[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 22, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H1264-H1272]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS BUDGET
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Wilson). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 6, 1999, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens) is
recognized for 60 minutes.
Mr. OWENS. Madam Speaker, we have heard two presentations, one by the
Democrats and one by the Republicans, on the budget. We will have the
budget on the floor tomorrow to vote on, and nothing is more important
than the budget this week. But nothing is more important than the
budget at any time.
The most important decisions we make in Washington are the decisions
related to the budget and the appropriations process. The budget is the
opening of the process which ends with the appropriations process.
People should understand that we broadly categorize certain spending
goals in the budget, and then it is the appropriations process that
carries them through with the detailed expenditures.
I want to talk about the Congressional Black Caucus Budget, a budget
for maximum investment and opportunity, which we will have on the floor
tomorrow as an alternative to the President's budget and the budget of
the majority Republicans.
Our budget is very important, and I am going to spend half my time
talking about the priorities of that budget, the six priorities of that
budget. But the seventh priority is the one that I want to begin with.
The mission of our budget is clearly, the Congressional Black Caucus
Budget, an advocacy budget. It advocates for those that are left out
and forgotten, the poor in general, and more specifically African
Americans and other neglected minorities.
We concur with three-quarters of the President's budget and his
priorities. But we would like to emphasize certain kinds of things that
get left out. So in each one of these seven areas, education, housing,
health care, economic development and livable communities, foreign aid,
welfare and low-income assistance, and juvenile justice and law
enforcement, we have special kinds of priorities that we have within
those categories. We would like to make certain that those do not get
left out.
This presentation will start with priority number seven, which is a
very unusual priority for the Congressional Black Caucus to focus on.
That is juvenile justice and law enforcement. Law enforcement.
Now, I understand that in the Democratic alternative budget that is
going to be presented tomorrow, there will be some recommended
increases in the law enforcement budget, the Justice Department budget.
But that is all about increasing at the investigative end, increases
for the prosecutions in general.
There are a number of things that are going to happen in that
proposed set of budget increases that we are not particularly concerned
with. We would like to see the Justice Department capacity increased to
handle some other kinds of pressing emergencies.
For example, we have an explosion of high profile corruption and
malfunctioning of the criminal justice system across America. In Los
Angeles, in Illinois, Louisville, Kentucky and New York, on and on it
goes. Right now, we have these high profile cases that should attract
the attention of all Americans. Certainly the overwhelming majority of
Americans are concerned about these malfunctionings and this
corruption.
Certainly in the case of Amadou Diallo and the verdict of a jury
there in New York State, the capital, Albany, related to a case where
Amadou Diallo was standing on his front step and was approached by four
policemen, and they shot him to death. Forty-one bullets were fired.
{time} 2145
He was hit 19 times, and some of the bullets show he was hit after he
was on the porch. Nevertheless, those policemen were found not guilty
of anything; not negligent homicide, not reckless endangerment, not
guilty of anything. A survey taken a few days later showed that the
overwhelming majority of the people of New York State were outraged.
They disagreed profoundly with that verdict and felt that a great
miscarriage of justice had occurred.
But on the other coast, in Los Angeles, we had a series of
revelations over the last few months indicating that the police
department has been carrying out corrupt practices for almost two
decades; that there are people in the police department who routinely,
routinely, have planted evidence on people of drug selling, evidence of
various kinds, planted guns on people, beaten people, and shot people.
And the Los Angeles government now is getting ready to pay out millions
of dollars in response to court suits that are being brought on these
matters, as well as many, many cases that will be overturned.
The lives of numerous individuals, thousands of individuals when we
consider the families of the people who have been wrongfully convicted
or harassed, beaten up, the lives of thousands of individuals are
involved in this gross systemic ongoing set of miscarriages of justice.
In the State of Illinois we have a situation where there were 25
people on
[[Page H1265]]
death row, 25 people about to be executed. We were about to play God
and take their lives. I am against the death penalty, but those who are
for the death penalty certainly would not like to see innocent people
executed. There was a special project conducted by some university
students and they utilized the most advanced detective techniques,
including DNA, to check to see whether these 25 people were really
guilty or not. They were on death row. They had gone through the whole
system. The district attorneys had brought cases against them, they had
been prosecuted by public prosecutors, a judge had sat on the case, a
jury heard the case, and now it was all over. They were on death row to
be executed.
Under our constitution we guaranty the right to life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. But if a person's life is taken, there is nothing
else they are going to be able to do. They cannot pursue happiness.
Liberty means nothing. A death penalty takes away that life. And of the
25 people who were on death row, 12 were found to be innocent. DNA
evidence, about as conclusive as it gets, was used to prove that 12 of
the 25 on death row were innocent. And I congratulate the governor of
Illinois for acting after that, immediately, to say there will be no
more executions until we straighten out this tangle.
Where is the criminal justice system going wrong? How did it produce
an almost 50 percent error rate in a matter as serious as taking the
life of an individual for the commission of a crime? Twelve of the 25
were innocent.
Let me see, I have mentioned Los Angeles and Illinois. Let us now go
to Louisville, Kentucky. There was a killing of a young man by the
Louisville, Kentucky, police. Two policemen were involved. The police
commissioner, without telling the mayor, decided to give these two
policemen a medal, awarded both of them a medal.
Now, they have gone through a process, I think, of being checked out,
with disciplinary hearings, and steps have now been taken, but they
were given a medal and the mayor was not informed about this. They were
just given a medal, two medals, by the commissioner. And the mayor,
rightfully so, felt that that was an outrage to do that for something
that, one, was questionable, but to do it without his approval, without
his involvement, was a usurpation of his authority, and it was making a
statement about his position on this kind of action that clearly was in
defiance of his policies.
So the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, fired the police commissioner.
And right now we have almost a coups taking place in Louisville,
Kentucky. The police are marching through the streets indicating that
they are really in command. The police that should be under civil
authority are refusing to acknowledge that the mayor is the final
authority; that the man who is elected, who hired the commissioner, had
the right to fire him.
The problem is if we allow a police state mentality to develop in a
small group, that spreads to the larger group, and pretty soon we are
the victims of police state actions. I cannot remember any time that a
whole police force has defied their chief executive, the mayor of a
city, and gone out and thrown down the gauntlet. They are refusing to
protect the citizens. They spend their time in demonstrating their
strength.
It is illogical to allow the criminal justice system to become
corrupted. What we have in America is a small percentage of police, the
extremists, the fanatics, and sometimes they are racists, who commit
crimes and acts of misconduct that by themselves are outrageous but we
say, after all, it is only a small percentage of a total police
department. The problem that all America should be concerned with is
the way the rest of the police department goes to work to cover up, to
protect and to nurture the fanatics and the extremists and the racists.
