Tom DeLay

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the business in order under the Calendar Wednesday rule be dispensed with on Wednesday next.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I offer a resolution (H. Res. 445) and I ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at noon on Monday next; and further, when the House adjourns on that day, it adjourn to meet at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 20, 2005, for morning hour debates.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished whip for yielding to me. Mr. Speaker, the House will convene on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. We will consider several measures under suspension of the rules. The final list of those bills will be sent to Members' offices by the end of the week. Any votes called on these measures will be rolled until 6:30 p.m. On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will consider additional legislation under suspension of the rules, as well as two measures under a rule: H.R. 2123, the School Readiness Act of 2005, and H.R. 250, Manufacturing Technology Competitiveness Act of 2005.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding. As the gentlemen knows, the Rosh Hashanah holiday falls in the middle of that week; and while we wanted to plan the voting schedule for that week around that holiday, and we are still trying to do that, we still believe it may be necessary for the House to be in session at some point in that week.

Mr. DeLAY. I appreciate the gentleman yielding. The bill that passed out of committee, by the way, would do nothing for New Orleans, nor would it do anything for the disaster relief in Alabama or Mississippi either. What the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) is referring to is a negotiation that has been ongoing to create, out of this building fund, at the GSEs an opportunity to change the bill and allow housing to be built in these devastated areas. That is the process around here. It is democracy when Members are negotiating a change to the bill; and in changing that bill in the way that has been suggested and supported, obviously, by the gentlemen from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) other Members ought to have the opportunity to look at this bill and negotiate a bill that would receive the same sort of ratio here on the floor, rather than having a contentious battle on the floor and writing the bill on the floor. We try our best to write bills in committee, but when the bill changes from committee to the floor, negotiations are created, and we are in the process of those negotiations, and that is the way this process works. The gentleman from Massachusetts has been here a lot longer than me, and he understands that.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DeLAY. I guess the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) forgets or has a short memory. I think we came into special session to spend $10.5 billion just a few days after the disaster hit, came back the next week and spent $51 billion to go to immediate relief. We have passed some six to eight bills in the last few days that directly affect people and their ability to get their lives back together. I do not think anybody, and certainly not this House, is dragging its feet on anything. What the gentlewoman is talking about is a process that, frankly, will take months to get the money that we are talking about in order to build the houses that she wants; and being able to negotiate a few weeks or days to get this bill right and not get it wrong I think is very much the responsible way to proceed.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, the total of $62 billion that we have authorized FEMA to spend is designated already in present law. FEMA already knows what they can and cannot spend that money on, and that I know has created some frustrations with people. You cannot have it both ways. You cannot say this is too much money, and we do not know how to spend it, yet be frustrated when FEMA is complying with the law and when they are spending the money. That creates a problem. As the gentleman knows, the problem is we have a disaster unlike we have seen in this country, not just the hurricane but the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people for a very long period of time and displaced not just out of the area but out of their State, which has created new concerns and new problems; and we are trying to address those immediately. But the administration is addressing many of these issues within the law through waivers or redesigning certain programs, and a lot of it is being taken that way. But there are some things that we must do. The committees, hopefully working in a bipartisan way, are looking at all of those kinds of issues; and that is where the six or eight bills that we have passed over the last 2 weeks have been coming from. Understanding that those students, for instance, that may have lost their Pell Grants, in anticipation of going to universities that have closed, need some fix. We fixed that. We tried to develop a system where we could make available more TANF funds earlier, and we fixed that. We went down the line fixing those things that we thought needed fixing immediately. We are still working on others. I have to tell you that the Senate does not see it the same way, and they are sitting on these bills and not passing them, and I would urge all Members of the House to contact their Senators and talk to them about picking up these bills and passing them, because they are incredibly important to people that need these changes.

Mr. DeLAY. The gentleman is absolutely right, and I hope Members will pay attention to this unusual process that we are using. The gentleman is right. To what extent we can, we ought to use regular order, but these are unusual times. And there are things that need to be done immediately. And I do not think the people that have been devastated by this disaster want us to wait a week to vet things and that kind of stuff, particularly if you were one of those students that was trying to get into another university and could not transfer your Pell grant to that other university. I think they are appreciating that we are trying to move as quickly as possible so they can do that. That is just one example of many examples. The point is that we are trying to do this in a bipartisan way. If there are ranking members that are not being consulted, then I want to hear about it. Members should understand that we are trying to get it out to the Members and we are more than willing to hear anything from anybody, so they should be working through their ranking member and on our side of the aisle, their full committee chairman. But there are some things that we need to get to the floor as quickly as possible. At any rate, it is taking several days to get these bills done so Members have an opportunity to participate and have their input. We are going regular order on most of the bills, but there are some that need attention immediately; and that is why we moved quickly in consultation and cooperation with the other side of the aisle. And we thought these were all bills that had everybody's consent because we even checked with the Senate, we checked with the administration, and we thought these bills could move quickly. Unfortunately, the Senate sees it differently.

