[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 155 (Friday, November 5, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2286]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 3064, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPROPRIATIONS 
                               ACT, 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 28, 1999

  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my profound disappointment 
with the legislative process in this chamber and the bill that is 
before us today.
  In the House of Representatives, we have one primary duty--to pass 
the thirteen annual appropriations bills. Today, one day before the 
scheduled adjournment date, we have not yet completed our work on five 
of the thirteen. To add insult to injury, we are being asked to vote on 
a ``pre-conferenced'' Labor-HHS-Education spending bill that this House 
has not the opportunity to debate and amend under regular order.
  To say that the bill before us today misrepresents national 
priorities would be false--in fact, the bill before us today represents 
no priorities. Perhaps, if the House had an opportunity to address this 
bill in the normal fashion--with debate, amendment and compromise--the 
House could have come to consensus as it has for the past 105 
Congresses. Of course the federal government can cut 1% of fat--but to 
blindly cut that 1% across the board is lazy and irresponsible.
  Mr. Speaker, the priorities of the Kansans that I represent are ill-
served by this ham-handed approach to legislating that is before us 
today. This bill would block grant the class-size reduction initiative 
enacted by Congress last year, and deny $200 million needed to hire 
8,000 new teachers. A 1% across-the-board reduction would cut benefits 
for 71,000 needy individuals benefiting from supplemental nutrition 
program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). It would result in 1.3 
million fewer ``Meals on Wheels'' delivered to shut-in seniors and 
4,888 fewer low-income children being able to benefit from the highly 
successful Head Start program.
  I am voting against this bill today hoping that the House will go 
back to the drawing board and, like the Senate, set responsible 
spending levels that reflect our priorities as a nation.

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