[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 111 (Thursday, September 8, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H7749-H7759]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF MOTIONS TO SUSPEND THE RULES

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the 
Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 426 and ask for its 
immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 426

       Resolved,  That it shall be in order at any time on the 
     legislative day of Thursday, September 8, 2005, for the 
     Speaker to entertain motions that the House suspend the 
     rules. The Speaker or his designee shall consult with the 
     Minority Leader or her designee on the designation of any 
     matter for consideration pursuant to this resolution.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaTourette). The gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. 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. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida asked and was given permission to 
revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 426 
provides that suspensions will be in order at any time on the 
legislative day of Thursday, September 8, 2005. This resolution will 
allow the House to consider and debate legislation to address the needs 
of the hurricane-ravaged areas of the Gulf Coast in our country, such 
as increased borrowing authority for the National Flood Insurance 
program, the Student Grant Hurricane and Disaster Relief Act, the 
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Response and Recovery 
Act, and a supplemental emergency appropriations bill.
  Mr. Speaker, my community in South Florida was very fortunate that we 
did not have to bear the full brunt of this latest hurricane, Hurricane 
Katrina. Over a million of us in South Florida lost electricity. Many 
homes and businesses were flooded and some structural damage was caused 
to homes and businesses, but we did not bear the full brunt, the full 
fury of this latest hurricane, Katrina.
  We in South Florida were very fortunate as well to receive generous 
aid from fellow Americans in the wake of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. As a 
Hurricane Andrew survivor, I have an idea of the trials and 
tribulations that face hurricane survivors. I am also very much aware 
that assistance from the Federal Government is essential for a 
comprehensive and robust recovery effort.
  With that said, I wish to make clear to our friends in the Gulf Coast 
that we will continue to mobilize nationwide in response to this 
tragedy, we will remain steadfast in our commitment to the recovery 
effort, and we will not walk away from our obligations to our fellow 
Americans. Just as we did after Hurricane Andrew, Mr. Speaker, together 
it is that we will rebuild and together it is that we will recover.
  In response to this terrible disaster, the majority leadership of 
this House has set out a plan to continue helping the victims of this 
terrible catastrophe. Last week, the House of Representatives passed 
emergency funding totaling $10.5 billion to provide urgently needed 
relief to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Congress needs to do more 
for the victims of this catastrophe, and we will. We will consider, I 
am certain, other supplemental bills, and they will provide additional 
billions for recovery and rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast.
  The American people have demonstrated their resiliency before and 
will do so again. We will continue to work to comfort those who suffer. 
Rescue workers are at this moment lined up across this great Nation to 
support the recovery effort that is under way, and volunteers from 
every corner of America are ready to support those efforts. Our prayers 
continue to go out to the victims, to their families and to all the 
valiant rescue workers. The spirit of community, of generosity and good 
will across the country gives me confidence that Louisiana, Mississippi 
and Alabama will recover from this tragedy, and they will be better 
than ever before.
  House Resolution 426, Mr. Speaker, is a necessary rule for our 
efforts to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina. I would like to say 
a special word of thanks to the Speaker, to the majority leader, to the 
chairman of the Appropriations Committee and to the minority leadership 
for their swift action on this issue as was begun to be demonstrated 
last week. I urge my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, to support both the rule 
and support the emergency legislation that is authorized under this 
rule.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for 
yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and 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, the vitally important bill before us 
today will help to begin the process of rebuilding one of our Nation's 
greatest regions and the lives of the people within it. It comes to us 
in the wake of what was last week nothing short of a catastrophic 
failure of responsible and competent governance. And not surprisingly, 
the way in which we are going about passing this bill is itself a 
tremendous failure, the most recent in a seemingly endless line.
  It is a failure, Mr. Speaker, because almost no time has been 
provided for discussion of this bill and because no amendments have 
been permitted to be introduced. This body is about to spend more than 
$50 billion and all the minority wants is to spend it wisely. All we 
want is to give the Members a chance to know where the appropriations 
are going and to actually give Representatives from the affected States 
a chance to make suggestions to the legislation before it becomes law. 
We want to ensure that that this body will address as quickly as 
possible the tremendous errors which have been made by our Federal 
Government in its response to Hurricane Katrina.

[[Page H7750]]

  Last night in the Rules Committee we implored the majority to allow 
even a mere 2 hours of debate and to allow Members to offer amendments 
which would make this a better, more effective bill. Their response? 
Sorry, America, we don't have time for that. We don't have time? After 
5 weeks of recess in the Chamber, 40 minutes is all the time the United 
States Congress has to give? It took our government 5 days to even 
respond to the crisis, and we cannot give more than 40 minutes here 
today to craft a bill that will provide relief and help rebuild an 
entire region of our country? We tried to break through, but they 
simply would not hear us.
  They would not hear us because they do not want to be challenged or 
blamed or to deal with alternative solutions. It simply wants us to 
accept its leadership, once again quietly and without comment. But what 
the American people want is reform. They want change. They want us to 
work hard here in the House and try to fix this mess. And so we will 
not keep quiet because our Nation is demanding that we speak out.
  This government failed the people of Louisiana and Mississippi and 
Alabama. This government, one so willing to tell other nations and 
peoples how they should live their lives and organize their states, has 
revealed itself to be unable to save the lives of its own citizens and 
to protect its own States when they are in need. Indeed, that neglect 
has cost lives. It was unable to meet its most basic responsibility and 
the ultimate reason for its very existence, the defense of life within 
its own borders.
  It is obvious that the current administration and departments in its 
care did not have a plan sufficient to handle the kind of crisis they 
were confronted with. Disturbingly, however, they were armed with a 
plan to shift blame away from themselves. And so a few days ago, 
Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff tried to blame local 
government officials for what had happened. Such an argument is 
embarrassing and shameful because this Federal Government has not been 
adequately supporting those State and local officials in the years that 
led up to last week, and it did not give them what they needed after 
the hurricane struck. Instead, it neglected them and then kicked them 
when they were down.
  This kind of situation is exactly why FEMA exists. That is why it is 
called Federal emergency management. That is exactly why it was part of 
the Homeland Security Department. The $90 billion that has been spent 
on the Homeland Security agency has left us more vulnerable than ever. 
If there is an American that feels safer after the expenditure of that 
$90 billion, I would like to meet them. Do they feel safer? Absolutely 
not.
  There was a tremendous outpouring of help coming from locations 
around America and the world during the first days of this crisis, but 
FEMA and Homeland Security were unable to use it constructively. One 
thousand firefighters sent from Utah and nearby areas were asked to do 
community relations work, handing out leaflets, instead of putting out 
blazes and rescuing children. Aid and rescue technology offered by more 
than 90 countries has often been unable to penetrate FEMA's bureaucracy 
and has yet to be used. Wal-Mart sent three trailer trucks of water to 
New Orleans early last week but were turned back by FEMA officials. 
They said they did not need it. To people who had no water.
  FEMA would not let a nearby Coast Guard ship distribute 1,000 gallons 
of fuel to people on land. And while that particular ship was able to 
take on patients and treat them and give them medical care, they were 
awaiting the orders that never came. FEMA cut the emergency 
communication lines that authorities in Jefferson Parish were using, 
for who knows what reason. The president of Jefferson Parish had the 
sheriff's department replace those lines and put them under armed 
guards to protect them from? FEMA.
  Mr. Speaker, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The tales of 
failure go on and on and on. Failure before Katrina, failure during 
Katrina and failure after Katrina.
  Ours is a government which has spent much of the last 4 years focused 
on national security. Ours is government which has spent tens of 
billions of dollars theoretically preparing our country for impending 
disasters. Ours is a government which has justified its hold on power 
by warning us that only this administration's leaders could keep 
America safe. But the administration was not up to the task. Nor was 
FEMA. Nor was the Department of Homeland Security. Our government 
failed. Until every aspect of our emergency response system is analyzed 
and reevaluated, this government will have a hard time finding its 
credibility in the debris.
  I suggest that we should start trying to regain that credibility 
right here, today. This administration and this Congress and the 
agencies of this Federal bureaucracy concerned with emergencies like 
Katrina have a great debt to pay back to the American people. This 
Congress owes them more than a mere 40 minutes of consideration of the 
Nation's response to what is quickly becoming the worst national 
disaster in American history. We owe them more than to silence the 
voice of the American people on this floor. We owe America more than to 
intentionally prevent this body from crafting the very best hurricane 
recovery legislation that it can by refusing to allow any amendments to 
even be considered and by shutting out almost half of this House from 
any consideration of this bill.

