[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 27, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H28-H30]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   DEMOCRATS UNITED BEHIND PRO-FAMILY, PRO-CHILD MESSAGE OF PRESIDENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 7, 1997, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I must say that I do not intend to use all 
of the time this evening. I will be joined by the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) and we wanted to briefly, if we could, talk a 
little bit about the Democrats' unity behind the pro-family and pro-
child message that we know will be an important part of the President's 
State of the Union address this evening.
  I think it is fair to say that for the last few years, and certainly 
in this past year in 1997, the Democrats have stressed the need for 
measures that basically help the family, help the average family in 
this country, particularly those who have children, and a big part of 
that has been affordable health care.
  We all realize, and Democrats in particular realize, that more and 
more people in this country do not have health care insurance. And even 
if they do have health care insurance, a lot of times they are not 
getting the quality of care or they do not have the access to all the 
procedures that they should have.
  In addition to that, there is a real problem in this country in terms 
of the availability of child care for America's working families.
  And also pensions. Many of my constituents have complained to me 
about lack of adequate pensions, people that were promised pensions, or 
thought that when they retired that pensions were going to be available 
to them and all of a sudden find out that they are not.
  So tonight the President will be stressing this Democratic pro-
family, pro-child message, and there are just four points that I wanted 
to highlight. One is the need for more affordable and accessible health 
care for what we call the near elderly, those seniors aged 55 to 65 
that have a greater risk of losing employer-based health insurance but 
yet are not eligible for Medicare.
  Democrats are proposing a targeted and self-financing proposal which 
will enable Americans ages 62 to 65 to buy into Medicare by paying a 
premium. And they will also provide coverage to displaced workers over 
55 through Medicare and COBRA coverage for those whose companies renege 
on their commitments to provide retiree health benefits.
  Also, Democrats are very conscious of the fact that there are 
problems with managed care in this country, and we are going to work, 
and the President will talk tonight about high quality health care 
through a consumer Bill of Rights that he has proposed. No patient 
should be denied high quality care. Care should be based on medical 
needs and not financial ones.
  So a big part of the Democratic agenda this year will be managed care 
reform and basic consumer protections for individuals in HMOs or 
managed care organizations.
  Also, Democrats want to invest in child care for America's working 
families. The President will announce a historic initiative to improve 
the quality and availability of child care for all parents. Democrats 
are working to ensure that parents no longer have to make choices 
between work or not working that basically revolve about whether or not 
they have access to child care.
  And lastly, Democrats want, and the President will talk tonight about 
the effort to achieve secure and comfortable retirement. For more than 
50 million American workers, there is no pension coverage. And 
Democrats will work to promote pension plans among small businesses.
  I do not want to take up a lot of time. I want to yield to my 
colleague from Texas, who has been so much involved over the last year, 
in 1997 and before, in bringing this pro-family, pro-child message to 
the floor of the House of Representatives. I would yield to her at this 
time.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for 
his leadership and for allowing us to have an opportunity through a 
special order to address the American people and to emphasize the 
Democrats united message.
  For many of us returning to Washington, we were certainly asked what 
would be the focus of this next year, and I am very glad to say that we 
have not strayed away, with the leadership of the President, from what 
are really truly important issues to this country, and that has to be 
more affordable and accessible health care.
  I could not have been more pleased when the President announced more 
than 2 weeks ago the idea that individuals 55 to 65 had a greater risk 
of losing health insurance or coverage, and that he wanted to stand on 
the side of those hard working Americans who might have fallen on hard 
times because of downsizing and with an inability to have health 
coverage, that they would be eligible for Medicare. That is not a 
throw-away of good dollars, that is a providing an enhancement of 
dollars, and I think that is extremely importantly.

