[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 160 (Wednesday, December 14, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H11512-H11515]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




WAIVING POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST FURTHER CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 3010, 
  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006

  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I 
call up House Resolution 596 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 596

       Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be 
     in order to consider the further conference report to 
     accompany the bill (H.R. 3010) making appropriations for the 
     Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and 
     Education, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2006, and for other purposes. All points of 
     order against the conference report and against its 
     consideration are waived. The conference report shall be 
     considered as read.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Foley). The gentlewoman from West 
Virginia (Mrs. Capito) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to my friend and colleague from California (Ms. 
Matsui), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. 
During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the 
purpose of debate only.
  Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 596 is a rule waiving all points of order 
against the conference report accompanying H.R. 3010 and against its 
consideration. This rule provides that the conference report shall be 
considered as read.
  Mr. Speaker, the underlying legislation is one of the most important 
measures we consider each year. The underlying legislation will fund a 
broad array of programs improving the health, education and lifestyle 
of many Americans. I would like to congratulate the chairman and 
ranking member of the full committee and subcommittee for their hard 
work on this essential spending bill.
  Mr. Speaker, the future of America hinges on the success of our 
future generations and their ability to compete with the rest of the 
world. In order for our children to succeed, they must be equipped with 
a high-quality education. I am happy to say that since Republicans took 
control of Congress, funding for the Department of Education has 
doubled; more recently, over the last 5 years, total education spending 
has increased by nearly 50 percent. Our children will benefit from an 
improved educational system that will enhance their ability to succeed 
and better prepare that next generation of workers.
  The fundamental root of all education is reading. As we enter the 
holiday season, many families will join together in reading holiday 
stories providing wonderful memoirs for years to come. Unfortunately, 
some children are not able to read at the appropriate grade level. 
Included in this legislation is $1 billion for reading programs that 
will enable States to eliminate the reading deficit through science- 
and research-based reading programs.
  I am also very pleased that the TRIO and GEAR UP programs are 
included in this all-important funding package. These programs assist 
low-income, first-generation college students in their transition from 
high school to college. This is a difficult transition for any student, 
but especially those who are the first in their family to attend 
college. We must continue to support programs like TRIO and GEAR UP so 
that these students will continue to flourish.
  Mr. Speaker, another important responsibility we have is to ensure 
that our citizens have access to health care facilities and treatments. 
Included in this legislation is a $66 million increase in funding for 
community health centers that are so vitally important across this 
Nation, but especially in rural States, much like my home State of West 
Virginia. In the last 5 years, Congress has increased funding for these 
critical components of our health care delivery system by 48 percent.
  I am especially pleased with the increased rural health funding 
included in this conference report. Millions of Americans across the 
country, including a majority of my West Virginia constituents, are 
faced with drastically different health care challenges because they 
reside in rural areas. This conference report includes a $90 million 
increase in funding for rural health programs. Included in this package 
are funds for the Office of Rural Health and

[[Page H11513]]

Research Policy, Rural Health Outreach Grants, Area Health Education 
Centers, and Medical Training.