There is the so-called blue wall of silence, where no matter what is
done they will protect them. And anybody that tells the truth will be
isolated and browbeaten and harassed to the point where they will have
to leave the force. The code of conduct in police departments all
across the country is that the truth is not to be told if it will get
one of their colleagues in trouble. So it makes the whole system
corrupt. As we go up the chain of command, the officer at the top,
including the commissioner, becomes involved in a pattern of cover-up.
If the pattern of cover-up and protection is there, it means that the
officers who are at the extreme end begin to have more and more people
join them, more of their kind come on to the force because they have
protection of the system.
I have talked about Los Angeles, Illinois, and Louisville, Kentucky.
In Louisville, Kentucky, it is the police marching to take over the
city, a coups by the police department against the city government. In
New York, where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated
their outrage in the Amadou Diallo shooting, we now have another
shooting of a young man named Patrick Dorismond, who lives in my
district. He was killed. The mayor and the commissioner are behaving as
if they want to stage a coups and take over the city against the
majority. The majority are outraged, but they insist on behaving in
ways that protect and encourage and nurture that small percentage of
extremists in every police department.
The mayor has made outrageous statements about the last killing.
Patrick Dorismond, a constituent of mine, his family lives in my
district. Patrick Dorismond was in Manhattan, leaving work as a guard.
He was a uniformed guard. He left work and went to a bar nearby. He
left the bar and was hailing a taxi to get home when an undercover
policeman approached him attempting to entrap him in a drug sale. The
undercover policeman asked him if he had some drugs to sell. He wanted
some drugs.
This same undercover police team had already made eight or nine
arrests that night. They just wanted to bolster their statistics and
make ten collars that night, so they approached one more, Patrick
Dorismond. Patrick Dorismond was outraged as he was being approached
and asked for drugs. An argument ensued and the backup policeman came
on the scene to support his partner who was in the argument. He shot
Patrick Dorismond to death.
Patrick Dorismond is dead and the two policemen say it was an
accident. Most unfortunate; it was an accident. And the Mayor of the
City of New York, Mayor Guiliani, ordered the commissioner, told the
commissioner to immediately release the criminal record of Patrick
Dorismond. Patrick Dorismond, at 13, had had some kind of encounter
with the police. The laws of the State of New York say that the record
of a juvenile should be sealed. Not only did they disobey the laws of
the State of New York and open sealed records, but they also broadcast
them all over the Nation.
Patrick Dorismond had had a run-in with the police when he was 13,
like a lot of 13 year olds may have a run-in with the police. Patrick
Dorismond had had two arrests as an adult for disorderly conduct. So
happens that Patrick Dorismond wanted to be a policeman. So the two
disorderly conduct arrests that he had had as an adult, plus the arrest
that he had had as a juvenile, would not have disqualified him from
becoming a policeman. They were not that serious. But the mayor has
chosen to make Patrick Dorismond look like a criminal by putting these
things together. And he has fooled no one.
The whole city is outraged again. It is double outrage after the
Amadou Diallo verdict. Now comes Patrick Dorismond, with the mayor and
the commissioner engaging in a blatant way in a cover-up. I mean, they
are encouraging and setting the parameters for the cover-up in this
case.
The system has gone to work to deal with some extreme activities on
the part of individual policemen. There were other cases, of course,
besides Amadou Diallo. There was Abner Louima, who was sodomized with a
broomstick in a police precinct. Abner Louima almost bled to death. In
fact, the hope was, by the policeman who had so injured him, that he
would die, but, unfortunately for the policeman, he lived.
Fortunately, there were complaints made by the family, and they got
through to a reporter and he got to a hospital and he survived. And the
whole case broke as an exposure of what had gone on in that precinct.
Most of the police in that precinct would not tell the truth. The blue
wall
[[Page H1266]]
of silence went into effect immediately and nobody saw anything. Abner
Louima had to endure a horrible experience, and they tried to pretend
that nobody held him down while the guilty police officer committed
that crime.
Fortunately, the Federal Government stepped into the situation and,
from the beginning, showed a great interest and prosecuted the
policeman for violating the civil rights of Abner Louima. Abner Louima
is not dead, fortunately. He is probably injured for life. He will
never function normally again. But there was a trial and, after almost
a year of denying that any crime had been committed, the blue wall of
silence was at work concocting stories about Abner Louima having
engaged in homosexual activity and that is how his guts were erupted or
torn inside him. All kinds of concocted ridiculous stories were
manufactured, until finally in the Federal trial, in Brooklyn, the
perpetrator confessed that he had done it, and was found guilty, of
course, by his confession.
{time} 2200
However, even after confessing, he wanted the world to believe he did
it all by himself and nobody else saw it, wanted to protect his
colleagues, and came back to court to testify in a second trial, a
conspiracy trial.
The conspiracy trial related to Abner Louima was probably more
important than the trial which convicted the man who perpetrated the
heinous act against Abner Louima. Because the conspiracy trial goes to
the heart of the problem.
The heart of the problem is the fact that the colleagues of the
perpetrators, the colleagues of the extremists, of the fanatics, of the
racists cover up for them. They pretend they saw nothing, they heard
nothing, the system, in effect, to cover up for the crime committed
against Abner Louima. His relatives went to the police station the next
day, and they were threatened and told to get away from there or they
would be arrested.
All kinds of horrible things happened before this case began to rise
and surface in such a way that the police department had to admit that
a great crime had been committed and they had to go to work to do
something about it.
But when the Federal Government entered the case early and began to
question the police officers, the blue wall of silence went into
effect. So they took a very important step in trying four of those
officers for conspiracy to cover up. Because that is the heart of the
problem. The system has to be changed. The system has to be attacked.
The Federal Government at this point has also completed a study of
the pattern of activity in New York City with respect to the stop-and-
frisk and the way they police minority neighborhoods.
What does this have to do with the budget? Let me go back for a
moment and say that all those people out there who were upset about the
Amadou Diallo verdict, and there were many people, there was a
spontaneous set of demonstrations. High school kids, without any
tutelage or planning, left their schools and demonstrated in the
streets. College kids demonstrated, white and black. There was no group
that did not show their outrage.
Today, on the steps of New York Police Plaza, a press conference took
place of businessmen, businessmen and labor leaders, rabbis, civil
liberties leaders, urban league, a press conference took place where
they all together condemned the latest activities of the mayor with
respect to exposing the criminal record of Dorismond as a 13-year-old
child and taking a position in defense of the killing of Patrick
Dorismond before the facts were examined thoroughly.
Our constituents in New York are very upset, outraged, demanding
action from their leaders. Our constituents are demanding action
against these gross misjustices.
Fortunately, none of these spontaneous responses have been violent.
We keep telling people it does not pay to go out in the streets and
burn anything down or conduct riots. As leaders, we have been
successful in making people understand that negative and unproductive
set of conduct that should not be followed. However, they turn to us
and say, What are you going to do? What about it?
