Congressional Record, Volume 153 Issue 102 (Friday, June 22, 2007)

[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 102 (Friday, June 22, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H6982-H6999]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008

The Committee resumed its sitting.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chairman, at this time I would like to
yield 1 minute to the distinguished chair of the House Administration
Committee, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brady).
Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Madam Chairman, I just want to say a few
quick things.
We had a problem in House Administration when Chairwoman Millender-
McDonald passed away. There was a void. But taking over as chairman, I
have a great working relationship with my ranking minority member, Mr.
Ehlers. I have a great working relationship with the ranking minority
member of this subcommittee, Zach Wamp. I also have tremendous respect
for and a great working relationship with the chairwoman.
We have had some conversations that we did not need to discuss here.
I have been assured and am extremely comfortable with the fact that we
will be together working out our jurisdictional problems. I thank the
gentlewoman for stepping in at a time when it was needed. Again, with
my ranking minority member, we have a great relationship. We probably
have the best committee in that we get along all the time. We are going
to continue to do that. I thank, again, the ranking member.
I look forward to working with you, and I have your assurance that we
will be doing that.
Madam Chairman, I want to express my appreciation for the work of the
gentlelady from Florida to craft the FY08 appropriations bill for the
Legislative Branch. As we are well aware in the Committee on House
Administration, working on this bill may not be very glamorous, but it
is essential to keeping the House running.
The Committee on Appropriations has done a good job of balancing the
many needs of the House--paying our employees, keeping the physical
plant running, and operating the various agencies that serve Capitol
Hill.
I am particularly pleased to see in this bill an additional $5
million toward upgrading the radio systems of the Capitol Police.
Establishing a secure communications system for our police force is
essential to the security of the Hill.
I also appreciate the Committee's commitment of funds for the ``Green
the Capitol'' initiative. According to the House Chief Administrative
Officer's calculations, we can eventually recoup these costs from
savings on our utility bills when we make the House more energy-
efficient.
I look forward to continuing our strong working relationship in the
future.
Finally, as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing, I urge the
Members to reject the amendment by the gentleman from Arizona [Mr.
Flake]. It is essential that the Congressional Printing and Binding
Appropriation be funded at least at the level recommended by the
Appropriations Committee. The Government Printing Office must have
enough resources to provide Congress with the printing and digital
services fundamental to our legislative process.
The congressional printing account has been flat-funded since 2005.
As a result, in order to deliver what we require to do our jobs in
Congress, GPO has had to reach into its own working capital. When GPO
depletes it working capital, it consumes funds otherwise available to
keep pace with technology, train employees, even to maintain plant and
equipment.
GPO receives no salaries-and-expenses appropriation for its printing
operations. GPO runs just like a business, and the Congressional
Printing and Binding Appropriation is Congress' prepayment for its own
orders. As a GPO customer, like many other Federal agencies, Congress
has to pay its way and cannot expect GPO to underwrite printing needs,
especially as we increase congressional activity in this 110th
Congress. If Congress continues to underfund its own printing, GPO will
eventually face a financial crisis that we caused, threatening its
ability to operate for any of its agency customers. Let's reject the
Flake amendment to keep that from happening.
Mr. WAMP. Madam Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chairman, at this time I yield 3 minutes
to the distinguished gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms.
Norton).
Ms. NORTON. Madam Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
I thank her for her excellent work on her maiden voyage as chair.
I have come to say a few words that I think need saying about the
performance of GAO with respect to the grand experiment that our
committee allowed on pay for performance. We allowed it. We have not
tried to interfere with it. But the actions taken by the Comptroller
General where you would at least have expected it has produced nothing
short of a revolution within, of all places, the GAO workforce.
They were chosen for this grand experiment because they were a fairly
upscale part of the Federal workforce. And what have we got? How would
you feel if you had worked at or above performance, and yet you were
among 300 employees of, what is it, 2 million Federal employees who did
not receive the across-the-board pay increase that everybody else
receives? Well, some of you might have sued or filed a claim with the
Personnel Appeals Board within the GAO. And those employees, all 12 of
them, have received their COLA, have been promoted, and have had their
retirement fixed.
But there are 300 employees from 2006, 130 from 2007 who have been
punished as to their pensions and pay because the Comptroller did not
keep his promise with the Congress, which was that nobody's across-the-
board pay would be affected. In fact, what he did was to insert a
market-based study without informing the subcommittee, an unvalidated
study, and now he has a whole racial claim on top of it because the
African Americans have been disproportionately affected by his action.
If the Comptroller wanted some help, he could have gone to the OPM.
Instead, he used a market-based study from a consultant. If he wanted
to know how to deal with unionization which is now upon him, he could
have gone to the OPM. He could have gone to the Federal Labor Relations
Authority. Instead, he is spending taxpayer funds in order to try to
beat a union within the Federal sector, the first time ever. If we
allow taxpayer funds to be used that way, then it seems to me we ought
to be called to account.
Mr. WAMP. Madam Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chairman, at this time I yield 3 minutes
to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Linda T.
Sanchez).
Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Madam Chair, I rise in support of
H.R. 2771, the legislative branch appropriations bill. I want to thank
Chairwoman Wasserman Schultz, Ranking Member Wamp, and the
appropriations staff for their hard work in crafting this fiscally
responsible bill.
The bill on the floor today is ``lean and mean,'' providing just the
resources that we need to serve the people in an honest, transparent
manner.
I strongly believe that as our Nation's elected leaders, we have a
responsibility here in the people's House to lead the Nation in
creating an environmentally friendly workplace. This is why I crafted
two amendments for today's bill that would have directed the Architect
of the Capitol to take small but significant steps toward ``greening''
the Capitol complex.
I am pleased that Subcommittee Chairwoman Wasserman Schultz shares my
support for the Speaker's Greening of the Capitol Initiative. Since she
has enthusiastically agreed to consider them during conference, I won't
be offering them today.
But I would like to draw the House's attention to these two
initiatives because they demonstrate how small investments can reap
large rewards.
Both initiatives were drawn from the Greening of the Capital report
recently

[[Page H6983]]

completed by the Architect of the Capitol, and both are endorsed by the
American Society of Landscape Architects.
The first initiative would study the feasibility of constructing a
``green roof'' on the Ford House Office Building. A green roof is a
rooftop that is carefully planted with vegetation. It can be anything
from a simple plot of grass to a park-like setting.
Green roofs have proved to be tremendous economic and environmental
benefits. They are great insulators, reducing heating and cooling costs
often by as much as 25 percent. And they save on maintenance costs as
well since they are more protective than traditional roofs. Green roofs
cool the surrounding neighborhood by reducing the amount of heat that
is reflected back into the surrounding atmosphere, the so-called urban
heat island effect. Vegetation on green roofs celebrates our natural
heritage and also absorbs rainwater, reducing contaminated runoff.
Even with all these benefits, green roofs have not caught on. They
are not very popular yet in the United States. And as Members of
Congress, we now have the opportunity to lead by example. A successful
demonstration of the economic benefits of green roofs right here in the
Capitol Complex can help promote green roofs across the Nation.
My second proposal concerns the planting of more trees around parking
lots in the Capitol Complex. My colleagues who closely follow
environmental issues already know that trees have a remarkable ability
to reduce the air temperature in our urban areas. Trees remove carbon
from our atmosphere, shade our buildings and cars, and even reduce
asthma by filtering out air pollutants. According to the nonpartisan
Congressional Budget Office, this proposal would even save the
taxpayers money.
Without action this year, many of the Speaker's Greening of the
Capitol Initiatives, including the two I have just discussed, won't get
funding until 2009 or 2010. These proposals would get us started
modestly but promptly and don't require additional funds.
I look forward to working with Chairwoman Wasserman Schultz to
incorporate these projects into the legislative branch's plans for
2008.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chairman, I yield myself 30 seconds.
I want to thank the gentlewoman from California for her leadership on
environmental issues and look forward to working with her on continuing
the Speaker's leadership on the Green the Capitol Initiative, both in
terms of planting of the trees and the greening of roofs, and I look
forward and appreciate her input.
At this time, Madam Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman
from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
(Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise
and extend her remarks.)
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Chairman, this place, this House is
always at its best when Members of the United States Congress work
together. And I want to congratulate the chairwoman of this committee
and the ranking member of this committee for working together.
Most people don't understand that the legislative branch creates an
atmosphere of hospitality in this place. As I look and see the number
of visitors that we have, your responsibility is to secure them and to
welcome them. Let me thank you personally for the task that you have
undertaken.
I want to thank you for the increase in the House Child Care Center,
and I hope that our community does not criticize the fact that we are
family friendly so that employees have the opportunity to have child
care.
I want to thank you for supporting the Speaker's Green Initiative
because we, too, must do what we ask Americans to do.
And, of course, the brave men and women that serve us, I welcome the
increase in the Capitol Police, and I also look forward to their
continuing to address the questions of discrimination and equality as
they increase the numbers of police.
Let me join in the words of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and
hope that we will challenge, if you will, the GAO to be responsible in
its dealings with its employees and unionization.
But I came today to be able to offer to the American public the sense
of pride and the sense of humbleness that I am now experiencing because
of your grand leadership and that of the Appropriations Committee. And
my good friend Congressman Jesse Jackson and, of course, members of the
Congressional Black Caucus signed a letter, which I was proud to sign,
because this picture reflects something that is near and dear to Texas.
My good friend comes from Tennessee. He knows that we have a lot of
continuity or connection between Tennessee and Texas and the good State
of Florida.
But we celebrated this week the Emancipation Proclamation. We
celebrated, in particular, Juneteenth. Those of us in the South
remember Major General Gordon Granger coming 2 years late to indicate
that we might be free. Isn't it wonderful that now we will name the
Visitors Center, and we hope for our good friends in the other body to
be as reasonable, the Emancipation Hall.
I went through the hall just outside this door before I came to the
floor, and I saw the name of William Jennings Bryan. I saw the name
Wheeler of Alabama, Huey Pierce Long, Lew Wallace, Sequoyah, Sam
Houston.

{time} 1145

I met a woman who told me about her grandfather, Levi Coffin, who had
helped slaves in the Underground Railroad. Her name was Ms. Holt. She
was just standing there talking to me.
That's what naming the Emancipation Hall means to America. It
reflects the wholeness of America, the wonderment of our history, the
dignity of our history. Yes, slaves built this place, but all Americans
will be able to go into Emancipation Hall, and it will symbolize the
freedom of this Nation. I am so grateful that we have come to this
place at this time.
I ask my colleagues to support this legislation, Emancipation Hall.
Madam Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 2771, the Legislative
Branch Appropriations Act of 2008 and to commend Chairwoman Wasserman
Schultz for her leadership in shepherding this bill though the
legislative process. This legislation funds the House, Senate and
various entities in the legislative branch, including the Library of
Congress, the Capitol Police, the Government Accountability Office, and
the Government Printing Office.
But it does more than that, Madam Chairman. The bill provides funding
for ``Greening the Capitol'' to reduce carbon emissions from the
operations of House buildings and the Capitol. It makes the necessary
investments for critical health and safety needs by funding security
upgrades and addressing health hazards and safety requirements in law.
In short, this legislation demonstrates a commitment by the new
Democratic majority to increased oversight, accountability and fiscal
responsibility.
H.R. 2771 appropriates $3.1 billion for legislative branch entities,
including $1.2 billion for House operations and $1.9 billion for
legislative branch agencies and other offices. The total provided is
$275.7 million (8 percent) less than requested by legislative offices
and agencies and only $122.2 million (4 percent) more than comparable
FY 2007 funding. Nearly 25 percent of this increased funding is
directly attributable to costs associated with the 2008 presidential
election and subsequent inauguration.
Following the long-established practice that each house of Congress
determines its own housekeeping requirements without interference from
the other body, the bill contains no funding for Senate operations. The
bill appropriates $1.2 billion for operations of the House of
Representatives, which is $36.5 million (3 percent) less than
requested, but $54.1 million (5 percent) more than current funding.
The total for the House includes $581 million for members' offices,
also known as MRA's, 5 percent more than current funding, but 5 percent
less than requested and $162.8 million for House committees, 8 percent
more than current funding and 4 percent more than requested. The bill
also provides $169.4 million for the various House officers and
employees, including the Clerk of the House, the Sergeant at Arms, and
the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), 8 percent more than current
funding, but 3 percent less than requested.
H.R. 2771 provides $21.1 million for joint House-Senate items, 13
percent less than current funding and 23 percent less than requested,
when the recent June 8 supplemental request for the Capitol guides is
taken into account. The appropriated amount includes $9.4 million for
the Joint Committee on Taxation, 7 percent more than current funding.

[[Page H6984]]

Madam Chairman, H.R. 2771 provides a total of $1.9 billion for other
offices and legislative branch agencies that directly or indirectly
support congressional operations. This funding is $71.2 million (4
percent) more than current levels but $232.8 million (11 percent) less
than requested. Among the agencies this bill funds are the Architect of
the Capitol; the Capitol Police; the Library of Congress; the
Government Printing Office, the Congressional Budget Office, and the
Government Accountability Office.

