[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 157 (Wednesday, November 14, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H8144-H8159]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2500, DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND 
  STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 286, I call up 
the 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.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the conference report 
is considered as having been read.
  (For conference report and statement, see proceedings of the House of 
Friday, November 9, 2001 at page H7986.)
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and 
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Today I am pleased to bring to the House floor the conference report 
on the fiscal year 2002 Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary 
appropriations. The conference report represents a sound bill, funding 
continuing and expanded operations for the Departments and agencies 
under the subcommittee's jurisdiction, most importantly, those that 
would help make America safer in the wake of the September 11, 2001, 
terrorist attack on the United States.
  The bill provides resources for critical programs to both prosecute 
those responsible and prevent future attacks. We have provided 
significant increases for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the 
Immigration and Naturalization Service, the State Department, and State 
and local law enforcement. These increases will provide the tools and 
resources necessary to fight terrorism here in America, make our 
borders more secure, and build a multilateral coalition against 
terrorism.
  Today, I would like to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Serrano), the ranking member of our subcommittee, for his support 
throughout this entire process. He has helped us get a strong bill 
through the House, and I appreciate it very much.

                             {time}   1300

  I would also like to extend my sympathies to my colleague with 
respect to the terrorist attacks on New York City. His community lost 
family and friends, and I, along with my colleagues, send our heartfelt 
sympathies to all the families who lost so many in these horrendous 
attacks and in the plane crash on Monday in New York. Twenty-seven of 
my constituents, and many others from the Northern Virginia region, 
were also killed in the attack on the Pentagon, and we are indeed 
privileged to have the ability to work on a bill that will help our 
communities recover from the events of September 11 and will have a 
positive impact on the security needs of our great Nation.
  I also want to extend my thanks to Chairman Hollings and Senator 
Gregg, and to all the members of our subcommittee; the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Rogers), the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Taylor), 
the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula), the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. 
Latham), the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller), and the gentleman 
from Louisiana (Mr. Vitter) of the majority, and in addition to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano), our ranking member, the 
gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan), the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Roybal-Allard), the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. 
Cramer), the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Kennedy) of the minority.
  Today, I believe we have written a bill that will support the country 
as it strives to meet its new challenges and as it works to secure 
freedom from fear and terrorism.

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  At this point I want to take a few moments to thank our staff for the 
hard work in bringing the bill to the floor. Mr. Speaker, this staff of 
fine, young professionals has worked tirelessly, day and night, weekend 
after weekend to put this bill together. The staff of the Subcommittee 
on Commerce, Justice and State epitomizes the top-notch professionals 
who are in the legislative branch. They are unsung heroes. Because of 
their hard work, we are sending a bill to the President that will 
enhance the security of all Americans in the fight against terrorism.
  On the majority staff, I am grateful to Leslie Albright, Carrie 
Hines, Christine Kojak, Julie Miller, Mike Ringler, and Gail Del Balzo, 
the Staff Director.
  I also express my appreciation to the minority staff. This bill is 
truly in every sense of the word a bipartisan effort, and I cannot say 
enough about the hard work the minority staff put into the bill. On the 
minority side, there is one person in particular this year we would 
like to recognize. Sally Chadbourne has served this committee well for 
the better part of the last 10 years, and we will miss her 
professionalism and knowledge of the bill. We understand she is moving 
to Maine. Has she ever been in Maine in January? But she is moving to 
Maine and Maine's gain is our loss.
  In addition to Sally Chadbourne, the Minority Clerk, I appreciate the 
work of Lucy Hand, Nadine Berg, Rob Nabors and Christine Maloy.
  All these staff members have worked very hard over the past several 
months, staying on the job to make sure that the Department of Justice 
and State, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the FBI have the resources 
they need to fight the war on terrorism. They have spent a lot of time 
away from their families, and we are grateful for their hard work.
  This is a good bill, and I urge all to support it. It provides the 
necessary increases to the FBI, the INS, and the State Department as 
they battle on the front lines against terrorist organizations that 
have attempted to disrupt the fabric of our society.
  In summary, Mr. Speaker, the bill provides as follows: A total of 
$21.5 billion for the Department of Justice to fight terrorism, 
strengthen immigration enforcement, and support State and local law 
enforcement. This includes an increase of $66 million to fund an 
additional 570 border patrol agents, and $25 million to fund an 
additional 38 land border inspectors.
  The bill provides language that makes it mandatory, for all 
commercial aircraft and vessels arriving and departing the United 
States to provide the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the 
U.S. Customs Service the passenger manifest lists.
  Now, some countries do this, and there are a number of airlines that 
already do this, but there are a number from certain regions of the 
world that do not do this. This will make it mandatory so that INS can 
see who is coming into the country before they come in.
  Following this new provision, the bill also provides for a $1 
immigration inspection fee increase for air travelers and a new $3 
immigration inspection fee on cruise ship passengers. These changes 
will enable the INS to continue development of the system it uses to 
track entry and exit of airline and cruise ship passengers, and 
supports the joint INS/Customs passenger analysis units that identify, 
prior to arrival, inadmissible aliens, drug traffickers, and 
terrorists.