Well, I want to say it does relate to the budget here. Because in our
budget, item number 7 is the juvenile justice system. We want more
money put into the Federal criminal justice system, juvenile justice,
adult justice, law enforcement in general. We want more money put in.
We also have a bill that will require more funds in the Justice
Department. That bill was put in by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr.
Conyers) 2 weeks ago. And I would like to let everybody know out there,
the constituents, that we are not standing still, we are taking certain
kinds of actions. This bill, the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity
Act, is going beyond what we have done already.
We have gone to the Justice Department. We have gone to the deputy of
Janet Reno. We made our appeals there. We have gone through those
motions on these particular cases, especially Amadou Diallo. And we
have now gone to the Justice Department about Patrick Dorismond. In
Brooklyn, the U.S. Attorney in that district, the Eastern District, now
has had a discussion on that. So we are taking action at the level that
we think we can take the most relevant actions.
We have accreditation of the bill that the gentleman from Michigan
(Mr. Conyers) has introduced, the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity
Act, which will require additional funding by the Justice Department if
they carry out these points.
I will just quickly summarize what the bill says. The bill calls for
the accreditation of local law enforcement agencies not to operate so
loosely. They should have a set of procedures and standards, a training
regiment which does not allow for inexperienced people to be set loose
on the street with guns in their hands but make certain that they have
had thorough training not only in the use of force but also an
understanding of the community that they are patrolling.
This bill authorizes the Department of Justice to work cooperatively
with independent accreditation law enforcement and community-based
organizations to further develop and refine these accreditation
standards.
Second point: Law enforcement agency development programs. The bill
authorizes the attorney general to make grants to local States and
governments to develop programs, such as civilian review boards, early
warning and detection programs, which have proven effective in many
jurisdictions, and many kinds of activities which would help develop a
greater rapport between police and the community.
Administrative due process procedures. The bill requires that the
attorney general study the prevalence and impact of any law, rule, or
procedure which interferes with prompt and thorough investigations of
abuse.
In New York City they have the 48-hour rule. The police department,
the Police Benevolent Association, their union negotiated an agreement
where no policeman who is involved in an excessive use of force case
can be interrogated before 48 hours. Forty-eight hours must pass before
they have the right to interrogate a policeman who is involved in some
incident related to excessive use of force or the firing of a gun even
if it resulted in the killing of an individual.
Item four in the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act sponsored by
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers). It enhances the funding of
the Civil Rights Division in the Civil Rights Department. It authorizes
appropriations for expenses for ongoing investigations of pattern and
practice of abusive investigation by the Justice Department.
Item five in the pattern and practice investigations: It enhances the
authority to bring private cause of actions limited only to declaratory
and injunctive relief when there is a pattern and practice of
discrimination.
Item six: Deprivation of rights under color of law. The bill amends
section 242 of Title 18 of the Code to expressively define ``use of
force'' and ``nonconsentual sexual conduct'' as deprivations of rights
under color of law.
Item 7: The study of deaths in custody, referring back to the
Illinois case. The bill amends the Code to require assurances that
States will follow guidelines established by the attorney general for
reporting deaths in custody.
[[Page H1267]]
National Task Force on Law Enforcement Oversight. The bill requires
the Department of Justice to establish a task force to coordinate the
investigation, prosecution, and enforcement efforts of Federal, State,
and local governments in cases related to law enforcement misconduct.
Immigration Enforcement Review Commission. The bill creates a
commission to investigate civil rights complaints against the INS and
Customs Services with authority to make policy and disciplinary
recommendations.
It is very interesting that, in New York, several of the cases that
have taken place have related to immigrants. Amadou Diallo was an
immigrant from Africa, the country of Guinea. Patrick Dorismond is a
Haitian American. Abner Louima is a Haitian American.
I know this is only a coincidence because I have lived in New York
for 42 years and there is a long list of victims of excessive force,
negligent homicide, that were not necessarily immigrants.
Eleanor Bumpers was a grandmother who was shot down in her living
room. Claude Reece was a 13-year-old who lived in a housing project in
my district. Clifford Glover was 11 years old and was shot in the back.
Randolph Evans was shot point-blank by a policeman who used a defense
in court called psychomotor epilepsy. I have never heard that term
before; and since that case, that trial, I have never heard it since.
Well, the jury found the policeman not guilty because he had had a
seizure of psychomotor epilepsy and he could not stop his hand from
raising the gun and pointing to young Randolph Evans's head. He walked
off scot-free.
So there have been a long list of deaths, of police killings and
police brutality which did not deal with immigrants. But it just
happens that recently the focus has been, by accident I think, on
immigrants. So an Immigrant Enforcement Review Commission is very much
in order.
Item 10: Federal Data Collection on Racial Profiling. The bill
requires the Justice, Treasury and Interior Departments to collect data
concerned with personal characteristics of individuals targeted for
investigation, etcetera.
The bill establishes civil and criminal penalties for retaliation
against law enforcement officers who in God's faith disclose, initiate,
or advocate on behalf of a civilian complainant in actions alleging
police misconduct and creates private cause of action for retaliation.
These are 11 of the points that are emphasized in the Law Enforcement
Trust and Integrity Act. Many of them will require additional funding.
My colleague the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) has added to
that some other provisions that will require additional funding in the
budget. She wants a budget increase to deal with the Weed & Seed
program. She wants to address juvenile delinquency prevention with
certain projects, a program to reintegrate great young offenders, and a
program to reduce youth gun violence.
So in our seventh category, juvenile justice and law enforcement, in
our budget, we are addressing some of the issues that are of great
concern to my constituents back in New York. CBC, the Congressional
Black Caucus, wants to support these issues in every way. Tomorrow we
will deal with a budget which does that.
In addition to that, I think it is important to note that we are
proposing and, in fact, I proposed at a meeting of the Brooklyn African
American Clergy and Elected Officials, consisting of 96 members, on
March 3, 2000, I proposed the following in reaction to my constituents
and all those who are outraged and want some leadership, I proposed we
have a declaration against surrender to this kind of activity.
We will not surrender to police abuse and a policeman state
mentality. We will not surrender to a mayor and a commissioner who
insist on protecting the extremists and the fanatics who constitute
only a small part of the police department.
This declaration of surrender reads as follows: ``We, the undersigned
leaders of the caring majority, pledge to unite in solidarity against
continuing oppression by the extremist law enforcement establishment
and the collaborating criminal justice system. With unrelenting fervor,
we pledge to provide continuous leadership for the following actions
and activities:
(1) negotiations to achieve the 10 demands for police and criminal
justice reform set forth on March 27, 1999, almost a year ago.