For the Architect of the Capitol, the bill provides $348.4 million, 9
percent less than current funding and 12 percent less than requested.
Included in the bill is $27.5 million for the Capital Visitors Center.
I cite with particular approval that the bill renames the center's
Great Hall as ``Emancipation Hall'' in remembrance of the slave labor
that created this mighty edifice.
Earlier this week, the House passed H. Con. Res. 155, which
recognized the historical significance of June 19, 1865, or
``Juneteenth,'' the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery.
On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger,
landed at Galveston, TX, with news that the war had ended and that all
slaves were now free. But this was 2\1/2\ years after President
Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation--which had become official January
1, 1863.
Madam Chairman, I suppose it may just be another irony of life that
the U.S. Capitol was rebuilt during the Civil War and completed around
the time of Juneteenth. This magnificent symbol of democracy, freedom,
and equality could not have been brought in to being without the blood
and sweat and unrequited toil of slave labor. For much of our history
the contributions to our country by slaves and their descendants has
not been fully acknowledged. But in renaming the Great Hall to the
Capitol Visitor Center as ``Emancipation Hall,'' we begin to rectify
this error. It is a wonderful thing we are doing.
The bill also provides $3.9 million to implement the ``Green the
Capitol'' initiative, including $2.7 for shifting from coal to natural
gas for heating in the Capitol power plant, and the report requires the
House CAO to purchase carbon credits. The bill also requires the hiring
of an inspector general.
The bill provides the Capitol Police $286 million, which is $13.1
million (4 percent) less than requested, but $20.3 million (8 percent)
more than current funding. The Library of Congress is slated to receive
$572.5 million, $63.8 million (13 percent) more than the current level,
but $89.1 million (13 percent) less than requested. There is $125.8
million for the Government Printing Office; $37.8 million for the
Congressional Budget Office (CBO); and $503.3 million in net funding
for the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The bill does not
contain any earmarks as defined under House rules.
To conclude, Madam Chairman, I strongly support H.R. 2771 because it
makes the necessary investments for critical health and safety needs by
funding security upgrades and addressing health and safety hazards. I
support this legislation because it reflects the commitment by the new
Democratic majority to increased oversight, accountability and fiscal
responsibility.
I thank Chairwoman Wasserman Schultz for her fine work in bringing
this exceptional legislation to the House floor where it should receive
an overwhelmingly favorable vote.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. WAMP. Madam Chairman, with the understanding that the
distinguished Chair from Florida will close, I would like to yield
myself 1 minute before yielding the balance of our time to the
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston).
I congratulate our chairwoman for just working really hard, having a
lot of hearings, digging in, learning a lot, and then finding a way to
work together through the process, and I'm grateful.
Also, I want to say, with regard to the GAO issue and outside
counsel, using outside counsel is actually commonplace; even the House
itself has used it, the legislative branch agencies have used that. And
then also to say about the greening of the Capitol issue, what we've
heard today should remind us to use great caution because we are all
for greening and environmental efficiency, but we need to be careful
that the Congress itself is not a guinea pig to try a whole lot of
things just to see how they work.
With that, Madam Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the
gentleman from Georgia, the former chairman of the subcommittee, Mr.
Kingston.
Mr. KINGSTON. Thank you, Mr. Wamp. And I thank the Chair and
congratulate both of you on your work for this bill.
I want to say, however, I do not support it. I am very disappointed
that after the bill left the Appropriations Committee and went to the
Rules Committee, a funny thing happened. All this transparency and all
this promise of open government and open rules seemed to fade away in a
dark corner room up on the third floor of this building, because there
were 23 amendments offered, and yet only three of them were accepted.
We talk about bipartisanship and we talk about sunshine in the
process, and yet this is the very bill that basically funds and perhaps
even governs our own body, our own congressional branch, and yet it has
the closed rule. And 20 amendments won't get the sunshine, will not get
the debate because of the Rules Committee under Democrat leadership. I
would say you need to go back to your campaign brochures and look at
all the promises that you made before you pass another rule like this.
One of the casualties of this closed process was an amendment that I
offered that deals with contractors who deal with the Federal
Government, who work for the Federal Government. I'll give you some
examples. December 2005, 22 Mexican nationals were found illegally
working in Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. January
27, 2001, illegal aliens were found working at Fort Benning, Georgia.
March 2007, the Golden State Fence Company was actually fined because,
in building a border security fence, they had hired 10 illegal aliens.
It doesn't stop there. In Louisiana, December 2005, a local company
was busted working on a Veterans Administration hospital because they
had illegal aliens. This is absurd. Now, I've heard from many people
the theme of ``leading by example.'' Perhaps one thing we could do and
absolutely should do is require that if you are contracting for the
Federal Government, that you have a Social Security verification
process going in your business, more than the sham, more than the,
Yeah, but we have an I-9 kind of approach that we're seeing. And this
would actually say you need to be in the ICE, which is the Customs and
Immigration Enforcement Service, you need to be in the ICE Basic Pilot
Program, which is a way to know that your employees have correct and
legal Social Security numbers. That's all the amendment would have
done.
I would predict that this amendment would get lots of bipartisan
support because we see that the biggest issue facing America, besides
Iraq and perhaps energy, is the issue of illegal immigration. And here
was an opportunity for us to make a definitive statement, to have a
significant amendment added to the bill, and the Democrats said no.
I hope they'll reconsider on future legislation.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, I think it's unfortunate that the
gentleman from Georgia, the distinguished former chairman of this
committee, has chosen this opportunity as a message opportunity, as
opposed to working together in a bipartisan way, like the ranking
member and I have done, to make sure that we can provide for the safety
and security of the facilities of this institution.
He knows full well that the Capitol Visitors Center and the employees
of the subcontractors that have been engaged to build that facility,
while moving entirely too slowly, and we certainly have decried the
cost overruns, are required to hire people who legally may work in this
country and are required to ensure that a background check and a
security check has been done on them. So his remarks are unfortunate,
but everybody makes their own choices.
In conclusion, Madam Chair, I am really proud of the work that the
subcommittee and I have engaged in. We offer this legislation to the
House and ask for their support. We have endeavored to make sure that
this bill is fiscally responsible, provides for the life, safety and
security of the needs of the people who work here as well as the people
who visit us here, and make sure that we can engage in Congress's
oversight role and provide for accountability for the American people.
I look forward to continuing to work with Mr. Wamp from Tennessee on
making sure that we can consistently

[[Page H6985]]

provide those initiatives for the American people.
Mr. HOYER. Madam Chairman, I rise today to express concerns about
GAO's response to GAO employees' petition for a union election, which
was filed on May 8 of this year. As a legislative branch agency it is
imperative that GAO conduct its labor relations in a manner that is a
model for all Federal agencies.
I am particularly concerned by GAO's decision to challenge the
eligibility of one-third of the employees covered by the union
petition. GAO is asserting that these employees are not eligible for
representation because they perform a supervisory role.
The facts of their employment status at GAO strongly suggests
otherwise. If these employees are in fact determined to be supervisors,
then they are supervisors in name only because they are prohibited from
performing supervisory functions. Moreover, GAO would have a 1:3 ratio
of supervisors to nonsupervisors. That would be one of the smallest
ratios in any public or private organization.
I am deeply concerned that GAO's challenge is an attempt to delay
balloting until the end of the year, one that will entail a
considerable expenditure of resources that will only distract the
agency from carrying out critical investigatory and oversight work for
the U.S. Congress.
I strongly urge GAO to reconsider its challenge, which will be
costly, undermine agency morale, and distract it from its mission.
Mr. WYNN. Madam Chairman, today I rise to express my concerns with
Government Accountability Office, GAO, management's response to the GAO
employees' petition seeking a union election.
It should be noted that applicable law strictly prohibits the GAO
management from expressing any personal view, argument, opinion, or
statements relating to a union election except to: publicize election
and encourage employees to vote; correct the record with respect to any
false or misleading statement; or inform employees of the Government's
policy relating to labor-management relations and representation as
long as these statements do contain a threat or reprisal or promise of
benefit and are not made under coercive conditions.
Despite these restrictions, Comptroller General Walker was quoted in
a January 23, 2007 publication as stating that he ``will present to the
employees [his] views on the advantages and disadvantages of
unionization.''
Shortly after this statement was published, attorneys for the union
sent a letter advising Comptroller General Walker of his obligation to
remain ``neutral'' during the employees' deliberations regarding
unionization.
The GAO's General Counsel responded acknowledging GAO management's
legal obligation to maintain strict neutrality during a union
organizing campaign.
Further, the Comptroller General met with me shortly before I sent a
letter to him regarding his response to the union organizing
activities.
In that meeting, the Comptroller General tried to discourage me from
sending the letter, and promised not to interfere with the unionization
effort. I informed Mr. Walker that I appreciated his assurances but
that would be sending the letter all the same.
I have the letter dated February 23rd of this year, and signed by a
bipartisan group of 19 House Members and 3 Senators with me and wish to
submit it for the Record.
I am sorry to say that despite these assurances, and since the union
filed the election petition on May 8, 2007, the Comptroller General has
made additional statements that are at odds with his obligation to
remain neutral.
I am very concerned that I have received reports from GAO employees
that Mr. Walker has used his staff meetings to make statements that are
seen by employees as a breach of GAO management's neutrality
obligation.
For example, they report that Mr. Walker has urged employees to ``get
all the facts'', that a union could ``make things different . . .
seriously impact agency decision-making'', and ``slow things down.''
He refers to the GAO employees who seek to form a union as a ``vocal
minority in GAO'' and that ``[d]ue to union organizing efforts, labor
law prevents [him] from helping employees unilaterally. Both of [my]
hands are tied due to the union organizing efforts. . .''
By implication, Mr. Walker asserts that if employees reject union-
representation, Mr. Walker will ``help'' them.
Mr. Walker's statements are not neutral. I find it hard to believe
that GAO analysts need to be reminded to ``get all the facts'' and the
very purpose of a union is to ``impact'' the employer's decision-
making.
Further, it cannot be clearer that the reference to potentially
``slowing things down'' is intended as a negative reference about
unionization.
I rise today not only to call on Mr. Walker to stop interfering with
GAO employees' right to organize and petition for a union election, but
to call on my colleagues to stand together with these GAO employees who
serve Congress and the public.
Let us do all we can to help these dedicated public servants get a
vote on their union election petition this summer.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Chairman, I am grateful for the opportunity to
add my voice of support to our valued public servants at the Government
Accountability Office, GAO. Just as Congress relies on the GAO for the
gold standard of fair and even-handed analysis, so too must we ensure
that our GAO workforce receives that same standard of fairness and
even-handedness when it comes to matters of their own employment.
The issues that gave rise to the language in today's underlying
Legislative Branch Appropriations bill are not new to the Government
Oversight Committee on which I sit, or to the Federal employee
community I am privileged to serve. Like many of my colleagues on the
committee, I have received reports expressing concern about the process
surrounding the recent Band II Restructuring Project, as well as the
methodology used in the 2004 Watson Wyatt Worldwide, WWW, compensation
study. In that regard, I am particularly troubled that the WWW study is
being cited as the reason over 300 hard-working GAO employees who met
or exceeded their performance expectations have been denied annual cost
of living adjustments, notwithstanding public commitments to the
contrary.
As a majority of GAO analysts have now exercised their employment
rights to organize a union, it is critical that the requisite election
process go forward expeditiously and without interference. I thank my
colleagues for this opportunity to voice my support for the GAO
workforce and the rest of our valued Federal employee community.
Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Madam Chairman, I want to begin by taking
the time to congratulate Chairwoman Wasserman Schultz for her excellent
work on this bill as well as in the subcommittee the past couple of
months. It has been a pleasure to work with you and I look forward to
working with all other Members as we continue to address the concerns
of all people working in and visiting the Nation's Capitol.
I would also like to commend Ranking Member Wamp for his work.
Together the chairwoman and ranking member have fostered a collegial
bipartisan atmosphere.
The bill before us is a good bill, a bill that brings us necessary
security upgrades, that shows a commitment to increased oversight, and
does it in a fiscally responsible manner.
Among the bill's many important provisions is funding for the
Greening the Capitol Initiative. This initiative will enable us to
start switching from coal to cleaner burning natural gas for the
running of the Capitol powerplant. Pages live in the shadow of the
Capitol powerplant. It will allow us to purchase energy efficient light
bulbs, and will allow us to begin other energy savings operations
throughout the Capitol Complex.
The bill includes necessary funding for the Office of Compliance,
which will allow that office to conduct oversight of the utility tunnel
improvement efforts and health and safety issues. During hearings in
the subcommittee, I have raised concerns, along with several of my
colleagues, about the utility tunnels and workers and I am pleased to
see that the Office of Compliance will receive the resources it needs
to oversee the ongoing situation.
This bill also includes funding for the Library of Congress and
several of its extremely important programs, such as the Books for the
Blind Program, which provides services to blind and physically
handicapped patrons including the production and distribution of books
and magazines in Braille and electronic media.
Again, I urge my colleagues to support this bill and thank Chairwoman
Wasserman Schultz and Ranking Member Wamp for the efforts they have put
in to the subcommittee this year to ensure that the Capitol Complex and
various agencies around us are run well and efficiently.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my
time.
The CHAIRMAN. All time for general debate has expired.
Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read for amendment under
the 5-minute rule.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 2771

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the
following sums are appropriated, out of any money in the
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the Legislative
Branch for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for
other purposes, namely:

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

salaries and expenses

For salaries and expenses of the House of Representatives,
$1,198,560,000, as follows:

house leadership offices

For salaries and expenses, as authorized by law,
$23,648,000, including: Office of the

[[Page H6986]]

Speaker, $4,761,000, including $25,000 for official expenses
of the Speaker; Office of the Majority Floor Leader,
$2,188,000, including $10,000 for official expenses of the
Majority Leader; Office of the Minority Floor Leader,
$4,090,000, including $10,000 for official expenses of the
Minority Leader; Office of the Majority Whip, including the
Chief Deputy Majority Whip, $1,894,000, including $5,000 for
official expenses of the Majority Whip; Office of the
Minority Whip, including the Chief Deputy Minority Whip,
$1,420,000, including $5,000 for official expenses of the
Minority Whip; Speaker's Office for Legislative Floor
Activities, $499,000; Republican Steering Committee,
$943,000; Republican Conference, $1,631,000; Republican
Policy Committee, $325,000; Democratic Steering and Policy
Committee, $1,295,000; Democratic Caucus, $1,604,000; nine
minority employees, $1,498,000; training and program
development--majority, $290,000; training and program
development--minority, $290,000; Cloakroom Personnel--
majority, $460,000; and Cloakroom Personnel--minority,
$460,000.

Members' Representational Allowances

Including Members' Clerk Hire, Official Expenses of Members, and
Official Mail

For Members' representational allowances, including
Members' clerk hire, official expenses, and official mail,
$581,000,000.

Committee Employees

Standing Committees, Special and Select

For salaries and expenses of standing committees, special
and select, authorized by House resolutions, $133,000,000:
Provided, That such amount shall remain available for such
salaries and expenses until December 31, 2008.

Committee on Appropriations

For salaries and expenses of the Committee on
Appropriations, $29,800,000, including studies and
examinations of executive agencies and temporary personal
services for such committee, to be expended in accordance
with section 202(b) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of
1946 and to be available for reimbursement to agencies for
services performed: Provided, That such amount shall remain
available for such salaries and expenses until December 31,
2008.

Salaries, Officers and Employees

For compensation and expenses of officers and employees, as
authorized by law, $169,393,000, including: for salaries and
expenses of the Office of the Clerk, including not more than
$13,000, of which not more than $10,000 is for the Family
Room, for official representation and reception expenses,
$22,881,000; for salaries and expenses of the Office of the
Sergeant at Arms, including the position of Superintendent of
Garages, and including not more than $3,000 for official
representation and reception expenses, $7,024,000; for
salaries and expenses of the Office of the Chief
Administrative Officer, $116,891,000, of which $6,269,000
shall remain available until expended; for salaries and
expenses of the Office of the Inspector General, $4,457,000;
for salaries and expenses of the Office of Emergency
Planning, Preparedness and Operations, $3,111,000, to remain
available until expended; for salaries and expenses of the
Office of General Counsel, $1,202,000; for the Office of the
Chaplain, $166,000; for salaries and expenses of the Office
of the Parliamentarian, including the Parliamentarian, $2,000
for preparing the Digest of Rules, and not more than $1,000
for official representation and reception expenses,
$1,828,000; for salaries and expenses of the Office of the
Law Revision Counsel of the House, $3,046,000; for salaries
and expenses of the Office of the Legislative Counsel of the
House, $7,406,000; for salaries and expenses of the Office of
Interparliamentary Affairs, $752,000; for other authorized
employees, $170,000; and for salaries and expenses of the
Office of the Historian, $459,000.

Allowances and Expenses

For allowances and expenses as authorized by House
resolution or law, $261,719,000, including: supplies,
materials, administrative costs and Federal tort claims,
$3,688,000; official mail for committees, leadership offices,
and administrative offices of the House, $410,000; Government
contributions for health, retirement, Social Security, and
other applicable employee benefits, $237,410,000; supplies,
materials, and other costs relating to the House portion of
expenses for the Capitol Visitor Center, $2,308,000, to
remain available until expended; Business Continuity and
Disaster Recovery, $17,200,000, of which $5,408,000 shall
remain available until expended; and miscellaneous items
including purchase, exchange, maintenance, repair and
operation of House motor vehicles, interparliamentary
receptions, and gratuities to heirs of deceased employees of
the House, $703,000.

