Providing for consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 102) making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 2007, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 10 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution tonight is a blatant admission of abject failure by the most useless Congress in modern times. That we do not have a budget before us is certainly not the fault of the gentleman from California, the distinguished chairman of the committee.

This House passed every single appropriation bill except the Labor- Health appropriation bill, before the July 4 recess.

The problem is that the budget resolution which defined what would be contained in those appropriation bills was so wildly unrealistic that moderate Republicans in this House rebelled and would not, for instance, agree to support the budget resolution until a promise was made that $3 billion in additional funding would be found in order to correct some of the shortfalls in education and health and worker protection programs.

In addition, as the gentleman from California has said, when these bills went over to the other end of the Capitol, the United States Senate, they ran into the decision of the Republican majority leader to avoid having the Senate take votes on any controversial issues in the domestic portion of the budget.

As a result, we are here tonight with not a single dollar having been appropriated to any government program that has anything whatsoever to do with the domestic operations of this government. That is a disgraceful performance. And so we are left with the

choice of passing this continuing resolution or having the government shut down.

I want to contrast that with the condition that we left the government in when the Democrats lost the majority in 1994. In 1994 I was chairman of the Appropriations Committee and when we lost the election, we had still managed to complete every single appropriation before the end of the fiscal year. We did that because we had reached a bipartisan agreement between the then-majority Democrats and the then- minority Republicans on the allocation of appropriated dollars to each of the subcommittees. And it was that bipartisan cooperation which allowed us to pass every single bill in the allotted time.

Now we are here with Governors unable to plan, State legislatures unable to plan, mayors being unable to plan, families being unable to plan, because they do not know what the final disposition of the entire domestic budget is going to be.

And so now the Congress is going to leave town and when the Democrats assume control next January, we are going to have to pass 2 years of appropriation bills in 1 year. We will do our best to do that; but I must say to my majority party friends that I think that by this act of abdication, they have given up any right to criticize in any way whatever devices we have to use in order to dispose of the unfinished business of this Congress come next January.

We will do our best, but we have very few decent options. And I find it ironic, as the gentleman from California at least obliquely referenced, I find it ironic that the Senate majority leader found time to publicly diagnose Terri Schiavo's case from the Senate floor. I find it ironic that the majority leader in the Senate found the time to insert 40 pages of language into the defense bill last year indemnifying the entire pharmaceutical industry. He insisted on having that language inserted, although it had never been cleared by anyone in the conference and the conference had already finished its work before that was inserted. So he had plenty of time to do that, but he didn't manage to find the time to schedule the appropriation bills on the Senate floor, and as a result, we are here with this mess tonight.

The most fundamental obligation of the Congress under the Constitution of the United States is to decide what activities the government needs to engage in and to provide the financing for those activities. That is the purpose of appropriation bills. And when the Congress fails to pass that legislation, it fails in its principal obligation to the taxpayers.

So I simply want to say that Senator Byrd and I expect to have an announcement next week on how we will attempt to deal with the leftovers from this congressional session.

But I would simply ask one thing of my friends on the majority side of the aisle: Please spare me. Don't have the gall to go to the American public 2 years from now and ask once again to be put in charge of handling the Nation's budget when the decision has been made at the highest levels of the Republican Party tonight to walk away from our collective responsibility to pass this legislation before we adjourn.

The President is entitled to have his new budget considered anew. He is entitled to have the decks wiped clean so that he can start fresh; and with all due respect, I think we are also entitled to be able to start fresh so that come January, we can consider the President's new budget and not have to turn to last year's problems. We are not going to be given that opportunity, and the President isn't going to be given that opportunity. That is a shame. But at this point we have no choice but to support this resolution.

