mr. speaker , reclaiming my time , my point is that the gentleman from maryland referred to this as being a closed rule . 
it is not a closed rule . 
mr. speaker , i will insert in the record a campaign plan from acorn that is very much a part of this debate today about what organizations and groups plan to do with politics and money . 
floridians for all -- campaign plan for a november 2004 minimum wage constitutional amendment initiative a florida constitutional amendment initiative to create a minimum wage of $ 6.15 with indexing will help defeat george w. bush and other republicans by increasing democratic turnout in a close election , will deliver wage gains to at least 300 , 000 floridians , and will catalyze the construction of permanent progressive political infrastructure that will help redirect florida politics in a more progressive , democratic direction . 
the 2004 election in florida is shaping up to be just as close as 2000 , which al gore won by 537 votes . 
although there have been demographic changes and growth throughout florida when the 2000 total is adjusted for 2004 it is still-razor thin : unofficial ncec analysis shows that gore 's adjusted margin is 404 , combined with the 2004 adjusted nader voter -- 25 , 138 ( assuming 25 percent stay home , 25 percent vote for bush and 50 percent vote for gore ) . 
the 2004 adjusted margin is 25 , 542 -- too close for comfort . 
the 2004 projections indicate addition turnout of 370 , 000 a total of 6.4 million , increasing the vote goal by 200 , 000 in order to have a winning margin . 
the other significant change in preliminary analysis is that the electorate will have 10 percent fewer ticket splitters than 2000 . 
with less persuadable voters , the need to increase base voters and turning out more infrequent voters is critical to reach the vote goal in florida . 
given that turnout is down when the economy is bad , since our voters are more discouraged , the need for a exciting ballot initiative strategy that works to address the needs of the most economically needy , and also likely democratic voters , is a fundamental part of a winning strategy in florida . 
florida acorn is building a coalition , called floridians for all , that will unite labor unions , community and civil rights organizations , the faith community , elected officials , sectors of the business community , political organizations , and thousands of grassroots activists behind the proposed strategy . 
at the same time , we are building the infrastructure to carry out the campaign and ensure the accomplishment of our objectives . 
the empirical evidence from other states indicates that initiatives generally increase voter turnout , and that minimum wage initiatives can significantly increase the turnout of supporters without increasing turnout from the opposition . 
[ acorn 's own experience running municipal and state minimum wage ballots [ denver , houston ( 1996 ) , missouri ( 1996 ) , new orleans ( 2002 ) ] supports the conclusion that these efforts are highly motivating to low-wage voters. ] in 2000 , 6.1 million voters came to the polls in florida , a turnout of approximately 70 percent . 
a targeted campaign that works to turn out 1 percent of that electorate , approximately 61 , 000 voters , would not only make the difference for the democratic presidential candidate but also lend significant support an estimated 300 , 000 florida workers would receive a direct raise from our proposal . 
moreover , thousands more would receive residual raises because of their wage level just above the new minimum . 
floridians sorely need this proposed raise . 
in 2001 over 28 percent of florida 's workers earned less than the poverty line ( approximately $ 8.70 an hour ) . 
a full 20 percent of those workers earned less that $ 7.69 an hour , a result that can be partially explained by the concentration of workers in the lowest wage job sectors -- retail and service . 
a whopping 37.3 percent of the state 's workforce is employed in service sector jobs , with another 19.6 percent in the low wage retail sector . 
the additional earnings of minimum wage workers , almost $ 700 mi1lion in the first year because we are starting this campaign early , and because we have a plan , the floridians for all campaign will challenge the institutional forces for progressive and democratic change in the state to build permanent political capacity . 
this is particularly important to rehabilitating the long-term prospects of our side . 
in a state where democrats control only 53 of 160 legislative seats , and zero constitutional offices , the need to rebuild infrastructure and capacity to win , has never been more important . 
for example , the signature gathering phase of the campaign wil1 lead to the construction of a vast database of hundreds of thousands of economic justice activists and voters in the state . 
these are the same voters the democratic party must court and win to regain a presence in state politics . 
the campaign will also force organizations like acorn to build massive field capacity to deliver these necessary the goals of this campaign are threefold : 1 . 
to increase voter turnout of working class , mainly democratic voters without increasing opposition turnout ; 2 . 
to increase the power of progressive constituencies by moving a mass agenda , putting together the capacity to get on the ballot and win , and by putting our side on the offensive ; 3 . 
to deliver a wage increase to hundreds of thousands of floridians . 
increasing turnout is crucial to a successful 2004 electoral strategy from the top of the ticket all the way down , through the many key races in florida that include not only the presidency , but also a key senate race , congressional seats and also significant turnover in the florida legislature . 
given these many key races , exciting and mobilizing constituency has never been more important , but in order to do this there must be a compelling issue on the ballot . 
though presidential year elections always result in higber turnout , the 2000 elections demonstrate the importance of every vote in florida ; and we do not want to leave giving our constituency the opportunity to vote themselves a raise is probably the most compelling reason to go the ballot box . 
candidates will make many promises , but turning out to vote for a higher minimum wage is a voter 's guaranteed chance to affect real chance at the ballot box . 
the process of building a statewide network of progressive forces can be accelerated greatly through the use of the minimum wage ballot initiative . 
though there are many groups that represent and advocate for the needs of social justice , civil liberties , and environmental concerns , the strength of these forces is limited through a lack of coordination amongst these groups . 
while the groups promote diverse agendas , a coalition of necessity is required in the face of organized and unilateral support amongst opposition groups . 
this ballot initiative will bring together progressive forces from around the state around a common goal : increasing turnout in the 2004 election in order to support campaigns which represent the interests of all our groups . 
approximately 303 , 000 workers would be directly affected by a minimum wage increase , putting millions of dollars into the pockets of working families across florida . 
in addition to the workers who are directly affected , many more will benefit through the rising tide of wages that results from raising the baseline wage level . 
unlike tax cut policies which supposedly put money into peoples pockets , but really just raid state and federal treasuries , a minimum wage increase will put real in the hands of those who need it the most : working families . 
we define winning here as accomplishing the three campaign objectives : 1 . 
driving heightened democratic turnout ; 2 . 
passing the initiative ; 3 . 
building permanent political capacity for future gains . 
our plan to win centers on a series of strategic premises , layed out as follows : 1 . 
first , we will divide the electorate into targeted groups of voters/potential voters , and make a strategic plan vis-a 2-vis each group . 
we are in the process of completing this plan , but roughly , the categories/plans are as follows : *african american voters -- according to ncec , there are 440 , 000 unregistered vap ( voting age population ) african-americans in florida . 
of the 440 , 000 unregistered voters statewide , 176 , 000 of these voters live in the 475 majority african-american precincts in florida . 
this campaign will work to register 50 , 000 of these potential voters through voter registration drives in the following major metropolitan areas : *non-cuban latino voters -- there are 800 , 000 hispanic voters in florida , 400 , 000 of whom are non-cuban , and 345 , 000 new potential hispanic voters of voting age population . 
the hispanic population is the fastest growing population in florida , and presents the democratic party with an opportunity to build a new , revitalized constituency within florida . 
mr. speaker , i yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from ohio ( mr. gillmor ) xz4001500 . 
