[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 27295-27296]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.J. RES. 76, FURTHER CONTINUING 
                    APPROPRIATIONS, FISCAL YEAR 2004

  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I 
call up House Resolution 430 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 430

       Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution it 
     shall be in order without intervention of any point of order 
     to consider in the House the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 76) 
     making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 
     2004, and for other purposes. The joint resolution shall be 
     considered as read for amendment. The previous question shall 
     be considered as ordered on the joint resolution to final 
     passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of 
     debate on the joint resolution equally divided and controlled 
     by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee 
     on Appropriations; and (2) one motion to recommit.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Terry). The gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Linder) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), 
pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During 
consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose 
of debate only.
  Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 430 is a closed rule that provides for the 
consideration of H.J. Res. 76, a continuing resolution that will ensure 
further appropriations for fiscal year 2004. The rule provides for 1 
hour of debate in the House, equally divided and controlled by the 
chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on 
Appropriations. The rule waives all points of order against 
consideration of the joint resolution and provides for one motion to 
recommit.
  Mr. Speaker, we passed the first continuing resolution, H.J. Res. 69, 
in late September, continuing appropriations through October. The 
provisions of H.J. Res. 75, which was the second CR enacted by this 
Congress, are scheduled to expire this Friday, November 7.
  Under the joint resolution that H. Res. 430 makes in order, the 
provisions of that second continuing resolution would be extended until 
November 21, 2003. In brief, for the fiscal year 2004 appropriations 
bills that have not yet been enacted into law, the CR provides 2 
additional weeks of funding for those Federal departments and agencies 
whose operations depend on the enactment of those appropriations.

[[Page 27296]]

  We are approaching the completion of this first session of the 108th 
Congress, but there are a number of appropriations bills and other 
must-do legislative priorities that we are working to resolve. 
Additional time is needed. Nonetheless, it is our goal to have this 
represent the last continuing resolution, as the appropriators are 
working hard to complete conference reports and are moving toward 
making the tough decisions that will lead us to the end of the 
appropriations process for this year. This continuing resolution gives 
us the time needed to complete this process in an orderly manner.
  The Committee on Rules approved this rule yesterday. I urge my 
colleagues to join me in supporting its passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for yielding me the 
customary 30 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, since George W. Bush got his job and Republicans took 
over the entire Federal Government, nearly 3 million Americans have 
lost their jobs. So, under these circumstances, you might think the 
Republicans who control the town and the government and CBS would be 
very conscientious about doing their jobs. But here we are, once again, 
passing yet another continuing resolution to keep the government 
running because the Republican Congress refuses to do the most 
fundamental job the American people have given to it. While millions of 
Americans cannot find any jobs, Republicans refuse to do the jobs that 
they have and the taxpayers pay us to do. The House has not put in a 
full week's worth of work in months.
  So what is the problem Mr. Speaker? After all, the Republicans 
control this body, the other body, the Presidency. Are they stuck 
haggling with each other over how much to shortchange schools this 
year? Or looking for an excuse to continue penalizing disabled 
veterans? Or arguing over which slick procedural trick to use to try to 
hide the hundreds of billions of dollars in debt they have run up?
  Well, one thing is for sure, you know this is not a Republican Party 
priority, because when the Republican Party wants something, the 
Republican Party is ruthlessly efficient.
  Just take a look at the record. When it comes to Republican 
priorities, like tax breaks for the small, elite group of big 
contributors who fund Republican campaigns, this Congress has been 
tremendously successful. But when it comes to the priorities of the 
American people, like tax relief for the military and working families, 
this Congress cannot or will not get it done.
  Mr. Speaker, Republican leaders have protected big corporate tax 
dodgers, but Republicans will not do anything about the high health 
care costs or help the millions of Americans who need unemployment 
insurance in the midst of President Bush's jobless recovery. They 
actually blocked a Democratic pay raise for the military, which would 
have given the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan a $1,500 bonus.
  Mr. Speaker, I fear this is not a government of the people, by the 
people and for the people. It is a government of the Republican Party, 
by the Republican Party, and for the Republican Party.
  Unfortunately, the rest of America does not seem to matter. Today, 
millions of hardworking Americans no longer share in the prosperity 
they enjoyed during the Democrat-led economic boom of the nineties. 
George W. Bush has compiled the worst record of job loss of any 
President since Herbert Hoover in the Great Depression. Some 1.4 
million Americans have been unemployed for so long in this economy that 
they have exhausted their unemployment insurance. After the end of this 
year, Americans who lose their jobs, people like the nearly 3 million 
jobs lost since President Bush took office, will not be able to enroll 
in unemployment insurance.
  Over that same period, the Republican fiscal irresponsibility turned 
record surpluses into astronomical and out-of-control deficits, 
increasing the debt tax on all Americans and threatening the future of 
Medicare and Social Security. And it is getting worse. In the coming 
years, the tax breaks for the wealthiest few will become even more 
expensive, at the same time that the Bush administration will be asking 
taxpayers to send untold hundreds of billions of dollars to Iraq.
  This government has no plan to clean up the mess it has made of 
America. Instead, they just keep offering more of the same and hope the 
American people will not notice that their Congress has stopped working 
for them, because it is too busy using the power of the people's 
government to protect the privileges of their party.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I 
move the previous question on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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