                              {time}  1030

  And because this leadership does not want to lose a vote or have 
their ideas challenged or suffer the indignity of disagreement in the 
people's House, we will not be able to do a thorough discussion today. 
It is the very mentality, the arrogance of this government, its 
unwillingness to allow accountability to be brought into the process 
which they have reduced to a game. They call it the blame game. It is 
not a game, Mr. Speaker; it is a tragedy. We cannot afford to go on 
like this, not even for one more day.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to be bringing forth to the floor today 
a rule that will permit the consideration of various pieces of 
legislation to continue to provide very needed assistance to those who 
are suffering as we speak.
  As I mentioned before in my prior remarks, Mr. Speaker, there are 
four pieces of legislation that this rule that we will be voting on 
this morning authorizes consideration of: the national flood insurance 
program, assistance for that program; the Student Grant Hurricane and 
Disaster Relief Act, assistance for that program; the Temporary 
Assistance For Needy Families Emergency Response and Recovery Act, 
assistance for that program; and an emergency supplemental. Those four 
pieces of legislation, the rule that we are debating on at this time, 
are authorized to be debated by this House.
  I wish to commend the two Senators from the State of Louisiana who, I 
was just able to read some of their joint statements, I think are 
demonstrating great responsibility in a spirit of bipartisanship. For 
example, the two Senators from Louisiana have stated, they say there 
will be ample time, and I agree with them, for Congress to thoroughly 
investigate the event.
  They say, as well, and I also agree with them, that the focus now 
needs to be on food, on housing, on employment, on education and on 
health care, not on investigations. There will be plenty of time for 
this Congress, in its constitutional duty of oversight, to investigate. 
But I agree, as I say, with the Senators from Louisiana.
  The focus now, and our focus in bringing forth authorizing 
consideration of the four pieces of legislation this morning, is on 
food, housing, employment, education and health care, assistance to 
those and for those who are suffering.
  I see the Senators from Louisiana also made another point. In a joint 
bipartisan statement they say, please do not make the citizens of 
Louisiana victims once again by allowing our immediate needs to be 
delayed by partisanship.
  Now, we do not want to delay assistance by partisanship or any other 
reason, and that is why we are bringing forth this rule. We have 
brought forth this rule to authorize consideration of four measures to 
take assistance, to

[[Page H7751]]

continue to make available assistance to those who are suffering at 
this time, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Hastings), a member of the Rules Committee.
  (Mr. HASTINGS of Florida asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking Democrat of 
the Rules Committee for the time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the four bills which the 
House will consider today under suspension of the rules should this 
rule pass.
  However, I also rise with great trepidation about the way in which 
the majority continues to run this body without regard for general 
order and procedure. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Lincoln Diaz-
Balart) said that he is proud to be bringing this rule under the 
suspension provisions. I would ask the gentleman whether or not in his 
conference all of the T's were crossed and the I's were dotted to bring 
a matter out, since in your conference and in our caucus we have a 
provision that as a general measure we will not bring a matter under 
suspension for more than $100 million.
  Under suspension of the rules, Members are afforded limited time for 
debate with zero opportunity to amend the legislation. When this rule 
passes, that is exactly what we will get. That is just wrong, 
regardless of the urgency of the legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, this administration that is in charge of this Nation's 
negligence in responding to Hurricane Katrina strongly resembles the 
incompetence that Florida saw in the Federal emergency management 
organization last year. The Bush administration's refusal to accept 
responsibility for its inaction mirrors the arrogance that we continue 
to deal with today in Florida as we recover from last year's disastrous 
hurricane season.
  Certainly our first priority has to be the rescue of those who are 
still alive and to provide them with housing, medical attention, food 
and water. However, as the Gulf Coast turns to the recovery and 
rebuilding process, the billions that Congress will spend will not be 
enough to fix the problems that exist within FEMA.
  Based on my own personal experience dealing with Under Secretary 
Brown directly over the last year, I warn the Members of this body that 
the problems you see today are just the tip of the iceberg, as the 
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter) just said. And it has nothing 
to do with the magnitude of this awesome disaster.
  My colleague says that he is proud. I wonder if my colleague from 
Florida is proud of the fact that $1.5 billion from last year's 
hurricanes are still outstanding. I wonder if my colleague is proud of 
the fact that his county, Dade, and my county, Broward, were denied 
Federal assistance from FEMA this year with this same Hurricane 
Katrina. I wonder if my colleague is proud of that fact that there are 
blue roofs in Florida where people's roofs are still not covered, and 
it does not even rise to the magnitude of what is going on in the Gulf 
Coast; but last year's FEMA problems are not corrected.
  Inconsistency in FEMA regulations, constant reinterpretations of the 
Stafford Act, Federal officials treating local emergency operation 
centers like revolving doors, lack of coordination and FEMA's fluid and 
unclear chain of command are just a few of the many significant and 
real problems that Floridians dealt with last year and are still 
dealing with today.
  I have literally begged the committee of jurisdiction in this body to 
hold hearings on these shortcomings. I even introduced bipartisan 
legislation in March with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Shaw) to 
address a slew of institutional problems within FEMA that we 
experienced firsthand last year. Yet, every time we take our concerns 
to the committees, we are told it is not big enough as a problem to 
consider on its own.
  Well, Mr. Speaker, is the problem big enough now? How many people 
must die in a disaster before something becomes a big enough problem in 
this Congress?
  The new mantra that I hear from my colleagues in the majority is that 
there will be time to investigate. It is almost as if we cannot chew 
gum and walk at the same time. We must do what we are doing for the 
Gulf Coast, but we also must do what we have to as a responsibility in 
Congress in the nature of oversight.
  Later today I will introduce legislation establishing an independent 
commission to examine the failures of the Federal Government in 
responding to Katrina, as well as evaluate our current ability to 
respond to any type of large-scale disaster, natural or man-made.
  The President and congressional Republicans argue that we should not 
play the blame game because they may be in part to blame. Congress 
placing FEMA in the Department of Homeland Security and allowing the 
agency to operate completely unchecked helped create the disaster that 
we are in today. We created the problem, and now we need to fix it.
  I question, however, whether there are enough in this body who have 
the courage to do what is right and not only criticize the 
administration, not only criticize local and State officials, criticize 
this Congress as well for our incompetence and inaction. But actually 
doing something is what is required. Accountability is the only way to 
restore integrity in a broken system, and an independent commission is 
the first step in repairing our disaster response system which we all 
now know is woefully inadequate.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the fact that the rule that we have 
brought forth this morning, and I reiterate that I am so, authorizes 
consideration by this House today of four legislative measures, four, 
to continue to increase assistance to those who are suffering pursuant 
to the destruction caused by that extraordinary tragedy in the Gulf 
Coast.
  Four pieces of legislation are being brought forth today, are being 
authorized to be brought forth today with the rule that we are 
considering this morning. Yes, I am very proud of that, Mr. Speaker.
  Now, I have questions as well. I have questions as well with regard 
to a number of Federal agencies, State agencies, local agencies as well 
in the Gulf Coast.
  My wife was reminding me last night that on the Friday before this 
horrible storm hit the Gulf Coast, she saw the director of the National 
Hurricane Center on national television with the Governor of Florida, 
by the way. We had the Governor of Florida and our local officials 
speaking to us continuously before and at the time and after the 
hurricane passed through us in south Florida before it went into the 
Gulf and then gathered all that strength that bore down with such 
horrible power on the Gulf Coast. And she was reminding me that the 
director of the National Hurricane Center, this is Friday before the 
hurricane hit late Sunday night, early Monday morning, the Gulf Coast, 
said it is headed to the Gulf. It is going to pick up strength and it 
could hit, it is going to land anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to 
New Orleans.
  Now, as I was discussing with my wife last night, when we had the 
four hurricanes in Florida last year, and this one in south Florida 
this year, immediately our local officials, the mayor, the county 
commissioners, the mayors and the Governor, the State officials, they 
were speaking to the populace and instructing people to leave, 
evacuating people. Five times we have done so in 1 year.
  So, yes, I have questions as to why that was not done in Louisiana, 
why it was not ordered by the mayors and by the county commissioners 
and by the Governors. I have questions. Of course I have questions, Mr. 
Speaker. We all have questions, and those questions need to be 
addressed. And they will be addressed as we proceed with our oversight 
function, which is legally required.
  But today what we need to do is to get help to the people who need 
the help, and that is what we are doing, Mr. Speaker. That is why we 
have brought forth the legislation to authorize consideration of four 
measures to take assistance to those in need. That is what we are 
debating this morning.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

