[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 19891]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.J. RES. 107, CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS 
                          FOR FISCAL YEAR 2005

  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I 
call up House Resolution 802 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 802

       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. 107) 
     making continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 2005, 
     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. Isakson). The gentleman from Georgia 
(Mr. Linder) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, for the purposes of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to my friend the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost), 
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. 802 is a closed rule that provides for the 
consideration of H.J. Res. 107, a continuing resolution that will 
ensure ongoing appropriations for fiscal year 2005 until November 20, 
2004, except for the Defense Department appropriations bill, which has 
already been enacted into law.
  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, tomorrow is the last day of fiscal year 2004. At this 
point in time, there are a total of 12 regular appropriations bills 
that have not been enacted into law. Approving this CR will allow the 
Federal Government to continue its activities and operations for an 
additional 7 weeks.
  To its credit, the House has passed 12 of the 13 regular 
appropriations bills. Unfortunately, the other body has passed only 5 
regular appropriations bills and we need to pass a continuing 
resolution to allow the Federal Government to remain open while the 
House and Senate leadership, the House and Senate Appropriations 
Committees, and the respective bodies work through the process of 
resolving their differences on the remaining 12 regular appropriations 
bills.
  The underlying resolution, H.J. Res. 107, is designed to allow the 
many different Federal departments and agencies covered by those 12 
outstanding bills to continue operating under the terms and conditions 
of their fiscal year 2004 appropriations bills, while generally not 
allowing for the initiation of new programs, activities or projects.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues in the House on both sides 
to join me in supporting this rule and the underlying CR.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as my Republican friend and former colleague on the 
Committee on Rules, Porter Goss of Florida, once said about a 
continuing resolution, ``Congress is failing to fulfill its obligation 
in a timely and responsible way, choosing to fall back on one CR after 
another instead of putting in the time to do our job.'' Or as he said 
on another occasion, ``A continuing resolution erodes the credibility 
of the Congress.''
  Well, Mr. Speaker, I am not sure how much credibility this Republican 
Congress will have after we pass this continuing resolution and scurry 
off to our districts until November.

                              {time}  1030

  This Congress is unable to finish even its most basic duties, which 
is amazing, considering that the Republicans control both Chambers and 
the White House. Let us take a look at what we are leaving behind.
  We have yet to pass a transportation bill to reduce congestion on our 
roads, reduce pollution in our air, or create new, good-paying jobs in 
our communities.
  We have yet to pass legislation implementing the recommendations of 
the 9/11 Commission, to strengthen America's intelligence community, 
strengthen America's homeland security, and effectively fight terrorism 
around the globe.
  We have yet to pass a higher education reauthorization bill to help 
students across America pursue a higher education.
  And we have yet to pass the majority of our mandatory spending bills 
to fund the government for the next year. In fact, we have only passed 
one out of 13 appropriation bills through the entire Congress.
  By refusing to stay in Washington and do our work our constituents 
sent us here to do, we are harming our economy, leaving our young 
students behind, and endangering the safety and security of this 
Nation.
  Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, the House spent the entire day debating and 
passing 38 suspension bills, including passing a bill to rename a river 
basin in Colorado and a number of bills to name several post offices 
around the country; and it has been that way for months. We spend more 
time naming post offices than doing the people's business and doing the 
work they sent us here to do. Our constituents expect us to fund this 
Nation's government, they expect us to pass a higher education bill to 
give our students the opportunity to pursue a college degree, a 
transportation bill to keep our highways being developed, and they 
certainly expect us to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 
Commission so that we can continue to wage the war on terror and keep 
our country safe.
  But instead, Mr. Speaker, this Congress is taking the easy way out, 
leaving the hard work until after the election. I wonder, will this 
Congress be able to finish its work even then. Truly, this has been a 
do-nothing Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, 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.

                          ____________________