[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 26560-26563]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




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

  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I 
call up House Resolution 559 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 559

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

                              {time}  1100

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Petri). The gentlewoman from West 
Virginia (Mrs. Capito) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Matsui), 
pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During 
consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose 
of debate only.
  Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 559 is a rule which waives all points 
of order against the conference report accompanying H.R. 3010 and 
against its consideration. The rule provides that the conference report 
shall be considered as read.
  Mr. Speaker, the underlying legislation is one of the most important 
measures we consider each year. I would like to congratulate the 
members of the Appropriations Committee for putting together a 
comprehensive package that will improve the education of our children, 
care for our seniors and our underprivileged.
  Mr. Speaker, I am happy to see that since Republicans took control of 
Congress, funding for the Department of Education has doubled. More 
recently, over the last 5 years, total education spending has increased 
by nearly 50 percent. Our children will benefit from an improved 
educational system that will enhance their ability to succeed and 
better prepare the next generation of workers.
  The fundamental root of all education is reading. As a parent and a 
former educator, the time I spent reading with my children will be 
forever cherished. Unfortunately, some of our youth do not have that 
opportunity at home. So included in this legislation is $1 billion for 
reading programs that will enable States to eliminate the reading 
deficit through scientific research-based reading programs.
  I am also very pleased that the TRIO and GEAR UP programs are 
included in this all important funding package. These programs assist 
low-income, first generation college students in their transition from 
high school to college. This is a difficult transition for any student, 
but especially for those who are the first in their families to attend 
college. We must continue to support programs like TRIO and GEAR UP so 
that these students can continue to flourish.
  Mr. Speaker, another important responsibility we have is to ensure 
that citizens have access to health care facilities and treatments. 
Included in this legislation is a $66 million increase in the Community 
Health Centers that are so vitally important across the Nation, but 
especially in rural States like my home State of West Virginia.
  The National Institutes of Health continues to serve our Nation well 
by developing new treatments and cures for the many diseases that 
plague our society. With a total funding level of $28.6 billion, the 
researchers at NIH will be able to continue this mission so that we 
become a healthier Nation and global society.
  A key aspect of a healthier society is where all citizens have access 
to prescription drugs, and I am proud to say that as of November 15, 
just 2 days ago, Medicare eligible beneficiaries have been able to sign 
up for a prescription drug plan under Medicare. The resources provided 
in the underlying legislation will allow the Centers for Medicare and 
Medicaid services to properly conduct an outreach effort that will 
hopefully enroll every senior that stands to benefit from this program.
  Mr. Speaker, we are all aware of the challenges that could 
potentially face all Americans in the coming winter, especially the 
high cost of natural gas. I am pleased to say that the State formula 
grants for the Low Income Home

[[Page 26561]]

Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, are funded at $2 billion in 
this legislation and an additional $1 billion will be included in the 
House version of the budget reconciliation bill.
  As with any appropriations legislation, tough choices were made. 
These choices are particularly difficult when dealing with the 
sensitive areas of health and education. The Appropriations Committee 
allotted the available resources in this bill in a manner that 
emphasizes these programs most important to our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, this is solid legislation that I believe all Members 
should be able to support.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from West Virginia 
for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, today we consider House Resolution 559, the rule 
allowing consideration of the conference report accompanying the fiscal 
year 2006 Labor HHS Education Appropriations bill. This legislation is 
the clearest demonstration of the contempt for the proper functioning 
of this body and ultimately disrespect for democracy.
  The Labor HHS Education Appropriations bill is an incredibly 
important piece of legislation. It determines funding levels for job 
training programs, community college programs, child labor protections, 
and community health centers.
  This legislation is the primary funding vehicle for the National 
Institutes of Health. It determines how our government approaches 
timely and important issues like stem cell research, global AIDS 
research, pediatric medicine, cancer research, and so many other 
critical issues. It is also the principal funder of some of the most 
innovative and practical research going on today at the universities 
and colleges across the Nation.
  In my home State of California, two thirds of all basic research at 
the University of California system is from Federal dollars. As 
examples using these dollars, the university researchers found a way to 
differentiate Alzheimer's from other dementia. They are making strides 
on identifying genes that cause specific cancers. They are looking into 
factors that influence brain development.
  The reason I am pointing to all of this is to underscore just how 
important this legislation is to the daily lives of our fellow 
Americans. And having established that this bill is a crucial bill for 
the health, welfare, education, and prosperity of the American people, 
I would ask my counterparts on the Republican side of the aisle why on 
earth is it that no one has seen this conference report? Why is it that 
as of this morning, this very morning, we are scheduled to consider and 
vote upon this legislation that no one in the House of Representatives, 
with exception of a very few in the Republican leadership, has even 
laid eyes on, much less read or analyzed? We did not even go into the 
Rules Committee to consider this legislation until 7 o'clock this 
morning under emergency rules.
  The original version of this bill passed the House months ago, and I 
might remind my fellow Americans that it was in this bill that the 
Republican leadership of this body tried to quietly eliminate funding 
for the Public Broadcasting System and Sesame Street. Thankfully, under 
incredible pressure they were forced to reverse themselves.
  And since then, this bill and its Senate companion have been locked 
away in conference. A handful of appointees of this Republican 
leadership have had months to meet in smokey back rooms. This select 
group decided for all of us here today and for every American family 
what should and should not be in the final version of the bill. So with 
that understanding, let me say that this is, at best, a short-sided 
piece of legislation.
  No Child Left Behind funding is cut by $784 million. The maximum Pell 
Grant award is frozen for the 4th straight year, and no new funding for 
all other student financial aid and support programs is provided. The 
bill provides $4 billion less than Republicans promised for special 
education through IDEA. Training grants for health care professionals 
are cut $206 million.
  I want everyone in America to understand exactly why these programs 
are being cut. Because in the face of gross fiscal mismanagement on the 
part of this majority, they want to pass a $56 billion tax cut for 
wealthy Americans this coming week. Over half of that money, $23 
billion, will go to the very wealthiest of Americans, those earning 
over $1 million per year.
  Now, I am certainly not suggesting that there are not government 
programs that cannot be cut. But what we are talking about are 
educational programs, health and safety programs, and treatment 
programs that not only work, but they work well for middle class 
American families, and they are being sacrificed for tax cuts for the 
most wealthy and the super rich. The rest of America is being left 
behind.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, we are facing an increasingly costly war in 
Iraq, significant and necessary hurricane relief needs, and a looming 
crisis over avian flu. The debate I urge my colleagues to have, a 
debate not yet addressed by my friends on the other side of the aisle, 
is really about shared sacrifice and about what the true priorities of 
the American people are.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I would like to point out that this bill probably touches every 
single American's life. It is extremely important because it is the 
broad reach of education and health care, and these are very 
complicated and large programs. And I want to congratulate the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula), chairman of the subcommittee, for the 
intense work that he has done not only on our side, but through the 
conference.
  (Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Regula).
  Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this 
time.
  I want to compliment both speakers from the Rules Committee. I think 
they have described in many ways the strength of this bill.
  This bill illustrates the compassion of America. And as has been 
pointed out by both speakers, it touches the lives of 280 million 
Americans in so many different ways, their education, health research 
to improve the quality of their lives, perhaps illustrated by the fact, 
as Dr. Zerhouni testified in front of our committee, that every 5 
years, life expectancy goes up 1 year in the United States. That is a 
tremendous gain and a tremendous promise for the future.
  And, likewise, we recognize the importance of education. The future 
of a nation is so much tied to that. Tom Friedman, the writer for The 
New York Times, in his book ``The World is Flat,'' points out that we 
will be enormously challenged as a Nation in the years ahead by other 
countries that are spending a lot of money, a lot of energy, and a lot 
of human resources on education, because they too recognize that the 
winner of the future will be determined by the way in which they can 
educate their people.
  This bill I call the ``good neighbor policy'' bill, because it means 
that we are all good neighbors to each other. And I think it does 
illustrate very clearly that America is a compassionate Nation, a 
compassionate people, and they are willing to commit resources to 
helping others. In the general debate, we will mention some of those 
things.
  I would hope all of my colleagues who are going to be voting on this 
bill in the next couple or 3 hours would take a look at what is in 
there and how important many of these programs are to the Americans. 
There are 500 programs covered in this bill, and each one of them, in 
some way or another, touches the quality of life of the people of this 
Nation so that every American, in one way or another, as pointed out by 
the gentlewoman from California, has a stake on this bill and what it 
does in their lives. So, hopefully, we

