C. Young

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

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

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Istook), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, I would like to yield to my colleague from North Carolina for a colloquy.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I do continue to reserve the point of order on the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I might consume. Mr. Chairman, what we are dealing with now is the second tier of the defense appropriations bill. We have completed consideration of the basic bill. We are now dealing with the $20 billion supplemental that is attached to the defense appropriations bill. I want to give just a real quick review of where we are and why we are here. Right after the terrorist attacks on September 11, we realized that there was going to be some funding needed immediately to respond to the attacks. The gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) and I sat down together, and we began to work on what we thought would be an appropriate response by the Congress in the form of a supplemental appropriations bill. And we agreed to a $20 billion supplemental appropriations bill, and we had worked out most of the details. We were, in fact, sitting with our counterparts in the Senate, Senator Byrd and Senator Stevens, when the news flash came that the President had agreed to add an additional $20 billion to help recovery in New York City. We were very supportive of that. We understand that, after the terrible terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, we are all New Yorkers and we all have an obligation to respond as quickly as we can. So we produced that $40 billion supplemental appropriations bill. The President was able to direct the first $10 billion of that supplemental anywhere he wished, to respond to the attacks and to begin the effort to prevent them from happening again. For the second $10 billion, the President had flexibility in how to use that $10 billion; but we required that he consult with the Committee on Appropriations of the House and the Senate 15 days prior to allocating those funds. So the first $20 billion is spoken for. We made the second $20 billion of the $40 billion in that law subject to the appropriations process. And so, Mr. Chairman, that is why we are here today. We are presenting the appropriations recommendations for that $20 billion figure. Now, the $20 billion figure includes pretty much what President Bush had asked for. We had worked with him. We worked with our subcommittees, and we made some changes in the $20 billion package; and the President did not object to those changes. So we think we have a good package here. However, there are many who believe, and Mr. Chairman, I am one of them, that before this is over, as the President has said repeatedly, this is going to be a long, drawn-out affair to seek out the terrorists, to destroy al Qaeda's ability to launch terrorist attacks against the United States or our interests wherever they might be. The military operation is going very successfully. I commend General Franks and all of those officers and men who have worked under him in this combat situation. They have done a really good job. It has been very methodical, and it has been very precise. They have done a really good job. The operation is moving along very well. We are not sure how much longer it might take. We are using a lot of munitions. We are spending a lot of money on that military operation. But in addition to that, Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) and I have visited at the FBI, at their Intelligence and Operations Center; and we recognize, as the President has said, this is not an issue isolated to Afghanistan. We have located, and when I say ``we,'' I am talking about the American Government, the FBI, the CIA, all of our law enforcement agencies, some of which we will not mention here, that have done a really good job in identifying terrorist cells scattered all over the world. It is going to be a long, drawn-out process to eliminate the ability of terrorists to attack America again. It is essential that we do not have any more World Trade Center-type attacks; that we do not have any more attacks on military installations like our Defense Department at the Pentagon just across the river here from the Capitol. So it is important that we disrupt totally the ability of any terrorist organizations to conduct terrorist activities against the United States. We want our people to go back to being able to live without fear. Americans should not live in fear. And we have to do everything possible to guarantee that Americans do not live in fear. We do not want our buildings or our properties attacked by terrorists. So, again, we have to disrupt their ability to do that. Now, I bring up this little bit of history because I do not know, and I do not think anybody can tell us today, what the final cost of that overall effort is going to be. As I said earlier, I tend to be one of those who believe it is going to be more than the $20 billion that we have already appropriated as an emergency supplemental. The President, I think, agrees with that; and I think he understands that there will be more needed for the military. We are using up munitions at a large rate and in some cases getting dangerously low. We are using a lot of fuel. We are putting a lot of wear and tear on our aircraft and our ships and all of our military equipment. So the military, the Defense Department, will need additional funding in order to not only maintain this military operation but to recover from it so that we do not let our forces and our guard down. In addition, the FBI has serious needs. The Border Patrol has serious needs. We have to protect our borders. We have to make sure that we stop the terrorists from coming into our country. Our public health systems all need support, whether it is for protection against anthrax, small pox, or whatever might be used as a terrorist weapon. We must be prepared, first of all, to prevent it, but, second, to deal with it if it should happen. Again, I say I do not know what the cost is going to be ultimately, and I do not think anyone else does today, including the President of the United States. I think he has done an extraordinary job in seeking out the terrorists and bringing punishment upon those who created this terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, and in pursuing al