Jim Walsh

Mr. WALSH of New York

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I'd like to begin my remarks by thanking Chairman Obey for his willingness to accommodate many of the programmatic requests that we made. I appreciate his attention to the concerns important to my constituents and to my State. As you know, this is a very complex and demanding bill, and Chairman Obey's staff has done a fine job supporting him in this task. I also would like to recognize Steve Crane and Anne Marie Goldsmith from the minority office for their attention to detail in this legislation. Let's make no mistake. This bill spends a great deal of money, approximately $6.5 billion more than last year in discretionary funding. But this bill addresses many of the most critical issues confronting our Nation--our families' health care, our children's education, our retirement security and our own workplace protection and job training needs. If I were chairman, and I had this allocation, I'm not sure I would have written the bill a whole lot differently. Specifically, this bill provides needed increases for community health centers. It advances my long-time efforts to advance funding for graduate medical education, of which my State, New York, trains 20 percent of the doctors in the Nation. So it is of critical importance to our teaching hospitals. And also the need for our Nation's poison control centers. It funds important biomedical research, telemedicine and electronic medical records, which in the long run will dramatically reduce the cost of medical expenses. It recognizes the need to provide seniors and those on fixed incomes with assistance paying high utility bills through the LIHEAP program. It continues Republican-led efforts to boost Federal funding for elementary and secondary education in support of the No Child Left Behind bill and also supporting programs for youth at risk. And thanks to my committee colleagues' support, the bill includes my amendment to boost funding for special education. As most of you know, when the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act passed in 1977, Congress authorized annual Federal expenditures of 40 percent to help cover the cost of education for children with special needs. But in 1995 the Federal Government paid only 7.8 percent of those costs for our children with disabilities. That puts an additional burden on our local school districts. If we are only paying about 8 percent of the cost, that means they are forced to cover the other 92 percent instead of the 60 percent that we had told them they would have to cover. With this increase, we will provide just under 18 percent of the cost in 2008, or about half of our commitment. At least it is progress in the right direction. This increased Federal support is important. Back in my home State of New York, the instructional expense for regular education for a student in 2003 and 2004 was $8,177 per student. For a special education student that cost was about double, $17,600. This bill boosts the maximum Pell Grant award to make a college education more attainable for more Americans, and it supports initiatives for senior health and wellness. I am grateful to Chairman Obey for including funds to take care of the health needs of those who responded heroically, and in many cases putting their own health and lives at risk, to the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. And I thank the chairman for responding to my request and attending to an issue of growing importance to more and more young American families: the emerging threat of food allergies. Food allergies more and more are affecting families across the country, and nobody really understands what is going on, why these allergies are occurring, but they do put these young people's lives at risk. This bill provides a new line of funding for research and outreach to parents of children with food allergies. While it is only a small amount of money that is necessary for the effort this year, the impact it will have is dramatic. In addition, I have some concerns with the additional $2 billion in advance funding that was provided by the Budget Committee. My concern is that advance funding can cause serious problems if future allocations for this bill are not as robust. With that said, again I would like to congratulate Chairman Obey and his staff for what I think on the whole is a well-written bill. I want to reiterate my appreciation for his willingness to work with us. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, at this time I yield such time as he may consume to my distinguished leader on the committee, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis).

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I now yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula), former chairman of the committee. (Mr. REGULA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining?

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I'm also concerned about the matter raised by the gentleman from California. I understand that the Senate Appropriations Committee has included some language dealing with this issue in its committee report. I can assure the gentleman that we'll continue to work on this matter as we conference the bill.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I now yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida, a member of the subcommittee, Dr. Weldon.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I reserve my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle), the former Governor.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I reserve my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I continue to reserve my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I thank the chairman of the committee. I have no further comments other than to say I enjoyed working with the chairman on this bill and his staff. I think we have a good work product here. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York

Mr. WALSH of New York. Just a further inquiry to the gentleman. In order to add funds at a certain point in the bill, you have to derive those funds from another point in the bill. Would you please, for the record, identify where these $37 million come from.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Would the gentleman care to identify which of those two funds he will provide this offset from?

Mr. WALSH of New York. Reclaiming my time, Madam Chairman, my understanding is that these funds, the offset would have to be provided from within the HRSA account, and while the amendment may be in order, I don't believe the offset is correct procedure. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I will be very brief. Cord blood has proven to be very effective for many lifesaving purposes. We need to support this research. I would urge a ``yes'' vote on the amendment. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I won't take the full 5 minutes. I would just like to say I am also prepared to accept the amendment. But I would make the note that this is not an increase in spending. There is an offset. We are moving money from one place to another. It does not increase overall spending. It is cost neutral.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I couldn't agree more with my colleague, the chairman of the subcommittee. It's difficult to oppose an amendment that increases funding for treating and dealing with tuberculosis. It's a very serious disease all across the Third World. And there is the potential for it coming into our society and creating real problems. Having said that, there is an increase in the budget, it's $14 million above what the President requested, a pretty substantial increase, a 10 percent increase in the budget. And while I respect the gentleman's desire to strengthen our country against the disease, it's not proper to take that amount of the budget of the Department of Labor for this purpose. That would hamstring the Department of Labor. It would not cut the fat, it would cut the muscle, it would cut the arms out. It would cut the eyes out of the Department of Labor, and I don't think anybody wants that. So, I strongly urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I reluctantly rise to oppose my friend and colleague's amendment. I certainly support the intent to provide more money for TRIO, and I also championed additional funds for the geriatric programs in the 2007 continuing resolution. But I can't support this cut to AmeriCorp. Like my colleague from Connecticut who just spoke, I was a Peace Corps volunteer. The point was made you are not a volunteer if you get paid. Well, nobody gets rich at these jobs. You have to have some money to live, to pay the rent, to buy your food, and to call home on occasion. So you still can be a volunteer and receive a small portion of income to maintain your livelihood while you're providing this service, but this program gives young Americans the opportunity to express their idealism, to give something back and to learn and to round themselves out and to broaden their horizons. In fact, since AmeriCorps was established back in 1993, it has demonstrated some pretty remarkable results. Eighty-one percent of former members have volunteered. Additionally, after leaving AmeriCorps service in other areas, 89 percent of former members became employed in the public sector, and Lord knows we need good people working in the public sector. Ninety percent of organizations said AmeriCorps members helped their involvement with other organizations in the community. Young people are idealistic. They want to do something positive in their lives. This is one of the few programs that we have in the Federal Government that gives them that opportunity. So I would again reluctantly oppose the gentleman's amendment. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.