Press OfficePress Office
June 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 1, 2000
McDermott announces the appointment of William Yu to U.S. House of Representatives Page Program
(Washington, DC) - U.S. Representative Jim McDermott (D-Seattle) announced today that Seattle resident William Yu has been appointed to the U.S. House of Representatives Page Program. William Yu was nominated by McDermott and appointed by Minority Leader Gephardt.
McDermott said, "It is my privilege to announce William Yu’s appointment to the U.S. House of Representatives Page Program. It was difficult to choose among the many talented applicants."
William Yu, a junior at Roosevelt High School, is a Lieutenant in the Seattle Police Explorers. He also is in the Youth Volunteer Corp and is Vice President of his church’s youth group.
McDermott concluded, "William’s enthusiasm and dedication to academics, volunteering, and working part-time demonstrate a strength of character that make him an ideal choice. William will be an excellent representative of Seattle in the Page Program this summer."
There are currently 72 House pages, 54 of whom are selected by the Majority Party (Republicans) and 18 of whom are selected by the Minority Party (Democrats). While Congress is in session, pages serve principally as messengers. Their other responsibilities include distributing documents related to the day’s legislative agenda and serving as assistants in the House cloakroom.
Each session pages are appointed by the Democratic Leader, the Honorable Richard A. Gephardt based on the nominations from House Members.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 09, 2000
The Estate Tax Elimination Act helps those who least need it
(Washington, DC) - Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Seattle) today blasted Republications for pandering to the richest Americans and using misleading estate tax rhetoric. Most Americans are not affected by the estate tax. 98 percent of all estates are exempt from the tax. Of the two percent that are liable, only 3 percent of those are small businesses and farms.
McDermott, in Seattle for his daughter’s graduation, would have voted against H.R. 8, the Estate Tax Elimination Act.
"The Republicans are clearly pandering to the most wealthy Americans," said McDermott. "The estate tax repeal will not become law; this vote is purely political. If the Republicans genuinely wanted to help the 6 in 10,000 American small businesses and farms subject to the estate tax, they would have worked with Democrats to craft a bipartisan compromise."
"Over the past two decades, income and wealth disparities have increased. The Republican proposal will exaggerate this by making the rich richer and the poor poorer." McDermott noted, "Repeal of the estate tax for the Forbes 400 richest Americans would amount to $200-300 billion. Enough to pay for a Medicare prescription drug benefit for 10 years!"
McDermott concluded, "The rhetoric the Republicans have invoked during the estate tax debate is misleading. Calling the estate tax the ‘death tax’ infers that all Americans will lose half of their estate and needlessly scares people."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 28, 2000
McDermott Hails Supreme Courts Decision to Allow Elian Gonzalez to Return to Cuba
(Washington, DC) - Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Seattle) today commended the U.S. Supreme Court for its decision to allow Elian Gonzalez to return to Cuba with his family.
"I am very pleased that the Supreme Court has ruled in Elian’s best interest. Clearly, in this case it is in the best interest of a 6-year old child to be with his father.
"It is extremely unfortunate that the Cuban American community in Miami used Elian as a political pawn in their generation-long dispute with Fidel Castro. The Court’s refusal to allow Elian’s Miami relatives to keep him in the United States sends a strong message to the anti-Castro lobby that they can not interfere with a family to serve political interests."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 28, 2000
McDermott blasts Republicans on Prescription Medicine Bill
(Washington, DC) - Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Seattle) today blasted the House Republicans on the Medicare prescription medicine bill and the sham debate on it. McDermott made the following statement:
"The Republican bill is a pollster-driven lobbyist-written scheme that is designed to fool seniors into believing Medicare will cover prescription medicine. The bill is so bad that the Republicans - champions of competition - refuse to let the Democrats offer their legislation on the floor and let the best bill win.
"The Republicans have offered a scheme that the insurance companies won’t provide and consumers don’t want. The Republican scheme is not an entitlement - there is no defined benefit, it is not guaranteed, and it is not affordable. The scheme creates a complex system of varying payments to the few, if any, private insurance companies willing to offer a benefit. A new government bureaucracy will oversee this so-called benefit.
"Adding a prescription medicine benefit to Medicare is the single most important issue the Congress will consider this year. Clearly, the Republicans do not intend to pass meaningful Medicare prescription medicine legislation. Playing with the health and welfare of our seniors is unconscionable. Our seniors deserve more than political rhetoric.
"What you are witnessing today is politics at its worst. It is no wonder that the American public is disaffected with politicians when the issues vital to them are decided in lobbyists’ offices rather than in Committees and on the floor of Congress."
Medicare prescription medicine timeline:
- December 10,
1999, "What are the other side's issues going to be? Guns, prescription drugs,
Social Security, minimum wage," said one GOP leadership aide. "We don't want to
be playing on their end of the field all the time, maybe we just inoculate - get
these things off the table."
- June 8, 2000, pollster Glen Bolger tells
Republicans that Medicare prescription drugs are important to voters. He said,
"it is more important to communicate that you have a plan, than it is to
communicate what is in the plan."
