Rep. Corrine Brown

I often say when we begin our committee meetings, that Secretary Brown is one of the brightest spots in President Clinton's administration, but he is also one of the brightest spots in this country. I guess I am going to say good luck. Joy…

I would like to enter my objection to this amendment, this provision, which is the beginning of the end of 60/40. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is the beginning of the end for the 60/40 provision which protects national security interests…

my amendment addresses one of the most basic issues that ties together every country in this globe. This issue is respect for human rights--including the rights of people accused of crimes. My amendment expresses the sense of Congress that…

They do not have a cell. It is just like an open barn with dirt floors, and there is an upstairs. Can you see the picture over there with Mr. Willliams and his wife? Well, this is a good area. And it is like up and down under, is like a…

It is if you do not have any money, you know your life is at risk every single moment that you are there.

There is no medical doctor, and in fact Mr. Parker from New York that I talked about had to go to the hospital, and that would be another discussion because it is not a hospital. But the families, the American families, have to pay for…

Most of the Americans do have some kind of family support, but most of the Ecuadorians are just locked in the system like this young man. It was just in fact the prisoners brought him to me. They wanted me to see this example. Here this…

Well, the conditions is the worst. In fact, the human rights groups indicated that Ecuadoran prisons, and I am sure this may be true in most of the South American countries, but Ecuador, No. 1, is one of the worst human rights violations…

Well, Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman heard my testimony, one person, Mr. Richard Parker's father, saw the person who had his arm cut off with a machete. So if one has money, one can buy anything. So one of the things that I found out that…

I just want to think about these children that I met. The children are innocent. In many cases the families, the male or female, could be innocent, but this system does not distinguish the innocent from the guilty, or the misdemeanors from…

at any stage there is no jury system whatsoever. There is no bail, and there is no misdemeanor.

I think it is revenue-raising for the bribery and that system, but it certainly does not look like it is revenue-raising for the country. But those people that are working in that system, for example, Sandra Chase, they paid $20,000. Where…

Well, I did learn of something today that may be helpful to us. I met with the second person in charge of our operation there, the State Department, Mr. Curt Struble. He indicated to me that there is a treaty to date, as we speak, over in…

They did not care. In fact, when I talked to the police and the judges and the public elected officials, one of the things that was said to me was that we need help. We need help, and help is not just financial; judges to come over and…

There was none of that. It was a real understanding that we have a problem and we need help with this problem. There was an acknowledgment that bribery, the system, that the system was antiquated, the system was not working, and they just…

I was just glad to be home and glad to be an American citizen. At this point I would not recommend going to some of those South American countries, including Ecuador, until we can straighten out this system.

I visited two prisons, one in Guayaquil and one in Quito. The first one that I visited, 2,500 people in prison, 400 had received a trial. The other prison that my staff visited was a women's facility in Quito, and that is where the five…

Absolutely. I want to thank the gentleman for his help and leadership on this matter, also. It is just such a vicious cycle as far as the whole criminal justice system in Ecuador. It is very unfair, particularly to the Ecuadorans. We are…

let me say about my amendment, it has been ruled in order, and it does a couple of things. One, it gives language to the President when he reports to the Congress on the status of drug trafficking. And we also want to know when he reports…

As I said earlier, a person with one stick of marijuana or someone that has a drug problem, they are all lumped together. But let me say something about the prison because perhaps I have not adequately described it. There is no toilets in…

the time is right for funding equity. Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge my colleagues to support funding equity when the House considers the ISTEA reauthorization bill. According to a GAO report, the current funding formula used to distribute…

H.R. 1, the Working Families Flexibility Act of 1997 is also known as the Pay Reduction Act. Today, millions of workers depend on overtime pay--just to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads. How cruel to consider this…

H.R. 1 is a disgrace to American workers. In the last several days workers from all over my district have come to Washington to ask me to vote against this bill. Those working constituents do not want their pay reduced by a Congress out of…

Recently in Eatonville, a little town in my district, a young lady came up to me and asked me did I know Mrs. Alexis Herman because she was from Mobile, AL. And speaking of family values, she told me about her mother who was the librarian…

I rise today in support of Alexis Herman, who is the most appropriate person to head this country's Department of Labor. As many of my colleagues know, Mrs. Herman has spent much of her life preparing for this job. Almost 20 years ago…