[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 177 (Wednesday, December 19, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H10431-H10442]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 3061, DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the previous order of the House,
I call up the conference report on the bill (H.R. 3061) making
appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services,
and Education, 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 order of the House of
Tuesday, December 18, 2001, the conference report is considered as
having been read.
(For conference report and statement, see proceedings of the House of
Tuesday, December 18, 2001.)
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) and the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula).
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, today we bring before the House the conference report
providing appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human
Services, Education, and related agencies for fiscal year 2002.
It is my pleasure to present this report today. It is the result of
the dedication and hard work of the members of the subcommittee and
staff, and I want to express my deep appreciation to each of them. I
would especially like to thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey),
the ranking member of both the full Committee on Appropriations and of
this subcommittee. It has been a pleasure to work with him from the
start as we crafted a bipartisan bill which passed this body earlier
through our work together on the conference.
I would also like to thank the subcommittee staff on both sides of
the aisle for their very hard work and the long hours they have put in
to finalize the conference report before us. Thank you to Craig
Higgins, the Clerk of the Committee, Carol Murphy, Susan Firth, Meg
Snyder, Francine Mack-Salvador and Nicole Wheeler on the majority side,
and to David Reich, Cheryl Smith and Linda Pagelsen on the minority
side. They have been a great team. They have worked all night for the
last two nights putting this together, and we owe them a vote of
appreciation.
This conference report is a very good product. It contains the
funding for many outstanding programs for people. First, is the funding
for the President's education reform measures. Last week we passed
landmark legislation setting the policy for elementary and secondary
education reform, and today we are providing the funding that will make
these reforms a reality.
We have funded State grants for improving teacher quality at $2.85
billion. This flexible grant will allow States to develop programs for
teachers in areas most important to those States. In other words, we
are recognizing States' rights to make the fundamental decisions on
education.
I want to emphasize the commitment of the committee to teacher
quality and support in the areas of math and science. We will later
have a colloquy on that subject and the flexibility within this grant
for such programs, in addition to a specific program for math and
science partnerships.
I am also pleased that we have included funding for the Troops to
Teachers/Transition to Teaching and the Teach for America programs for
a total of $88 million. We hear a lot about the pending shortage of
teachers, and I think this bill will do a lot to address that problem
and to ensure that good people get into the classroom. The key to
success in the classroom is a good teacher, and all of these programs
show great promise in recruiting, training and keeping just those
people.
In total, education programs receive a 16 percent increase in the
bill, a majority of which is in three areas. These include elementary
and secondary education, Special Education and Pell Grants. Grants to
the States for Title I total $10.3 billion, grants to the States for
Special Education total $7.5 billion, and Pell Grants are funded at a
maximum grant level of $4,000 per student.
Although our current economic slowdown has sent more students back to
school than has been anticipated, it was the belief of the members of
the Conference Committee that we must uphold our commitment to the
students and retain the maximum $4,000 level. Also the TRIO grant
program receives $802.5 million.
In health programs, I am pleased to report that funding for the
National Institutes of Health increases by 14.7 percent, at over $23
billion. This additional funding will allow a greater percentage of
competitive research grant projects to receive funding in such
important areas as Parkinson's disease, diabetes, heart disease,
stroke, and even in many rare diseases. Again, we recognize
particularly in these times after September 11 how important it is that
we do research on health issues, and NIH is the flagship for this, not
only for the United States, but for the entire world.
As the events of September 11 have impacted on each of us and changed
our lives, we have come to recognize the important role of our public
health system. Funding for the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention increases $600 million over last year, for a total of $4.3
billion. I might point out that the State health departments and local
health departments, which are the shock troops, they are in the
trenches on all of these threats that we hear about in anthrax and TB,
basically start with the Centers for Disease Control. We have
recognized that by increasing their budget.
Programs at the CDC are our first line of defense in threats of
bioterrorism. They also put important research knowledge into practice
through outreach and education, leading to improvements in the health
of our Nation today. By the way, at the urging of our committee, they
have a hotline now, so if you have a problem in your community, you
have a 1-800 number, and you can get help immediately.
The conference report includes funding for several of the President's
faith-based programs, including $30 million for the Compassion Capital
Fund, a program which will support grants to public-private
partnerships for charitable organizations in expanding or emulating
model social service agencies. $70 million is included for the Safe and
Stable Families program, and $5 million for the new Volunteers for
Homeland Security.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to discuss briefly the issue of
mental health parity. As many Members are
[[Page H10432]]
aware, the Senate bill included an amendment requiring private sector
companies that provide mental health insurance companies in their
health plans to provide that coverage equally with the physical
coverage in those plans.
The House conferees, regrettably, rejected this amendment on
procedural grounds. We had received letters from the three chairmen of
the authorizing committees of jurisdiction in the House expressing
their opposition to this provision in the Labor, Health and Human
Services bill.
However, we understand from the President and from the House chairmen
that they intend to address this issue next year. In the meantime, with
the support of the committee chairmen, we have included the extension
of the current law on mental health coverage, which expired on
September 30 in this conference report, an extension for 1 year.
Through jurisdiction of the appropriations bill, which is our proper
jurisdiction, we are able to do very much for mental illness, and I
would like to highlight these programs. The conference report provides
$832 million for the Center for Mental Health, $433 million of which is
the mental health block grant which goes to States to support
prevention, treatment and rehabilitation services. This is a $50
million increase over last year's bill.
Over $1.2 billion is allocated for research into improving the
diagnosis, treatment and overall care of those suffering from mental
illnesses, and this is through the National Institute of Mental Health,
one of the NIH institutes. This funding is increased by $100 million
over last year.
Finally, the conference report commits $1.34 billion for community
health centers nationwide. Community health centers provide a variety
of health services to disadvantaged and medically underserved,
including mental health services.
Mr. Speaker, these are only the highlights of the many outstanding
and worthwhile programs in this $123.9 billion bill. Its programs touch
the lives of Americans in many ways, the most important ways with the
greatest potential, by supporting education, job training and health
research and practices. They lay the groundwork in ensuring the long-
term health and prosperity of our Nation.
There are many more programs. If Members are interested, there is a
press release in the Office of the Committee on Appropriations across
the hall that details all of these. There are a lot of programs here
that our people back home will be very much interested in.
One thing I do want to say further, and that is, the chairman and the
ranking member of the full committee, the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Young) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), did something I
think this year that really worked well, and that is they worked out an
agreement with the other body whereby each subcommittee had the same
allocation. That meant that we could work together. We had a different
mix than the other body did, but at least we are working at the same
total. When we went to conference, it made it a lot easier to get a
conference report out of the negotiations. I commend them very much.
Not only that, they have been very supportive of this process. I say to
my colleagues, this is a good bill.
{time} 1415
A lot of good things are in here that help people. Every American in
some way or another is affected by education or health research or
health care. We are pleased. I say this on behalf of my subcommittee
members, both parties, they were terrific. It has been a joy to work
with the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) as the ranking member on
the subcommittee.
I urge the Members of this body to support this conference report.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 9 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, first of all, I too would like to thank all of the
members of the staff involved. Some of the names have been mentioned,
but I will mention them again. On the Democratic side, the associate
staff: Dale Lewis, Scott Boule, Chris Kukla, Becky Salay, Sarah
Walking, Charles Dujon, Sonia Virdi, Matthew Braunstein; as well as
Harry Glenn, and all of the associates of the Republican subcommittee
members. On the full committee: Jim Dyer, staff director, Dale Oak and
Therese McCaullafe, Graig Higgins, the subcommittee staff director;
Laurie Rowley, Carol Murphy, Susan Firth, Meg Snyder, Francine Salvador
Mack, Nicole Wheeler; and on the Democratic side, David Reich, Cheryl
Smith, Linda Pagelson, David Pomerantz, Norris Cochran, Lin Liu, Nick
Ferraro; the Democratic staff director on the Committee on
Appropriations Scott Lily, and also Christina Hamilton and Paul Carver.
Each and every one of them know how hard they have worked and the
Members certainly know how hard they have worked. They have gone nights
without sleep; and they have, in the process, performed the kind of
public service that the American public would be proud of, if they just
knew about it.
Secondly, I would like to thank both the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Young) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula). The gentleman from
Florida has kept his commitments in terms of seeing to how this bill
would be handled at the end of the year, as he has kept his commitments
all year long. And the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) has worked just
not in his capacity on this subcommittee, but in his previous
incarnation as the chair of the Subcommittee on the Interior. He has
always performed his duties with grace and with fairness. It was indeed
a pleasure to work with him and his staff.
I think that we have demonstrated on this bill that when it is
approached in a bipartisan way, good things happen, not just for this
institution, but the country.
