[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 22691-22696]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2918, 
              LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010

  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, 
I call up House Resolution 772 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 772

       Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be 
     in order to consider the conference report to accompany the 
     bill (H.R. 2918) making appropriations for the Legislative 
     Branch for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for 
     other purposes. All points of order against consideration of

[[Page 22692]]

     the conference report are waived. The conference report shall 
     be considered as read. All points of order against the 
     conference report are waived. The previous question shall be 
     considered as ordered on the conference report to its 
     adoption without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of 
     debate; and (2) one motion to recommit if applicable.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Massachusetts is 
recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield 
the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier). 
All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only.


                             General Leave

  I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days 
within which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert 
extraneous materials into the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.

                              {time}  0915

  Mr. McGOVERN. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, this rule provides for consideration of the conference 
report on H.R. 2918, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act. I rise 
in strong support of the rule and of the underlying legislation. The 
bill before us today includes not only the fy 2010 Legislative Branch 
appropriations bill but, more importantly, a continuing resolution to 
keep the government operating for the next 6 weeks.
  With a few important exceptions, the continuing resolution provides 
level funding. In other words, the bill maintains funding levels passed 
at the 2009 appropriations process levels.
  One of those exceptions is in the vital area of veterans health care, 
which receives an increase in this bill. The VA estimates that it will 
treat more than 6.1 million patients in 2010, including more than 
419,000 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. That number 
represents an increase of 56,000 more patients than in 2009.
  To ensure that the VA can provide our veterans the care that they 
need and that they deserve, the bill increases the funding for VA 
health by $3.85 billion. I would encourage all Members on both sides of 
the aisle who wish to provide this needed increase in veterans health 
care to support the bill.
  To address the right-wing talk radio target of the week, no funds in 
this bill may be provided to ACORN or any of its affiliates, 
subsidiaries or allied organizations.
  In terms of process, Madam Speaker, none of us on either side of the 
aisle are happy with continuing resolutions. They have been used for 
years under Democratic and Republican majorities, but they are clearly 
not ideal.
  Here in the House, we have completed our work of passing all of the 
appropriations bills, and I want to commend Chairman Obey and his 
colleagues on the Appropriations Committee for their efforts and all of 
their hard work.
  Unfortunately, it seems that these days that you need 60 votes in the 
Senate to agree that the sun came up this morning. The Senate has not 
yet passed all of its bills, and this continuing resolution is 
necessary to ensure that vital programs continue to receive funding.
  I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying 
legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, the end of the fiscal year, as we all know, is just a 
few days away.
  Despite this looming deadline, Congress has not completed action on a 
single appropriations bill. Let me repeat that, Madam Speaker: we have 
got within 5 days of the end of the fiscal year, and yet not one single 
appropriations bill has been completed by this Congress.
  As a result, the Democratic majority is scrambling to accomplish two 
things, two things with this underlying bill that we have. The first is 
to buy more time to get our work done with the continuing resolution, 
which will keep the government operating for an additional 38 days 
beyond the September 30 expiration of the fiscal year. The second is to 
finally take the first step towards passing our appropriations 
conference reports.
  Madam Speaker, which spending bill has the honor of being considered 
first? Which spending bill? Perhaps it's our Homeland Security 
appropriations bill, which funds our Border Patrol and other Federal 
agencies charged with protecting our States, cities, and ports from 
terrorist attacks. Or, perhaps, Madam Speaker it's the very, very 
important Defense appropriations spending bill, which would provide the 
funding for our troops.
  In fact, the very first spending bill that the House is moving to 
send to the President is our Congress' own funding bill. The underlying 
Legislative Branch appropriations bill makes the Democratic majority's 
funding priorities very, very clear.
  Madam Speaker, I describe this as the ``putting Congress first'' 
appropriations process. That's really what it is. We remember back in 
1992, putting people first was President Clinton's campaign motto. We 
have now seen this Congress establish a new directive based on what we 
are doing on this appropriations bill, and that is we are putting 
Congress first.
  As we look at this priority, it is very clear that the continuing 
resolution will allow for more time to take care of everything else. 
Now, some would say that we, as Republicans, are just belly-aching. I 
mentioned President Clinton and his campaign back in 1992 of putting 
people first, and this now the putting Congress first appropriations 
process.
  Well, back in 1996 after President Clinton had been President for 
almost 4 years, he vetoed the Legislative Branch appropriations bill 
when a Republican Congress sent it as the second appropriations bill of 
that season. Madam Speaker, President Clinton said the following in his 
veto message: ``I believe that it would be inappropriate to fully fund 
regular funding for Congress and its offices while funding for most 
other activities of government remains incomplete, unresolved and 
uncertain. I don't think Congress should take care of its own business 
before it takes care of the people's business.''
  Those are the words of President Clinton in his 1996 veto message 
when the second appropriations conference report sent to him was the 
Legislative Branch appropriations bill measure. He was right to veto 
that bill and President Obama would be right to do it now, Madam 
Speaker, following President Clinton's lead.
  Unfortunately, even if the President wanted to veto this bill, there 
is a problem. A veto, as we all know, would shut down the government, 
something that no one wants. The Democratic majority has made sure that 
our offices don't have to worry about working within temporary funding; 
but our veterans, Homeland Security personnel, the fighting men and 
women will just have to make do.
  Madam Speaker, this is just another example of what I am calling the 
``putting Congress first'' appropriations process. Those who follow the 
work of the Congress know that continuing resolutions are not unusual, 
and we recognize that on this side of the aisle. The Federal budget is 
a very serious responsibility, and our work often, under either party, 
has extended throughout the fall.
  What's different throughout this year is not the necessity of a 
continuing resolution. What's different, Madam Speaker, is the fact 
that the Democratic majority shut down debate on our appropriations 
bills, ostensibly for the sake of completing our spending bills on 
time.
  They said that there was a schedule to keep. They said that there was 
no time for debate and deliberation while the clock was ticking. With 
regrets to the American people, we just cannot allow for scrutiny and 
accountability on the spending of taxpayer dollars because September 30 
is fast approaching.
  Now, as the fiscal year draws to a close, it would appear that the 
rights of Democrats and Republicans have been trampled on for the sake 
of a goal that has not come close to being