                              {time}  1045

  These programs will improve rural health care delivery through 
continued research, improved technology, and development of health care 
professionals in rural America.
  The National Institutes of Health, NIH, continues to serve our Nation 
well by developing new treatments and cures for the many diseases that 
plague our society. With a total funding level of the $28.6 billion, 
the researchers at NIH will be able to continue this mission so we may 
become a healthier Nation and global society.
  A key aspect of a healthier society is one where all citizens have 
access to prescription drugs; and I am proud to say since November 15, 
Medicare-eligible beneficiaries have been able to sign up for a 
prescription drug benefit under Medicare. The resources provided in the 
underlying legislation will allow the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare 
Services to properly conduct that outreach effort that is so important 
that will hopefully enroll every senior that stands to benefit from 
this program.
  Mr. Speaker, we are all aware of the challenges that can potentially 
face all Americans this coming winter, so the high cost of natural gas 
is something we are very concerned about. In this bill, the State 
formula grants for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, 
LIHEAP, are funded at over $2 billion; and we fund an additional 
billion dollars included in the House-passed Deficit Reduction Act 
passed earlier this month.
  As with any appropriation legislation, we had tough choices to make. 
These choices are particularly difficult when dealing with the 
sensitive health and education issues like the ones in this bill. The 
Committee on Appropriations allocated the available resources in this 
bill in a manner that emphasizes those programs most important to our 
Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, this is solid legislation that I believe all Members 
will be able to support.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, 
and thank the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito) for yielding 
me this time.
  (Ms. MATSUI asked and was given permission to revise and extend her 
remarks.)
  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, today we consider House Resolution 596, the 
rule allowing consideration of the conference report accompanying the 
fiscal year 2006 Labor-HHS and Education appropriations bill. If the 
debate looks familiar to our constituents watching from home, it 
should. Just before Thanksgiving, the House considered a conference 
agreement almost exactly like the one before the House this morning. 
The House voted to reject that shortsighted agreement. It was a 
striking rebuke of a majority out of touch with concerns of average 
Americans, and yet here we are again with an agreement that is almost 
word for word the exact agreement from 3 weeks ago. This new version 
simply moves around a small amount of money, robbing Peter to pay Paul.
  What seems to have been skipped was a discussion of the fundamentally 
flawed priorities, and there was no discussion of what the American 
people need, merely what it would take for a few more votes. This means 
that No Child Left Behind funding is still cut by $779 million, a 
maximum Pell grant award is still frozen for the fourth straight year, 
and there is still no new funding for student financial aid and support 
programs. The bill still provides $4 billion less than Republicans 
promised for special education through IDEA.
  Further, this agreement provides only thin and shortsighted support 
for innovative research going on today on universities and colleges 
across the Nation. Hardworking families rely on these advances to ease 
the suffering or even cure a loved one's illness, but this agreement 
threatens this hope.
  Earlier this month, the UC Davis Cancer Center, the only federally 
designated cancer center in the central valley of California, 
discovered a way to improve early detection of breast cancer. And just 
before Thanksgiving, UC Davis research shed light on how some cancer 
patients contract chemotherapy-induced leukemia.
  These are two examples of living-saving advances among dozens in the 
University of California system. And they are a reality because of 
Federal investment. Two out of every three research dollars to the UC 
system are from the Federal Government. Sadly, misguided priorities, 
like the ones contained in this conference report, threaten to limit 
these types of advances.
  Mr. Speaker, my local newspaper, the Sacramento Bee, noted earlier 
this month that today's challenges demand shared sacrifice and better 
priorities. The paper argued, rightly so, that ``the majority in 
Congress is more intent on locking in President Bush's tax cuts than 
paying for war, natural disaster, and essential public services for the 
Nation's most vulnerable people.'' I could not agree more.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues once again to reject this 
conference report.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I would like to respond to the gentlewoman's assertion that this is 
the second time around, which it most certainly is. Adjustments were 
made. There were many folks on our side of the aisle who had concerns 
about the rural health provisions, I among those folks, because we are 
heavily reliant on our community health centers. Many adjustments were 
made, as I mentioned in my opening statement, to address some of the 
issues of rural health.
  When we talk about priorities, this bill is chock full of America's 
priorities, and certainly education is one of them. I would like to 
review that in this bill there is $100 million more for those special 
education needs. As I said 3 weeks ago, is this going to solve the 
problem? Is this enough money to meet every need for every challenged 
child and every family of a challenged child? Certainly not. But we are 
getting there and working towards that.
  In terms of Pell grants and affordability of higher education, it is 
at an all-time high, $4,050; and there is an additional $812 million to 
meet those challenges for those seeking higher education.
  There is a particular emphasis in this bill for math and science. We 
hear about our students who cannot compete in the global economy, how 
students are not going into the math and science fields and we are 
getting left behind by those around the world. This will strengthen the 
K-12 math and science education.
  Again, I would like to mention the TRIO and GEAR-UP programs because 
they are particularly significant in my State, very effective and long-
standing, and I am pleased they are going to be there to help that 
first-time college student meet the challenges as they move towards 
higher education.
  Another important program is Job Corps. It is a labor program that 
helps those students transition and move from education to the 
workforce in a very forceful way and a very successful way.
  I realize that choices have to be made in these difficult areas of 
health, education and labor; but the choices we have made here I think 
are good solid choices, and I support the rule and the underlying 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey).
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for the time.
  Let me simply make a couple of comments in response to assertions 
made by the gentlewoman from West Virginia. She caught my attention 
when she said, and made much of the fact, that since the Republicans 
have taken control of the House, education funding has essentially 
doubled. Let me put that in perspective and challenge that statement. 
This bill is part of a three-part strategy which over the next 5 years 
will cut funding for education, for social services, for health care, 
for the people targeted by this bill by $48 billion over a 5-year 
period.
  With respect to education, this bill is the first time in 10 years 
that the Congress will actually have cut education. With the across-
the-board cut which is going to be attached to this bill before

