[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 148 (Tuesday, October 21, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H9747-H9748]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FURTHER CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS, FISCAL YEAR 2004
Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 407,
I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 73) making further continuing
appropriations for the fiscal year 2004, and for other purposes, and
ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the joint resolution.
The text of House Joint Resolution 73 is as follows:
H.J. Res. 73
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That Public
Law 108-84 is amended by striking the date specified in
section 107(c) and inserting ``November 7, 2003''.
Sec. 2. Section 8144(b) of the Department of Defense
Appropriations Act, 2003 (Public Law 107-248), as amended by
Public Law 108-84, is further amended by striking ``October
31, 2003'' and inserting ``November 7, 2003''.
Sec. 3. Section 8091(b) of the Department of Defense
Appropriations Act, 2004 (Public Law 108-87) is hereby
repealed.
Sec. 4. The provisions of the following bills of the 108th
Congress are hereby enacted into law:
(1) Agriculture, rural development, food and drug
administration, and related agencies.--H.R. 2673, as passed
by the House of Representatives on July 14, 2003.
(2) Commerce, justice, and state, the judiciary, and
related agencies.--H.R. 2799, as passed by the House of
Representatives on July 23, 2003.
(3) District of columbia.--H.R. 2765, as passed by the
House of Representatives on September 9, 2003.
(4) Foreign operations, export financing, and related
programs.--H.R. 2800, as passed by the House of
Representatives on July 24, 2003.
(5) Transportation, treasury, and independent agencies.--
H.R. 2989, as passed by the House of Representatives on
September 9, 2003.
(6) Veterans affairs and housing and urban development, and
independent agencies.--H.R. 2861, as passed by the House of
Representatives on July 25, 2003.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 407, the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) and the gentleman from Wisconsin
(Mr. Obey) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young).
Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mr. YOUNG of Florida asked and was given permission to revise and
extend his remarks.)
Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, the legislation before the House,
H.J. Res. 73, is the second continuing resolution for fiscal year 2004.
As you know, the current CR expires on October 31, 2003. This bill will
extend the CR through November 7, 2003, but more importantly it will
provide a vehicle to address the remaining six appropriations bills
that have been passed by the House but that have not been passed by the
Senate as of today.
These bills are the following: the Agriculture appropriations bill;
the Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary appropriations bill; the
appropriations bill for the District of Columbia; the Foreign
Operations appropriations bill; the Transportation and Treasury
appropriations bill, and the VA, Housing and Urban Development
appropriations bill.
Section 4 of this CR, H.J. Res. 73, will consolidate these six bills
for the purpose of finishing the remaining appropriations bills. As you
are aware, the House has passed all 13 regular appropriations bills and
last week passed a supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2004.
Three very important bills have already been signed into law, the
Defense appropriations bill, the Homeland Security appropriations bill,
and the Legislative Branch appropriations bill, which was also the
vehicle for a supplemental appropriations for natural disasters and
forest fires. We continue to move forward on conferences with the other
body on four bills that they have passed.
We hope to have the conference reports for Energy and Water, Military
Construction, Interior, and Labor and Health and Human Services ready
for House consideration as early as next week.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the CR itself is noncontroversial. I urge the
House to
[[Page H9748]]
move this legislation through the Senate so the government can continue
to operate smoothly and efficiently so that we can come closer to
finishing our regular appropriations bills.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, I think Members need to understand where this CR fits in
the scheme of things. As the chairman of the committee, the gentleman
from Florida (Mr. Young), has indicated, this continuing resolution
when it moves to the Senate will become the vehicle by which the
committee deals with the omnibus appropriations bills or the bills that
will be included in the omnibus bill.
That will mean that the real CR will have to be brought up next week.
And at that time we will see a continuing resolution that keeps the
government open to a date somewhere between November 15 and
Thanksgiving, I presume. I sincerely hope that by Thanksgiving there
will be no need for additional CRs, but I am very skeptical that that
will be the case. I am afraid that it is beginning to look a lot like
Christmas. I hope that that is not true, but I suspect it may be.
So having already said everything that needs to be said on the CR, I
am prepared to yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey)
and the committee for all of the support and the cooperation that we
have had. As I have said numerous times on the floor, with the
cooperation of the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) we have managed
all of our bills well on time to have concluded by the end of the year.
But we are only one House of the Congress.
We will work with our partners in the Senate to conclude this
business of appropriations as early as we possibly can.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.
Mr. Speaker, I simply want to observe, as I think the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) indicated this morning, that last year when we had
so many appropriation bills not passed until the next session of
Congress, the cry we frequently heard on the majority side of the aisle
was that ``The Senate made me do it.'' And they were all too eager to
blame the Senate for the fact that most appropriation bills had gone
nowhere.
As the saying goes, this year they do not have Senator Daschle to
kick around anymore with the Democrats being in the minority. And so I
think it will be interesting to see whether or not the majority sooner
or later can either end its debate with itself or else on several of
these bills reach across the aisle and try to work out a more
bipartisan solution.
I know the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) has certainly tried,
and I believe I have tried; but sometimes things are settled at a level
above our pay grade. That is the way life is, and that is the way this
institution is.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I urge that we pass this CR and
get the process moving, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
The joint resolution is considered read for amendment, and pursuant
to House Resolution 407 the previous question is ordered.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the joint
resolution.
The joint resolution was ordered to be engrossed and read a third
time, and was read the third time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on passage of the joint
resolution.
Pursuant to clause 10 of rule XX, the yeas and nays are ordered.
Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this question
will be postponed.
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