May 2, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E 921

persons with disabilities, and certain religious minorities who are victims of intentional job discrimination.

Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)—

Perhaps the most significant and dramatic

improvement in civil rights law in two decades. Provided civil rights protections in employment, transportation, communications,

and public accommodations for the 49 million Americans with disabilities.

Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988—

Provided for the first time an effective enforcement mechanism. Also prohibited discrimination against persons with disabilities

and discrimination against families with

children.

Japanese-American Redress Bill (1988)—

Apologized to Japanese-Americans interned

in prison camps in the United States during

World War II and authorized $20,000 to each

of those who are alive.

Civil Rights Restoration Act—Congress

overrode a presidential veto and overturned

the 1984 Supreme Court Grove City decision.

The Civil Rights Restoration Act restored

the broad coverage of the four major civil

rights laws that prohibit the federal funding

of discrimination against minorities, women,

persons with disabilities, and older Americans.

The final passage votes on all these laws

averaged 85% of both the House and the Senate. In recognition of that extraordinary bipartisan success, Senator Edward Kennedy

has called Ralph ‘‘the 101st Senator on Civil

Rights.’’

Ralph also managed the successful campaigns to preserve the Executive Order on

Affirmative Action in 1985–1986 and to defeat

the Supreme Court nomination of Robert

Bork. The Bork campaign was perhaps the

most forceful statement of the determination of the coalition that the civil rights

gains of three decades would not be rolled

back.

Other LCCR legislative priorities enacted

into law over the past fourteen years include

the Family & Medical Leave Act, the Motor

Voter Bill, the South African Sanctions Legislation, the Religious Freedom Restoration

Act, the Voting Rights Language Assistance

Act of 1982, the Elementary and Secondary

Education Act of 1994 (including Chapter One

reform), the Martin Luther King Holiday

Act, three disability measures which overturned Supreme Court decisions, the Age

Discrimination in Employment Claims Assistance Act, the Gender Equity in Education Act, the Voting Accessibility for Disabled and Senior Citizens Act, the 1989 Minimum Wage Increase, the Hate Crimes Statistics Act, and key provisions of the Economic

Equity Act.

Without question, the past decade and a

half has been, legislatively, a bipartisan reaffirmation of civil rights laws and a bipartisan repudiation of the right-wing legal philosophy. Indeed, the right wing did not enact

one major item on its regressive civil rights

agenda during that time. The LCCR victories

are even more remarkable when one considers that during this time two branches of

government were hostile to civil rights.

While the civil rights coalition and its congressional allies achieved considerable success, there was a serious downside to the

Reagan-Bush years. We had to refight the

civil rights battles that had been won during

the 1960’s and the 1970’s. While these battles

were won once again, Congress, the civil

rights community, and the Nation had to devote an inordinate amount of time, energy

and resources in waging these rearguard actions. Consequently, while the legal achievements of the past 30 years were preserved

and in a number of instances, strengthened,

the Nation by and large was unable to address the unfinished agenda of the civil

rights movement—the quest for social and

economic justice.

For years, Ralph and his LCCR colleagues

have been advocating that economic justice

must be the civil rights coalition’s top priority. Our legislative efforts should focus primarily in such issues as health care; affordable housing economic security, especially

for women and children; child care; Head

Start and other early educational opportunities; employment opportunity, including job

creation and job training; and economic

empowerment issues. Regrettably, just as

this economic opportunity agenda seemed to

be moving to the front of the legislative line,

once again we may have to devote our energies to resisting efforts to dismantle the legislative achievement of the past several decades.

While the battles will be hard fought, I remain confident that LCCR and its allies will

once again defeat the efforts of the right

wing, whether the issue be affirmative action

or the economic security net for millions of

Americans. Indeed, the same type of bipartisanship, creativity, and pragmatism that

characterized our efforts in the 1980’s and

early 1990’s will lead us to victory in the last

half of the 1990’s.

THE EXPLOSIVE INSTITUTIONAL GROWTH OF THE

LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

While the legislative successes are critically important, it is also important to point

out the institutional successes as well. the

fourteen years Ralph has spent managing

LCCR have been characterized by explosive

growth. The budget of the Leadership Conference has grown seven-fold since 1981. And

the Leadership Conference, always the nation’s largest coalition, has added more than

50 new national organizations, during this

time. Some of the new members are the

American Association of Retired Persons

(AARP), the Association of Junior Leagues,

the Disability Rights Education and Defense

Fund, the American Association of University Women, the Mexican American legal Defense and Education Fund, the Service Employees International Union, the Congress of

National Black Churches, the American

Nurses Association, the Puerto Rican Legal

Defense and Education Fund, Families USA,

the National PTA, People For The American

Way, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters

and Joiners of America, the Human Rights

Campaign Fund, Citizen Action, and the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium. There are now 180 national organizations, with memberships totaling more than

50 million Americans, who belong to the

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

Such institutional growth has meant also

the expansion of LCCR priorities. In addition

to minority, gender, religious, and age issues, the Leadership Conference has forged a

consensus on disability and gay and lesbian

civil rights issues. The exceptional growth of

the coalition, while generating new challenges, has made the Leadership Conference

stronger and even more effective.

