Henry Bonilla

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I would agree with the gentleman from Wisconsin on the point about trying to associate Members with activities that are well known throughout this town and throughout this country that were inappropriate. But, unfortunately, when Members come and lack truth and substance and real meat in their debates, they often times resort to try to take a debate to that level. Anyone who opposes a person on an issue or an amendment in this body, to have them associated with someone who has really done themselves wrong and done the country wrong is really bad form and, in the view of I believe the overwhelming majority of the Members of this House, really uncalled for. So if there are Members here who want to conduct their debates at that level, it is unfortunate, and we cannot stop them. But, again, I hope that we would conduct this debate at a substantive level. And with that, I would again oppose the amendment strongly. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, once again, it appears that the author of the amendment is seeking to acknowledge some frustration and to quote one of his lines here, I do not know what else to do. Again, I would offer advice to not just this Member but any Member that was seriously concerned about further fiscal responsibility again to emphasize this bill is almost $100 million below last year's bill. We have cut the number of Member projects in it. We cut discretionary spending again last year. So those of us who are truly trying to make a difference are making a difference. Is it enough? Of course not. But if Members are actually looking for honest roadmaps to success in this area, again, the area of entitlements needs to be addressed. So I would suggest that any Member who really wants to tackle fiscal responsibility in this area go for it. That would matter. Dealing with a budget process before we get to this point, that would matter. Offering amendments that are substantive again, but that would actually have an effect on spending, whether it goes up or down, that would matter. So, again, to address the frustrations that are being expressed here, those are three clear roads to further fiscal responsibility that I would suggest to any Member who might ask. But, again, to offer amendments that have nothing to do with cutting a dime out of this bill is useless. And I can understand why the feeling of desperation might occur. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur).

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson) to begin the debate for those opposed.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished, hardworking gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Schmidt).

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur).

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, historically when Members target projects in this body, everybody understands the game. When you talk about tomatoes and aquaculture and programs that have names that do not immediately jump out to people with a true purpose, the press releases go out, the media circles when you walk out of the House Chamber, and there you have your name in the paper as a great slayer of funding programs. But again, the hard work when you talk about fiscal conservatism as we have again last year cutting spending, trimming this bill down almost $100 million, cutting back on the Member requests, all of those things, that is the work that is done in the trenches day in and day out. So, again, we all realize in this body what makes a headline. So if you make fun of the tomato and you make fun of the research project that is in a particular State, more power to you. But I think for the most part we are going to find that the Members of this body understand that again there is not a single dime that is going to be cut out of this amendment. True reform comes from the kind of work in the trenches that I have been suggesting, entitlement reform, budget reform, those are the processes that really matter. Or again, in the end, amendments that actually make a difference in terms of spending or cutting the budget. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I would say to the gentleman who is offering this amendment directly, it is not that we cannot cut spending, because we have. The issue here is that he cannot cut spending with any of the amendments that he is proposing. So, again, I do not know how much more clearly I could say that or any other Member of this body. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur).

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise and report the bill back to the House with sundry amendments, with the recommendation that the amendments be agreed to and that the bill, as amended, do pass.

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that in the engrossment of the bill, H.R. 5384, the Clerk be authorized to make technical corrections and conforming changes to the bill.

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 609, the College Access and Opportunity Act of 2006. This legislation will take important steps toward strengthening access, accountability, and affordability for students, teachers, and higher education institutions across our country. I am particularly pleased by provisions in this legislation to provide year-round and increased Pell Grant aid to certain students. In addition, H.R. 609 will strengthen the TRIO programs, which I have strongly supported since my first election to Congress. Specifically, this bill will increase the minimum grant levels for TRIO programs and ensure our country's veterans are eligible to participate in all TRIO programs and services. I am also pleased that this legislation will reduce red tape and improve flexibility for Hispanic Serving Institutions. Education is one of the foundations of our Nation's prosperity. This legislation will aid our Nation's students, teachers, and higher education institutions to undoubtedly continue this prosperity. While I do support this legislation, I am, however, very concerned with several provisions regarding private higher education institutions within this bill. Private higher education institutions serve as valuable centers of ideas and innovation in our country. I strongly urge my colleagues to find an equitable agreement to address the issues of concern to private higher education institutions within this bill as it moves forward in the legislative process.