Qaeda and their fellow terrorists around the world. The President has said today, let us stay with the $40 billion total. That is a lot of money; there is no doubt about that. There is a lot of money in the pipeline already for the $40 billion, and the President has said that when we reach the point that we need additional funding, that he, the President, will immediately ask for a supplemental appropriations bill from the Congress. The Speaker of the House, in many meetings and many consultations, has told me that he supports the President's position and that he will, in fact, allow us to move a supplemental appropriations bill quickly when the time comes, if that need is identified. I have made this commitment, and I will make it again here today, that once the supplemental request is identified, I will move, as chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, that supplemental request in conjunction with my friend, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey). We will move that supplemental appropriations bill quickly through this House, and our colleagues in the Senate have agreed that they would do the same. So what I am suggesting today is that we cannot support today any amendment that goes above the $20 billion. But we will move immediately for a supplemental with the President's support and the Speaker's support when the time comes that we do identify a need that must be taken care of. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Senate Concurrent Resolution 85, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, I would like to say first that I appreciate the support that the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) has given us through the process; and yesterday when the Committee on Appropriations took up the basic Defense bill, the Defense Appropriations bill, and added to it the amendment that, the chairman's amendments that allocated the $20 billion of that $40 billion supplemental. He was very supportive in his comments of both the underlying bill and the amendments. His position was, as he indicated, that there was much more that needed to be done. I would say to the gentleman that I have analyzed those amendments closely and I have really found no objection to the amendments. The objection that I had to raise in the committee was only one of timing, whether we would do it today, now or whether we would wait for the President to request a supplemental. But anyway then, directly to the question of the gentleman, I have no objection to the Committee on Rules providing a rule that would make any amendment in order to an appropriations bill that, in fact, is an appropriations issue. I do object to a rule or adding nonappropriations language to a bill. In the case of the gentleman's specific question, I would tell him that I spoke to the chairman of the Committee on Rules earlier today and advised him that I would have no objection personally to a rule that would allow the consideration of those amendments. I believe that Members have a right to be involved in the debate on very serious issues; and, in fact, after the experience that we had yesterday, after about 7 hours, I almost wish that all of our Members could enjoy some of that fun that we had yesterday. So the answer is I have already advised the chairman of the Committee on Rules that I would not object.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Appropriations be discharged from further consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 74) making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 2002, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding. Madam Speaker, this is a simple CR. It extends the current continuing resolution until December 7. The terms and conditions of all the previous CRs remain in effect. All ongoing activities will be continued at current rates under the same terms and conditions as fiscal year 2001, with the exception of the agencies covered by the FY 2002 appropriations bills that have already been enacted into law. Additionally, the provision for mandatory payments has been extended for payments due on December 1, 2001. As the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) has suggested, this is not a controversial resolution, and I urge that we move it quickly. Then to the gentleman's question as to the schedule, I wish I could give him a very definitive answer; but as he knows, we have completed work on all of the House bills, and yesterday the Committee on Appropriations was able to finalize the markup of the Defense appropriations bill. If I could just state for the record, the reason the Defense appropriations bill is late is two-fold: One is we waited until early July to get the President's budget amendment for the pre-September 11 Defense requirements; and then the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations was actually here in the Capitol on September 11 when the tragic attacks on the World Trade Center took place, and at the Pentagon. As the gentleman knows, the Capitol was evacuated immediately, so that had to be postponed. Since then, additional activities have taken place; the $40 billion emergency supplemental was broken up into three separate tranches; and yesterday we finalized the Defense bill plus the last tranche of that emergency supplemental. Now the issue, I believe, for the schedule is this: that if the requirement of a 3-day layover before filing the bill, if that were to be waived, then we could actually bring the Defense appropriations bill to this floor tomorrow. If it is not waived, then the 3 days would have to ensue. Then we would file the bill, get a rule, and it would appear to me that that would either be early next week or following Thanksgiving. I think the 3-day rule is affected by what type of rule would be presented by the Committee on Rules. I believe that is an issue that the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) is very much interested in. That is about as much as I can say about the schedule. It is sort of iffy. As far as the nonappropriations legislative schedule, of course the majority leader will speak to that probably sometime today.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, I wonder first if the gentleman would have any objection if I just make a brief explanation of what the CR does.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on House Joint Resolution 74, and that I may include tabular and extraneous material.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

