[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 132 (Wednesday, September 24, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11885-S11889]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to the consideration of H.R. 2765, which the clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 2765) making appropriations for the government 
     of the District of Columbia and other activities chargeable 
     in whole or in part against the revenues of said District for 
     the fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, and for other 
     purposes.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio is recognized.


                           Amendment No. 1783

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I have a substitute amendment at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Ohio [Mr. DeWine] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 1783.

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that further 
reading of the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The amendment is printed in the Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, as chairman of the District of Columbia 
Subcommittee, it is my pleasure to present to the Members of the Senate 
this morning a bill that has been approved by the Appropriations 
Committee.
  Let me first thank the Senator from Louisiana, Ms. Mary Landrieu, my 
colleague, for her excellent work on this bill. She has worked very 
hard with me. I thank her for her efforts in drafting this 
appropriations bill that is before us this morning.
  This bill provides $545 million in Federal funds for the District of 
Columbia, and it also includes the city's own local budget of $5.7 
billion. The funds in this bill focus on a number of key priorities for 
the District of Columbia. I wish to highlight four of those priorities.
  First is improving the lives and opportunities for children in foster 
care.
  Second is enhancing educational opportunities for inner-city 
students.
  Third is reducing and preventing crime in the District of Columbia.
  Fourth is increasing the security in our Nation's Capital.
  Mr. President, I wish to discuss the first priority at some length--
improving foster care in the District of Columbia. No one who is 
familiar with our Nation's Capital needs to be reminded about the sorry 
state of the foster care system in the District of Columbia. No one who 
reads the Washington Post, no one who lives in the District of 
Columbia, no one who listens to the radio needs to be reminded of this. 
The foster care system in the District of Columbia is a scandal; it is 
a crime; it is a tragedy. The fact that it exists in our Nation's 
Capital makes it even worse. We have an obligation as Members of the 
Senate and this Congress to do something about it.
  Senator Landrieu and I started well over a year ago to focus on the 
foster care system. We decided to have a series of hearings, where we 
would bring in experts from the District and from across the country to 
look at the foster care system in the District of Columbia. Our goal 
was to try to find out as much as we could about the foster care system 
in the District of Columbia, try to find out what was wrong with it, 
and try to find out what we could do as Members of the Senate, what the 
Federal Government could do to try to be of assistance.
  This bill represents the first attempt by the Federal Government to 
directly impact this foster care system in a very meaningful way. What 
we did was listen to the testimony, listen to the foster parents, 
listen to the experts, and take their suggestions. What you will find 
in this bill are the ideas that came from these parents, from the 
experts, from the people who see this system day after day. We have 
provided some money, which we believe will help with these ideas and 
begin to change this system. It is the right thing to do.
  As Members know, over the years, the District of Columbia has had an 
abysmal record in protecting the lives and well-being of the children 
in the District's care. Children in foster care have died, been abused, 
or they have languished for years in foster care, often bouncing from 
foster home to foster home without ever finding permanent placement 
with a loving family.
  The statistics are shocking. Children in foster care in the District 
spend an average of 5 years in foster care before they achieve a 
permanent placement. I will repeat that. The children in the District 
of Columbia spend an average of 5 years before they ever find a 
permanent home. Obviously, that means some children languish in foster 
care much longer than 5 years. That is wrong, and we must do something 
about it.

  During our subcommittee hearings, we found that the District of 
Columbia is unable to track its children in foster care. They cannot 
even keep track of them. We have this very sophisticated--supposedly--
computer system, yet inputs are not being made, the tracking is not 
taking place, and complete data is not even available in the child and 
family services computer system for over 70 percent of children in 
foster care today. How can we keep track of these poor kids and 
determine their well-being when much of their personal information is 
not ever entered into this automated computer system? This simply must 
change.
  While putting together this bill, Senator Landrieu and I learned a 
lot. We

