C. Young

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentlewoman's amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I have only one speaker to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Fowler). (Mrs. FOWLER asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum). (Mr. McCOLLUM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, that is exactly correct.

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

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of the time. Mr. Chairman, first I would like to compliment all of our colleagues for the very high level and professional approach to this debate. There have been strong differences, and I indicated in my opening comments that there would be, because this bill covers a lot of issues. But when this bill was presented to us from the administration, the Plan Colombia presentation to the Committee on Appropriations dealt with drug abuse and eliminating the source of those drugs. No one suggested that we were talking about getting involved in a civil war, and no one suggested that this was going to be a major military operation. They were talking to us strictly about eliminating drugs at their source. This is important. We have great law enforcement. Our Customs agents, our law enforcement officers, the United States Coast Guard do a really great job of interdicting the flow of these drugs from Colombia and other countries before they reach the United States. The problem is they are overwhelmed. They do not have the assets that are necessary to stop all of the narcotraffic. The drug people have unlimited sums of money. They have high technology. They have fast boats. They have unlimited numbers of airplanes, and they do not have to go by any rules. Mr. Chairman, we have good assets, but we are limited in how many assets we have; and we have to go by a lot of rules. So it is very difficult. How great it would be to eliminate these drugs at their source, and that is what Plan Colombia is all about. It is to help the Colombian government elected by the people to eliminate the source of these drugs. Now, we spend billions and billions of dollars here at home in programs trying to get people to stop using the drugs. But as long as the drugs are available, people still continue to use those drugs. Mr. Chairman, how many more hundreds or thousands of our kids are going to get hooked on drugs or die from overdoses, or get shot up in a raid or a drug bust that went bad before we eliminate this terrible, terrible problem? It is essential to the future of this Nation that we eliminate the scourge that is illegal drugs and the trafficking of illegal drugs in the United States. We need to wipe out the source of these terrible drugs and we need to eliminate those killing fields where the drugs are grown. Now about Kosovo. A previous speaker mentioned that this bill would include $5 billion to keep our troops in Kosovo. That is not accurate. The money that we provide in this bill for Kosovo has already been spent. When this administration sent American military to Kosovo, the money was committed; and the longer they are there, the more money is spent. Now, where that money came from was not from an appropriations for Kosovo, but it was money that was appropriated for operations and maintenance of our own military. So in order to pay for the Kosovo deployments, they reached into the fourth quarter O&M accounts of all of the services. Now, if we do not replace that money, and I join with those who believe that the Kosovo experience is not going to be a positive one for the United States, and I wish we were not there; but if we do not replace this money, what happens is that our own military will have to stand down its operations, much of its training operations during the last quarter of this fiscal year, and that is rapidly approaching. So it is important that we move this legislation through the House today and that we get it to the other body so that we can begin the negotiations in finalizing what this supplemental is really going to be. We have tried to work with and be cooperative with the administration, with the President, and with the leadership in the Congress; and I think the bill that we deliver today has done that. Mr. Chairman, this is important. The fiscal year is running out. Half the fiscal year is basically gone. We have 13 regular appropriations bills to get to. We need to complete this bill, get it to the other body, get to conference and clear the way so that we can get about our business of the 13 regular appropriations bills. With that, Mr. Chairman, I expect we will have some lively debate on the amendments that will be offered here very shortly. I hope that the Members will pay close attention because some of the debate will be rather critical.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes). (Mr. HAYES asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to bring to the House today the 2000 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill. The Committee on Appropriations ordered this legislation reported by a nearly three to one bipartisan vote. It is reflective of a compilation of input from many sources on a large spectrum of issues. The request was thoroughly reviewed, hearings were held, input from Members outside the committee was received, and our committee painstakingly marked up the bill. The result of all of this is the bill before us. The bill includes $1.7 billion for counternarcotics activities in the Colombian and Andean region. By and large, the bill provides what the President requested for Colombia. In addition, the bill takes a more regional approach by providing increased help to the anti-drug efforts of Colombia's neighbors. Before any of the funds going to South America can be spent, the Secretary of State is to report on how the money will be used. The bill also funds high priority anti-drug activities in the Departments of Justice and Defense. Also included in this bill is nearly $5 billion for national security matters. The President's emergency request