I rise today in strong support of the legislation. The bill before us is both effective and fair; it will make it harder for criminals or mentally deranged individuals to get their hands on these destructive weapons, yet it protects the…

the Kopetski-Mfume-Serrano amendment would replace the death penalty called for in H.R. 4092, the bill we are debating, with a bill more constitutionally morally sound and a less expensive sentence of life without parole. Mr. Chairman…

let me just say as we close this debate that the argument by the gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum] carries merit. I believe, also, that you can make sensible arguments on both sides of this issue, and you can be looked at as being…

It is my understanding that the nonprofits now, through the files that they have to disclose with IRS, are engaged in much more disclosure that the for-profit organizations, and I think what nonprofits are asking for, everything from the…

If I might just continue, the second issue was that lenders not be allowed to branch across State lines if they have a demonstrated pattern of closing branches in rural areas and in low- and moderate-income areas.

Would the gentleman be willing to revisit this whole matter after we have had an opportunity to see what has taken place over 6 months or 12 months, to ascertain whether or not in fact there is a pattern of closing branches in rural areas…

I need to join with the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Neal] in congratulating the gentlewoman from New Jersey [Mrs. Roukema] for her work on this bill. Interstate banking, for the record, is long overdue and much-needed legislation…

This is where the gentleman and I have a disagreement, because I think if something is bad, and if we agree that it is bad, and closing banks clearly is bad in rural communities and in low-income communities who do not have access, then I…

do I still understand, as we close the date, the willingness of the gentleman to revisit in the form of hearings may of the concerns that I and Mr. Wynn and Mr. Kennedy have tried to articulate in the amendments we offered previously?

Clearly, one of the greatest hypocrisies is the notion that we can somehow have equal voting rights and equal protection under the law as it pertains to the right to vote while at the same time denying in every legal way we can the right…

I think also and hope and pray also that one day we get to the point in this House where we are not divided by party label, divided by race, divided by region, but we recognize on some issues at least there ought to be a coming together, a…

Mr. Chairman, the alternative budget that is being offered by the Congressional Black Caucus today and that we hope to have voted on tomorrow represents an aggressive and yet fiscally responsible approach to respond to a number of the…

However, Madam Speaker, as the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, I do want to express my thanks to Members of this body, black, white, Jew, gentile, Hispanic, Asian, and of course the women of this Congress, who have come forth…

The amendment that I had hoped to offer was an amendment that would have brought balance to this debate in which all of us have a sense of outrage and revulsion at remarks that were made at Kean College, but many of us also have a sense of…

I did not in any way mean to diminish the offensive comments addressed by the Lantos resolution. As I have said repeatedly, I also find them racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic, and homophobic. The sad matter of the whole thing is…

Black History Month was created to acknowledge the achievements of great African-American individuals and institutions and their role in the history of the United States. Today, we honor America's Afro-American organizations and we ask the…

I rise in support of the bill, Mr. Chairman. As written, the bill provides... a reasonable effort by the Congress to try to reduce the Federal work force in a manner that we believe is fair to the employees and at the same time true to the…