- June 13, 2000, Ways and Means hearing on
Medicare prescription medicine (the Republicans did not have a bill to
discuss).
- June 15, 2000, the Republican scheme was introduced.
- June
21, 2000, the Republican scheme was marked-up in late night Ways and Means
session.
- June 28, 2000, the Rules Committee met at 2:30 AM to pass a rule
that does not allow the Democrats to offer their substitute and provides for
only 2 hours of debate.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 28, 2000
Lifting the Sanctions on Food and Medicine for Cuba is a First Step
(Washington, DC) - Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Seattle) made the following statement:
"Mr. Rangel, thank you for holding this press conference. We’ve been working on lifting the sanctions on food and medicine since 1993. I am extremely happy that the Congress has finally started the process of dismantling these outdated and ineffective sanctions. The sanctions did not hurt their intended targets; those who suffer are the innocent women and children of Cuba.
"Those of us who have fought long and hard for the end of the embargo are not satisfied with only a repeal of the food and medicine prohibition. Many of us are dismayed that Cuba will not be allowed to apply for agricultural and commercial credits to finance the purchase of commodities. We will not rest until these oversights are rectified, and all relations with Cuba are normalized.
"The US-Cuba relationship has long been tumultuous, and often patriarchal. The government’s policies towards Cuba should not continue to be ruled by the 1901 Platt Amendment and the 1904 Roosevelt Corollary to the 1823 Monroe Doctrine.
"Our policies desperately need to be updated to reflect the modern age, and I am happy that the Congress has finally started this process. Now that we have made the first step, we will continue to work for a full, cooperative, and mutually beneficial relationship with the people of Cuba."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 30, 2000
McDermott Asks Speaker Hastert to Invite PM Vajpayee to Address a Joint Session of Congress
(Washington, DC) - Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), a founding member of the India Caucus, today sent a letter co-signed by 40 members of the House of Representatives to Speaker Dennis Hastert asking that Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee be invited to address a joint session of Congress. The letter follows-up on a conversation McDermott had with Speaker Hastert regarding PM Vajpayee’s planned September visit to the United States.
Only the Speaker of the House of Representatives can invite a head of state to address a joint session. In 1994, McDermott convinced then-Speaker Tom Foley to invite then-PM P.V. Narasimha Rao to speak before a joint session.
McDermott accompanied President Clinton to India in March and attended the President’s speech to the Indian Parliament. McDermott said, "The speech and the reception that the President received were one of the high points of the entire trip. I was proud to be a part of that event. When I heard that the PM decided to visit the United States in September, I made getting him invited to address the Congress one of my top priorities."
The text of the letter sent to the Speaker follows:
June 30, 2000
The Honorable Dennis Hastert
Speaker of the
House
H-232 Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Speaker Hastert:
We are writing to you to urge you to invite Prime Minster Vajpayee of India to speak before a joint session of Congress. As you know, President Clinton traveled to India this past March and was given the honor of addressing the Indian Parliament. Prime Minster Vajpayee is set to repay that visit, tentatively scheduled for September of this year.
India is becoming an important focus of American foreign policy. India’s massive consumer markets, enormous middle class, aptitude in high technology, and judicial and political stability have begun to attract greater attention from American companies.
Indeed, most of our largest companies have operations in India. The growing economic relationship with India is being built on, for better or worse, the reality of India as a nuclear power. But we must also remember that India is a democracy in an unstable region, and a hedge against Chinese military influence.
We have a great deal in common with India; our commitment to democracy and law, our economic prosperity, our tradition of religious freedom. But perhaps the most important thing that ties us to India are the Indian-American citizens who have enriched this country beyond measure. There are over 1.5 million Indian-Americans, and their impact on engineering and technology, art and literature, and education and culture can be felt all across the nation. Indian-Americans are one of the most successful immigrant group in the history of the country, and so embody and exemplify the ideals of the American Dream.
Given our growing relationship, it is only fitting that Prime Minister Vajpayee be given the honor of addressing the joint session of Congress. We urge you to invite him to do so when he travels to the United States. Thank you.
Sincerely,
[Original signed by:]
Reps. Jim McDermott, Carolyn Maloney, Albert Wynn, Rick Boucher, Frank Pallone, Robert Wexler, Zoe Lofgren, Darlene Hooley, John Tierney, David Minge, Gene Green, Bob Filner, Lloyd Doggett, Tom Campbell, Sherrod Brown, Adam Smith, Michael McNulty, Howard Berman, Eliot Engel, Robert Borski, David Price, James McGovern, Nick Rahall, Cliff Stearns, Jan Schakowsky, Rush Holt, Brian Baird, Pete Stark, Barbara Lee, Marty Meehan, Jay Inslee, Tom Lantos, Connie Morella, Frank Mascara, Nita Lowey, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Knollenberg, Robert Menendez, Julia Carson, Johnny Isakson, and Jim Ramstad.
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McDermott
announces the appointment of William Yu to U.S. House of Representatives
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