[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 21642-21647]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 21642]]

             DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the committee is 
discharged from the consideration of


H.R. 2944, and the Senate will proceed to its consideration. The clerk 
will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 2944) 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, 2002, and for other 
     purposes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate-reported 
language is adopted as the substitute.
  (The amendment (No. 2106) is printed in today's Record under 
``Amendments Submitted and Proposed.'')
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana is recognized.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, as has been agreed to, I am pleased to 
bring the District of Columbia appropriations bill to the floor with my 
colleague and partner, the Senator from Ohio, Mr. DeWine. We will speak 
this afternoon as we bring this bill to the floor and then entertain 
any amendments which should be limited on this bill.
  I say it is fine work the two of us have done with our committee 
members to try to reconcile some of the differences in this bill and to 
bring forward a bill we can support in a bipartisan fashion. I thank 
the Senator from Ohio for his great work and his diligence, 
particularly in some very important areas in this legislation that we 
lay out.
  Also, I recognize the staff who has been very helpful to us in 
preparing this important piece of legislation. They will be with us in 
the Chamber today.
  Mr. President, this total budget before us for the District of 
Columbia, our Nation's Capital, and one of the premier cities, if not 
the premier city in our Nation, is $7.1 billion. I think it is 
important to note for the purposes of what we are going to be 
discussing this afternoon that $5.3 billion of this money is raised 
through the local tax base, local levies, local ordinances governing 
tax collections and fees paid by the residents of the District and 
those tourists and citizens who visit the District.
  We also have within this budget $1.7 billion in Federal grants, which 
includes all of the Federal programs that all of our cities and States 
participate in so readily, not the least of which is Medicaid, which is 
a very familiar program to many.
  In addition, the area that we have concentrated our work on mostly is 
the $400 million included in this District of Columbia appropriations 
budget for criminal justice, prisons, and courts; under a recent 
statute the Federal Government has taken on the responsibility to 
hopefully do a better job--a system that was in some disarray with some 
unfortunate mismanagement, and to relieve the District of that 
financial responsibility, helping them to get back on good financial 
footing. So that is the general outline of the moneys in this bill. I 
will come back to them in some detail.
  In opening, let me say--and I know Senator DeWine shares the same 
hope with me--we can lead in a new way with this bill, in a new time, a 
momentous time for our country and for the Nation's Capital since the 
unwarranted and unexpected and tragic attacks of September 11. Some of 
the terms that have been used to describe the relationships between 
Congress and the District have been old ones such as ``partisanship'' 
and ``bickering,'' a battleground for competing ideologies that might 
have been better fought on a broader theater or on a broader 
battleground.
  Sometimes I think our District has been treated as a national guinea 
pig instead of the Nation's Capital. I hope, as we bring the bill to 
the floor this year, we can use new words to describe this 
partnership--instead of ``partisanship,'' ``partnership''--words such 
as ``trust'' and ``respect,'' respect for local decisionmaking, which I 
think is so important in this relationship with the District.
  Instead of a battleground, I hope we can find common ground to build 
on some of the principles and issues that are important not only to the 
District but to our country.
  I would like to think this bill represents a thrust toward economic 
vitality. The ranking member and I believe very strongly in job 
creation in the District, along with the Mayor and City Council, 
obviously, and we want to do what we can to make sure there is 
vitality.
  In addition, words such as accountability, transparency, excellence 
in management, excellence in the education system, and investments in 
strengthening the health care system of the District are issues about 
which our committee feels very strongly.
  I commend the work of the Mayor and the City Council, and so many 
others, particularly the Chief Financial Officer and others on the 
financial front who have helped to lead the District to a sound 
financial footing.
  It is important to note that this is the first budget we will be 
considering as a Congress in 5 years that is post-control board. The 
control board that was in effect and helped bring the District back to 
relatively strong financial health, even in a time of crisis and 
challenge, came to an end on September 30. This is the first budget to 
come forward without the control board being in place.