Child Care Center

For salaries and expenses of the House of Representatives
Child Care Center, such amounts as are deposited in the
account established by section 312(d)(1) of the Legislative
Branch Appropriations Act, 1992 (2 U.S.C. 2112), subject to
the level specified in the budget of the Center, as submitted
to the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.

Administrative Provisions

Sec. 101. (a) Requiring Amounts Remaining in Members'
Representational Allowances To Be Used for Deficit Reduction
or To Reduce the Federal Debt.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, any amounts appropriated under this Act for
``HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES--Salaries and Expenses--Members'
Representational Allowances'' shall be available only for
fiscal year 2008. Any amount remaining after all payments are
made under such allowances for fiscal year 2008 shall be
deposited in the Treasury and used for deficit reduction (or,
if there is no Federal budget deficit after all such payments
have been made, for reducing the Federal debt, in such manner
as the Secretary of the Treasury considers appropriate).
(b) Regulations.--The Committee on House Administration of
the House of Representatives shall have authority to
prescribe regulations to carry out this section.
(c) Definition.--As used in this section, the term ``Member
of the House of Representatives'' means a Representative in,
or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.
Sec. 102. Contract for Exercise Facility.--(a) Section
103(a) of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2005
(Public Law 108-447; 118 Stat. 3175), is amended by striking
``private entity'' and inserting ``public or private
entity''.
(b) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect
as if included in the enactment of the Legislative Branch
Appropriations Act, 2005.
Sec. 103. Deposits.--(a) The second sentence of section 101
of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1996 (2 U.S.C.
117j) is amended by striking ``deposited in the Treasury as
miscellaneous receipts'' and inserting ``deposited in the
Treasury for credit to the account of the Office of the Chief
Administrative Officer''.
(b) The amendments made by this section shall apply with
respect to fiscal year 2008 and each succeeding fiscal year.
Sec. 104. House Services Revolving Fund.--(a) Section
105(b) of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2005 (2
U.S.C. 117m(b)) is amended by striking ``the Chief
Administrative Officer'' and inserting the following: ``the
Chief Administrative Officer, including purposes relating to
energy and water conservation and environmental activities
carried out in buildings, facilities, and grounds under the
Chief Administrative Officer's jurisdiction,''.
(b) The amendments made by this section shall apply with
respect to fiscal year 2008 and each succeeding fiscal year.
Sec. 105. Adjustment.--The first sentence of section 5 of
House Resolution 1238, Ninety-first Congress, agreed to
December 22, 1970 (as enacted into permanent law by chapter
VIII of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1971) (2 U.S.C.
31b-5), is amended by striking ``step 1 of level 6'' and
inserting ``step 7 of level 11''.

JOINT ITEMS

For Joint Committees, as follows:

Joint Economic Committee

For salaries and expenses of the Joint Economic Committee,
$4,398,000, to be disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate.

Joint Committee on Taxation

For salaries and expenses of the Joint Committee on
Taxation, $9,416,000, to be disbursed by the Chief
Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives.
For other joint items, as follows:

Office of the Attending Physician

For medical supplies, equipment, and contingent expenses of
the emergency rooms, and for the Attending Physician and his
assistants, including: (1) an allowance of $2,175 per month
to the Attending Physician; (2) an allowance of $725 per
month each to four medical officers while on duty in the
Office of the Attending Physician; (3) an allowance of $725
per month to two assistants and $580 per month each not to
exceed 11 assistants on the basis heretofore provided for
such assistants; and (4) $2,023,000 for reimbursement to the
Department of the Navy for expenses incurred for staff and
equipment assigned to the Office of the Attending Physician,
which shall be advanced and credited to the applicable
appropriation or appropriations from which such salaries,
allowances, and other expenses are payable and shall be
available for all the purposes thereof, $2,820,000, to be
disbursed by the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of
Representatives.

Capitol Guide Service and Special Services Office

For salaries and expenses of the Capitol Guide Service and
Special Services Office, $4,448,000, to be disbursed by the
Secretary of the Senate.

Statements of Appropriations

For the preparation, under the direction of the Committees
on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives, of the statements for the first session of
the 110th Congress, showing appropriations made, indefinite
appropriations, and contracts authorized, together with a
chronological history of the regular appropriations bills as
required by law, $30,000, to be paid to the persons
designated by the chairmen of such committees to supervise
the work.

CAPITOL POLICE

salaries

For salaries of employees of the Capitol Police, including
overtime, hazardous duty pay differential, and Government
contributions for health, retirement, social security,
professional liability insurance, and other applicable
employee benefits, $224,500,000, to be disbursed by the Chief
of the Capitol Police or his designee.

[[Page H6987]]

general expenses

For necessary expenses of the Capitol Police, including
motor vehicles, communications and other equipment, security
equipment and installation, uniforms, weapons, supplies,
materials, training, medical services, forensic services,
stenographic services, personal and professional services,
the employee assistance program, the awards program, postage,
communication services, travel advances, relocation of
instructor and liaison personnel for the Federal Law
Enforcement Training Center, and not more than $5,000 to be
expended on the certification of the Chief of the Capitol
Police in connection with official representation and
reception expenses, $61,500,000, of which $5,000,000 shall
remain available until expended for a radio modernization
program, to be disbursed by the Chief of the Capitol Police
or his designee: Provided, That, notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the cost of basic training for the Capitol
Police at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center for
fiscal year 2008 shall be paid by the Secretary of Homeland
Security from funds available to the Department of Homeland
Security.

Administrative Provisions

(including transfer of funds)

Sec. 1001. Transfer Authority.--Amounts appropriated for
fiscal year 2008 for the Capitol Police may be transferred
between the headings ``salaries'' and ``general expenses''
upon the approval of the Committees on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives and the Senate.
Sec. 1002. Educational Assistance Program.--Section 908 of
the Emergency Supplemental Act, 2002 (2 U.S.C. 1926, Public
Law 107-117; 115 Stat. 2319), as amended, is further amended
in subsection (c) by striking ``$40,000'' and inserting
``$60,000''.
Sec. 1003. Advance Payments.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the United States Capitol Police is
authorized to make advanced payments for obligations when it
has been determined that making such payments is in the best
interest of the government.

OFFICE OF COMPLIANCE

Salaries and Expenses

For salaries and expenses of the Office of Compliance, as
authorized by section 305 of the Congressional Accountability
Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1385), $3,806,000, of which $780,000
shall remain available until September 30, 2009: Provided,
That the Executive Director of the Office of Compliance may,
within the limits of available appropriations, dispose of
surplus or obsolete personal property by interagency
transfer, donation, or discarding: Provided further, That not
more than $500 may be expended on the certification of the
Executive Director of the Office of Compliance in connection
with official representation and reception expenses.

Administrative Provisions

Sec. 1101. Lump-Sum Payments.--(a) The Executive Director
of the Office of Compliance shall have the authority to make
lump-sum payments to reward exceptional performance by an
employee or a group of employees.
(b) Subsection (a) shall apply with respect to fiscal years
beginning after September 30, 2007.
Sec. 1102. Training Programs for Personnel. (a) In
General.--Chapter 41 of title 5, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``Sec. 4122. Training for employees of the Office of
Compliance

``(a) The Executive Director of the Office of Compliance
may, by regulation, make applicable such provisions of this
chapter as the Executive Director determines necessary to
provide for training of employees of the Office of
Compliance. The regulations shall provide for training which,
in the determination of the Executive Director, is consistent
with the training provided by agencies under the preceding
sections of this chapter.
``(b) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management
shall provide the Executive Director of the Office of
Compliance with such advice and assistance as the Executive
Director may request in order to enable the Executive
Director to carry out the purposes of this section.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter
4122 of such title is amended by adding at the end the
following:

``4122. Training for employees of the Office of Compliance.''.

Sec. 1103. Reimbursement.--(a) Section 415 of the
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1415) is
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(d) Reimbursement.--
``(1) Notification of payments made from account.--As soon
as practicable after the Executive Director is made aware
that a payment of an award or settlement under this chapter
has been made from the account described in subsection (a),
the Executive Director shall notify the head of the office to
which the payment is attributable that the payment has been
made, and shall include in the notification a statement of
the amount of the payment.
``(2) Reimbursement by office.--Not later than 180 days
after receiving a notification from the Executive Director
under paragraph (1), the head of the office involved shall
transfer to the account described in subsection (a), out of
any funds available for operating expenses of the office, a
payment equal to the amount specified in the notification.''.
(b) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with
respect to payments made under section 415 of the
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 on or after the date
of the enactment of this Act.

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

Salaries and Expenses

For salaries and expenses necessary for operation of the
Congressional Budget Office, including not more than $4,000
to be expended on the certification of the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office in connection with official
representation and reception expenses, $37,805,000.

ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL

General Administration

For salaries for the Architect of the Capitol, and other
personal services, at rates of pay provided by law; for
surveys and studies in connection with activities under the
care of the Architect of the Capitol; for all necessary
expenses for the general and administrative support of the
operations under the Architect of the Capitol including the
Botanic Garden; electrical substations of the Capitol, Senate
and House office buildings, and other facilities under the
jurisdiction of the Architect of the Capitol; including
furnishings and office equipment; including not more than
$5,000 for official reception and representation expenses, to
be expended as the Architect of the Capitol may approve; for
purchase or exchange, maintenance, and operation of a
passenger motor vehicle, $81,733,000, of which $400,000 shall
remain available until September 30, 2012.

Capitol Building

For all necessary expenses for the maintenance, care and
operation of the Capitol, $24,567,000, of which $8,790,000
shall remain available until September 30, 2012.

Capitol Grounds

For all necessary expenses for care and improvement of
grounds surrounding the Capitol, the Senate and House office
buildings, and the Capitol Power Plant, $9,310,000, of which
$500,000 shall remain available until September 30, 2012.

House Office Buildings

For all necessary expenses for the maintenance, care and
operation of the House office buildings, $66,151,000, of
which $25,400,000 shall remain available until September 30,
2012.

Capitol Power Plant

For all necessary expenses for the maintenance, care and
operation of the Capitol Power Plant; lighting, heating,
power (including the purchase of electrical energy) and water
and sewer services for the Capitol, Senate and House office
buildings, Library of Congress buildings, and the grounds
about the same, Botanic Garden, Senate garage, and air
conditioning refrigeration not supplied from plants in any of
such buildings; heating the Government Printing Office and
Washington City Post Office, and heating and chilled water
for air conditioning for the Supreme Court Building, the
Union Station complex, the Thurgood Marshall Federal
Judiciary Building and the Folger Shakespeare Library,
expenses for which shall be advanced or reimbursed upon
request of the Architect of the Capitol and amounts so
received shall be deposited into the Treasury to the credit
of this appropriation, $83,017,000, of which $4,945,000 shall
remain available until September 30, 2012: Provided, That not
more than $8,000,000 of the funds credited or to be
reimbursed to this appropriation as herein provided shall be
available for obligation during fiscal year 2008.

Library Buildings and Grounds

For all necessary expenses for the mechanical and
structural maintenance, care and operation of the Library
buildings and grounds, $31,638,000, of which $10,140,000
shall remain available until September 30, 2012.

Capitol Police Buildings, Grounds, and Security

For all necessary expenses for the maintenance, care and
operation of buildings, grounds and security enhancements of
the United States Capitol Police, wherever located, the
Alternate Computer Facility, and AOC security operations,
$16,109,000, of which $2,500,000 shall remain available until
September 30, 2012.

Botanic Garden

For all necessary expenses for the maintenance, care and
operation of the Botanic Garden and the nurseries, buildings,
grounds, and collections; and purchase and exchange,
maintenance, repair, and operation of a passenger motor
vehicle; all under the direction of the Joint Committee on
the Library, $8,310,000: Provided, That of the amount made
available under this heading, the Architect may obligate and
expend such sums as may be necessary for the maintenance,
care and operation of the National Garden established under
section 307E of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act,
1989 (2 U.S.C. 2146), upon vouchers approved by the Architect
or a duly authorized designee.

Capitol Visitor Center

For an additional amount for the Capitol Visitor Center
project, $20,000,000 to remain available until expended, and
in addition, $7,545,000 for Capitol Visitor Center operation
costs: Provided, That the Architect of the Capitol may not
obligate any of the funds which are made available for the
Capitol Visitor Center project without an obligation plan
approved by the Committees on

[[Page H6988]]

Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the
Senate.

