John Culberson

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. CULBERSON. Does the gentlewoman support the amendment?

Mr. CULBERSON. That was my point. I think it is important. We are here in this Chamber looking at George Mason, who refused to sign the Constitution because he was so concerned that the power of the Federal Government would just absolutely obliterate----

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I would be happy to split the time with the gentlewoman. I am claiming the time in opposition, although I do not oppose it. The gentleman still has some time remaining on his initial time. I will yield in just a moment, but I really think it is important in this age of electronic communication that we in the Congress debate and be keenly aware of the new boundaries.

Mr. CULBERSON. I yield to the gentlewoman from California.

Mr. CULBERSON. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CULBERSON. Reclaiming my time, with that understanding, I want to make sure we reserve the right of DEA to get a court order to do their work. With that understanding, I withdraw my opposition and will accept the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CULBERSON. I yield 10 seconds to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chairman, I reserve a point of order against the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentlewoman's amendment.

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. CULBERSON. I continue to reserve the point of order pending the gentlewoman's withdrawal of the amendment. Madam Chairman, I want to reassure my colleague that I will continue to work with her and my ranking member, to work on this as we move through conference, as we discussed in full committee. I appreciate the gentlewoman's withdrawing the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds. I want to thank my good friend and colleague from New Mexico. He is absolutely right. We have increased funding for the space operations account by $129.5 million, and we will make sure that that funding is adequate to support the space communications components with that increase.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg), my good friend.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Ross).

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, could I inquire as to how much time remains on each side?

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to my good friend from Wisconsin (Mr. Duffy).

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, it is a distinct privilege to yield 3 minutes to the gentlemen from Texas (Mr. Smith), the distinguished chairman of the full Science, Space, and Technology Committee, my colleague and good friend.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. As we conclude the debate on this bill, it is important for all of us here today to know that, Members of the House, this process is open. Members can come down to the floor and offer an amendment, 5 minutes per side. We have in this bill prioritized our funding, as we all do in our private life and our business life. Following the good advice of financial guru Dave Ramsey, you don't spend money you don't have, and try to eliminate debt at all possible costs. We in the majority have done our very best to make sure that we are living within our means. Although the budget caps--I know there is a great deal of frustration among my Democrat colleagues on the limitations on spending. That is the law that was suggested initially by the White House. It is important that we do all that we can to minimize the debt that we pass on to our children and grandchildren. The budget caps are reality, and we have, within the limitations that we have, prioritized the funding in this bill to make sure that law enforcement is number one; the FBI and the Department of Justice are taken care of; that the National Science Foundation, in fact, is funded at a historically high level. We have given them a $50 million increase. We have also funded NASA at a historically high level since the Apollo program. I would certainly like to see the American space program given more. As more money becomes available, if we find an opportunity as we move through conference, of course, we will work hard to make sure that we will plus-up funding for the sciences and space exploration everywhere we can. I heard my colleagues mention the Legal Services Corporation, which does important work in representing the poor. We will certainly do our best to find additional funding there. I will also be filing legislation to give attorneys a tax deduction, dollar for dollar, for work that they do donating their time to the poor. I think that is a far better way to get legal services to the poor, through the Tax Code, rather than by appropriating our taxpayers' hard-earned tax dollars. In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I want to point out to the Members that, above all, this legislation will ensure that the laws, as enacted by Congress, are enforced. If Federal agencies want the privilege of spending and using our constituents' hard-earned tax dollars, they will need to demonstrate through their spending plans, through their presentations to this committee, that they are actually enforcing the law as written by Congress. We will, throughout the course of the year, engage in vigorous oversight to ensure that our money is not only wisely spent, that it is prudently spent, that it is only spent when absolutely necessary, but that our constituents' hard-earned tax dollars are only spent to enforce the law as written by the people's elected representatives. I urge my colleagues to join us today in voting for this important legislation. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I look forward to working with the chairman of the Judiciary Committee to ensure that these prisoners are not released. I will work diligently with my colleague from Philadelphia to find additional funds as we move forward in the process. The last thing we want is these people being released. It has been a privilege for me to work with you and your staff. I am very privileged to follow in the footsteps of your colleague from Virginia, Frank Wolf, who was chairman of the CJS Subcommittee, and I have continued that close working relationship. We will do everything we can to find funding to make sure that these Federal prisoners are not released early. That is a subject near and dear to my heart. I am very sensitive to it. We had a Federal judge in Texas running our prisons for 25 years, William Wayne Justice; and I sued him, as a State representative, to end his control over the prisons because one of the main things he was doing was causing the early release of prisoners to go victimize Texans, which is utterly unacceptable. So this is a top priority. I will work with the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah).

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. CULBERSON. Will the gentleman yield?