  As the control board has moved off the scene, what has moved front 
and center are the authorities and responsibilities of the Chief 
Financial Officer. So many of the charges to keep the District in good 
financial stead will now lie with the Chief Financial Officer, and it 
is my hope that throughout this year and the coming years we will be 
able to strengthen that office and the systems within the DC government 
to make sure it is clear who is accountable for what and that there is 
transparency and accountability, because without strong finances the 
District will never be able to reach all of its many worthy goals, some 
of which I have just outlined.
  I wanted to note that before I get into my prepared remarks.
  The second principle that is embedded in this mark that I present is 
the elimination of some of the time-worn restrictions on the ways the 
District can spend some of its local funding. In our States, we all 
have cities and jurisdictions that want to be and should be autonomous 
in terms of the ordinances they propose and on what they choose to 
spend their money.
  Too often, in my opinion, Congress has stepped in to try to 
micromanage, supersede, mandate, and attach too many strings to the way 
in which this city wanted to spend its own resources. Again, it is its 
own tax dollars spent by its own elected board. I have tried in 
appropriate ways to eliminate in this mark many of those riders or 
measures that were placed not because of the issues to which they 
pertain, but because of the principle.
  I want this mark to suggest that we are entering an era, hopefully, 
of mutual respect and partnership, trust and respect of local 
decisionmaking. I would expect that for the city of New Orleans, for 
the city of Baton Rouge, and for the city of Lafayette. Senator DeWine, 
I am sure, expects that for the city of Cleveland. We should have no 
less of a level of appreciation for the District of Columbia.
  The third principle of this bill is a significant investment in child 
welfare. This has been one of the mayor's top priorities. It has been, 
I believe, the citizens' top priority as, unfortunately, 200 children 
in the last 10 years have lost their lives at the hands of people who 
supposedly love them, supposedly were caring for them. They have been 
murdered, tortured, and abused because the system in DC is not strong 
enough. This bill represents an extremely significant investment in 
that respect.
  Counting what the city is putting up and what the Senator from Ohio 
and I have determined is an appropriate investment reaches almost $40 
million in new money to create and to strengthen the court system 
creating a new family court that will be complementary to this effort 
in hopes to correct this terrible situation and reverse this trend. I 
can state this is one of the best provisions in this bill.
  In addition, particularly due to 9-11, the $16 million for security 
investments for the District is to help the District establish better 
management

[[Page 21643]]

and security plans, and I will go into that in more detail.
  The other principles are investments in education, the environment, 
and children's health. Investments are an important part of any growth 
plan for a city or for a State. We can tighten budgets, we can have 
fiscal discipline, we can try to keep those budgets in balance, but the 
smart money goes to those cities that are making long-term strategic 
investments.
  We can never overinvest if we spend it wisely in education or the 
physical environment, such as bringing back the Anacostia River, the 
Navy Yard, which is an important developmental opportunity for the 
District, and in children's health, which Senator DeWine has led.
  To restate, the tragic events of September 11 have reminded us all of 
the safety, security, and financial strength of the District, our 
Nation's Capital, and how it serves as a vital symbol of our national 
resolve. This bill, as I said, serves the needs of the District's 
police, fire, public health, and emergency management services--the 
people who are on the front lines today, who were on the front lines on 
September 11, and who will be there when we have another attack. We 
hope we do not have another attack, but we are prepared for one and 
getting better prepared every day.
  Given the strategic importance of maintaining stability in the 
Nation's Capital, the Appropriations Committee decided to maintain the 
original funding for the IMF conference that was canceled. Instead of 
canceling the funding, we reoriented that funding to be used for these 
important security needs.
  In the days after the attack, local officials and the media began to 
detail some of the shortfalls in the present emergency protocol. 
Specifically, articles in the Washington Post highlighted the need for 
coordination and improvement. I thank Senator Mikulski and Senator 
Sarbanes for their input on this subject, as well as Delegate Norton, 
who is in the Chamber, along with the Mayor and others as we worked out 
a security plan that is robust, a security plan that has redundancy 
built into it, a security plan that will work for the residents of the 
District, for the thousands of people from the region who visit daily 
to work and enjoy the sites, and the millions of people who travel 
throughout the year to celebrate in the Nation's Capital.
  I expect Mayor Williams and his staff to give attention to this real 
and immediate concern. I thank them for the work they are doing, and I 
look forward to working with them diligently in the months ahead.