A coalition of leaders from all parts of the city met at Local 1199
in the heart of the city, and we drew up a 10-point plan on misconduct
and brutality. These 10 points cover the need for civilian review board
which has real teeth. It covers the call for a special prosecutor to be
appointed in cases involving police brutality or police homicide. It
calls for a residency law for New York City.
Most of the country requires policemen to live in the city or the
county. Most of the counties in New York State require policemen to
live in the city or county. But not in New York City. The legislature
exempts New York City from that requirement despite the fact that the
city council and the people of New York want a residency law to
guarantee that they get police that have a greater comprehension of the
people that they are serving and the cultures that make up New York
City.
{time} 2215
On and on it goes. There are 10 demands here drawn up March 27, 1999.
The problem with these demands is that for the 40 years that I have
been in New York, most of these demands have been made repeatedly over
and over again every time there has been some excessive use of force or
misconduct among the police. The time that I have been in New York, for
40 years, there have been three commissions to investigate corruption
and excessive use of force. They all come up with the same
recommendation. Nothing gets done. For that reason, we are insisting
that we negotiate again. We like to go to our constituents and say we
are reasonable people, we are leaders who do not under any
circumstances want our constituents to resort to violence. We want to
proceed in a nonviolent way, in a reasonable way to try to get these
so-called intractable problems that seem not to be solvable, to get
something done. So we want to negotiate these 10 demands. We want to
ask the mayor to negotiate again, but beyond the mayor we want the
fathers of the city, we have a phrase in New York called the permanent
government of the city. In a lot of the cities and towns across the
country, there is a permanent government, the business people, the
civic leaders, a group of people who really behind the scenes, if you
do not have their approval, if elected officials do not have their
approval, they cannot survive, they cannot exist. There is a
combination of financial contributions as well as the press being on
your side, indignation of people in high places who have the bully
pulpit. They can govern in certain ways. We think that they are guilty
in New York City of not weighing in and doing more over the years to
rein in the excessive police abuse that continues to erupt again and
again in New York City. So we want to negotiate with them as well as
with the mayor and the governor. That is point one in this Declaration
Against Surrender.
We want to, point two, take the necessary actions to achieve
intervention in the Diallo case by the Justice Department and the
prosecution of the four police defendants for the violation of the
civil rights of Amadou Diallo. Four policemen have already been found
innocent of anything, including reckless endangerment or negligent
homicide, nothing, totally innocent, just as the people who beat up
Rodney King in California were found innocent. Despite the fact that
you had a videotape of them surrounding him and beating him, they still
found the perpetrators innocent. The Federal Government had to go in
and try those same people on a charge of violation of civil rights of
Rodney King. We have asked and we are pressing hard to get the Justice
Department to try the people who killed Amadou Diallo on the basis of
the violation of the civil rights of Amadou Diallo, a victim of police
profiling. Nowhere in the history of New York City have you had a
person standing on his front porch shot down by the police. Only racial
profiling gone mad and seeing any black as a threat could have conjured
up an image of Amadou Diallo as being a danger to society or to the
four policemen who
[[Page H1268]]
shot him in self-defense, they say, because they thought he was
reaching for a gun when he pulled out his wallet. Probably, being a
foreigner, he knows the first thing you do when you are confronted by
the law is show your papers, show your papers and identify yourself. We
think that we have a good case and that the Justice Department will
move, we hope, to prosecute these defendants for the violation of
Amadou Diallo's civil rights. We are trying to tell our constituents
that this is a society where ultimately there is justice for all. If
you cannot get justice for all at the city level or the State level,
then there is finally the Federal Government which will guarantee that
there will be justice for all.
Our third point here is an appeal to the United Nations to secure an
objective review of the violations of minority human rights in the
United States as evidenced by the following. Violations of minority
rights in the United States are out of control. Too many people in high
places are not excited about the fact that they are out of control.
Why? Because, one, there is a national pattern, a national pattern of
systemic police brutality with recurring unjustified homicides. Two,
death penalty laws which result in a disproportionate number of
minorities executed, a disproportionate number of minorities executed
and a high probability of innocent victims on death row. I gave you the
case of Illinois where the death row inmates who were innocent were
fortunate enough to have a local university project conduct an exercise
using the latest detective techniques including DNA, and they found 12
of 25 of the people on death row to be innocent. The next point,
widespread officially sanctioned racial profiling. The next point,
exposures of massive long-term corruption and illegal arrests in police
departments. The next point of great racial disparity in sentencing.
Great racial disparity. We have several studies which show that a black
person and a white person accused of the same crime going through the
same similar investigative procedure standing before a judge, the
racial minority will get a tougher sentence, a higher sentence.
Disparity in sentencing. Finally, the imprisonment of 2 million
persons, most of whom are poor and members of minority groups. In the
United States there are now about 2 million people in prison. Prisons
have become a major industry. You can invest in prisons. If you invest
in prisons, they do not pay off unless you have inmates. You are paid
according to the number of inmates. There is something grossly unjust
about this kind of system. There is something grossly unjust about so
many people in prison. The highest number now of any of the
industrialized nations are imprisoned in the United States of America.
Almost half of them are imprisoned for nonviolent offenses related to
drugs. There is something wrong with the system. We complain on the
floor of this House, we have many bills which have made matters worse
sponsored by the Republican majority. We complain. Nothing happens. An
appeal to the United Nations may be where we have to go in order to get
some attention focused on these gross abuses.
Finally, in this Declaration Against Surrender, we the undersigned
leaders of the caring majority pledge to sponsor periodic ``Weeks of
Outrage'' with citywide nonviolent actions including civil
disobedience. Such Weeks of Outrage will be periodically sponsored
until our just demands are met. Going back to point one, the demands we
ask to be negotiated, we will not sit still and let those demands be
treated with contempt nor ignored. We intend to have Weeks of Outrage
starting with an April Week of Outrage which is in the process of being
planned. There is a call for an April Week of Caring Majority
Nonviolent Outrage.
The Declaration Against Surrender continues by saying that in the
last 40 years, more than 50 outrageous killings of New York citizens by
the police have gone unpunished, from the children, Clifford Glover and
Randolph Evans, to grandmother Eleanor Bumpers, mental patient Gideon
Bush, and immigrant Amadou Diallo, the callous actions of individual
policemen have been supported and excused by a collaborating judicial
system, by the establishment press and media, by the power brokers and
the permanent governors of New York City. We declare that the caring
majority of New York City will no longer surrender to these gross
injustices.
Mr. Speaker, I submit the statement related to the Declaration
Against Surrender for the Record.
Declaration Against Surrender
We, the undersigned Leaders of the ``Caring Majority''
pledge to unite in solidarity against continuing oppression
by the extremist law enforcement establishment and the
collaborating criminal justice system. With unrelenting
fervor we pledge to provide continuous leadership for the
following actions and activities:
Negotiations to achieve the ten demands for police and
criminal justice reform set forth on March 27, 1999.
