May 24, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H 5489

to work to outbid the Soviet Union to

buy friends abroad. Now, in a new postcold-war world that is fundamentally

different from the old one, our foreign

affairs apparatus is too big and outdated.

The American Overseas Interest Act

will overhaul the foreign aid bureaucracy by merging three independent

agencies into the State Department,

eliminating outdated bureaucracies,

and doing away with conflicting and divisive foreign policy. I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill, and vote

for eliminating bureaucracy and

streamlining foreign policy. We need

foreign policy for the nineties, not for

the fifties.

fb 1030

DR. FOSTER DESERVING OF SUPPORT FOR SURGEON GENERAL

POSITION

(Mr. HILLIARD asked and was given

permission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. HILLIARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise

today in strong support of Dr. Henry

Foster’s nomination for the position of

Surgeon General. Dr. Foster’s credentials are impeccable. In my opinion, his

background symbolizes the type of doctor we are seeking to fill this important position.

Throughout his career, Dr. Foster

has immersed himself in alleviating

two of our Nation’s biggest problems,

the crisis of teen pregnancy, and the

tragedy of drug abuse. Teen pregnancy

and drug abuse are perhaps the biggest

factors in the high school dropout rate

today, not to mention the crime, poverty, and child abuse that is rampant

throughout our Nation. It is commendable that Dr. Foster has recognized

this, and taken the time to reach out

to the teenagers in his community and

across the country.

I am offended by the way the radical

right of this country and in this Congress have treated Dr. Foster. They are

playing politics with a good man’s life,

and I object.

Dr. Henry Foster exemplifies the

strong values and innovative thinking

that this country needs in a leader, especially now during these difficult

times. I ask that my colleagues in the

Senate please bring the Foster nomination to the floor, and vote to confirm

his appointment.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER

PRO TEMPORE

fThe SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr.

BONILLA). The Chair reminds Members

that they should not refer to the confirmation process in the Senate in

their remarks here in the House.

CRUEL CUTS IN STUDENT

FINANCIAL AID

(Mr. DEFAZIO asked and was given

permission to address the House for 1

minute.)

Mr. DEFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I come to

the floor because I heard an extraordinary exchange earlier between the

Democratic leader, who justly

slammed the Republicans’ budget for

its cuts in student loans and grants

that will add $5,000 to the debt burden

of the typical financial aid student

graduating from college in future years

for families that earn less than $75,000

a year. A Republican freshman rose on

the other side to say he would sacrifice

for the sake of his daughter, he would

take those financial aid cuts for the

sake of his daughter.

Well, I have got news for him. He

earns $133,000 a year as a Member of

Congress. He had a successful career as

a sportscaster. His daughter does not

need help to go to college, but millions

of other American kids do who come

from families of modest means, and he

is stomping on their fingers as they try

and reach that first rung of the ladder

to climb up to the success that we all

strive for in this country.

These cuts are cruel and they fall

only on families who earn less than

$75,000 a year. That is the Republican

budget’s answer for student financial

aid.

CUTS IN STUDENT LOAN PROGRAM AFFECT AVERAGE AMERIfCANS

(Mr. FLAKE asked and was given

permission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise this

morning to bring attention to the dramatic real-life effects that the proposed cuts to Federal student loan programs and the elimination of the Department of Education will have on average Americans.

I am one of 13 children born to parents of fifth and sixth grade educations. For families like mine and

maybe even others, more importantly

for the millions of middle-class taxpayers, the American dream of education and improving their lives for the

next generation will be just that, a

dream.

On Saturday I received my doctor-ofministry degree. For the most part I

earned my degree because of my personal commitment to self-improvement and self-responsibility and the

fact that somebody along the way

cared about my future.

Without the National Defense Student Loan Program, I would not have

even had the opportunity to go to college in the first place. It was a loan. I

paid it back. Others will do the same

thing if given the opportunity.

We must be mindful that even with

all of our ivory tower exhortations

about the virtues we hold dear, somebody out there in real life places outside of Washington needs a helping

hand. We should care enough, even if

nobody else does, to help them to make

their American dream come true by

getting the best education they can.

We can do it by maintaining student

support.

(Ms. VEL

STUDENT LOANS

A ́

fZQUEZ asked and was

given permission to address the House

for 1 minute.)

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, let

me tell you about a letter I recently received from Maria Casillas. Maria lives

in my district and writes:

Cuts in student aid just don’t make sense.

Student aid actually saves taxpayers money

by stimulating economic growth and increasing productivity. Student aid is important to

me because it gives me the opportunity to

get a better education than my mother or

grandmother had. I work hard in school to

get good grades and without financial aid, I

could not afford college.

Maria wants to go to college and

without Federal funding for student

loans, she will not have the opportunity to do so. We cannot afford to

squander our human resources. Let us

invest in the future of our country. Let

us provide Maria and young men and

women like her with the educational

opportunity they deserve. Let us do

what is right for the people of this Nation, not what is right for the privileged few.

CALL FOR SPECIAL COUNSEL IN

SPEAKER’S ETHICS CASE

f(Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida asked and

was given permission to address the

House for 1 minute and to revise and

extend his remarks.)

Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida. Mr.

Speaker, it is common knowledge

today that the Republican members of

the Ethics Committee defeated a motion to appoint a special counsel to

look into the complaints against the

Speaker of the House, NEWT GINGRICH.

I am disheartened by this action, and I

know many of my colleagues as well as

public interest groups share my feelings.

Mr. Speaker, I call on you now to do

what is right. Release the Republican

members from their obligation to vote

in lockstep. These are men and women

of conscience for whom the vote consequence is beyond any inquiry into

your actions.

Rise up and meet the appropriate

precedent of the past. Permit the committee and this House to conduct a fair

and formal investigation through the

vehicle of a special counsel. Anything

less falls short of your moral obligation and our collective responsibility

to the public. As quoted by Al Hunt in

today’s Wall Street Journal, there is

no way that the House of Representatives is going to achieve any credibility unless they go to an outside counsel.