  Fiscal year 2002 will be an important year for the District. Overall, 
the District has moved from a negative accumulated fund balance of $518 
million in fiscal year 1996 to a positive fund balance of $464 million. 
That is almost a swing of $1 billion in 5 years. That took a lot of 
hard work and a lot of dedication. There was a lot of anguish and a lot 
of disagreement about how that should happen, but it did happen. The 
District is in a positive financial posture due to a lot of hard work, 
and we want to keep it that way with appropriate mechanisms, even with 
the Control Board moving out of its area of responsibility. The city 
met all the requirements under the 1005 Financial Responsibility and 
Management Assistance Act and is no longer under the general 
supervision of the Control Board.
  The Chief Financial Officer will begin to fulfill many of the 
financial management functions previously performed by the board. The 
termination of several significant receiverships, particularly in child 
welfare, indicates a stronger, more effective, local government.
  With each success, the District gains more independence. This bill 
maintains Congress' commitment to ensure that District officials have 
the tools they need to continue to serve DC and those who visit the 
capital.
  While this is often a challenging role for the Federal Government to 
make, it is an important one. It is imperative Congress work with the 
city so the foundation of resources are in place to ensure this 
independence will result in success. To accomplish this, the 
Appropriations Committee has worked diligently to forge a partnership 
for progress between Congress and DC local elected leaders. Determined 
to be a supportive partner of the city's agenda, we have done our best 
to construct a Federal budget that supplements but not supplants the 
city's efforts to fulfill its promise to enrich the lives of the 
citizens in the District.
  The bill before us is now evidence the committee shares the city's 
vision for quality education, a clean environment, improved child and 
family welfare, and continued financial strength. In each of these key 
areas, we have worked with local officials to determine the best course 
of action for all concerned.
  Over the past 10 years, the District of Columbia has struggled to 
review and reform its child welfare system. I am certain my colleague 
from Ohio will speak in more detail about this because he has been such 
an extraordinary leader in this particular area.
  First, under the guidance of a court-appointed receiver and now under 
the direction of a newly-appointed Child and Family Services Agency, 
this committee would be hard-pressed to find a greater priority than 
the well-being and safety of the children of the District. For this 
reason, as I said earlier, we have included a significant increase in 
the funding of a family court reform effort, the Child and Family 
Services Agency, and Court-Appointed Special Advocates, CASA.
  The ranking member and I believe strongly that investing more money 
without reforms, without accountability, without principles such as one 
family/one judge, without principles such as people should choose to do 
this job because they want to, not because they are forced to, that 
lawyers should take these cases because they want to, not because they 
are forced to, and the principles that volunteers in courtrooms looking 
out for the interests of the child will make a difference in that 
child's life and in that family's life, are crucial to the 
underpinnings of the reform.
  I will be pleased to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle 
and in both Houses of Congress toward that end.
  In addition, we have made note of the progress made by many DC public 
schools. In particular, the committee has included language and funding 
intended to serve as a catalyst for the ever-growing DC charter school 
movement. However, I am concerned about the current financial and 
management challenges of the schools and hope to work with the city on 
this front more specifically.
  Let me say as an aside, before I get into my conclusion about 
schools, we all represent hundreds and thousands of schools in our own 
particular States and each one of us in our own way has worked with our 
mayors and our superintendents and our Governors to help reform and 
uplift and to build a stronger school system. In my mind, never has it 
been more important than in the post-September 11 attacks to think 
about what our school systems mean to our democracy.
  Let me be as clear as I can possibly be on this subject. Pretty good 
is just not good enough. Schools that do all right is just not going to 
cut it or make it happen in the world that we face today. In these 
challenges, where it is important for us to understand our country 
well, to understand other countries well, other cultures and other 
religions, it is important for people to be well educated and well 
trained and well read and well versed on history and art and 
philosophy. It is important for our children to have the finest 
education.
  Why? So they can become the kind of citizens that not only can govern 
in this Nation but literally lead the world. The world looks to America 
for leadership. They do not look necessarily to the elected officials 
of our country for leadership, although we are the voice of the people, 
but as the people of the United States that must lead. People can lead 
better when they are well educated and well prepared, well read about 
the actual character and conditions of this world.

