[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 139 (Thursday, October 14, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H10039-H10042]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    WAIVING POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2684, 
DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND 
             INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2000

  Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on 
Rules, I call up House Resolution 328 and ask for its immediate 
consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 328

       Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be 
     in order to consider the conference report to accompany the 
     bill (H.R. 2684) making appropriations for the Departments of 
     Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and for 
     sundry independent agencies, boards, commissions, 
     corporations, and offices for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2000, and for other purposes. All points of 
     order against the conference report and against consideration 
     are waived. The conference report shall be considered as 
     read.
       Sec. 2. House Resolution 300 is laid on the table.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce) is 
recognized for 1 hour.
  Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield 
the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Moakley), the distinguished ranking member of the Committee on Rules, 
pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During 
consideration of the resolution, all time yielded is for purposes of 
debate only.
  Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 328 is a rule providing for the 
consideration of the VA-HUD conference report which provides funding in 
fiscal year 2000 for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department 
of Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection 
Agency, among other programs.
  The rule waives all points of order against the conference report and 
against its consideration.
  Mr. Speaker, today, with the passage of this rule and the VA-HUD 
conference report, Congress will be one step closer to meeting our 
budget goals for the year 2000; namely, maintaining a balanced budget 
without raiding the social security trust fund to pay for it.
  We have fought long and hard to achieve a balanced budget by making 
the tough decisions necessary to reduce Federal spending, shrink the 
size of government, and reform Federal programs.
  It has not been easy, change never is, but our work has met with 
success, which has emboldened our cause. Just this week the 
Congressional Budget Office reported that in fiscal year 1999, for the 
first time in 40 years, we experienced a true budget surplus, without 
touching a dime of the social security trust fund.
  That means that we have transitioned from a pattern of deficit 
spending to a new era of balanced budgets, and now to a more honest 
method of budgeting that really places social security off limits.
  Mr. Speaker, we have turned a corner, and it is no time to look back. 
Today Congress will continue down this path of fiscal discipline and 
integrity as we consider the VA-HUD conference report.
  I am pleased to report that this conference report is the product of 
negotiating and consensus between Congress

[[Page H10040]]

