Jack Kingston

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. I think that the point you have raised is a very valid point and something that is very good discussion matter. Unfortunately, we believe that it is authorizing on an appropriation, as the Chair has confirmed, but that's probably the concern far more than the philosophical concern. So I think that if you and the gentleman can work on some other language, make another run at it, I cannot speak for the real chairman of the committee, but I think that there are going to be a number of people who would have sympathies with you because I think you have raised a very valid point.

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

Mr. KINGSTON. I accept the amendment because I believe that the things that Mr. Dicks is talking about in this amendment actually do move us in that direction. I would like to yield to Mr. Cole and ask him to clarify that because I want it confirmed.

Mr. KINGSTON. I thank you. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the passing of Mrs. Annabel Griner Alderman, also known as ``Miss Peaches.'' Mrs. Alderman was a beloved novelist, poet, talk radio show host, newspaper columnist and native of Nashville, Georgia. Mrs. Alderman spent the majority of her life in Nashville where she became a political activist through writing and performing. She appeared as a political comic under the name ``Miss Peaches,'' a self proclaimed nickname that would serve as the moniker for her alter ego as she performed concerts and monologues with her piano playing brother, Geunie Griner. Known for her creativity, Miss Annabel lived a colorful life and ingratiated herself in her community. Even as a child, she was very creative and talented, and wrote the song ``Willacoochee Callin' Moody Field'' after a chance meeting at a phone booth. Miss Annabel and her mother stopped to make a phone call in Ray City when she was just a girl and while they were waiting on the person inside the phone booth, she overheard the lady speaking to someone at Moody Air Force Base. She went home and wrote the song that she would later perform with her brother. This would be only the beginning of the pair's singing career; they also recorded comedy and gospel material through RCA with Mrs. Alderman acting as lyricist and lead singer. As much as she enjoyed performing, Miss Annabel also enjoyed writing and would go on to give herself another nickname, that of ``wordsmith.'' During the 1930s and 1940s, Ward Law Starling was one of the biggest newspaper publishers in the state of Georgia, with the Nashville Herald being part of his empire. However, after his untimely death, Miss Annabel swooped in to keep the paper running and once again paired up with her brother Geunie to successfully run the paper for a number of years. Mrs. Alderman graduated from the Georgia Regional Police Academy in 1983 and became an investigator with her family's law firm in Nashville. However, she continued to write, publishing a book of poetry, ``Lost Loves Don't Count'' in 1996. Then in 1999 she wrote her first novel, ``Family Man,'' which was nominated for several literary awards. During this time Ms. Alderman also penned a political column, ``About Right Now'' for the Valdosta Daily Times and was named Berrien County Republican Woman of the Year. Numerous poems, essays and short stories also followed and were published in Georgia magazines such as Valdosta Magazine, Flint River Review, Kennesaw State University's Golden Age of Poetry and Mercer University's Crossroads magazine. The south has many colorful characters in its history but in Berrien County, there will only ever be one ``Miss Peaches.'' I rise today to commemorate Mrs. Annabel Alderman as an enduring part of the history of South Georgia. May the Lord bless her family and her memory.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. KINGSTON. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. KINGSTON. I supported this when you offered it on the continuing resolution, and I plan to support it today.

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Chair, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. KINGSTON. I want to thank the ranking member for working with us on this bill. I want to thank all the minority and the majority staff for all their fine work. We would not be here today without them. At their request and because the hour is late and Members are eager to vote on this bill, I will submit the names of all the hardworking people who made this thing happen, but I wanted to say thank you on behalf of both of us. I yield to my friend from California.