[[Page 22693]]

achieved. Throughout June and July, as debate on bill after bill was 
shut down, we heard the drum beat of the impending deadline.
  On June 10 our friend, whom I am happy to see here on the floor, the 
distinguished chairman of the Appropriations Committee, announced his 
``ambitious schedule'' saying that his time line would be unworkable as 
long as we had ``procedural cooperation.'' Of course, we very soon 
learned that procedural cooperation was a euphemism for closing down 
the debate.
  Now, the distinguished chairwoman of the Committee on Rules, on June 
17 on the House floor, said that the Democratic majority was prepared 
to push forward at all costs to complete the appropriations process on 
time.
  Again, we now know that those costs were the abandonment of what has 
been the 220-year history of the appropriations process, and that is 
open to debate and the rejection of amendments to be considered by 
Democrats and Republicans. On June 19, the distinguished majority 
leader reiterated this stance saying that the only way to get our work 
done is if we limit debate time.
  Throughout the summer, the Democratic majority did just that. Every 
single appropriations bill was considered under a restrictive rule. 
Spending bills have been historically considered, as I said, under a 
full and open process that allows for all Members, not just committee 
Chairs or members of the leadership, but all Members of both parties to 
make their constituencies' voices heard in the Federal spending 
process. Yet the Democratic majority announced at the outset of this 
year's process that they were abandoning open debate for the sake of 
expediency.
  Now, Madam Speaker, the Democratic majority did deliver on the issue 
of closing down debate for the appropriations process. What they 
haven't delivered on is the timely completion of our constitutional 
responsibility. They dismantled the open appropriations process, and, 
for what? So we could pass the ``putting Congress first'' bill and 
leaving the rest of our work to be completed at a later date.
  We could call this just another broken promise in a never-ending 
string of broken promises by this Democratic majority; but this is 
bigger, this is bigger, Madam Speaker, than just broken promises. We 
have more than a trillion-dollar deficit, and the year isn't over yet. 
Our national debt has skyrocketed, skyrocketed to nearly unfathomable 
levels.
  The American people are incredibly frustrated about our fiscal state 
and the crippling debt we have saddled on our future generations. Yet 
the Democratic majority has shut out accountability of their spending 
practices for the sake of a deadline that they didn't even try to keep. 
That's one of the reasons why we are here today, to extend the deadline 
on appropriations bills that were rammed through the House without the 
benefit of many thoughtful amendments from both Democrats and 
Republicans proposed by those who are deeply concerned about runaway 
spending.
  Now, of course, our friends on the other side of the aisle will have 
great excuses, and they are excuses we have heard regularly from both 
sides. They will say that the House has done its work; they can't 
control what happens over in the other body; we can't control what 
those guys do on the other side of the Capitol. But when the 
Republicans were in the majority, our colleagues on the other side of 
the aisle would regularly point out that we had control of both bodies 
of Congress and the White House. They would say that we were in 
control, and so we had to shoulder the responsibility.
  Madam Speaker, when someone stands up and makes the argument we did 
our job in the House, but we can't, we can't control what those guys do 
over on the other side of the Capitol, remember what was regularly 
said, that when you have supermajority control of the Senate, and now 
with the appointment of Paul Kirk, the 60th seat is there in the 
Senate, when you have control of the White House and a large majority 
in the House of Representatives, one has to take responsibility.
  Now, the situation is such that our friends must take the 
responsibility. With the impending appointment, as I said, we now have, 
we now have both Houses of Congress and the White House in complete 
control of the Democrats. Excuses about blaming the other body for 
having not done their work really are not acceptable.
  Madam Speaker, not one of us, not one of us is interested in a 
government shutdown. But this bill makes two things very clear, first, 
that the Democratic majority is more concerned with padding its own 
budget for this institution than meeting the rest of the country's 
needs. Second, the concerns and input of the American people were 
stifled, we see now, for no good reason at all.
  I urge my colleagues to reject this rule.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  First of all, I don't think we need any lectures by Members of the 
other side about process. If I recall, when they were in charge here, 
continuing resolutions were a regular part of the process. If I recall 
correctly, their last year in power they did a short-term CR. That 
means they got nothing done and dumped all of their appropriations work 
on the incoming Democratic Congress, which was a daunting task, to deal 
with 2 years of appropriations. They had their chance, and I think that 
they messed it up.

