Doc Hastings

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 151 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the time. Mr. Speaker, I find that the arguments that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle were using were interesting arguments. They were based on the whole process of what we are supposed to do here in the House, or in the Congress. They, of course, only mentioned what they wanted to mention that would enhance, presumably, their position; but they forgot one very, very important part, step in this whole process, and that is the adoption of a budget which, of course, is a blueprint that all of our appropriators have to go through on all of the 13 spending bills. Now, by law, by law, that budget has to be passed by both Houses in the spring, which meant that the budget should have been passed last spring. We did pass it in the House. The other body, with the same majority here as our minority, did not pass the budget. So we had no blueprint. And we know that we have to give and take as we go through this whole thing. So that was never mentioned whatsoever on the other side about the process. That made it very difficult; it would have made it very difficult had we passed appropriation bills over to the other body to try to reconcile when we have no blueprint as to where we are supposed to be spending. So that was left out conveniently by my colleagues when they were talking. So, Mr. Speaker, as I said in my opening remarks, this has been a long, difficult process. I said in my opening remarks that there are some good things in it, a lot of good things in it; and there are a lot of bad things, and we will hear about that. But in the end, we have to get on with the business of the people; we have to put '03 behind us so that we can start with '04. And I am certainly going to be one Member who is going to work as hard as I can with both sides of the aisle to make sure that we have a budget this year. I hope the other body has a budget. And I hope that we can pass the appropriation bills in a timely manner, because we do not know what is going to be ahead of us in this year with all of the challenges that face us. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Speaker, I just remind my colleagues that conference reports are never amendable. They always come to the floor in this fashion. But I also would like to remind my colleagues that in the time that our distinguished chairman of the Committee on Appropriations has been chairman, he has always brought and asked for open rules on the appropriation bills. So I just wanted to clarify that for my colleagues.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 71 waives all points of order against the conference report and against its consideration. The resolution also provides that the conference report shall be considered as read and provides that upon adoption of the conference report the House shall be considered to have adopted H. Con. Res. 35. Mr. Speaker, this day has been a long time coming. The omnibus appropriations measure that we will take up in a few minutes has followed a long and torturous path to enactment. But rather than point fingers and try to assign blame for months of delay, I hope my colleagues will instead focus on moving this important legislation forward as expeditiously as possible. In this difficult budget climate, cuts have been made in a number of popular programs. However, at the same time the Committee on Appropriations has recommended increases in quite a few other important areas. In other words, Mr. Speaker, they have prioritized the spending in these difficult times. It is simply not possible in a bill this large to list all of the major provisions, but I would like to highlight several that may be of general interest to the Members. The bill includes an increase of $79 million for the Drug Enforcement Administration and more than $6 billion for immigration enforcement activities to strengthen our borders against terrorists and facilitate border crossings for legitimate travelers and workers. NASA funding has been increased by $513 million over last year and an additional $50 million is provided to investigate the recent Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy. The National Science Foundation will receive $536 million over last year's level, and the largest programmatic increase in the entire budget will go to the National Institutes of Health, which will receive a $3.8 billion increase. I am pleased to report that the Department of Energy has received increases in several important areas. This bill boosts DOE science programs by $72 million and the Department's environmental cleanup programs, including the one in the Hanford reservation in my district, will increase by $310 million above the current level. At the Interior Department I am pleased that the National Park Service budget will be increased by $78 million, much of it for badly needed maintenance of existing facilities. Funding for wildlife refuges and related programs will be increased by $53 million, and the National Forest System will receive a $31 million increase. Furthermore, I am pleased that funding for Veterans Administration medical care has been increased by $2.5 billion. Finally, in these difficult economic times, it is important to provide for the truly needy. In that regard this bill increases homeless assistance by $102 million and provides for an increase of $348 million in the special supplemental nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children or the WIC program. Mr. Speaker, no Member ever gets everything that they want in a massive appropriations bill, which inevitably includes certain items opposed by various Members. It is the nature of the appropriation process. And that is as true in this omnibus bill as in any other. It is not a perfect bill, as I am sure we will