[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 22259-22263]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 22259]]

                 McKINNEY-VENTO HOMELESS ASSISTANCE ACT

  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on 
Banking and Financial Services be discharged from further consideration 
of the bill (H.R. 5417) to rename the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless 
Assistance Act as the ``McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act,'' and 
ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Iowa?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the bill, as follows:

                               H.R. 5417

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF MC KINNEY-VENTO HOMELESS ASSISTANCE 
                   ACT.

       Section 1 of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance 
     Act (42 U.S.C. 11301 note; Public Law 100-77) is amended by 
     striking subsection (a) and inserting the following new 
     subsection:
       ``(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the `McKinney-
     Vento Homeless Assistance Act'.''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       Any reference in any law, regulation, document, paper, or 
     other record of the United States to the Stewart B. McKinney 
     Homeless Assistance Act shall be deemed to be a reference to 
     the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach) is 
recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to yield 30 minutes 
to the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce) for the purpose of 
controlling the minority's time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Iowa?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, changing the title of a major piece of legislation may 
seem like a small step for Congress to take, but it has symbolic 
meaning to the congressional family.
  Changing the name Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Act to the McKinney-
Vento Act implies putting the names of two of our most esteemed 
colleagues together, two colleagues who have passed away, the one most 
recently. Like Mr. McKinney, Bruce Vento devoted his life to the 
problems of the disadvantaged. He symbolized much as a friend, he 
symbolized much as a colleague, he symbolized much as a constructive 
legislator.
  I think, though, it is important to note that this particular bill 
was suggested by our good friend the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
LaFalce). I certainly strongly supported him and am appreciative that 
our leadership concurred.
  Mr. Speaker, I think at this point I would like to turn to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce) to outline the causes and 
background of this bill and certainly to express my strongest support 
for his initiative.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaFALCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, first of all I want to thank the gentleman from Iowa. I 
remember the very first day that the gentleman from Iowa and I 
discovered that Bruce Vento had incurred cancer. And we talked and we 
said that Bruce Vento is a very, very special person and we ought to do 
something very special for him. This is the least we can do.
  I love Bruce Vento. I sat next to him for almost 24 years. There are 
so many things that I could say about him, but maybe more than anything 
else, Bruce Vento cared. He was a caring, loving human being. He cared 
about our poor. He cared about our underprivileged. He cared about 
equal justice. He cared about preserving the beauty of our natural 
resources. He cared about the rights of consumers. He cared about the 
future of our Nation's youth. And it is difficult to say what he cared 
about most. But very possibly he might have cared most about our 
homeless. And each of these issues, each of these causes has lost a 
great friend.
  Bruce Vento was a great leader, a tireless champion of the poor and 
the homeless; and he brought such tremendous compassion, intellect, 
vision, dedication, persistence, tenacity to the work of writing our 
Nation's laws. It has also been written that all of this to be genius 
must be accompanied by good sense. And Bruce Vento had good sense which 
made him a genius of both a person and a legislator.
  The bill before us today, cosponsored by each and every member of the 
Committee on Banking and Financial Services, both Democrat and 
Republican and countless other Members of this House, would rename the 
Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
Assistance Act. It is fitting to Congressman Bruce Vento's tireless 
commitment to the homeless. We will pass this today. I hope it will 
become law in this Congress.
  For 24 years, Bruce was a tireless champion and advocate on behalf of 
homeless people. And he wrote many if not every law that brings 
compassion and comfort to our homeless, to our poor and destitute.

