[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1509]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1415

SIERRA LEONE AND INTRODUCTION OF BILL DEALING WITH JOB LOSS INITIATIVE 
                             TASK FORCE ACT

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in Sierra Leone we have seen 
rebel offenses going after civilians day after day after day. Three 
thousand civilians dead have created a terrible, terrible tragedy in 
Sierra Leone and has created an acute need for medicine and health care 
and sanitation in this war-ravaged African nation. Rebels are attacking 
Sierra Leone's democratically-elected government. And so this week, Mr. 
Speaker, I will ask the State Department to do a thorough review of 
this tragedy and recommend solutions to this Congress that will protect 
these innocent people.
  Domestically, Mr. Speaker, let me turn to another subject very 
quickly and talk of the thousands of layoffs in this country. Although 
the economy is good, we have seen the energy industry losing thousands 
of jobs. We have seen the aviation industry losing thousands of jobs. 
This week, Mr. Speaker, I propose to file a bill entitled the Job Loss 
Initiative Task Force Act to help those around the Nation who have lost 
their jobs be prepared for the 21st century with a variety of specific 
programs that will assist them to secure training and then new jobs so 
that they, too, can be part of this good economy.

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