I would like to say that I think this bill is an example of what a
huge difference a few years make. Eight years ago when our Republican
friends took over as the majority in this House, there was a cry to
abolish the Department of Education, and we had some tumultuous battles
on this bill. Over the last 5 years, in contrast to that, we have been
able to negotiate, on average, a 13 percent increase in education
funding over each of the last 5 years. This year, President Bush, in
his budget submission, tried to cut that rate of increase to 5.8
percent. This bill, for education, will provide a 16 percent increase
over last year. So it returns it to the bipartisan track that we were
on in the previous 5 years, and it declines to accept the President's
recommended reduction in the rate of increase in these bills.
As a result, for instance, for Title I, which is the centerpiece of
the Federal effort to see to it that no child is left behind, if I can
borrow a phrase, I would say that we are very pleased to see that Title
I is funded at a level of $10.35 billion, a level of 14 percent over
the President's budget request and 18 percent over last year. It
contains $7.5 billion for special education State grants. That is 3
percent more than President Bush sought in his budget. It is $1.2
billion, or 19 percent, more than fiscal year 2001. I know there are
people in this town who would like to see this program made an
entitlement. I am not one of them. I think this demonstrates that we
can make great progress in funding programs without making them
entitlements, and we have provided a huge increase of $2.5 billion for
this program since fiscal year 2000.
For teacher quality State grants, this bill is 31 percent over last
year. For bilingual education State grants, it is 45 percent over the
President's budget request. For after-school centers, which are badly
needed, given the changing nature of our society and the strains that
that puts on families with two earners outside of the house, we have
provided an 18 percent increase over the President's request. We have
provided for smaller learning communities to help make our larger
schools more personalized and more intimate for students. We have a
funding level of 14 percent over last year, and we have a variety of
other, I think, fine achievements on the education front, including
providing a $4,000 maximum grant for Pell grants, an increase of $150
over the request and 7 percent over last year.
In the health area, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) has already
mentioned the $23 billion for the National Institutes of Health, a 15
percent
[[Page H10433]]
increase. The National Institutes of Health are a national treasure and
this committee has recognized them as such.
For community health centers, we have provided $51 million more than
the President requested.
For the Community Access Program, to assist groups who are providing
health care under safety net provisions in the law, the President's
budget proposed to abolish this program. This bill funds it at $105
million.
This bill contains an increase of 7 percent above last year for
health professions training programs in comparison to the President's
efforts to cut this program.
For the Centers for Disease Control, the bill provides $597 million
more than the administration's budget for items such as immunizing
children. I think that is fully justified.
On the mental health front, I am sad to say that it does not include
the provision that was attached in the Senate to provide mental health
insurance parity. I think it ought to. I think it is a tragedy that it
does not. But nonetheless, on the funding levels, we provided $50
million above last year and $66 million above the President's request
for mental health programs.
For human services, the Low-Income Heating Assistance Program is
funded at a level $300 million higher than the President requested.
There are numerous other increases for programs such as Head Start, the
Social Service block grant, and the Child Care Development block grant.
In the Department of Labor, dislocated workers will receive help,
which is 12 percent above the President's request. Also the
International Labor Program, to protect the American workforce from
unfair competition through the production of foreign products producing
with child labor or under virtual slave conditions; the conferees
rejected the administration's proposal to slash this program by $76
million. We provided $148 million.
That is just a short summary of what is contained in this bill. I
think it is a bill worthy of support of the House. I again thank the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) for his balance and graciousness
throughout, and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), the chairman of
the full committee, as well.
I hope that before the week is out we will be able to pass this bill,
the defense and foreign operations appropriations bills, and provide
decent health care and unemployment assistance to workers in this
country who very badly need that help; and having done all of that, I
hope that somebody can find the off button so that we may, in fact,
celebrate Christmas with our families.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), the chairman of the full committee.
Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this
conference report. I want to add my compliments to the chairman of the
subcommittee, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula), and the ranking
member, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey). The gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) plays a dual role. He is the ranking member on
this subcommittee as well as the ranking member on the full Committee
on Appropriations. They have done a good job.
The health part of this bill maintains our commitment to double the
money invested in medical research over a 5-year period, and this bill
keeps us on track. In addition, we have made major investments in
educational programs; and I want to compliment the gentleman from Ohio
(Mr. Boehner), the chairman of the Committee on Education and the
Workforce, and the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), his
ranking member, for having passed H.R. 1 through the whole process.
This bill that we have today and H.R. 1 are very compatible in the
educational area. So a good job has been done by the Congress, both
bodies, the House and the Senate; and we have a good package before us
today.
It was interesting that the final conference committee meeting was
held last night. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits and very
cooperative. We resolved a lot of outstanding differences; and, Mr.
Speaker, we might expect that this is the second largest appropriations
bill, second only to Defense. But the two of them go together, because
as we have evolved our military from a trench and over-the-top type of
charge to the high-tech weapons and systems that we use today, without
a good education, we would not have men and women properly prepared to
deal with the high technology that our defense system requires.
So these two bills work hand in hand. They constitute over half of
our discretionary accounts too, by the way, Mr. Speaker. But they have
done a good job working out all of the many differences between the
bodies, and I again compliment the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula). He
is an outstanding subcommittee chairman. The gentleman from Wisconsin
(Mr. Obey) has been a tremendous partner. With the cooperation we have
enjoyed on all of our appropriations bills, this year has just been
tremendous. I want to thank all of the Members.
I want to say again, Mr. Speaker, the chairman of the subcommittee
and the ranking member both mentioned the staff. I do not know how many
committees go through the same drill that Committee on Appropriations
staff do. On our bills, once we start to get a bill ready to read it,
to write it, to prepare it to bring to the floor, staff will work very
late into the night, four or five nights a week; and I am talking about
1 or 2 o'clock in the morning and come back in and start again at 8
o'clock the next morning. They devote a lot of time; they are very
dedicated. They are very devoted to the job that they do, and we are
lucky to have such an outstanding staff on the Committee on
Appropriations. So I thought we might just say some good words about
them so they can these words home and show it to mom and the kids or
dad and the kids, whatever the case might be.
Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill. It is time to move it on. We will
then have two more appropriations bills to finish, foreign operations
and defense. The committee is prepared to present those bills at any
time we are given time on the floor, and I would hope that the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) and I can push the off button
tomorrow afternoon sometime, and wish everyone a merry Christmas and a
happy Hanukkah.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding, and
I want to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula), our chairman, who
is new this year to this subcommittee, although certainly not new to
the Committee on Appropriations, he is our senior member next to the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), for their leadership. I want to
talk not about the overall bill, as it is a good bill. I will
enthusiastically vote for this.
{time} 1430
It speaks to the health needs of America. It speaks to the
educational needs of our children. It speaks to working people, as
well.
But I want to refer to a couple of specific items. First of all,
immunization. Immunization, I believe, is a critical concern, not only
of this bill but of this country. There are areas of this country where
immunizations are not nearly where they ought to be. In fact, generally
speaking, we went back about 1 percent, from 78 to 77, overall
immunizations of children in this country.
It is inconceivable that in the year 2001, despite all of the
technological and scientific advances that we achieved during the last
century, Mr. Speaker, that nearly 1 million American children do not
enjoy the benefits of full immunization. Indeed, only 77 percent of our
2-year-olds are adequately immunized. We need to continue to work to
increase funding for this important program.
In addition, I would like to say how pleased I am that this
conference report contains language that will continue to fund state-
assistive technology programs. I want to thank the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Young), the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula), and the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) for focusing on this issue. In the
scheme of things, in terms of the billions of dollars we are spending
on this bill, this is a small item, but a very, very large item in
ensuring that those with disabilities will fully participate in the
opportunities of our society.
[[Page H10434]]
This assistive technology is critical. Many may not have known, but
the current law for the assistive technology program includes a
provision requiring a sunset of State grant programs, which was to
occur in cycles, to gradually decrease States' funding until
eliminated.
In fiscal year 2002, nine States would have been eliminated for
funding: Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, and
Nebraska. We have turned that around. We have provided funds. I
appreciate their leadership, again, on that issue, and say that this is
a good bill. It is a good bill for our country, and it is a good work
product of our committee.
I thank the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) for his leadership and
the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) and the gentleman from Wisconsin
(Mr. Obey), as well.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Mississippi (Mr. Wicker), a very distinguished Member and a very good
member of our committee.
Mr. WICKER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding time to
me, and I thank him for his kind words.
I, too, want to commend the staff. I am glad that the ranking member,
as well as our two chairmen, have gone on at length about this. While
most Americans were at Christmas parties and then in the wee hours
nestled all snug in our beds with visions of Christmas, these staff
members have been up two nights in a row without sleep at all.
I just hope that my colleagues, when they come to the floor and vote
on final passage overwhelmingly for this bill, will go to both the
minority and majority members of the staff and give them a hearty
Christmas handshake and a word of thanks.
This is a good bill, Mr. Speaker. It is a bipartisan bill, as both
sides have mentioned. It makes important strides in the areas of health
and education. While we are providing the largest increase ever for
Federal education programs, I am pleased that we are doing it in the
right way. We are focusing on block grants. We are focusing on funding
programs that reserve most education decisions for State and local
officials.