                              {time}  1830

  Traces of his tireless commitment can be found on any forgotten 
street in urban America. His commitment can be found in a shelter where 
families go for a hot meal. His commitment can be found in a vacant 
building that has been converted into a place where the homeless can 
find a bed and a roof over their heads.
  There is so much more I would like to say, but so many others wish to 
speak on this bill and on Bruce's behalf, too. I just want to say one 
thing. He was blessed, too, with a great staff; and I came to know two 
of them in particular, Larry Romans and Kirsten Johnson-Obey, and so 
much of Bruce's legislative record was only possible because of their 
great ability and work, too. They represent the best of what 
congressional staff can be, and I know that Bruce looking down on us 
would feel it very important that we make that statement, too.
  I urge everyone to support this bill and honor Bruce.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the 
gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Roukema).
  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. 
Leach) for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise with a very heavy heart tonight. I worked a long 
time with Mr. Vento on the Committee on Banking and Financial Services. 
We traded back and forth. When the Democrats were in the majority, he 
was the chairman and I was the ranking; and alternately when the 
Republicans took charge, but we always tried best to work together for 
whatever was good for the American people.
  This is very little to-do today but much, much necessary to the 
visible recognition of Mr. Vento's tireless efforts here in this 
Congress and certainly in improving the lot of the Nation's homeless. 
So it is very appropriate, even if it is not enough, but it is very 
appropriate for us to name this the McKinney-Vento bill in recognition 
of his tireless work.
  I will not go into the full explanation. The gentleman from New York 
(Mr. LaFalce) has very nicely outlined the work that Mr. Vento has 
done, but let me give a few other personal observations. He certainly 
was a major force behind the 1987 law that established the emergency 
shelter grant program for traditional housing, as the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. LaFalce) has outlined; and, of course, his activities on 
the Committee on Resources are outstanding. I was privileged to work 
with him closely on the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, 
and I remember as a relatively

[[Page 22260]]