I do want to say one thing. Speaking of unfinished business, I am pleased to see that this resolution at this point does contain the suspension of the congressional COLA until such time as the minimum wage is increased. I know the distinguished minority leader, Ms. Pelosi, had asked that that be done. This resolution does not complete the linkage, but it does suspend that COLA until February 17, I believe the date is, which gives us an opportunity to pass the minimum wage bill in January before it goes into effect. I hope we meet that obligation so that we can see to it that as Congress receives its COLA, the lowest-paid workers in this country also get a benefit.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I just want to congratulate the gentleman from California for doing his dead-level best to fulfill his duties in getting all of these bills through, even though he received precious little cooperation from many other key players on Capitol Hill. I would simply point out that it is not his fault that the budget resolution which was adopted by the majority party was so highly unrealistic that, in the end, the majority party in this House could not convince their Senate brethren to vote for the same legislation that was required by that budget resolution. And I want to simply say that I think the Record demonstrates that both of us on both sides of the aisle did everything that we could procedurally to get these bills through the House. We reached time agreements on amendment after amendment, on bill after bill. Sometimes time agreements were so tight that Members were significantly angered by how little time they had to debate these bills. But even though we often opposed the content of the bills, we worked together to move them because we recognized that we had a responsibility to make decisions and to finish the job, whether we won or lost. Unfortunately, the gentleman did not have enough allies on his side of the aisle, and so we are stuck with this leftover mess. We will do our best in January and February to clean it up, but it is not going to be a very pleasant couple of months.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, the bill before us represents one of the last chances that the majority has to leave its mark on the 109th Congress, and yet again we are ending this session like we began it, rushing to pass a rule on a bill without having taken enough time to get either one right.

Along with the broken process used to pass this legislation, what is in this bill is a perfect representation of what is wrong with the way business has been done under this majority. It is a clear example of why we need a new direction in Washington, why we need a new philosophy of government to take root here in the people's House.

This continuing resolution will automatically fund government programs at their current levels through February 15 of next year. It is the third continuing resolution Congress has passed since the current fiscal year began on October 1. We are in the second week of December, and the majority has approved only two of the 11 bills that were needed this year. In fact, by the time this resolution expires in February, the Federal Government would have been on autopilot for more than one-third of the 2007 fiscal year. The nine spending bills that the 109th Congress will leave unfinished when it adjourns this week cover over $460 billion in Federal spending, 460 billion. That is almost half a trillion that the leaders of the Congress have decided to send out the door without any policymaking or oversight.

Madam Speaker, the majority didn't do its job. As representatives, we are sent here to be good stewards of the taxpayer dollars that the Federal Government spends. It is one of our most important responsibilities. Voters do not expect us to abdicate that responsibility or any other responsibility, for that matter. What they expect is that we will take on the challenges confronting our Nation, challenges which have for years awaited a leadership with the vision and commitment needed to address them.

Madam Speaker, my fellow Democrats and I understand what the American people expect of us. Democrats believe that running this House correctly is a matter of pride. We believe it is a matter of having a fundamental respect for both the institution in which we serve and for the citizens who gave us the privilege to serve here.

And that is why when the 110th Congress opens next month, Democrats will actually face the unanswered challenges confronting us with a new promise and address them in a new way. The House will no longer avoid asking tough questions or fail to live up to its most basic duties. Democrats are going to show the American people a Congress with a new set of priorities and a new set of how best to do the people's business.

They are going to see a Congress committed to getting our deficits under control and passing critical bills like unfinished budgets before us on time. They will see a Congress focused on rewarding millions of hardworking

Americans with an increase in the minimum wage and on promoting education and employment opportunities to help save the backbone of our economy: the middle class.

Americans are going to see a Congress committed to the high standards of ethical conduct and procedural fairness so that corruption will no longer find refuge within these Halls.

And they are going to see a Congress with the principle needed to truly stand up for our troops in the field by changing our course in Iraq and by rooting out the fraud, waste, and abuse that to this day endanger the very soldiers that we have asked to risk their lives countless times on our behalf.

Mr. Speaker, the new direction my fellow Democrats and I stand for will show our gratitude to the American people for giving us this opportunity to serve our country, to help our communities, and strengthen our future. It is in the Democratic Party's respect for the fundamental principles of our society that they will see the faith we have in the principles and their timelessness and in their strength.

It is in the challenges we choose to confront and the honest, open and fair means by which we confront them that they will see our dedication to a government of, by, and for the people of the United States.

The American people understand what is at stake in the years ahead. They understand that how we act, both in Washington and toward those at home and abroad, will determine who we are as a Nation. They want a country they can recognize. They want the country they grew up believing in. They want a Congress they can be proud of again. And, Madam Speaker, that is exactly what the Democrats are going to give them.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. But let me inquire if my colleague has any more speakers.

Then I am prepared to yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1105 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. 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. PUTNAM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues. I realize that as we wind down this session, Congress, Members are still attempting to move last-minute suspensions and items of importance for their district.