[[Page H11514]]

the week is over, we will wind up cutting education by over $600 
million below last year.
  Now, the Republicans say, ``Oh, that is okay because we added so much 
money over the last 10 years.'' With all due respect, that is rewriting 
history. The Republican majority in this House had to be dragged 
kicking and screaming into supporting education at all. They came to 
power with the demand to abolish the Department of Education. Their 
very first action rescinded billions of dollars including education 
funding. They tried three out of the next 4 years to make deep cuts in 
education. Each time they were blocked by the Democratic minority and 
by some assistance that we got from the Republican majority in the 
Senate and from the White House then occupied by Bill Clinton.
  Today the fact is that over the past 10 years we have had $18 billion 
more in education than would have been there if we had passed the 
Republican House education and labor appropriation bill. So for the 
Republicans to claim that they have added money to education is a joke.
  It reminds me of the orphan who kills his parents and then throws 
himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan. The fact is, 
if the Republican majority in this House had their way, education would 
have been funded $18 billion less than it has been funded over the 
previous decade.
  With respect to some of the other claims that have been made this 
morning, with respect to title I, we are going to have an actual 
reduction in title I by the time the across-the-board cut actually 
passes. No Child Left Behind programs have been cut by $779 million.
  The gentlewoman mentioned NIH. The fact is that with the across-the-
board cut that is going to be attached to this bill, NIH funding will 
decline by $129 million, there will be fewer research grants provided 
there than we had 2 years ago.
  She mentioned community health centers. The fact is that this bill 
contains $238 million less than the amount requested by the Bush 
administration, and this bill totally terminates the entire community-
access program to provide health care to people who do not have 
insurance.
  So all I would say is, if you vote for this bill, if you vote for the 
across-the-board cut, and if you voted for the Republican 
reconciliation action last week, you will have cut support for people 
who are helped by this bill by $48 billion over the next 5 years, and 
you will have used 50 percent of that money to put in the pockets of 
the richest 1 percent of the people by way of tax cuts. It is an 
outrageous piece of legislation.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to respond. I have been in Congress for 5 
years, and I have great respect for my colleague who has many more 
years and much experience, much more experience than I do. But my 
understanding of a conference report, which we are addressing now, it 
cannot be amended, it cannot be attached to and it cannot have any 
spending cut attached to it. He is leading me and others to believe 
that when we step up to vote for this, we will be voting for an across-
the-board 1 percent cut. I find that incredulous because I know there 
will be no such vote placed on this bill. I want the general public 
viewing this to realize we are voting on a tough bill.
  The appropriation is for labor and education and health services, but 
we are not voting on an across-the-board cut when we vote for this 
bill. We have made several choices here. We have put more money into 
reading which I think is vital. Over the past 5 years, incredible 
amounts of money have been put into pulling the reading skills up in 
elementary school and improving that vital part of our educational 
system.
  We have worked on increasing special ed funding. I think we can all 
agree that the needs there are tremendously important across the 
country. We have improved that as well.
  So I think for the understanding to be that this bill is going to be 
coupled with an across-the-board cut that means this is less than what 
it is, I find that to be disingenuous; and, quite frankly, I do not 
think that is quite actually what is going to occur.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1100