                              {time}  1600

  I also want to say that I could not be more enthusiastic about a 
consumer bill of rights as it relates to health care.
  I have experienced it personally. I know how families sometimes are 
subjected to difficult decisions; and, therefore, when they need a 
consumer bill of rights most, it is when they need medical care, and 
decisions have to be made. We need to be able to ensure patients that 
the patient-doctor relationship is a sacred relationship. It will not 
be tampered with because of financial concerns and because someone has 
to save money moving people from one hospital to the next, dumping 
people out of hospitals. I think that is extremely important.
  I would like to add two other points about the importance of the 
State of the Union and unity of Democrats leading out in this country 
along with my colleagues who are thinking along the lines of making 
this economy better but also working with people who need our help 
most, that is America's working families, child care.
  Chairing the Congressional Children's Caucus, I had the pleasure of

[[Page H29]]

being with the First Lady when she had the Child Care Symposium just 
before we left in the late fall of 1997 for our district work session. 
And everywhere I have gone, the working families, men and women, single 
parents, two-parent families, have talked about the big chunk that 
child care takes out of their paychecks. We need to find a way to be 
catalytic, to be helpful in making sure that we have a child care 
system that works.
  My colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), mentioned 
something very, very important and that was the pension system, or 
Social Security. For some reason or another, people think that because 
Democrats helped bring about Social Security that we don't know how to 
fix it or to work with some of the problems. Our position is, let us 
not eliminate it; let us not accuse it of the wrongs; let us make sure 
we emphasize the rights of Social Security. It has given people the 
privilege of being secure in their old age without the big company 
pensions that many people have had the pleasure of having but a lot of 
working men and women in America have not had the pleasure.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I did not mention 
Social Security. But I know that the President is going to emphasize it 
tonight.
  I think that the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) brings up a 
very good point; and that is, the Republicans I think want us to forget 
or want the American people to forget that Social Security works. It 
has been working. People have gotten their checks. They have gotten 
their COLA on an annual basis.
  It does bother me, I have to say, to some extent to hear these 
constant references to the fact that the system is broken or that we 
need to find alternatives to Social Security and different private-
sector options that are out there.
  I am not saying that we should not study those things. But I think 
there has been a concerted effort on the part of our Republican 
colleagues and the Republican leadership to give the impression to the 
American people that the Social Security system is broken and it cannot 
be fixed. That is simply not the case. Everyone gets a Social Security 
check. People have gotten a COLA on a regular basis.
  It is true that we need to study what needs to be done to make sure 
that in the future that Social Security is there and is intact, and 
Democrats are certainly a big part of that and have been emphasizing 
that there does need to be some attention paid to that. But, what is 
the expression, let us not throw out the baby with the bath water?
  Social Security works, and we need to emphasize that. Too often I 
hear from the other side that somehow it is broken or we need to 
replace it. I do not want our colleagues on either side of the aisle or 
the American people to think that that is the case. It is not, and it 
is simply not true.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Pallone) very much for yielding.
  Let me say that I would be very hesitant, very hesitant and quite 
concerned if we were to take on the cry of fire in a crowded theater 
with respect to Social Security, when it has worked for years and years 
and years.
  Let me conclude by mentioning some other very important items that I 
see, at least at this juncture, in this State of the Union that we can 
be very proud of. That is why Democrats are unified around the 
President's message.
  Do we realize that the President is offering to present to the 
American public 100,000 new teachers for grades 1 to 3, a school 
construction plan that generated out of the work? As I see the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), chairwoman of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, a lot of work went into this whole idea of 
school construction. And I see, I think, my good friend, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), as well, who is coming to join 
us. These are important issues that we must deal with in the State of 
the Union and, as well, in looking to a program forthright.
  So I think that we have a lot to be proud of. We have a mentoring 
program that the President is going to be offering; and I would say to 
anyone who walks past a school, if they can take 5 minutes to go inside 
and say something to a student, they are going to see the fruit borne 
on that over and over again.
  Then they have the continue moving people from welfare to work, which 
is a very important part of his message, as well as three points: an 
increase in empowerment zones for those of us in urban areas, community 
development banks, providing tax incentives for low-income housing. 
And, of course, he is going to continue, as we just celebrated and 
commemorated the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, the race initiative.
  So I think we have a lot to share this evening, a lot to celebrate. 
Because we are on a new vision, a new path that continues, but we are 
still moving in a direction that helps those people who need the help 
most. And I am very glad to join my colleague here on the floor to 
speak about some very important items that will be raised tonight in 
the President's State of the Union.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman; and I yield to the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), who has for several years now 
been talking about the need for this school construction program.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I was just walking by and I heard my distinguished colleagues 
referring to the important initiatives that are going to be discussed 
in the State of the Union, and I wanted to thank them because these 
issues are what people really care about. We all are coming back today, 
and most of us have had discussions in our district with seniors, 
visited schools, had many meetings, hearings on Medicare, on child 
care, on issues of concern to real people. My constituents wanted us to 
come here and solve problems. That is what this is all about. We are 
here to solve problems.
  My colleague referred to the terrible conditions of some of our 
schools. We talk about educating youngsters. We talk about standards. 
We talk about more teachers. But if the school buildings are falling 
apart, then it is pretty difficult to focus attention on the agenda in 
those buildings.
  I have visited some schools where there is plastic on the ceiling 
holding up the walls. These roofs have been leaking for years. And 
children are sitting in classrooms under conditions that I certainly do 
not think most of us would want our children to be in.
  So I was particularly pleased that, after all of us have been working 
many, many years to build support for partnership with local 
governments on school construction, that the President is taking a 
strong position to assist local governments to repair our schools.
  Again, this is a partnership. The Federal Government is not just 
going to go in and say, here you are, here is the money. These are 
partnerships. And if we can develop partnerships in highways and 
prisons and a whole myriad of uses, then it seems to me we should be 
investing in our school construction. I was very pleased to see that in 
the President's initiatives.
  Also, when it comes to child care, many of us understand that if we 
are going to put people to work, we have a responsibility to be sure 
that our children, our future, are well-taken care of. And, again, I 
want to congratulate this administration in putting forth the proposal 
to really invest in child care and making sure there are enough slots 
for the children in all of our communities and also to be sure that 
there are regulations in place so a mother who put her child in child 
care or a father who puts his child in child care knows that those 
children will be safe. So child care is another proposal that we all 
have to rally around.
  And Medicare extension. This is a problem that is brought up to me 
all the time. Why should people not be able to buy into Medicare to be 
sure that they have the health care that they need? This is brought up 
in the senior centers, in casual meetings, in the supermarkets. People 
are worried about health care, and this is a very important proposal. I 
was very pleased that my colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Pallone), that he tried to quiet the fears of many people that Medicare 
is going broke.
  We have reformed, we have strengthened Medicare since its founding in 
the 1960s. Yes, we have to make changes.