This resolution, Madam Speaker, is a rule that provides for consideration of House Joint Resolution 102, making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2007. This rule provides for 1 hour of debate in the House, equally divided and controlled by the majority and minority chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Appropriations. The rule waives all points of orders against consideration of the joint resolution and provides for one motion to recommit.

I want to commend both Chairman Lewis and Ranking Member Obey and the entire House Appropriations Committee for sticking to the timetable that they laid out at the beginning of this legislative session. In an impressive display of bipartisanship and great labor, the House passed 10 of the 11 appropriations bills prior to the July 4 district work period this year. Since July the Senate has returned to us the defense and homeland security appropriations bills, each of which has been signed by our President. Only the military quality of life appropriations bill has been passed by the Senate and is being conferenced. The remaining seven remain floundering in the Senate.

The House of Representatives, Chairman Lewis and Ranking Member Obey, and this body, have done their work. We must institute the continuing resolution in order to allow the government to continue functioning through February 15, 2007. This allows the new Congress ample time to organize and consider the outstanding appropriations bills. The rule allows consideration of this imperative continuing resolution funding measure.

While disappointed that we must resort to a CR, I am pleased that the appropriators have ensured that we have a clean bill without extraneous projects or funds and we have avoided the temptation often driven by the other body to package bills together in an omnibus.

Throughout the appropriations process, the committee has shown its commitment to the budget resolution and to fiscal accountability. The committee has funded programs and activities at the lowest of the House-passed level, the Senate-passed level, or the fiscal year 2006 rate. For agencies for which the Senate has not passed the bill, the funding rate is at the lower of the House-passed level or the fiscal 2006 current rate. For agencies for which neither the House nor the Senate have passed the bill, the funding rate is at the current 2006 number.

And in order to ensure quality health care for our veterans, we have included substantial additional transfer authority for Veterans Administration medical care. As the entire Federal Government is facing a plateaued budget, the CR includes a provision that prohibits the automatic implementation of the cost of living adjustment for Members of Congress also until February 16.

Again, I want to congratulate Chairman Lewis and Ranking Member Obey on their hard work. I urge Members to support the rule and the underlying continuing resolution so that we can finish the appropriations process and move down the road toward meeting the needs of this country.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to my Rules Committee colleague, the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito).

I thank the lady for her inquiry. I am advised that we have no other Members wishing to speak on the rule.

Madam Speaker, before I yield back the balance of my time I, first and foremost, want to urge my colleagues to adopt the rule and adopt the continuing resolution, and express my highest regards and best wishes to the gentlewoman from New York as she prepares to take the leadership of the Rules Committee. And I wish her all the very best. And I regret that I will not be serving on the committee under her leadership, but certainly wish she and her colleagues all the opportunity and hope and advantages that come with that responsibility.

With that, Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and move the previous question on the resolution.

The previous question was ordered.

Mr. Speaker, when Congress passed SAFETEA-LU--the legislation that reauthorizes the Federal surface transportation programs--in 2005, it recognized the need to significantly increase Federal investment for highway, highway safety, and transit programs. In fact, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, SAFETEA-LU, increased the overall investment in surface transportation programs by more than 40 percent, with a significant part of that increase guaranteed to take effect in fiscal year 2007.

Earlier this year, the House passed H.R. 5576, the Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, TTHUD, appropriations bill, which meets SAFETEA-LU's funding guarantees. It provides an increase of $3.4 billion for the Federal-aid highway programs and an additional $474 million for the transit programs over the fiscal year 2006 SAFETEA-LU funding levels.

It is now more than 2 months since the start of fiscal year 2007, and the Republican-led Congress has not enacted the TTHUD appropriations bill. Instead, H.J. Res. 102 provides funding for the highway, highway safety, and transit programs through February 15, 2007. The resolution funds these programs at the fiscal year 2006 level. Thus, all of the highway and transit investment increases guaranteed by SAFETEA-LU are put on hold. If this approach is continued and the continuing resolution is extended through fiscal year 2007, SAFETEA-LU's guaranteed highway funding will be cut by $3.4 billion and its transit investment slashed by $474 million.

Under a long-term continuing resolution, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, FMCSA, safety programs will be funded at substantially lower levels than guaranteed in SAFETEA-LU. NHTSA stands to lose up to $21.7 million. At a time when more than 43,000 people are dying in roadway crashes each year, we simply cannot afford to shortchange an agency tasked with making our roadways safer. Likewise, FMCSA could lose almost $27 million that would be spent on motor carrier safety programs and grants. It is essential that we properly fund these critical programs.

