E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 105 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 144 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, JULY 21, 1998 No. 98 House of Representatives The House met at 9 a.m. and was Let me begin by making the majority nore the fact that the Constitution called to order by the Speaker pro tem- position on the Census very clear. We gives Congress the responsibility to di- pore (Mr. DEAL of Georgia). want to save the Census from failure. rect how the Census is conducted. f The General Accounting Office and the Much of the Census is about trust. The DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO Commerce Department's own Inspector American people have to trust the out- TEMPORE General have warned that the Clinton come of the Census or else it is worth- administration is risking a failed Cen- less. The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- sus plan. Their plan is too complicated fore the House the following commu- and relies on unrealistic assumptions If the administration ignores Con- nication from the Speaker: and timelines. We cannot allow the gress, they will guarantee a failed Cen- WASHINGTON, DC, Census to fail. The 2000 Census will sus. They need to work with us so all July 21, 1998. cost about $4 billion, and we cannot Americans have faith that the process I hereby designate the Honorable NATHAN risk that kind of money on a plan that was inclusive and open. DEAL to act as Speaker pro tempore on this day. probably will not work. That is why I was disappointed to What Republicans want to do is work NEWT GINGRICH, with the administration to save the hear last week that President Clinton Speaker of the House of Representatives. wants to shut down the government f Census. We have some very specific problems with the administration's over the Census. He wants to sign a bill MORNING HOUR DEBATES plan. Experience has shown that sam- that provides 6 months of funding for The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- pling used on a large scale just is not the whole Commerce Department, the ant to the order of the House of Janu- accurate enough for a Census. whole State Department, and Justice ary 21, 1997, the Chair will now recog- In 1990 the Census Bureau tested Department, so he can have leverage nize Members from lists submitted by sampling and compared it to the actual over the Census. enumeration. For cities and towns with the majority and minority leaders for Can Members believe the President morning hour debates. The Chair will populations under 100,000, the actual wants to take cops off the street to get alternate recognition between the par- enumeration, that is, counting every- ties, with each party limited to 25 min- one, proved to be more accurate and re- his way over the Census? Can Members utes, and each Member, except the ma- liable. So we do not believe we should believe the President wants to hold jority leader, the minority leader, or spend $4 billion on a plan that has U.S. foreign policy hostage to the Cen- the minority whip, limited to 5 min- failed its only test. That does not seem sus? Why would he want to shut down utes, but in no event shall debate con- to make much sense. the Border Patrol over the Census? It tinue beyond 9:50 a.m. Another major problem is the dele- is irresponsible, and goes against his The Chair recognizes the gentleman tion of Americans from the official 1995 statement when he said, ``It is from Florida (Mr. MILLER) for 5 min- Census count. Again, when they tried wrong, deeply wrong, to shut down the utes. this in 1990, 1.46 million Americans government while we negotiate.'' Work f were removed from the sampled Cen- with Congress, Mr. Speaker, and we URGING THE PRESIDENT TO WORK sus. Under the Clinton Census plan, it will have a better Census. will happen again. It is wrong to use WITH CONGRESS TO SAVE THE statistics to remove individuals from I was, along with many of my col- CENSUS the Census count. Because statistics is leagues, saddened by comments made Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, an imprecise science, real Americans by Vice President GORE at the annual I rise today to address the increasing who exist will be removed from the NAACP convention. He told the par- partisanship of the White House over count, and cities and towns all across ticipants that the Republicans ``don't their embattled Census plan. Last week America will lose representation. even want to count you in the Census.'' the White House made two comments If Members are concerned about the These outrageous comments do noth- that demonstrated how far they will go undercount, as I am, then they have to ing to unite America, and do nothing to get their way. be equally concerned about a Census to help save the 2000 Census from fail- First, they announced their intention that removes real people from the offi- ure. to shut down a huge part of govern- cial count. They, too, would be under- ment over the Census, and later in the counted under sampling. Congressional Republicans are pre- week the Vice President made some ra- We are concerned that the adminis- pared to make an unprecedented effort cially divisive and inaccurate com- tration is moving forward without the to count all Americans. We have pro- ments. consent of Congress. They simply ig- vided more money than the President 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. H5959 . VerDate 25-JUN-98 06:16 Jul 22, 1998 Jkt 059061 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\CRI\H21JY8.REC h21jy1 PsN: h21jy1 H5960 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð HOUSE July 21, 1998 requested so we can do a much better incidence of gun violence. So far, not That is wrong. It is unfair. Frankly, job of counting minorities. I hope the one has been scheduled to come to this really, it is immoral that our tax code administration stops trying to divide floor. punishes society's most basic institu- America over the Census, because that Finally, in the area of Internet con- tion for 21 million married working will not lead to a more accurate Cen- nection, that promise was to be made couples; that is, $1,400 in higher taxes. sus, and it certainly will not increase through the mechanism of the E-Rate, Let me give an example of a south trust in the Census. a heavily discounted fee that would be suburban couple from Illinois that suf- Mr. President, work with Congress. I available particularly to inner city fers the marriage tax penalty. The gen- ask the President to stop holding the schools, rural schools, but all Amer- tleman in the couple is a machinist at rest of government hostage to getting ican schools and libraries would bene- Caterpillar. That is where they make his way on the Census. Stop trying to fit, to some degree. This was the prom- the big heavy earth-moving equipment divide America against one another. ise of the Telecommunications Act of in Joliet. This machinist makes $35,500. Work with Congress, and together we 1996, and yet this promise has yet to be If he is single, under our tax code he can save the 2000 Census. fully implemented. Indeed, today there files and, of course, with the standard f are some in Congress who are threaten- exemption and deduction, he is in the ing to repeal that provision, leaving be- 15 percent tax bracket. THE WELL-BEING OF AMERICA'S hind the most needy children from the He meets a schoolteacher, a school- FAMILIES DEPENDS UPON THE information superhighway. teacher in the public schools. She has HEALTH OF OUR SCHOOLS AND There is no reason for us to shrug our an identical income of $35,500. If she LIBRARIES shoulders, no excuse for inaction. We stayed single, just like her machinist The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under know the problems. We in Congress fiance, she would be in the 15 percent the Speaker's announced policy of Jan- have made the commitments. We cur- tax bracket. Under our tax code, if uary 21, 1997, the gentleman from Or- rently have the strongest economy of a they choose to get married, they will egon (Mr. BLUMENAUER) is recognized generation. Indeed, some of my friends file jointly. When they file jointly, be- during morning hour debates for 5 min- in the Republican leadership feel we cause they combine their income, and utes. have so much money that they feel their combined income is $61,000, that Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, comfortable contemplating a $1 trillion pushes them into a higher tax bracket. the goal of those of us here in Congress tax cut over the next 10 years. They are now taxed in the 28 percent should be to be a full partner for the I would suggest that, first and fore- tax bracket just because they are mar- American people, who really care about most, we tend to knitting by first fully ried, producing an almost $1,400 mar- funding our commitment to special the essentials. They want their chil- riage tax penalty just because they are education; by passing commonsense dren to be safe when they go out the married.