Mr. DeLAY. I appreciate the gentleman yielding. I do not know, other than in the press, and in many of these issues the press has gotten it wrong, that there has been any supplemental suggested by the President of the United States. He has not contacted my office. As far as I know, he has not contacted the Speaker's office, nor the chairman of the appropriations office about another supplemental. Quite the contrary. They are trying to avoid having another supplemental and trying to spend the money properly and get it to the people that need it. So I am not aware of any supplemental certainly in the short term.

Mr. DeLAY. I appreciate the question, because Members need to be aware that the Committee on Energy and Commerce is working on a fuel bill to try to address the concerns, particularly of supply and the lack of refining in this country. The gentleman knows that there were a lot of issues that were dropped out of the energy bill that was signed by the President about a month ago that would be having an effect right now. We are going to revisit those issues. There are other issues that have come to mind. People are starting to understand that as the cold weather starts closing in on us that the cost of fuel oil is going to be astronomical, that the increase in electricity costs are going to be astronomical. The cost of natural gas is going up, and we all understand that supply is the real problem; and we are going to try to address that and hopefully address it as soon as we can, do it in regular order, and bring it to the floor for consideration of this House.

Mr. DeLAY. There is really no way of knowing. It is really up to the committee and how fast they can do their work. I might say that the chairman of the committee's wife is having a baby today so that has created a problem. Not for him, but for our schedule. So they are working as hard and as fast as they can, and it is incredibly important for us to deal with this issue as soon as possible.

Mr. DeLAY. I appreciate the gentleman yielding and for the question. The gentleman probably knows that I think today the Committee on the Budget has sent a notice to the House that they have postponed the process until the end of October because of what is facing us now. We thought it would be better to do that, and the Committee on the Budget agreed. And so this process will not even be started until the middle of October. As the gentleman also knows, the budget that was passed by the House allows for two bills, one an entitlement reform bill and another a tax bill. We anticipate taking advantage of both and trying to reform entitlement spending so that real money is getting to real people that need it. And we also anticipate some sort of tax bill because we feel like, particularly under the present circumstances, to continue this good economy that we have got, we hope to enhance it even more.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago, Congress reconvened early to pass an emergency funding bill to meet the immediate relief and recovery needs of the Gulf Coast communities ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Last week, we met the growing humanitarian and economic needs by passing an additional $51.8 billion in emergency relief. This week, Mr. Speaker, with the levee repaired, the flood waters receding, and the immediate funding needs met, the House's focus must shift to the broader policy implications of the Katrina disaster. Millions of our countrymen, men, women, and children, have been displaced all around our Nation. That means communities taking on larger populations, schools seating more students, hospitals seeing more patients, businesses serving more customers, roads and public transportation accommodating more travelers. The first responders and emergency managers on the ground in the affected region from all levels of government are in charge of the national response in the coming days. Congress must look at the coming months and years. Toward that end, last week, the Speaker and Senator Frist announced their intention to create a bipartisan, bicameral, select committee of senior Members and Senators to review and report findings about the preparations for and response to Hurricane Katrina. Isolated partisan attacks of the bipartisan committee notwithstanding, it will allow and require the Congress to do its constitutional duty to review the recovery and the policies that govern it. The joint select committee will work, as even its shrillest critics must know. Meanwhile, this week, the House is at work developing targeted policies for the ongoing national response, from a bill to protect Katrina's good Samaritans from predatory trial lawyers, to a bill to encourage more charitable giving to the Katrina private relief effort by providing targeted tax relief for the contributors to the recovery. These and other policies will be brought to the floor as they are ready so that the House can respond as quickly and as effectively as possible. Our entire Nation has its work cut out for it, recovering from this tragedy. The House will meet its responsibility, in the aftermath of this emergency, to lead.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding; and as the gentleman knows, once a whip, always a whip.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I understand. I appreciate the gentleman yielding. Mr. Speaker, the House will convene on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. We will consider several measures under suspension of the rules. A final list of those bills will be sent to the Members' offices by the end of the week. Any votes called on these measures will be rolled until 6:30 p.m. On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will convene at 10 a.m. for legislative business. We expect to consider additional legislation under suspension of the rules relating to the Hurricane Katrina relief. In addition, we plan to consider two bills under a rule, H.R. 889, Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2005, and H.R. 3132, the Children's Safety Act of 2005.

