and minority leaders for many individuals you deny in getting morning hour debates. The Chair will Texas [Ms. JACKSON-LEE] is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 min- the need that they have to have. alternate recognition between the par- In the 18th Congressional District ties, with each party limited to not to utes. Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. alone, there are 109,596 women, infants, exceed 30 minutes, and each Member Speaker, I rise this morning, and cer- and children who receive WIC services, except the majority and minority lead- tainly to ask the President to disallow a basic nutrition program that has er limited to not to exceed 5 minutes. portions of the State of Texas welfare proven itself to be supportive of the The Chair recognizes the gentleman reform plan that includes the Texas In- early growth of our children. This from Nevada [Mr. GIBBONS] for 5 min- tegrated Eligibility System, TIES, or means that in Harris County, TX, there utes. which would allow the State to pri- are 12,917 pregnant women, 5,259 breast- f vatize the eligibility determination for feeding mothers, 9,448 postpartum social services. mothers who have recently given birth VOTE ``NO'' ON MOVING NUCLEAR who may be in need of these social WASTE TO NEVADA All of us remember very vividly the vigorous debate on welfare reform that services, and 29,000 infants and 52,000 Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I come this Congress engaged in. At the crux children. It is inappropriate to leave here after reading an early morning re- of that issue was the ability to help their destiny in the hands of a com- port in the Congressional Quarterly Americans move from welfare to work. puter. that a House bill moving nuclear waste It was a recognition, as I recognized in Even just recently the Legislature in to Nevada is rapidly moving to the my own 18th Congressional District, the State of Texas said that they were House floor for consideration of pas- that many of those on welfare wanted concerned that the executive branch sage. Before House Members consider to move from welfare to work, and might have gone too far in implement- this bill, I would like to address two is- looked forward to the additional job ing what we authorized in the welfare sues, the first being that the Senate training and opportunity to be able to reform bill. This legislation makes it companion bill to this, Senate bill 104, work and contribute to their own live- clear that the legislature retains au- was narrowly passed in the Senate and lihood. thority to make these decisions, and will be vetoed by the President under In the State of Texas alone, it has makes it clear in statute that the in- his promise. 690,000 recipients of its Aid to Families tention is to pursue privatizing only b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H2491 H2492 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð HOUSE May 13, 1997 the automation part, not the intake sole nominee of the 1997 Presidential thanks and congratulations for a job part, not the sensitivity part, and not Award for Quality as the Best Agency well done. to, overall, castigate the thousands of in the Federal Government. f State employees who over the years These awards are indicative of both TRIBUTE TO PETER TALI COLE- have been particularly sensitive to the the ability and professionalism of the MAN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF intake process, asking the hard ques- tens of thousands of soldiers that pass AMERICAN SAMOA AND PACIFIC tions and trying to find solutions to through Fort Benning's gate each and ISLAND LEADER those who have problems and who need every year, and of the successful part- welfare. nership that has been developed over The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under Finding out eligibility is not only in the years between Fort Benning and the Speaker's announced policy of Jan- numbers and statistics, it is funding the Columbus, GA, and Phenix City, uary 21, 1997 the gentleman from Guam out the problems, the source of the AL, districts. [Mr. UNDERWOOD] is recognized during need, why this person is in your office, No military facility can be fully ef- morning hour debates for 5 minutes. who else can help them, why do they fective without developing a positive Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I need to be on welfare. Maybe they only relationship with the local community. rise today to pay tribute to Peter Tali need to be on for a short period of time. Fort Benning has accomplished this, Coleman, former Governor of American A machine and a private company with and has developed a military-civilian Samoa and highly regarded Pacific Is- an incentive for profit only cannot team that is unmatched in efficiency land leader who passed away on April make this system work. and effectiveness. 28 and was buried last Saturday in Ha- There may be some effort this week In spite of the fact that the military waii. He was 77 years of age. to add to the supplemental appropria- population of Fort Benning is in a con- He served as the first popularly elect- tions bill an amendment to approve tinuous state of transition, the instal- ed Governor of American Samoa, was this privatized system under the Texas lation has been able to maintain its elected again in 1988, and also had the welfare reform package. This should high standards of quality. This is, in distinction of being Samoa's first and not be approved, for we should have a large part, thanks to nearly 7,000 civil- only federally-appointed native-born vigorous debate on the best way to pro- ians who work behind the scenes to ad- Governor in the 1950's. His appoint- vide efficient, safe, and productive vance Fort Benning's mission. These ment by the Eisenhower administra- are individuals, like Sarah McLaney, services to the least of those who are in tion made him one of the first islanders Fort Benning's Army Community of need in our country. Welfare reform, to serve as the head of a government Excellence coordinator, who has seen yes, but a totally incentive-based pro- anywhere in the Pacific, along with Jo- the facility receive the Commander in gram profit-motivated, to the det- seph Flores from Guam. Chief Award under three different com- riment of women and children and the After his appointive term in Amer- manding generals. Dedicated workers elderly who need our care and consider- ican Samoa ended, the Governor spent like Sarah have been instrumental not ation, that is absolutely wrong. nearly 17 years in the U.S. Trust Terri- only in achieving Fort Benning's mili- I would hope, first of all, that my col- tory of the Pacific Islands where, as tary mission, but also in development leagues will vote against any amend- the first Pacific Islander to head the of strong ties that bind Fort Benning ment that would offer to approve this governments of what are now the Re- with the Columbus and Phenix City system, and I would ask the President public of the Marshall Islands from 1961 communities.