[[Page S11886]]

learned that only about one-third of the children in foster care who 
need mental health services are actually receiving the services. 
Moreover, many children who come into care wait for weeks and weeks, or 
months and months, before they even receive that first mental health 
assessment.
  Let's understand that these are not just your average children. These 
are children who, many times, have been neglected, abandoned, 
physically or sexually abused, or they have witnessed, many times, 
terrifying domestic violence. These are obviously children who need 
some initial, at least, assessment in regard to their mental health 
problems. For them to wait months before an assessment is just wrong. 
It makes no sense. It is just asking for trouble.
  Clearly, we all understand that these kids, after experiencing trauma 
and abuse and neglect, are in desperate need of mental health services. 
We need to provide those services quickly to these children.
  Furthermore, during our committee hearings on foster care, Senator 
Landrieu and I learned that there is a severe shortage of social 
workers in the District. That should not have been a revelation to 
anybody. We know that from articles we have read in the newspapers. But 
it was brought home even more starkly in the hearings we held--the 
shortage of well-trained social workers in the District of 
Columbia. Many of these workers are carrying extremely high caseloads, 
making it very difficult for them to do their job. Also, many of these 
caseworkers simply are not being provided the tools they need to get 
their jobs done.

  We found there are several critical needs that, if addressed, could 
certainly go a long way in improving the lives of thousands of children 
in the District's foster care system, and it would expedite their 
placement in stable, loving homes. Therefore, this bill does contain 
$14 million in new money to address these needs.
  Let me explain what these new programs and ideas are.
  No. 1, we provide for intensive early intervention. This means when a 
child comes into care, the case will be treated as an emergency 
situation. Just as hospitals triage medical trauma, the District's 
child and family service agency triage the emotional trauma facing 
children who are brought into their care. The earlier a child is 
stabilized, the better his or her chances of avoiding long-term damage. 
If a child can remain with an appropriate or qualified family member, 
he or she will face much less emotional trauma.
  Some of the funds provided in this bill will allow the agency to 
staff such an early intervention program and will establish a flexible 
fund for the purchase of beds, clothing, and other items to ensure that 
a relative can bring a child into his or her home immediately without 
forcing the child to stay in a group home or foster home.
  Second, early mental health evaluations and timely mental health 
services for all children in foster care. What does this mean? The bill 
provides $3 million for the District's Department of Mental Health to 
ensure all children receive mental health assessments within 15 days of 
coming into foster care; further, that all mental health assessment 
reports are provided to the court within 5 days of assessment and that 
all children receive mental health services immediately after the court 
orders those services. This will help alleviate the current intolerable 
situation.
  According to the District of Columbia Family Court, in most child 
abuse and neglect cases where mental health services have been ordered, 
there are long delays in providing these services to the child or to 
the family. It can often take up to 6 to 8 weeks, or longer, to 
complete an evaluation and up to 60 days after the evaluation before 
the mental health services are actually provided, even in very serious 
and dangerous situations. Under this bill, that would change.
  The third provision of this bill will provide for the recruitment and 
retention of qualified social workers and will begin to deal with this 
problem. How do we do this? The bill will provide $3 million in new 
money for the repayment of student loans to encourage social workers to 
enter or to stay in the field. It will allow this money to be provided 
as an incentive to pay back student loans if the young social workers 
agree to continue to stay and work. It will take that burden away from 
that social worker.
  One of the problems, of course, is a person wants to be a social 
worker, they want to do good, they want to stay in the field, but 
because of this low rate of pay and they have this big burden, this big 
debt, they cannot stay in the field very long. They have to do 
something elsewhere where they can make more money to pay back the 
debt.
  This bill will help them ease that burden. It is no surprise that the 
higher the caseload per social worker, the lower the quality of service 
to each of the children.

