Bill Thomas

Mr. THOMAS

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

Mr. THOMAS. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise to ask the chairman of the Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations to engage in a colloquy. The conference agreement contains an appropriation for the emergency repair and renovation of the Botanic Garden, which we all know is absolutely necessary. As the gentleman knows, the Joint Committee on the Library has jurisdiction over that program. Does the jurisdiction of the Joint Committee on the Library extend to the direction of the expenditure of the funds for the renovation project that is contained in this supplemental?

Mr. THOMAS. I thank the chairman of the subcommittee and I thank the chairman of the full committee.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on Senate Concurrent Resolution 26.

Mr. THOMAS

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

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Christensen].

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, Senate Concurrent Resolution 26 was approved by the Committee on House Oversight in its regularly scheduled meeting on May 14. The concurrent resolution authorizes the use of the Capitol rotunda on June 5 to allow for a celebration honoring Mother Teresa after she addresses a joint session of Congress. The Senate passed this resolution which was offered by the senior Senator from Kansas, Senator Sam Brownback, on May 8. Agnese Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, now known as Mother Teresa, was born on August 26, 1910, in Albania. She joined a Catholic Missionary order and went to India when she was 18 years old. In 1950, she founded the Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa is one of those names known the world over. More important than being recognized, she has been honored the world over: She was honored with the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971. The Jawaharal Nehru Award for International Understanding was given to her in 1972. The Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 from President Reagan. And in 1996, Mother Teresa became the fifth person in the world to be conferred honorary citizenship from the United States by President Clinton. For historical purposes, the first was Winston Churchill by President Kennedy in 1963, Raoul Wallenberg by President Reagan in 1981, and William and Hannah Penn by President Reagan in 1984. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 26) to permit the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for a congressional ceremony honoring Mother Teresa.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to dispense with the call of the Private Calendar today.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that on Wednesday, May 21, 1997, the Speaker be authorized to entertain motions to suspend the rules and pass the following bills and resolutions: H.R. 1377, Savings Are Vital to Everyone's Retirement Act of 1997; H.R. 1306, Riegle-Neal Clarification Act of 1997; H.R. 911, Volunteer Protection Act of 1997; House Resolution 121, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the March 30, 1997, terrorist grenade attack in Cambodia; House Concurrent Resolution 63, reaffirming the commitment of the United States to the principles of the Marshall Plan; H.R. 956, Drug-Free Community Act.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan for taking this special order. There will be a number of Members who will speak about their recollections of J.L. I do not want to catalog her many achievements. I would much rather provide a personal profile. I had not planned to come to the House of Representatives. I enjoyed what I was doing out in California. I was at that time in the State legislature and was on a faculty of the local college. The incumbent Congressman died, had a heart attack after the primary. There was a special convention that was convened which placed me on the ballot to come back here if I were successful in November. I had not gone through a primary. I had not gone to the Kennedy schools. I literally knew no one. And when I was elected in November 1978, I was amazed at how many of the 77 classmates that came back in the 96th Congress had some connection or relationship. They were either on a Member's staff, their family had been involved in politics, their relatives were involved or they indeed had worked in the private sector that was directly involved. And I had had no involvement whatsoever. So I walked onto the floor about as green a freshman as we can ever imagine. Sitting in the back row was a woman who already knew about me. She asked me to sit down. And J.L. began to explain to me who was who and how the place worked and what I should and should not do. And if anyone knows me, someone who attempts to tell me what I should or should not do, it is taken somewhat with a grain of salt because I am going to do what I think I should do. However, I have to say that in the years that J.L. helped me understand this institution, her graciousness as a woman, her upbringing in the South, which comes through in a manner, for those of us who are very crass and uncultured from the West and from the North have never, ever been able to fathom but appreciate when we see it in operation, allowed her to show me that there were ways to accomplish one's desired ends that I had never imagined. She could, all at the same time, praise, scold, and direct someone. It happened to me a number of times. Those who had that experience always walked away charmed. J.L. was as good at what she did as anyone I have ever known. She represents to me the institution to a very great extent as it used to be. Frankly, this institution is less for the fact that we not only do not have J.L. Cullen personally, but I believe we have fewer of the type that J.L. represented. She understood when it was necessary to be partisan. More importantly, she understood when it was required to be institutional. But she could always do it in a warm and friendly way. I think it is especially appropriate today to tell J.L., ``Thank you for all of the help you gave me when I needed it most, and that as all of us are here talking about you, we would much rather be talking with you. Just from me personally, J.L., thanks for everything.''

