Hal Rogers

Mr. ROGERS

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from New York Mr. Engel for a colloquy.

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, there are no further speakers on this side of the aisle, and I yield back the balance of the time.

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Nethercutt).

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella).

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, in the interest of time, I ask unanimous consent that all debate on this amendment and all amendments thereto be concluded in 30 minutes, and that the time be equally divided on either side of the aisle.

Mr. ROGERS. If I can inquire, how many speakers does my colleague have?

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

Mr. ROGERS. That is a unanimous consent request.

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, let me renew my unanimous consent request. I think the number of speakers has diminished somewhat. If each of them would restrict their comments maybe to 3 minutes apiece, I think we can be through in a reasonably short period of time. Could we agree to a 30-minute limit of time divided equally?

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, I think if we did 40 minutes it would be a reasonable time.

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, I know there are a number of speakers on either side waiting to be heard. But I wonder, in the interest of time, if it might be possible to set some sort of time limit on the time devoted to this amendment. We have a number of other amendments waiting. I ask unanimous consent that we have a time limit of 30 minutes for all debate on this amendment and amendments thereto divided equally between both sides.

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my unanimous consent request.

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, the gentlewoman is correct. The Committee has continued to support the construction of the laboratory within the availability of existing resources.

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman from Maryland yield?

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for bringing this to our attention. I certainly share the gentleman's concern about these delays. As the gentleman knows, the committee was forced to make some very difficult decisions in this bill. Where steps can be taken to address these problems without additional Federal funding, I am eager to see them taken, and will assist the gentleman in that. I will be very pleased to work with the gentleman to encourage NMFS to modify this matter in that direction.

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

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

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Chairman, let me close with thanking the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano). As I said, he is a new member of the subcommittee, as well as being the new ranking member of the subcommittee, and that is a heavy chore dumped in his lap overnight. But he has carried it out admirably and with good humor. He makes the heaviest of tasks a lot lighter because of his sense of humor and his joy, and he is a joy to work with. I appreciate very much the work that he has done on this bill with us all year long. He has attended every hearing, and I think we had 23 or so hearings covering a broad expanse of the government. But the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) educated himself on those matters as the hearings came up, and participated brilliantly, and he has been a real asset. I mean that sincerely, and I appreciate his work. I appreciate his support for the bill. That takes a good deal of courage, and I really appreciate that kind of commitment.

Mr. ROGERS. I would be happy to work with the gentleman, Mr. Chairman. I know how important the gentleman feels this is to his State and region. We will be happy to continue to work with him.

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

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney).

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller), who is a member of our subcommittee, but incidentally and coincidentally is chairman of the Subcommittee on the Census of the Committee on Government Reform.

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula), a very hard working member of our subcommittee. (Mr. REGULA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Chairman, the question is, is there enough money in the bill to do the census?