I am also pleased, Mr. Speaker, that we have found a better way to
fund Title I programs. The new formulas that we are adopting will make
sure that Federal education funds are going to the poorest school
districts and are reserved for the neediest children.
This bill also provides an increase of $1.2 billion over last year
for State grants for special education. I am pleased that Congress has
resisted the effort to make this important program an entitlement. That
would have hindered our efforts to make needed reforms next year, and I
look forward to working with the authorizing committee next year on the
reauthorization of the IDEA program.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, with regard to health, this bill continues the
bipartisan commitment to substantially increasing funding for the
National Institutes of Health. We provide an additional $3 billion for
NIH and have also dramatically increased funding for the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, including important state-based chronic
disease prevention and immunization programs, as my colleague, the
gentleman from Maryland, has already mentioned.
Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill, it is an excellent bipartisan work
product, and I believe it will receive bipartisan support. Mr. Speaker,
I urge a ``yes'' vote.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), also a member of the
subcommittee.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in support of this
conference report and am grateful for the leadership of the ranking
member, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), and the chairman, the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula).
The bill provides a 15 percent increase over last year for the
National Institutes of Health to fund groundbreaking medical research
that continues us on our path of doubling the NIH budget by the year
2003.
We have provided funding for the post-traumatic stress disorder
program to serve the mental health needs of children who witness or are
victims of acts of serious violence. Each year, more than 1 million
children are abused or neglected in their homes; 3 million children
witness domestic violence; 600,000 children are victims of violent
crime; 20,000 are wounded by gunfire; and a growing number are injured
or killed at school. The psychological trauma associated with this
violence could affect these children for years to come.
The events of September 11 make this program even more important.
Over and over, our children saw what took place on that terrible day.
Many lost parents, and there is an urgent need to make mental health
services available to children to cope with the aftermath of these
attacks.
We have also made a substantial investment in education, including
$6.5 billion for Head Start and $2.1 billion for the Child Care
Development block grant. Yes, the strength of our country is based on
the education of our people.
I am disappointed that the House conferees stripped mental health
parity from the bill. We missed an opportunity to do the right thing
for American families to require the insurance industry to provide the
same coverage for neurobiological illnesses as for physical illnesses.
When mental illness goes untreated, costs escalate.
In the aftermath of September 11, access to mental health services
becomes even more important. Just this morning, the front page of the
Washington Post included an article about a woman who lost her husband
at the World Trade Center and who just committed suicide. The majority
assured us that they would consider this legislation next year, and I
hope they will keep that promise and act on this critical legislation.
Mr. Speaker, overall, this is a strong bill; and I am proud to
support it. I urge my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson), who has been a great advocate for
vocational and technical education and makes an excellent contribution
to the subcommittee's work on that.
Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding time to me, and I thank the chairman and the ranking member
for their work.
I was excited when I got appointed to this committee. Having served
in the State for 10 years as chairman of health and welfare issues, it
was just exciting and exhilarating to get back into the issues that I
loved.
I rise to support this conference report and commend the staff, who
did a wonderful job and have been great to work with, and for the
bipartisanship of resolving so many of these controversial issues.
I was pleased that we had a President that is leading us in education
and making education funding more simple and easier for our small,
rural school districts to use. Federal programs have not always been
easy for small districts to obtain and utilize; and I think the bill we
passed, H.R. 1, does a lot of that, and this funds it. I am just
pleased to be part of that. I am pleased we have raised Pell grants to
$4,000.
I am especially pleased that our children's hospitals in this bill
have finally had the bias against them removed. Our teaching hospitals
have always had general education money, except our children's
hospitals that teach our pediatricians and people who treat the most
vulnerable among us, who are children. This bill equalizes for the
first time the funding that our children's hospitals will now receive,
the same as our other teaching hospitals have historically received, to
train those who treat our kids, our smallest.
I am pleased that this is the first decent increase we have had in
vocational education, $80 million. I want to thank the chairman for his
generous mark of $150 million, which we worked against the Senate, who
did not have any increase, which was historic to this body for many
years, flat funding for vocational technical education when the need
for it has quadrupled.
The military used to train our poor. The volunteer army has changed
that. Poor young men and women used to go into the military and get
their skills. That does not happen anymore. We have never replaced
that. This $80 million goes to our high schools and our community
colleges. That is not a lot of money; but I am pleased, in talking with
the chairman, that we are going
[[Page H10435]]
to work with the Senate and next year try to get a sizeable increase.
I am also pleased with the adult education fund. This funds GEDs and
allows people who have dropped out of the system to get back in. Our
educational ladder has to reach from the ground up, and adult education
needs to be looked at and I believe expanded, also, because we have a
lot of adults that have slipped through our high school system in the
past who got a degree but did not really get an education and need to
get back on that educational ladder. It is only going to be through
adult education. It is one I think we really need to look at.
Again, I want to conclude by thanking the staff and the gentleman
from Ohio (Chairman Regula). It has been a delight to work with him and
with the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey). I excitedly look forward
to what we started this year in technical education, and next year we
are going to give it a better hit.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to urge all my colleagues to support this
bill.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished
gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Rivers).
Ms. RIVERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to
me.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to tell the story of two journeys that end right
at the Capitol of the United States. They are similar in some respects,
but tragically different in others.
As a young mother, I was diagnosed with manic depressive disease, a
serious brain disorder characterized by deep mood swings, and, for me,
profound depression. I was lucky. I was able to get treatment, although
at one point my medical care consumed over one-half of my family's
take-home pay.
Every day I take a cocktail of medications to keep my condition in
check. Those medications, along with continuing medical care, have
given me my life back. Treatment allowed me to attend college and law
school. I have served my community with competency and enthusiasm on
the board of education, at the State House, and now on the floor of
this magnificent building. My journey has a happy ending.
The other individual whose journey ended at this building was not as
lucky as me. Rusty Weston was an unmedicated schizophrenic. For years,
his parents had frantically searched for effective, affordable
treatment for him, but they were unsuccessful. Finally, they threw him
out because they were afraid of him.
When Rusty Weston arrived here at the Capitol, unmedicated, armed,
and delusional, he killed two police officers, wounded several other
individuals, and terrified the Capitol community.
Mr. Speaker, can the case for mental health parity be any clearer? It
should be in this bill. Treatment works; indifference kills.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio
(Mr. Boehner), who did yeoman's work and provided outstanding
leadership, along with the gentleman from California (Mr. George
Miller), on bringing H.R. 1 to success and in ensuring that we make
every effort to not leave any child behind.
Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the gentleman from
Florida (Chairman Young); the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey); the
dean of the Ohio delegation and my friend, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr.
Regula); the chairman; the subcommittee; and all the members of the
Committee on Appropriations for working together to produce a bill that
paves the way for meaningful reforms in education and in other national
priorities.
As the chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, I
also want to thank the staff and the members of the Committee for
working closely with me and the members of my committee and my staff to
ensure that the reforms that were contained in H.R. 1, the President's
education reform bill, are in fact funded and contained within this
conference report.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the conference report lays the groundwork for
the most significant reforms in education in a generation. The measure
before us calls for a significant increase in Federal aid in public
schools and for poor students. For the first time ever, major increases
in Federal education funding would be linked to meaningful reform of
our schools; and for the first time ever, we are insisting on results
for our children.
The Labor-HHS conference report provides the resources necessary to
implement the President's vision for education reform. It provides $387
million, or $67 million over the President's budget request, for States
to develop annual assessment tests of students' reading and math
skills. No national test will be created. And States will be
responsible for selecting and designing their own assessments.
{time} 1445
The conference report also provides a $1.6 billion increase for Title
I aid to disadvantaged students, $700 million increase for teacher
quality, and a $205 million increase for bilingual education.
All three of these programs have been significantly reformed to
expand State and local control and ensure greater accountability for
results.
Last but not least in the education side, the conference report fully
funds President Bush's Reading First and Early Reading Programs for a
total of $975 million, tripling the Federal commitment to reading and
encouraging States and schools to use proven methods based on
scientific research.
The conference report before us also increases the Federal
Government's commitment to fixing and funding special education. The
measure recognizes that the Federal Government is still falling short
of paying the fair share of the cost of special education. For a
quarter of a century, Congress neglected this responsibility, but since
1994, we have increased special education funding by 173 percent. And
the conference report before us provides another historic increase of
$1.2 billion for IDEA part B.
With this increase, the Federal Government's role, we would spend an
unprecedented $7.5 billion on IDEA in the next fiscal year and increase
the Federal share of the burden to 16\1/2\ percent, the highest
percentage since the Special Education Program was enacted. This
increase is provided without turning special education funding into a
new entitlement program, meaning Congress will be free to bring much
needed reforms to IDEA as we fulfill our financial commitment.
This report also significantly increases the amount for Pell grants
and other educational opportunities. I am pleased that the conference
report increases Pell grant funds to some $4,000, the highest maximum
grant in the program's history. And to strengthen historically black
colleges and Hispanic-serving institutions and other related
institutions, the measure provides an increase of $42.5 million from
last year which, frankly, is a very significant boost.