  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) to respond.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, let me simply say in response to the 
gentlewoman's comments, the Republican leadership and the Republican 
caucus has already made clear that they intend to attach a further 1 
percent across-the-board cut in all discretionary spending before we 
leave here for the Christmas holidays. The fact is that the bill before 
us today is just for openers. And when you put this bill together with 
the 1 percent cut that they intend to make across the board, and then 
when you add that to the humongous cuts that they made over the next 5 
years in the reconciliation bill last week, they are already on the 
hook for that. That means, over the next 5 years, there will be a 
cumulative cut in programs to help the people targeted by this bill of 
$48 billion.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Kucinich).
  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman, and I want to 
thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for pointing out to this House that 
the across-the-board cut which he speaks about is going to only 
exacerbate the underfunding, which already exists in this particular 
bill. And I thank the gentleman for that point.
  I also want to state that this House, at the request of the 
administration, over the last few years has passed massive tax cuts 
that have helped to accelerate the wealth of this country upward, while 
when it comes to social programs, we are looking at cuts.
  I want to speak to education. The education cuts brought before us 
today in this new conference report are not any better for students 
than those that were voted down by the House on November 17. Like that 
conference agreement, the bill before us today demonstrates that 
education is not a priority for this House's majority. This conference 
agreement provides a mere $11 million increase for Head Start.
  I will bet, Mr. Speaker, that there are some of our wealthiest 
citizens who are achieving tax breaks in the millions, who together, 
pooling their tax breaks, would exceed the amount of money being given 
to Head Start that they call an increase. The fact of the matter is 
that Head Start is a pivotal program for preschool age children in low-
income families across this country. And at current funding levels, it, 
unfortunately, serves about only half of the children eligible for its 
services. Now, this is not adequate, and it is not right. This program, 
which has been repeatedly found to have dramatically increased the 
academic performance of students, deserves more than a piddling $11 
million when you compare it to where the money is going in this budget 
and in the fiscal policies of this administration.
  This conference agreement cuts school improvement funding by 6 
percent and flat funds teacher quality grants. These grants, which are 
used to recruit qualified teachers and support teacher development, are 
critically important to efforts to improve student achievement.
  Rather than strengthening the Pell Grant program and increasing 
access to higher education for low-income students, the conference 
agreement maintains the current maximum Pell Grant at $4,050. At this 
level, the maximum Pell Grant only covers 39 percent of the tuition of 
the average 4-year public college, making a mockery of its status as 
the foundation of student aid for the poorest students.
  What are our priorities? The votes Members cast today on this 
conference agreement will show our priorities. Our priorities ought to 
be education, and they ought to be doing something about adult training 
grants which, unfortunately, have been cut in this conference report, 
and youth training grants, which, unfortunately, have been cut in this 
conference report.
  What are our priorities? To continue the acceleration of wealth 
upwards in this country, or to make sure that all Americans get a 
chance to be recognized in this budget?
  It is time to say no to this policy.

[[Page H11515]]

  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I would just urge my colleagues once again 
to reject this conference report, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this 
fair rule and the underlying legislation, where critical dollars will 
fund our Nation's education system, health care delivery system and 
numerous other benefits. With this funding, low-income Americans will 
be better prepared for a long cold winter with the $2 billion funding 
in LIHEAP. Our seniors will greatly benefit from the money provided 
allowing CMS to conduct outreach to our Medicare beneficiaries to sign 
up for the new prescription drug benefit. The $90 million included for 
Rural Health Delivery is vitally important to rural America. These are 
all important programs that will improve the way of life for countless 
Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the 
previous question on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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