Bill Thomas

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I want to first of all take a deep breath before I begin addressing that diatribe. The gentleman well knows that Medicaid is a program within the Committee on Energy and Commerce, that it is not within our jurisdiction, and we obviously are working with other committees. The gentleman also knows that the program that he just denigrated was signed into law by President Clinton, and the vote in this House was more bipartisan than the vote on Medicare in 1965. In addition, we have an unemployment law that has been on the books since FDR that provides the 26 weeks. Mr. Speaker, I said in my opening statement that this was the first, immediate response and we will have additional legislation addressing unemployment. And the extension of unemployment is obviously going to be in the next piece of legislation. I do want to urge my colleague from Washington to join me at lunch so that he perhaps could have something other than sucking lemons for lunch prior to coming to the floor to address this House. I will also respond to his comment about the fact that Arkansas is not mentioned. In the legislation on page 4, line 14, it says ``a State,'' and it defines any State that responds to the needs. It does not name State by State. If in fact the circumstances are provided, given the facts, then that State receives the programmatic changes that we are offering in this legislation. I do appreciate the gentleman's last sentence in which he said he plans to vote for the legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Herger), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson), a senior member of the Committee on Ways and Means and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. English), a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hayworth), member of the Committee on Ways and Means. (Mr. HAYWORTH asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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 the subject of the bill we have under consideration.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I will say for the third time during this debate this is the first piece of legislation 2 days after we came back. We are responding with the maximum flexibility for money available on an immediate-relief basis. Clearly over the next several weeks as we examine the problems and are able to write legislation responsive to those problems, we will continue to bring legislation to the floor. I would urge my colleagues, as they express their concern about what has not been done, that they should urge their colleagues on the other side of the Capitol not to engage in an exchange of legislation in which, on this initial humanitarian relief provision, they want to try to outdo each other. The most important thing is to get this out of here and make it available as soon as possible. Over the next several weeks, we will be working with those Members and on this committee, principally the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. McCrery) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson), who have already provided invaluable assistance and who are very supportive of this legislation, with additional legislation. I look forward to working with colleagues on the other side of the aisle who are willing to come forward in constructive ways in making adjustments. I do want to underscore the fact that we are nearer to the beginning of the hurricane season than we are the end of the hurricane season. No one wishes another hurricane to touch the United States, but no one knows for certain that that will not happen, that as we are assisting those individuals who have had a very tragic occurrence, we are laying the groundwork for the possibility that we have to repeat this more than once. I want to thank those colleagues who will help us move this expeditiously and in advance of the assistance on additional legislation dealing with more fundamental revisions in the Tax Code and extensions of various deadlines. I thank them for their cooperation, and I look forward to producing additional legislation that will be available for my colleagues' consideration. Let me underscore, we need the other body to move immediately and not engage in attempts on this very first effort to expand and explore more fundamental changes in programs. So I plead with my colleagues here and on the other side of the Capitol, we have had enough talk, let us show some action.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, appropriately so, a number of people have been complimented. I too want to indicate that the reason this bill was so difficult is because there was not enough money to deal with the infrastructure needs of this country. As the keeper of the purse strings, I am very conscious of the amount of money that we have available. Between now and the next time we try this, we are simply going to have to rethink the way we provide for the infrastructure in this country. We are succeeding in areas that damage us in raising revenue to improve infrastructure. Every page of this bill, Mr. Speaker, has been built on accommodation and compromise. I want to thank the staff, who have all earned graduate degrees in bill assembly. It was an extremely difficult job. But I want to say this: When we come back in September, we are going to begin addressing legislative needs of an aging American society. There will be critics of this legislation. It has been said in various ways, and I want to underscore it, that not only is America aging but America's infrastructure in many parts of this country, bridges, tunnels, and others, are octogenarians and older. It is foolish not to make sure that we maintain the infrastructure that we have. Ironically, in some parts of the country, it requires new construction, highways, transit and other costly infrastructure improvements. But without doing it, without doing it, it will cost us billions. It has been recited how much it costs us today. Today, we present $286.4 billion worth of cost. Society will present us on a daily basis, through congestion and failure to build the right structures, a price tag over the next 5 years far greater than the price tag that is presented today. Today, you see the dollar amount. Over the next 5 years, we will accumulate a cost of a far greater amount. I want to compliment those who put this together. I look forward to working with you in solving the financing structure. As we get better, there is no reason why the Highway Trust Fund should grow less. We need to rethink the way in which we pay for the infrastructure in this country. I want to thank all of you for the most pleasant experience of operating in an institutional way to make this place work. Thank you. It was a lot of fun.