John Culberson

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. I move to strike the last word.

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chairman, I want to be sure to point out to the House that the account is authorized. Under the Passenger Rail Improvement Act, in order for the metropolitan D.C. area to receive the funds, Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia have to match the money, which certainly helps. And I also note that the committee has included language, which is very important, that the Federal Government cannot provide more than 60 percent for the first time. That's important that the local communities do their fair share. All of the money in the Passenger Rail Improvement Act for the D.C. area has to be used for safety and capital improvements only. They can use the money only to buy new cars and equipment to improve the safety of the system. And as my good friend from New Jersey has pointed out, if there's clearly evidence, apparently, of misuse of the funds, the inspector general can certainly investigate that and even bring criminal charges against those responsible for using the funds for a purpose other than that authorized by the Passenger Rail Improvement Act. I think it's also important to point out that the bill, overall, cuts New Starts funding by $419 million and cuts the request for administrative funding for the FTA by $66 million. These bills that Chairman Rogers has presided over that all of us on Appropriations have worked so hard on, for the first time we've got a whole series of bills reducing spending year after year. There's much, much more to do. And while I'm certainly in philosophical agreement with the gentleman's amendment, because of the careful balance the bill strikes in funding an authorized program, it can only be used for a limited purpose that must be matched, and the committee would like to ask for a ``no'' vote on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. CULBERSON. If I could reclaim my time, the gentleman and I worked together arm-in-arm on so many good conservative causes, and in this one area we do have a slight disagreement. I would point out that the statute requires that the metropolitan Washington transit entity has to submit a grant application. Under the law, they can't just automatically access these funds. They have to submit a grant application that complies with all the Federal Transit Administration's requirements. They have to demonstrate that the money will be used for the narrow purposes authorized by the act for safety and capital improvements, and they must comply with all of the other requirements that every other transit entity in the Nation complies with. For all those reasons, to keep the careful balance the committee has struck, the overall reduction in funding, the committee would ask for a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, the committee strongly supports the gentleman's amendment. It is entirely important and vitally important that the Congress defund the administration's unilateral attempt to bypass the laws of the United States and implement an amnesty program by Executive order. It's unacceptable. It violates the law. As all of us in Texas know--I had brought with me tonight for this debate, because it's so important to remember, that the first image on the first coin of the Republic of Mexico states, liberty and law. There is a wonderful image of the liberty cap over the scales of Justice. It points out quite correctly, the Republic of Mexico's, the first coin they ever minted, that there can be no liberty without law enforcement. We strongly support the gentleman's amendment. How vitally important it is that we restore law and order to the border, that we enforce the immigration laws in this country in a way that is evenhanded and fair and just, because only when the border is secure, only when the immigration laws are enforced, will we be able to actually have a healthy commerce with Mexico, will we be able to actually have a guest worker program with Mexico and allow people to come here legally to work so we can actually restore the back and forth trade that has made Texas and all the border States so prosperous. We strongly support the gentleman's amendment and urge its adoption.

Mr. CULBERSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This amendment is common sense. The city of San Francisco, for example, officially declared itself an illegal alien sanctuary city by the Board of Supervisors in 1989, and now lawmakers are taking that a huge step further by actually creating legislation to grant illegal aliens official city identification cards. The head of the Public Information Office of the National Association of Chiefs of Police reports that in California, illegal aliens in San Francisco are being assured through costly Spanish language advertising campaigns that they will never be reported to Federal law enforcement agents such as ICE, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or Homeland Security investigation, or the U.S. Border Patrol, or any other Federal agency that could initiate the deportation process. That's a direct violation of the Federal law that the gentleman from Pennsylvania just read. I'm proud to coauthor this amendment with my friend from Pennsylvania because he's exactly right. This amendment will save lives. If a local law enforcement agency refuses to follow Federal law, they should not expect to be rewarded with Federal grant money, and that's what this amendment would do--cut off Federal grant money to sanctuary cities across America. I suspect you'll see them repeal their sanctuary city policy very rapidly when they discover they don't have access to Federal money. Most recently, in the city of San Francisco, a renowned gang member, a member of the MS 13 gang, was just convicted for three first-degree murders in 2008. A father and two sons were murdered by this illegal alien who had multiple run-ins with law enforcement authorities in San Francisco. But because of the sanctuary city policy in San Francisco, he was not deported. I urge the Members of the House to support the gentleman's amendment. This amendment will save lives.