new member of the committee when he gave leadership with the Resolution 
Trust Corporation and the task force.
  As I remember it, it was a task force that oversaw the cleanup of the 
savings and loan debacle of the 1980s. I will say, it was a good 
example of how Mr. Vento always maintained his standards on behalf of 
the people; financial integrity and intellectual integrity and personal 
integrity, and it was a good example of that. But I guess there was 
never an action that we took on the Committee on Banking and Financial 
Services, whether it be on homelessness or whether it was on financial 
modernization or on savings and loan cleanup, his contributions always 
displayed that he was an advocate for the people to improve their 
lives. Knowing him as I did, I can say that he had a heart and a soul, 
and we recognize him today for that.
  I guess I also want to say that we did not agree on every issue. 
There were issues on which we agreed to disagree, but I will say it was 
a symbol of his stature of integrity and honesty and professionalism 
that we could always agree to disagree, but there was never any 
personal bickering or animosity; and there was always the respect of a 
gentleman and a scholar.
  We are going to miss him desperately. I know I am and others in this 
Congress are going to miss him desperately, but I have to say in 
addition to what we are doing tonight, I for one am speaking now only 
for myself, nevertheless recognize the health issues and concerns that 
are integral to his passing; and I believe that whatever else there is 
that needs to be done, and there is some unfinished business out there 
with respect to the asbestos questions with relationship to housing and 
other uses of asbestos in our communities, but I think we also have to 
recognize that there has to be renewed effort and research and expanded 
research, as much as we have done this year on cancer research. But we 
will have to redirect efforts next year, or rather expand efforts not 
redirect them, expand them next year, with the recognition of the loss 
of our beloved and honorable colleague, Bruce Vento.
  Mr. LaFALCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Kanjorski).
  Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I would like to join with our chairman of 
the Committee on Banking and Financial Services and ranking member in 
paying tribute to Bruce Vento. Bruce was the sort of fellow that was a 
real legislator, a quiet, gentle man.
  I came to the Congress a number of terms after Bruce, but I was 
always impressed with the fact that he would willingly offer his 
insights as to how the Congress operated and how we could best serve 
our constituents. Speaking of constituents, Bruce really had two: that 
excellent district he represented in Minnesota but also all the needy 
and homeless people of America. Their benefits over these last many 
years, although they probably have no awareness of the fact, are to a 
great deal due to his ever-present desire to see that the American 
government recognized that there are needs in this country that must be 
served, and he was their best ambassador and representative to serve 
those needs. I think it is most fitting that we tie Bruce Vento to the 
McKinney Act, because in a way Stew McKinney had some of the same 
characteristics of gentleness that Bruce had; an able legislator, not a 
partisan but a person that worked with real integrity. I suspect Bruce 
and Stew will be in conversation now; and we in the Congress, we in 
America, are poorer for their passing but inevitably as life makes its 
cycle we all come to pass.
  I am very pleased and honored to join the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. 
Leach) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce) in supporting this 
resolution, and I hope that we have the full support of the entire 
Congress.
  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the 
gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert).
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. 
Leach) for yielding and this opportunity to speak.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise as a cosponsor and strong supporter of H.R. 5417, 
legislation to rename the Stewart McKinney Homeless Assistance Act as 
the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. To borrow a line from our 
16th President, arguably our greatest President, Abraham Lincoln of 
Illinois, it is altogether fitting and proper that we honor our 
recently departed colleague, Representative Bruce Vento of Minnesota, 
in this way. After all, if it were not for Representative Vento and his 
determined efforts, the Stewart B. McKinney Assistance Act would never 
have been created.
  Bruce Vento was one of the earliest and strongest proponents of 
enacting a major Federal legislative response to homelessness. His 
tireless efforts were rewarded with the enactment in 1987 of the 
McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, but his dedication to homelessness 
did not stop there. Up until the very end of his life, Representative 
Vento remained a vocal and true champion of homeless assistance 
programs. The success of the McKinney Act in helping hundreds of 
thousands of Americans regain the stability in their life is testament 
to the foresight, hard work and character of the man who helped to 
shape this law. In celebration of this success and of the gentleman's 
distinguished congressional career, it is only fitting that the act on 
which Bruce Vento worked with such passion is renamed in his honor, and 
I am very honored to be on this bill.
  Mr. LAFALCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Maloney).
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that 
I join my colleagues in adding our colleague, Congressman Bruce 
Vento's, name to this important legislation. We all knew that some day 
Members of Congress would stand here in the well of the House to praise 
Bruce's many accomplishments. It is truly sad that this day has come so 
soon.
  In my years in Congress, I have enjoyed a close working relationship 
with Congressman Vento as colleagues on the Committee on Banking and 
Financial Services. The Committee on Banking and Financial Services 
deals with some of the most complex issues in all of Congress. Bruce 
put in the time and mastered the range of complex issues. As a teacher 
himself, prior to coming to Congress, he became a resource to all 
committee members, providing counsel on a host of complex issues from 
financial modernization to intricate housing programs.
  All along the way, Bruce served as a tireless advocate for all 
consumers. He truly stood up for the working people time and time 
again. He made it his focus to ensure that individual's rights are 
protected when they do business with the most powerful banks and 
financial companies in the world. His legacy on the committee and his 
impact on consumer banking law will live for decades to come. It is 
truly appropriate that we add his name to this legislation, the aim of 
which is to aid the homeless. Providing housing for the less fortunate 
was part of Congressman Vento's daily work. President Clinton said it 
best yesterday at a White House event saying, and I quote, ``that 
Congressman Vento was a great teacher, a great representative and a 
wonderful human being.''
  Let me convey to Congressman Vento's family, his friends, his 
dedicated long-time staff here in Washington and Minnesota, and to the 
people of Congressman Vento's fourth district my strongest and 
heartfelt condolences.
  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaFALCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Bentsen).
  Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Speaker, I want to rise in strong support of this 
bill, and I commend the chairman and the ranking member for their work 
on this. The people of Minnesota clearly have suffered a loss in the 
passing of Bruce Vento, but so have the American people; and also, I 
think all of his colleagues on the Committee on Banking and Financial 
Services and his colleagues on the Committee on Resources as well.
  I had the opportunity to serve with Bruce for the last 6 years, and I 
found

