E 1130 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks May 25, 1995

table. After 4 months of silence and no apparent plan of his own to balance the budget, he

has issued a completely irresponsible veto

threat. Should he win the veto battle, any

chance at a early start on deficit reduction this

year will be eliminated.

What is more unconscionable than his lack

of action on the issue, is his timing. He is attempting desperately to reassert the relevancy

of his presidency by playing politics with the

rescissions bill. This politicizing threatens to

jeopardize the expeditious funding of emergency disaster aid to the victims in California

and Oklahoma. The $7.2 billion in emergency

appropriations are paid for by cutting wasteful

spending elsewhere in the budget. And we did

not add more to the taxpayers tab, something

virtually unheard of in Washington.

The reasoning for his veto threat is pork in

the bill, yet this bill slashes $16.4 billion in

spending by eliminating unauthorized programs, consolidating duplicative programs,

cutting unspent funds piling up from one year

to the next and eliminating funding for wasteful, ineffective programs. Where’s the pork?

This bill eliminates funding from legislation

signed by the President himself. The pork he

says we failed to target is the pork he sanctioned.

The President seems to have forgotten the

will of the American people. Last November,

the citizens of this country voted for change.

His lack of attention to the budget and spending cuts continues the status quo and dims the

future of our children.

MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FUNDS

TRANSFER EXPANSION ACT OF

f1995

HON. JIM LIGHTFOOT OF IOWA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, May 24, 1995

Mr. LIGHTFOOT. Mr. Speaker, today I rise

to introduce legislation which will save taxpayer money, reduce theft and fraud of Federal payments and make the Government run

more efficiently. I am proud to join Representatives STENY HOYER, BILL CLINGER, PETER VISCLOSKY, and STEPHEN HORN in introducing the

Mandatory Electronic Funds Transfer Expansion Act of 1995.

Under this legislation, recurring Federal payments such as Federal salaries and pensions

would be issued by electronic funds transfer

[EFT] instead of paper checks. The Department of the Treasury’s Financial Management

Service, the Federal Government’s primary

disburser, has testified that it costs the Federal Government 43 cents to issue a paper

check. But an electronic funds transfer costs

just 1.5 cents, saving the Government over 41

cents for nearly every salary or retirement

check it issues.

The Government is already realizing savings

from the use of EFT. Of the 841 million payments issued by FMS, 49 percent were disbursed electronically. But we can realize additional savings, while making salaries and benefits more convenient for recipients. The savings add up quickly, into the millions of dollars.

The extensive use of EFT will reduce Federal

spending and diminish the opportunity for theft

and fraud.

THE HOMELESS AND COMMUNITY

COOPERATION ACT OF 1995

HON. LINDA SMITH OF WASHINGTON

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, May 24, 1995

Mrs. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker,

today, I am introducing the ‘‘Community and

Homeless Cooperation Act of 1995’’ which will

amend the McKinney Homeless Assistance

Act.

The Act was originally designed to make

under-utilized or unutilized Federal buildings

available for sheltering our Nation’s homeless.

In Olympia, one of the largest cities in my district, there were plans to make a vacant and

dilapidated Federal building into a large shelter for the homeless yet over 30 percent of the

beds for the homeless in Olympia’s existing

shelters went unused. Common sense would

dictate that we didn’t need another shelter, we

needed additional resources for outreach and

services for existing shelters.

Recently, Thurston County commissioners

in my home State of Washington pointed out

to me in a recent letter, ‘‘With the current ‘use

it or lose it rule’, a social service agency has

a difficult time saying ‘‘no’’ to a free building—

even one requiring extensive and expensive

upgrades.’’ My legislation will allow these

buildings to be sold and a portion of the

money used to help existing shelters meet

their daily funding needs while the remainder

will be returned to the Federal treasury exclusively to reduce the deficit. And, for the first

time in the 7-year life of this legislation, the

homeless and the community will have a voice

in the selection of buildings to be used. As the

Olympian, newspaper stated, ‘‘* * * location

of these services is key.’’

The Community and Homeless Cooperation

Act of 1995 gives a city and its homeless a

sense of community and cooperation in determining what is in their best interest. Through

community forums to determine building placement or through making proceeds from sales

of these buildings available to increase homeless assistance services on Main Street, we

empower the people on Main Street, homeless

and homeowner alike.

TRIBUTE TO AMBROSE JOSEPH

(JOE) MANLEY

fHON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY OF INDIANA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, May 24, 1995

Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, It gives me

great pleasure to rise today and pay tribute to

an outstanding citizen of Indiana’s First Congressional District, Mr. Ambrose Joseph (Joe)

Manley. On Friday, June 2, 1995, Joe, along

with his friends and family, will celebrate his

retirement from the Northwest Indiana District

Council of Carpenters, Merrillville Union Local

No. 1005. This testimonial dinner will take

place at the Radisson Hotel celebrity ballroom

in Merrillvile, IN.

Joe has dedicated a substantial portion of

his life to the betterment of union members

and the community of northwest Indiana, as

well as the entire State.

Joe’s distinguished career in the labor

movement has made his community and Nation a better place in which to live. For the

past 20 years, Joe has aspired as an important figure in Local No. 1005. Joe has held

several position throughout his tenure, but

none as important as business manager, a position from which he retired on Dec. 31, 1994.

Moreover, Joe fought for union rights in several other capacities. Joe has been active as

past president of the Indiana State Council of

Carpenters and past vice-president of the

State of Indiana AFL–CIO. These positions

have allowed him to fully exercise his fight for

labor rights.

As a result of Joe’s caring and nurturing nature, he has been spreading his goodwill

throughout northwest Indiana by serving on

several boards over the past years. Joe is well

known in the Indiana State Democratic Party

where he was once the vice chairman. During

his reign as vice chairman, he was chosen to

be a delegate for the State of Indiana to the

1992 National Democratic Convention. Furthermore, Joe served as a past Admiral of the

Pirates for Tradewinds Rehabilitation Center.

Currently, Joe is a board member for the Arthritis Foundation, Hoosier Boys Town, and

the Northwest Indiana Forum, Inc. Joe also is

a member of the Hammond Times editorial

board.

On this special day, I offer my heartfelt congratulations. Joe’s large circle of family and

friends can be proud of the contributions this

prominent individual has made. His work in

the labor movement has made America Work.

Those in the movement will miss Joe’s dedication and sincerity. Fortunately, the community

as a whole will continue to profit from his unselfish involvement to make northwest Indiana

a better place in which to live and work. I sincerely wish Joe a long, happy, and productive

retirement.

OUR NATION’S FLAG

fHON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON OF NEW YORK

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, May 25, 1995

Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I

testified before the House Judiciary Committee

on an amendment I am proposing to protect

our Nation’s flag. This matter is very dear to

my heart and to the hearts of many Americans. The American flag always brings our nation together, rich or poor, in good times or

bad. This symbol is recognized the world over

for the good that we have done and will do as

long as we have this flag. Do we, as Americans, really believe that the passage of this

amendment to protect our national symbol will,

in any way, harm or detract from, the Bill of

Rights and the U.S. Constitution? I say no,

this amendment does not remove rights, it restores them.

I can recall scenes I have seen from Civil

War battles where Union soldiers would drop

their weapon and pick the Stars and Stripes

off the ground from a fallen comrade who had

been killed holding up these colors for America. Mr. Speaker, now is our time to pick up

the American flag and treat it with the greatest

amount of reverence.

I would like to draw your attention to the remarks of one American who has picked up the

flag and who is carrying and protecting our

flag for many Americans. Ron James, an ex-