Necessary actions to achieve intervention in the Diallo
case by the U.S. Justice Department and the prosecution of
the four police defendants for the violation of the Civil
Rights of Amadou Diallo.
An Appeal to the United Nations to secure an objective
review of the violations of minority human rights in the
United States as evidenced by: a national pattern of systemic
police brutality with recurring unjustified homicides; death
penalty laws which result in a disproportionate number of
minorities executed and a high probability of innocent
victims on death row; widespread officially sanctioned racial
profiling; exposures of massive long-term corruption and
illegal arrests in police departments; a great racial
disparity in sentencing; the imprisonment of two million
persons most of whom are poor and members of the minority
groups.
Sponsorship of periodic ``Weeks of Outrage'' with citywide
nonviolent actions including civil disobedience. Such ``Weeks
of Outrage'' will be periodically sponsored until our just
demands are met.
We, the undersigned Leaders of the ``Caring Majority''
invite all citizens everywhere who deem themselves as members
of the ``Caring Majority'' to unite with us in the
``Declaration Against Surrender''.
Submitted by Congressman Major Owens and Approved by the
Brooklyn African American Clergy & Elected Officials (March
3, 2000).
10-Point Plan on Misconduct and Brutality
following are the proposals issued by a broad coalition of political
leaders and community organizers in response to the shooting of amadou
diallo: march 27, 1999
1. Mayor Giuliani must immediately implement the
recommendations of the Mollen Commission, especially the call
to establish an independent investigative body with full
subpoena power that has jurisdiction over police corruption
and brutality in New York City. Twice, the City Council has
passed legislation creating a body to monitor corruption, but
the Mayor has done everything in his power to block its
implementation--first by veto and then, when the Council
overrode his veto, by tying the matter up in court. The Mayor
must also implement the recommendations (from both the
majority and dissenting reports) of his own Task Force, that
he appointed in 1997 in the wake of the shocking Abner Louima
incident.
2. The Civilian Complaint Review Board must be immediately
reconstituted, strengthened and fully funded so that it can
effectively investigate civilian complaints of police
misconduct.
3. The State Legislature must pass legislation creating a
permanent special prosecutor for police brutality and
corruption in New York. In conjunction with this, the State
Attorney General must create a special unit on police
misconduct and should issue an annual report documenting
instances of misconduct throughout the state.
4. The Police Department must develop a comprehensive
training program, developed in consultation with outside
experts, to school its officers in racial and cultural
sensitivity and must also implement a rigorous process of in-
depth psychological screening of its recruits and officer.
5. The New York Police Department should reflect the makeup
of the citizen population it serves--N.Y.C. police officers
should live in New York City. The State Legislature must
immediately pass a law mandating residency for city officers.
6. The Police Commissioner must also take specific and
immediate steps to recruit more minorities and women to serve
as police officers and develop a plan to increase promotion
opportunities for women and minority officers.
7. The salary and benefits for police officers must be
improved. Law enforcement officers are entrusted with
extraordinary responsibility and they should be compensated
accordingly.
8. The Police Department's ``48-hour'' rule, which delays
the ability of N.Y.P.D. investigators to question police
officers charged violations of N.Y.P.D. rules and
regulations, must be eliminated.
9. The weapons, ammunition and tactics used by the
department must be assessed and periodically reviewed, not
only to measure effectiveness, but to protect the safety of
innocent New Yorkers. The use of hollow point bullets should
be discontinued immediately.
10. Congress must call on the Justice Department to honor
its commitment to monitor and issue annual reports
documenting instances of police misconduct throughout the
country. This promise was made in the wake of the Rodney King
incident and has yet to be acted upon.
[[Page H1269]]
Demands Cited in the Major Owens Declaration Against Surrender
Declaration Against Surrender--Congressman Major Owens
Call for an April Week of Caring Majority Non-Violent Outrage
the declaration against surrender
In the last forty years more than fifty outrageous killings
of New York citizens by the police have gone unpunished. From
the children, Clifford Glover and Randolph Evans, to
grandmother Eleanor Bumpers, mental patient Gideon Bush, and
immigrant Amadou Diallo, the callous actions of individual
policemen have been supported and excused by a collaborating
judicial system; by the establishment press and media; by the
power brokers and the permanent governors of NYC. We declare
that the Caring Majority of NYC will no longer surrender to
these gross injustices.
the targets and the goals
--The Caring Majority Must Be Empowered To Realize How
Strong They Are
--City Hall Must be Made To Understand The Ultimate Power
Of The Caring Majority
--The Police And The Power Brokers Must Be Made To
Understand The Limitations Of Their Control
--Reasonable Demands Must Receive A Respectful Response,
Serious Negotiations And Meaningful Legislation Action
Our primary goal is to provide leadership for the
following:
Negotiations to achieve the ten demands for police and
criminal justice reform set forth on March 27, 1999.
Necessary actions to achieve intervention in the Diallo
case by the U.S. Justice Department and the prosecution of
the four police defendants for the violation of the Civil
Rights of Amadou Diallo.
An Appeal to the United Nations to secure an objective
review of the violations of minority human rights in the
United States as evidenced by: a national pattern of systemic
police brutality with recurring unjustified homicides; death
penalty laws which result in a disproportionate number of
minorities executed and a high probability of innocent
victims on death row; widespread officially sanctioned
racial profiling; exposures of massive long-term
corruption and illegal arrests in police departments; a
great racial disparity in sentencing; the imprisonment of
two million persons most of whom are poor and members of
minority groups.
Sponsorship of periodic ``Weeks of Outrage'' with citywide
nonviolent actions including civil disobedience. Such ``Weeks
of Outrage'' will be periodically sponsored until our just
demands are met.
The list of the ten demands set forth on March 27, 1999 are
attached at the end of this Call Statement.
strategy and tactics
Using non-violent principles and techniques the purpose and
mission of the ``Week Of Outrage'' is to provide every
outraged citizen with an opportunity to publicly express that
outrage and bear witness to the fact that the ``Caring
Majority'' of New York City will not surrender to the
oppression of the police establishment and the collaborating
criminal justice system.
For each of five days in all five boroughs Action Groups
shall simultaneously assemble at several strategically
selected protest sites within each borough for a citywide
total of no less than fifteen sites. The non-violent soldiers
at each site shall rally, march, conduct civil disobedience
or engage in any other pre-planned non-violent activity. The
absolute necessity is that citywide actions take place
simultaneously in order to demonstrate the lack of capacity
of the police to control citizens who are righteously
indignant and organized. New York City belongs to the people
and each day's coordinated mass actions will deliver the
message of this forgotten truth.
In order to maximize citizen participation and conserve
resources the primary strategy for the assembled Action
Groups shall be to march through key streets and
intersections in ways that take command of the thoroughfares
and public places. Civil disobedience with pre-planned
arrests shall be carefully targeted. Most of each operation
will be merely the assertion of the right to assemble--and
for this activity no one can be arrested.
