[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 55 (Tuesday, April 17, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H1898]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1920
                            WE CAN DO BETTER

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise because I truly believe 
we can do better. I join my colleague from Texas to speak and raise the 
question of: What was the GSA, the General Services Administration, 
thinking? There are a lot of good workers and we should not attribute 
to them bad acts, but it was such poor judgment--$800,000 to be spent 
recklessly on party hearty.
  But I also want to raise the question of the contracts that the GSA 
sends out. In the instance of the stimulus dollars, my Federal building 
has been rehabbed under the stimulus moneys to create jobs, and we 
can't get the contractor, Gilbane, to address the question of diversity 
in the workforce or diversity in contractors. What a terrible shame. 
There has been some hard work and some attention, but not the hard 
press that should come about when you seek fairness.
  Mr. Speaker, I also want to mention the fact that I'm supporting Mr. 
Courtney's bill, of Connecticut, because it is a shame to double, 
triple the interest rates on loans that college students need to 
provide for their education.
  Finally, I want to say that NASA has sent the Discovery to the 
Smithsonian. I want a shuttle in Houston, and we're never giving up 
until we get it. We are the historic home for the shuttle.

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