Mr. CULBERSON. I yield back the balance of my time. Amendment Offered by Mrs. Blackburn

Mr. CULBERSON. I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray).

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. I rise in support of the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. CULBERSON. Yes, sir. That's correct. I'm about to run out of time.

Mr. CULBERSON. I agree to the amendment and accept it. I think it's important. Had the cemetery director in Houston been a veteran, this problem never would have arisen. I also thank the gentleman for bringing both of these amendments to the floor tonight. I have personally witnessed the cemetery director interfering with the funeral services of veterans. It is outrageous, just absolutely unacceptable. I thank the gentleman for his amendments and speaking on this amendment first. I have no objection and will accept this amendment.

Mr. CULBERSON. Will you offer an amendment, because you're a very capable legislator, and may we postpone the consideration of this amendment briefly so that you could amend his language to let Texans run Texas and Arizona run Arizona and Ohio run Ohio?

Mr. CULBERSON. We've got other work.

Mr. CULBERSON. No, but we could fix this, though. Let's fix this.

Mr. CULBERSON. We're pleased to accept the gentleman's amendment. We accepted it last year, and we're proud to accept it this year to help encourage the VA to look to better-known businesses.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. CULBERSON. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I know that my colleagues feel the same way I do that one of the most gratifying, most rewarding parts of this extraordinary job that we're entrusted with in addition to being guardians of the Treasury, to being good stewards of the public's business, is to do everything in our power to help ensure that our men and women in uniform have all that they need to do their job as they stand guard and over this Nation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in every scary, dark corner of the world. Today, Madam Chair, it's my privilege, with my good friend from Georgia (Mr. Bishop), to lay before the House and ask for its approval the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill for 2013. On our committee, we feel as though we are the peace of mind committee for the United States military. We want to ensure in the work that we do in the Military Construction and in Veterans Affairs that we have done everything we can to ensure that our men and women in uniform don't have any worries, that they don't have to worry about when they are in uniform; they don't have to worry about the quality of their barracks, their living conditions; they don't have to worry about the condition of the military facilities that they are living and working in. We want to make sure that they have got everything that they need. The United States Navy, when it comes to piers or sub pens, or the Air Force for runways, or the Marine Corps or for the Army, we have done everything in this bill that the Pentagon has asked us to do and fully funded it in a way that's fiscally responsible, Madam Chair. We have also taken care of our veterans, of our men and women in uniform when they leave the Armed Forces and become veterans, because they will spend most of their time out of the military, and we wanted to be sure that our Veterans Affairs Administration was fully funded, that they have got all the resources that they need in order to take care of our men's and women's health care needs, psychological and physical, and in a way that's fiscally responsible. In this environment, Madam Chair, in this era of record debt and deficit, our subcommittee, along with the full Appropriations Committee, has done everything in our power to find ways to save money, to be good stewards of the public's precious, hard-earned tax dollars. And in our subcommittee, something we have done together in a bipartisan way, arm-in-arm, we have made sure to ferret out every unspent dollar from previous years that could be returned to taxpayers, to avoid spending increases while making sure that our men and women in uniform are taken care of while they are in uniform and also, as I say, when they leave active duty and become veterans under the care of the Department of Veterans Affairs. We have, because of decreases, Madam Chair, of the Air Force, the Army, the Pentagon, our Armed Forces are reassessing their deployment needs around the world. We've seen a reduction this year in the level of spending requests for military construction around the world that enabled us to increase spending for the Department of Veterans Affairs while holding overall spending for this bill flat. That reflects not only our finding cost savings in various parts of the bill, but, in particular, the Air Force, among the branches of the service, asked for significantly less money this year. But we have also taken into account in our legislation the pay freeze that is in place for the entire Federal Government. We have applied that to Federal civilian contractors working in the military construction field or for the VA. We have also, Madam Chair, in our legislation, made sure that the VA uses their construction funds within 5 years. In the past, they simply could hold that money year after year after year; and we want to make sure that that money is used for the purpose that Congress intended it, and that is to build VA facilities. We have been able to find savings in a variety of other areas, Madam Chair, all of which have permitted us to fully fund the request of the Pentagon in giving our Armed Forces around the world everything that they need to do their job without a worry in the world. If they are out there on watch, guarding the United States of America and protecting our liberty, our committee has made sure to give them as much peace of mind as possible. Two other things I want to make sure to bring to the Members' attention that is extremely important. At the Veterans Administration, for years there's been an effort to get a combined medical record. When you're in uniform, on active duty, you have got one set of medical records with the Department of Defense. Then when you enter the Veterans Administration, that medical record is not compatible with the computer systems or their recordkeeping systems at the Veterans Administration, which causes terrible inefficiencies and threatens lives, endangers the health of our men and women in uniform. This committee has taken very seriously the task that Chairman Rogers has charged us with to ensure that we move the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration as rapidly as possible to a unified medical record. Then when our young men and women leave the active duty service, that medical record stays with them in the VA. Finally, I want to also make sure to thank my good friend, Sanford Bishop from Georgia. It's been a privilege to work with Mr. Bishop and his staff. We are blessed with an extraordinarily capable staff on this committee. This bill, more than I think perhaps any other, Madam Chair, illustrates how unified the Congress is in support of our men and women in uniform. We have found common ground on every section of this bill, on every issue. We've worked together arm-in-arm to make certain that the men and women of the United States military can focus on their mission of protecting this great Nation with complete peace of mind, knowing that the Congress of the United States is behind them and will support them in all they do. I reserve the balance of my time. [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH31MY12.001 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH31MY12.002 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH31MY12.003 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH31MY12.004

