John Linder

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. 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 purpose of debate only. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 450 is a closed rule that provides for the consideration of H.J. Res. 78, a continuing resolution that will ensure further appropriations for fiscal year 2004. The rule provides for 1 hour of debate in the House 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 the joint resolution and provides for one motion to recommit. Mr. Speaker, the provisions of the most recent continuing resolution, H.J. Res. 75, are scheduled to expire this Friday, November 21. The House Committee on Appropriations continues to work hard to complete the unfinished appropriations business of Congress, and we are hopeful that this work can be completed in the coming days. The resolution before us today, H.J. Res. 78, ensures funding through this weekend until November 23. The House of Representatives passed all of its fiscal year 2004 appropriations bills long ago. We should complete Foreign Operations, Transportation-Treasury appropriate bills in the very near future. In addition, negotiations are under way to complete Agriculture, VA-HUD, Commerce-Justice-State, Labor-HHS, and the District of Columbia appropriations bills as well. However, to ensure that essential government services continue to operate while the omnibus appropriations bill is completed, this rule makes in order another continuing resolution to give us the additional time to complete the appropriations process in an orderly manner. Mr. Speaker, under the joint resolution that H.J. Res. 450 makes in order, the provisions of the most recent continuing resolution will be extended for 2 more days. The Committee on Rules approved this rule last night. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting its passage. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I move that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 10 a.m. tomorrow for morning hour debates.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. 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. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 430 is a closed rule that provides for the consideration of H.J. Res. 76, a continuing resolution that will ensure further appropriations for fiscal year 2004. The rule provides for 1 hour of debate in the House, 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 the joint resolution and provides for one motion to recommit. Mr. Speaker, we passed the first continuing resolution, H.J. Res. 69, in late September, continuing appropriations through October. The provisions of H.J. Res. 75, which was the second CR enacted by this Congress, are scheduled to expire this Friday, November 7. Under the joint resolution that H. Res. 430 makes in order, the provisions of that second continuing resolution would be extended until November 21, 2003. In brief, for the fiscal year 2004 appropriations bills that have not yet been enacted into law, the CR provides 2 additional weeks of funding for those Federal departments and agencies whose operations depend on the enactment of those appropriations. We are approaching the completion of this first session of the 108th Congress, but there are a number of appropriations bills and other must-do legislative priorities that we are working to resolve. Additional time is needed. Nonetheless, it is our goal to have this represent the last continuing resolution, as the appropriators are working hard to complete conference reports and are moving toward making the tough decisions that will lead us to the end of the appropriations process for this year. This continuing resolution gives us the time needed to complete this process in an orderly manner. The Committee on Rules approved this rule yesterday. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting its passage. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 430 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose 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. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 417 is a closed rule that provides for the consideration of H.J. Res. 75, a continuing resolution that will ensure further appropriations for the fiscal year 2004. The rule provides for 1 hour of debate in the House 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 the joint resolution and provides for one motion to recommit. Mr. Speaker, we passed the first continuing resolution, H.J. Res. 69, during the final days of September and it became Public Law 108-84. The provisions of H.J. Res. 69 are scheduled to expire this Friday, October 31. Therefore, under the joint resolution that this rule makes in order, the provisions of that first continuing resolution will be extended until November 7, 2003. In brief, for the fiscal year 2004 appropriations bills that have been enacted into law, the continuing resolution provides an additional week of funding for government agencies. Mr. Speaker, we did pass a continuing resolution last week that conjoined the six fiscal year 2004 appropriations bills that have been passed by the House, but the other body clearly needs additional time to complete the funding work for the coming year. The House has passed each of the 13 regular appropriations bills. However, to ensure that essential government services continue to operate, this rule makes in order another continuing resolution to give us the additional time to complete the appropriations process in an orderly manner. This rule was approved by the Committee on Rules yesterday. I urge my colleagues to support it. I know all of us in the House wait with great anticipation the completion of the appropriations work by the Members of the other body. Until that time, this resolution will provide a continuation of funding for government agencies until these important issues are resolved. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 417 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this rule. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose 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 purpose of debate only. (Mr. LINDER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 407 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 407 is a closed rule providing for the consideration of H.J. Res. 73, which is a continuing resolution that makes further appropriations for fiscal year 2004. The rule provides for 1 hour of debate in the House, 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 the joint resolution, and provides for one motion to recommit. Mr. Speaker, this joint resolution provides an additional week of funding for government agencies because the fiscal year 2004 appropriations bills have not yet been enacted into law. Specifically, this resolution extends until November 7, 2003, the provisions of the previous continuing appropriations resolution that were to expire on October 31, 2003. In addition, this resolution conjoins the six fiscal year 2004 appropriations bills that have passed the House, but have not yet been considered by the other body. Mr. Speaker, we are approaching the completion of the first session of this 108th Congress, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this rule so we may proceed to the consideration of the underlying continuing resolution. While the House has passed each of the appropriations bills, it is clear that there are issues left to resolve in the other body that will require additional time to complete the work on the remaining appropriations bills. I am hopeful that the continuing resolution covered by this rule will give us the time we need to complete the appropriations process in a thoughtful and orderly manner. The rule was approved by the Committee on Rules yesterday, and I urge my colleagues to support it so we may proceed with general date and consideration of the joint resolution. The House hopes to complete the appropriations process as soon as possible, and this resolution will provide the time to resolve the issues that remain outstanding. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Is the gentlewoman prepared to yield back?

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, does the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter) have any further speakers?

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Houghton), our colleague on the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. LINDER. 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. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 370 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 370 is a modified, closed rule that provides one hour of debate in the House, equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Res. 370 waives all points of order against consideration of the bill. It provides that the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Ways and Means, as modified by the amendment printed in Part A of the Committee on Rules report accompanying the resolution, shall be considered as adopted. The rule also provides for the consideration of the amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in Part B of the Committee on Rules report, if offered by the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin) or his designee, which shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent. The rule waives all points of order against the amendment printed in Part B of the report. Finally, H. Res. 370 provides one motion to recommit, with or without instructions. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in approving this fair and balanced rule, so that the full House can proceed to consider the underlying bipartisan charitable giving legislation. The basic thrust of H.R. 7 is to make a number of changes to the Tax Code in order to provide incentives for individuals and businesses to make charitable contributions. I suspect that we would all agree that the Tax Code should not discourage taxpayers or businesses from seeking to help others. H.R. 7 is designed to ensure that charitable contributions of many different kinds can flourish by providing a variety of tax incentives for people and employers to help those in need. I applaud the hard work and leadership of my friend and colleague, the majority whip, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), and his principal Democrat cosponsor, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Ford), in bringing this legislation to the House floor today. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in voting for this rule so that we can move on to consideration of the underlying legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.