hear as we debate this bill, but I commend the chairman and the ranking minority member and their fellow conferees for making the best of an extraordinarily difficult situation. Accordingly, Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support both the rule and the underlying bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purposes of debate only. (Mr. HASTINGS of Washington asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 71 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, two years ago, Battelle selected a new leader for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in my home community of the Tri-Cities, Washington. She came to our Washington from a distinguished government career in the ``other'' Washington, the Nation's Capitol, as director of the Department of Commerce's Advanced Technology Program. Her tenure there, and her training as an analytical chemist, brought unique talent to serve this laboratory. She is also the first woman selected to serve as director of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. I am, of course, speaking about Dr. Lura Powell. Dr. Powell announced recently that she will step down as director at the end of this year, and I want to thank her for her commitment and leadership in the community. Among her accomplishments, Lura will be remembered for her commitment to leverage the capabilities of the Laboratory to develop academic partnerships in the region. While Director, she signed Memorandums of Understanding with the University of Washington for the Institute for Nanoscience, the Joint Institute for Cell Signaling, and the Center for Global Security; a Northwest Bioproducts Research Institute with Washington State University, University of Idaho, and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory; and The Collaborative Research and Education program with Oregon State Universities and the Oregon Health Sciences University. Dr. Powell's commitment to the Tri-Cities community and the state of Washington is evidenced by her many activities and board memberships. At home, she has been a tireless promoter of economic growth and science education. She helped create and advocate a vision for the Tri- Cities that calls on everyone to stretch the limits of what is possible. She serves on the board of directors of the Kadlec Medical Center, the United Way of the Benton-Franklin Counties, the Tri-City Industrial Development Council and the Three Rivers Community Roundtable and the Junior Achievement of the Greater Tri-Cities. For the State of Washington, she is a member of the Washington Roundtable and serves on the Washington Technology Alliance Board. I want to thank Lura for her leadership these past two and a half years and to wish her, her husband, Art, and her daughters much happiness and good health. I hope they will make their home in the Tri- Cities so that we may all continue to benefit from their involvement.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I would advise my friend I have no further speakers.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), the distinguished majority leader, for the purpose of making an announcement. (Mr. ARMEY asked and was given permission to speak out of order.) Legislative Program

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, we are in this extraordinary circumstance for a variety of reasons that we have talked about on the floor many times when we were debating prior continuing resolutions. Part of it, without trying to point fingers because that does not do us any good when we are trying to seek resolutions to point fingers, but nevertheless the fact is the other body has not completed a lot of work that is the basis for us trying to complete our work. It has been mentioned over and over, but I think it is worth mentioning one more time that the House by law, in fact both the House and the Senate by law, is required to pass a budget in the spring. The House did that and did pass their budget. The Senate did not pass their budget at that time and they have not yet. Maybe there has been talk going back and forth trying to settle on a figure, a spending figure; but the way that it has always been done in the past is that one body passes a budget, the other body passes a budget; and if there is a difference, you work out the differences. That is part of the give and take in the legislative process. That simply did not happen this year. As a result, the appropriation process that follows really did not have a blueprint. That caused us problems all the way throughout. In addition to that, there are a number of other important pieces of legislation that passed this body that, for a variety of reasons, for whatever, is hung up in the other body as we speak right now. So as a result, we are in this situation of then passing this CR to get us into the first week of the next Congress. By that time, and in fact there are probably ongoing discussions right now with the new majority in the Senate and the majority here in the House to come up with probably an omnibus appropriation bill that will pass and we will have that behind us as we go into the 108th Congress. I might make an observation, that what we are doing here is not unprecedented. It is not probably the ideal way things should be done; but in 1980 there was a CR that was passed over until the next Congress, so it has been done in the past. The reason why we are in that situation, as I mentioned, is simply that we are facing unprecedented inaction in the Congress in the other body. For that reason, we have to pass these CRs. Let us get on with our work. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, for the purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, during consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purposes of debate only. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 602 is a closed rule making in order the consideration of two measures. The rule provides that H.J. Res. 124 shall be debatable for 1 hour in the House with the time equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of H.J. Res. 124 and provides for one motion to recommit. The rule further provides that H.R. 5708 shall be debateable for 1 hour in the House with the time equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on the Budget. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of H.R. 5708 and provides for one motion to recommit. Mr. Speaker, H.J. Res. 124 is a resolution providing continuing appropriations to fund ongoing activities of the Federal Government through January 11, 2003. It does not allow initiation of new activities and, with certain exceptions, the resolution continues activities under applicable fiscal year 2002 terms and conditions. The resolution limits obligations on programs with high initial sped out rates so that the funding levels included in final appropriation actions will not be jeopardized. It continues authorizations for otherwise expiring programs and funding anomalies included in previous continuing resolutions and extends funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, and related welfare programs. Finally, H.J. Res. 124 provides authority to transfer up to $500 million to establish the new Department of Homeland Security and for unforeseen homeland security requirements. Such authority would expire on September 30, 2004. Mr. Speaker, section 2 of this rule provides for consideration of a bill that removes balances on the Pay-As-You-Go, or PAYGO, scorecard for the current fiscal year. This legislation is necessary in order to avoid automatic across the board cuts in a number of mandatory programs after Congress adjourns for this year. In past years, Congress has routinely voted on a bipartisan basis to pass similar legislation, and this rule simply will permit that to occur again. Failing to enact H.R. 5798 would force reductions in a number of programs including Medicare, Veterans Administration medical care, Indian Health Services, Migrant Health Centers, Community Health Centers, State Children's Health Insurance, Child Tax Credits, and the Commodity Credit Corporation, among others. Mr. Speaker, the measures made in order under these rules are necessary to permit the vital functions of the Federal Government to continue without interruption until a new Congress convenes again in January. Accordingly, I encourage all of my colleagues to support both the rule and the two underlying measures. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 602 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to remind Members that this is a rule that provides for consideration of a continuing resolution that will get us through November 22. We will be back in the House for reorganization the week after the election, and I know between now and that time there will be work on the appropriation process. But one thing that has been well documented here in debate on the floor is that the other body on a major piece of legislation is behind this body; and I think it appropriate that we leave and allow them to catch up, and one of the main pieces of legislation that they have to get done, and I believe they have to get done and I think the American people expects them to get done, is the creation of the Office of Homeland Security. So as we leave here with this CR in place until November 22, we will have the ability to come back and act on whatever legislation the other body were to pass that would require our work on this side. So that option is open, and our Members are prepared to come back at any time. Of course the most important piece of legislation is the creation of the Office of Homeland Security. The material previously referred to by Mr. Hastings of Florida is as follows: Strike all after the resolved clause and insert: That at any time after the adoption of this resolution the Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 123) making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 2003, and for other purposes. The first reading of the joint resolution shall be dispensed with. All points of order against consideration of the joint resolution are waived. General debate shall be confined to the joint resolution and the amendments made in order by this resolution and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations. After general debate the joint resolution shall be considered for amendment under the five- minute rule. The joint resolution shall be considered as read. No amendment to the joint resolution shall be in order except those specified in section 2. Each amendment may be offered only in the order specified, may be offered only by the Member designated or a designee of such Member, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. All points of order against such amendments are waived. At the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Sec. 2. The amendments referred to in the first section of this resolution are as follows: (1) by Representative Oberstar of Minnesota, adding the following new section: Sec.____. Section 137 of Public Law 107-229, as added by Public Law 107-240, is amended in the first sentence by striking ``; Provided, That'' and all that follows through ``Act''. (1) by Representative Bonior of Michigan, adding a new title consisting of the text of H.R. 4799. (2) by Representative Rangel of New York, adding a new title of the text of H.R. 5491.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence). (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham). (Mr. CUNNINGHAM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri).

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. (Mr. YOUNG of Alaska asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks, and include extraneous material.)