Ralph Regula

Mr. REGULA

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price).

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), the minority whip.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that both sides have an additional 5 minutes each.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield so much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson), a good friend of Paul, a good friend of our Ohio delegation.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. I just want to say, too, that Paul cared a lot about his staff. He was always a person that cared for others, and particularly his staff, and I want the members of his staff to know that we understand the great loss that they feel. And I guess particularly when I left the Ohio senate, my staff person was inherited by Paul, and we used to often talk about Celia Foraker, about Celia did this and Celia did that, because we both shared a great fondness for her. I know that Paul felt that way about his staff here. It's a great loss to his staff to have a Member that had the caring concern that he did.

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 and include extraneous material on H. Res. 632.

Mr. REGULA

Mr. REGULA. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. REGULA. First of all, Madam Chairman, I want to express my appreciation to the chairman of the committee for including funding for the teacher incentive fund. It is so vitally important to the inner cities to be able to attract the best teachers and this fund can be used by school districts to do just that. Too often in the school systems, the best teachers tend to flee to the suburbs and they also flee to the good schools. Where we really need the top notch teachers are in the inner cities because our cities are really facing a crisis in the sense that their percentage of those who do not finish high school is growing and is a terrible waste of human capital. We can't afford that. And one of the important things is to get these students in the early years, first grade, kindergarten, second grade, third grade, to like school and to like to learn, and that takes a quality teacher. And this program, and thanks to the chairman we have the 99 million dollars and this proposal for some additional, allows schools to give some financial incentives to the really top notch teachers to take on that responsibility. I have an instance in my district where a handicapped teacher has inspired a class in a low-income neighborhood and it has made a world of difference in the lives of these young people. So I just want to express, again, my appreciation to the chairman and for the interest of the gentleman from Georgia in the Teacher Incentive program because I think it is one of the vital challenges in addressing the dropout rate in the big cities to ensure that these students get a taste for education and they enjoy the experience and they stay with it. I am hopeful that the States will use these funds in that way, to give incentives to the very best teachers to go into the toughest areas and inspire young people. I will add that the Teach for America program does a great job in that respect because they send their Teach for America candidates into very difficult situations. I hope that we can address the dropout rate prospectively when we have a nation where 31 percent statistically do not finish high school and we know it is much larger in the cities. So there is the challenge, and this program, which the chairman was gracious enough to include in the original bill, is one of the keys to addressing that problem. So I, again, commend the chairman and also the gentleman from Georgia for their concern to inspire and make it attractive for the quality teachers to teach in difficult situations. The teacher is where it is. If you ask any group, as I do when I give a speech, how many of you had a teacher, maybe two that made a difference in your life? And every hand will go up, and that says so eloquently that we want to have teachers in the toughest situations where their students will at some time in the future say, yes, I had a teacher that made a difference in my life. That's why I'm here. That's why I finished high school. That's why I press on. I went into a charter school where there was a Teach for America Teachers and it was in one of the toughest parts of the city. And the teacher there said, as we walked through the door, these were fifth graders, ``What do we do in 2010 or 2011?'' Without missing a beat, every student said, ``We go to college.'' Now, if I had done that 5 years ago or 3, they would have said, ``What? What do we do? I don't know. Drop out, probably.'' So I want to again commend the chairman for many parts of this bill that are important to giving teachers inspiration and making schools better so that whomever is here 25 years from now will not be saying that 31 percent of the students in the United States drop out. We can ill afford that in the competitive world in which we live. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. REGULA