The highway, highway safety, and transit programs differ from most other Federal programs in that they are supported by user fees. Motorists who drive on our highways pay the fees when they pump gas. They willingly pay the fees because they rely on a commitment by the Federal Government to use the money so collected to finance our highway and transit programs. In other words, users have already paid for the investments authorized in SAFETEA-LU and funded in the House-passed TTHUD appropriations bill. However, the Republican-led Congress's failure to enact this legislation in a timely manner will shortchange funding for critical transportation projects.

Transportation projects are usually high-cost undertakings that take several years to complete. Certainty in funding--especially Federal funding--is critical to their success. Relying on short-term, stopgap measures, such as continuing resolutions, does not provide the certainty that State departments of transportation need to plan for their construction projects in the upcoming season. And for northern- tier States, where construction seasons are short, delays in providing adequate Federal funding can severely disrupt their process for contract bidding, directly affecting next year's construction season.

Continuing resolutions also provide great uncertainty for transit programs. The Federal Transit Administration, FTA, has delayed the release of transit formula apportionments and other new grants until a final TTHUD appropriations act is enacted. The continuing resolution, coupled with FTA's policy, is resulting in many transit agencies being unable to advance badly needed transit projects.

According to the Federal Reserve, housing construction is currently very weak throughout the country. Congress should do everything within its power to ensure that transportation infrastructure investment is not disrupted through congressional inaction, placing an additional burden on this sector of the economy. Hundreds of our small businesses and thousands of our workers could be put at risk as a result. I urge Congress to fulfill its responsibilities in passing appropriations acts and to honor the funding guarantees established in SAFETEA-LU.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1105, I

call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 102) making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 2007, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I bring before the House a continuing resolution for fiscal year 2007. This CR, which is clean, runs through February 15, 2007. Only necessary technical anomalies are included.

This CR will fund the agencies in the nine remaining bills awaiting conference at the lower rate the House passed, Senate passed, or current fiscal year 2006 level.

We have been working closely with both leadership and Chairman Cochran on this CR to ensure that all essential functions of the government continue without interruption.

With regard to veterans medical care funding, the VA presently has approximately $600 million left over from fiscal year 2006. However, should the VA need additional resources between now and February 15, we are providing the VA and the Secretary with the authority to transfer funds from within other Veterans Affairs accounts.

When we passed this CR the last time, my hope was it would provide a strong motivation for Congress to complete its work in regular order. I was hopeful that our colleagues in the Senate would complete their work on the floor so we could move the remaining individual conference reports before the end of this legislative session.

I want the body to know that the Appropriations Committee has been strongly committed to bringing to this floor individual conference reports. That has not occurred. Each and every individual bill should have come to the floor and gone to conference with the Senate and been sent to the President. From the beginning of our process, Chairman Cochran and I pledged to pass funding bills in regular order. We also stated publicly we would not, I repeat, not, support an omnibus bill in any form.

The House Appropriations Committee passed each of the 11 subcommittee bills out of the full committee by June 30, and with the exception of the Labor-HHS bill, all of the bills off the House floor by the July 4 break.

Similarly, the Senate passed each of its bill out of the full committee to ensure timely consideration on the Senate floor.

The Appropriations Committee has remained committed to moving these bills individually and within the framework of the budget resolution.

My colleagues, the Appropriations Committee has kept its word. The breakdown of regular order this cycle, indeed the failure to get our bills done, should be fairly placed at the feet of the departing Senate majority leader who failed to schedule floor time for the consideration of appropriations bills.

Senator Cochran and I were convinced that moving bills individually was the only way for us to get back to regular order. Lacking regular order, there is a tendency for the remaining bills to become Christmas trees and for spending to grow out of control, having individual Members do with a Christmas tree what they might. In our view, that is simply not acceptable.

Let me make one personal comment aside: my appropriations colleague, Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi, could not have been a better partner as we attempted to bringing regular order to the appropriations process. The Senator of Mississippi was poorly served by his own leadership.

I would prefer to return to Congress in January as chairman of the Appropriations Committee but look forward to working with the new chairman of the committee, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey).

Until then, I urge my colleagues to support this CR and I would like to close my remarks by wishing all of my friends a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.