[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 75 (Wednesday, May 7, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H3182]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         LET MEMBERS HAVE INPUT IN THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

  (Mr. LEWIS of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express to the 
House my concern about the fact that Chairman Obey and Speaker Pelosi 
are very, very busy these days. If news reports are to be believed, 
it's apparent that they're going about doing all of the work of the 
Appropriations Committee as well as the House almost all alone with 
almost no input from Democrats or Republicans from the House.
  Because of that busy schedule, I have been writing to Mr. Obey of 
late. I have sent him three letters altogether. Last Thursday, I sent 
him a letter that was signed by the entire Republican membership of the 
Appropriations Committee urging him to have regular order and full 
hearings on the supplemental that is before us that represents a huge 
portion of our spending, and yet there has been no hearing whatsoever.
  Just in case Mr. Obey hasn't seen this letter because his staff is 
very busy, I know, working on these projects, I would like to submit 
that letter for the Record and urge the House to urge the leadership to 
allow us to have public hearings so that Members can have input 
regarding their districts' needs on this very, very important part of 
this year's work.

                                         House of Representatives,


                                  Committee on Appropriations,

                                      Washington, DC, May 1, 2008.
     Hon. David Obey,
     Chairman, Committee on Appropriations,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: In the absence of any response from you 
     to my April 21st and April 24th letters, and recognizing 
     Senator Byrd's immediate response to the Republican Senators 
     from his Committee, we are writing to once again express our 
     grave concerns over media reports that your leadership plans 
     to unilaterally, and without Member input, write and take to 
     the House floor the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations 
     bill under a closed rule and bypass full Appropriations 
     Committee consideration. Such action would be an historical 
     and unprecedented abdication of responsibility for the House 
     Appropriations Committee and would be viewed by many in both 
     parties as a shameful power grab by House and Senate leaders.
       Senator Byrd, who recognizes the slippery slope involved in 
     circumventing the well-established rules and precedents of 
     the Appropriations Committee, has scheduled a frill Senate 
     Appropriations Committee markup for the week of May 5th. We 
     urge you in the strongest possible terms to follow Senator 
     Byrd's example and schedule a full Committee markup in the 
     House at the earliest possible date.
       It is only right and fair that you allow Members of our 
     Committee--Republicans and Democrats--to do the work they 
     were elected to do. We are extremely troubled by the fact 
     that under this scheme no Member of the House will be 
     afforded the opportunity to offer amendments in full 
     Committee or on the House floor while Senators in the other 
     body will be given the opportunity to let their constituent's 
     voices be heard. We must act expeditiously to move through 
     full Committee and onto the floor a clean Emergency 
     Supplemental, free of extraneous funding and policy 
     provisions, to address the urgent needs of our troops and 
     their families.
       On October 20, 2006 then Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi wrote 
     in a letter to then-Speaker Hastert: ``We must restore 
     bipartisanship to the administration of the House, 
     reestablish regular order for considering legislation. and 
     ensure the rights of the minority, whichever party is in the 
     minority. The voice of every American has a right to be 
     heard.''
       Again, we urge you and Speaker Pelosi to stand by those 
     words. Historical precedent and tradition dictates that this 
     legislation be fashioned in an open and transparent process, 
     and ensure full participation by both parties--not behind 
     closed doors but in the full light of day. As the Speaker 
     stated less than two years ago, every Member of the 
     Appropriations Committee and, indeed, every Member of the 
     House and their constituents deserve to have their voices 
     heard.
       We look forward to your timely response.
           Sincerely,
         Jerry Lewis; C.W. Bill Young; Ralph Regula; Harold 
           Rogers; Frank R. Wolf; James T. Walsh; David L. Hobson; 
           Joe Knollenberg; Jack Kingston; Rodney P. 
           Frelinghuysen.
         Todd Tiahrt; Zach Wamp; Tom Latham; Robert B. Aderholt; 
           Jo Ann Emerson; Kay Granger; John E. Peterson; Virgil 
           H. Goode, Jr.; Ray LaHood; Dave Weldon.
         Michael K. Simpson; John Abney Culberson; Mark Steven 
           Kirk; Ander Crenshaw; Dennis R. Rehberg; John R. 
           Carter; Rodney Alexander; Ken Calvert; Jo Bonner.

                          ____________________