Mr. REGULA. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chairman, I rise in support of the fiscal year 2008 appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related agencies. As you know, I chaired the subcommittee responsible for providing the funding in this bill for the previous 6 years, and I am pleased to provide my support today. The bill provides Federal funds that touch every American. And it's important in serving as the backbone for our medical research, job training, and key education programs at all levels of learning. I do want to compliment Chairman Obey and Ranking Member Walsh on the excellent job they did in crafting this legislation. Within the bill's allocation, they have targeted increased dollars in key areas that I strongly support. First, as we continue to ask for more in the performance of our teachers and students under the No Child Left Behind Act, we continue to maintain the vital role the classroom teacher plays in student achievement. I am extremely pleased that the bill funds the Teacher Incentive Fund, a program that awards teachers for student achievement at $99 million. Next, our Nation's future economic success depends on an educated population. An education that ends at high school no longer suffices in our globally competitive world. Therefore, I strongly support the increase in the Pell Grant for students, which reaches a new high of $4,700 in this bill. Our Nation's biomedical research effort has made great strides since we doubled the funding for the National Institutes of Health during my tenure and led by our previous speaker in years past. I am pleased that the bill will build on NIH funding in our continued attempts as a Nation to seek treatments and cures for the debilitating diseases that strike us, our family and friends. Next, I talked about our competitive global economy, and I support funding to assist our current workers in improving their skills through the Department of Labor's employment and job training programs that are passed through to our local communities for use directly in these communities and for Jobs Corps, which gives our young people a second chance to participate in the workforce in society. I could go on highlighting the numerous programs in the bill that impact Americans. But let me close by expressing my support for the increase in funding for the administrative costs for the Social Security Administration. While the benefits Americans receive for Social Security or disability support are provided through mandatory spending, without good people and a sufficient staff to process these claims, the program would not run. Therefore, I support the $400 million increase in funding for the SSA administrative cost. Americans deserve effective and efficient responses to their claim requests. And with that funding, I'm hopeful the SSA will continue to improve and shorten its response times. Again, this is a very good bill. I congratulate my colleagues on the subcommittee for their work in bringing it before us today. I urge my colleagues in the House to support this bill.

Mr. REGULA

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, just as the chairman said, this is consistent with our goal in this committee to enhance this city and make it a capital that we can be proud of, and I congratulate the Member from California for putting in something that, while not affecting his area, will add great value to the city and to the people who live here. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman and Members of this body, I am sure that the sponsor thinks he is going to improve the operations of the government, but I think this is probably offered for political purposes. We cannot deal with the constitutional responsibilities in this bill, and the Vice President does have constitutional responsibilities as President of the Senate. The Senate Legislative Branch appropriations bill provides funding for his salary and legislative operating expenses. In fiscal year 2008, his requests equal $2.3 million. I think it's important that I take time to oppose this amendment because it is setting a bad precedent. I think the sponsor must be making an assumption that they will never have a Vice President, because you are setting a precedent here that might come back to haunt you at some time in the future. The Vice President's office also receives $4.8 million to fund the executive branch duties of the Vice President and pay for his residence. We decided that, for security reasons, the Vice President needs to have a residence. There was a time that that was not the case. And I don't think that because some Members may not like the current Vice President, or any future Vice President, doesn't mean Congress should use its power of the purse to eliminate funding for the office. That is not how the Founding Fathers envisioned the separation of powers operating. Eliminating funding to maintain the Vice President's residence and the 25 Federal employees funded by this object is irresponsible. I think it is disrespectful of the Constitution and the Office of the Vice President. Whether we agree or not, the Vice President's office serves an important executive and legislative function. And let me just say again to my colleagues, this sets a very bad precedent. Where do we stop if we determine that we're going to, by using the power of the purse, pass judgment on the policies of people that serve in government? It's a political activity. It's a political attempt to embarrass the Vice President. I would hope my colleagues reject this. Just remember, you may have a Vice President, too. And once you set a precedent, I'm not sure that you would want that to be part of your legacy. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. REGULA. I do claim the time in opposition to this amendment.

Mr. REGULA. And I reserve my time. Just let me say again, this is a bad, bad precedent. And it's an example, you better be careful what you wish for, because you may decide that it's not something you want to happen.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Number one, of course, you are going to abolish the residence. I assume you are going to get a Katrina trailer to provide for the Vice President, since we historically have provided housing and you don't offer any substitute for the existing residence. So I would think you would want to give that some thought. Secondly, we have elections. This is not the place to establish an amendment to the Constitution or to define what you may or may not like about the operation of the Vice President's office. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), the distinguished whip.

Mr. REGULA. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois to ask a short question of the whip.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa).

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Westmoreland).

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert).

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence).

Mr. REGULA

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

Mr. REGULA. I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns).

Mr. REGULA. Yes, I would be glad to yield to the gentleman.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.