Administrative Provisions

Sec. 1201. Rosa Parks Statue.--(a) Section 1(a) of Public
Law 109-116 (2 U.S.C. 2131a note) is amended by adding at the
end the following new sentence: ``The Joint Committee may
authorize the Architect of the Capitol to enter into the
agreement required under this subsection on its behalf, under
such terms and conditions as the Joint Committee may
require.''.
(b) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect
as if included in the enactment of Public Law 109-116.
Sec. 1202. (a) Establishment of Office.--There is
established in the Office of the Architect of the Capitol the
Office of the Inspector General, headed by the Inspector
General of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol
(hereafter in this section referred to as the ``Inspector
General'').
(b) Inspector General.--
(1) Appointment.--The Inspector General shall be appointed
by the Architect of the Capitol, in consultation with the
Committee on House Administration of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Rules and Administration
of the Senate, and shall be appointed without regard to
political affiliation and solely on the basis of integrity
and demonstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial
analysis, law, management analysis, public administration, or
investigations.
(2) Term of service.--The Inspector General shall serve for
a term of 5 years, and an individual serving as Inspector
General may be reappointed for not more than 2 additional
terms.
(3) Removal.--The Inspector General may be removed from
office prior to the expiration of his term only by the
Architect of the Capitol. Upon such removal, the Architect
shall promptly communicate the reasons for the removal in
writing to the Committee on House Administration of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Rules and
Administration of the Senate.
(4) Salary.--The Inspector General shall be paid at an
annual rate equal to $1,500 less than the annual rate of pay
in effect for the Architect of the Capitol.
(c) Duties.--
(1) Applicability of duties of inspector general of
executive branch establishment.--The Inspector General shall
carry out the same duties and responsibilities with respect
to the Architect of the Capitol as an Inspector General of an
establishment carries out with respect to an establishment
under section 4 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5
U.S.C. App. 4), under the same terms and conditions which
apply under such section.
(2) Semiannual reports.--The Inspector General shall
prepare and submit semiannual reports summarizing the
activities of the Office of the Inspector General in the same
manner, and in accordance with the same deadlines, terms, and
conditions, as an Inspector General of an establishment under
section 5 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.
5). For purposes of applying section 5 of such Act to the
Inspector General, the Architect of the Capitol shall be
considered the head of the establishment.
(3) Investigations of complaints of employees.--
(A) Authority.--The Inspector General may receive and
investigate complaints or information from an employee of the
Office of the Architect of the Capitol concerning the
possible existence of an activity constituting a violation of
law, rules, or regulations, or mismanagement, gross waste of
funds, abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific
danger to the public health and safety.
(B) Nondisclosure.--The Inspector General shall not, after
receipt of a complaint or information from an employee,
disclose the identity of the employee without the consent of
the employee, unless the Inspector General determines such
disclosure is unavoidable during the course of the
investigation.
(C) Prohibiting retaliation.--An employee of the Office of
the Architect of the Capitol who has authority to take,
direct others to take, recommend, or approve any personnel
action, shall not, with respect to such authority, take or
threaten to take any action against any employee as a
reprisal for making a complaint or disclosing information to
the Inspector General, unless the complaint was made or the
information disclosed with the knowledge that it was false or
with willful disregard for its truth or falsity.
(4) Independence in carrying out duties.--Neither the
Architect of the Capitol nor any other employee of the Office
of the Architect of the Capitol may prevent or prohibit the
Inspector General from carrying out any of the duties or
responsibilities assigned to the Inspector General under this
section.
(d) Powers.--
(1) In general.--The Inspector General may exercise the
same authorities with respect to the Architect of the Capitol
as an Inspector General of an establishment may exercise with
respect to an establishment under section 6(a) of the
Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 6(a)), other
than paragraphs (7) and (8) of such section.
(2) Staff.--
(A) In general.--The Inspector General may appoint and fix
the pay of such personnel as the Inspector General considers
appropriate. Such personnel may be appointed without regard
to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, regarding
appointments in the competitive service, and may be paid
without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter
III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification
and General Schedule pay rates, except that no personnel of
the Office (other than the Inspector General) may be paid at
an annual rate greater than $500 less than the annual rate of
pay of the Inspector General under subsection (b)(4).
(B) Experts and consultants.--The Inspector General may
procure temporary and intermittent services under section
3109 of title 5, United States Code, at rates not to exceed
the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay for
level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of such
title.
(C) Independence in appointing staff.--No individual may
carry out any of the duties or responsibilities of the Office
unless the individual is appointed by the Inspector General,
or provides services procured by the Inspector General,
pursuant to this paragraph. Nothing in this subparagraph may
be construed to prohibit the Inspector General from entering
into a contract or other arrangement for the provision of
services under this section.
(D) Applicability of architect of the capitol personnel
rules.--None of the regulations governing the appointment and
pay of employees of the Office of the Architect of the
Capitol shall apply with respect to the appointment and
compensation of the personnel of the Office, except to the
extent agreed to by the Inspector General. Nothing in the
previous sentence may be construed to affect subparagraphs
(A) through (C).
(3) Equipment and supplies.--The Architect of the Capitol
shall provide the Office with appropriate and adequate office
space, together with such equipment, supplies, and
communications facilities and services as may be necessary
for the operation of the Office, and shall provide necessary
maintenance services for such office space and the equipment
and facilities located therein.
(e) Transfer of Functions.--
(1) Transfer.--To the extent that any office or entity in
the Office of the Architect of the Capitol prior to the
appointment of the first Inspector General under this section
carried out any of the duties and responsibilities assigned
to the Inspector General under this section, the functions of
such office or entity shall be transferred to the Office upon
the appointment of the first Inspector General under this
section.
(2) No reduction in pay or benefits.--The transfer of the
functions of an office or entity to the Office under
paragraph (1) may not result in a reduction in the pay or
benefits of any employee of the office or entity, except to
the extent required under subsection (d)(2)(A).
(f) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on the
date of the enactment of this Act.
Sec. 1203. Flexible Work Schedules.--For purposes of
subchapter II of chapter 61 of title 5, United States Code,
during fiscal year 2008 the Office of the Architect of the
Capitol shall be treated as an agency under section 6121(1)
of such title.
Sec. 1204. Travel and Transportation.--(a) Section 5721 of
title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (G) and (H) as
subparagraphs (H) and (I); and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the following new
subparagraph:
``(G) the Architect of the Capitol;''.
(b) Section 521(1)(B) of the National Energy Conservation
Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 8241(1)(B)) is amended by striking
``(B) through (H)'' and inserting ``(B) through (I)''.
Sec. 1205. Easements.--(a) Subject to subsection (e), the
Architect of the Capitol may grant easements upon such terms
and conditions as he considers advisable (including the
payment of monetary consideration) for rights-of-way over,
in, and upon the grounds of the United States Capitol or the
grounds of any other facility under the jurisdiction and
control of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol to any
person for--
(1) railroad tracks;
(2) gas, water, sewer, and oil pipe lines;
(3) substations for electric power transmission lines and
pumping stations for gas, water, sewer, and oil pipe lines;
(4) canals;
(5) ditches;
(6) flumes;
(7) tunnels;
(8) roads and streets;
(9) poles and lines for the transmission or distribution of
electric power;
(10) poles and lines for the transmission or distribution
of communications signals (including telephone and telegraph
signals) and structures and facilities for the transmission,
reception, and relay of such signals; and
(11) any other purpose that the Architect considers
advisable.
(b)(1) No easement granted under this section may include
more land than is necessary for the easement.
(2) In lieu of, or in addition to, any monetary
consideration provided in exchange for granting of an
easement under this section, the Architect may accept in-kind
consideration with respect to the easement for--
(A) maintenance, protection, alteration, repair,
improvement, or restoration (including environmental
restoration) of property or facilities which are subject to
or affected by the easement;

[[Page H6989]]

(B) construction or acquisition of new facilities;
(C) provision of other property or facilities;
(D) support for facilities operation; and
(E) provision of such other services as the Architect
considers appropriate.
(c)(1) There is established in the Treasury a special
account for the Architect of the Capitol into which the
Architect shall deposit all of the funds which are paid as
consideration for the granting of easements under this
section, and all other proceeds received pursuant to the
granting of easements under this section.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), amounts in the special
account established under this subsection shall be available
to the Architect, in such amounts provided in appropriations
acts, for the following purposes:
(A) The maintenance, protection, alteration, repair,
improvement, or restoration (including environmental
restoration) of property or facilities.
(B) The construction or acquisition of new facilities.
(C) Support for facilities operation.
(3) Any amount paid as consideration for the granting of an
easement, or received pursuant to the granting of an
easement, which is deposited in the special account
established under this subsection may not be used by the
Architect for any purpose which is not related to the same
property or facility over which the easement was granted
unless such use is approved--
(A) in the case of an amount paid as consideration for the
granting of an easement with respect to property under the
jurisdiction of the House of Representatives, by the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives;
(B) in the case of an amount paid as consideration for the
granting of an easement with respect to property under the
jurisdiction of the Senate, by the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate; and
(C) in the case of an amount paid as consideration for the
granting of an easement with respect to any other property,
by the Committees on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and the Senate.
(d) The Architect of the Capitol may terminate all or part
of any easement granted under this section for--
(1) failure to comply with the terms and conditions under
which the easement was granted;
(2) nonuse of the easement for a two-year period; or
(3) abandonment of the easement.
(e) The Architect of the Capitol may grant an easement
under this section upon submission of written notice of the
intent to grant the easement (including notice of the amount
or type of consideration to be received in exchange for
granting the easement) to, and approval of the notice by--
(1) in the case of an easement proposed to be granted with
respect to property under the jurisdiction of the House of
Representatives, the House Office Building Commission;
(2) in the case of an easement proposed to be granted with
respect to property under the jurisdiction of the Senate, the
Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate;
(3) in the case of an easement proposed to be granted with
respect to any other property, the Committee on Rules and
Administration of the Senate and the House Office Building
Commission; and
(4) in the case of an easement proposed to be granted with
respect to any other property, the Committee on House
Administration of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate.
(f) This section shall apply with respect to fiscal year
2008 and each succeeding fiscal year.
Sec. 1206. Design-Build Contracts.--(a) Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the Architect of the Capitol may use
the two-phase selection procedures authorized in section 303M
of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of
1949 (41 U.S.C. 253m) for entering into a contract for the
design and construction of a public building, facility, or
work in the same manner and under the same terms and
conditions as the head of an executive agency under such
section.
(b) This section shall apply with respect to fiscal year
2008 and each succeeding fiscal year.
Sec. 1207. Advance Payments.--During fiscal year 2008 and
each succeeding fiscal year, the Architect of the Capitol may
make payments in advance for obligations of the Office of the
Architect of the Capitol for subscription services if the
Architect determines it to be more prompt, efficient, or
economical to do so.
Sec. 1208. Casualty and Other Insurance for Exhibits and
Works of Art.--(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the Architect of the Capitol may use funds made
available to the Office of the Architect of the Capitol
during a fiscal year to acquire insurance against the loss of
or damage to any exhibit or work of art which is loaned or
leased to the Architect for the United States Capitol, the
Capitol Visitor Center, or the Botanic Garden.
(b) This section shall apply with respect to fiscal year
2008 and each succeeding fiscal year.
Sec. 1209. CVC Maintenance.--Any expenses for the
maintenance of the Capitol Visitor Center shall be treated as
expenses for the maintenance of the Capitol under the heading
``Architect of the Capitol, Capitol Building'', and shall be
subject to the same financial management and reporting
requirements applicable to amounts under such heading.
Sec. 1210. Leasing Authority.--(a) Section 1102(b) of the
Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2004 (2 U.S.C.
1822(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``Committee on Rules and
Administration'' and inserting ``Committees on Appropriations
and Rules and Administration'';
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``the House Office
Building Commission'' and inserting ``the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the House
Office Building Commission''; and
(3) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``, for space to be leased for any other entity
under subsection (a).''.
(b) The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect
as if included in the enactment of the Legislative Branch
Appropriations Act, 2004.
Sec. 1211. (a) The great hall of the Capitol Visitor Center
shall be known and designated as ``Emancipation Hall'', and
any reference to the hall in any law, rule, or regulation
shall be deemed to be a reference to Emancipation Hall.
(b) This section shall apply with respect to fiscal year
2008 and each succeeding fiscal year.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Salaries and Expenses

For necessary expenses of the Library of Congress not
otherwise provided for, including development and maintenance
of the Library's catalogs; custody and custodial care of the
Library buildings; special clothing; cleaning, laundering and
repair of uniforms; preservation of motion pictures in the
custody of the Library; operation and maintenance of the
American Folklife Center in the Library; preparation and
distribution of catalog records and other publications of the
Library; hire or purchase of one passenger motor vehicle; and
expenses of the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board not
properly chargeable to the income of any trust fund held by
the Board, $401,000,000, of which not more than $6,000,000
shall be derived from collections credited to this
appropriation during fiscal year 2008, and shall remain
available until expended, under the Act of June 28, 1902
(chapter 1301; 32 Stat. 480; 2 U.S.C. 150) and not more than
$350,000 shall be derived from collections during fiscal year
2008 and shall remain available until expended for the
development and maintenance of an international legal
information database and activities related thereto:
Provided, That the Library of Congress may not obligate or
expend any funds derived from collections under the Act of
June 28, 1902, in excess of the amount authorized for
obligation or expenditure in appropriations Acts: Provided
further, That the total amount available for obligation shall
be reduced by the amount by which collections are less than
$6,350,000: Provided further, That of the total amount
appropriated, $16,451,000 shall remain available until
expended for the partial acquisition of books, periodicals,
newspapers, and all other materials including subscriptions
for bibliographic services for the Library, including $40,000
to be available solely for the purchase, when specifically
approved by the Librarian, of special and unique materials
for additions to the collections: Provided further, That of
the total amount appropriated, not more than $12,000 may be
expended, on the certification of the Librarian of Congress,
in connection with official representation and reception
expenses for the Overseas Field Offices: Provided further,
That of the total amount appropriated, $4,010,000 shall
remain available until expended for the digital collections
and educational curricula program: Provided further, That of
the total amount appropriated, $600,000 shall remain
available until expended, and shall be transferred to the
Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission for carrying out the
purposes of Public Law 106-173, of which $10,000 may be used
for official representation and reception expenses of the
Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission: Provided further,
That of the total amount appropriated, $6,500,000 shall
remain available until expended for the National Digital
Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program.

Salaries and Expenses

For necessary expenses of the Copyright Office,
$49,827,000, of which not more than $29,826,000, to remain
available until expended, shall be derived from collections
credited to this appropriation during fiscal year 2008 under
section 708(d) of title 17, United States Code: Provided,
That $10,000,000 shall be derived from prior year unobligated
balances: Provided further, That the Copyright Office may not
obligate or expend any funds derived from collections under
such section, in excess of the amount authorized for
obligation or expenditure in appropriations Acts: Provided
further, That not more than $4,398,000 shall be derived from
collections during fiscal year 2008 under sections 111(d)(2),
119(b)(2), 803(e), 1005, and 1316 of such title: Provided
further, That the total amount available for obligation shall
be reduced by the amount by which collections and unobligated
balances are less than $44,224,000: Provided further, That
not more than $100,000 of the amount appropriated is
available for the maintenance of an ``International Copyright
Institute'' in the Copyright Office of the Library of
Congress for

[[Page H6990]]

the purpose of training nationals of developing countries in
intellectual property laws and policies: Provided further,
That not more than $4,250 may be expended, on the
certification of the Librarian of Congress, in connection
with official representation and reception expenses for
activities of the International Copyright Institute and for
copyright delegations, visitors, and seminars: Provided
further, That notwithstanding any provision of chapter 8 of
title 17, United States Code, any amounts made available
under this heading which are attributable to royalty fees and
payments received by the Copyright Office pursuant to
sections 111, 119, and chapter 10 of such title may be used
for the costs incurred in the administration of the Copyright
Royalty Judges program, with the exception of the costs of
salaries and benefits for the Copyright Royalty Judges and
staff under section 802(e).

Congressional Research Service

salaries and expenses

For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of
section 203 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2
U.S.C. 166) and to revise and extend the Annotated
Constitution of the United States of America, $104,518,000:
Provided, That no part of such amount may be used to pay any
salary or expense in connection with any publication, or
preparation of material therefor (except the Digest of Public
General Bills), to be issued by the Library of Congress
unless such publication has obtained prior approval of either
the Committee on House Administration of the House of
Representatives or the Committee on Rules and Administration
of the Senate.

Books for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

salaries and expenses

For salaries and expenses to carry out the Act of March 3,
1931 (chapter 400; 46 Stat. 1487; 2 U.S.C. 135a),
$67,741,000, of which $20,704,000 shall remain available
until expended: Provided, That of the total amount
appropriated, $650,000 shall remain available until expended
for telecommunications services for the blind.

Administrative Provisions

Sec. 1301. Incentive Awards Program.--Of the amounts
appropriated to the Library of Congress in this Act, not more
than $5,000 may be expended, on the certification of the
Librarian of Congress, in connection with official
representation and reception expenses for the incentive
awards program.
Sec. 1302. Reimbursable and Revolving Fund Activities. (a)
In General.--For fiscal year 2008, the obligational authority
of the Library of Congress for the activities described in
subsection (b) may not exceed $122,529,000.
(b) Activities.--The activities referred to in subsection
(a) are reimbursable and revolving fund activities that are
funded from sources other than appropriations to the Library
in appropriations Acts for the legislative branch.
(c) Transfer of Funds.--During fiscal year 2008, the
Librarian of Congress may temporarily transfer funds
appropriated in this Act, under the heading ``LIBRARY OF
CONGRESS'' under the subheading ``Salaries and Expenses'' to
the revolving fund for the FEDLINK Program and the Federal
Research Program established under section 103 of the Library
of Congress Fiscal Operations Improvement Act of 2000 (Public
Law 106-481; 2 U.S.C. 182c): Provided, That the total amount
of such transfers may not exceed $1,900,000: Provided
further, That the appropriate revolving fund account shall
reimburse the Library for any amounts transferred to it
before the period of availability of the Library
appropriation expires.
Sec. 1303. Audit Requirement.--Section 207(e) of the
Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1998 (2 U.S.C. 182(e))
is amended to read as follows:
``(e) Audit.--The revolving fund shall be subject to audit
by the Comptroller General at the Comptroller General's
discretion.''.
Sec. 1304. Transfer Authority.--Amounts appropriated for
fiscal year 2008 for the Library of Congress may be
transferred between any of the headings for which the amounts
are appropriated upon the approval of the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the
Senate.