[[Page 26562]]

will all reach the understanding and support this bill.
  Obviously, it may not have enough to suit everybody in terms of 
commitment of resources. Tough decisions have to be made. Priorities 
have to be decided. And what we tried to do on a bipartisan basis in 
the subcommittee, and we have a great group of members that serve on 
this subcommittee from both sides, is to make those very difficult 
priority judgments on behalf of the American people. And as was pointed 
out by both of the previous speakers, we have, hopefully, accomplished 
that goal as best as possible given the resources that were allocated.
  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Maloney).
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me 
this time.
  I rise in opposition to this bill and to the rule.
  Let it be known that November 17, 2005, is the day this Congress 
officially forgot the heroes of 9/11. When we vote on this conference 
report, we will be taking away $125 million promised to sick 9/11 
workers. This is money these men and women were promised by this 
Congress and by the President in 2001. But now, in an era of 
misdirected priorities, the President and this Congress are snatching 
the money back.
  In fact, this bill is full of misdirected priorities when we consider 
that the Republican leadership will spend more on tax cuts this week, 
$70 billion, than they will on education and labor programs for the 
entire coming year, $68 billion.

                              {time}  1115

  You only start to realize how out of touch this Congress is with the 
priorities of the average American people. I hear daily from Members of 
Congress that we will never forget 9/11; but when we turn a cold 
shoulder to the men and women who were there for us in our greatest 
hour of need, I cannot in good conscience vote for this bill.
  The 9/11 responders are not asking for much. All they are asking for 
is to be treated with respect and dignity. They rushed to Ground Zero 
with no concern for their own safety. We were under attack, and America 
needed help. They responded; and as a result, many of them are very 
sick now. The government's response has been to fight these heroes 
every step of the way. Many have had their claims denied or wrapped up 
in red tape for months or years.
  Then when not all of the money was spent in New York State, we are 
told this is justification for taking it back, even though the need is 
still great. This shell game would be comical if it were not so sad and 
so hard on the lives of these people.
  I know this decision today is not the fault of the gentleman from 
Ohio (Chairman Regula). I understand that his hands are tied on this 
issue. I would also like to thank a fellow New Yorker, Mr. Walsh. He 
has been an absolute champion for this issue in the committee.
  Despite their hard work and the work of a united New York delegation, 
united Democrats and Republicans, the outcome today is not what it 
should be. The one thing I know and I can promise is that this fight is 
not over. I speak for all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, 
certainly in the New York delegation, that we are not going to stop 
until we meet the needs of the heroes of 9/11 and this promised money 
of $125 million is restored to the budget. Anything short is just plain 
wrong, and it hurts the health care of our heroes.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk a little bit about some of the 
priorities, particularly in the education section of this bill. I have 
already mentioned the TRIO and GEAR UP programs for first-time college 
goers. Certainly those are important programs in my State and 
throughout the United States.
  But let us look at something that we are lacking across the Nation, 
and that is in our math and sciences. There has been special emphasis 
in this bill on math and science partnerships so we can train our 
future engineers to compete globally.
  The chairman spoke about how the world is flat. Well, if we do not 
have math and science education at the elementary and high school 
level, we are not going to be able to compete in the global market. So 
I am proud of the $184 million that is going to help with training 
teachers.
  Special education is something that I think touches many, many 
families throughout the United States. We hear a lot about that in our 
office, and I am certain every Member's office. In special ed, this 
bill is funding over last year's budget $100 million. Will that meet 
every need for every special ed student? No, unfortunately it will not, 
and it cannot. But it will go towards helping those families and that 
student become a productive person in their adult life.
  Reading programs and improving teacher quality programs. Certainly 
the key to success in school is reading, but the key to success in 
school is a good teacher. We need to improve the teacher quality and 
help our teachers become not only as good as they can be but even 
better. And that goes also to the principals. There is a principal 
shortage here in our country. We have to work with our teachers so they 
want to become principals and guide our teachers to educate our 
children. Those are some of the education priorities I wanted to 
highlight in this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, this country is at a critical crossroads in terms of 
deciding what it stands for, what its priorities are. Our priorities 
should be to make decisions based on shared sacrifice and a long-term 
view that seeks to fight for the least powerful among us.
  Unfortunately, this rule would allow legislation with a shortsighted 
approach to come to the floor. All of us, Democrats and Republicans, 
hope that medical science will provide the breakthrough to provide 
relief from a disease which will ease a family member's suffering.
  We all worry about whether rising energy costs will force seniors to 
make life-and-death decisions about where to spend their limited 
resources.
  And yet this conference report ignores those very needs. It narrowly 
restricts the future of all Americans so that a very few might have a 
bit more of a tax break. That is an approach that I hope all Members 
will reject.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this fair rule 
and the bipartisan underlying legislation which funds critical dollars 
to our Nation's educational system, health care delivery system, and as 
the gentlewoman from California spoke so eloquently about, our health 
research areas.
  With this funding, low-income Americans will be better prepared for a 
potentially long winter. It got a little colder here today, and we know 
it is going to continue to be cold as we move through the winter; and 
this bill provides $2 billion in LIHEAP funding. Our seniors will 
greatly benefit from the money appropriated, allowing CMS to conduct 
outreach to all Medicare beneficiaries who are now able to sign up for 
the new Medicare prescription drug plan.
  These are all important programs, and there are others too numerous 
to mention. I urge my colleagues to support the rule, support the 
legislation.
  Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition 
to H.R. 3010, the FY 2006 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill. I 
voted against the bill when it passed the House and the conference 
report before us today is even more objectionable.
  The Republican leadership has proposed severe cuts to services that 
keep our families and communities strong. At a time when consumers are 
expecting to pay nearly 30 percent more for home heating, the majority 
has refused to include an increase for the Low Income Home Energy 
Assistance Program, which helps to keep our seniors and children safe 
during the winter.
  This bill also shortchanges important health care programs. Although 
slightly better than the House-passed bill, this proposal cuts