[[Page H7752]]

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), the ranking member on the Appropriations 
Committee.

                              {time}  1045

  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, last week I returned to Washington along with 
about 20 other Members of the House in order to assure passage of the 
initial down payment of $10 billion for the victims of Hurricane 
Katrina.
  Today we will be voting to provide $52 billion more in aid. I am all 
for it. We will all vote for it. Any suggestion in any way that the 
delivery of that money would be delayed is pure nonsense. That money 
will be voted today.
  But the problem we have is that the bill is being brought to the 
floor in a manner which prevents Congress from exercising any 
independent judgment whatsoever about how best to use taxpayers' money. 
And the problem is that the agency that we are appropriating most of 
the money to has demonstrated with great clarity that it is 
spectacularly dysfunctional; and there are a number of reasons for 
that.
  The problem we have with FEMA is that what was an efficient, 
professional and qualified agency under James Witt during the Clinton 
administration has now once again become a dumping ground for political 
cronies.
  Three years ago this Congress in the wake of 9/11 merged FEMA into a 
huge, new, gargantuan agency, the Department of Homeland Security. 
Since that time the White House, the Congress, and the Department of 
Homeland Security all together have squeezed the resources available 
for FEMA. They have hollowed out that agency and they have cut more 
than 500 people out of that agency.
  To top it off, the President appointed to run that agency a gentleman 
who before he joined FEMA had no previous disaster experience 
whatsoever, and whose only apparent connection to the disaster world 
was that he was the college roommate of the former director of FEMA. We 
have seen the disastrous results of that appointment.
  I want to provide the $50 billion that the legislation is going to 
provide today, and I will vote for it and so will ever other sane 
Member of this House, I assume. But I deeply regret the fact that the 
manner in which this legislation is being brought to the floor today 
will prevent me or any other Member from taking an action which I think 
is essential to restore the professionalism of FEMA and to depoliticize 
that agency.
  I wanted to offer an amendment to the bill which would have allowed 
the money to flow immediately, but which would have done five 
additional things. It would have restored FEMA status as an independent 
agency with no intervening bureaucracy between the White House and that 
agency, it would have reestablished the position of the FEMA director 
to one who reports directly to the President, it would have required 
the FEMA director to have extensive experience in emergency or 
disaster-related management, it would have made that directorship 
confirmable for a specific 5-year term to reduce the likelihood of the 
position being used as political patronage of any President by any 
party, and it would have established a deputy director with primary 
responsibility to assure that a direct connection is retained with the 
Department of Homeland Security so that in the process of dealing with 
domestic disasters, we do not neglect our responsibilities to also 
protect the country against terrorism.
  Our friends on the majority side of the aisle declined to allow us to 
have that vote.
  I do not object to the majority saying ``We do not believe that that 
is the right solution.'' or ``We do not believe that this is the right 
time to discuss this.'' That is a legitimate position. But what we are 
asking for is to at least have the ability to debate that issue, to 
discuss that issue, because every day that we delay professionalizing 
FEMA and depoliticizing it is another day that taxpayers' money is 
being spent by an agency which has been demonstrated under these 
circumstances to be incompetent.
  The President has a responsibility, each and every Member of this 
Congress has a personal responsibility to see to it that if we are 
going to provide $50 billion today and another $50 billion down the 
road, as we most surely will, we have a responsibility to know that 
that money is going to be spent in the most efficient, the most 
effective way to save lives, to rebuild communities. We cannot have 
that confidence under the existing management of this agency. And so I 
think we have an obligation to move as quickly as possible to fix the 
problem.
  The amendment I would have offered would have given us 120 days to 
make those changes. I regret deeply the fact that we will not be able 
to at least discuss that matter on the floor today.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, again with regard to what we have brought forth this 
morning, a rule for consideration of four pieces of legislation to 
provide assistance and to increase the aid that is going to those who 
are in desperate need in the Gulf Coast area now due to the great 
catastrophe that has just been suffered, that is what we are doing. We 
are authorizing consideration of four pieces of legislation to increase 
assistance to those in need.
  Now, last night in the Committee on Rules, Mr. Speaker, our friends 
on the other side of the aisle, the minority party, brought forth one 
amendment to the rule that we are considering this morning and that 
amendment called for what is known as an open rule. In other words, 
that any Member of this House could bring forth any and all amendments 
that they may wish to do so, that they may have wished to do so with 
regard to any of the four pieces of legislation.
  Now, I generally, Mr. Speaker, am for open rules. I think that is an 
appropriate goal and I think that we should, as much as possible, 
permit the free flow of debate on as many ideas as Members have. But if 
there has ever been a time when we could not, when we should not have 
an open rule which would permit, even if each of us only had one idea, 
and I think the Obey amendment is a very interesting one, he just 
explained it a few minutes ago, even if each of us had one idea in the 
form of an amendment like the one that was just explained by the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), we would have 435 amendments, Mr. 
Speaker, to debate.
  This is not the time to have 435 or 100 or 50 amendments. This is the 
time to bring forth legislation, a rule in this case to authorize 
consideration of four pieces of legislation to assist those in need.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Mrs. Biggert).
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I support the rule and the underlying 
bills. I would encourage FEMA to work with the Department of Education 
to utilize the Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program to 
meet the educational needs of all students displaced by this storm.
  As we consider the rule and all of these bills, I think we have to 
remember the children. As part of the No Child Left Behind Act, the 
Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program requires that school 
districts immediately enroll homeless children. It provides children 
with much-needed stability and allows for the delivery of other 
critical services, including such things as health care and counseling.
  The bill also addresses school transportation issues, assures that 
eligible children participate in Federal, State and local food 
programs, and allows for frequent moving as evacuated families find 
more permanent housing.
  When we included this provision in No Child Left Behind we, frankly, 
never contemplated that it could be so useful and effective at this 
time of national crisis. We have happily discovered over recent days 
that this measure has provided a ready-made system of communication and 
contacts and information networks that could serve us well in this time 
of need.
  The program also contains a funding structure that efficiently 
distributes Federal dollars to the local level. Utilizing the Education 
for Homeless Children and Youth Program would save time, money and 
allow more Federal dollars to flow more quickly to the areas in need. 
This program provides a tried and tested framework for States and 
school districts to meet the immediate educational and social service 
needs of homeless children displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

