Henry Bonilla

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order against the amendment because it proposes to change existing law and constitutes legislation in an appropriation bill and, therefore, violates clause 2 of Rule XXI. The rule states in pertinent part: ``An amendment to a general appropriation bill shall not be in order if changing existing law.'' The amendment imposes additional duties. I ask for a ruling from the Chair.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order against the amendment because it proposes to change existing law and constitutes legislation in an appropriation bill and, therefore, violates clause 2 of Rule XXI. The rule states in pertinent part: ``An amendment to a general appropriation bill shall not be in order if changing existing law.'' The amendment gives affirmative direction in effect. I ask for a ruling from the Chair.

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BONILLA. Yes, Mr. Chairman. It is my understanding that there are benefits to the Organic Transition Program being managed as part of the Integrated Organic Program, and my intention is that it should continue to be managed as it was in fiscal years 2004 and 2005.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham), a member of the subcommittee.

Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kanjorski).

Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, the gentleman has worked very hard on this project; and at this time, as chairman, I would like to commit to trying to resolve this problem to his satisfaction between now and the conference.

Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, we are willing to accept this amendment and move forward.

Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, in the interest of moving forward and moving to the amendment process, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, I would like to briefly explain the amendment and the purpose of the amendment. First of all, the amendment cuts $40 million from the Common Computing Environment account and increases the value-added market development grants by $40 million. The amendment also reduces the Conservation Operations account by $20 million, and it increases the Watershed Rehabilitation account by the same amount. I understand that Members may have some concern with these transactions that we are involved with here, but the reason that we are doing this today is to accommodate some legitimate concerns raised by the authorizing committee about some of the mandatory limitations in this bill. I have worked closely with the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Goodlatte) over the years, and I intend to work with him closely in the future, especially as he prepares to write a new farm bill. While I would have preferred to keep the CCE account funded at the highest level possible, I am confident that when we get to the conference with the Senate that we will be able to restore funding to this account. So let us keep this funding moving forward, and I ask for Members' support on this amendment. It is my understanding that the minority has agreed to this amendment, so we hope to expedite debate.

Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, the gentleman has worked very hard on this important issue, which is very important to students around the country; and we would be happy to accept the amendment and move forward and move it to a vote if the gentleman would like.

Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, I rise to oppose the amendment. Although I certainly understand and share the concerns that many Members have about plant, pests and diseases that devastate crops and trees, I must say that we have done our absolute best to fund eradication and control of plant pests in the bill that you see before you today. Funding includes, among other things, for the Asian long-horn beetle, it is at $15.3 million. Also, across the country, the glassy-winged sharpshooter, 24 million; the emerald ash borer, 14 million; Citrus canker, $36 million, very important to our Members in Florida. And the list goes on. Emerging plant pests alone are funded at over $100 million in this bill. In addition, tens of millions of dollars go to fund programs to stop Medfly, the boll weevil, brucellosis, the gypsy moth, and many others. Every Member has some interest represented. And we have carefully balanced things out so that agriculture is best protected, and that is what we all want. Those are the appropriated amounts, and when there is an emergency situation, the Secretary has authority to use funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation for eradication and control. For sudden oak death, an additional $9 million was approved this year, and requests are pending for 11 million for the emerald ash borer and $5 million for the glassy-winged sharpshooter. We are watching the use of emergency funds closely. There is no way that appropriated dollars substitute for the emergency funding that these agriculture emergencies demand. I am also very concerned about the amendment due to the offset proposed to cut the common computing environment. I do oppose this amendment once again and urge a ``no'' vote.

Mr. BONILLA. I thank the gentleman.

Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, I rise in opposition the gentleman's amendment. This is a very important issue, and we tried our best to fund it at the appropriate level. I have had discussions with the gentleman about trying to work with him as we move to conference to attempt to increase this line item somewhat, to address the problem that the gentleman is addressing in a very sincere way here today.

Mr. BONILLA. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that title VII be considered as read, printed in the Record, and open to amendment at any point.