Mr. DeLAY. I appreciate the gentleman continuing to yield. Entitlement reform is still one of the highest priorities of the House this fall. However, due to the events of the last 10 days, it has been replaced as the number one priority. Therefore, we will likely postpone consideration of these very important reforms for a number of weeks. We are still trying to decide when we might approach this issue, based upon all the issues that are flooding in from all Members of things that we need to do in light of the disaster of Katrina. So I just think it is probably a little early for us to give specific dates as to when we would go to markup and those kinds of things until we get a better handle on what we need to be doing to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to take care of those victims of Katrina.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding, and I appreciate the question because if we look at all the work that we need to do, we could probably get finished earlier. As the gentleman knows, we are sort of at the mercy of the schedule of the Senate. Conversing with the Senate and looking at our schedules, particularly as the gentleman has mentioned, Katrina has risen to the top priority of this House. It has pushed other issues back a week or two. We still have to get our appropriation process done. There is the entitlement reform process that needs to be done. There are some other issues we would like to get done. And, at the same time, there are not just short-term issues dealing with Hurricane Katrina, but there are intermediate issues we will have to be dealing with, major policy considerations, and who knows what else the hurricane may give us. And trying to put all that together and on a calendar, it is pretty obvious to me that we will be here until at least, at least, the Friday before Thanksgiving.

Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman will continue to yield, Mr. Speaker, I would say that it is difficult to predict at this point in time. Clearly, if the only items of the House for the House to consider next week are the ones I just outlined, then we could complete our work by Thursday afternoon. However, if additional legislation relating to Katrina becomes necessary or a conference report becomes available, Members should be prepared to have votes on Friday.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary may have until midnight on Friday, September 9, 2005, to file a report to accompany H.R. 3132.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at noon on Monday next, and further, that when the House adjourns on that day, it adjourn to meet at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 13, 2005, for morning hour debates.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time, and I appreciate him and the gentleman from Wisconsin working together on this package and bringing it to the floor. It is incredibly important to a lot of people that are suffering. I have to begin my remarks by telling a little bit about myself and what I have been doing, to give you an idea that I know from what I speak. I was raised on the gulf coast. I have been through many hurricanes. I have watched responses to many hurricanes. I have watched the ability to respond to many hurricanes. I understand what the response is supposed to be. I also in this particular case come from Houston, Texas, and I am incredibly proud of my fellow citizens in the Houston-Galveston region in opening their arms and their compassion and wallets and resources and homes to those that are in need, especially our brothers and sisters from Louisiana. But we also consider that the third disaster. The first disaster was the hurricane, the second disaster was the floods in New Orleans, and the third disaster was what do you do with over 2 million people in a very short period of time? And in just days, Houston put together a virtual city for 60,000 people. Then I went through the same frustrations that many of those on the ground in New Orleans and Mississippi and Louisiana and Alabama went through, because you are dealing with the same things; you are dealing with the same people, FEMA, the Federal Government, State government, city government, all governments, and you run into the same frustrations. So, as is normal about me, I decided to do something about these frustrations, and I went to Baton Rouge where the control center was. I wanted to see the organization, the system, how was it working, what was going on on the ground. I get into Baton Rouge, and I quickly realize that Baton Rouge was the biggest brunt of the third disaster because Baton Rouge, which I think is a city of about 500,000 people, all of a sudden saw within one day their population double. Double. And yet they were able to handle it. Sure, there were problems. Sure, there was suffering. But Baton Rouge citizens opened their arms and brought these people in. That was the first place that people could come, coming out of New Orleans. Then from there they went to Lafayette, and they received another big brunt of the third disaster, and they handled it. Sure, there were frustrations all over the place and there was, frankly, a breakdown in the system. The system is designed, if it works properly, from the bottom up. The system depends on the local government, whether it be mayor or county, dealing with whatever disaster problem they have; and when they find out they cannot deal with it, they go to the next level of government, to the Governor and to the State to help them out. And then when neither the State nor the locals can deal with it, they come to the Federal Government. That is how the system is supposed to work. That is how it is set up. And when that breaks down, everything breaks down because we have to realize that every hour is absolutely precious after a disaster. I have seen this my entire life. Every hour certain things have to happen. But when we have a situation where people will not make a decision, we have lost that hour and we are into the next hour, and then we have to circle around and come back into the first hour to clean up the mess while we are trying to handle and catch up to the other hours. And then when it really starts breaking down, entire chaos happens. And in this case, it was not entire chaos. I would describe it as organized chaos. It was pretty messy. Now, you can look at this disaster two different ways. You can offer nothing constructive except blaming when people need services at the moment and you spend your time and your caring time pointing fingers or making assumptions or calling for complete changes in government, and you spend all your time and energy focused on that. Or you can understand that there are problems when we have 2 million people or we have three States in dire need as if they were at war and deal with the problems and the frustrations at that time that we find them and find answers immediately and move forward and find ways to fix them and find ways to take care of these people, find them the clothes, the shoes, the diapers, the food, the water, find them the cots that they need, find them the health care system that they need, find them a military officer or a wonderful soldier to go down and pull them out of a house, find them the Coast Guard helicopter to go and pull them off the top of the house, find the wherewithal in just a day or so to plug up the levees. I mean, you can either point your finger or you can see what happened. The mirror of America that I saw was the most incredible outpouring of America that I have seen in my lifetime. All over this country, all over this country, people immediately got trucks and filled them up and drove 2,000 miles. One of our own Members did that from Nevada. Two thousand miles. This happened all over the country. Bringing supplies, bringing their hearts, bringing themselves and putting themselves in harm's way, especially in the case of New Orleans. I mean, it was unbelievable. Our first responders from all over the Nation are down in Mississippi and Louisiana and Alabama. People are opening their doors to the people that need it. Can the Members imagine, and I do not know exactly what the total population of the disaster is, but I would imagine it is around 4 million people, 4 or 5 million people, but this country absorbed 4 to 5 million people overnight. That is an incredible accomplishment. And we ought to be proud of that. And what are we doing in Washington? We are pointing fingers. We are talking about process. We are doing the things that, frankly, disgust people when they see it on television. Now, we have chosen to push that all aside because there is plenty of time for that later. What is important right now, I mean we are not even out of the save-the-life phase. We still have people in New Orleans that we are finding and pulling out of these houses. The next phase is called the recovery phase, and we are sort of in that in certain parts of the country, especially in Mississippi and in Alabama. We ought to be focused on that. These people are out in these shelters. Can the Members imagine, in the Astrodome. Look at your television. There are 10,000 people or more on the floor of the Astrodome living next to each other. That is unsustainable. We have to do something with these people. We have to give them hope for the rest of their lives. They are asking the question, What do I do tomorrow? And we have to give them that answer. What do I do next week? What do I do a month from now? How do I get my kids in school? Where do I find my wife? In some cases, where do I find my pet, my dog? What do I do tomorrow? I have no money. My bank is closed. This hit me at the end of the month, and I am out of money. What do I do? We have got the answer because we are focused on answering those questions. We are focused on giving them the relief that they need. We have to give them the relief they need so that they can start planning their lives. One does not sit around after a disaster and not have some way of knowing how they are going to get back into a house, how they are going to be able to have a little privacy. They are living on the floor of the Astrodome with 16,000 other people. There is no privacy on the floor of the Astrodome. They have got to have some way of knowing what is going to happen to them tomorrow. We have focused on that. And bringing this bill to the floor pays for a lot of it. I know the American people, some of them, are worrying about all this money. Mr. Speaker, 5 million people, 5 million Americans, deserve our finding a way to make them whole. We are not even asking to make them whole. That was a misstatement. What we are asking is to give them a little hope over the next few weeks so that we can take care of their needs and get them back up and running again. Now, some would say we need to take over their lives and dictate to them and tell them what to do and put them back. That is not what we are talking about here. We are talking about the very essentials that we need for the recovery process and the beginning of the rebuilding process. And it is expensive because there are a lot of people, and there was an incredible amount of damage. We are not just writing a blank check. We have got some safeguards. We have got safeguards built into this bill, and we have got safeguards built into the law that already exists so that they can only spend money on things that should be spent on and not be frivolous about it and throw it away. Sure, there is going to be wasted money. We cannot deal with 5 million people and not waste some money. But the bulk of the money is going to go to the people and the process and the property that deserve it to get back on their feet. This is incredibly important, and it is too important to play politics with. It is too important to point fingers at. It is too important to second-guess. It is easy to be a Monday morning quarterback, but you should have been in that control room where those people were making life and death decisions, people that stayed up and got no sleep and very little food for 5 to 6 days straight trying to make the right decisions to save people. And what happens when we come up here? They point the finger. You did not make the right decision here. You did not take care of needs there. You did not do this; you did not do that. The point is if we look at the big picture, it is a phenomenal accomplishment by everybody involved. It is unbelievable. I am constantly struck by where we are today, just a little over a week from the worst catastrophe that this country has seen, I guess, certainly in recent history. We ought to be proud about that; and, most importantly, we should be proud of ourselves. We should be proud of our American brothers and sisters.