                              {time}  0930

  The fact is that the bill before us, the conference report before us, 
is the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill, which is an important 
appropriations bill. All appropriations bills are important. I don't 
think it does anybody any good to diminish the importance of this.
  This is important and it needs to be passed. I fully expect that the 
other appropriations bills will be conferenced, and we will be dealing 
with more and more conference reports in the coming weeks.
  But, look, what we need to do here, Madam Speaker, is not only pass a 
conference report for the Legislative Branch Appropriations, but we 
also need to pass a continuing resolution which includes an increase in 
veterans' health care.
  We have thousands and thousands of young men and women who we have 
sent to Iraq and who we have sent to Afghanistan. They deserve a first-
class health care system when they return. All veterans do. They have 
served our country with great distinction. They not only deserve the 
best health care, but they have earned it. There is an increase in this 
CR for veterans' health.
  Mr. DREIER. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. McGOVERN. I'm happy to yield.
  Mr. DREIER. I thank my friend for yielding.
  Madam Speaker, let me say that I completely concur with the 
gentleman. He's actually making our arguments here about the priority 
of ensuring that our men and women who have sacrificed and fought on 
behalf of the cause of freedom do have access to quality health care, 
that we have the funding for those troops there. That is a very 
important priority. That's why we should be doing those appropriations 
bills first.
  Mr. McGOVERN. I reclaim my time.
  I thank the gentleman for agreeing with me, and hopefully we will 
have a unanimous vote on this, because there should be no disagreement 
on that. Again, in this continuing resolution, I will repeat to my 
colleagues, there is an increase in funding for veterans' health.
  I think we should move forward. Get this conference report done. 
There will be more conference reports down the road. This is not an 
easy process. I think I've come to learn that the House of 
Representatives does not control the United States Senate. I wish we 
did. We would get a lot more done. But that's not the way our system 
works.
  At this time, Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Nadler).

