E1500 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð Extensions of Remarks August 2, 1996 pay for Members should not be increased until AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE'S A TRIBUTE TO ESTHER LEAH RITZ the Federal budget has been balanced. PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN I decided to introduce this legislation for two HON. THOMAS M. BARRETT reasons. First, as public servants, we HON. JOHN LEWIS OF WISCONSIN shouldn't be accepting automatic, backdoor OF GEORGIA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES annual pay increases. I believe that pay raises IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Friday, August 2, 1996 for Members of Congress should only happen Friday, August 2, 1996 Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I after debate in the open, on the House floor, pay tribute today to one of Milwaukee Coun- Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise so that the American people will know that we ty's truly outstanding citizens, Esther Leah today to call to the attention of my colleagues are doing. Ritz. As the Jewish Community Centers Asso- a very constructive public education campaign Second, I believe that this body has no ciation of Milwaukee prepares to honor Ms. that has been undertaken by the American business accepting a pay raise until we've bal- Ritz with the Community Builders Award, for Jewish Committee [AJC], an organization with anced the budget. This body has been grant- her multitude of contributions to our commu- which I have had the pleasure to work with for ed a public trust by the American people to nity, I would like to take a moment to reflect many years. keep our Nation's fiscal house in order, and on the remarkable achievements of this great As part of its mandate to promote tolerance the Congresses of yesteryear have not kept woman. their part of the bargain. Instead, Congress and safeguard the essential ideal of pluralism, Esther Leah Ritz has been nationally recog- has run up a $5 trillion national debt that our the AJC has run full-page advertisements in nized for her unfailing and tireless commitment children and grandchildren will have to pay off. the New York Times, the Washington Post, to working for the betterment of Milwaukee and other publications enunciating the theme, While I know that some Members have County, the State of Wisconsin, and the entire ``It Takes All Kinds.'' The AJC statement Nation. Esther Leah has held major leadership been in Washington so long that they view the proudly commends our country for having act of balancing the budget as an exercise in positions in her Milwaukee Jewish Community achieved, to an extent nowhere else on Earth, Center, Federation, and the Jewish Commu- futility, the simple truth is that we can balance a common dream of freedom. But, at the the budget in 6 more years if we have the po- nity Center movement in North America. Dur- same time, the statement acknowledges that ing her presidency, the Jewish Community litical will to do so. When this body shows the this dream has been subject to challenge. fortitude to balance the Federal budget, then, Centers Association launched and began im- From the recent series of church burnings, to plementing the innovative and acclaimed and only then, will we be deserving of a pay the increasingly loud voices that promote divi- raise. Commission on Maximizing the Effectiveness sion along racial, ethnic, and religious lines, of Jewish Education which established Jewish and with the threat of domestic and inter- f Community Centers as full partners in the national terrorism within our borders, Ameri- community process of promoting formal and ENFORCE ENVIRONMENTAL AND ca's common dream is threatened by the hat- informal Jewish education and continuity. LABOR SIDE AGREEMENTS ers and the dividers. Esther Leah has also provided skilled lead- I applaud the American Jewish Committee ership for many other Jewish organizations in- for the service it has performed in raising pub- cluding Americans For Peace Now, Council HON. CURT WELDON lic consciousness of the danger posed to all of For Initiatives In Jewish Education, Council of us by those few who espouse wordsÐand OF PENNSYLVANIA Jewish Federations, Jerusalem Center For carry out actionsÐof hate and divisiveness, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Public Affairs, Jewish Agency For Israel, Joint and in inviting us to partake in the daily enter- Distribution Committee, Mandel Institute For Friday, August 2, 1996 prise of ensuring that America fulfills its prom- Advanced Study and Development of Jewish ise of freedom, justice, and mutual respect for Education, Shalom Harman Institute of Israel, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, all. and the World Confederation of Jewish Com- I introduce this bill today to help enforce the I ask that the text of the American Jewish munity Centers. environmental and labor side agreements sold Committee's ad ``It Takes All Kinds'' be in- In