[[Page 22261]]

him as one who could be a mentor, who could be an ally, occasionally he 
was an adversary but he was always an honorable one in any role that he 
played.
  Having sat through numerous hearings with him, having traveled with 
him, it is hard to understand the level of institutional knowledge that 
has been lost in his passing.
  I dare say that Bruce Vento's fingerprints are probably on every 
major piece of financial legislation that has passed this Congress in 
the last quarter century and every major piece of environmental 
legislation, national parks legislation, that has come through this 
Congress.
  We, as American citizens, owe him a great debt of gratitude. Bruce 
was one who was willing and steadfast in his support of the American 
consumers, of the average working men and women of this country; of 
ensuring that their rights were protected; ensuring that our 
environment was protected, but Bruce was also one that at the end of 
the day felt it was his role, I believe, as a Member of this House to 
get something done.
  He was willing to reach across the aisle, to reach that bridge across 
issues that divided members on the committees and in the House, between 
this body and the other body, to get legislation passed that in the end 
would do good for the American people.

                              {time}  1845

  I just want to say that I think it is extremely fitting that his name 
be added with McKinney's name to the homeless act, and I commend the 
chairman and the ranking member for doing that.
  Mr. LaFALCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Davis).
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding time to me.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to echo the sentiments that have already been 
expressed by so many on this floor, but also so many throughout 
America.
  I first knew of Bruce Vento through one of his fellow Minnesotans who 
moved to the community where I live in Chicago, Al Arcello, who was 
actively involved in prevention programs.
  He said to me when I came, you ought to get to know Bruce Vento, and 
get to know him I did. I got to know him through his work, through 
observation of his sensitivity and his ability to reach out, especially 
to those who are sometimes called the least ones in our society, those 
who are untouchable, unreachable; the homeless, those that we do not 
always see.
  I serve on the board of directors of a homeless newspaper, 
Streetwise. I can tell the Members, from all of those who sell 
Streetwise, all of those who have benefited from assistance to the 
homeless, I say on their behalf, we thank Bruce Vento for reaching out 
and representing those who oftentimes are left behind and not 
represented.
  Mr. LaFALCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters).
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to 
me.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening in support of H.R. 5417, to rename 
the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act the McKinney-Vento 
Homeless Assistance Act.
  I am very proud to join with my colleagues in doing this and paying 
tribute to a very, very great human being, a great legislator, a great 
and important and respected Member of the United States Congress, now 
deceased.
  I am very proud that I have had the opportunity to serve on the 
Committee on Banking and Financial Services with Mr. Vento. I am very 
proud and pleased that I came to this Congress at a time when many of 
the great minds still held forth in this Congress.
  Mr. Vento was one of those Members who was an expert in the field of 
banking and housing and the wilderness. He exemplified the best in what 
a legislator could and should be all about.
  This that we do today is but a small tribute to him, because when we 
review the tremendous contributions that he has made to this country 
and to this Nation, one could understand why we would readily want to 
in some way show our appreciation for all that he has done for all of 
us.
  Mr. Speaker, it was said today when I had a discussion with one of my 
former staff members that he remembered Bruce Vento because he always 
concerned himself with these questions: How will this measure impact 
the environment, and how will this measure impact low- and moderate-
income communities?
  Mr. Speaker, this is very important to me and to members of my staff. 
We work for the least of these. We do our best to represent poor people 
and to represent working people, and to represent folks who do not 
oftentimes have any way of connecting to the great policy-making 
bodies, either at the local, State, or Federal level.
  So when we see legislators who do not have to necessarily spend all 
of their time trying to represent working people or poor people, we are 
extremely appreciative for that. Mr. Vento was such a legislator. The 
work that he has done, both for the wilderness and the homeless, is 
appreciated in so many ways.
  In 1994, the Wilderness Society honored Bruce Vento with its 
prestigious Ansel Adams conservation award. That is just, again, a 
small token for the work that he has done to ensure the continued 
viability of millions of acres of wilderness lands, forests, and 
precious national parks from Alaska to American Samoa to the Boundary 
Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota.
  With the preservation of these lands, the Earth itself has prospered 
from the passion of Bruce Vento. Again, the work that he did for the 
wilderness and the preservation of our precious national parks was 
matched by the work that he did defending the rights and humanity of 
the homeless. He saw his work for the homeless as a defense of human 
rights.
  I am hopeful that what we do here today not only inspires us, but 
many others yet to come who will some day serve in this body so that 
they can understand that they, too, can have an impact on the direction 
of this Nation and of this world; that they, too, can come here with a 
vision for what is good for this country, what is good for human 
beings, and work in ways that will help to better this society.
  I join my colleagues here today to say to our friend, our colleague, 
Mr. Vento, we are going to miss him. We are going to miss all that he 
has taught us and the ways that he led us, but we are going to remember 
him in this small way, by the renaming of this legislation. With the 
renaming of this legislation, the work that he has done will live on 
and will never be forgotten.
  Again, I am very appreciative for the opportunity to have served with 
Mr. Vento.
  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to just stress a couple of things about the 
life of Bruce Vento. He was a wonderfully committed legislator who 
combined compassion with practicality; who had populist concerns, but 
not a populist hate.
  The committee that I served with Bruce on, the Committee on Banking 
and Financial Services, has jurisdiction over banks and housing and 
over the economy, in some ways. It is interesting to me that in Bruce's 
work, he was not against any individuals or institutions.
  In fact, he was a liberal Democrat who rather liked banks, especially 
smaller banks, and especially community banks. He just understood that 
it was important, if you have a banking system, that that system serves 
all Americans. So his emphasis as someone in the banking community was 
never to be against anything, but to be for better ways for banks to 
serve. That is one reason that he developed such an interest in 
ensuring that competition was maintained and that investment was 
maintained in various aspects of our communities.
  Part of this relates to the American dream. All of us have various 
feelings about what the American dream is. One is that it includes a 
home. Well, issues of the homeless concern people that by definition 
have been deprived aspects of the American dream. We