  The bill includes legislative language that would grant posthumously, 
citizenship to people who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks 
while they were in the process of becoming American citizens. This was 
the idea of the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano), and we 
appreciate his efforts in offering that.
  This bill also includes $7.7 billion for the State Department, 
including a $795 million increase over the current year for critical 
diplomatic readiness and embassy security needs.
  We provide additional resources to address the growing problems of 
trafficking in persons and have provided funding for United Nations 
peacekeeping. There are over 50,000 people, mainly women, some 
children, who are brought to this country for sexual trafficking. Now, 
with regard to this legislation, and following on the work that the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) did on the authorization, we are 
funding that effort both with the FBI and also the State Department to 
deal with this issue in a very aggressive way, whereby women are no 
longer subjected to this terrible crime, not only in this country but 
around the world.
  Following this, the bill also includes language directing the State 
Department to allocate funding as necessary to complete funding for a 
memorial at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, honoring the Americans killed 
in a bombing at the U.S. Marine Barracks in Lebanon on October 23, 
1983. In April, we were in Lebanon, and we broke away and went out to 
the site where the Marines had been bombed.
  Now, I had visited that site with former Congressman and Senator Dan 
Coats in early January 1984. We went back to the site, and there was no 
monument, nothing in recognition of the Marines who gave their lives. 
There was a young woman on the embassy staff who was working on the 
construction of a monument at the American embassy.
  This report will help provide the funds in cooperation with the 
private sector money to build a monument on the site or at the embassy 
recognizing those who have given their lives.
  I would also say I challenge the Lebanese government, the good 
friends we are with that government, to allow and have some sort of 
monument or recognition on the site where the Marines were actually 
killed, and I will look forward to seeing that memorial someday. This 
report will make sure that there is some recognition somewhere in that 
country they gave their lives on behalf of this country.
  This bill also provides $5.5 billion for the Commerce Department to 
protect our environment and enhance trade promotion efforts, a $272 
million increase over fiscal year 2001.
  We are also providing an increase of $353 million, for a total of 
$4.3 billion, for the Judiciary, for the protection of the courts and 
our judicial process. This funding level also provides for the initial 
stage of the renovation of the Supreme Court, which is very, very 
necessary.
  Overall, Mr. Speaker, this conference report is a sound and fair 
resolution on the many issues that we faced in our conference. We have 
come a long way towards devising an acceptable bill.
  Before I finish and urge the Members to support this, I would also 
like to pay tribute to Geoff Gleason on my staff, who worked for many 
years for Congressman Solomon. When Mr. Solomon left the Congress, he 
came to my office. He has worked on all these appropriation issues and 
I wanted to give a special note of thanks to Geoff for his help in 
putting this effort together.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this 
conference report that will make a big difference towards a safer and 
stronger America.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit for the Record documents relating to the 
conference report:
  First is a letter which describes concerns about changes to the ORBIT 
Act.
  Following is the tabular material we submit with our bill.


                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                 Washington, DC, November 1, 2001.
     Hon. Robert Byrd,
     Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Washington DC.
     Hon. C.W. Bill Young,
     Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairmen: We are writing with respect to a 
     provision that was added on the floor of the Senate on 
     September 13 to the Commerce, Justice, State, and the 
     Judiciary Appropriations bill. This provision would amend an 
     important statutory requirement contained in the Open-market 
     Reorganization for the Betterment of International 
     Telecommunications Act (``ORBIT Act''), which was enacted in 
     the previous Congress.
       The ORBIT Act requires that, shortly after they are 
     privatized, Inmarsat and Intelsat must conduct initial public 
     offerings of their respective securities. This requirement is 
     intended to dilute substantially the ownership of the newly 
     privatized entities by their former owners. The last date for 
     the Inmarsat IPO is December 31, 2001; for Intelsat it is 
     December 31, 2002. The recent Senate action would change the 
     Inmarsat date to June 30, 2003.
       We are concerned about the precedent this may set for 
     changes in the ORBIT Act's obligations for Intelsat. The 
     ORBIT Act recognized that the composition of Intelsat's 
     ownership presents a significant competitive issue; this 
     issue remains after privatization

[[Page H8146]]

     because the ownership has not changed and will not change 
     until there is an IPO.
       Intelsat privatized in mid-July of this year. By December 
     31, 2002, Intelsat will have had almost a year and a half to 
     determine the best timing for an IPO. This is entirely 
     sufficient in light of the ORBIT Act's desire to improve the 
     competitive environment in international communications at 
     the earliest practicable time. Many U.S. companies and 
     consumers will be adversely affected if Intelsat's present 
     ownership is not substantially diluted by the ORBIT Act 
     deadline. While we understand the circumstances surrounding 
     Inmarsat's current inability to meet the statutory deadline, 
     Intelsat's statutory deadline has an additional year and we 
     oppose its extension. Any proposal to extend Intelsat's 
     statutory deadline must be to subjected to timely hearings 
     and adequate consideration by the House and Senate 
     authorizing committees.
       Thank you for considering our views with respect to 
     international satellite policy and the appropriations measure 
     you have under consideration.
           Sincerely,
     John Breaux,
       U.S. Senator.
     Edward Markey,
       U.S. Representative.

