Last week, I joined President Clinton and Vice President Gore at the Library of Congress to announce a legislative agenda which responds to the concerns which people in Baltimore express to me every day. In Baltimore, and throughout the nation, too many working people must struggle just to make ends meet.

In 1999, I will work with the President to enact legislation which responds to the concerns people have been expressing to me. If we can convince the Republican-controlled Congress to listen to the public and respond appropriately, 1999 will be the year in which we (1) strengthen Social Security and Medicare; (2) improve our public schools; (3) give the power over medical treatment back to patients and their doctors; and (4) target tax cuts to help working families provide for retirement, quality child care and long-term care for family members in need.

The debate over federal aid to education is not an abstract proposition to the children of Baltimore City and County. Their education is a matter of fundamental fairness and regional economic survival. We need to use our federal tax dollars to reduce class size. The Congress must help to pay for local school construction and repair costs so staggering that they cannot be met with local and state resources (an estimated $600 million in Baltimore City - $400 million in Baltimore County).

In 1998, we won a major victory in obtaining a $1.2 billion FY 1999 "down payment" toward adding 100,000 new, early grade school teachers to reduce classroom size. This year, the Congress must finish that job by authorizing $11.4 billion for the Class Size Reduction Initiative over the next six years. We also must provide the funding to enable the nation’s local schools to modernize and rebuild our children’s classrooms.

My constituents support the Democratic proposal to use most of the budget surplus over the next 15 years to assure the financial solvency of the Social Security and the Medicare Trust Funds. We must avoid misguided attempts to remake a system which has served America well for seven decades. Protecting and expanding Medicare must take precedence over any proposals to enact a flat tax cut.

There simply is not enough money in the budget to fund a flat tax cut and protect Medicare without requiring devastating cuts in important social programs which support working people. The President's targeted tax cuts, however, are both affordable and meaningful to those of us who work hard every day.

Just as we must protect the health of our elderly and disabled citizens by putting Medicare first, 1999 is the year in which we must enact a national Patients' Bill of Rights. Currently, managed care programs are denying Americans medical care which their doctors have prescribed. That is wrong, and the Patients' Bill of Rights is the way to make it right. We must return decisions about medical treatment to patients and their doctors.