[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 28, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H179-H180]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 13, MAKING
FURTHER CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS, FISCAL YEAR 2003
Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I
call up House Resolution 29 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 29
Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution it
shall be in order without intervention of any point of order
to consider in the House the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 13)
making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year
2003, and for other purposes. The joint resolution shall be
considered as read for amendment. The previous question shall
be considered as ordered on the joint resolution to final
passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of
debate on the joint resolution equally divided and controlled
by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee
on Appropriations; and (2) one motion to recommit.
Sec. 2. Upon receipt of a message from the Senate
transmitting House Joint Resolution 2 with a Senate amendment
thereto, it shall be in order to consider in the House a
motion offered by the chairman of the Committee on
Appropriations or his designee that the House disagree to the
Senate amendment and request or agree to a conference with
the Senate thereon.
{time} 1215
Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the
customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost), pending
which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration
of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.
(Mr. LINDER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 29 is a closed rule providing for
the consideration of a very straightforward 1-week continuing
resolution. The continuing resolution itself, H.J. Res. 13, makes
further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 2003. The rule
provides that H.J. Res. 13 will be debatable in the House for 1 hour,
equally divided and controlled by the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Young) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey). The rule waives all
points of order in consideration of H.J. Res. 13, and it provides 1
motion to recommit the underlying measure.
I want to note that section 2 of the resolution provides that upon
receiving a message from the Senate transmitting H.J. Res. 2 with a
Senate amendment, it shall be in order to consider in the House a
motion by the Committee on Appropriations chairman or his designee that
the House disagree to the Senate amendment and request or agree to a
conference with the Senate. This provision in this section of the
report is necessary to permit the Committee on Appropriations chairman
the authority to offer a motion to go to conference on the omnibus
appropriations bill.
Mr. Speaker, this is a clean continuing resolution that will ensure
that the United States Government remains open through February 7 and
that all Americans who are expecting any kind of Federal benefit, a
Social Security check, Medicare payments, or veterans benefits will
continue to do so without interruption.
While we can debate the substance of the continuing resolution in
subsequent general debate, I will note that as negotiations continue on
the overall appropriations package, this continuing resolution will
make sure that ongoing programs are continued at current rates under
the same terms and conditions as fiscal year 2002, except for the
defense and military construction bills that have already been enacted
into law. Current funding expires at midnight on Friday, without action
on the continuing resolution that this rule permits. Therefore, I urge
my colleagues to join me in supporting this rule so that we may proceed
to consideration of the continuing resolution and ensure that the
Federal Government remains open until February 7.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. FROST asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, two important things will happen today on the
floor of this House. First, we will debate and pass yet another
continuing resolution, the eighth temporary stopgap measure for a
fiscal year that began almost 4 months ago. This continuing resolution
represents an abdication of responsibility that has become almost run-
of-the-mill under Republican control. Today's resolution, which extends
the date of the current CR through February 7, means that Republicans
will be 4 months late in addressing priorities like homeland security
and the economy. America is struggling through dangerous, uncertain
times; but the Republican Congress may as well still be on vacation.
Republican leaders are hoping this shameful failure will be obscured
by today's second important event: the President's State of the Union
address. The Republican majority is expecting to hide behind the glib
rhetoric we have all come to expect from President Bush.
But political slogans only go so far, especially in the face of the
wide and growing credibility gap facing a Republican Party that has
spent the past 2 years saying one thing and doing another. And no
matter how eloquent President Bush may be tonight, words alone cannot
fix the primary problem this Republican government has created for the
Nation at this difficult time.
Simply put, there are two states of the Union in America today. For
the vast majority of Americans, these are difficult and anxious times;
but for the Republican politicians and the privileged few they
represent, like the corporate lobbyists invited to the White House
today for a special sneak preview of the State of the Union, the good
times just keep on coming.
It is a tragedy, Mr. Speaker; but it is the truth. Just take a look
around the country. We will see hard-working
[[Page H180]]
Americans struggling to make it through the weakest economy in a
generation. Since President Bush took office, 2.3 million private
sector jobs have been lost, the worst jobs record for any President
since the end of World War II. The unemployment rate is stuck at a 6-
year high. We will see millions of Americans whose retirement plans
have been crushed by the fall of the stock market. The Dow dropped
below 8,000 again yesterday; and overall, the market has lost trillions
of dollars in value since President Bush took office. We will see
firefighters and police officers who still sit exposed on the front
lines of homeland defense, desperate for help from this Congress. It
has been nearly a year and a half since September 11, but Republicans
have done shockingly little to increase America's defenses here at
home.