and the President, who worked together to come up with adequate funding 
for a variety of priority programs.
  Not only were the levels of funding in the bill agreed to in the 
spirit of cooperation, but the offsets, which ensured that the bill 
meets our goals of protecting social security, were also approved on a 
bipartisan basis.
  The VA-HUD conference report reaches a balance by actually reducing 
spending below last year's level while adding resources to our top 
priorities, not the least of which is support for our Nation's 
veterans.
  While we can never fully repay the debt we owe to those who were 
willing to sacrifice their lives for our freedom, it is worth noting 
that this conference report provides for the largest increase in 
veterans health care programs in a decade. The $1.7 billion increase 
the conference report provides will bring spending on veterans health 
care to a total of $19 billion. That is just for next year.
  In addition to helping veterans, this bill addresses the critical 
housing needs of our most vulnerable populations. For the poor and 
homeless in our society, the VA-HUD conference report provides an 
increase of over $2 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development.
  Housing for our Nation's elderly will see an increase of $50 million 
over last year. Disabled housing will receive an additional $5 million, 
and the people living with AIDS who are served by the HOPWA program 
will see a boost of $7 million.
  Moreover, the Housing Certificate Fund, which fully funds Section 8 
renewals and tenant protections, is funded at $11 billion, which is 
significantly more than the President's budget request.
  But, funding for HUD is not just about housing. The Department also 
promotes community development. I am pleased that added to the 
conference report is $55 million to fund the designated empowerment 
zones across our Nation.
  With the blessing of the Federal Government, these communities have 
worked to develop strategies to attract investment, revitalize their 
neighborhoods, and create jobs. But their plans rely on a commitment of 
assistance by the Federal Government that we should honor. The 
conference report will help us meet that commitment by providing some 
$3.5 million for each urban empowerment zone, as well as $15 million in 
grant money for rural empowerment zones and enterprise community 
programs.
  The VA-HUD conference report also finances the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, which it seems we have to call on far too often as 
our citizens have seen their communities ravaged by hurricanes, floods, 
or fire.
  In times of true emergencies and catastrophic loss, our Federal 
Government has a responsibility to reach out and help people put their 
lives back together. The conference report provides $300 million for 
FEMA, as well as $2.5 billion in emergency disaster relief, which 
matches the President's request.
  At the same time, this legislation addresses the most pressing 
concerns of those who need our help today. It also invests in future 
generations through the funding for environmental protection and 
scientific research. For example, the EPA will receive more funding 
than the President requested. However, these dollars will be focused on 
local efforts to address pollution, particularly the States' efforts to 
ensure clean water and safe drinking water for their citizens. In 
addition, State Air Grants will be fully funded at the level requested 
by the President.
  When the House first debated the VA-HUD appropriations bill back in 
August, many Members expressed their concerns about maintaining our 
commitment to scientific research in our Nation's space program. At 
that time, the gentleman from New York (Chairman Walsh) made a 
commitment to working in conference to improve the level of funding for 
these programs, and he has.
  The National Science Foundation will see an increase of $240 million 
over last year, and NASA will receive more than $13.5 billion, which is 
$75 million more than the President requested.
  Mr. Speaker, all told, this bill is a testament to the commitment 
this Congress has made to responsible government in the context of a 
balanced budget. In the case of the VA-HUD conference report, we have 
achieved these goals on a bipartisan basis with the President's 
cooperation.
  So I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in 
support of this rule, so we can continue our march towards a 
responsible, honest Federal budget that keeps our eye on the ball and 
our hands off of social security.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule and the conference 
report.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking my colleagues, the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Walsh) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. 
Mollohan) for their very hard work in bringing this conference report 
to the floor. I also want to congratulate them for putting together 
such a strong, bipartisan bill.
  Although the conference report had a very rocky beginning, I am very 
happy to see my colleagues on both sides of the aisle manage to come up 
with a bill that funds so many important programs.
  This bill, Mr. Speaker, increases spending for the veterans health 
care programs by $1.7 billion, the largest increase in 10 years. That 
is one that is long overdue. Too many of our veterans have not been 
getting the health care they deserve, but this bill will help change 
that.
  This bill also funds the Environmental Protection Agency, which helps 
keep our air and water clean, as well as supervising the cleanup of 
Superfund sites. This bill funds NASA and the International Space 
Station, and although earlier versions of the bill might have cost the 
United States its leadership in space exploration, Mr. Speaker, this 
version of the bill will not. It deserves our full support.
  This bill also provides for $2.4 billion in emergency spending to 
help people recover from Hurricane Floyd, which is still having a very 
devastating effect in North Carolina.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, this bill will address some of our critical 
housing needs. It will provide housing for the Nation's elderly and 
disabled. It will also help modernize our public housing, which is 
falling into disrepair. Finally, Mr. Speaker, it would fund Section 8 
renewals and 60,000 new housing vouchers.
  Mr. Speaker, I am especially pleased to see the new housing vouchers. 
As a youngster, I lived in the country's first public housing, and I 
know what a tremendous help that can be.
  Today we are having a terrible affordable housing shortage, 
especially in my home city of Boston. Nationwide there are still 5.3 
million low-income families who get no housing assistance at all. 
People who want Section 8 housing have to wait an average of 2 years to 
get it. These additional funds included in this bill will help put 
decent housing within the reach of more hard-working American families.
  I urge my colleagues to support this rule for the VA-HUD 
appropriations conference report. This bill keeps our promises to our 
veterans, it protects our environment, it helps keep roofs over the 
heads of low-income disabled and elderly Americans, and it helps make 
repairs after natural disasters, and turn scientific research on the 
heavens into real answers for today's problems here on Earth.
  I thank my colleagues on the VA-HUD conference committee again for 
their hard work.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to my 
distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller).
  (Mr. WELLER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise not only in support of the rule, but 
also in support of this conference report. I want to commend the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh), as well as the ranking member, the 
gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan) for his leadership in 
putting together a good bill.
  I would also like to note that this legislation is historical from a 
veteran's standpoint. The fact that we are providing $1.7 billion more 
in funding

[[Page H10041]]

for veterans health care this year, historically the largest increase 
in veterans health care in history, it says that veterans are a 
priority.