[[Page 21644]]

  I hope we really appreciate how important it is for not only the 
schools in the District of Columbia to work at a higher and more 
excellent level but how important it is for all of our schools. I am 
willing to take on some battles there because we have to think outside 
of the box, in a new way. We are going to do that in a bipartisan way, 
in an appropriate way, to help strengthen the schools for every child 
in this District, in our Nation's Capital, which is host to people from 
many places around the world, to provide a quality education, a 
wonderful education, not with just a pretty good teacher, not with a 
good teacher but with a great teacher, a well-motivated and well-
trained teacher, to give children the kind of education in partnership 
with their parents, to provide that education for the children to 
create better schools, a stronger community, a stronger Nation and 
citizens that can truly lead the world in the decades ahead.
  Finally, I am proud to say this bill includes funding to support 
education, public health, economic development projects. As the mayor 
and I have both said, a community with clean parks, beautiful waterways 
and safe streets is one in which people are proud to live. So if the 
schools are excellent, they serve as an economic catalyst for 
businesses that want to stay in the District and grow. When there are 
clean parks and places where children can play, when the waterways are 
clean enough to recreate and to swim in, and when the streets are safe, 
that is what makes a great community all the more great, and that is 
what our hope is for this District and for all of the cities that we 
represent in this great Nation.
  I want to say particularly how impressed I am with the work of Mayor 
Williams, who has worked tirelessly on this and many other fronts. This 
is home for the Federal Government and its employees. It seems only 
right that we should do our fair share to see the District remains the 
beautiful place it is.
  Amendments may be offered to this bill to restrict the District's 
ability to use its own locally collected tax revenues to operate 
specific programs hundreds of cities across this country operate. I 
hope those amendments will not be offered, but if they are, we will 
debate them with a limited time and move on so we can get this 
important bill passed and signed by the President.
  In many parts of the country, some of these issues are controversial. 
Throughout the entire country, the issue of the direction of local 
funds is something that is universally, I believe, supported.
  Let me conclude by thanking my ranking member and by saying I am 
proud to offer this mark, which puts the District in financial balance 
with a financial surplus, that outlines some of the strong principles 
of education, investments in health and in the environment which will 
make this city even stronger. With the emphasis on security and 
investments we have made, I think this mark will serve this city well 
for the next many years and in the decades to come.
  I yield back the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I thank Senator Landrieu for her comments 
but, more importantly, for the great work she has done over the last 
few months. It has been a great pleasure to work with the Senator from 
Louisiana. Her dedication to her job, her dedication to children in the 
District of Columbia, comes out every single day I meet with her and 
every time we talk about these issues. This bill is truly a reflection 
of that dedication.
  Senator Landrieu and I have really been partners in our efforts to 
ensure that the children who come into contact with the court system in 
the District of Columbia are placed in a safe and a stable environment.
  The bill before us today will go a long way toward ending the 
suffering of innocent children by providing resources to strengthen the 
District's family court system. Today, as Senator Landrieu has 
outlined, we are providing $140.2 million for the DC court system, an 
increase of approximately $35 million over last year's enacted level. 
The majority of these funds will be dedicated to improving the family 
courts so case workers can adequately address the individual needs of 
the children and the families who come into contact with the court 
system. These funds will help implement the reforms outlined in the 
family court bill that Senator Landrieu and I have introduced. These 
reforms will help the District hire, train, and equip additional staff 
and construct additional courtrooms.
  It is not a question of money. That is why we have, as Senator 
Landrieu outlined and talked about a moment ago, introduced the family 
court bill, a bill I hope we will have within a short period of time 
for debate and for passage.
  We are fulfilling today part of our commitment to the children of the 
District of Columbia. We need the reforms outlined in our DC family 
court bill, and we need the money contained in this bill to implement 
those reforms.
  The family court bill we will take up later has a fundamental 
principle. And, that is that we have judges who, every single day, 
spend 100 percent of their time worrying about the children in the 
District of Columbia. ``Family court'' means exactly what the title 
indicates: The judges deal with family problems. They deal with 
children every single day. We need these judges to do this full time--
we don't want them to be spending their time on felony trials or other 
civil cases. We need them to develop the expertise in family law. 