[[Page 22694]]


  Mr. NADLER of New York. I thank the gentleman for yielding me time, 
Madam Speaker.
  The Constitution prohibits Congress from passing a bill of attainder, 
a bill that, no matter what its form, punishes either a named 
individual or an easily ascertainable group of people.
  Last week, to the great shame of this House, we passed a bill of 
attainder, a bill stating that no Federal funds shall go to a 
specifically named organization, ACORN.
  Now, in this conference report, we are about to do it again. Why? 
Because of a desire to punish ACORN. And yet, as ACORN's lawyer wrote 
to us recently, this is, ``to my research, unprecedented in 
congressional history. Never before has one corporation or entity been 
the subject of such broad reaching punishment by congressional mandate.
  ``The punishment here did not follow some criminal or administrative 
process with basic due process protections. It flowed out of a Fox News 
network-led call for a pubic lynching. There was no statement of 
charges and no reference to a judicial or administrative finding of 
wrongdoing by ACORN. All that occurred was a Member of Congress making 
a motion supported with a speech full of negative and largely 
inaccurate observations about ACORN, followed by a vote.''
  The fact is ACORN has never been convicted of anything. Lots of 
charges. So far, no proof in any court or any administrative 
proceeding. But some charges may be true. And they may or may not--I 
think not, but that's just a personal opinion--indicate substantial 
misfeasance. But that's why we have courts and administrative agencies 
and congressional investigating committees.
  It may be that ACORN is guilty of various infractions, and, if so, it 
ought to be vetted or maybe sanctioned by the appropriate 
administrative agency or by the judiciary. But Congress must not be in 
the business of punishing individual organizations or people without 
trial, and that is what the provision in this conference report does. 
It prohibits any Federal funds from going to ACORN for any purpose, 
clearly as a punishment for alleged misdeeds. This is a classic bill of 
Itainder, and as such, it is flatly prohibited by the Constitution.
  We must not ignore the Constitution. Whatever one may think of the 
subject matter or the organization, the Constitution and the ban on 
bills of attainder are there for the protection of all our liberties. 
And we ignore the constitutional provisions at our peril.
  This bill of attainder should not be in this conference report, and I 
will, therefore, vote against the conference report.
  Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Let me respond to some of the remarks that have been made so far, 
Madam Speaker. First, I have to say that, in addressing the issue of 
ACORN, the gentleman from Worcester said that ACORN was the target of 
right-wing radio this week. The fact of the matter is there is a 
Justice Department investigation that, at this moment, is being 
undertaken to address this issue. So to argue that somehow this is just 
a product of right-wing radio is silly.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. DREIER. Of course. I'm happy to yield.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. There is an investigation, and let it proceed 
and let it come to a conclusion, but there is no conclusion yet.
  Mr. DREIER. If I can reclaim my time, let me say that I was simply 
responding to the gentleman from Worcester, who was saying that somehow 
the ACORN concerns that have been raised are nothing but developed from 
right-wing radio, as he described it.
  It is true that a number of very, very smart investigative 
journalists have come forward and brought to the forefront some of the 
most outrageous abuses of taxpayer dollars, and we have seen these 
reports carried on television. The gentleman mentioned Fox News. We've 
heard it reported on the radio.
  I believe that it is a great service, as we see hardworking 
Americans, hardworking Americans trying to make ends meet, and that 
kind of abuse of their tax dollars is outrageous, as has been reported. 
That kind of abuse is outrageous.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. DREIER. Of course, I'm happy to yield to my friend.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. The point is, of course, as I said--and, by 
the way, it was I who talked about right-wing radio, not the gentleman 
from Worcester.
  Mr. DREIER. If I could reclaim my time, Madam Speaker, the gentleman 
was not on the floor when Mr. McGovern began his opening statement. The 
gentleman did, in fact.
  So now I will say both my friends from Massachusetts and New York are 
now saying that right-wing talk radio is somehow responsible for this, 
when, in fact, it has been some very shrewd investigative journalists. 
And we have seen talk radio and some of the cable television networks 
bring us to the forefront. Unfortunately, it's taken quite a while for 
the so-called mainstream media to begin the kind of coverage of ACORN 
that we are finally seeing.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. DREIER. Of course, I'm happy to yield to my friend.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Thank you.
  The point is, of course, I'm not going to debate the merits of the 
charges against ACORN. Charges have been made. As I said, some of them 
may be valid. They may be not valid. And if they're valid, they may 
indicate pervasive corruption; they may indicate minor errors. We don't 
know. We'll find out.
  But the point is the Constitution prohibits Congress from acting on 
that information by punishing an organization. They should be punished, 
if indeed they should be punished, by an administrative agency, by 
cutting off funds, by HUD or whatever.
  Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, if I could reclaim my time, let me say to 
my friend that the American people get it. They understand that ACORN 
is responsible for its own actions. They have seen what has taken 
place. It has been outrageous behavior. And the notion of somehow 
standing here and defending that when we are dealing with the funding 
bills themselves, the appropriations process, is just plain wrong.
  Let me also say to my friend from Worcester managing this measure 
that he responded to my remarks by saying that he didn't want to have 
lectures given and he was tired of excuses being made. You know, the 
American people get it, too. The notion of pointing the finger of blame 
back and forth is not what they want.
  Children make excuses and get slapped down by their parents. That has 
happened to me as a kid. It happens to everybody. And the idea of 
standing here saying, Well, we were lectured here and excuses are being 
made, so we somehow can continue to do what it is that we want to do. 
Well, Madam Speaker, I have to tell you that we didn't do things 
perfectly, but the fact of the matter is we didn't shut down the 
appropriations process. We did not shut down the appropriations 
process, denying Democrats and Republicans the opportunity to 
participate, as has been the case throughout the history of our 
country, and I think it's just plain wrong to do that. And the American 
people get that, too.
  So we're not providing any lecturing. We're just saying regular 
order. The rules of the House should be followed, and they have been 
ignored consistently.
  When one looks at the statements that have been made by many of our 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle who were critical of us when 
we were in the majority, it's incredible to see that they have taken 
and ramped up, ramped up the kind of behavior that they criticized on 
our part.
  In fact, on the fiscal year 2000 measure, the fiscal year 2000 
measure, as the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill

[[Page 22695]]

was moving through, the ranking member of the Committee on 
Appropriations, the now chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, 
Mr. Obey, said, in talking about the Legislative Branch bill, This bill 
should not be passed until we know how deep the cuts that are being 
made contemplated for veterans, for education, for health care, and 
other areas of major responsibility to our people. Because, in the end, 
if this bill is one of the first out of the gate and signed into law 
before the other cuts are made, then the American people are really 
going to have a right to ask whether we are more concerned with taking 
care of ourselves than we are with taking care of their own problems.
  Those are the words of the chairman of the Appropriations Committee 
today, who is utilizing the ``putting Congress first,'' the Legislative 
Branch Appropriations bill, as the first measure for tying the 
continuing resolution to that. And I think that it's a very, very 
unfortunate thing.
  When we had an exchange up in the Rules Committee, I asked the 
distinguished Chair, As we look at our priorities--homeland security, 
veterans, our men and women in uniform who are in Iraq and 
Afghanistan--and we have now chosen that the priority for passage is 
the funding for the Congress of the United States, the distinguished 
Chair's response was, Uh-huh. Right. She said, That's it.
  And so here we are, putting Congress first, when the American people 
believe we should be focusing on our border security, the threat of 
terrorism, funding for our troops. Those should be the priorities that 
we have. And the notion of standing here, Madam Speaker, having 
subverted the opportunity for the American people, Democrats and 
Republicans alike, to be heard in this appropriations so that we could 
get everything done by September 30, when we failed to meet that, is 
just plain wrong.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from 
New York.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. The gentleman from California says the 
American people get it. They know what terrible things ACORN has done. 
That's not the point.
  We do not punish people by referendum or by unpopularity. Congress 
should not punish people. That's why the Constitution says we cannot 
pass a bill of attainder. We have courts. We have due process. We have 
administrative agencies to punish people or organizations for doing 
wrong things.
  Mr. DREIER: Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. NADLER. Not for the moment.
  Once Congress passes a bill of attainder and undertakes to punish an 
organization for doing whatever it did, we sacrifice our liberties, we 
sacrifice our due process protections, and that's why it's not up to us 
to punish. It's up to the court to punish.
  Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, would the gentleman yield?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, would the gentleman yield? I yielded 
repeatedly to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. McGOVERN. I yield 15 seconds to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. DREIER. I thank the gentleman for being so generous with the 15 
seconds.
  Let me just say that article 1 of the United States Constitution very 
clearly, with section 9, points to us as being responsible for funding. 
We have the power of the purse here, and the notion of saying that 
ACORN somehow has a right to U.S. taxpayer dollars is just plain wrong.
  I thank my friend for yielding.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, so nobody is confused here--and I 
appreciate the opinion of the gentleman from New York, but so nobody is 
confused here--the bill before us, there are no funds in this bill that 
may be provided to ACORN or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, or 
allied organizations. None.