                              {time}  1045

  Particularly as our veterans reach retirement age, particularly as so 
many of our veterans are now World War II and Korea veterans at the age 
where health care is a greater need, we are making that commitment. I 
salute the Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies for 
producing this good bill.
  Mr. Speaker, there are a couple of other provisions that I also want 
to acknowledge and express my appreciation for this House in producing 
some real results. I represent the south side of Chicago in the south 
suburbs.
  We have a project in this part of Illinois which is so important, not 
only to residents in the City of Chicago, but the south suburbs because 
it provides flood relief as well as protects the drinking water of 
people of Chicago and the entire Chicago metropolitan area. That is the 
Deep Tunnel Project, a flood control project which prevents, when there 
is heavy rains and storm water, prevents, frankly, raw sewage from 
being flushed out into Lake Michigan, which is a source of drinking 
water.
  This House continues to make a commitment to complete this important 
environmental project. I want to thank the subcommittee for the $5 
million that was included to continue development of this project to 
protect our Lake Michigan drinking water.
  Second, I also want to commend this House for overturning the 
President's recommendation on Federal veterans' nursing home grant 
funding. The President's budget recommended slashing this important 
program which provides matching grants to the States to develop and 
operate nursing homes for our veterans.
  I would point out that State homes provide a savings in providing 
health care. In fact, the State homes for veterans costs about $40 per 
day per patient, whereas VA nursing care is about $255 a day. So it is 
a bargain.
  The President, in his budget, proposed cutting by more than half this 
important program. It is currently funded at $90 million. The President 
proposed cutting it to $40 million.
  I am pleased that this House disagreed. I am pleased that this House 
restored funding for veterans nursing home grants. It is important to 
States like Illinois.
  Illinois has a lot of veterans in need of nursing home care. In fact, 
in my own district, La Salle Veterans Home has over 200 veterans on a 
waiting list. Imagine this, if one has a friend or relative, a family 
member who is in need of nursing home care, and the waiting list is 
over a year, maybe a year and a half they have to wait in order to have 
access to this veterans home.
  This is good legislation. We restored the funding.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Moakley), the ranking member of the Committee on 
Rules, for yielding me this time. I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio 
(Ms. Pryce), chairwoman now of the Committee on Rules who is in place 
for the chairman in presenting this rule.
  I particularly thank the ranking member and the chairman of the 
Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies. I call this bill 
relief, R-E-L-I-E-F. I hope that my spelling is correct on the floor of 
the House, because it does connote relief. I thank them for this very 
good bill.
  Tomorrow I will have the opportunity to speak to a group of my 
paralyzed veterans. I will be able to give them some relief, 
particularly with the emphasis on the $11.4 billion for housing, but 
with special emphasis on veterans health.
  If I ever get any questions in my meetings with constituents, 
invariably there is a veteran there who asks about the care and the 
health care that is needed for the veterans that are there now and 
those who will be coming after.
  This restoration on the dollars that have been put in this bill for 
veterans health care is imperative. So I will be able to say to my 
paralyzed veterans and other veterans that we did not forget them. In 
my hometown of Houston, there are some 20,000 plus individuals on the 
waiting list for housing.
  I would like to speak a little bit about section 8 housing 
certificates, the kinds of opportunity that it gives to families who 
are trying to get a leg up on the ladder of opportunity.
  This $11.4 billion for section 8 housing will do a lot to bring down 
the thousands of those who are on the list waiting for opportunity in 
housing.
  My mayor has committed, and I join him, in increasing the numbers of 
those who own homes in the city of Houston. We are working on that. We 
believe in affordable housing. But at this juncture, there are those 
who are simply waiting for a decent apartment.
  Section 8 certificates will give families, single parents with 
children, grandmothers, and grandfathers raising children the 
opportunity to live in decent housing. Section 8 is an equalizer. It 
distributes individuals throughout communities. It creates a sense of 
neighborhood. I applaud the increase in dollars.
  I thought for once that we were going to forget the place that 
America held in the Space Program of the world, but I am delighted that 
we have restored the $998.9 million, therefore giving NASA $13.7 
billion. If that had not occurred, we would have seen the closing of 
centers like NASA, Johnson, Huntsville, Kennedy. We would have seen 
enormous loss of jobs. But more importantly, Mr. Speaker, we would have 
seen us lose our place in the world stage of space exploration.
  I am delighted that AmeriCorps has been funded, the National Science 
Foundation. This is a bill that provides for the Environmental 
Protection Agency.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a bill that should be passed for we have 
responded to the needs of the American citizens, and we protected 
Social Security.
  Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to 
the distinguished gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers).
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio for 
yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh), 
the chairman of the Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies, 
for his hard work on this bill and for the results he was able to 
achieve.
  As the gentleman well knows, I have spoken to him a number of times 
about the importance of science. I have also spoken to many other 
colleagues and to this Chamber. Scientific research and development is 
the single biggest factor today in the economic growth of our Nation. 
If we do not continue to support our scientific and technological 
enterprise, we are throwing away our economic future. It is just that 
simple, and it is that stark.
  When we look at the world scene, we notice that our spending on basic 
science, mathematics, engineering and technology research, is declining 
compared to our gross domestic product. Japan is now ahead of us and 
increasing their spending in that area. South Korea is coming up fast 
and has almost surpassed us on a per capita basis, and Germany already 
is above us as well.
  So we are in danger of losing our economic leadership on this planet 
by virtue of losing our leadership of scientific and technological 
research. It is very important that we continue that. The gentleman 
from New York (Chairman Walsh) recognizes that.
  Unfortunately, the allocation that was given to him earlier in the 
year did not permit him to provide full funding for science. But, 
fortunately, the final allocation was increased; and he did a 
magnificent job of restoring the funding, not only to the National 
Science Foundation, which is the key to our research future, but also 
restoring the funding to the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration, better known as NASA.
  I just want to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) from the 
bottom of my heart, and thank him also on behalf of the many 
scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and technologists in this 
country for the work that he has done on this budget. It is a 
magnificent piece of work, in particularly difficult times, and I 
certainly appreciate it.
  I also want to mention a personal interest in terms of clean water 
activity. We still have a long ways to go in this

