[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 48 (Tuesday, April 16, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H3396]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CALLING FOR RESTORATION OF SUMMER JOBS PROGRAMS FOR 615,000 DESERVING 
                                STUDENTS

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I could not help but hear my 
good friend, the gentleman from Florida, talk about jobs. I just wonder 
how many of the Republicans are supporting the increase in minimum wage 
that so many Americans need.
  Now there are approximately 53 days left until schools in Houston and 
across the Nation recess for summer vacation. There will be a crisis of 
out-of-work young people if this Congress does not restore the Job 
Training Partnership Act funds for summer youth employment.
  The extremist forces in the House have smeared the memory of Dr. 
Martin Luther King in the month of his death, as he fought for the 
opportunities for underprivileged young people to find summer work, by 
eliminating these funds altogether. Eliminated were $867 million in 
nationwide funding, $9.1 million from my hometown in Houston, TX, 
alone; in all, leaving some 615,000 underprivileged young people across 
America without summer jobs that they depend on to support their 
families and return to school. Fortunately, the Senate has restored 
most of the funding for this vital program. However, the uncertainty 
that this program faces due to temporary spending measure after 
temporary spending measure leaves us in jeopardy.
  Mr. Speaker, I simply ask, in 53 days, let us stand for the young 
people of America. Let us restore the jobs, the 6,000 jobs in Houston, 
and the $9.1 million.

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