Teachers tell me it takes 4 or 5 years before an eager new teacher 
becomes a seasoned, experienced, and excellent teacher. The same is 
true with a judge. Our bill provides that longevity, that experience, 
that training, to focus on our children.
  Our family court bill also has the basic principle: One judge, one 
family--again, this is so the children are not moved from judge to 
judge to judge. There needs to be an institutional memory with that 
family. If that judge knows whom he is dealing with, knows what has 
happened in the past, that judge can better deal with that family. That 
is the family court bill. It is not before us today, but it will be 
before the Senate, we hope, in the next few weeks.
  I don't have to remind anyone in this Chamber or anyone who reads the 
newspaper about what a mess the District of Columbia child welfare 
system has been and still is today. There are a lot of good people 
working very hard to change that. I believe we have to do our part. The 
bill before the Senate is a downpayment--a downpayment--on that job and 
that obligation.
  Next, this bill contains $147.3 million for the court services and 
offender supervision agency, an increase of $34.7 million over last 
year's level. With these funds, the District will have the resources to 
provide drug treatment services to over 2,700 offenders in the District 
of Columbia criminal justice system, an increase in treatment slots of 
about 54 percent over last year. Initially, funds will be used to 
repair and renovate the District drug facilities. Some of the money 
will be used to hire additional drug treatment counselors.
  This increase, which meets the President's request, is particularly 
important because 80 percent of the individuals in the District of 
Columbia criminal justice system have a substance abuse problem. This 
is not unique to the District of Columbia. I saw it when I was a county 
prosecuting attorney. I saw it when I was lieutenant governor in Ohio. 
One of my responsibilities was to oversee the Ohio criminal justice 
system. Roughly that 80 percent of the people in Ohio prisons and our 
jails had substance abuse problems. That is true for the District of 
Columbia, as well.
  Spending money on treatment of people behind bars may not be the most 
popular thing to do, but it does make sense. It is cost effective. It 
is the right thing to do. The sad truth is we already pay to house, 
feed, and clothe the prisoners. Doesn't it make sense, while we have 
their attention, while they cannot leave, that we work to try to give 
them some drug treatment while they are in prison or jail? Almost every 
single prisoner will someday walk out the door and return to society. 
It makes good

[[Page 21645]]

sense to spend money for drug treatment. We do this and provide a 
significant increase in the funding of this bill.
  Third, the bill includes $16 million to provide security protection 
for those living and working in the District of Columbia. The September 
11 Pentagon tragedy and the tragedy in New York and Pennsylvania 
clearly demonstrated the need in every district in this country to have 
an integrated emergency management system in place. It certainly 
demonstrated that need in the District of Columbia. This funding will 
pay for a coordinated emergency plan for the District of Columbia in 
national security situations including, of course, terrorist threats, 
protests, natural disasters, or other unanticipated events.
  As a condition of receiving these funds, in this bill, we are 
requiring that the District develop and submit to Congress a 
comprehensive plan to improve security measures and procedures in the 
District of Columbia.
  Fourth, the bill includes funding for the local Federal Police Mobile 
Wireless Interoperability Project to provide equipment to facilitate 
direct communication to between the D.C. Metropolitan Police, the U.S. 
Secret Service, the U.S. Park Police, and the U.S. Capitol Police. We 
were pushing this prior to the September 11 attacks. The recent tragedy 
highlighted how important it is that the District's law enforcement 
teams are able to communicate effectively. It is important in every 
city in this country, but in this city we have a unique problem. Our 
unique problem is we have so many different agencies that have 
authority: The D.C. Metropolitan Police, the U.S. Secret Service, the 
U.S. Park Police, and the U.S. Capitol Police. This effort will 
coincide with the integrated emergency planning to help enhance the 
District's overall response to security threats.
  Briefly, I will mention three other important initiatives included in 
this bill. I am pleased the bill includes funds for the Green Door 
Mental Health Clinic to expand the facility. Our friend and colleague 
from New Mexico, Senator Domenici, has been a very strong advocate and 
supporter of this program. I thank him for his strong support and his 
dedication. The Green Door is a community program for people with 
severe and persistent mental illness. The Green Door program serves 
about 300 people. Of the people it serves, 70 percent are African 
American. Of those 300 people, about 75 percent are schizophrenic.