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  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. SERRANO asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the conference 
report to accompany H.R. 2500, the Commerce-Justice-State-Judiciary and 
Related Agencies Appropriations bill.
  At the outset, I want to thank the chairman, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Wolf), for the good working relationship we developed 
this year and for his insisting on a bipartisan process on the bill. 
Throughout, I and my staff and the subcommittee Democrats have been 
kept informed and consulted on our priorities.
  I want to acknowledge the contribution of other members of the 
subcommittee and their staffers. I also want to thank the bipartisan 
staff for the long hours and weekends they put in working to prepare 
for the conference. They even found off-site locations to continue 
conference talks when the Capitol and office buildings were closed due 
to the anthrax testing situation.
  They are, as we know, Gail Del Balzo, Mike Ringler, Christine Ryan 
Kojak, Leslie Albright, Julie Miller, Carrie Hines, and Geoff Gleason 
for the majority; and Rob Nabors, Christine Maloy, Lucy Hand, and 
Nadine Berg for the minority.
  Now, as Chairman Wolf did, we are going to take a little extra time 
here to say a special thanks and to say goodbye in a most dramatic way 
to Sally Chadbourne, who is leaving us at the end of the year, which 
makes this her last Commerce-Justice-State bill.
  Now, Sally has been in the appropriations business longer than I have 
been in the House, and she is among the most intelligent, professional, 
creative, experienced, and I could go on and on in English or in 
Spanish, person I have had the pleasure to work with. She also has a 
good sense of humor, which as we all know is very important on our 
committee but especially these days, a great advantage when things get 
grim.
  I thank her for her many contributions and I wish her and Del all the 
best in their new life in Maine, and I trust Governor Baldacci will not 
let her skills go to waste in the future, and I am glad he is in the 
House.
  This has been a fair, bipartisan process all year, as is obvious in 
the passage votes, 408 to 19 in the House, which must be a record, and 
97 to nothing in the Senate, which means three people were missing. 
Going into conference, the two bodies brought quite different 
priorities to the table, and the negotiation was tough, but it was also 
fair and bipartisan, and I am pleased to support the results.
  Important national needs are addressed, particularly in the wake of 
the events of September 11. In this agreement we strengthen the basic 
capacities of our Federal law enforcement and diplomatic agencies on 
which they will build with additional resources from the supplemental 
budget.
  We also provide resources to strengthen our economy and aid in its 
recovery, protect the environment, and protect the rights of our 
people.
  Priorities of Members on both sides of the aisle have largely been 
included. If it had been entirely up to me, I would have maintained at 
least the House level for the Small Business Administration, and I 
would have kept the Senate provision restoring section 245(i) and 
dropped the one on the International Criminal Court. But it was not 
entirely up to me, and I think most Members will agree that this is a 
good outcome and a bipartisan one at that.
  Our chairman has described the conference agreement so I will not 
take the time to repeat the details. I will simply close by urging the 
House to support the conference report so we can get this important 
funding in place as soon as possible.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my Chairman Wolf, and I want to thank 
all Members of the House, because as the chairman has mentioned, it was 
the city that I represent that was hit so hard on September 11, and so 
much of what is in this bill deals with that issue and deals with the 
future of how we deal with issues like that.
  Just a few minutes before coming on the House floor, I found out that 
another 7 to 12 families were affected by the loss of Flight 587, folks 
from the South Bronx that were on that flight, small business folks 
that are there. And so my city continues to feel this pain and this 
anguish and to ask itself what is happening to us and what is happening 
to our country.
  So in anticipation of all that will be done for New York City, I want 
to thank this House and especially this committee, and, secondly, for 
the fact that so much in this bill addresses those issues.
  Lastly, I want to thank my chairman and all members of the committee 
and the Senate for allowing a provision that I had introduced to be 
included in this bill. It was something that is very dear to my heart, 
and that is that so many of the folks who died on September 11 had 
wanted so much to be part of our Nation, that even though they were not 
American citizens they had applied for citizenship before September 11. 
They never lived to see that citizenship come to be part of their 
family, something that I can tell my colleagues is cherished by so many 
immigrants who come into the South Bronx and other areas of our 
country. Well, there is a provision in this bill that retroactively to 
September 10 grants citizenship to those folks who died on September 
11. So that if they wanted to live as American citizens, they at least 
got the opportunity to have died as American citizens.
  Now, let us understand why this was important to me. Those who 
attacked New York on that day, those who attacked the Pentagon, those 
who created the situation in Pennsylvania with the fallen plane were 
attacking Americans. They did not distinguished whether an individual 
was a visitor here or an American citizen. As far as they were 
concerned, they were attacking our country, they were attacking our 
people.
  And so this provision, in my opinion, will go a long way to honor the 
memory of those who wanted to be Americans and who died before they 
could fulfill their dream.
  With that in mind, I thank the chairman for his support.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume 
before yielding to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers) for 
whatever time he may use, because I wanted to also call to the body's 
attention to page 88 of the Statement of the Mangers. We have tried a 
new process, which is somewhat unique, in grant programs: the Byrne 
grants; the Juvenile Justice grants; Safe Schools, the other grant 
programs. We carry the following language. We say, ``In addition, up to 
10 percent of the funds provided for each program shall be made 
available for an independent evaluation of that program.''
  By doing this, we, in essence, take 10 percent of that money to 
evaluate the merits of the program with regard to future years. This is 
a new and different approach, but in order to get a handle on spending 
and make sure we are spending in a wise way, this idea, I think, has a 
lot of merit. I wanted to bring that to the body's attention.

