[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 128 (Thursday, August 3, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1604-E1605]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1996

                                 ______


                               speech of

                          HON. BRUCE F. VENTO

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, August 2, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2127) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
     Services, and Education, and related agencies, for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 1996, and for other purposes:

  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2127, the 
Labor-HHS-Education appropriation for fiscal year 1996. More than any 
other legislation, this bill represents an all-out attack against 
working families. This bill is, in fact, an assault on American working 
families. Under the Republican leadership this bill targets the very 
programs that help working families to get ahead and to make a better 
life for their families.
  This legislation seeks to return to the sad days of the 1930's, 
yesterdays work environment, when the working man and woman was nothing 
more than a tool for corporate interests--discarded when broken on the 
job. This antiworker bill eliminates the concept of a fair day's pay 
for a fair day's work. This legislation attempts to silence the voice 
of American workers by undermining their right to seek fair 
representation in the workplace through law. This legislation attacks 
the children of working families by putting them at risk in the 
workplace and by denying them the essential education assistance that 
they need to get ahead.
  Mr. Speaker, denying our children the opportunity to attain requisite 
skills is perhaps the most wrongheaded and heartless feature of this 
measure. The families and working people that I represent work hard to 
provide for their families. Some are more fortunate and can plan ahead 
for their children's education. Others have to struggle to meet the 
day-to-day expenses. To cut vocational education, student loan and 
grant programs slams the door to opportunity in the face of youth from 
working families and destroys their dreams of a good life.
  Mr. Speaker, I most strenuously object to the treatment of basic 
worker rights and protections in this spending legislation. Today on 
the House floor, the term ``workers' right to know'' has taken on a 
different meaning. In the past that phrase referred to the right of 
workers to know when they worked with materials hazardous to their 
health. Today, workers' right to know, should be a warning that 
congressional actions are hazardous to workers' health and rights.
  As the House considers this Labor-HHS appropriations, C-SPAN should 
include a workers right to know disclaimer that this bill is hazardous 
to workers. This workers' hazardous warning should point out the impact 
of the bill on:
  Workers health--a 33-percent cut in OSHA which means that thousands 
more American workers are going to be injured or die on the job. 
Workers' lives, health, and safety are at risk on the job. Over 1.7 
million workers are seriously injured on the job each year. The cuts in 
OSHA will only exacerbate the situation.
  Workers pay--workers are getting shortchanged by this legislation. 
The 12-percent cut in the employment standards
 administration means that businesses can ignore minimum wage and 
overtime requirements with impunity.

  Workers' rights to representation--this legislation denies workers a 
fair chance to unite to fight for themselves and their families. The 
30-percent cut in the Labor Relations Board will do more than tilt the 
management-labor playing field in favor of the companies. This cut will 
lock out the unions and frustrate workers' ability to be represented 
and achieve positive results.
  This bill will also have a disastrous impact on education in this 
country. This measure denies opportunity for our youth, cutting 
programs designed to equip them for the world of work.
  And the litany of cuts to education programs goes on with cuts to 
Head Start, title 1, safe and drug-free schools and summer jobs 
programs which in essence strike at our most vulnerable children and 
most apparent needs evident in today's America. Eliminating programs to 
help communities train teachers and improve student performance are a 
slap in the face to a nation that places education as a No. 1 priority. 
Limiting access to higher education and job training programs pulls the 
ladder to a better future away from the young men and women who will be 
charged to lead our Nation into the next century.
  For my State of Minnesota alone this means that, in 1996, 2,081 
children would be denied Head Start, 14,000 students would go without 
title 1 education benefits, over 5,000 Minnesota youths would miss 
their first summer job opportunity, 658 young people would be denied 
the chance to serve in Americorps, 

[[Page E 1605]]
154,000 college students would pay significantly more for college, and 
job training opportunities for 3,408 dislocated workers would be 
refused.
  Education is a core value shared by all Americans; they realize that 
an investment in education is an investment in our future. Our Nation 
benefits greatly from developing the skills and abilities of future 
generations. Support for education helps citizens build a better future 
for themselves, their families, and America by contributing to a 
successful and stronger overall economy.
  Indeed, an educated population--along with the roads, airports, 
computers, and fiber optic cables linking it up--today determines a 
nation's standard of living and a country's ability to compete. Nothing 
is more critical to the future economic success of America than making 
sure that all Americans possess the education and skills they need to 
compete and succeed in the global economy. Education is the key to a 
nation's success. When Congress cuts education programs, we all lose. 
That is why the distorted priorities of this spending measure are so 
ironic.
  Education funding is less than 2 percent of the total Federal budget, 
yet it plays a critical role in enhancing the self-reliance, economic 
productivity, and well-being of our Nation's populace. Cutting 
education is a short-term solution that will cost us dearly in the long 
run. Some may boast of fiscal discipline and deficit reduction, but if 
we add so much to the human deficit, the education and job deficit, 
what have we accomplished?
  This legislation also contains provisions that would seriously harm 
family planning activities in this country, which could have disastrous 
effects on the health and security of American families. The 
legislation we are considering today zeros out funding for title X of 
the Public Health Services Act, a cornerstone of the Federal family 
planning program since its inception in 1970. Title X provides family 
planning and health services to low income and uninsured women across 
the country who would, without title X, have no other means of 
attaining these or other primary health care services. Along with 
family planning services, title X provides valuable medical services 
such as cancer screening and mammograms and prenatal care.
  Government expenditures on family planning services such as those 
funded through title X have been linked to lower rates of abortion, 
fewer cases of low birthweight babies, increased utilization of 
prenatal care, and fewer infant deaths. In 1989, Government-funded 
family planning activities prevented an estimated 1.2 million
 unintended pregnancies, eliminating the need for 516,000 abortions. 
Allowing women access to these family planning programs also saves 
money in the long run in medical expenses, welfare payments, and other 
services associated with unintended pregnancy and childbirth.

  Another provision of this legislation which deeply concerns me is the 
projposal to zero out the funding for the Low-Income Home Energy 
Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP. As a member from one of the 
coldest States in the Nation, I am alarmed by the potential impact of 
this mean-spirited action. In 1994, approximately 6.1 million 
households received aid to help cover heating costs. Nearly half of 
these households contain elderly or handicapped persons, and about 80 
percent of them earned less than $10,000 a year. Where are these people 
to turn when they can no longer afford to heat their homes? Where are 
my constituents in St. Paul to turn when the temperature drops to 30-
degrees below zero and they do not have the money to pay for heating 
fuels.
  The majority's answer to us is that the States and the utility 
companies will pick up the tab--apparently some in WDC believe that the 
local government and utilities are ready and waiting to excuse utility 
bills. Well the reality of the situation is that by zeroing out LIHEAP, 
the Republicans are leaving many poor families out in the cold.
  There is a better way; not all of the cuts need to be made from 
people programs. The Pentagon, space programs, and corporate welfare 
grants, are just some of the other Federal programs that should also be 
subject to fiscal discipline. Surely the process of digging the deficit 
hole deeper with new tax breaks for corporations and investors by 
hundreds of billions of dollars would not be even considered, not if 
good policy is the issue. But, of course, the issue isn't fair policy 
or good policy, the issue is politics. The issue is ideology of 
dismantling the Federal Government and impairing the ability of the 
Federal Government to empower people, hence the attack is directly on 
this legislation involving working men and women programs and their 
families needs.
  Mr. Speaker--the Labor-HHS appropriations is an assault on American 
working families. I urge my colleagues to stand up for the backbone of 
our Nation and to vote ``No'' on this antiworker bill.


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