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

Congressional Printing and Binding

(including transfer of funds)

For authorized printing and binding for the Congress and
the distribution of Congressional information in any format;
printing and binding for the Architect of the Capitol;
expenses necessary for preparing the semimonthly and session
index to the Congressional Record, as authorized by law
(section 902 of title 44, United States Code); printing and
binding of Government publications authorized by law to be
distributed to Members of Congress; and printing, binding,
and distribution of Government publications authorized by law
to be distributed without charge to the recipient,
$87,892,000: Provided, That this appropriation shall not be
available for paper copies of the permanent edition of the
Congressional Record for individual Representatives, Resident
Commissioners or Delegates authorized under section 906 of
title 44, United States Code: Provided further, That this
appropriation shall be available for the payment of
obligations incurred under the appropriations for similar
purposes for preceding fiscal years: Provided further, That
notwithstanding the 2-year limitation under section 718 of
title 44, United States Code, none of the funds appropriated
or made available under this Act or any other Act for
printing and binding and related services provided to
Congress under chapter 7 of title 44, United States Code, may
be expended to print a document, report, or publication after
the 27-month period beginning on the date that such document,
report, or publication is authorized by Congress to be
printed, unless Congress reauthorizes such printing in
accordance with section 718 of title 44, United States Code:
Provided further, That any unobligated or unexpended balances
in this account or accounts for similar purposes for
preceding fiscal years may be transferred to the Government
Printing Office revolving fund for carrying out the purposes
of this heading, subject to the approval of the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and Senate.

Office of Superintendent of Documents

salaries and expenses

(including transfer of funds)

For expenses of the Office of Superintendent of Documents
necessary to provide for the cataloging and indexing of
Government publications and their distribution to the public,
Members of Congress, other Government agencies, and
designated depository and international exchange libraries as
authorized by law, $35,434,000: Provided, That amounts of not
more than $2,000,000 from current year appropriations are
authorized for producing and disseminating Congressional
serial sets and other related publications for fiscal years
2006 and 2007 to depository and other designated libraries:
Provided further, That any unobligated or unexpended balances
in this account or accounts for similar purposes for
preceding fiscal years may be transferred to the Government
Printing Office revolving fund for carrying out the purposes
of this heading, subject to the approval of the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and Senate.

Government Printing Office Revolving Fund

For payment to the Government Printing Office Revolving
Fund, $2,450,000 for workforce retraining and restructuring,
information technology development, infrastructure, and
facilities repair: Provided, That the Government Printing
Office may make such expenditures, within the limits of funds
available and in accordance with law, and to make such
contracts and commitments without regard to fiscal year
limitations as provided by section 9104 of title 31, United
States Code, as may be necessary in carrying out the programs
and purposes set forth in the budget for the current fiscal
year for the Government Printing Office revolving fund:
Provided further, That not more than $5,000 may be expended
on the certification of the Public Printer in connection with
official representation and reception expenses: Provided
further, That the revolving fund shall be available for the
hire or purchase of not more than 12 passenger motor
vehicles: Provided further, That expenditures in connection
with travel expenses of the advisory councils to the Public
Printer shall be deemed necessary to carry out the provisions
of title 44, United States Code: Provided further, That the
revolving fund shall be available for temporary or
intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5,
United States Code, but at rates for individuals not more
than the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay for
level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such
title: Provided further, That activities financed through the
revolving fund may provide information in any format:
Provided further, That the revolving fund and the funds
provided under the headings ``Office of Superintendent of
Documents'' and ``salaries and expenses'' may not be used for
contracted security services at the GPO passport facility.

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

Salaries and Expenses

For necessary expenses of the Government Accountability
Office, including not more than $12,500 to be expended on the
certification of the Comptroller General of the United States
in connection with official representation and reception
expenses; temporary or intermittent services under section
3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, but at rates for
individuals not more than the daily equivalent of the annual
rate of basic pay for level IV of the Executive Schedule
under section 5315 of such title; hire of one passenger motor
vehicle; advance payments in foreign countries in accordance
with section 3324 of title 31, United States Code; benefits
comparable to those payable under sections 901(5), (6), and
(8) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4081(5),
(6), and (8)); and under regulations prescribed by the
Comptroller General of the United States, rental of living
quarters in foreign countries, $503,328,000: Provided, That
not more than $5,413,000 of payments received under section
782 of title 31, United States Code, shall be available for
use in fiscal year 2008: Provided further, That not more than
$2,097,000 of reimbursements received under section 9105 of
title 31, United States Code, shall be available for use in
fiscal year 2008: Provided further, That of the total amount
provided $2,500,000 shall remain available until expended for
technology assessment studies: Provided further, That this
appropriation and appropriations for administrative expenses
of any other department or agency which is a member of the
National Intergovernmental Audit Forum or a Regional
Intergovernmental Audit Forum shall

[[Page H6991]]

be available to finance an appropriate share of either
Forum's costs as determined by the respective Forum,
including necessary travel expenses of non-Federal
participants: Provided further, That payments hereunder to
the Forum may be credited as reimbursements to any
appropriation from which costs involved are initially
financed.

Administrative Provision

Sec. 1401. Annuity of the Comptroller General.--(a) Section
772 of title 31, United States Code, is repealed.
(b) Title 31, United States Code, is amended as follows:
(1) In section 735(a), by striking ``772, 775(a) and (d)''
and inserting ``or 775(b)''.
(2) In the second sentence of section 773(a), by striking
``or, if an election is made'' and all that follows and
inserting a period.
(3) In section 774(b)(2), by striking ``or while receiving
an annuity under section 772 of this title''.
(4) In section 775--
(A) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and redesignating
subsections (c) through (f) as subsections (a) through (d);
(B) in subsection (a) (as so redesignated)--
(i) by striking ``sections 772 and 773'' and inserting
``section 773'', and
(ii) by striking ``subsection (d)'' and inserting
``subsection (b)'';
(C) in subsection (c) (as so redesignated), by striking
``subsection (c) or (d)'' and inserting ``subsection (a) or
(b)''; and
(D) in subsection (d) (as so redesignated)--
(i) by striking ``sections 772 and 773'' and inserting
``section 773'', and
(ii) by striking ``subsection (d)'' and inserting
``subsection (b)''.
(5) In section 776(d)(1), by striking ``section 775(d)''
and inserting ``section 775(b)''.
(6) In section 777(b), by striking the first sentence.
(c) The table of sections for subchapter V of chapter 7 of
subtitle I of title 31, United States Code, is amended by
striking the item relating to section 772.
(d) The amendments made by this section shall apply with
respect to any individual who is appointed as Comptroller
General after the date of the enactment of this Act.

OPEN WORLD LEADERSHIP CENTER TRUST FUND

For a payment to the Open World Leadership Center Trust
Fund for financing activities of the Open World Leadership
Center under section 313 of the Legislative Branch
Appropriations Act, 2001 (2 U.S.C. 1151), $6,000,000.

Administrative Provision

Sec. 1501. (a) Transfer of Open World Leadership Center to
Department of State.--On October 1, 2008, there shall be
transferred (1) to the Department of State, the Open World
Leadership Center established by section 313 of the
Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2001 (2 U.S.C. 1151)
and all functions, personnel, assets, and obligations of the
Center; and (2) to the Secretary of State, all authority of
the Board of Trustees and the Library of Congress under such
section 313.
(b) Maintenance as Distinct Entity.--Following the transfer
under subsection (a), the Open World Leadership Center shall
be maintained as a distinct entity within the Department of
State and, except as otherwise provided in this section, the
provisions of section 313 of the Legislative Branch
Appropriations Act, 2001 (2 U.S.C. 1151) shall continue to
apply to the Center.
(c) Consultation.--The Secretary of State shall consult
with the Board of Trustees of the Open World Leadership
Center to plan and implement the transfer required by
subsection (a).

JOHN C. STENNIS CENTER FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

For payment to the John C. Stennis Center for Public
Service Development Trust Fund established under section 116
of the John C. Stennis Center for Public Service Training and
Development Act (2 U.S.C. 1105), $430,000.

TITLE II--GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 201. Maintenance and Care of Private Vehicles.--No
part of the funds appropriated in this Act shall be used for
the maintenance or care of private vehicles, except for
emergency assistance and cleaning as may be provided under
regulations relating to parking facilities for the House of
Representatives issued by the Committee on House
Administration and for the Senate issued by the Committee on
Rules and Administration.
Sec. 202. Fiscal Year Limitation.--No part of the funds
appropriated in this Act shall remain available for
obligation beyond fiscal year 2008 unless expressly so
provided in this Act.
Sec. 203. Rates of Compensation and Designation.--Whenever
in this Act any office or position not specifically
established by the Legislative Pay Act of 1929 (46 Stat. 32
et seq.) is appropriated for or the rate of compensation or
designation of any office or position appropriated for is
different from that specifically established by such Act, the
rate of compensation and the designation in this Act shall be
the permanent law with respect thereto: Provided, That the
provisions in this Act for the various items of official
expenses of Members, officers, and committees of the Senate
and House of Representatives, and clerk hire for Senators and
Members of the House of Representatives shall be the
permanent law with respect thereto.
Sec. 204. Consulting Services.--The expenditure of any
appropriation under this Act for any consulting service
through procurement contract, under section 3109 of title 5,
United States Code, shall be limited to those contracts where
such expenditures are a matter of public record and available
for public inspection, except where otherwise provided under
existing law, or under existing Executive order issued under
existing law.
Sec. 205. Awards and Settlements.--Such sums as may be
necessary are appropriated to the account described in
subsection (a) of section 415 of the Congressional
Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1415(a)) to pay awards
and settlements as authorized under such subsection.
Sec. 206. Costs of LBFMC.--Amounts available for
administrative expenses of any legislative branch entity
which participates in the Legislative Branch Financial
Managers Council (LBFMC) established by charter on March 26,
1996, shall be available to finance an appropriate share of
LBFMC costs as determined by the LBFMC, except that the total
LBFMC costs to be shared among all participating legislative
branch entities (in such allocations among the entities as
the entities may determine) may not exceed $2,000.
Sec. 207. Landscape Maintenance.--The Architect of the
Capitol, in consultation with the District of Columbia, is
authorized to maintain and improve the landscape features,
excluding streets and sidewalks, in the irregular shaped
grassy areas bounded by Washington Avenue, SW on the
northeast, Second Street SW on the west, Square 582 on the
south, and the beginning of the I-395 tunnel on the
southeast.
Sec. 208. Limitation on Transfers.--None of the funds made
available in this Act may be transferred to any department,
agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government,
except pursuant to a transfer made by, or transfer authority
provided in, this Act or any other appropriation Act.
This Act may be cited as the ``Legislative Branch
Appropriations Act, 2008''.

The CHAIRMAN. No amendment to the bill shall be in order except those
printed in House Report 110-201. Each amendment may be offered only in
the order printed in the report, by a Member designated in the report,
shall be considered read, shall be debatable for the time specified in
the report, 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 division of the question.

Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Inglis of South Carolina

The CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 1 printed
in House Report 110-201.
Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina. Madam Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Amendment No. 1 offered by Mr. Inglis of South Carolina:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. ___. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used to purchase light bulbs unless the light bulbs have
the ``ENERGY STAR'' or ``Federal Energy Management Program''
designation.

The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 502, the gentleman from
South Carolina (Mr. Inglis) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from South Carolina.
Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina. I thank the gentlelady.
I rise with the support of several Members of this amendment. The
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski), the gentlelady from California
(Ms. Harman), and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) and I are
offering an amendment that would require that light bulbs purchased in
the Leg Branch appropriations would comply with the ENERGY STAR and
Federal Energy Management Program identifications. The idea here is to
save some money easily and to save a lot of energy, and of course
energy is money.
Most Americans are still using, and most of the light bulbs in my
house are incandescent bulbs that Thomas Edison invented more than 100
years ago. But only 10 percent of the energy of those light bulbs turns
out to be light; 90 percent is wasted as heat. So we've got something
better. And like many, I'm switching to CFLs. Those lights provide much
more efficient lighting. And it's amazing to think that if every
American just switched one incandescent bulb to an energy-efficient
alternative, we would collectively save more than $8 billion in energy
costs, prevent the burning of 300 billion pounds of coal, and remove 2
million cars' worth of greenhouse gas emissions from our atmosphere.

[[Page H6992]]