Finally, on the labor side of our committee, the report before us
wisely avoids taking hasty action on mental health parity that could
jeopardize the health benefits for American workers.
The measure contains a provision that reauthorizes the 1996 mental
health parity law. But the conferees did not agree to a provision added
in the Senate that would have significantly expanded mental health
parity for employee health benefits. This provision would have come up
on top of huge increases in health care premiums in the vicinity of 15
to 30 percent. Hasty action on mental health parity will have serious
consequences for employees, consequences many families may not be able
to bear during the current economic crunch.
When employers' cost go up, employees often lose their health care
coverage. If the law becomes too burdensome and expensive, it is very
likely that employers will simply stop offering any type of health
benefits to their employees. At the same time we recognize that mental
illnesses are serious illnesses and must be treated accordingly. For
that reason a simple 1-year reauthorization of the current laws is the
right solution at this time.
I intend to take up this issue next year in my committee, and I
intend to work with the supporters of expanded mental health parity,
including Senator Domenici, the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs.
Roukema), the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson) and others
who have worked on behalf of mental health parity and we intend to do
it in the next session.
[[Page H10436]]
Let me congratulate all of my colleagues, and especially my dean, the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula).
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. George Miller), the distinguished ranking member of the
Committee on Education and the Workforce.
(Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California asked and was given permission to
revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman
for yielding me time.
I want to congratulate the committee on the legislation that they
have approved today. As many of my colleagues are all aware, we just
finished the education reauthorization bill of the ESEA, and we are
getting a lot of nice comments from around the country and from our
Members in Congress about the bipartisan efforts to pass that
legislation and to work out the differences that we have.
I want to say to all of the Members of Congress, that was facilitated
by the fact that this committee and the Appropriations subcommittee was
working in a bipartisan effort to support those efforts. They made it
very clear they were willing to support the resources, the money
necessary to bring about the reforms, but if the reforms were not
there, they were not prepared to put the resources into the bill.
I want to thank the chairman, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula).
Much of what was in our bill dealing with the targeting of our
resources, with teacher quality, came out of a number of conversations
he and I had and his wife, Mary, about the importance of high quality
teachers and teaching in poor schools, and I want to thank him for
supporting that effort.
The same goes to the ranking member, the gentleman from Wisconsin
(Mr. Obey) for all of his support he has provided in this legislation
that allowed us to bring about and agree, and I think bring about the
most far-reaching reforms in the Elementary Education Act in 30 years.
We did that by targeting the resources to the children most in need, to
the schools most in need. And we were able to do that because this
committee agreed to fund the more targeted of the formulas.
We did it by making sure that schools would have the resources
necessary to improve their teacher quality, for professional
development, for training, for retention of teachers. And, again, this
committee provided the money so schools will have the flexibility to do
that within their individual schools; and for the first time, to take
those who have limited English proficiency and provide a formula base
program so the money will go to where those students are as opposed to
a haphazard grant program and this committee funded that.
I think that all of us who are terribly concerned about the balance
between reform and resources, if you look at this bill as reported by
the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, you
will see that the commitment has been kept. The resources have been
developed, the reform is out and the resources have been developed in
this bill and I want to thank the member of the committee for that.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, how much time do we have remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) has 6
minutes and 30 seconds remaining. The gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Obey) has 13 minutes remaining.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute 20 seconds to the gentleman
from California (Mr. Farr).
Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this
conference report. I would like to share with my colleagues the
appreciation we have of the chairmanship of the gentleman from Ohio
(Mr. Regula) on this committee who is known in this body as a very
compassionate individual, and certainly the gentleman from Wisconsin
(Mr. Obey), the ranking member, who has long fought for these issues.
As we look at this bill, I hope everybody will vote in favor of it.
It affects more people in America than any other appropriation we pass.
This essentially is the basis for funding for education in America, for
our workforce in America, for our health care, including our Centers
for Disease Control and for the human services.
I think most importantly often overlooked is the issue that the
gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Rivers) just rose on, to talk about our
commitment to mental health. If there is anything that is bipartisan in
America, it is the support for mental health programs.
I am disappointed that the bill did not have parity for that that
would have required every health care insurance plan in the United
States to provide the exact same kind of health care level for mental
health treatment as it does for other medical treatment. That failing,
however, this bill does provide incredible increases to the mental
health side, increases $2 million more; for local mental health
programs, additional $13 million, totaling $433 million; children's
mental health services, an additional $5 million, for $97 million.
It also deals with school violence, a treatment for children with
post-traumatic syndrome, and probably most importantly, $2.2 billion
for substance abuse prevention and treatment.
I say congratulations to the committee. They have done a good job. I
look forward to supporting this conference report.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to
the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt) for a colloquy.
Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to enter in a colloquy with the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula).
Mr. Speaker, someone who casually observes the education part of this
bill might think we will be spending less on math and science teacher
programs this year than last, and as the United States falls
increasingly behind the rest of the world in math and science
performance, we need to pay attention to this area.
The conference report states, ``The conferees believe that providing
high-quality math and science instruction is of critical importance to
our Nation's future competitiveness, and agree that math and science
professional development opportunities should be expanded.''
It is my understanding from this that it is the intention of the
committee that no less money than last year be spent on teacher
training for math and science; is this correct?
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. HOLT. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, that is correct. I would assure the
gentleman, and also the gentleman from Michigan who will join our
colloquy, we consider math and science teacher training to be an
important part of preparing our students for the future. I assure my
colleague that the conferees have provided adequate funding to allow
the same or even increased effort in science and math teacher training.
The conferees intend that, at a minimum, the current level of effort in
science and math development be maintained.
Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for clarifying this.
I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula), as well as the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) for excellent work on this
appropriations bill.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) for a colloquy. He has been,
along with the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt), a very strong
supporter of math and science education.
Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to enter into a colloquy with the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula), and I do want to thank him very, very
much for all his work to improve funding for education, particularly
for math and science education.
Over the past few months, much attention has been placed on the poor
state of our Nation's K-12 math and science education. International
tests place our students in the bottom third of industrialized nations
in their performance in science, and dead last among those nations in
high school physics.
The 2000 NAEP results recently announced found no improvement in
science literacy in the 4th and 8th grades, and a decline in science
performance in grade 12 since 1996. This is simply unacceptable. Our
country desperately needs more people trained in math and science. Over
the past few years, I have advocated improving our
[[Page H10437]]
Nation's science education programs and increasing the Federal funding
for professional development for our Nation's math and science
teachers.
Mr. Speaker, this bill consolidates funding for the Eisenhower
program, which was the primary professional development program for
math and science teachers, into the Title II Teacher Quality Grant
program, which will receive an appropriation of $2.85 billion. The
conference report states that as much as $375 million was actually
expended on math and science in fiscal year 2001, and that the
conferees therefore strongly urge the Secretary and the States to
continue to fund math and science activities within the Teacher Quality
Grant program at a comparable level in fiscal year 2002.
Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that the intention of the
conferees is that no less than $375 million be expended on math and
science professional development in fiscal year 2001; is that correct?
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. EHLERS. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, the answer is the gentleman is substantially
correct. The report language does state that States should spend a
comparable level on math and science professional development as was
spent in fiscal year 2001. The conferees consider math and science
education vitally important to our Nation's future competitiveness and
believe that such spending should be enhanced in the future.
Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, if I may continue, the bill allocates only
$12.5 million for the newly created Math and Science Partnership
program. The conference report states that the conferees strongly urge
the Secretary and States to utilize funding provided by the Teacher
Quality Grant program, as well as other programs provided by the
Federal Government, to strengthen math and science education programs
across the Nation.
Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that the intention of the
committee is to strongly encourage States to use funding under the
Teacher Quality Grant program to fund the Math and Science
Partnerships; am I correct?
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) is
substantially correct. The conference report strongly encourages States
to utilize the $2.85 billion allocated to Title II dollars toward math
and science activities.
Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula)
for his answers, and I thank him for his commitment to math and science
education, and I look forward to working together on this issue in the
future.
{time} 1500
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah).
Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member, the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), and the chairman, the gentleman
from Ohio (Mr. Regula), because they have crafted a bill that should
enjoy unanimous support here in the House.
I want to just mention my thanks for the funding for the GEAR UP
program and the TRIO program, and a number of other efforts in relation
to higher education. And I also want to make note of the first-time
funding for the Education Equity Incentive grant program, and a host of
other, I think, very appropriate focus that the leadership has brought
to bear on some of the real work that has to be done to improve our
Nation's schools.
So I want to thank the gentleman from Wisconsin and the gentleman
from Ohio for their work, and I would just hope as we go forward that
we will find again the same type of bipartisan support for GEAR UP and
our other efforts to improve our Nation's schools.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana
(Mr. Roemer).
