C. Young

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I raise a point of order on page 28, line 11, to page 28, line 22, because it provides an appropriation for an unauthorized program and therefore violates section 2(a) of rule XXI. Clause 2 of rule XXI states in pertinent part ``An appropriation may not be in order for an expenditure not previously authorized by law.'' Mr. Chairman, this program is not authorized, and I insist on my point of order.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. Again, I want to explain, for those who did not hear the first explanation, that the reason for these points of order is very simple. The authorizing committee has decided to raise certain points of order in this bill that will make the bill at least $1 billion over our 302(b) allocation. So in order to bring the bill back down to within the 302(b) allocation, we have to raise these additional points of order to strike out projects that were not authorized. Mr. Chairman, everybody knows the way this system works; that is, we have authorizing committees and we have appropriating committees. The Committee on Appropriations appropriates for those projects and programs that are authorized. In this case, the authorizing committee did not pass a bill; did not pass authorizations; and, frankly, are not even able to extend the existing transportation authorizations to keep the programs going. That is why we find ourselves in this dilemma. The system is not working the way it is supposed to. The authorizers did not authorize, so the appropriators had to do the best we could within our budgetary limitations to make this bill stay within the 302(b) allocations as set by our 302(a) budget allocation. I appreciate the chairman of this subcommittee for yielding to me so that I could make this brief explanation.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I raise a point of order on page 24, line 15, to page 25, line 20, because it provides an appropriation for an unauthorized program and therefore violates section 2(a) of rule XXI. Clause 2 of rule XXI states in pertinent part, ``An appropriation may not be in order for an expenditure not previously authorized by law.'' Mr. Chairman, this program is not authorized.

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

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, again I rise to offer a point of order. Mr. Chairman, on page 15, line 4, to page 15, line 22, I raise a point of order on that language because it provides an appropriation for an unauthorized program and, therefore, violates section 2(a) of rule XXI. Clause 2 of rule XXI states in pertinent part, an appropriation may not be in order for an expenditure not previously authorized by law. Mr. Chairman, this program is not authorized, and I insist on my point of order.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, I wanted to briefly explain what is happening here with these points of order that are being raised by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the subsequent points of order that are being raised by the Committee on Appropriations. The bill was finely tuned and very well crafted. The gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Istook), of the subcommittee, did a really good job bringing out a transportation bill. They could have used more money but they had a certain amount available and they used it wisely. But when the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure raises their points of order, and when the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica) concludes raising these points of order, this bill will be at least a billion dollars over its 302(b) allocation. And, of course, we have committed ourselves, since I have been chairman of this committee, to staying within our 302(a) allocation and the subcommittees to staying within their 302(b) allocations. So we are required to raise our own points of order to deal with unauthorized projects that we had agreed to fund but that we will no longer be able to fund, because the points of order raised by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will take us beyond our 302(b) allocation. I explain that in advance because very shortly I will raise several points of order that will bring the bill back into balance within the 302(b) allocation.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I raise a point of order. For the reasons that I announced earlier I make a point of order on page 14, line 21 to page 15, line 3, because it provides an appropriation for an unauthorized program and, therefore, violates section 2(a) of rule XXI. Clause 2 of rule XXI states in pertinent part, ``An appropriation may not be in order for an expenditure not previously authorized by law.'' Mr. Chairman, this program is unauthorized and I insist on my point of order.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

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

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart).

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the very distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica).