                              {time}  0945

  We can talk about this all we want, but the facts are the facts, and 
there's no money in this bill for ACORN.
  The gentleman earlier talked about shutdowns of the process. What I 
recall is when the Republicans were in charge, they shut down the 
government in 1995. We all know the adverse impacts of that.
  For the record, I want to make clear to people that the Legislative 
Branch appropriation bill does not include Members' salaries. So this 
notion that we're somehow padding our pockets here is a little bit off 
the mark. The fact of the matter is, included in the Legislative Branch 
appropriation bill are moneys to help fund CBO so that it will be 
easier for Members to obtain PAYGO analyses of their proposals. We're 
all talking about the need to be more conscious of our debt and our 
deficit. That's one way to do it.
  The other thing is that in this bill is money to protect the people 
who come and visit the United States Capitol. In this conference 
report, there are moneys that ensure that the Capitol Complex is as 
secure and as safe as possible, providing a 7 percent increase in 
funding for the Capitol Police, covering all mandatory spending and 
maintaining FY09 force levels. The bottom line here is that the men and 
women who protect us in the Capitol Police deserve more gratitude than 
they're getting the way this Legislative Branch appropriation bill is 
being described.
  This is an important bill. All appropriations bills are important. 
We're going to hopefully pass all of our appropriations bills and not 
do what my friends on the other side did when they were in power, and 
that is just pass it off to another year. I think that we should move 
forward on this.
  Again, in the continuing resolution there is an increase in funding 
for veterans health care. I think that is important. We owe our 
veterans more, quite frankly, than we are giving them. I hope that all 
my colleagues will support not only the rule but the final passage of 
this conference report.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  This has been a fascinating debate, and I know that we want to move 
to consideration of the measure. I hope that we'll be able to defeat 
the rule. As I listened to my friend from New York talk about ACORN, to 
follow the logic that the gentleman has put forward basically is saying 
that ACORN is an entitlement; ACORN is entitled to these taxpayer 
dollars. We don't believe that, Madam Speaker. We happen to believe 
that the outrageous reports that have come forward are very clear and 
the admissions that have been made by ACORN, and the changes that they 
are attempting to make now that this kind of behavior has come to light 
is very important.
  So my friend from New York is criticizing the fact that this 
continuing resolution does not provide funding for ACORN, but only for 
30 days. The continuing resolution is 30 days. Basically 30 days 
following September 30, the end of the fiscal year, funding goes right 
back up. So I guess his entitlement will be able to be continued.
  The notion of somehow saying that the United States House of 
Representatives, which under Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. 
Constitution, is empowered with spending the taxpayer dollars, cannot 
cut off funding for ACORN, and for that reason, we're going to see the 
gentleman from New York voting against the continuing resolution is, to 
me, absolutely incomprehensible.
  Madam Speaker, I've got to say that we've got a process here which is 
putting Congress first. My friend has just outlined the priorities. I 
guess I would inquire of him how often he gets calls from his 
constituents saying, Are you keeping the Capitol Complex safe so that 
you can move in and out of your office? That is not what the American 
people are concerned about. I recognize it's important to keep this 
great Capitol Complex safe, and I'm not saying that we shouldn't pass 
the Legislative Branch appropriation bill.
  I'll tell you what I do believe. I believe that border security and 
dealing with the threat of terrorism by funding Homeland Security and I 
believe that passing the Defense appropriation bill

[[Page 22696]]