(Mr. ROEMER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. ROEMER. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my good friends from Ohio
and Wisconsin for their hard work on this bill, especially as it
relates to putting in a program called Transition to Teaching. As the
chairman has said many times, and I agree, the quality of teaching,
getting a great person in that classroom, with good experience and
mentoring skills, somebody to rely on for learning how somebody else
has taught for 15 or 20 years, is very, very valuable.
The Transition to Teaching program that we have incorporated in this
bill brings experience from the private sector in math and science and
technology into the classrooms and into the public schools. So I
commend the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) and the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) for that.
I do think that in the job of funding H.R. 1, the No Child Left
Behind Act, which we just passed the other day, we are about $4 billion
under what we authorized. We do, however, have about a 16 or 17 percent
increase over last year's level. We have to continue to be ever
vigilant, in that we fight for money to fund the reforms with
sufficient resources to get the tests and remediate the children that
we just passed.
Finally, I would say, on IDEA, we have a billion dollar increase. I
hope the President puts new money in this new budget coming next year,
and that we get that up to the mandated level.
I thank the Chair for his patience, and I again thank the gentleman
from Wisconsin for his work on behalf of this bill.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Pelosi), also a member of the subcommittee, and our new
minority whip.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much, our
distinguished ranking member, for yielding me this time. And I
congratulate the ranking member, as well as the chairman of our
subcommittee, for a job well done on this very important Labor-HHS and
Education bill.
In a bipartisan manner our subcommittee has produced a well-balanced
bill that strengthens our schools, invests in our workforce, and
provides much-needed resources for biomedical research and our public
health system.
Although the administration proposed the smallest increase in
education in 5 years, the bill, instead, provides the largest funding
increase in the history of the Department of Education. For the fourth
year in a row, dramatic increases are also included for the National
Institutes of Health. This keeps us on track to double the NIH funding
over 5 years, an investment that is yielding phenomenal progress in our
understanding of the human body and the search for better treatments.
Additional resources have also been provided for many other vital
programs, including HIV/AIDS prevention and care, breast and cervical
cancer screening, child care, drug treatment, bilingual education, and
environmental health.
The bill makes important progress, but I am disappointed in one
opportunity that was lost at last night's conference. We did not agree
to the other body's inclusion of an amendment to require that group
health plans' offering mental health benefits do not impose
restrictions on mental health care that differ from limits on other
physical health care. That was a disappointment.
On the other hand, we must remember that access to treatment for
mental health has never been more important for our country. The New
England Journal of Medicine reports that nearly half of our American
adults report at least one symptom of substantial stress after
September 11. We see articles in the paper every day how this situation
has been exacerbated.
In any event, we know effective treatments are available for mental
health. We hope that promises made will be kept as we go into the next
session of Congress.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I want to again commend the chairman. This is
a very important bill. We call it lamb-eat-lamb, because everything in
it is so good, and when we try to transfer money from one account to
another, it is a very difficult decision to make. Mr. Natcher always
called it in ``the people's bill.''
We have a great tradition of bipartisanship on the committee. We were
delighted to welcome our new member of the committee, who was our
chairman, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula),
[[Page H10438]]
congratulate him on his first conference report, and thank the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) for his extraordinary leadership in
making the bill what it is today. It was a tough fight to get this to
this point, but I commend both the chairman and the ranking member on
the success that Members will be voting on today.
Again, higher numbers for education than the Bush administration
requested; more responsive to the needs of the American people.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 15 seconds to the gentlewoman from
New Jersey (Mrs. Roukema).
(Mrs. ROUKEMA asked and was given permission to revise and extend her
remarks.)
Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me this
time, and I rise today to express my extreme dismay at the fact that
the gentleman did not include the mental health parity provisions
included by the Senate in this bill. I certainly pledge to work with
everyone in this House to assure that next year that is a top priority.
And, again, I am sorry that that goal could not have been accomplished
in this bill.
I rise today to express my dismay that this final FY 2002 Labor-HHS
Appropriations Conference Report does not retain the mental health
parity language that was included in the Senate bill, especially since
a majority of Members of both Chambers support full mental health
parity in this report. The Labor-HHS Conferees should have heeded the
wishes of Congress.
Discrimination against mental illness must end. Mental illness is no
different than any other illness, yet our society continues to treat it
as such. We cannot in good conscience allow discrepancies in mental
health care coverage to continue. For years I have fought to eliminate
discrimination in insurance coverage for mental illnesses and this
year, the Senate did the right thing by passing full parity
legislation. There is a strong unified voice in the Congress calling
for mental health parity. I am stunned and dismayed that the Conferees
did not answer our call.
I can assure you that I along with many colleagues will be working to
assure passage of mental health parity next year before the end of this
session of Congress. I know that Senator Domenici will be providing
leadership yet again to eliminate this discrimination.
There is no debate about the devastating impact of mental illnesses
on Americans from every walk of life. The Surgeon General has estimated
that roughly 20 percent of the U.S. population--nearly 125,000 people
in each of our districts--has a diagnosable mental disorder in any
given year. A fifth of our nation's children have mental disorders with
at least mild functional impairment. Suicide is the third leading cause
of death for young Americans, and twenty percent of all suicides are
seniors over age 65. Untreated mental illness costs American businesses
$70 billion each year in lost productivity and worker absenteeism
according to the Wall Street Journal. Other estimates are significantly
higher.
The good news is that treatment works. Apparently, some in Congress
apparently still do not understand this. Properly diagnosed and
effectively treated, the overwhelming majority of those with mental
illnesses can reclaim their lives, return to work, and once again
become productive members of our society. Indeed, NIH data show that
mental health treatments have greater success rates than treatments for
heart disease and many other medical conditions.
Unfortunately for millions of Americans with mental disorders, access
to effective treatment is impossible because health plans routinely and
legally discriminate against them. The GAO reports that an appalling 87
percent of health plans routinely force patients to pay more for mental
health care than other health care, put stricter limits on mental
health treatment than on other health treatment, or both. The Surgeon
General has unequivocally stated that such distinctions between mental
and physical health care have no basis in science. The only reason to
restrict mental health care is because of stigma and outdated
stereotypes.
Again, by not acting to ensure parity in mental health coverage,
Congress is allowing insurers to discriminate--blatantly--against
patients who for not fault of their own have a mental illness. Congress
would not stand idly by while insurance companies put up barriers to
cancer treatments or care for patients with heart disease. Similarly,
we in Congress should not tolerate such discrimination against patients
in need of mental health care.
I understand some Conferees were concerned about the inclusion of
parity because of procedure, not policy. The Chairmen of the
authorizing Committees expressed interest in convening hearings on the
subject. I am pleased that this Conference Report urges the authorizers
to act on mental health parity as I have been urging the authorizing
them to do for years.
There is no time to waste. This is a problem we need to address now.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks on our country, millions of
Americans are coping with profound feelings of fear and vulnerability.
Experts tell us that the psychiatric consequences may not show for
weeks or months in the form of post-traumatic stress disorder and other
serious mental and emotional problems. Unfortunately, at a time when
mental health care is of unprecedented importance, many will discover
that their health plans hinder rather than help them receive treatment.
By not including mental health parity in this Conference Report,
Congress is prolonging the discrimination against those who are already
suffering. I ask House Leadership to move ahead with mental health
parity as encouraged by the majority of the House and Senate. We must
move this reform next year before the 107th Congress adjourns.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). The gentleman from Wisconsin
(Mr. Obey) has 6\3/4\ minutes remaining, and the gentleman from Ohio
(Mr. Regula) has 1\1/4\ minutes remaining.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, every single American will benefit from the passage of
this bill. Every single American has benefited over the last generation
from the passage of similar labor, health, education, and social
services bills. Every American family that cares about educating
children should be pleased with this bill.
This bill has also, through the years, absolutely revolutionized our
ability to deal with disease. It has totally changed the way we attack
disease. It has totally transformed our understanding of human disease,
and it has armed us to provide some incredible advances in health care
in the future. It is, to me, the most important bill that we pass each
and every year in this House.
I again appreciate everything that the gentleman from Ohio (Mr.
Regula) has done to help move this bill forward.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume
for just one comment.
I hope that the authorizing committees will deal with the issue of
mental health parity. We had a temporary amendment offered to ensure
that there would be continued coverage after September 30. We recognize
that this is something that should be done by the authorizing
committees and hope that that will be done.
I also want to mention that we so many times hear that the other body
does not work well with ours. I just want to say that at the staff
level the team from the other body worked beautifully with the House
team, Republicans and Democrats, to bring this package together. They
worked extremely hard and have produced a wonderful bipartisan bill. It
is bipartisan party-wise, and it is bipartisan House and Senate.
One last thing I do not think has been commented on is Job Corps.
Today, in this economic crisis we are concerned about job training
programs and dislocated workers. The Job Corps is funded at $1.459
billion, $60 million more than last year. The dislocated worker
assistance is funded at $1.5 billion, $111 million over fiscal year
2001 and $166 million over the budget request.