  In a separate, but equally important provision of the bill, we have 
included funds to assist the D.C. Safe Kids Coalition to expand their 
permanent child safety seat fitting station programs. These stations 
are vital to help reduce motor vehicle-related deaths and injuries--the 
leading cause of injury-related deaths among children age 14 and under. 
Funds will help the District distribute additional child safety seats 
to low-income families.
  The Safe Kids Coalition is a group I worked with in Ohio. I have seen 
their great work in Ohio. I have seen their great work in the District 
of Columbia. I have seen it across our country. They are literally 
saving lives every single day. They are doing things that matter. The 
small amount of money we have included in this bill, I believe, will 
help them save the lives of children in the District of Columbia.
  Finally, this bill provides funding to the Children's National 
Medical Center to help renovate its facilities, update its equipment, 
and provide private areas for families. Each year, the children's 
hospital in the District of Columbia provides care to approximately 
200,000 infants, toddlers, youngsters, teenagers, from every State in 
the Union. Kids from all over the country are treated here. Kids travel 
here, their families travel here. This children's hospital really has a 
national focus.
  The Center conducts Federal research for the National Institutes of 
Health and supports pediatric specialists who are nationally and world 
renowned. We are very fortunate to have the children's hospital here in 
the District of Columbia, the Children's National Medical Center. We do 
serve children, not just in the District, but throughout the world.
  Anyone who has a child has probably at one time or the other taken 
that child to a children's hospital. My wife, Fran, and I have had that 
experience on several occasions. Each time we go into that setting as 
very apprehensive, worried parents, I can tell you it is a great relief 
to deal with professionals who know what they are doing, who know 
children are not just miniature adults, that they are different and 
they have to be dealt with differently. That is something with which I 
think we need to help the District of Columbia and help private 
agencies that are helping the National Children's Medical Center to 
improve its facilities, to improve its research to better help with our 
children. So we have provided money in this bill to do that.
  Let me again thank my colleague, Senator Landrieu, for her great 
work. It has been a pleasure to work with her. As she has indicated, we 
do have maybe two or three amendments that we will, I think, dispose of 
tomorrow. I anticipate it will not take us very long to debate these 
issues. There were a couple of issues we just could not get resolved in 
the committee. They will be resolved within an hour or two tomorrow, 
and I hope we will then be able to move, by about mid-day, to final 
passage of this bill.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, we will be open for amendments under the 
time agreement in just a few moments. I thought I would add a couple of 
closing remarks. We may have amendments presented tonight. We are 
anticipating probably those amendments will be presented in the 
morning.
  I wanted, for the record, to also thank not only my distinguished 
colleague from Ohio and ranking member but also the other members of 
our committee for their fine work. I thank the Senator from Illinois, 
Mr. Dick Durbin, the Senator from Texas, Mrs. Hutchison, and the 
Senator from Rhode Island, Mr. Reed, for their work and dedication to 
helping us bring this bill to the floor, working on all these issues in 
great detail, conducting meetings, conducting phone conversations, 
conferences, meeting with House Members to resolve many of these issues 
and to work with the local officials in such a respectful, progressive, 
and forward-looking way.
  I also thank my colleague and counterpart in the House, Congressman 
Knollenberg from Michigan, for his fine work as a chair on the House 
side, and also the Congressman from Philadelphia, Mr. Fattah, for his 
work on these important issues.
  I want to mention a couple of important projects. Senator DeWine 
mentioned a few. I see some other Senators are coming to the floor--
Senator Sessions and others--but I would like to take a moment to 
mention a few other projects that are in this bill.
  One is an investment of a half-million dollars that I think will help 
us begin to build up for the city--and with the partnership of the 
Federal Government and with the city government and related agencies 
and, most important, with the families of the District--a partnership 
to help us build and develop, over time, hopefully some of the finest 
recreation sports fields and facilities in the Nation.