  The District, like many cities, suffers from a high turnover of 
social workers. That is not good for the kids. In fact, the national 
current turnover rate has doubled since 1991. Clearly, the relatively 
low pay and difficult working conditions of social workers have 
resulted in a child welfare workforce crisis in the District. Without 
doubt, steps must be taken to encourage more social workers to enter 
the child welfare workforce and we must improve the salaries, we must 
improve the working conditions and the training of workers, and we want 
to retain more of the qualified and experienced social workers. The 
reality is, the longer a social worker is there, the more experience 
they get, and we want to retain the experienced social workers.
  The fourth provision of this new program is recruitment and retention 
of foster parents. The bill provides $1.1 million to recruit and retain 
foster parents. CFSA has experienced difficulties with recruiting and 
retaining an adequate number of appropriate foster care parents. One 
reason for this is lack of availability of respite care for foster 
parents. This is one of the items Senator Landrieu and I heard foster 
parents tell us--good people who were very much overburdened. One mom 
who came in was taking care of many children. She said: If we just had 
the opportunity for a few hours to have a break, this would be of great 
help.
  Foster parents do not have the same opportunities for respite as 
biological parents many times do. The funds in this bill would provide 
emergency respite, planned respite, and ongoing regularly scheduled 
respite care. This is critical to provide foster parents the rest they 
need to continue to stay on as foster parents.
  The fifth provision is to improve computer tracking of all children 
in foster care. I talked earlier about the situation of the computer 
system and how bad it is. The bill provides $3 million to move the 
agency's current client-server system to a Web-based architecture and 
to provide laptop computers to all CFSA social workers.
  The subcommittee heard testimony from the General Accounting Office 
that CFSA's database lacks many active foster care cases and the system 
is often down. In addition, social workers do not have access to the 
database via laptop computers when they are with children, foster 
families, or while waiting in court. This would be a great opportunity 
to better utilize the precious time of social workers so they can use 
that time sitting in court or, when they are out in the field, to put 
the data directly, immediately into that computer. This is to better 
utilize the precious time social workers have.
  Social workers now must return to the office late at night and enter 
the data of children in care. With laptop computers and Web-based 
access to information, social workers would then be able to enter key 
data from off-site locations. We want social workers to use that 
precious time hands on, dealing with kids, dealing with families. That 
is most important. Using technology better will enable them to spend 
more time with these families. We want them to spend time on case plans 
and working with the families. This will enable them to do that.
  I spoke at length about the foster care initiative in this bill 
because it is so very important. It breaks new ground. It does 
something about which Senator Landrieu and I feel very passionately. We 
feel passionately about it because we learned so much about it in the 
hearings we held. This subject deserves this Congress's time. It 
deserves our attention. It deserves our money.
  As chairman of this subcommittee, I and the ranking member, Senator

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Landrieu, have listened to far too many horror stories about children 
dying or being abused in the District's foster care system. As a 
Federal partner with this city, I believe it is imperative we provide 
funds and seek ways to protect the lives of these very precious 
children. It is our duty and it is our moral responsibility to do so.
  The second priority which this bill funds is enhancing educational 
opportunities for inner-city kids. This bill provides a total of $40 
million new money--I emphasize ``new money''--for three interrelated 
components: $13 million to promote excellence in traditional public 
schools in the District of Columbia; $13 million to expand choice 
through high-quality charter schools; and $13 million for opportunity 
scholarships for low-income students in failing schools to attend 
private schools; and $1 million for administrative fees. That is $40 
million in new money for the District of Columbia's children to help 
educate them.