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, they have a saying in racing that to finish first, first you have to finish. It is a pleasure to stand up after several frustrating years and Congresses to be here supporting an energy bill. As we move from a society totally dependent upon fossil fuels to alternative energy, it is important to make sure that the infrastructure that will carry us through to alternate energy is functioning adequately, and I am pleased that that has been done in this bill. I am also pleased that, as principally led by Senator Domenici for a number of years, that we are beginning once again to look at an obvious source of energy that has been overlooked, nuclear energy. And I want to compliment the new chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee for his understanding that time is secondary to getting people to a level of agreement that allows us to present this bill on the floor today. Of course, no bill is perfect, but if you do not have a bill, you cannot stand up and criticize it as the gentleman just did in the well. I am very pleased with this work product in terms of its balance. We tried to create balance within the tax area. We are willing to spend money on an experimental basis on a number of alternative sources. As some do not prove out, I am hopeful that we do not turn them into perennial payments just because they started in the bill; that we move and look for those alternate sources of energy that can begin to augment the fundamental hydrocarbon structure and then move beyond that as expeditiously as possible. It is a balanced bill. I think you will see balanced support. Once again, I want to compliment the chairman for doing something that heretofore has not been done. It is always easy when you do it. It has not been done before. Congratulations to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton). Mr. Speaker, the need to complete this comprehensive energy bill leads us to consider it without the normal accompanying statement of managers used to clarify and enhance understanding of the legislative text. Our colleagues, the chairman of the Committee on Finance and the ranking minority member of that committee, agree with me that those who follow tax legislation can and should use the Joint Committee on Taxation's publication, ``Description and Technical Explanation of the Conference Agreement on H.R. 6, Title XIII, Energy Tax Incentives Act of 2005, JCX-60-05, as the functional equivalent of a statement of managers for the purposes of completing their understanding of what the tax incentives provide. The joint committee publication has been submitted for publication in the Congressional Record. It can also be accessed on the joint committee's website--http://www.house.gov/jct/_for those who are interested. It is an extremely useful tool the public can employ to see just how much we have accomplished with this bill. I would also note, as a matter of clarification, section 1326 of the conference report, which provides for a 7-year depreciation peliod for natural gas gathering lines, is meant to prospectively clarify the depreciation of property meeting either of the two standards in subsection (b) of the section. This provision should not be interpreted as undermining any taxpayer's position versus the IRS in regard to current law, but instead as a clarification of the treatment of property meeting either of the standards described in subsection (b) after April 11, 2005.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 386, I call up the bill (H.R. 3045) to implement the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, for those individuals within our eyesight and earshot, there may be some people wondering about the debate that was begun under the rule, and that if it, in fact, carries over into the general debate, you will be quite perplexed. The statement was repeated several times that we are doing this in the dead of the night. My friends, it is 5:30 in California. People are just getting home from work. Would we not rather debate this during prime time when there are people home and who can watch it? Words such as ``shameful,'' ``disrespectful,'' ``arrogant''; accusations about freely-elected people in countries south of our border; someone who is not familiar with the way this place operates would be quite amazed at what has been said. Let me assure you, those of you who are concerned need only turn to the United States Constitution, Article I, section 6. Therein is contained what is often called the Speech and Debate Clause. The Speech and Debate Clause in the Constitution says, ``And for any speech or debate in either House they, the Senators and Representatives, shall not be questioned in any other place.'' In other words, truth, veracity, facts do not apply here if you choose not to use them. If you choose to misrepresent, you are allowed to do that on the floor of the House. If you wish to confuse, if you wish to say black is white or white is black, you can. But I do think that you ought