Mr. CULBERSON. It's my privilege at this time to yield 5 minutes to the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers).

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 5854, and that I may include tabular material on the same.

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chair, at this time I would like to yield 2 minutes to my good friend, the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Nunnelee).

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to a friend and colleague from Texas, Judge John Carter.

Mr. CULBERSON. Yes, absolutely, Chairman Mica. We're going to ensure that there are enough Federal resources to complete that veterans facility, but also to ensure that we're good stewards of the treasury and that our tax dollars are spent wisely and carefully. And we're going to make certain that the VA is not wasting money and not engaging in cost overruns, sir.

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chairman, I want to assure my colleague from California and all the Members, and all the members of the military tonight listening, if you have retired recently, our subcommittee is going to really bore in on this and make sure that the claims backlog is dealt with, that it's done expeditiously. Obviously, we want to make sure that these men and women who, again, have earned everything that this country can possibly give them, to make their life comfortable and secure, to make sure that their health is taken care of, that that claims backlog is dealt with. I also want to reassure my colleagues--and I know that we've got a rapt audience at the Veterans Administration here tonight as well--that we are going to really bore in on this medical records problem. It is utterly unacceptable for Federal bureaucracies to not work together on something as vitally important as medical records. The example that Chairman Rogers gave us of a young man who lost his eyesight because of a bureaucratic inadequacy and just foolishness is just not acceptable. We had another story of a young man who actually lost his life in Bill Young's district, Chairman Young of Florida. So we're going to make sure that those issues are dealt with, and again, to make sure that our men and women in uniform don't ever have to look over their shoulder to worry about what the United States Congress has done to support them. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CULBERSON. Will the gentleman yield?