                              {time}  1315

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers).
  Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I want to take a few minutes to 
congratulate the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Serrano), the ranking member, for a great job on a 
difficult bill. I have the pleasure of serving on this subcommittee, 
and of course served as chairman for the last 6 years. I know the 
difficulty that they faced when they tried to put together these 
numbers.
  And also, I thank the staff. We sometimes do not thank them enough; 
but they spend long hours, weekends included, nighttimes included, that 
sometimes we do not notice or the world does not notice. I thank the 
staff for a great job on this bill.
  Some of the things I particularly like about the bill have been 
mentioned already, so I will not be repetitive here. I really 
appreciate the chairman including in this bill the requirement that 
airlines before they are granted permission to land here must furnish 
to our authorities before they take off overseas a list of the 
passengers that

[[Page H8156]]

are to be brought here on a particular airplane. That will give our 
authorities the chance at least to be sure that we do not fly in on our 
own planes terrorists who are bent upon our destruction. I think that 
is a very important part of this bill. It will fit very nicely with the 
provisions that we will carry in the Subcommittee on Transportation 
appropriations bill for the FAA. I appreciate the chance to work 
closely with the chairman and the ranking member on that particular 
issue.
  Mr. Speaker, other things about the bill which I think are handled 
extremely well is an increase in the Department of Justice. That is 
important. It is increased by $612 million over the current year's 
level, and included in that is large increases for the U.S. Attorneys, 
the Marshals Service, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration. The 
immigration services is increased dramatically by $841 million, which 
will help us patrol better on the borders of the Nation.
  Then not to forget where most law enforcement takes place on the 
local level, there are nice increases for the State and local law 
enforcement efforts throughout the country, as I say, where most of the 
law enforcement takes place, if it takes place at all.
  I appreciate the heavy increases for funding in the Department of 
Justice, as well as the Judiciary. There is an increase of $357 million 
above current levels for our court system, the Federal court system 
throughout the Nation, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
  Then in the State Department, the subcommittee provides extra funding 
for embassy security, protecting Americans who are working overseas in 
our embassies and consulates, a $462 million increase for the 
diplomatic and consular programs. And then they fully fund, in fact 
$232 million above what was requested, the worldwide security upgrade 
programs at our embassies and consulates. That includes the full $665 
million for the capital improvements program.
  Mr. Speaker, those are some of the highlights of the bill that struck 
me as being very important. There are others, but I will not take the 
time of the Members to go into them; but I congratulate again the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the ranking member, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano). It is a pleasure to work on this 
subcommittee with gentlemen of this caliber and character and that work 
together so well in a bipartisan fashion for what is best for our 
Nation.
  I want to add my congratulations and thanks to Sally Chadbourne, who 
will be leaving us at the end of the year. She has been on this 
subcommittee staff I think almost as long as I have been a Member, and 
we will not talk about that time at this point in time. She has been a 
very valued member of the staff and works in a bipartisan fashion. As 
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) said, she has a good sense of 
humor; but that does not interfere with the serious work that she does 
for the subcommittee. I urge unanimous support for this great bill.
  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Washington (Mr. Dicks).
  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) and 
the outstanding staff for their great work on this bill. This is 
obviously one of the most important appropriations bills that we deal 
with. Of course, one issue dear to this Member's heart has been the 
conservation spending provisions of both this and the Subcommittee on 
the Interior appropriations bill.
  Last year we made a commitment, we the appropriators, that we were 
going to substantially increase funding for conservation. When we add 
up the money, $440 million in this bill, and the $1.320 billion in the 
Interior bill, we have kept the commitment that was made last year. 
Some people favored CARA, another approach, an entitlement which would 
have taken this jurisdiction away from the Committee on Appropriations.
  We said no, we wanted to create a trust fund, like the Violent Crime 
Trust Fund, for conservation that would still leave the authority 
within the committee to decide how the money would be appropriated on 
an annual basis. The base that year was $752 million, and we went up to 
$1.6 billion; and this year we are at $7.60 billion.
  I appreciate the leadership of our committee on the House side. I 
know this was not easy dealing with the other body, but we prevailed on 
these issues. I think this money will be used, as it is being used in 
the Pacific Northwest for the Pacific Coast Salmon Restoration 
initiative in a very effective way, both on the Columbia River and on 
Puget Sound.
  I want to congratulate all the staff, but particularly Sally 
Chadbourne, who has been terrific to work with. She and Del are going 
up to Maine, and I hope that they will come back from time to time to 
give us good advice and counsel. I congratulate her on her outstanding 
career in the House of Representatives and let her know how much we 
appreciate her good work.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Maryland (Mrs. Morella).
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  I congratulate the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Wolf) on what a 
great job he did with this conference report, with this bill from the 
beginning. I also thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) and 
the chairman of the full Committee on Appropriations and the ranking 
member for their guidance. I want to applaud the hard work of the 
members of the committee under the leadership that they have enjoyed, 
and extend my appreciation for a job well done.
  Of particular interest to me are the appropriations for several 
critically important scientific organizations funded by this 
legislation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the 
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. These institutions 
represent some of the best and the brightest the scientific community 
has to offer. I was pleased to see the robust funding granted these 
organizations.
  NIST is the premier institution for standards in this country, and 
its work in this area is unparalleled. Its state-of-the-art facilities 
boast numerous advanced laboratories, and its scientific discoveries 
have remained on the forefront. Not one, but two Nobel prizes have been 
awarded to this institution in the last 5 years. Yet on the 100th 
anniversary of this oldest national lab of the country, the original 
budget proposal was to reduce NIST funding by almost 20 percent. With 
the hard work of the committee and lobbying on the part of many Members 
of Congress, I am pleased that NIST funding has increased nearly 13 
percent. This prestigious institution will use it well. This additional 
funding will help ensure the success of many important initiatives, 
such as the advanced technology program. This is an important economic 
development program. The National Academy of Sciences calls it 
effective and successful. Our efforts to save this initiative have led 
to robust funding not just for program continuance but also for 
additional grants.
  The President recently nominated a superb candidate for director of 
NIST, Dr. Arden Bement. He is a proven leader who will provide strong, 
effective stewardship of NIST. I hope this thoughtful choice for 
director signals a renewed commitment to this well-deserving 
institution.
  Incidentally, on our antiterrorism front, NIST has been there leading 
the way.
  NOAA has also fared better than the initial proposal. This agency 
administers a number of programs that are important to the daily lives 
of Americans, such as the National Weather Service. It is also the lead 
agency charged with the monitoring and prediction of changes in the 
Earth's climate. These research efforts are of vital national and 
international importance. I am pleased they are well financed.
  Finally, I thank the conferees and the chairman and ranking member 
for fully funding the Violence Against Women Act grants that are within 
the Department of Justice. The $391 million will strengthen programs 
like STOP grants that assist local and State law enforcement, pro-
arrest grants that will remove batterers from the home, civil legal 
assistance grants which allow victims and their children to maintain 
independence from an abusive home, and for supervised visitation 
centers that allow children to