This small step in this amendment is part of something else that Mr.
Lipinski and I are working on, which is a Bulb Replacement in
Government and High Efficiency Technology, BRIGHT we call it, Energy
Savings Act, along with Representative Harman, that would require GSA
to replace burned out light bulbs with more efficient options like
compact fluorescent lighting.
The BRIGHT Act has 82 cosponsors, and we look forward to its
adoption. This amendment is a good step toward that goal.
Madam Chair, I am happy to yield to the gentlelady from California
(Ms. Harman).
Ms. HARMAN. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and commend him for
the role that he is playing on a bipartisan basis to assure that
existing standards, the ENERGY STAR standards and the Federal Energy
Management Program standards are adhered to. This effort that we're
making on every appropriations bill will ensure that our practice
complies with our law.
I agree with him that CFLs offer much more efficiency. There are also
LEDs. And hopefully the incandescent bulb makers in America will adjust
their own manufacturing so that they produce efficient light bulbs as
well.
Another bill that we're all cosponsoring that's pending in the Energy
Subcommittee of Energy and Commerce will provide incentives to U.S.
manufacturers to produce more efficient lighting and set proper goals.
Finally, I want to say that bipartisanship has been hailed all
morning. It takes 270 Members of Congress and 60 Members of the Senate
and hopefully one willing President to change the light bulb policy,
and I think we're proceeding that way this morning.
Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina. Madam Chair, I yield to the gentleman
from Michigan (Mr. Upton).
Mr. UPTON. I would just like to compliment the gentleman for his
leadership on this issue, Mr. Lipinski and Ms. Harman. We are seeing
efforts move. And we've learned already that if everyone did this
across the country, we would save 65 billion kilowatts of energy, which
is the equivalent of 80 coal-fired plants. Obviously this is something
we want the Federal Government to do.
I compliment Chairman Obey and Ranking Member Lewis on the floor for
allowing us to proceed without a lot of debate, knowing that we have
strong support for this. I look forward to having this adopted.
Mr. WAMP. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina. I would be happy to yield to the
gentleman from Tennessee.
Mr. WAMP. I just want to commend the authors, commend the ENERGY STAR
Program. This is the kind of greening initiative that actually
resonates. We will accept the amendment.
Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina. Madam Chair, we appreciate very much
the committee's willingness to accept this amendment. It is a good step
forward.
Mr. MICA. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina. I yield to the gentleman from Florida.
Mr. MICA. Madam Chair, I'm pleased to see we're doing something about
this, but the Members should be aware of the procedure in the House of
trying to change a light bulb. I tried to change one. It took filling
out forms. This is to get an energy efficient one. Then two people
appeared several days later, one with a form, one with a light bulb; an
incredible waste of time, energy and taxpayer money to put in one
fluorescent light bulb. I hope the procedure improves in the House.
Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina. I agree with the gentleman. I certainly
hope that we can improve that procedure.
In the meantime, we're improving the bulbs, making us more energy
efficient here in the Capitol, and hopefully throughout these
appropriations bills in this season.
Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, I ask unanimous consent to claim
the time in opposition even though I am supportive of the amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, the gentlewoman from Florida is
recognized for 5 minutes.
There was no objection.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, very briefly, I fully support
this amendment and appreciate the bipartisan cooperation that was
endeavored in moving it forward.
I do want to express some concern about how the light bulbs will be
adapted to the historical lighting that we have in this facility, in
the Capitol complex.
I look forward to working with the sponsors of the amendment as we
move this legislation through conference to ensure that that occurs.
Ms. HARMAN. Will the gentlewoman yield?
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I would be happy to yield to the gentlewoman
from California.
Ms. HARMAN. We do have language in our bill that I just described,
the one pending in the Energy and Commerce Committee to exempt
historical lighting from the new goals. Hopefully we can invent light
bulbs for historical lighting that are more efficient too, but we're
trying to be reasonable here.
In response to earlier comments by Mr. Peterson, the goal is to help
the domestic industry be able to produce efficient lighting. And the
goal is also to set tough enough standards so that we save the enormous
amount of energy that Mr. Upton was just mentioning.
Mr. UPTON. Will the gentlewoman yield?
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I am happy to yield to the gentleman from
Michigan.
Mr. UPTON. We just want to be on the record for this. Working with
the Parliamentarians to make sure that the amendment is germane, we
were not able to use the words ``or equivalent'' when we said ``ENERGY
STAR or equivalent.'' We would like to see that happen in the
conference, but we know that that is legislating on an appropriation
bill.
We would also like to have a provision for historical lighting.
Again, that needs to happen in conference, it cannot happen on the
House floor, and that's why we proceeded in that way. We look forward
to working with all parties to make sure those concerns are addressed.
Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina. Will the gentlewoman yield?
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Reclaiming my time, I would be happy to yield
to the gentleman from South Carolina.
Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina. I think that, as Ms. Harman just
pointed out and as the Chair of the committee has pointed out, there
are some issues involving the aesthetics. You've got to choose the
right light bulb, that's for sure. We've heard some discussion this
morning about how they glow moon glow, or whatever. Well, if you pick
the wrong kind, they do glow moon glow. I've got some in my garage, and
it's a really freaky kind of look in there. But I've got some in the
house that look yellow and nice.
So you've got to pick the right bulbs. And of course in the
historical context we have to pick the right bulbs. And we do have to
deal with the recycling of these. Just like we don't have a sufficient
program for recycling lead batteries around, we toss those in the
trash, we have a problem with the mercury in these. But we can get
there. We start by saving an awful lot of money and a lot of energy.

{time} 1200

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I yield to the gentlewoman from California.
Ms. HARMAN. Madam Chairman, I did not mention earlier and would like
to say that the Speaker's initiative, her Green Initiative, does also
address this issue of trying to move away from inefficient incandescent
bulbs. One more time, our goal would be to make incandescent bulbs, as
well as other bulbs, more efficient.
We are not choosing winners in this effort. But surely, everyone must
understand that it takes 18 seconds to change a light bulb. This is
something all of us can do quite quickly, except you have to comply
with the House procedures that we just heard about.
I am very excited about the notion that we are setting an example in
this House and in this Congress about more efficient lighting.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I look forward to working with all of my
colleagues and Mr. Wamp as we move through the conference process and
commend them, as well as Speaker

[[Page H6993]]

Pelosi, for including the shifting from the light bulbs we use now to
energy-efficient and environmentally friendly light bulbs as part of
the initiative of the greening of the Capitol.
I yield back my time.
The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Inglis).
The amendment was agreed to.

Amendment No. 2 offered by Mr. Flake

The CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 2 printed
in House Report 110-201.
Mr. FLAKE. Madam Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Amendment No. 2 offered by Mr. Flake:
In the item relating to ``Government Printing Office--
Congressional Printing and Binding'', insert after the dollar
amount the following: ``(reduced by $3,200,000)''.

The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 502, the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. Flake) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
Mr. FLAKE. I thank the Chair.
I brought with me today a stack of Congressional Records. All of us
are familiar with these. We used to use them quite a bit, but today not
so much. Today most of us just simply go on the computer and have a
searchable version that is much faster, searchable back to 1989. With
the click of a button, you can find what you are looking for. So we
don't use these as much. Unfortunately, we haven't caught up with the
times.
These are just a few of the thousands and thousands that are
delivered that are never read. This was just from one office, the
Legislative Research Center in the Cannon Building near my office.
These are those that are just going to be thrown away today. One office
that collects a few of these will throw these away just today.
This year alone these records will cost the American taxpayer over
$25 million. Recently my office did an informal survey of about 100
offices. We went in and said, ``What do you do with the Congressional
Record that comes?'' Virtually all of them, nearly every one of those
100 offices, said, ``We throw them away. We wish they would stop
delivering them.'' We had some offices say that they had requested that
they stop being delivered. They are still delivered.
So they stack up. They are thrown away. They fill up landfills. I
believe the figure is something like 57 tons of paper each year are
thrown away just here.
Before the Congressional Record was put on line, as I mentioned, they
were useful, but they are not now. We obviously do have to have some
paper copies. We simply don't need so many.
Our amendment would simply do this, and I should add, this amendment
was offered by myself and Mr. Blumenauer 2 years ago and was accepted
by the then majority. It was simply taken out in the conference. I
think we would do well to accept it again today.
This amendment would simply save $3.2 million annually by instructing
the Government Printing Office to print only half as many copies. Today
only 5,600 are printed. Half would do us just fine. That amendment
would not reduce the funding for preparation, data collection or other
aspects of the Record. It would simply reduce the ink-and-paper copies
for half of what we print. So those who might oppose this amendment
might say that it is going to cut deep and cut personal and others. It
won't as long as fewer records are printed. The costs will go down.
This is simply a good way to save taxpayer money. It will show the
country that we are interested ourselves in cleaning up our own house,
making sure that we move ahead in a fiscally responsible manner.
Mr. WAMP. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. FLAKE. I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee.
Mr. WAMP. I thank the gentleman.
You know, when we were in the majority, we supported and accepted
this approach. I believe this is part, or should be part, of the
Speaker's Green the Capitol Initiative. This is a lot of trees. It is a
space efficiency issue. They are storing all this paper. It is a
government efficiency issue.
Why don't we, Madam Chair, just accept this amendment, as we have in
previous years, address this issue in conference, move right along and
get Members on their way this afternoon?
I thank the gentleman for offering this amendment. I certainly
support it.
Mr. FLAKE. I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentlewoman from Florida is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to this
amendment for a number of reasons.
While I support the gentleman, who is from the same generation that I
am, in his endeavor to make sure that we can communicate and receive
information in an electronic format, the approach that the gentleman is
taking is absolutely inappropriate and won't accomplish his goal.
We have crafted a tight and fiscally responsible bill. As I outlined
in general debate, we have held the bill to a 4.1 percent increase. We
actually held it to $276 million below the total request.
In their traditional views, the minority agreed. They said that, on
balance, the funding provided in this bill to operate the legislative
branch agencies is fiscally responsible. This amendment would add to
existing shortfalls. It would add to what is already a growing funding
shortfall in this account.
To be fiscally responsible, we have had to make some tough choices,
including funding levels for GPO. The bill already, our colleagues
should know, holds congressional printing and binding $62,000 below
what was provided in fiscal year 2007. GPO is expecting an $8 million
shortfall in this account in fiscal year 2007 in addition to a $3
million shortfall in fiscal year 2006. These shortfalls are due to the
flat funding provided to this account since fiscal year 2007, in spite
of increasing costs and workloads. These shortfalls will continue in
fiscal year 2008. Eventually they are going to have to be paid.
This amendment would make that situation even worse. Most of the
appropriation for congressional printing and binding goes towards
Congress' printing requirements. I want to point out that the gentleman
is incorrect when he states that there is a statute. While there is a
statutory number in the Code that the GPO is told to print, they only
print the number that is requisitioned. In other words, they only
print, on a daily basis, the number that they are asked for. We have a
deficit in the account that allows them to print the number that is
asked for. GPO has no control over those requirements. It's required by
law to produce the information.
If the gentleman is concerned about the number of printed materials
being produced, he should take it up with the authorizing committee,
the Joint Committee on Printing, and seek reductions in the amount of
material that GPO is required to print in the Code.
Simply gratuitously cutting out and leaving people with the
impression that we are doing something, when we are not, and all we are
doing here is cutting $3.2 million when GPO will still be required to
print the Code, is the wrong approach. The suggestion that this
amendment was accepted previously but then cut out in conference also
leads people to believe that we have done something when we have not.
I refuse to be disingenuous when it comes to being forthright with
the American people. We do need to make sure that in the future the
Congressional Record is produced electronically. This is not the right
way to do it. It is irresponsible. I urge my colleagues to oppose this
amendment.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLAKE. May I inquire as to the time remaining.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman controls 1\1/2\ minutes.
Mr. FLAKE. Before yielding 1 minute to the gentleman from Oregon, let
me point out, here is the Code. The Code states that we are supposed to
print 30,000 a day, yet we only print 5,600. So, it is not the case
that the GPO has to follow what the statute says. They are

[[Page H6994]]

required to do by demand. And they already do under; they can simply do
less and save a lot of money.
I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).
Mr. BLUMENAUER. I appreciate the opportunity to join with my
colleague again in this effort to try and reduce this output. I respect
my friend, the chairwoman of the subcommittee, but I do think it is
time for us to take a more aggressive action to reduce what is a
gratuitous waste of resources and is a signal, I think, for us all to
find ways to be able to deal with the electronic era.
This is a holdover. We have attempted in the past to be able to scale
it down. I have also checked with legislative counsel to find out what
we need to repeal. But I have been told that simply by enacting our
amendment today, we will, in fact, achieve that objective in terms of
reducing the number of unnecessary printed copies.

{time} 1215

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, I just want to point out that the
amendment offered by Mr. Flake does not say anything about reducing the
number of copies printed of the Congressional Record. It simply cuts
$3.2 million out of the Congressional Printing and Binding account. It
provides no direction. It simply cuts that funding. There is no
assumption that any of what the gentleman is suggesting would occur. It
would simply further add to the deficit.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLAKE. Will the gentlelady yield, since I am out of time?
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I believe the gentleman has his own time.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman's time has expired.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. How much time do I have left?
The CHAIRMAN. The gentlewoman controls 1\1/2\ minutes.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I yield the gentleman 30 seconds.
Mr. FLAKE. Thank you. I appreciate the courtesy.
Let me point out, just as with any program that is not an
entitlement, everything is subject to appropriation. The Government
Printing Office is not bound, no pun intended, to print as many copies
as they think they need. They can print as many as they have money for.
We were very careful in taking $3.2 million, to take only the printing
costs for half of the number that are printed already. I think that is
reasonable.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, I really believe that we should
approach this in the appropriate way. If we want to change the statute
and go to electronic production of the Congressional Record, that is
what we should do. We should not simply hamstring the GPO by requiring
them to print a Congressional Record and not ensuring they have
adequate funds to do that, when they are already in a deficit
situation.
I urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment.
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is simple: by
instructing the Government Printing Office (GPO) to print half the
number of Congressional Records daily, we will save $3.2 million in
taxpayer dollars and 57 tons of paper annually.
An unofficial survey of House offices revealed that many swiftly
discard their daily copy of the Congressional Record. And why shouldn't
they? The full, easily searchable text of the Record is available
online back to the year 1989. As electronic viewing of this resource
becomes more widespread, we must continue to adjust the number of
printed copies accordingly. In fact, since 1995 we have reduced the
number of daily printed Congressional Records from 18,000 to 5,600 per
day.
We have an opportunity to save millions of dollars by taking
advantage of paperless technology and pushing House operations into the
21st Century. I commend Speaker Pelosi in her recent effort to ``Green
the Capitol'' and this is a common-sense amendment that is consistent
with that initiative.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I yield back the balance of my time.
The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake).
The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. FLAKE. Madam Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona will be
postponed.

Amendment No. 3 Offered by Mr. Jordan of Ohio

The CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 3 printed
in House Report 110-201.
Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. Madam Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Amendment No. 3 offered by Mr. Jordan of Ohio:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. Across-the-Board Reduction.--Each amount
appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act that is
not required to be appropriated or otherwise made available
by a provision of law is hereby reduced by 4 percent.

The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 502, the gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. Jordan) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.
Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. I thank the Chair.
I want to thank the Chair of the committee and the ranking member for
their good work and the committee's work. I know for the Chair in
particular, I want to congratulate her on the first bill coming through
her subcommittee, a very important subcommittee of the Appropriations
Committee. So I appreciate the fine work done there and the oversight
of the visitors center. The passion with which the ranking member spoke
about Emancipation Hall I thought was right on target. So I appreciate
the work done.
This amendment, just like the amendment I offered last night to the
Foreign Operations bill, simply says this: instead of increasing
spending by 4 percent, let's hold the line. I articulated reasons last
night in the long debate that this body had over why that is
appropriate, why that makes sense. Because there is in fact a crisis
looming for this country if we don't get control of the spending here
in the United States Congress, in the United States Senate and the
United States Government.
It is important that we recognize that. I articulated last night too,
don't take my word for it. Yesterday's Washington Post talked about
this growing problem that is coming in the very near future, and it is
important we understand that.
I won't go through all the arguments again here, because I know we
have had a long debate and people want to get on their way and get back
to their district.
I will just say this: ever-increasing spending inevitably leads to
ever-increasing taxes. The American families, the American people are
overtaxed because our government spends too much. It has been a problem
for both parties. We need to get it under control.
Millions of families, millions of families across this country are
going to live on last year's budget. It is not too much to ask the
United States Government, in particular the United States Congress, to
do the same.
Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the
amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentlewoman from Florida is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, this is a fiscally responsible
bill. Again, we have held the bill to a 4.1 percent increase, only $122
million over actual spending in fiscal year 2007, and if you take into
consideration the $50 million rescission in the CR, we are at a 2.3
percent increase. That is $276 million below the total budget request.
Again, I want to point to the minority views, where the minority
agreed this bill is fiscally responsible. They say, ``On balance, the
funding provided in this bill to operate the legislative branch
agencies is fiscally responsible.''
This bill funds the must-have's, not the nice-to-have's, by targeting
increases towards keeping the agencies running, providing Congress with
the tools it needs to perform its oversight responsibility, and funding
critical security and life safety projects.