The decision-making structure for the ``Week Of Outrage''
shall be lean, decentralized and flexible. There shall be an
overall ``Caring Majority'' citywide Coordinating Committee
and each borough shall have a Borough Coordinating Committee.
Each Action Groups must choose its own Captains and Marshals.
Action Group must have representation at all planning
sessions and must accept a set of Caring Majority Non-Violent
Principles and Procedures; however, approval of specific
and detailed action plans will not be mandated.
The Week Of Outrage War Plan
To drive home the self-evident truth that the City belongs
to the people and that the police and the power brokers can
only operate with ``the consent of the governed'', five days
of coordinated citywide actions are necessary.
On Sunday prior to the first day of activity Meditation and
Evaluation Rallies will be held in each borough to finalize
the week's master-plan.
On Monday the important first day of action must be
launched on a test scale in order to pinpoint problems and
weaknesses.
On Tuesday an attempt will be made to raise the level of
activity and to maximize the repetition of the most effective
actions.
On Wednesday the peak of participation will be reached.
On Thursday and Friday variations and innovations in
activity will be maximized.
The Daily Outrage Action Schedule
In accordance with the Daily Outrage Action Plan that has
been agreed on during a Meditation and Evaluation Rally on
the night before, Action Groups must assemble each morning at
the designated protest sites. At the designated sites actions
must begin simultaneously throughout New York City.
Morning Actions must be conducted in ways that maximize
participation by local residents. In selected neighborhoods
within each borough, demonstrators must assemble without
notifying the police in advance.
Transitional Activities must move the masses to a
designated citywide central protest site in Manhattan. This
means that local morning actions should end by 1 P.M. in time
for the citywide high visibility action of the day to begin
by 3 P.M.
Afternoon Action will be conducted at a designated site of
high visibility and great traffic vulnerability in the heart
of the City. Without engaging in civil disobedience the
number of participants must be great enough to stop the
business-as-usual activities of the business community.
Evening Meditation and Evaluation Rallies shall be
conducted in each borough. A review of strengths and
weaknesses must take place and clear directions be given for
the next day's Outrage Action Schedule.
the weapons and resources
A non-violent crusade must be an organized mobilization
which understands how to best utilize its weapons and
resources:
Mobile Cell Phones must be available in large numbers to
maximize communication at all times. A set of vital numbers
will be compiled.
Cameras of all kinds must be recruited to record incidents,
especially the actions of the police. Each Action Group must
have a Camera Unit responsible for coverage of the action
from the periphery out of the reach of possible confiscation
by the police.
Bull Horns must be spread through each large group.
Marshalls and Captains must be thoroughly trained to keep
order, and to contain and isolate the agents of sabotage.
A Legal Unit with at least one law student or paralegal
must be attached to each Action Group.
An Emergency Unit with at least one person capable of
administering first aid must be a part of each Action Group.
the cease fire and evaluation
At the end of the ``Week Of Outrage'' a cease fire will be
called for an indefinite period of time while the following
factors are evaluated:
--Has the pressure of the week's actions forced the Mayor,
the Governor and the other significant power brokers to
respond to the stated demands?
--Has the one week crusade raised the level of awareness
and strengthened the resolve of the ``Caring Majority'' to
fight for justice?
--Are the ranks of the ``Caring Majority'' expanding in all
segments of the City's population?
--Can future similar ``Weeks of Outrage'' be sustained with
existing resources?
--What strengths and weaknesses in the operation have thus
far been identified?
--What are the adjustments in structure with respect to
decision-making and leadership which need to be made?
--Can the one week crusade be effectively turned off with
the capacity to resume at a later date?
Mr. Speaker, the rest of my presentation is also concerned with the
budget. I wanted to deal thoroughly with point seven. Point seven is
juvenile justice and law enforcement. This is our seventh priority in
the Congressional Black Caucus budget. Let me go back and deal with
item one. Housing, health care, economic development, livable
communities, foreign aid, welfare, low-income assistance, those are all
important, but item one is education.
In the remaining time I have, I would like to talk about our emphasis
on education. The caring majority budget begins with the following
introduction. We call our budget the Congressional Black Caucus Budget,
a Budget for Maximum Investment and Opportunity.
``Carrying forward the great Democratic Party traditions of Franklin
Roosevelt's New Deal, Harry Truman's Marshall Plan and health care
proposals, Lyndon Johnson's Great Society that produced Medicaid and
Medicare. As advocates for the Democratic Party mainstream philosophy,
the Congressional Black Caucus sets forth this budget for maximum
investment and opportunity.
``As we prepare the year 2001 budget, we are blessed by the long warm
rays of the sun of a coming decade of surpluses. Compassion and vision
are no longer blocked by the specter of budget deficits. The
conservative estimate is
[[Page H1270]]
that there will be a $1.9 trillion non-Social Security surplus over the
next 10 years. Using simple logic, we should be able to program about
$200 billion for year 2001 as this window of opportunity opens.''
Program it means it may be in some tax cuts. It might be in investments
in education. It could be in increases in jobs and training for welfare
workers. There are a number of ways it can be programmed.
I was pleased to hear that the Blue Dog budget, I do not know why
they call themselves Blue Dogs but the conservative Democrats they are,
the conservative Democrats are almost in agreement with what we are
proposing on education. I will get back to that in a few minutes.
``Investment for the future must be our first priority. Maximizing
opportunities for individual citizens is synonymous with maximizing the
growth and expansion of a U.S. superpower economy. It is the ``age of
information,'' stupid. It is the time of the computer and
digitalization. It is the era of thousands of high level vacancies
because there are not enough information technology workers. With
enlightened budget decisions we can at this moment begin the shaping of
the contours of a new cyber-civilization.
``If we fail to seize this moment to make investments that will allow
our great Nation to surge forward in the creation of this new cyber-
civilization, then our children and grandchildren will frown on us and
they will lament the fact that we failed not because we lacked the
fiscal resources but our failures, our very devastating blunder was due
to a poverty of vision.
``We are the custodians of unprecedented wealth in a giant economy.
But midget minds and tiny spirits have seized control and the only big
sweeping idea being generated during this budget discussion is the
negative Republican proposal for a monster tax cut for the wealthy. At
a time when positive generosity is possible, such a proposal maximizes
great selfishness.''
Let me just repeat that. ``We are the custodians of unprecedented
wealth in a giant economy. But midget minds and tiny spirits have
seized control and the only big sweeping idea being generated during
this budget discussion is the negative Republican proposal for a
monster tax cut for the wealthy. At a time when positive generosity is
possible, such a proposal maximizes great selfishness.''
