[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 128 (Thursday, August 3, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1605-E1606]
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. GLENN POSHARD

                              of illinois

                    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. POSHARD. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this bill. 
I am vehemently opposed to the wide range of attacks this bill launches 
on the American people.
  This is the 7th year I've been through the appropriations cycle in 
the House. I regret to say this may be the most disappointing 
appropriations bill I've ever voted against.
  Let me say that I know my good friend and colleague, Chairman John 
Porter, has had to make a lot of tough choices. I don't want my 
criticism of this bill to be construed as any criticism of him.
  But I am compelled to say that this bill is not right for the 
American people.
  I represent central and southern Illinois, America's heartland, an 
area of corn fields, oil wells, coal mines, and some of the world's 
leading manufacturers. I represent good, hard-working people.
  As I travel the district, I hear the growing fears of workers who see 
their jobs put at risk by unwise trade agreements such as NAFTA. I hear 
from miners and factory workers who fear the loss of life and limb in 
their dangerous lines of work if we gut labor protection laws. And I 
hear from families who are trying to do more with less, who see their 
productivity on the job remaining high while their wages don't keep up 
with inflation.
  More specifically, in the 19th District of Illinois, we have two 
tremendously difficult situations which face our communities. On the 
northern end of the district, Decatur is home to three contentious 
labor and management disputes which have affected thousands of workers, 
their families and the entire community. I have encouraged labor and 
management to meet each other at the bargaining table to resolve their 
differences. One key element in the collective bargaining process is 
the existence of the National Labor Relations Board, which this bill 
will cut by nearly 30 percent.
  The bill also eliminates the Presidential order barring permanent 
replacement of workers who are striking against companies with Federal 
contracts. Let me again emphasize, I support the collective bargaining 
process which has served this country well. But part of that process 
must include the right of men and women to strike without being 
permanently replaced. This bill takes sides against workers who are 
exercising their bargaining rights and should be changed.
  In the southern part of the 19th District, men and women have for 
years fueled the economy of this Nation by mining the coal found 
hundreds of feet into the belly of the earth. Things are much better 
than they used to be, but those are still dangerous jobs. This bill 
cuts funding for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's 
enforcement budget and limits its ability to act in certain instances. 
Surely this country is rich enough to make sure that people can go to 
work with out best efforts to make sure they have a safe place in which 
to work.
  We also have men and women who've worked in the coal mines for 
decades and have lost their jobs because the Clean Air Act has closed 
down markets for the coal at their mines. These people need new jobs--
quite often they need training to help them come back into the work 
force--but this bill provides $166 million less than current spending 
and $255 million less than the administration request for adult job 
training. The same is true for the dislocated workers program--$378.5 
million less than current spending and $546 million less than the 
administration request.
  Those are tough numbers at a time when the American economy is in 
transition and people are discovering that the jobs they used to have 
are gone, or the ones they have could be pulled out from under them at 
a moment's notice. We don't guarantee anyone a job for life, but we 
ought to recognize that changes in the world economy impact real 
people, who want to buy a car, send their kids to college, and support 
their communities. They need help doing that, so that if their job 
disappears, they don't have to spend months on unemployment and we can 
help them get back into the work force.
  And what investment are we making in our children? We're reducing 
funding for title I programs which help school districts which have 

[[Page E 1606]]
students from low-income families. The bill reduces funding for Head 
Start, student loans, summer jobs, and school-to-work programs.
  At this point in time, I enter into the Record the variety of changes 
being made to programs which serve working people in my State and 
district.

    SELECTED CUTS IN THE LABOR-HHS-ED BILL BELOW THE FISCAL YEAR 1995   
                            RESCISSION LEVELS                           
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Program                  Nationwide cut    Illinois cut 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summer Jobs...........................     $867,070,000      $34,955,000
Dislocated Worker Training............      378,550,000       13,104,000
Adult Training........................      166,813,000        6,785,000
Older American Employment.............       46,060,000        1,724,000
Title I, Comp. Education..............    1,143,356,000       54,142,000
Goals 2000............................      361,870,000       15,993,000
Safe and Drug-Free Schools............      240,981,000       10,167,000
Teacher Training Grants...............      251,207,000       10,904,000
Vocational Education..................      272,750,000       10,577,000
State Incentive Grants................       63,375,000        3,423,000
Senior Nutrition......................       22,810,000        1,015,000
Head Start............................      119,374,000        5,857,000
Low-Income Energy Assistance..........      965,940,000       56,108,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Mr. Chairman, I know we need to cut the budget and get our financial 
House in order. I've made plenty of tough votes to cut spending, 
eliminate programs and do without things which could not be identified 
as priority items.
  This bill might not be so objectionable were it not for the fact that 
so many of these cuts are being used to finance an ill-advised tax cut 
which will accrue almost entirely to the highest wage earners in the 
country. I've voted for a budget proposal by moderate Democrats which 
gets us to balance in 7 years. Believe me, that plan has some tough 
cuts in it--any credible plan does. But we ignore the siren's call for 
tax cuts and put our spending cuts on deficit reduction.
  I know tax cuts sound good and are popular on their face. But the 
best tax cut we could possibly give our families and our country is a 
cut in deficit reduction.
  That is why I so strongly oppose this bill. The priorities are out of 
order, the cuts are out of balance, and the attack on the American 
people is out of bounds.
  I strongly oppose this bill and urge its defeat.
  

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