[[Page H8157]]

interact with both parents in a safe environment.
  I thank Attorney General Ashcroft for joining Congress in our efforts 
to eradicate domestic violence. Funding the Violence Against Women Act 
programs in the Department of Justice has been crucial to these 
endeavors. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this conference 
report, and again I congratulate the chairman and ranking member of 
this important subcommittee and of the full Committee on Appropriations 
for this effort. Let all Members vote for it unanimously.
  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Maine (Mr. Baldacci).
  Mr. BALDACCI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding me 
this time.
  I also thank the ranking member for his hard work on this report and 
being very sensitive to the membership and allowing for their input in 
the legislation. I appreciate his leadership, and I know that all of us 
care very deeply about what is happening back in New York and the 
constant tragedies that they are confronted with.
  I also would like to welcome Sally to Maine. We are looking forward 
to her joining the State and the State to be richer for her and her 
husband to join us. We look forward to being able to do many great 
things from Maine.
  As we say, Sally, as Maine goes, so goes the Nation.
  Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, today the House will consider 
H.R. 2500 to appropriate funds for the Departments of Commerce, Justice 
and State. I rise in strong support of this important piece of 
legislation, and I sincerely thank Chairman Wolf for providing the 
critical resources which are included in this bill.
  H.R. 2500 includes funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, or NOAA. This is an agency that is vital to the 
detection and prediction of severe weather throughout the United 
States.
  Norman, Oklahoma, is home to the National Severe Storms Laboratory, 
the Storm Prediction Center and other weather-related agencies which 
fall under the jurisdiction of NOAA and the Department of Commerce. The 
employees of these agencies perform weather research that is crucial to 
the prediction of severe storms around the country. They are the 
professionals responsible for providing the warning information to the 
local meteorologists in the event of inclement weather.
  The National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in Norman, has occupied 
the same building since 1972. At that time, the NSSL had approximately 
36 federal employees and eight University of Oklahoma (OU) affiliates. 
Twenty-eight years later, those numbers have grown to 54 federal 
employees, roughly 79 University employees and two National Research 
Council post-doctoral candidates.
  Over the past five years, I have been privileged to work with 
officials at the University of Oklahoma in securing funding for the 
planning and development of a new, state-of-the-art weather center 
building to be located on the University campus. This bill includes 
funding for above-standard costs of this new building in Norman which 
will house, under one roof, all of these agencies which are now in 
different locations throughout Norman. NOAA is partnering with the 
University of Oklahoma in the construction of this new National Weather 
Center in Norman. This new facility will integrate NOAA components with 
OU's School of Meteorology and all its associated meteorological 
research functions. For NOAA, this new facility will provide 100,000 
square feet of modernized space for the NSSL, the Storm Prediction 
Center, the Norman Weather Forecast Office, and the Training and 
Applications branches of the Operational Support Facility.
  This new, fully integrated facility will locate University faculty 
and students literally ``across the hall'' from federal researchers and 
forecasters. The planning done to date by the NOAA-University 
partnership suggests that many significant new synergies will arise 
from this integrated design. The resulting research and development 
efforts promise not only to enhance national environmental security 
through improved forecasts and monitoring of potentially hazardous 
weather, but also to provide new methods and techniques that will 
enhance our national competitiveness in the global market place.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill also includes funding for the Department of 
Commerce to assist the Continental Gateway Authority, in McClain 
County, Oklahoma, for design and development of an International Trade 
Processing Center, which will include an automated processing system 
that will expedite trade transactions for businesses and government 
agencies. I have been honored to have the opportunity to work with 
officials from the Continental Gateway Authority on this project since 
its inception.
  The Continental Gateway Authority was formed to pursue ways to expand 
economic development in central Oklahoma. One way is by developing an 
International Trade Processing Center that will include an industrial 
park, international trade services and intermodal transportation 
services. In light of the important role which the Interstate 35 NAFTA 
trade corridor will continue to play in national and international 
trade, the economic impact of such a facility will be very beneficial 
to the State of Oklahoma, as well as the rest of the nation, by 
providing this much-needed service.
  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to commend Chairman Wolf and the 
members of the Committee for their continued work in assisting our 
nation's law enforcement officers. This bill provides necessary and 
needed resources to many law enforcement agencies around the country. 
In particular, I would like to thank the Committee for its work in 
providing resources to Oklahoma's law enforcement community.
  Oklahoma is one of the nation's leaders in methamphetamine 
production. Over the past two years, the Oklahoma State Bureau of 
Investigation has cleaned up nearly 1,500 meth labs. The Oklahoma State 
Bureau of Investigation, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous 
Drugs Control, and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol are all a part of the 
battle against these meth labs. I commend Chairman Wolf for giving 
these crime fighting agencies the tools they need to turn the tide 
against crime.
  Mr. Speaker, once again, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2500, which 
will provide the necessary funding to provide advanced warning and 
protection to the people of the United States in times of severe 
weather, as well as promoting international trade in the central United 
States and working to stop the expansion of the methamphetamine 
epidemic that is sweeping parts of the nation. I urge my colleagues in 
the House to join me in casting their votes in favor of H.R. 2500.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I support his rule and will 
support the conference report.
  However, I do have some concerns about particular parts of the 
conference report.
  In particular, I have noted that the conference report does not 
include any funds for payments under the Radiation Exposure 
Compensation Act, or ``RECA.''
  The people covered by RECA include uranium miners and miller and some 
others who worked to support the nuclear weapons program or who were 
exposed to its fallout. They were exposed to radiation. And because of 
that exposure they are sick, with cancers and other serious diseases. 
Many of them are residents of Colorado and other western States.
  When Congress enacted the RECA law, we promised to pay compensation 
for their illnesses. but we have not fully kept that promise. We have 
been slow in appropriating enough money for this purpose--and, earlier 
this year the Justice Department ran out of funds to make RECA 
payments. As a result, people who should have been getting checks were 
instead getting letters--IOU letters, you could call them. What the 
letter said was that payment would await further appropriations. What 
they mean was that we in the Congress had not met a solemn obligation.
  That shameful situation was temporarily resolved when the first 
supplemented appropriations bill provided funds to resume payments. But 
those funds will not be adequate to continue payments in the future--
more money will be needed before very long, and unless it is provided 
in a timely way, the Justice Department will again have to send out 
IOUs instead of check.
  We should not let that happen. We should change the law so that in 
the future RECA payments will not depend on annual appropriations. They 
should be paid automatically, and I am cosponsoring legislation to make 
that change. But in the meantime, Congress must appropriate the needed 
funds.
  I understand why RECA funds were dropped from this conference report. 
Clearly, the conferees on this bill expect that funds for RECA payments 
or fiscal year 2002 and several years thereafter will be included in 
the defense authorization bill, because the version of that bill 
adopted in the other body so provides.
  I also hope that will be the outcome, since that Senate provision--
even if it does not provide for permanent funding--would be a definite 
improvement over the current situation. But the conferees on the 
defense authorization bill have not yet completed their work and we do 
not yet know whether the RECA funds will be included in the conference 
report on that legislation.
  So, Mr. Speaker, that is why I am concerned about omitting RECA funds 
from this conference report. And that is why the passage of this 
conference report will make it all the more important for the House 
conferees on the defense authorization bill to accept the Senate's 
provisions related to RECA payments.