  This is a balanced approach. It is balanced because, as I said, it is 
$13 million, $13 million, and $13 million. It is evenly divided. The 
charter schools, $13 million; public schools, $13 million; and $13 
million for the new scholarships.
  Let us make no mistake about it. This is new money. It is not taking 
it from the public schools. It is not taking it anywhere else from 
public education. This is money that Senator Gregg has worked long and 
hard to come up with, other Members have worked long and hard to come 
up with, to put together in a package that is balanced, that is 
reasonable, and that we will be talking about more on the Senate floor 
later.
  It is for the kids in the District of Columbia and it makes sense. 
This is a plus-up in funding. This is new money. It is for the kids in 
the District of Columbia.
  Turning to the bill itself, I will read directly from the language of 
the bill. We will be discussing this later. I think the bill says it 
very well on page 21, when we talk about these scholarships. It 
provides students and their families with the widest range of 
educational options, because that is really what we are talking about: 
public schools, charter schools, and, with this additional $13 million 
to scholarships, options for the parents, options for the students.
  I am pleased to report that this three-sector approach to improving 
DC schools is wholeheartedly supported by Mayor Anthony Williams. He 
has been out front in leading the charge for this plan. He was on 
Capitol Hill yesterday very eloquently describing why this is needed 
for the District of Columbia.
  The plan for the District has wide support, but the most important 
supporters for this program are the thousands of low-income parents of 
schoolchildren in this city whose children are languishing in failing 
schools. Under this bill, the priority for children to be able to get 
these scholarships is children who are in what are described as the 
failing schools. These parents want an opportunity to try a new 
approach. I believe they deserve that opportunity. Their hope is for a 
brighter future for their children.
  The third priority funded by this bill is reducing and preventing 
crime in the District of Columbia. The Federal Government entirely 
funds the DC courts and the Court Services and Supervision Agency. This 
bill provides a total of $377 million for these agencies, which is $18 
million more than the President's budget request. Most of these 
additional resources are to integrate the 18 different computer systems 
that track offender and litigation information.
  In addition, the bill provides additional resources to allow the 
Court Services and Supervision Agency to enhance its supervision of 
high-risk sex offenders, as well as offenders with mental health 
problems and offenders with a history of domestic violence. I submit 
that these are the most dangerous offenders. These are offenders who 
are the most likely to cause harm and damage to the citizens of the 
District of Columbia, and to the tourists and visitors who come here 
every single day.

  Senator Landrieu and I held a hearing. We heard from the people in 
the Government of the District of Columbia and the Federal officials 
who are charged by law with supervising these individuals who are out 
on parole and probation. What they told us was these are the most high-
risk offenders. They are out on the streets. Right or wrong, they are 
out on the streets. They told us these are the most dangerous 
individuals.
  I must say from my experience years ago as a county prosecutor that 
there is no doubt these are the most dangerous offenders. What we 
learned is that the ratio of the supervisors to these offenders today 
is only 42 to 1, many times. In other words, 42 offenders to 1 
supervisor. What our bill would do is to take that ratio down to 25 to 
1. It is the right thing to do, and we are going to do it with this 
bill. We are targeting those dangerous offenders. This is a boost to 
safety in the District of Columbia.
  Additional resources also will expand the Agency's use of GPS-based 
electronic monitoring equipment to ensure that offenders are not near 
locations such as schools or specific residences.
  The fourth priority in this bill is increasing security in the 
Nation's Capital. Since September 11, we all understand the importance 
of security in the District of Columbia. Therefore, the bill includes 
security funding, including resources to complete a Unified 
Communications Center which will be the center for coordinated 
multiagency responses in the event of regional and national 
emergencies.
  Funds also are included to continue to prepare the District's largest 
hospital, Washington Hospital Center, and its only dedicated children's 
hospital, Children's National Medical Center, for bioterrorist and 
chemical attacks. We began this process last year and further funding 
is in this year's budget.
  The bill also continues to provide funds to reimburse the District 
for increased police, fire, and emergency personnel costs associated 
with the presence of the Federal Government.
  Let me again thank Senator Landrieu, who is the ranking member of the 
subcommittee. It is always a pleasure to work with her. She has done a 
great job on this bill. She and I share the same concerns for the 
children and the residents who live in our Nation's Capital. We have 
worked very closely together on this bill. I believe we have put 
together a bill that is within budget. It is a bill that focuses on 
improving the well-being of the District's children and protecting the 
safety of all those who live and work here.
  So I thank Senator Landrieu, I thank the Chair, and I will at this 
point yield to Senator Landrieu.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I begin by thanking the chairman for the 
breadth and depth of those excellent opening remarks, which demonstrate 
beyond any doubt his commitment to the budget before us and to the 
plans that it supports.
  I also acknowledge our strong working relationship and commend him 
for his leadership on so many important issues for the District and 
also for the Nation at large. He has gone into great detail about the 
child welfare issues, which is one of the issues that he has led on not 
just in the District but in his home State and around the Nation.
  We have been working together now for almost 3 years, sharing the 
chairmanship, depending on the majority of this Senate. It has been a 
joy to work with someone who shares so many of the same goals and 
objectives.
  As Senator DeWine has outlined, our bill is small in size but it 
often carries a powerful punch, because it is a bill that supports a 
city but also a symbol. It is a city of 500,000 residents but it is a 
symbol in many ways of this great Nation and home to the Federal 
Government. Because of that, oftentimes on this bill--and we will 
experience that over the next couple of days--there will be some 
rigorous debates about issues surrounding this bill, which is 
understandable because this is a budget for a city but also a symbol.
  I hope, as we move through the debate on this bill, that we can 
provide more light than heat, and I hope colleagues from both sides of 
the aisle will come to the floor with that in mind.
  I want to begin my brief opening remarks saying that Senator DeWine 
and I in many instances share not only the same views about the 
District, but we also share the same priorities, which makes for a 
great working relationship and very smooth operations. One of the 
subjects he and I feel very strongly about is committing to the 
financial stability of the city. We both recognize