[[Page H7753]]

  Encouraging FEMA and the Department of Education to utilize this 
program to coordinate relief efforts is a commonsense step that can 
quickly and dramatically improve assistance to displaced children.
  I would urge support for the rule and the underlying bill.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Mississippi (Mr. Thompson), the ranking member of the Committee on 
Homeland Security and a victim himself.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to 
this rule. Twenty minutes per side is not enough to argue a catastrophe 
of this size. The rule does not allow any amendments from our side. A 
number of Democratic districts have been affected, those of the 
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor), the gentleman from Alabama 
(Mr. Davis), and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson), as well 
as myself. We do not have an opportunity for input into what relief 
opportunities we can give in our districts.
  This is not right. If this is a democracy, we ought to have an 
opportunity to participate in providing for the relief of our 
particular districts.
  The Republican side has taken a position that Democratic input is not 
needed. This is not the way to go. This is a democracy. We need a rule 
that allows for the maximum input from both sides.
  I am sorry to say that even in this time of devastation, our 
Republican colleagues have decided that America should not pull 
together and work for the common good. Unfortunately, the people of 
Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana are the ones who will suffer because 
of this lack of total input from Members of Congress.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is important that we realize that in the same 
fashion in which last week's supplemental legislation was considered 
under a unanimous consent request, it is the hope and wish of the 
majority leadership that the next supplemental bill also be considered 
in that way under unanimous consent.
  With regard to additional time for debate or other matters, that 
could be obviously worked into a unanimous consent agreement like the 
one that brought forth and permitted debate and permitted passage of 
the first supplemental.

                              {time}  1100

  So what we are voting on today, the rule does not preclude that. On 
the contrary, as I say, it is the wish of the majority leadership to 
continue to engage in dialogue and hopefully have a unanimous consent 
agreement. I wanted to make that clear because sometimes I think the 
facts are important to be made clear.
  Mr. Speaker, we reserve the balance of our time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman's courtesy 
in permitting me to speak on this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I have come to the floor of this House repeatedly over 
recent years using this specific example of New Orleans as a call to 
arms to change how we do business. I cannot tell my colleagues how 
disappointed I am that we are having before us today a proposal that 
does not provide an opportunity for this Chamber to adequately discuss 
what is at stake and to deal with opportunities.
  The devastation of Hurricane Katrina has presented us with an 
unprecedented opportunity to focus the spotlight of public attention 
and political concern on how to do not just the best job of helping the 
victims of this tragic storm but in making it less likely that others 
suffer needlessly in the future. Preventing future devastation is the 
best way to honor the memory of thousands who have died and respect the 
losses of hundreds of thousands or more who are living.
  But we are not going to have the opportunity now to come forward with 
important issues that bear on over $50 billion. We need to be debating 
how the Federal Government can use taxpayer dollars to put people, 
places, and property back in harm's way. We should be working to make 
sure that citizens are directly engaged in the work of disaster 
recovery and mitigation, planning the future of their communities and 
putting them to work immediately, the same way I saw when I was in the 
tsunami region earlier this year. In just 1 week we were already 
putting tsunami victims to work on a cash-for-work program restoring 
their communities.
  We need to clarify the role that the Federal Government is going to 
play in disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief because we are 
throwing billions of dollars at problems that we could have taken steps 
to minimize in the beginning. Congress should encourage and support 
State and local responsibility for disaster prevention, mitigation, and 
recovery; and we must employ natural solutions wherever possible.
  We cannot do that today. There is no reason that we are not able to 
have a rational discussion. I hope this is the last time the Committee 
on Rules treats us this way.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Yielding myself such time as I 
may consume, Mr. Speaker, we will have time for any and all of the 
measures that are brought forth if this rule passes, under 
authorization of this rule, for rational and any other kind of debate. 
I can assure my colleagues of that, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, we reserve the balance of our time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel).
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from New 
York for yielding time.
  Mr. Speaker, our most important task right now is to help our fellow 
Americans rebuild their lives. The task of this Congress and the task 
for this Nation is to restore communities, help people rebuild their 
lives and have a retrospection of what happened. We must pinpoint the 
errors made prior to the storm and flooding. Failing to respond in a 
time of need, when fellow Americans have lost their lives, their loved 
ones, their homes, failing to respond in a time of need is 
unacceptable.
  Identifying failures is not pointing fingers. It is pointing the way 
to improve the system for the future. We cannot solve a problem if we 
do not think we had a problem. We can both help Americans, which is our 
primary task, rebuild their lives, reestablish their communities, but 
we must also for all Americans understand what happened here so as it 
comes to future crises, future natural disasters, we are able and 
capable of responding. Because saying everything worked well, acting 
Pollyannish is unacceptable, as much as trying to point fingers and 
trying to get political advantage in this situation.
  We can do this right. The American people ask the Congress to do this 
right.
  What does it mean to help people rebuild their lives? First, there 
should be universal health care for all children 0 to 18. Second, a 
$3,000 education voucher for people going to college, GED, continuing 
their education. A housing program to get people in the communities 
back to work building their homes, highways and rebuilding all the 
infrastructure. Lastly, making sure the recently enacted bankruptcy law 
does not affect people in that area, freezing their credit at that time 
so they do not go into bankruptcy.
  These are the types of things that Congress needs to do to help those 
Americans, our fellow Americans, get their lives and their communities 
back together and also taking the time to look into what happened here 
so this never, ever, ever happens again.
  The American people deserve better; and in a time of crisis, they 
look to their fellow countrymen and their government, and this Congress 
must rise to the task to do that. Today, the way this is handled is not 
the right way. We can do better as we seek ideas from all corners to 
help our fellow Americans restore their lives.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  We are considering today, or authorizing consideration, bringing 
forth today under this rule, the national flood insurance program, 
assistance for that program for those in need in the

[[Page H7754]]