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on House Oversight be discharged from further consideration of the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 25), providing for acceptance of a statue of Jack Swigert, presented by the State of Colorado, for placement in National Statuary Hall, and for other purposes.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I offer an amendment to the title.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I offer a committee amendment.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me. Mr. Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 25 is a resolution to nominate and dedicate the statue of Jack Swigert to represent the State of Colorado in Statuary Hall. The resolution was introduced by the honorable gentleman from Colorado [Mr. Dan Schaefer] for the Republican delegation of Colorado. The resolution provides for a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda to commemorate the occasion of the dedication. As most people know if they have ever roamed the Capitol, there are a number of statues located in important rooms in the Capitol. Most of these statues emanate from the ability of each State to send two statues representing distinguished people in the history of the State. Colorado had sent only one. That was Dr. Florence Sabin. If the name is familiar in terms of medicine, and it was an excellent choice as a statuary representative for Colorado. Similarly, the dedication and statue that we are offering in this resolution is a wise choice on the part of Colorado. The dedication ceremony for the statue on May 22, 1997, at 11 a.m. will recognize Jack Swigert, native of Denver, a U.S. Air Force pilot, a recipient in 1970 of the Presidential Medal for Freedom, the command module pilot of the Apollo 13 mission, and an elected Representative to the House of Representatives from Colorado. Unfortunately, Jack Swigert was not able to assume his position, and in a special election, the honorable gentleman from Colorado [Mr. Dan Schaefer] was elected to replace him. So it is especially noteworthy that the gentleman sponsoring the resolution was the gentleman who had the honor of replacing Jack Swigert. Mr. Speaker, I will offer an amendment, when the gentlewoman withdraws her objection, which was passed by the committee when the resolution was considered.

Mr. THOMAS. If the gentlewoman will continue to yield, Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this time to briefly explain the amendment that we will shortly consider when the gentlewoman withdraws her objection. The amendment removes section 2 of the resolution and makes a technical correction in the title. As is customary with these resolutions, section 2 of the resolution, as introduced, requested that 6,555 copies of a transcript of the ceremony be printed for use by the House of Representatives and the Senate. It was to be paid for with taxpayers' funds. The gentleman from Colorado [Mr. Dan Schaefer], the sponsor of the resolution, requested that this printing request be removed from the resolution, and the amendment that we are offering does that. I just want to note that pursuant to the letter of the gentleman from Colorado, the reason we are removing the taxpayer-funded documents is that there will be a memorial document printed, but any costs associated with that memorial document will be paid for with private funds, rather than public funds. That money will come from the Jack Swigert Memorial Commission. I thank the gentlewoman.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on House Concurrent Resolution 25.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. I yield to the gentleman from Connecticut.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the resolution just passed.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Ney], the vice chairman of the Committee on House Oversight.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume and say that I find it somewhat ironic that the gentleman from Connecticut cites a number of issues that he believes are overdue for correction, and he finds himself mentioning campaign finance reform when, in fact, in the 103d Congress the gentleman's party controlled the House, the Senate, and the Presidency, and during that time nothing was presented to the President. In this particular congressional situation, Republicans have control of the House and the Senate and his party controls the Presidency. Notwithstanding that, we have moved fundamental welfare reform. We are on the verge of announcing a historic budget agreement. And if the gentleman mistakes the lack of movement in the committees for the lack of movement between the House, the Senate, and the administration, I can assure the gentleman that as the final touches are put on a budget package, the committees will be more than busy. That is one of the reasons we want to move the financing for the committees, so that when they get the budget specifics they will be able to move relatively quickly. I do think it is important to remind my colleagues and those who are watching and listening that at the beginning of the historic 104th Congress we cut committee staff fully by one-third. We maintain that one-third reduction. We cut by about a third the funding for the committees, and with modest increases we retain that reduction. So instead of a meaningful comparison between the 104th and the 105th Congress, the most meaningful comparison would be between the 103d and the 105th. And if we compare committee funding under the last Democratic majority Congress and this, the second Republican Congress, we will find that funding has been cut by more than 20 percent. So although we sometimes get wrapped up on narrow numbers and talk about a modest 4-percent increase for these committees from the 104th to the 105th, we should not lose sight of the fact that there was an enormous reduction both of staff and of the cost of the committees. Major legislation has gone through the committees and, in fact, arrived on the President's desk and was signed. Not to mention the significant number of changes that were long overdue in the way in which the House has been run, including the first ever audit, the follow-up audit, and now audits becoming rather routine, when, in fact, in the history of the House there had never been a private-public audit before. So when the gentleman looks for arguments, I find it ironic that he focuses on the fact that while the President and the leaders of the House and the Senate are at this moment working to craft a historic document, he points to the fact that committees are not moving product for the sake of appearing to be busy. One of the things you will find under this majority in both the House and the Senate is that it is not necessarily quantity that counts, it is the quality of the work that we do that counts most. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Ehlers], a valued member of the Committee on House Oversight. (Mr. EHLERS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 136, I call up the resolution (H. Res. 129) providing amounts for the expenses of certain committees of the House of Representatives in the 105th Congress and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.