to at least give minimum respect for people who laid their lives down to have an opportunity to share the blessings of democracy. In the 1980s we were all concerned, and speeches were made on the floor of this House, about the impending loss of Central America to totalitarian governments, and, frankly, sometimes it was to the right, and sometimes it was to the left. We have before us tonight a freely negotiated trade agreement between sovereign countries freely elected by the people of those countries in Central America and in the Dominican Republic and in the United States. Yet a Member feels comfortable coming to the floor, and the gentlewoman from California said that they are going to be able to enforce their own trade laws. Does that not worry you? Well, so do we. She said, they could change their trade laws to allow child labor. Well, so can we. Will we? Of course not. What makes you think they will? The argument that somehow these people down there do not love their children any more than we do is, in fact, the words that were used earlier, that argument is shameful, it is disrespectful, and it is arrogant. The idea that these people do not care about their families; have you driven around the greater Washington area and run into all these people from Central America who are here because they were driven here because of the political conditions in the 1980s, and that, in fact, the best import they have are the jobs people have here? You do not think they want to go home to their families? This was negotiated by freely elected people, not because they want to sell products and services in the United States; they already have that. They want this so that our goods, our services, our jobs will come to Central America. And as you make the arguments that you make so shamefully, so disrespectfully, and so arrogantly about the governments freely elected, supported by their people, just remember, they want a job, too. They love their children. They are respectful of you; be respectful of them. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I know the gentleman's district is in New York, and television is very expensive there, but it may surprise the gentleman to know that 8:30 on the east coast is called prime time, and you have to pay for it. We are in prime time. Just let me say that you must be very proud, as you just indicated, to advocate for your side to vote ``no'' on democracy, ``no'' to jobs in their own country, ``yes'' to continued poverty, and ``yes'' to a threat to fragile democracies, because that is what this vote is. And it really is a sad night for your once proud, aggressive party, which has a lot of words and no action for people in need. Mr. Speaker, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Shaw), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Trade of the Committee on Ways and Means, and I ask unanimous consent that he control the remainder of the time.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I wondered when this moment would come, and apparently it comes tonight. For more than 40 years the Democratic Party was a very forward- looking, progressive party. It led us into many new and important endeavors in helping people around the world. It was FDR that coined the phrase ``good neighbor policy.'' I want to explain what this is all about. This is a letter from 20 labor leaders, and it is addressed to the minority leader. It says, The American labor movement has been one of the Democratic Party's most consistent and stalwart supporters. Every election cycle labor delivers. We expect that House Democratic leadership will convey very strongly to all wavering Democrats that voting for CAFTA against our strong, clear, and loud objections, would signal to the labor movement that those candidates do not want our support. Our work to help elect at-risk Members at your urging will not extend to those who vote against us on this issue. Tonight I will tell my party, they moved from the majority to the minority. We moved from the minority to the majority. And tonight we have an opportunity to move to the progressive, aggressive and good neighbor policy party. They have urged all-night protectionism. They have urged fear. They have urged that we do not do what is right. All I ask of Members is tonight we have been a majority for a decade. It is time that we mature into a permanent majority. We will lead, we will be progressive, we will help our neighbors. We will not quote 40- year-old quotes about how much we want to help and, when we have an opportunity to do so, heel to the protectionism labor union movement in this country. Please, those freely elected Presidents came to us and said, help us. We help them by voting ``yes'' on CAFTA. We will be the good neighbors.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The United States Trade Rights Enforcement Act, as amended, is a compendium of a number of positions that have been expressed in a bipartisan way by Members of this House in regard to some of our trading partners. This bill has been identified as an ``anti-China'' bill. That simply is not the case. The provisions to assist us in determining how you examine a nonmarket economy and determine whether or not it is carrying out practices that are in violation of the WTO is applied to any country with a nonmarket economy. It is true that there are monitoring provisions dealing with agreements that China has voluntarily laid on the table; for example, moving away from the Government of China using counterfeit software and, therefore, protecting intellectual property rights, and China assigned itself the date of the end of calendar year 2005. This merely creates a monitoring process to determine how it can be achieved. The bill is very timely because it includes another monitoring process just recently announced by the Government of China dealing with its currency, its desire to unpeg its currency