[[Page H30]]

 We have to be sure that Medicare and Social Security are solid 
programs when the baby-boomers come of age. But Medicare and Social 
Security are not going broke in 1 year or 5 years or 10 years.
  We have to address the challenges ahead, make sure there are programs 
for our baby-boomers so we can give them the benefits of these great, 
great programs. But let us not frighten seniors. They are worried and 
they are worried for the children and for the children's children.
  So I know my colleague is committed and I am committed and we are 
committed to work to continue to strengthen Medicare, to strengthen 
Social Security. But let us not set off the alarm. I am very concerned 
that there are people on the other side of the aisle that are doing 
just that. Let us maintain our solid positions that these are important 
programs, but we have to move ahead constructively and not set the 
alarm bells.
  So education, child care, health care, these are all things that 
people care about; and that is why I am so enthusiastic about the State 
of the Union this evening. I look forward to hearing it. We just talked 
about a few of the proposals. But food safety, genetic discrimination, 
this is a State of the Union message that is solid, and it is dedicated 
to the people of this country.
  I want to thank my colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Pallone), again for discussing the State of the Union. I know we are 
committed to making sure that this will be a productive session, that 
we are here to focus on what really matters to real people to solve 
their problems, and this is a good kickoff to an agenda that matters to 
real people.
  I thank my colleague again for leading this special order.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from New 
York (Mrs. Lowey) again. I think she really summed up what tonight is 
all about, and that is trying it help the average American, the family, 
the children. That is what my constituents and I am sure all of our 
constituents are telling us; and, also, we are doing it in the context 
of this balanced budget.
  The President keeps saying over and over again, look, we passed the 
Balanced Budget Act this past summer in 1997. We are meeting the 
guidelines of that. Even within that we can still help with some of 
these other pro-family measures. Many of them, as my colleagues know, 
either cost no money or very little money and in the long run actually 
saved the Federal Government money. He keeps stressing that.
  I think that is important in the context of what he is going to state 
tonight. But I think it is a very auspicious beginning for 1998; and we 
have to work hard, as Democrats, to make sure that the pro-family, pro-
child agenda gets passed and that we can bring our Republican 
colleagues along.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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