addition to her excellent work on behalf of to the Congress by President Bill Clinton to cluded in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. so many Jewish organizations in our commu- obtain ratification of the North American Free IT TAKES ALL KINDS nity, Esther Leah Ritz' influence has been felt Trade Agreement [NAFTA]. The tired. The poor. The huddled masses far and wide. She was worked diligently for NAFTA's detrimental effect upon both the yearning to breathe free. the betterment of key Wisconsin institutions environment and the American worker are From every corner of the world, from every such as the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Insti- being further realized the longer we allow cur- race, faith, culture and creed, we have come tute for Wisconsin's Future, the United Way of or been brought to America. Separately and rent practice to continue. Today, I propose a Greater Milwaukee, and the Milwaukee Foun- mechanism that requires the President to ver- together, we have dreamed of freedom. And in America, as nowhere else on earth, we dation. ify the enforcement of the side agreements have made the dream of freedom real. Mr. Speaker, I commend the Jewish Com- that were used to gain Congressional approval But today, that common dream of freedom, munity Centers Association on its excellent se- of NAFTA. Unfortunately, these well-inten- that common pursuit by a diverse people of lection of Esther Leah Ritz for the distin- tioned, feel good side agreements have no a stronger and fairer America, is challenged. guished Community Builders Award. I wish teeth, and thus, provide none of the environ- In communities across the land, suspicious Esther Leah continued success in all of her mental or labor protections promised during fires lay waste to African-American and endeavors. other churches, sowing fear and outrage. In the passage of NAFTA. f the media, in the halls of Congress, on the My bill requires the President to certify to campaign trail and in the streets, angry TRIBUTE TO ARIZONA PUBLIC Congress, on an annual basis, the compliance voices echo distressingly familiar calls to di- SERVICE CO. of NAFTA partiesÐMexico, Canada, and the vide America into ``us'' and ``them'' along United StatesÐwith the side agreements. ethnic, racial, religious and other lines. The Should a party fail to meet certification, the well-being of American democratic plural- HON. MATT SALMON United States will deny financial assistanceÐ ismÐin which each of us holds an equal OF ARIZONA including loans or extension of credit by inter- stake in our nation's futureÐis in question. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES At the American Jewish Committee, we Friday, August 2, 1996 national financial institutionsÐto that country. have worked for 90 years to safeguard that As a last resort, targeted tariffs against prod- essential ideal of pluralism. The task is crit- Mr. SALMON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ucts most benefitting from side-agreement ical. Too easily and too often, the delicate pay tribute to an Arizona electric company that noncompliance may be pursued. cords of law and civility that bind society has done outstanding working the area of In short, my bill merely requires the Presi- have frayed, setting group against group. electrical efficiency. Recently, the Arizona dent to verify side-agreement compliance and When those cords snap, all are threatened, Public Service Co. won an award from the indeed, the essence of America is imperiled. creates a mechanism to help ensure Mexico Join us in the cause of keeping America Edison Electric Institute for its electrical effi- enforces its own laws. It is my hope that such safe from the haters and dividers. Join us in ciency in architectural design. As you know, enforcement will protect the environment and the vital, daily enterprise of ensuring Amer- we have some very warm weather in the economy of the United States, two things that ica fulfills its promise of freedom, justice Southwest, just like we do right here in Wash- are endangered under current practice. and mutual respect for all. ington, DC, creating a tremendous demand for August 2, 1996 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð Extensions of Remarks E1501 air conditioning and refrigeration. To find ways schools in the 14th District, both with out- TWA has a long history of providing safe, to make the most efficient use of electricity, standing academic reputations, have an un- secure, efficient, and dependable air transpor- the people at Arizona Public Service Co. de- usually high number of students participating tation. Recently, employee-owned TWA signed an Environmental Showcase Home. in the games this year. emerged from financial difficulties to post sig- Sacrificing neither comfort nor aesthetics, the Castilleja School is a college preparatory nificant earnings and now seems destined for home uses 60 percent less electricity and school serving girls and young women in a successful future.