[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 159 (Wednesday, November 5, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H10376-H10377]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.J. RES. 76, FURTHER CONTINUING
APPROPRIATIONS, FISCAL YEAR 2004
Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I
call up House Resolution 430 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 430
Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution it
shall be in order without intervention of any point of order
to consider in
[[Page H10377]]
the House the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 76) making further
continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 2004, 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.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Terry). The gentleman from Georgia (Mr.
Linder) is recognized for 1 hour.
Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the
customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter),
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. Speaker, H. Res. 430 is a closed rule that provides for the
consideration of H.J. Res. 76, a continuing resolution that will ensure
further appropriations for fiscal year 2004. The rule provides for 1
hour of debate in the House, equally divided and controlled by the
chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on
Appropriations. The rule waives all points of order against
consideration of the joint resolution and provides for one motion to
recommit.
Mr. Speaker, we passed the first continuing resolution, H.J. Res. 69,
in late September, continuing appropriations through October. The
provisions of H.J. Res. 75, which was the second CR enacted by this
Congress, are scheduled to expire this Friday, November 7.
Under the joint resolution that H. Res. 430 makes in order, the
provisions of that second continuing resolution would be extended until
November 21, 2003. In brief, for the fiscal year 2004 appropriations
bills that have not yet been enacted into law, the CR provides 2
additional weeks of funding for those Federal departments and agencies
whose operations depend on the enactment of those appropriations.
We are approaching the completion of this first session of the 108th
Congress, but there are a number of appropriations bills and other
must-do legislative priorities that we are working to resolve.
Additional time is needed. Nonetheless, it is our goal to have this
represent the last continuing resolution, as the appropriators are
working hard to complete conference reports and are moving toward
making the tough decisions that will lead us to the end of the
appropriations process for this year. This continuing resolution gives
us the time needed to complete this process in an orderly manner.
The Committee on Rules approved this rule yesterday. I urge my
colleagues to join me in supporting its passage.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Ms. SLAUGHTER asked and was given permission to revise and extend
her remarks.)
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for
yielding me the customary 30 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, since George W. Bush got his job and Republicans took
over the entire Federal Government, nearly 3 million Americans have
lost their jobs. So, under these circumstances, you might think the
Republicans who control the town and the government and CBS would be
very conscientious about doing their jobs. But here we are, once again,
passing yet another continuing resolution to keep the government
running because the Republican Congress refuses to do the most
fundamental job the American people have given to it. While millions of
Americans cannot find any jobs, Republicans refuse to do the jobs that
they have and the taxpayers pay us to do. The House has not put in a
full week's worth of work in months.
So what is the problem Mr. Speaker? After all, the Republicans
control this body, the other body, the Presidency. Are they stuck
haggling with each other over how much to shortchange schools this
year? Or looking for an excuse to continue penalizing disabled
veterans? Or arguing over which slick procedural trick to use to try to
hide the hundreds of billions of dollars in debt they have run up?
Well, one thing is for sure, you know this is not a Republican Party
priority, because when the Republican Party wants something, the
Republican Party is ruthlessly efficient.
Just take a look at the record. When it comes to Republican
priorities, like tax breaks for the small, elite group of big
contributors who fund Republican campaigns, this Congress has been
tremendously successful. But when it comes to the priorities of the
American people, like tax relief for the military and working families,
this Congress cannot or will not get it done.
Mr. Speaker, Republican leaders have protected big corporate tax
dodgers, but Republicans will not do anything about the high health
care costs or help the millions of Americans who need unemployment
insurance in the midst of President Bush's jobless recovery. They
actually blocked a Democratic pay raise for the military, which would
have given the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan a $1,500 bonus.
Mr. Speaker, I fear this is not a government of the people, by the
people and for the people. It is a government of the Republican Party,
by the Republican Party, and for the Republican Party.
Unfortunately, the rest of America does not seem to matter. Today,
millions of hardworking Americans no longer share in the prosperity
they enjoyed during the Democrat-led economic boom of the nineties.
George W. Bush has compiled the worst record of job loss of any
President since Herbert Hoover in the Great Depression. Some 1.4
million Americans have been unemployed for so long in this economy that
they have exhausted their unemployment insurance. After the end of this
year, Americans who lose their jobs, people like the nearly 3 million
jobs lost since President Bush took office, will not be able to enroll
in unemployment insurance.
Over that same period, the Republican fiscal irresponsibility turned
record surpluses into astronomical and out-of-control deficits,
increasing the debt tax on all Americans and threatening the future of
Medicare and Social Security. And it is getting worse. In the coming
years, the tax breaks for the wealthiest few will become even more
expensive, at the same time that the Bush administration will be asking
taxpayers to send untold hundreds of billions of dollars to Iraq.
This government has no plan to clean up the mess it has made of
America. Instead, they just keep offering more of the same and hope the
American people will not notice that their Congress has stopped working
for them, because it is too busy using the power of the people's
government to protect the privileges of their party.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and 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.
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