to the U.S. dollar and have it move modestly against a basket of world currencies. That also, in this legislation, would be monitored. I am pleased to say that the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) and the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson) have examined and offered a resolution on the government procurement agreement of the World Trade Organization urging China to fully participate. That is included as well. This bill is designed to meet a number of Members' particular concerns focused on world trade, not just China. For example, additional money is being provided to the United States Trade Representative for enforcement purposes. Yes, it includes the Office of China Affairs, but I do want Members to know it also includes the Office of Japan, Korea, and Asian Pacific Affairs because there are several provisions in here monitoring, frankly, the Government of Japan based upon its unfair trade practices, most focused on the use of so- called sanitary and phytosanitary measures as, in fact, nontariff trade barriers. So this is a compendium of concerns presented at a time that the trade issues will be in front of us this week, and leadership felt, and I agree as well, that this measure allows us to focus beyond this hemisphere, in fact, at major trading partners and behavior that we have seen not just in terms of providing tools to enforce U.S. trade rights, but to monitor personal individual and voluntary commitments made by governments as well. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3283) to enhance resources to enforce United States trade rights, as amended.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I find it ironic that the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) would call this bill controversial. Perhaps there may be some envy as opposed to who gets credit, and I apologize for mentioning his name if that is his concern. What we do not want to do is engage is unnecessary bashing, as it has been said. This is a responsible bill. Some of the other measures, and we saw that in the hearings that the Committee on Ways and Means has had over China and other trade concerns, this bill is backed by hearings notwithstanding what the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) said. But most of the other pieces of legislation in fact violate the very WTO rules that we desire China and other nations to follow. This bill does not do that. It is a responsible bill responding in ways that are appropriate. Inappropriate responses that actually violate the WTO rules when trying to make the point that other nations should follow them is, in fact, irresponsible. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. English) who has been instrumental in producing this bill, and that the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. English) may control the remainder of the time.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of our former colleague and friend, the late Representative J.J. ``Jake'' Pickle. As many of you know, Jake and I served together on the Committee on Ways and Means for eight years. In fact, when I first began to serve on the Committee in 1983, I was assigned to the Subcommittee on Social Security, which he chaired. Jake's hard work and skill helped develop the legislation enacted in 1983 to enhance Social Security. Jake is also well-remembered for his courageous vote in support of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the superior service he provided to his constituents. I admired Jake's ability and work ethic and appreciated his friendship. I will miss him and extend my deepest condolences to his wife Beryl and the rest of his family.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Chairman, the Chair is not rising to a point of order on the substance because the Chair supports the substance; it is the manner in which it is being carried in an appropriations bill. The Chair wishes to work with the chairman very closely to make sure that this position represented in the legislative portion of the appropriations bill is included in a legislative vehicle that will be before us fairly soon.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order against section 218 on page 63, lines 1 through 10 of this bill, H.R. 3058, on the grounds that this provision violates clause 2(b) of House rule XXI because it is, in fact, legislation included in a general appropriations bill.

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

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is correct in his understanding. The Transitional Medical Assistance is an important work support for low-income families making the transition from welfare to work. Therefore, it is important that we are here today to continue this program. Let me remind the House that the House has extended TMA nine times since the welfare reform law expired in 2002. In the course of these extensions, the Committee on Ways and Means has been charged with more than $500 million in costs associated with extending the TMA program, which is, as the chairman correctly noted, under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) and I are in the process of putting together the potential list for flying to the Jake Pickle funeral tomorrow at 4 p.m. It is very short notice, and it will be an imposition on the funeral site. We are in contact now. What we need to know are how many Members, beyond the Texas delegation and the Committee on Ways and Means, have a very strong interest in attending the Jake Pickle funeral? We would leave with ample time to get there prior to the 4 p.m. funeral time, and then we would immediately return. Any Member who has an interest, would they call the Committee on Ways and Means and ask for Allison Giles, 53630. We need to pull together an approximate number of Members who have a strong interest in attending the Jake Pickle funeral.