Providing amounts from the applicable accounts of the House of Representatives for continuing expenses of standing and select committees of the House from April 1, 2005, through April 30, 2005.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 133) providing amounts from the applicable accounts of the House of Representatives for continuing expenses of standing and select committees of the House from April 1, 2005, through April 30, 2005, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 133. It is a pleasure to be here today with the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt); and I also want to mention our ranking member, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald). As we go through the process here, it is going to be a privilege and a pleasure to work with her and all the Democrats and Republicans on the committee to provide for the funding resolution.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of House Resolution 133, which provides interim funding for the standing select committees of the House from April 1, 2005, through April 30, 2005. The rules of the House provide interim funding for committees until March 31 of 2005. This resolution will extend that funding for an additional month, thereby allowing the Committee on House Administration the time needed to put together the committee funding resolution that will, once passed, fund the committees for the duration of the 109th Congress.

This is nothing unusual. We have done this in the past. The committee chairmen and ranking members will appear Thursday of this week and the following Wednesday to present their budget requests to the committee, and that will be all the committee Chairs.

As the House will be out of session for the final 2 weeks of March for the Easter district work period, floor consideration of the committee funding resolution really will not be practical or possible, therefore, before March 31; and, therefore, it necessitates passage of this interim funding resolution. That is why we are here today. I therefore urge my colleagues to support resolution 133; it is needed.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for supporting this resolution today and also look forward to working with the Congresswoman and ranking member.

When the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) chaired the Committee on House Administration, he pushed towards the one-third and always provided one-third at that time to the ranking member, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer). We have kept in that tradition, together with the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson) and also with the current ranking member, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender- McDonald). I am very happy to say that last session, with the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson), we achieved the two-thirds/one-third, and we need to continue to do that. And I think that is the only fair way, and we need to evaluate how the two-thirds and one-third is split.

Again, with the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson), we did that. It was a great achievement that was started by the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas).

As far as the issue of the committees, although I do not see any abuse that has occurred, as far as retooling the rules and regs of the House, we are always willing to sit and talk about that.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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

Mr. Speaker, I join the distinguished gentleman from Ohio in supporting House Resolution 133, providing interim funding for standing and select committees of the House through April 30, 2005.

As most chairmen and ranking members know, funding for House committees would expire March 31 without this resolution.

I would like to thank the chairman for ensuring the committees will have the resources to continue operating while the Committee on House Administration processes their funding requests for the 109th Congress.

President Woodrow Wilson from my home State of New Jersey said it well when he said here on the floor, ``Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee rooms is Congress at work.''

Yes, we have to keep the committees going, and I support the chairman in this effort. The Committee on House Administration's ranking member, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald), who is returning from her district, has asked me to stand in for her and asked me to specifically relay that she is looking forward to working with the chairman on hearings this week and next week. She is especially keen to ensure that in this Congress committee minorities will receive at least one-third of all committee resources.

Now, I, speaking as a member of the Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards, which is commonly known as the Franking Commission, am concerned about problems with the increased abuse of the frank by one or more committee chairs for blatantly, I would have to say, blatantly political purposes. And I am hopeful that the Committee on House Administration will address this issue through the upcoming Committee Funding Resolution and take appropriate action to stop any such abuses.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I would say many Americans wonder why the resources for the committees are not divided one-half/one-half. Well, they should understand that it is traditional, now that the majority party would have most of the committee staff, most of the committee resources, and so two-thirds/one-third division has become traditional and that is what the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald) is hoping to achieve. I thank the chairman for his consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, on March 8, 2005 during rollcall votes Nos. 53, 54, and 55, I was unavoidably detained due to inclement weather on my travel back to Washington, DC.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on all three resolutions: the Journal vote, H. Res. 133, a bill pertaining to funding of the standing committees of the U.S. House of Representatives, and H. Res. 122, legislation urging the President to proclaim a special year of languages.

Mr. Speaker, on March 8, 2005, having been unavoidably detained due to congressional business related to my work on the Financial Services Committee, I was unable to vote on Approving the Journal (Rollcall No. 53), H. Res. 133 (Rollcall No. 54), and H. Res. 122 (Rollcall No. 55). Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on all three measures considered before the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 133.