[[Page H8158]]

  I also am concerned about the funds provided for construction at NIST 
facilities, including some in my own district, and at the appropriate 
time I will seek to engage the bill's managers in a brief colloquy on 
that subject.
  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today express my support for the 
Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations (CJS) conference report, an 
extremely important measure for this nation at this time, but I must 
also express my profound disappointment that a provision that was in 
both the House and Senate versions of the bill did not make it into the 
final the conference report.
  The CJS conference report is important for this nation because it 
provides a $5.6 billion for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 
$3.5 billion for the FBI, and $185 million for the Advanced Technology 
Program, all areas that are important to meet the new challenges we 
face as a nation today. Other programs that are funded under this bill 
that I strongly support are the Violence Against Women Act and the 
Minority Business Development Agency. However, I feel that the 
provision that was stricken should have been kept in the bill. The 
provision simply stated:

       None of the funds made available in this act may be used by 
     the Department of Justice or the Department of State to file 
     a motion in this court opposing the civil action against any 
     Japanese person or corporations for compensation or 
     reparation in which the plaintiff alleges that as an American 
     prisoner of during World War II, he or she was used as slave 
     or forced labor.

  On July 18, the House voted by an overwhelming 395 to 33 margin to 
include language in the bill that comports with these instructions, and 
on September 10, the other body included identical language in their 
version of the bill.
  Clearly, it was the desire of both Houses of Congress to have this 
language included in the final conference report. No one can deny that 
our brave veterans who were prisoners of war in Japan and forced into 
slave labor deserve to have their day in court. They should not have to 
fight their own government to get a fair hearing.
  The conferees of this bill stated that the Administration strongly 
opposed this provision, and is concerned that the inclusion of such 
language in the bill would be detrimental to the ongoing effort that 
the inclusion of such language in the bill would be detrimental to the 
ongoing effort to enlist multilateral support for the campaign against 
terrorism. I am encouraged that the conferees indicated that they agree 
that the extraordinary suffering and injury of our former prisoners of 
war deserve further recognition, and acknowledge the need to address 
this matter.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Conference 
Agreement on H.R. 2500, the Fiscal Year 2002 Commerce, Justice, State 
Appropriations bill.
  In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, strengthening law 
enforcement at the federal level has never been more important. This 
conference agreement includes $2.5 billion for the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation (FBI), a nine-percent increase over last year's funding 
level. Over $450 million of this total will be used for 
counterterrorism investigations, foreign counterintelligence 
activities, and other initiatives vital to our national security.
  I am also pleased that this agreement provides additional resources 
to help keep terrorists from entering our country. The conference 
agreement includes $5.6 billion for the Immigration and Naturalization 
Service (INS), $841 million more than last year's total. This funding 
increase will allow the INS to hire over 200 additional inspectors at 
airports to analyze traveler information in advance of plane arrivals 
to identify inadmissible aliens, drug traffickers and terrorists. The 
agreement also allocates $2.7 billion to help keep our borders safe and 
secure. This money will be used, in part, to hire 348 additional land 
border inspectors and 570 additional border patrol agents.
  The conference agreement to H.R. 2500 also includes $1.1 billion for 
the Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) 
Program. I am especially pleased that conferees chose to include 
$300,000 from the COPS Technology Program, for an interconnect Module 
for Wake County, North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, within Wake County, 
almost 20 agencies have law enforcement and emergency management 
responsibilities. These agencies are not able to communicate with each 
other by radio because of incompatible equipment and varying 
bandwidths. In the event of a multi-jurisdictional catastrophe like the 
world witnessed on September 11, responding officers from different 
departments in Wake County would be unable to communicate with each 
other. I am pleased that the Interconnect Module technology will 
interface these different radio systems, allowing radio communication 
among all law enforcement and emergency management departments in Wake 
County and the surrounding areas. Mr. Speaker, in the aftermath of the 