I think this illustrates, as the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey)
has said, that this bill is compassionate and it indicates our great
concern. I would urge all of our colleagues to support this. They can
go home and with pride say that they supported this bill. It truly is a
people's bill.
Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3061 the FY2002
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations bill. I am
pleased that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle came together to
provide an increase of $12.5 billion over FY2001 program level.
This legislation makes education a priority. It provides an increase
of $6.7 billion over last year's education appropriation bill and
includes a discretionary education appropriation of $48.9 billion.
Furthermore, I am happy with the recent passage of H.R. 1, the No Child
Left Behind Act. While this bill encompasses
[[Page H10439]]
many reforms, one issue in which I was actively involved in during
committee consideration of ESEA was improving professional development
for our teachers, principals, and administrators. This year, the
Teacher Quality State Grant received $2.85 billion, a 31% increase over
last year's appropriation. I will continue to push for increased
funding for professional development; our school leaders are critical
to our children's success in the classroom. Educating our youth should
be our nation's number one priority.
Regarding health issues, I am a strong supporter of doubling the
budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by fiscal year 2003,
and complement the committee for providing an additional $3 billion.
Congress' bipartisan support of medical research has led to substantial
improvements in the health and well being of every American. We have
now entered a new era of science with the mapping of the human genome
and the potential in stem cell research. The opportunities for
preventing, diagnosing, treating and curing diseases have never been
greater. And, with the research and development of new vaccines to
combat widespread disease epidemics, the NIH is in the forefront of the
war on bioterrorism.
Further, I commend the committee for increasing funds to assist rural
health care needs including $1.34 billion for community health centers
and $40 million for rural hospitals. Further, I am happy that $12.5
million will be provided for the Rural Access to Emergency Devices
program administered through the Rural Health Outreach Office. I was
the author of the legislation creating this program that gives grants
to community partnerships consisting of local emergency responders,
police and fire departments, hospitals, and other community
organizations to purchase automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and
train potential respondents in their use, as well as in basic CPR and
first aid.
Finally, it is imperative that we continue adequate funding for
employment and training activities under the Department of Labor.
During this period of economic uncertainty with workers losing their
jobs each day, training and employment programs are critical in helping
these workers get back on their feet. I am pleased that Congress chose
to restore some of the cuts made to the programs in the
administration's budget.
The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations bill
is often a contentious piece of legislation. I commend my colleagues
for working in a bipartisan fashion to address many of our top domestic
priorities in education, health care, and training. I urge my
colleagues to support the bill.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support for H.R.
3061, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related
Agencies Appropriations Bill.
And would like to thank Chairman Regula and Ranking Member Obey as
well as all members of the Subcommittee, especially Representative
Steny Hoyer, Rosa DeLauro, and Nita Lowey for all of their work and
dedication in crafting a bipartisan piece of legislation that funds our
Nation's education, health infrastructure and labor programs. This bill
provides $48 billion for education programs--an increase of almost $7
billion over last year.
Of this total, $6.54 billion is allocated for the Head Start Program,
which represents a $338 million increase over last year's budget. This
new funding will guarantee that we can avert a threatened reduction in
current enrollment of as many as 2,500 children. This Head Start
funding will benefit many Head Start Centers in New York, including the
Little Angels Head Start Program in the Bronx. Additionally, this bill
increases the ceiling for Pell Grants bringing the maximum award to
$4000--the highest maximum grant in the program's history. This will
mean more deserving students will have a chance to attend college and
achieve the American dream.
The bill provides new resources for mentoring, training, salary
enhancement, and other improvements that will support teachers by
giving them the resources they need to do their job. With respect to
teacher training, I was very pleased to see the great work being done
by City University of New York Chancellor Matthew Goldstein, and the
President of LaGuardia Community College, Gail Mellow acknowledged with
a $600,000 grant for their Teacher Empowerment Zone Program at this
great institution.
This bill also allocates $200 million more than what the President
requested for bilingual education. These funds will provide
instructional support and teacher training to assist the approximately
3.6 million students who have difficulty speaking English.
Mr. Speaker, this is wonderful news for my district, home to students
who speak over 70 languages. H.R. 3061 provides the money needed to
carry out the sweeping educational reforms outlined in the Leave No
Child Behind Act--a bill that ensures teachers, students and parents
have the resources to hold themselves to the highest educational
standards.
Locally, this translates into $636 million this year for New York
City Public Schools, a 28% increase from last year; and $141 million in
Title I funding, a 20% increase over last year. With the New York City
Board of Education threatening a 15% across the board cut in important
education programs, this increased Federal funding is more important
than ever. This bill will mean a lot to New York City and particularly
the children back in Queens and the Bronx.
In addition, H.R. 3061 includes significant increases for medical
research and health programs. I am particularly pleased at the
inclusion of $23.3 billion towards the National Institutes of Health--
an increase of $3 billion over last year's funding levels, and a $430
million increase for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC has a long history of doing exemplary work, particularly in
disease prevention. Specifically, the CDC has led the charge in
combating the West Nile Virus, a potentially deadly virus that was
first discovered in North America in my district of Queens, New York.
The programs at both the CDC and the NIH are not only a good investment
in our communities, but they are vital to combating bioterrorism as our
nation confronts new threats and challenges.
Furthermore, this bill also allocates $1.91 billion for the Ryan
White AIDS program, which is a $103 million increase from last year,
with specific increases for minority HIV/AIDS initiatives. With
minority rates of HIV/AIDS infection increasing, this funding is both
timely and desperately needed. In my district, Steinway Child and
Family Services of Queens has done an outstanding job in providing HIV/
AIDS education and prevention services programs, including an
innovative program of teen mentoring in the schools. We must combat the
scourge of AIDS, and this bill provides a down payment in this war. For
our displaced and unemployed Americans, this Labor-HHS-Education
Conference Report includes $1.55 billion for dislocated workers
employment and training, an increase of almost 10% over last year. For
my home State of New York, this will mean a tremendous amount as we
strive to recover from the events of September 11th.
Stating that, I was disheartened to see the school construction and
modernization that I have championed stripped from this bill, just as I
was disappointed that a meaningful compromise was not reached to
achieve mental health parity for insurance. Nevertheless applaud the
hard work of the House and Senate conferees in bringing this important
spending bill to the floor today and I proudly support this measure.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, to support the Labor
Health and Human Services, and Education appropriation bill today, and
to applaud the chairman, Mr. Regula, and ranking member, Mr. Obey, for
their hard work, willingness to work with all of us, with our many and
varied interests, and demands, and their unwavering commitment to the
people of this country who depend on the work done in this important
committee. As a family physician and chair of the Health Braintrust of
the Congressional Black Caucus, I want to speak specifically to the
Health funding.
Mr. Speaker, while we may not have gotten all that we wanted, I am
pleased that funding that would have been flat or reduced under
President Bush's budget request was restored or even increased.
Although there are many instances where this has happened, I want to
make specific reference to Healthy Start, the Health Careers
Opportunity Program and the Minority AIDS initiative. On the Minority
AIDS initiative we regret that the funding did not come closer to our
request of $540 million that we determined was needed to extend the
programs for HIV and AIDS to our hard to reach people of color who are
at disproportionate risk, and suffer the most from the scourge of this
virus.
We are most concerned that the language accompanying the funding for
this important initiative still falls short, in that it fails to target
this small section of AIDS funding narrowly, to ensure that the
community organizations that are of the communities, which are most
needy, are the ones to receive the funding. In not doing this, the
intent of the Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucuses, to empower our
community through resources and technical assistance may not be met--a
risk we should not take given the devastation of HIV/AIDS on our
communities. But the committee did well in providing us the 11%
increase--far more than ensured by the President's budget, and for that
we are grateful. We will redouble our efforts to get the full funding
and better language next year.
Mr. Speaker, I want to say that I too share the disappointment voiced
by several of my colleagues in that the measure which would have given
mental health services parity with other healthcare is not included,
and pledge to work with them, and our community and national
organizations that this goal will be realized. To expect a perfect bill
that includes all
[[Page H10440]]
that everyone wanted is more than unrealistic, and in this period of
crisis in our country it is impossible. The chair and ranking member
and the committee has done well. We thank them, and we ask our
colleagues to vote for this bill.
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my
support for the Labor-Health and Human Services Appropriations
conference report. While the report contains increases which will
strengthen many significant projects and initiatives such as: the Ryan
White AIDS treatment programs, dislocated workers employment and
training, the National Institutes of Health, special education, and
Head Start; I am particularly pleased to see the inclusion of $850,000
for the AMISTAD America project.
AMISTAD America, Inc., is an educational foundation in Connecticut,
which build and operates a full-size working replica of the ship
Amistad. It serves as a unique and powerfully effective traveling
educational exhibit that will make port visits down the Eastern
Seaboard and around the country to educate students about the history
and lessons of leadership, racial cooperation, perseverance, courage,
justice, and freedom that are inherent in the Amistad Incident of 1839.