Gulf; the Student Grant Hurricane and Disaster Relief Act, assistance 
for the people in the Gulf with regard to student grants and disaster 
relief; the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Response 
and Recovery Act, assistance for those in need under this act, under 
that law, with that program, through that program.
  We are bringing those measures, those specific measures to the floor 
today, in addition to a significant and substantial supplemental 
appropriations bill to get aid immediately to those in need.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. 
Bishop), my distinguished friend and colleague from the Committee on 
Rules.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my good friend, the 
gentleman from Florida, for yielding such time right now.
  This is obviously a time of great emotional sadness for all of us, as 
we are attempting to help fellow Americans who are in a special need, a 
special time of need. It is a trying time; and, hopefully, it is one 
where we can keep focus on the true issue, which is how to get 
emergency relief as quickly as possible to people who desperately need 
it.
  The rule that is being proposed here, and sometimes in our rhetoric 
on these rules we kind of go far afield from what the issue is, the 
issue is still the rule, does not prevent any kind of unanimous consent 
for more time for more issues to be raised at such time in the future, 
but it does provide a backup to guarantee that the issue at the end of 
this day will be decided and that relief money can be moved on without 
any kind of impediments or Congress trying to add extraneous issues to 
the debate or discussion, unless there is unanimous consent, obviously, 
for that.
  There is precedent for what we are doing. This is not unusual. It has 
been done before. It will be done again in the future. It does, though, 
try to state that there is a time and a place for everything that we 
do. There is a time to try and pass emergency relief and get that 
relief moving as quickly as possible, to really hit what is human 
suffering.
  This particular request deals with temporary assistance. It deals 
with providing temporary housing, money for home repairs, medical, 
dental costs, repair work, cleanup, ensuring that the firemen get their 
pay. It is emergency equipment.
  Much of the discussion we have heard this morning deals with long-
range policy issues. I am not saying they are bad, because that policy 
discussion needs to take place. It should take place. We need to 
determine what the city of New Orleans did well and what it did poorly; 
what the State of Louisiana did well, what it did poorly; what the 
Federal Government did well. We even need to discuss what the United 
States Congress has done well and poorly in this particular issue.
  But those need to be discussed with dispassion in some way so that 
when we make broad policy decisions, those broad policy decisions can 
be made with a clear conscience and clear focus on what the issue 
really is. That takes regular order, and for some who would like to 
bypass regular order to quickly pass some of these, we are doing a 
disservice to long-term policy discussions.
  The senior member of the Committee on Appropriations from Wisconsin 
is someone I have enjoyed listening to. He oftentimes will say those 
things which ring true. What he wants to discuss is significant, but it 
needs to be done in the regular order, not on top of this emergency 
bill; and I am sure that will take place.
  Mr. Speaker, I would also be remiss if I did not take this 
opportunity just to say a few things that are positive. Though I do not 
know what has been happening throughout the entire world, I do know 
what has been happening in my backyard of Utah where some of these 
evacuees are presently residing. I guess the State of Utah took the 
Jazz; we should also take some of the evacuees at the same time.
  In addition to those evacuees who are in my State, the State of Utah 
is also stepping up. There are in the State of Utah 475 volunteers who 
have been working since Saturday with these evacuees. They have done 
everything from having a child care center on site, to providing 6,000 
meals, to even having a volunteer life guard manning the pool at the 
base at which these evacuees are staying. $2 million since Saturday 
have been donated in Salt Lake City as well; 7,000 people have called 
asking what they can do. Some of them have been very creative in what 
they are trying to do.
  A Ronna Guidera who lives in Salt Lake City, and actually in Draper, 
went down there and took trips from the military base where the 
evacuees are staying into Salt Lake City for sightseeing, for shopping 
trips.
  Steve Gordon had the idea of actually providing as many tickets as he 
can get to go to the Utah-Utah State game. It may not be what they 
necessarily wanted to see that Saturday, but it is the best game in 
town that we have to offer.
  People are stepping up from their hearts for this disaster. It is 
also time for Congress to step up with their hearts and provide the 
temporary relief, and then use our minds to go back and discuss the 
policy issues and policy initiatives, but go through the regular order 
so that we do not jump to conclusions, we do not make mistakes as we go 
through.
  All of these discussions are important, they are there, but the rule 
at hand is to get emergency relief on the floor to help people right 
now, and we should not lose sight of that in our efforts to try to 
expand it into other areas, legitimate discussion areas, but other 
areas that do not pertain specifically to this point at hand as to how 
we get that $50 billion to help people right here right now.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's indulgence. I 
appreciate the time. I support this rule because it is the right thing 
to do to help people right now and put everything in its proper 
perspective.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Washington (Mr. Inslee).
  (Mr. INSLEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, this Labor Day weekend I flew from Seattle 
to Houston to join thousands of Texans to volunteer in the Astrodome to 
help these evacuees, and there I met an incredible family with such 
courage and grace, trying to keep their family together on the floor of 
the Astrodome.
  A woman named Penny told me that her mother named Alice was trapped 
at a specific address on Bell Street in New Orleans, and I pitched in 
to try to help to get her rescued. For 3 days, the most powerful Nation 
in the world was incapable of going to a specific address on Bell 
Street and rescuing this 80-year-old lady named Alice.
  While that was going on, a lot of the lower level FEMA people were 
working hard to effectuate that, but they were handicapped by a lack of 
senior leadership, senior leadership who failed to anticipate the 
breaching of the levees; senior leadership who failed to call for help, 
who waited 5 hours to call for help after landfall of the hurricane; 
senior leadership that allowed FEMA's job to protect us from hurricanes 
to be totally overwhelmed by the responsibility regarding terrorism.
  This senior leadership led me to conclude, and millions of Americans 
to conclude, that we cannot have confidence in senior leadership at 
FEMA today. This is not a matter of finger-pointing or accountability. 
It is a matter of whether we have confidence in dealing with the next 
hurricane that is getting ready in the Atlantic Ocean right now. This 
is the middle. I heard one person say this is the third inning of a 
nine inning game of the hurricane season. We have to get this problem 
fixed now.
  After the debacle at Pearl Harbor, America did not wait until the end 
of World War II to fix the problem that led us to be caught with our 
pants down at Pearl Harbor with such fatality, and we have suffered 
probably more fatalities here than we did at Pearl Harbor.
  We need, on a bipartisan basis, to fix this problem now; and we need 
to help the President do that because of his attitude of saying, 
Brownie, you did a great job, it just will not wash with the American 
people. It is a shame that this rule will not allow Americans to get 
what they deserve, a working FEMA.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as 
he may consume to the gentleman

[[Page H7755]]

from California (Mr. Dreier), the chairman of the Committee on Rules.
  (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule for a 
very obvious reason. It is absolutely essential that we do everything 
that we can at this moment to ensure that our fellow Americans who are 
in desperate need have that need met.