terrorist attacks, it is vital that America's emergency responders be 
prepared to take quick action in the event of a catastrophe. This 
initiative will make a difference to enhance the safety and security of 
the people of North Carolina.
  Mr. Speaker, while I do believe this is a good agreement, I am 
disappointed that conferees elected to omit a Senate provision that 
would have permanently extended the Section 245(i) Visa Program. The 
Section 245(i) visa Program allows illegal immigrants to apply for 
permanent residency while remaining in the country. While the terrorist 
attacks have put immigration reform on the backburner, it should not 
prevent Congress from answering the call for fairness and justice in 
our immigration laws. Immigration has played critical role in America's 
history, and immigrants have made significant contributions to our 
economy and our society. It is my sincere hope that Congress will 
extend the Section 245(i) Visa Program before the end of this year.
  Mr. Speaker, our country is facing new challenges different than 
those any of us could have just imagined a few short months ago. But we 
must face these challenges head-on. The first responsibility of the 
federal government is to ensure the safety of our people, and I am 
pleased that this conference agreement will help law enforcement 
agencies across the country better protect our citizens and keep our 
people safe.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend the Chairman and 
Ranking Member for their hard work on this appropriations bill.
  I would, however, like to quickly discuss a program that the 
conference agreement did not fund.
  I am disappointed that funding for the disposal of obsolete ships 
from the National Defense Reserve Fleet by MARAD was not included in 
the final product, even though it was included in the House bill.
  MARAD is required by law to dispose of obsolete merchant-type vessels 
in the National Defense Reserve Fleet by the end of 2006. Currently, 
there exists a backlog of 115 ships awaiting disposal and more ships 
will be added to the list of disposal candidates.
  According to the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector 
General, the number of ships awaiting disposal is growing, and these 
ships pose an immediate environmental threat in Virginia, Texas and 
California.
  In an effort to increase the efficiency of the program and to save 
taxpayer money, MARAD employed a General Agent in 2001 to facilitate 
the timely disposal of vessels.
  The General Agent, utilizing approved commercial prime/subcontracting 
procedures, was tasked with acquiring all services necessary to 
dismantle and dispose of the ships in a manner which is safe for 
workers and the environment and that represents best value.
  I understand that the conferees have directed MARAD to develop plans 
to reduce the inventory of obsolete vessels on a cost recovery basis. I 
want to encourage MARAD to continue with the General Agent model. In 
addition, I want to encourage MARAD to use whatever discretionary funds 
it might have available to continue with the ship disposal program 
under the existing contracts.
  MARAD through its General Agent will have succeeded in scrapping six 
ships with the first $10 million of appropriated funds. The scrapping 
has been done in accordance with EPA hazardous material disposal 
standards; has proceeded ahead of schedule; and has been on budget.
  The Navy ship disposal program, in contrast, spent $13.1 million 
scrapping four ships within the NDRF, resulting in a substantially 
higher per ship disposal cost when compared with the MARAD program.
  I ask my colleagues on this subcommittee to support adding the $10 
million that had been approved by the House to any supplemental 
appropriations bill that might be considered before the end of this 
Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank the Chairman and Ranking Member of 
this subcommittee for their hard work and appreciate any assistance 
they might be able to provide to deal with this important issue.
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, for the past year I have worked with 
my distinguished colleague from Ohio, Representative Steven LaTourette 
in support of a very exciting education initiative at the Great Lakes 
Science Center (GSLC) in Cleveland, Ohio.
  Last year, we placed report language in the FY 2001 Commerce Justice 
State appropriations bill encouraging NOAA and the Federal Maritime 
Administration of USDOT to work with the Great Lakes Science Center in 
support of an initiative to develop an Underwater Simulator capturing 
the environment of the Great Lakes. The GLSC is only five years old and 
has already served 3 million visitors including well over 600,000 
through educational programs. It has hosted the world's annual 
conference of science museums. Its educational programs of school 
tours, summer programs, and ``hands-on'' science exhibits have been a 
source of inspiration and learning to children and adults throughout 
our region. The proposed Underwater Simulator would not only recreate 
an underwater experience modeled on the Great Lakes, but would contain