I want to criticize my Democratic colleagues. They have no sweeping,
big proposals when that is what we need at this time. In the area of
education, we need a big, sweeping proposal. It is pretty clear that
education is the key to the future of this Nation. It is the key to our
building a cyber-civilization.
Mr. Speaker, I submit the introduction of the Congressional Black
Caucus budget consisting of an introductory statement and a statement
of a set of principles and assumptions for the Record.
The Congressional Black Caucus Budget: A Budget for Maximum Investment
and Opportunity
Carrying forward the great Democratic Party traditions of
Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal; Harry Truman's Marshall Plan
and Health Care Proposals; Lyndon Johnson's Great Society
that produced Medicaid and Medicare; as advocates for the
Democratic Party mainstream philosophy the Congressional
Black Caucus sets forth this Budget for Maximum Investment
and Opportunity.
As we prepare the year 2001 budget, we are blessed by the
long warm rays of the sun of a coming decade of surpluses.
Compassion and vision are no longer blocked by the spectre of
budget deficits. The conservative estimate is that there will
be a 1.9 trillion dollar non-social security surplus over the
next ten years. Using simple logic we should be able to
program about $200 billion dollars for year 2001 as this
window of opportunity opens.
Investment for the future must be our first priority.
Maximizing opportunities for individual citizens is
synonymous with maximizing the growth and expansion of the
U.S. superpower economy. It is the ``Age of Information''
stupid! It is the time of the computer and digitalization.
It's the era of thousands of high level vacancies because
there are not enough Information Technology workers. With
enlightened budget decisions we can at this moment begin the
shaping of the contours of a new Cyber-Civilization.
If we fail to seize this moment to make investments that
will allow our great nation to surge forward in the creation
of this new Cyber-Civilization then our children and
grandchildren will frown on us and lament the fact that we
failed not because we lacked fiscal resources, but our
failures, our very devastating blunder was due to a poverty
of vision.
We are the custodians of unprecedented wealth in a giant
economy. But midget minds and tiny spirits have seized
control and only the big sweeping idea being generated during
this budget discussion is the negative Republican proposal
for a monster tax cut for the wealthy. At a time when
positive generosity is possible such a proposal maximizes
great selfishness.
The preparation of this Budget for Maximum Investment and
Growth was guided by the set of principles and assumptions
set forth in the statement below:
1. We accept the general direction of the President's
Budget and the House Democratic Caucus. ``Families First'' is
a motto we wholeheartedly endorse; however, more resources
must be directed toward working families and the unique
problems of African American families.
2. We view the projection of a 1.9 trillion dollar surplus
over a ten year period as an overriding factor for the basic
decisions to be made for the FY 2001 Budget. Common sense
dictates that we approach this first year of the decade of
budget surpluses with proposals for the most advantageous
uses of one-tenth of the projected surplus.
3. Investment in the CBC designated priorities shall be our
number one concern. We support a moderate plan to pay the
national debt; however, the President's blueprint moves too
far and too fast with debt reduction at the expense of
investment.
4. The protection of Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare
are among the highest priorities of the CBC; however,
investments in the education and training of the present and
future workforce will provide greater guarantees for the
solvency of Social Security and the sound financing of health
care than any other policies or actions under consideration.
5. In budgeting for each function, the CBC accepts the
principles of a balanced budget, however, increases in CBC
priorities must not be inhibited by present budget caps and
conventional assumptions. We assume that there is waste in
several key areas which may be transferred to enhance better
investments for the future. We also assume that there are
excessive revenue expenditures to continue corporate welfare
which may be eliminated to increase funding for our
designated priorities. And finally, we assume that one-tenth
of the projected ten year surplus must be factored into the
development of this budget for maximum opportunity and
investment.
6. The CBC accepts the basic thrust of President Clinton's
proposal for the distribution of the surplus; however, the
CBC will insist that the emphasis in priorities must be
shifted. At least 10 percent of the surplus should be devoted
to investments in programs for education and a second 10
percent should be allotted for investments which benefit
working families and for safety net programs.
7. Tax cuts, which must be taken from the 80 percent of the
surplus which remains, are not a high priority of the CBC;
however, since the current political power equation dictates
the inevitability of a White House approved tax cut, the CBC
must insist that the tax cuts not exceed the percentage of
the surplus which is allocated for CBC priorities.
8. Within the priorities earmarked by the President's
budget, in each function, the CBC will strive to target some
portion of the proposed allocations to the special needs of
working families, the poor and the African American
Community. New market opportunities and minority contract
set-asides must apply across the board--and special units
should be funded to implement and facilitate the targeting of
CBC designated constituents.
9. Budget allocations for necessary programs that currently
do not exist are encouraged. The proponents must also later
develop legislation for authorization as part of the process
to sell the ideas and convince the President to place the
item on his priority list at the time of the end-game
negotiations. Proposals for new methods of proposal
solicitation, peer review, technical assistance, etc. are
also in order.
10. The currently stated CBC FY 2001 Priorities are:
Education, Housing, Health, Economic Development and Livable
Communities, Foreign Aid, Welfare and Low income Assistance
and Juvenile Justice and Law enforcement. Some additions or
subtractions from these categories are possible; however,
they will remain as the basic frame-work for CBC Budget and
appropriations demands for the entire session of the 106th
Congress. Members preparing budget functions should also
consider promoting tactics and strategies which support the
CBC's ongoing advocacy of these dollar allocation positions.
To focus specifically on the most important item, education,
everybody agrees that it is the number one priority. I wonder why
everybody agrees. Every elected official agrees because we all read the
same polls. We have been reading the polls for some time now. For the
last 5 years, education has ranked among the top five priorities of the
American people. Finally this year it has been the number one priority.
Above concerns about Social Security, above concerns about crime
reduction, the number one concern of the American public is education.
So every party, every elected official has
[[Page H1271]]
responded. Why is the response so feeble when the demand is so great?
There are 53 million children out there in our American public schools.
Yet the response is so feeble to their needs that we have up to now in
the last 5 years appropriated not a single penny for school
construction. Why is our response so feeble on a basic item like school
construction?
{time} 2230
Is there a need for school construction? Our own General Accounting
Office said 6 years ago that we needed $110 billion at that time, 6
years ago, in order to just maintain a physical infrastructure for the
students in school at that time, without projecting what was coming.
There have been tremendous increases in the number of school children
who are attending public school in the last 6 years, so the problem has
been compounded. But our feeble response has been on the Republican
side, the Republican majority, zero, zero for construction. There is
some kind of inbred instinctive reaction against the word
``construction.''
I hear many of my Republican colleagues say well, the Federal
Government is not responsible for education, should not be responsible
for school construction.
The Federal Government is not responsible for roads and highways and
sidewalks, but we have appropriated, we have approved, authorized $218
billion for roads and highways and mass transit over the next 6 years.