[[Page 22262]]

have all come to understand to some degree, and none of us as deeply as 
we should, that homelessness is not simply an aspect of someone without 
a structure. It usually involves a whole group of societal problems. 
Some of them might be psychiatric, some might be elements that relate 
to addictions, and sometimes disease itself.
  Mr. Speaker, the problems of the homeless came to the attention of 
Congress rather late. In fact, it is astonishing how little attention 
public bodies paid to this problem. But because of Bruce, we started 
to.
  About 13 years ago, finally the law was enacted. When that law was 
enacted, and a number of people had roles in ensuring that it came 
about, Bruce led the way. Then, as it was about to be enacted, it was 
revealed that one of our Members, this one on the Republican side, who 
was a man of some substance but had an ailment, in this case an ailment 
sometimes identified with the homeless, he got pneumonia related to a 
social disease called AIDS.
  This Republican stood up for people that had problems sometimes 
analogous to his own, sometimes much more serious. Bruce Vento 
suggested that the bill be named for him; that is, it was Bruce Vento's 
idea and his argument that this initiative that came largely from the 
majority party, the then the majority party, the Democratic Party, 
would be named for a Republican, Stewart McKinney.
  I think nothing could be more appropriate, as we look at the life of 
Bruce Vento, a man who had a disease related to a different kind of 
social problem, one that relates to industrialization, asbestos, that 
he should have his name associated with the McKinney bill, which was 
actually from the beginning more a Vento bill. So this became the 
Vento-McKinney bill.
  I would also like to comment as someone who, from a more distant 
perspective, followed the career of Bruce in his advocacy of our 
national park system.
  Bruce basically picked up the cudgels of the Udall family and has 
become the greatest congressional champion of our national park system. 
Part of this which is interesting to me is not only the issue of parks 
and their role in society, but parks stand in the American dream not 
only with the notion of the West and the great body of forest and 
mountains that is our country, but they are basically second homes 
available to all Americans, whether those Americans actually earned 
them or not at a particular moment in time. They are refuges for 
everybody.
  In a way, the national park system that Bruce was such a champion of 
was a home circumstance. So Bruce Vento leaves as his mark on this body 
not only the notion of standing up for concerns for the homeless, but 
also for ensuring that all Americans have a second home at any point in 
time within our national parks.
  Finally, let me just conclude with a couple of observations of a very 
personal level. Bruce was a very committed individual with an 
absolutely infectious laugh. He also had a very sardonic wit, 
particularly to those he opposed. Sometimes my party was more the 
beneficiary of the second than the first.
  But interestingly, in this era in which we talk about nonpartisanship 
and bipartisanship, Bruce gave a very good name to the word 
``partisan.'' Bruce was a partisan Democrat, but he was always with 
decency and always with humor, always with a sense of perspective. This 
is one of the things so many of us loved very much about Bruce.