[[Page 26563]]

health professions programs by 69 percent at a time when we are 
struggling to provide health care access in many areas of this country. 
It also cuts funding for the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant and 
forces a 24 percent cut to block grants for State health departments. 
Most striking, while we ask our local public health departments to do 
more to prepare for a possible pandemic, this bill instead imposes an 
11 percent cut on local health departments.
  The conference report also cuts overall funding for the Department of 
Education for the first time in over 10 years. It cuts and guts 
programs from early childhood education through college. Our Nation's 
public schools will see budget cuts totaling more than $784 million, 
despite the promise to fully fund No Child Let Behind at the time of 
its enactment in 2002. Since then, NCLB has been underfunded by more 
than $39 billion. Our public schools and our students deserve better. 
This bill underfunds critical programs for the most vulnerable 
students, providing $217 million less for Title I Education for 
Disadvantaged Children program than in fiscal year 2005. In addition, 
Safe and Drug Free Schools will receive a cut of $87 million--a 
decrease of 20 percent. Several other education programs and services 
will see their budgets frozen, despite increased program costs, greater 
needs, and inflation.
  Pell grants for low-income college students are frozen for the fourth 
straight year in a row, despite promises by the administration to 
increase the maximum Pell grant award. While Congress underfunds 
student financial aid, students and families continue to struggle to 
pay for a college education that is increasing faster than the rate of 
inflation.
  Investments in health and education are important to our families, 
our communities, and our country. This conference report does not 
reflect the values of Minnesotans or Americans. I will vote to reject 
this conference report and urge my colleagues to do the same.
  Mrs. CAPITO. 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 SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Petri). The question is on the 
resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will 
be postponed.

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