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

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. Mr. Speaker, I would like our colleagues to know that the education number in this bill, which is a very substantial number, is a solid number. The gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) and I had begun to work on this issue in the spring actually, and in working with our counterparts in the Senate, we came to this number. So I think we have all made this commitment to the strong educational part of this bill, and I agree with the chairman of the subcommittee that this motion certainly reflects the viewpoint that we had established early on.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

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

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that managers on the part of the House have until midnight, November 9, 2001, to file a conference report on the bill (H.R. 2500) making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and related agencies, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2002, and for other purposes.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I would tell the gentleman, it is tomorrow night.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise, number one, to congratulate Chairman Walsh for having done such a tremendous job in taking a 302(b) allocation that was not nearly as much as these agencies could have used but in providing a bill that really gets the job done. He has done an outstanding job. He could not have had a better partner than the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan). They worked together in just a very strong, bipartisan fashion. Their staff support was equally bipartisan, and we produced a good bill. And so I would hope that we would get a very good vote for this conference report. In addition, Mr. Speaker, I would like to make an announcement to the Members that we are nearing the end of the appropriations process for fiscal year 2002. I think everyone would breathe a deep sigh of relief over that, especially the chairman of the committee. Briefly, we have produced two major supplemental bills since we received the details of the President's budget on May 9, which was about 2 months later than we normally get it, but I think we all understand the lateness of the new administration being put in place. But we were 2 months late in actually getting the detailed numbers that we need as appropriators to work these bills. But since that time on May 9, we have produced the two supplementals that were major supplementals through the entire process and to the President. We have also concluded all of our work on the Interior appropriations bill, the Military Construction appropriations bill, the Energy and Water appropriations bill, the Legislative Branch appropriations bill, the Treasury-Postal appropriations bill, and today we will conclude our business on the VA-HUD bill that is before us. Also today we received unanimous consent to take up the appropriations bill for Agriculture, to file it by midnight tomorrow night; we will complete the conference on Commerce, Justice and State later today; we appointed the conferees for the District of Columbia appropriations bill; and we appointed the conferees for the Labor, HHS and Education appropriations bill. We hope to conclude those conferences by the middle of next week and hopefully will be on the floor before or by Friday of next week. I might say, Mr. Speaker, that part of the slowdown here also has been that the other body, while its appropriations committee had reported out most of its bills, the other body held appropriations bills for a long time and did not pass them. And so we cannot go to conference on an appropriations bill until the other body passes it as well. But while the committee did pass out its bills, the full Senate did not take them up. We still have to do the Transportation conference, and there is one issue that is delaying us there, and that has to do with a difference of opinion between several Members of the other body and the President of the United States on the issue of trucks entering the United States from a foreign land. That has to be resolved yet, but we think that will happen also by the end of next week. The major outstanding issue, having said all of this is the Defense bill. It has yet to be done in the Committee and in the House, but I believe we will also have it through the House by Friday of next week. I do not think we will be able to have it conferenced by Friday of next week. The Defense bill itself has been completed for over a week, but we are using it as a vehicle to deal with last $20 billion of the second supplemental we did. This gets a little confusing and complicated, but on the $40 billion supplemental that we passed in the days after the terrorist attacks, if Members recall, we required that the last $20 billion of that Act actually go through the appropriations process once the President decided how he would like to use that $20 billion to respond to the terrorist attack of September 11. So while the Defense bill has been completed for about 10 days, we have been holding it as the vehicle for that $20 billion. We will mark up that $20 billion part of that Defense bill on Tuesday of next week and hopefully will have it on the floor Wednesday or Thursday. That is our plan. Again, Mr. Speaker, because of the good work of members of the Committee on Appropriations on both sides of the aisle and the support that we received by both sides of the aisle on our appropriations bills this year, again I say, we can breathe a sigh of relief. We are reaching the end of that process for fiscal year 2002.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 981.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to say that the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) and I have discussed the issues that he has just spoken about numerous times at great length, and I certainly agree with what he said. I think it is important to note that many of the appropriations bills that the House passed, actually passed prior to the terrorist attack on September 11, and were all peacetime budgets. The defense bill that we marked up yesterday was actually a peacetime budget. It dealt with the issues and the dollars that were available prior to the September 11 terrorist attack. So the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) is exactly correct. We have to move. Except for the $40 billion supplemental, we have to move into a wartime status here in the Congress, as we have done emotionally, as we have done by statements of support for the President, as we have done by changing some laws to give our law enforcement and our military more ability to move quickly to do what has to be done. The post-September 11 budget has to be considered real. As for the $40 billion, I do not think anybody believes that it is going to be enough to do what we have to do. What we have to do, the list is long, includes eliminating and bringing to justice bin Laden, his lieutenants, and the al Queda, and to remove them from any position of being able to influence terrorist attacks anywhere in the world. Mr. Speaker, America is not the only target. Other nations in the world are also targets. In the World Trade Center, for example, on that fateful day of September 11, there were nationals from 68 different countries who lost their lives in that attack on the World Trade Center. At our own Pentagon