                              {time}  1900

  Finally, I would like to echo a comment that my good friend, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce), made about a staff member, 
because I think it symbolizes a great deal. The congressional family is 
a wide family and Larry Romans who worked with Bruce was as much an 
alter ego as anyone could be. On legislation, he certainly played a 
larger role than most Members of Congress. I think that is something 
that only Members of Congress truly understand.
  So our heart goes out to Bruce's family, his three kids, his wife, 
and also his staff.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaFALCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I think we have heard just a few of the sentiments that 
the Members of Congress have, feel, share about our beloved brother 
Bruce. The words of the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach) were especially 
eloquent. I thank the gentleman for making them so eloquently, and I 
know Bruce appreciates them.
  When I think of the accomplishments of the past two Congresses when I 
have had the pleasure of serving as either the de facto or de jure 
ranking member, none of them would have been possible without Bruce. 
When we think of credit union reform, I did not attend a meeting in my 
office without Bruce Vento by my side.
  When I think of the meetings that we had on what some have said is 
the preeminent legislative enactment to this Congress, the financial 
services modernization, the Graham-Leach-Bliley bill, it would not have 
happened without Bruce, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on 
Financial Services and Consumer Credit, because it required 
understanding and it required compromise and it required tenacity and 
goodwill, balance, perseverance; and it was essential that Bruce be 
there. It would not have happened if Bruce had opposed it.
  It would not have been shaped the way it was without Bruce helping to 
shape it; that is the business side of the job. That is extremely 
important, but there are so many other things that go into this 
Congress, the intangibles, when we get to know an individual. I 
probably knew Bruce as well as I knew anybody in this body.
  I have been on a few trips in my tenure in Congress. I never went on 
a trip when I did not ask Bruce to come with me. He came with me most 
of the time. One of the great values of the trips is not just learning 
about other countries and other people, but coming to know your 
colleagues, too; and we came to know each other so very well.
  We shared so many things together: shared values, shared meals, 
shared wine. We shared a common heritage not just as Americans, but as 
Italian-Americans, and Bruce was so proud of that heritage. He knew how 
to live and he knew how to die, and he lived right.
  He worked hard and he played hard. He worked by the rules. He played 
by the rules. He knew how to be ferocious. He knew how to laugh. 
Traveling with him was always a great pleasure because we knew he 
worked and worked hard, so we could be proud of the trip; but we knew 
that he would love it and make it an enjoyable trip the entire way, 
too.
  Bruce started out his career as a teacher and then he came to 
Congress, but throughout his entire congressional career, he taught us 
a great many things. For most of his 24 years, he taught us how to 
live, and for the last 6 months or so he taught us how to die. We honor 
ourselves when we honor Bruce by naming this homeless bill the 
McKinney-Vento homeless bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I insert the following article for the Record:

  Bruce Vento: Just Another Guy From the East Side Who Went on To Do 
                              Great Things

                         (By Garrison Keillor)

       There was a dinner in Washington, D.C., Tuesday night to 
     honor a guy from St. Paul's East Side.
       The president dropped by and dozens of U.S. 
     representatives, Republicans and Democrats. And at the end, 
     when the guy from the East Side stood up to say his piece, he 
     got a long, long standing ovation. You could have gone around 
     the room and stolen everyone's dessert, they were so busy 
     applauding him.
       Congressman Bruce Vento, a modest man and a hard worker, is 
     stepping down after 24 years representing the 4th 
     Congressional District, and I must admit I voted for him all 
     these years because I'm a yellow-dog Democrat and he's a 
     Democrat. So now I'm a little taken aback to see what a good 
     man he is who I unthinkingly supported all these years.
       This isn't how our civics teachers taught us to exercise 
     the franchise, but a person doesn't have oceans of time to 
     study up on candidates. I sure don't. I heard Mr. Vento speak 
     once years ago, speak very movingly about the problem of 
     homelessness and about the importance of wilderness, and that 
     was good enough for me. But if he had stood on

[[Page 22263]]

     his hind legs and barked, I still would have voted for him.
       Wilderness preservation and the plight of the homeless are 
     not issues that pay a big political bonus. You become a 
     wilderness advocate and you're going to be hung in effigy and 
     yelled at by large men in plaid shirts. Homeless people tend 
     not to turn out in numbers at the polls.
       But Mr. Vento applied himself to the issues he cared about, 
     did his homework, made the rounds of his colleagues, carried 
     the water, dug the ditches, fought the good fight, made the 
     compromises, and wrote the landmark legislation that became 
     law and that made a real difference in the world. And I'm not 
     sure how many of us in St. Paul are aware of this.
       There have been only three congressmen from St. Paul in my 
     memory, and that covers 50 years. Gene McCarthy, Joe Karth, 
     Bruce Vento--all DFLers, all good men and all of them got to 
     Congress on the strength of yellow-dog Democrats like me. 
     They got re-elected simply by doing their job, representing 
     working people, speaking the conscience of the Democratic 
     Party, and applying themselves to the nuts and bolts of 
     Congress.
       A political party serves a big function that TV or 
     newspapers can't. It pulls in idealistic young people, puts 
     them to work in the cause, trains them, seasons them, and 
     gives the talented and the diligent a chance to rise. If it 
     can produce a Bruce Vento, then a party has reason to exist, 
     and if it can't, then it doesn't. Simple as that. Then it 
     fades, as the DFL has.
       People say it's inevitable for political parties to fade, 
     part of the loss of the sense of community, blah blah blah, 
     that people are cynical about politics and more interested in 
     lifestyle and media and so forth, but we are poorer for the 
     loss of parties and the devaluation of endorsement.
       Bruce Vento never could've gotten elected in a media-driven 
     campaign, the sort in which high-priced consultants and media 
     buyers spend 15 million bucks to make the candidate into a 
     beautiful illusion.
       Mr. Vento is the wrong man for that kind of politics. His 
     eyebrows are too big; he isn't cool enough. He is a modest 
     and principled and hard-working guy, but you couldn't put 
     this over in a 30-second commercial. He managed to get to 
     Congress because there was a strong DFL party that endorsed 
     him, and so voters like me pulled the lever and gave Mr. 
     Vento the wherewithal to be a great congressman. Which he, 
     being a true East Sider, never told us he was. But which I 
     now think he was.
       Unknowingly, we did something great in sending him there. 
     And our partisan loyalty gave him the freedom to take on 
     thankless tasks, like protecting wilderness and dealing with 
     the homeless.
       I sat in the back at Mr. Vento's dinner and thought what a 
     shock it is when you realize that the country is in the hands 
     of people your own age. You go along for years thinking it's 
     being run by jowly old guys in baggy suits and then you see 
     that the jowly old guys are people you went to school with.
       Mr. Vento is about my age, and I feel for him. He is 
     fighting lung cancer and it has taken its toll on him. He 
     looks haggard but game.
       His three boys were at the dinner in Washington, and their 
     wives, and the event felt like a real valedictory. If Mr. 
     Vento had wanted to make us all cry into our pudding, it 
     wouldn't have taken much.
       But he was upbeat and talking about the future and about 
     national parks and the decoding of the human genome and 
     saying, ``All we need to do is take this new knowledge and 
     apply it to public policy,'' and thanking everybody and 
     grinning, and you had to admire him for his command of the 
     occasion.
       A man who is desperately ill and on his way out of public 
     life stages a dinner that raises money for a scholarship fund 
     for teachers. Bruce Vento is a man of great bravery and 
     devotion and foresight who represented us nobly in Congress, 
     whether we knew it or not.

