Charles Taylor

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order against the amendment.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, if we withdraw any objection to this amendment, is the gentlewoman envisioning a rollcall vote or just a simple voice vote?

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw any objection to this amendment.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I commend the gentleman for his concern about the excessive foreign travel. This subcommittee has conducted extensive oversight using the Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office on the use of foreign travel on large conferences. I accept the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, we have no objection at this time to this amendment.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise and report the bill back to the House with sundry amendments, with the recommendation that the amendments be agreed to and that the bill, as amended, do pass.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to recommit, and I wish we did not have to have a rollcall vote. This motion to recommit kills the bill by adding $352 million, and I oppose this motion. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Madam Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder). (Mr. SOUDER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Madam Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Chairman, the gentlewoman is obviously speaking seriously about the arts and humanities. Certainly we support both and have done so generously in this bill. The American public supports arts now by over $9 billion. The government's support is a very minimal part of that $9 billion. In fact, this increase would be an even smaller part of that $9 billion, and so it would be hardly noticeable inside the total support of the arts. What we are having to sacrifice, though, is to reduce funding for the administration of the Department of the Interior by $8 million and administration of the Forest Service by $7 million. This will cost some 200 staff positions in the Department of the Interior and Forest Service. They are responsible for 634 acres in the United States. This is a primary obligation we have. It is not supported by $9 billion of public support. It is primarily supported with the funding that this Committee has the duty to appropriate. That is why we are trying to do our primary job by maintaining the levels that we did and to find a balance to show our support for the arts and do the mandated portion that we must do for the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service. Members can count on us to continue to support the arts, to watch the oversight of our Committees, and this bill strikes a fair balance between the needs of the arts and our responsibility to land management and Indian programs. I ask Members to join me in opposition to this amendment. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the debate on this amendment and any amendments thereto be limited to 10 minutes to be equally divided and controlled by the proponent and myself, the opponent.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Madam Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. The gentleman is correct. In no way should this study delay or disrupt either phase I or II of the planned cleanup of the Hudson River or any other ongoing Superfund project. I will work with the gentleman to consider modifications to clarify this in the conference agreement.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. I thank the gentleman from New York for his good work on the Hudson River program and for bringing the need for clarification of the intent of the study to my attention.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim the time in opposition.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Madam Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that debate on this amendment, and any amendments thereto, be limited to 20 minutes, to be equally divided and controlled by the proponent and myself, the opponent.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Madam Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Istook).

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Madam Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Before I recognize the next speaker, I want to point out that it is not, as I am hearing, that we are obliterating the clean water State revolving fund or the arts funds. We are funding the arts and humanities $259 million, the same as the 2005 year. We are funding the State revolving fund $850 million, the same as we did in 2005. Unfortunately, with the costs and the deficit we have now, we cannot continue to put more and more in. We are trying to do the best we can by consistently funding our needs in this area. Madam Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King).

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Madam Chairman, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Madam Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson). (Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.