here, just outside of Washington, D.C., not only were members of our military killed in that attack, but also civilians, who were representing industry and meeting with Pentagon officials, military officials. So the target is very large, and it is important that we eliminate and disrupt the ability of any terrorist to carry out any additional attack, whether it be airplane bombs or truck bombs or anthrax or bacteria or disease germs, or whatever it might be. It is important that people do not have to live in fear, and they should not. It is important that places in our country are not under attack. I am satisfied that we are doing everything humanly possible to make sure that does not happen again, but there is a lot that needs to be done. We are prepared, and we have advised the President and our leadership knows that we, the Committee on Appropriations, are prepared to move quickly without any hesitation on addressing whatever the needs are. We are going to provide whatever it takes to keep America and our people secure and free from the terrorists who would try to damage our people and our country. Mr. Speaker, as we proceed through this appropriations process in the next few days and the next few weeks, we will be addressing the issues that the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) just discussed. We will be addressing the issues of what the needs really are. We will meet those needs, to the best of our ability; and as the needs arise, if there is something else that needs to be done, we are going to do it. We are going to do whatever it takes to stop the bin Ladens of the world, the Al Quaedas of the world, and those people who would bring terrible tragedy upon this Nation of ours. We are not going to stand for it, and I am committing this Committee to this, Mr. Speaker. We will provide whatever is necessary to make this guarantee and to support our President and our military in this effort. The Members of our Army, our Navy, our Marine Corps, our Air Force and our Coast Guard, our intelligence agencies, our law enforcement, the FBI, are all doing tremendous work. In briefing after briefing, about none of which we have revealed anything that is classified, by the way, Mr. Speaker, but after receiving many, many briefings, I am really impressed with how well they have come together, how well they are doing their job, how well they are beginning to disrupt the ability of any terrorist organization attempting to bring additional tragedies upon this great Nation of ours. So, Mr. Speaker, we remain united in this House, in this Congress, in this government, with the President leading us in this effort. We stand in strong support of all of our military and civilians who are on the frontline in this battle. We are going to do what has to be done; and the terrorists of the world might as well understand that, because we are coming to get them. If we have to get the rats out of the rat hole, we are going to get into the rat hole with them, but we are going to get them out. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the legislation before the House this morning is H.J. Res. 70. Its purpose is to extend the current continuing resolution through November 16. We had hoped, Mr. Speaker, that this would not be necessary, but as all of our colleagues know, the House was really not able to function for nearly a week because of the anthrax contamination that was located in some of our areas. In addition to that, some of the House office buildings were closed and we were not able to actually recover the information, the papers and the materials that we needed to carry on some of our appropriations work. I might say, Mr. Speaker, we actually offered to put on some of those moon suits that the decontaminators were wearing so that we could actually get into the building and recover the files and the information we needed, but, of course, that suggestion was rejected and so we have had a delay. That is the reason why we come to the floor with another continuing resolution, but absent any further delays over which we have no control, we expect to complete our appropriations business by the end of this continuing resolution. The terms and conditions of the previous CRs remain in effect. All ongoing activities will be continued at current rates under the same terms and conditions as fiscal year 2001. Last week, Mr. Speaker, we passed two conference reports, Interior and Military Construction. Yesterday, the committee reported out the Defense appropriations bill. We expect to file that bill sometime early next week. In addition to the CR today, we hope to be appointing conferees on the Foreign Operations bill. We will meet in conference on the Treasury-Postal bill this afternoon and have that conference report on the floor next week. Next week, we also hope to go to conference on the Legislative Branch, the VA-HUD, and the Energy and Water appropriations bills. We also expect to appoint conferees on Agriculture which the Senate hopes to complete today, and also Transportation which they passed in August but we have not yet received a request to go to conference. Next week, we also plan to put together a package to allocate the funding provided in the emergency supplemental bill to address military, domestic security, humanitarian assistance and recovery requirements related to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Mr. Speaker, I would explain that in the $40 billion supplemental that we enacted immediately after the attacks on September 11, $10 billion of that had no strings attached, the President was able to use it quickly in any legal way that he chose. The second $10 billion, the President is able to use, after he notifies the Appropriations Committees of the House and the Senate 15 days prior to releasing the funds. The last $20 billion, according to the law, had to go through the regular appropriations process. Actually, we just received information on the $20 billion from the White House on Wednesday afternoon last week as this building was being evacuated, and so we have not really had an opportunity to review what they have proposed relative to the $20 billion. But we will do that very quickly now and hopefully will include it as part of the Defense appropriations bill when it comes to the floor. We have a lot of work to do, and I appreciate the bipartisan cooperation and spirit that we have had here in the House all of this year and especially since the September 11 terrorist attacks. This Congress has come together. As one Member, it makes me extremely proud of my colleagues in the way that they have responded and joined with the President to assure the perpetrators of that tragedy, that terrible attack, are going to be punished and that we are going to do everything to disrupt their ability to ever do something like that to the United States again. Mr. Speaker, I apologize for the hoarseness that overcame me there for a few seconds. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the previous order of the House, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 70) making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 2002, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

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 gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston), a member of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

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 on H.J. Res. 70, and that I may include tabular and extraneous material.