[[Page H10042]]

country in purifying our water and making it pure. The gentleman from 
New York has provided appropriate funding for that purpose as well.
  In addition, Housing and Urban Development has some wonderful 
programs. There are some that need cleaning up, but there are some 
wonderful programs in HUD.
  Michigan, in particular, through its Michigan State Housing 
Development Authority, has done a great deal to provide low-income home 
ownership opportunities for the people of our State, particularly in my 
area where we have some faith-based organizations which have developed 
to take advantage of both MSHDA and HUD funding and have done a 
magnificent job. I want to especially mention Habitat for Humanity and 
a local homespun organization we have, the Inner City Christian 
Federation. The latter has been phenomenally successful.
  We have done better at providing home ownership opportunities for 
low-income individuals than almost anywhere in this country. They are 
totally dependent on the HUD and MSHDA funding.
  I want to thank the gentleman from New York (Chairman Walsh) and the 
members of the committee for their good work. I urge adoption of the 
rule and passage of the conference report.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, let me remind my colleagues that this rule 
is customary for the consideration of appropriations conference 
reports.
  Further, the conference report itself is the product of bipartisan 
cooperation between the President and the Congress. The White House 
worked with the conference committee to ensure that its priorities were 
funded, and the President agreed to the provisions in the bill that 
ensure its fiscal responsibility.
  This bill contains many good things that I know my colleagues can 
support, including the largest increase in veterans health care 
spending in a decade, increased funding for numerous housing programs, 
restored funding for important science programs in NASA, and funding 
for emergencies and disasters that matches the President's request.
  All of this, and still the conference report maintains our commitment 
to a balanced budget while keeping Social Security off limits. We made 
the tough decisions. We prioritized, and we have a good work product to 
show for it.
  I can congratulate the gentleman from New York (Chairman Walsh) and 
all the conferees who made this process work.
  I urge support for the rule and the legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the 
previous question on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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