Constructed between 1998-2000 with grants from the State of
Connecticut and various private donors, the Freedom Schooner Amistad is
a wonderful example of public and private partnership. With this
federal funding, the Freedom Schooner Amistad will serve as a tool to
educate our school children about the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Moreover, AMISTAD America, Inc. will be able to share the rich history
and lessons of the ship Amistad to the rest of America by coordinating
with local school districts and schools to provide school children free
admission, tours and history lessons on the Freedom Schooner Amistad
vessel when it visits various ports in the United States. It will also
hold teacher-training sessions, and distribute K-12 educational
materials including the CDROM, The Amistad Incident: A Journey to
Freedom . . . A Story of Heroism, to each school district preparing for
a visit. In addition, with the help of Apple Computer, school children
will be able to connect with Amistad Internet to conduct live,
interactive chats with the captain and crew of the Amistad. This
technology will allow Amistad to connect with as many individuals in as
many places as possible, especially those communities that cannot be
reached by the vessel.
I would like to note that Amistad project received support from all
Members of the Connecticut Delegation, as well as the Congressional
Black Caucus. I thank them for their efforts and assistance in securing
funding for this very important educational tool. I would also like to
give special thanks and recognition to Christopher Cloud and Will
Mebane of AMISTAD America, Inc. and Fredericka Gray of Phoenix Home
Life for their perseverance and dedication to the Freedom Schooner
Amistad project.
Mr. Speaker, I applaud the hard work of the conferees in preparing
this conference report and including this important project, which will
help to enrich school children's knowledge and understanding of our
nation's history in not only Connecticut, but the entire country.
Therefore, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the conference
report.
Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, this Member wishes to add his strong
support of the conference report for H.R. 3061, the Labor, Health and
Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2002.
This Member would like to commend the distinguished gentleman from
Ohio [Mr. Regula], the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on
Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, and the distinguished
gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey], the ranking member of the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and
Education, for bringing this important legislation to the House Floor
today. This Member is particularly pleased that this appropriations
conference report includes $800,000 for the University of Nebraska-
Lincoln to expand software education and training programs, as well as
curriculum development. This funding, which was requested by this
Member, is to be used to assist the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's
unique honors program, called the Great Plains Software technology
program. The program integrates computer science and business
curriculums to educate students in technologies that are becoming the
building blocks for the new economy.
This funding will be used for further development of this curriculum
and will allow the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to serve additional
students and provide them with challenging internships. By
participating in the Honors Program, students will be prepared with the
knowledge needed in the information technology arena so they can start
their own companies or help expand existing businesses, thereby
creating new jobs and opportunities in Nebraska. This Member is also
pleased that the conference report provides $1.5 million for the Close
Up Foundation. It is this Member's opinion that the Close Up Foundation
is the best citizen education program that brings citizens of any age
to Washington, D.C., to study our governmental system. It is a highly
successful program that each year provides thousands of high school
students with an extraordinary opportunity to learn how our government
works. The funding, which was requested by this and other Members, will
assist low-income students who want to attend the Close Up program.
This Member is also pleased that the conference report includes
language, which this Member requested, expressing concern about the
Administration's plans to abolish the Office for the Advancement of
Telehealth and reassign these functions to the HIV/AIDS Bureau. This
Member is pleased that the conferees have provided sufficient funds to
continue the operations of this office as a component of the Office of
the Administrator.
The Administration's decision to make such an organizational change
came as a complete surprise to this Member, as he was given prior
assurances of OAT's success as a leader in advancing higher quality
health care for Americans living in rural and non-metropolitan parts of
our country.
This Member was concerned about this move for several reasons.
Despite any assurances that might be offered to the contrary, the
abolition of the OAT and the placement of its function in the HIV/AIDS
Bureau would likely divert the focus of the Office's efforts and
program and staff resources away from using telehealth to provide
better access to rural and underserved populations. The Office
currently manages over 80 grants in 40 states and has improved the
lives of over 100,000 individuals over the past year. Many of these
grants have been highlighted by Members of Congress as being of
significant importance to residents of their home districts. These
grants were authorized by Congress to meet the unique needs of rural
and underserved populations. The needs and requirements of expanding
medical access to rural and underserved urban communities using
telemedicine are quite different from the programmatic efforts of the
HIV/AIDS Bureau.
Through the Office's efforts to foster communication and coordination
among programs that are involved in telehealth activities, OAT has
served as a critical focal point for such activities within the Federal
Government. For example, its efforts to create and manage the Joint
Working Group on Telemedicine have focused on improving the
effectiveness of over 15 different Federal grant programs through
education about new initiatives and participation in joint activities
that reduce duplication of efforts. We are concerned that this
reorganization will eliminate this function and bring about greater
inefficiency and confusion among Federal programs. The Office currently
serves as a model for the cost-effective expansion in delivering
medical care through its grant program. For example, during a recent
period (1999 to 2000) the program's grantees increased patient
encounters by over 83 percent while its budget increased by only 56
percent. In addition, Federal dollars used by OAT grantees are used to
leverage other funds, further expanding access to care while saving
costs to the Federal Government.
Finally, following the horrific events of September 11, 2001, it is
ever more important that we have a powerful OAT that can assist rural
and underserved communities with the development of telehealth
programs. The large Federal investment already made in establishing a
network of programs providing telemedicine services can be used to
educate rural medical professionals on how to diagnose, report, and
respond to effects of terrorism. This education is critical since high
mortality rates could occur if diseases resulting from the release of
biowarfare agents and other terrorist actions are not recognized and
treated properly in their early stages.
Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, this Member supports the conference
report for H.R. 3061 and urges his colleagues to approve it.
Mr. MATHESON. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in support of a
bipartisan appropriations bill that provides resources to important
federal priorities. First, I am pleased with the level of funding for
education. Last week this House approved the most sweeping reform in
federal education policy since 1965. That legislation was designed to
elevate the quality of our nation's schools and bridge the achievement
gaps that have been tolerated for too long in our country. It will
require more of our students and teachers by setting higher standards
and tracking progress over time.
While the H.R. 1 reform bill was a monumental achievement, it was
hollow rhetoric until today. Today, we are taking the first step to
provide the federal resources necessary to support the type of reforms
and the level of excellence in education that we outlined in H.R. 1.
today, we are moving closer to keeping the federal government's
promises to our local schools and students.
[[Page H10441]]
The FY 2002 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill provides a 16
percent funding increase for education programs overall, including a 17
percent boost in elementary and secondary education programs and a 13
percent increase in the maximum Pell Grant. This will translate into
helping local school districts hire 32,000 additional teachers and
increasing the number of Pell Grant recipients to 4.3 million. In
addition, it includes a boost in special education spending for the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Although I, like many of
my colleagues, believe that supporting our local schools with 40
percent of the costs of special education is a high priority, this
legislation will provide the highest level of funding ever for special
education by boosting the federal percentage from 12 percent to 17
percent of all costs, a 19 percent increase over last year. I am
pleased that we are doing so much to meet our obligations to our
children and recognizing that education is an important long-term
priority.
While Congress has done much lately to improve education, recent
events have demonstrated the essential nature of preserving our health
care infrastructure. Because a strong health care system improves the
life of every American, I am pleased that this appropriations bill
continues to move us down the track of doubling the funding for NIH
over five years, by providing a 15 percent increase over last year's
funding levels. Federal resources devoted to the National Institutes of
Health are the backbone of biomedical research throughout the nation.
This increase will invest in potentially life-saving discoveries about
a plethora of disease processes and treatment techniques. In addition
it will provide increased resources to assist rural areas by
strengthening the federal assistance given to rural hospitals and
increasing support for the National Health Service Corp.
This legislation also recognizes the evolving nature of our world and
new priorities in health care response that we face in ensuring
Homeland Security. It dedicates additional resources to public health
prevention and bioterrorism preparedness. There is an 11% increase for
the Centers for Disease Control (the front-line of our nation's
bioterrorism preparedness and response team) and funding to begin
establishing an environmental health tracking network to assist in
monitoring and responding to disease trends.
Although I am disappointed that this legislation's strong commitment
to public health does not include an expansion in the federal
requirements for mental health parity, I am pleased that the Conference
Committee had the foresight to include an extension of the existing
regulations for an additional year. This coupled with a 6 percent
increase in funds for the Mental Health Services Administration will
assist more Americans who suffer from mental illness.
In many ways the long-term stability and prosperity of our nation is
provided for in this legislation. Our education system is fortified;
our health care system is equipped, and finally, our nation's workers
are assisted. This legislation helps to adequately assist dislocated
workers and provide training to adults and youth. Never in the last
decade have we needed to be more aggressive about providing services
for victims of economic downturn and investing in long-term priorities
that will create long-term economic prosperity and national security.
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, last week we reauthorized funding of
education programs with a solid balanced approach for the future.
Today's Labor, Health, Human Services and Education bill provides the
first year of funding on that vision. Nothing is more important for the
future livability of our communities than a sound education system;
schools are the building blocks of stable neighborhoods and healthy
children.