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the great work the Mayor, the City Council, and Congresswoman Eleanor 
Holmes Norton have contributed, as have other officials who have the 
hands-on responsibility for the financial support and operations of the 
city. I commend them for their work.
  This is particularly important because this city in just recent 
history was under the direction of a Control Board, established by this 
Congress because the city was in a huge deficit position. Mismanagement 
was rampant and that became necessary. Senator DeWine and I served at 
the time when that Control Board has been moving out, so it has been an 
imperative, and our first priority, that the safeguards and guidelines 
and parameters that keep this city moving in the direction of surplus 
and strength continue. I am proud to say that we have accomplished that 
goal in partnership with the city leaders, who get the most credit for 
keeping their city in a strong financial position. That is so, even 
with the very difficult times the city has faced, in terms of being a 
target, in some cases the No. 1 target, of terrorism in the whole 
Nation.
  Along those lines, one of my priorities, shared with the leadership 
as well as the other Members--Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Senator 
Dick Durbin from Illinois--we have put into this bill a $25 million 
infrastructure investment because we want to be a strong, reliable 
partner for the financial security of the city. That is on top of the 
$50 million that was put in last year, which helps one of the major 
infrastructure challenges of the city, which is to clean up the 
Anacostia River. We have to remember this region is a region of two 
rivers, not one. We hear a lot about the Potomac but not a lot about 
the Anacostia. Both are great and contribute a lot to the health and 
vitality of the region, and the cleaner these are, for esthetics, for 
health and recreation, is important.
  The city cannot do this on its own. It is a regional effort, and we 
are proud to step up, in the place of a State because there is no 
State, to serve in that role on the budget, to help them with these 
great infrastructure needs. I am thankful for the allocation of funds 
for that effort to the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and the 
ranking member, Senator Byrd, who has been strongly in favor of this 
particular undertaking, which will cost hundreds of millions of 
dollars, to be done over the course of the next couple of years.
  The next issue on infrastructure, briefly, is one on which we are 
making some progress. We have budget constraints and we do not have, as 
much as we would like, unlimited money. We have budget constraints 
because there is not much money, but wisely the chairman has allocated 
funds to infrastructure initiatives--parks, recreation, and some help 
with transportation. Again, transportation is not just a challenge for 
the District residents, but it is a real challenge for the region. We 
have at least begun to lay down a small mark for help with 
transportation. I will get back to why that is so important at the end 
of these brief remarks.

