Frank Wolf

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. I rise in strong opposition to the amendment. I would also like to say to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake), I would love to go down to Cuba; and I would ask if the gentleman can intercede for both of us to go together, and that would be an unusual trip.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 30 seconds. The committee is dedicated to addressing the methamphetamine problem; and now with the additional funds freed by the amendment, we can dedicate more funds to combat the meth problem. So I am offering this amendment which adds $34 million to the COPS program to combat meth production and trafficking and enhance policing initiatives. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the remainder of title I of the bill through page 34, line 11, be considered as read, printed in the Record, and open to amendment at any point.

Mr. WOLF. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), who has been a leader on this issue.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson).

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis).

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 3 minutes. I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment. The amendment cuts the Bureau of Industry and Security by over 6 percent. What does that mean, because it does not sound that it is that significant? A cut of $5 million to the Bureau of Industry and Security would severely diminish efforts to deter weapons of mass destruction proliferation, would prevent sensitive dual-use items from falling into the hands of terrorists, and enforces the anti-boycott laws of the United States. Some think that the Bureau of Industry and Security is actually too weak, and I may be in that category. American industry is being hampered in the international marketplace by the long processing time of export license applications. This amendment would roll back the progress that we have made in reducing the average processing time from 44 days to 32 days since 2003. With additional money we could probably get that down. The trade deficit, the trade imbalance, this would really create a greater problem to deal with that. Quite frankly, I do not think this administration has done enough to deal with the trade deficit, the trade imbalance. So to take $5 million from the Bureau of Industry and Security would severely diminish our ability both on looking at weapons of mass destruction and technology and also hamper American business at the very time when we are urging them to sell American products abroad. I understand the gentleman makes some good points with regard to the Coastal Zone Management, and maybe we can look at that as we go into conference. But I would not want to take that from here. I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan).

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

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of the time to the gentleman from California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren), a former attorney general.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield half of my time to the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan) and ask unanimous consent that he be permitted to control that time.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

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

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, there is no amendment. We were going to reserve a point of order on it. But I just want the Record to show, and I appreciate the gentleman's comments, that the bill provides $800 million for the Marshals Service, which is $41 million above the current year and $10 million above the request. This is in addition to the $12 million provided in the war supplemental for judicial security. So with that I just thank the gentleman for his comments.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays).

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, Hamas and Hezbollah and al Qaeda are opposed to liberty. The gentleman was wrong last year, because he has changed his amendment from that. So he was wrong last year, so maybe he is wrong this year. We are at war, as the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) said. Go to the Pentagon and look at the monument, go to the World Trade Center. Two of my children live in the district of the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), and I know that gentleman does not speak for them on this issue. When in doubt, do no harm. Be careful. The Justice Department made a mistake on the Moussaoui. They did not look at what was in his computer, and as a result of that mistake, we have paid a tremendous price. And if we make a mistake here, we may pay another tremendous price. Please, vote ``no'' on the Sanders amendment and let the Committee on the Judiciary deal with this.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute. I think the gentleman makes some decent points. There were the Gingrich-Mitchell recommendations which have been made. The gentleman said that he would withdraw the amendment if we got a GAO study. I think we ought to look at this thing. I think that the committee will ask the GAO to do a study to look at the cost and make sure. It is hard to argue against the gentleman for wanting a study because we now know, and being the author of that task force, that the U.N. failed on the Oil-for-Food program. I think it makes sense. With that, I will pledge and I will wait to hear what the gentleman from West Virginia says, but we will ask the GAO for a study to look at these things. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF

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

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, we will be glad to work with the gentleman from Texas and Ranking Member Mollohan to see what we can do to help. That sounds like a horrible situation: 31 Americans kidnapped. So if we can help, we will do whatever we can to help you.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Boehlert).

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

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

Mr. WOLF. Yes, I do agree with the gentleman that this funding for ongoing research and capital improvements to these laboratories is important. To date, no new funding has been requested by the administration, and plans for such a fence have not been finalized. The committee understands this project may be considered for future budget requests to the Congress. Also, I tell the gentleman that I would be glad to set up a meeting with the new director of NIST and others to kind of meet in our offices and see how we can resolve this to the gentleman's satisfaction.