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Culminating with the ascendance of George W. Bush to the White House, 2000 will go down as one of the most tumultuous years in American political history. By intervening in the political process to ensure George Bush’s election, the Supreme Court disgracefully violated the principle that every vote should count. In doing so, they issued a wake-up call to African-Americans and other minority voters that we must fight even harder to protect our rights and accomplish our goals.
On the positive side, New Yorkers overwhelmingly elected Hillary Clinton to represent our state in the U.S. Senate, the first time the wife of a president will serve in that office. Her commitment to education, health care and economic development will serve to strengthen the New York Congressional delegation’s effectiveness in representing our state’s interests in Washington.
I thank the voters of the 15th Congressional District for entrusting me, once again, with their mandate to represent Upper Manhattan in the U.S. House of Representatives. As Chairman of the New York State Congressional delegation and senior Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, I will return to Washington more determined than ever to fight for the issues that will benefit our community and the lives of my constituents.
Despite unyielding resistance by the leadership of the Republican-dominated Congress, our district will benefit from significant gains in funding, achieved with President Clinton’s help. In particular, a number of provisions which I sponsored and fought for in the year-end budget bill will directly impact hospitals and health financing, education, housing and economic development in the 15th Congressional District.
The budget bill contains over $35 billion in new investments in funding for Medicare and Medicaid, in which New York will share, as well as a state program to provide health insurance for children. The bill also expands Medicaid coverage to low-income families, particularly those going from welfare to work. Specifically for New York health centers, I was able to earmark $1.6 million to promote breast cancer awareness and detection.
Assistance to Hospitals. To help address the crisis being faced by health care providers, the bill sets higher reimbursements for outpatient services, more funding for hospitals that serve low-income and uninsured people, and relief for nursing homes and home health agencies.
For Our Schools. To help rebuild crumbling school buildings, the year-end budget contains $6.5 billion in discretionary education funding, including a $1.2 billion emergency school renovation initiative. Head Start and a special program for Latino students will each enjoy a nearly $1 billion increase in funding. While not nearly as much as I would have liked, these funding levels, achieved only after bitter fights with Republican leaders, provide us with a good start in addressing the educational needs of our community.
Low Income Housing. A vital housing provision, which I authored, will provide $5.8 billion over 10 years in financial incentives to investors to develop low-income housing. The so-called low-income housing tax credit is already responsible for most of the new low- and moderate-income housing construction throughout our District in Upper Manhattan and tens of thousands of units nationwide.
Economic Development. The legislation will create nine new empowerment zones, while extending and improving benefits in the current 31 zones. The Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone will benefit from an increase in small business incentives, more favorable bond financing rules and other improvements.
Cultural and Research Institutions. The bill contains $2.4 million in funding to computerize on the internet the world-famous collection of African-American historical materials housed at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black History and Culture. It also provides nearly $800,000 to help build an advanced biology research center on the campus of the City College of New York. Another $1 million was appropriated to establish a National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Earlier in the year, another initiative of mine resulted in a change of the law to allow relocation and renovation of Hamilton Grange, the original home of Alexander Hamilton, which is located in Harlem.
Notwithstanding these achievements, much more must be done to address the needs of our community, particularly in the areas of education and economic development. The nation’s historic economic expansion has not benefited everyone.
Urban communities, particularly, continue to be penalized by punitive and misguided policies that have resulted in the incarceration of over 2 million young people.
The prison population is disproportionately minority, overwhelmingly illiterate and unskilled, unemployable and hopeless. Upwards of 50 percent are held for non-violent drug related offenses. This syndrome represents the greatest drain on the nation’s most precious resource—our youth. For me, nothing is more important than to transform our government’s obsession with jails into a commitment to education.
For our seniors and for those who need medical attention, we must make certain that adequate health is more widely available, and not a privilege reserved for the wealthier among us. Decisions about who is served must be taken out of the hands of lawyers and accountants and returned to doctors.
The recent election made the strongest possible case for reform of our election system. In a radical departure from form, the Supreme Court intervened in the presidential election, taking away the right of Florida’s voters to determine, in this case, their choice for president.
In addition to reform of the system for financing campaigns, there is a clear need for legislation to ensure fairness and uniformity in federal elections. Never again should any community be victimized by voter intimidation, purging of voter roles, or antiquated voting machines. There can be no doubt of the correlation between our ability to vote and our progress in improving education, health care, criminal justice policy and economic development.
In the months ahead, I will travel around the country to visit those districts in which African Americans, young and old, exhibited their sophistication in turning out to vote in overwhelming numbers. I will reassure them, that although their vote may not have had the desired result this time, they must not give up now. Our respect for the sacrifices of our forefathers in gaining the franchise has been proven. Now is the time to muster the determination to shout, “It will not be taken from us.”
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