[[Page H6995]]

The amendment, if adopted, would eliminate $50 million worth of
critical health and safety and security projects that we would be
unable to fund if a 4 percent across-the-board reduction were adopted.
This amendment would eliminate funding for things like the $5 million
we have in this bill to ensure that the Capitol Police have
interoperable radios. According to the new police chief, a new radio
system is their number one priority. The existing radio system is 20
years old. It is antiquated and outdated. It is not encrypted nor
secure, and it is not interoperable. Hurricane Katrina showed the
importance of interoperable communications during a crisis.
It also would eliminate funding potentially monitoring the utility
tunnel abatement. We had tunnel workers who were subjected to
horrendous conditions and have been exposed to asbestos, and we are
endeavoring to make sure that we can make up for that and provide the
funding for the abatement. That would be impossible if this amendment
were adopted.
We provide $1.2 million for escape hoods for our Library visitors, $1
million for emergency exit signs and lighting in the capital, and
emergency lighting upgrades in Rayburn.
The amendment would also impair our agency's work. It would put the
legislative branch agencies back to a fiscal year 2006 funding level
since there was no increase in 2007.
In practical terms, the impact of this would be less capability on
the part of GAO to assist Congress in its oversight responsibilities;
fewer and less timely products from CRS to assist Members in their
legislative duties, a further reduction in CBO's ability to score
Member bills, which was pointed out in the Rules Committee as already
being a problem; elimination of the digital talking book conversion
program for the blind; a reduced ability for the Office of Compliance
to pursue health safety issues around the Capitol complex, even as we
get ready to add new space with the approaching opening of the CVC; the
Architect's operations would be strained to keep up with increases in
utility costs; and, finally, since 77 percent of this bill is labor
costs, as is most of the increase, this amendment would surely result
in a reduction in our workforce.
It is irresponsible. Mr. Wamp and I have endeavored to put forward a
bill that is fiscally responsible, fiscally tight, and ensures the
life, safety and security needs of the people who work and visit here.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Wamp), the distinguished ranking member of the
committee.
Mr. WAMP. I wasn't going to say anything, but I just want to say that
because we have not accepted commonsense amendments like the previous
amendment, and because the Rules Committee only granted three
amendments in order, we are losing a lot of support for this bill on
this side of the aisle unnecessarily because I do think we worked hard
to make it fiscally responsible. But they are making a strong case, and
we have closed the process down instead of opening it up.
Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman
from Texas (Mr. Hensarling), the chairman of the Republican Study
Committee.
Mr. HENSARLING. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I want to
thank him for his outstanding leadership on the issue of fiscal
responsibility, coming to the floor and offering this series of
amendments.
I do want to thank the chairman of the subcommittee and the ranking
member. Certainly relative to many other appropriations bills that we
have seen and will see on this floor, relatively speaking, this is a
more fiscally responsible bill.
But we can never forget that this is not our money; this is the
people's money. And every time we are increasing some aspect of the
Federal budget, we are taking it away from some family budget. We are
taking it away from some family that had a dream of having a down
payment on their first home. We are taking it away from some family who
was putting that money away for college tuition for one of their
children.
So contrary to the debate we hear and the rhetoric about cuts, what
this amendment does is say, you know, let's lead by example. In the big
scheme of the Federal budget, I know this isn't a huge amount of money.
But when you think about having to save us from the single largest tax
increase in history that the Democrat majority put in their last
budget, shouldn't we lead by example? Is this apocalyptic vision that
we hear, is this going to happen if we give the legislative branch the
same money they had last year? Somehow there are families all across
America who are having to make do on the same income they had last
year.
Now, again, relative to other bills, this is more fiscally
responsible. But it comes down to a simple choice: Do you want to put
us on the path for the largest single tax increase in American history
that would impose $3,000 of additional tax burden on American families,
or do you want to put us on the path of fiscal responsibility? We
should support the gentleman's amendment.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, how much time do I have left?
The CHAIRMAN. The gentlewoman controls 2 minutes. The gentleman from
Ohio controls 1 minute.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I would ask that he speak for 1 minute and
then we will close in opposition.
Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. I will be brief and just point out this: we heard
some of the terrible things that are going to happen if we keep the
spending at the same level we had last year.
The American people need to understand this, Madam Chair: $3.1
billion is what this bill spends. My amendment would say $3 billion, $3
billion to run the United States Congress. You ask American families
that, they would probably say, you know, that is probably enough. They
can probably get by on $3 billion versus $3.1 billion. That is all this
does. As the gentleman from Texas pointed out, in the course of the
appropriation bills we have been dealing with, this is fairly fiscally
responsible. But $3 billion is enough to run the United States
Congress.
That is all this amendment would do, keep us where we are right now.
Things are working fine now. Why can't we do that in the future?
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, at this time I yield the balance
of our time to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran), the former
ranking member of this subcommittee.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 2
minutes.
Mr. MORAN of Virginia. I thank the Chair, and I particularly want to
congratulate Chairman Wasserman Schultz, because she took on a very
difficult responsibility and she has performed in a conscientious,
extraordinarily fiscally responsible manner.
This is a bill that all of the Members have an interest in, and all
of the Members have issues within this bill that they would
particularly like to see increased, and some decreased. But it is a
difficult one.
She has told me how much she appreciates the ranking member, Mr.
Wamp, and I hope Mr. Wamp is listening, how much she appreciates Mr.
Wamp's cooperation in coming up with a bill that was acceptable to the
overwhelming number of the full Appropriations Committee members when
they reported it out to the floor.
Now, this bill is $276 million below the President's request. That is
extraordinary, and it is the first time that the Legislative Branch
appropriations bill has reflected that deep a cut versus the
President's request. So if you are looking for fiscal responsibility,
you will find it in this bill, more than any other appropriations bill.
We congratulate Mr. Wamp, as well as the chairwoman, for coming up with
a bill that accomplishes that kind of fiscal responsibility.
But if anybody else wants to cut another $100 million, which this
amendment would do, below that, then it is concomitant upon the
proponent of that amendment to say exactly where you would make those
cuts. Because this is the result of a lot of give and take, a lot of
compromise, a lot of very conscientious investigation.
The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan).
The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. Madam Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

[[Page H6996]]

The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Ohio will be postponed.

Announcement by the Chairman

The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, proceedings will
now resume on those amendments on which further proceedings were
postponed, in the following order:
Amendment No. 2 by Mr. Flake of Arizona.
Amendment No. 3 by Mr. Jordan of Ohio.
The Chair will reduce to 5 minutes the time for any electronic vote
after the first vote in this series.

Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Flake

The CHAIRMAN. The unfinished business is the demand for a recorded
vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake)
on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes
prevailed by voice vote.
The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
The Clerk redesignated the amendment.

Recorded Vote

The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 218,
noes 191, not voting 28, as follows:

[Roll No. 545]

AYES--218

Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Altmire
Bachmann
Bachus
Barrett (SC)
Barrow
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bean
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blumenauer
Blunt
Boehner
Bono
Boozman
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Buchanan
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Buyer
Calvert
Camp (MI)
Campbell (CA)
Cannon
Cantor
Capito
Carney
Castle
Chabot
Coble
Cohen
Cole (OK)
Conaway
Cooper
Crenshaw
Cuellar
Culberson
Davis (KY)
Davis, David
Davis, Tom
Deal (GA)
Dent
Diaz-Balart, M.
Donnelly
Doolittle
Drake
Dreier
Duncan
Ehlers
Ellsworth
Emerson
English (PA)
Fallin
Feeney
Ferguson
Filner
Flake
Forbes
Fortenberry
Fossella
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Garrett (NJ)
Gerlach
Giffords
Gilchrest
Gillibrand
Gillmor
Gingrey
Gohmert
Goode
Goodlatte
Granger
Graves
Hall (NY)
Hall (TX)
Harman
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Heller
Hensarling
Herger
Herseth Sandlin
Hobson
Hoekstra
Hooley
Hulshof
Inglis (SC)
Issa
Jindal
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Jordan
Keller
Kind
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kirk
Klein (FL)
Kline (MN)
Knollenberg
Kuhl (NY)
Lamborn
Lampson
Langevin
Latham
LaTourette
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
LoBiondo
Lucas
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Mahoney (FL)
Manzullo
Marchant
Marshall
Matheson
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul (TX)
McCotter
McCrery
McHenry
McHugh
McKeon
McNerney
Melancon
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Mitchell
Murphy, Patrick
Murphy, Tim
Musgrave
Myrick
Neugebauer
Pearce
Pence
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Poe
Porter
Price (GA)
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Radanovich
Ramstad
Regula
Rehberg
Reichert
Renzi
Reynolds
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Sali
Saxton
Schmidt
Schwartz
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shays
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Skelton
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Souder
Stearns
Taylor
Terry
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Turner
Udall (CO)
Upton
Walberg
Walden (OR)
Walsh (NY)
Wamp
Welch (VT)
Weldon (FL)
Weller
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (OH)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Wu
Young (AK)
Young (FL)

NOES--191

Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Andrews
Arcuri
Baca
Baird
Baldwin
Becerra
Berkley
Berman
Berry
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Bordallo
Boren
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd (FL)
Boyda (KS)
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Brown, Corrine
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardoza
Carnahan
Carson
Castor
Chandler
Christensen
Clarke
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Conyers
Costa
Costello
Courtney
Crowley
Cummings
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
Davis, Lincoln
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
Diaz-Balart, L.
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Edwards
Ellison
Emanuel
Engel
Eshoo
Etheridge
Farr
Fattah
Frank (MA)
Gonzalez
Gordon
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hare
Higgins
Hill
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hirono
Hodes
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hoyer
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kagen
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kucinich
Lantos
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lynch
Maloney (NY)
Markey
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum (MN)
McDermott
McIntyre
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Michaud
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Mollohan
Moore (KS)
Moore (WI)
Moran (VA)
Murphy (CT)
Murtha
Nadler
Neal (MA)
Norton
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Perlmutter
Peterson (MN)
Pomeroy
Price (NC)
Rahall
Rangel
Reyes
Rodriguez
Ross
Rothman
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Salazar
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Scott (GA)
Scott (VA)
Serrano
Sestak
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Shuler
Sires
Slaughter
Solis
Space
Spratt
Stark
Stupak
Sutton
Tanner
Tauscher
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thornberry
Tierney
Towns
Udall (NM)
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz (MN)
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson
Watt
Weiner
Wexler
Woolsey
Wynn
Yarmuth

NOT VOTING--28

Baker
Bonner
Brown (SC)
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Carter
Cramer
Cubin
Davis, Jo Ann
Everett
Faleomavaega
Fortuno
Hastert
Hastings (FL)
Hunter
Johnson (GA)
LaHood
McGovern
McMorris Rodgers
Moran (KS)
Napolitano
Nunes
Ortiz
Paul
Sanchez, Loretta
Sullivan
Tancredo
Waxman
Wicker

{time} 1251

Messrs. BAIRD, CHANDLER, MEEHAN, MEEK of Florida, CARNAHAN and RUSH
changed their vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
Messrs. EHLERS, CRENSHAW, MAHONEY of Florida, LaTOURETTE, ELLSWORTH,
Ms. HARMAN and Mr. PORTER changed their vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
So the amendment was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
Stated against:
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Madam Speaker, on Friday, June 22, 2007, I was
absent during rollcall vote No. 545. Had I been present, I would have
voted ``no'' on agreeing to the Flake of Arizona amendment.

Amendment No. 3 Offered by Mr. Jordan of Ohio

The CHAIRMAN. The unfinished business is the demand for a recorded
vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan)
on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes
prevailed by voice vote.
The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
The Clerk redesignated the amendment.

Recorded Vote

The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The CHAIRMAN. This will be a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 177,
noes 231, not voting 29, as follows:

[Roll No. 546]

AYES--177

Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Altmire
Bachmann
Bachus
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blunt
Boehner
Bono
Boozman
Brady (TX)
Buchanan
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Buyer
Calvert
Camp (MI)
Campbell (CA)
Cannon
Cantor
Capito
Castle
Chabot
Coble
Cole (OK)
Conaway
Crenshaw
Culberson
Davis (KY)
Davis, David
Davis, Tom
Deal (GA)
Dent
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Drake
Dreier
Duncan
English (PA)
Fallin
Feeney
Ferguson
Flake
Forbes
Fossella
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Garrett (NJ)
Giffords
Gingrey
Gohmert
Goode
Goodlatte
Granger
Graves
Hall (TX)
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Heller
Hensarling
Herger
Hobson
Hoekstra
Hulshof
Inglis (SC)
Issa
Jindal
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Jordan
Keller
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kline (MN)
Knollenberg
Lamborn
Lampson
Latham
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
LoBiondo
Lucas
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Mahoney (FL)
Manzullo
Marchant
Marshall
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul (TX)
McCotter
McCrery
McHenry
McHugh
McKeon
McNerney
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary

[[Page H6997]]

Mitchell
Murphy, Patrick
Murphy, Tim
Musgrave
Myrick
Neugebauer
Pearce
Pence
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Poe
Price (GA)
Putnam
Radanovich
Ramstad
Regula
Rehberg
Reichert
Renzi
Reynolds
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Sali
Saxton
Schmidt
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shays
Shimkus
Shuster
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Souder
Stearns
Taylor
Terry
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Turner
Upton
Walberg
Walden (OR)
Walsh (NY)
Wamp
Weldon (FL)
Weller
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Young (AK)

NOES--231

Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Andrews
Arcuri
Baca
Baird
Baldwin
Barrow
Bean
Becerra
Berkley
Berman
Berry
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Bordallo
Boren
Boswell
Boucher
Boustany
Boyd (FL)
Boyda (KS)
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Brown, Corrine
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardoza
Carnahan
Carney
Carson
Castor
Chandler
Christensen
Clarke
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Costello
Courtney
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
Davis, Lincoln
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Donnelly
Doolittle
Doyle
Edwards
Ehlers
Ellison
Ellsworth
Emanuel
Emerson
Engel
Eshoo
Etheridge
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Fortenberry
Frank (MA)
Gerlach
Gilchrest
Gillibrand
Gillmor
Gonzalez
Gordon
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hall (NY)
Hare
Harman
Herseth Sandlin
Higgins
Hill
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hirono
Hodes
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Hoyer
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kagen
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kind
Kirk
Klein (FL)
Kucinich
Kuhl (NY)
Langevin
Lantos
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
LaTourette
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lynch
Maloney (NY)
Markey
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum (MN)
McDermott
McIntyre
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Melancon
Michaud
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Mollohan
Moore (KS)
Moore (WI)
Moran (VA)
Murphy (CT)
Murtha
Nadler
Neal (MA)
Norton
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Perlmutter
Peterson (MN)
Pomeroy
Porter
Price (NC)
Rahall
Rangel
Reyes
Rodriguez
Ross
Rothman
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Salazar
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schwartz
Scott (GA)
Scott (VA)
Serrano
Sestak
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Shuler
Simpson
Sires
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Space
Spratt
Stark
Stupak
Sutton
Tanner
Tauscher
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Towns
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz (MN)
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson
Watt
Weiner
Welch (VT)
Wexler
Wilson (OH)
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
Yarmuth
Young (FL)

NOT VOTING--29

Announcement by the Chairman

The CHAIRMAN (during the vote). Two minutes left in this vote.

{time} 1259

So the amendment was rejected.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
Stated against:
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Madam Speaker, on Friday, June 22, 2007, I was
absent during rollcall vote No. 546. Had I been present, I would have
voted ``no'' on agreeing to the Jordan of Ohio Amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. Under the rule, the Committee rises.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mrs.
Tauscher) having assumed the chair, Ms. Baldwin, Chairman of the
Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that
that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2771)
making appropriations for the Legislative Branch for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 2008, and for other purposes, pursuant to House
Resolution 502, she reported the bill back to the House with sundry
amendments adopted by the Committee of the Whole.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, the previous question is
ordered.
Is a separate vote demanded on any amendment reported from the
Committee of the Whole? If not, the Chair will put them en gros.
The amendments were agreed to.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the engrossment and third
reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was
read the third time.

