[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 120 (Monday, July 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H7542-H7543]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  2230
                     HOPES, DREAMS, AND ASPIRATIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gutknecht). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-Lee] is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to talk about hopes 
and dreams and aspirations. As we come now to almost 7 or 8 months into 
this 104th Congress, where do we find ourselves? Where are our hopes 
and dreams and our aspirations?
  First of all, in terms of our hopes, we have a situation on Medicare 
where we 

[[Page H7543]]
would hope that we did not have a proposal that took away choice from 
our seniors. But today we have a proposal that includes $270 billion in 
cuts, and then it includes, in the Senate proposal, to place a burden 
on the backs of our senior citizens, to eliminate their choice and the 
reasonable decisions that they make to select a medical provider by 
vouchering them their Medicare services.
  I would ask that as we look toward the future, that the hopes would 
be based more upon a bipartisan approach to solving the Medicare 
problem; that we would realize that although we all look to provide 
security and safety for Medicare into the 21st century, we cannot 
voucher our way and allot our way into that safety.
  My hope would be that we could come to the bipartisan table and 
recognize that fraud and abuse are ways of downsizing the problems of 
Medicare, but the loss of $270 billion is not.
  I would hope that we would be able to say to the senior citizens that 
we would work collectively with some of the suggestions that have been 
made in order to ensure a system that works into the 21st century. I 
would hope that we could say that to our rural hospital systems, our 
urban hospital systems, as well our local and State governments who 
will bear the burden of this loss.
  And then I would say that maybe we can keep the dream alive, and that 
is the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, and not divide this House on 
the issue of race and affirmative action.
  I would hope that this week, beginning July 24, we would not have a 
frivolous and fruitless debate on eliminating affirmative action tied 
to the Department of Defense appropriation bill without any manner of 
hearings or documentation that the abuse has been such that requires 
this kind of amendment.
  I hope that this Nation realizes that race is still a factor, that 
discrimination is still prevalent, that the dream of Dr. King is trying 
to survive, but it is not yet there. And I would hope this House, in 
its wisdom, the leadership of this House, would not allow such a 
destructive, divisive amendment to come to the floor, especially when 
no documentation in this House has yet been established as to which 
direction to go to respond to the concerns of the American people who, 
I believe, believe in equality for all.
  And so the dream this evening is that we would come together 
recognizing that some of our dreams have not yet been met and that 
affirmative action is not the fight to take the U.S. Congress and 
particularly the House of Representatives in its most imperfect sense, 
by an amendment that has no justification and has no reason to 
eliminate this very vital program that allows people to have equal 
opportunity.
  And then I hope we will reach to our aspirations,
   and that is that we can likewise come together in a bipartisan 
manner as we look towards space, as we understand our destiny as 
Americans, as we realize that the space station is not just another 
piece of iron machinery, but it is based upon the aspirations of 
Americans.

  It emphasizes our ability to explore and search and find and 
discover. It helps us in medical research; it helps us determine the 
maximum capacity of the human body; it helps us understand where we 
will go in the 21st century as it relates to science.
  It is not a space station of local regions; it is a space station of 
America. And just as we aspired to go to the Moon and looked in hope 
and dreamed about being an astronaut and celebrated the successes when 
Americans made their first steps on the Moon, here now we have an 
opportunity to associate and cooperate with our European partners, our 
Russian partners. But most importantly, Mr. Speaker, we have an 
opportunity to allow our children to dream, to then work, but to create 
better opportunities and a better quality of life for all Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, I conclude by simply saying, let us have hope for a 
better Medicare system to save it for our senior citizens, let us dream 
for equality for all Americans and thereby eliminate divisive talk 
about affirmative action and race in this Nation, and let us aspire, 
yes, and dream for the 21st century so that we too can find out what 
makes the space tick, if you will, and find a better way to live in all 
the research that will be brought about through the space station.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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