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Chair, I want to, first of all, thank my good friend from Pennsylvania for talking to me about this amendment. Earlier this week, I expressed my concerns at that time, which I still have with it, and want to make a number of points. Number one, we're not 100 percent sure what this scores out in terms of budget authority. So there is that question over it. Number two, I want to say that while conservation funding is down, farmers still have access to $5.8 billion in conservation funding. And that's for private landowners. Actually, it's $5.868 billion, to be exact. I also want to make sure that my friends know that even though there are CHIMPs in this, changes in mandatory programs, that no conservation contracts will have to be canceled because of these limitations. The Federal Government cannot and does not break farm commodity or conservation contracts without significant consequences. We are aware of that. So we have made sure that none of the conservation contracts would be abrogated. And then finally I want to say to my friend the ranking member, just to underscore some of the sensitivities that we've been through in the last couple of days, that this actually does cut the WIC program, cuts the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, and it cuts the Conservation Reserve Program and a lot of the other programs which there has been so much passion about on this floor in the last couple of days. So with that, I do oppose the amendment, and I urge everyone to vote ``no'' on it.

Mr. KINGSTON. First of all, I want to thank my good friend from Tennessee for offering this amendment and her tireless work to try to reduce spending in our country, and I absolutely agree with all the statements that she has made. I do want to point out, though, that the only budget that has passed either body is the Ryan budget. I supported, as I know she did, the RSC budget, which is actually more conservative, but it did not pass. At least we did get a budget passed on the House floor. The Senate was unable to do that. Even though the Democrats are the majority party over there, the Senate rejected the President's budget 97-0, and apparently now they've given up and they're not going to try to pass a budget. The only bill that we have an opportunity to move is under the Ryan budget, which is what this bill reflects. It is a 13.4--actually it's higher than that because we cut it last night a little bit more, or we did some across- the-boards, but it's about a 13.4 percent cut already. Where the big money is--and I know my friend from Tennessee is as frustrated about this as I am--is in the mandatory spending. In fact, I have a chart over there. We don't have any pages or I'd bring it up here on the floor; but 86 percent of this budget is mandatory spending, and I use the word ``mandatory'' loosely because it's really on automatic spending. That's where the big money is. Unfortunately, we can't get to it. This portion that we do have control over used to be $23 billion; and right now, under our budget, it's $17.2 billion. Let me show my friend this because I think it's very important. The blue line is the mandatory spending of the Agriculture budget, and the red line is the discretionary spending. The point is that this committee has jurisdiction over the red line. We do not on this committee have jurisdiction over the blue line. Yet you can see the blue line is the one that's going up and that the red line is the one that's actually going down. So that's one of my frustrations about the entire process and about the rules which we're governed by; but I want to make sure that my friend knows, under the portion we do control, that we did cut it 13.4 percent. I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. KINGSTON. I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake).

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Chair, I yield to the gentlewoman from South Dakota (Mrs. Noem).

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. KINGSTON. For clarification purposes, I yield to my friend from Texas (Mr. Flores).

Mr. KINGSTON. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my reservation--as I read the amendment, it looks like it is in order--and I move to strike the last word.

Mr. KINGSTON. I oppose the amendment, and do so out of caution. What I want to say to my friend, who knows a lot about this and I know is a very careful steward of tax dollars and very deliberative in his legislation in general, I am not that familiar with the issue. I am not certain why location is that important, and I am very reluctant to tie the hands of the USDA in seeking the best contract. I want them to do what a business would do and be free from micromanagement by the U.S. Congress. If the location is outside of the United States or the location is in Illinois or in Georgia or in California, I want them to do what is best for the USDA and the best for the taxpayers. As I understand this amendment, it would limit that sort of flexibility. So I oppose the amendment; but I want to say to the gentleman from Illinois, I certainly will continue a dialogue with you on this, because I do realize I need to learn more about it. But on that basis, I do not want to tie their hands based on location. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KINGSTON. Will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. KINGSTON. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and also to bring up the fact that the cormorants are a problem all over the country. And certainly, as one from Georgia, I know exactly that you in Alabama are having the problems that they have in the Northeast and in Mississippi and all the other places. I will absolutely work with the gentlewoman from Alabama to make sure that the USDA is addressing your cormorant problems. And I will work with the ranking member from California to make sure that it does not get forgotten. I also appreciate your diligence on the cormorant issue. Realizing that the report is a little bit misleading as we have written it, I think you have underscored something that we all are behind you on. So we will work with you on it.

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

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2112.