                              {time}  1115

  What is it we hope to do under this suspension rule? We want to make 
sure we provide for flexibility when it comes to the flood insurance 
program. That seems to me to be a strong bipartisan priority that we 
have.
  What else do we want to do? We want to ensure that education 
assistance for non-Pell grant recipients gets to them.
  What else do we want to do? One of the very important programs, the 
TANF program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, we want to make 
sure we can expedite that aid to these people who have been victimized 
by this storm just as quickly as we possibly can.
  Mr. Speaker, a vote against this rule is in fact a vote which would 
deny us the opportunity to move as quickly as possible to provide that 
kind of aid relief.
  Now, I know there is a lot of discussion over what it is that we will 
see for the structure for debate during consideration of this large, 
multibillion dollar supplemental appropriations bill. Nothing in this 
rule whatsoever, nothing in this rule whatsoever, Mr. Speaker, will in 
any way impinge on the ability of the chairman of the Committee on 
Appropriations, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), and the 
ranking minority member, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), from 
striking a unanimous consent agreement that would allow for an 
extension of debate as they consider that appropriations bill.
  We all know how imperative it is that we act as quickly as we 
possibly can to not only address the three items that I mentioned, but 
to get the aid to those who need it on the dollar level. Why? Because 
we know it is quite possible that just this evening, as early as this 
evening, we could see the $10.5 billion that we, under a unanimous 
consent agreement appropriated at the end of last week, run out. And we 
do not want that to run out. We want to make sure that that continued 
flow of assistance can flow in as expeditiously as possible. The 
responsible thing is for us to come together in this time of crisis.
  This Sunday marks the fourth anniversary of September 11. Tragically, 
3,000 lives were lost in New York City, in Pennsylvania, and here in 
the metropolitan area. The projections are that as many as three times 
as many people, maybe even more than that, have lost their lives in 
this horrible crisis that we have seen take place in Louisiana and 
Mississippi. Now, Mr. Speaker, I believe that what we should do is just 
as we did following September 11 of 2001. We should come together, pass 
this rule with strong bipartisan support, move ahead with this 
appropriations bill, and, yes, work on a bipartisan unanimous consent 
agreement that will allow an extension of debate so that every Member 
who wants to have an opportunity to be heard on this can be heard. But 
do not vote ``no'' and impinge on our ability to meet this very 
important need.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume 
to note that we would be happy to come together if the Republicans will 
just tell the Democrats where the meeting is.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. 
DeFazio).
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I would suggest to the chairman of the 
Committee on Rules that more time for words would be great, but what 
would be better would be action by this Congress to fix a dysfunctional 
Federal Emergency Management Agency. Dysfunctional at the top, not at 
the bottom. People at the bottom want to get out there. The first 
responders want to be out there. They still do not have effective 
interoperable communications 4 years after 9/11.
  Given the befuddled response at the top, I am not confident that this 
$51.8 billion we are going to borrow, indebting a generation of 
Americans of probably another $100 billion or $200 billion, will be 
well and effectively spent and get the relief and the rescue efforts 
and the rebuilding efforts to the people and the communities that are 
devastated.
  We are not putting in place oversight and protection against crisis 
profiteering. We are not trying to improve the agency. It is the middle 
of a hurricane season. What if there is another tomorrow or next week? 
Will the terrorists wait until we are done with our natural disasters? 
No. We need to begin the review and oversight now. They say, Oh, you 
cannot do that in the middle of a crisis.
  What is the greatest crisis this country has experienced in the last 
100 years? I think it might have been World War II. In the middle of 
World War II, Harry Truman chaired a committee investigating war 
profiteering under FDR, the greatest President of the last century, and 
reforms were put in place. Congress did its job.
  We need to improve FEMA. We need a better response. The first 
responders need better tools. The people that have been affected need 
effective relief, they need compassion, and they need assistance. 
Shoveling money at them and more words will not do it. We need to make 
some changes, and you are not going to allow any changes or any 
amendments here on this floor today, but you will allow us a few more 
words. We might get up to $1 billion a minute instead of $1.2 billion a 
minute.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  What we are doing today, Mr. Speaker, is not shoving words down 
anybody. We are authorizing consideration for this House to pass 
assistance for the National Flood Insurance program, the Student Grant 
Hurricane and Disaster Relief Act, the Temporary Assistance for Needy 
Families Emergency Response and Recovery Act, and an emergency 
supplemental bill to continue the assistance to those in dreadful need 
as we speak.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume, and I will be asking Members to vote ``no'' on the previous 
question. If it is defeated, I will amend the rule to allow the House 
to consider an amendment by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) to 
the emergency supplemental bill to reestablish the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency as a freestanding independent agency.
  An amendment would do a number of important things to fix the 
problems with FEMA. It will reestablish it as an independent agency, 
allow the director to report directly to the President, require the 
director to have emergency response experience, limit the director's 
term to 5 years, and establish a deputy director for disaster relief.
  Mr. Speaker, I know all of us in the House were truly stunned and 
horrified by the terrible and heartbreaking scenes from New Orleans and 
the other Gulf Coast States that unfolded last week. And to make 
matters even worse was the failure on the part of the White House and 
the lead Federal agency on disaster relief to take immediate action 
that might have saved hundreds of lives and alleviated the immense and 
immeasurable suffering that was inflicted on so many of our fellow 
Americans.
  Members should be aware that a ``no'' vote will not in any way 
prevent the House from considering and approving the desperately needed 
supplemental for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. We all agree 
hurricane relief must happen immediately and it will happen today, but 
a ``no'' vote will let us debate the serious and urgent matter 
regarding FEMA's future ability to respond immediately and responsibly 
to any disaster that occurs on our soil so that we may never see such a 
thing again as we have witnessed with FEMA's work.
  I urge Members to vote ``no'' on the previous question.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my 
amendment immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaTourette). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentlewoman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

[[Page H7756]]

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume, and I thank all of our colleagues who have 
debated this important issue this morning.
  I would like again to also thank the two Senators from Louisiana, 
Senators Landrieu and Vitter for their joint bipartisan statement where 
they say that Congress will have ample time to thoroughly investigate 
this event and that they plan, as many of us do, to play a major role 
in those important investigations, but they continue saying, please do 
not make the citizens of Louisiana a victim once again by allowing our 
immediate needs to be delayed by partisanship.
  Now, we have heard a number of ideas today brought forth, really for 
sweeping policy changes. They definitely should be considered. And 
perhaps many of those ideas will become law. But today what we need to 
do is what we are doing. We are getting the assistance and we are 
increasing it to those who are in desperate need.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I would urge my colleagues to support this rule that 
brings forth four pieces of assistance, legislation for assistance to 
those in desperate need, and would also urge, obviously, favorable 
consideration of the underlying pieces of legislation that we are 
authorizing being considered today.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the emergency funding 
bill that the House will consider later today to continue relief and 
recovery operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. We need to 
approve this measure today with all deliberate speed. I do object to 
the procedure in which the House will take up this emergency measure, 
which provides just 40 minutes to debate a $51 billion appropriation, 
with no amendments allowed.
  I urge the House to reject this procedure and allow Representative 
Obey to offer an amendment to strengthen the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency and re-establish FEMA as a separate, independent 
agency whose Director reports directly to the President. The Obey 
amendment would also require that the Director of FEMA have extensive 
experience in emergency and disaster-related management. The amendment 
is very similar to the legislation introduced earlier this week by my 
colleague, Representative Dingell, which was cosponsored by myself and 
64 other members of the House. This is a proposal that should enjoy 
bipartisan support, since I note that Representative Foley and other 
Republican members have introduced similar legislation.
  Let me speak candidly. The response of the federal government to 
Hurricane Katrina was woefully inadequate. Four years after 9-11, the 
federal government was not ready to respond to a national catastrophe 
that has left a major American city uninhabitable. In the weeks and 
months ahead, we need an investigation of why the federal government's 
response fell so far short of the mark, and we need accountability. One 
thing is already clear: the federal agency with lead responsibility for 
responding to national disasters--FEMA--has lost its way since it was 
transferred to the Department of Homeland Security. This is simply not 
the same agency that responded so effectively to the Oklahoma City 
bombing in 1995. Since being transferred to the Department of Homeland 
Security in 2001, FEMA's ability to respond to natural disasters has 
been eroded.
  I believe we need to restore FEMA's status as an independent agency. 
In addition, the Director of FEMA should be an experienced professional 
in areas of emergency management, and not the former head of the 
International Arabian Horse Association with no previous background in 
disaster relief.
  I urge my colleagues to vote to allow Representative Obey the 
opportunity to offer his amendment. The next natural disaster could 
happen next week, and we need to restore FEMA's ability to respond to 
it. I also ask all my colleagues to join me in voting for the 
underlying bill.
  The text of the amendment previously referred to by Ms. Slaughter is 
as follows:

       At the end of the resolution add the following new 
     sections:
       Sec. 2. The amendment specified in section 3 shall be in 
     order at any time during the consideration of a motion to 
     suspend the rules and pass H.R. 3673. Such amendment shall be 
     considered as read, shall be debatable for one hour equally 
     divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, 
     shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject 
     to a demand for a division of the question. All points of 
     order against such amendment are waived.
       Sec. 3. The amendment by Representative Obey referred to in 
     Section 2 is as follows:

                   Amendment to H.R. ___, as Reported

                    Offered by Mr. Obey of Wisconsin

       At the end of the bill, insert before the section 
     containing the short title the following:

     SEC. __. FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY.

