E102 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks January 15, 2009 

only to have those bills vetoed by President 

Bush. I hope that on the third consideration of 

this legislation to improve children’s health that 

this bill will be signed into law. 

The expansion of this program is even more 

important today as many workers are losing 

their health insurance and face great economic hardships during the recent recession. 

The Kaiser Family Foundation projects that 

the current unemployment level of 7 percent 

would increase Medicaid and SCHIP enrollment by 2.4 million people and an additional 

2.6 million people would become uninsured. 

The number of uninsured will rise higher 

should the unemployment rates climb even 

further. This legislation would reduce the size 

of this uninsured population by expanding 

SCHIP to include an additional 4 million children who currently have no health insurance. 

Sending a child to the emergency room is not 

an alternative to having comprehensive health 

insurance. Especially at a time when millions 

of families are facing economic hardships, we 

must ensure that children have the care they 

need. 

This bill would provide parity for mental 

health for children. I long have fought for mental health parity, and was pleased that last 

year we could improve mental health coverage 

for private insurance plans and Medicare. I am 

encouraged that we have now extended this 

to the SCHIP program. 

According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family 

Foundation, more than 45 million Americans 

lack health care coverage, including more than 

16 percent of New Jersey’s residents. Many of 

these Americans are children, the vast majority of whom come from working families. It is 

simply unconscionable that here in the United 

States of America millions of children are uninsured. The reauthorization and expansion of 

the SCHIP program presents an historic opportunity to put an end to the morally unacceptable fact that 8.6 million American children 

live every day without insurance. It is time for 

Congress to preserve and expand this program that has proven successful at insuring 

our nation’s most vulnerable children. 

The SCHIP program is strongly supported 

by our nation’s governors who have managed 

the State-run programs over the past decade 

and understand that SCHIP allows States to 

cover low-income children who lack health insurance in families of the working poor. This 

bill also would provide the tools needed and 

create incentives for States to reach the millions of children who are eligible but not currently enrolled in the SCHIP program. 

New Jersey uses its SCHIP funds to run a 

program called FamilyCare. Our State is a 

leader in extending FamilyCare eligibility. Currently, 150,000 children and approximately 

100,000 low income-parents are enrolled in 

New Jersey’s program. Without SCHIP, all of 

these residents of New Jersey would again be 

uninsured. 

This legislation would allow States like New 

Jersey to continue to set income eligibility for 

SCHIP. Because the cost of living is so high 

in New Jersey, it is important that our State 

has the flexibility needed to establish realistic 

eligibility guidelines. 

Additionally, this bill would allow New Jersey 

to continue to enroll parents along with their 

children. According to research by the Institute 

of Medicine of the National Academies of 

Sciences, one highly effective way of boosting 

coverage among low-income children is to 

broaden health insurance to their parents. 

Currently, New Jersey is one of 11 States to 

cover low-income parents. 

Because we are committed to balanced 

budgets and opposed to deficit spending, this 

bill pays for this historic commitment to our 

children with an appropriate increase in the 

Federal tobacco tax and by imposing restrictions on self-referral to physician-owned hospitals. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids, the 61 cent-per-pack increase 

in the cigarette tax that is included in this bill 

would result in substantially fewer youth smokers, as every 10 percent increase in the price 

of cigarettes would reduce youth smoking by 

approximately 7 percent. This would improve 

their health and result in longterm healthcare 

savings. 

There are 11 million reasons to vote for this 

bill, each one a child who will move out of the 

ranks of the uninsured with the health care 

provided in the Children’s Health Insurance 

Program Reauthorization Act. A measure of a 

nation’s greatness is how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. By making health insurance 

available for 11 million children, we live up to 

our moral obligation to keep children healthy 

and we make our society stronger. 

f 

BLACK JANUARY—JANUARY 19–20, 

1990 

HON. STEVE COHEN OF TENNESSEE

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, January 15, 2009 

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, few Americans have heard the term ‘‘Black January,’’ 

yet it is imbedded in the memory of all 

Azerbaijanis. Black January marks the evening 

of January 19, 1990, when at midnight 26,000 

Russian troops stormed the capital city of 

Baku with tanks. Armed with a state of emergency declared by the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet Presidium and signed by then President 

Mikhail Gorbachev, the incursion was intended 

to suppress a growing independence movement. The net result was the opposite. This incident inflamed Azerbaijani nationalism and 

contributed to the breakup of the Soviet Union. 

