Ralph Regula

Mr. REGULA

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, through the passage of the Buy American Act and other related laws, Congress has consistently instructed Federal agencies to buy products made in the United States whenever possible. Congress passed these laws not only to support American manufacturers, but also to ensure that in times of international conflict the United States would not be dependent on foreign sources for products necessary to protect this Nation and its interests. We are now engaged in a campaign overseas fighting terrorism. Furthermore, we are faced with new threats on our homeland as well. Now, more than ever, we cannot afford to become dependent on foreign manufactured products that are essential to our national security. We need to maintain a domestic manufacturing source for these products. I can give you an example of this need in my own district. The Ansell Perry Glove Plant in Massillon, Ohio has been making surgical gloves since 1935. Its parent company, which is owned by an Australian holding company, is moving this facility over to Asia. Once it moves, there will no manufacturers of surgical gloves in the United States. I am trying to persuade the department of defense to keep buying American-made surgical gloves, so that this profitable facility can remain open. The department has tremendous buying power--according to the defense logistics agency, it purchased nearly 3.5 million dollars worth of surgical gloves in FY 2001 alone. This amendment is intended to re-emphasize the intent of Congress that federal agencies like the Defense Department should buy American and that in a time of conflict and danger, like we find ourselves in right now, it is vital that these agencies keep a domestic manufacturing source for products that are essential for protecting our citizens at home and our troops stationed abroad.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I want to point out some things. First of all, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) has been extremely supportive of all these activities. He is the ranking member on our Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and we have responsibility for funding Health and Human Services. What I want to address is that portion of the bill. And I might say that the gentleman from Wisconsin and myself have worked very closely in our bill that passed some weeks ago in funding these items, but it was prior to September 11. I want to point out that what is proposed today are very substantial increases. On one instance we are talking about $509 million. This is money already in the bill, without any addition: $509 million for 300 million doses of smallpox vaccine; $594 million to acquire medicines, supplies and equipment for the national pharmaceutical stockpile. That is enough to treat 10 to 12 million persons exposed to anthrax and other bacterial infections, and to increase the push-packs. A push-pack is a sort of a package, maybe the size of a big semitrailer that you could haul furniture in, and in that push-pack is everything needed to deal with a whole variety of bioterrorist types of diseases. The push-packs are strategically located around the country so that if there is a crisis at any one locality, they immediately have the supplies, whether it is anthrax vaccine, smallpox, serin, or whatever it might be. We have the money to buy these, to put them in place. It provides for State and local planning and training for distribution because a key element here is the local health departments. If there is a crisis, it cannot all be managed from Washington. It depends on the State health departments, it depends on the local health departments. We had a meningitis scare in my district some months ago, and on the scene was the local health department, the local officials, the State health department and the Centers for Disease Control. It was a team effort. And what we are already providing in this bill is the materials to do the team effort in the event of a crisis in any given locality. There is $423 million to upgrade State and local capacity. This is a very important feature of the bill that is before us, to ensure that these State and local officials are trained, that they have the materials to deal with a crisis, whatever it might be. So that is another great strength, and that $423 million will do a lot of training and provide a lot of materials. State and local health departments will have $500 million for capacity upgrades. Again, I cannot emphasize enough that to be ready for a crisis, whatever it might be, there needs to be local and State input as part of an overall plan. One of the reasons we are saying at this moment let us not spend more money in addition to what I have just been describing until we have a plan, until our Secretary Thompson puts in place a long-term plan detailing what is needed, how money would be spent. I do not think just shoveling money at a problem is any solution. If we have a good plan, we can use the funds available far more wisely. It also provides $133 million for public health infrastructure, $100 million for State and local preparedness planning, $90 million for early detection surveillance. I am talking about what is in the bill now, not the extra money that is proposed. The bill has $95 million for upgrading capacity at the Center for Disease Control, and there are a whole series of components in that: security at the CDC internal laboratory capacity; $20 million for epidemic intelligence service; $15 million to evaluate the effectiveness of masks and respirators; $10 million for rapid toxic screening. It also provides $170 million to hospitals. It is important that we get local hospital personnel educated and equipped, because if there is a crisis, there is where we have to address it, there is where people need to be cared for, and we recognize that. We put in $170 million for emergency services and allowing the hospitals to upgrade their training and their facilities. It also has money to ensure the Nation's health facilities have equipment and training to respond to a mass casualty incident. For example, we are going to have the Olympics in Utah. They need money to be prepared out there where we will have a great number of people in a locality. Another example is the Super Bowl and all sorts of similar group events. We have money to help local people be ready, to be prepared, hospitals and doctors; to have the facilities. The push-packs will provide the materials, but we need trained people, and that is what we do in this bill. We have $10 million for children's post-traumatic stress disorder. This is something that has been with us, but very much emphasized by the events of September 11. There is $50 million to accelerate the research and development of new safe vaccines for smallpox and anthrax. All I am saying is that this bill has $2.5 billion to address these problems, and we are saying let us take a look and have a plan, and then we will come back with a supplemental and probably we will be very supportive of that, provided the proposed expenditures fit a plan, and the money will be used wisely. We do not know what is down the road. Therefore, we need to have the capacity to address whatever problem comes up and have the funds available to met a future crises. It certainly indicates that, as of the passage of the bill, we have provided an enormous amount of resources in the bill before us to develop a whole host of possibilities for responses terrorism.