Mr. BONILLA

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

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Thornberry makes absolutely clear that this is a situation we need to deal with. While there are tragedies that continue in the gulf states and much of the money being debated in this appropriations bill is going for a much-needed cause, the people in Texas that have been affected by these fires are not getting the attention that others are getting and have been getting now for many, many months. This has been going on for so many days and weeks with no end in sight. I want to assure Mr. Thornberry this is only the beginning in this process. While he is one of the great leaders in this effort to try to provide some relief for many of our producers that have been affected, the entire delegation from our State is working hard on this. I commit to the gentleman that we will work diligently to try to remedy this and to provide some assistance for these producers that have been affected.

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to recognize and offer my congratulations to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo for receiving honors as the ``Large Indoor Rodeo of the Year for 2005'' and ``Top Rough Stock Remuda of the Year Award.'' Everyone who worked together to support our world-class rodeo in San Antonio deserves our commendation. Each year, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association honors the best of the best in contract personnel, stock contractors and rodeo committees during the annual ``Contract Personnel Awards Banquet'' on the eve of the National Finals Rodeo. The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo took home the prestigious honor of ``Large Indoor Rodeo of the Year for 2005.'' The award is especially meaningful because winners are voted on by over 10,000 of their peers in the rodeo industry. It is the equivalent of the national championship for rodeo. San Antonio made history in 2005 by bringing some new athletes into the rodeo: the roughest, toughest and best livestock from sixteen different stock contractors all over North America. This prompted the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association to create a category especially for the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo: the ``Top Rough Stock Remuda of the Year Award.'' The Executive Director Keith Martin and the over 4,000 dedicated San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo volunteers deserve special recognition. It is their hard work and dedication that makes the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo one of the best in the Nation.

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the service of an outstanding individual, Taryn Fritz Walpole. Mrs. Fritz Walpole has served the people of Texas for 7 years and the people of the 23rd District for 5 years making sure that her fellow Texans remained fully informed on congressional actions. Mrs. Fritz Walpole's talents were recognized shortly after her graduation from Southern Methodist University. Her preparation there as a dual journalism/political science major anticipated her future career and helped lead to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison making her a Deputy Press Secretary in 1998. Her successes and contributions to Senator Hutchison's efforts led me to ask Mrs. Fritz Walpole to join my staff. During her 5 years in my office Mrs. Fritz Walpole has set a standard for work that will be hard to replicate. Her accomplishments were recognized with promotions and she currently serves as both my Communications Director and Senior Advisor. Taryn's gifts were apparent at a very early age. As a crusading reporter at Ravenswood Elementary School Taryn founded the school's first newspaper, the Ravenswood Raven in Burke, Virginia. Never one to rest on her laurels, Taryn was soon at it again, founding the Spicewood Times, at Spicewood Elementary School in Austin, Texas. Therefore, her current achievements should be a surprise to no one. My colleagues, in the days ahead the State of Texas will be losing the services of Mrs. Fritz Walpole as she embarks on a higher calling. She will be serving the entire nation as Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of the Federal Food and Drug Administration. Texas' loss is America's gain and our nation will be well served by the professionalism of Taryn Fritz Walpole as she ensure that all Americans are adequately informed on FDA actions.

