E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 106th CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 146 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2000 No. 143 House of Representatives The House met at 6 p.m. alone can give and the insight born of PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. faith. The SPEAKER. Will the gentleman Coughlin, offered the following prayer: Renewed in the bonds that unite us from Georgia (Mr. NORWOOD) come for- This evening as we gather, Lord God, forever, grant us wisdom in the midst we remember all those who gave us ward and lead the House in the Pledge of present difficulties and the bright life. We remember those who enrich of Allegiance. promise of a just reward on that day the life of this Nation with love and Mr. NORWOOD led the Pledge of Al- when all come to rejoice in You who dedication, generosity and compassion. legiance as follows: live now and forever. Amen. We recall the Members of this House I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the and the dear members of family and United States of America, and to the Repub- f friendship who have gone the way of all lic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. life on Earth. May those who have preceded us in THE JOURNAL f the ways of faith be rewarded for their GENERAL LEAVE just deeds and the lively peace and joy The SPEAKER. The Chair has exam- they brought to this world. ined the Journal of the last day's pro- Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, As we reflect upon those whose mem- ceedings and announces to the House I ask unanimous consent that all Mem- ory moves us this evening, especially his approval thereof. bers may have 5 legislative days within those who have died during the 106th Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Jour- which to revise and extend their re- Congress, we seek the consolation You nal stands approved. marks on H.J. Res. 123 and that I may NOTICEÐOCTOBER 23, 2000 A final issue of the Congressional Record for the 106th Congress, 2d Session, will be published on November 29, 2000, in order to permit Members to revise and extend their remarks. All material for insertion must be signed by the Member and delivered to the respective offices of the Official Reporters of Debates (Room HT±60 or S±123 of the Capitol), Monday through Friday, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. through November 28. The final issue will be dated November 29, 2000, and will be delivered on Friday, December 1, 2000. None of the material printed in the final issue of the Congressional Record may contain subject matter, or relate to any event that occurred after the sine die date. Senators' statements should also be submitted electronically, either on a disk to accompany the signed statement, or by e-mail to the Official Reporters of Debates at ``Records@Reporters''. Members of the House of Representatives' statements may also be submitted electronically by e-mail, to accompany the signed statement, and formatted according to the instructions for the Extensions of Remarks template at http:// clerkhouse.house.gov. The Official Reporters will transmit to GPO the template formatted electronic file only after receipt of, and authentication with, the hard copy, signed manuscript. Deliver statements to the Official Reporters in Room HT± 60. Members of Congress desiring to purchase reprints of material submitted for inclusion in the Congressional Record may do so by contacting the Congressional Printing Management Division, at the Government Printing Office, on 512±0224, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. daily. By order of the Joint Committee on Printing. WILLIAM M. THOMAS, Chairman. 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. H11783 . VerDate 02-NOV-2000 03:26 Nov 03, 2000 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4634 Sfmt 8633 E:\CR\FM\A02NO7.000 pfrm01 PsN: H02PT1 H11784 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð HOUSE November 2, 2000 The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. to open up enough room in that phony Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the THORNBERRY). Is there objection to the budget so that the majority leadership gentleman for obtaining order, and I request of the gentleman from Florida? could pretend that there was enough thank most Members of the House for There was no objection. room in that budget for the huge tax their courtesy. f cuts which they then proceeded to What I was about to say is that the pass, the majority of benefits which MAKING FURTHER CONTINUING majority leadership would like us to go went to those in our society who make APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL home, and we would all like to go $300,000 a year or more. YEAR 2001 home, but there is apparently a signifi- The leadership of the majority cant difference between the wishes of Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, preached bipartisanship; but in fact, the majority leadership in the Senate pursuant to the provisions of House they blocked bipartisan majorities and the majority leadership here. Resolution 662, I call up the joint reso- from passing the Patients' Bill of I honestly believe that you want us lution (H.J. Res. 123) making further Rights. They held the minimum wage in the minority to give you cover for continuing appropriations for the fiscal hostage to tax benefits that were nine your failure to produce on the whole year 2001, and for other purposes, and times as large as the benefits afforded range of legislative items by voting to ask for its immediate consideration in to workers under those minimum wage get Congress out of town before we the House. increases. They even refused to reform The Clerk read the title of the joint the so-called Freedom to Farm Act, have all done our duty. I think that resolution. which is the single biggest failure of duty includes passing the Patients' Bill The text of House Joint Resolution farm policy in this country since the of Rights, passing a bill that provides 123 is as follows: days of Ezra Taft Benson, and that is prescription drugs under Medicare, passing a bill that provides the min- H.J. RES. 123 going some. Resolved by the Senate and House of Rep- Lastly, the leadership of the major- imum wage increase for the least resentatives of the United States of America in ity party blocked a bipartisan con- among us. Congress assembled, That Public Law 106±275, ference on the Labor, Health and Edu- So now we are caught in what one re- is further amended by striking the date spec- cation bill that would have taken us a porter today called this Potemkin cha- ified in section 106(c) and inserting ``Novem- long way toward reducing class size, rade. It is being pretended that there is ber 3, 2000''. strengthening teacher training, pro- work being done here because, appar- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- viding larger Pell Grants for struggling ently, what the majority leadership ant to House Resolution 662, the gen- middle-income families trying to send wants to do is to keep the lights on tleman from Florida (Mr. YOUNG) and their kids to college, providing us some even though the House is empty and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 5,000 additional after-school learning keep the lights on to pretend that OBEY) each will control 30 minutes. centers for kids so that they do not there is activity in the kitchen, when The Chair recognizes the gentleman have to go home at night to an empty in fact there is not. The stove is off. from Florida (Mr. YOUNG). house because both parents are work- The oven is empty. The oven is cold. Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, ing outside the home. No major legislation, save perhaps I yield myself such time as I may con- Since that bill was blown up, it has one water project bill is in the works. sume merely to point out that this is a been apparently the goal of the major- What an unhappy, pitiful end to this 1-day continuing resolution. In addi- ity party leadership to leave without session. tion to having this resolution before ever bringing to a vote that bipartisan the House, after the gentleman from I want to say to my friends on the conference report. majority side of the aisle, I like and re- Wisconsin (Mr. OBEY) makes his open- Apparently the majority caucus is spect virtually every single one of you. ing statement, I will be asking unani- split. I am told by a number of you Some of you I do not know as well as mous consent to consider an amend- that, if this bill goes into a lame-duck others. But when I think of the people ment that I have at the desk. session, that there are a good number I have known in my life, there is no Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of of our friends on the majority side who more decent person than the gen- my time. would like to scale back significantly tleman sitting in the front row here, Mr.