[[Page H8159]]

inter-active programs capable of teaching mapping, navigation and 
scientific exploration. This would be an extremely exciting experience, 
capable of accommodating 15-20 visitors at one time. The State of Ohio 
has already supplied initial funding for the development of the 
Simulator and the Science is also prepared to share costs.
  Mr. Speaker, I regret to say that despite the active efforts of our 
offices, the modest cost involved each agency would be asked to 
contribute and last year's report language, both NOAA and the Maritime 
Administration demonstrated no serious interest in assisting this 
project. Mr. President, I am serving notice to both agencies that I 
will continue to work with my colleagues in an effort that these two 
agencies work with us to develop this Simulator project.
  This is a project of great potential significance for the entire 
Great Lakes region and to the entire nation. NOAA and MARAD should both 
understand that we intend to aggressively continue our efforts in FY 
2002.

                              {time}  1330

  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hastings of Washington). Without 
objection, the previous question is ordered on the conference report.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the conference report.
  Pursuant to clause 10 of rule XX, the yeas and nays are ordered.


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, following 
this vote, the Chair will put the question on two motions to suspend 
the rules on which further proceedings were postponed yesterday.
  Votes will be taken in the following order:
  House Concurrent Resolution 211, by the yeas and nays;
  House Concurrent Resolution 257, by the yeas and nays.
  Proceedings on the remaining suspensions debated yesterday will 
resume tomorrow.
  The Chair will reduce to 5 minutes the time for any electronic vote 
after the first such vote in this series.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 411, 
nays 15, not voting 6, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 438]

                               YEAS--411

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Allen
     Andrews
     Armey
     Baca
     Bachus
     Baird
     Baker
     Baldacci
     Baldwin
     Ballenger
     Barcia
     Barr
     Barrett
     Bartlett
     Barton
     Bass
     Becerra
     Bentsen
     Bereuter
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop
     Blagojevich
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonior
     Bono
     Borski
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (FL)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown (SC)
     Bryant
     Burr
     Burton
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardin
     Carson (IN)
     Carson (OK)
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chambliss
     Clay
     Clayton
     Clement
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Collins
     Combest
     Condit
     Conyers
     Cooksey
     Costello
     Cox
     Coyne
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Cunningham
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     DeLay
     DeMint
     Deutsch
     Diaz-Balart
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Dooley
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ehrlich
     Emerson
     Engel
     English
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Everett
     Farr
     Fattah
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Fletcher
     Foley
     Forbes
     Ford
     Fossella
     Frank
     Frelinghuysen
     Frost
     Gallegly
     Ganske
     Gekas
     Gephardt
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gilman
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Goss
     Graham
     Granger
     Graves
     Green (TX)
     Green (WI)
     Greenwood
     Grucci
     Gutierrez
     Gutknecht
     Hall (OH)
     Hall (TX)
     Hansen
     Harman
     Hart
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Herger
     Hill
     Hilleary
     Hilliard
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoeffel
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley
     Horn
     Houghton
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hyde
     Inslee
     Isakson
     Israel
     Issa
     Istook
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (OH)
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind (WI)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kleczka
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kucinich
     LaFalce
     LaHood
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Largent
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Lucas (OK)
     Luther
     Lynch
     Maloney (CT)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manzullo
     Markey
     Mascara
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McKinney
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Menendez
     Mica
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller, Dan
     Miller, Gary
     Miller, George
     Miller, Jeff
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Morella
     Murtha
     Myrick
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Nethercutt
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Osborne
     Ose
     Otter
     Owens
     Oxley
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Pence
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Phelps
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Portman
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Quinn
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Riley
     Rivers
     Rodriguez
     Roemer
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roukema
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Ryun (KS)
     Sabo
     Sanchez
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Sawyer
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schrock
     Scott
     Serrano
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shows
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Skeen
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Souder
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stump
     Stupak
     Sununu
     Sweeney
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Tauzin
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Thune
     Thurman
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Toomey
     Towns
     Traficant
     Turner
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Vitter
     Walden
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Waters
     Watkins (OK)
     Watson (CA)
     Watt (NC)
     Watts (OK)
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Wexler
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                                NAYS--15

     Duncan
     Flake
     Hefley
     Hostettler
     Jones (NC)
     Kerns
     Paul
     Petri
     Rohrabacher
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Schaffer
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Tancredo

                             NOT VOTING--6

     Cubin
     Hastings (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Mink
     Radanovich
     Weldon (PA)

                              {time}  1353

  So the conference report was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________