I rise in support of the CBC FY09 alternative budget. I'm particularly excited today, because last night the Second Chance Act of 2007, a bipartisan piece of legislation, unanimously passed the Senate. I look forward to President Bush…

I voted for the President's economic stimulus package, and I think it is going to actually help some people, but not nearly enough. In my city and in other major cities throughout the country, unemployment among young people is at an…

Mr. Speaker, I always knew that Representative Dan Burton was indeed a superstar. I just didn't get a chance to watch him play. Of course, Ed Towns often talks about his days as a star athlete and basketball player. But as a member of the…

I'm convinced that the most widespread and most impactful health issue and problem which we face today is in the area of mental health and mental illness. The numbers of individuals affected are so great until it is more than difficult to…

I would close by just simply commending the State of Illinois, led by its Governor, its United States Senators, both Senators Durbin and Obama, Representative Manzullo, Representative Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of the City of DeKalb, all of…

H.R. 4454 is intended to remember the lives, service, and legacy of dozens of military men and women from the Louisville, Kentucky, area, who died in service during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. By renaming this…

Unlike most kinds of debt, student loans of all types are currently nondischargeable in bankruptcy, except on a judicial finding of undue hardship. Under this amendment, government student loans, Federal and State, and loans made directly…

For many of these students who secure loans without the protection of bankruptcy, it's like receiving a life sentence with no appeal. That is to say, they get a loan that is supposed to help them get a college degree, an education so that…

It is my belief that one way that we can do that is to make sure that we provide a jobs training program for the 1 million young people across the country who don't have any money, no job, no employment, many of them are out of school…

I do not profess to know everything that CAFTA is going to do, but I do know that when I wake up in the morning, my congressional district has lost more than 150,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs. I know that we make candy. We make a lot…

Chicago used to be known as the Candy Capital of the World. Unfortunately, sugar makers, food processors, and other sugar users have been driven out of the city by high prices. Despite all of my other misgivings, I had hoped that CAFTA…

where I come from, there is an old saying: If it looks like a duck, acts like a duck, quacks like a duck, talks like a duck, then it is a duck. And it seems to me that the bottom line is this is an attempt to privatize the Postal Service…

the argument for budget-neutral reform reminds me of the teaching of Frederick Douglass when he said that he understood one thing, if he did not understand anything else; and that is that in this world we may not get everything that we pay…

one of the great accomplishments of this legislation is the fact that it was able to bring labor and management together, to bring both sides to the table and have them agree. The gentleman from Indiana's amendment did not mention the fact…

recognizing the fact that serious disparities continue to exist for African Americans in practically all aspects of life, the Congressional Black Caucus has focused much of its attention this session on closing these gaps and reducing…

H.R. 3010 falls far short of helping rectify many of the problems facing our Nation's and specifically, my constituents' healthcare needs. There are a number of areas of this appropriations bill that will have a significant impact on the…

the call for an independent commission to review accusations of abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and other places continues to grow. This is not a partisan issue. Members from both sides of the aisle, citizens who consider…

not very often will Members hear me contradict the ranking member of the Committee on Small Business. But I rise in opposition to this amendment and will include my entire statement in the Record. I rise in opposition to this amendment…

June 19th, Juneteenth as it is called, is a unique people's holiday. It is the oldest known celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. It marks the day that union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, in 1865, with news that…

over 800,000 Americans have chronic fatigue syndrome, CFS, also known as chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome, or CFIDS. This is a complex and debilitating medical disorder characterized by profound exhaustion, intense…

The next time you are in Chicago, I have just got to bring you by so that you can go and see the Chicago Lighthouse for yourself. And we will bring the gentleman from Ohio along with us.

on yesterday, I had the delightful experience of attending the very first meeting of the commission just established by the Governor of Illinois to look seriously at the whole question of prisoner re-entry, what to do with the 35,000…

this year marks the centennial, the 100th anniversary, of the birth of the Chicago Defender, one of America's great, historic institutions which make up the fourth estate, our free press. The Defender, founded in 1905 by Robert Sengstacke…

in my community, there is an old saying that goes: After all is said and done, much more is said than done. Now, we have heard a great deal about what some people have called the do-nothing, the empty-promises Small Business Bill of…

during the recess, I was privileged to visit the country of Sri Lanka where there exists tension and sometimes open warfare between the government and the Tamilians. Fortunately, partially as a result of the tsunami, there is a cease fire…