Jim Moran's News Commentary

The full emancipation of women, as the late Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun said, began with the Court legalizing a woman's right to choose in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

Last week was the landmark case's 31st anniversary and a woman's right to choose and have control over her own reproductive health is under attack by ideological and religious extremists and that, if these extremists win, women's rights will be sent back decades.

It is wrong for the U.S. Congress and the White House - two groups dominated by older white men - to usurp the right of women to control their own bodies and their own lives irregardless of their individual circumstances. We should be empowering women to make healthy decisions through education and not judicial or legislative fiat.

The best way to reduce the number of abortions in America is through comprehensive sex education, not through legislation that blocks women's access to reproductive health care and puts them in danger of losing their own life.

Time, effort, and money would be better spent on proposals that help women and their families plan for healthy families, prevent unintended pregnancies and protect a woman's right to choose.

Unfortunately, there are several pieces of legislation that do nothing but put up roadblock's to a woman's right to choose and make decisions that are best for her.

For example, the "Abortion Non-Discrimination Act" is really a back-door gag rule that allows HMOs to tell its doctors what care and counseling they may provide women. And the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act" won't protect women against violence. Instead, supporters of this legislation are using it to - as Sen Orrin Hatch as admitted - undermine abortion rights.

If President George W. Bush wins reelection, Roe v. Wade could be at very real risk of being overturned as one or two vacancies on the Supreme Court would allow him to appoint anti-choice justices and reverse three decades of progress.

The women of America currently have a right not enjoyed by millions of other women around the world - the right to choose what is best for themselves and their families' health. We must rededicate ourselves to ensuring that right of choice is never forfeited.

The $820 billion fiscal 2004 Omnibus Appropriations Act includes more than $14 million in funding for investments in transportation, housing, social services, and environmental conservation throughout Northern Virginia.

The legislation also includes funding for a 4.1 percent pay raise for federal employees. As a senior member of the Appropriations and Budget Committees I have worked hard to ensure federal employees receive the same pay increase as military personnel. President Bush had sought only a 2 percent raise for federal employees even though he recommended a 4.1 percent raise for military personnel, which I support.

Our federal employees work side by side with the military in the war on terrorism and defending our country as well as providing other essential services to the public.

They are entitled to the same raise, especially at a time when they see double digit increases in their share of health insurance premiums.

The Omnibus spending measure provides $328 billion in discretionary spending for seven of the 13 appropriations bills that have not yet been signed into law. Another $492 billion funds entitlement programs such as Medicare and guaranteed funds for highway and transit projects funded by gas taxes.

More than $6.7 million of the $14 million I secured goes toward vital transportation projects, with $4.7 million going to improvements along the Route 1 Corridor in Arlington and in Fairfax County. Of the $4.2 million, Fairfax County is slated to receive $500,000 that will be used to develop a message system and traffic light synchronization along the corridor. The balance will be used to offer a branded bus and express bus service.

Arlington's money will go to make right-of-way improvements along the segment of road in Potomac Yards to improve traffic flow. The money also paves the way for a future Bus Rapid Transit service in Arlington.

Also included is $800,000 to improve the intersection of South Glebe Road and Route 1 in Arlington and Alexandria, which is located near the Potomac Yards Shopping Center. Alexandria also will receive $75,000 to purchase two buses for its park and recreation department as well as $410,000 to launch a real-time internet/signage program to make its DASH and Metro bus service more user friendly.

The Federal Highway Works Administration and the National Park Service will be receiving $750,000 to build a safe pedestrian crossing that straddles the Dulles toll road that links Wolf Trap's Filene Center with the Barns of Wolf Trap.

Along with Congressmen Tom Davis and Frank Wolf, I secured $20 million for the mass transit project in the Reston-Dulles Corridor.

The gridlock in the Washington region may be getting worse each year, but this funding should help alleviate some of the congestion at our worst choke points, encourage the use of mass transit, and lay the foundations for a smarter transportation network.

Local law enforcement agencies will receive additional funding they need to fight crime in neighborhoods, improve communications equipment, and house terrorist suspects at local jails. Alexandria and Arlington each received $750,000, which each jurisdiction can use for its law enforcement priorities.

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments also received $1.5 million for the Metropolitan Area Drug Enforcement Task Force to combat the selling, use, and crime associated with drugs.

Our local police are asked to take on so many responsibilities during this time of heightened awareness. In addition to having to protect our streets from crime, they also must defend us against terrorist threats. I am hopeful that the additional funds in this bill will help them to do their jobs.

As part of the spending bill, there is $600,000 - or six $100,000 individual appropriations - for housing and economic development projects in Northern Virginia:

• In Arlington, $100,000 in federal funds will go to provide the Arlington Housing Corporation, Inc. with capital to rehabilitate blighted and abandoned properties and establish a new home ownership program in the name of the late Charles Monroe.
• Also, $100,000 will go toward building a community center in the Buckingham community in Arlington County.
• Reston's Southgate Community Center will receive $100,000 to build a new community center in partnership with the Reston Association and Fairfax County. The project will help revitalize one of Reston's older neighborhoods and replace a deteriorating structure with an attractive new facility that will offer recreational, educational and cultural opportunities to local residents.
• The Volunteers of America which runs the Bailey's Crossroads Community Shelter will receive $100,000 in funds. The funds will be used to make building/fixture upgrades that will improve services to its fifty residents and its after care program.
• Another $100,000 will go to Alexandria's Community Lodgings Family Learning Center to renovate the Family Learning Center and build a one-story addition at the rear building for classroom and assembly space. The Learning Center is a key resource for education and life improvements for families in transitional housing in the Arlandria community.
• The Tenants' and Workers' Support Committee will receive $100,000 for construction and renovation of a multi-purpose committee room in the Arlandria community of Alexandria.

Many Northern Virginia families will be helped by these non-profits who provide much needed housing opportunities and community and education centers.

Two other related projects that I and Congressmen Wolf and Davis secured funding for include $50,000 for Wolf Trap's Institute of Early Education Through the Arts and $200,000 for Healthy Families-Fairfax.

Another $100,00 in the bill will go toward building a Fairfax County Government Town Center along the Richmond highway corridor as part of an essential element in the revitalization efforts occurring along the highway and to support the community vision for a pedestrian-friendly, livable downtown environment.

There is also funding for key local environmental programs. Alexandria's Water Environment Federation's Water Environmental Research Program received $4 million, which will be used toward researching and developing effective ways to maintain, retrofit, and rehabilitate the massive network of water collection and treatment systems in the United States.

The Audubon Society's "Audubon at Home" program received $500,000 and the continued clean-up and improvement of Four Mile Run in Arlington and Alexandria received $400,000.

The Audubon program educates the public about the environment and the natural world around us, teaching us about backyard bio-diversity, the danger of pesticides, and how to care for animals and plants. And cleaning up our treasured Four Mile Run improves the Chesapeake Bay watershed, our water quality, and creates a more scenic waterway for Northern Virginia residents to enjoy.