Mr. REGULA

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I might add that the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) in the minority on the full committee gave us a very good allocation. That is one of the things that made it possible to have such a quality bill and to meet the needs as we see them. They have also been very helpful in giving strong support to this so that we have a bipartisan consensus within the Congress. I think it is a great team effort on the part of both sides of the aisle, and I would strongly urge Members to endorse this fact that education is number one, and that we go to conference with that concept. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. REGULA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) has outlined a number of the good features of this bill. I totally agree with the motion to instruct. I think it reflects H.R. 1, which passed this body overwhelmingly. The numbers track. It also reflects the President's priorities. The Office of Management and Budget is happy with the bill that we have. They feel that it is a very fiscally responsible bill. It also has a number of features, and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) has touched on them, but a couple I might mention include the Reading First Program. It is a new program that the President has supported strongly with $900-plus million. Reading is vital, as we all recognize; and also it has additional funding for the programs to improve and provide assistance and help teachers to enable them to better serve the students. I think all of us agree that teacher quality is the heart and soul of a good school system. I am pleased that we do have language in here to support things like the Troops-to-Teachers, a relatively new program, but one that offers great promise in meeting the teacher shortage, and also great promise in attracting retirees from the military who have a lot to offer. They have the world travel, they have experience in managing people, and I think tracking these people at their retirement point to participate in our education program and to serve as teachers is a great concept. I might say we added a number of millions of dollars to this program at the request of the military because what they are going to do is beef up their program in the military of talking to their retirees about participating in the Troops-to-Teachers, and also to providing some financial help to these individuals while they are finishing out their military career to go to a college or university, and get their necessary programs to qualify them under State requirements to serve in the classroom. We also beef up the Teach for America program, again, one that attracts people, something similar to the programs that get young people to go into areas that are underprivileged and teach for a couple of years in return for getting some assistance. I have talked to some of these individuals and they are really excited about what they can do to help students, to be an inspiration, to provide role models for students in underprivileged areas. Again, a very successful program. We provide additional funding for that. TRIO. TRIO is designed to go into the schools and have individuals from colleges, universities, talk to students and try to persuade them, inspire them, catch their interest in going on to higher education. It is a successful program, and we have added $70 million to that. We have given more money for rural education and the mentoring programs. One of the successes is where senior citizens or college students or just people in a community go into a school and mentor students, actually work with them on reading programs. In my district, I have a hospital that brought a bus. They actually bused their employees out and gave them a break to do this. They would go to a school and work with students who are having difficulty with reading. We hear a lot about the importance of science and math. We all agree that those are important, but before one can do science and math education, one has to be able to read. Reading is basic. Reading is fundamental. We, in this bill, have tried to identify programs that will help students to be successful in learning to read, and in turn, then they can more effectively participate in others. Really, this is what is the heart and soul of ``no child left behind.'' ``No child left behind'' means no child that cannot read, because if they cannot, they have a real problem. There are a lot of other good features in the bill. That was evidenced by the strong vote we had in the House. It was a bipartisan bill. The gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) and I worked very closely together, and the members of our subcommittee likewise worked with us to get a bipartisan bill. It is strongly endorsed by the administration, the Office of Management and Budget. What the motion of the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) is saying is, education is number one. Polls tell us over and over again that education is number one with the people of this Nation. Therefore, the bill reflects that. I think this is a very proper motion because the bill in the other body has a smaller amount for education, and we feel it is important that we go to the conference with a vote of affirmation from the Members of this House saying, in effect, that they, too, agree that education is a number one priority in getting a conference report.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 3061) making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2002, and for other purposes, with a Senate amendment thereto, disagree to the Senate amendment, and agree to the conference asked by the Senate.

Mr. REGULA. I yield to the gentleman from Florida.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I do want to make one additional comment. That is that thanks to the leadership of the Speaker and the minority leader and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), I think for the first time the Senate and the House subcommittee had an identical allocation. That is going to make it much easier in conference because we are working from the same total. I commend them for giving us that kind of support, and also for increasing the allocation generally, because we will only in conference be dealing with priorities, but we will all be working from the same total number.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. REGULA

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, we are prepared to accept this amendment on our side.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. I rise in opposition to this amendment because we have already added $100 million to the CDC on bioterrorism. Their total account is almost $400 million. In addition, the Secretary of Health and Human Services has been assured that CDC will receive a portion of the money in the $20 billion that we appropriated as a result of the events of September 11. So I think there is going to be a lot of money flowing to CDC for bioterrorism. In addition, we beefed up the public health account. Now, public broadcasting, and it is public broadcasting, I do not always agree with what they do, but they have been required by FCC to go to digital. And, of course, eventually the public, as they purchase new television sets, will likewise be able to receive digital programming which will, of course, improve the quality of the broadcasting. While I may not be enthused about some of the things the Corporation for Public Broadcasting does, I think it is our responsibility since it is the FCC which is a Federal agency that has made this order, and since it is public broadcasting, to support them as this appropriation does. If I thought there was a shortage in CDC, I would perhaps have a different approach. But, again, we have enormously beefed up the CDC money, plus the fact that they are going to get a very sizable sum from the $20 billion that we have already put in for emergency funding for national security.