Leading up to Black January, the national 

independence movement had reached a remarkable momentum with hundreds of thousands demonstrating for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Emerging 

democratic groups were leading the political 

agenda and were projected to succeed in upcoming Parliament elections in March 1990. 

The Soviet Union sought to ‘‘restore order’’ by 

indiscriminately firing on peaceful demonstrators in Baku, including women and children. 

The protesters were calling for independence 

from the Soviet Union and the removal of 

Communist officials. More than 130 people 

died that night and in subsequent violence, 

611 were injured, 841 were arrested, and 5 

went missing. 

According to a report by Human Rights 

Watch entitled ‘‘Black January in Azerbaijan,’’ 

‘‘among the most heinous violations of human 

rights during the Baku incursion were the numerous attacks on medical personnel, ambulances and even hospitals.’’ The report concluded that ‘‘indeed the violence used by the 

Soviet Army on the night of January 19–20 

. . . constitutes an exercise in collective punishment . . . The punishment inflicted on 

Baku by Soviet soldiers may have been intended as a warning to nationalists, not only in 

Azerbaijan, but in other Republics of the Soviet Union.’’ 

In the days after the invasion, thousands of 

Azerbaijanis surrounded Communist Party 

headquarters demanding the resignation of the 

republic’s leadership. The Baku City Council 

demanded that Soviet troops be withdrawn. 

The Soviet legislature in Azerbaijan condemned the occupation as ‘‘unconstitutional’’ 

and threatened to call a referendum on secession unless Soviet troops were withdrawn 

within 48 hours. And, Azerbaijani oil tankers 

blocked Soviet naval vessels from reaching 

the Baku harbor. 

Soviet troops were eventually withdrawn 

from Baku, but political control was maintained 

for almost another 2 years until Azerbaijan’s 

parliament declared independence in October 

1991. The Republic of Azerbaijan has maintained its independence for more than 17 

years, despite lingering economic and social 

problems from the Soviet era and the military 

occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan by Armenia. Today, Azerbaijan has developed into 

a thriving country with double digit growth, in 

large part due to a freely elected president 

and parliament, free market reforms led by the 

energy sector, and, most importantly, no foreign troops on its soil. 

While January 20 has been inauguration 

day in the United States every 4 years since 

1937, in Azerbaijan it is the day on which Azerbaijani citizens stood up to Soviet equipment 

and martyrs gave up their lives for freedom 

from communism and dictatorship. Indeed, 

January 20, 1990, in Baku, Azerbaijan, the 

fate of the Soviet empire was sealed. 

f 

THE SAFE COMMISSION: LETTERS 

TO TREASURY SECRETARY 

PAULSON 

HON. FRANK R. WOLF OF VIRGINIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, January 15, 2009 

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I continue to 

be deeply concerned about America’s mounting deficit spending and Federal debt and 

have been working for the past several years 

to engage this administration in embracing a 

bipartisan plan to reverse course and get our 

country on a sound and sustainable financial 

path. 

I introduced the SAFE Commission concept 

for the first time during the 109th Congress on 

June 7, 2006. In the 110th Congress I teamed 

with JIM COOPER, and we introduced the bipartisan SAFE Commission legislation again. A 

similar Senate effort was led by Budget Chairman KENT CONRAD and ranking member JUDD

GREGG. 

Following the SAFE bill’s introduction, I 

reached out to Treasury Secretary Paulson 

about getting our fiscal house through more 

than a dozen letters from July 12, 2007, to 

April 10, 2008, updating the administration on 

progress that was being made with the bill. I 

submit for the RECORD a sample of that correspondence. 