  Helping with the financial strength of the city, continuing to 
improve it, making sure the CFO is supported and his office is 
independent, streamline the management, and helping keep the city on a 
strong financial course is something I am proud of and is reflected in 
this bill.
  The second important focus--and these are not in terms of priorities 
because they are all sort of equal, but I wanted to reflect, maybe, 
perhaps this is one we would agree is the top priority--is security for 
the Nation's Capital. Again, our bill reflects an ongoing commitment 
for investments in bioterrorism and investments, last year 
particularly, in the bill for interoperability for police officers in 
the District and the Federal agencies, as the District remains the No. 
1 target in the Nation. That commitment is also found in this bill. It 
is an ongoing commitment I share with the chairman.
  Senator DeWine did a beautiful and thorough job describing the child 
welfare initiatives in this bill. I will not repeat what he said. I 
will only say thank you to the Washington Post, particularly, for 
continuing to bring to light the deficiencies in the child welfare 
system, to thank my own staff and all the Members who contribute, and 
to say the District of Columbia is not alone in its struggle with 
reforming its child welfare system and improving foster care and 
increasing adoptions and establishing a family court. All cities, all 
communities, and all States are struggling with those same challenges.
  Because budgets are tight, when budgets are cut, the first things, of 
course, that are cut, in many instances, are the services for children 
and courts and judicial systems that help to support excellent child 
welfare services in the Nation.
  We are trying to fight against those budget reductions, adding money 
to this bill, with accountability, with mandates for new management, 
and with a new system to try to increase reunifications where possible, 
so children are not separated endlessly from their families and to give 
those families support. If that is not possible--and in many instances, 
as the chairman knows, it is not possible--then to move those children 
quickly through a caring and loving system that enables those children 
to get safely into a new family who will raise and nurture and love 
them, and to minimize the time in foster care.
  That is not done by waving a magic wand or by rhetoric or by bumper 
stickers or by slogans. There is no substitute for that kind of work 
other than just tough slogging in terms of new policies and new 
investments. No one has done that better than this chairman. I thank 
him for that. This bill reflects a significant increase, in partnership 
with the District, working with them, to create a new court system, to 
create new opportunities in the child welfare system.
  The fourth area the chairman and I focused a lot of time on, and I 
think we are making some progress, although it will be the subject of 
much of the debate on this bill, is in the area of education. I want to 
say what is in the underlying bill is a significant improvement over 
the shortsighted and very problematic education initiative that was 
placed in the House bill on the District of Columbia. What the chairman 
has laid down is a significant improvement over that shortsighted and 
problematic initiative which was basically a vouchers-only, take-it-or-
leave-it approach by the House, which is going to be rejected pretty 
unanimously here in the Senate.
  In its stead, there is a three-sector improvement approach offered by 
this bill which, in my opinion, still needs some significant work. But, 
as I said, it is a major improvement over the take-it-or-leave-it, 
vouchers-or-nothing approach by the House. The three-sector approach, 
as the chairman has outlined, is an equal amount of money distributed 
to charter schools, to public schools, and then to private scholarships 
for low-income children who are struggling.
  Let me talk about charter schools for a minute and say something on 
the record. I will get back to this at a later time, when the debate 
gets underway.
  There is not a district in this country, not one, not in Ohio, not in 
Louisiana, not California, not New York, that has made a stronger and 
better effort for charter schools than the District of Columbia, and 
that needs to go on the record as this debate starts.
  There are more children per capita in charter schools in this 
District than any place in the Nation. With limited resources and with 
a relatively small jurisdiction, this community is making a superior 
effort in charter schools. Every one of them is excellent. We know they 
are trying new things that are important. They don't get enough credit 
for that. I want the Mayor and Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has been a 
strong supporter of charter schools and public choice, and Mr. Chavez, 
members of the DC Council, and members of the school board who have 
supported this charter school initiative to feel proud of what they 
have done. They do not get as much credit as they should. Those charter 
schools provide a real choice and real opportunities.
  I am proud that in the bill last year Senator DeWine and I helped 
fund, at the request of many of our colleagues, the first urban 
boarding school for low-income children in the Nation--the first low-
income boarding school for children in the Nation--so they can stay in 
school Monday through Friday and have an opportunity to go home on 
weekends, if they choose. Sometimes their home life is not conducive to 
academic excellence and achievement.