I am pleased with the progress that has been made on education in
this Congress. While there are pressing needs for security and defense,
and the state of the economy is on everybody's minds, nothing will make
more difference for the long term livability of Oregon and communities
around the country than having a solid education system. Especially in
these difficult economic times, assistance from the federal government
plays a critical role. I enthusiastically support this bill, which
provides a 16% increase over last year, an increase three times larger
than the administration had requested. For special education, a
critical need, the rate of increase is even higher at 19%.
I am also pleased with the improvements in health and Low-Income Home
Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) funding. This conference report includes
extra support for National Institutes of Health research, a vital 11%
increase for the Centers for Disease Control. These important
organizations are even more vital to our preparedness and security in
light of the threats that face our nation. We have also maintained
LIHEAP funding from FY01, $300 million over the President's request, to
help low-income Oregonians and other Americans access heating
assistance during a time of cold weather and skyrocketing energy costs.
Finally, Congress will send the President a bill without the proposed
cuts in Head Start funding, maintaining a program that is vital to the
development of young children.
My hope is that we can build on this progress in the next session of
congress to be able to assure that our children have stable education
funding and that our communities have more resource to modernize
schools and provide a full range of services that our children deserve
and that citizens demand. The federal government needs to be a full
partner; this bill goes a long way towards fulfilling that promise.
Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, the Labor H.H.S. conference report signals a
bipartisan commitment to place education as a top priority. Education
must be top priority not just for children of privilege, not just for
those who speak English as their first language, all children deserve
the opportunity to learn!
Latinos remain among the most educationally disadvantaged of all
students. Education must be a top priority for all children. In
education, our children are the underdogs. Our children are without a
voice. As elected officials we have the responsibility of voicing
loudly and plainly the educational realities of poor and disadvantaged
children.
I can assure you that we in the Hispanic Caucus have not forgotten
our roots. We are standing strong and fighting hard not only for our
children but all children, so that no child is left behind. This bill
makes significant strides in funding for our educational priorities but
make no mistake that we as Hispanic members of Congress will continue
pushing for adequate and protected funding for bilingual education,
immigrant and special education.
We will continue fighting so that every poor child, eligible for
services can receive assistance. We are not only fighting for our
children to catch up we are also fighting for our children to move
ahead, excel, fulfill their hopes and dreams and lead us into the 21st
century.
We need to move out of the box to meet the needs of the changing
population to meet the unique needs of our community. We need to
provide the resources so that the opportunities for our children are
real. We need to provide the resources so that all children, if they
work hard, can succeed. That is the American promise. That is the
American dream. We must remember the words of Cesar Chavez: Si se
puede, Yes we can!
With the passage of this bill we are well on our way. I strongly
support final passage of H.R. 3061.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my sincere disappointment
with the Republican House conferees and their leadership who gave the
big insurance companies their holiday wish and abandoned the millions
suffering from mental illness when they killed the mental health parity
amendment in conference.
Mental illnesses are brain disorders. They are as much physical
illness as diabetes or heart disease. Members of Congress and federal
workers already have health insurance providing parity for mental
health benefits. Other Americans deserve the same protection. The cost
of parity is low and the benefits are significant. For example, in my
own state of Ohio mental health and substance abuse costs for state
employees dropped with parity.
There are 54 million Americans with mental illness, two-thirds of
whom receive no treatment. The Wall Street Journal has estimated that
untreated mental illnesses cost U.S. businesses $70 billion a year in
lost productivity and absenteeism; other estimates are much higher.
Parity is inexpensive, support for it is broad, the authorizers have
not acted, and those who opposed the amendment should be ashamed for
voting to protect unconscionable discrimination.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the
conference report and I urge its adoption. I want to thank the ranking
member, Mr. Obey, for yielding me this time and for his strong and
forceful leadership not only on this bill, but also for the American
people.
I want to recognize the chairman of our Subcommittee, Mr. Regula. He
has been an absolute pleasure to work with and has gone out of his way
to ensure that the bill was crafted in a bipartisan manner and that the
concerns of Members on both sides of the aisle were considered.
Mr. Speaker, this conference report provides tremendous increases for
health, education and worker safety and training. We've been able to
follow up on the promises we made on this floor last week when we
passed the ESEA conference report in this bill. Increases in Title I
funding will ensure that our most disadvantaged children have access to
a quality education. Pell Grants will reach a maximum of $4,000 per
student, giving low-income students a helping hand in paying for
college. Overall, the bill boosts education funding by over $1 billion,
to its highest level ever. In health programs, the bill continues to
provide an unprecedented level of funding for medical research. We are
in an age of tremendous
[[Page H10442]]
discovery in medical research, and the resources provided to NIH will
help find treatments and cures for many diseases. There are increases
for mental health research and treatment, HIV/AIDS programs, and
programs for the elderly. And, we address the growing threat of
bioterrorism by giving the CDC, our leader in this fight, greater
resources to help keep our nation secure.
Even with these vast increases for so many programs, we know that
next year will be very different. The surpluses we've enjoyed have
disappeared. And, the President's tax cuts will take up more and more
of the federal budget as we go forward. We're just beginning to fund
education and healthcare at the levels they deserve. I am concerned, as
are many of my colleagues, that we will not be able to provide this
same level of funding next year.
I want to mention one area of critical importance--the need to combat
obesity in this country. The Surgeon General reported last week that
two out of three American adults are overweight. In fact, he estimates
that obesity will cause more deaths than smoking in the coming years.
Reducing the rate of obesity can prevent unnecessary illness and death.
We've been so successful in convincing people to quit smoking, and this
should be the next big fight for public health. I know that Chairman
Regula and Mr. Obey will be very interested in that effort, and I want
to again thank the chairman and ranking member for their tireless
efforts in putting this bill together. I urge adoption of the
conference report.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time has expired. 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.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 393,
nays 30, not voting 11, as follows:
[Roll No. 504]
YEAS--393
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Aderholt
Allen
Andrews
Armey
Baca
Bachus
Baird
Baldacci
Baldwin
Ballenger
Barcia
Barr
Barrett
Barton
Bass
Becerra
Bentsen
Bereuter
Berkley
Berman
Berry
Biggert
Bilirakis
Bishop
Blagojevich
Blumenauer
Blunt
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bonior
Bono
Boozman
Borski
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd
Brady (PA)
Brady (TX)
Brown (FL)
Brown (OH)
Brown (SC)
Bryant
Burr
Burton
Buyer
Callahan
Calvert
Camp
Cannon
Capito
Capps
Capuano
Cardin
Carson (IN)
Carson (OK)
Castle
Chambliss
Clay
Clayton
Clyburn
Coble
Collins
Combest
Condit
Conyers
Cooksey
Costello
Coyne
Cramer
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
Gordon
Goss
Graham
Granger
Graves
Green (TX)
Green (WI)
Greenwood
Grucci
Gutierrez
Gutknecht
Hall (TX)
Hansen
Harman
Hart
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
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)
Lynch
Maloney (CT)
Maloney (NY)
Manzullo
Markey
Mascara
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McCrery
McDermott
McGovern
McHugh
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meeks (NY)
Menendez
Mica
Millender-McDonald
Miller, Dan
Miller, Gary
Miller, George
Miller, Jeff
Mink
Mollohan
Moore
Moran (KS)
Moran (VA)
Morella
Murtha
Myrick
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Nethercutt
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nussle
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Osborne
Ose
Owens
Oxley
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Pelosi
Peterson (MN)
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Phelps
Pickering
Platts
Pombo
Pomeroy
Portman
Price (NC)
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Quinn
Radanovich
Rahall
Ramstad
Rangel
Regula
Rehberg
Reynolds
Riley
Rivers
Rodriguez
Roemer
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Ros-Lehtinen
Ross
Rothman
Roukema
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Ryan (WI)
Sabo
Sanchez
Sanders
Sandlin
Sawyer
Saxton
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schrock
Scott
Serrano
Shaw
Shays
Sherman
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shows
Shuster
Simmons
Simpson
Skeen
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (MI)
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Souder
Spratt
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
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 (PA)
Weller
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
Young (FL)
NAYS--30
Akin
Bartlett
Cantor
Chabot
Cox
Crane
Duncan
Flake
Goodlatte
Hayworth
Hefley
Hostettler
Jones (NC)
Kerns
McInnis
Otter
Paul
Pence
Pitts
Rohrabacher
Royce
Ryun (KS)
Schaffer
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Smith (NJ)
Tancredo
Toomey
Weldon (FL)
NOT VOTING--11
Baker
Clement
Cubin
Hall (OH)
Hastings (FL)
Luther
Meek (FL)
Reyes
Stark
Wexler
Young (AK)
{time} 1532
Mr. GOODLATTE and Mr. PENCE changed their vote from ``yea'' to
``nay.''
Mrs. KELLY, Mr. DOGGETT and Mr. THOMAS changed their vote from
``nay'' to ``yea.''
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.
____________________