I have been encouraged with the growing 

support for the SAFE proposal from leading 

newspaper editorials to think tanks to syndicated columnists to business organizations. I 


SMARTINEZ on PROD1PC64 with REMARKS
January 15, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E103 

remain deeply disappointed that this idea was 

not embraced by Secretary Paulson. I hope 

that the Obama administration will understand 

the urgency for bipartisan action to address 

this nation’s long-term budget challenges, especially as we deal with the current financial 

crisis, for the sake of our children and grandchildren. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

Washington, DC, July 12, 2007. 

Hon. HENRY PAULSON, 

Secretary, Department of the Treasury, 

Washington, DC. 

DEAR SECRETARY PAULSON: As you know, 

Senator VOINOVICH and I reintroduced the 

Securing America’s Future Economy (SAFE) 

Commission Act in January. I wanted to follow up with you and share the enclosed letter I wrote to the president asking that the 

administration embrace this idea. 

I think about our children and grandchildren and it is disheartening that critical 

issues are falling by the wayside because 

Congress today is so polarized. I believe that 

a bipartisan commission operating outside 

the halls of Congress that would mandate action is the answer to getting our fiscal house 

in order and diverting financial crisis in this 

country. 

The SAFE Commission bill has 32 cosponsors to date. I am committed to continue 

working with my colleagues to enact this 

legislation on a matter of such importance 

to our nation’s future. 

Best wishes. 

Sincerely, 

FRANK R. WOLF, 

Member of Congress. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

Washington, DC, August 3, 2007. 

Hon. HENRY PAULSON, 

Department of the Treasury, 

Washington, DC. 

DEAR SECRETARY PAULSON: I read your recent comments about reaching the statutory 

debt limit as early as October. I have always 

voted for the limit increase but am seriously 

considering voting against it this year because of the lack of leadership by the administration in taking steps to change the country’s current financial path. I truly believe 

that this administration has the ability to 

change our course. 

I am not writing to you today as a Republican or a Democrat, but as a father and 

grandfather. Lawmakers on both sides of the 

aisle understand the enormity of this issue 

and the impact that will be felt for generations to come. It’s disheartening that the 

partisan political divide in Congress is so 

consuming that issues with such high stakes 

continue to languish. 

That’s why I have introduced the Securing 

America’s Future Economy (SAFE) Commission Act, which would establish a bipartisan 

commission and put everything—entitlement, tax policy, and other federal spending—on the table for review. 

This administration can offer hope and 

start to remedy our fiscal prognosis, brightening the horizon for our children and their 

children. It is critical that they have all the 

opportunities the Greatest Generation made 

possible for you and me. Our grandchildren 

should set ambitious goals, and believe that 

hard work will be met by opportunity. 

We have a moral obligation to address the 

long-term fiscal challenges ahead. 

I know you are a good person and want 

what is best for America. With your leadership and vision, progress can be made. 

Best wishes. 

Sincerely, 

FRANK R. WOLF, 

Member of Congress. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

Washington, DC, October 22, 2007. 

Hon. HENRY PAULSON, 

Department of the Treasury, 

Washington, DC. 

DEAR SECRETARY PAULSON: Just wanted to 

update you on the SAFE Commission legislation since I reintroduced the bill with Jim 

Cooper three weeks ago. 

The measure has gained bipartisan support 

with over 40 cosponsors—split evenly between Democrats and Republicans from 

members of the Republican Study Committee to three of the four Blue Dog Coalition co-chairs I believe that support for this 

measure will continue to grow. 

You may have read that the first baby 

boomer signed up for promised Social Security benefits last week. Our nation’s ‘‘long 

term’’ deficit problem has arrived. 

We should he concerned that last Monday 

the U.S. dollar hit an all-time low in the 

wake of a major housing recession and enormous trade deficits. We should care that the 

value of the dollar has been dropping against 

the Canadian dollar, the Euro and the Japanese yen. 

What will it take for us to address these 

issues? 

The SAFE Commission fits into what this 

administration claims to stand for and will 

ensure sound financial footing for generations to come. I have enclosed information 

on the bill since its reintroduction including 

a list of current cosponsors. 

Please give serious consideration to the 

SAFE Commission Act. 

Best wishes. 

Sincerely, 

FRANK R. WOLF, 

Member of Congress. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

Washington, DC, October 25, 2007. 