Throughout the years, Ralph has masterfully maintained unity among the diverse

elements of the LCCR coalition. And through

his work in LCCR, on Capitol Hill, with the

Executive Branch, and with the business

community, Ralph has earned respect for his

ability to build bridges between disparate

communities of interest and across the spectrum of political ideologies.

Ralph has also managed the Leadership

Conference Education Fund (LCEF), an independent organization that supports educational activities relevant to civil rights.

Along with Karen McGill Arrington, LCEF’s

Deputy Director, he has supervised projects

such as an award winning public service advertising campaign promoting tolerance and

diversity; a children’s anti-discrimination

campaign; and the publication of books and

reports on emerging civil rights issues.

RALPH’S NEW CAREER

To say the least, things have not slowed

down during Ralph’s final months as LCCR’s

Executive Director. He was a key strategist

in the successful effort to defeat the Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment.

Presently, he is coordinating the campaign

to save affirmative action. In addition,

Ralph is lecturing one day per week on the

legislative process at the University of Chicago Law School.

In May, Ralph will embark on a new phase

of his professional life. He will join the

Washington law firm of Fox, Bennett, and

Turner, where he will be Of Counsel. At the

law firm, he will set up an affiliate, The Neas

Group, which will provide strategic counseling to business and non-profit institutions.

In addition, Ralph will be a Visiting Professor on a part-time basis at the Georgetown

University Law Center where he will teach

courses on the legislative process.

Among the boards on which he will continue to serve are the Guillain-Barre Syndrome Foundation International, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund,

and the Children’s Charities Foundation.

On behalf of everyone in the Leadership

Conference, I want to express our deepest

gratitude to Ralph and wish him well in all

his new endeavors. We will miss the personal

qualities that made Ralph so effective in his

job—his cheerfulness and optimism even

when facing great challenges, his patience in

working with people to resolve differences

within the coalition, and the respect he accorded to everyone’s point of view. But we

know that there will be many opportunities

to work with him as we confront the challenges ahead of us. There is no question in

my mind that Ralph will continue to be one

of the drum majors for justice.

TRIBUTE TO STEVEN F.

WINDMUELLER, PH.D.

f

HON. ANTHONY C. BEILENSON OF CALIFORNIA

HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN OF CALIFORNIA

HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN OF CALIFORNIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, May 2, 1995

Mr. BEILENSON. Mr. Speaker, we are honored to pay tribute to our dear friend, Steven

Windmueller, who is retiring after a decade of

distinguished service to the Jewish Community

Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation

Council of Los Angeles.

Steven’s career reflects a lifelong commitment to the enhancement of Jewish education

and community relations. Since 1969, he has

actively initiated, supervised, and directed a

host of programs to further these goals. In recognition of this dedication, Steven was recently honored by the Jewish Communal Professionals Association of Southern California,

as well as by Operation Unity, a project dedicated to improving intergroup relations in Los

Angeles.

In addition to his full-time employment with

JCRC and his service to a host of community

service endeavors, Steven utilizes his doctorate in international relations as an adjunct faculty member for the Hebrew Union College’s
E 922 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks May 2, 1995

Irwin Daniel School of Jewish Communal

Service. He also serves as a guest lecturer for

the University of Judaism’s Department of

Continuing Education. Widely published in

both professional journals and the press, Steven has authored over 20 articles on community relations issues and Jewish public policy

concerns. In addition, he appears frequently

as a speaker and consultant for local and national media, as well as for community and

civic groups.

Mr. Speaker, in honor of his deep devotion,

and in recognition of his lifelong achievements, we ask our colleagues to join us today

in saluting Steven Windmueller. He is truly a

credit to the field of Jewish education and

community relations, and he has our sincerest

admiration and congratulations.

IN HONOR OF JULIA ROBINSON,

MS, FNP, RN 1995 KERN COUNTY

fREGISTERED NURSE OF THE

YEAR

HON. WILLIAM M. THOMAS

OF CALIFORNIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, May 2, 1995

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to

praise Ms. Julia Robinson, who on May 4 will

be honored by her peers as the 1995 Kern

County Registered Nurse of the Year.

In the person of Julia Robinson we do not

have to look far to find an every day hero and

role model for our children. While it may not

be obvious when you look at Ms. Robinson’s

profession, a nurse, to see why she is a role

model. There are many nurses. Nor is it obvious by her career, teaching. There are many

teachers. To understand why Ms. Robinson is

an every day hero and a role model, you must

look at the totality of her work.

Ms. Robinson has risen to do good things

throughout her career. She is both teacher

and student—a teacher of nurses to be as an

Associate Professor of Nursing at California

State University, Bakersfield for over 10 years

and as a doctoral student at the University of

San Diego.

As an associate professor Ms. Robinson is

the team leader and coordinator of the medical/surgical course of the nurses junior year

and teaches course in advanced health assessment for graduate students. And for her

efforts, her students honored Ms. Robinson in

1993 during the pinning ceremony. Julia Robinson also does not back away from great

challenges and has recently taken on what

some in the teaching world would consider the

unenviable task of preparing the department

for the reaccreditation process slated to begin

in the fall of 1995.