Mr. REGULA. I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to strike the requisite number of words.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the remainder of the bill through title V be considered as read, printed in the Record and open to amendment at any point.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I just want to point out or reiterate, since the President has been mentioned here, that we are $375 million above the President's request for IDEA, and this represents a 22 percent increase in this fund. So it is not as if we were not sensitive to the needs in IDEA. But also, we were sensitive to the needs of the unemployed, of the economically handicapped and disadvantaged, and immigrant education. So it is a matter of balance here. We have tried to balance out all of these things in allocating the resources in the bill. I hope that the Members will support the bill and vote against this amendment.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, that is correct. I am advised by our leadership, also, that there will be a $2 billion request by the Administration in additional emergency funding for the Centers for Disease Control to deal with bioterrorism, and that is a lot of money. I do not believe we should cripple the ability of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to move into the 21st century in their ability to transmit to the public effectively. Obviously the FCC would not have made this requirement if it were not an important element of their ability to serve the public. I, therefore, oppose the amendment.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, I have just two things. I would like to read from the Administration letter. It says: ``The Administration appreciates that the House has retained the current language provision concerning Federal funding for needle exchange programs and the Hyde language regarding the Federal funding of abortions.'' So I want to make clear that this is the same language as has been in the past. I also want to point out that we do have now the statement of administration policy. It has been coordinated by OMB with all the agencies, and it is a good statement supporting the provisions of this bill. So it truly is a bipartisan bill. It has the support of the leadership on the other side of the aisle and it has the support of our leadership and the support of the White House. I would urge when we get to the final vote, that all the Members of this body support it. It is truly, as Mr. Natcher used to say, a people's bill.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, would the gentleman yield back the balance of his time if we said that we would accept the amendment?

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, reluctantly, I rise in opposition to this amendment. I think that the IDEA program is an excellent one; and I know that the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), the chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, had this discussed when they did H.R. 1. He said that we need to withhold until it is reauthorized. It will be up for reauthorization next year. I think there will probably be refinements made in the program that will enable it to even better serve those who are in need. I want to point out that the committee was very sensitive to this. We increased the amount by $1.37 billion; it is a 22 percent increase over last year. The total is $7.739 billion. We were, in fact, $375 million over the President's request on the IDEA program. So it is not a lack of sensitivity; and, of course, this tends to free up money that goes into the regular school program. I think adding money is not necessarily going to enhance the experience of the children in the IDEA program; it simply would free up money for the general school program that is now taken out of the regular school budget. I have to say that the offsets here, I believe, have a substantial impact. It first takes money from the education for the disadvantaged, and in the President's statement he points out that there is a real need in this field as part of title I so that the students can profit from the efforts that will be taken under title I. Likewise, it takes out money from immigrant education; and, again, if these individuals are going to be members of our society, they need an ability to get education through our system. Otherwise, they will be on the welfare rolls. The school improvement programs, again, are something that are affected by the offsets in this program, and I think the one that I am concerned particularly about is vocational and adult education. We are finding a lot of people are having to refine their job opportunities because they are laid off from a factory; they are laid off from all different types of things. It is almost a daily occurrence to read in the newspaper where 5,000 are laid off by a major industry. These people need the ability to get new skills to participate in our economy in this Nation so that they can pay their mortgages, send their children to school, to universities and colleges. To take money out of vocational and adult education I think is a misdirected priority at the moment, given what is happening in the economy. We need to give people the opportunity to participate in the economy, and the issues here that are being used to pay for this additional funding, which will go to the schools' budgets and not necessarily change the experience of any children in the IDEA program, is not as high a priority in my judgment as providing for the education for disadvantaged, as providing for vocational and adult education, and higher education. We have increased the Pell Grants to help young people get a chance to get a college education. We are living in a far more sophisticated society than was true many years ago. Therefore, people who want to participate effectively in our economy need higher education; they need retraining, as offered by vocational and adult education. So I think, looking at the total sum of the priorities, that this is a balanced bill. I hope that the Committee on Education and the Workforce next year will take a look at this program in the reauthorization process and make sure it is even more effective than it is now in meeting the needs of the children that are part of the IDEA program. For this reason, I would urge the Members to reject this amendment.

Mr. REGULA. If the gentleman will continue to yield, I understand the problem. I dealt with the Bureau of Indian Affairs for many years, and they have probably as much in the way of dental problems as any group in our society. So I am sympathetic to it. However, it is a matter of where we get the resources to do that.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I think the bill has been pretty sensitive to research; but I believe what the gentleman is addressing is the providing of dental care, and that really would, I think, be a Ways and Means jurisdiction more so than our committee.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. REGULA

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 3061, making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2002, and for other purposes, and that I may include tabular and extraneous material.