for $2 billion for operations in Kosovo and East Timor is met. I must remind our colleagues that this money replenishes funds that have already been spent for both of these operations. In fact, the money has been spent and borrowed from the fourth quarter operations and maintenance accounts of all of the military services. So that money has to be repaid, or the training activities in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year for our Nation's military will have to stand down dramatically. This bill also includes $1.6 billion to help cover increasing fuel costs facing the Defense Department. As we drive up to the gas tanks and fill up our cars, we see a tremendous increase in the cost of fuel. The ships that we drive, the airplanes that we fly, the trucks and the tanks that we drive, all of these things that use fuel are experiencing the same thing. So we do provide the money to make up for the increased fuel costs. The bill also includes $854.5 million to the financially troubled Defense Health Program, a health program that promises medical care for members of the military, their families, and those retirees who are eligible for military medical care. There are doctors, there are nurses, there are pharmacies, and there are medical people who provide medical care who have provided their services but have not been paid. We are in arrears to at least that amount of money. So we include it in this bill. The President did not request these two items; but they are urgently needed, and we will have to provide the money sooner or later. In the natural disaster and other emergencies areas, the bill includes $2.2 billion. This includes $400 million for USDA administered agriculture assistance, $250 million for wildland fire management, $600 million for LIHEAP, Low Income Home Energy Assistance, and $600 million for emergency highway reimbursements to States. Mr. Chairman, the committee tried to clean up all of the loose ends that we had relative to hurricane and flood disasters in the last year, and we believe this bill does complete all our responsibilities and obligations here. There are many other important issues addressed in the bill. The report provides a very complete description of them. The bill is somewhat difficult and a little controversial in places, and I respect the fact that there are multiple opinions on the bill. But I think the Committee on Appropriations listened to and respected the differing positions on the various provisions in the bill, including the strong support of the President of the United States. However, as usual with an appropriations bill, we could not report a bill that included everyone's position. Now the bill is before the entire House for consideration. It is important that we move this bill through the House today and we get it to the other body where deliberations can begin. We need to get this off of our schedules today because, Mr. Chairman, we have 13 other appropriations bills that we are trying to bring to this House in regular order and ahead of last year's schedule and certainly the year before's schedule, because this is a busy year for Members of Congress because of our national conventions, home work periods. So we need to get this bill out of here, get it into the negotiation with the other body. At this point in the Record, I would like to insert a table showing the details of this bill, as reported. [The table follows:] [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T29MR00.001 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T29MR00.002 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T29MR00.003 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T29MR00.004 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T29MR00.005 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T29MR00.006 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T29MR00.007 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T29MR00.008 Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. YOUNG of Florida asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I would simply say to the gentlewoman that we will always be willing to work with her to try to accomplish what she wishes to accomplish. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman, and ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order against the amendment because it proposes to change existing law and constitutes legislation in an appropriations bill and, therefore, violates clause 2 rule XXI. The rule States, in pertinent part, ``An amendment to a general appropriations bill shall not be in order if changing existing law.''

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentlewoman's amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order against the amendment because it proposes to change existing law and constitutes legislation on an appropriations bill and, therefore, violates clause 2 of Rule XXI. The Rule states in pertinent part: An amendment to a general appropriations bill shall not be in order if it changes existing law. And this amendment does. So I ask the Chair to sustain the point of order.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, certainly we, of course, intend to work with the gentleman. We are concerned about the issue, as he is; and we will work with him. This amendment is definitely subject to a point of order. But we understand what he is trying to accomplish, and we will work with him.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), the chairman of the Committee on International Relations. (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Callahan). (Mr. CALLAHAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield the remaining 4 minutes of our time to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert), the Speaker of the House.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time, and I reserve the right to close.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, might I inquire as to the time remaining for both sides.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Fowler).