  As Senator DeWine said, as a parent of eight children--I am a parent 
of two and actually am a soccer mom on weekends here in the District, 
and in Louisiana to some extent also--I am visiting and spending a lot 
of time with soccer moms and soccer dads. I played a little baseball in 
my day. I know, growing up in New Orleans, how important sports and 
athletics are to the development of our family. I watched how important 
that was for many other families. I think here in the District there 
are some wonderful opportunities of which we are not fully taking 
advantage.
  I shared this with the mayor. He expressed not only his commitment 
but enthusiasm. The city council and its members and leaders in the 
city, expressed their enthusiasm for working with Congress in 
partnership to help create better opportunities for our children in 
every neighborhood and

[[Page 21646]]

every area of the city to participate in organized sports and to have 
opportunities for soccer fields, baseball diamonds, and basketball 
courts. In this particular bill we have a study to be conducted for 
possible locations--close, in this region--that could help us build the 
kind of facilities that are now available in jurisdictions just right 
outside of the District, in Maryland and Virginia.
  Bond issues have been passed. Great corporate partnerships have come 
together. So if you live in Maryland or live in Virginia, the chances 
are on the weekend you can get to a soccer field that is actually well 
maintained and well manicured and kids and parents can have so much fun 
and enjoy the beautiful scenery and great opportunity that sports bring 
to teach children lessons and bring families together.
  Unfortunately, we do not have those kinds of extensive facilities in 
the District. It is one of my goals to work with the many different 
organizations in the city, and the elected officials, to help build a 
foundation.
  In addition, I understand the District itself would like to host the 
Olympics in 2012, which is a wonderful goal. It is going to be quite a 
challenge. Building these sports facilities is not only great for 
improving the quality of life and helping give children and families 
the kind of experience we all hope for in the communities in which we 
grow up, but it is also a great economic opportunity for the District 
to position itself as a potential contender for the Olympics. So I am 
very keen and very passionate and committed to this particular area.
  In addition, I thank Senator DeWine for his work with Children's 
Hospital and for the investments he has made in creating the children 
and family court system. Let me take a minute on that particular 
subject.
  We hope every child in this country and the world will stay in the 
family to which they were born. I think it is what God intended. It is 
what we hope for and work for every day. But there are facts, 
tragedies, and circumstances where children cannot stay with their 
biological parents. There are some tragedies that have occurred in this 
District and in places around the Nation. We are hoping to build a 
bipartisan consensus in this country, and I might say in the world, on 
the simple notion that all children deserve a family to call their own. 
Children should not be raised in hospitals, left to grow up alone on 
the streets, to comfort themselves when they are sick, to put 
themselves in bed, and get themselves up in the morning at ages at 
which you could not believe they could be capable of doing that.
  It is incumbent upon our Government, working with the private sector 
and nonprofit organizations, to make sure every child has a family. We 
want them to stay with their biological families if at all possible; 
but if not, to not leave them alone or in a situation that is not 
permanent, and move them to adoption.
  So investing in a new court system, starting up a family court, is a 
great step toward that goal of helping children to be connected to at 
least one loving, responsible adult.
  I am proud to say that adoptions in the District are up, but we still 
have too many children in foster care.
  I can't give this speech nearly as well as the mayor himself, who 
came out of foster care at the age of 4. He was basically declared to 
be mentally unfit at that age. His emotional capacity was questioned. 
His adoptive mother, Ms. Williams, gave a beautiful testimony. She said 
she looked at this child and could see something very special in his 
eyes and decided to take him into her family. She raised him, and the 
rest is history. He went on to a fine university and is now mayor of 
this great city.
  I hope people can see hope in the mayor of this city, in him and his 
adoptive family, and what can happen when the system works well--to 
connect the child who needed a mother and father, a mother and father 
who wanted a child, and to see how this community and Nation will 
benefit when that system works.
  This bill is committed to laying a foundation to help this system 
work for the District and hopefully serve as a model for the Nation.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Yes, of course.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have been listening to the Senator's 
opening remarks, and especially to what she just stated, and her 
humility. She can speak with great authority about adoption. The 
Senator and her husband, Frank, have two beautiful children, Mary 
Shannon and Connor. I remember going to her office, and Mary Shannon 
was there on the floor, having recently come into her life and all of 
ours.
  I am sure that Mayor Williams can give a very dramatic speech. 