{time} 1300

Motion to Recommit Offered by Mr. Kingston

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Speaker, I offer a motion to recommit.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the bill?
Mr. KINGSTON. I am in its current form.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to
recommit.
The Clerk read as follows:

Mr. Kingston moves to recommit the bill, H.R. 2771, to the
Committee on Appropriations with instructions to report the
same back to the House forthwith with the following
amendment:
On page 16, line 14, after the dollar amount, insert the
following: ``(decreased by $16,000,000)''.
On page 16, line 15, after the dollar amount, insert the
following: ``(decreased by $16,000,000)''.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Georgia is recognized for
5 minutes.
Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Speaker, I offer this amendment to bring
something to the Members' attention that I think is very important.
We are about to create a fourth building for the House of
Representatives. We have Cannon, we have Rayburn, we have Longworth. We
are about to put on another 200,000-square-foot building. I think you
should know about it, and I think we deserve a vote on it.
Number one, this is an earmark. Now, we have been talking weeks and
weeks and months and months about transparency and ending earmarks. Yet
if you will look in the report on page 20, there is a $16 million
earmark for a new House office building. There is no explanation of the
project, no total cost, there have been no hearings and no oversight,
and it is not in the Democrat budget. It was not requested by the
Architect of the Capitol, and, yet, it's in the bill.
Now, looks like a duck, walks like a duck, could be an earmark.
That's where we are on this.
Number two, I think Members have the right to vote on a fourth office
building. As former chair of this committee, one of the big
frustrations I have about the Capitol Visitors Center is none of us
owned the project. There wasn't one person that you could say it's his
or her fault. It was all diluted and by committee. We never had a vote
on it.
Indeed, when I was a chairman of this committee, a staffer put in $18
million to renovate the House floor, which none of us knew about. I
took the money out of it, as did Chairman Lewis last year.
But things get stuck in the bills that we don't know about that we
deserve a vote on. This gives you an opportunity, unlike the CVC, which
started out as a $260 million project, with partial private funding,
and now is up to $600 million.
This motion to recommit gives you the opportunity to vote on
something and say no to something that has already cost this House $140
million. This is a 200,000-square-foot building. That's the size of 15
House floors. It's the size of four White Houses. It's five football
fields big. This isn't incidental swing space.
What is this needed for? In case we renovate the Cannon House Office
Building. Now, don't you want to vote on that? I haven't had a debate
on renovating the Cannon Office Building, but I want to know about it.
This is a big building of substance, and you deserve a vote.
Incidentally, this isn't going to be the only new building. We are
adding 580,000 square feet in the form of the Capitol Visitors Center.

[[Page H6998]]

This building is huge. To move forward, it's going to cost us not the
$16 million that's in the bill, but actually $56 million, and then
another $12 million to lease it, plus $18 million for furniture for it.
Think about it. How many times have we heard from some Members in a
rather preachy fashion, we need to control our carbon footprints?
Ladies and gentlemen, all of those of you who want to reduce our carbon
footprint, here is your opportunity. Say ``no'' to a 200,000-square-
foot boondoggle which we are about to put in.
This has not had the proper oversight, it has not had the proper
hearings. The contracts have all been verbal. That's why we are all in
the situation.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, I claim the time in opposition.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Florida is recognized
for 5 minutes.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I want to point out and remind my colleagues
that Mr. Wamp and I are proud to report to you that we have brought the
legislative branch appropriations bill in at $276 million below the
request. The easiest thing in the world to do is jump on the table and
to cry waste.
I want to also point out that this is a security upgrade, funding for
security upgrades requested by former Speaker Hastert and continued by
Speaker Pelosi so that we can ensure that we provide swing space for
our very cramped space so that we can properly renovate the Cannon and
Longworth House Office Buildings.
I ask my colleagues to come over and look at these pictures of the
deterioration of our facilities. These are pictures of the 100-year-old
Cannon House Office Building. If you take a look at the deterioration
and life, safety and security upgrades that this facility needs, we can
no longer wait to make these upgrades, and to make sure that we can
protect the people who work here and the people who visit us. They are
deteriorating and badly in need of renovation.
What the gentleman from Georgia's motion to recommit would do is
delay for years, if not make it impossible, for us to begin renovation
and repairs on our aging House facilities.
My colleagues, this committee does not deal with the sexiest of
subjects that confront us every day, and I have only been here for 2
years and the chair of this subcommittee for the last 5 months. You
don't earn a reputation as an institutionalist in that short period of
time, but it is my hope to be able to do that over time.
We are stewards of this great institution, but we are also stewards
just as much of these facilities. My colleague on the Appropriations
Committee, Jose Serrano of New York, recently made a wonderful
suggestion to remind us of the history embedded even in what may seem
mundane, the space we occupy each day. He suggested that we each have
plaques in our offices with the names of our predecessors in Congress
who occupied that space before us. My own office, I was thrilled to
learn, was once occupied by former Congressman Lyndon Johnson.
My point is they may seem like buildings and office space to the
outside world, but we know better. How many of us countless times have
found ourselves approaching this beautiful building we are now in and
marveling privately to ourselves, wow, I work here, what an incredible
privilege.
But with privilege comes responsibility. We must think about the
institution, but we must also think about our hard-working staff. The
number of hours they toil in these facilities is mind-boggling. You
might be surprised to learn that the average work space for each of our
staff is about 36 square feet. And I want to show you what 36 square
feet is. This is 36 square feet. That is how much space that we allot,
on average, to our employees.
GSA recommends an average of 100 square feet of space per employee.
We need to renovate so that we can make sure we are not cramming our
staff into unreasonable boxes for hours on end. Our staff make
incredible sacrifices to serve the public, our constituents, and they
help us do our job. We must make sure that we keep these facilities,
the place they work every day and night, safe for them. We must make
sure we keep these facilities safe and in good condition for our
constituents and our successors.
Mr. Kingston's amendment is well-meaning, but it is not responsible,
and it is not an eye toward the future with respect for our past. I
strongly urge you to vote against the motion to recommit.
Mr. HOYER. Would the gentlelady yield?
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I would be happy to yield to the gentleman.
Mr. HOYER. It was my understanding you indicated this is the
initiative of Speaker Hastert; am I accurate?
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Yes, it is. It is an initiative from former
Speaker Hastert.
I strongly urge you to vote against the motion to recommit.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is
ordered on the motion to recommit.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.

Recorded Vote

Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XX, the Chair
will reduce to 5 minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on
the question of passage.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 181,
noes 217, not voting 34, as follows:

[Roll No. 547]

AYES--181

Aderholt
Alexander
Altmire
Bachmann
Bachus
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blunt
Boehner
Bono
Boozman
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Buchanan
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Buyer
Calvert
Camp (MI)
Cannon
Cantor
Capito
Castle
Chabot
Coble
Cole (OK)
Conaway
Crenshaw
Culberson
Davis (KY)
Davis, David
Davis, Tom
Deal (GA)
Dent
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Doolittle
Drake
Dreier
Duncan
Ehlers
Emerson
English (PA)
Fallin
Feeney
Ferguson
Flake
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Garrett (NJ)
Gerlach
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gingrey
Gohmert
Goode
Goodlatte
Granger
Graves
Hall (TX)
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Heller
Hensarling
Herger
Hobson
Hoekstra
Hulshof
Inglis (SC)
Issa
Jindal
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Jordan
Keller
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kline (MN)
Knollenberg
Kuhl (NY)
Lamborn
Latham
LaTourette
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
LoBiondo
Lucas
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Manzullo
Marchant
Marshall
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul (TX)
McCotter
McCrery
McHenry
McHugh
McKeon
McMorris Rodgers
McNerney
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Murphy, Tim
Musgrave
Myrick
Neugebauer
Pearce
Pence
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Poe
Porter
Price (GA)
Putnam
Radanovich
Ramstad
Regula
Rehberg
Reichert
Renzi
Reynolds
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Sali
Saxton
Schmidt
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shays
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Souder
Stearns
Terry
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Turner
Upton
Walberg
Walden (OR)
Walsh (NY)
Wamp
Weldon (FL)
Weller
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Young (AK)
Young (FL)

NOES--217

Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Andrews
Arcuri
Baca
Baird
Baldwin
Barrow
Bean
Becerra
Berkley
Berry
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Boren
Boswell
Boucher
Boyda (KS)
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Brown, Corrine
Butterfield
Campbell (CA)
Capps
Capuano
Cardoza
Carnahan
Carney
Carson
Castor
Chandler
Clarke
Clyburn
Cohen
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Costello
Courtney
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
Davis, Lincoln
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Donnelly
Doyle
Edwards
Ellison
Ellsworth
Emanuel
Engel
Eshoo
Etheridge
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Frank (MA)
Giffords

[[Page H6999]]

Gillibrand
Gonzalez
Gordon
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hall (NY)
Hare
Harman
Herseth Sandlin
Higgins
Hill
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hirono
Hodes
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Hoyer
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kagen
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kind
Kirk
Klein (FL)
Kucinich
Lampson
Langevin
Lantos
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lowey
Lynch
Mahoney (FL)
Maloney (NY)
Markey
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum (MN)
McDermott
McIntyre
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Melancon
Michaud
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Mitchell
Mollohan
Moore (KS)
Moore (WI)
Moran (VA)
Murphy (CT)
Murphy, Patrick
Murtha
Nadler
Neal (MA)
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Perlmutter
Peterson (MN)
Pomeroy
Price (NC)
Rahall
Rangel
Reyes
Rodriguez
Ross
Rothman
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Salazar
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schwartz
Scott (GA)
Scott (VA)
Serrano
Sestak
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Shuler
Sires
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Space
Spratt
Stark
Stupak
Sutton
Tanner
Tauscher
Taylor
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Towns
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz (MN)
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson
Watt
Weiner
Welch (VT)
Wexler
Wilson (OH)
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
Yarmuth

NOT VOTING--34

Akin
Baker
Berman
Bonner
Boyd (FL)
Brown (SC)
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Carter
Clay
Cleaver
Cramer
Cubin
Davis, Jo Ann
Everett
Fossella
Hastert
Hastings (FL)
Hunter
Johnson (GA)
LaHood
Linder
Lofgren, Zoe
McGovern
Moran (KS)
Napolitano
Nunes
Ortiz
Paul
Pryce (OH)
Sanchez, Loretta
Sullivan
Tancredo
Waxman
Wicker

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote). Two minutes remain on this
vote.
Members are advised that this vote will close precisely when time has
expired.

{time} 1326

Mr. McDERMOTT changed his vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
So the motion to recommit was rejected.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
Stated for:
Mr. FOSSELLA. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 547, had I been present,
I would have voted ``aye.''
Stated against:
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Madam Speaker, on Friday, June 22, 2007, I was
absent during rollcall vote No. 547. Had I been present, I would have
voted ``no'' on the motion to recommit on H.R. 2771, Legislative Branch
Appropriations for FY 2008.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
Under clause 10 of rule XX, the yeas and nays are ordered.
This will be a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 216,
nays 176, not voting 40, as follows:

[Roll No. 548]

YEAS--216

Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Altmire
Andrews
Arcuri
Baca
Baird
Baldwin
Barrow
Becerra
Berkley
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Boren
Boswell
Boucher
Boyda (KS)
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Brown, Corrine
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardoza
Carnahan
Carney
Carson
Chandler
Clarke
Clyburn
Cohen
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Costello
Courtney
Crenshaw
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
Davis, Lincoln
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Dicks
Dingell
Doolittle
Edwards
Ellison
Ellsworth
Emanuel
Engel
Eshoo
Etheridge
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Frank (MA)
Gilchrest
Gillibrand
Gonzalez
Gordon
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hall (NY)
Hare
Harman
Herseth Sandlin
Higgins
Hill
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hirono
Hobson
Hodes
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Hoyer
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kagen
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kind
Kirk
Klein (FL)
Knollenberg
Kucinich
Lampson
Langevin
Lantos
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lowey
Lynch
Mahoney (FL)
Maloney (NY)
Markey
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum (MN)
McDermott
McIntyre
McNulty
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Melancon
Michaud
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Mollohan
Moore (KS)
Moore (WI)
Moran (VA)
Murphy (CT)
Murtha
Nadler
Neal (MA)
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Perlmutter
Peterson (MN)
Pomeroy
Price (NC)
Rahall
Rangel
Regula
Reyes
Rodriguez
Ros-Lehtinen
Ross
Rothman
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Salazar
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schwartz
Scott (GA)
Scott (VA)
Serrano
Sestak
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Shuler
Simpson
Sires
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Space
Spratt
Stark
Stupak
Sutton
Tanner
Tauscher
Taylor
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Towns
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz (MN)
Wamp
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson
Watt
Weiner
Welch (VT)
Wexler
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
Yarmuth
Young (FL)

NAYS--176

Aderholt
Alexander
Bachmann
Bachus
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bean
Berry
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blunt
Boehner
Bono
Boozman
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Buchanan
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Buyer
Calvert
Camp (MI)
Campbell (CA)
Cannon
Cantor
Capito
Castle
Chabot
Coble
Cole (OK)
Conaway
Culberson
Davis (KY)
Davis, David
Davis, Tom
Deal (GA)
Dent
Donnelly
Drake
Dreier
Duncan
Ehlers
English (PA)
Fallin
Feeney
Ferguson
Flake
Forbes
Fortenberry
Fossella
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Garrett (NJ)
Gerlach
Giffords
Gillmor
Gingrey
Gohmert
Goode
Goodlatte
Granger
Graves
Hall (TX)
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Heller
Hensarling
Herger
Hoekstra
Holden
Inglis (SC)
Issa
Jindal
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Jordan
Keller
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kline (MN)
Kuhl (NY)
Lamborn
Latham
LaTourette
Lewis (KY)
LoBiondo
Lucas
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Manzullo
Marchant
Marshall
Matheson
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul (TX)
McCotter
McCrery
McHenry
McHugh
McKeon
McMorris Rodgers
McNerney
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Mitchell
Murphy, Patrick
Murphy, Tim
Musgrave
Myrick
Neugebauer
Pearce
Pence
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Poe
Porter
Price (GA)
Putnam
Radanovich
Ramstad
Rehberg
Reichert
Renzi
Reynolds
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Roskam
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Sali
Saxton
Schmidt
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shays
Shimkus
Shuster
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Souder
Stearns
Terry
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Turner
Upton
Walberg
Walden (OR)
Walsh (NY)
Weldon (FL)
Weller
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (OH)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Young (AK)

NOT VOTING--40

Akin
Baker
Berman
Bonner
Boyd (FL)
Brown (SC)
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Carter
Castor
Clay
Cleaver
Cramer
Cubin
Davis, Jo Ann
Doggett
Doyle
Emerson
Everett
Hastert
Hastings (FL)
Hulshof
Hunter
Johnson (GA)
LaHood
Linder
Lofgren, Zoe
McGovern
Meehan
Moran (KS)
Napolitano
Nunes
Ortiz
Paul
Pryce (OH)
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Loretta
Sullivan
Tancredo
Waxman
Wicker

{time} 1332

So the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Stated for:
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Madam Speaker, on Friday, June 22, 2007, I was
absent during rollcall vote No. 548. Had I been present, I would have
voted ``yea'' on passage H.R. 2771, Legislative Branch Appropriations
for FY 2008.

____________________