[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 115 (Wednesday, September 22, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2005

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                               speech of

                           HON. EARL POMEROY

                            of north dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 19, 2004

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5025) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Transportation and 
     Treasury, and independent agencies for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2005, and for other purposes.
  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to say that I will be voting 
for H.R. 5006, the fiscal year 2005 Labor, Health and Human Services, 
Education Appropriations bill, but doing so with some reluctance. While 
I support many of the funding provisions in this legislation, I also 
believe that this bill shortchanges many important needs in education 
and health care.
  Almost three years after the historic No Child Left Behind 
legislation was passed into law, I remain concerned about Congress' 
ongoing failure to commit the resources promised to our Nation's 
teachers, parents and students. While I support the intentions of the 
education reform promise to leave no child behind, I am also convinced 
that the success of this new law will be determined in part by the 
investment made in this historic reform effort. I am deeply 
disappointed that this funding plan falls more than $7.2 billion short 
of the resources promised for low-income and disadvantaged districts, 
thereby making up the vast majority of the total $9.5 billion NCLB 
shortfall contained in the bill.
  Not only does this bill fall short on critical funding for education, 
but it also makes cuts to the Rural Hospital Flexibility and Outreach 
grant programs, important resources to North Dakota health care 
providers. It is my understanding that Chairman Regula has committed to 
work to restore this funding in conference, and I intend to actively 
support those efforts.
  Certainly, this bill includes many provisions that I applaud. While I 
was pleased that the Rural Education Achievement Program once again 
received funding to help rural districts manage the No Child Left 
Behind Act's new accountability requirements, I strongly believe this 
program merits an increase in funding. I was also pleased that this 
bill restores the federal overtime protections to six million workers 
who saw their overtime pay threatened by the Department of Labor's new 
rules.
  Ultimately, I cast my vote in favor of this legislation in order to 
ensure that the appropriations process could move forward. I remain 
hopeful that the Senate will include higher funding levels for these 
programs and that we can work on a bipartisan basis to develop a 
fiscally responsible funding plan that provides adequate resources to 
strengthen our schools, address our public health needs, and support 
our Nation's workers.

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