Ms. Robinson has remained active in the

day-to-day world of nursing by acting as a volunteer nurse practitioner for the Salvation

Army and as a volunteer in the Student Health

Center at the university. The list of Julia’s accomplishments, degrees and honors stretches

over years and I expect that given her past

record of achievement and commitment to her

profession they will continue long into the future. We offer congratulations to Julia Robinson on this honor that is very well deserved.

STATEMENT OF LIHEAP

HON. JACK QUINN OF NEW YORK

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, May 2, 1995

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, as I was delayed

in travel from Buffalo to Washington, I missed

a chance to vote today in favor of a motion to

instruct conferees on H.R. 1158, Fiscal Year

1995 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations

and Rescissions.

This motion would have instructed our colleagues who are discussing House and Senate differences to among other things—but

most importantly to me—would have accepted

the Senate restoration of $1.3 billion to the

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP.

Mr. Speaker, I have come before this body

on several occasions to point out the seriousness of the elimination of funding for this program.

To those who live in areas like Buffalo, NY,

it can be a matter of life or death. LIHEAP

provides fuel assistance to disabled, working

poor, and low-income senior citizens who can’t

meet their own total energy needs.

LIHEAP recipients have an average income

of $8,257 per year; without some assistance

their heat could be cut off. For these people,

LIHEAP is a vital program which is certainly

not pork or luxurious Federal spending.

Mr. Speaker, I would have risen in support

for the motion to instruct conferees. I appreciate this opportunity to clearly state my position.

DEMOCRATS STILL OFFER

AMERICA THE BEST DEAL

fHON. MAJOR R. OWENS OF NEW YORK

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, May 2, 1995

Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, Members of this

House certainly have the right to change their

parties. But when such soul changing operations occur in ways that humiliate fellow

Members, the swindled parties have a right to

express their bitterness. Some Democrats can

still hear the riotous mocking laughter in the

Republican cloakroom as a former Democrat

from Georgia announced that he was now

ready to expose himself as a Republican. The

problem for some of us is that this crossing of

the bridge into the enemy camps was staged

to achieve maximum humiliation for Democrats. The turncoat chose to first play the role

of Pied Piper playing the tune of welfare reform compromise to gullible, juvenile Democrats. He led the children of the Donkey

through their own manure of illusions. He even

had some political babies believing that his

decoy legislation might pass.

The lesson of this latest fiasco should be

perfectly clear: Democrats should stop wasting

their energies laboring to construct compromises with the Republicans: Instead,

Democrats must jettison their sluggishness

and take a bold new set of alternatives to the

masses of the caring majority that refused to

vote in the last election. We must denounce

the deals and loudly state exactly what Democrats intend to do for this Nation. Democrats

must work to create jobs not only for welfare

recipients but also stimulate job development

for the unemployed and the underemployed.

Democrats must fight for reform that eliminates taxes on personal wages of less than

$50,000. Democrats must sponsor all necessary increases in the education and job

training budget while we decrease wasteful

spending on the CIA, Seawolf submarines and

F22’s for Defense. Democrats must insist that

prosperous Germany and rich Japan pay the

full cost for overseas bases. Democrats must

do whatever is necessary to rebuild the Nation’s physical infrastructure and provide greater economic security for citizens at all income

levels. Instead of stepping in the manure of

Trojan horse deals; instead of being confused

by covenants and ad hoc compromises;

Democrats should acknowledge and celebrate

the solid rock foundations of Roosevelt’s New

Deal. On these foundations—full-employment,

Federal deposit insurance, a national conservation program, fair labor standards, social

security, et cetera—Democrats must resolve

to keep building a magnificent tower of sharing

that spreads light over all Americans.

MANURE OF THE TROJAN HORSE

The Trojan plot

They now reveal

A low down dirty deal

Majorities have

Power appeal

Democratic cowards

Are an easy steal

Loyalty the turncoats

Never feel

The Trojan plot

They now reveal

The real deal

Camouflaged

An Aldridge Ames fox

In the Gephardt henhouse

Solidarity forever

Licking the rear

Of the sly rude right

Cunning Caucus Clan

Benevolently bowing

To the Benedict Arnolds

Til all reason

Sinks way out of sight

Brief unity was real

We rallied round the deal

Liberals waded thru manure and dirt

Even while it smelled and hurt

We voted for the deal

But the Judas hug

Proved poisonous and unreal

Prostitution was the thing

A slimy partisan sting

Compromise

Is on the rise

From the halls of the White House

To the shores of the DNC

Adulteration duplication

Invitation is the

Grand fascination

Our nation needs to feel

Which is the clear and pure

Just and honest real deal

The lesson should be learned

No more should we be burned

On this plagiarized chapter

Set tight the sad seal

Democrats to compromise

Never again must kneel

Destiny demands

That we construct

Own own dam daring deal

The Trojan plot

We all now know

In a separate direction

With dedicated speed

Democrats must go.