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. First let me say that I am so proud to be a part of this Florida delegation that has come together so strongly as we do when matters affect our State. All of our Members on both sides of the aisle have just been dynamic in supporting each other in the problems that we might experience in our districts because of this one tropical storm and two hurricanes. I want to especially thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) for working with me as we moved ahead with this bill to decide how we are going to do it, what the bill was going to look like, and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) was very supportive, and I have to say I just really appreciate the support that he gave us. After Hurricane Charley, I went to south Florida with President Bush, where he announced that he would be asking for this supplemental to make sure that the cash flow continued, and I was there to assure him that we would move this bill as expeditiously as we could. The House convened at 2 o'clock today after the summer district work period, and at 2 o'clock I introduced this supplemental appropriations bill. And thanks to the support of the gentleman from Illinois (Speaker Hastert) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), our majority leader, and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), our majority whip, everyone came together to help us move this legislation that is so important. I want to thank the President of the United States for recognizing the needs of Florida. I want to thank Governor Bush, who has done really a dynamic job in helping to manage not only as we led up to the hurricanes, but during the hurricanes and following the hurricanes for recovery. He has just been an amazing manager, and he has worked with everyone at the State and local level just to do the very best we could to help the people of our State that were hurt so bad. FEMA, we have talked about FEMA this afternoon, and FEMA has done an outstanding job. There are numerous other Federal agencies that have also been involved, and they have all just really turned to and helped our State as we recover from these disasters. The Florida National Guard, I talked to General Burnett early as Charley was approaching, and General Burnett had mobilized the Guard, ready to move in to protect property, to protect lives, to do whatever was necessary; and they just deserve a tremendous vote of confidence and vote of gratitude from Florida. All in all, as one of my colleagues from Florida said, this has been a great experience of coming together when people need help. As I said earlier in my remarks, all of Florida was affected one way or another, which was very unusual. We have an earthquake or a fire or a flood or whatever that might be, we respond quickly, and usually it is in a part of a State or a community, but in this case the entire State of Florida was affected. So as chairman of this committee and as the introducer of this bill, I appreciate the way that the House is moving to move this bill over to the Senate, which I believe will deem it passed tonight and get it to the President.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill H.R. 5005, making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, for additional disaster assistance.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, first I want to thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) for yielding me the additional time because, as you might expect, many Members of the Florida delegation would like to be heard on this bill. Mr. Speaker, Congress has responded many, many times to natural disasters in different parts of the country; but I cannot remember any time when an entire State, and I mean everybody in the State, was actually affected by a series of natural disasters in one way or another. Unfortunately, thanks to Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charlie and Hurricane Frances, that is exactly what has happened to Florida in the last couple of weeks, and we are still feeling the effects. As a matter of fact, our sister States to the north, Georgia and the Carolinas, and probably Virginia, sometime tonight are all going to feel some of the effects of Hurricane Frances. Mr. Speaker, I would like to compliment the President of the United States, the Governor of Florida, the director of FEMA, and the State and local emergency disaster responders for the tremendous way they have all worked together to help the people of Florida recover. Mr. Speaker, the damage has been severe. If Members have watched the television screens, they know what I am talking about. It has been total disaster in some parts of our State. This supplemental bill is a bill for $2 billion. It is an emergency declaration. The reason we have tried to move this bill as quickly as we can, FEMA, which is handling basically the Federal response, runs out of money probably by midnight tonight. Rather than interrupt the cash flow to the emergency workers in Florida, we are trying to move this bill. Hopefully our brothers and sisters in the other body will move it quickly tonight, and it will be on the President's desk so there is no interruption in the cash flow to the people who need it in Florida. This is not going to cover all of the costs of the natural disasters that we are dealing with and have been dealing with, but we will take that up at a later date. This is an emergency measure to keep the cash flow moving into Florida and FEMA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Shaw), and just note the last time we spoke was on the telephone as Hurricane Frances was coming ashore right over his house.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5005) making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, for additional disaster assistance.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor), who had floods of 6 to 7 feet in Virginia streets from Tropical Storm Gaston.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley), who experienced not only Frances but Charley as well.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. I want to assure my very distinguished friend and colleague from Florida that we understand that there are many expenses that will need to be covered, but we do not know exactly what they are yet; so this is really a stopgap to keep the cash flowing to Florida today. But we will revisit this and the President has acknowledged that he would be asking for an additional supplemental once those figures are available to us. We are going to move quickly. I appreciate the gentleman's comments.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the very distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss), former chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. (Mr. GOSS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the very distinguished gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's generosity, and that may be the case. We will deal with our speakers and then see where we stand. I thank him for yielding me the time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the very distinguished gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite).

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart).

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Harris). (Ms. HARRIS asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, when natural disasters occur around the world, or especially in the United States, we respond. But of all of these natural disasters that we have experienced, seldom has an entire State been affected. But thanks to tropical storm Bonnie, Hurricane Charley, and Hurricane Frances, every section of Florida has been affected. President Bush, Governor Bush, Mike Brown, the Director of FEMA, and our State and local emergency responders have done an outstanding job, and the people of Florida have done an outstanding job in beginning to put their lives back together. But today FEMA, who handles our disaster funding, is running out of money, and by midnight tonight their funds will be exhausted. I have introduced a supplemental bill, as requested by the President, and, hopefully, we can pass it here in the House this afternoon, and the Senate will be able to take it up later this evening. It is important because FEMA is out of money. It is important to make sure that everybody knows that this is not going to be the total cost. This is just emergency funding to keep the cash flowing to those disaster areas in my State of Florida.