The absence of viable options for working families to educate their children at the most important stage in life demands our immediate attention.

I urge my colleagues to support this vital legislation.

I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the twenty years of work of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington.

By eliminating our nuclear weapons arsenal, the United States can realize an additional, 'peace dividend' from which to fund critical domestic initiatives, including new programs proposed in the Administration's FY 2000 budget.

The United States, as the sole remaining superpower and the leading power in the world, has an obligation to take bold steps toward encouraging other nuclear powers to eliminate their arsenals and to prevent the proliferation of these…

Today, the United States continues to possess around 7,300 operational nuclear warheads, and the other declared nuclear powers--Russia, Great Britain, France, and China--are estimated to possess over 10,000 operational warheads.

I want to focus my own constituents on the immediate problems of Medicare, which runs out of money in 2008.

I intend to assure the seniors of the District of Columbia that I will have no greater priority than preserving Medicare.

Senior citizens in my District want the 106th Congress to know that the Social Security and Medicare programs have done more to make their senior years secure and healthy than any programs ever enacted by the Congress.

Senator Tom Harkin and I are introducing the Fair Pay Act of 1999, a bill that would require employers to pay equal wages to women and men performing comparable jobs in an effort to remedy the pay inequities that women continue to endure.

Today, I reintroduce a bill to give the District of Columbia and the four insular areas a privilege the 50 states achieved last year: to choose a design for the reverse side of the quarter coin in order to commemorate our history as part…

Today, I reintroduce the National Urban Watershed Model Restoration Act, a bill to establish a new approach to restoring urban waters.

Under the new program, EPA shall allocate a total of $750,000 per year over the next 4 fiscal years to implement the provisions of the Model Program.

This pilot program, to be administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will serve as a national model for the restoration of urban watersheds and community environments.

I am committed to whatever time and effort it takes to restore the river that runs through the neighborhoods of the nation's capital.

The Anacostia River has been chosen as the pilot river because it is an especially polluted urban river located in the nation's capital that has drawn national attention and thus can lead the way for community-involved cleanup approaches…

To achieve more focused and rapid action, the new program will integrate the various regulatory and non-regulatory programs of the EPA with other federal, state, and local programs to restore and protect the Anacostia River and promote…

The Anacostia River has been my top environmental priority since coming to Congress in 1991.

Secondly, the celebration will include recognition of a person whose life and work in the church and community exemplifies the legacy and spirit of the Reverend Absalom Jones.

The Washington Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians uses its Absalom Jones Day Celebration in two significant ways.

First, the proceeds which are generated will be used for the benefit of the Black Episcopal College scholarship and endowment funds.

I ask the House to join me in a tribute to the legacy and spirit of Absolom Jones, an 18th century slave and join the 1999 Absalom Jones Day Celebration presented by the Washington Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians.

With her leadership, Voters for Choice has helped to develop leaders across our country on choice issues; to educate Americans about reproductive issues; and to train advocates for this important work.

For 18 years, Voters for Choice has been a superbly effective organization that has led the fight for many women's health issues, in no small part because of Kristina's commitment, dedication, energy and leadership.

I am especially pleased and very proud to honor and recognize the accomplishments of Kristina Kiehl, a national leader who has dedicated her life to improving the health and protecting the reproductive rights of Americans.