       (a) Independent Establishment.--The Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency shall be an independent establishment in 
     the executive branch.
       (b) Director.--
       (1) In general.--The Agency shall be headed by a Director, 
     who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the 
     advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall report 
     directly to the President. The Director of the Federal 
     Emergency Management Agency shall be compensated at the rate 
     provided for at level I of the Executive Schedule under 
     section 5312 of title 5, United States Code.
       (2) Qualifications.--The Director of the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency shall be appointed from among persons who 
     have significant experience, knowledge, training, and 
     expertise in the area of emergency preparedness, response, 
     recovery, and mitigation as related to natural disasters and 
     other national cataclysmic events.
       (3) Term of office.--The term of office of an individual 
     appointed as the Director shall be 5 years.
       (c) Deputy Director.--
       (1) In general.--There shall be in the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency one Deputy Director, who shall be appointed 
     by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the 
     Senate. The Deputy Director shall be compensated at the rate 
     provided for at level II of the Executive Schedule under 
     section 5313 of title 5, United States Code.
       (2) Qualifications.--The Deputy Director shall be appointed 
     from among persons who have extensive background in disaster 
     response and disaster preparedness.
       (3) Responsibilities.--Subject to the direction and control 
     of the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 
     the Deputy Director shall have primary responsibility within 
     the Agency for natural disasters and non-natural disasters, 
     including large-scale terrorist attacks.
       (d) Transfer of Functions.--There shall be transferred to 
     the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency--
       (1) the functions (including the functions under paragraphs 
     (3) and (8) of section 430(c) of the Homeland Security Act of 
     2002 (6 U.S.C. 238(c)), personnel, assets, and liabilities of 
     the Department of Homeland Security relating to the Federal 
     Emergency Management Agency; and
       (2) the functions of the Department of Homeland Security 
     under sections 502 (other than paragraph (2)) and 503(1) of 
     the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 312, 313), and 
     the personnel, assets, and liabilities of the Department 
     relating to such functions.
       (e) Transition Period.--The transfers under this section 
     shall be carried out as soon as practicable, but no later 
     than the 120th day following the date of enactment of this 
     section. During the transition period, the Secretary of 
     Homeland Security shall provide to the Director of the 
     Federal Emergency Management Agency such assistance, 
     including the use of personnel and assets, as the Director 
     may request in preparing for the transfer.
       (f) Personnel Provisions.--
       (1) Appointments.--The Director of the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency may appoint and fix the compensation of 
     such officers and employees, including investigators, 
     attorneys, and administrative law judges, as may be necessary 
     to carry out the respective functions transferred under this 
     section. Except as otherwise provided by law, such officers 
     and employees shall be appointed in accordance with the civil 
     service laws and their compensation fixed in accordance with 
     title 5, United States Code.
       (2) Experts and consultants.--The Director of the Federal 
     Emergency Management Agency may obtain the services of 
     experts and consultants in accordance with section 3109 of 
     title 5, United States Code, and compensate such experts and 
     consultants for each day (including traveltime) at rates not 
     in excess of the rate of pay for level IV of the Executive 
     Schedule under section 5315 of such title. The Director of 
     the Federal Emergency Management Agency may pay experts and 
     consultants who are serving away from their homes or regular 
     place of business, travel expenses and per diem in lieu of 
     subsistence at rates authorized by sections 5702 and 5703 of 
     such title for persons in Government service employed 
     intermittently.
       (g) Delegation and Assignment.--Except where otherwise 
     expressly prohibited by law or otherwise provided by this 
     section, the Director of the Federal Emergency Management 
     Agency may delegate any of the functions transferred to the 
     Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency by this 
     section and any function transferred or granted to such 
     Director after the effective date of this section to such 
     officers and employees of the Federal Emergency Management 
     Agency as the Director may designate, and may authorize 
     successive redelegations of such functions as may be 
     necessary or appropriate. No delegation of functions by the 
     Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under 
     this section or under any other provision of this section 
     shall relieve such Director of responsibility for the 
     administration of such functions.
       (h) Reorganization.--The Director of the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency is authorized to allocate or reallocate any 
     function transferred under section 201 among

[[Page H7757]]

     the officers of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and 
     to establish, consolidate, alter, or discontinue such 
     organizational entities in the Federal Emergency Management 
     Agency, as may be necessary or appropriate.
       (i) Rules.--The Director of the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency is authorized to prescribe, in accordance 
     with the provisions of chapters 5 and 6 of title 5, United 
     States Code, such rules and regulations as the Director 
     determines necessary or appropriate to administer and manage 
     the functions of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
       (j) Transfer and Allocations of Appropriations and 
     Personnel.--Except as otherwise provided in this section, the 
     personnel employed in connection with, and the assets, 
     liabilities, contracts, property, records, and unexpended 
     balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and 
     other funds employed, used, held, arising from, available to, 
     or to be made available in connection with the functions 
     transferred by this section, subject to section 1531 of title 
     31, United States Code, shall be transferred to the Federal 
     Emergency Management Agency. Unexpended funds transferred 
     pursuant to this subsection shall be used only for the 
     purposes for which the funds were originally authorized and 
     appropriated.
       (k) Incidental Transfers.--The Director of the Office of 
     Management and Budget, at such time or times as the Director 
     shall provide, is authorized to make such determinations as 
     may be necessary with regard to the functions transferred by 
     this section, and to make such additional incidental 
     dispositions of personnel, assets, liabilities, grants, 
     contracts, property, records, and unexpended balances of 
     appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other funds 
     held, used, arising from, available to, or to be made 
     available in connection with such functions, as may be 
     necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. The 
     Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall provide 
     for the termination of the affairs of all entities terminated 
     by this section and for such further measures and 
     dispositions as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes 
     of this section.
       (l) Effect on Personnel.--
       (1) In general.--Except as otherwise provided by this 
     section, the transfer pursuant to this section of full-time 
     personnel (except special Government employees) and part-time 
     personnel holding permanent positions shall not cause any 
     such employee to be separated or reduced in grade or 
     compensation for one year after the date of transfer of such 
     employee under this section.
       (2) Executive schedule positions.--Except as otherwise 
     provided in this section, any person who, on the day 
     preceding the effective date of this section, held a position 
     compensated in accordance with the Executive Schedule 
     prescribed in chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, and 
     who, without a break in service, is appointed in the Federal 
     Emergency Management Agency to a position having duties 
     comparable to the duties performed immediately preceding such 
     appointment shall continue to be compensated in such new 
     position at not less than the rate provided for such previous 
     position, for the duration of the service of such person in 
     such new position.
       (m) Savings Provisions.--
       (1) Continuing effect of legal documents.--All orders, 
     determinations, rules, regulations, permits, agreements, 
     grants, contracts, certificates, licenses, registrations, 
     privileges, and other administrative actions--
       (A) which have been issued, made, granted, or allowed to 
     become effective by the President, any Federal agency or 
     official thereof, or by a court of competent jurisdiction, in 
     the performance of functions which are transferred under this 
     section, and
       (B) which are in effect at the time this section takes 
     effect, or were final before the effective date of this 
     section and are to become effective on or after the effective 
     date of this section,