Mr. Speaker, Democrats have fought for these priorities. We have
proposed economic stimulus plans to create at least 1 million new jobs
this year, put money and purchasing power in the hands of consumers,
and provide relief to struggling small businesses; and we have tried
time and again to make Americans safer at home by meeting critical
homeland security needs.
Unfortunately for the American people, Mr. Speaker, Republicans have
the power in Washington, and just take a look at the government they
control. We will see an out-of-touch Republican Congress that
arrogantly refuses to do the job they have been elected to do: address
critical needs like homeland security and education. Republicans will
not help firefighters or increase port security, but they have relaxed
their own ethics rules in the House of Representatives. Mr. Speaker, we
will see a Republican Party that has but one answer for every problem:
budget-busting tax breaks for millionaires that will do nothing to
stimulate the economy this year. Soldiers and firefighters are putting
their lives on the line to keep Americans safe at home, and President
Bush is pushing $90,000 tax breaks for everyone making $1 million or
more a year. Middle-class Americans are struggling through the worst
economy in a generation, but the Bush plan would provide half of all
taxpayers with less than $100.
Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, it appears that Republicans just do not
understand the real state of the Union for the vast majority of
America, because if they did, they would not insist on sacrificing the
security interests of all Americans to pay for tax breaks for the most
privileged few. That is just wrong. It is time that Republicans stopped
stiffing homeland security to pay for tax breaks for millionaires, and
it is time they stopped using their political power to divide this
great Nation.
Mr. Speaker, last week I attended a mobilization ceremony for a
reservist in Grand Prairie Texas who had been called to active duty.
These brave men and women are making a great sacrifice for their
country, leaving their families and jobs to support our troops
overseas. I was struck by their courage and by their willingness to put
aside their own personal concerns to serve their country. That spirit
of unity and sacrifice has made America great for the past 2 centuries.
I hope it is the spirit President Bush remembers tonight during his
State of the Union and that the Republican Congress puts into practice
so that we can finally address our economic and homeland security
challenges.
Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Obey).
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time.
Mr. Speaker, after 9-11, it became obvious to all of us, I think on
both sides of the aisle, that we needed to equip the people at the
local level who will respond to terrorist attacks with the best
equipment that we could possibly find to make certain their equipment
was compatible and safe enough to do the job. For reasons that I find
difficult to fathom, the White House has resisted efforts to do that on
four separate occasions.
The first example is what happened on the supplemental a year ago.
After 9-11, the committee, on both sides of the aisle, agreed that we
ought to add more money for first responders, and we tried to do that.
The White House strenuously resisted. In fact, at one point the
President personally told us that he would veto one dime more than the
White House had appropriated for homeland security items. Despite that
fact, on a bipartisan basis, the House and the Senate approved $400
million in funding for first responders in that supplemental.
Then, last year, in their second supplemental which the
administration sent up, they still provided no request for first
responders. Again, the House and the Senate, acting on a bipartisan
basis in both Houses provided, after much White House resistance, $551
million for first responders for firemen, for policemen, and the other
folks at the local level who are our first line of defense against
terrorist attacks in our communities. The President vetoed $350 million
of that $500 million.
Finally, the administration did request $3.5 billion for first
responders in the regular 2003 appropriations bill, but it then
proceeded to back the political strategy in the House that prevented
the veterans under the VA-HUD bill from coming to the floor; and it
prevented the State, Justice, Commerce appropriations bill from coming
to the floor. As a result, neither of those bills which were supposed
to contain funding for first responders, neither of those bills passed.
And then, when the continuing resolution finally passed, which was
supposed to contain $650 million for first responders, the White House
saw to it that the agency would not apportion that money among the
States and localities.
So after we have that track record, the White House resistance to
bipartisan congressional support for adding money for first responders,
the White House chief of staff went on national television last Sunday,
Mr. Card did, and told Mr. Russert, the moderator, and the entire
country that the only reason first responders were not getting their
money is because the Congress had not done its job.
Baloney. In capital letters, BALONEY.
The fact is that both political parties, on a bipartisan basis in
both the House and the Senate, on four separate occasions tried to meet
our responsibilities in providing the funding that was needed for first
responders and, the White House, in each of those instances, either
flatly rejected the money or saw to it that they would use their power
in order to squeeze down the amount of money that we wanted to provide
for those initiatives.
So now, what I am going to urge Members to do when we get to the
resolution today is to vote for a motion which we will offer which
restores that needed money for first responders.
It is time for two things to happen: it is time for the White House
to stop peddling fiction about why the first responders at the local
level do not have badly needed money to deal with terrorism problems at
the local level; and, secondly, it is time for us to actually get the
money out to them so that we do not have to sit, the next time we have
a terrorist attack saying, gee whiz, I wish we had done something.
Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I
move the previous question on the resolution.
The previous question was ordered.
The resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________