There is nothing in the Constitution that says we should deal with
highways and sidewalks and mass transit, but we are doing it. The
highway system was not projected in the Constitution but we did it, we
are doing it. Many other activities undertaken by the Federal
Government are not mandated in the Constitution. It is a need we feel
the Nation has and we rise to meet that need.
We have great concern with defense. In all the budgets other than the
Congressional Black Caucus budget there are proposals to increase the
amount of defense. The President started with a huge increase for
defense, and beyond that the Republicans want to add $17 billion more
for defense.
The Democratic Blue Dogs, conservatives, want to add money for
defense. What will it gain us if we spend billions of dollars to
perfect and to create more of these high-tech military systems if we do
not have the people who can run them?
The last great aircraft carrier that was launched in the United
States was 300 personnel short. They had places for 300 people more and
they could not find them because the high-tech systems on that aircraft
carrier required a certain level of intelligence that would allow one
to be trained in a certain way and a certain amount of exposure to
previous training related to computers and the digital world.
The world is going that way and we are rapidly pushing it that way.
We are in the leadership. Our military technology is in the leadership
above all. Who created the Internet? It was the American people who
financed the Internet through the Defense Department. Our military
created the Internet. There would be no Internet if it had not been for
the genius of the people in the military who saw the need for that kind
of system and began that system.
So how are we going to operate this 21st Century military fighting
machine unless we have more young people who have the appropriate
training and education? No matter where one goes, they are going to
find a need for more and better trained people. One cannot accomplish
that if they refuse to construct decent schools, renovate schools. It
is not just a matter of wiring the schools so that they can have
computers and maybe hook up to the Internet, taking advantage of the
fact that we have a thing called the e-rate which will give them a
discount on the use of the Internet. It is not just a matter of that.
It is a matter of they cannot even achieve in the basic areas of
reading, writing and arithmetic if they are in schools that are
unhealthy, unsafe and not conducive to learning.
In New York City we have 200 schools that still have furnaces that
burn coal. We subject children in New York City to the fumes of a coal-
burning school to pollution in the air. We also have an asthma epidemic
in New York City that goes on year after year. Is it surprising that we
can take a map and the asthma epidemic is at its greatest in the areas
where there are the coal-burning schools?
One coal burning school has 500 students, and 100 of those students
have serious respiratory illnesses and asthma, and half the teachers in
the school also have serious respiratory illnesses, those who chose to
stay. A lot of them left the school, which brings us to another
problem. We are focused on the fact that there is a great teacher
shortage looming. It is already in effect in New York City. One-third
of the teachers are not certified because they cannot get certified
teachers so they have to use uncertified teachers. So we have a problem
already. Many other big cities have the same problem but it is going to
get worse and the cities and the suburbs and everywhere will be without
teachers unless we do something to make up for this great coming
retirement of massive numbers of teachers.
There are all kinds of programs being proposed but the simple matter
of creating working conditions where those who are teachers will stay
in the profession and those who are not teachers will look at what is
going on and come in is a first step. One must have a decent place to
work. Why should a teacher, a young person, want to study and become a
teacher when he has other alternatives that are safer? Why go into a
school where they have a coal-burning furnace? Why go into a school
where the top floor has been abandoned because of the fact that it
leaks so and the walls are crumbling; no matter how they try to fix it,
it is just not going to work? They need a new school. Why go into a
school where there are 35 students in a classroom where classes are
being held in the hallways and closets and in some cases they have
converted the boys' and girls' rooms into classrooms? Why teach under
those conditions? Why work under those conditions? Why ask any young
person to have that kind of dedication in the United States of America,
the richest country that ever existed on the face of the earth?
We are able to provide. There is no reason why we cannot provide
decent school buildings. But school construction, as I said, meets a
zero when it comes to the Republican majority.
The President over the last few years has proposed a program which
was zero in appropriations but at least it was a program which proposed
that a setup be created whereby school boards and local education
agencies or State governments or local governments could borrow money
to build schools, up to $25 billion nationwide, and the Federal
Government would pay the interest on the bonds. That was the
President's proposal, to pay the interest on the bond of $25 billion
and the Federal Government, if that program went into effect, over a 5-
year period and all the $25 billion was spent, the Federal Government
would be contributing over a five-year period $3.7 billion to school
construction, to the problem of school infrastructure.
Now, the General Accounting Office has said in 1995 we need $110
billion just to keep our present schools going. We are proposing in the
Congressional Black Caucus budget that we spend $10 billion this year,
next year and for the whole 10 years in this decade. Ten billion
dollars would be $100 billion for school construction.
If we have a $1.9 trillion, let us round it off, about $2 trillion
expected in surpluses above and beyond the Social Security surplus, if
we have $2 trillion and that is a conservative estimate, then we are
proposing that only 5 percent of that be used for school construction.
Is that an unreasonable proposal in a nation where the people have
indicated again and again that they view education as a highest
priority? Is that an unreasonable proposal when some of the surveys and
polls have gone even further to ask people, among the priorities within
education, what do they think is most urgent?
One poll showed overwhelmingly people said fix the schools, we need
to fix up the schools. Fixing up the schools means in some cases
repairing existing schools that can be fixed. Fixing up the schools in
some cases means modernizing the school, dealing with asbestos problems
and being able to wire the school so they can have computers and
[[Page H1272]]
get on the Internet. Fixing some schools and some problems in areas
means they want new security measures taken and they need to have some
capital items taken care of in terms of security. In most cases, fixing
up schools means they need to build some new schools. Ten billion
dollars per year is proposed.
I have a bill which would authorize that by using provisions in the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act. We will be marking up the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the rest of it, next week, I am
told, in our committee. I am on the Committee on Education and the
Workforce and the chairman of the Committee on Education and the
Workforce is one of those people adamantly opposes spending a dollar
for school construction, but he is in favor of education being cited as
a number one priority.
The Republican candidate for President, Mr. Bush, is in favor of
education action by the Federal Government because he understands it is
a number one priority. He is going to have a great education program
but he has ridiculed the idea of spending money for school
construction. In fact, in a very strange dialogue, I heard him say on
television we should not spend money on school construction; bricks and
mortar are not important.
The Democratic candidate, Al Gore has said he is willing to mount a
program of $115 billion for education reform over the next 10 years. He
is moving in the right direction. How much of that will be committed to
school construction? That is my question.
I have here a hard hat that I carry around as a symbol of where we
need to go. We need to let the builders of America take over to end
this number one problem. One cannot solve any of the problems in
education until they deal with the problem of physical infrastructure.
We are winning, though, because the President moved beyond his proposal
for bonds and interest and he put $1.3 billion in the budget for
immediate repairs. We are winning.
I understand the Republicans have also agreed to the bond proposal.
We are winning. They need to hear from the American people that not
only is education a priority but number one in education is school
construction.
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