Hon. HENRY PAULSON, 

Secretary, Department of the Treasury, 

Washington DC. 

DEAR SECRETARY PAULSON: As meritorious 

as the Administration’s argument is with regard to the $21 billion in discretionary spending it is relatively insignificant compared to 

the massive entitlement spending problem. 

It is like comparing a mouse to an elephant. 

Our SAFE Commission bill represents all 

that the Administration says it cares about, 

including more than 50 bipartisan cosponsors 

(see list). 

Failing to address this issue is like driving 

a car toward the edge of a cliff with no brake 

pedal. 

Best wishes. 

Sincerely, 

FRANK R. WOLF, 

Member of Congress. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

Washington, DC, November 1, 2007. 

Hon. HENRY PAULSON, 

Department of the Treasury, 

Washington DC. 

DEAR SECRETARY PAULSON: I am deeply 

troubled that this Administration is missing 

an opportunity to do something so powerful 

for our children and grandchildren. 

Best wishes. 

Sincerely, 

FRANK R. WOLF, 

Member of Congress. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

Washington, DC, November 14, 2007. 

Hon. HENRY PAULSON, 

Department of the Treasury, 

Washington, DC. 

DEAR SECRETARY PAULSON: As a follow up 

to our conversation last week about the 

SAFE Commission. I want you to know that 

Roy Blunt has also signed onto the bill. 

The Cooper-Wolf SAFE Commission has 

over 50 bipartisan cosponsors including Republican leadership in the House (see enclosed). 

We are waiting for the Administration to 

support this effort to rein in entitlement 

spending. 

Best wishes. 

Sincerely, 

FRANK R. WOLF, 

Member of Congress. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

Washington, DC, December 5, 2007. 

Hon. HENRY PAULSON, 

Department of the Treasury, 

Washington, DC. 

DEAR SECRETARY PAULSON: Enclosed is a 

letter I recently received from Ben Bernanke 

about our nation’s fiscal imbalance, reiterating. ‘‘. . . if early and meaningful action 

is not taken, the U.S. economy could be seriously weakened, with future generations 

bearing much of the cost.’’ 

Your administration deserves credit for its 

work in the past to address the entitlement 

reform issue. Our parents told us that if at 

first you don’t succeed, try, try again. I am 

asking that the SAFE Commission be that 

second try. 

Best wishes. 

Sincerely, 

FRANK R. WOLF, 

Member of Congress. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

Washington, DC, January 17, 2008. 

Hon. HENRY PAULSON, 

Department of the Treasury, 

Washington, DC. 

DEAR SECRETARY PAULSON: Between July 

19 and December 10, 2007, I wrote to you nine 

different times about the unsustainable financial path our country is on, and the bipartisan SAFE Commission as a potential 

way forward to rein in entitlement spending. 

I have respectfully asked for the administration’s support because of the critical importance of taking action now. 

I am disappointed that the administration 

is missing this opportunity to bring about a 

renaissance in America, giving hope to future generations and ensuring that our children and grandchildren can live in a world 

where hard work will be met by opportunity. 

Best wishes. 

Sincerely, 

FRANK R. WOLF, 

f 

Member of Congress. 

SGI PRESIDENT DAISAKU IKEDA 

HON. HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR. OF GEORGIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, January 15, 2009 

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Madam Speaker, 

Whereas, SGI President Dr. Daisaku Ikeda 

visited Chicago in 1960, witnessed the discriminatory mistreatment of an African-American boy in Lincoln Park, and made a vow in 

his heart, ‘‘I promise you that I will build a society truly worthy of your love and pride!’’; and 

Whereas, this year marks 49 years of Dr. 

Ikeda’s dedication to the peace and happiness 

of all humanity through peace, culture and 

education; and pledge to construct a peaceful 

world where individuals from all walks of life 

feel safe and secure while developing their 

fullest potential for the sake of their families 

and the greater good of society; and 

Whereas, on January 19th we honor and 

celebrate a noble and heroic life of Martin Luther King Jr., whose legacy was to secure not 


SMARTINEZ on PROD1PC64 with REMARKS