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for yielding me this time. Mr. Chairman, this is a rare moment in this town when we have a major issue that has widespread bipartisan support. I want to thank the gentlewoman from South Dakota, my original partner in this cause, who just spoke about this and gave a little history as to how we got this bill rolling several months ago; and also Chairman Goodlatte under whose jurisdiction this bill originally fell, the STOPP Act that we filed, because so many of the programs that we are talking about here today that are funded come through the Agriculture Committee. We would not have been able to come this far without this partnership with Ms. Herseth and Chairman Goodlatte; and I want to thank both of them, not just personally, but I know there are a lot of people out there that are very grateful for the support they have given this and have brought us to this day where we have a bill that, again, was reported out of the Agriculture Committee by a vote of 40 to 1 and then out of the Judiciary Committee with only three people voting against it. That is a profound statement across partisan lines in this Congress. It also has widespread support among groups like the NAACP, the AARP, religious organizations, and the American Farm Bureau. I think people understood the impact this bill could have because it is very simple, Mr. Chairman. It says to communities that if they do not care about property rights, they are not going to get their money. No property rights, no money for 2 years. And that is going to make any local government or any State think long and hard before they take that first step toward trying to take someone's property for private gain. This bill, of course, does not do anything to infringe on the community's rights and the constitutional history in this country of communities taking private property for public use, i.e., airports, roads, bridges, et cetera. It does not touch that at all. So I believe that is why we were able to come to this state. We have gone through the process, worked through regular order. We had our hearings. Attorneys scrubbed the bill. People asked questions, what if this happened, what if that happened. And we tried to address every issue that has come to us thus far. Again, it is a great day when we have two committees coming together, two parties coming together. People from all over the country, whether they live in a rural area or whether they live in an urban area, have the same concern about property rights after the Kelo decision. I look forward to a resounding victory today for the people of this country.

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 520, I call up the conference report on the bill (H.R. 2744) making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, and for other purposes.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to bring before the House today the conference report on H.R. 2744, which is the Agriculture appropriations bill, which not only covers agriculture, but the Food and Drug Administration and related agencies for fiscal year 2006. Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge the good work of the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), my ranking member and good friend, who has contributed greatly to this process. It has been a real pleasure working with her and all the members of the subcommittee in getting to this point today. I believe we have produced a good, bipartisan conference agreement that does a lot to advance important nutrition, research and rural development programs and still meet our conference allocations on discretionary spending and mandatory spending. My goal this year has been to produce a bipartisan bill, and I believe we have done a good job in reaching that goal. This conference agreement does have significant increases over fiscal year 2005 for programs that have always enjoyed strong bipartisan support, and they include the following: Agricultural Research Service, $33 million; Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, $33 million; Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, $7 million; Food Safety and Inspection Service, $21 million; Farm Service Agency, $48 million; Natural Resources Conservation Service, $12 million; Rural Economic and Community Development Programs, $115 million; Domestic Food Programs, $6.5 billion; and the FDA, $40 million. We have delayed implementation of the country-of-origin labeling for meat, produce and peanuts until 2008. The House voted for delay on COOL while this bill was considered on the floor. There are serious concerns about how this law would be implemented, and this delay gives the Department and the committee of jurisdiction the time to make this policy work. Mr. Speaker, we refer to this bill as the agriculture bill, but it does far more than assist just basic agriculture. It also supports rural and economic development, human nutrition, agricultural exports, land conservation, as well as food, drug and medical safety. This is a bill that will deliver benefits to every one of our constituents every day, no matter what kind of district you represent. I would say to all Members that they can support this conference agreement and tell all of their constituents that they voted to improve their lives while maintaining fiscal responsibility. The conference agreement is a bipartisan product with a lot of hard work and input from both sides of the aisle. I would like to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), who serve as the distinguished chairman and ranking member of the full Committee on Appropriations. They have been very supportive in moving not only this bill, but other appropriations bills through the Congress as quickly as possible. I have tried our best to put together a good, solid bill that works for all of America. Much of it is compromise, to be sure, but I believe it is a good compromise and good policy. In closing, I would also like to thank the subcommittee staff for all of their hard work. None of this could get done without the strong, good commitment, the hard work that this staff puts in day in and day out, sometimes well into the night and covering many weekends: Martin Delgado, the subcommittee clerk; Maureen Holohan, Leslie Barrack, and Jamie Swafford of the majority staff; and Martha Foley on the minority staff. In addition, I want to thank our detailee Tom O'Brien, and a great Texas Aggie, Walt Smith, from my personal staff. Mr. Speaker, I would urge all of my colleagues to support this conference agreement. Mr. Speaker, I include at this point in the Record tabular material related to this bill. [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH28OC05.001 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH28OC05.002 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH28OC05.003 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH28OC05.004 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH28OC05.005 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH28OC05.006 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH28OC05.007 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH28OC05.008 Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, I reluctantly yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield).

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the very distinguished gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham).

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her comments.

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the conference report to accompany H.R. 2744.