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With accountability and oversight, we created that school. I am proud 
to say those children are extremely happy. And some of them were able 
to go to Greece because of the generosity of the Greek Ambassador. 
Nothing could thrill me more than to see real progress being made in 
opening up new educational opportunities for children.
  The charter school movement is healthy and underway, and it doesn't 
need our criticism and it doesn't need our undermining; it needs our 
support.
  The other leg of that is the investment in public schools. The 
progress is slower but it is still substantial, as is true of all major 
cities struggling with this issue throughout the country. But any 
number of improvements have been made. Later on in the debate, that 
information will be spread on the Record. But those two legs of the 
investment are universally supported.
  There are additional investments. Leave No Child Behind does not meet 
the full requirements to which the District is entitled, but at least 
it is a $13 million increase to help the public school system meet the 
new accountability requirements and excellence that we seek in all of 
our schools when we are using public funds, and to help support charter 
schools.
  The piece on the scholarship program sector, as I said, needs 
improvement. But because it is a three-sector approach and not just 
vouchers and take it or leave it, it is far superior to the House 
provision. With some adjustment, it could potentially receive votes of 
some Members on the Democratic side and have universal support on the 
Republican side. We will get to that later in the day.
  Let me say in closing that the last 2 years have been unprecedented 
in the amount of discretionary Federal dollars that have gone to this 
city. Just this year alone, this budget reflects $124 million over the 
President's request for the District of Columbia. That is a substantial 
amount. That reflects the confidence that is being built in this 
Congress in the leadership of this city and the willingness to step out 
on issues that can help this city be the great city it was intended to 
be, and it is well on its way to being--across the board, whether it is 
in health care, transportation, public services, education, et cetera.
  Nobody deserves more credit as a group than the city leadership 
collectively. They have done a very good job working together in that 
regard.
  I close, however, with a challenge that Senator DeWine and I are 
faced with this year; that is, the landmark report that this city faces 
a structural deficit of $400 billion to $401 billion between their 
revenue capacity and their cost of providing services. This report was 
done by an objective agency. It was conducted by the GAO at the request 
of Congresswoman Norton and myself and others to really look at the 
structural deficit, if there were such a thing as a structural deficit, 
even though the city is in surplus, even though they are moving in the 
right direction by streamlining their operations. If you look at the 
path for the next year or two, there are dark clouds on the horizon. We 
want to basically know what the reason is for those dark clouds. Is it 
something that is under the control of the city or the Congress to fix?
  I will paraphrase the study and will submit it for the Record.
  While the city could continue to adjust and streamline its practices 
and make sure that fraud and abuse are taken out of the system, there 
is in fact a structural imbalance. Even if they did that perfectly--and 
no city does--they still would have a structural imbalance because 
their tax base is strained to almost a breaking point. That means their 
sales taxes are high, their property taxes are high, their fees are 
high. To continue to go back to the residents of the District and ask 
them to contribute more would be detrimental to the economic growth and 
vitality of this city.
  We have in this bill a marker--basically a $3 million Federal share 
to contribute to the infrastructure, which is a small but I think 
substantial marker that the chairman and I are willing to lay down to 
say we understand there is a structural deficit, that we don't have the 
money right now to fix it, and that we are not even sure how to fix it 
nor have the answer but recognize there is one. Hopefully, that will be 
the subject of future hearings to help the city of Washington be the 
best city and the symbol for the Nation.
  Finally, let me summarize. As the chairman said, this bill also 
includes $172 million for the operation of the DC courts, an $8 million 
increase over the President's request. We talked about that. There are 
certain things for which we are directly responsible. One of them is 
the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency. I am very proud 
that the chairman has gotten that ratio down from 40 to 1 to 25 to 1, 
which will help. I again commend the Washington Post for their 
excellent series that helped to call our attention to this glaring and 
terrible problem. It is a tragedy that exists in the District. More 
work needs to be done.
  But this bill and what it represents I think is a significant 
compliment to the city and its leadership. The considerable investment 
in the future for the residents of the District is something of which 
our people around the Nation can be proud.
  I urge our colleagues as we move into the afternoon and the debate 
regarding education that we attempt to fill this Chamber with light and 
heat because this issue, the children who depend on our deliberations, 
their families, and the taxpayers deserve no less.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DeWINE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Murkowski). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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