Senator Landrieu speaks from experience, and she speaks volumes. As 
chairman of the subcommittee, she is focusing on that which needed to 
be focused for a long time in the District of Columbia. I think that 
says a lot.
  I want everyone within the sound of her voice to understand that she 
speaks about something which is not read in a book. They adopted two 
beautiful children. They are very happy and very fortunate children.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I thank the Senator. I appreciate those 
remarks. Frank and I are blessed. As adoptive parents, we can't believe 
that we are so blessed to have an opportunity to take children into our 
home. People think you are doing them a great favor, but actually they 
do a great favor by just being the beautiful children that they are.
  As the Senator said, I am an advocate because I have seen the benefit 
of not only adoptive children but as an adoptive family. I have seen 
the benefits of birth families and birth mothers who have made such a 
selfless decision. Given all of the desires expressed, and the needs of 
the parties, the least our government can do is to invest some money 
and some time to put in structure and accountability so these matches 
can be made. Our whole society benefits.
  I am proud that this is in this bill.
  I hope this bill will be the beginning of new investments in the 
District public school system, particularly giving more choices for 
parents in the District for charter schools, for magnet schools, and 
for more public school choice, by helping to return ownership of the 
schools to the communities and to the parents, by breaking down some of 
the systematic barriers that fight against excellence and greatness, 
which keeps us thinking that mediocrity is what we strive for when that 
is not the case. We strive for excellence. We strive for greatness in 
our schools. We have to keep pushing forward, thinking in different 
ways and helping us stabilize the middle class as it grows in the 
District, both black and white and people of all races. We cannot 
stabilize the middle class without an excellent school system. I want 
to work with members of local government to help do that.
  I reserve the remainder of my time.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I rise to offer for the Record the Budget 
Committee's official scoring for S. 1543, the District of Columbia 
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2002.
  The Senate bill provides $408 million in discretionary budget 
authority, which will result in new outlays in 2002 of $368 million. 
When outlays from prior-year budget authority are taken into account, 
discretionary outlays for the Senate bill total $416 million in 2002. 
The Senate bill is at its section 302(b) allocation for both budget 
authority and outlays. The bill does not provide any emergency-
designated funding. In addition, the bill approves the District 
government's budget for 2002, including granting it the authority to 
spend $7.154 billion of local funds.
  The Congress is far behind in passing the 13 regular appropriations 
bills for 2002. Much of this delay is the result of the extraordinary 
events of this year. I am hopeful that the bipartisan agreement reached 
between the President and congressional appropriations on the 2002 
budget earlier this month will result in a quick completion of the 2002 
appropriations. It is particularly important that the Senate act 
expeditiously to pass this bill, which not only provides a limited 
amount of federal

[[Page 21647]]

funding to the District, but also, through the enactment of its budget, 
allows the city to obligate and spend its own local revenues.
  I ask unanimous consent that a table displaying the budget committee 
scoring of this bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

    S. 1543, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002, SPENDING
                    COMPARISONS--SENATE-REPORTED BILL
                        [In millions of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     General
                                     purpose     Mandatory      Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Senate-reported bill:
  Budget Authority...............          408            0          408
  Outlays........................          416            0          416
Senate 302(b) allocation:\1\
  Budget Authority...............          408            0          408
  Outlays........................          416            0          416
House-passed bill:
  Budget Authority...............          398            0          398
  Outlays........................          408            0          408
President's request:
  Budget Authority...............          342            0          342
  Outlays........................          362            0          362SENATE-REPORTED BILL COMPARED TO:
Senate 302(b) allocation:\1\
  Budget Authority...............            0            0            0
  Outlays........................            0            0            0
House-passed bill:
  Budget Authority...............           10            0           10
  Outlays........................            8            0            8
President's request:
  Budget Authority...............           66            0           66
  Outlays........................           54            0           54
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ For enforcement purposes, the budget committee compares the Senate-
  reported bill to the Senate 302(b) allocation.Notes.--Details may not add to totals due to rounding. Totals adjusted
  for consistency with scorekeeping conventions.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. SESSIONS. I thank the President. I express my appreciation for 
the good work of the Senator from Louisiana on the issues that she 
described. I appreciate her commitment to education and to the 
improvement of education.

                          ____________________