so that our men and women in uniform have the resources that they need 
through the appropriations process is more important right now, and the 
American people get that.
  With that, if my colleague is prepared to close, Madam Speaker, I 
will simply say to my colleagues that this measure does, as I said, put 
Congress first, and we should not put Congress first, ahead of the 
priority spending for national security, which is priority number one. 
We continue to have statements made by our friends on the other side of 
the aisle, including the veto message from President Clinton in 1996. 
He vetoed a measure because we were passing the Legislative Branch 
appropriations bill for saying that there are many other priorities 
that should be ahead of it.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote against this rule so that 
we can move ahead in a very, very responsible way.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TEAGUE. Madam Speaker, I am very disappointed that the leadership 
of this House has put us in the unfortunate position of voting on 
legislation that combines the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill 
and the Continuing Resolution.
  First, I am against this Legislative Branch Appropriations bill. I am 
against Congress increasing its own budget while small businesses 
around the country tighten their belts. Companies in my district are 
cutting hours and cutting costs. Workers are losing their jobs. But 
Congress is paying its staff $74 million more than last year. We have 
our priorities backward. I voted against the Legislative Branch 
Appropriations bill when it came up in the House, and I have no 
interest in supporting the conference report.
  Second, I oppose this corruption of the legislative process. My 
colleagues and I should have the opportunity to say ``no'' to more 
money for our own offices without opposing needed increases for our 
veterans. This isn't the way to do business.
  Third, I regret that the first appropriations priority of this 
Congress is the legislative branch. While spending bills to support 
veterans, border security, and our men and women in uniform languish, 
we are sending a bill to increase our allowances to the President. Our 
veterans should be first in line, not us.
  Because of this failure, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 
will, for the tenth time in 11 years, get its budget late. Late funding 
threatens the quality of care at the VA and hinders the VA's ability to 
recruit well-trained medical professionals, maintain facilities, and 
acquire new equipment.
  During testimony before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee on 
July 27, 2007, former VA medical center directors stated that most VA 
budget cycles began via a continuing resolution. As a result, decisions 
were made on the basis of cost rather than on the basis of the highest 
quality. The expression, ``a day late, a dollar short,'' comes to mind.
  By passing advanced appropriations for veterans in this year's 
budget, we will make sure the VA isn't playing a waiting game with its 
budget next year. But that doesn't mean we can fall down on the job of 
supporting our nation's veterans this year. We should be passing 
legislation to support our veterans, not this.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, the gentleman described this debate as 
fascinating. I would describe it as kind of bizarre. The Legislative 
Branch bill that President Clinton threatened to veto, if I remember 
correctly, the gentleman from California voted for. And I will stress 
again that there is no money in this bill for ACORN, none, or its 
affiliates or its subsidiaries. Huge majorities in both the House and 
the Senate are on record as opposing funding ACORN. This notion that 
somehow when the CR runs out that the money for ACORN is going to go 
up, I don't get that. There will either be another CR or we will have 
passed relevant appropriation bills that will continue the prohibition. 
So that is kind of a nutty debate, and it is not relevant to this bill 
because this bill bans Federal funding for ACORN.
  The other thing that I will say is that all appropriations bills are 
important, and we are going to get to all of them. But I think it is 
wrong to diminish the Legislative Branch appropriation bill, and I 
think it's wrong to kind of brush aside the importance of funding for 
the Capitol Police. We have had members of the Capitol Police lose 
their lives in the line of duty, protecting not only us but protecting 
our constituents who come here. They deserve to be supported, and they 
deserve to be thanked. This bill does that.
  Again, I will remind my colleagues that in the CR there is an 
increase in funding for veterans health. Now if you don't want to fund 
the Capitol Police and you don't want to increase funding for veterans 
health, then vote against the rule and vote against the final passage 
of the bill. But I think the vast majority of our constituents are 
saying, This is a no-brainer. Move this forward. Continue your 
business. Continue to work on the other appropriations bills, and get 
your work done. And we are going to do that.
  Let me finally say again in support of Chairman Obey and the members 
of the Appropriations Committee, they did all of their work in this 
House. Every single one of the appropriation bills has been passed. It 
is now up to the Senate to pass their bills, and then we will 
conference them and bring them back here for a final vote.
  Mr. Speaker, in a moment I will be offering an amendment to this 
rule, and I want to briefly explain the amendment. The amendment will 
provide for adoption of an enrollment resolution that corrects a 
technical error made by the Senate in the continuing resolution. After 
the Senate struck a section in the continuing resolution, internal 
cross-references in the conference report became incorrect. This 
mistake could block contracting authority for any surface 
transportation programs, a result that I am certain that no Member of 
this House, Republican or Democrat, would support. The enrollment 
resolution corrects the cross-references.
  I hope all my colleagues will vote ``yes'' on the amendment, the rule 
and the previous question.


                   Amendment Offered by Mr. McGovern

  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I have an amendment to the rule at the 
desk.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Amendment offered by McGovern:
       At the end of the resolution, add the following:
       ``Sec. 2. Upon the adoption of the conference report the 
     House shall be considered to have adopted the concurrent 
     resolution (H. Con. Res. 191) directing the Clerk of the 
     House of Representatives to make corrections in the 
     enrollment of H.R. 2918.''

  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and 
I move the previous question on the amendment and on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the amendment.
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution, as 
amended.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. DREIER. Madam 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, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.

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