C. Young

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from Alaska.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman says ``trying to do.'' I want a commitment. The gentleman from Alaska will have control over this conference.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I doubt that the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) would suggest that I be appointed as a conferee of his conference.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Reclaiming my time, I understand that. I have been to conference many times with the Senate, but the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) can commit what he will do; and the gentleman from Alaska, as chairman, will control that conference, and the gentleman does not have to sign a conference report unless it is what he wants it to be.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from Alaska.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I take back my time. The gentleman raised a sore point here. On TEA-21 and AIR-21, you took discretionary money and you put it into mandatory accounts and you created a problem for our Members who wanted programs in our transportation bill. You took that money into those programs, you reduced the amount of discretionary money available, and then in the few dollars we had left when the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers) brought a transportation appropriations bill on the floor here this year with some Members' projects in it, you sat right there and you, by a point of order, struck all of those projects. Do not tell me what you have done to appropriations bills. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend, the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers), who is chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I made that suggestion several times today and was rejected several times today.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from California, the very distinguished chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I would say to the gentleman, I support that language. I offered that language today during a compromise session, and I agree with that language. I just want to make sure that is the language we will vote on when it comes back from conference. That is all I am trying to get.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. For the last 15 minutes the gentleman has said ``if this'' and ``if that'' and ``maybe.''

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Wait just a minute. Coming back from conference and opposing a bill is one thing, but refusing to close the conference unless you like the language, that is something else. And you, as chairman, will control that.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. But they have already given me an answer to that several times. They are not going to do it, but they could.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. You did not take it behind me, but you sure took it.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I got as much of an answer as I am going to get.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Speaker for the courtesies this evening. I support the language we are talking about. I hope we can keep it. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Northern Virginia (Mr. Wolf), who represents the area that includes the Defense Department and the Pentagon, a member of the Committee on Appropriations. (Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sweeney), another distinguished member of the New York delegation, who is also a member of the Committee on Appropriations, and was very instrumental in helping us to resolve this appropriations bill today. (Mr. SWEENEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Speaker, when America is attacked, when any American is attacked, when any of our places is attacked, all of our country is attacked. America was attacked on last Tuesday. Attacks took place in New York City and on our Defense Department here in northern Virginia. The gentleman from Wisconsin just eloquently referred to that. The New York delegation has been very strong in supporting whatever efforts need to be done to help the recovery in New York. The Governor of the State, Governor Pataki, the mayor of the city, Mayor Giuliani, all of the officials, the police, the firefighters, the emergency medical technicians, the doctors, the nurses, the civilians who volunteered, everyone has just responded in such a tremendous way, an outpouring of support and unity. It is just amazing to watch this response. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh), one of the leaders of his Congressional delegation and also a leader on the Committee on Appropriations. He and other members of the delegation spoke to us eloquently yesterday at a meeting that we held with them.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, America is one Nation united under God today more than any time since December 7, 1941, when we were attacked at Pearl Harbor. Americans are normally very busy people, staying focused on those matters of concern to ourselves and to our families. Today our country's focus is on our fellow Americans who lost their lives in the despicable terrorist attack on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, and also on their families who mourn them. We seek God's blessing of comfort for them. Today, Mr. Speaker, America has officially set aside a time for national mourning. We will also focus on rebuilding what terrorists destroyed. Today we focus on not only seeking out those who brought this attack to our land, but to deal with those who might be planning other sneak attacks on America or the rest of the civilized world. Americans will not live in fear, and we will not allow attacks on our people or our places. With the action of the United States Congress today, the world will know that our people and we as their representatives in Congress are more united behind our President as he leads this great Nation under God than most Americans alive today have ever witnessed. We absorbed the attacks in Beirut when we lost brave Marines. We absorbed the attack at Khobar Towers when we lost brave members of our Air Force deployed to that part of the world. We absorbed the embassy attacks in Africa with some retaliation. We had the attack on the USS Cole where members of our Navy were killed or seriously injured, and we will rebuild the Cole as a monument to advise the world that we will not accept these attacks on our people. When the attacks came on Tuesday of this week, we had several options. We could have selected to wait, to see if this was another isolated act of terrorism, or we could choose to fight back, to do whatever is necessary to protect our Nation, to protect our families, and to preserve our freedoms and our way of life. Let there be no doubt. Our choice, the choice of President George Bush, the choice of the United States Congress, and the choice of the great people of a great Nation is to fight back. The world will be impressed by our response as we mobilize for this fight. As we present this bill today, Mr. Speaker, I thank the Speaker of the House for all of the assistance and wisdom and guidance the gentleman from Illinois gave us as we produced this bill. This was not an easy bill to decide how best to respond in a constitutional way. I thank the leaders of the Senate who worked so diligently with us in order to write the bill that we will present here this morning, and I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), the ranking member of the Committee on Appropriations. We debated, argued our some differences, and worked together as Americans to come up with the right solution. Throughout, the gentleman from Wisconsin was a pillar of strength, a giant; and I want to say I appreciate the efforts the gentleman from Wisconsin made to make this happen. I thank the members of our staff who stayed with us through the day and the night in order to present this bill and make it a good bill. Mr. Speaker, I thank our friends and allies around the world who have come to our aid and assistance, if nothing more than with their words and demonstrations of support. That is a strong message for us and to the rest of the world, and especially to the terrorists in the world, that we are a united people against terrorism. Mr. Speaker, the bill that we present today, H.R. 2888, is an emergency supplemental appropriations bill that basically provides $40 billion to be available as needed by the President, and as agreed to by the Congress, in order to mobilize this Nation to fight this fight, to eliminate the threat of terrorism from the United States and from the civilized world. We are going to move this bill quickly today, and we are going to have this mobilization underway. I think that the world will be impressed, and I believe that fear should be in the hearts of the terrorists because our people will not live in fear. We will not allow that to happen. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order just adopted, I call up the bill (H.R. 2888) making emergency supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2001 for additional disaster assistance, for anti-terrorism initiatives, and for assistance in the recovery from the tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1\1/2\ minutes. Mr. Speaker, another of the sites of devastation was the Defense Department in Northern Virginia, at the Pentagon. After the tradegy, I went to the Pentagon, I visited there twice, and I will tell you that it is a sad, sad experience to see the nerve center of our military establishment attacked and damaged severely with a tragic loss of life. Mr. Speaker, America sometimes takes our military for granted, except in a time of trouble and tribulation, when the military is called upon to perform, or when they are put at risk. Mr. Speaker, the men and women who serve in uniform could be at risk at any time, without notice. These Americans serving at the Pentagon on Tuesday suffered with no notice, a tremendous loss of life. Those of us who spend time in Northern Virginia have friends who have been affected by the loss of loved ones. Mr. Speaker, the one Member of this Congress who spends most of his life dealing with national defense issues is the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. I have the privilege of serving on that subcommittee and I chaired it for some time. The current chairman, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis) is a real patriot and is really dedicated to the well-being of the men and women who serve in our military. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), the distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, who has a great responsibility; and one of his responsibilities is airline safety and security. (Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier), the great chairman of the Committee on Rules. (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

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.R. 2888, and that I may include tabular and extraneous material.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order at any time without intervention of any point of order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 2888) making emergency supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2001 for additional disaster assistance, for anti-terrorism initiatives, and for assistance in the recovery from the tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001, and for other purposes; that the bill be considered as read for amendment; and that the previous question be considered as ordered on the bill to final passage without intervening motion except: One, one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations; and, two, one motion to recommit.