     shall continue in effect according to their terms until 
     modified, terminated, superseded, set aside, or revoked in 
     accordance with law by the President, the Director of the 
     Federal Emergency Management Agency or other authorized 
     official, a court of competent jurisdiction, or by operation 
     of law.
       (2) Proceedings not affected.--The provisions of this 
     section shall not affect any proceedings, including notices 
     of proposed rulemaking, or any application for any license, 
     permit, certificate, or financial assistance pending before 
     the Federal Emergency Management Agency at the time this 
     section takes effect, with respect to functions transferred 
     by this section but such proceedings and applications shall 
     continue. Orders shall be issued in such proceedings, appeals 
     shall be taken therefrom, and payments shall be made pursuant 
     to such orders, as if this section had not been enacted, and 
     orders issued in any such proceedings shall continue in 
     effect until modified, terminated, superseded, or revoked by 
     a duly authorized official, by a court of competent 
     jurisdiction, or by operation of law. Nothing in this 
     paragraph shall be deemed to prohibit the discontinuance or 
     modification of any such proceeding under the same terms and 
     conditions and to the same extent that such proceeding could 
     have been discontinued or modified if this section had not 
     been enacted.
       (3) Suits not affected.--The provisions of this section 
     shall not affect suits commenced before the effective date of 
     this section, and in all such suits, proceedings shall be 
     had, appeals taken, and judgments rendered in the same manner 
     and with the same effect as if this section had not been 
     enacted.
       (4) Nonabatement of actions.--No suit, action, or other 
     proceeding commenced by or against the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency, or by or against any individual in the 
     official capacity of such individual as an officer of the 
     Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall abate by reason of 
     the enactment of this section.
       (5) Administrative actions relating to promulgation of 
     regulations.--Any administrative action relating to the 
     preparation or promulgation of a regulation by the Federal 
     Emergency Management Agency relating to a function 
     transferred under this section may be continued by the 
     Federal Emergency Management Agency with the same effect as 
     if this section had not been enacted.
       (n) References.--Any reference in any other Federal law, 
     Executive order, rule, regulation, or delegation of 
     authority, or any document of or pertaining to a department, 
     agency, or office from which a function is transferred by 
     this section--
       (1) to the head of such department, agency, or office is 
     deemed to refer to the head of the department, agency, or 
     office to which such function is transferred; or
       (2) to such department, agency, or office is deemed to 
     refer to the department, agency, or office to which such 
     function is transferred.
       (o) Conforming Amendments and Repeals.--
       (1) Homeland security act of 2002.--
       (A) Section 504.--Section 504(a) of the Homeland Security 
     Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 314(a)) is amended by striking ``, 
     major disaster,''.
       (B) Repeals.--The following provisions of the Homeland 
     Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) are repealed:
       (i) Section 2(11).
       (ii) Section 503(1).
       (iii) Section 507.
       (iv) Section 508.
       (2) Title 5, united states code.--
       (A) Director.--Section 5312 of title 5, United States Code, 
     is amended by adding at the end the following:

                           *   *   *   *   *

       (B) Deputy director.--Section 5313 of title 5, United 
     States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

                           *   *   *   *   *

       (3) Additional conforming amendments.--
       (A) Recommended legislation.--After consultation with the 
     appropriate committees of the Congress and the Director of 
     the Office of Management and Budget, the Director of the 
     Federal Emergency Management Agency shall prepare and submit 
     to Congress recommended legislation containing technical and 
     conforming amendments to reflect the changes made by this 
     section.
       (B) Submission to congress.--Not later than 6 months after 
     the effective date of this section, the Director of the 
     Federal Emergency Management Agency shall submit the 
     recommended legislation referred to under subsection (a).
       (p) Limitation on Statutory Construction.--Nothing in this 
     section shall be construed to limit the primary mission of 
     the Department of Homeland Security set forth in 
     subparagraphs (A), (B), (E), (F), (G), and (H) of section 
     101(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
     111(b)).

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the 
balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on ordering the previous 
question.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Evidently a quorum is not present.
  The Sergeant at Arms will notify absent Members.
  Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XX, the Chair will reduce to 5 minutes 
the minimum time for electronic voting, if ordered, on the question of 
adoption of the resolution.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 221, 
nays 193, not voting 19, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 458]

                               YEAS--221

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Beauprez
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Bradley (NH)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chocola
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Cunningham
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeLay
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Doolittle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     English (PA)
     Everett
     Feeney

[[Page H7758]]


     Ferguson
     Fitzpatrick (PA)
     Flake
     Foley
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Fossella
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Green (WI)
     Gutknecht
     Hall
     Harris
     Hart
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hostettler
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Istook
     Jenkins
     Jindal
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     McCaul (TX)
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McMorris
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Osborne
     Otter
     Oxley
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Pombo
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Saxton
     Schmidt
     Schwarz (MI)
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Sodrel
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Young (FL)

                               NAYS--193

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown, Corrine
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardin
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carson
     Case
     Chandler
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Emanuel
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Herseth
     Higgins
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (OH)
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kind
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lynch
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy
     McCollum (MN)
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McKinney
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Obey
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sabo
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanders
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schwartz (PA)
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sherman
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Spratt
     Stark
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn

                             NOT VOTING--19

     Baker
     Berkley
     Brady (TX)
     Butterfield
     Buyer
     Conaway
     Cubin
     Emerson
     Hyde
     Maloney
     McCrery
     Melancon
     Oberstar
     Olver
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Taylor (MS)
     Weiner
     Wexler
     Young (AK)

                              {time}  1147

  Messrs. BAIRD, KILDEE, VISCLOSKY, JEFFERSON, HINOJOSA, FATTAH, RUSH, 
Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan and Ms. HARMAN changed their vote from 
``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Mr. GUTKNECHT changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the previous question was ordered.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaTourette). The question is on the 
resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 235, 
noes 179, not voting 19, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 459]

                               AYES--235

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Beauprez
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Boswell
     Boustany
     Bradley (NH)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Cardin
     Cardoza
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chandler
     Chocola
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Cunningham
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeLay
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Doolittle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     English (PA)
     Eshoo
     Everett
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Fitzpatrick (PA)
     Foley
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Fossella
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Green (WI)
     Gutknecht
     Hall
     Harris
     Hart
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hostettler
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Istook
     Jenkins
     Jindal
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Langevin
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Lynch
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     McCaul (TX)
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMorris
     Menendez
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Moore (KS)
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Osborne
     Otter
     Oxley
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Pombo
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Saxton
     Schmidt
     Schwarz (MI)
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Sodrel
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Sweeney
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Wynn
     Young (FL)

                               NOES--179

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boren
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown, Corrine
     Capps
     Capuano
     Carnahan
     Carson
     Case
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Emanuel
     Engel
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Flake
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Gordon
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Herseth
     Higgins
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (OH)
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kind
     Kucinich
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy
     McCollum (MN)
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McKinney
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Neal (MA)
     Obey
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel

[[Page H7759]]


     Reyes
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sabo
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanders
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schwartz (PA)
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sherman
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Spratt
     Stark
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Wexler
     Woolsey
     Wu

                             NOT VOTING--19

     Baker
     Berkley
     Brady (TX)
     Butterfield
     Buyer
     Conaway
     Cubin
     Emerson
     Hyde
     Maloney
     McCrery
     Melancon
     Napolitano
     Oberstar
     Olver
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Taylor (MS)
     Weiner
     Young (AK)

                              {time}  1156

  Mr. RAHALL and Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ changed their vote from ``aye'' 
to ``no.''
  Mr. LANGEVIN changed his vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the resolution was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________