John Linder

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am just rising out of confusion as to whether the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moakley) states that raising IRA limits to $5,000 is a tax cut for the rich. Does increasing contribution limits for 401(k) plans for regular workers, is that a tax cut for the rich? How about increasing the portability of retirement plans so people can move from one job to another? Is that just for the rich? If we simplify the pension system to encourage small businesses to offer their employees pension plans, is that another tax cut for the rich? We have got some small business tax relief in here to allow them to expense certain kinds of costs. Is this tax cuts for the rich? Or has the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moakley) just pulled out on old speech and rerun it one more time? Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, if a speaker on the floor makes a statement that is incorrect and someone corrects the statement, such as there is no money in here for school construction and in fact there is $15 billion, is that a statement of derision against the speaker or a correction of facts?

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am confused. I was sent down here to discuss the rule on a tax bill, and we have just debated the Bush-Gore presidential race. I am glad he got the time to do it because it shows that those folks in charge for 8 years did not get any of the things done that he wanted done. Point of Order

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would just like to make note that the letter the President sent us after we had passed this original bill in the spring of this year, the letter he sent us that asked could we sit down and talk about taxes, arrived yesterday. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Southern California (Mr. Bilbray). (Mr. BILBRAY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

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

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out to the gentleman who just spoke that that is not an omission. This is not a technical omission. That provision that he desires to be in the bill was not in the House bill and was not in any Senate version and has not had a hearing. It is the desire of this President and the rest of them to add a rider to an appropriations bill that would satisfy them. But it is not an omission. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. And did not include the coverage, the additional programs and spending he asked for right now at the end of the process.

Mr. LINDER. Which does not include the coverage for fires in the West, for example.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, does the gentleman's chart of the President's request include the additional demands he is making upon closing this process or only his original requests?

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 yield myself such time as I may consume, only to offer myself first in line to nominate my friend from Massachusetts as chairman of the national school board. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 646 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moakley), 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, House Resolution 646 is a closed rule providing for consideration of House Joint Resolutions 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, and 120. Each of these joint resolutions makes further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2001 for a period of 1 day. H. Res. 646 provides for 1 hour of debate on each joint resolution 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 these joint resolutions. Finally, the rule provides one motion to recommit on each joint resolution as is the right of the minority. Mr. Speaker, the current continuing resolution expires at the end of the day today and further continuing resolutions are necessary to keep the government operating while Congress completes consideration of the remaining appropriations bills. Because the President refuses to sign any longer duration, the joint resolutions covered by this rule each simply extend the provisions included in H.J. Res. 109 by one additional day. Mr. Speaker, after weeks of hard work, the House now just has three appropriations conference reports left to pass. However, as we work to reach agreement over the remaining appropriations bills, we will have to take valuable time away from our negotiations each day to pass 1-day continuing resolutions. President Clinton has threatened to veto any continuing resolution of more than one day's duration, so each day we must take the appropriators away from negotiations and bring them to the floor to vote on these 1-day measures. Mr. Speaker, if that is what the President wants, it is fine with me. I will come to the floor every day to vote for a continuing resolution to keep the government running. Like my Republican colleagues, I am determined to pass fair and fiscally responsible appropriations bills. We will stay here as long as it takes to do the people's business. Mr. Speaker, the Congress is responsible for only two-thirds of the appropriations process. The executive branch must also do its job to move the appropriations process along. We would all like to complete our business and go home, but our principles keep us here, and the Republican majority is committed to putting people before politics and passing appropriations bills that reflect the priorities of the American people. I hope that the President will join us in our good-faith efforts to negotiate a fair, bipartisan solution to the disagreements still before us. I am confident that the fair, clean, continuing resolutions covered by this rule will give us the time we need to complete the appropriations process in a thoughtful and judicious manner. This rule was reported unanimously by the Committee on Rules yesterday evening, and I urge my colleagues to support it so we may proceed with general debate and consideration of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 637 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston), a member of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) chairman of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the previous question so we can move on with the vote on the rule and get the continuing resolution on the floor to keep the government open, running, and responsible until we finish our work, our very difficult work this year. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman wishes to stick to his principles with respect to debt reduction, he can support these bills, because each of these appropriation bills has a special line item for debt reduction.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would point out to the gentleman from Wisconsin what the Committee on Rules did on the appropriation bills was to use the standing rules of the House. Those who were offering amendments germane to the subject matter were allowed votes, those who did not were not allowed votes. 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 thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule providing for consideration of the conference report on H.R. 4635, VA-HUD appropriations for fiscal year 2001. This compromise bill is a result of many hours of hard work by Members of the House and the Senate, and it is a bipartisan agreement that deserves the support of this body. I would like to express my appreciation for the conference committee's inclusion of an amendment offered by myself and my colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins), when the House first considered the bill. The language in our amendment ensures that Federal, State, and local governments do not waste precious taxpayer dollars on air quality standards that have been rendered unenforceable by the Federal Appeals Court. Common sense dictates that until the Supreme Court has the opportunity to rule on these air quality standards, the Federal Government should not enforce them. Our amendment passed the House in a strong bipartisan vote. I am pleased that Members of the conference committee recognized that hundreds of communities across the country could be tainted by designations made under these legally unenforceable standards without the inclusion of our amendment language. Our communities will be grateful for our actions. Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my appreciation to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh), the chairman of the Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies; and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan), the ranking member on the subcommittee, for their hard work in crafting a fine bipartisan bill. I thank them. I urge all Members to support the rule and the underlying bill.