Maxine Waters: “I rise to raise some questions about the bill, and I would like to take this opportunity to explain that this is the…”

“I rise to raise some questions about the bill, and I would like to take this opportunity to explain that this is the kind of legislation that really tests what you stand for. Of course, this is good legislation that includes in it a lot of the answers to questions about what are we going to do about inner cities, how are we going to get some investment. This will do a lot of that. We all support empowerment zones, we all support venture capital, we all support more housing opportunities, and the President put a lot of time into it. This is oiled, this is greased. Both sides of the aisle have agreed that this legislation should pass. So for those of us who raise questions, we raise them knowing that, nine times out of ten, this legislation is going to pass. However, this should not have been on the suspension calendar. It is on the suspension calendar, which eliminates the opportunity for us to make amendments. Why would we want to make amendments? For several reasons. I am raising questions on three grounds. I object, first of all, to the placement of H.R. 4923, the Community Renewal and New Market Act, on the suspension calendar. Second, I have serious concerns regarding the use of Federal dollars for the funding of religious-based institutions which may use the funds in a discriminatory manner. I want to tell you, the Founding Fathers did a good job of separating state and religion, and they did this for a lot of reasons.…”