  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, today, we say goodbye to a good friend and 
colleague, Bruce Vento.
  Bruce was a humanitarian in every sense of the word.
  He called environmental issues his one ``true passion'' and he 
pursued that passion in a way that lifted up all Americans.
  He was a strong leader in the Committee on Resources with a keen 
understanding of environmental issues.
  He worked to protect and strengthen America's national treasures--our 
urban parks, our public lands, and other public resources, and he 
fought for tropical rain forests and the Arctic National Wildlife 
Refuge.
  He believed in making our country not just a wealthy country but a 
beautiful country, marked by forests, rivers, mountains and streams 
that all American could visit and enjoy.
  Bruce was `'a hero'' who had ``done more for parks than anyone I 
know,'' one of his fans said of him.
  Bruce was also special because he cared so very deeply about all 
people and the sanctity of the places in which they lived.
  He earned a reputation as a strong advocate for the homeless, and it 
was well-deserved. He tried to lift people up through better housing 
and emergency shelter, a powerful reminder that this country should not 
leave behind anyone.
  Bruce spend the last decade working for the Hmong people who fought 
on the side of the United States in the war in Vietnam, and who were 
trying to become citizens of our country.
  He was also a tireless advocate for consumer protections as a senior 
member of the Banking and Financial Services Committee.
  A strong voice for his constituents, a beloved son of the state of 
Minnesota, Bruce represented that state's 4th district with dedication 
and commitment to his party and to the people he represented.
  Bruce and I entered Congress in the same year and my journey through 
this institution is bound with Bruce's journey. I am proud to say that 
I had a wonderful colleague, a good friend, and a man who will be 
sorely missed not just by me, but by a nation that prides itself on a 
commitment to democratic values, a safe environment and humane 
treatment for every American.
  We will miss you Bruce.
  Mr. LAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart as the House 
pays tribute to the distinguished work or our friend and colleague, 
Bruce Vento.
  It is appropriate that we recognize his lifelong work as a champion 
of the homeless by renaming the ``Stewart B. McKinney Act'' the 
``McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.'' In 1987, it was Bruce who 
led the efforts to enact a comprehensive homeless assistance program, 
named after his late colleague and friend, Stewart McKinney, then the 
Ranking Republican on the Housing Subcommittee.
  I am privileged to have worked closely with Bruce over the last 
several years, in particular, on homeless reform legislation designed 
to focus efforts on permanent housing and the hope of ending 
homelessness forever. As the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing 
and Community Opportunity, I have known no other that has been more 
sincerely dedicated to the problems associated with homelessness and 
families in need of affordable housing. He will be missed.
  Life is fleeting, for us all. But what we do while we are here can 
affect so many and have such a lasting impact. Bruce's tireless work 
has made and will continue to make a real difference in countless lives 
of those less fortunate.
  Mr. LaFALCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Tancredo). Without objection, the 
previous question is ordered.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the engrossment and third 
reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read 
a third time, passed, and the motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.

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